Once, there was an island.... // MPHFPC one shots, imagines, and misc !

The Reaper & The Bard { Enoch O'Connor x reader}

okay this is gonna be a massive unedited mess because i am exhausted from school but this idea has been plaguing me all day so it is HAPPENING
modern!au ish? at a renaissance fair because i am thinking about them ( it feels like fall where I live so expect a lotta.... autumn-related chapters to come b/c its my favorite season lol, this is one of them).... partially inspired by Kingdom Dance off the Tangled Soundtrack cuz it was played at a fair I went to a couple years back (before covid obvi) and it's been on all my playlists ever since
this also plays into the big brother Enoch HC because <3//

Enoch's POV//

I remember when I first saw them.

Jacob had dragged all of us to this... fair thing, one he insisted on for ages before he got Miss. Peregrine to agree to it. It was medieval inspired, I think, and I will admit- it was interesting. A lot of people were dressed up as fantasy characters ( Jacob said they might be "DnD" characters? What is that.). Pirates, elves, satyrs, the whole circus. 

Horace looked like he was going to pass out.

Right in the middle of this clown parade was a makeshift town square, where a lot of food shops were set up. I was getting a caramel apple for Olive (mainly so she would stop hanging onto my arm like a lifeline, the GRIP on that child—) when one of the bands started up. I'm not sure if band is the right word or not, but there was music, and half the people jumped to attention. 
And then I saw them.

Dressed up as a fantastical bard, they were right in the center. Their face was red in the late September cold, a wide smile plastered on their features, and they were dancing with all the colors of the wind. I couldn't quite decide what color their outfit was- sometimes it looked emerald green, then they would move and it would look like autumn leaves, and then they'd turn around and it would be a brilliant blue. The first thought I had was how badly I'd like to draw it.

" Enoch? You're staring." Olive tugged on my arm, and I shoved the sweet into her hands.

" I am not."

" You should dance! I'll go with you, oh, let's find the others if we're going to dance—"

" We aren't going to dance, Olive. I think Horace might die."

She pouted, then took the most inhumanly large bite out of her apple and started back towards where we left the others.

Yeah, they weren't there.

Olive pointed out Emma, in the crowd of dancing people, with Claire balanced on her feet. So of course, she wanted to join. I protested, obviously, but as I've said, that girl has a ridiculously strong grip. 

And that's how I, Enoch O'Connor, pinnacle of dignity and also spite, found myself dancing. Bronwyn made me do it, honestly, but she was so happy that even I would have felt bad killing her mood. I admit it. It was... really fun. I'm hardly a good dancer— I nearly wiped out twice— but it's such a shockingly nice feeling. Claire and Olive kept bouncing between myself and Bronwyn, once I even got Horace to dance a bit, and the bard from before kept slowly getting closer. 

That itch in my hands started up. God, how I'd love to draw the pattern on their little cape thing, or the way their hat sat on their hair, or capture their dizzy expression of happiness on paper. 
Twice, Olive ended up by me, and she teased. A lot. I didn't know she had so much energy. 
And then this little gremlin ( Jacob made us watch the movie and now it's one of my favorite words, cry about it) shoved me right into the bard.

Every ounce of dignity just evaporated. Thank you, Olive. Keep a close eye on your shoes for the next month or so.

They startled, then laughed and took my hands. When I tried to pull away, they tugged me closer, and I think I was as red as Horace was appalled. 

" You've never done this before, have you?" They said, almost out of breath.

" Friends idea," I practically gasped, and they laughed again.

" I'm Y/N!"

" Enoch."

" I like your hair!" Y/N had to nearly shout over the music, which was nearing it's close, and I blanked. Hair? Of all my qualities, HAIR? That sounds like an Emma or Horace compliment, not one meant for me. Immediately, I started to wonder when I last showered. 

" Thanks?"

Then the music finished, and Y/N took a deep bow over the clapping, though I'm pretty sure it was meant for the band and not them. Then they looked at me and winked.

Yeah, there's no way I wasn't red as a cherry by now. 

" You wanna get something to eat? There's really good funnel cakes here." They asked, straightening up and adjusting their hat. I glanced back over at the group I came with. All of them were gathered together, red faced and out of breath, and thankfully distracted. Except for Olive ( of course), who waved me on with a giddy smile.

" Uh. Sure." 

" Awesome."