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"Maul, please put the damn holopad down."
Lando's voice felt like it was a mile away. Maul was prepared to ignore him again, to favor glaring at Kenobi and focusing his efforts into not twitching uncontrollably in the face of the energy flowing through his body.
However, Lando laid a hand on his shoulder, and Maul whipped around to face him. Maul did not, or could not, contain the building malice within him.
"And why should I, Lando? Why do you care what I have to say to this Jedi? Anything I should know, perhaps?" Maul nearly regretted it as soon as he said it. It was too far, and his anger was misplaced. He would not take it back.
"He cares for you, Maul. If you do not stop this path there will not be much of you left to care about." Kenobi cut in, and Maul's head jerked violently before he righted it, bringing a hand to angrily rub the base of his neck. The Jedi was no longer his center of attention. He no longer mattered. A fly in the back of his mind as he stared at Lando.
Lando looked only mildly less sure of himself, staring down this furious Zabrak, but soldiered on. "Maul- I'm just trying to stop anyone from getting hurt."
Maul did not understand this warm feeling growing in his chest, and it only made him all the more volatile. It did not feel like Lando was lying, and the buzzing in his head grew.
Maul was unfocused now, taking to looking between Kenobi and Lando as he began pacing the cargo hold. He worked his thoughts into something coherent, something he could growl.
Maul stopped his pacing to stare Lando down once more. He dimly noticed that the other holograms had winked out, leaving just the three of them, flesh and blood and flickering blue light.
Maul seethed. "Hurt? I will always be hurt. My hurt will never heal so long as Kenobi lives, or follows the Light. I feel no desire to preserve myself given the opportunity to kill or corrupt him." Maul stood there a moment longer, watching his words settle in Lando's understanding, watching the furrowing of his brows.
He once more whipped around to snarl at Kenobi. "I do not need his care. I only need you."
Kenobi appeared to be momentarily stunned. Maul stared at him, breathing heavily, trying to reign himself back in. He can barely remember what he's just said, and he fights the urge to turn to see Lando's face. He finds himself fighting to do many things at the moment.
"For me then Maul- Leave the damn Jedi alone."
Maul looks at him now. He takes in the pleading expression on his face, his outstretched hand, his eyes. He actually considers it, taking the opportunity that's being offered, the chance to bury his head against Lando's neck and calm down.
"Yes. It would be a good decision on his part." Kenobi. Maul suddenly feels dizzy, remembers how he got to this point, the things they have just said. And he feels foolish.
He feels weak.
That's enough. Too much has happened, somebody needs to leave, something needs to change before Maul does something he has the ability to regret. His thoughts run on as he begins speaking, addressing Lando now.
"Your belief that I would hold you separate from this-" Maul gestures wildly between himself and Kenobi, his head starting up twitching as he begins pacing again, "baffles. me. I will do nothing for you. I will destroy Kenobi for myself. You are free to leave me alone whenever, Lando. I will only bleed my own hurt onto you."
He had not meant to verbalize that thought, but he had, and it didn't matter. He had gone too far for the last time. Maul could not bear to look either man in the face.
"Well then. I'll be taking an escape pod."
Maul tore his gaze from the wall in time to watch Lando walk away from him. He stared at the back of his head, and for a moment wished he would look back one last time.
He did not.
Lando rounded a corner, and was gone
Kenobi had gone, too. Maul was alone. This was what he had wanted, what he had asked for. Why does he feel so horrible?
This is what he wanted. He had ripped the weakness from his chest and watched it leave. Faintly, Maul can hear the sound of the escape pod detaching from his ship.
He had been so idiotic. He slumped against the nearest wall of the cargo hold, and held his head in his hands.
He would not cry. He would not be weak again.