justoscar | Inbox for Deer Country

[Maul's fiendish delight in the holiday means he's once again broken into people's houses and used all the stealth he possesses to leave those he likes a gift or two. Sometimes, he even goes right down the chimney like a demented version of Santa Claus. He leaves Oscar some fancy steel-toed boots as his present and a short note.]

Merry Christmas, Oscar. Though you are small, you might be able to use these to kick something large and nasty that corners you.

Edited 2022-01-03 04:39 (UTC)

[He's touched, truly. It means a lot to be given a set of stomping boots by someone who initially perceived him as harmless, and yet came to recognize and respect those teeth he had as soon as they were visible. However, there was an additonal problem here that he had to address--

about Boundaries.]

Maul,

Thanks so much! I forgot that Christmas was like this. It's not a holiday that we celebrate on Remnant, like a lot of Earth holidays, so it just wasn't on my mind.

I've been in the market for a new set of boots, too. These will definitely come in handy.

But, I have to ask:

How did you even get in without anyone noticing?

[Maul is relieved Oscar likes the gift. Sometimes, even when Maul has the best intentions, things don't really work out the way he plans. It's a "psychopath still learning about emotions" thing.]

I was taught to sneak into the homes of senators that had the best security systems in the entire galaxy and assassinate them in such a quiet manner that it would look like they died in their sleep. A home here is far less challenging.

[In other words, one part sneaky ninja, one part Force powers, and one part Maul is creepy even when he doesn't want to be.]

[There was much that Oscar didn't yet understand about Maul, but the obvious differences in morality due to how they were raised was clear here. Also clear was the fact that he was going to need to lay down some...

firm boundaries.]

I know it way less of a challenge, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

The gift is fantastic. I'm very grateful.

Can you just message me next time instead of sneaking in to drop it off? I wouldn't care if it was just me, but I've got a friend who REALLY doesn't want to see you living here, too.

It's a bad idea. I don't want him to feel unsafe in his own home.

[Maul knows immediately who Oscar is talking about. He's well-aware where Glitch resides but at least this year he'd chosen to be more mature and not antagonize the boy any further.]

I did far better than last year. Last year I actually broke into his room to leave him a present as a sort of joke. All that lead to was a lot of annoyance and headaches for me when he ran off and others took that poorly. I simply ignored him this year.

If you are still here next year, I will simply leave whatever it is on the porch instead.

[See, Maul knows that some people don't like him breaking in but no one has really bothered to explain to him why people might feel uncomfortable with having a psychopathic Sith Lord break in, even if it was in a benevolent fashion.

Once again, Maul is wanting a pat on the head and a cookie for doing the basic, bare minimum of not being a horrible antagonizing monster and villain the way he so relishes in being.]

That sounds like it was around the time he started staying with us.

[Which explained a lot of Glitch's anxieties at the time. The last thing Oscar wanted was to further trigger his friend-- but he knew it was better to stay on Maul's good side too.]

It must have been frustrating, having everyone yelling at you without explaining why. I'm surprised, you've got a lot of people who should know better. They should have said something.

Thank you for being reasonable with this, and for understanding what I'm saying. It's not anything about you or me, but respecting the other people in this house.

Like how a pack of wolves takes care of each other.

Varian tried but mostly he were just upset that I had broken a promise to stay away from him. It was mainly his feelings I was trying to deal with and unable to truly understand. I never thought of it as going near him, merely that what I was doing was an amusing sort of joke. Of course, I should have realize what I find amusing is far different than most people.

[And after going through that drama last Christmas Maul has no desire to go through anything resembling it again.]

That's also when I stopped making promises to people. I have no desire to disappoint them when I inevitably can't keep them.

[Because making a promise meant you put someone ahead of yourself, that what they wanted was more important than what you wanted. Maul understood this but he wasn't to the point where he could do that all the time. Sometimes, yes, but mostly Maul's number one priority was still himself.

But then Oscar says something that gets Maul's hackles right back up.]

I'll respect them more when they start respecting me in return. Glitch may be frightened of me but there is no respect there. Or did you forget you're also housing a witch who saw fit to meddle in my very being simply because I scared one too many people? She helped put another chain upon me the way everyone else has done over the course of my life.

[That was disappointing. Varian, of all people, should have known more about what to do. Maul was the last person to approach about feelings when he's done something upsetting.

It was the story about the scorpion asking for help to cross a river. It couldn't help but sting it's helper halfway across.]

Just know that I don't approve of people using those spells to bind you. Honestly, I didn't even know Willow was involved in that.

But, I was recovering from injuries caused by someone more dangerous than you when that was happening. Sorry. I wasn't in a good place to help, not that anyone would have listened to a teenager.

I'm not asking you to respect them. But, we're kinda like friends, right? And I don't want to upset my housemates.

It's not a promise I'm asking for, either. Just do your best, okay?

That makes for at least one person and I do appreciate it. Everyone else here, some of my friends included, seems to think being put on an indefinite leash is a just punishment. And I do mean indefinite when I say it, it's been eight months and still has yet to be broken. If I did that to someone, people would call it immeasurably cruel.

[And there's Maul's victim complex right on cue. Good thing Oscar remains reasonable in what he's asking and it helps cool Maul back down.]

My best? That is something I can work with.

[Maul puts his full effort into something when he tries. There's no doing just the bare minimum and then giving up. He either succeeds or he doesn't, which is how he's managed to get this far down the road into becoming a different person at all.]

.....Did you really mean it when you said we are something like friends?

There's nothing I can do to help you with that, Maul. But, I'll keep an eye on Willow.

Just as I told you, just because someone can do something doesn't mean that they should. I've also witnessed first hand how power can corrupt someone.

It... wasn't pleasant.

[He didn't want to get into the Ironwood situation here. All of his attempts to redirect James Ironwood had resulted in a bullet and a long drop.

These weren't things to place on Maul.]

You are one of the few people I know outside of my immediate friend group who hasn't immediately judged me because I seem soft on the outside. The boots show that plainly enough.

That, and I think you've seen my teeth at least once-- and you don't treat me like a little kid.

If there's trouble and I can't find any of my friends, I feel like I can find you and you'll be able to help. That's something.

So, yes. We can call that Friendship.

I will not kill them for what they did this time.

[An oddly merciful thing for Maul to say given his usual rage-filled tendencies. But he has a complicated relationship, if not with the witches themselves, then with those that surround them, and so retaliation is not as simple as he would like it to be.]

But if they EVER try to put a chain and muzzle on me again, either I or someone I know who can complete the task will do it.

[Maul could have asked Savage or Reaper to kill one of them at any time. He'd refrained because he preferred to do his own dirty work but he knew he wasn't going to have that same amount of patience on a second go around.]

To judge by one's appearance is a foolish endeavor. I come from a galaxy of over twenty million sentient species, so to think what one looks like outwards has any bearing on their mind or heart is a close-minded thing to do. After all, my master has the face of a kindly old man and has the cruelest mind I've ever found in all my travels.

[The rest of what Oscar said softens up Maul's own hearts just a little bit.]

Well, you are wiser than half the population here, adult, teenager, or child. To ignore what you say just means people are missing out on an opportunity to take some good advice or learn something new.

I would most of the time. If ever you have need of my aid, call on me and I shall do my best.

Inbox for Deer Country

Action; Backdated to Christmas

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