Work Text:
“Hey! Wednesday! Check out what I learned to make today!” Enid exclaimed as she bounded into their dorm room on an idle Friday.
Wednesday was sitting at her desk, working away at her typewriter. She didn’t look up. Not that not doing so deterred Enid in any way. This was par for the course.
She said nothing, and Enid skipped over to her and placed a lump of black construction paper in her periphery.
“What’s this?” Wednesday asked.
“It’s a paper bat!” Enid said, nudging it closer to her until she gave up and set it on the desk between Wednesday’s hands on the typewriter.
Finally, Wednesday looked at it.
Surely enough, there was a crumpled mound of paper that looked vaguely like an origami bat sitting there.
“What do you think?” Enid asked as she leaned over Wednesday’s shoulder to get a look at the page she was working on.
“I think you put a few folds in the wrong places before you got it right,” Wednesday replied flatly, picking it up carefully and examining it.
Even if it was a little messy, it was Enid’s first shot. She didn’t want to ruin it. Clearly, she’d put love into it.
“Want me to teach you how to make one?” Enid asked.
Wednesday finally turned away from her typewriter and faced Enid. “Why in the world would I want to learn how to make this?”
Enid’s grin grew mischievous. “Because you haven’t seen the best part!”
She picked up the bat like a paper airplane and tossed it across the room. As it flew through the air, the wings flapped gently before it came to a stop on the scuffed wooden floor.
“It flaps its wings!” Enid said, beaming at Wednesday.
Her face remained neutral. “So, you made a glorified paper airplane?” Wednesday inquired.
Enid nodded. “I was bored in study hall, and I saw this online. I was a little skeptical, but it totally works!”
“Well, I guess if this is what you consider productive,” Wednesday said, turning back to her typewriter.
“Come on, Wens! Lemme teach you!” Enid pleaded. “It will be fun! Please?”
Wednesday sighed, “You’re not going to let me work until you can pass on this utterly useless knowledge to me, are you?”
Enid shook her head, “Nope!! Come on!” she said, heading to her backpack and pulling out some black construction paper. Then she went to sit on the floor, spreading out the sheets.
Wednesday stood and went to join her on the floor, the light from the setting sun coming through their window and bathing half the room in nauseatingly bright colours.
20 minutes passed as Enid slowly went through the motions of making the bat as Wednesday watched.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wednesday’s eyes soften a little and maybe, a hint of curiosity as she followed along with her own paper.
She smiled.
“The bat reminded me of you. I thought you’d like it,” Enid told her while they worked.
Wednesday’s heart warmed just the slightest bit, as it was wont to do when she was around Enid.
“I remind you of a paper bat?” Wednesday asked.
“Well, yeah,” Enid replied. “You’re a spooky night creature.”
“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment,” Wednesday said, placing in another fold.
Wednesday was never outwardly sweet. That just wasn’t her thing. Honestly, very little of her behaviour had changed since they’d finally gotten together. Not that Enid minded too much. Wednesday’s understatedness was a part of who she was.
Wednesday showed her affection in other ways—granted, some were weird and warped, like the time she suggested going to some random person’s funeral on a date.
But that was Wednesday. She liked her weirdness.
Enid did the last fold, “Voilà!”
She looked at their new paper bats that now sat in front of them on the floor.
Enid had improved since her first attempt during class. Wednesday’s was perfect, each crease firm and exact.
She saw the slightest upward quirk at the corner of Wednesday’s mouth. “Not bad,” She said.
“Wanna toss them off the balcony?” Enid asked.
After thinking for a moment, Wednesday nodded as she turned hers around in her hands to study it. “Very well,” she agreed.
They stood together and headed to the balcony of their room.
“Three, two, one!” Enid counted before she and Wednesday sent their bats out into the world. They watched them flap their little wings as they got farther and farther from them, going off on their own adventure.
“Would you like to accompany me to dinner?” Wednesday asked when the last of the bats disappeared into the dark tree line.
“Sure! Just let me grab my sweater!” Enid called as she headed back inside.
Wednesday remained out on the balcony for a second longer, watching the sun slip away. There was an idea that was percolating in her mind, but it wasn’t fully formed yet. She’d have to give it a little time.
Four days later...
Enid came back late from class to find Wednesday sitting at her desk, the keys of her typewriter hammering down on a fresh sheet of paper.
“Hey!” Enid greeted as she walked in and collapsed on her bed.
Wednesday only hummed in response as she wrote.
“How’s the book coming?” Enid asked, slipping off her shoes and putting them beside her bed.
“Fine. No less miserable than normal,” Wednesday replied absently.
Enid stood and padded across the room to stand beside Wednesday, who was quietly reading over a sentence.
That’s when she spotted it—something small and unexpected sitting beside a legal pad on the mahogany desk.
“What’s this?” Enid asked with curiosity, picking it up.
“It’s a paper wolf,” Wednesday stated. She didn’t look up. “It reminded me of you.”
Enid looked at it. It was cute and simple. She didn’t know where Wednesday learned to do it.
She was under the impression that Wednesday didn’t know how to do origami. She assumed she thought it was a little pointless.
She looked around Wednesday’s desk. She found a piece of paper under the legal pad. It read, ‘How to make an origami wolf’.
It seemed she had found the instructions and printed them out for herself. No doubt that she did that with Thing’s help. She was not tech-savvy in the slightest.
She caught sight of the black, wicker wastepaper basket beneath Wednesday’s desk. Typically, it was full of paper balls, but today, there was also a pair of black nitril gloves there, peeking out of the corner, a piece of paper with some streaks of paint on it, and what seemed to be a single failed attempt at the wolf.
The wolf was cream coloured and parts of its body were pastel.
Enid turned it over in her hands.
“It’s no big deal,” Wednesday told her. “I had a little downtime.”
Enid smiled, “I love it!”
She brought it back to her bedside table.
That’s when she saw that there was something else on her nightstand.
There was a small paper bat there, and a note was taped to its nose with masking tape.
The note read:
Enid,
Do you wish to accompany me to Jerico for coffee and pastries in a graveyard this evening?
~ W.A.
“Yes, I’d love to, Wednesday,” Enid exclaimed, putting the bat and the wolf side by side on her desk. She pinned the note to the shelf.
“Excellent. I’ll get my coat,” Wednesday said, standing. “I’ll even pay for one of those nauseatingly pink-looking doughnuts for you.”
“And I’ll get you the chocolate overload cake. Not a colour in sight,” Enid said back with a soft, affectionate smile as she put on her shoes again and went to grab her jacket.
Wednesday allowed herself to smile just the slightest bit, her voice losing its typically harsh tone. “Acceptable,” she said, holding the door for Enid before letting it fall shut behind them and walking beside her down the hall.