Chapter Text
The first time Enid transformed, she was scared and running and in pain and furious and it was so, so intense. She was terrified that Wednesday might get hurt, might die, so Enid didn't even think before diving into combat against the hyde. She couldn't help stopping to check that Wednesday was ok, that she didn't smell hurt, even though it gave the hyde a free shot at her. Then later she detransformed before the end of the full moon just so she could rush back to the school and see if Wednesday needed help — and there Wednesday was, dripping with blood, limping, but intact.
And that wasn't even considering The Hug that happened then, which somehow ended up being even more intense than Enid's first transformation.
Enid's second transformation was with her mother in front of her pack, which was intense for a whole different set of reasons. Not least of which was the way her mother gave her a smile to congratulate Enid for shifting finally, but then on the next full moon demanded that Enid transform there in front of her so she could watch, eyeing her critically the whole time, as if she was waiting and ready to at any moment reprimand her for shifting "wrong" — whatever that might be. Even after she shifted, Esther made Enid stay nearby so she could keep her daughter under her direct control the entire night. Maybe her mother meant it lovingly, but it sure didn't feel that way to Enid. But she had to force herself to endure it, made herself do as her mom and alpha ordered while they ran and hunted as a pack, chafing the whole time and wishing she were anywhere else.
And Enid had yet to transform a third time, so needless to say she was feeling a little bit nervous about it. They were all back at Nevermore, and all her friends were there, and she was back sharing a dorm with her roomie Wednesday. Enid knew it was different this time, that she was in a more comfortable situation — and boy did that hurt to think about, that she felt better at school than she did at home — and that meant that she should, logically, not be as worried about her shifting. Unfortunately, her emotions didn't seem to care much about logic and Enid was instead stuck worrying for the full moon that night.
Classes hadn't started yet and they wouldn't until tomorrow, so Wednesday had been up and dressed early, saying she would be out before leaving the room. Enid would have offered to go with her just to have something to do, but Enid had still been blinking bleary-eyed at her as Wednesday walked out the door, seemingly in a rush to do whatever it is she needed to do. Yoko had already messaged Enid last night to say that she and Divina would be "busy" all last night and would be sleeping in late, which was Yoko-code for "lots of sex, please do not disturb".
So for now Enid was on her own in her room, pacing back and forth. She hadn't needed to chew on things since she was a pup, but she had gotten her favorite stuffed toy out — specially designed for young werewolves going through their chew phase — that she still kept for nostalgia and emergency chewing. Mr. Chewbearcca was looking a little worse for wear, but regular washing and its very sturdy construction made it still work as well as ever. She had one of Chewbearcca's legs in her mouth and was chewing furiously as she paced, thinking. Perhaps she could go down to the Commissary in a bit, maybe eating would settle her nerves.
A noise had her turning to the dorm room door just before the door swung sharply open and Wednesday came back in looking thunderous. Well, not exactly looking thunderous. Her expression was as impassive as ever, but Enid had learned enough of her roommate's tells that she knew that the other girl was extremely upset or angry about something. The way she clicked the door shut with precision and then stalked to the bed to throw something down on it — her phone? — made Enid think it was more anger than upset.
Face smoothing somewhat, Wednesday then turned to look at Enid where she had stopped in her pacing, one leg of Chewbearcca still in her mouth.
"What are you doing?" Wednesday asked, eyes narrowing.
Enid hurriedly popped Chewbearcca out of her mouth. "Uh. Oh this, it's my old chew toy — it helps me with my nerves. I've had it since I went through my chew phase as a pup."
Wednesday looked thunderous again and her fists clenched at her sides, but after a moment she relaxed a little bit, obviously trying to calm herself. She took a breath and asked, voice neutral and controlled, "Why are you nervous, Enid? You've transformed successfully already, and you faced and defeated a hyde. Surely that should be enough for your mother and pack."
"Oh, them," Enid said on a soft exhale.
Suddenly Wednesday's anger made sense. Enid had complained to her multiple times about her mother and how nothing Enid ever did seemed to be enough. She'd convinced Wednesday that she didn't need her mother murdered, or to be kidnapped/rescued. Not that she wouldn't have wanted to go visit the Addams mansion, but it had been too close to the next full moon. And Enid had been hoping that showing her mother would help, even though that didn't work out as she'd hoped.
"That's ... fine. At the moment anyway." Enid resumed her pacing as she spoke, unconsciously trying to express herself via the motion of her limbs. "It's more that my body, or instincts, or wolf, or whatever you want to call it, has internalized the feeling that shifting is a bad thing, or that bad things happen when I shift. Like the emotional equivalent of waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I can't stop it and I don't like it." She popped Chewbearcca back into her mouth and chewed aggressively.
"You don't like shifting?" Wednesday was suddenly much closer, looking at her with something like softness in her eyes.
"No no, I mean I don't like this, this nervousness. And no matter how I try to talk myself down or reassure myself it doesn't work," Enid said, pacing a little more forcefully in her frustration. "It doesn't make any sense."
Wednesday reached a hand out to her and said, "Come here."
Her tone wasn't demanding, but it had a force to it, like Wednesday had complete certainty that her command would be followed. Enid went to her side instantly, and other than a brief moment of confusion where she had to figure out what to do with Chewbearcca before tossing him back onto her bed, she took Wednesday's offered hand.
Wednesday looked down at their joined hands and squeezed Enid's reassuringly. "Now, I'm not a therapist or psychiatrist and I don't have their training, but after having to see them so often I have learned a few things. First is that you cannot solve an emotional problem with logic — you can't 'think' your way out of it. So instead we're going to solve it emotionally." She looked up and met Enid's eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"Weds, I, ... yes." Wednesday was so close and was looking directly into Enid's eyes, and it was making her feel flustered and fumble her words. "Yes, I trust you."
"Good. Then I want you to transform here." Wednesday released her hand and stepped back, looking at Enid expectantly.
"What, right now?" Enid looked over at the window. "In the middle of the day?"
"Yes. Do you need it to be nighttime to transform?"
"Oh, no. I can transform at any time, but then I'll be wolf possibly all day after that. I'm not sure the commissary will let me buy breakfast and lunch like that," she finished with a dry chuckle.
The very corner of Wednesday's mouth ticked up a little. "Well then, it's a good thing I'll be there to order for you," she said.
Enid couldn't help but grin, then sobered. "You want me to follow you around all day in my wolf form?" she asked, confused.
"Yes. I think it will help you if you can be shifted in more mundane situations without any danger or strong emotions."
Enid pondered. It sounded like a good idea, but there was one small problem, one that Wednesday probably had no idea about. "Ok, that sounds like it might work. But just so you know, that doesn't mean I won't have strong emotions. All of my emotions will be heightened by the closeness of the full moon and because I'm in wolf form. So like, I won't just be excited to see my friends, I'll be excited." Enid spread her arms out wide, trying gesture the hugeness of her excitement.
Again, Wednesday's lips ticked upwards. "I don't think that will be a problem in this case. We just want to avoid things that you'll dread, because it seems that your previous transformations came along with that feeling."
Enid winced. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it," she muttered. Sucking in a big breath, she said with more enthusiasm, "Ok! How are we gonna do this?"
"I'm going to stay in here with you while you transform, and then when we're done you'll just tag along with me the rest of the day. Does this plan appeal to you?" Wednesday seemed to be taking care with how she phrased it.
Not that Enid needed careful phrasing — she was already onboard. Spending the day with Wednesday? The thing she had missed the entire break and desperately needed more of? Sign her the fuck up!
"Yes," Enid said decisively, trying to keep herself from shouting in her eagerness to answer.
Wednesday met her eyes with a look that Enid couldn't decipher and she suddenly found herself blushing. "Alright. Do you need anything special to transform? Or do you need to do anything first?"
Enid only wanted to let their friend group chat know that she wouldn't be looking at chat the rest of the day today, but that if they needed her they could contact Wednesday. A few people who were awake gave her some quick affirmatives and then she turned her phone off and set it on the charger. Might as well keep it off if she couldn't answer it anyway, and that would be an instant indicator to anyone looking for her that she wasn't available.
After that Wednesday offered to sit next to her and hold her hand — she'd told Wednesday earlier that Thing had done that for her and that it had been nice, even if it didn't actually do anything to help the transformation. Luckily after that first terror-filled transformation it hadn't actually hurt that much, but she appreciated Wednesday wanting to be right there with her.
Then Enid realized, as she stood there in the middle of their shared room with Wednesday at her side, that she'd have to strip naked. She could have gone in the bathroom to get her robe, but she was already here and Wednesday was waiting for her. So she tried to strip as quickly as she could, not looking at Wednesday's face at all, although she could feel a blush rising to her cheeks as she did it.
Soon she was on her knees on the wooden floor, stark naked, and Enid couldn't help a quick peek at Wednesday's face. The other girl had sat down cross-legged on the floor and had her hand held out to the side ready for Enid to take, but she was keeping her head facing away from Enid. That made a little bit of the tension leave Enid's shoulders. She put her hand in Wednesday's and started calling on her shift.
There were some wolves, especially younger ones, who could only transform on the full moon, possibly never managing to shift except during the full moon their entire lives. But the Sinclair pack was famous for being able to transform at any time, except for their youngest members. Enid suspected that the pack threw out anyone who couldn't, the same way Esther Sinclair had threatened to expell Enid from the pack if she couldn't manage to transform, and that was how they maintained their perfect track record. It was kind of bullshit, but it wasn't like Enid had any say on the matter.
The shift was much faster now that she was used to it, and within seconds she was full wolf with Wednesday still holding her paw.
"There you go," Wednesday praised, and Enid couldn't help the immediate wagging of her tail. She would have felt embarrassed about it except that it had made Wednesday smile at her, so instead Enid just felt proud.