Work Text:
The vexatious plight wherein they did find themselves was more parlous than Viper would e'er avow, knowing Evelyn did already quake in the space behind her, breath escaping in ragged sighs as her bosom did rise and fall apace. Holding her own breath, Viper did tarry, lending ear to the soft, circumspect footfalls of the murderer just outside the closet, when she felt warm fingers slip into…
Wednesday’s typing stopped, hands frozen in a space just above the keys of her old typewriter, eyes widening slightly as she stared at the words. She turned her head slightly, eyes drifting to the girl on the other side of the room, laid on her stomach in her bed, legs swinging to click her heels together every two seconds as she listened to some music in her cat-eared headphones.
...her hand, gripped fast. Viper did suffer it, seeking to soothe her companion of lesser mettle.
Wednesday scoffed, staring, and she thought a moment. Fingertips to the keys, she stopped, an image already conjured in her head of the next scene and she told herself sternly, “No.”
The chair slid back and she heard the headphones come off.
“Enid,” Wednesday stated, knowing she was listening. “I need your assistance with something very important.”
The bed creaked and Wednesday stood, turning and clasping her hands at her stomach, watching as Enid approached, something between curiosity and excitement splashed onto her features. “This doesn’t involve looking at more morbid pictures of mutilated bodies, because, ew, no, I draw the line,” Enid slashed her hand through the air and her mouth frowned awkwardly.
Staring, Wednesday took a breath. “I’m writing a new scene for my novel. Viper and Evelyn, my main protagonist and her… associate are cornered in the closet of a decrepit old house hiding away from the villain. The scene will end without bloodshed or confrontation of any sort, but in a moment of fear, Evelyn…” she trailed.
Enid waited, brow rising slowly, listening intently. “You’re asking for my help with your characters?” She asked when Wednesday remained at a loss for how to proceed.
With a simple nod, she looked to the way her eyes were turning the dial up in their brightness in a way that made Wednesday drop her gaze to Enid’s lips before her smile rendered her thoughtless and she glanced away entirely. She saw the right sneaker turn, stance relaxing, and she could see out of her peripheral that Enid was now planting her hands at her waist, head tilted upward as she considered.
“Ok, but, what are you stuck on?”
Chin lifting slightly, Wednesday offered, “Viper is a detective and an obvious representation of myself – she’s cold, calculating, intelligent, and her associate, Evelyn, is not. I’m at a loss to interpret her actions or her intentions in their current situation.”
Enid’s shoulders dropped slightly. “So, what are you stuck on?” She repeated.
“In a moment of weakness, Viper allows Evelyn to take her hand.” Wednesday watched her consider the words but remain silent. “To alleviate her fear. But there’s an odd tension, it’s not something I’m familiar with – the danger will pass, but the moment is… stuck.” Wednesday waited, then rolled her eyes. “Maybe this needs a practical equivalency.”
“A what?” Enid began, but she saw Wednesday’s hand shoot out faster than she could process, taking her wrist to tug her towards the closet beside Wednesday’s bed, swinging her inside and stepping in after her. The door snapped shut roughly and Wednesday stood in the darkness.
Enid’s hands immediately reached out and she gasped at their close proximity, reaching out again to search for the light switch before Wednesday slapped her hand down. “They’re hiding, just like we are now. No lights, no sounds, nothing but a lurking danger just outside and their shared fear, warming the small space.”
The door to their room opened and they both turned to look at the heavy wooden door, hearing the footsteps that came in and the heavy way they moved towards Wednesday’s side of the room. Wednesday and Enid shifted back together, Enid fumbling for and finding Wednesday to hold as she withheld a whimper.
“Wednesday? Enid?”
It was Thornhill and Enid began to speak, but Wednesday clamped a hand down over her mouth, a whispered “no” breathed hotly into Enid’s cheek. Wednesday heard papers ruffle at Enid’s desk and then she heard the sound of a fingernail tapping at the edge of her own typewriter, heard the small humph of approval before the footsteps moved back towards the door. It never closed and Wednesday frowned, listening for more evidence of her departure.
“She’s our dorm mom, that could have been important, Wednesday!” Enid hissed.
Frowning at her roommate, Wednesday corrected, “She was snooping into our private spaces, gathering intel we’ve not given her permission to be privy to.”
“You’re one to talk!” Enid snapped back, free hand lifting.
“You wanted to help.” Her eyes snapped back to stare at Enid’s – not looking away when she challenged her with her piercing gaze. “Have your eyes adjusted to the darkness yet?” She asked instead.
“What?”
“I need to know what Evelyn would do in this situation.”
She took a breath to answer and then stopped. “Am I Evelyn?” Enid questioned. “You said Viper was your character, does that make me Evelyn?”
Wednesday opened her mouth, a wet pop that hung heavily in the silence that followed before she began nodding awkwardly, telling her honestly, “She is based on your likeness.”
The blue eyes that had been boring into hers disappeared within the widest smile Wednesday had ever seen come from her companion.
“You’re blinding me,” she told her half-heartedly.
Then she nodded, shifting them back to the center of the closet, realizing for the first time that their hands were clasped together. Wednesday didn’t let go, for educational purposes she told herself.
Evelyn had and Viper had let her.
Eyes avoiding, Wednesday told her, “I had a wild notion, based on… based on your behaviors.”
Lips still pressed together in a smug grin, Enid tilted her head forward and offered, “Dark space, close proximity, tension you can cut with a sharpened axe – Wednesday Addams, did you think once the lurking danger was gone, that Evelyn might kiss Viper?”
Her hand dropped away then and she stepped back, pressing into her own wardrobe behind her before uttering a quiet, “Yes. But it’s insane.”
Bouncing slightly on the spot, Enid asked in amusement, “And you’re sure this is Evelyn’s doing, this crazy notion of yours? Not new insight into maybe, oh, say, Viper?”
Watching her smirk, Wednesday shot, “Are you teasing me? I don’t respond well…” she went quiet as Enid took a step forward. She swallowed roughly. “A tease like this is akin to a threat.”
“How would Viper respond to such a threat?” Enid asked calmly.
Wednesday got the impression she was toying with her. Wednesday understood she’d somehow gotten the upper hand in this conversation and she grunted in frustration. “Ordinarily, Viper would withdraw a small dagger she keeps hidden in her boot and slice out a quick warning.”
“Ordinarily,” Enid repeated. She bent slightly, face inches from Wednesday, almost waiting for the burn of that cold steel she knew would never come. Because she was Enid, facing Wednesday. “But maybe Viper has repressed feelings, feelings neither she nor you are quite capable of comprehending because of your… behaviors.”
Nodding, feeling her back arching away almost painfully, Wednesday asked, “So would you kiss me?”
Enid froze, the words registering incorrectly in her mind, so she corrected, “Would Evelyn kiss Viper?”
“That’s what I said,” Wednesday shot.
Head shaking slowly, Enid whispered, “No, it wasn’t.”
Straightening slowly, in spite of the way it made her heart thump too strongly in her chest, Wednesday stood with her nose two inches from Enid’s and she growled through gritted teeth, “Are you going to help me with the answer or not?”
“If you promise not to stab me,” Enid responded quietly. “Or get upset at what that answer might tell you.”
Her words were so soft, Wednesday thought, and she licked her lips involuntarily, eyes darting to Enid’s when she did the same. Waiting. Waiting for her to answer. “I promise,” she finally mouthed.
Enid tilted her chin slightly and turned her head, pressing a gentle kiss to Wednesday’s lips and separated, lingering a breath away. Brow furrowing, Wednesday focused on the way her mouth tingled wondering if it was related to the fluttering in her gut and the cold in her chest or if it were some small allergic reaction to the shimmering lip gloss her roommate wore.
She waited, concentrating on how their quick breaths mingled and when Enid moved again, it felt as though she’d pulled a chord that undid her entirely. Her body leaned forward, pressing firmly against Enid’s, right hand coming up to hold Enid’s waist, left finding its way into her hair, burying itself into the soft blonde locks to keep her there as the kiss deepened.
Enid’s soft moan spun her head, as did the way her fingers came up to curl around her neck before her right slid along the long braid, resting when it reached the end, holding to her as though it were the tether keeping them together. Wednesday inhaled her perfume, sickeningly sweet, and she reveled in the warmth soaking through her jumper.
She saw all of her colors flashing behind her closed eyelids and for a moment she feared a vision, stark and painful, interrupting the softness of this moment. Wednesday broke the kiss and held Enid back, breathing hard as she met Enid’s lusty gaze in the darkness. She swallowed the faint taste of strawberry and nodded.
“Thank you, Enid,” she managed to state firmly.
“Right,” Enid replied, sounding disappointed as she took a small step away and Wednesday could see how it pained her to put the space back between them. “You’re welcome.” Enid’s hands clasped into balls, knuckles pressing into each other in front of her and she swayed gently once before asking, “Did that clear things up for you, Wednesday?”
Shaking her head, Wednesday looked to Enid, “Evelyn is far more intoxicating than I had predicted upon first glance.” She looked to the way Enid waited and she gave her a tilted nod, “Viper’s feelings are perhaps more intricate than I had ever imagined.”
Enid’s smile was small, shy, surprising to Wednesday. Considering it, as well as the blush she felt in her own cheeks, she looked away, turning to reach for the doorknob. The simple touch of her fingertip to Wednesday’s left hand stopped her, but she refused to turn to see the sadness in Enid’s eyes. She knew, instinctively, that they held sadness.
“This stays here, Enid,” she told her.
Her sigh was long, understanding the secrecy Wednesday required of her for reasons even Wednesday couldn’t understand. “Evelyn wouldn’t, you know.” She paused before adding, “Kiss Viper.”
Wednesday turned curiously, and Enid put on her best smile.
“She’d be too afraid to. To ruin their associate-ship.” She was nodding, eyes looking over each black item of clothes Wednesday owned, avoiding her gaze in exchange. “I have to get air, this is getting claustrophobic.”
Pushing past her, Enid opened the door and moved back out into their room, grabbing her jacket before exiting tensely, leaving Wednesday standing in the doorway of her closet, fingers rising slowly to touch at her lips. Slowly, she made her way back to her desk, sitting to stare at the typewriter and the last words there in confusion. Moreso than when she’d first asked the question. Fingers settling onto the keys, she typed slowly, focused on the memory of Enid’s lips.
The footfalls without did fade into the distance, and once in surety, Viper did turn to her companion, beholding the strain within her eyes. Evelyn did offer a smile, as if to soothe her spirit, and released her hand, rising and taking her leave. The hollowness it did leave in Viper's palm did prick most keenly.