As late summer ended and fall began, Evan finally got Kuu's room finished. The last hearthstone set, the last shelf put up. Kuu was glad to help carry his bed in; which he did with surprising ease. He was able to understand that the bedroom was his; and he instantly made use of it. While he preferred to spend time with his friend in the livingroom, Kuu loved having his own space
Things were never boring with the Enderman around. Kuu's constant mischief and playfulness. Evan was coming to realize that Kuu was actually very young. No older then 18 or so. In some ways, Kuu reminded Evan of a young cat. Adult, but with bouts of kittenish playfulness. Kuu was also very affectionate.
He was very fond of cuddling and being in general contact. Evan soon realized that it was purely platonic. Kuu never meant anything by it, other then just friendly. Evan didn't mind. He found the odd, staticy purring oddly relaxing. Kuu generally liked being near Evan; or Leanna when she visited.
He was a sweet and caring soul; gentle and social. Evan found it hard to believe that he had once been so frightened of the Enderman. He really was thinking he had Endermen all wrong. Even the time he had been attacked, before he met Kuu, he'd survived. The Enderman that attacked him could have easily killed him. Looking back, he remembered the posture. It had been in that same defensive crouch; eyes wide, mouth open. He realized he must have frightened it. It was probably trying to defend himself.
He remembered other stories he had heard; about people attacked by Enderman. More often then not, they survived. When put into a situation where they could have easily been ripped apart, the Enderman had left them alive before vanishing. He remembered Kuu's attack of the Undead in his mine; before they had seen eachother face to face. How quickly he had knocked it down. It was destroyed by the second slash of his claws. If an Enderman could kill a human so quickly and easily... why didn't they? He was thinking that they were, perhaps, more like humans then most people realized. When threatened, a human would go for their weapons first, and ask questions later. An Enderman just happened to have natural ones. Claws, and sharp teeth.
Despite his clear physical differences, Kuu wasn't that much unlike a human. He clearly had a full range of emotion. He had a full spoken language that Evan was just starting to learn to understand; and even a written language. He'd seen Kuu carving odd symbols into a piece of wood which he'd placed above his door. Evan assumed it was his name. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed vaguely letter-like.
Evan had suspitious that Kuu was new to this world; that he had come recently. He showed clear curiousity and fascination with things that most people would simply overlook.
As Autumn took hold, Kuu was delighted. He loved the crisp air, the warm sun and cool air. But most of all, he loved the leaves. He loved everything about them. The way they fell from the trees and fluttered to the ground; he'd pounce them like a kitten. The way they crunched under his feet. Leaf piles never stayed intact. Without fail, they would be torn apart by an overly excited Enderman leaping headlong into and rolling around in them. Evan would have given up raking his yard entirely if it wasn't for how amusing it was to watch Kuu play with the leaf piles. Leanna, too, found it both adorable and hilarious.
Kuu bounded all over the yard, graceful and fast with deep growls that Evan soon learned were playful. While different in tone then an aggressive or scared growl, the playful growl was still rather unnerving until Evan got used to it. When Kuu got into his playful moods, Evan had to be on his toes; because sometimes he'd get pounced out of nowhere. He was never hurt though; Kuu always made sure of that. But it startled the hell out of him.
As the leaf piles got bigger, Kuu figured out he could hide in them. Which had Evan keeping a wide berth from the leaves when he couldn't find Kuu anywhere. Because going too close usually ended up with him on the ground in a tumble of long limps and play growls.
Sometimes Kuu would wrestle with the man, though he could easily overpower Evan. Kuu was nice, though; he never got too rough for him.
Kuu also had a new little quirk that showed up. Whenever Evan was reading, or sitting, or doing something else that had him staying in one spot, Kuu would walk up and place a leaf on his head. Evan brushed it off each time, before looking up at Kuu with a raised brow. The Enderman's laughter always followed, before he teleported back outside.
Annoyingly, though; Kuu loved the Autumn so much he wanted to bring it inside. He brought leaves in by the handful. No matter how many times Evan cleaned them up, he always found more.
Gathering wood for the winter was a breeze with Kuu around. The Enderman had razor sharp claws that slashed through the wood as if it was butter, and the incredible strength to pull even large trees down to the ground. Before long the new storehouse was full enough for two winters. Kuu had helped build that, too.
Kuu was also a natural born hunter. His teleporting ability came in handy. His extremely heightened sense of smell came in handy, too. Evan could spend hours trying to find a track, but with a few breaths of the air near the ground through his nose, Kuu could lead him to anything in the forest. The winter stockpile of meat was filled quickly. Evan realized that Kuu was also very skilled with his claws. He was eager to help him tan hides. He only had to show him once how to scrape the fat and bits of meat away from the skin. The blood from their kills, and the grime of work always vanished after Kuu teleported. Evan realized that that was how an Enderman 'bathed'; though he had no idea what happened to the accumulated dirt and grime. There was never anything on the floor after Kuu teleported.
His crops that year had been good; especially since Leanna had helped. She knew exactly what she was doing and her advice had been very valuable.
All in all, it had been a good year. As the clouds grew heavy, Evan had time to just sit back and relax. As per usual, Kuu was right next to him, cuddled up with his head resting on his shoulder. Purring away contentedly with his eyes half closed. As Evan read, the purring quieted until he looked over to see Kuu had fallen asleep. The Enderman didn't sleep often, but when he did he always looked peaceful and content.
Evan smiled himself as he looked to the window. A delicate white flake of snow floated slowly down to the ground. Winter's first snow. Kuu made the occasional soft sound in his sleep accompanied by a slight twitch of an arm or a leg as the snowfall got heavier.
Evan was content. The fire crackled cheerily in the hearth, snow floated gently to the ground outside, he had a good book, and a good friend.
Even as the snow storm grew worse, Evan remained comfortable and content. The house was sturdy and warm; there was plenty of firewood and food. It would be a good winter. The wind whistled and whipped around outside as the snow piled up. It had snowed about eight inches when the Enderman finally shifted, stretched, and woke up with a long, curly-tongued yawn.
"Good morning, sleepy-head." Evan smirked. "Or Afternoon, that is."
Kuu cooed back in reply before he sat up and shook himself with another yawn. Then his head perked right up as his eyes fell on the window.
Rrrrrrt? The sound was a question; an expression of curiousity. Kuu approached the window, staring at the snow. His expression was clear; he had never, ever seen anything like it. Evan could tell that much by his reaction. His chirping and cooing grew excited, eyes bright.
Before Evan could stop him, he teleported outside. Evan ran out after him, ready to bring him inside instantly. But the snow wasn't hurting the Enderman. He stood in it, staring up at the sky. His eyes shone with wonder as he reached out a hand. A delicate snow flake settled on his skin. Kuu could see every beautiful detail before it was blown away by an icy breeze.
He stood still for a few moments, completely transfixed by the snow. Evan was just relieved that the Enderman seemed unharmed.
Then, Kuu's wonder turned to playfulness. He kicked at the snow, then picked up a handful. The cold didn't seem to bother him. He tossed it into the air, then chirped excitedly, before tossing it again. He briefly dropped into a crouch, before he was off. He bounded through the snow, pouncing at the falling flakes like an overly excited kitten. He teleported into the trees, shook the branches, and watched the snow fall to the ground. His clear excitement was adorable. Evan couldn't help but laugh.
Kuu soon figured out that the snow could be clumped up into a ball. His mischievous eyes soon turned to Evan, before he let the snowball fly. It hit the side of Evan's head with a poof.
"Wha..." He turned to stare at Kuu, who was in a playful crouch. Kuu then growled and chirped excitedly, before taking off in a run. He didn't run often; he usually just teleported when he wanted to get places.
"Why you..." Evan laughed, as he picked up a snowball of his own. He threw it at Kuu, who teleported out of its way before poking his tongue out at the human mischievously.
"Cheater!" Evan laughed with a roll of his eyes. Of COURSE the Enderman would teleport out of the way of a snow ball! The two threw snow balls at eachother as they neared the small lake a ways behind the house. It was where Evan liked to fish. By now it was completely frozen over and could easily hold Evan's weight, even if he jumped up and down. Not that he would; the ice was slippery and falling on it would hurt.
So far, Evan had not managed to hit Kuu once, though he himself was covered in snow. Kuu darted out into the ice, before letting out a surprised yelp. His claws skittered along the ice as he tried to catch his balance. This provided enough of a distraction for a snowball to hit Kuu square in the face. The Enderman lost his balance completely and fell back on his butt with a surprised grunt. He teleported back off the ice. By then, the snow had stopped falling and the sun had come out, causing it to warm up a few degrees.
This caused the snow to melt slightly. Kuu let out a surprised hiss of pain and jumped away from the spot he was standing on. He looked down, confused. He couldn't figure out where the water was coming from! He jumped again, before letting out a confused whine. He started to feel stinging elsewhere on his skin, which made him shake his head and teleport again.
Each bit of snow that melted bit into his skin; and it hurt. Kuu jumped away from it a few times, growing more confused. He tried picking up a handful of the snow; only to have it melt against his hands. The snow... was turning into water! Kuu stared at the snow with wide eyes, before nearly knocked Evan over backwards in his desperation to get back inside. He teleported instead of opening the door, like usual. Eyes wide, Kuu turned to stare out the window. The door opening and closing made him jump a bit and glance back at Evan.
How could something so beautiful and fun turn into water?
Evan wasted no time coming over with a towel, which he handed to Kuu. Kuu got to work cleaning the blood off his skin, before looking at Evan.
"Snow. It is..." He tried to think. "Hard Water."
'Snow is water?' Kuu questioned. It was simple, but something Evan could understand. They had learned enough of eachother's vocabulary to communicate simple things.
Evan nodded. Kuu stared back out the window. He looked both sorely disappointed, and conflicted. It had been so pretty, and so fun. He did not know that water could get hard. Or that it didn't hurt him while it was hard; it seemed to need to be liquid to do that. As he looked out the window, he found his like for the snow quickly going away. In fact, he didn't like it at all. It turned into water, and water hurt. He curled his lip and growled at it, before he went to lay sulkily in front of the fire. The bloody burns healed within minutes; they had been minor.
After that, Kuu refused to go outside. As long as that evil white snow sullied the ground, the Enderman wouldn't set foot outside that door. In fact, every time Evan opened the door to go out and tend to his chores, Kuu would curl his lip and growl at the snow, eyes narrowed, before turning his back on the door. Evan felt bad for him, but he found it amusing at the same time.
"You'll be fine if you don't let it melt on you." Evan told Kuu. Kuu let out a little huff.
Evan then got an idea. He had a perfect idea for cheering his friend up. He went into his room, and came out with a guitar he had bought from the trading post. With Kuu's help, he had a nice stockpile of coin.
He sat by the fire, and started to play, his fingers dancing along the strings and producing a nice, relaxing melody. Soon, the rythmic strumming was joined by Evan's voice as he started to sing. Softly at first, but soon his voice gained strength. It had been a while since he'd played and sang. It soon became apparent that Kuu very much liked it. He was absolutely delighted. Listening to the sound of the guitar and his friend's voice, Kuu settled into the rug by the fire. His eyes were half closed with pure contentment as he purred on and on.
Evan had to smile. Apparently, Endermen liked music. As the song ended, he set his guitar down and leaned his head back contentedly.
"Sorry I'm a bit rusty." Evan said. Kuu didn't care, though. He'd loved it either way.
Evan then had another idea. He had everything needed to bake a cake. He had gotten supplies for a cake before at the trading post, but never got around to making it. He'd completely forgotten about it. But now was a good time. It was winter, his storehouse was full, and he had plenty of time on his hands.
He mixed the batter and made the frosting; and soon, the delicious smell of baking cake filled the house. Kuu clearly liked the smell. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. Evan took the cake out to cool, before frosting it and cutting a slice for himself, and a slice for Kuu.
He held the plate out to Kuu. The Ender looked from the plate, to Evan, and back to the plate.
"You eat it." Evan said. "You don't have to, but it tastes good. It's a treat."
Having seen Evan eat many times, curiosity finally got the better of the Ender. He reached out a hand and dipped a claw into the frosting. Kuu froze for a moment, before he let out a purr of pure delight. He devoured the rest of his slice quickly before licking the remnants of frosting off his lips and fangs. He stared at Evan expectantly, who laughed.
"I TOLD you you'd like it." He said. He gave Kuu another piece. That quickly followed the first, gone in a few snaps of sharp teeth.
Whatever Evan didn't eat, was quickly snapped up by razor sharp teeth. Well, at least the cake wouldn't go to waste. Evan didn't think to try to stop the Ender; Enders didn't need to eat. So the thought that Kuu could make himself sick eating too many sweets didn't even cross the man's mind.
Then... came the sugar high. Kuu felt excitable and and full of energy. Chirping excitedly, he stood and started to pace.
He paced and paced and paced, until the clacking of claws threatened to drive Evan mad. Kuu became playful as well. He tore around the house, growling and pouncing Evan at every turn. The man found himself hitting the floor and pinned beneath the Enderman more times then he wanted to count.
Filled with pent up energy with no other outlet, Kuu decided the house needed redecorating. He completely re-arranged the house. Three times. Evan the human was lifted and moved when Kuu decided that wherever he was sitting needed be somewhere else. After a few hours of this, Evan just completely gave up on trying to get Kuu to calm down and did his best to ride it out.
He now regretted letting Kuu eat an entire cake.
After the sugar high, came the sugar crash. Kuu slowed down, before he started to feel very tired. The Enderman yawned and shook his head a bit. He felt very odd. He wasn't sure what this new feeling was, but he didn't like it. He whined and rubbed at his stomach a bit.
He lay by the fire, staying very still. When he didn't move too much, his stomach didn't feel so bad. But soon, even staying still didn't help. Kuu shifted and squirmed in clear discomfort.
He stood, thinking that maybe moving around would help. But it most definitely did not. It made it worse. He whined in displeasure. He wanted that aweful feeling to go away.
He wrapped his arms around his stomach and whined again. This time, Evan actually looked up. Then his eyes widened.
"Oh no.. not on my -"
That was when Kuu whined urgently, hunched over, and and threw up. He heaved and retched until the entire cake had come back up. All over Evan's floor.
Kuu looked utterly displeased. He coughed a few times, before he stepped away from the mess. He looked at it for a moment, then covered his nose. Whatever he'd just done, it was nasty. He wanted nothing more to do with it. He teleported to his bed and flopped down. He felt a bit better after that, but he was very tired all of a sudden. His glowing eyes soon closed; and the Enderman was out like a light.
Evan just sighed as he got up to get his mop and bucket.
"Oi, Kuu! Don't eat so much next time!" he said as he cleaned, before he looked over at Kuu's room to see the Enderman was dead asleep. "... Of course."
He finished cleaning the mess before he went into his own room. Before he went to bed, he made another entry in his journal.
'Enderman vs. Snow. The snow won.' He wrote. 'They can handle snow until it melts.' He detailed the happenings of the day, before finishing the entry with 'Note to self – Never, ever give an Enderman too much cake.'