#||verse: take me home where i belong; maulkiller & thunder||

[mayxthexforce]

@mutatiio said:

the younger was asleep, curled on the ground and close to the fire. the warmth alone was enough to have him passing out in mere seconds.

the elder - maulkie - sat across from maul, on the other side of the fire. maul wouldn't typically stop for a need as basic as sleep, but he's coming to learn that dealing with sleep deprived children is not worth the extra distance they would make.

it's been silent for some time now. not comfortable but also not uncomfortable. it just is. a mutual understanding of not wishing to disturb thunder. or perhaps simply having nothing to say to one another. the flicked of the flames, the soft noises thunder emits, the whisper of the wind... this scene is familiar to him, this feeling not.

"boy." his voice hushed, golden eyes flickering to the younger, making sure the volume has not bothered him. maulkie has been watching over thunder like a hawk. ensuring he had enough to eat, that he was warm (he was not. that was why maul lit a fire), protecting him for any threat. it's only natural that those habits remained. maul knows all too well of sidious' treatments. they may never go.

"sleep." not quite an order, but there's an insistence in his voice. "i will keep watch."

Having someone else with them is... strange.

A lot about this whole situation is. Maulkiller was created for ONE thing, it is in his name, it couldn't have been made any clearer what his purpose in life was. And yet, now he sits in front of the man he should kill, the man who makes up over half his genetic material. He sits across from him with Thunder sleeping close by, because he chose to flee instead of obeying his masters like he was expected to.

For all the times he talked back to Vader just to contradict him when he even implied so, perhaps he was right, perhaps Maukie IS defective. But if it is his defectiveness that's keeping Thunder from growing up the way the others did, then Maulkie doesn't mind it so much.

He still doesn't know what to make of this whole situation.

Maul speaks to him and he looks up from where he's been staring at Thunder. Golden eyes stare up at equally golden ones. Exactly the same, with pupils that shift with the flicks of the light. Eyes Maulkie had only ever seen in his own reflection, until now.

"We could have kept going." he keeps his voice just as low, not wanting to disturb Thunder. But it's something that's been eating at him. From past experience, slowing someone down is not a way to ensure that they'll continue to protect you– quite the opposite, actually. "I could have carried him."