Work Text:
Goddammit.
That’s the only word repeating itself like a mantra in INTJ’s mind as she scrambles to check and re-check her wrist, pocket, and bag for the hair tie that she knows is there, should be there-
But it isn’t.
Goddammit!
After several failed attempts, she finally admits to herself that she forgot it, letting out a long-suffering sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose. Fucking hell, how could she be so stupid?! Every morning she has a routine, and every morning she’s prepared for work.
Every morning except this one, where a storm caused the power to go out in the middle of the night. Thanks to that, her phone was dead in the morning, and it was a miracle she even woke up without her alarm (though it was later than it should’ve been). Cue panic, rushing, and now - forgetting. All things which usually aren’t even in INTJ’s vocabulary. In fact, that’s more the style of-
“Hey, INTJ!”
Ah. Speak of the devil.
INTJ’s deskmate - a petite woman with choppy green hair and emerald eyes - plops down onto her chair, frappuccino in hand. ENFP.
ENFP beams, oblivious to INTJ’s distress. “How’s it going this beautiful morning?”
“Fine.” INTJ’s reply is snappier than usual, and there’s a brief moment of surprise on ENFP’s face before she brushes it away. A pang of guilt resounds in INTJ’s gut, but she doesn’t examine it. ENFP doesn’t miss a beat regardless.
“Are you sure? I heard you sighing up a storm while I was coming over here.” She sounds genuinely worried, and INTJ has to bite back the annoyed reply on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she closes her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose, and sighs.
“Thanks for the concern, but I assure you, I’m fine.” Her voice is clipped and final, and thankfully ENFP seems to take the message.
“Alright, well, if you need anything, I’m here,” ENFP shrugs, not sounding particularly convinced as she pulls out her laptop.
“I don’t, but…” INTJ hesitates at the open look on ENFP’s face. “...Thanks.”
At this, ENFP beams, and the room practically lights up. It’s almost blinding, but for some reason INTJ doesn’t look away like she used to (and is that a little butterfly trying to flap in her stomach? She shuts it down immediately).
“Hehe, of course!” She winks and does little finger guns, and INTJ gives her a thin-lipped smile. How stupidly adorable.
After this, ENFP is thankfully quiet, and INTJ gets out her own laptop to pull up her email and then the spreadsheets she’s supposed to be working on. Annoyingly, though, when she scribbles down notes, her hair just keeps falling. In. Her. Goddamn. Face.
This is why she ties it up every morning .
She tries not to let it bother her because come on, there are so many worse things in the world, but good LORD is it slowly pissing her off. The little bottle of irritation inside her just keeps filling and filling until it’s about to overflow. She can feel ENFP giving her little concerned side glances, but the green-haired woman doesn’t say anything.
Until INTJ accidentally snaps a pencil, and ENFP abruptly gets up before grabbing INTJ’s hands. INTJ’s eyes widen in shock as she tries to pull away, but ENFP is surprisingly stronger than she looks. Her brow is furrowed as her green eyes gaze into INTJ’s dark ones.
“INTJ, what’s wrong?” she asks, sounding baffled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this irritated on a day where we don’t have one of those ‘useless board meetings’ that you grumble about.”
“I…” Admittedly, INTJ is too bewildered from the random action to really think about anything but ENFP remembers that I hate those specifically? I thought she just rambled about herself all the time instead of bothering to listen to me like everyone else, but she tries to collect her thoughts. “My hair keeps falling in my face.”
ENFP blinks once, twice, before she lets go of INTJ’s hands and just gives her a confused look. “Huh?”
Now that they’re not touching anymore, it’s like INTJ’s rational thought comes flooding back, and she inwardly slaps herself. Why the hell would she say something so stupid? “My hair keeps falling in my face”? Seriously? That’s a reason to be pissed off and break a pencil, like she has anger issues? How ridiculous.
However, ENFP is looking at her expectantly, so INTJ grits her teeth and tries to explain (she knows what happens when she doesn’t properly answer a question ENFP wants to know about. It’s NOT fun being hounded).
“I’m sure you’ve probably noticed that I always have my hair tied up,” INTJ begins, then mentally slaps herself again. ENFP is literally well-known in the office for having her head in the clouds, of course she hasn’t-
“Ooh, yeah! I saw you had your hair down today; you look soo pretty,” ENFP gushes, clasping her hands together, and INTJ falters. What.
Frantically trampling over the few more butterflies that are trying to flutter in her stomach, INTJ says, “That’s not the point. I actually just forgot a rubber band today. I always have one, but last night was hectic with the storm and I just…forgot.” It’s humiliating thinking back on it, and INTJ sighs.
ENFP, however, doesn’t look perturbed. “Oh, that’s all? Hey, it’s not something you need to worry about! I forget mine all the time too, so I have an extra stash. Have one of mine!” Before INTJ can refuse, she reaches into her bag, pulling out a bright purple scrunchie with - is that a pink flamingo pattern ?
Oh please, say no. What an utter embarrassment it would be if you were seen wearing THAT at work! INTJ’s brain exclaims, miffed, and yet she hesitates. Why the hell is she hesitating?!
ENFP’s expression is relaxed, helpful as she holds out the abomination of a scrunchie, her full lips curved in a smile, and INTJ finds herself reaching out, almost in slow motion, to accept - wait, accept?! - the hair tie.
“...Thank you,” INTJ says hesitantly, eyes dropping from ENFP’s face before any more cracks inevitably form in her stony heart. She can sense ENFP’s happiness absolutely overflowing, and it’s definitely not a good idea to engage when that’s the case. “I’ll return this at the end of the day.”
“Oh, no need!” ENFP chirps, giddily going back to her work, and INTJ curses inwardly for doing this to herself even as her ears burn red when she puts her hair up with the scrunchie. Whether she’s red from embarrassment or something else, she doesn’t know. Doesn’t need to know.
She just needs to finish her work, ignore the inevitable comments about her appearance, return the scrunchie, and go home. That’s it.
When the end of the workday finally comes, she quickly packs up her things, having finished today’s tasks as usual. However, ENFP is nowhere to be found. INTJ sighs inwardly, not believing her luck. Why is ENFP so damn sociable? She’s probably chatting up half the office right now as usual, and INTJ is in no mood to go look for her and drag her out of the conversation. It’s already exhausting dealing with her coworkers for eight hours every day; the thought of doing so overtime as well is atrocious.
After debating the pros and cons in her head for a few seconds, INTJ eventually decides to just go home. It’s been a long day, and she can just return the scrunchie tomorrow. No big deal.
It’s only when she finally climbs into bed, letting out a relieved sigh, that it occurs to her that today was Friday. Grabbing her phone to double check, INTJ almost bangs her head against the wall because again, how could she be so stupid ? Today is just failure after failure. Ridiculous.
The fact that she owes someone a favor, especially ENFP of all people, nags at her, and so she finds herself calling the other woman when she would usually never do so. It’s aggravating to have to do so, but she knows ENFP likely won’t respond to a text until after at least a week. Sigh.
“INTJ!” the voice in her ear squeals. “I can’t believe you’re calling me! What’s up?” ENFP sounds even more excited than usual, and judging by the loud voices in the background, she’s probably at one of the house parties ESTP and ESFP throw every other week.
“...Hello, ENFP,” INTJ says. “I just wanted to let you know that I couldn’t find you at the office today before I left for home, so I’ll return your hair tie on Monday.”
There’s a beat of silence on the other end of the phone (well, silence on ENFP’s part. The voices in the background are still giving INTJ a headache) before ENFP laughs, a tinkling sound.
“Aww, come on, you’re worried about that scrunchie? Don’t be! Like I said, you can have it.”
“What?” INTJ asks. “No. That wouldn’t be right.”
“Shush, silly,” ENFP interrupts. “Why else do you think I ran off before you went home? I knew you’d try to force it back into my hands, hehe. But don’t worry about it! I want you to have it in case this ever happens again. You like planning, right? Just keep that scrunchie in your desk drawer! That way you don’t have to get irritated about your hair ever again.”
At this, INTJ is stunned into silence for the first time she can remember. Am I really that easy to read? And…the fact that ENFP is actually offering a sound solution to the problem? Even though the logical part of INTJ’s brain admits that she could just put her one of her own rubber bands in her desk drawer, she’s still touched - and shocked, because it’s rare times like these which let her see that ENFP isn’t actually the sunshine-and-rainbows ditz that their colleagues make her out to be. She’s actually a quite smart, adaptable woman, and it’s…admirable, really.
Apparently INTJ’s been silent for too long, though, because ENFP’s confused voice sounds through the phone. “Hello? INTJ?”
“Ah, I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I…fine, but you have to allow me to make it up to you somehow.”
ENFP giggles, then replies, “Deal!”
A weight lifts off of INTJ’s shoulders at how easily she agrees; at least now she can work to make sure she’s not indebted to ENFP. Through the phone, a voice gets louder - one that sounds suspiciously like ENTP.
“Is that INTJ you’re talking to?” he asks, and when ENFP replies “Yep!” he laughs and goes, “Let me talk too!”
The warning alarms immediately go off in INTJ’s mind, and she scrambles to end the call. “No thanks, tell him I’m going to bed,” INTJ cuts in. “Good night, ENFP. Thanks again.” All she hears is ENFP’s tinkling laugh before she hangs up.
And so she just sits there for a second, heart thumping and mind still processing what just happened, before she drags a hand down her face, sighing. What a hell of a day.
As INTJ reaches out to turn off the lamp beside her, her gaze falls on the atrocious purple scrunchie still sitting on her desk, and a small smile makes its way onto her face unwittingly.
But maybe it wasn’t that bad.