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Agnes swung her feet back and forth as Mr Landon — the new science teacher after the previous one's unfortunate ending — spoke, his voice a drawl to her the more he went on.
It wasn't that she had no interest in the lesson; in fact, what was to come after the safety information was more than intriguing, but she really didn't need to know how to hold the blade. If people didn't know that at this point in their lives, perhaps they needed to invest in more interesting hobbies.
A few more minutes dragged on until finally, he put down his chalk and turned to the class, gesturing to the tables that the students were grouped at, already equipped with various dismembered eyes, not animated in any way and prepared to be sliced open.
"Be sure to lay out all the parts on your trays, and don't break anything," he gave as a final instruction. Then, with a wave of his hands, the domes preventing students from assessing them disintegrated, and everyone was allowed free rein.
Agnes grabbed gloves, making quick work of putting them on and grabbing the closest item to her as her teammates focused on the others. The knife was a little too dull to be as effective as she liked, but after enough time with Wednesday, she knew how to wield it regardless and was easily the first one to be finished at her table.
Unfortunately, board again, and practically buzzing to tell Enid about everything she'd done, Agnes could do nothing but rearrange the parts over and over again until Mr Landon spotted her, sighing at her efficiency for once as he walked over.
"Could you apply this speed to your lab reports?" he joked as he handed her the sheet that followed, asking her to name everything she'd found on a diagram. More interesting than nothing, she supposed.
"Could the lab reports be more interactive?" she resorted, pulling a pencil out and scrawling her name at the top.
Mr Landon shrugged, walking back over to where he'd been before to help a squeamish student through the steps.
Labelling wasn't hard, and she was able to make it more interesting with extra doodles and diagrams until the day closing bell chimed, and she rushed to the front to hand it in, far more focused on her after-school activities than anything she'd been doing.
It had been a week since she'd gotten back on speaking terms with Enid, and although the new dynamic emerging was, well, new, they hadn't had much time to examine it between homework, school events and the time Wednesday had 'accidentally' invited her 'not that dangerous' uncle over for two days, who had occupied both the girls time.
But now they had an evening all to themselves, finally able to just interact as friends, and stay out however late they wanted, considering it was Friday.
Agnes stopped by her dorm room first, pulling on a sweater instead of her uniform jacket to avoid Enid's wrath, before grabbing her purse and shoes, and then she was off.
The snow was almost fully gone, a thin layer of muddy slush at that point, although she still stepped carefully to avoid larger piles and puddles. They had agreed to meet in the music room, since that was usually where Wednesday spent her spare block.
Agnes hurried back inside on the other side of the school, following two more flights of stairs before she finally reached the door. She pressed her ear to it, assuring she could hear people moving around before she pushed it open and stepped in.
Enid, who had been plucking aimlessly at a piano as Wednesday rosined her bow, spun around upon hearing her entry, her usual cheerful smile springing to her face as she shot upwards and over to Agnes, throwing her arms around her neck.
"Hey, kiddo," she hummed, leaning back and adjusting Agnes's bangs as if it were necessary as Wednesday began to put her instrument away. "How was school?"
It was an odd question — the sort of thing Agnes had heard in movies and read in books, but never been asked by her own parents.
"Good." She shrugged, attempting to think back on anything she'd done before the eye, although that had all been a bore, so she ranted about it anyway.
Enid's lip curled slightly at the descriptions, nodding respectfully when applicable until Agnes got to the point where the eye was actually open, at which she put up her hand with a grimace.
"As much as I love learning about the things you enjoy, I'm like, ninety-nine per cent sure I got trauma from the time I had to do that, so I'm gonna stop you there… though you and Wednesday should start doing taxidermy together if you really like it." She turned to Wednesday, grinning. "You'd be up for that, right?"
"I've taught her blade-wielding already; I'm sure she'd do well. I will alert you when I come across my next project."
Agnes grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet as Wednesday stood, greeting her with her usual nod, although the slight upturn of her lips did not go unnoticed.
"Great!" Enid clapped. "Do you guys wanna go do something? I was thinking, like…a walk, but I also have been absolutely thrifting my ass off, so if you want to come to our dorm and see thatttt…"
Allie frowned, tilting her head in confusion. "What does thrifting have to do with me?"
Wednesday sighed, obviously having endured whatever this goal was for the past few days. "She has been collecting various plastic landfill products—"
"— toys —"
"— for the past week, every time we went into town, in the hope that you would enjoy them. There was also an online doxxing situation—
"— amazon order —"
"— considering the object could not be purchased elsewhere."
Agnes blinked a few times, her heart fluttering at the gesture, although she didn't know how to respond. Of course, she wanted to see the items. Enid had clearly been excited to show her, but at the same time, they had planned this evening as a friendly situation, not something that would end in her needing caretaking.
"I would love to," she finally said, ringing her hands in front of herself. "But I think that would end in a drop, and I don't want to be a burden or anything — I mean, we haven't hung out in ages, I'm sure you want to be with me, not little me."
Enid's smile faltered for a moment, then replaced itself with a sympathetic expression.
"What? Why on earth would I have bought all of it if I didn't want to spend time with you in that headspace? As long as we are together, and you're comfortable, I don't care what state of mind you're in, okay?"
Wednesday nodded, mumbling something along the lines of "mutual sentiment."
It took everything in Agnes's restraint not to start crying, which Enid evidently noticed, stepping forward and pulling her into another hug, running her hand over her hair and dropping a quick kiss on her forehead before she pulled back.
"Toys it is then?" she asked, looking at Wednesday smugly when Agnes nodded. The act of buying these had clearly been a debate of sorts.
Looping their hands together, Enid grabbed her bag, then waved Wednesday forward as they walked out. She was practically a ball of energy herself, all but skipping down the hall the closer they got to her dorm. It was sweet to see that she was nearly as excited as Agnes about them, and oddly reassuring.
Once they reached the dorm, Enid paused, turning Agnes by the shoulders to face her.
"Okay. So. I did a ton of research and stuff. Most of the things I got are for toddlers since I didn't know your 'age', figuratively speaking. Do you have one?"
Agnes shook her head, slightly astonished at how strong the werewolf's grip was.
"Okay, good. I also got some basic stuff — you know, baby plates, forks, spoons, mats, bottles —"
"How much did this all cost?" Agnes suddenly worried, her heart rate only spiking when Wednesday sighed and rolled her eyes at Enid's dismissal of the question.
"Not something you need to worry about, okay?"
Not okay, but Agnes nodded anyway, assuring herself that she would bring it up again later when she had some cash on her.
"Are you comfortable with pacifiers?" Enid asked suddenly, hand resting on the doorknob.
Agnes was truly unable to answer that one, only shrugging. Thankfully, Enid dropped it quickly and pushed open the door.
The room looked nearly normal, everything in its usual place. The only thing out of order was a small shelf, each of the six compartments loaded with fabric drawers in varying shades of pink to blue, and a similarly coloured foam mat that lay in front of it.
Enid led her over to it, sitting down on the mat and pulling her along. It was softer than she'd expected, a little more so than a yoga mat.
"I tried to organise them by subject. The pinks are technically speaking for older kids, the blues are for younger. This one," she pointed to the last bin on the lower row, "is for general supplies. Should we start with those?"
"I suppose," Agnes said, helping her pull it out of the compartment.
Most of it was various plates, princesses and cartoon characters decorating the surfaces with matching utensils. They were cute, the sort Agnes had always asked for but never received when she was younger.
Beside them was a collection of cups, ranging from plastic open-topped ones, all the way to soft lidded bottles.
The rest was less organised, random things of applesauce, chopsticks for some reason, even a few bibs and a smooth black bag.
Agnes reached for it instantly, her curiosity beating her brain, and tugged it open, pausing when she found the previously mentioned pacifiers inside.
She had read that some people used them, although, at her previous distaste for the idea of her regressing at all, she had never considered them for herself.
Enid hovered, close enough to take them back, far enough not to be imposing until Agnes finally looked away from them and asked:
"Won't these wreck my teeth?"
Enid broke into a grin again, shaking her head proudly and sitting back on her heels. "Nope! I made sure to look into the adult ones and buy the safest option! I'm sure if you used them, like, twenty-four-seven or something, they would be an issue…but anything would be at that point. Look, the teats are larger than the ones on actual baby pacifiers."
Agnes took the one she was pointing at out — fully a pale blue silicone open shield style, quite different from the others.
"That's the style newborns normally use," Enid explained. "All one piece, less choking hazard."
"Boring," Wednesday chimed in, still standing by the doorway like a plank of wood.
"Looks chewy," Agnes said, crumpling it in her fist. The silicone gave way easily, springing back up when she opened her hand again.
Enid shrugged. "I'd assume it is chewy, though I didn't try any of them. Just cleaned."
Agnes kept the singular pacifier out, closing the bag that kept the other ones and tossing it back into the box.
"You try it first, then."
Enid blinked, raising her brows. "Why?"
What was that supposed to mean? Why not?
Agnes just held it out silently, waiting until Enid took it from her and absentmindedly popped it in her mouth, giving it an experimental few sucks before spitting it back out and wiping it off with her sweater.
"Not my thing, I'm more of a toothpick girl, but it won't kill you to try."
"It could," Wednesday chimed yet again. Also, again, unhelpfully, although she was edging closer to them, her boots touched the edge of the colourful mat in dark contrast.
Agnes took it back from Enid, holding it up to Wednesday wordlessly and watching as her eyes narrowed in a way that used to scare her.
"Absolutely not."
Agnes huffed, turning to Enid for support, her words already failing her in the way she was beginning to associate with feeling small.
"Hate to side with miss meany over here, but anything in her mouth is grounds for an allergic reaction. You try today, I'll order a black one so we can torment her later, okay?"
Good enough.
Agnes eyed the pacifier one more time before bringing it to her lips, pinching the plastic between her teeth rather than sucking like Enid had. It was enjoyable enough, and therefore she didn't spit it out, turning her attention to the next box and fully missing Enid's second smug look at Wednesday.
Pulling that one off the shelf too, Agnes peeked into it and pushed a few of the plastic horses around, sending a questioning look at Enid, whose mouth all but fell open.
"They're My Little Ponies!" she exclaimed. "Please don't tell me you've never seen it. Those are from Friendship is Magic, which came out in, like, 2010. Isn't that the year you were born or something?"
Agnes shook her head twice, holding up twelve on her fingers, which made Enid visibly disturbed, and turning back to the toys.
"I'll have to show you," Enid sighed. She reached over, pulling out a white pony with a purple mane. "This is Rarity, she's my favourite."
Agnes grabbed a different, larger one with wings and a horn, holding her up in a silent request for identification.
"Princess Luna!"
The game went on for long enough that Wednesday gave up standing and plopped down (more like floated, honestly) next to both of them, chiming in with her own opinions about how oddly the ponies were named, occasionally going as far as re-naming them. (Apple Bloom was now known as Tiberius, makeshift name tag and all.)
Once Agnes got bored of that, the box was returned and replaced with another, which consisted of enough Lego to cause some serious pain if needed, then one full of fake kitchen supplies and food, another of wooden toys that Wednesday seemed a little too proud of to not have contributed, and a final of softer, babyish ones that crinkled at her touch.
At first, she disliked it greatly, nearly jumping at every brush of her fingers, but when she realised that it was, in fact, her in control of the sound, her attitude towards it shifted.
Agnes lunged for the most colourful of the batch — a blue elephant with rainbow ears and a neon green cape — and brought it down over Wednesday's knee, smiling when it made a sound there as well.
"Hey, no hitting," Enid scolded instantly. The slight smile emerging on Wednesday's face countered her words, and Agnes giggled, slapping her yet again.
"This is the proper source of violence in a child's playtime," Wednesday countered, reaching for her own plush — a panda — and lightly slapping Agnes in return.
"Wednesday, no-"
"She's enjoying it."
Enid sighed, flopping back on the mat dramatically as their violent manner of play continued.
She lasted two minutes before joining in.
"You two are unbelievable," she laughed out, slapping Wednesday's attack aside with the ease of werewolf speed, although Wednesday was prepared, lunging for her other side and managing a hit on her hip as Agnes got one of her shoulders.
Eventually, they all died down, and the boxes were returned to their original places (save for the crinkly elephant, which was quickly turning into Agnes's favourite thing on planet earth).
Agnes was, oddly enough, absolutely exhausted.
It hadn't been that long, but the exposure to new things, along with the comfort of being around her favourite people, was enough to make her eyes droop. Thankfully, Enid noticed instantly.
"You drifting there, kiddo?" she asked, reaching out and tucking Anges's bangs back.
The pacifier slipped from her mouth as she yawned, an obvious confirmation. She made no move to get it back, only slumping backwards into the nearest person, who happened to be Wednesday.
Much like the rest of her, her lap was cold at first — shockingly so for a living human — though it warmed the second Wednesday's fingers ghosted over her ear in what she assumed to be an effectionate gesture.
"That is not a great place to sleep, I assure you. Would you like Enid to put you down for a proper nap?"
Agnes sighed dramatically, grabbing onto Wednesday's skirt. "Snuggle you," she mumbled, her grip nearly whitening her knuckles, "and Enid."
When no response came, she whispered out perhaps the most pathetic "please" she'd ever used, which worked instant wonders.
"I do not snuggle, although I would be willing to remain seated at the foot of my bed if you choose to rest there with Enid. When I was a child, my mother read me The Witch Trials for a treacherous rest. Would you be interested?"
Agnes sighed and sat up, flopping towards Enid instead, who caught her with ease and said something about Wednesday just needing more warm-up time before they moved to the snuggling phase.
"Go get your trials ready, Wends," Enid giggled, waving the woman off, who looked rather excited — well, Wednesday version of excited.
She hoisted a very deadweight Agnes onto her hip and stood up, filtering through her drawers until she found a bottle, which she quickly confirmed was okay with Agnes (what wasn't at this point?) before filling it with water.
"I'll get milk or juice at some point," she promised as she settled them both on Wednesday's bed beneath a thin sheet. "But right now this is all we've got. Do you want to hold it yourself, or can I?"
Agnes settled deeper into Enid's arms, opening her mouth in invitation for her to do it. The water was a little chilly, but it wasn't uncomfortable, especially as Enid's hands warmed it.
By the time Wednesday's clear voice joined in, recounting tales of the falsely accused, she was a gonner.
But she was with her family, and that was what mattered.