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[survivalthroughhate]

"This is Maul. State your business."

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Also always up for backdating anything specific done during events or plots that we weren't able to get to e.g. memshares, shapeshifting into other forms, etc. Just let me know what you'd like to do!

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( action, maul's house )

[jedies]

[ this needs to be done face to face. he doesn't like it and he would hate to hear that maul planned this but . . . he won't jump to conclusions just yet.

he knocks on the door. ]

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul gets up when he hears a knock at the door. Given the security system he has in the way of the several animals roaming the property to weed out intruders and protect his home, Maul knows right off the bat it has to be someone friendly. He opens it to find Obi-Wan there and blinks in surprise.]

Why are you here?

[Maul's blunt and rude, as usual, but Obi-Wan also hasn't been at his home in close to a year so he's rather confused as to what might be going on.]

[jedies]

[ obi-wan inhales sharply for a moment. ]

I have something to ask you. And I'd appreciate it if you answer me honestly.

Did you set up the Winchesters?

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul is able to easily lie to a lot of people but Obi-Wan isn't one of them. The Jedi knows him far too well to be taken in by his bullshit. Maul shifts from one foot to another like a child caught cheating on a test in school.]

Somewhat....

[He says reluctantly.]

I always planned to use the elder one as bait but he was never supposed to die. That's where things went wrong.

[jedies]

[ not as bad as it could have been, but still bad. and obi-wan is a little disappointed. a personal disappointment to obi-wan anyway. maul knew how much saving anakin meant to him. ]

What made you come up with such a plan?

[survivalthroughhate]

Your padawan is ridiculously predictable. I knew he'd go after Winchester as soon as he fell because he has some insane idea about the man talking to Ariadne somehow being his business and thinking he owns her somehow like a possession, despite the fact the woman is and never will be his wife.

[Maul shrugs. This high-school drama bullshit was annoying but at least it made it all simpler for him to deal with.]

After that, it was simple to put together a plan. Dean agreed for me to be an ally and protect the two of them. I asked the other one, Sam, to watch over him and call me when the time was right. But by the time I had gotten there, Anakin had already killed him.

[jedies]

Because he was being set up. By his brother.

[ and he's not entirely convinced about the rest of it either. it's all being filtered from various points of view. he'd have to ask anakin for the rest. still . . . leading a man to his death.

he shakes his head. ]

They shouldn't have been involved.

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul blinks in surprise at hearing that. That was something he was hearing for the first time. Frankly, it made his opinion of Sam drop extremely low. The man was a shitheel if he had used his own brother for bait with the intention of having him die. Maul was a bastard in his own right but he'd never sink so low as to do that to Savage. His brother meant everything to him and Maul would die before using him like just a tool to be disposed of.

He shakes his head at Obi-Wan's words.]

They were bound to be involved from the moment Anakin fell. There was no stopping this from happening. I was just trying to contain the damage.

[jedies]

[ that is a surprising thing to hear. ]

Why would it have been? You're far stronger.

[ and more morally ambiguous. there were plenty of ways maul could have deterred them. ]

[survivalthroughhate]

Why do all the work when there are plenty of people around to do it for you?

[There are certain moments when it is very clear that Maul is Palpatine's son. This is definitely one of them.]

[jedies]

[ obi-wan frowns tightly. ]

People who got hurt and died.

[survivalthroughhate]

They knew the risks. [Not exactly. Maul knew the Winchester brothers were dumb and reckless, greatly underestimating what Anakin was capable of, which he had counted on approaching them anyway.] They could have refused the offer I made them.

[Maul was up to his usual method when he was told he'd done something wrong: dig in his heels and claim everyone else was at fault besides himself.]

[jedies]

If they knew, they wouldn't have been there at all. It was not a fight anyone else could win easily.

[ he lets out a shaky exhale. he's angry. he can feel the firey lick of it against his chest. he's angry because it was avoidable. obi-wan had spoken to ariadne to stay away. warned others. anakin would still have to face the consequences, but there is a difference if meddling was involved.

his skin turns hard, diamond-like as he pulls his anger back. not now. not here. ]

[survivalthroughhate]

What would you have done? Tied them up and hide them in a basement until you stepped up and finally did something about your padawan? Maybe if you weren't so passive, this would have all been avoided.

[Maul's voice comes out sharp and he's definitely goading Obi-Wan now. It's so rare to see the Jedi get angry, so he's deliberately seeing where this will lead.]

[jedies]

[ his skin seems to crystalize on the surface. his breath is sharp and cold. ]

Careful. That is a mistake many make. And one you already have learned well enough.

[survivalthroughhate]

I think I've learned well--

[Maul is in midsentence when what's happening with Obi-Wan finally catches up with his brain and he just stops speaking.]

Why do you appear to be turning into a kyber crystal?

[jedies]

[ obi-wan grimaces. ]

It is a side-effect of being a coldblood. I haven't mastered all of it quite yet.

[survivalthroughhate]

So the incorruptible Jedi Master isn't perfect after all.

[The words are meant to come out with only sarcasm but there's a lot more underlying bitterness than Maul is willing to admit in them.]

[jedies]

[ tightly. ]

I never claimed to be otherwise. You're the one who made me the axis to your orbit.

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul takes a few steps forward, getting right into Obi-Wan's personal space.]

I wasn't given much choice. You had an apprentice, other Jedi, a love, a life that went on. I had thirteen years of rotting away on a junkyard planet, cast aside and forgotten about!

[jedies]

[ obi-wan stands his ground, immutable. ]

I am not responsible for you. And I am not yours.

[survivalthroughhate]

As I said once before, you may have forgotten me but I will never forget you.

[He pokes a claw into Obi-Wan's chest, still rough despite the usual trimming done to it. His voice is now a little softer.]

And that is one chain in my mind I have no interest in breaking.

[jedies]

[ obi-wan stares before giving a little sigh. the crystallisation seems to fade away. ]

You could stand to make it less frustrating for us both.

[survivalthroughhate]

I could.

[He really should. Without thinking, his hand splays out and suddenly it's resting on Obi-Wan's chest. His anger dies back down to a normal volume.]

It's....not easy to change my ways. I try but so often I fall back into them. Manipulating people, keeping the anger built up at you. It feels safe. To do otherwise makes me feel exposed. I worry others will use my vulnerabilities against me once they see them.

[Obi-Wan won't, Maul knows this, but that's because he is firmly in the category of Good in Maul's mind. Someone like Anakin or Glitch, Maul wouldn't be so certain.]

[jedies]

I wasn't asking you to change for my sake.

[ but he's still irritated at the way maul handled it and dragged anakin into it as well. ]

Will you be apologizing to Dean Winchester?

[ he doesn't frame it as a command or a request. just a question. ]