Chapter Text
Never let it be said that you were an unkind person. Actually, make things so that your epitaph says “Actually a Decent Human Being.” Being surrounded by upperclass jerks trying to one-up each other on a daily basis made you appreciate simple acts of decency on an entirely new level.
Which was, you knew, the only reason you were making a visit to this particular wing, to these particular rooms. It had barely been a couple days, but already the laughing and hissed jeers about the blue alien and his backward yokel friend had driven you half-insane.
You’d never even seen either of them in person - you only had the no doubt skewed descriptions whispered loudly by the popular students in the front. Surely, you thought, they were more civilized than the others made them seem. Of course they were.
Checking your location against the directions on your datapad - your chem instructor need never learn that you were the one who went rifling through the dormitory listings on his device - you went right up to the correct door and steeled yourself. Would they find you odd? Would they even accept your token of kindness? You weren’t sure, and the uncertainty made you hesitate.
Tapping the box against your thigh nervously, you debated with yourself. What should you say? “Hey, new guys, I’m not a xenophobe and here’s some candy, bye!” Yeah, right. They’d probably report you.
But you’d come all this way and you weren’t going to undo all that effort. Before you could lose your nerve, you knocked.
And had to consciously lock your knees to keep from bolting when the door slid open moments later.
“Yes?”
The voice was young, puzzled, and weighed down by a slow, thick drawl that dragged on the word. It belonged to who could only be the Wild Space yokel, and his brown eyes widened a bit with surprise and confusion.
“I...”
“You’re one of the new cadets everyone’s been talking about?” you asked, a bit too quickly, a bit too sharply. You winced. “I’m Kit. That’s not my name. It’s - people call me Kit.”
“Eli Vanto,” he replied slowly, no doubt forever put off by your incurable weirdness. He leaned back slightly, brows knitting. “What can I do for ya?”
You noticed that he’d suddenly become wary, trying to toe the line between caution and politeness, and you immediately grimaced at yourself. Of course he was going to be on edge - he’d been receiving a lot of attention in the last couple of days, none of it good.
“I’m not here to start anything,” you blurted, holding up a placating hand. “I swear. I just - I wanted to introduce myself. It just seemed like the nice thing to do.”
The wary caution was replaced by yet another layer of surprise, this one deeper than the last. Vanto blinked - “Oh. I see.” - and in the next second seemed to realize that you were standing awkwardly in the middle of the hallway.
“Right, sorry,” he said, going a bit pink and stepping aside. “You can come in, if you like. It, um. It’s a bit empty still, but it’s something.”
“No, that’s fine.” You nodded and ducked past him, a bit relieved by the fact that he seemed to be as out of his depth as you were.
“Cadet Vanto?”
The other voice was silky and calm, and you glanced over at the man half-leaning down on his bunk.
You credited yourself down to this day on the fact that you looked right at him without flinching, or staring, or doing a double take. He wasn’t awful-looking or anything, that wasn’t it. It was just that he was so strikingly blue, with eyes that could have been made of smoldering embers for all they flickered and glowed.
“It’s alright, she’s just visiting.” Vanto looked you over. “This is Kit. She’s here to...” He trailed off, and suddenly, with both his eyes and the blue man’s locked onto you, you felt a bubble of nervousness well up in your throat.
“Um, to say hello? To make friends?” you offered, reaching up to rub the back of your neck. “What’s the best way to end that sentence? I just...” You blew out a breath. “People have been talking about you. A lot, if even I’ve heard a thing or two, and none of it is very flattering. It got on my nerves, to be honest.” You chuckled quietly, and looked each man in the eye. “I figured I’d be the one decent person in this place and offer a friend - if you’d like one.”
In the quiet half-pause that felt too long and too heavy for you, you nodded toward the non-human, who was now standing politely.
“For what it’s worth, the rumors don’t give you nearly as much credit as they should. Listening to them, you’d think you were the unholy spawn of a Hutt and a Krayt dragon. It’s really a pleasure to meet you, ah...”
“Thrawn,” he replied gracefully, despite the first impression that you’d surely just butchered. “Likewise - Cadet Kit, is it?”
“Oh, it’s Cadet [L/N], actually. Kit’s just the preferred term of address, hah. I earned the name because I’m a veritable medkit - always have bacta patches and painkillers on me.”
“I see.” He nodded once, thoughtfully.
“So you’re on a medical track, then?” Vanto asked, straightening. Interest sparked in his eyes, and Thrawn tilted his head ever so slightly, as if to study you.
“Imperial medic,” you agreed, smiling a bit hopefully. “That’s the dream. If it’s a naval position, even better, but I’ll take what I’m given. And you two?”
“That’s easy,” Vanto replied. “Supply. Same as the rest of my family. Numbers are sort of my thing.” He smiled, wryly.
“I find that I am most useful as a tactician,” Thrawn said. “However, I am content simply to be useful to the Empire.”
There was no hint of sarcasm in his voice, and you found that you liked him all the more for his complete, matter-of-fact honesty.
“You look like you have a mind for that sort of thing,” you agreed, nodding toward both of them. “Numbers. Military maneuvers. You’ll probably do more than fine in that regard.”
At a loss for what else to say, you tapped your fingers against your leg - only to remember that you’d come bearing a gift.
“Right, I forgot!” you breathed, holding the small box out to Vanto. “Here - Alderaanian chocolate. It’s a bit small as housewarming gifts go, but... it’s something.”
Vanto took the box into his hands with a startled look in his eyes.
“I can’t -” Take this, he was probably going to say, but he stopped himself and instead smiled at you, red touching his cheeks again. “Thanks. Really, it’s much appreciated.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” you assured. “Honestly. Still, you’re welcome.” Checking your chrono, you let out a sharp breath, eyes widening. “Nine Corellian hells,” you bit out.
“Is something the matter?” Thrawn asked quietly, and you turned to him with a half-smile, apologetic.
“No, it’s fine. The time just got away from me. Shoot. I suppose late is better than never, at any rate.”
“You’re heading out?” Eli asked, still holding the box as if it were someone else’s infant.
Sighing, you pulled a weathered piece of flimsi out of your pocket and fished around for a pen.
“Yeah, I am,” you told him. “I’ll leave you my comm frequency real quick, though - you know, just in case you need anything or want a seat saved in the mess. Things like that.”
Thrawn reached out and took the small note when you offered it, nodding graciously. “Thank you for your kindness, Cadet [L/N].”
“Of course. Have a good one.” You made your way to the door, stopping and glancing back at them.
“You know, you guys are a lot cooler than people think you are,” you admitted. “I’m glad I worked up the nerve to come on over. Evening, Thrawn, Vanto - hopefully I’ll see you around.”
And - you were happy to say, years later, as a medic serving on the Chimaera - you did.