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So, that was it. That was finally it. The much rumored about, sought after retirement.
When Eli woke up in the morning, he found with disappointment he didn’t feel any different than the morning before. As usual, Thrawn had woken up before him, and had already placed his cup of caf on the nightstand. After all these years, their routine remained the same. Eli stretched, and, with the cup in hand, walked off to the kitchen where Thrawn was standing, looking through the window.
Normally, Eli would ask him what his tasks for the day were. With that off the table, however, he simply settled for a hug from behind. Thrawn leaned into him a bit, arching his neck until their eyes met. As he smiled, a few wrinkles showed on his face. Eli kissed each and every one of them.
“What do you want to do today?”
“The weather seems nice,” Thrawn remarked. “Would you like to take a walk with me after breakfast?”
“Sure,” Eli replied; then it dawned on him. Breakfast. That they couldn’t rely on the mess for any longer. “Care for scrambled eggs?” Thrawn shrugged.
It went like this after that. One day turned into two, two days into two weeks, until Eli could no longer keep count of them.
Until one morning he woke up to no caf, but also no Thrawn.
Eli made his way to the kitchen, even as all his cells were rushing him to go back to sleep, his eyelids drooping. Thrawn was sitting there, hovering over some book at the table. Intrigued, Eli went to look over his shoulder. “Mo-,” he stopped to yawn, “-orning. Care for scrambled-”
“Absolutely not,” Thrawn cut him off sternly. “I’d sooner fight the Grysks than eat that for breakfast another day.”
“Oh- okay…well, it’s been what we’ve been making every day.”
“Because it’s one of the few breakfast foods we can make,” Thrawn groaned. Eli rested his hands on Thrawn’s shoulders. “I need real food, Eli. And something to do. I know all the possible walking routes by heart now! It’s all we ever do!”
“I see,” he said, massaging that space between the man’s shoulder blades which had been giving him pain since he’d turned forty. “That’s a lot of issues you listed, though. You think this recipe book would solve them?”
Thrawn sighed. “I guess not, but it’s a start. I could also cook you something special? I found a section on date night ideas in here. Who says we can’t have them for breakfast?”
Given that they were in retirement, no one. How could Eli say no to it then?
“Well, I’ll leave breakfast to you then,” he said, turning around.
“One more thing,” Thrawn called out after him, “your caf’s on the counter.”
Eli grabbed it with a smile and hurried out.
Thrawn started spending more time in the kitchen after that, always with those recipe books. Eli tried not to let it bother him, but with no other crew members around, the loneliness slowly began creeping in. He needed something for himself too, a start. Fine, Eli thought. If Thrawn could do it, then so could he.
He dropped the bomb a few days afterwards at the breakfast table, when Ar’alani had come to visit.
“You want to do what now?” If Eli had transformed into a sea monster before him, it was doubtful Thrawn would have been more shocked. “Math classes at the uni?” Ar’alani, on the other hand, was covering her smile with a napkin, out of politeness’s sake.
“I thought you two weren’t going to be making any plans during retirement?”
“It’s not a plan!” They protested at the same time.
“Well, it sure does sound like one to me,” she giggled. “But what do I know, I’m not part of the retirement group yet…”
“What a pity,” Thrawn said. “It’s truly an exciting experience.” He cleared his throat. “Anyhow, any thoughts on today’s breakfast?”
Pure mathematics included far more than the statistics he’d studied as a supply officer, some good he-didn’t-want-to-calculate-how-many years ago. Luckily, the classes were online, so the professor wouldn’t be able to tell by his facial expressions the difficulties he sometimes faced.
Or that he was old enough to be her grandfather.
Thrawn’s warm breath against his ear redirected his attention. “What class is it?”
“Algebraic geometry."
“Right,” Thrawn said, “well, while that’s picking your brain, perhaps you could do with picking at this?” He placed a plate of his newest culinary masterpiece before Eli. In exchange, Eli took his hand before Thrawn could retrieve it, and planted a few kisses on the palm.
“You know, with that cooking inspiration of yours, it may be wise to invest in some gym equipment.” Eli said, as he felt Thrawn’s other hand wrap around his midsection. Thank the Force for online classes.
“That would be doable. Should this be our next non-plan?”