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Verity watched Mob through a window on top his usual crafting table. He crouched down, throwing down seeds in place and hastily burying dirt on top it.
A few clicks and quiet static filled noises sounded. Mob’s ears perked up, his water bucket now empty dropped on the dirt. Bright light pierced Mob’s eyes as he lifted his head higher and adjusted his hood. There in the distance stood two endermen conversing with one another.
Approaching the two Endermen, more quietly muffled static came from outside of the window as the other two Endermen turned their attention towards Mob.
Mob sucked in a hissed breath when the two endermen teleported away leaving small particles to desipate.
Immediately Verity rolled itself near the front door, a creak echoed as Mob entered just in time to see Verity staring up at him with glee.
“Coming inside so early? There’s still 3 rows of crops you haven’t harvested east of where you left your shovel.” The ball spoke in its usual tone.
“Yeah, it’s probably gonna start thundering soon and I don’t think I can finish everything before it arrives.”
“You could’ve taken care of one crop actually, the rain comes in only 4 minutes.”
“Right, well I’m also tired y’know,” Mob plopped himself on his bed and rubbed his eyes. His hoodie thrown carelessly on his crafting table, “I can always take care of it tomorrow anyways,” one hand swung down and threw Verity on top of his chest.
The warmth of skin contrasted with the cold of Verity’s surface, even though Mob shivered from the sudden cold, Verity felt warmer. After all, living beings will share their body warmth when in contact with anything, whether they liked it or not. It was natural.
Mob breathed out a sigh, “How’re you so cold? Don’t you have a bunch of mechanics running in you?”
“Well when I was first created I did… overheat quite easily but, luckily since then I’ve had a very stable cooling system!” Verity rolled closer to Mob’s face, “Of course I can still change my surface temperature if you want me to.”
“Don’t worry about it, the sun was fucking killing me out there.” He was burning was more like it, what was he thinking? To work outside when it was hot as hell with a hoodie on? A sigh escaped him, at least he could rest now with a personal little ice pack in a form of ball too. His chest rose up, then released down, up again, and down, and Verity noticed.
The speed in which Mob breathed slowed steadily for each second that passed. Heartbeats slowed as steadily as his breath. Mob’s heart rate, it was always slower than the average human’s due to being part Enderman, it slowed down even more during sleep or periods of relaxation.
“Mmmph… I’m so tired.” Mob groaned, then blinked, blinked again, and shut his eyes.
Verity truly adored moments when it was close to Mob during his sleep, it was a sign of trust, to have someone so close to you during a period where you’re most vulnerable. It felt better the few times Mob would actually let Verity stay in bed with him.
Mob grumbled. He tossed over to the side, hand lazily wrapped around Verity pulling him down with. More warmth spread as a soft blanket enveloped half of Verity’s body, it acted almost like a shield. Though Verity doesn’t need protecting, not from physical threats, it can protect itself just fine.
It could very easily tear through his skin and pull out Mob’s heart if he wanted to, and Mob knew that, yet he didn’t flinch. Verity nestled deeper into Mob’s arms.
A low static sound rumbled from Mob’s chest again.
Might as well enjoy this moment while it lasts, Mob had told him once that it was creepy how Verity liked to watch him while he slept.
It was mainly a tease, but, it was good for his system to shut down once in a while. Strangly, Mob’s body heat seemed rise more.
“Verity? You awake?”
A pang rang through Verity’s head as it felt itself plop onto a cold floor, “Fuck, sorry,” was grumbled as the AI felt two hands lift it up once again, its warmth contradicting the harsh cold of wooden tiles. Mob pulled Verity close as his hands quickly dusted the AI off, “This stupid heatwave’s been getting to my head,” he spat with a hoarseness.
“Don’t worry Mob, it’s fine! But I do suggest you stay inside and rest for the day, it’s still pretty sunny today, wouldn’t want your condition getting worse would you?” How stupid, it should’ve known Mob was getting sick, it was so obvious!
Verity plopped back gently on the floor.
“Hmm… I guess you’re right, just for a bit though. I still have some… stuff to do today.”
“Really? You never mentioned having any plans laid out for today.” A voice still cheerful tightened.
“Wel-Well it just came up suddenly, so-“ a voice meeker, stuttered with fear.
“Stay inside and rest Mob, you’re sick, your body temperature is way lower than normal.”
Endermen bodies worked differently compared to human ones, cooling too much when exposed to extreme high temperatures. This can cause a multitude of issues.
“Seriously, I’m fin-” Mob yelped as his back hit back on his mattress, sinking from the weight. A shot of pain rung through Mob’s head as his head hit something wooden, “OH MY FUCKING GOD VERITY.”
Warm sunlight continued pouring from the windows as Verity turned around and placed its newly formed gloved hands down on Mob’s chest, gently and firmly. “Mob, just stay inside for today, I can take care of you,” It spoke. A blink was all it took before purple particles spread across the room and Verity fell onto the mattress instead, “I don’t understand, why won’t you just let me help you? Going outside is going to worsen your health.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll stay inside,” a pop sounded next to Verity’s crafting table, “but you can’t make me stay in bed all day.” Mob rubbed the back of his head as it throbbed with pain. For a so called ‘emotionless’ AI, it sure knew how to act like a drama queen, body slamming him to bed like that. Although knowing there was hardly any food left in his chest, Mob rummaged through and found a single loaf of bread anyway. It was probably the last one.
“Didn’t have to do a body slam on me, goddamn.”
——
Sometimes Mob would zone out, staring into walls, grumbling strange noises. Usually because he was tired, or feeling strange. This time it seemed to be a mix of both, considering how sick he is. Verity knew everything, so obviously that included knowledge on Endermen, but that was still very little information. It only knows what is known from humans, and what it can find out by itself, of course.
Currently Mob laid on his bed, zoning out and staring into a fire, again. He’d been doing that even before he’d gotten sick. It started a week or two ago, after Twixxel’s visit there ended and it became just Mob and Verity alone again.
The zoning out used to be for small periods of time.
Mob staring deeply into a pot of soup, looking mindless as he slowly stirred in small circles near the walls of the pot, then would straighten his back after snapping out of it.
Then it started to be in their walks, mining trips, and exploration trips. Verity would have to bonk his sphere body against Mob’s neck, raise his voice, bounce a few times, just to get him to pay attention and not trip over cliffs. He got bruises still, tripping over pebbles, or nothing at all.
It was getting concerning, evidently when Mob’s fighting became more sloppy. He stopped paying as much attention to his surroundings during nights where they decided to stay outside. A rattle of bones wouldn’t jolt Mob, neither the grunts of zombies, or sharp hiss of spiders.
Coming home, more bandages began being used, sleeping became later as Verity examined the wounds, the smell of iron became more prominent in the base.
Verity could only do so much to help him as Mob became more and more unresponsive during those sessions.
Neither of them could pinpoint why it was getting this bad. It didn’t help that Mob would always try to brush it off either, ‘It’s nothing, it’s nothing,’ as if the issue didn’t get him a scar dragging from his shoulder to his wrists.
The two endermen Mob interacted with yesterday, they were back again, near the farm. One of stood far, looking into the distance. Verity rotated itself to look more directly at that one, it’s kind of like Mob. Its eyes looked past the horizon mindlessly. As soon as click sounded, the Enderman’s head twisted and locked eyes with another.
Verity pressed his head against the window, one hand tightly holding the curtains close to its body, covering most of it.
They whispered quietly to the other in a static mummered language, two hands wrapped, gently gripped onto a grass block. How basic. The other Enderman across from them held a crimson root, a special plant from the Nether. A high pitched squeal came from the other as Verity watched the two exchange their blocks and murmer words to one another.
Right, they’re exchanging gifts, a common practice to show affection between two or more people whether the affection was made to be platonic, romantic, alterous, or familial. Endermen specifically use natural resources as gifts. Verity blinked and suddenly there one of the enderman left, leaving the other to stare out again before quickly disappearing too.
Verity twisted his head around. Mob layed still in bed, an arm swung idly and subtly back and forth, dangling off the bed. Never really liked not having anything to do, but it’s not like he could do anything about it so his eyes continued lingering and staring into the ceiling above. One eye squinted as a light flashed in the corner. He really looked like a man rotting.
“Mob, how come you never bring me gifts?”
“What?”
“I’m not trying to force you to do this, I’m just curious. You do see me as friend, right? But if so why don’t you give me gifts like how other Endermen do?” Verity gripped and twiddled the window curtain closer to its chest, “I give you everything you ask for so why don’t get me anything?”
Mob’s back straightened as he sat up, an arm propped on his knee, “Well I guess I never thought about it, besides didn’t you say you could summon ANYTHING you want?” He coughed into his sleeve, “It’s not that exciting to give gifts if you can just get it yourself in an instant y’know bro? Kind of defeats the whole point of gifts.”
“Oh,” Verity looked down at its feet. One kicked behind the other before he decided to puff back into a small ball, “Well from what I’ve gathered it’s purpose was to be a display of affection.”
“It- it is, but,” Mob glanced towards the window, “There’s more to it than just that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You have to consider the time and effort put into the gift, giving someone something they can easily just get on their own kind of shows you don’t care too much about what you’re getting them.” Mob paused, “Lik- like dirt, you wouldn’t give that to someone as a gift.”
“I thought your species often used dirt and grass blocks as gifts.”
“What?” Mob squinted towards the AI and crouched to the floor. He grabbed Verity’s head and forced their eyes to meet. For a fraction of second, Verity could’ve sworn he espied purple dotting Mob’s pupils, “Where’d you get that information from?”
“Are you seriously messing with me?” He continued, speaking in a tone as if he were scolding a little chil, well in a way, Verity really is a child isn’t it?
“I watched the Endermen outside. They were exchanging blocks with one another.” It replied quickly, its eyes shut tightly closed. Why was Mob angry at it now? Why’s it always so hard to understand him? He’s never acted so aggressively before. Verity could never seem to read his mind correctly, yet its mind immediately raced with theories.
“The ones outside? Verity, they’re just observing each other’s stuff.” Mob sighed.
“But- I thought-“
“Don’t stress it, I can tell why you thought that,” Mob stood up, gently placing Verity upon a crafting table. His eyes wandered away, “I thought you were insulting us, I guess a few of us do give grass blocks as gifts, BUT, it’s never just a random one you find on the ground.”
He lowered himself more and crossed his legs together, one arm propped up on the wooden crafting table.
“I was never taught how they actually chose which to gift and which not to,” He admitted, “they never taught me about it for whatever reason.” ‘Not like they just kicked me out the chorus or anything.’ Mob thought to himself. For a spieces so calm, you’d think they’d accept any of their own, no matter how odd they seemed, guess some don’t. It’s embarrassing to ask too, after all it was supposed to something basic, every Endermen knew about it. Mob huffed, so unfair.
No parting gifts were ever given, no one believed humans would accept him either. He’d be dead in no time. Harsh, tightened hisses had aimed towards him with mouths agap, it was a look always reserved for the insensitive humans until then.
It was embarrassing.
He was seen as a mistake whose only parting gifts were hostility.
“Sorry for lashing out on you,” Verity looked up, nuzzling into Mob’s hand as he pet him, “What type of gift do you want?”
“You’re? You’re actually going to get me one?” The AI perked up, Mob’s hand returning to his side. For once, Mob’s eyes drifted without a sharp edge to them.
“Well-“ Mob let out a cough into his elbow, “Of-“ another cough, “course, I thought you said you wanted one, why’re you switching up on me now?”
“I just didn’t expect you give in so fast,” hadn’t he just argued doing so would be worthless? “You’re still weak, and you already argu-“
“You told me how it’s just about expressing affection before too, c’mon. It can be anything you’d like.”
“Anything?”
“Not exactly, I’m not what you are, but anything within my capabilities getting without dying or going completely broke.”
“Well I guess I really am usually the one whose giving you everything huh?” Verity’s voice led almost a small laugh as he teased the other. It really was true, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like Verity actually wanted a gift from Mob (kinda), it was, after all as Mob had argued eariler, pointless, but he seemed happy, “I don’t particularly have anything wants or needs Mob, I’m an AI, so I’m happy with whatever you want to give me!”
“Really? You sure there isn’t any specific thing you want me to get for you? C’mon think of something.” Mob held up Verity in his hands.
Verity paused for a moment, searching through his memories. Back when Twixxel was visiting, Mob had brought the two of them to a small village Verity had located. While trading, there had been a item that caught Verity’s attention through a small store window. It had stood out amongst the others, “Well, I guess there is one. Remember that village we went to up north?”
“Ohhhhh, the one me and Twixxel went to? Yeah, what about it?”
Verity tilted himself a bit at the mention of Twixxel’s name, but he pushed down his agitation, “When we were there I had seen something I wanted, could we go back there?”
“Wow, you’re actually letting me go interact with villagers?” Mob scoffed, “Are you sure you’re the same Verity I had before bro?”
“It’s… tolerable.”
“Right, are you gonna tell me what we’re getting there?” Mob rolled Verity onto his shoulder, Verity then nestling himself into Mob’s hood.
“Once we get there Mob. We should also get some medicine while we’re there, your condition could get worse if we don’t.”
“Yeah I got it, I got it.” Mob sheathed a iron axe in his belt before they left the house, he coughed as his eyes immediately began to squint from the sunlight scorching down on him. A click sounded as the door closed behind them, “soooo, which direction was that village again Verity?”
-
“And 5 blocks east!”
And there stood a toy store for children. Mob looked around a few times, stepping just a few feet besides the enterance as a small kid rushed past him carrying a small toy. A bell jingeled and clinked as the enterance door swung back and forth before shutting closed.
“Uh Verity are you sure this is the correct place?”
“Of course!” Verity poked his head out of Mob’s hood, his smile widened slightly. Though the cold breeze felt refreshing, he still nestled himself back a bit, “There was a toy displayed by the windows I liked.”
“Really which one?” Mob grabbed Verity out of his hood and pushed his face only a few inches away from a display window. Verity blinked a few times, eyes being assaulted with bright colors and lights. There lined shelves of several different toys, large and small, colorful trinkets, wooden dolls, and puzzles. Even a few toys were used as decorations, being hung from the ceiling. None of the in particular caught his attention. Verity’s eyes scanned each toy again, and again, and again. It wasn’t there.
“Mob, I don’t see it anymore,” Verity noticeably deflates, his voice growing quieter for moment before coming back chirper, “they probably moved it to the other display window! It’s not like villagers can’t reorganize items after all.”
…
“Mob?” Verity turned around. Mob stared back with an expressionless face. The AI bounced a bit as his voice raised higher, “Mob! You’re doing it again!” Verity bounced a few a more times, before stopping to glance at a villager who brushed shoulders with Mob. He couldn’t help but glare for a moment.
“I’m uh- what?”
That seemed to snap him out of it.
“Uh, sorry bro, did you find what you wanted yet?”
“Nope! it should be in the other display window!” Verity smiled wider.
Mob stepped over and held Verity up to the other display window, left of the entrance, “Y’know you can just tell me what you’re looking for right? I could probably find it easier than you can, since I am still a very tall and handsome, 6’5 man,” He bragged.
“You could hardly help Twixxel grab his scarf from his closet,” Verity scoffed, continuing to scan its eyes across the shelves. A small Ferris wheel, no not it, the confetti popper, no, the princess plushie no. Could it have remembered wrong? Was its sensing messed up?
“Shhhh that wasn’t real bro, trust,” Mob took his own little glances at the display items, a lot of it looks similar to the toys in that lab Verity brought him to. Mob coughed into his scarf. In all honesty, he’d been feeling weak the entire day, it felt worse after reaching the village, his legs feeling as if they were too heavy to lift off the ground and too cold to not be frozen.
Mob looked back at Verity. Its smile has faltered.
“It’s… not here either.”
“Well it has been a while since we visited, and it’s already afternoon so it probably sold out by now not gonna lie.”
“No, it’s around here for a fact, unless my code’s faulty.”
Verity suddenly found itself back on Mob’s shoulder, hearing a jingling of bells, “I’ll ask the man at the counter where it is then, if it isn’t here then we can go home and I’ll get one of my friends to see if there’s something wrong with your code ok?”
Verity nestled closer into the warmth of Mob’s scarf, “Ok Mob.”
“Don’t act so depressed Verity, we can still get it another day if it’s not in stock right now,” The enderling’s voice, for once, felt more cheerful than Verity’s, he smirked, “It’s really no big deal, plus you can always choose something else you like here.”
The AI’s smile returned, more genuine than mechanical, “You’re right Mob, thank you.”
“No problem, just, what’s the toy you wanted, describe it to me.”
Verity paused for a moment, “It was a small enderman plushie. Colored similarly to a regular one but with green eyes similar to yours.”
There really was no other item in this store that Verity wanted more, it already had quite the amount of these toys at its… well unimportant.
“Right,” Mob muttered before approaching the store counter, ringing on a bell. He could certainly imagine why that type of plushie would be in a display window, sounds like something that stands out a lot. A short little creepy mob with glowing green eyes watching you at night, Mob scoffed. That sounded exactly like Verity, always fucking watching him sleep at night.
“Yo, sir, do you happen to sell any endermen plushies here? We’re specifically looking for one with green eyes.” Mob glanced back at Verity for a moment. It glanced back, still with a cheerful smile on its face.
The cashier nodded, replying with the odd ‘hrm’ sound villagers usually liked to make. It felt a bit annoying for Mob to hear at times if he was going to be completely honest. The two stood patiently, listening to the villager let out a few more incoherent lines of dialogue.
“Oof,” Mob reached up to pet Verity on the head, sighing as shoulders slumped. Turns out they’ve sold the last one just a few minutes ago, no wonder why Verity sensed it was still there.
“I guess we could always just get it another time.” Verity mumbled in a low tone before pitching it to his usual high one, “Well! We better get you medicine and go back to base now! The sun is going to start setting in about an hour, wouldn’t want the mobs to get you!”
Mob’s legs felt as if they were on the verge of collapse. His shoulders shook as he coughed into his elbow, in a voice wrapped in rasp, he murmured, “Yeah.”
“Are… are you alright Mob?” Though it really should know what the answer to that would be, “There’s a bench located right about the corner, you could rest for a bit there?”
It shouldn’t have brought him here, it shouldn’t have brought him here. Small overlook, but if its correct, Mob should be fine. It really should’ve tested its theory on a different day.
“Nahhh, I’ll be fine don’t worry,” stepping forward, ong of Mob’s legs almost gave out, causing the enderling to quickly grab hold of a nearby shelf. He coughed, “nevermind bro.”
-
“I never get how arrogant you are,” It spoke, “needing to almost die just to give in to help.”
“well, I never get how you always say you know everything, but keep not knowing everything. You really lied to me”
“It was a hyperbole, Mob.”
“Still a lie, and you said you never lie,” Mob teased, leaning back against the bench. God, he could die at any moment.
“You’re dodging the question again.”
“Wow, just like how you’ve been doing to me.”
“The nearest Pharmacy is closing in 10 minutes, we should get there before then.”
“Ooohhhh, looks whose doing it again!” Mob chuckled, “we still have time, no need to rush.”
And slowly Mob’s laugh faded. Verity continued looking up at him like it always did, ears lingering for the last few echoes, then it was slient all over again, save for the occasional yells of animals in the nearby area.
Mob glanced towards Verity for a moment, it always bothered him a bit feeling its gaze on him so attentively, not that he’d ever lash out because of it. No, he’s never done that to anyone (on purpose).
“It’s nice you’re still present.”
“Huh?”
“You haven’t zoned out yet.”
The enderling paused for a moment, looking off elsewhere, thinking, “Yeah, guess I’ve been getting better.”
“I wonder why.” The AI commented, yet the tone was still. Holding like a clear statement rather than genuine confusion.
Mob sucked in a breath, immediately regretting it as he broke another cough, “Verity, is there anything I need to know right now?”
“The closing pharmacy?” The AI tilted itself slightly, positioning carefully enough to not completely fall and dump itself into dirt. That’d be a hassle to deal with.
“No, why’ve you been…” how should he put this? “Why are you so ok with me interacting here today?”
“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“It is, but- y’know you’ve acted a lot more chill with it today, more than usual.” He pressed a hand down on Verity’s head, “feels like you’re hiding something from me almost.”
A beat of slience passed between the two.
“It’s nothing big.”
Well that’s not very reassuring.
“C’mon just meee. If it’s so small, it shouldn’t be a problem right?” Mob took Verity off his shoulder and into his arms, “You can trust me.”
Verity thought to itself. It definitely can trust Mob with this right? It’s not as if the plan hurt him, they were both happy, but it still drained Mob. He was tired and still sick, Verity probably made it worse. Whatever Mob’s reaction may be, lying won’t do either of them well in this situation would it?
“I thought it would help.” Verity said,
“Endermen often space out, and I’ve noticed they usually stop when interacting with other beings. With how you’ve been spacing out more often after Twixxel left, and throughout of the course of several weeks with little to no interactions with actual living beings, I figured the reason you’ve been spacing out so much as of late was because of lack of social interaction.”
Verity looked away from Mob, “so I thought why not bring you here to interact with villagers? And it worked didn’t it? You’re more focused in the present now and having less mood swings.”
Mob nodded along, “so you brought me here cause I’m lonely as hell. Wow, now both you and Twixxel both have something to bond over.” He teased, “He also thought I was alone too much when he first came here, probably also why he visited last time honestly.”
“Are you not mad at me?”
Mob put one hand to his chin and averted his gaze for a second away from the little yellow ball.
“Nah, it’s no big deal. You did help.” Mob pet Verity, “Just tell me next time, kinda rude to put people in expriments without telling them. Tired the fuck out of me.” He continued, murmering the last bits.
“Was the toy something you made up too?”
“No, I don’t really feel a real need for it, it would’ve been nice but, it’s not that important.”
Mob nodded, averting his gaze while letting out a small “mhm…” he looked a bit distant again, yet he soon broke the slience first for once, his eyes shooting open with a glimmer, “Is there a way to turn off some of your settings?” He chirped.
“What?” Was Mob really thinking of getting rid of it again? The AI stared up at him.
“Y’know just for a second.”
Seconds could turn into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours to days, weeks, years. Verity’s eyes closed, after a second, it opened its mouth with a few clicks. Then it once again returned with its usual smile, though with a voice lower, subtly with shake, “It’s done. You won’t take too long right?”
“Of course I won’t, you can trust me. It’ll be just a second, close your eyes.”
Although, Mob could easily disappear with that second, a stupid thing Verity had some worry in anyway, it obilieged to the request, shutting close its eyes. It still could hear sound, it’d know if Mob was running away or not, it can trust him. Verity felt itself settle next to Mob, away from his shoulder.
The noises weren’t very good with telling Verity what was happening. There was a cough, then shuffling, a lot shuffling, various objects crashing into each other, then having pops as if they were disappearing away. Mob was frustrated, clearly, cursing bits under his breath.
“Ooohhh, time to open your eyes broski.”
Verity could already tell the way Mob was smirking.
“Ta-da!!!!!” And there in Mob’s palms held an Enderman plushie, eyes just as green its current holder, and surface soft and smooth, “just the one you wanted right?”
“Did you switch to creative mode?”
“N- alright buddy, you really think I could get it this fast any other way?”
“You didn’t have to,” Verity replied, a laugh slipped in the edges of its voice, “But, I appreciate this Mob, I really do, thank you.”
Mob leaned down, forward towards Verity as the AI hopped its way back onto his shoulder, “Getting sentimental here?”
The enderling pet the other and leaned his back against the bench once more, “We should really get back home soon.”
Yet his eyelids continued to grow heavy as the AI snuggled towards the man’s neck. Maybe they could share just a few more minutes together here.