ao3 series masterlist previous part

You refuse to be outdone by Maul in any capacity and that mindset is also applied to gift giving. A quick once over an old book about Mandalorian prosthetics should be enough to help repair his legs, right?

cw. gift giving, sexual tension, making out, self harm, but the reader doesn't view it as such, inaccurate mechanical repairs, accidental stimulation, dense reader, don't worry they figure it out, enemies to whatever that hell you two have going on, i think we are officially in the whatever the hell you two have going on portion, religious guilt, beta read, Darth Maul speaks Mando'a, force visions, play fighting, that's all these bitches do honestly, GN!Reader, Jedi!Reader, post order 66

wc. 6.2k

an. Hello There ! Quick disclaimer I have no idea how repairing anything with wires or mechanics works I just wanted to get in there and fix that guy's leg okay sue me. That being said I hope all of the engineers who stumble across this fic don't have their immersion ruined with the amount of times I write...uh...you strip the wires...okay YAY!! Hope you enjoy !

mandatory notice I give every chapter that this is part of a series and if you like those check the rest of the chapters out as well ><

You felt your fist make contact with the bark of the tree. The shock of the hit traveled up your arm and settled in your shoulder. You rolled them and started again.

It had been a while since you practiced any desensitization training but it seemed like you and Maul would be stuck on this planet for longer than usual. Something about the bounty hunters guild and missing pucks, he had told you. Honestly, it was a treat to get to spend so much time in one place. Being on the run like you two were had its fair share of shortcomings of course, but what you missed the most was a sense of familiarity on the planets you went to. 

Drawing back you felt the gentle breeze lap at your knuckles, now bloodied and torn apart by the constant battering you had just put them through. In an odd way it centered you more than any meditation could have. A small blue glow atop your folded towel drew your attention. It was the talisman. Maul was back from the market.

You dabbed at your hands and realized quickly that they were a lost cause. You'd just deal with them in the shower later. That was another nice thing about staying in one place. You had constant access to water and could use as much of it as you liked, given that you were willing to wait for it to be properly filtered first.

You wandered around the other side of the ship and sure enough, there he was. Maul's cloaked figure slowly approached. He carried two sizable looking boxes with him.

"Force above! What did you buy, an entire store front?" Your voice is rife with amusement as you make your way to him. Without asking you take one of the boxes in your own arms. 

"Hm, nearly. There was a stall dedicated to tea. I may have over indulged." Maul replies with no clear guilt in his tone. You hum in an understanding way. 

Slowly, you were starting to learn more of the little details about Maul. He could see in the dark exceptionally well and his eyes glowed—though it was unclear to you if that was a marking of him being a Sith or a Zabrakian trait—, when in a market he much preferred to talk with droids over their owners, and that he’s incredibly fond of tea. So much as to the point he had a specific set to engage in tea ceremonies. You weren't sure when he had bought it but you had walked in on him from time to time in the middle of one. It was honestly interesting to watch. Or maybe you just had very low standards for what counted as interesting these days but still, you enjoyed it even if you didn't fully understand.

On the ship you began to help put away the supplies. Simple things like bacta gel, toiletries, food that could be easily stored. You came across what seemed like disassembled electronics and frowned.

"Is your leg acting up again?"

Maul nods but doesn't look at you, preferring to continue unpacking the goods.

"My legs were not built to last." It surprises you when he says it. Why would a prosthetic not be made for longevity? It seemed inconvenient. Sensing your further confusion he sighs and finally turns his head towards you. 

"When Pre Vizsla gifted me my new legs he did so with the idea that I would only live for a year longer. Therefore they require near constant maintenance to keep them in optimal condition. With the work that the two of us are involved in, it's necessary if I wish to keep up." Seemingly satisfied with the answer he had given you, he went back to sorting through the items he had bought.

Instinctively, you wanted to apologize, but you didn't. Maul hated when you apologized to him, especially if it came from a place of pity or sympathy. It was irksome but not even the worst of his traits so you let it slide. 

"Well jokes on him, he's dead now and you're not." You huff, setting down the now empty box by the ship's main door. A small ghost of a smile flits across Maul's face nearly too fast for you to see it. But you were starting to notice details like that about him too now.

"Yes, he is. Come here." He gestures towards the small sitting area that this part of the ship housed. Hesitating momentarily, you make your way to the couch and sit down. The chances Maul would start an ambush sparing session were very low, but you could never be too careful. As you sit you notice the bundle of vibrant cloth in his hands.

He reaches and grabs your hands. You hiss and pull back when he grazes your knuckles. 

"Ow! Be careful!" But your reprimand falls on deaf ears as he rolls his eyes and reaches out for your hands again. Though he is more considerate with his own hand placement this time. You watch as he analyzes your beaten hands with mild curiosity.

"It looks worse than it is honestly. I know I flinched just now but it was mainly because I'd forgotten about it, so it surprised me more than anything." You tell him, trying to assuage any of his worries, just in case he had any. His mouth is set in a hard line as you speak and you wondered what you had said wrong. Probably nothing, Maul was just weird and always looking for a fight. 

"You must stop this. I didn't take you for such a brute." You yank your hands away from his, appalled at his apparent disdain for them.

"I will not! If you get to practice your forms all day, it's only fair I get to practice my own." Your eyes are narrowed now, daring him to challenge you on this.

"I am unfamiliar with any Jedi practice that requires you to beat yourself bloody." 

"Oh, yes, because you of course are the end all be all when it comes to Jedi practices. Real quick, what was your knighting mission's task? And when did the Council ascend you to be a Jedi Master? Oh, that's right, they didn't. That's me we're talking about." Perhaps you're being too clipped with him but it always drives you insane when he tries to act like he knows more than you about the Jedi. Studying an ideology and growing up in it were very different despite his constant belief otherwise.

He grips the fabric in his hands tightly and closes his eyes, clearly annoyed. Then after a moment he sighs and bows his head.

"You are correct." Oh, you wish you had a holorecorder so badly right now. "I did not mean to offend. In fact, I come bearing gifts."

He sits down besides you now and you are not unaware of how his leg presses against your own. Unraveling the length of fabric you finally see it for what it really is. 

"It's a wrap for your hands. I've noticed this past week that you've been training and it has damaged them significantly. This should help. May I?" He manages to speak so earnestly you can't find any sort of deception in his words.

Well now you felt like a dick. Maul had been trying to gift you something to avoid injuring yourself further and you had just told him that he could fuck off moments prior. 

'He hates unearned apologies, he hates unearned apologies.' You chant in your head to keep yourself from slipping up. 

Sliding your hands into his open one you have to look away. It shouldn't have been so embarrassing, you'd had your hands wrapped countless times before, but like this it felt so intimate for some reason. Maybe it was the close proximity. Maybe it was the thoughtfulness of his gift. In actuality, it was probably just the guilt you felt for being so rude before.

He cleans your hands gently with a damp towel he had brought over seemingly just for this. You try to stay as still as possible while he does, only flinching when he brushes over a particularly raw spot. When he's content with his job, he applies the barest amount of bacta gel to the wound. You're left wondering just when he had planned all this.

Looping the wrap around your thumb he begins to meticulously guide it around your hand, taking extra care to cushion the areas that seemed worse for wear. You don't know where to look. Looking down at your hands was too overwhelming and looking away made you seem just as embarrassed as you felt. You settled for watching him instead, searching for any little micro expressions you could find. 

Maul is unwaveringly focused, you come to find. There is no annoyance or displeasure as he tends to you. It makes it hard to breathe. Harder so when you feel his fingertips graze the underside of your wrist as he smooths the wrapping there. He continues to trace down your arm as he applies the wrap and you feel your skin burn in each spot he touches. He glances up at you and you nearly bolt, rooted in place by his gaze alone. The silence seems to stretch on for an eternity.

"Your other hand, please." Without looking away, you press the unwrapped hand in his. He runs his thumb over your fingers before starting again. You look up at the ceiling this time and recite the Jedi Code twenty times over in your head as adequate punishment for your less than chaste thoughts. 

He finishes and takes both your hands in his own, inspecting them quietly. You join him and find that he's done quite an excellent job. They were snug but comfortable and would provide the proper padding where it counted. Just as you were about to thank him, he shocked the words right out of your mouth by lifting both hands to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on both of them.

It wasn't like Maul hadn't kissed you before, in fact it wasn't even like he hadn't initiated anything before! But this was different. This was unlike the slamming against walls and the clacking of teeth. This was intentional with every moment, every glance. The sincerity of the action stunned you into place and even through the layers of fabric you could feel your hands tremble at the sensation.

"You are very strong, laandur'ad. I'm impressed. Still, needn’t hurt yourself over something so simply avoided." 

"I wasn't…it wasn't…" you can't get your sentence out. "Thank you, I'll go practice right now!"

Scrambling out of the ship you pointedly do not look back at what you're sure is a very smug looking Maul. In just a few minutes, he had seemingly undone all your hard work at centering yourself. You groan and find yourself walking aimlessly as you try to calm down. The small town that you two had landed near was approaching in the distance, so you decided you'd make your way towards that.

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It was a charming little marketplace. The stalls were decently stocked with things you needed and it was always lively whenever you came by. Despite having to dodge the few children running amok, you liked it. It reminded you of home. 

"Two appearances from the strangers in one day! How fortunate we are!" A voice calls out to you and you have to look down to see who's speaking. A small older shistavanen woman sat in a rocking chair waved you over. You wave back politely and make your way towards her.

"Hmm." Without asking she reaches out and grabs your hands, inspecting the wraps. Satisfied, she gives out a howling laugh and grins wolfishly up at you. "So he delivered his gift to you then. Good. That boy spent nearly half his time here at Merruk's stall trying to pick out ones you'd like. She thought he'd be too shy to give them to you, but I knew there was some steel in him yet."

You feel your face grow hot and you laugh nervously, hiding your hands underneath the long sleeves of your cloak. Alright, maybe a different downside of staying on a planet for too long was becoming a part of the local gossip. 

"They're very nice. I'm honestly shocked he even thought to get me them." You reply, indulging the older woman. "I don't know how I'm going to make it up to him."

She nods and chews on the lip of her pipe thoughtfully.

"Well, tea is off the table. He spent the other half of his time here just on that." You laugh again and agree with her. "Alright, how about his legs?"

"I've thought about it." You sigh. "But I don't know the first thing about fixing prosthetics like that. It seems like a bad gift to have him teach me how to help. Too self serving, you know?" 

She waves off your concern and lights the end of her pipe.

"Aye, but you could learn without him. Here, you go down to my nephew's house and you tell him Auntie Shen sent you and that you need to borrow one of his books. He's got a whole collection, he does. Honestly, I'm worried about that boy! All he does is read." You respectfully listen to Shen prattle on about her concerns for the boy, nodding and saying 'of course' when prompted. It wasn't the first time you'd humored an older woman while out shopping and it was far from the last. Later rather than sooner, you're exchanging goodbyes with her and making your way towards where she had directed you.

Fennric, as you had learned his name was, was a young, very shy togruta male which had surprised you upon meeting him. What surprised you even more was that he had exactly what you were looking for. 

"I didn't even know they made books anymore." You run your hands along the flimsi, glancing over the words written on it.

"It's very rare! But I pride myself on collecting them when they pass through here." Fennric responds anxiously. You hand it back to him and retrieve your datapad from your bag. 

"You wouldn't mind if I scanned a few sections, would you? There's just a few things I'm curious to learn more about." He nods hastily and makes his way over to a table where you can both sit. 

You spent a few hours like this, making quiet conversation when he asked questions. It was very clear to you that he had been supplied a script by his aunt and was trying to get as much information about you and Maul as he could for her. You just considered it your payment. After a few polite goodbyes, you finally made your way back to the ship. 

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Maul was disassembling the few electronic parts he had gotten earlier that day when you made your way inside. 

"You were gone for quite some time." He notes with his usual indifference. 

"Sorry! Got carried away with a project of sorts." You explain while rummaging through one of the storage compartments on board. At this he looks up at you curiously. Quickly finding the tools you need, you walk over to where he's seated and kneel right in front of him. 

"I found a book all about your prosthetics!" Holding up your datapad you swipe through a few of the pages you had scanned that referenced his legs specifically. "Well, really, a few of the locals helped me find it but that's besides the point."

"You wish to assist me?" Maul asks, seemingly baffled by the concept alone. 

"Yes, if you don't mind guiding me slightly. I'm a fast learner but they're your legs. You'll have to tell me if I'm hurting you." You rest a hand on his knee and hear something clatter atop the table. 

"Don't drop those! I'll probably need them later! Now turn this way." You reach out and grab his hips to assist in moving him towards you. He's actually lighter than you expect. When he's completely facing you, you push both his legs apart and settle yourself in between them. You place your datapad down and arrange your tools properly next to  you.

"Okay, so what seems to be the issue?" Maul doesn't respond immediately and you look up, confused. He seems to be staring unblinkingly across the ship. You nudge his knee.

'Is this alright, Maul?' You ask in his mind. The last thing you wanted to do was make him uncomfortable in an attempt to try and help him. Your question seems to snap him out of whatever trance he was in and he coughs, nodding once. 

"Fine. I'm fine. It's my knees. The spacers and pistons in them are always the first to go." He says it a little louder than needed for the small quarters but you hum affirmatively and swipe on your datapad to the section that noted those issues.

Your fingers find the rubber cap that secures his knee plate to his leg and begin to gently twist it off. Setting it down you push the cloth of his pants up a little higher on his thigh so you can better see what you're working with. You whistle when you see the amount of wear on the metal underneath. 

"Well, with how flashy you are in combat, I'm more surprised that these haven't completely snapped off." You reach down for a welding torch and some scrap solder. "Now that I know what to look for, I'll help you try and find more parts when we go out." 

Maul for his part stays surprisingly quiet at the jab and the offer. You hadn't really done anything yet, so it was unlikely he was in pain but still, you were worried. Grabbing his hand, you place it on your shoulder.

"If anything feels wrong, squeeze here and I'll stop." Maul gives you another curt nod but it doesn't lessen your concern. "Speak, please."

"Yes. I will." He blurts out, like he can't get the words out of his mouth fast enough.

"Thank you." You tap the metal of his shin appreciatively and continue with your work. It was easier than you had expected in some aspects. As long as you managed to avoid accidentally sealing together the joints of his legs, reinforcing the metal was simple. Taking a small cloth, you lightly wipe down the areas you had just fixed and do the same for his knee plate, reattaching it and making sure it fits snugly. 

"Alright, the other one now." You turn and run your hands over the identical right cap of his knee and he lurches forwards to stop you. 

"I'm fine. You don't have to—" You shake him off and give him a quick glare. 

"Yes, I'm aware I don't have to, Maul. I'm here because I want to be. Now, have I hurt you at all?" He groans but shakes his head no. "Then leave me alone and let me work in peace."

You continue and solder quietly for a few minutes, only stopping when he flinches as you travel to the lower end of his knee. You press a hand to the afflicted area and look up at him, immediately repentant. 

"What's wrong? What did I do?" Maul just shakes his head at your worry and sinks back down into the chair.

"You did nothing, laandur'ad. It's only a fault of my own. I've put off replacing the wiring for too long." Now you notice the worn rubber skin that rests just underneath where his knee plate would lie and the fraying wire that accompanies it.

"Maul! How long is too long? This looks awful." How long had he been in pain and not told you? Technically, there was no reason for Maul to tell you if he was struggling, but something about his reluctance to do so made you feel uneasy. You would just have to keep a better eye on him.

"I'm fine." He repeats the words from earlier, this time annoyed with your concern. "I've clearly been through worse plights, I will more than manage."

Force help you. You had never met anyone who could irritate you as promptly as he could. You sit up some and grab for the parts he had dismantled on the table, scanning for the wires you would need.

"You don't have to ‘manage’ anymore, Maul. We more than have the supplies to keep up with this. It doesn't make you honorable to go limping into a fight just because you were too embarrassed to ask for help. The next time I do this I better not see anything as bad as this or I swear—"

"The next time?" Maul cuts you off with a stunned look. You roll your eyes. There was that irritation again, growing inside you. 

"Well, obviously I'll be in charge of taking care of your legs now. Why would I trust you with them? Look at the state they're in!" You grumble.

"Then I will be in charge of your hands." He says it so matter-of-factly that you fumble with the wires you had been stripping for a moment.

"What?"

Maul leans forward and trails his hand over your wrapped one. You swallow involuntarily, all of your previous edge gone in an instant.

"Why should I trust you to wrap them? I'm sure you'll regard it as a waste of time, impatient as you are, and go off without them. No, that won't do." He clicks his tongue and you want to hit him. You don't, only because you're sure he'd let you and then scold you for your temper afterwards. Oh, you did not like how well Maul was starting to know you. 

"Fine. It's a deal. Now focus because I'm afraid this part will actually be painful, intentional or not." You shift your position again to sit in front of his leg. With a pair of cutting pliers you snip away the worn rubber.

"If I were better at this I would remove your legs and then fix the wiring, but I'm afraid if I do that it could damage some of the sensation you have left. I'll go slowly but I'll need you to be honest with me and tell me how it feels. Do not lie to me, Maul, it will only end poorly for the both of us." You fix him with a stern look. He rolls his eyes but signals for you to begin.

This part was, in theory, even easier than the welding bit. You had spent a lot of time in the past few months adjusting and detailing your lightsaber, so you had no issues when it came to wiring. But for the first time, you didn't want to risk hurting the Zabrak. At least, not when he was like this and being openly vulnerable with you. 

You snip the first wire and hear his sharp intake of breath. You wince and rub your hand on the underside of his calf. Attaching the new set of wires and connecting them properly is a slow going process. In between each one, you make him twist and flex his leg to make sure it’s working correctly. You trail your finger down the largest one and feel his body shudder at the sensation. 

"Painful?" You ask apologetically.

"Something like that." He says through gritted teeth.

"I have to replace it. It clearly connects to too many parts of you for me to ignore it." Maul sighs but acquiesces.

"What's your favorite color?" You ask him suddenly as you begin to work at disconnecting the wire.

"What?" His voice is deeper, muffled behind one of his hands that he's resting on.

"I'm trying to distract you. Talking might help. Now, tell me what your favorite color is?" 

"I don't have one." He replies honestly.

"Well, then just pick one you think is nice!" Sorting through your miscellaneous wires, you find one that matches up perfectly as a replacement and begin to fit it into place.

"Do you have a favorite color?" He flips the question back on you but you let him. It's still counted as him talking.

"Hmm…" you think to yourself quietly, stripping the wire inside his leg, "I guess I would say red."

"Alright, mine is red as well, then." You frown and spare him a quick disapproving glance. You nearly drop your tools when you see him staring down at you with clear mirth in his gaze. 

"That's cheating, Maul." 

"You can cheat at having a favorite color?" You note that he's using that clueless tone of his that he only brings out when he knows he's been caught in a lie.

"Well, no, but I'm sure you could find a way to do it, you bastard." You tap the side of his leg and he twists it to give you better access.

"You wound me." Then after a moment he asks, "Why red?" 

The force vision that lead you to Maul comes back in full swing. It's grown more complete over the time you've gotten to know him. You can see a cloaked figure walk towards you, his red eyes peering out at you from underneath the hood. He says nothing but activates both blades of his lightsaber and swings down. You don't flinch anymore, because you know he's not aiming for you. The chains that had enveloped your arm in the vision slide off now and you look up to see his face perfectly illuminated by the glowing red light of his sword. 

"No reason in particular. It's just…comforting now, I suppose." He scoffs at your response but doesn't press you for further details. "You're doing very well, Maul. Just a little longer."

"Don't speak like that." He sounds gravely serious as he talks.

"Oh, you are such a baby. You can't handle a single compliment. All of it is true. This has to be at least slightly uncomfortable and you're handling it exceptionally well. You've sat still and everything. I'm almost there now." You wrap the final wire and reach over for the small jar of contact cement.

The scrap rubber you have lines up well enough with the false skin but is thicker than you would have liked. You rock his leg back and forth and feel no points of awkward tension but still want him to confirm it for you. 

"Maul? Look down here please. Does this feel alright?" 

"It feels fine." He says briskly, refusing to look at you for some reason. Wow, he really couldn't handle a compliment. You felt no guilt for being nice to someone. Applying both the knee plate and the cap to hold it in place, you pat both of his legs and stand up while offering your hand out to him.

"There you go!" You say somewhat cheerily. Maul doesn't take your hand but you don't take it personally. He stands, bending both his legs as he inspects your work. 

"Thank you. I think I'll go mediate alone now. Adjust to them properly." He's halfway out the door by the time he finishes speaking, barely giving you any time at all to process what he's saying to you. 

"Maul, wait! That doesn't even make sense!" You rush outside after him, trying to catch up with his purposely long strides. "If you really want to adjust to them then we should spar."

It would both help you find out where the weak points in your fix had been and give you some peace of mind that his legs weren't going to snap off at any given moment. 

"I left my lightsaber back on the ship." You pause, stunned by his confession. Since when did Maul leave his lightsaber anywhere? You unclip your own from your belt and toss it to the ground.

"That's alright, hand to hand should suffice. And it'll help me make good use of your gift." You clench and unclench your fists to show off the wrappings. Maul finally stops walking and turns to face you.

The pull of the Force is instant and if you hadn't slammed down your foot as soon as you had felt it, your face would have made direct contact with his fist. Alright, technically that was cheating but if you didn't want a black eye you should probably focus on blocking his attacks rather than on his ethics.

You put your arms up in front of you to block another punch of his and swing up with your left arm, trying to hit him. He dodges and you press the advance, aiming for the lower portion of his torso now. Hitting the metal wouldn't slow him down but it messed with his balance which was always helpful in a fight. 

You're too focused on that goal to see him kicking out to sweep your legs. Falling to the ground you feel the wind get knocked out of your lungs but have no time to gasp as he tries to slam his foot down on you. You roll out of the way and lunge at him, shoulder slamming into his midsection as you lock your arms around him and throw him down to the ground. 

"Okay, good sweep. Get up. Let's go again." You pant the words out and ready yourself in a defensive stance. Maul groans but clambers his way up and readies himself just the same.

You strike out with your fist and he knocks it back with his forearm, matching your punch instantly. You grab his extended arm with one hand and tug him closer. With your other hand, you use your palm and slam it into the center of his chest, sending him stumbling back. Maul breaks out into a coughing fit and you pull back into your original stance, poised for his next move.

Glaring, he charges at you and you brace yourself for a hit that never comes. Using the Force to propel himself he makes a clear leap over you and lands behind. You try to spin but you're too slow and get clocked in the jaw. Pain sparks across your face and you shuffle backwards. 

He tries to hit you again but you crouch and dodge it. Reaching up, you yank underneath his upper arm and grab at his side. In one swift motion you lean back and suplex him into the ground.

He reaches for your leg and pulls harshly, sending you toppling to the ground after him. He tries to roll over on top of you but you hit him in the throat with the side of your hand and press up on his shoulders while he's stunned. You use the momentum to push him back and throw yourself on top of him.

Grabbing his wrists, you pin both of them on the top of his chest and lean down to effectively trap them between you both. 

"That jump seemed solid." You tell him, happy to see that his legs had held up to his weight. Maul's breathing is heavy underneath you now and the sense of pride from before dissipates as you wonder if you had somehow actually hurt the man. 

"Maul? Are you alright?" You sit up a little to give him more breathing room. As soon as you lessen your grip on his hands he reaches out to grab your hips, keeping you anchored in place on top of him. 

"Don't move." He refuses to look at you while he speaks. Suddenly, the past half hour of your interactions with him click into place.

"...Maul, are you turned on right now?" You can't stop yourself from asking the question as it enters your mind and the embarrassed groan he lets out confirms your suspicions. Raising your hand to your mouth you have to muffle a laugh.

"I fail to find the same humor in my situation." He grouses from underneath you. His petulance makes you want to laugh even harder but you compose yourself for his sake.

"Well, what would you like to do about it?" You ask gently.

"What?"

You grin and lean down again, caging your hands around his head. His wide eyes meet your own and he twists his head to the side to avoid them. Humming, you press a light kiss right at the junction where his neck and jaw meet and delight in the feeling of him shuddering underneath you. 

"I can leave right now." You tell him and feel his grip on you tighten. "I'll get up and go back inside the ship and pretend this never happened if you want. But I don't think that's what you want, is it, Maul?" 

A growling sound tears itself from his throat and he shakes his head. You click your tongue and sit back up, grabbing his chin.

"No, none of that. Don't be a brat, Maul, I'm trying to help you. Now tell me what you want or I'll go." Your ultimatum has him narrowing his eyes and baring his teeth at you, but it was very hard to be scared of him like this when he was just so pliable underneath you.

"You. I want you." You rest your other hand on top of his chest and slide your fingers underneath the lapels of his shirt.

"Excellent start. I'll give you another chance at asking before I leave you here, just because you're showing so much promise. What do you want? And be specific." 

You can feel the sudden lurch of fear in him at the prospect of you leaving him like this and it grants you a sort of sick pleasure to be so in control of him. You'd probably feel guilty for it later but for now you enjoyed watching him squirm. When he lifts a hand to cover his face you can't help but coo at him.

"Could you kiss me?" His voice sounds so small when he asks, how could you not indulge his request? Taking his hand into your own, you uncover his face and place a chaste kiss on his lips. Maul whines and chases after your mouth as you part from him.

"More specific." You remind him.

"Harder. Please. Just more, please. Anything you'll give me I want." He reaches up and pulls harshly on the back of your neck now, pulling you down closer to him. Thank the Force he'd given in so quickly because you honestly weren't sure how much longer you could keep denying him.

Slamming your mouth against his own, he groans and rolls his hips up to rock against yours. You bite down and slide your tongue into his mouth and Maul is more than willing to let you. 

"You're so handsome, you know that?" You whisper, hardly pulling away from him to speak. He keens at the praise and it only encourages you further as you move your attention to his neck. "Seriously, it pisses me off sometimes."

You hate that you can't really leave marks on the tattooed black of his skin. It wasn't fair in the slightest. You move your other hand up to rest on his neck and find comfort in the dips of your own bite mark that's now permanently etched on his skin.

'Mine.' Something hungry in your mind snarls at you and you jump, your hand closing around his throat. For a moment it's all you can do to not accidentally strangle him at the thought. Maul shivers and presses his own hand atop yours down harder.

A hedonistic groan leaves your own throat as you lean down and sink your teeth into his neck again. You don't go so far as to draw blood from him this time and can feel his dissatisfaction with your self control. Laughing against him, you tilt your head up to kiss his jaw.

"Let's go inside, Maul." Your voice is rougher now, even as you whisper to him. His hands grip at your waist again with a terrifying speed and you nearly wince.

"I do not wish for this to end." He says with such stillness in his tone as if he wasn't half undressed and out of breath underneath you. Again you wanted to laugh but decided better of it at the last moment.

"Neither do I. But I would be throughly annoyed if the first time I got to properly fuck you was interrupted by a wandering townsperson." With great difficulty, you pull yourself to your feet and stare down at him. "Now can we go?"

"Yes. Immediately." Maul scrambles to his own feet and walks towards the ship in what must be a record breaking pace. His eagerness has you biting back a smile and if you weren't so desperate yourself you'd probably tease him for it. 

Well, you'd still tease him for it, but much later on, when it was later in the day and easier to hide the truth from one another. The possessiveness you had felt before still lingered but you shook your head and left it outside. There were more important things to attend to right now than leftover guilt from a dead religion. 

"You are being unreasonably slow." Maul’s voice breaks you from your somber trance and you're thankful for the intervention. 

"So needy." You huff under your breath as you jog to the ship. 

Yes, many more important things indeed.

an. A HUGE shout out to my beloved cowriter weirdfreak for helping me both edit and come up with ideas for this chapter, I already have a lot of fun writing these but she's made it infinitely better ! I hope you guys all liked this chapter!! Something a little sweet for whats about to happen in the next one <3

dividers by @angeliicide and @somebitchprobably-graphicdump !!!

i can't believe we have reached loverboy maul!!! he's so sweet and so thoughtful (and still so unsure) with his gifts. at first, his collar which allows the reader to always find him, even when away. and now the wraps because he saw they weren't taking care of their hands (i'm sobbing at the thought that he spent a lot of time trying to find one they'd like). we have gotten so far from his tantrums where he started attacking after he got caught cheating

and the reader trying to give him back something he'd appreciate almost as much as the wraps, and it's taking the time to learn and to fix his legs!!! at the colors conversation, i had to take a break and look at the ceiling for a few seconds because i couldn't stop giggling

then the fight happened and sub!maul entered the scene? that was it. the moment i said okay, we have officially reached the whatever these two have lovers part of the story

i am sure the phrase "anything you'll give me i want" will haunt me everytime i close my eyes, because you ate with that

LOVERBOY MAUL AGENDA STARTS NOW !!!!!!!!!! He’s evil as fuck but he LIKESSSS YOU <333 he’s not gonna say that but the attention to detail he has when anything involves you?? Like yeah he’s got it BAD.

I’ve been wanting to write that little favorite colors but since me and weirdfreak had a little chat about it one day in our DMs and when I saw an opportunity the gates of heaven literally opened for me don’t play. Your favorite color is red bc of Maul and Maul’s favorite color is red because of YOU !

And if you can believe it they are just going to get more in love from here like. It’s going to be crazy. Two people who will deny being a relationship together vs how they only want to make the other person happy. Okay. Like okay.

THANK YOU ! Oh needy in love down bad Maul how I adore you…

ao3 series masterlist previous part

In which there’s no escaping the will of the Force, no matter how much you kick, scream, or bite.

cw. first meetings, fighting, can you two stop growling at each other for two seconds, grand theft auto, but for a space ship, that’s not how the force works, force visions, inaccurate stab wounds, yeah there’s stabbing in this one whoops, GN!Reader, Jedi!Reader, post order 66

wc. 5.7k

an. Hello everyone and welcome back to my YouTube Channel. Anyways I had fun writing this one bc it had been cooking for a Minute in my brain. THANK YOU to the wonderful weirdfreak1338 for beta reading this and for literally having the worlds best ideas ever 🙏🙏🙏 hope you all enjoy!!!

Unlike all my other fics this is actually the perfect fic to read first because it’s their first meeting! Yay!

You sighed and slumped down the wall of the underground passage. Every part of you ached and you wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there, but as you closed your eyes the red blades of a double sided lightsaber appeared. It yowled at you in a language you couldn't understand and slammed down right on top of you. Gasping you stood to attention, hand on your blaster even if you couldn't sense anything harmful.

You hadn't been able to sense anything harmful that day either, why start taking chances again?

"Easy. It's just me." Quinlan's voice echoed through the hallway and you relaxed. "Are you alright?"

"Just a recurring vision." You brush off his worry and pull him into a hug which he readily returned. "They've all made it?"

"All of them are on the ship now headed towards Mapuzo. They'll be alright thanks to you." He reassures you but it does little to soothe the unending ache in your heart. You pull away from him and nod frantically.

"Right, I'll go out and find more then. You have my comm and it's encrypted, but I'll change the frequency again in a few hours. Don't respond if—" Quinlan grabs your shoulders and shakes you lightly, stopping a rant that he's heard countless times before over the last year.

"You need a break." You scoff at the insinuation and roll your eyes at your fellow Jedi. Quinlan's hard stare doesn't falter as you do so.

"I don't deserve one." You say plainly. Your expression is blank but you feel a twinge of regret when you watch the man's face fall. It was true though. You hadn't done nearly enough to consider stopping now.

When Quinlan had appeared in your life and told you about the Hidden Path, you had done everything in your power to collect any youngling or force sensitive you could find and guided them all to him. But on days like this, the loss of life that you had let slip through you fingers seemed so much greater than that which you had saved.

During your moping, he reaches to grab your hand and pries the comlink out of it. You barely move.

"Rest. You're wearing yourself thin."But as he speaks he can tell his words don't get through to you. He sighs deeply and reaches up to cup your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek. "With you this tired you wont be any use to anyone, especially yourself."

You nod again, tears falling down your face freely now. With a remorseful look Quinlan sweeps you into a warm embrace and lets you cry quietly for as long as you need.

-------------------------------------------

The cantina was fine as far as cantinas went. It was filled with its usual seedy characters and had seen better days—though that might have been a stretch now that you thought about it—but it provided you with a warm meal and a bed for the night, so you wouldn't complain. You pulled your hood down tighter over your face and nestled farther into the booth, trying to avoid any unwanted attention.

The door of the bar swung open. It was a fairly quiet noise that was easily misplaced in the ruckus within the room, but after months of being on the run you had attuned yourself to little sounds like that. You could never be too aware of your surroundings. But this time you don't even have to look at who walks in, you can feel it.

It was as if the air had been punched out from your lungs, your blood running cold at just the sensation alone. The dark side was suffocating and it grew to envelop the entire room as the cloaked figure entered. The bar grew eerily quieter as they pushed through the crowd.

You raised your spoon to your lips and pretended to eat, even if now the food felt had turned to sand in your mouth. Sitting in the booth your confusion brewed inside you as you tried to better understand their presence.

This was no Inquisitor. With your few encounters with them, you remember the overwhelming fear you felt when dealing with them. Fear for your own life, but also the fear they had for their own. Like caged dogs being forced to fight. There was no fear here, only a sickly hot sense of rage.

Still, it was clear that there was a dark side user here and they were, to put it lightly, pissed. You would take your chances elsewhere tonight. Shutting your eyes you waited for their Force signature to slink away from you while doing your best to conceal your own. When it was far enough away from you, you opened your eyes and readied yourself to leave.

What you hadn't been expecting was for them to be sitting right across from you. Unable to still the terror that flooded your senses your eyes widened as you stared at the man. You couldn't see much of his face but you could make out the red and black lines of his skin and felt your heart stop. No, he was dead, wasn't he?

"Oh, I assure you I'm very much alive." His voice is cool as he speaks to you. It feels like warm water running down your back but you still shiver. You look down hastily and push away from the table, trying to run. Before you can even see it, he reaches over the table and grabs your wrist with a bruising force. The sudden pain shocks you so much you can't move, nor do you dare. He has you now.

"Do you know who I am?" He asks and you let out a shaky breath. However, when you go to speak his name he shushes you.

'Speak.' He says, his words rattling in your skull. Your stomach lurches at just how easily he managed to make his way inside.

'Darth Maul.' It unnerves you how quickly he let you in his own mind and you are not unaware of the connection it now forges between you both.

"Good. Very good. Now, you're going to help me." He releases his grip on your mind but not on your hand. You know that you must be imagining it but it feels like it burns the longer he touches you. Despite your fear, you scoff.

"Why would I do that?"

"It's simple. I'll kill you if you don't." A sense of relief spills over you.

"You think I value my life much more than I do." You yank your hand away from him and he scowls at you. "Kill me, fine. All you'll do is reunite me with the Force faster than I'd anticipated. You on the other hand, lose whatever you need in me and have to waste even more time searching for it again."

Standing to leave you can feel him following close behind you. Good. It was partially true what you had said. There was no death, only the Force. Your own demise meant very little to you but that did not mean that you wanted others to suffer. You didn't know Darth Maul well enough to predict what he would do. Getting him away from the public was your best bet at limiting causalities.

Weaving your way through the streets and crowds you eventually settle on an alleyway that's empty enough for you to stop walking.

"Alright. What do you want?" You rest your hands on your hips, trying to seem bigger than you were. It's also conveniently where your blaster and vibroblade were settled, though you weren't really sure what help they would be in a fight against the Sith Lord.

"You." He responds simply and you frown.

"What?"

"The Force has guided me to you. You are angrier than you let on." He stalks towards you now and you feel your breath hitch in your throat. "Everything taken from you in a single day, wouldn't you like to know who's responsible for your suffering? For their suffering?"

"I'm guessing you know then?" You slide a foot back to try and make room between you both but he just as quickly covets it.

"Oh, yes. He was my master after all." You actually begin to feel sick at his admission.

"Lovely. What a darling little pair the two of you must have made." You joke but the words feel thick in your mouth and there's no humor behind them. Maul hums, seemingly amused and begins to circle you. "I still don't understand how I'm involved in this."

"I will train you. Together we will grow strong enough to defeat him and avenge those who has wrongfully slaughtered. Imagine the peace it would give you. No one would ever bear than pain you and I share ever again." His voice is like silk and you find yourself biting the inside of your cheek to keep yourself focused.

"I don't need a master Maul and there's no way in hell I'd ever be your fucked up version of a Padawan. I'm too old for that kind of manipulation. You should really know your audience better." You glare at him when he passes in front of you again.

"Perhaps not. But do not deny your rage, Jedi. Though, how long has it been since you could last call yourself that?"

It's clearly an attempt to taunt you, really he couldn't have made it more obvious if he tried. You still find yourself regulating your breathing until you've calmed down. Well, as calm as you could be in the proximity of a man who seemed to kill for fun.

"Alright. I'll give you something Maul. You're right. I'm angry." As soon as you finish speaking you flip the vibroblade from your hip into your hands and lunge at him.

He deflects easily, blocking you with a swift sweeping motion of his arm. The sound of his lightsaber activating makes you duck as he swings at you. You feel the heat of the blade just above your head. You twist on your side and kick one of your legs out, making contact with the metal portion of his torso. He stumbles back but isn't winded like you had hoped.

"Force above, how much of you is machine?" You grumble while flipping your vibroblade in your hand. You knew the blade wouldn't stand up to a single hit from the lightsaber so you had to be smart about how you utilized it.

Maul straightens up and enters a stance that you recognize but can hardly remember the name for. Was that one defensive or offensive? Suddenly, the world seems to shift around you as you feel him pull you closer, the instant vertigo making it hard to focus. What you do know is that if you don't act now, you'll be speared on the end of his sword.

Breaking from his hold is hard but you manage to do it with just enough time to dodge. His lightsaber sheers through your cloak and cuts into your side but you pay it no mind. Using the momentum of his pull, you reel back your fist and aim straight for his face. By only a split second is he able to avoid your punch.

The concrete of the wall splinters around your hand and a large crack appears in the foundation of the building. You pull back and shake out the stinging sensation from your now bleeding knuckles. It's quickly replaced by the pulsating, searing pain that emenates from your torso. Gasping you press your uninjured hand to the burn.

Maul stares unblinkingly up at the wall and huffs.

"Finally, something impressive." With a deep roar he charges towards you again. You push your back to the wall and brace yourself. This time when he slashes down at you, you reach up and catch the top hilt of his lightsaber. It helped that it was a ridiculously long build.

You pull the saber closer to you, trying to adjust your own vibroblade in your hand as you did. Maul growls and pushes harder against you. The metal of one of his legs digs painfully into your hip and you hiss.

"Surrender," his calming tone of voice is raspy now, "surrender and I won't kill you here. Together—"

You cut his speech off with a guttural scream of your own. He doesn't flinch but he's clearly surprised by the action the way lessens the pressure against you. It's finally the opening you'd been looking for.

Hooking a leg behind his own, you risk raising your hand that's wrapped around your vibroblade and stab it into his shoulder. He shouts in pain and you twist the blade deeper, knocking him off balance. You fully turn both of your bodies and slam him up against the wall.

"I'd shut off that lightsaber if you enjoy having both arms, Maul." You can barely recognize the words as yourself. He scowls, baring his teeth at you, but does as you say. With the blade between you gone, you shove all of your body weight on top of the knife now and feel him writhe against you.

You pull away and watch him grab for the knife but he's unable to do anything. His body must be too exhausted and he has to be fighting back shock to even stay aware right now. You didn't blame him, you were in a similar state. The muscles in your arms cramped and it hurt to get a full breath in with your side like this, but you couldn't stay here. You weren't going to kid yourself and act like you were a better duelist than Darth Maul of all people, so you ran.

Maybe it was a coward's move. You didn't care. Honor meant little to you nowadays.

-------------------------------------------

There wasn't a single available comlink anywhere for you to contact Quinlan again. You groaned. Really it was your own fault, you shouldn't have let him take yours. When he had earlier you'd just been so exhausted that you hadn't thought anything better of it.

You could probably easily pilfer one from a random passerby but it felt wrong and in all actuality wouldn't get you very far. Too many of them were now programed to work in tandem with the user's chain code and the last thing you needed now was to be arrested for something as minor as petty theft.

No, you would just have to make your way to a past meet up spot and wait. That you could manage at least. You hadn't felt Maul's presence since the alleyway but remained on high alert anyways. If he had managed to get in your head so effortlessly then it wasn't a stretch to believe that he could now search specifically for your Force signature. You weren't sure if you believed him when he said that the Force had guided him to you, but in all fairness you had been focused on not dying at the time so you excused your lack of investigation.

The gaggles of people thinned as you wandered further into the depths of the city and you cloaked yourself well enough to avoid any particularly rough looking individuals. There, underneath a small overpass, you finally sat down. It was too out in the open to risk sleeping but you could meditate to pass the time. Crossing your legs, you began to recite the Jedi Code in your mind, giving yourself into the whims of the Force.

A searing pain shot through you.

If you hadn't been sitting you were sure you would have doubled over from the shock alone. Where was it coming from? You grabbed at your shoulder where the pain seemingly emanated from but there was no sign of injury, nor could you remember anything having happened to you.

Wait. No. It hadn't happened to you per say, but you had definitely been there for a shoulder injury, hadn't you? You shake your head and the pain dissipates but the unease—and also a fair bit of annoyance—does not go away.

"What a vindictive bitch." You mutter as you roll your arm out. Well that was no good. You still couldn't sense him nearby but if he had managed to pull of a stunt like that then you couldn't imagine him to be far away either. Pulling yourself back up again was a struggle but you had to move. If not to be caught by him, then to not reveal a meeting place of the Hidden Path.

A ripple of movement from the corner of your vision caught your attention. You wouldn't have paid it any mind if two stormtroopers weren't chasing after it. You tuck yourself against the wall and cover your face as they grow nearer. Only when the rattling of their plastiod armor was far enough away from you did you even think about breathing again.

"They'll be fine." You whisper to yourself. "You can't save everyone. Let it go."

Before you can stop yourself, you're rushing towards the squabble without a single plan. What you would do when you got there, you weren't quite sure. Killing them seemed a bit dramatic and you weren't a good enough liar to make up an excuse for both you and their target on the spot. You're choices were basically nonexistent, but you kept running anyways.

Something was wrong the second you threw yourself down that alleyway and you knew it.

For starters, the troopers nor their target are here. You pant and try to catch your breath and find it harder to breathe with each inhale. When had it gotten so cold? Why did the air feel like static? And then, there it is. That fear that you had prattled on about earlier fills each and everyone one of your senses.

"Found you." The modulated voice grates on the underside of your skin as it somehow worms its way inside you. You twist your body and grab for your vibroblade—but it's missing. The slip up gives the Inquisitor enough time to unsheathe their lightsaber and swing down. You dodge but you know its ultimately useless. It was a dead end. Grappling with your blaster you aim and fire a few shots, which they deflect with ease.

They throw out a hand you feel the will of the Force shift as it tightens around your neck. You gasp and scratch at your throat, feeling your feet slowly lift off of the ground.

"So, which one are you then? There's like…twenty of you, right? Does that make you Inquisitor number seven?" You wheeze out the words, just able to make out the mask that they were wearing as your vision flickered.

"So funny. So kind. It will almost be a shame to watch you die here." They respond to your barb clearly unbothered.

A swath of red light cuts over you and they drop to the ground, releasing their grip on you. Your body crumples to the ground as you sputter, unable to adjust to the now overabundance of air.

You hear the familiar crash of lightsaber blades against one another and—you hear the what?

Looking up you can't believe what you're seeing. The Inquisitor was now fighting a different Inquisitor, or at least that's what you thought. The malevolent glow from the double sided lightsaber would have been hard to mistake as anyone else. Great, now there was two homicidal maniacs instead of one. Still it gives you an opening to escape and you take it.

Rushing past them both you sprint to the opening of the alley and hide behind the wall, unable to look away from the battle as much as you wanted to. It was like watching a speeder crash.

The Inquisitor that had cornered you before was struggling to keep up with their opponents movements now. Their adversary dealt their blows with such grace that it hardly surprised you when they gained the upper hand. They swung the blade out and a screaming shriek of the plasma against plasma jolted you from your trance.

A sinking feeling grew in your stomach as you watched the blades clash against each other again. You shut your eyes and listened. That sound was too familiar.

You hadn't put much thought into your vision, brushing it off as a nightmare. There were much more pressing things to worry about then your constant fear of being killed by the Empire's dogs. But as the cloaked figure parried again with their lightsaber you could hear the weapon itself scream in a horrifyingly poignant way. A way that you could trace all to easily to your dreams as of late.

You felt your hands grow heavy and your feet became rooted in place. It couldn't be true. There was a million reasons and explanations for how Maul had gotten in to your head and a million more for why he would choose to lie to you. Unfortunately, you didn't have the luxury of weighing out each of those options now. You raise your blaster and fire.

The Inquisitor dropped dead.

"So, you weren't kidding?" You walked closer to him, blaster still raised. Maul pulled down the hood of his cloak and clearly regret the movement, teeth gritting together in pain as soon as he did.

"You will learn I have a very poor sense of humor." He says, shutting off his lightsaber. You don't pay him the same courtesy of disabling your weapon.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Look I haven't decided what I'm gonna do with you yet but we have to get out of here now. With them dead, troopers will be swarming this place in minutes and neither of us are in the proper shape to deal with that."

So what if you two had alleged Force visions about each other? Big deal. There was no time to think about that currently if you wanted to stay alive which—in direct contradiction to your previous statement—you really did.

"By all means, lead the way." Maul bowed slightly.

"There's a space port nearby, come on." You wouldn't be able to tell Quinlan where you had gone but that would be fine. As soon as you got rid of Maul at whatever planet the two of you landed on you'd find a way to contact him.

"You have a ship?" He asks.

"Not exactly."

-------------------------------------------

Hiding behind a wall of shipping crates the two of you watch the band of Stormtroopers walk past. Clearly you had been too generous with your original estimate of when they would arrive. It looked like a whole Star Destroyer fleet had been deployed in the time it took from you to get from the backstreets to here.

"There's too many. We can't get through them without being seen." You murmured, trying to look for a opening as they made their rounds but having no such luck deciphering one.

"So we will forge our own path." Maul moves to stand and your already hastily pulling him down by his collar.

"Are you insane?" You hiss and his bares his teeth at you in a perfect mirror of your own disgruntled expression. "You're injured and I only have a blaster! There is no galaxy in which we survive a 'guns blazing' approach."

"You are wrong."

"Really? I fail to—"

"You have more than a blaster, Jedi."

His words shock you into silence. Brushing your hand over your hip, you feel the sturdy hilt of your own lightsaber resting dutifully against it.

"I…" The longer you hesitate to speak the more shame fills you. Maul's gaze burns as he looks at you with barely concealed contempt.

"Hiding has made you craven. You've already allowed them to take from you what is most important."

"Oh and what would that be? Please, enlighten me." The words come out with no lack of acerbity.

"Your own identity." He lays out the truth too easily. It's nearly too much and you weren't sure when you started breathing so hard or when your throat had become so tight. Shaking your head you unsheathe your lightsaber and stand.

"You know nothing about me. Don't talk to me like you do. Unless you'd prefer another wound on your shoulder to match." Maul says nothing at your threat but you can feel the flicker of triumph from him through the Force and you shudder.

Staring out into the veritable field of ships, you point at one of them and nod.

"The EML 850?" Maul moves closer to see what exactly you were looking at. You frown and shrug.

"Is that the one that looks like a really shiny box? If so, yes."

"You don't know the classifications of ships?" He sounds appalled when he asks. You honestly had never paid much mind to that sort of thing when you had been employed by the temple but suddenly you were starting to wish you had, if only to avoid his further judgment of your character.

"I can't fly them either." You admit sheepishly. Well, okay you probably could figure it out but not without severely damaging the integrity of the hull. "Still glad you sought me out?"

"You deem me to be dishonest." Maul replies in a hushed voice now. If it had been anyone else you might have felt guilty for the doubt you regarded him with but one look into those golden eyes and it was quickly forgotten.

"Of course I do. You know, if you really want this to work you should stop expecting me to be an idiot." Sighing, you lean against the crate and shut your eyes. The vision doesn't appear but the unintelligible howls return all the same and you gasp. Looking back at him you saw the very blade that had been haunting you now alight.

"Say what you wish. In fact, believe what you wish just as well. The truth always has a way of making itself known." He stalks towards you and you steel yourself, readying yourself for a fight. He doesn't even spare you a glance as he throws himself into the ship yard.

The sound of blaster fire is instantaneous and it has you fumbling for the ignition switch of your lightsaber. A pang goes through you. Something that used to be so second nature, discarded as soon as it was of no use to you. The body of a stormtrooper crumpling to the ground frightens you out of your self disgust.

Blocking a barrage of blaster fire you push yourself through the tarmac, following Maul's lead. Truth be told you hadn't really kept up with your lightsaber training after the fall of the order and it was painfully apparent when you compared your forms to his. Alright, well if they had already seen your lightsabers it wasn't far off that they knew what you were or suspected at least which meant that using the Force wasn't off the table.

Using the Force to jump back, you throw out your hands and imagine grabbing two of the ships on the runway. The phantom touch of cold metal glides under your palms. Slamming your hands together the creaking sound of them breaking off of their supports is deafening. Their hulls grind into the pavement and you have to strain your arms to pull them together. A few of the troopers manage to avoid your temporary blockade either by way of rushing forward or staying behind but you can feel the loss of life from the unfortunate few that don't make it through.

Slumping over you realize too late that you over estimated your abilities. Those behind the ships wouldn't be able to get through but for the ones that had, you were now too exhausted to fight back against properly. A whirlwind of red appears in front of you, blocking any of the attacks that the stormtroopers try to carry out.

Gawking up at Maul—who honestly, despite everything that had happened in the last few minutes, you had forgotten about entirely—you watch him deflect their fire with ease. This was now the second time tonight he had saved your life and you did not like how much you were starting to owe him.

'Get to the ship and start it. I will meet you there.' Maul spoke in your mind without looking back. You were also starting to hate that. There was a lot to dislike about Maul apparently, who could have guessed?

The access panel to remove the supports from the EML 850 was locked and was requesting some sort of access code from you. There was no time for that. With your lightsaber you sheered the panel from its podium and watched the ship's doors open. In the back of your mind you hoped that the owner had insurance. Then you thought even further back to the two ships you had just forcibly made into a barricade and settled on hoping everyone had insurance and felt a little guilty for the insurance broker who would have to deal with all of this in the morning.

Luckily the layout of the ship is straight forward enough and you're able to find the cockpit with ease. You grimace when you see the control panel full of blinking buttons and switches. Would it be a gross misuse of the Force to call upon it to tell which one of these damn things actually turned the ship on? Probably. You did so anyway since you preferred the idea of not dying tonight.

Slamming down your hand on a few of the flashing lights the ship whirred to life and you let out a startled laugh. Glancing out of the windows you saw Maul, still engaged in combat. You could technically leave now. Inputting coordinates to a safe house wouldn't be hard and this thing had to have autopilot on it somewhere. There was no reason to stay.

Throwing yourself into the pilot's seat you navigate through screens trying to find the controls for the laser turret you had seen mounted atop the ship. A small holo pannel lights up with schematics. You yank the yoke of the ship to the side and aim in what you hope is the proper direction.

The explosion is instantaneous. Shielding your eyes from the blast you can't see what happens to Maul. As soon as the smoke subsides you press yourself to the glass trying to see what your little stunt had managed and you gape when you see the sizable crater in the runway.

"That was a poor attempt at killing me." Maul's voice emanates from behind you and you jump, slamming your head into the roof of the cockpit.

"I wasn't trying to kill you!" You groan, rubbing the top of your head. "I was trying to save you!"

He regards with a look of disbelief and rolls his eyes, shoving you out of the way and taking your spot in the pilot's seat. He begins to press buttons and pull levers you weren't aware of on the ship's control pannel and it begins to sway as it takes off from the ground. Scrambling for purchase along the walls you throw yourself into the co-pilot's chair and strap yourself in.

"Do you even have a destination in mind?" You shout over the roaring engines of the ship.

"One that's away from here."

"Maker help us."

The ship keens under the attacks from the heavy artillery that the Imperials have now taken aim at you with. You really hoped this thing wasn't here for maintenance and was in top working order, or at least that it's shields were fully in tact.

It's a surprisingly fast ship for its size—or maybe it was just your adrenaline that was making everything move by so quickly—and Maul manages to pull you out of the atmosphere and into the stars in what must be a record time for some pilots. It makes you a little dizzy but you refuse to show any sign of discomfort around him.

He punches in some coordinates into the nav computer and the blinding lights of stars blur past you as you enter hyperspace. You unclench your hands from the straps of your seat and your fingers ache from how tightly you'd been holding on. There was of course some palpable relief from escaping Imperial clutches, but now you were trapped inside a very small metal box with a man who practiced the same ideology as your sworn enemies. You really knew how to pick your battles.

"You did wait for me. Why?" Maul's voice wakes you up only slightly from your post-adrenaline slump. Sighing, you rub at your temples and rest your head in your palms.

"Couldn't fly the ship without you."

"I do not believe in your claims of inadequacy when it comes to—" Maul is cut off by you hitting the wall of the ship with your fist.

"Ugh, fine! It would have been rude!" Standing now you leave the cockpit in search of the crew's quarters. Much to your dismay you hear Maul follow after you.

"You were worried about appearing rude?"

"Yes."

"Even though earlier tonight you stabbed me in the shoulder and left me pinned to wall with your blade?" Your ears grow hot at the clear contradiction in your values and you spin on your heel to yell some obscenity at him, only stopping when you see him holding your vibroblade out to you. Tilting his head he gestures for you to take it when you hesitate and it only amplifies your embarrassment. If Maul notices he does not say anything and that only makes it worse. Mumbling a quiet 'thank you' you continue your search.

You never thought you would be so happy to see a military grade bunk in your life. You lie down on the plastic sheets and drag your hands down your face, some part of you hoping this was just a really elaborate alcohol induced dream never mind the fact that you hadn't had a single drop earlier at the cantina. You peak at Maul through your fingers and wince.

A really, really elaborate dream.

an. Fun fact the EML 850 is actually like a niche and rare ship because its hull is entirely made of durasteel! Which makes it hella tough and also hella hard to produce. I did two seconds of research to pick one that would have enough room for Maul and the Reader and was like. Good enough. The ship ALSO has a name but that will be revealed in time 🙏🙏 thank you for reading!!

dividers by @angeliicide and @somebitchprobably-graphicdump !!!

I can't believe they met in a cantina lmao and maul just sat in the same table like yeah help yourself

And they stabbed Maul and left him pinned to the wall !!! And then he goes back to help them escape from the inquisitors. There were moments where I thought omg he's so thoughtful, and he just went to the male manipulator school

There's so much banter between them that it's so funny and entertaining seeing them interact. They are so doubtful of their actions, and always with good intentions (I laughed at the insurance comments like, yeah, I think the empire's ships are probably covered), and Maul always assumes the worst

Maul is the most thoughtful manipulator ever because he doesn’t think he’s manipulating you <3 sigh. We gotta give this guy therapy but after we stab him a few more times

They are genuinely the duo that’s like “someone will die” “of fun!”

ao3 series masterlist previous part

A Force vision leads you and Maul to a planet that has something to offer the both of you.

cw. self-esteem issues, fluff, ooc Darth Maul, but is it really ooc if we r slowly domesticating him, gift giving, possessive Darth Maul, jealous Darth Maul, briefly but very much there, play fighting, that's not how the force works, kyber crystals, i dont super know how lightsabers work but i also dont care, Darth Maul speaks Mando'a, enemies to whatever the hell you two have going on, GN!Reader, Jedi!Reader, post-order 66

wc. 5.1K

an. How I feel knowing I was supposed to post this on Friday but I actually hated it so bad I deleted half of it and rewrote it while adding on like a thousand words, anyWAYS...thank u guys for ur patience as always and i hope u guys enjoy!!

only tagging as ooc maul just in case this is the first part of the series u read! i promise we worked so hard to get him to be this domesticated please we used a spray bottle of water and everything

"Remind me why we're visiting a planet with no accessible trade route again?" Maul calls out to you from the cockpit of the ship for the nth time. You halt the maintenance on your lightsaber and glare at him.

"Because," you sigh, "I had a vision, said vision involved this planet, and it counts as your official apology for your previous self mutilation."

"That was two weeks ago." He grumbles.

"Yeah, and I still can't get scorch marks out of the paneling. Besides, you like being in control of the ship. You barely let the thing auto pilot itself outside of jumps."

With a satisfying click, the hilt of your blade reassembles itself and you smile. It drops slightly as you eye the two kyber crystals on your lap. You tuck them away carefully into your bag. Finally satisfied with your work, you make your way up to the helm of the ship and drape yourself across the passenger's chair.

You were by no means a pilot but you knew that navigating an asteroid field like this was extremely difficult at the best of times. Without a sufficient map or droid co-pilot, it was near impossible. Luckily-or insanely depending on who you asked-you had complete faith in Maul to get you there.

As stars and rocks alike whiz past the ship, you took your time to admire the man sat just across from you. You were allowing yourself to spend longer amounts of time just staring at him ever since whatever fucked up reconciliation had happened that night. Who could blame you? He was nice to look at.

"Are you going to sit there idle for the entirety of the trip?" He doesn't spare you a glance as he chastises you, too focused on the debris outside. You stretch and cozy yourself further into the seat, much to his dismay.

"I offered to recalibrate your lightsaber and you said no, so I didn't. I'm finished with mine." You shrug and can feel the exasperation pouring off of him in waves. "You do not want me to co-pilot this thing Maul, trust me. Flying isn't my strong suit."

"I'm starting to realize that same idea applies itself to every vehicle with you." You childishly stick out your tongue at the jab.

"Well, it's convenient that you seem to know how to use literally all of them."

Before he can respond you jolt upright in your seat.

"That's it! That's Ossus!" Flying ships may have been difficult for you but imputing coordinates was easy enough.

"I believe we're going to an old Jedi temple." You watch Maul grip the yoke of the ship tighter.

"It will be crawling with Imperials."

"No, not likely. Hey, how good are you at flying through lightning storms?"

"What?"

-------------------------------------------

Ossus was as barren. The landscape was harsh and jagged with an overcast sky to match the gloom. And, as you had told Maul earlier, it was as if the planet was afflicted by a never ending lightning storm. Despite the scenery, you couldn't have felt happier.

Maul had gone unusually stoic on your descent downward but you'd just chalked it up to him being upset that you were right. There was no evidence of the Empire being here at all. In fact, besides the ruins of the Jedi temple that you two were approaching, there was very little evidence of life at all.

The temple had been clearly built into a mountain side at some point. It's build uncomfortably mirrored that of the Sith temple, but you ignored the lingering fear you felt. This was not a Sith temple, this was a place that could have once been called home. Though clearly not in recent memory judging by the dilapidated state of the building.

"We should leave." Maul spoke suddenly, stopping your intense study of the edifice. You frown, bemused.

"What? No. We need to be here, I need to be here. I just need to find us a way inside but—" Lightning scorches the ground near you. You jump. Less so from the atmospheric display and more from Maul, who uses the Force to send you stumbling back from where it had struck the ground.

"Maul! What…" You trail off your sentence as you look up at the Zabrak. A moment ago he had stood behind you, composed and quiet. Now, his chest heaved violently and he had ignited both ends of his lightsaber, holding it in front of him in a protective stance.

"Maul?" You called out quieter. He did not turn around. You reached out gently with the Force. If you touched him when he was like this you'd risk losing a limb or worse yet, your life.

'Maul.' You spoke inside his mind. 'It's okay. Let's get inside now.'

After a few seconds he shut off his blade but his stance did little to relax. He didn't move. His eyes were still scanning the horizon, searching for a threat you couldn't see. Walking closer to him, he still didn't react. You slip your hand into his unoccupied one and tug lightly. He finally acquiesced.

Hidden by the far end of the destroyed temple there was a small enough entrance for the two of you to squeeze inside of. It must have been a hallway at some point, but you don't point this out to Maul. It seems like the wrong time to talk about historical architecture.

"I'm sorry-"

'I apologize-'

Both of you stare awkwardly at one another as you cut each other's sentences off. It had been even weirder, considering the fact that Maul had attempted to apologize inside your mind while you spoke. You clear your throat and gesture to him.

'You first.' He nods but takes a moment to respond. He's decidedly not looking at you while does, choosing to wander further inside. You follow beside him.

'I apologize.' He continues, 'I should have been more in control of myself.'

It's a short apology but you accept it nonetheless. There's a fork in the hallway. You take a step forward and guide both of you down the left path, where you begin descending the staircase within.

'Thank you for apologizing.' You reply cordially, your hand brushing against his as you walk together. 'I'm also sorry. I didn't know you were afraid of lightning. Does Iridonia have a lot of storms?'

He stiffens at the mention of the planet.

'Dathomir. No, it did not.' Maul doesn't elaborate further and you don't push him to do so. You both return to walking in silence more peacefully now.

A bright light emerges from the end of stairwell. You light up along with it.

"This is it!" You grin as you make your way into the cave. Hundreds of thousands of gems gleamed back at you.

"Kyber crystals?" Maul asked, sounding confused.

"Close. These are like an off shoot of them. They're pontite crystals!" You ran a hand over them, each of them making a soft chiming noise as you did. Your other hand fell to your lightsaber and your smile faltered.

Stepping back from the cave wall, you reached into you bag and fished out your own kyber crystals that you had removed from your lightsaber earlier. In one of them, a large red split was visible within the stone. You grimaced at the sight.

"You bled your crystal." He isn't asking when he says it. It's clear enough to anyone who understands the basics of a weapon like this.

"It was…an accident." But your defense is weak. Saying you didn't mean to use the dark side didn't get you very far when you had an obviously damaged crystal to prove you wrong. Your regret hung heavy in the air.

"Did you enjoy it?" His question makes the hairs on the nape of your neck stand.

"At first, yes." You admitted. There was no use lying to him, not here. "Then I realized what I had done."

The stones felt cold in your hand as you stared down at them.

"This was the last thing I had and I ruined it. For what? To feel like I was in control?" You laugh, but it rings hollow. "Force above, I'm a sorry excuse for a Jedi aren't I? Impatient and sentimental. Yikes."

"You aren't very self assured either." Maul adds. You glare at him.

"If we weren't on sacred ground I'd hit you now."

"I don't doubt it. For what its worth, you'd have made a terrible Sith. You think too much about how your actions affect others and do your best to try and help." He moves to stand over the small pond inside the cave, watching his reflection in the still water. "No, I believe you make a much better Jedi."

That was one of the nicer things he'd said to you. Sure, he'd technically insulted you at the same time but still, progress was progress.

Looking back at the wall, you focused yourself and searched for two crystals that spoke to you. To your surprise, you'd found three. The all seemingly buzzed to life in your hands as you touched them and wedged them out from the wall. Walking over to where Maul stood, you sat down.

"I need to attune myself to them. It might take awhile." Unattuned crystals meant that you could risk blowing apart your lightsaber when put together.

"May I join you?" You're surprised when he asks but nod. He sits cross legged and pulls out his own blade. Splitting it in two, he removes all four crystals from it. Each of them is a brilliant red and seem to all share a uniform cut to the gem.

"They are synthetic." He answers your question before you can ask. "It took four days for them to finally be created. I did not eat or sleep as they were made."

"Aren't they unstable?" You asked. You knew very little about synth crystals besides the fact that they had a history of exploding no matter what weapon they were used in. Even now, if you hadn't been looking at them with your own two eyes you aren't sure if you would have believed Maul's claim.

"Very. In fact, I suspect if anyone else was to try and use my lightsaber for a long enough time it would be very detrimental to them. My rigorous meditation is what has made them obey me." There was an apparent pride as he eyed the perfectly symmetrical gems.

You hum, still uneasy at the prospect.

"Wait, four days? How old were you?" You concern for the stones was disregarded as you thought back on what other information Maul had just told you. You yourself had been ten when your master had decided you and a few of your fellow padawans had been ready for the journey. You couldn't imagine Maul to be much older.

"Eight." He replies too calmly for your liking. Your heart sank. He must have sensed how horrified you were but no part of him showed it. After a brief bought of silence he spoke up again.

"You're thinking very hard. It won't do any good for your attunement. Speak or forget." He looks out to the water again and shuts his eyes.

"I'm thinking an average amount! It's just," you pause, trying to find the right words, "I wish that none of that had ever happened to you. I wish the Jedi found you first."

You try to imagine him younger. Smaller. More scared. Your stomach turns at the thought of hurting something so little and defenseless.

"The Jedi did not go to Dathomir. The Nightsisters ensured that. I would have grown up as a Nightbrother and when my time came, I would have either been chosen as a mate or killed." He spoke so factually, like he had already considered the prospect of what would have happened to him if his master had never taken him. "In a way, Sidious offered me my freedom when he found me."

"That's not right." You tell him ruefully.

"Not much of my life is, but it has happened. I cannot change it, no matter how much someone wishes for it to be different." Now the bitterness crept into his words. Maul's path had always been doomed, always lined with loss and pain, and no one understood that more than the man who was reminded of it every time he looked at himself.

You dip your hands into the water. It's freezing. Thankfully, it distracts you enough from the disaster of a conversation just now. You hum in amusement as another terrible thought enters your mind.

"It really doesn't matter if we had met in any other way. Even if you had been found by the Jedi and we somehow ended up at the same temple, we never would have been friends. I was a nightmare of a child." At this admission, Maul finally gives some indication that he's listening.

"I've been adept with the Force from a young age and that skill eventually lent itself to my hubris. Try telling the seven year old that aces every single class of theirs that they can't be a Jedi yet, dank farrik! I'll still be apologizing to Master Tee'hara on my death bed for that outburst." A hand slid over your face as you were forced to relive the embarrassment all over again, cool drops of water coming along with it.

"Was that the name of your master?" He asks, interrupting your self flagellation. You pause, grabbing instinctively for your old kyber crystals.

"No. No, her name was Kua. Master Kua Behtal." You spoke her name softly. It had been awhile, since even before the order.

"She was…something." Despite how heavy your body feels, a smile makes it way to your face. "Actually, I brought her out of retirement."

"Jedi retire?"

"Well, less so retiring and more so getting to old to go out on as many missions. It varies species to species. She was an Ardennian and well into her fifties at the time. If I hadn't been such an issue, she likely would have been sent to serve on the Jedi High Council. Instead, she spent her last decade and a half knocking some sense into me. Force knows she had enough arms to do it." The laugh that leaves you is involuntarily and you cover your mouth to muffle it. You can feel Maul watching you now and the embarrassment from before slowly creeps back in.

"Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? I just haven't spoken about her for a while. It was nice to introduce her to someone new."

"You loved her." Maul says, but there's a sense of perplexity in the statement.

"Yes, very much." You assure.

"Despite it being against your code?"

"I told you, I am a very bad Jedi. She took me in when everyone else had declared me a lost cause. I was an angry, stubborn thing and she cared for me anyways. Any love or kindness I have ever shown has all been in part to her guidance." Tears burn your eyes. You clutch the damaged crystals to your chest and take in a shuddering breath.

"What a disappointment I must be."

"You don't regard your survival with near enough fanfare. Swaths of your people were killed over night due to an order and the rest of you are being hunted to extinction. Yet, you persist. At the very least your master should regard your resourcefulness with pride."

You blink up at Maul. He stares back.

"We really need to work on your pep talk skills."

He rolls his eyes and moves to stand. You latch onto his arm, snickering as you hold him in place.

"I'm joking! Mostly. Thank you."

"May we finally mediate and leave this accursed planet?" He doesn't acknowledge your thanks but you nod nonetheless and begin to focus on your attunement.

-------------------------------------------

It's unclear to you how much time passes in the cave. The lanterns flicker endlessly, the light from them jumping off onto the gem encrusted walls, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that dapple the rest of the grotto. You hold the pontite crystals in your hands and squeeze them gently. Each buzzing feeling aligned with every part of yourself now.

"Ready?" Maul asks from somewhere behind you. At some point he had moved to stand and was practicing lightsaber forms with his blade shut off.

"How long have you been doing that?" You groan out the question as you body starts to finally show signs of protest from you continuous meditation. Rubbing your neck, you pull yourself to your feet.

"I've only made my way through the first two forms. The others would be pointless to practice in here without a partner."

"How efficient of you." You tease. You open your lightsaber with ease and slip the two new crystals inside. It ignites as if nothing had ever changed. Playing with the balance of it in your hands, you look up at Maul and grin as an idea flits into your mind.

You stand to attention and bow before fortifying yourself in a defensive stance.

"Ready?" You echo his previous words. He eyes you curiously but still matches your stance.

"I thought you had said this was sacred ground?"

"It is. So don't injure me or break anything and we should be forgiven."

A red glow spills over the room as he activates his lightsaber, but the harshness of the light does little to hide the slight smile that graces his lips. He attacks first and you parry easily, moving to swing at him with an underhanded motion.

There wasn't a lot of room in the cave but that just meant you would have to be on your best offense. You readjust to slam down at him with a two handed strike. Maul doesn't falter but he does have to step back to handle the aggression of your attacks.

"You've improved." He notes, dodging one of your attacks to easily for your liking. Maul and you were nearly evenly matched when it came to fighting, but when it came to a proper sparring match, he was a much better duelist. It made sense, he'd been trained to fight his entire life and you typically regarded all the seven forms as a mere suggestion when it came to lightsaber duels. Still, it was irksome to watch him so effortlessly predict your attacks.

"Yeah, yeah, now stop running away. I'm trying to kick you." You complain, trying to edge yourself closer to him. Maul was now unfortunately all too familiar with your preferred method of close combat and made sure to keep enough distance between you both because of it.

He slid down and away from another attempted strike of yours, reappearing behind you. It forced you to contort your body awkwardly to defend against his blow, off setting your balance as you swung a hand out to try and keep yourself steady. You were nearing the wall of the cave now, a less than an ideal position to be in. However, with the pressure he was putting on you now you wouldn't be able to move away without giving him the perfect opening to attack.

"I still don't understand how you use that thing!" You eye the hilt of his lightsaber with contempt. Maul has the audacity to smirk at you and ignite the other end. Using the Force he pushes you back, causing you to topple over. You sit up quickly, scrambling to hold your blade in a defensive position again but what you see makes you pause.

"You've gotta be fucking joking." Just a few feet away from you, Maul has two blades now. "You can separate them? How long's that been a thing?!"

He doesn't answer, choosing to attack instead. He swings both sabers down on you with a ferocity that's hard to counter. You can feel yourself losing your hold on your lightsaber's grip, unable to balance the uneven weight he presses down on you now. Slowly your blade inches closer to your own body.

"Do you forfeit?" He asks. Maul shows no signs of struggle in pining you down like this.

"No." You reply stubbornly, narrowing your eyes at him.

"Typical laandur'ad, you never know when to quit." He mocks and you scoff.

"Says you!"

You shift your body to lay flat on the ground now and Maul follows after you, unwillingly to lose his advantage. But he's just slow enough for you to get a hand up and reach it behind his neck. Yanking him down towards you, you lean up and kiss him.

It's a clumsy movement and a dangerous one at that, neither of your lightsabers are shut off, but it's a risk you're willing to take. Traveling with Maul for so long had made you into something of a sore loser.

He reciprocates to your surprise, leaning in to make it easier for the both of you. For a brief moment you forget your initial plan and stroke his cheek, content to just be there. You pull away and grin when he looks at you bewildered.

"Well, that didn't work." You laugh quietly and feel your face grow hot. "Alright, I concede."

Both of you press the ignition switches on your lightsabers and the heat from your shared weapons dissipates. His hands now rest near either side of your head as he remains above you.

"May I inquire as to what exactly your plan was?" Maul questions. You notice how his brow furrows when he's like this. It was an endearing look on him. Joining both your hands together now, you rest them gently on the back of his neck.

"Last ditch effort. An attempt at distracting you." You reply honestly. He seems unimpressed.

"You cannot have seriously thought that to be a viable choice." You laugh again at how genuine he sounds.

"Meh, it was a win-win situation. Either it worked in my favor or I lost, but either way I got to kiss you." You run your fingers over his collarbone now, delighting in the way he tenses up.

"Ridiculous." He pushes his body up from you and helps you to your feet.

"I don't know, I think it would have caught someone else very off guard." You stretch both your arms out in front of you, taking great care in rolling your wrists out. They'd be a little sore tomorrow but you'd live. An abrupt wave of nauseating jealousy washes over you, then the feeling was gone as soon as it came. You blink and look back towards Maul who seems very interested in his lightsaber suddenly.

"Are you-?"

"We should leave now, if you have everything you need. It's been quite some time and I do not look forward to flying us out of here in the dark." Maul interrupts, walking past you.

You watch him walk away. Sighing, you shake your head and follow after him.

-------------------------------------------

It was a rough flight out of Ossus like Maul had said but he had done it. The two of you hadn't spoken much on the way back to the ship and the tension had only gotten worse the longer you were both outside. You wanted to pretend like it didn't bother you but it did.

However, you were learning to pick your battles when it came to Maul. He wouldn't be forced into talking about anything so you would wait. It was an irritating test of patience but one that you would commit yourself to nonetheless.

You sat on the small cot of your bed as you played with the extra pontite crystal absentmindedly. Three of them had spoken to you, but why? You tried to ponder that question instead of thinking about Maul.

Pontite crystals were similar to kyber crystals in the way that they could help power a lightsaber, but the also had different qualities to them. You remembered vaguely something about them being calming and helping the user focus. Frowning, you held up the gem and squinted at it.

"Okay, I couldn't have been that in need of guidance." You speak aloud to no one in particular but as you speak you see the bed opposite of yours. Maul's own area was extremely tidy compared to the small nest of blankets your cot housed but it was only because the Zabrak usually never slept. It wasn't like you didn't know why, you had witnessed his night terrors first hand, but it still couldn't have been good for him. You looked back to the crystal.

"Oh." You realized. "You're not mine, are you?"

You set to work immediately. Finding an old leather vest of yours that had seen better days, you took your vibroblade to it and began to sheer it into small strips of fabric. It was easier than you would have expected but you were not unaware of the gentle guidance that the Force was currently giving you. You wanted to bat it away, it could be so overbearing sometimes! But you also wanted the pendent you were making to look decent, so you let it offer you wordless instructions and allowed it to guide your hands.

As you finished the final wrappings you pulled lightly on the crystal to make sure it wouldn't unravel from it's bindings. It held securely to your contentment.

"What have you made?" Maul's voice startles you out of your near meditative state and you hide the necklace against your chest.

Making a gift was one thing, having to actually gift it to the person you had made it for was a whole other beast. You would have to of course, it wasn't like you could just leave it on his bed and feign innocence about it. Only the two of you lived on this ship.

"Um, it's a pendant." You hold it out for him to see. "A charm really. I only needed the two crystals but ended up with three so I ended up making this."

Maul walks over to you now and you offer it up to him. As he inspects it you prattle on about the qualities of the pontite crystal, albeit too nervously for your liking as you avoid revealing your true intentions. He hums approvingly and hands it back to you.

"Oh, no." You say, cringing at how awkward you sound. Maul looks equally as confused as you felt. "It's yours. I mean, I made it for you. To help you sleep, well, it should help you sleep. Actually I don't know if it will or have any proof to believe it will but I'm decently sure. I mean the Force literally lead me to them it would be a little ridiculous if they didn't help but still it's just…"

The more you ramble on the deeper your mortification grows so you stop yourself. Clearing your throat, you attempt to regain at least some of your composure. You place your hands on his and fold his fingers over the pendant.

"I made this for you with the intention of helping you sleep better. It worries me when you don't. You don't have to wear it! But at least keep it by your bed, please. It would make me feel better."

After that brutal bit of expressing your feelings to him is over, there's a brief second where you consider opening the air lock of the ship and jumping out. Thankfully, Maul is kind enough to be polite and accept the pendant, ending your torment for now. You pointedly do not watch him walk over to his side of the room, refusing to see what he does with it. Laying your head back onto your pillow, you crush your hands to your eyes and let out a soundless scream while his back is turned to you.

"Here." You jolt again at the sound of his voice.

Looking up you see him holding a different necklace. It had a round piece of engraved metal that acted as the pendant and it was all strung together with a beaded cord. You sat up and cupped your hands.

"Thank you." You reply genuinely.

"You don't even know what it does."

Ah, no, you didn't. Honestly it didn't have to do anything you would be happy all the same. Still, you waited for Maul to explain.

"It is a talisman of finding." Maul sits beside you now, the bed dipping underneath his weight. "I was…very lost once. My mother gave this to my brother to help aid him in finding me. It is imbued with my blood. As long as you have this, I can never be lost to you."

As if to verify his statement, he takes both of your hands still clasped around the talisman and presses it against his chest. The engravings on it glow a bright blue color as it comes near him and you gasp despite yourself.

"Well, may I say thank you now?" Maul sighs at your cheerful impudence but nods nonetheless.

"Go on."

"Thank you Maul." You lean forward a place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Gingerly you put the pendant on and tuck it underneath your shirt. The cold metal rests comfortably against your skin.

"How much longer until our next stop?" You ask.

"A few hours." He says quietly, his eyes never leaving the spot where the necklace falls on your chest. You hum and rest your head against his shoulder.

"Sleep with me?"

"The ship-"

"The ship is on auto pilot. You can't do anything for it now. It'll be alright." Your reassurance must get through to him somehow because he allows you to pull him down onto the bed with you. Tucking yourself against him, you sigh contentedly. Maul goes completely stiff.

"What?" You ask, mumbling the words into his chest.

"I'm not sure how to properly say it." He whispers above you. Nodding you wrap an arm around him and begin to trace random shapes on his back.

"That's alright. Are you uncomfortable?" You try to help him find the words.

"Yes and no. I'm very comfortable and it's making me uncomfortable."

"Seems confusing." You reply sympathetically, your eyes growing heavier despite yourself. It only worsens when he raises a hand to stroke the back of your head.

"It's very difficult, yes. You're making me soft." He sounds revolted when he says it and you giggle helplessly into him.

"I'm so sorry."

He waits until your breathing evens out and your eyes are fully shut to speak again.

"It's alright." He presses a light kiss to your forehead. "I'm growing fond of it."

an. How i feel throwing a random oc in there just to give the reader more depth. Hope that's amenable to the fans. ANYWHO I think this one was just really cute which is what i'm aiming for bc I have lowk been putting these mfs through the wringer YIKES !!! As soon as I saw Maul still holding onto the pendant that Savage used to find him it was over bro I cried and needed to include that somehow. Also his trauma with lightning! Yay! Soon he's gonna have a crazy breakdown and tell the reader more things BUT next up I get to be self indulgent as fuck and write their first meeting YAYAYYAY!! (i say this like this isnt self indulgence the series but like...shhh)

dividers by @angeliicide and @somebitchprobably-graphicdump !!!

i can't believe how soft maul is getting compared to the beggining lmao (but still never being truly soft, just learning to accept nice things and comfort), and the sudden moment of jealousy i am cackling like no silly they aren't planning to kiss anybody but you

and the cuddling moment omg i need him in my bed