Summary:
When Enid's noise-cancelling headphones go missing right when she needs them the most, she is furious. She quickly changes her mind when she finds out who took them.
Enid Sinclair didn't get angry easily but when she did, she was absolutely furious. Right now was one of those moments. It had been a really long week and all she wanted was to relax in her dorm with some music and waste away a few hours doing nothing, just to escape from everything for a while. She had been thinking about it all day.
Those plans were shattered when she actually reached the room she shared with Wednesday and almost immediately noticed that her headphones were not on her desk, where she had left them early that morning, when the sun was still hidden behind the horizon and she had to leave her comfortable bed to go to class. She spent a few minutes looking around her admittedly messy half of the room, trying to convince herself that she had just misplaced them, but they were well and truly gone.
She tried to keep a clear head and to think like Wednesday. After all, her roomie had solved cases before, thinking like her might help Enid figure out this mystery, as well. So, she retraced her steps, noticing that the window was open and the door hadn't been locked. She didn't really know what that could tell her that she didn't already know – that someone had taken her headphones out of the room – but she still thought it was a good start.
She would have just asked Wednesday or Thing for help but neither was around so she would have to solve this on her own, starting by making a list of subjects. The main issue with that was that she was too angry to focus, so much so that it took an embarrassingly long time to think of just going to the Quad where most people would be at the time. Surely, she would find the thief there. And then she could get her stuff back and make sure no one ever touched it without her permission again.
The walk – or, rather, run – to the Quad passed by in a blur. She was vaguely aware of some people staring at her, not used to the rage radiating off of her in waves, but she didn't care. She just wanted her bright pink noise cancelling headphones so she could finally listen to her music and block out everything else and maybe even take a nice long nap. She could deal with the consequences later, when she didn't feel so worn out.
The Quad might have been full of people or it might have been completely empty aside from some of her friends, Enid really couldn't tell, too distracted by the rage filling every corner of her mind. She was distantly aware of her claws slicing into her own palms and of her fangs painfully pressing into her lip, filling her mouth with the taste of iron. She couldn't find it in herself to care.
She also knew that her voice was rougher than normal, and that she was closer to growling than to actually speaking, something she would surely be embarrassed by once she came back to herself. For now, all that mattered was getting her headphones back, preferably soon and without seriously harming anyone, except maybe for whoever had taken them. She just had some trouble making that clear to the people around her.
"Once I figure out which of you assholes took my fucking headphones, I will literally rip your head off! Give them back to me right now or so god hel–"
She could and most likely would have gone on screaming like this for hours if she hadn't spotted her headphones in that moment, in the last place anyone would have looked for them. Their bright pink colours stood out against the black of Wednesday's jacket like a sore thumb where the headphones hung around her neck and the contrast as well as the strangeness of this image drew everyone's eyes immediately, Enid being one of the last to notice.
"I took them. Or rather, Thing did it for me. I apologize, I thought he had asked for permission or at the very least left a note."
Her voice was quiet, much quieter than Enid had been, but everyone had gone completely silent as soon as she showed up so it was still easy to understand her, even if she was nearly whispering. Enid vaguely noticed people leaning in to understand what she was saying but decided to let it go, all her anger leaving her and immediately being replaced with a strange mix of joy at seeing Wednesday and how adorable she looked with the headphones and worry because she had needed them in the first place.
"Wednesday! Are you doing ok? It's fine, I just freaked out a bit when I couldn't find them, I'm sorry for snapping. You can borrow my headphones whenever you need them. I hope they helped..."
She stepped closer to the shorter girl, reaching out slowly so she could pull back if she wanted to and placing both hands on her shoulders when she didn't. Wednesday actually leaned into the touch for a moment and nearly smiled – Enid could tell from the slight twitch in her left eye – before she regained control over her face. Unlike her, Enid allowed her own smile to grow, trying not to blush too much. For a moment, they got lost in each other, slowly moving closer until they were nearly pressed together. Then, just when they were about to kiss, Yoko interrupted.
"Simp!"
Wednesday's eyes went wide and Enid briefly considered mauling her best friend – clearly, being around Wednesday so much was starting to impact the way she thought, not that she really cared – but dismissed the idea almost immediately when her girlfriend lifted her own hand and threaded their fingers together, squeezing twice before relaxing her grip again but still not letting go. Enid felt her face grow even hotter as she suddenly became almost painfully aware of all the eyes staring at the two of them.
Luckily, Wednesday noticed her discomfort almost immediately, just like she always did when Enid's mood shifted. She kept their hands connected and gently led Enid back inside, not talking again until the door closed behind them and keeping it short and quiet even then, leaning closer into Enid's side to almost whisper to her to avoid even more sensory overload.
"They did. Thank you."
Wednesday's voice, alongside the much darker and quieter surroundings without anyone staring at them, calmed Enid down almost completely, though she was still a bit shaken and very tired form everything. She even leaned against Wednesday for support as well as comfort because, now that her anger had ebbed out and the adrenaline was gone, she could barely stand on her own feet any more, too exhausted even for that.
Wednesday didn't mind, letting her cling on as much as she wanted and leading her up the stairs to their shared room at a much slower pace than how they normally walked. She would have enjoyed the brief and very rare moment of quiet between them if she hadn't felt bad for what had happened but Enid could tell how much guilt and worry were bothering her. So, she only let herself have one more moment to gather herself before breaking the silence, speaking with almost as much energy as she usually had.
"Of course. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
By now, they had made it into the room and were sitting next to each other on Wednesday's dark bed, the bright pink headphones next to them and their shoulders once again brushing against each other. Enid could tell that this situation was serious but not too serious when Wednesday once again leaned into the touch, not so subtly trying to get Enid to give her a hug.
Of course, it worked almost immediately. Enid put one arm around Wednesday's waist to pull her even closer and placed the other on her knee and started tracing patterns on it in the way she knew would help both of them calm down. Wednesday almost smiled at that but her face didn't make it all the way there and she eventually stopped trying, instead making sure her voice would stay steady.
"We took fencing practice outside and everything just got too loud for a bit. But I'm doing much better now."
Enid gave her a moment, just in case she wanted to add anything to that, but when Wednesday didn't elaborate, she just squeezed her knee while thinking of an appropriate response that wouldn't overwhelm Wednesday and sent her right back into sensory overload. It took some effort but she eventually managed to keep her voice relatively steady and to not start yelling halfway through accidentally, like she usually did.
"That's great! If you want to, I can show you where I got the headphones so we can get some for you, too. That way we can both use them if we need them at the same time. They also have some that match your aesthetic more."
She almost got up halfway through talking to get her phone that had somehow ended up on the other side of the room, wanting to order the new headphones immediately, but changed her mind when Wednesday grabbed her hand, her grip almost painful and her fingers cold as ever. At first, Enid froze, but then Wednesday pulled her back down and against her side. Enid followed her lead without hesitation.
"I think I would like that."
Contrary to Wednesday's words, neither girl even attempted to get up. In fact, they both sunk deeper into the bed until they were essentially cuddling, though Wednesday would never call it that. She always said it was too trivial a word to describe the extent of her feelings for Enid that she occasionally liked to express through physical contact.
For a few moments, there was comfortable silence, though it was soon interrupted by Enid's small giggles when Wednesday started pressing small kisses first to her hands and then her face, always making sure not to get too close to her mouth. After at least a dozen kisses, Enid grew impatient so, the next time Wednesday tried to kiss her cheek, she turned her head so the kiss landed squarely on her mouth, instead.
If Wednesday was at all surprised by this, she didn't show it. She leaned into the kiss without hesitation, smiling into it when Enid couldn't hold back a small sound at the sudden intensity. No matter how many times they did this, she still couldn't fully believe that she got to kiss Wednesday and be kissed by Wednesday now. If it were up to her, she would never do anything else again.
Of course, they would have to stop eventually, at the very latest for Wednesday's writing time. Maybe Enid could get her to delay it for a while but she had already convinced her to skip it the day before so now Wednesday would most likely write for twice as long while Enid had to keep herself busy. They could even pick out some headphones for Wednesday once she was done writing for the day. But Enid didn't want to think about that, not while her girlfriend was still right there and giving her her full attention.
Question of the day: in ear, over ear or on ear headphones?