While there were certainly things she felt could have been better, Wednesday had to admit that this had been one of the better adaptations of Les Misérables that she'd seen. They'd fully captured the social constructs of the novel, from the condemnation of the unfortunate to the exposure of misery and ignorance that's all too prevalent in the world at large. Secretly, she enjoyed the process of a good redemption story, provided it made proper sense, wasn't rushed, and was generally from an unexpected source. For instance, most people might think the redemption is Valjean redeeming himself from being a thief to someone who could make something of himself and care for others.
Wednesday, however, felt that was how Valjean had always been. He'd stolen bread to support his starving sister and her family, after all. The rest had been conditioning from prison that he'd needed to overcome, with the admonishment that society tends to ignore and shun those with a criminal background regardless of who they are or what they've accomplished. To her, the redemption was Javert, who had to slowly come around to understanding how corrupt the law was that he supported, how fetid the conditions were for prisoners, and make the decisions to turn away from it. And taking his own life, feeling that he'd had no other recourse, resonated with her.
She paused in her thoughts as the sniffling beside her continued, taking a handkerchief from inside her dress - she adored hidden pockets, they were great for concealing all manner of things. With a sigh, she passed it over and looked at her companion for the evening. For everything lately, now that she thought about it.
"Here. Your makeup is running."
“Thank you,” Enid accepted with a sniffle and gentle tug on the handkerchief. She wasn’t normally so weepy when it came to sad things. Or musicals-- no that was a total lie. It was basically tradition at this point for her to cry at both sad and happy endings, but she liked to deny it anyway. “Sorry I’m--” She had to get herself together, she knew that Wednesday hated tears, so getting herself together was necessary.
With a shaky breath, she dabbed away a few last tears and squared her shoulders. “Okay. I’m good. I’m good. I kind of knew a little about it but I didn’t know- It’s happy and sad and kind of bittersweet and--” Oh she was getting worked up again. Enid knew she had to focus on something else before the tears welled up and turned to Wednesday with a curious, wide-eyed expression. “Did you like it? I know you like music but I wasn’t sure if you were really a musical person.”
"I enjoy musicals that have an interesting story to tell." Wednesday let the context of that statement hang in the air like a half-deflated balloon. Enid would have to decide what it meant, or she wouldn't. She had already moved on and was looking to make sure they could cross the street without a car hitting them. They were both dressed well enough to leave very pretty corpses, but that wasn't in her plans for the evening. Besides, letting some random anybody have that honor seemed rather insulting.
She did glance over her shoulder at Enid before crossing, though. "I'm glad you appreciated it."
Enid went from sniffling to beaming in a few seconds flat, her face brightening as Wednesday looked back at her. More Enid. Now that the tears were passed, she offered the handkerchief back out for Wednesday to take - but also wouldn’t have been annoyed if her friend declined and she got to keep it. For crafts. And a little memento. Nothing major, of course.
It was a good thing Wednesday was watching where they were going, as Enid just followed along blindly, until they got to the other side. “Thank you for inviting me.” She rocked her feet back on her heels, like she would for a date, but obviously this wasn’t a date, that would be ridiculous. “Do you want to go get some coffee now since we don’t have school tomorrow? There’s the diner down the street! We’ll look very fancy."
Wednesday glanced at the handkerchief for a moment and lifted one eyebrow. "Consider it a gift," she noted, turning back to look in the direction of the diner. Some coffee did sound rather delightful and she didn't really have anywhere else to be. Thing had everything well under control back at home and was likely streaming his favorite films at the moment anyway. So she turned back to Enid and nodded before offering her hand.
"I don't want you getting lost. Or distracted."
Enid liked touch. She liked tactile things and textures and holding hands. But it wasn’t something she did often with Wednesday, as they seemed to be complete opposites in that regard.
So she had to play it cool. Pretend like this was just fine, not a big deal, she totally totally wasn’t vibrating out of her skin as Wendesday’s cool fingers entwined with hers. “I mean, I can find you anywhere. But I’m not complaining.” The distraction was a good point, but she already knew first hand she could find Wednesday when necessary. She squeezed so Wednesday wouldn’t pull away. “It might just ruin my dress so this is totally for the better.”
Wednesday briefly thought about complimenting the dress, but thought better of it. It would just lead to a conversation about dresses that she wasn't interested in having. But, she had to admit that Enid looked good in a dress. And that unsettled her a little bit, because she didn't have the greatest track record when dealing with… emotional attachment. Besides, she knew Enid knew that she cared. Good enough.
With a brisk walk to the diner, Wednesday led the way in and to a booth without acknowledging anyone else inside. She knew the server would visit the table and she wasn't interested in striking up conversations with anyone else, so she released Enid's hand and slid into the booth. It was somewhat chilly in the diner. She liked it.
Enid had a half second of strong internal debate with herself on if she should slide in next to Wednesday or across from her. She went back and forth with her brain a few times before finally panic set in and she slid into the booth across.
This is fine. Probably for the best, even if she had instant regrets. But now she could look at Wednesday and it wasn’t awkward! But she was farther away. Calm down, Enid. Thankfully she was pulled out of her internal thoughts with a cranky-looking waitress dropping off their menus and silverware. “Thank you!” She barely even glanced at the menu before leaning across the table to talk. “Okay but like, I think I felt my soul leave my body when ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’ started up. So powerful. And then just-- tragedy.”
A perplexed look appeared on Wednesday's face. Very briefly. She hadn't slid over enough for someone to sit next to her - she never did. But she still felt a little off that Enid sat down across from her and it bothered her that it bothered her. This was normal, the way they where sitting right now.
She busied herself by scooping up the menu, even if she already knew what she wanted and immediately set it aside as Enid leaned in. Offering a slight nod and small smile, she agreed. "Yes, it's one of my favorite parts. Happy endings aren't real, but tragedy is. After all, the name isn't Les Chanceuses."
Which Enid assumed meant Happy Endings” though she didn’t know enough French to confirm either way. But she got conversation and a little smile out of it so Enid beamed all the same. “Fair point.” She could pretend she knew exactly what it meant, that was fine.
Enid propped her hands up on top of each other on the table. “What other musicals do you like? They probably do shows pretty frequently around here!”
Wednesday closed her eyes for a moment to think. Overall, stage shows tended to be far too crowded for her tastes, but then again most things were if you ventured out into public. Still, there were things she would make exceptions for. She, of course, preferred things that were entirely made up or were true to history. She was still disgruntled that The Greatest Showman had made Phineas T. Barnum into something he very clearly was not - a honest and likeable man. He had made a business out of marketing people like those in her family and she'd have happily murdered him if given the chance.
She was also disgruntled that the music had been so catchy.
Instead of letting her thoughts drift, though, she looked over at Enid and tilted her head. "How many shows do you know?"
Enid was easily distracted enough that the question could both make her think and make her ramble. Her maroon nails popped out as she used them to count. “Um, so many. Moulin Rouge, Into the Heights, Hamilton, Matilda, West Side Story, Hadestown, Wicked, Waitress- Oh and my favorite of all time Legally Blonde the Musical. Amazing. There’s some older ones that are totally before my time like uhhh Phantom something? I never got into those ones.”
Instead of being offended by the disrespect on Phantom, or the love of… Legally Blonde, Wednesday found herself actually somewhat impressed. She wouldn't split hairs over actually seeing shows versus just listening to them or watching them over the internet, she wasn't spoiled enough to assume there was only one way to enjoy theater. Now she wouldn't outright say that she would have expected Enid to be more interested in sickening pop music than true theater -- she would have said so a year ago, absolutely, but the girl across from her continued to surprise her.
So she offered a tight smile and flagged down the waitress. A sweet and complex concoction for Enid, a simple latte for her. And waffles. The next two hours were deep conversations about songs. Which ones had the most impact on the story? Which ones stirred the heart the most? Which ones felt out of place or took away from the show? Which ones were the biggest earworms? Wednesday found herself quite engaged and the two of them emptied far too many cups to the point that someone nearby might think they were buzzing with energy.
Finally, Wednesday paid the check, giving Enid the Stare when she tried to pay her half. "We should get home. Unless you can think of somewhere else you want to go."
Enid groaned and let her head flop back against the back of the booth. “Okay but you might have to roll me home, those waffles were so good.” She hadn’t even realized just how much time had passed, honestly. It was easy conversation with Wednesday, which was always a shock given how stingy Wednesday could be with her words.
But not always. And Enid had learned over the last year that it was more about learning the purpose behind those words.
She couldn’t relate, of course, because Enid talked a mile a minute and her words rarely held purpose. But they were fun, and she didn’t feel bad about that. Sometimes, she just had a lot to get out there and a rush of words was the best way to do it. Wednesday should just count herself lucky that Enid didn’t go off on a tangent about how paying for a meal totes meant it was a date.
Was that a path she wanted to overthink right now? Not particularly. “Okay okay okay if we don’t get out of here soon, Thing is going to come hunting us. We didn’t tell him we’d be out late!” That got her moving, Thing was a force to be reckoned with.
Enid didn’t hesitate in grabbing Wednesday’s hand this time, to pull her along, and didn’t let go when they were both standing and the opportunity came up. She grinned and rocked back on her heels, “Thanks for the nice time tonight, Wednesday.”
Wednesday looked down at their clasped hands and briefly considered pulling free. Yet, she didn't want to. It had actually been a nice evening and it had been one of the few times she'd managed to lose track of time. She'd tell you that never happens, but… every once in a while, it could occur. She wasn't entirely sure when she'd become so attached to Enid. It had slowly, silently sneaked up on her. Like a murderer. She could appreciate that.
But she was right. Thing would be getting concerned at this point and she really did not want to have to spent thirty minutes explaining everything they'd done this evening. So she just let Enid lead them out of the diner and back towards home. She exhaled through her nose and let herself smile again.