When I'm Done - Tumblr Posts
oh my goodness. the parts where she was thinking of the hypothetical conversations and whether she was actually gonna say it or not kept me going. And like some lines being really good but I was like "Noo! Why didn't you say that??"
I really loved how accurate it was though! as someone who does do that kinda thing a lot, the 'trying to distract yourself from the thoughts but not working' isss horrible I must say. So glad Wednesday said something near the end, made me feel relieved :']
But your writing is so well, I'm staying up atm to read this series.
—JOUSKA | THREE
Pairing: Wednesday Addams x OFC/Fem!Reader
Summary: Something and nothing at all changed. Wednesday is all too aware of the distance and the horrifying realization that if she wants to be closer, than she'll have to make the first move. Cue compulsively replaying a hypothetical conversation.
Warnings: Angst. Distracted!Wednesday. Wednesday generally being Bad At Feelings™️. Enid's wise words. Thing—the opportunist. Xavier absent but still not safe from Wednesday's roasts. Blood.
Series Masterlist | Library Blog | AO3
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Note: This was intense to write, but it'll only get more intense! Likes, comments, & reblogs appreciated 🥺
Part Two
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Jouska: Noun. A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head.
Something and nothing at all has changed since that night.
"Hi, Wednesday."
Wednesday's eyes catch yours as she watches you flanked by two gorgon girls. You've got a white stick of a lollipop hanging in your mouth at the side, the grape confection already finished, but you don't like littering (unlike some of these other heathens at the academy).
Wednesday doesn't say anything back, but she does slow her walking down subtly, her brows relaxes and expression neutral as she looks at you. A nod of acknowledgment is all that is needed to satisfy you as you smile at her before looking away.
It's been like that since that night—the same acknowledgment, and it's all Wednesday can think about.
They've bonded, haven't they? Enid certainly said so. And if that was the case, why were you the same distance away?
Wednesday can only think back to that night.
"Black wings are the mark of a night faerie."
Wednesday doesn't rush her response. This was one of those moments, the one Enid was constantly telling her to be delicate about.
The right words—Wednesday needed the right words.
It reminded her of when she first encountered the photo of herself from Rowan, and how she, too, thought she was destined for (bad) calamity.
"Sometimes the dark doesn't cause calamity but rather is what no one expects at all," Wednesday looks at you, her eyes focused. "The solution."
But even as you give Wednesday a soft smile, she can see something dim behind your eyes, and the taste of utter defeat burns Wednesday's throat, knowing it wasn't the exact right words.
So, Wednesday was at a standstill.
And she was also far from finding a nickname for you that she'd allow everyone to call you. The only bright side was everyone else was somehow doing worse than her with their suggestions despite her not having offered anything at all.
There was a distance, Wednesday realizes. One that you seemed content to let be.
Wednesday feels jolted by the realization that she's been fairly spoiled and blessed in her life (even if she didn't feel it at the moment). It had always been Wednesday who chose to keep her distance from those around her. She had her own interests and had been content to put them above everyone else.
But ever since coming to Nevermore, her little ragtag of misfits—especially Enid—had intrusively barged into her personal space. Wednesday only had to take a small step forward, and everyone else had closed the distance.
Everyone except you.
Wednesday Addams would never deny the fact that she wasn't free from things like desire. She desired many things: rain, mysteries, victory, the fear of others, and whatever things could be described as morbid.
She told her mother that she would never be like her—never fall in love, be a housewife, or have a family. And she had meant it at that moment (although she was very sure she'll never be a housewife).
And really, it's not like Wednesday loves you or anything. But Wednesday has once felt enough to kiss a boy (who turned out to be a serial killer), and when she thinks of Enid, Eugene, and Xavier, she does feel like she has a strange little group to call a family of her own. She begrudgingly accepts Bianca to something like a distant, irritating cousin.
You piqued her curiosity very early on with your unintrusive smiles and waves. Now, you had an enigmatic background and a perhaps sense of self-preservation to remain distant. But it was too late.
Wednesday desires mystery, and she desires you.
They're not mutually exclusive.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Blood drips down from Wednesday's cheek. She touches her finger to the cut and looks at it curiously.
"You're distracted, Addams."
Wednesday looks back to Bianca, who somehow manages to look both smug and concerned. While being beaten by Bianca again still leaves the feeling of self-pity, her rage is directed at herself.
"And yet, you barely managed to defeat me," Wednesday drawls.
"Well, pull your head out of the dark, gray clouds and focus so I can put you in your place again without your excuses," Bianca shoots back without hesitation.
Wednesday starts to move into position when the coach halts it and tells her to go to the infirmary to take care of her cut. Clenching her jaw, Wednesday puts her equipment away and leaves the room.
The cut stings, and Wednesday knows it was her own fault that Bianca cut her too deep. She was distracted. She has been lately ever since her realization that if she wanted to close the distance, she would have to be the one to intrude in your space.
The problem was that Wednesday only knew how to intrude into someone's space when she was suspicious they were a serial killer—accusing and without permission.
And thus, Wednesday has been afflicted with hypothetical conversations her brain refused to stop producing. It was costing her sleep, and now the victories that should belong to her.
"Wednesday!"
Turning around, Wednesday sees Enid skipping her way down toward her. The blonde frowns when she glances at Wednesday's cheek and pulls out a white handkerchief. It’s the only colorless fabric she owns. "Fencing?"
Wednesday nods, accepting the cloth as she dabs it against her face, wiping at her jaw where it dripped.
"Lose?" Enid winces in pain.
A dark look crosses Wednesday's face, and Enid quickly changes the subject.
"Are you excited for parents' weekend?" Enid asks. "I'm surprised Principal Weems has made it so early in the year. I hear she's making changes so parents visit once at the beginning of the year and once at the end of the year."
"If by excited you mean begrudgingly accepted it, yes," Wednesday monotones.
"But it'll be interesting to see who the fairy godmother's parents will be, right?" Enid rocks on her toes in anticipation. "I heard her dad is, like, a high lord or something."
The comment does spark interest in Wednesday. She is curious about the two people who had loved you so much that they took you out of isolation and parted ways with you in this safe haven.
Assuming that they could visit you, anyway.
"That's also a witless sobriquet," Wednesday comments absentmindedly.
Enid only huffs.
"Enid," Wednesday calls evenly.
"Hm?"
"How—why—" Wednesday takes a deep breath as her eyes close for a moment. When she opens them, she finds Enid staring at her curiously with an amused smile. Wednesday knows it was because she’s never this inarticulate, but Enid is gracious enough to not say anything about it and waits patiently for her to gather her thoughts.
As patiently as she can, it seems.
"Not to rush you, but you should probably hurry on and say whatever it is you want to say so you can get on to the infirmary. The cut is starting to soak through my handkerchief," Enid gently pushes.
Wednesday grinds her teeth for a second before sighing through her nose lightly.
"How did you decide on how you wanted to be closer to me?" Wednesday asks, leaving as much emotion out of her tone as possible but cringing at her sentence. "Especially since it was obvious I wanted to keep my distance."
Enid's lip twitches, and Wednesday already regrets asking, but before she can turn around and leave, Enid answers. "Well, in your case, I think it was easier for me to tell you didn't really want to be alone, so I didn't ask."
Wednesday makes a vague face of disgust while Enid continues on.
"But in your case," Enid stresses, smirking at Wednesday's unblinking face. "I think you should ask to do something together to be closer."
Wednesday's eyes flicker as she processes Enid's words. The memory of Tyler's efforts to take her to the catacomb, how he set up lights, and a movie pops into her mind.
"Like a date," Wednesday says slowly, and horrification begins to set in.
"Er, I think that's a little too advanced for you," Enid cuts in quickly. "Maybe just try to find a way to spend more time together casually but consistently."
Enid looks at her watch. "Oh, I gotta go. Yoko and I need to start planning for the boat race this year." With that, Enid happily skips down the hallway. She turns around once and yells, "Oh, don't forget to wash the blood out of my handkerchief. I trust you'll know how to do that!"
Wednesday nods before she continues on her way to the infirmary. When she enters, she sees Weems talking to someone sitting on a cot behind the curtains.
"I'm happy you've found a friend to help you, but I'm concerned—" Weems stops as soon as she sees Wednesday, frowning as she sees the cut and then sighs, "Coach Vlad had told me you and Bianca frequently spared without your helmets. I had hoped he was joking."
The curtains suddenly opened, and Wednesday wasn’t surprised. She could tell it was you by your silhouette.
Immediately the hypothetical conversations she's been creating pops into her mind again.
"Hi, Wednesday," you smile with a short wave before you eye her cut. "Hope the other person looks worse off."
Weems clicks her tongue in disapproval, but Wednesday's lip twitches upward slightly.
The principal is about to say something else when a small, lanky boy walks in. He clutches his wrist, but Wednesday can’t make out his feature with his overgrown fringe covering his eyes. He seems to see just fine, though, as his posture stiffens at the sight of you.
"O-Oh, F-Fae," he starts to say but then stutters. "No, sorry, I-I mean—"
"It's fine," you wave away his attempt at saying your name. "Did you hurt yourself in psychitect?"
He nods.
"I suppose I should go find the nurse. She went down to the cafeteria for a quick snack," Weems says before she looks at you. "We'll finish our conversation later."
"It's fine," you wave it off. "I can help Wednesday. We’ll be gone before you’re back."
Weems purses her lips in disapproval, but you just give her a look back. Sighing, Weems nods before she turns to walk out. "Glad to see you fitting in more this year, Wednesday. It's pleasant to see you in my office less."
"It's too early in the year still," Wednesday haughtily replies, eyes trailing Weems as she leaves the room.
"Come along, Henry."
Once alone, Wednesday's eyes trail to you.
"Well, take a seat," you stand up and gesture to the cot near her as you rummage through the cabinets.
"I can do it myself."
"I'm sure you can," you absently say as you move bottles back and forth in search of something. When you find it, you turn around with a lopsided smile. "But I assure you I can do it better."
Wednesday only raises her eyes challengingly but sits down as you sit on the stool and roll over to her. She sits primly with her back straight as a rod when you come closer and closer. To allow your proximity, Wednesday has to open her legs for you to come between, being the one wearing pants.
"Pretty nasty cut," you mumble, and Wednesday can smell grape lollipops.
"I've had worse."
"Bragging, I see," you smirk as you put on gloves and use tweezers to soak a gauze pad in saline solution. "Xavier did tell me you took an arrow for him once."
"Xavier has an abnormally large mouth," Wednesday speaks tersely with a furrow of her brows. When you gently dab the soaked gauze pad on her cheek, it doesn’t sting, but Wednesday clenches her fists closed with your face so close.
"I think he was bragging," you continue to dab. "Enid and Eugene have similar anecdotes. Thing, as well."
Wednesday huffs while you merely grin lightly.
Enid's words and Wednesday's haunted hypotheticals were plaguing her again.
"What were you and Weems talking about?" Wednesday asks to redirect the conversation. She had been curious since she walked in, as it seemed like a rather serious conversation.
The thoughts aren’t going away.
"She was checking in after I told the nurse I had a friend to help me apply the medicine, and I'd only come in to do monthly examinations or if something serious happened."
Sometimes Wednesday isn’t used to people answering her questions so quickly and without pretense. She’s used to them being defensive.
'Thing shouldn't be applying your medicine.' Wednesday clenches her jaw, refusing to let the thought slip out of her mouth. With you in sight, her mind refuses to stop the compulsive hypothetical conversations.
"I see," Wednesday says slowly. "And why is Weems so particularly concerned?"
"She's my legal guardian," you answer straightforwardly, inspecting Wednesday's wound as the bleeding slows.
The sudden new information makes Wednesday blink.
'If you use your brain and think about it, Thing is a disembodied hand with stitches all over. Do you think that's sanitary? Forget the fact that Thing is vain and does well in washing his hand and moisturizes.'
You put down the tweezers and take off the gloves. Lifting your fingertips, you hover them over the cut. Wednesday watches as you concentrate before warmth and tiny little firefly-like lights seeps onto her cheek.
When it’s over, the sting of the cut is gone. Wednesday lifts her hand to touch her cheek and feels a thin bump of her skin scarred over.
'I understand your need for secrecy. I've been told I lack regard for others’ safety but I have no intentions of being the reason for your untimely death.'
You turn to grab a tub of cream and unscrew the lid. "It's not exactly perfect, but better than the usual way," you say as if apologizing. "I'll get better at it as my wings heal."
"Your powers are linked to your wings?"
'And of course, I understand you don't prefer the nurse's care. Her touch is indelicate and I imagine your wings are sensitive.'
You hum and say quietly, "A lot of it, yes. Our wings are embedded into our backs and take root inside our bodies. It's why we usually die without our wings."
"And Weems is your guardian?"
You nod. "Yes. As you know faeries stay in isolation, and faeries with my wings are...outcasts," you smirk. "My parents can't look after me like regular parents do because the more in contact with me they are, the more it exposes my location."
It makes sense. Whoever had done such abominable things to your wings should stay far, far away—lest they want Wednesday to find a way to paralyze them without taking their wings.
Still.
Wednesday studies your face as you apply the scarring cream. Your parents must've been heartbroken and scared witless to take you out of isolation and have Weems take over guardianship.
'As such, I must take responsibility for Thing and offer to take his place in applying your medication. This is an acceptable trade, is it not?'
"Your parents must've adored you so," Wednesday comments. She can certainly relate to that as she internally rolls her eyes at the thought of her own parents.
You finish applying the cream, and Wednesday has had enough of the repetitive one-sided conversation in her head. It was going to drive her crazy—and not the respectable kind.
But just as Wednesday opens her mouth to get it over with, her words die on her tongue when you look at her.
It was the same smile as that night, the one that made Wednesday's throat burn with utter defeat.
You must miss them.
"Yes, I suppose they did."
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
Wednesday lies in bed, staring at the ceiling, and the incessant noise of Enid's snoring is somehow amplifying her thoughts.
This. Is. Inconceivable.
The thing with Wednesday is that she had an obsessive personality. That's why solving mysteries is such a good pastime for her.
The only problem is when the mystery hasn't been solved, and she is left alone with the agonizing cliffhanger.
What if the words hadn't died on her tongue?
What if she had said them anyway, despite your smile that seemed to make Wednesday miserable.
But the truth of the matter is that she didn't, and now, she is stuck in bed coming up with new hypothetical conversations that revolve around one matter.
'Thing is indisposed.'
'I'm offering my company and assistance. Thing may stay as an additional conversationalist.'
'Surely, you must have more to say to me daily than greeting me.'
'Thing has questionable scalpel skills; therefore, I believe he's been applying your medication inaccurately. I can't have your wings—your life source—healing poorly on my hands.'
This is all Enid's fault, Wednesday determines. She turns her head to watch her peacefully, blissfully ignorant sleeping roommate.
Maybe she should come through with the threat of smothering Enid with a pillow. But in the end, Wednesday turns her head back to the ceiling.
It’s then that Thing opens the door and scuttles across the room in haste. She sits up as he climbs up onto her bed and pulls at her blanket.
"What is it, Thing?" Wednesday frowns.
Thing begins signing and tapping.
"Speak clearly, Thing. You're skipping words."
Thing taps frustratedly but slows down.
"Someone…slapped…back today?" Wednesday raises her brow but then frowns deeper. "It opened a wound up...and you can't fix it yourself? Need help...now?"
Thing taps multiple times to signify that is correct. Immediately, Wednesday gets out of bed and grabs her sweater.
"Where is she? Her room or her studio?" Wednesday asks as she shoves on her shoes, and Thing climbs onto her shoulder.
⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷
When Wednesday arrives at your studio, following the same sequence she did weeks ago, she finds you fallen on the ground, your wings just barely over your shoulder as you hold yourself up by your elbows.
Blood drips down and soaks your feathers, somehow making obsidian look even darker.
Wednesday walks up quickly and crouches beside you, and you barely notice her until she speaks. "Who did this to you? I want their name." She seethes.
"It was...an accident," you raggedly breathe. "She didn't know. Meant to be a friendly goodnight clap on the back."
But that doesn’t soothe Wednesday at all. Not when the back of your dress shirt is dredged in so much blood that there isn’t even a spot of white left, and your right wing twitching in obvious pain.
"What can I do?" Wednesday demands, but there was a softness to it that is almost desperation.
You swallow. "I—I need you to move my wing over my shoulder more—until I can reach the cut to seal it." You screw your eyea shut. "I can't move it on my own."
Wednesday nods. She carefully reaches out to touch your wing.
It is velvety.
Wednesday imagines it would've been more magnificent to the touch had your feathers not been weighed down and saturated by blood.
As Wednesday begins to spread your wing up and over, your breath hitches sharply.
Wednesday stops.
"Don't stop," you grit your teeth, taking in ragged breaths. "It hurts the longer you drag it out. Just—be gentle."
Gentle is not often used to describe Wednesday. She’s sharp and jagged, like broken glass. That's probably why she still plans to discover who did this to you and slowly butcher them—accident or not—as she carefully keeps moving your wing.
When it’s finally close enough for you to reach, Wednesday watches you use healing magic for the second time that day. You slump onto the grass, exhausted.
Thing grabs Wednesday's attention to the pile of towels neatly folded in a tree's hollow trunk. She finds a set of spare clothing and grabs those along with the towels.
"Is the pond water sterile?"
You nod with your eyes shut.
Wednesday places the shirt next to you and then turns to the pond, and sticks her hand in to find it was lukewarm before she soaks one of the towels.
“Change into this clean shirt for now,” Wednesday orders you but her tone lacks the usual bite. She wrings the towel and passes it to Thing. “Help her wipe the blood on her back. Turn around as she changes,” Wednesday warns Thing.
Wednesday turns away and keeps her focus on the pond, soaking the next towel. Thing taps her leg when they’re done. You look extra tired from having to change shirts but it was better than letting your bloody shirt make you sticky and then crust over before you could shower. You seem to realize it yourself as you make an effort to keep your dirty wings from soaking your shirt again.
When she returns to you, Wednesday cleans the blood out of your feathers gently but thoroughly. When she uses her fingers to brush aside some of the feathers, your wings trill.
"Tickles," you mumble.
Wednesday doesn’t comment as she continues until the blood is washed out and properly dried. Thing hands her the ointment you use and begins to apply the salve with precision.
It’s quiet.
Peaceful.
Wednesday feels the tension in her shoulders leave now that you are fine and she is here.
All those hypothetical thoughts and conversations flew right out of her head.
"I will apply this for you from now on."
You open one eye to peek at Wednesday, and she stares back at you as if to challenge her. You close your eye again and nod.
"Thanks for your services, Thing," you mumble tiredly. "Your severance package will be a bottle of dew drops."
PART FOUR
A friend wanted Jemily and Climbing Class, with Jess in Chris’ glasses. Specifically she wanted Josh and Emily to have nosebleeds but that will have to come later when I’m back home??? I can’t draw braids sry.
a
I’m combining all the things I hate to draw into one history art project that’s due TOMORROW 😀👍👍👍👍
-muscles
-side profile
-noses (nobody likes noses)
-fabric folds
This is gonna turn out wacky guys ‼️‼️‼️