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It was not the first night Devon Izara had felt lonely and cold. In truth, she could not recall her last night of proper rest. Not hiding in the sewers on Janix. Not as Maul's captive, when she yearned to be free more than ever before. And after, well, all that happened, her grief and anger would not relent for some time, and they made for poor bedside companions.
The serenity of sleep had certainly not availed her here, in one of the many hideouts of the Crimson Dawn Syndicate. To many dubious strangers snuck and slithered about these halls for her to calm down and actually sleep. A part of her held onto the Force as a precaution. She had seen the looks of the criminals, low lifes and else around here. A few spared pity for a child, but far more regarded her with suspicion, unsure of her connection to Maul. Others spotted her lightsaber (Maul's saber, but now it was hers? She still felt unsure about that, but the idea of giving up her weapon scared her more than the alternative) and rushed to turn away.
And yet again, others saw less a little girl and moreso a female Twi'lek in the cusp of youth. She had no delusions when it came to her species reputation among this criminal scum, a topic that had led her away from the sorry cabin she called quarters to the one place in the entire structure avoided by all others.
Maul's resting space.
Night had already set on whatever planet they were on, and she'd strayed far from the lights of the common area to find this part of the hideout. Even if her eyes couldn't see and her lekku hadn't sensed her surroundings, his signature in the Force was unmistakable. A cold burn, even from where she stood now she felt like she could drown in such a presence. It was frightening and exciting all at once, although she would rather die than utter those words aloud.
Her hand approached the door, hesitating for a moment. Should she knock? Should she turn around and go back? She shook herself from her stupor. For better or worse, she had come too far to turn back now. And so she entered the Shadow Lord's chamber as the door closed behind her as quickly as it had opened.
To her surprise, there was not much to see. She didn’t know how she expected him to live, but it wasn’t like this. A table there, a drawer next to the Wall, several symbols carved into the walls she couldn't trace the origin of and several mechanical instruments, which she assumed to belong to his robotic legs.
What drew her interest the most, of course, was the centerpiece of the room. A bed with a massive mattress, far superior to the sorry excuse of a bedspread she'd been in the last few nights. And the covers looked delightfully soft as well. It almost looked inviting, except for it's current occupant.
Maul himself laid square in the middle, breathing softly. The bed-cover didn't hide much of him, so she concluded he must've turned around a lot in his sleep. Adjusting her eyes, she could make out something sturdy preventing his metallic lower half from tearing the mattress. What remained of his flesh was on display, his broad, tattooed chest visibly rising and falling with each breath. A body hardened by battle and marked by scars of his past. Some would call it handsome. And his face…
He was not snarling or scowling, his mouth and eyes closed. She'd never seen him more peaceful.
She stepped forward unconsciously at the sight, and Maul's eyes shot wide open. She could feel her airways tighten instantly, the Zabrak reaching out at the intruder through the Force out of sheer instinct. One of his hands force choking her, the other quick to raise his lightsaber, which he must’ve kept at his side close by, while Devon struggled to breathe, without success. The room was bathed in the sinister crimson glow of his synthetic crystal, when Devon finally managed to choke out a single word.
"M-Master?!"
Shocked into awareness, Maul instantly halted his efforts. Devon fell to the floor, clutching her neck, her lungs cry for oxygen finally being answered. Her body resting on the edge of the bed for support.
"Devon? What are you doing here?"
The girl wanted to answer, but her lungs would not relent until they had recovered much needed air. Maul was quick to fill the silence-
"If you aim to kill me in my sleep, you still have much to learn, Apprentice."
She glared at him with all the hatred she could muster for such a jest, until the realization settled in, seeing how he still clutched his lightsaber in the other hand, although he had turned it off for now, leaving much of the room under the cover of darkness.
Did he really think she would try such a thing? Once again she was reminded how different Maul’s path must’ve been from her own…
Putting her thoughts about Maul’s nature aside, she closed the distance between them. His eyes were locked on her, out of curiosity or caution, she could not tell. Steadying her voice, she finally spoke-
"I don't plan on killing you, Master."
That last word felt rough on her tongue, but in the moment, it also seemed appropriate. And then, because she couldn't stop herself, she added-
"Not quite yet."
Maul's eyes softened, or maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, and he responded-
"Very well, you have potential yet. But then what are you doing here, at this hour of the night?"
Devon realized she didn't have any carefully prepared reason. "Because I was lonely." was showing weakness, "I don't like my quarters" was arrogant, and she could hardly complain about the criminals behavior to their Boss. So she tried a different approach.
"I could not sleep. After everything, I... I find it difficult to rest…"
Maul raised an eyebrow, or he would have, but Zabrak were hairless. Expecting his Apprentice to continue-
"But you seem to find it easily enough, and yet you've survived the same horrors as I did, and I suspect much worse."
Her eyes took a chance looking down his body at what he had lost, as if to make a point-
"I was merely curious if it was a special Force technique you used, or…"
She took another step forward, and Maul, paying attention to her every word, gave her the minimal space required as she entered the bed.
"-or if it was all in the mattress. Woah, this is soft."
She was basically sinking into the bed. The material was so malleable, her lekku sunk in with her. Oh, this was delightful.
Maul watched the Twi'lek invade his personal space, temporarily stunned into silence at her sheer boldness. She pulled at the covers and turned her back to him, barely avoiding the edge of the bed.
Before sleep could take her, Devon felt Maul's eyes bore into her once more.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Without turning to face him, she gave reply
"Gathering my strength to unlock my full potential, under your, yawn, tutelage tomorrow... Master?"
Emphasizing that last part this time, she pulled the covers closer, feeling brave in the moment. Perhaps her need of sleep took priority over any rational sense. Tired as he was too, Maul couldn't find much of a flaw in her logic. Rest was a resource like everything else, securing a steady supply of it was sensible. So he accepted it, momentarily. His eyes lingered on her back for a little longer, but when she did not give him any further grounds for suspicion in some time, Maul decided he'd lost enough sleep already. He relaxed his posture as much as the situation allowed, closed his eyes and dreamt of Dathomir.
Beside him, Devon sleepily pulled the covers closer as her eyes closed comfortably as well. In the dark, with the only noise the steady breathing of the (former) Sith Lord beside her, she finally found the rest she was yearning for at long last.
Looti Vario had seen a lot of things in his life. Drug deals, shoot outs with the Empire, laser sword fights and much more. Dryden likely thought he'd seen *too much*, which is why he sent Vario of all people to wake Maul. He was probably hoping to catch him on a bad day so the latter would snap the Aleena’s neck on a whim, and today he had a reason, a pretty good one even, because no one could find the little pink Twi'lek girl. That was sure to set Maul off. Vario knew that best, since he had been there when Maul had sacrificed basically everything and everyone to gain the young ones allegiance. He gulped, cursed Dryden under his breath, made peace with himself and entered the Shadow Lord's chambers.
Well, sucks to be Dryden, because Vario was treated to one of the rarest sights in the galaxy. The pink Twi'lek was in Maul's chambers, fast asleep, same as the Zabrak. What amused and intrigued Vario was their constellation. Maul was mainly situated in the middle, although one of his metal legs was hanging off the edge. He must've made room sometime during the night, because Devon was sprawled across the bed, her head resting on Maul's chest, one of her arms lying on his midsection. The larger Zabrak had one arm along the Twi'lek's side, stabilizing her, holding her close. Positioned like that, the girl likely felt Maul's heartbeat, which would explain how their breathing sounded almost synchronized. They were clinging to each other like they were drowning, Vario thought poetically. Perhaps they were. Whatever was between them, it was beyond his understanding.
Vario was pretty sure none of them had appeared so relaxed before. The two of them looked so calm, Vario could almost forget the blood Maul had spilled to get here. Almost.
Instead, he took a picture on his communicator, because this was priceless, would make a great screensaver and quite possibly blackmail. Then he quickly took off, because by the Force, he did not want to be there when either of them woke up, much less get caught by either Master or Apprentice. He hadn't survived so far living risky like that. With a cheerful tune on his lips, the Aleena headed back.