#sithguard

Fox's heartbeat goes silent.

The annoyingly persistent presence at the back of Maul's mind is snuffed out. He hadn't realized how much noise the clone made just by existing. The smugness Maul could sense from him when he got his way with the Mandalorians, the dark satisfaction when when they fought together. Or the quiet warmth in the small moments between fighting and planning, when it had just been the two of them, sharing tea and protected memories. That silence had been comfortable. It had been the personification of everything between them. This silence is absence.

Imagine it: Apprentice Maul, early 20's, visiting Kamino for some checking on the plan because Sidious ordered and is just bored out of his mind having to listen to the kaminoans explain and explain things while on tour through the facility and while checking an auditorium full of little clone cadets, he notices one staring at him.

Somehow, the cadet follows them for the rest of the tour, still staring at Maul from down there at what might be his highest right now the whole time.

Maul doesn't realize it but anyone passing by can see that that little clone is clearly having his first crush, probably not the only clone hypnotized due to the fact Maul is unlike anyone that they ever seen on Kamino before, but Fox is starstruck.

He's looking and looking at each one of Maul's tattoos as if he wants to memorize them, Maul's red skin is his new favorite shade of red, he wants to touch his horns to see if they are as sharps as they look, whenever he hears gold now Maul's eyes will be the first thing that appears in his mind. He's in love.

At some point he manages to blurt out a "Are you a mage?" Still with the same look and barely registering his question, because "mages" became the clones cadets equivalent of amazing due to the history of the olders clones about the jedi and the Force. Which leads to Maul arching an eyebrow because he was expecting some sort of offensive question, not because he couldn't understand the clone cadets not knowing a lot about others species, but because after 5 hours dealing with his tour guides, he's 99% sure the kaminoans are racist.

After getting out of his surprise, he just answers with an "No, just the son of a witch." And Fox locks that in his head for years to come. At this point someone finally notices the little untrained cadet talking with the very important guest checking their quality and yanks Fox away, Maul doesn't really care and Fox remembers that interaction with maximum prescription pink glasses for the rest of his life.

Years later when they found out about the sith situation he has to trust all of his brothers won't say anything to their jedi generals about his life long crush in the sith apprentice that's dead anyway now, Fox already had his mourning period before the war anyway.

ASLDKJFL;SDKLF CHEERS MATE!

Maul and Fox co-parenting Devon. Maul is all about power through anger. Fox thinks anger is good, sure, but what's the point when you can't control it.

He knows Maul is basically a storm shoved into a vaguely human shape. And mad respect, but that's not for everyone. So he starts helping Devon meditate, helping her direct her anger and hatred into something that's just for her. Because he understands why she's angry, and she deserves to feel a little hatred.

When Maul finds out, Fox expects him to be pissed that Fox had overstepped, but instead he gets approval. "I hadn't thought the source of her improvement would be you, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

Fox raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms defensively. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Peace, Commander. I meant it as a compliment."

"Forgive me for not believing you."

"What you do or not believe is of no consequence to me. I simply wanted to pass along my thanks."

Fox grins, all teeth, like his namesake. "Now I know you're full of shit. Are you sure you're not being controlled by something?"

Maul scrunches up his nose in that way that Fox privately thinks of as adorable. "Goodnight, Commander."

Or! Give me yours. That works too

I'll start:

Maul and Fox argue over the whole tea vs caf situation. It turns into a whole Thing

Fox eventually ends up drinking right from the pot, downing the whole thing, to the abject horror of the rest of the crew.

"Did you even taste that?" Devon asks.

Fox gets a hand fisted in Maul's tunic and yanks him in close. Maul lets him. They stand there, breathing each other's air as the smoke settles, but Fox can't take that last step. He's never taken anything for himself. Maul, on the other hand, is very good at taking what he wants. He surges forward and devours Fox with a possessive growl. Fox gives as good as he gets, and once he gets a hand on Maul's horns it is over.

You know that scene in Fox and the Hound with Copper over Todd, to protect him from the hunter? I have that scene with Fox standing between a downed Maul and Cody.

Maybe they found the location of a holocron or some kind of artefact and there were traps. Cody's gotten back with Obi-Wan atp obviously (because I can), and they know the traps and the sealed room will only keep him out for so long. Obi-Wan being there is what made Maul reckless to start with and now here they were; Fox standing between Maul and his ori'vod, pointing weapons at a brother. Something he said he would never do again after Fives. And Cody is pleading with him to stop all this, to just come back, to give up on Maul. "We can fix this."

Cody and Fox are finally able to get to a moment of understanding, and then Obi-Wan skids around the corner and everything goes to shit. Some other trap gets set off and the Force is screaming. Obi-Wan disregards them in favor of getting Cody to safety. Maul snarls and tries to go for Obi-Wan, because of course he does. He has Obi-Wan, right in front of him, distracted with Cody and the vibes of the temple/ruin/wherever the fuck, and he moves without thinking.

Then there's Fox and whatever feelings there are coming from him and the tiny Force bond they have. Maul's emotions are tangled up with Fox's now too and he feels Fox pretty much mentally shrug, knowing he's not getting out under his own power like "ah, yes, of course this is how I go out. It was a terrible run actually, this blows". Then Maul changes direction, he lets Obi-Wan go in favor of saving Fox.

Obi-Wan on the other side of that being like "Wait"

The whole room coming down on them or something. Fox looking up at Maul "You saved me"

"Your powers of observation are astounding, Commander."

"No, I mean, you had him right there and you saved me."

"A decision I am coming to regret the more you speak."