It was just as well that Maul could not read Ritsuka's mind mostly because he was cursing out Maul with every fiber of his being. But who knew, maybe Maul could feel it through the bond anyways, sometimes Soubi could sense his agitation.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and his tail is swishing wildly as he has to take several deep calming breaths...
He takes one...
Then several more...
Give him a moment Vin while he takes as many as he can to think clearly.
While he's taking calming breaths the question at hand is what to do with the zealots? They sound nice, but as they follow Maul, they're clearly idiots. No one looks at Maul and goes "ah, yes, there's a man who makes rational decisions, let's follow him!" So what was the appeal? Power? Sure, Maul had his Force schtick (and Force Stick, for that matter), but unless Maul was the ONLY Force user here, the Force couldn't be the end all be all reason these people followed him. He certainly wasn't handsome enough for rabid fans like some celebrities with no skills. He wasn't smart enough for academic rabid fans either.
So violence perhaps? But then why be nice to him? Why not just have them beat the ever-loving shit out of him and throw him back in the ocean?
Oh... right, Maul really wanted to bond with him what with the amplification...
Fuck.
Okay, so... they potentially sought power or craved violence from the metallic moron. So how to deal with them? Antagonizing them was setting himself up for punishment and as he was, Ritsuka was in no position to be fighting anyone. If he played helpless they would likely get too nosy and worse, clingy, wanting to get into his business and insist Maul be involved in his protection. Nice, polite, but deeply distant and independent.
It was his transfer to middle school all over again.
He took one final deep breath before putting on a bright, but distant, smile, ever the sight of calm and collected, not even his tail nor his ears gave away his emotions. Maul could try to use those to read him like a book, but Ritsuka had spent years having to perfect complete and utter control on his facial features for his mother and for nosy adults.
"Ne ne, that's so kind of you, truly, thank you," he offered, a stark contrast to how he treated Maul. "I would love any information you have to give so I can get myself settled as quickly as possible."
This should keep them from insisting he needs anything from any of them. Hell, he'd lie and say he had family here already if needed to make sure. Would it make Maul look "nice?" sure, the temporary 'kind and benevolent powerful cult leader' was a minor loss compared to the giant win of Maul staying the fuck out of his life this time.
Wrap?
He pinches the bridge of his nose and his tail is swishing wildly as he has to take several deep calming breaths...
He takes one...
Then several more...
Give him a moment Vin while he takes as many as he can to think clearly.
While he's taking calming breaths the question at hand is what to do with the zealots? They sound nice, but as they follow Maul, they're clearly idiots. No one looks at Maul and goes "ah, yes, there's a man who makes rational decisions, let's follow him!" So what was the appeal? Power? Sure, Maul had his Force schtick (and Force Stick, for that matter), but unless Maul was the ONLY Force user here, the Force couldn't be the end all be all reason these people followed him. He certainly wasn't handsome enough for rabid fans like some celebrities with no skills. He wasn't smart enough for academic rabid fans either.
So violence perhaps? But then why be nice to him? Why not just have them beat the ever-loving shit out of him and throw him back in the ocean?
Oh... right, Maul really wanted to bond with him what with the amplification...
Fuck.
Okay, so... they potentially sought power or craved violence from the metallic moron. So how to deal with them? Antagonizing them was setting himself up for punishment and as he was, Ritsuka was in no position to be fighting anyone. If he played helpless they would likely get too nosy and worse, clingy, wanting to get into his business and insist Maul be involved in his protection. Nice, polite, but deeply distant and independent.
It was his transfer to middle school all over again.
He took one final deep breath before putting on a bright, but distant, smile, ever the sight of calm and collected, not even his tail nor his ears gave away his emotions. Maul could try to use those to read him like a book, but Ritsuka had spent years having to perfect complete and utter control on his facial features for his mother and for nosy adults.
"Ne ne, that's so kind of you, truly, thank you," he offered, a stark contrast to how he treated Maul. "I would love any information you have to give so I can get myself settled as quickly as possible."
This should keep them from insisting he needs anything from any of them. Hell, he'd lie and say he had family here already if needed to make sure. Would it make Maul look "nice?" sure, the temporary 'kind and benevolent powerful cult leader' was a minor loss compared to the giant win of Maul staying the fuck out of his life this time.