Credits to: The_Archmagos
Of all the places Enid Sinclair had ever thought she'd wind up spending her seventeenth birthday, a pitch black, freezing catacomb was not on the top of that list.
And yet, here she was, shivering under three layers and a scarlet red beanie, wading through frigid puddles along seemingly endless corridors of stone, with only a gift store keychain torch to guide her.
It was strange to think that it all started with a text.
Dearest Enid, it has come to my attention that you will be celebrating your seventeenth year upon this mortal coil a week from this day. I suggest that you spend it with me. With the best of wishes to you my dear, W.
Why exactly Wednesday had sent that message was a question Enid couldn't exactly answer, but she was very happy to get it. Her dearest mother hadn't quite gotten over the idea that Enid had her own idea of what was best for herself, and things were looking like they'd be pretty tense this year. Now, with the options before her being tagging along with Murray's work trip to New Jersey and sneaking off with his smug approval, and sticking around with her mother's ever growing list of lycanthropic therapists you just had to visit, Enid's decision practically made itself.
Plus, the last time they'd met in person two months ago back on her side of the country, she'd gotten a kiss, and maybe, just maybe, Enid was looking forward to something just as special this time too. Getting to say she was in love with the Addams girl was something she hadn't quite gotten used to, but Enid was keen to work on that.
And now Enid was here, straining to keep her jaw from cutting her own tongue off.
Not for the first time in the past few hours, she called out into the dark. Wednesday was somewhere ahead of her, and that was about all she knew of her guide's location. The Addams girl knew the place like the back of her hand, and Enid spent half her time trying to play catch up.
"Wednesday, how much further does this stupid cave go?"
To her surprise, Wednesday's reply came from right behind her.
"Calm down, Enid. We're at the final stretch, only a few more minutes."
At least that's what she thought Wednesday said, seeing as she was too busy crying out a startled yelp to hear her words properly. On the way here from the Addams estate — and Enid was a little disappointed that she only had the chance to gaze upon it from the outside — Wednesday had been kind enough to fill her in on some of the details. The old mine was barely a few minutes walk down from that dark house, and in its seemingly endless depths the young girl had found it to be a private, persoal playground, and a suitably one dangerous too. Even Wednesday didn't know how deep it went.
All in all, exactly the sort of place Enid would've expected the two of them would've gone to for the sole purpose of cracking a grisly murder, or a few at the same time. Not for a party.
Even as she tried to work herself up, Enid's hands betrayed her, digging across her scalp and constantly shifting. Without a word spoken Wednesday put out one of hers, and Enid wavered before taking it, firmly.
"I think we ought to continue, now. Come on, I'll try and keep in your sight this time if it makes you feel any better."
Despite that, Wednesday seemed to disappear every now and then into the gloom, though at least she reappeared here and there ahead of her often enough that Enid wasn't perpetually lost.
Eventually, she came to a stop, the light of her torch cast against a wooden door embedded in the rock. Wednesday waited for Enid to catch up as she stooped to fit below the falling ceiling, and when she spoke it was with an almost wistful voice, a touch of emotion Enid always enjoyed seeing drip through her on what few occasions it happened.
"Here we are. My own little hideaway, well out of sight from any mortal soul, as well as my parents. And for today, the venue of the birthday celebration of one Enid Sinclair."
The wistful, almost romantic way she spoke of the place left no doubt in Enid's mind of how much it meant to her, as subdued as Wednesday's words were. For the first time today, she realised that she was being let into a very special place indeed, a glimpse into her girlfriend's real life.
"Damn, pretty sweet place. You know, I had a treehouse when I was a cub to sneak away to, guess it seemed wild-ish enough to pass Esther's high and mighty standards. Though it was a helluva lot brighter than this."
Enid could've sworn she saw the corner of the other girl's mouth curl upwards a little, or maybe it was a trick of the light. When she spoke again, it was in a voice tinged more with quiet sympathy.
"I suppose everyone needs a space for themselves, even someone as personable as you. I hope this place can become one for both of us."
Then, Enid watched as she steeled herself, flexing long fingers into a fist a few times, and that glimmer of something beneath the surface soon drained away, though this time it left a little more life to be seen.
"Well, time to show what you've been waiting for. I would entirely understand if you find what's on the other side of this door less than satisfactory. Despite my best efforts, I faced some difficulty attempting to comprehend your own, peculiar, aesthetic, based on how I recall your half of our Nevermore dorm was decorated. I'll let you be the judge of how I did."
Then, in a single push, she swung the door wide open.
The first thing that hits Enid's eyes is the light, a glaring and stinging change from ages spent in these winding shadows. When her eyes adjust, she looks into the room, and finds it nothing like what she could've imagined.
The ceiling hung low to the ground, and every available surface had been absolutely plastered with cheerful posters bearing the most heartwarmingly cliche birthday wishes you'd ever seen. Sheets of vibrant cloth in all colours strung about all over the place, so that barely an inch of bare stone could be made out. Every surface was bathed in an almost magical, shifting curtain of light until it looked as if the night sky had made its way through the earth and down here just for the two of them, and lying beneath that spectacle was a shallow table surrounded by throw pillows and beanbags, laid out seemingly in a haphazard and chaotic fashion but with an order to it that belied the care that had been put into the work.
Enid stood in the doorway as she drank in the sight, every tired complaint about the past two miserable hours of trekking draining out of her mind, and it felt like a small eternity before Wednesday spoke again, though it couldn't have been more than a heartbeat.
"I do apologise for—"
Enid cut her off, almost literally as her hand nearly lept out to cover Wednesday's dour mouth.
"Oh, my, God, Wednesday! Shut your mouth, this shit is amazing!
Before another would come out from either of them, Enid leapt into the small room. After the long way here through such tight spaces it seemed larger than it really was, but it was more than enough for her, and Enid's head could barely catch up to what her eyes were seeing, taking in the scenery.
Every tacky poster, every streamer of willowy fabric, every cute little pillow like the ones she had at home, was a delight, over and over and over again.
And tucked into a corner almost out of sight, she recognised something.
"Holy crap, is that one of those light-projector-things I told you about? You said it looked stupid!"
It couldn't be anything else, and at the moment the machine that according to its website cost seventy bucks and change was shining its light through a crystal-shaped dome at its top, the source of the shifting and dazzling display that lit up the room and turned it into something more.
Leaning against the doorframe, Enid could see in Wednesday's eyes that her apprehension was starting to ebb away in the face of this relentless wave of cheer.
"I said it was a pointless waste of money for you to get it. I also knew you wanted it anyway. This was the best way to make sure you didn't buy it without telling me."
"Ahhh, you're the best!"
Enid could have gone on about every little detail that filled the room with life for hours, but after spending a few of those just getting here she soon realised just how tired she was.
"So, this is how you hold a party, huh? Damn, Wednesday, you really don't know how to disappoint a girl."
"Don't I? I know you've had a few at Nevermore, I hoped my decorations would compare favourably."
"Believe me, I think Yoko would've had trouble putting this much shit out in a room like this. I mean, how did you even get it down here? I'd say you did pretty damn good, girl!"
Wednesday's face turned to one of satisfied pride.
"The same way I managed to empty the place of my antique shovel collection; with a lot of work. With you here, I'm starting to think it was worth the effort."
"Oh, it absolutely is!"
A smile stretched across Enid's face as she sank into the depths of one of the beanbags that littered the floor, closing her eyes and basking in a sort of warm glow a world apart from the freezing corridors that had led her here.
"This is the best gift I could've possibly asked for, Addams. Now, cut it out with your gloomy self-loathing, you really don't deserve any. Let me just...... soak in all this."
"Gift? No, this is just the party, Enid, we're not quite done yet..."
And with that she reached behind one of the curtains and pulled out a thick, leather bound chest, seemingly ancient and worn. A little of her previous apprehension snuck back into her eyes, but Wednesday carried on and said her next words in a forcefully still voice.
"This... this, is your gift, 'for real' this time. I tried to make it unique, and something for you to remember me by. Happy birthday, Enid."
Wednesday held it before Enid in her outstretched hands, eyes looking away, darting around as if trying to find some corner of the tiny room where they could lose themselves in, and failing that turned to gaze with a wavering and flickering flame into Enids, as if searching in them for strength.
Enid composed herself, letting out a short breath, and took the case from her hands without touching them. She felt around a little brass knob at the front and pulled a small loop of leather out of place, then with suddenly shaking hands lifted it open.
"Woah..."
This made for Enid's second surprise of the night. Fitted snugly into small holes in a velvet lining, most of the box's inner space was filled with a black-leather covered tome made of the same stuff as the case it came in, with the letter 'E' embossed into its surface in a slender silver shape, an expectedly gothic and grim artefact which stood in stark contrast to the small pen which sat below it and took up the rest of the box. An elegant fountain tipped pen painted a cherry pink, running down its length on either side were curling stripes coloured baby blue.
As her hand brushed against each, soft leather and cold metal, Enid couldn't tell if her heart was beating at a furious pace, or had stopped, silent.
Still standing across from her, Wednesday said something, soft enough that Enid more felt than heard her words.
"There's a note on the front page, for you to read."
Enid nodded, not trusting herself to be able to do anything else without cracking open the floodgates to her chest, and carefully slid open the cover of the book. There, in a perfect cursive script, was written the third part of Wednesday's gift.
My Enid,
So that you will always have a place to be truly you, and so that you know I will always be there with you to discover what that means.
Your Wednesday
That did it.
"Oh my God, Wednesday..."
Before she knew it Enid couldn't see a thing through her tears, and in a final act of composure set the case and its contents down on the low table before crashing upon a beanbag and letting herself bawl her eyes out, and letting Wednesday kneel close to her, so close she could feel her cold breath wash against her face. And when she spoke, Enid could hear that once again something was worming its way past that pale mask, and that she wasn't alone in not holding back.
Again, Wednesday's next words seemed to flutter through the air, but came through crystal clear nonetheless.
"I suppose you're crying because you like it, then?"
The sheer shock of that would've drama been enough. Now, after the past couple of minutes, Enid could only reach out with an arm and pull Wednesday in closer.
"I love it, Roomie."
Enid realised she had something else to say, and a moment later it came out too.
"I love you."
It took a little longer for Wednesday's reply to come, but when it did it washed over like a cool breeze.
"I suppose I should say, I love you too."
Wednesday lightly brushed her golden hair out of the way, and they both got a good, long look into the other's eyes. Then, she leaned in.