Sith Baggage

Rating: PG  No minors please.
Warnings: very little. No sex, and only a hint of magic.
Disclaimer: This is written for fun, not for making money. Therefore the appearance of famous Star Wars characters should not cause uproar amongst George Lucas lawyers.
Summary: A Sith has an unlikely task.
Acknowledgement: I am much obliged to Redone for her encouraging interest and extensive beta-reading. But  what would this story have been without the inspiration and helpful advice from my evil companions, Dark Lady and MaulMaus?
Feedback to: saphsaq@lycos.com

Sith Baggage

The crowd surged back and forth, noisy and animated. Coloured lights shed jittery reflexes over their faces. The air was thick with the smell of sweet and spicy snacks from the fry. All over it hung a joyful cacophony of voices and music. Ninu made rude acquaintance with elbows and feet, as she became an obstacle in the middle of the stream. With a slow sigh she let her indecision be washed away by this superior power.

 On her left hand, three booths after the entrance of the fair was the tombola stand she had thrown her doubts away for. Its airbrushed outside displayed figures of  Star Wars canon of character. Artless pictures, but the creator seemed to have an odd taste for new inventions in costumes. A more jewel-decorated Darth Maul or an Amidala as bride were surely nowhere else to spot.. However, the inside of this spot was about standard: an old man whose only prominent feature was his pointing nose hanging above an overly benevolent smile, and an young man, almost boy, his hand.

 The coins Ninu fingered from her purse were taken, an introducing gesture to the box containing the tickets made, the one she finally chose opened with two fast scissor-cuts and handed out to the tombola boy to fetch her winnings.

 Ninu was oblivious how differently her appearance was perceived. Neither the bored glance from the old tombola owner's eyes who prepared her ticket with routine, without wasting words for greeting, nor the silent "Hello!" and beaming face of the young fetcher who looked her twice up and down. Her eyes were glued on the item she was out for. The Darth Maul backpack - a diminutive one, a day pack in fact. Slightly over the size of a man's head, it was made of fine, short haired plush and dominated by a pair of clear, yellow plastic eyes. 

The fetcher cleared his throat. "Let's see what it is," he tried again to draw the girl's attention with a smile but failed. "You're a lucky one, it is a... an... a beautiful..." The paper he turned and turned told him it was almost worth one of the kitschy bouquets of fake flowers or - at the utmost - a piece of the tacky pottery the stand displayed. The boy bit his lips, looked at the girl, turned the paper for a last time and eventually reached her the black and red striped pack. "This is for you. Cool thing, isn't it?" 

"Thanks," muttered Ninu, again oblivious of the smile on the youngster's face, stuffed the raffle into her bag and blended into the crowd. 

The tombola boy stared after her. 

"Sweet." The owner of the lottery smacked his lips.  

"Mhm," nodded the boy with emphasis. 

"'kay Dan, one try." Although his blue eyes kept the cold, the mouth opened again slightly for a thin-lipped smile. The old man's features changed to a grimace of satisfaction. 

"Ay, boss!" Dan blushed.

*****

 Back at home Ninu threw her bounty on a stool in her room, not without stealing a few caresses from the soft fabric, before she hurried out to help with preparing dinner - "Ninu, girl, you're late. Dad called already, he'll be in within the next quarter." - Time in the kitchen and thereafter with her family at the table stretched to meet the girl's limits of endurance. 

Feigning tiredness, Ninu could eventually spend her undivided attention on the item on the stool in her room. You're so beautiful. Her fingers touched softly the cheeks of plush. So real! She lifted and held the bag on stretched arms to survey it with a critic's eye. Really real. Too bad I can't wear you everyday. She pressed the fluffy head on her breast. But you're mine. Dancing with the bag in her arms around she hummed the Star Wars theme and pondered. Perhaps I can stuff you with a shirt and place you by the side of my comp. For better inspiration. Ninu giggled. "Bed time, bad girl!" she called herself to order. "I'm sorry, Maulie, tonight you have to stay on the floor. I need the stool for my clothes."

***** 

His presence made her startle out of her sleep. Bolt upright Ninu glared at the all too familiar silhouette in the moonlight. "God ..." she gasped. 

"Maul," he corrected. 

"God..." she gasped again. 

He accepted with a grin. "So, Ninu, what are your plans?" 

"My plans..." she groaned, realising with slowly accommodating eye-light that Darth Maul, alive and life-sized, was lolling naked on the spot where the small pack should have rested. 

"What do you have in store for me?" he gratefully let himself down to what he considered as her level of comprehension. 

Ninu felt an icy finger sliding down her spine. A second later, after regaining full command of her eyesight, this distress was replaced by a quite contrary emotion. The man's - and he was man, no doubt - well-muscled body let a little hot sparkle ascend froom her abdomen. "How do you know my name?" She uttered the first thing of near-coherence that crossed the snafu in her mind. 

"I'm a Sith," his husky voice purred the already expected answer. 

"Get out of my room!" she articulated. 

"Why? You own me, mistress..." 

"I'm not a mistress!!!" 

"Oh, no," Maul straightened up and shook a finger at the girl, "don't use logic on me. It is almost palpable that this is the room of someone who cares for me with great interest." His flourishing gesture enclosed it all, the pictures, the gadgets, the rack with collectibles (including an 12-inch Maul Action Figure). Ninu blushed. 

Maul continued with a teacher-like undertone: "As my owner, you have to feed me, quench my thirst, provide me a place to sleep...". 

"Not even at the bottom-end of my bed!" Ninu gathered not only her sheet as well as her courage. 

"You're a woman," Maul responded, dragging something from the small bunch at the stool aside him. Another hot shot ran through Ninu's veins as she saw it was her silken panties that he held in his striped hands. "It isn't wrong just to long for me..." 

Damn, he is knows pretty well how cute he is, thought Ninu while she watched pale light and dark of the night play hide-and-seek on Maul's smooth skin. 

"... but to let me sit on your carpet is, with all due respect." He crumpled her underwear in his fist, then buried his nose in the ball of delicate fabric: "You smell so good." 

"Don't dare to!" Ninu yelled and clasped her blanket even more. "Don't dare to," she repeated some degrees more silently as she became aware of his thunderstruck look. 

As fast as it was used, the panties were thrown aside and the Sith leaned over the bottom-end of her bed: "Okay. I see. No problem, I can handle this. We're not that intimate yet. Why don't we work to become comfortable first?" 

"Yes ... I mean ... No!" Ninu brought her legs and the lower end of her blanket out of the acute presence of the all too innocent smile. 

Maul folded his forearms to support his horn crowned head. "For the present we could try small-talk about... fairy-tales?" 

Ninu followed his gaze pointing at the highest shelf of her rack, where amongst her other books sat a paperback of 'Tales of 1001 nights'. She gulped "Yes," in the sight of this unexpected turn. But the keyword 'tales' triggered her mind to produce nothing else than the smuttiest scenes of some fan-fiction she read regularly. She felt her cheeks redden again. Don't read my mind. Don't read my mind now. 

Too late. Maul closed his eyes half like he was an oversized kitten and sounded of utter interest: "Procee..." 

"Ninuhuu - you're not sleeping, are you? I'll tell Mom and Dad!" A child's voice from the hall interrupted Maul's sentence. 

The Sith sighed and became opaque. "Little brothers could be such a sithly pain in the ass. Ask me," his figure blurred more, became a haze, "I got my share time ago on Iridonia." On the stool stood the little backpack in the shape of Darth Maul's head, voiceless and motionless. 

***** 

"I bring this back!" Accusingly Ninu presented the lottery boy her winnings from the day before. She was relieved that she managed to find him in the maze of the fast dismantling fair. An hour later and even the skeleton of the tombola stand - four poles and a podium - would have been stored away on the roof of the owner's caravan by the hustling and bustling workers. 

"And I thought you liked him," he wondered, then smiled questioningly. "I thought you were a Star Wars fan." 

"I am," retorted Ninu, pushing the bag in his hands, "but I don't want this." 

"Not even for the sake of a complete collection?" He waved encouragingly with the bag. 

"No!" She felt a pang of regret as soon as she had spoken that harsh word. At least the tombola boy had the kindness to spend attention on her demand. She took a closer look at the young man and tried a smile. 

"Pity." Thoughtfully he pulled at the temple horn of the Maul-head. "But understandable. You can't wear it everyday. Neither I my costume." He shrugged and grinned as he saw a glint of surprise light up in her eyes. Another hand of the tombola passed by, the fetcher flipped him the bag over, "Please do me a favour: this belongs to the big blue box."  

"Sure, Dan." 

Now relieved of her burden, the girl stood a few moments undecided, watching the boy from top to toe and back. After her nightmare this talk was reassuring, even if the young fetcher looked plain nice, instead of gorgeous like Maul. To elongate this pleasant moment, she spoke up: "I'm sorry I did not introduce myself, Dan. I'm Ninu." 

"Glad to meet you, Ninu." 

The warm and firm hand she shook didn't make the impression it would turn into plush between dusk and dawn. She asked: "You get costumed?" 

"I'm preparing for." 

"Star Wars?" 

"Yep." 

"Luke?" 

"Nope." He laughed bashfully and stowed an obstinate blonde strand behind his ear. "I hope to do Maul." 

"Wow, with shaved head, light sabre and all? Too sad I won't see this because the fair is leaving." 

Now Dan chuckled, "There will be plenty of occasions to see me. I'm a member of a local role players' guild." 

"You're not a lottery boy?!" Ninu's voice pitched high in excitement. "But I thought, this..." With a big gesture she circled the lottery booth and the fair. "I thought you'll leave today with the rest..." 

"Nope. This was just a part time job. You know, poor students need money. Especially for expensive costumes." 

"Yeah, I know." Ninu nodded happily about the discovery of a fellow Maulaholic. At least this awful situation last night has a good outcome. "When can I see you costumed?" 

"When I have found the solution for a problem. I don't want my head shaved every day and all the colour and glue on it." Dan frowned. 

"No prob." Ninu declined animated. "I've experiences - I mean friends who did costuming. I'm sure we'll find a workaround... God!" She glanced at the clock on her wrist: "It's late! I've to hurry. Know what Dan? We'll continue this evening. I'll give you my phone number." 

"Go ahead," he grinned.  

***** 

"Satisfied?" a voice purred from behind him. 

Dan whirled in a half circle and faced Maul. The Sith sat on the left over podium, now dressed completely up in his multilayered garments. 

"Sure, man! She talked with me, gave me her phone number. How did you manage this? I never thought you would." The young man spluttered almost for excitement. 

"I'm a Sith." Maul put on a smug grin. "Sith don't fail." 

"Yeah, sure, but..." 

Maul shook his head, the horns made a little scratching noise inside the hood of his cloak: "This is of no interest. It was just the start. Much more interesting is to develop this thing in the long run. Which is exclusively up to you." He showed his teeth: "And don't forget to keep your physique in good condition, otherwise I fear, she might consider you a not exactly sufficient substitute." 

The grain of truth - too often he fed on a diet of pizza 'n coke - made Dan more furious than the arrogance of the Sith. "Sure, man, I will take that in consideration. Just wonder how you would have acted if I was gay, Mr. Ladykiller!" 

Maul made a noise between grunting and chuckling: "Just one more reason to keep your physique in good condition, kid."  

The beach robe clad silhouette of the old tombola owner appeared in the door of the caravan, holding a big cashbook in one hand and beckoning the two with the other. "Ah," said Maul, "the master is calling. You remember what you have to pay for a successful negotiation of marriage?" 

"Damn, I didn't say I'd marry her! I only asked for help with dating. Dating-service, you know?" The young man tried half-heartedly to revolt. 

A sardonic smile danced around the Sith's mouth. "That's your business, no need to justify your decisions before me or my master. But anyway," he rose and waved Dan to follow him, "remember our contract: you agree to support the Sith order by buying only Sith-related merchandise – such as trading cards, costumes, computer fonts, posters, mock light sabres, coffee mugs – for the rest of your life in exchange for bringing you together with the girl of your dreams. I would call this is a real bargain. Now," Maul's shoulders sketched a shrug, "you have the possibility to discuss the matter with the master, because the contract is between him and you. I'm only the one who carries out his orders."  

The two entered the caravan. Its door closed and the rusty name-plate swung to and fro. The letters on this plate were hard to read, but for the addendum an unknown joker had sprayed.

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END