I started this as a throwaway idea but then it got out of hand. There isn't nearly enough fan art of these two so why not. Defiance remastered gave me a new perspective and more context on who she might be so more art of potentially more simpler times.
I am three for three in writing during the month of June.
*toots my own horn*
the story I'm working on feels so messy. Not just for the irl reasons of it being a wip that has been started and tossed aside several times since fall. but for the actual story being told. It take place between several stories I've already uploaded to ao3 and shows issues that aren't apparently in a few of them.
like i can't tell you how many times in the course of writing this that I've had this conflict in my mind:
Also maybe a few times where I end up like Yzma rubbing my fucking temple as I realize how long Doc stays with everything that happens. I look at her character timeline and look like this:
but anyway....this is a WIP Wednesday so a snippet of the WIP is in order.
I would like to shout out @a-cosmic-elf, who reminded me of WIP Wedneday with her own post with a snippet of her Star Wars fic. Thank you for reminding me this is a thing.
So...snippet below
By some grace of God Jamie managed to convince Bea to help Yumi collect evidence and forward any additional information to La Hidra Dorada instead of accompanying the duo back to Delgado’s ship. Jamie did not need Bea scrutinizing her steps and nagging her to reconsider a visit to Reliant Medical. Nor did she need the lecture, no matter how deserved.
She nearly collapsed a few steps into the tunnel, the pain overwhelming her mind. Delgado knelt at her side and carefully checked her bandages to ensure nothing had come loose or was otherwise causing problems. If it had been Sam she would have been escorted to the Reliant, none of her protests heard. But it wasn’t Sam.
“I can be your crutch or I can carry you to the ship,” he said as he stood back up, “might be good to get the weight off your leg for a while but I won’t force you.”
“Even if it takes twice as long to get back,” she asked in a shaky voice as she looked away to a branching crack in the concrete floor.
“I’m not going to make you do something you don’t want to do,” Delgado took her hand with his ungloved hand, “you know your body better than me. If you think you can handle it, I will believe you.”
“How very thoughtful of you,” she mumbled.
“You’re grown and can make decisions for yourself,” Delgado looked down the tunnel toward the spaceport, “you’re the one who has to deal with the fallout of those decisions.”
“And if my leg gives out again?” she asked.
He raised his scarred eyebrow, “what is this?”
“You’re playing like some thoughtful gentleman,” she shrugged, “guess I’m looking for the limits of that,”
He blew out his cheeks and muttered something in Spanish as he took a step back and motioned toward their goal, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you but can it wait until we’re on La Hidra, por favor?"
He didn’t sound angry. Not like Sam would have been. Frustrated, sure, but Delgado was not angry. No, the same concern etched on his face in The Sol Root stared back at her, the tears in the corners of his eyes breaking something in her.
She went to pull her hand away and felt his reluctance to let go, “I don’t want to be more of a burden than I’ve already become.”
“You aren’t,” he squeezed her hand, “if you think you need the rest I can carry you.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“I’ve carried Seumas farther in stronger gravity,” he winked, “you’ll be a cakewalk.”
“You’ve carried Seumas?” her laugh surprised her.
“Long before the Fleet,” he chuckled, “he got into a fist fight with a fucking dropsalm. Won but the thing broke his foot in the process. He was insistent he was fine and could walk but his leg bottomed out on him a half dozen times. I tossed him over my shoulders and carried him back to the ship while he complained for all to hear about the scrawny blue-haired bitch manhandling him.”
She snorted a laugh and tested putting weight on her left leg. Something deep in her hip screamed, white hot pain that stabbed her mind. She wordlessly motioned for him to pick her up and braced to be tossed over his shoulder. Delgado playfully turned her so her left side faced him and scooped her up bridal style, careful to not hold her bandages too hard against him.
“Just relax,” he said as they resumed their walk to the ship, “we’ll be there in no time.”
Warnings: None for this snippet. Fic has canon levels of violence.
Summary: Devon is torn between two Masters. Maul trains her by day, while Daki still visits her from the other side. The result - she resists Maul and never falls, at least not yet - much to Maul’s chagrin. Inevitably, they clash almost every day. It’s not long before they have a monumental falling out and become estranged.
Years later, Devon’s back in town, and she’s not pleased with her former master, but she knows him, oh, too well.
Snippet from chapter 3:
To his companions surprise, Maul was up on his feet and out the door in a flash. He pushed them all aside, and followed Devon’s disappearing shadow up the stairs, his prosthetic legs taking the steps two at a time. His heart hadn’t raced that hard since their last encounter in the Caves. It was exhilarating.
At the top, he cashed out through the door onto the flat roof just in time to find her, standing on the edge, searching for her escape.
“Devon!” He cried.
Yes, that’s it, he thought, your anger makes you strong. embrace it, Devon, let it out. Although, he genuinely did not understand the jealous rage that had fuelled her flight. He could feel it, but had not expected it.
He couldn’t help but admire her. From his tutelage she had grown strong, capable, confident, and dangerous to their foes. She was everything he hoped his apprentice would become. But still a Jedi. Such a shame.
Curses. He sighed. Where did this feeling come from? Had she hoped to find him alone? He chuckled, “Everyday you surprise me, Devon. I thought Jedi were taught to fear attachment, and yet here you are, playing for keeps. I find it to be a noble goal. However, I am a Dark Lord. I possess others…” his voice trailed off, but with a vicious sting he added, “and I answer to only one Master.”
Devon did not take the bait. She turned her face up to him in defiance, and narrowed her eyes, “He tried to kill you.”
“So did you.” He reminded her.
Her fierce expression softened with threatened tears, and she turned her head, hugging her lekku over her shoulders defensively. “That was a long time ago,” she whispered.
Was that regret born from empathy he felt from her now? Yuck. How inconvenient. How boring.
Maul relaxed his pose, leaned against the wall, as if exhausted. He blocked the light from the exit. If she wanted to flee from him now, it would have to be over the edge. “What do you want from me?” He asked, his hand outstretched.
He felt Devon’s heart miss a beat and he knew he’d struck a chord.
She said nothing, and stood motionless, gazing over the edge. Listening; hanging on to his every word.
Maul grinned from ear to ear. “Would you like me to go back in there and kill them?”
“No!” She snapped back, her face was flush, but he could have sworn she stifled amusement.
“We could do it togetherr…” he teased in a sing-song manner, mouth turned up in a mischievous smirk.
“Master, stop.” Devon rolled her eyes, “You know I won’t do that. You won’t, either.”
“I might if you walk away from me, just out of spite.”
“I can’t stay, I have a date. With Rylee.” She stood once again at the edge, carefully poised to leap.
“Rylee? Lawson?” Maul knew he should have quietly offed that kid before Devon returned.
“Yes, and you don’t get to tell me who I can and cannot see. Not after that performance.” She jumped off the edge and disappeared into the city streets below.
Maul stared after her. So. Round one to her. After all this time, Devon was back, and she’d sought him out, found and approached him undetected, while his guard had been down. Clever girl.
Somebody had taught her well. Next time he’d be ready.
I have to admit that I’m having a tough time writing these NSFW HC’s for the Hunter. I think he should take that suit off to motivate me. You know, research purposes.
I stealth-dropped the first chapter of my maul &/devon fic.
They’re so Erik and Christine coded. Talented, young protege meets mysterious older master. Bonus points if he’s not just brilliant, but a tragic, scarred, touch-starved recluse.
You know, I’m an old hand at this dynamic.
I realised that, reading it back tonight when Maul opened his mouth and Emrys fell out. 🤭 but if you haven’t read Absolution, no worries, it’s just maul. They’re very similar characters. I guess I have a type.
