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Killindi Matako.
Killindi wouldn't lie; she never thought Maul would be her best friend.
The day he arrived at the academy, he mercilessly beat an older student, acted like a personality-less robot, and made it perfectly clear that he wouldn't hesitate to kill everyone around him without flinching.
Amidst all this, the first thing she noticed were his eyes: two yellowish orbs with red rings around them, like an endless bonfire threatening to burn everyone around him, and yet there was no emotion behind them.
The fire burned without anything to ignite it, without emotion or impulse; this was even more disturbing; this fire that shouldn't exist, that had nothing left to burn. She had seen similar looks in other slaves, but without the fire, just an emptiness that simply existed.
Perhaps that was why she approached him, after all. She wanted to understand, to understand why Maul still burned if there was nothing left inside him, why he continued.
She understood that the answer was simply automatic. Maul survived, Maul followed orders, Maul burned, Maul did everything his master commanded, Maul was a slave, not in the same way she had been, but still a slave.
She hated Maul's master even without knowing him, she fought for every moment and chance to make Maul feel something, she held his hand even when she didn't need to, she stayed by his side every second and in every way she believed it could matter.
When Maul's master first visited him in Orsis, she went along because she was always the one who worked alongside him. She puffed out her chest and hid her hatred as she prepared to meet an evil man. She listened to every word seething inside her. She held back every impulse to distance herself from the repugnant presence that was Maul's master. She ignored her instincts to stay when the man asked for a moment alone with his protégé, and she hoped through all of it for Maul to understand that she would still be by his side despite everything. She waited on the dark staircases of the castle for hours until it got dark.
And perhaps she let out one of the loudest screams of her life when she looked over her shoulder and met his yellow eyes staring at her in complete silence.
Maul said nothing; to anyone else he might seem expressionless, but she had learned to recognize the subtle ways he showed his emotions and could tell he was agitated and confused.
"Kriff Maul, that was almost a heart attack, I'm sure!" She clutched her chest, struggling to sit up again. Maul didn't help her; that was the first sign.
"What are you doing here?" That was the second, the way Maul's voice sounded: distant, dangerous. He was assessing, deciding; he was acting like a robot again. She looked up to find the third sign.
His eyes, yellowish, the red blazing as if the fire were about to spread uncontrollably. He half-closed them easily, marking a target to burn alive. Killindi took a deep breath, knowing she had to be very careful about her next words, especially if she didn't want to ruin her last semester of work.]
"Waiting for you, your master said he only wanted a moment after all." The zabrak kept a suspicious look, tilting his head to the side imperceptibly.
"Why would you wait for me?" She wouldn't lie, it was bad to see Maul so confused by such a simple form of affection, but she kept the ugly feeling inside and smiled at her friend, hoping that everything she had done in the last few months would be enough.
"Because you're my friend." She saw the almost invisible signs of Maul's surprise but continued, "Scary, obsessive, and cynical, but my friend nonetheless."
Maul remained silent, he almost seemed disturbed by her words. They stared at each other for another minute before he spoke again.
"I don't understand you."
"You can't talk too much about others regarding this." She replied, her smile more genuine now, taking the hand Maul offered with satisfaction.
-
Meltch Krakko
Adjusting from wartime time to school time was proving more difficult for Meltch than he would have liked.
He had trouble falling asleep at night, experiencing bouts of intense sleepiness that nearly made him faint. He felt perpetually tired and disoriented; it was a mess, more often than not. He would simply collapse onto his desk after class and sleep instead of eating during break.
This was one of those moments. He loosened his buy'ce and buried his head in his arms with an appreciative grunt. The noise of the students outside the classroom was comforting enough that he could easily drift off to sleep, a need to dream that wasn't there, but back on Mandalore.
Several light taps on his arm—which he wasn't even sure were real or his imagination—started waking him up again. The time flashed on his display. 8 minutes. He had managed to sleep for 8 minutes before someone came to disturb him. He turns his head, ready to tell whoever it is to go to hell – especially since they don't stop poking his arm even when he wakes up.
What happens is that he almost falls out of his chair in front of two yellow suns staring coldly at him somehow.
"Fierfek!" He slaps himself to sit up straight, the chair spins and he feels dizzy from getting up too fast, the damned zabrak watches him silently, "Kriff- What are you doing here? It's not class time." The answer was a sheet of paper placed in front of him, he pretended to read it because his eyes were still too blurry to read.
"The assignment." Meltch stares at the paper as if it had offended him on a personal level, then picks it up and shoves it into other assignments with a grunt. "You don't have a good sleep schedule."
"Don't tell me." He frowns, the response came out more aggressive than he intended. He bangs on the edge of the table, forcing himself to speak in a calmer tone. Scary or not, the boy is still a child. "I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the schedule here; it's very different from my old normal."
"Then you shouldn't sleep now. It'll make it even harder."
"I know."
"Then why were you sleeping?"
"Because I'm tired!" He slams his fist on the table. The boy doesn't react. He returns to his chair and mentally curses himself, "It was… a moment of weakness. It won't happen again." There's no response. He waits until the boy leaves to take a deep breath, a single instinct to not lose his composure yet.
He realizes he's right when the boy sticks his head through the door less than 15 seconds later to make sure he hasn't fallen asleep, and he almost throws the chair at him.
-
Meltch Krakko (Again)
Two golden orbs, that was all there was in the darkness.
Meltch prayed to every god he knew that Maul wouldn't be able to see in the dark.
"You're holding your weapon."
Osik.
"It would be very good if you started warning about any non-obvious biological characteristics before this kind of situation." The shabuir has the audacity to laugh.
"I have reflective eyes."
"Now I know."
"They glow in the dark."
"Incredible." At least the heart attack calms down when she hears the boy laugh.
-
Pre Vizsla, Rook Kast and Silas
"Usen'ye!"
"Sometimes it's good to mention this sort of thing beforehand." Silas murmured, confident enough to leave a bit of bite in his voice.
"Is this a Zabrak thing or you thing?" Pre questioned, trying to change the tone of the conversation. Maul grunted, which he interpreted as an answer. "Both?"
"Dathomirian Zabraks have reflective eyes, mine even more so because of the color."
"Which is yellow!/gold./I gave up trying to guess…"
Rook abandoned her anger to argue with Pre, who seemed almost worried about how recurrent this discussion about Maul's eyes had become. Silas slithered to the corner he thought was closest to Maul.
On a quick expedition into a network of caves found just below Sundari Castle, they arrived at this situation. Nobody was hurt, they were just separated from Jango when the rocks collapsed, but it was possible to communicate through the rocks and the dark-haired man had gone to get help.
Maul's eyes gleaming in the darkness was a terrifying surprise that caused Silas to twist an ankle, Rook to burn part of her hair, and Pre to lose his buy'ce in the darkness. - Silas was sure that Maul could probably see where the helmet was, but nobody had dared to interrupt his silent irritation until now.
With the other two arguing uselessly, he supposed it was up to him to talk to the thundering zabrak. Wonderful.
"You know where his buy'ce is, don't you?" He waits silently and listens - probably on purpose, he hadn't heard the slightest movement from Maul before - a movement and then a thud, durasteel, Maul kicked Pre's helmet. "I figured. Are you ever going to explain this whole thing with your eyes?"
He looks at them, yellow yes, but a very warm shade. He understands why Jango and Vizsla say it's golden, but he remembers seeing the same yellow that Rook talks about, even a more sickly shade that disturbed him a little.
"What do you see?"
Silas doesn't answer. Up close, he can clearly distinguish Maul's face even in the darkness. An idea appears in his mind and he uses his most bastardly smile, knowing that Maul can see him.
He approaches quickly, until their faces almost touch; it's only because of the long months of coexistence that Maul doesn't attack him immediately and instead gets startled and recoils in surprise.
"Burnt yellow!"
Maul blinks, the most surprised Silas has ever seen him, eyes almost wide open, lips slightly parted, and simply the image of confusion.
It's wonderful, he can't hold back his laughter.
When Pre looks again, all he sees is a very angry Maul pushing a laughing Silas off of him. The dark-haired man seems unconcerned by the Zabrak's reaction, continuing to laugh. At some point, Maul gives up, leaving the grinning Mandalorian leaning on him, muttering,
"Burnt yellow, I've never heard that one before."
-
Savage and Feral Opress.
"Savage?!" Feral appeared from the top bunk, having been woken by his older brother's loud scream. Maul stood beside them, looking confused and slightly disturbed by the scene.
Savage was on the floor, one hand covering his eyes and the other holding his heart as he breathed heavily, seemingly out of bed. Feral turned to Maul, confused.
"What happened?" The middle brother just shrugged, his arms fidgeting uncertainly whether he should help the other or not.
"I woke him up and he screamed out of nowhere…" Savage uncovered his eyes slightly, looking at the ceiling and not at his brothers.
"His… His eyes…" Savage murmured between coughs, trying to gather his breath to speak clearly, "They're the same as hers when… when she uses magic." Feral frowned instantly, and Maul's mood soured in a second. The older brother visibly shrank back while rubbing his eyes. "Sorry."
"You should be!" Feral growled as he overcame his shock. He'd never seen Mother Talzin use magic, but he couldn't imagine how the cold silver of her eyes could resemble the warm gold of Maul's. "He didn't mean that—"
"Shouldn't they be greenish?" He no longer seemed so angry, but rather resigned, "A mix of silver and green."
"I don't know…" Savage had never seemed so relieved as now, since Maul showed no trace of irritation in his presence. "I never thought to ask."
"Maybe that's what she meant when she said I was born connected to magic."
"She said what—"
+1 Jango Fett
What was he waiting for?
Maul had accidentally —because it was still his room and he was very tired— thrown himself onto his old bed, which was currently occupied by Jango Fett, whom Maul discovered had a habit of hiding under blankets in a way that even he hadn't initially noticed.
The Mandalorian woke up immediately, of course, and in the darkness of the room, Maul was prepared to see or hear Fett fall out of bed or scream in fright with his eyes; what he didn't expect was complete silence.
Fett lifted his face only partially from the pillow and stared at Maul without any explicit reaction. At first, Maul assumed he had frozen in fright, but Fett just seemed calm; if the Zabrak hadn't been so confused, he might even have thought he was smiling slightly.
"What?" he finally asked, growling at the silent Mandalorian.
Fett continued to stare at him, then snorted, looking away for a few seconds as if he were seeing something else.
"My nightmares always leave me cold." He murmurs, his voice almost inaudible, "In my soul. It was very cold that day despite the battle." He frowns slightly, "The battle was cold, somehow."
He turns his gaze to Maul, and perhaps the Zabrak is a little too proud of his own knowledge because he can't stop himself from speaking.
"Jedi are cold." He props himself up on his elbows, Fett observes him, "Their connection to the Force is very much like pools of water. Feelings, desires, and ambitions are things they reject so as not to fall in, and are also associated with heat or red; which are then Sith attributes. For this reason, Jedi are cold, because the pools must always be clean and cool, to maintain communication with the Force."
"And yet, they are still the light side, while dar'jetii are the dark side." Maul can't contain his smile, nor the words from escaping his mouth.
"The associations of light and darkness are more about representation than the connection itself, and even so, it's no use having a clean pool if the water isn't clear enough for you to see, it's pointless." He draws in the air with his fingers, Fett follows his explanations and listens, then he simply continues. "The Sith, on the other hand, are like a wild flame, burning with the emotions they feel. The desires that drive them. The ambitions that guide them. Fire shines even brighter in the darkness, and can be better controlled when it cannot spread freely, thus making it possible to use it in any way you want."
"Are you really a dar'jetii?" Fett questions when he finishes, Maul feels himself stiffen slightly, "You use the Force but you don't like the jetii, nor do you follow their culture in any way. Even so, you don't seem to be much of the other either, apart from the more practical comparisons."
"And what else could I be?"
"Mandalorian."
Maul stops, looks at him, Fett looks back.
"I would be Kyr'tsad."
"I know."
"You really know? I understand allying because it's the best option you have, but you're already indebted to my father." Maul reminds him, this time Fett's displeasure is clear on his face, "Do you really want to be indebted to another?"
"And what would I owe you?" From his expression, he could give several examples, but Maul just rolls his eyes and touches his index finger to his forehead.
Fett is about to answer when warmth washes over him, starting from the tip of Maul's finger and spreading through his body, expelling the cold air that insisted on persisting even after he woke up. The words fade as he feels himself falling deeper into sleep with the pleasant warmth; he struggles to stay awake.
"I'll figure out what I'll be in the future." The zabrak murmurs, keeping his hand resting on Fett's arm as he stares at the ceiling. "For now, it's simpler to just be a heater."
Fett's sleepy laugh echoes in the room; Maul can tell he's already losing the battle with sleep by how slow his blinks have become.
"You didn't need to do that, your presence already warmed me." Maul turns his face away, ready to say that flattery wouldn't work when Fett finishes. "Thats what I was going to say, your eyes are like twin suns to me."
As he almost falls asleep, Jango Fett sees the golden eyes widen and the expression that takes over the zabrak's face, but he still manages to laugh when Maul pushes him down with his hand; if it weren't for the light, he would think he was blushing.
"Go to sleep, Fett."