~~Maul Week Day 1 Prompt: To be loved~~
The sparkling pendant hung from his fingers. Rose gold wound around pastel gemstones. Maul watched the little treasure swing back and forth. "To be loved," it said in ur-Kittât, carved delicately into the metal. A token created by a long, long dead sith who had craved what it offered, using energy and ritual to peak into the unifying force and find who might fulfill such a wish for the wearer.
Minutes ticked by, and still the pendant swung, back and forth.
Who had loved him? Who had he loved? His path had been so very dark, but even he had known such vibrant emotion. Known it, yes... and lost it. Those who might have claimed to love him were dead. Those he might have considered loving were also.
What good was love, then, if it just took and took and never stayed?
Caustic yellow eyes watch the pendant swing a few more times, a glittering pendulum that offered something nearly every sentient being craved, 'to be loved.' He huffed softly, and relaxed his grip. The finely wrought chain slipped through his fingers. The talisman landed in the dirt at his feet. Maul stood, turned, and walked away.
Love was a flicker. Sith were creatures of passion. An appetizer of emotion was not sufficient. He wanted more than that. What lived on when all else faded? Maul knew, so well. So very well.
The crimson nightbrother drifts out of the ruins he had been wandering through, leaving its grand treasure behind. He did not want to be loved, not anymore. What he wanted was for someone to stay, and only those who hated him the most, and whom he hated in return ever did. Ever lived long enough for it to matter.
To be loved was not enough. He wanted to be hated.