Few Regrets (Open)

[no_reload]

Who: Reaper (no_reload) & Open
What: Post-death recovery & November catch-all
When: Month of November
Where: In & Around Disaster House

Content Warnings: Will add as they come up.


I. Squid Games

The remains of his body had fully inked and become crystallized. Then the smoke filled crystals cracked, shattered and broke apart to reveal a palm-sized squid that shook off bits of crystal and remaining ink. The black bloody ink did begin to resorb into the squid which seemed momentarily disoriented.

Then it lifted four tentacles and gave a soft hissing squeak to whomever happened to be close by. Another squeak and wiggling tentacles that clearly meant to be indication for picking up.

While he couldn’t communicate with words, Reaper was small enough and determined enough to be close to anyone. He would attempt to cling to feet or legs, and sometimes that meant the risk of getting under foot.

At other times, he would somehow clamber onto raised parts of furniture whether it was a table leg, couch arm or even a shoe and lift two tentacles to the air and wait for someone to pass by before trying to attach himself for a free ride to leg or hand.

II. Bedrest

Since leaving the squid state, Reaper had had a hell of a time adjusting back to his body. He had mostly confined himself to his bedroom, a place he hardly used as anything other than storage previously. Now he was there most of the time, sequestered to the bed as he didn’t have the available energy yet to perform his usual household activities.

After all, breathing was a laboured effort; that’s probably what was supposed to happen when one’s lungs had been vaporized. He could be found in his bedroom, sitting up to make breathing easier and clad in black track pants and a oversized black hoodie where the hood was constantly pulled up over his head, obscuring his bare and scarred face with shadow. The white of his goatee was the most obvious aspect of him to be seen.

"…death has always provided a reset, but you haven’t invested time to knowing how blood effects your abilities either. That was stupid of you…"

Reaper grunted softly as if replying to the scolding and exasperated Irish female voice that happened to be coming from a small laptop-sized device next to him on his bed. His bare hand with its blackened dead looking fingers reached out and patted the device as if he were trying to pat the Irish voice on the shoulder.

"I have this pain again." His voice was strained, nearly breathless.

"Expected. You died, Reyes. You will cope as you did before," the voice said with a touch of exasperation.

"Analysis on point, as always," he remarked with a soft nearly whimsical sigh that turned to a wheeze.

The voice was quiet, a reminder that the person behind it wasn’t actually here in Trench. That old friend had returned to their world and had never returned. He turned the medical device off with press of a button and leaned his head back against the headboard, shifting his weight as if unable to find a comfortable spot to sit in.

Then his chin tipped his head down again. "I know you’re out there."

III. Slow and Steady

Thankfully, the month so far had seemed calm and with little to no effects. He was slow to move around the house, less willing to take up some of his normal activities. He technically was the only adult in the house and that came with certain responsibilities he hadn’t been able to get back into. For one, he tired far too easily, like he was far older than he actually was. Or maybe this was how those of the SEP went out… tired, alone and shuffling around.

He spent much of his time in the house, but sometimes he wanted a chance of scenery. He was ease his way out of the house and seat himself on the ground or on a step. If he was having a particularly good day, he could get himself up to one of the edges of roof and seat himself there, legs dangling.

As soon as he went outside, his Omen, Wraith, would immediately appear. The black peacock would make a show of preening and walking around, shuffling long detailed tail feathers and issuing a low mournful swan song that was not normal for peacocks. Always, the Omen would be on high alert, never staying particularly close to him but clearly on guard to anyone who might know what to look for.

"Careful, his bite is as pathetic as his bark," he rumbled softly to anyone that might stop by to have a look or even appear from the house.

Comments

[no_reload]

"I know I can trust you for that," he agreed a tad too seriously. If anyone was going to dedicate some time to learning how to kill him well and proper, it would be Maul. While he had aged well, he knew it would be a matter of time before things would break down. How long could this flux of decay and regeneration last?

"You know me... the cynic of the relationship," he murmured with a smirk. "You were like a wide-eyed fawn tottering into this, and I suppose your enthusiasm has made me realize much of what I had been missing." It was difficult to trust someone to the level that he had come to trust Maul, and he doubted that he would allow anyone else that close to him. His fingers stroked affectionately and slowly, in no hurry to build anything up between them. This quiet intimacy and show of trust was what he wanted. Besides, he doubted he could wheeze his way through sex right now.

He snorted at the smack, even if it didn't hurt him at all. "Quality time doesn't encompass what you two are doing. Paint and bitch is much better, and you know it." He smirked and tilted his head to nuzzle his nose tip against Maul's cheek. "If you need a nice colour, let me know. I have plenty that will look good on you."

It was true that Maul liked to better understand things, and neat almost logical boxes for emotional concepts were easier for the Zabrak to understand. It was clearly from a life where only certain emotions were welcomed and all others had a lifetime of repression. "I wasn't worried about her usurping my position as the most fuckable person in your life," he drawl, being his usual troll self. "You mean the black love, hmm? I assumed we all have individuals who slot in there for each other." Obi-Wan for Maul; 76 for him.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Very well. The moment I think you have fallen into your dotage, I will find a way to kill you for good." But he figured they had at least another ten years or so before he had to deal with such a conundrum so they were good.

Maul laughed softly. "You are the only person in this entire city and my entire galaxy who would ever describe me as a wide-eyed fawn." And the only one Maul would have ever allowed to get away with describing him as such. Anyone else would have gotten a lightsaber blade through the gut but Reaper was allowed to rile him up and tease him.

"Oh? You have some nail polish lying about?" Maul questioned. "I never would have guessed." But at the same time it made perfect sense given Reaper's fashion sense, which was far more developed than Maul's had ever been. This is why he let his mate plan out things like their outfits during the month of October.

"You already know Kenobi is mine, though I never really allowed myself to think of him in such terms until I was able to admit he wasn't the sole cause of all the miseries in my life." Which hadn't happened until they'd both ended up in Trench together, so this had been a very recent development for him. "Who is yours?" Maul asked curiously. Despite being together for so long, Maul hadn't asked too many questions about Reaper's past. For one, he didn't seem to want to talk about it all that much, and Maul didn't want to push him away by being nosy. There was also the fact that Maul could be incredibly self-centered and barely ask anything about the lives of people even when he cared about them a lot.

[no_reload]

"Excellent. I believe in your abilities to kill me," he replied, smirk pulling at his lips briefly. He did not expect to be so broken that he would need Maul to step in for a few decades yet, but it was positive to know his lover would.

"And I'm also the only one in this entire city and the whole galaxy that you would let get away with it too," he replied, nuzzling Maul's cheek with his nose. Then he offered a contented sigh too. "To be fair, the day you asked me out to the movies was amazing. I made you work for it."

He huffed as if Maul had just insulted him. Did he have nail polish? What kind of edgelord did the Zabrak take him for? "There are at least seventeen different tones of black."

He lifted his head from the pillow at the answer surrounding Kenobi. He considered it a great sign of his lover's personal development to be able to admit that not all problems stemmed from the one who had cut Maul in half. He personally would blame that Master of Maul's more. "He was the easiest to focus your rage upon," he agreed as he settled back in cuddled up against Maul. "He goes by the code name Soldier: 76. A building, including our careers, fell on top of us both, killing me and severely injuring him. He's been hunting me since then."

[survivalthroughhate]

"I am glad someone around here believes that. It seems like far too many think I am some harmless pussycat and keep on pushing me until I prove to them why I am still to be feared." Besides, the challenge of how to permanently kill someone who was proven to be unkillable would occupy Maul for a great deal of time.

He turned his head and bit down very gently on Reaper's ear with his teeth, just hard enough to leave some teeth marks, mumbling his answer around the cartilage in his mouth. "I never lack for courage when I am on a quest to get what I want." One of his better qualities really. Maul feared very little and so went after whatever was his goal with a tenacious and stubborn attitude, which had included Reaper when he became infatuated with him.

He chuckled deeply, finally releasing his mate's ear. "We'll have to apply some to each other's nails while you're healing up." A nice little at-home date that was lowkey and just allowed the two of them some quality time together.

"Exactly. I will never be strong enough to defeat Sidious and so my attention turned towards someone that was still within my grasp. I finally learned to let go of some of what I felt towards him now that I know it doesn't matter at all either now or at the end of my life."

He snuggled "Your first death, I take it?" Maul put one arm under his head to keep from tearing up any of the pillows on Reaper's bed. Horns weren't always a good thing when it came to sleeping with his mate, though so often he just ended up using Reaper's chest as a pillow anyway, which he started doing as he snuggled down in next to Reaper. "It sounds like there is a long history between the two of you there." He wasn't surprised. People that filled in that category for people always seemed to have had a long presence in the other people's lives, such as with the example of Obi-Wan and himself. "Was he ever your lover?"

[no_reload]

"I've seen you when you have been on a rampage, and I understand what you are capable of. I also have the benefit to seeing how determine you are to see things through," he remarked with a tired sigh. He knew that Maul would be as determined as Moira to see an end to his condition if it actually became that bad. "People seem to take your outbursts and outrage to be something to underrate. Their future demise."

He shivered in response to the bite, his hand tightening on Maul, and it was not a denial at all. Maul's determination was a quality he happened to like very much. "I don't think you actually knew what you wanted, since I'm your first stable relationships, am I not? I know we had doubts about it working, but we have made it. This is secure." And he needed Maul even if he might not voice that often.

He held up his hand to examine his blackened finger nails. "That will spruce them up. I'll even let you pick the colour," he remarked. Then he expected that he would complain about it good naturedly. He needed more time to rest and that was a good activity.

"I actually don't believe that," he said as his eyes closed. "I believe with the right plan, the right people, and the right set up, you could kill your old Master. He isn't immortal, and he has to have his back turned at some point." Even still, it was good that Maul was growing when it came to this Kenobi fellow. That sort of obsession was probably distracting from a better end goal. "If you need me to move aside so you can have your time in the sun with them... oh, do let me know." He was smirking, not at all believing it to happen.

There was a grunt and a bit of a silence as he thought about it. "I survived the building collapse, but there were agents in play sent to end survivors. I was one of them," he said with a little shrug as his fingers stroked Maul's head on his chest. There was comfort in that simple action. "We've known each other most of our lives, so yes, quite the history." Reaper snorted softly at the final question. "No, though we were attracted I expect. Our careers ruled our lives, so we kept it professional and friends-only."

[survivalthroughhate]

"I may not enjoy being underestimated by the populace at large but it does come with some benefits on occasion." He lightly scratched at Reaper's scalp. "They don't seem to do that nearly as much with you. Perhaps I should go back to working from the shadows and not spend as nearly as much time in the spotlight." Of course, Reaper was also just one scary fuck, so that might have had something to do with people being consistently intimidated by him.

Maul propped himself up using his arms and pinned Reaper for a few moments beneath him in a show of playful domination, knowing he wasn't likely to resist right now. He leaned down, kissing and biting a little as he spoke. "I wanted you, of that I was certain enough. I just wasn't sure if you liked me back or even cared enough about me to want the same thing." Maul didn't voice his insecurities often but that had definitely been one of them at the start. He felt at first that Reaper obviously didn't find him interesting or cared about him beyond his novelty factor of being alien and a Sith. That clearly hadn't been the case and he was so grateful for it.

Then he shifted and laid down next to Reaper again, taking his blackened fingernails into his own hands to examine them. They felt cold and Maul let some of his warmth leech a little into them. "Perhaps a nice red to match your eyes," he said with a grin.

Maul laid his head back down on Reaper's chest, gently so as not to stab him too hard with any of his horns. The perils that always came with being involved with a Zabrak. "Well, if ever there is a moment where this place brings him forth for whatever hellish reason...don't hesitate on my account." Maul wasn't sure he could kill Sidious but he knew for certain the old bastard had never met anyone like Reaper before. He'd have no contingency plans in place to deal with a man who just couldn't die and simply turned to smoke when he was temporarily destroyed. It would be the perfect opportunity to finally gain revenge.

Maul began to get drowsy and thought falling asleep sounded like a good idea to him. He was still exhausted from his fight with Lance. Really, he was getting a bit old for endurance tests in the way of a marathon fight session. "Always the solider then your entire life?" He asked, eyes closing as he listened to Reaper talk about his past. There was definitely a firm 'before' and 'after' with him when he'd been Gabriel and when he'd been reborn (redied?) as Reaper. "Was he the one you went home to take revenge upon?"

[no_reload]

"If they underestimate you and paint you with a particular brush then you can turn their expectations on their head when the time is right," he remarked, a hum leaving him at the nails against his scalp. That felt good, better than it had any right to. "Oh, that's because my first public act was to shoot the most popular person in the head for all to see." And after that, he used his violence very sparingly so that when it came, people knew it would be bad. "Those of my world talked up my reputation and it stuck. Now word of mouth is all I need to keep those I interact with wary."

He made a noise of protest to being pinned down, not certain he had the strength or energy for any playful times with Maul. He only flexed his shoulders and arms but otherwise didn't fight back. He sighed against the press of lips, eyes closing. "You wanted me even if you had never seen my face," he said, bemused. He leaned his head up to kiss Maul on his lips. "You were fascinating to me back then and such a delightful dramatic bitch, just like I was. I definitely was attracted." He had no issue assuring Maul of their mutual attraction now that they were so deep in a relationship.

He wiggled his fingers in Maul's grasp, humming at the idea of red. "I have enough shades of red that you should be able to find one to match your desire." Red was extremely classic, so he could definitely get behind it.

He was used to working around the press of Maul's horns, and it didn't bother him at all to feel the one from his lover's temple pressing to his chest. His fingers stroked around the base of the crown of horns one by one. "Oh, once I identify my target, there is nothing stopping me from ending him. I'll bring you his head as a gift." Even if it took him multiple deaths to achieve it, he would succeed. For Maul.

He was also teetering on the verge of sleep, his breathing coming heavily from him from the specific destruction of his body at the time of his death. "Yes, I was a career soldier. My skill set was valuable and I enjoyed tactics in particular. He was the same as I was, though he had far more charisma than I did." He sighed and stretched his legs as he wiggled to find that peak comfortable spot to fall asleep in. "No. We technically had the same goal but different methods. I was... I suppose, doing what I could to keep him alive. He wouldn't know it though."

[survivalthroughhate]

"Ah yes, the value of a good reputation. I fear mine is being shredded to pieces in this place," Maul groused. But for all that he liked to grumble people no longer feared him as they once did, there was still a great number of Sleepers who found the Sith Lord terrifying. As long as no one ever thought Maul was rendered into a fluffy, cuddly little bunny rabbit, he felt that he'd never truly lose the fearsome reputation he'd entered Deerington with.

"What you looked like was of the least importance to me, Gabriel," Maul said. "I've slept with stunningly beautiful beings before but it never meant anything. Sex was just a way to release stress and find what little pleasure I could. But there was no emotions attached to it." To find an emotional connection where he just clicked with someone the way he had with Reaper was something that Maul hadn't ever had before. It had been a heady, intoxicating feeling and he'd been determined not to let this strange undead man go if he would have him as a lover. Knowing Reaper had just been interested in him as well warmed Maul's hearts.

"I shall find a suitable color so that our nails can match." Maul grinned. "Alright. It's a date then."

He didn't move his head but his fingers tightened around Reaper's. "That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever offered to do for me," Maul said happily, secure in the knowledge that Reaper would have killed Sidious in as slow and agonizing a way as possible just to bring Maul the satisfaction and happiness he'd been denied his whole life. It truly was an act of love for someone to offer to do that just so Maul could experience what he'd never get in his own galaxy.

"A fighter your whole life then. Just like me." Maul snorted at the mention of having more charisma. Of the two of them, Maul had a lot more than Reaper, but that was just because he was more open about it during the (rare) occasions when he tried to get along with people. "I think Crouton has more charisma than you do," Maul said snarkily. "Sounds like me and Obi-Wan the way you speak of him. Two moons circling around the same planet but never quite within each other's orbits," Maul explained, feeling drowsy and content now that he was ready to fall asleep.

[no_reload]

"It does seem that yours is being pulled apart with all of those that you associate with. One might almost claim that they are taming your wild spirit," he remarked with a soft snort from his nose. He preferred to keep his reputation intact as much as possible, but he knew it was tarnished by some of those that he associated with as well.

He stroked his fingers over the back of Maul's head, pausing to pet around the crown of horns. "So the sex between us is mind blowing," he remarked with a tug on his lips. "Because we have such an emotional connection as well as a physical one." His fingers stroked the dark tattooed skin at the back of Maul's head, turning his head so he could nuzzle his nose against the top.

"A good date, yes," he remarked, pleased.

It was a commitment that he had no issue of making for Maul. Anything to keep his lover happy and safe. "Well, I suppose I'm just such a nice person. But only to you." He understood that taking on Maul's master would be dangerous and require considerable planning and set up to accomplish. The first attempt would be the one where he could have the highest success because as soon as he was a known entity, guards would be put in place.

He swatted Maul lightly at the charisma comment. "I have charisma, but I don't use it. One day you'll see how charming I can be if I set my mind to it." He just happened to like the moody edgelord feel and always had. When he was a teenager, he had been far more charismatic. "Yes well, unlike you and this Obi-Wan, Jack and I were best friends to start." He yawned and closed his eyes, fighting to stay awake and likely to lose that battle very soon.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Me? Tamed? Never." He chuckled darkly. "Anyone who thinks otherwise will soon find that I am not a neutered puppy-dog the way that they might think." There had been one or two instances of someone challenging him that way and Maul had been quick to put them in their place.

"I never knew it could be like that before between two people," Maul admitted. His upbringing had left him with a very stunted understanding of love in general, and while the familial kind was easier for Maul to grasp, the kind of sexual love that could happen between two people who were in love was a bit harder for him to understand. But he'd gotten more of an idea over the past year and a half in his relationship with Reaper.

"And that's the way I think we both like it," Maul confirmed. It was rather nice that Reaper could show his vulnerable side only to a few select people just like he did. It made him feel special. Not just anyone would have offered to permanently put his master down just to make him happy.

Maul snickered when Reaper smacked him. "That'll be the day," he said sarcastically. "Ah, a tale of best friends to enemies to a complicated mess? Sounds like a Shakespearean tragedy." Maul had read all of the bard's classics while he'd been in Deerington and had rather liked the tales that all ended sadly rather than the ones that ended in happiness.

[no_reload]

Reaper snorted, not about to mention that technically Maul was neutered by the physiologic definition. No, that was asking for a fight he was not interested in having. He was much too comfortable snuggling and being snuggled. "I look forward to you putting them in their place for that."

He chuckled, dragging his nails over the back of Maul's head. One-night stands were great for simple release, but he had always known an emotional connection made such intimacy so much more. "It's good I was able to open your mind to all the possibilities that comes with having an emotional attachment to a person. Blowing your mind is one of the enjoyable aspects of touching you." He added an affectionate kiss for his trouble too.

"Just you wait." Now he was going to have to commit to that, which seemed like an awful lot of effort. Still, to prove Maul wrong, he would muster himself for it. "Oh, it is. Too bad we are so hard to kill, but it means that we can focus on our revenge for the time being. He'll kill me one day, perhaps."

[survivalthroughhate]

Good thing Reaper had tact. Maul would have bitten an ear off if he had been mean enough to mention he was missing quite a bit more below the waist than simply his legs. He was well-aware but anyone who pointed it out was going to be missing their dick by the end of the conversation. "You do so love to watch me work." Sometimes Maul thought Reaper got a little turned on when he was filled with violence and doling it out on the population of Trench.

"Sith aren't supposed to have attachment, not the kind where they love someone the way I love you." He thought for a moment. "But love can be a dark emotion too. It's not all on the side of light the way some people think it is." Maul began to purr a little in the back of his throat, feeling warm, happy, and content. He was going to stay here with Reaper as long as his lover allowed him to, though he was certain eventually he'd be shooed out of the house either at the end of a broom or a shotgun. The two of them did like their space after all.

"I shall," Maul said with just a hint of a challenge in his tone. He was so used to seeing Reaper be the Hot Topic murder hobo that he couldn't wait to see him turning the charm on. That would be quite the sight. "Perhaps. But not for a long, long time," Maul said assuredly. He was going to keep Reaper here with him as long as it was possible for both of them.

[no_reload]

He hummed in agreement because Maul was quite the artist when it came to unleashing havoc. He doubted most appreciated the tactics like he did, how Maul engaged and used aggression so specifically and that his lover was skilled. Maul was one of the few that he considered worthy of making violence an artform. "We aren't called to action often, but when we do, I enjoy watching you."

Ah, so this was a matter of how Maul was raised was it? At least the Zabrak wasn't incapable of love. "So you're to be free of attachments within your order; that sounds like a lonely existence," he remarked as his fingers stroked the areas between Maul's horns. "Love can corrupt as much as it can save. It is both warm and cold. It brings about softness and fury depending on the situation." Reaper knew what love could be dark and it could be light; yet another reason he and Maul worked so well.

For now, he wasn't in any position or want to remove Maul from his presence. He took comfort in the safety that his love provided, giving him the peace of mind to be able to sleep without much concern. "No, not for a long time. He isn't here to try to take it either," he murmured as he draped his arm around Maul's neck and down his chest, closing his eyes as he eased into sleep, comfortable and safe.