Two

Chapter 12

“Lift your head up,” he said. Nima glanced up at him but her eyes returned to the ground. “Keep your head high, you do not want people to push you around again, do you?”
“No,” she said quietly. Maul lifted her chin up, forcing her to look at him.
“You need more confidence.”

“Head up,” he reminded. Nima cautiously held her head high, still not used to doing so. “Good.” Maul struck her ribs with his staff and she yelped.
“What was that for?” she asked, stepping away from him as he twirled the staff.
“If that was my saber, you would be dead,” he said. “You need to learn to block.”
“I know how to,” she said. But she wasn’t quick enough. Her reflexes would never be as good as his, he was Sith and could use the force.
“Then do it.”

Maul tried to strike again but this time she blocked it, saving her from a strike that would likely leave a bruise. She managed to block the next one too.
“Focus on your opponent, if you look down you cannot see what they are about to do.” Nima nodded and focused on Maul. He had a habit of pretending to move to strike her and then changing halfway to do it a different way. It was easier to notice his eyes moving to where he was planning on changing it too.

He was right. She had to focus.

Nima continued blocking Maul’s strikes with a little more success. Eventually, Maul called an end to the training. She stared and the dark coloured bruise that had formed on her arm. It was sore to touch and she could only hope it would disappear quickly.

Nima had made a sort of sauce with the bottle of… something which she didn’t recognise and had spread some onto the meat after it had been cooked. Cautiously, she bit into it. It was hot, far hotter than most spices she was used to, but she decided she liked it. And as long as it didn’t cause any problems, she’d happily continue to make a sauce with it.

“Do you want to try some?” she asked, offering it out to Maul. From what she had gathered, he only ate meat, but she was curious what he thought of her experiment. He stared at her, and then to the food, before taking a small piece. He ate it in one bite, and didn’t chew it for long before swallowing.
“It is not to my taste,” he said, noticing her eager expression. “But it is better than a lot of food I have tasted.” She smiled, watching as he ate the remainder of the piece he held in his hand. He hadn’t been too fond of it, but he had said it was just his opinion. And he had also said it had tasted better than some of the food he had eaten.

Nima continued eating her food, feeling a little better that he appreciated her limited cooking skills even if he wasn’t fond of it.

Yet again, she lay next to Maul in the small bed. She still didn’t mind and she still refused to let him sleep on the floor.
“I hope you don’t have a nightmare,” said Maul. Nima turned to look at him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I get that they’re probably irritating.”
“It’s not that,” he said. He didn’t find them irritating? “I just hope you don’t have any.”
“Oh, thank you,” she said, smiling even though he couldn’t see her in the dark. “I hope I don’t have any either.”

Nima closed her eyes and shifted to get more comfortable.
“Goodnight,” she whispered. She didn’t get a response but she didn’t mind, she was too tired to care.