Work Text:
A windswept Wednesday was not a sight Tyler thought he would see as he was cleaning up before he was to lock up for the night. He had to bite his cheek to refrain from snickering. Her braids were always in a pristine state; there were never any flyaways, never a hair untucked or anything to suggest she’d been feeling lazy that day. And now, he could clearly see it was disheveled. Hairs were everywhere, coming out of her braids, some of them blowing behind her. Even her bangs were in disarray.
Worse, she was ticked off. Subtly shaking with poorly concealed rage.
The wind had been a hassle all week. Tyler heard the weatherman on the TV this morning inform them they were in for another advisory for the next couple of days, that it would be prudent of them to tie down or bring any outside items to avoid it being swept away. Personally, he’d worn a hat to keep his curls from being a disaster but he didn’t think Wednesday was really a hat kind of girl.
Tyler should know better than to poke the bear. Actually, a bear would be safer than Wednesday. At least he’d be guaranteed a fairly quick death. She would torture him again and again until he was on the verge of death, revive him and then play with him for her own amusement.
But he couldn’t resist.
“Have you done something to your hair?” He said innocently, squinting at her. “It looks different, but I just can’t put my finger on it...”
“I will gladly remove your finger and add it to my collection,” Wednesday hissed.
Tyler grinned. There had to be some feline gene or something in her blood. Or she just really perfected cat impressions. “I just turned the espresso machine off but I’ll make you one real quick. You look like you need it.” Maneuvering around the counter, he got started on her beverage. A thud landed on the table, he assumed she put her stuff down. He’d let her chill for a second so she could calm down from whatever riled her up this time.
He could hear her muttering to herself, sounding as angered as he presumed she was. In a strange sort of way, he felt honored. Wednesday kept herself perfectly composed in front of basically everyone else. She would never be seen this way where the general public could see her. It only proved to Tyler that she felt comfortable to be this way around him. She’d let her guard down, relax a little or in this case, let off some steam.
The words your quad fell off his tongue when he caught a glimpse of his girlfriend after he finished up. Wednesday had taken her hair out of the elastics, allowing it to spill down her shoulders freely. It was still messy looking, hairs still sticking out like pieces of straw, but also infused with waves that framed her face differently.
“Tyler!” Wednesday’s voice snapped him out of his daydream. He blinked. “What are you standing there for?”
He set the cup down on the table she usually occupied. “I’ve never seen you with your hair down before.”
“And with any luck, you won’t again,” she replied.
“You look pretty, Wednesday,” he complimented. He almost caught himself reaching out to feel it beneath his fingers.
"I look like my mother! " Tyler was able to quickly surmise that was a sore spot for her.
“Is that why you wear it in braids?”
Some of her ire subsided. Sighing, Wednesday said, “I have made every attempt at individualizing myself since I was a child. That still has not stopped the comparisons.”
Tyler felt a twinge of sympathy. “I know I’ve only met your mother once, but believe me, all I see is you , Wednesday. You may share some similarities, but the rest is all you,” he said with emphasis, hoping it was enough to show her he meant it.
Wednesday seemed to ponder his words. Then, she took the quad in her hands to sip on it. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he smiled tenderly. “Why don’t you sit down while you finish that? You can fix your hair afterwards.”
“Is that a ploy so you can see my loose hair longer?” She surprisingly did as he suggested, and he too sat down across from her just like he usually did. He watched her delicately move her hair over her shoulders, not toss it, to get it out of her way.
“It might be,” he didn’t deny it. “You can’t blame me, though. I’m going to enjoy it while I can.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Can I ask you something?” She gave him a look. He’d forgotten she disliked him preluding instead of just sharing what was on his mind. “It might be weird.”
“I fail to see how this will be different than any other time.”
He lightly kicked her foot. “First of all, rude . Second-” Shoot, now was not the time to clam up. “Can I touch it?”
“Touch what?”
“Your hair,” he elaborated. She was baffled. “It looks soft,” he defended himself.
“Is this typical in a relationship or is this just you?” She asked.
“Should I be offended by that?” He laughed at the just you part. “No, it’s not just me. Couples do that sort of thing. Well, maybe not all couples but some do.”
“I see.”
“I’ll only do it if you’re comfortable with it,” he promised. “And I won’t bring it up again if you aren’t.”
Wednesday thought it over. “You may touch it. I will give you three minutes.”
Tyler wasted no time in joining her on the same side of the booth, taking a section of her raven tendrils with the palm of his hand. He was hopelessly mesmerized. How could he not be? It was as soft and silky as he imagined it to be. Easily, he could vividly see her head in his lap, her hair splayed out, giving him the chance to run his fingers through it. Wednesday probably wouldn’t be agreeable to that. Or maybe she might be. She let him do this. Although, he wouldn’t push her on the matter. He respected her feelings about not wanting to see herself as a reflection of her mother.
He meant to thank her for this but, “Can I help you braid your hair sometime?” came out instead.
She side-eyed him. “Why would you want to do that?”
Why did he want to do that? Shrugging, Tyler said, “It’s not like I’ve ever had the chance. And I don’t know, it was just a thought. Forget I said anything.”
Wednesday took another drink of her quad. “If you are serious, I may consider it.”
“Really?”
“I will teach you myself. It isn’t hard.”
“Cool!” Tyler said happily.
“We can start now,” Wednesday twisted slightly, giving him better access. “But if you break any of my elastics I will break you .”
For the next hour, she patiently taught him the basics of hair braiding. It took longer than expected simply because Tyler’s fingers were clumsy and the hair kept slipping out of his grasp. It was harder than it looked, making him admire Wednesday even more as she was able to do so with ease.
“Finally!” He was feeling good now. “Got it. And I didn’t even break any elastics.”
“Pity,” his girlfriend picked up her quad again. “I would have enjoyed slicing up your heart to dissect.”
“You can’t have all the fun in one day,” he nudged her and evidently that was too hard because she spilled her quad all down the front of her. “ Crap! Sorry!” Tyler hurriedly grabbed a handful of napkins from the container. “I’m really sorry, Wednesday, I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Cease your apologies at once,” she commanded him, snatching the napkins away. “I am clearly fine. There is no need to make a fuss.”
He slid out of the booth and she moved to the edge. Her black sweater didn’t show the stain that was most certainly there. “Here, take it off and I'll wash it in the sink.” Without waiting for her to do anything, he started to gently roll it up to take it off of her himself.
“Tyler Galpin,” she sighed. “I am quite capable of undressing myself.” Even so, she didn’t shove him away so she obviously didn’t mind all that much.
Neither of them noticed his father on the outside, walking past the Weathervane when he suddenly stopped and walked back to the door. Looking at the two of them in disbelief, who were still oblivious to his presence, he went right inside to confront them.
“Are you two serious right now? I knew this was going to happen one of these days, but really , Tyler? You wanna do this sort of thing at work?”
“Dad?” Tyler was confused. Wednesday’s arms were still up and he realized he hadn’t yet taken her sweater off all the way. He apologized to her and she glared at him. Then he turned his focus back onto his dad. “Uh, Dad, I don’t know what you think you saw, but-”
“You’re trying to tell me you weren’t trying to have sex?” His dad said sarcastically.
Tyler could feel his face redden. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with his father. Not here. Not ever. “ No ! I accidentally made Wednesday spill her quad on herself. I was just going to wash her sweater. That’s all.” He hoped it was enough to placate him.
And then Wednesday had to speak up, her eyes gleaming devilishly.
“Tyler, there is no need to be shy in front of your father. We are all adults here. Now shall we continue?"