Dreamers // Enoch O'Connor

Chapter 9: 可爱

   可爱 (Kě'ài) - Traditional Chinese for adorable

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"What's your favorite color?" I asked Enoch, out of the blue. He looked at me, baffled, a confused expression resting on his face. One of his eyebrows slowly lifted up.

"What?"

"You heard me. What's your favorite color?"

He remained silent, his eyes staring darkly into mine, as confused as ever.

"I don't like colors," he replied, turning his head the other way.

"I didn't ask you if you liked them or not, I asked for your favorite color," I replied and noticed an amused expression settle across his features.

"Black," he responded and I was about to speak before his interrupted me promptly, "don't you dare tell me it's a shade not a color, I honestly couldn't care less."

My eyes widened, lips quirking into a soft smile.

I liked this boy.

I liked him a lot.

We proceeded to talk for the next hour, resting under the cooling shade of the oak tree. The sun beat down on the leaves, light seeping through small cracks and dancing across the grass.

We talked about everything, from animals to people, from food to sports. He told me about all the children here, who they were and when they came.

He seemed to be enjoying talking with me, which is what surprised me the most.

But he never smiled, only smirked or had the grumpy exterior plastered across him.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked as he threw a small stone at a yellow flower resting in the ground. He hit it, smashing the golden petals.

"Hmm?" he responded, tilting his head toward me, looking at me with his soft gaze. In all honesty I had expected a cocky, grumpy rejection and not this.

"Why were you looking at me in my room this morning?"

His eyes widened, cheeks dusted with red.

No, not just cheeks, his whole face.

He cleared his throat, pushing himself up.

"Miss. Peregrine asked me to check on you," he mumbled, eyes fixed on the ground.

I bit my lip and chuckled to myself.

This boy was a terrible liar.

And it was adorable.

"What's your peculiarity, Enoch?" I asked, changing the subject for his sake.

"I'm a dead riser," he spoke, letting out a breath he seemed to be holding in, glad the conversation was directed elsewhere.

"A who?"

"Dead riser. I can bring inanimate object to li-, oh just follow me I'll show you," he said after noticing the confused expression on my face, raising himself off the ground and walking towards the house.

I followed promptly, walking behind him, up the staircase, passing my room.

His room was right next to mine, to my right.

He turned the doorknob, entering the room and waiting for me to go inside before shutting the door behind us.

I looked around.

It was a dark room with a bed, desk, multiple shelves and bookshelves. A large window stood in the middle, the sun being the only source of light, revealing flying specks of dust. The shelves and desk were lined with jars filled with hearts and other animal organs.

More importantly, it was the room from Horace's dream.

He sat down in the chair that was next to the desk and I stood sheepishly next to him.

Enoch took a small clay man, placing it in front of himself. He pulled a jar towards him, opening the lid and picking up a pair of tweezers.

It seemed to be a mouse heart. It was small.

He placed the heart inside the chest of the homunculi before sealing the body shut. He placed the toy on the desk, closing the jar and putting the tweezers to the side of the wooden structure.

He leaned down, whispering something towards the clay man.

I stared, confused, eyebrow popping upwards as nothing happened.

"Um, is something sup-" I started before being rudely interrupted by the boy.

"Shut up," he muttered, leaning backwards in his chair.

My eyes widened, and I crossed my arms across my chest.

Before I had time to reply a smart ass comment back, the homunculi popped up from its limp position on the table and began walking around, jumping every so often.

I yelped, surprised by the sudden movement.

"Oh shut your gobber, he's not gonna do anything to ya," the syndrigasti boy mumbled.

The toy began twirling around the wood, as if he was performing a dance. I laughed with glee as he skipped around, jumping across the jars onto Enoch's shoulder.

He then stopped, falling limply towards the floor but the dead riser caught him first with one swift movement.

"That was amazing!" I gushed, truly admiring the peculiarity the boy had.

He shrugged, placing the toy on his desk next to other clay figurines.

"So you can bring objects to life?" I questioned.

"Pretty much. Along with the living," he remarked. "It's nothing special."

"What do you mean it's nothing special? That was incredible!"

I saw his cheeks turn ever so slightly pink before he turned his head.

He looked at his pocket watch as he stood up, stumbling a bit as his long legs tangled with the chair.

"It's lunch, we should probably head downstairs," he said, refusing to make eye contact with me.

"We probably should," I smiled.

He was adorable.

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A/N:
I know I must be really annoying with all the thank yous, but aHH WE HAVE OVER 340 READS!!!
I am so amazed, thank you all :')  
Any feedback is appreciated xxx