deercountry | [Open] 🚬 June Flames

Ya look good for a dead man.

[not that dabi's one to talk, considering his charred appearance. though the flippancy probably denotes that he's getting less involved in the topic of one man's revenge against his own. it's not that he doesn't get it. in his own way, maul is attempting to encourage dabi away from his vendetta. questioning him, showing his own life as a lesson and warning, subtly suggesting there's more to his life than revenge. but dabi's simply not interested. as far as trench is concerned, this conversation is purely hypothetical. endeavor's not here, there's no revenge in this place the burned villain can take. and even if he surrendered it here in trench, what purpose would it serve? he'd simply return home with no recollection.]

A Force-user?

[first time he's heard that phrase used. dabi eyes maul curiously. sarcastically that would sound like "drug user" or something of the like. so he's assuming this "force" is something to wield or take. like a weapon or a pill respectively. granted, perhaps maul's right in that all life serves a purpose. just that purpose could be considered pointless in a human view. what point is there in a person's life to die before being born, for example? to create sorrow? sick purpose... anyways, dabi would have to go further into detail about his past for maul to understand and he's not ready to do that right now.]

It's somethin like that. Yeah.

[with the zabrak laying out his life a little, dabi picks out the similarities. he'd been on both sides of the spectrum, the favored and the rejected. it gives him a two-fold feeling about it. on the one hand, maul could relate to his story more than others. on the other, it'd merely be another venue for the man to try and change dabi's mind. not an argument he'd prefer to keep having with him. perhaps later. another time and place. mother talzin and enji todoroki had similarities...

dabi's more interested in the answer about maul's legs. he goes for another piece of jerky and drops his wrist over his knee, leaving the bag to dangle for now as his eyes linger on the other man's waist and thigh.]

In half? [okay, it's not like he hasn't seen severe wounds in his life, but generally speaking, "in half" injuries are not something a person survives. even in his world with its superpower quirks and advanced biological sciences. it takes dabi a few seconds to realize he's not looking at some technological "belt" around maul's waist, but instead the beginnings of an entire lower-body prosthetic.] Holy shit.

[maul's a machine from the waist down! so to speak.]

Legs and everythin. You stubborn bastard... [okay, he'll admit he's impressed maul pulled that off.] Sucks about your dick and ass though. How much of ya guts survived?

[hey, no one say dabi wasn't a rude bastard.]

Time works strangely in this place.

[Maul knew of his future thanks to the machinations of Trench. It was his fate to die back in his own galaxy and one he refused to give into. He'd remain in Trench until he died of old age if it was possible.

That was the usual question asked when Maul brought up the Force, so he had a standard answer down pat by now which gave out the basics of how his powers worked without giving away all his tricks and secrets.]

The Force is what gives a Sith their power. It's an energy field produced by all living things. You, me, animals, beasts, plants. Whatever contains life contains the Force and can be manipulated by someone trained to use it.

[He gave a small demonstration by lifting up the rocks and leaves on the ground, letting them hover there in midair before he then lifted up Dabi himself, letting the man hang there for a few moments before lowering him.

He let the thread of their conversation regarding the similarities between their parents drop. If they met again, and Maul hoped they would, he could pick those back up later on. The Sith Lord saw a lot of himself in the human, Dabi resembling much of what had made up Maul when he first arrived in Deerington.

He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't pleased that Dabi was impressed with how he'd lived through his horrendous injuries. No matter what side of the spectrum of good vs evil they were on, most found it amazing Maul had managed to pull through his injuries to the point where he was fully functioning and able to fight just as well as he had in the past instead of just being a crippled shadow of his former self.

He did scowl at the mention of his dick. That was a sore subject but since Dabi didn't linger on it, he wouldn't get too angry about the comment.]

Enough to keep me alive. Some of my intestines are shorter than those of a human, which helped the issue of survival. But mostly it was simply my deep anger and hatred plus my force of will fueled by the Dark Side that allowed me to live.

Ain't a surprise.

[if "time" actually runs in this place. even the seasons tend to bleed together under the usually-cloudy skies. dabi doesn't pay much attention to the passage of time in trench, as the background realization that returning to his own time wouldn't take into account for his time here in trench. three people he knew from his home had gone... um... "world hopping" before and let him know the reality of the situation. they're sitting in a holding pattern until they return home to start moving again.

dabi eyes maul at the explanation of what "the force" really is. it's short and simple for an explanation, and he's glad someone can answer succinctly and efficiently without puking up an essay of pride and details.]

A Sith? Thought you were a Darth.

[no, he's not being sarcastic with the question. it's all seriousness. dabi realized "Darth Maul" was not a first name last name thing, but rather a title and name. though he figured that out via a conversation with someone else, because after leaving the library and their first meeting, the villain certainly had thought "darth" was maul's first name. thank his japanese heritage and learning for calling people by their last names by default.

dabi swings his attention to the rocks and leaves, an eyebrow quirking as they floated upward. only to tense when some force lightly took hold of him and lifted him. there's a brief flare of alert and warning at the sudden invasion of his personal space, but he's smart enough to realize what it was a second later and relaxes. not that it entirely pleases him to realize maul could telekinetically throttle him if he so chose... psychics are a bitch to battle. but good to know.

aw. sore about his dick, huh. dabi doesn't miss that reaction. but he already got his jab in and sees no reason to push that button again. force-choke being a little red flag on it, of course. and there are other fun things to do that don't involve dicks.. just have to get creative.]

Damn. [he leaves that as his only comment, obviously impressed with maul's tenacity. it's not every day you meet someone with the will to live after being bisected.] Ya don't look like ya came out too bad now. [dabi wouldn't have known maul's legs were prosthetics if the library's quiet hadn't made the sound catch his ears. looked like legs.] Guess ya grateful for that hatred and anger, even if ya eventually gave them up.

[Maul kept a few rocks continuing to float around him, lazily spinning in little circles, the movements similar to the way another person might have played with their hair or absentmindedly shredded grass while they were talking.]

I am both. A Sith Lord is what I am, Sith being the sect that can access the Force which I come from. Darth is the title given to someone who can complete the trials to become a Sith Lord.

[Yes, it was a little confusing, but that was religion for you. The Sith couldn't possibly make things simple for their acolytes. It was one of the reasons they had stagnated by the time Maul was indoctrinated, Sidious forgetting the big picture and focusing in on his own goals instead.

He scowled at the mention of giving up his anger and hate. Back on that again, were they? It was difficult when neither of them could truly understand the other's perspective.]

I only gave them up towards the subject of my revenge. I still have plenty of anger and hate to help fuel me even now. How else would I be able to survive in such a place as this?

[dabi keeps an eye on the rocks, half out of curiosity, half out of being a cautious person. does he trust maul? not really. but he also doesn't believe the man has any interest in attempting for his life. that said, it's an impressive ability.]

Ah. A sect and title.< small>[that makes sense. "maul" is his name and dabi's got no intention of inquiring about a last name or anything else regarding that. the man can keep his privacy. as for what a sith is... doesn't really care.

likewise dabi's not going into the dichotomy of heroes and villains in his own world, briefly touching on it earlier when maul brushed it in topic. there are strange things between the two groups and while maul looked, talked, and acted like he'd fall in the "villain" side back home, here, he's obviously attempting some kind of atonement. a heroic trait.

it's a common theme, especially since those were instrumental in maul's continued existence. giving them up would likely mean his death (back home). dabi merely shrugs at the answer, slipping his hands into his pockets.]

Cause it won't let ya stay dead or go home. [if he wants the sarcastic, literal answer.] Whatcha hate and angry about here then, if you got so much of what you want in Trench?

I hate most people and I'm always angry. Do I really need a specific reason to have for that?

[Maul shrugged. His rage was something he rarely picked apart in an analytical way or felt the need to quantify in any sort of capacity. His anger was something that had started as a child, feeling upset at being mistreated, hurt, and scared by the world. At the time, it was a defense mechanism so that Maul wouldn't feel the pain so acutely.

As an adult, it had evolved to become a survival mechanism, something that had allowed him not to just curl up and die when his life became hard to deal with. This was especially true after his near-death experience at the hands of Obi-Wan. Now it was like an old comfortable friend. Even if he didn't always have a raging fire at his disposal, the embers of it were always glowing brightly.]

Nah. But I gotta admit, with all your talk till now, that kinda sounds like a front.

[not that he's calling maul's hate and anger a lie, but with the speaking of protection, letting go of his issues, love and protection, family ties, and a host of other things, suddenly saying he's a ball of malice comes across as whiplash. which is kinda amusing to dabi, since he noticed the zabrak got needled by the villain's commentating on his choices.

is he calling maul out? maybe. taunting him again? who knows. dabi's a jerk.

but he knows well enough what it means to be angry, surviving through the heat of rage and burning hatred. that, he and maul can agree on completely, even if their reasons for doing so might end up swerving in and out of disagreement. dabi continues to find the other man interesting, curious about how he'll handle things. but he does see him as... well... embers, rather than a bonfire.

and embers, generally speaking, are not as threatening as raging flames.]

[Much as Jinx taunting him about "going soft" on the network had pricked Maul in just the right way to rile him up, so Dabi poking at him stirred up Maul's anger quite a bit. He growled for a moment, the sound like the warning of a pissed-off big cat that suddenly realized there was an intruder in its territory.]

Let's see how long you'd think it a front if I just reached over and bit your throat out!

[He snarled out as a threat, baring angry fangs at the human. He was good and heated up now. While it had put him in a better place not to have people coming after him when he did something to hurt them or always going after them for revenge when he felt they deserved it, he also knew part of the consequences meant it looked from the outside like he'd lost a little bit of his edge.]

[don't get mad about going soft when you've gone soft. especially when you blatantly admit it with those kinds of words. it's hard to take that sort of confession back. fierce and vicious in appearance, yet discussing forgiveness, fondness, maturity, and relinquishing through his mouth, maul is a walking contradiction to himself. nothing wrong with that, but it does prompt dabi to call him out on trying to put up his face afterward. not saying he can't or shouldn't, only that it's an amusing attempt.

the predatory growl earns a brow quirk. kinda cute. kinda hot too...

dabi tilts his head to the side, reaches up, and draws the wide collar of his shirt further away from his collar bone, offering the column of his scorched, scar-covered throat.]

Don't burn your mouth.

[no hesitation or even caution with the gesture. blue eyes remain locked onto maul's fiery orange, almost glowing from the raging blue flames coursing through dabi's body. he's serious. if maul wants to prove himself as not having lost that edge, he's free to try and prove it right here, right now. death isn't fun, but since it's not lasting in this place, dabi lost any real concern about experiencing it. he'll just come back. and he's plenty insane as it is.]

[Quick as a flash, Maul whipped out his lightsaber and ignited it, holding it right above Dabi's throat in a reverse grip, the hum of the blade vibrating through the air. This is what happened when people riled him up for too long. Maul wasn't all bark and no bite. No, when he said he was going to hurt someone, he meant it.]

I've got a cleaner way of dealing with scum who don't know when to shut their mouths.

[He locked eyes with Dabi, not even blinking once as he held the blade steady. Maul was serious. One more taunt from the firestarter and he was going to send his head rolling.]

[that's... not a mouth.

dabi's immediately reminded of his meeting with hawks, a dark alley, the flash of similar red as a long bladed feather was lifted against his throat. ain't the first time he's had something like this happen to him. and just like with hawks, any sense of fear or surprise is eerily vacant from the man's turquoise eyes. he feels the heat of the zabrak's blade so close to his skin, and yet, despite the obvious threat and danger, merely watches maul with the same blase expression.]

Good to know.

[oh there are a number of things this little action points out. none of them dabi didn't know before. as much as he taunted maul about his going soft, he didn't believe for a second the man wasn't dangerous. nor did he ignore the anger and hate he knew full well burned away inside maul's stoic visage.

just took some probing to finally get it to reveal itself.]

I like ya better this way.

[Maul kept the red blade steady at Dabi's throat. He (pardon the pun) was a cool one in how he responded. There was no fear or sign he was intimidated at all by Maul. That was an unusual response. His words came out in a soft, low growl.]

People always like to keep pushing and see what happens when they push me too far. Someday people here are going to learn the same thing happens every time.

[People wanted to fuck around and find out? Maul was more than happy to give them a most painful death as they realized to their fatal mistake that Maul dealt in extremes. Death or at the very least mutilation was all he knew how to respond to taunts and threats alike with.]

[hum hum hum. doesn't look like the glowing energy is going away any time soon. dabi's curious about what the item is. he's never seen anything like it despite having been involved with plenty of quirks over the years. easily tell it's dangerous and maul is very good with it. probably had it for a long time.

neutral blue shifts from the blade back to maul's rumbling mouth.]

Humans are curious to a fault. Some of 'em don't learn very well either.

[and up to the zabrak's eyes again, merely waiting to see what he was going to do next. if maul intended to get a cowed response out of him, that's going to be an unfortunate nil. whether dabi takes it as a challenge, reprimand, or threat seems to be locked away behind the same impassive gaze. as steady as a candle burning behind his eyes. unwavering, unbothered, unmoved.]

What is this thing?

Murder. Chaos. And pain. I cause all three when I get pushed too far.

[He said this all in a flat, harsh tone. Maul was still an expert hurting people even if he'd starting behaving himself as of late. All it would take was the right set of circumstances and he'd snap right back into the same old mindset.]

I have a particular tendency to go after those the people who have wronged me care about. Kill a person once and they'll get over it once they come back. Kill their loved ones? That's a wound that never heals.

[Something that Maul knew quite well from personal experience. The wound of his brother's death was finally starting to heal and scab over a little but it was never goin to fully be gone. He'd carry it around for the rest of his life.]

That'd be more fun to watch than other stuff ya said.

[behaving. caring for people. protecting. putting himself under some moral code rather than operating freely. things maul's mentioned doing ever since arriving in deer (well, the one prior to this one). so it was good to know the man still had his ferocious and violent edge to him.

even if that didn't get dabi a real answer to the blade held close to his skin.

the other part earns a brief cock upward of the burned man's eyebrow. before his half-charred lips curve up in a small grin and his heavily-lidded eyes sink to a flat, wry expression. one of those "seriously?" visages, but missing the chuff of amusement.]

the rest of the world gets to share your pain, huh.

[half mused to himself, half to maul. then lifts a hand. slowly. giving clear indication that he's moving. if permitted, dabi'll simply reach up and rest his hand over the back of maul's wrist, not trying to push the blade away or pull him. just a lazy touch.]

ya know, that kinda thing works best when ya don't got anyone left you care about.

Stick around long enough and you might see it happen.

[All it would take was the right set of circumstances to make Maul snap and go on another murderous rampage. If one of his loved ones got murdered by another Sleeper, perhaps, or if his husband got killed again.

The touch on his wrist snapped Maul out of the temporary rage he'd been in. With one swift movement, he removed the lightsaber from Dabi's throat and deactivated it. There was a humorless laugh from Maul.]

A lesson I unfortunately learned too late in my own galaxy. But I know it well enough now.

Ain't exactly my call.

[chalk that decision up to the bastards running this cage show. that said, dabi doesn't plan on going anywhere if it's in his power to do so? sure, if a way home showed up, he'd take it in a heartbeat, but for the time being, this is life.

which includes pushing the buttons of a horned alien guy with some kind of laser sword. dabi's already seen maul go on a murderous rampage, though that was one with a lot more teeth and scales...

once he gets that brief reprieve via the touch on the wrist, dabi lets go as maul takes his hand and blade away from his neck. nice to be able to breathe a bit easier again. the laugh he gets from the zabrak is telling enough without the following words.]

Sounds like it. So I'm curious. [he leans forward slightly, blue eyes lingering on the other man's orange-yellow.] What made ya think that kinda threat would work on me?

[such a statement given in this very circumstance certainly didn't came out as mindless prattle. and maul's too mentally put together to lean back and yap out evil monologues for the hell of it. nah, only way dabi's taking that comment was as a warning or a threat. to him.]

You're someone who has clung to life.

[The very look of him spoke to that given Dabi had survived such horrendous injuries that likely would have killed anyone else. Maul knew from firsthand experience what that was like given his status as only half organic any longer.]

People like that rarely want to die for trivial reasons and so they know when to stop pushing.

[Dabi didn't strike him as an idiot the way others here were, always pushing Maul until he finally snapped and gave them a taste of why he was still someone to be feared no matter which universe he was in.]

That obvious, huh.

[most people who saw him came to that conclusion. that he survived something horrific to come away with such scars all over his body. a lot more obvious than maul's metal lower half, though likely not as detrimental to some degree. maul seems to have a good long life ahead of him if he stays out of trouble. dabi...]

Think in this place most death is for trivial reasons. Ain't got much stayin power.

[which makes dying far less of a problem if you don't mind the troublesome returns. dabi stretches his arms over his head, pulling his shoulders a bit, before dropping them. one all the way, the other pausing to rub at the place on his neck maul had held his saber. yeah, nostalgic flashback there.]

Anyways, point taken. Wanna get outta here and get somethin to eat?

Maybe. Maybe not. It's not a wonderful experience ending up back in the ocean, I will tell you that much.

[Maul had experienced it firsthand once and no desire to ever do so again, given his guilt, sadness, and anguish over causing his brother's death at the same time had led him to end up coming out of the ocean in a heavily-corrupted form.

Maul considered the offer. It was a bit unusual to go off and grab a sandwich with someone he'd just threatened to decapitate but it wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever done with a Sleeper he had a complicated relationship with by far. Dabi was fair enough company, so Maul nodded and stood up in one swift motion.]

That would be agreeable.

Edited 2023-04-03 05:09 (UTC)

Been there, done that. The washin up part wasn't the best.

[he bluntly refuses to admit to anything between death and washing up on shore. squid life does not exist for dabi. nope. full blown denial over it. that said, since he has died and come back before (twice now) he finds the finality of death little to worry about in this world. either he comes back, or he goes home. kinda win win.

as for the weirdness, dabi's weird. he lingers by the side, watching maul rise to his feet in an easy flow. unsurprising. the guy reminds dabi of a feline. at least in his movements. prowling like a tiger, but as wily as an alley cat. once up, the villain turns to the side and heads away from the tree, stepping out onto the black sands of the beach.

he'll base his pace on maul's so they can walk together rather than staring at someone's back.]

Anythin ya prefer? Sides from my throat.

[Maul thought for a moment on what his preferences were regarding food. He didn't cook much himself but he was very fond of some of the restaurants that were there in Trench.]

Pizza. It is delicious.

[There was an absurdity to the words which wouldn't have otherwise been there, occurring simply from the way how seriously Maul said them. His guard was down just a little bit now that he and Dabi seemed to be in something of the truce that came from being two people that were on the side of darkness.]

[dabi's left hand hangs freely at his side, the other one nestled at home in the opposite pocket. a black brow arches at maul's answer. coming from a man who looks like he wouldn't have a clue what that food is, it's amusing.]

Ain't even from Earth and ya still figure out a way to find pizza.

[which makes him wonder if maul found a food like that on another world back in his world or if he encountered the dish here. likely the latter, due to the number of people from an "earth" world are in the place.]

Oy. About what I said earlier.

[dabi's eyes linger on the sand in front of them, stretching out towards the curving shores. keeping pace beside maul also gives him an easy time of merely draping an arm around the zabrak's shoulder and nape, not caring that he's suddenly invading the other man's space.

*FWOOM*

like the the sudden flare of a match struck, dabi combusts in a massive explosion of blue flames. the dark beach washes with lurid azure light, sand instantly melting around the villain's foot. its sheer heat is far greater than a normal yellow or orange flame. pointedly, dabi keeps the blaze only flaring off his body on the side opposite maul. but the hand flopped around the man's shoulder simultaneously pours out a stream of the same blue flames, crashing into the ground a few feet in front of the alien male. less than a second is all it takes for that fire to ring around them, trapping the pair in a raging circular inferno. molten beachglass pops nearby, boiling as the villain leans his half-burning face closer to maul's, his proximity already threatening to turn the metal of the zabrak's prosthetic legs and lightsaber hilt into scorching temperatures. fire licks at his fingertips, hovering an inch away from the man's black-clothed shoulder.]

Ya really are too soft.

[perhaps his words are ironic, since dabi himself isn't trying (hard) to turn maul to ash, despite the flames and heat drying out the eye fluid. but the hellish encapsulation carries a similar threat. it'd be nothing to ignite the yoke-of-an-arm around maul's neck, blow fire out the side closest to the sith, or even bring the ring of fire slamming shut into them. dabi's not a man who cares about setting himself on fire to make sure he kills someone. and he doesn't take too kindly to being threatened. sure, he puts up with it easily enough, but if maul thought he'd get away without dabi getting even, that's something he'll have to learn the almost-hard way.

dabi had almost given in to the temptation to merely blast maul right in the back without warning. and hell it'd been tempting. but it's too bad he actually kind of thinks their working relationship is worth the threat rather than a full-blown backstab.]

[Maul cursed himself for a fool when Dabi suddenly created what seemed like one of the pits of Hell around the pair. He knew it would take very little for the firestarter to reduce him painfully to ash. Perhaps his merciful side really was making him a bit soft or at least complacent. In a place like this, there was always going to be those who were as brutal and hard as he'd been when he'd first arrived in Deerington.

He waited to see if Dabi would follow through and burn him to death. But he didn't. Apparently, this was merely a warning.

There was no fear in Maul. If Dabi had been able to produce lightning, that would have been a different story, but as it was an elemental attack like fire wasn't going to produce that bone-deep terror within Maul that he'd never fully be rid of. So the only thing on his face was a look of anger, impotent rage that he couldn't retaliate against the man. Never mind that Maul had started this whole thing with his threats. He itched not to just lie down and take it.]

If you want to start something, go right ahead. Otherwise, I am hungry and want food.

[He waited. He was certain his brain would last the scant seconds it would take to snao Dabi's neck with the Force even if he was lit on fire. So he didn't move, every muscle tense, ready to act if Dabi did.]

[if hell was blue, though most people certainly wouldn't paint it that color. dabi respects, or at least acknowledges, maul's strength and resolve well enough to not expect any show of fear from the other man. (that would've earned maul some taunting.) at most he expects rage or a rueful calmness. despite knowing metal melts, dabi wouldn't be surprised to find himself with that laser sword through the stomach for this kind of "backstab" threat. which would've seen both of them dead, or one dead and one severely injured...

but instead, maul keeps his cool despite his anger. revenge could easily become a mobius strip, neverending paybacks until someone finally gave up. though dabi will hold maul started it with the threat. even if he'd been the one to tauntingly invite that bite out of his throat. which turned into a laser sword instead. (ya liar, maul.)

at the same time, perhaps this was a mutual show of respect. considering dabi didn't blast him in the back, he was instead revealing some of what he could do to someone who wasn't dying because of it. hardly the normal result of unleashing his quirk. fortunately, no lightning. his quirk's all about fire.

there's a brief twitch upward at the corner of his mouth, staples tugging at his flesh.]

Ya started it.

[a grown man and still tossing a childish petulance in response. but maul's lack of fear and his controlled retort work in his favor and the flames on dabi's body burn out in a flash. though instead of dismissing the fiery circle around them, he blasts another flamethrower in front of him, punching a hole through the ring and leaving a blackened, glassy path several feet down the beach.]

Ya never did tell me what that staff thing was.

[dabi slips his arm off of maul's shoulder and walks through the opening in the fire, emerging on the beach and stretching his arms over his head as a breeze flaps his coat tails around his legs. almost like he hadn't just threatened the man. if maul's picking up details, he'll probably notice that while dabi summoned the fire, he isn't... putting it out. by choice or not is up to maul's mind to question.]

[Open] 🚬 June Flames

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Wrap?

almost

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we can wrap on their conversation whenver ya like~

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