Chapter Text
“What the hell are we waiting for, I’ve got business to run,” Eli spat impatiently, trying not to show his growing uneasiness. He was hoping they’d lead him deeper into the Nomand, but instead they stayed in the docking hangar, hovering around the freighter and eyeing each other suspiciously.
“What? We not good enough for you anymore?” One of the men snorted, but still had not moved from his post by Eli’s side.
“Not if you keep wasting my time,” Eli answered testily, straightening his ill-fitting tunic.
The guard was opening his mouth to retort, but then faltered at the sound of footsteps echoing through the hangar. The wait seemed to be over, and Eli was torn between feeling relieved and concerned.
"Thank you, gentlemen, I’ll be taking it from here.”
While Eli thought his play at “arrogant self-confidence” had been at least mildly successful, the man walking then towards them in graceful stride put that entire performance to shame. There was an effortless kind of nonchalance in his movements, one that made Eli expect to be greeted with a quirked eyebrow, a roguish smile and some blaster-swinging. In the end, he wasn't sure what threw him off more, the quiet determination evident on the man’s tanned face, or those brown eyes boring into him with unsettling intensity.
The man picked up the hold-out blaster from one of the guards and dismissed him with a quick gesture, his attention still focused on Eli.
“Commander Vanto, I presume.” He nodded briefly.
Eli raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms defiantly. No need to make it too easy for the guy, was there?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, pal,” he said, a hint of challenge in his voice.
The man just threw him a clearly amused look, and then started carefully examining the hold-out blaster. Eli’s heart sank a little when he tossed it into the far corner of the docking hangar.
“All right, let’s make it quick.” The man clasped his hands behind his back. “I need to talk to your… Admiral, is it now?” he frowned. “Honestly, I can barely keep up with how he goes through the ranks. They could be making him the Emperor right now, for all I know.”
“Again. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eli said stiffly, his fingers brushing the lieutenant’s plaque. They seemed to be completely alone in the hangar, but he was sure there were guards nearby, ready and waiting for any sign of trouble. He didn’t need much, though. Just a small distraction, enough to overpower the man and then alert Thrawn. There had to be a way for him to get away before…
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” the man warned, his voice surprisingly soft. “I can see you’re planning something stupidly reckless and, honestly? I don’t even blame you. He has a way of inspiring loyalty that will make you do those kind of things, but I assure you, there’s no need. I really don’t mean him any harm. The only torture I’ll be putting him through will be my abysmal Cheunh.”
“You know the Chiss language,” Eli said dryly, trying to process what he just heard. He was sure he had never seen the man around Thrawn, and yet he spoke of the Admiral with a familiarity of someone who knew him personally, and with badly concealed fondness at that.
“Some of it. It was supposed to be a mutual exchange, but I guess I got the short end of the stick,” he paused, while Eli just kept staring blankly. “Come on, he never told you how he picked up Basic? I was the one who taught him.”
“He never deemed it important enough to mention.” Eli replied icily. “Besides, when we first met him, we had to resort to communicating mostly in Sy Bisti, you understand.”
“Well, aren’t you adorable,” the man snorted, rolling his eyes. “Now let’s go and get him before he blows up the ship.”
“We are not going anywhere.”
“We are on my ship. I’m the one giving orders here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t quite catch that.” Eli shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Who are you supposed to be, again?”
The man sighed. “Well, as I hoped you have already guessed, I am Nightswan. But please, call me- “, he paused looking at something behind Eli, a tentative smile forming on his lips.
“Jorj.”
Eli started at the sound of Thrawn’s voice. There was a kind of breathless, almost awed quality about it that made him turn and stare at the Admiral in sheer disbelief. Thrawn looked at the man who offhandedly proclaimed himself to be Nightswan, their most notable adversary in the past years, with a mixture of incredulity and wonder. It was such a far cry from the Chiss’ usual cold composure, that Eli wasn’t sure whether to laugh or grab his shoulders and shake him back into normalcy.
“Hello to you, too.” Nightswan took a step forward, and that apparently was enough to wake Thrawn up from his weird stupor.
“I think we are quite done here.” He seemed to have regained his usual cool manner, but after years of observing the Admiral, Eli was able to tell he was still quite shaken. From the small, satisfied smile on Nightswan’s face, it looked like he noticed that, too. “Jorj, if you’d like to join us on the freighter?”
“Excuse me?!” Eli froze mid-step.
“He’s right.” Nightswan shrugged, walking past him. “It’s not safe to talk here. For you, at least”, he hesitated. “And for me as well, since I was supposed to introduce you to my associate, and then most probably kill you, and yet we’re all still here, wasting our time.”
“So instead we’re taking an enemy on the board of an Imperial Star Destroyer,” Eli said incredulously.
“I’ll introduce him as my informant,” Thrawn replied as if that was the problem. “I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as we have the opportunity,” he added placatorily, noticing Eli’s tight expression.
“Well, I think we should at least handcuff him,” muttered Eli.
“Maybe later,” Nightswan winked at him.
Eli shook his head and turned back to Thrawn. “Please, give me one reason why I shouldn’t just arrest him on the spot.”
“Because he’s my friend. And I trust him.”