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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!

Comments

[droptheious]

[For now, at least, this still exists.]

It's corruption so...I guess that's exactly what's happening to me.

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul sighs and rubs a hand on the back of one of his shoulders, one of the places on his body he carries a lot of tension.]

Alright. Let me try to get you to sleep. Maybe....maybe that will help.

[He sounds tentatively hopeful. It worked last time so maybe they'd get the same result now, right?]

[droptheious]

[Varian offers him a strained smile, moving to hop onto the bed, exhaling slowly. ]

Thank you. I...I really appreciate this. I don't trust a lot of people with it.

[Varian doesn't trust a lot of people full stop, something he knows Maul is more than aware of.]

[survivalthroughhate]

I know. And I appreciate that you do.

[Maul knows all too well what it is like not to trust anyone, especially with the most important problems that he could have. It really does touch him deeply that Varian feels he can do so with the Sith Lord.

He sits down next to Varian and puts his hands up by the boy's temples.]

Just close your eyes and try to relax. Focus on breathing in and out, in and out, very slowly.

[Then Maul begins to delve into the boy's mind and see what he can do to help his poor corrupted friend.]

[droptheious]

Okay, can do.

[He does as he's told, closing his eyes, breathing slow and deeply.

Much like last time, Varian's mind is more shattered and splintered than usual. Unlike last time there seems to be an uncomfortable black mass lurking around in the background. It's not just exhaustion seeping into his mind this time. There's something worse. Something...deeper.]

[survivalthroughhate]

[When he enters Varian's mind, Maul immediately feels the difference from before. Those sharp edges all along the edges and the pointiness of the thoughts that zip around have become even more prominent even with the fuzziness of exhaustion threaded all the way through the mind's landscape.

He can sense the blackness lurking there, a roiling mass that feels like it is growing in power and strength, threatening to take over. It reminds Maul of being in Will's mind back in Deerington, the way the Mind Flayer had a hold in there. But the Mind Flayer had been weak and easy for Maul to swat aside when need be. This mass of corruption already has power within it and is only growing even more in strength the longer it stays inside Varian.

His lips move in the real world, the feeling of the question echoing in Varian's mind.]

Do you want me to try and remove it?

[It had worked with Anakin when the idiot Jedi had become corrupted last month but that had been more sheer dumb luck that Maul had been able to get his powers to work correctly than anything else. It had been a Hail Mary play and Maul isn't sure can manage it again even if he tries. But he has to offer, he owes Varian that much after all that the boy has done for him over the course of the almost two years they've known each other.]

[droptheious]

[It's terrifying, that black mass. That much is clear, the feelings spikes even more when Maul asks the question. Varian's feared the darkness in him for some time, never wanting to become the person he once was again. Not wanting to hurt the people he cares about so much. ]

Please. If-if you can.

[He doesn't want it to get bigger. He doesn't want to see what happens when it does. This is not something he wants to study. He just wants it gone.]

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul tries to focus, to do what he did with Anakin and just reach in to remove the mass of corruption. But the mass is solid and powerful, so Maul simply can't get into the proper state to access the powers that his Vileblood grants him when he has the worry of Varian on top of everything else in his mind. He tugs and tugs, trying to get it out, but it's entrenched so deeply he knows the amount of power he would need to remove it would damage Varian's mind, perhaps irreparably.]

I can't.

[He says as he is forced to admit defeat, his voice laced with frustration and anger, though it's directed more at himself than Varian.]

If I do, it will cause more damage than leaving it will do. The most I can do is try to get you to sleep.

[droptheious]

[Those two little words drop like a stone in Varian's gut. I can't. He'd known it wouldn't have been an easy fix, but for it to be flat out impossible? He hadn't even considered it. He curls up on himself a little bit, trying and failing to keep the devastation out of his tone. If Maul can't get it out, what can he do now? If...whatever it is that's in him is too tied in there, what's going to happen to him?

The thought is terrifying. ]

...Thanks for trying, anyway. I- I'll take some sleep, I- I think that's better than nothing.

[survivalthroughhate]

Don't fear too much. There has to be more than one way to remove such a thing from a person.

[Just because Maul's way hadn't worked didn't mean all solutions were going to be a bust. He'll have to continue to have hope or give into his fear that something terrible will happen to his young friend.

Maul centers himself in Varian's mind for a moment, acclimating himself to the landscape so that it will be easy to send the boy off to sleep. Honestly, just letting Varian rest will be a good thing for him. Maul calls upon the Dark Side and weaves it into the boy's mind. There's still a stark difference between that and the roiling mass of corruption in there despite both of them being made of darkness. Maul works patiently and calmly, allowing Varian's mind to settle and implying simple suggestions in the mind to go to sleep. Once he's certain it has worked the way it has supposed to, he slowly removes himself from the boy's mind. There. That should do it.]