The growl, though, faded off after a few moments. The shadowy Enderman inspected himself, running his long, slender fingers along the bandages. He sniffed at the bandages carefully, then snorted a bit, shaking his head at the smell of the salve. It was a bit strong – but the human's scent was there. He could detect that, too. The Enderman was quiet for a moment, before he let out an odd, staticy chirping sound, tilting his head a bit as he watched Evan. He lifted his head, taking in breaths of air through his nose. Evan assumed he was smelling him, which was odd to say the least.
The expression brightened a bit and... the Enderman purred. Even had never heard anything like it; it was somewhat like the purr of a cat, a bit distorted and laced with radio static. The sound was brief, and followed by two soft chirps.
"Are you thanking me?" Evan asked. His words got another questioning chirp and tilted head. The Enderman was watching him now, looking perfectly calm. He wasn't tense anymore. There were no signs of his fear from before, though he did seem to still be in a bit of pain.
He tried to sit up, which caused a soft hiss of pain to come from him. No – not yet, He didn't feel ready to get up and move yet. He licked at one of the wounds, then grimaced and spat at the taste of the salve. He spat again and shook his head, wiping his tongue off with one hand. He let out a rather unpleasant "Rrrt" sound.
"Yeah, that stuff isn't meant to taste good. You won't want to lick it." Evan said. That got another blank stare from the Enderman. He couldn't understand the human at all. He studied him carefully, looking him up and down. The Enderman looked curious, actually. And a tad restless.
After a moment, the Enderman shivered slightly, tilting his head back. He let out a sharp, staticy-sounding sneeze, then shook his head. Two more sneezes followed.
The Enderman chirped unhappily again, and rubbed at his nose. He looked tired. Evan very cautiously moved towards the shadowy creature, offering a hand to help him to the fireplace.
"You look like you don't feel well." He said. "You should warm up."
The Enderman did not understand him, but he supported himself on the offered arm and sat up. He let out another soft hiss of pain, his hold on Evan's arm tightening. That brief tightening hold had Evan trembling in fear for a moment, eyes going wide. He could feel the tips of claws pressing against his skin, but he felt no pain.
The Enderman paused, taking in the human's scent. He smelled his fear, before he lowered his head a bit and let out a quiet purr. Evan looked back at him, seeing absolutely no aggression, but instead... a rather apologetic look accompanied by soft chirp.
"It's allright..." Evan said. He carefully helped the Enderman stand. He was terribly weak, and had to lean on Evan almost completely for support. He lead him towards the fire.
The warmth of the flames came as a welcome sensation to the Enderman. He purred briefly and relaxed his posture a bit, before he shook his head and sneezed again. The sound made Evan jump, which startled a soft hiss out of the Ender. The hiss made Evan jump again, though this time it didn't startle the Enderman. Again, he heard that apologetic chirp he had heard before. It seemed they would just keep startling eachother until they got more used to eachother.
That was when Evan realized something – they had managed to communicate. At least, to a certain point. The Enderman had shown clear emotion; he had a feeling it was as sentient as he was. There was just that problematic language barrier.
He gently helped him lay on the soft rug in front of the fire. It was cushioned enough to be somewhere nice and warm to lay. Once laying in the softness, the Enderman nestled into it. Evan realized he was purring again, eyes half closed. He went to his dresser once again, and brought out an extra blanket he had on hand. He draped it over the Enderman, who huddled up beneath it near the fire.
He watched the flames, until he yawned. His mouth opened wide, all those sharp teeth fully visable, His tongue, long, pointy, and seemingly prehensile, poked out from between his jaws and curled in an almost doglike manner. He stretched his lean form a bit, then relaxed. He shifted a few times, sniffling and sneezing from time to time. He settled deeper into the blankets with a quiet, unhappy sounding whine. He wiped at his nose and whined again.
Evan decided to get some meat from his cellar, and cook it up. With those sharp claws and teeth he assumed that the Enderman was a meat eater. The scent caught the Enderman's attention, who lifted his head up and looked at Evan. But he didn't seem interested in the food; just the new scent.
"Here, you should eat." Evan said, demonstrating what he meant. The Enderman tilted his head ot the side a bit, before letting out a long "Vhrrrrrrrrrrt." sound. He looked away from the food and laid his head back down miserably.
"Are you sure?" Evan asked him again.
"Vrrrrrrrrht." He let out a disinterested huff.
"Allright then, have it your way." Evan said. "More for me, anyway."
The Enderman chirped again, before looking back to the fire. He instinctively tried to lick at his wounds again, before letting out a half growl, half wine and spitting again. He shook his head and made a rather quiet hacking sound. That stuff tasted terrible! But he was too weak to teleport to clean himself. That, and he had a feeling that salve was easing the pain of his wounds. They only hurt when he moved. Healing salve or not, though, it tasted nasty!
The Enderman's attention turned to the human, who was eating the food he had turned down. No use letting perfectly good boar meat go to waste! He tilted his head and watched his every move, chirping softly on occasion. Observing.
Evan was deep in thought as he ate. The whole night had him thinking about Endermen in an entirely new way. Aside from growling at him when he first woke, not the slightest bit of aggression had come from the creature since they actually met. In fact, the growl hadn't even been aggression. The Ender was just scared and in pain.
He looked back at the Enderman, who stared at him curiously. Maybe they weren't so dangerous as he thought? Was he truly different then the others of his breed... or was injury and sickness, or even, necessity for survival, making him so docile? It didn't seem so; he had been friendly even before that. He thought back over his previous encounters. The Ender had always ran. He hadn't attacked once. He'd even been leaving things by his door. Had they been meant for him? Evan's mind was filled with questions.
He couldn't help but be creeped out by the way the Enderman watched him, though; glowing, purple eyes following his every move.
"What, never seen a man eat before?" He asked.
Chrrr-ip! Came from the Enderman.
"Surely your own kind eat." Evan mused. "I just wish I knew what..." He could always try a few different sorts of food; or maybe the Enderman would wander off and eat on his own when he was recovered and the rain stopped.
He then realized... he had to call the Enderman something other then "Enderman" or "Creature". But what to call him? He probably had a name.
"Do you have a name?" Evan asked, though he only received a confused tilt of the head in return, followed by a questioning chirp. The Enderman studied him closely; he knew the human was trying to speak with him. But the language was very strange, and very different. He finally laid his head down with a little sigh, cooing, chirping, chirring, and growling to himself quietly. Evan was sure this was speech, in the odd language of the creature. He was most likely muttering to himself, as Evan did quite often.
Finally the man stood, before tapping his chest. "Evan." he said simply. The Enderman watched him keenly, before he shifted and touched his own chest.
He said something that sounded like "Kuu'Ruhrr."
"Kuu..." Evan repeated. That got a funny look from the Enderman, who tilted his head in thought, then shrugged his shoulders. It worked.
Evan jumped at an odd staticy sound, somewhat like a rapid kukukukuku came from the Enderman. After a brief moment, he realized the shadowy creature was laughing! The way Evan said his name sounded so odd... but perhaps the way the Overworlder said it was the only way he could say it. Either way, Kuu didn't mind. He found it amusing.
The Enderman went quiet for a moment, before focusing.
"Heeee... fhaaan." He cood. He shook his head, and repeated it. "Heeee...fhaannn." It sounded odd and staticy, and the odd sound tickled Kuu's throat and tongue.
Much to Evan's surprise, the Enderman went into a string of chirps and cooing sounds, followed by more of that odd, staticy laughter. Evan could swear the Enderman was telling him how funny his name sounded.
"Nice to know you find my name so amusing." Evan said, though he couldn't help but smile. Kuu sneezed, then yawned again. He looked tired.
Evan decided he'd let him use the bed. He was injured; he needed his rest. Evan could sleep on the couch. He carefully moved closer, reaching out an arm. Once again he helped Kuu up and lead him to his bed. Kuu seemed to recognize that and he sank gratefully into the softness. He purred softly, then chirped. Something Evan recognized as a "Thank You."
He smiled. "No problem." He said. Kuu yawned one more time, then tucked his knees up towards his chest in a partially curled position so he would fit fully on the bed. In moments, the Enderman was fast asleep.
What an interesting night this had been. Evan watched the sleeping Kuu for a moment as he slept. A part of him was surprised to find out that Endermen slept. The young male twitched a foot and chirped softly occasionally in his sleep but was otherwise still and quiet. Finally, Evan decided it was time to get some sleep.
He lay on the couch. His mind was so busy that it took him a while to drop off, but after a while sleep finally found the human.
As morning arrived, the raging storm had slowed to a quiet drizzle. Evan shifted a bit, then opened his eyes.
Only to see a pair of glowing eyes staring right at him from mere inches away. Evan let out an impressive yelp, flailing and falling right off the couch with a thud. The sudden movement startled Kuu, who jumped back just in time to avoid their heads colliding. Eyes wide, Evan stared at the Enderman in a brief moment of panic, before everything that had happened the night before came back to him. Evan cleared his throat, going red in the face.
"Sorry.. about that." He said.
Much to his surprise, Kuu looked far better then he had the night before. He had pulled off the bandages, which were laying in a heap by the bed. The wounds had all healed overnight. His aura was back to its full strength. His eyes were bright and his stance strong and healthy once again.
What surprised him even more was that the Enderman was laughing again. A hearty, mirthful sound, eyes bright. Every time he looked at Evan, he burst into laughter again. He was completely and thoroughly amused by the human's reaction.
"Yes, thank you. For laughing at my natural responses." Evan said sulkily. While his words went right over Kuu's head, the young male Ender easily understood Evan's posture and tone of voice, which had him breaking out into laughter again. His eyes sparkled with mischief and amusement.
Evan couldn't help but smile. "Ok, maybe it was pretty funny." He admitted.
Kuu saw and heard the human laugh, an odd sound, but he knew what it was. He let out a satisfied and friendly "Chrrr-ip!" and sat beside Evan. He tilted his head to the side a bit as he watched him curiously. Kuu had to wonder why he had been so afraid of the human at first. They seemed to have a lot of similarities. The human had saved his life. For that, Kuu was endlessly greatful. He could have attacked; could have cast him back out in the rain. But instead, he'd tended to his wounds and gave him somewhere safe and warm to pass the night. Kuu was pleased to see that the wounds had not left any scarring. His skin was unmarred as if he had never been hurt in the first place. He probably had the human to thank for this, too, with his foul-tasting stuff he had put on his wounds.
Evan, too, was having thoughts of his own. The Enderman's demeanor was completely opposite of what he had expected. The fact that he was still so docile and friendly after he'd regained his health told him the shadowy creature was not at all hostile. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He realized that the zombie that he had attacked had been on purpose. The Enderman had not mistaken the zombie for him. He had been trying to help him. Moreover, the items set by his door had been gifts. The Enderman had wanted him to bring them inside. It must have been his way of showing his intentions.
There was a moment of surprise as Evan felt warmth against his side. Kuu cuddled up to him, resting his head on the human's shoulder. He purred pleasantly. The staticy sound was odd, but also somehow relaxing. Evan had to smile. It was... cute, in an odd way.
Evan shifted a bit to get more comfortable, which barely disturbed the Enderman. The staticy purr continued on and on.
It truly did seem that the two had found unlikely friends in eachother.