“You are now free to move about the passenger hold."
Maul spread his stance a bit, making himself look bigger. While Melicent cooed from her sling on his chest, busy gnawing on one of her newer plushes. The toady, Nabooian blarth. She reached up and patted his chin, making him look down.
“Ah!”
“Yes ma’am, I see you there.”
“Ah!”
“You see me, too?”
“Mm! Papa!”
“Eh?”
Maul’s head ticked to the side. That was… clearly an infant. But not his. Lifting his gaze, he scanned the crowd curiously. Why he was curious, Maul couldn’t say. But he was. The crowd was thinner today; they’d stopped on Felucia and there were more people going there than leaving. Understandable, Maul reckoned. Felucia was a spectacular world.
“EH!”
The noise drew his eyes to a corner, which was shadowed and padded for someone to sit and change an infant. A human male, curly-haired and stern of face sat there, similarly outfitted to Maul. An infant resembling him strongly was on his back, kicking his stubby legs as the man refreshed his diaper. The man’s face brightened as he gave the… boy, yes, the boy’s nose a little boop.
“Ehhhh…”
Maul’s head tilted again. The boy wasn’t the one making the noise…
And then a long, grayish neck flopped over the man’s shoulder, a mottled and slightly narrow head nuzzling into the side of his face. Huge brown eyes blinked at the boy on the table and then then, “Eeee… Dedaaaaah…”
“What is that?” Maul couldn’t grab the words fast enough to keep them from slipping out. He’d never seen a creature like that. And he’d been educated to identify every single known sentient species in the galaxy.
The man’s attention snapped sharp and tense to Maul; one hand jerked down to grip a blaster on his hip. Dark eyes gleamed in the lamplight… hostile… protective.
“Wut’s eet to yeh, Zebrek?”
That accent… Mandalorian? Concordian? Perhaps?
“I… Apologies. I simply… have never seen a being like that.”
Melicent glanced up at her Papa, curious, and then wiggled around so she could also see what he was looking at. But she had to haul herself up in the carrying sling, holding onto the side. “Mmm?”
The human man’s eyes flicked to her. And he softened, the ready-to-fight line of his shoulders relaxing. He smiled, bright, straight teeth flashing. The boy on the table tried to sit up, chubby fists working to get hold of the man’s… anything to help him.
“Single ded solidariteh, yeah?” The man stood, and though Maul was taller, the stockiness of his build seemed… imposing just a bit. His armor, silver throughout, was indeed Mandalorian in make. He extended a hand. “M’Jango Fett.”
Maul grasped the hand, shaking it. The strange infant on the man’s back sling ducked to peer at him over the man’s shoulder. Her eyes her brown, too, and her three-fingered hands clutched the shoulder plates of her father’s armor. “I am called Maul. I am security on this barge.”
“Oh yeah?” Jango looked around, arching an eyebrow. “You’re it? No offense, but… thus is a beeg ship.”
The boy infant, returned to his chest sling, squirmed excitedly, looking at Melicent. She slid down shyly against Maul. But when the boy flapped a hand at her… she did the same.
“It is.” Maul rested a hand on his sling-belly, offering a little support to the baby inside. “This is my daughter, Melicent.” He started to explain that she wasn’t his biological offspring… but then stopped. That was no one’s business except his and eventually her’s.
The Mandalorian grinned. “She’s lovely. This sprout up front us Boba. Long girl back here,” he indicated with a thumb, “is Ullo.” He watched Maul’s expression intently as he spoke, though for what, Maul didn’t know. “We uh… we’re ship-ta-ship at the moment.”
“You are Mandalorian? Why are you not-” But Maul stopped his question. Fett was a father. That was why he wasn’t on a job. If there was a mother to the two, she was out of picture. He was all they had. And both needed attentiveness. Heavily.
“Yup. V’ been away from The Way, but… tryin’ ta find it again.”
“The Way”... hm. Perhaps a religious persuasion.
For the rest of the trip, from Felucia to Lothal, the two men talked. And their children eyed one another with suspicion. Except for the boy child. He settled himself into a content nap against his father’s chest. The girl though, who Jango identified to be of Kaminoan descent, kept anxious watch over his shoulder, eyes wide. One of her hands fiddled with Jango’s collar until he reached up and clasped it gently with two fingers. That settled her. But still. She eyed Maul like a hawk-bat.
Jango Fett was indeed a Mandalorian. He’d fought with Jaster Mereel nearly all his life, from a young boy to adulthood. But Jaster Mereel’s people were almost assuredly extinct. Fett was the last one. Jedi had wiped his sect out, aimed at them by another Mandalorian sect known as “Deathwatch”. The Jedi had been ultimately right, Fett admitted despite the sourness that the words left in Maul’s ears. His people had been in the wrong… But they had also simply been following their code. Their extinction felt… too heavy. Too much. That was why despite the Mandalorian style of armor… Fett wore no insignia. No sigil.
He had stripped himself of the Creed. But ethnically, he was Mandalorian.
As were his children. Who he… didn’t really go into. One was blatantly his biological offspring… so Maul chose to assume the same of the other.
Maul was… careful… with his words. Fett probably wouldn’t know what a Sith was. But there was only so much he could expose without danger. So Maul changed the words. “Sith” became “blood-cult”. “Master” became “high priest”. And before long, the two men realized that they were not so different. On the run, trying to simply survive in peace after a life of pain and fighting. It was time to be free. To do what they wished.
“What about this little one?” Jango gestured to Melicent, who was chewing on her little chew toy. “She, uh… she ain’t yours, I take it. Not… your blood.”
There was an anxiety ladened delay in Maul’s reply but then Jango hastily added, “Look, don’t make any difference t’me, mate. She loves ya. N’you love her. Long’as you didn’t steal’er, I’don’t care how’ya came by’er.”
Maul relaxed. Nodded. “I found her. Abandoned on Nar Shadaa. In a garbage bin, no less…”
Fett made a disgusted noise. “Demagolka. Who would abandon such’a sweet thing?”
Maul shook his head. “I have no idea. But… we have one another now.”
“Yeah. Good man.” Behind Fett, little Ullo gave a low trill, blinking her large eyes hard as she fought to stay awake. The thrum of her Dadah’s voice next her chest was soothing, even with the scary pointy man across the table.
“Would… hm. Are you looking for employment, Fett?”
The man’s scarred eyebrow ticked up. “I mean… I got credits to last but um… yeah. I could use it. What’re y’thinkin’?”
“I could mention you to the captain. You are correct about the job of keeping order here being too much for just one. We could… work together.”
Fett smirked. But then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Um… thanks. Maul. Y’didn’t have’ta even offah.” He reached back and laid a hand on Ullo’s bald, slightly frilled head. She nuzzled against him, eyes falling shut. “Think’m gonna put these two down for a bit.”
Maul let his mouth quirk up in a half smile. “All the little ones need a rest I think.”
Melicent flopped back on the pillow, arms over her head, and gave a soft, “Ah.”
Maul lay down next to her, both freshly washed and ready for bed. It would be another day before they arrived on Lothal. The ship was quiet, peaceful as the passengers settled into their berths for a sleep.
Ondler had seemed optimistic about Fett, Maul thought. He hadn’t stretched out in the Force to gauge his emotional state, but the Myke seemed to recognize Fett’s name. Perhaps the man had some sort of reputation. Maul didn’t know. Didn’t really care. Fett was a kindred spirit and the prospect of Melicent playing with one of the Fett children cheered the Zabrak.
“Do you think you might want to see the Fetts again tomorrow, little Tooka?” he asked, laying his large hand over her belly to soothe her.
She yawned, mouth forming a tiny “o”. “Papa…” Melicent made an unsatisfied noise and squirmed a bit under his hand, finally reaching out to him. Her fists worked open and closed, wanting to be closer.
Maul obliged easily, scooting her closer to him. She rolled to the side, slipping down to rest against his chest. “Better, darling?”
“Mmm… Papa…”
“Maybe we can make some friends tomorrow, yes?”
“Mmm…” He felt the downy softness of her curls bump the underside of his jaw. A tiny hand rested on his neck, patting a few times. And then again, the little family of two slipped off and away… borne into the world of dreams together.
