Two

Chapter 24

Bright sunlight shone through the tiny window and Nima squinted as she opened her eyes. Surprisingly, Maul was still beside her in bed, asleep. Did his mission tire him that much? He always woke up before she did, why not today?

Carefully, she slid from underneath the blanket and started to climb over him. Carefully putting her hands down where he wasn't.
"What are you doing?" Nima's eyes widened at his groggy voice. She stuttered as she awkwardly moved back to where she was lying.
"I was trying to get out of bed," she said. "You're in the way. And I didn't want to wake you up if you needed to sleep." Maul turned to look at her. While she partly expected him to look upset, he just looked tired.
"No, stay here."

Nima furrowed her brow. "Why? I should start making breakfast."
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Not really." She ate at meal times even if she wasn't as hungry as she was supposed to be. She figured it was from the years of being underfed as a slave. "But aren't you hungry?"
"It's not your job to cook for me, it's not your job to do anything for me." But she liked feeling useful. That too was probably something she did because of her captivity.
"Why is it bothering you now? I've been doing most of the cooking for... I don't even know how long, months?"
"Because I don't want you to do it all the time," he said quietly. "And I said I'd make time for you. If you want, we can stay and talk."

Nima tried to piece together the thoughts floating around her brain as her lekku twisted back and forth. He had said he'd make time.
"You want to talk while we're in bed?"
"Yes. Then neither of us is distracted by cooking and you're not hungry anyway." Reluctantly, Nima agreed even though she'd much rather do it while cooking. He hadn't mentioned if he was hungry.
"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, hoping he had something to start a conversation that wasn't food. Any more talk of it would just make her hungry.
"Are you happy?"
"Happy?" Nima repeated. She stared at him. "Well, that's a hard question, isn't it?"
"How?"

Nima took a deep breath as she tried to figure out how to phrase it. Maul just blinked, watching as she tried to organise her thoughts yet again.
"Well, no one's happy every single second of the day, are they?" she said. "But honestly? I'm happy most of the time. When you're here, when I'm training to be able to defend myself. The gifts you bring make me happy."
"Is it because they're good gifts?"
"Partly, but partly because it's nice knowing you thought of me when I wasn't around," she said. She shuffled closer to him in the bed. "What do you think of me when I'm not around?" Maul looked surprised by her question, had he forgotten that conversations involved both people talking?

"I think of things you might like that you might not have had the chance to have," he said quietly. "A slave has almost nothing, a slave of Hutts has even less."
"I appreciate it," she said. It had been a long time since she owned not-skimpy clothing, and she'd never owned weapons before until she'd stolen the guard's knife. Spices and jewellery had been a distant memory from childhood. "What do you think of me when you're not buying me presents?"
"When I am with my mas—" He cut himself off. "When I'm working, I try not to. Thinking of you can be very distracting." Her face heated up at his words and he smirked. He had to realise the implications, even if he didn't mean it that way.

"I feel a little special," she said, smiling. "That a Sith like you, so powerful and dangerous, distracted by someone like me."
"Someone like you?" Maul chuckled and Nima furrowed her brow. "You are beautiful, and skilled. And far more dangerous than you realise."
"I hardly think I'm dangerous, not compared to you."
"It doesn't matter compared to me, I won't be fighting you," he said. "It'll be the others you have to worry about but you'd easily fight against them." She supposed it was unfair to compare herself to a Sith. He could use the Force to enhance everything he did, and she had to try to keep up. But most people were like her, trying to make their way in a world with Jedi and Sith.

"So do you think I'd be safe to go places? Do you think I could go back to Coruscant or something?" Nima asked. He nodded. "I love it here but I've never really seen any of those places and there's so much out there. Could I go? I know you have to take me but I just want to visit and—"
"Yes." She stared at him. "If you take a blaster or two you could. We could go tomorrow, if you'd like. Or the day after."
"Tomorrow is fine, are you sure you don't mind?" she asked. He'd spent the last few days away from this place, she thought he'd want to stay here a bit longer before going off again but she wasn't going to complain. "Where do you think we should go?"
"You said Coruscant." Nima nodded, she'd liked it last time. "Then we'll go there first."

Nima smiled and he almost smiled back.
"Are you happy?" she asked back. Maul's near smile vanished, any trace of a moment of joy was gone. "Do you like being here?"
"Yes," he said quietly. "With you."

Nima smiled and he pulled her close until she was practically on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her and she could feel her face heating up.
"What are you doing?" She tried not to laugh out of nervousness but it was hard when her bare skin pressed against his. He never wore a shirt to sleep in.
"Holding you."
"Well, I know that," she stuttered. "I just..." She stopped herself before asking why. Of course he would. He liked being with her, why wouldn't he want to do things like this too?
"Just...?" he prompted.
"I'm not used to anything like this," she whispered. "I've never cared about anyone like this, or had the feelings returned. I like it though."
"So do I," he said. "And now you're stuck here until you're hungry." She laughed and her eyes met his.
"What a shame that would be."