[Open] Long and Weary

[distant_one]

Who: D, his Left Hand, and anyone
What: D arrives and wanders around and behaves strangely.
When: Early May
Where: Various places.

Content Warnings:: None in the prompts, will be added to subject lines as needed

Just after arriving in town for the first time

Outwardly, D was perfectly calm and collected despite having just washed up on a beach as a squid. He was dressed in his familiar hat and heavily patched great coat, his sword on his back and his blue pendant around his neck.

There was no sign that this was anything other than an ordinary day for him, except perhaps the fact that he was carrying a saddle and attached saddlebag over his left shoulder. That, and every now and then the fingers of his left hand would twitch.

While looking for somewhere suitable to store the saddle for which he had no use and to claim as a place to stay, a strange noise came from the vicinity of his hand and the saddle slipped from his grasp. Rather than immediately pick up the saddle, D flexed the ungloved fingers of his left hand and squeezed his hand into a tight fist a few times.

Watching the rain around town, a couple days after arriving

D had been around the city, but mostly kept out of plain view, visible often only as a dark figure blending in with the shadow of whatever was near. He wore his normal dark clothing, but now the robe he'd been given when he arrived was worn outside the heavy coat, and still wearing a glove only on his right hand.

Reassured of his self control, D ventured into areas with more people. He found unobtrusive places around more populated areas of the city to stand and observe, seemingly paying attention only to the rain. None of myriad of insects present throughout the city would come within a few feet of him. When they drew too close, they would suddenly decide to fly very quickly away from him.

When the rain was finished, D would move on to find another location to observe, but his steps caused not even a slight ripple when he stepped on a puddle.

Practice makes perfect, in a deserted, previously quiet alleyway

Even the slight changes in this existence were enough to have D test out his abilities and test the thousands of years he'd honed his skill and precision. D was still cautious and alert; he wasn't going to practice while anyone was watching. His senses were acute enough to catch the faint sounds of footsteps, or breathing, or even a heartbeat approaching over the soft sound of fracturing stone that echoed through the evening air.

D wasn't going to let people stop, but he also wasn't going to flee, either. Anyone who followed the sound of stone breaking, sharp but not too loud, would find D still in the location he'd chosen for his practice. He was calm and unmoving, his attention on a large block of quarried stone which had once likely been part of a larger structure.

The surface of the stone was no longer even, rough-hewn wooden needles protruding at various lengths and with cracks radiating out. They formed a grid pattern so unnervingly precise from center to center of each needle that they could have been used for measurement.

Comments

[distant_one]

"I am. You're a Sleeper as well." Beyond that, D wasn't certain what the stranger was.

Not a demon or any of the more unusual beings D had encountered in his past. The Trench was full of new beings and experiences.

"Is the world you remember from before similar to this one?" Despite the prying nature of his question, there was only a hint of disinterested curiosity about him. D had the vague beginnings of an idea. Not even enough yet to be a hunch or a theory. Nothing worth any investment, so his demeanor and presence remained unnervingly tranquil.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Yes. I am Darth Maul," he says introducing himself. The way he says his name doesn't make it clear if that's a first and last name or a title and a given name.

"Not at all." Maul shakes his head. "It was a galaxy full of planets, each one more different from the last. Billions upon billions of systems that could have planets within them and millions of sentient species. Compared to that, this is all so very....small."

[distant_one]

A space-faring species, then. Technically his own was as well, though the age when space travel was common had passed, and D didn't know when humanity would claw their way back up to that level of technology and manufacturing.

"I see. This place is stiflingly confined, isn't it." Spread out enough for a single settlement, enough space occupied to have distinct districts, but still none of the long distances D is accustomed to traveling.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Yes, very much so." Maul is used to traveling from planet to planet in the span of a few hours or days. Here, even on a good-sized planet like Earth, being left confined to the city limits was a frustrating process that sometimes made him feel like a dog pulling on a very long leash.

"Do you come from a version of Earth then?" That is very common among Sleepers. That and the presence of humans, who were so prolific as a species as to seem rather like a disease sometimes to Maul's eyes.

[distant_one]

"Yes. It wasn't so different from this one. Less blood magic, more technology. Just as many things that make it dangerous to leave the safety of a city." D explains. He glances up at the sky for a moment.

"There was space travel once. More than once, even, but both ended with destruction of the societies responsible. This place reminds me of it, but the technological and societal regression here seems more extreme."

Things like the omni, and other conveniences replaced with magical equivalents. Perhaps it was the consequence of more widely available magic or some outside influence such as that brought along by the Sleepers, but D wasn't entirely convinced.

[survivalthroughhate]

There seemed to be a heaviness behind D's words like there was a story there to be told about his version of Earth if not his own personal life. Unfortunately, Maul wasn't all that interested in prying right now. He held a certain self-centeredness in his mind that made it hard to care about the lives of others.

Still, there was something about this strange young man that made Maul feel like he'd met someone a bit different than the standard Sleeper that usually arrived in this city. "Ah, so you are like me. Stranded in a place both much like home and not like it at all in other ways."

[distant_one]

"This is just a brief stop on a much longer journey," D said with unerring certainty. While he would have been confident in his ability to escape back to pursue his goal once more, there was a strange sense of absolution in the idea that this was merely a brief pause.

"But I cannot leave here any more than anyone else can. I don't normally stay in one place for so long."

[survivalthroughhate]

There's something about the way D said the words that made Maul look at him with a curious tone to his voice. "How long has that journey been thus far?" He looked young, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years old, but looks had often been deceiving here as Maul well knew.

"No one has ever succeeded in doing so. If you entertain any thoughts of trying, I recommend putting your energies and efforts towards far more productive pursuits like finding a permanent place of residence and figuring out a career with which you can pass the time." Maul turned to study the block with the needles stuck in it once more. Hmmm, could he use the Force to levitate it all the way back or should he fetch Slicer to help drag it? But latter might have ended up with the look of the piece being spoiled by all the jostling? Telekinesis it was then!

[distant_one]

D considered the warning, and looked not at all concerned.

"Long enough that waiting this out, however long it takes, will be just a brief pause for me." Which wasn't a very informative answer, but D clearly felt he had enough patience to wait and not actively pursue return.

If he found an opportunity he might pursue it, but D was very unconcerned with the duration of his stay.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Ah. You must be very old indeed then." Considering an entire lifetime could pass for some Sleepers in this city where they would live and eventually die of old age, Maul figured D was from a very long-lived species, one of those that could live a thousand years as some did in his own galaxy.

Maul grinned for just a moment, all sharp fangs on display. "You look very good for your age." Look, Maul wasn't usually concerned with physical appearance, but he also wasn't blind. D was a very, very pretty man. Not that Maul expected those words to get a reaction out of him considering nothing had thus far.

[distant_one]

D nodded in acknowledgement. He knew very well the effect his appearance has on people.

"Staying out of the sun helps." D commented, a joke that Maul didn't have the context for yet beyond D's skin-covering clothing and wide brimmed hat leaving only his face and one hand exposed.

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul glanced at how covered up D was. It didn't really register as odd to him, not with all the truly weird things he'd seen in Trench over the past year or so. "I'll take your word for it."