Maul sat next to the pleasantly happy Obi-wan on the ship as they made their way to what ever planet Obi-wan's parents lived on. Unlike Obi-wan, Maul was constantly on his guard and on edge. He kept an eye on Savage, who sat on the other end of the ship, as he also watched Obi-wan. Maul was curious if they were going to be having twins or just one child. Maul knew he had absolutely no experience with raising children and he doubted his brother knew anything on the subject either. It was the Nightsister's job to raise children and Maul also bet that no other Nightbrother knew anything on raising children or watching one grow up into its years where they were announced as a Nightbrother or a Nightsister either. After a bit more thinking Maul guessed that a Nightbrother that was taken as a servant to a Nightsister could possibly catch a glimpse of a young Nightbrother or sister. Pushing those thoughts aside, Maul watched as Obi-wan rubbed his stomach. He remembered how Obi-wan told the medical droid not to tell him anything about the baby except that it was healthy. Obi-wan had wanted it to be a surprise. Maul even tried asking the droid to feed his own curiosity about the baby or babies, but the droid had denied to tell him.
Hearing Ob-wan hum in delight pulled Maul from his thoughts. "Do you think the baby is going to be a boy or a girl?"
"We could have found out before you told the droid you wanted it all to be a surprise." Maul pointed out to Obi-wan.
"It wasn't a serious question, Maul. I'm just wondering, you know, like choose out a name in advance." Obi-wan leaned against Maul and hummed thinking again. He closed his eyes as he drifted in thought.
"How about Zaranni?" Vilcia broke the small silence, leaning over the seats in front of Obi-wan and Maul looking at them.
"Hmm? What was that Vilcia?" Obi-wan asked opening his eyes and sitting straight once again. Maul tried not to look annoyed at the female, but he was enjoying Obi-wan leaning against him.
"You know if the baby's a girl. You could call her Zaranni." Vilcia repeated
"And if the baby is a boy?" Maul couldn't help but ask since Vilcia only mentioned a girl name.
After a second of Vilcia thinking she spoke again. "Phojak?"
"Hmmm, I'm not sure, Vilcia. I was thinking about a strong name. Maybe not such vicious ones like Maul and his brothers have." Obi-wan commented
"Is there a problem with my name?" Maul raised an eyebrow at Obi-wan.
"No, of course not!" Obi-wan laughed sensing the playful tone Maul had that Vilcia couldn't pick spot out. "It's just you're name literally means to 'wound by scratching or tearing,' and your brothers' names aren't very much softer than yours."
Obi-wan, Vilcia, and Maul was silent for a moment as Obi-wan thought about what he just said. Obi-wan quickly realized he might have hit some kind of chord in Maul. "I mean, I want the child to have a strong name, just not a rough name!" Obi-wan tried to recover himself and keep from upsetting Maul.
"Strong, but not rough, hmmm," Maul echoed after a quick second of silence. He had his eyes closed as he thought for a moment. As Maul thought, Obi-wan looked passed him seeing Savage watching them. Obi-wan jumped in his skin once he made eye contact with Savage.
"You know, we really don't need to be thinking about names right now!" Obi-wan suddenly declared to Maul and Vilcia. This had confused Maul seeing that Obi-wan had made a bit of a point about the style he wanted the name. What confused Maul further is that he felt Obi-wan's force spike with fear.
"Are you sure? Are you alright Obi-wan?" Maul asked before Vilcia had the chance to raise her concern.
"Yes, I'm fine! It's just silly to think of names when I'm only almost 4 months pregnant. I doubt a Zabrak pregnancy has any big time difference from a human pregnancy!" Obi-wan scrabbled quickly to come up with an alibi for wanting to stop thinking about names for the baby. "We still have plenty of time to come up with names! Besides we might not like them by the time the baby is born!"
"I suppose you're right." Maul responded hiding his hesitation and his rising anger. What ever had happened with Obi-wan and Savage, Savage must have tried to restart it quite literally behind Maul's back. There was no doubt in Maul's mind now. If Savage was truly doing something to Obi-wan, Savage wouldn't cease even with Maul near Obi-wan. This had to stop and fast before Obi-wan or someone close to him got hurt. Maul didn't see Feral as a threat. Maul could simply look at him and see that his younger brother was terrified of him if Maul had confronted him. Which if Feral was bad at Maul confronting him, than why did he confront Maul? Feral should have known that it would have made Maul suspect him even more. Yet when Obi-wan calmed down and relaxed in front of Feral, it showed Maul that even if Feral was a threat, he was not an immediate threat. Not like Savage. Which had brought the question to Maul's mind, what did Obi-wan mean by 'he'll explain it to him later?'
Maul made a mental note of this to ask Obi-wan later.
Maul watched as Obi-wan returned to his position in leaning against Maul. Obi-wan's movements were quick as he faced the seats that Vilcia was leaning on. Maul snarled in his mind wanting Obi-wan to feel safe next to him, but Savage was still some how able to frighten Obi-wan. Maul shifted causing Obi-wan to jump in surprise as Maul moved the arm of the seats up and folded them to align with the back of the seats. Obi-wan was still in a slight state of surprise when Maul pulled him in closer and wrapped an arm around him.
Obi-wan looked up at Maul and Maul could see the surprise in his eyes, and slowly see the fear disappear from Obi-wan's eyes. Maul, surprising Obi-wan further, kissed him. It had taken Obi-wan a quick second to relax and kiss Maul back.
"Just relax, Obi-wan, get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we arrive at the planet." Maul spoke softly as he ran his fingers through Obi-wan's hair. This caused Obi-wan to relax further and he hummed agreeing with Maul. Obi-wan laid down and rested his head on Maul's lap. Maul had rested his hand, that he used to run his fingers through Obi-wan's hair with, on Obi-wan's swollen stomach. Maul smiled when Obi-wan brought one of his hands up and entangled his fingers with Maul's as they rested on his stomach. Maul was happy that Obi-wan was relaxed now and getting more rest. As Maul watched Obi-wan fall asleep, Maul swore to himself that he would never leave Obi-wan's side ever again and that he will end whatever reign of terror Savage has over Obi-wan.
