Chapter Text
Mob had made the discovery of Verity a few days ago now, going on little journeys together. Verity pointing directions and happily chittering away to Mob about random facts when idle or in the process of going to a new area.
At first this company was appreciated, it didn’t take long until Mob had begun to recognise certain strange behaviours coming from the little yellow ball. Like the constant eyes he could feel. Even when the little guy wasn’t perched on his shoulder, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of paranoia of being watched.
These feelings became more relevant the more Mob started going out more by himself feeling slightly unsettled by Verity. Who didn’t seem the most pleased by the changes in behaviour on Mobs end.
Slowly weirder questions from Verity were becoming more common. At first he was asking small talk questions such as what he was interested in doing that day, or in specific materials he wanted to gather. This started changing to be more.. personal? Asking Mob if he enjoyed his company, asking who he communicates with on the device he carries with him constantly. If Mob was really sure he didn’t need company when he left.
Mob laughed to himself about how it seemed like the little ball of artificial intelligence was seeking re assurance from him. He did his best to side track from the more personal questions, he wasn’t entirely sure if that was his own discomfort or the little part of him deep down resulting to enderman instincts on not enjoying the feeling of others being aware of them.
Mob in general tends to have a good hold on those instincts, doing his best to shove them down when he can. At times they’re useful but others it can be a hinderance.
Such as when his friend Twixxel had jokingly took something out of a chest that Mob considered to be his. He had completely lost his temper and screeched at Twixxel before recognising what was happening and apologising to his friend, that luckily being a hybrid as well fully understood. They made a silent agreement after that not to take from each others belongings.
However, there was times where it would come in handy such as making him more aware of mobs being in his vicinity. A majority of the time Mob would sense a Skeleton staring at him before he would actually see them. It had gotten him out of a couple situations.
Mob was mainly just doing some idle resource collecting while thinking about what exactly verity is. He always seemed friendly but the questions he would ask him would make his stomach knot in discomfort. A sense that he had grew to knew was called a gut feeling.
Technically Verity hadn’t actually done anything ‘wrong’, sure the questions creeped him out and the constant staring irritated the part of him he tries his best to ignore but it wasn’t like the ball had purposely done anything wrong, quite the opposite considering the information he would give mob such as giving directions to the nearest diamond veins, or good lava pools.
He pondered more on what truly was affecting him about Verity as he headed back towards the house. Exhaustion slowly catching up to him the longer he was out.
He was surprised by what he saw when he opened the door, dropping the pick axe that made a loud sound as it contacted the ground.
Instead of his little yellow ball of a friend he was greeted by a much more humanoid seeming version of him. The only real giving away being the heavy yellow palate and sphere shaped head.
“Welcome back! Have you found what you were searching for?”, Verity asked in the same tone he always had. Walking over to where Mob had been stunned into stillness.
“..Verity? What happened?”, Mob asked attempting his best not to seem disturbed by this new information. There was something so much more unsettling by this version of Verity. More intimidating.
“This is the form your friends often take correct? I simply want to ensure your full comfort with me.”, a slight humorous tone was in his voice. Mob nodded, the knot in his stomach being tugged on giving him a feeling of nausea the more Verity stared at him.
He chose not to pay too much attention to it, and waving off Verity and heading towards his bed before Verity piped up again.
“Mob”, he had called out but made no attempt to move closer towards him.
“Yes? What’s up?”, hoping if he asked directly it would hurry this up, Mob wanted to get away from Verity and the more he talked the longer it felt it was taking.
“Something is coming in 3 days.” Monotone, and matter of fact.
“..what?”, he asked in confusion.
“Something bad is coming in 3 days. Good luck.” The room fell silent. Mob just stared at him.
"...That's it?" he finally asked. Verity smiled. "Yes." An amused tone answered. "No explanation?"
"You'll see in three days." Mob's eye twitched. Feeling the annoyance bubble beneath his skin. "I don't like when people say things like that." He stated trying his best not to glare at Verity who was stood around his height much to his displeasure. "Why?" Verity asked with the stupid smile stuck on his face. "Because it's weird!" "Oh." Verity seemed to think for a moment.
"I know many things before they happen." That somehow did not make Mob feel better.
"And you're only telling me now?" Mob asked feeling his annoyance slipping into his voice. "You haven't been around." Mob blinked. "What?"
"You keep disappearing to places I know I haven't mentioned or said to go. Communicating with people I do not know." They made his stomach tighten further. Verity had noticed he was going elsewhere on his journeys. Mob wasn't even sure how.
He looked away. "...You notice a lot." Discomfort slowly taking over the original annoyance."I do." The chipper voice answered. "Too much." Verity tilted his head. "Is that bad?" Mob opened his mouth. Then closed it. He honestly didn't know.
The room felt stuffy all of a sudden. Verity was still staring. Not blinking.Just... watching him. Mob could practically feel the weight of it. His instincts prickled beneath his skin, feeling the hair on his arm stick up. Something in him wanted to leave. Endermen didn't like being watched. Didn't like eyes lingering on them for too long. It made his shoulders tense. Made the purple particles around him become more frequent. Verity's gaze lowered slightly.
"You do that when you're uncomfortable." Mob froze. "What?" "The particles." Silence. "They increase." He added as if more clarification was needed, "...You noticed that?" "Yes." "Since when?" Verity looked confused.
"The first day." The first day.
Mob didn't know why that bothered him so much. Maybe because he himself had only recently started paying attention to it. Maybe because Verity said it so casually. As if knowing these things about him was perfectly normal. As if of course he had memorised his habits.
"You're doing it more right now." Mob immediately shoved his hands into his pockets. Verity watched the movement. Then smiled. "There. You do that too." "...What." "You hide your hands when you're anxious." "I am not anxious." "You are." "I'm not." "You are." Mob exhaled through his nose. There was no winning these conversations. Verity seemed oddly pleased. Mob frowned.
"You've been talking more."
Silence.
"I don't think I like these conversations." "Oh." Verity thought again.
"I still like hearing you talk." Something about the statement made Mob pause. The words themselves weren't creepy. The way Verity said them was. Too direct. Too honest. As if it had simply been a fact.
An entity he barely knew. A creature who somehow knew far too much about him. And now 'Something' was coming in three days and he refused to answer anything on it. He looked at Verity. Verity looked back. Still smiling. Still watching. Not blinking. Mob suddenly decided that sleep sounded like a wonderful idea.
"...I'm going to bed." "Okay." A beat. "Goodnight, Mob." Mob and nodded turning to leave.
He was already across the room when Verity spoke again.
"Oh." Mob paused. "What now?" Verity looked up at him. His smile hadn't changed.
"You should keep your windows closed tomorrow."
Silence.
"Why?"
"Wouldn't want unwanted guests, would you?"