The Comfort of Rain

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Summary:

During a rainy night, Wednesday lays beside Enid on her bed for the first time, and they have one of their first actual conversations

Enid winced as thunder crashed in the distance. The storm had started in the morning and hadn't let up since. Torrents of water spilled down from the sky and soaked the earth beneath it. She tried not to feel miserable as she stared out the window at the dreary night sky, sitting up in her bed. The thunder was hard to sleep through.

Wednesday was facing her side of the window, a small hand pressed against the glass. Her eyes were far away, as always. Enid smiled. At least she seemed to like the weather. It was hard to tell with her, though.

Enid let out a long and dramatic sigh, keeping her eyes fixated on the other girl. She didn't even look over. Well, okay then. Enid let out a second, genuine sigh, flopping back onto her bed. The rain had ruined all of her plans for the evening. The ground outside was muddy and unpleasant to walk on, the sky a premature black despite the earliness of the evening.

"Thing?" She called across the room. Thing angled himself in her direction from Wednesday's desk, considering her for a second before going back to the book he had been... reading? Flipping through? She rolled over until her face was squished into her pillows.

She heard a familiar clicking of typewriter keys, looking up. Wednesday was writing outside of her scheduled time, looking more at home than she ever had since she had arrived, thunder and rain the music of her presence. Sharpness and softness.

Enid sat up again, pulling her journal off of her desk and flipping it open. She turned the pages until she reached the one she wanted. It wasn't a very good drawing, but she'd revisited it at least once a week. She traced a pencil over the lines, trying to lose herself in the story behind it as lightning flashed from outside the window.

Her eyes grew heavy after a little while, and she stopped tracing over the lines, just about to close the journal when thunder roared from outside. She swallowed a scream as Wednesday appeared beside her bed, having crossed the light divide between their sides in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing?" Wednesday asked. She looked good under the multi-coloured fluorescent lights. Also odd. Any splash of colour on Wednesday's pale body stood out.

"Did you teleport or something?!" Enid exclaimed, slamming her journal shut.

"Or something," Wednesday said, glancing at the journal for a solid minute.

"Are you going to ask me what I'm doing again, or...?" Enid slipped out of bed and stood in front of Wednesday. She was in pajamas. Wednesday was in a loose black sweatshirt that probably qualified as pajamas. She'd been subverting the dress code (and most rules in general) since she had arrived. Enid wasn't quite sure what to think about it.

"You just repeated my question for me."

"Oh, yeah. Hah," Enid rubbed her eyes and yawned, opening her journal again and turning to the page she had been on, hesitantly offering it out to Wednesday. The other girl accepted it and stared at the drawing, bringing a finger to the paper. Enid swallowed and waited. Wednesday's eyes were as solemn and analysing as ever. After what felt like forever, she finally gave the journal back to her,

"It's a wolf girl. With a dagger."

"Her name's Ennis the Brave," Enid put the journal away and laid down on her bed again, looking up at Wednesday.

"A blatant self-insert, then?"

"What? No!"

"You're the only girl I've ever seen with blue and pink... dye on the ends of your hair."

"Oh."

"That was a compliment."

"You have a funny way of complimenting people," Enid said, pulling her knees to her chest, "mostly you don't do it at all."

"It's raining tonight," Wednesday said, like that explained everything. She walked over to Enid's side of their large central window, pressing her fingers against the glass and frowning. Enid watched her from the bed. She turned around after a few moments, "what level of combat is the character engaging in?"

"You mean Ennis?"

"Yes. The wolf girl who is not a self-insert." Enid laughed, smiling widely as she realized that Wednesday had made her laugh on purpose.

"I'm not sure. Hand-to-hand?"

"Yes," Wednesday nodded, "a dagger is a suitable choice, then. Though she seems more of the type for a bow. Gathering from what I've seen, she has impeccable upper-body strength and what is most likely a keen eye. She'd be a horrendous sniper. Horrendous to her enemies, that is. She could take them out one by one from the cover of a forest." Enid blinked, trying to absorb everything that had been said,

"Who knew that Wednesday Addams could talk more than two sentences without making an explicit death threat?"

"Yes. Just an implicit one," Wednesday turned back to the window to touch it, her fingers hidden by the arm of her large shirt. She looked tiny in it. And cute. Could Wednesday Addams look cute?

Enid was no longer slightly afraid to sleep, in fear of a looming murder from her roommate. If anything, she felt more protected having her there. Wednesday knew her stuff when it came to death. Specifically how to make people die. But that was just people she didn't tolerate. And she almost tolerated Enid, Enid was sure!

"Why did you make the character?" Wednesday asked, her dark eyes piercing into Enid's soul.

"Oh, it's just a game I made up. It kinda feels like you have more friends." Wednesday furrowed her brow. "Sorry, that sounded sad! It's a lot of fun. It's just making up people and stories for them. I like people."

"I know," Wednesday said.

"You could try it."

"I don't think I possess the creative ability to do so," Wednesday said, drifting back toward her own side of the room.

"Aren't you literally writing a fiction novel right now?"

"It's rooted in reality." Enid frowned. She'd read a few pages of Wednesday's novel. It was very gory. And about a girl who solved murders - and yeah, okay.

"I think you could do it if you tried. I think it's easy for you," Enid said. Wednesday nodded slightly and sat down on Enid's bed as thunder boomed again. Enid's heart thumped a tiny bit faster. That tiny bit grew to a much larger pace as Wednesday lay beside her. Enid grabbed the journal from her desk, along with two pens and pencils, opening it up to a blank page. "Don't you need to devise an escape plan or go sneak off somewhere?" She asked. Wednesday took one of the pencils,

"I'll do those things tomorrow. It's been a long day." They both watched the rain for a few minutes more before Wednesday started to draw.

"And you said Ennis was a self-insert!" Enid gasped, Wednesday narrowing her eyes,

"I know how to wield all of the weapons I drew. Have you ever used a dagger before?"

"Maybe I have."

"When?" That was the first of many strange stories Enid told that night, Wednesday seeming content to just listen for once, apparently having nowhere else to run off to. She might not have actually been listening, but Enid didn't mind.

She wasn't sure what was different about that night. Maybe Wednesday was just lonely or bored. Maybe the rain made her more sociable than usual. Maybe she was hurting or getting sick. Whatever it was, it was something she'd figure out later.

For now, though? Enid watched as the other girl's eyes slowly closed. And Wednesday Addams fell asleep beside her, her head against Enid's bright blankets. Enid took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep as well.

The rain continued as the girls slept, a comforting rhythm.

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