As the day wore on from morning to noon, to afternoon, the drizzle sped up to a steady rain once again. The storm had just gone through a lull and was gearing up for more storming that night.
"Looks like you'll be sticking around for a bit, hm?" Evan mused. He looked at the Enderman, though a bit hesitantly. He was almost afraid he was pushing his limits by looking at the shadowy creature so often.
To Evan's relief, Kuu chirped in response; he made no further reaction to being looked at. He couldn't understand a word the human said, but he knew the human was talking to him. He assumed the human couldn't understand him either. There were some things Kuu could understand; but most of that he got from posture and tone of voice. Subtle nuances the human didn't even notice himself doing.
Kuu rather wished he could learn how to speak to the human, somehow. It would be nice. Then he could learn more about the human. He was inquisitive by nature.
Evan stood up, and got to cooking. Both attempts to get the Enderman to eat had been for naught. But that wouldn't stop him from trying once again. Bacon and Eggs for breakfast... the Enderman had turned his nose up.
A leg of chicken for lunch... Kuu had just stared at him funny. Leaving Evan to eat both legs.
Maybe rabbit would be the answer? He cooked up the rabbit. Like before, Kuu seemed intrigued with the smell of the cooking meat. But that was no sign to go off of. Thus far, Evan had realized any new scent caught his interest.
He brought it over. "Are you SURE you aren't hungry? You haven't eaten all day." He said. He offered the plate.
Kuu took in the scent, but shook his head again. He didn't eat. Not like the human did; he took in the energy around him. The warmth of the fire was like food to him. He knew his kind took energy in to eat; maybe humans put things into their mouths? It was an odd way to sustain one's self, Kuu thought.
Evan sighed. "Surely you must eat something." Evan said. Kuu watched him for several long moments. Then, he motioned towards the fire. He chirped and sat in front of it, before closing his eyes and purring lightly, before looking back at Evan. He walked to the window, which had rain pounding it once again. He pointed at the sky, then made a circle with his fingers.
Evan watched him. Then he thought he started to get it. "So you feed from warmth?" He wondered. Kuu hoped he understood, before he went back to the fire.
"Or maybe not warmth..." Evan mused, thinking. "But … energy?" The Enderman couldn't understand him, but Evan decided to stick with his theory. Maybe that was why he didn't eat; he didn't need to. It made sense.
After that, he stopped trying to get the Enderman to eat. If he needed to, he would.
Even knowing the Enderman for one day, Evan had noticed several things about him. The sounds he made, which were quite constant, were a good way to judge the Enderman's mood. Currently, Kuu coo'ed and chirped softly as he explored Evan's home. He picked a few things up to look at them before putting them down and moving on. He paused by the window to look out several times, as if he felt restless. Evan found himself wondering if the Enderman was just going to leave as soon as the rain stopped. A part of him didn't want him to.
He was fascinated with Kuu. First off, he was curious. Second off... he was sure nobody had ever gotten so close to one before. This was a first-hand experience with one of the most feared monsters known to mankind. Though with what he knew of Kuu, he hardly seemed to be a 'monster'. He was friendly; though Evan was not sure if this was because he had saved his life or if it was Kuu's normal personality.
Endermen were elusive at best; and most people didn't have the chance to observe them. If a person moved closely and stayed hidden, an Enderman could be observed safely, but most were too afraid to even get that close to one. But here he was, in his home, co-existing with one. It still blew Evan's mind completely.
He learned that Kuu was insatiably curious. He had to look at everything; and whatever Even did was watched closely by those ever inquisitive glowing eyes. This got quite awkward when he needed to go to the bathroom. Though the first time Kuu had tried to follow him, he'd left quickly, with his hand over his nose, and gave Evan the oddest of looks after he came out. He didn't try to follow him again after that. Judging by the way Kuu seemed to smell things carefully, Evan assumed he had a very sensitive nose. And like any human, the bathroom didn't always smell nice and fresh when he came out.
He noticed that Kuu showed absolutely no signs of needing the toilet; he never ate or drank, and thus didn't have the natural bodily functions that humans had. That was a bit of a relief; Evan could hardly imagine how awkward it would have been to show Kuu what a toilet was.
There were, as would be expected, cultural differences too. Evan noticed Kuu never wore clothes. He seemed to have no interest in it. Not that he needed it; his equipment was all tucked away neatly inside his body. Of which Evan was glad; one accidental look at even the tip of Kuu's manhood had been entirely enough for the human.
Kuu seemed full of energy after his long sleep. He looked like he hadn't been hurt in the first place. And with the rain still going hard, the Enderman was restless. He was pacing, on and on. His claws went click clack click clack wherever he went, which was just starting to get a bit annoying; but for a creature that lived out in the open, being pent up in his house was probably quite boring for him.
Evan noticed another thing; Kuu appeared to be afraid of the thunder. Every time it rumbled, he saw the Enderman tense and glance towards the window, then look all around nervously. He kept going from window to window, peering out of them. Occasionally, he let out a quiet growl. He heard the change in his tone as well, rapid chirping and nervous cooing. Evan also noticed a change in the Ender's posture and body language. He was now moving low, eyes wide and flashing left and right. He realized it was the thunder that was the source of the Enderman's restlessness. He had not expected such a deadly creature to be afraid of something like thunder.
"It's just thunder. It won't hurt you." Evan said, though Kuu could not understand him. Kuu glanced back at him, and turned his attention back to the window.
A flash of lightening lit up the room, followed by a loud peal of thunder that shook the entire house seconds later. Kuu's reaction was instant. He hissed and nearly tripped over himself leaping back from the window, followed by a low, rumbling growl. The sound made Evan shiver.
But it was not aimed at him. He was staring at the window intently, his entire form quivering. The growl he let out was low, his posture low to the ground. The line of spikes down his spine was back. Evan could almost describe his as frightened and submissive and the back spikes like hackles. He was sniffing the air too, as if looking for something.
"Kuu... There's nothing out there. It's just the storm." Evan repeated, though he knew the Enderman couldn't understand him. He wished he could. Glowing eyes turned back to him and the growl quieted, turning into a low, staticy whine. He hunkered himself down behind the couch, as if trying to hide.
He was just starting to calm down and lift his head up again again when another flash of lightening came followed by loud thunder. Kuu jumped terribly, but didn't move from where he was. Evan was at a loss. He couldn't figure out how to comfort him. The Enderman was clearly frightened. Kuu's claws had grown out as well. It seemed like the spines only came out under certain situations.
He finally went to the window, but he didn't make it all the way there. There was a flash of black, and there was Kuu. He placed himself between Evan and the Window. He growled and stared at the window, before looking back at Evan. He chirped and coo'ed urgently and kept nudging Evan further and further from the window.
His behavior seemed... protective. Kuu was trying to protect Evan from the thunder, which actually surprised the human considerably. With how badly the thunder was scaring him, it was actually pretty brave for him to come out of hiding and try to keep Evan out of harm's way even if there was nothing at all to harm him.
To appease the Enderman, Evan went back to sit on his couch. He sighed. This storm was going to make for a long night. He didn't think he could sleep with Kuu being so restless. The next peal of thunder was followed by the sound of skittering claws as Kuu dove behind the couch again. He let out a whine.
Evan stood, and went behind the couch as well. He knelt beside Kuu.
"Hey, hey.. it's allright." He said. He tried to speak in soothing tones. "It's just thunder. The rain won't come in here." Surprisingly, his speech actually did calm Kuu a bit, but it was probably just the tone. He hesitantly reached out a hand. He hoped he wouldn't regret this. A frightened animal would bite; though Kuu was clearly not an animal. His hand contacted warm skin without incident. Kuu looked at him, before looking back over the couch at the window nervously. He must have been too exhausted to notice the thunder the night before; he'd slept through most of the storm. But then again, with the pain he had been in, the sound of the thunder was probably the last thing on his mind.
Evan glanced at those claws, impressed at their length. They looked deadly sharp, and each time Kuu tensed from another rumble of thunder, they left deep gouges in his floor. He could feel the Ender shaking beneath his hand.
Thunder had come just as the rain started. Maybe this was why Kuu appeared to be so scared. But he was sheltered here; the rain would not come in. And Kuu did seem to realize that. He wasn't going beneath anything, but rather staying away from the windows entirely and was clearly intent on not letting Evan anywhere near the windows.
The storm raged on all night. The thunder was constant, cracking and roaring and rumbling like a raging beast in the sky. Kuu shook and whined at each rumble.
And much to Evan's surprise, the Enderman was taking comfort in him. He had moved from crouching beside Kuu, which had gotten tiring and uncomfortable on his legs, to sitting on the couch.
Kuu carefully slunk from behind the couch, to huddle up on it. He pressed himself close to Evan, his sounds urgent and nervous. He kept making the same sound – almost questioning in its tone. It was a rather harsh sound, almost a grow, followed by a two staticy clicks.
Evan wondered if this was the Enderman's word for thunder. Kuu looked at Evan's face, seeing the confusion there. He took a moment of pause, before he shifted, and pointed at his back. That confused Evan more, so Kuu slowly stood, and crouched down in front of him. He pointed at his back again. More specifically, the back of his neck.
Evan didn't know how he had missed it before; where Kuu was pointing was what appeared to be a brand of sorts. It was deep purple, almost black. The color of the inner flesh at the corner of his mouth, where the skin stretched to allow his jaw to open several times wider then any human could open theirs; and the color of the flesh beneath his skin which had been exposed when Evan had first met him. Lighter then the rest of his skin, but not light enough to stand out easily without being pointed out. The mark was the outline of what appeared to be a dragon, rearing back with wings spread wide.
Evan had to think for a moment, but he thought he realized what the Enderman was saying. He thought the thunder was the roar of a dragon.
Evan shook his head. "Not a dragon." He said. "Thunder."
To be sure, Kuu said the harsh word again, questioningly.
And again, Evan shook his head. He lead Kuu towards the window. Kuu was hesitant, but he followed nervously. The human pointed to the sky, which was still dark with storm clouds. He then made motions with his hands to simulate falling rain, then pointed out the rain drops on the window. When the lightening flashed, and the distant thunder followed, he felt Kuu tense a bit, but not as much.
"There are no dragons here." He said, even though he knew the Enderman wouldn't understand him. Kuu seemed to like hearing his voice, though; since he often greeted his words with gentle chirps. "And if there were, they wouldn't be interested in us. There are much bigger things for them to hunt."
With Kuu's back to him, Evan carefully and curiously touched the spikes that lined his spine. They were black, like his claws; and seemed similar in make-up, but not as sharp. The longest was around 8 inches long when fully extended. They started at the base of his neck, the first one small, until it got to the longest one located just below his shoulder blades. They tapered down, each one smaller the then one above it until it got to his lower back. Just above his tailbone was the last spine, which was barely more then a hard bump on his skin.
After a few moments, Evan realized the spines were disappearing again. Shrinking down until they were no more and Kuu's back looked normal. He noticed the claws had retracted, too. He touched his back again. Kuu glanced back at him with a slight tilt of his head. He could tell the human was curious about his spines; so he let them come back out again.
"Wow, you can actually control when they come out?" Evan questioned. He was surprised. He had thought they were an automatic reaction. But maybe they were both? Maybe they came out when Kuu was angry or frightened on their own, but he could bring them out at will, too? It did seem like it. He ran his fingers along them once again before he pulled his hand back.
Once Kuu felt the human had satisfied his curiosity, the spines once again vanished. He straightened up. His head almost brushed his ceiling. Evan found himself wondering how tall the Enderman was. Maybe he would get a measuring stick next time he was in town if Kuu stuck around that long.
He found himself hoping more and more that he would stay. He had to admit he liked Kuu, he seemed gentle and curious; not to mention intelligent. Even though they could not at all understand eachother's language, they had managed to communicate; to a point. That was when Evan decided to start keeping a journal. He had one, but he'd never had much to write in it.
He went to his drawer and pulled out a book bound in leather. There were two pages of writing, but the rest was all blank. He tore out those two pages and set them aside, before he brought out his ink and quill.
There was a moment of pause as he looked up thoughtfully, then started to write. As he did so, Kuu watched him curiously. It was oddly peaceful, really; writing out his experiences while the Enderman watched him, cooing and chirping softly. He found himself less and less afraid to look at him. The Enderman didn't seem to mind, after all. In fact, he would greet him with a soft coo then chirp each time their eyes met. It seemed to be a friendly greeting.
Evan noticed the sky was brightening up a bit. It was finally morning. He had been up all night with Kuu as the storm raged; but the steady rain had slowed to a drizzle once again, and he saw a break in the clouds.
"Looks like the rain's gonna stop soon." He said as he blew on the page to make sure the ink was dry before closing his journal and setting it aside. He stood and stretched.
"I really need some sleep." he said. He walked over to his bed to see the sheets still stained with purple-black blood, and decided to sleep on the couch once again. He was entirely too tired to change the sheets right now and wasn't keen on sleeping in his guest's blood.
Kuu recognized that the human was tired and going to sleep. He went quiet, then went to lay in front of the fire and wait for Evan to wake up.