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Wednesday was uncharacteristically stressed. And not the good kind. Not the primal sense of danger tingling in the back of your mind that spurs you to run when a branch cracks in the woods, or the surge of adrenaline that makes your heart pound in your chest at hearing the echoing scream of a mountain lion call coming from the dark. This was different, a more subtle and insidious stress that overtakes you like an assassin in the night. Before you know it you are floundering, you lose sleep, and begin to feel like prey in every waking moment. Prey. Wednesday loved the word, yet she hated feeling like it. She was too accustomed to being the hunter, waiting to strike down her unfortunate target.
But today was different. Her inane stalker had managed to outmaneuver her at every turn, every trap she set and plan she forced into motion since the beginning of the new term. Now, a month later, failed attempt after failed attempt of revealing the stalkers identity, she was exhausted. Wednesday had hit her breaking point and she snapped, frustrated and snippish at every interaction with her peers.
The ravenette stomped back to her shared dorm mulling over clues, hints, and anything she could grasp, yet she still felt like she was grasping at straws. Wednesday let out a frustrated huff and opened the dorm door with a bit more force than necessary, clomping into the room with a pout.
“Eek!”
Enid flinched and jumped up where she had her back turned to the door, conversing quietly with Thing.
“Goddess, Willa you scared the crap outta me!”
“My apologies, Enid”
Wednesday continued her brisk walk to her bed, unaware of the concerned look Enid currently wore at the fact she had gotten an absent-minded apology from the goth, who was usually more subversive in her language, disguising her actual apologies or compliments as macabre threats.
Enid whispered something to Thing that caused him to rapidly tap on the bed and scurry away, but Wednesday couldn’t be bothered to decipher yet another mystery of the blonde wolf who had unknowingly dug her claws into the ravenettes’ heart.
Wednesday heard the tell tale gait of Enid padding over towards her and let out a silent sigh, knowing she would probably be assaulted by the latest Nevermore gossip or some other despondent teenage drivel. She cracked open her eyes from where she was lying on her bed and took in the nervous look on Enid’s face, hands clasped behind her back.
“Out with it, Enid”
“So… are you like, ok?”
“I am perfectly gloomy”
The wolf let out a huff and seemed to steel her resolve. She plopped onto the bed and gave Wednesday a gut wrenchingly sincere expression.
“I know you’ve been insanely stressed over the whole stalker situation and I’m worried about you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how little sleep you’re getting!”
Wednesday gave Enid her full attention, carefully turning over and glaring at her.
“Do not underestimate me, I will reveal their identity in time. I’ll have you know, I have dealt with much worse sleep deprivation, this is nothing.”
The blonde scrunched her eyebrows, practically mocking Wednesday with how easily she saw through her lie.
“Willa, you can barely stay awake in class, and you don’t even do your weird plant genius verbal sparring with Bianca anymore.”
The goth had no response to that, so she rolled her eyes and flipped over, facing away from Enid.
“Leave me to rest.”
“Not until you let me do something for you”
Wednesday closed her eyes tight, mentally warring over kicking the wolf back over to her side of the room, but she knew it would be a losing battle, as the blonde would just pester her non-stop until she finally gave in and accepted her help. She was too tired for this.
“Fine”
She heard Enid give a happy clap and felt her bounce on the bed, rocking her slightly.
“Yay! Ok take off your sweater and lay face down on the bed.”
“You better be preparing me for a swift death, Enid, I would not do this for anyone else.”
She sat up and pulled off her sweater, leaving her in a loose black t-shirt, before hesitantly laying face down and peeking up at Enid. She heard the swift shink of Enid’s claws coming out and she relaxed into the silk sheets, thinking Enid finally was going to put an end to her suffering. What she wasn’t prepared for was the light pressure of the other girl's claws coming into contact with her back. Wednesday tensed slightly, surprised at the sudden contact before she let out a breath and relaxed under the currently unmoving claws.
“What kind of relaxation ritual is this?”
“You’ll see!”
Enid gave her a blinding smile before scratching gently down Wednesday’s back with those despicable rainbow claws, causing the smaller girl to let out a soft groan at the sensation, making Enid giggle. The wolf slowly scratched her claws back up and over her shoulder blades, before circling around and coming back down again. Wednesday didn’t want to admit it, but it felt absolutely divine. The feeling of sharp claws gently running up and down repeatedly made her relax properly for the first time in a month. The goth let out another soft sound, melting under the blonde’s consistent ministrations.
“Enid”
“Hm?”
“Under”
She felt the wolf stop momentarily before she heard a soft “Okay” and felt her t-shirt being lifted, and the contact resumed. The occasional brush of warm fingertips of her bare skin caused the spiders in her stomach to skitter around, but she ignored it in favor of tuning into the feeling of claws tracing their path around soft skin. Wednesday felt all of her stress and constant worries about the investigation into the stalker slowly fade away as a strange warmth in her chest replaced it, the only thing on her mind being the current moment.
After an undetermined amount of time under Enid’s claws, her skin became a little too sensitive and she tensed back up making a soft noise of warning. Enid seemed to know what she meant though, and Wednesday felt werewolf-warm palms soothe over her back, skin on skin, tracing the same path the claws had just taken. She mindlessly arched slightly, pressing into the soft hands running over her back and the goth heard Enid let out a small chuckle.
“Someone likes scratches”
“Not another word Sinclair.”
Enid mimed a zipping motion across her mouth before she pulled away, and Wednesday immediately missed her warmth.
“Wait”
Enid raised her eyebrows in a silent question, waiting for Wednesday.
“You may stay.”
The wolf lit up at that bouncing back over to the goth’s bed and sitting back down, giving her a sickly sweet grin. Wednesday stared back into precious blue eye’s contemplating her next move. The ravenette crawled under her duvet and lifted one side in invitation. Enid’s mouth dropped open for a split second before she seemed to regain control of her facial expression and she quickly crawled under with Wednesday before she could change her mind.
“Think of it as my thanks for the… back scratches.”
Enid shuffled slightly closer, hugging onto Wednesday’s arm, and the goth couldn’t find it in herself to push her away. She slowly rested her head against soft blonde waves and let out a breath, ruffling the other girl's hair. Enid nuzzled in closer humming with contentment
“You can never say thanks normally, can you Willa?”
Wednesday decided to not respond, only nodding slightly, chin bumping into the top of the wolf’s head.