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Samakro was in a poor mood. The mess hall wasn’t very full, but it was near the end of latemeal service and the offerings were becoming increasingly slim. Thrawn had been both unusually critical and obtuse all shift, and kept him busy with irritating and unneeded tasks well past his usual mealtime. Samakro was in no mood for further nonsense. Only one thing was keeping him calm at the moment: the rapidly dwindling slices of cho’klat cake. It was only available once a month, first come, first serve. There were four people in front of him in line, and five slices remaining.
He reviewed his busywork report as the line slowly moved, until he found himself in front of the tray with the single piece of cake left on it. Rumbling happily to himself, Samakro pocketed his questis and reached out to take the slice… only to see a pale blue hand reach past him and snatch the plate away. Baring his teeth, Samakro turned to see Thrawn standing there, a slim smile on his face as he shoved the slice of cake in his mouth, then licked the frosting from his fingers as Samakro stared, silenced by sheer incredulity.
“Senior Captain’s prerogative, Mid Captain. When you get a ship, you can get the last piece of cake. Until then..” Thrawn shrugged, then gestured with a cho’klaty finger to the jellied fruit cups. He said something else - Samakro could hear that words were being said, but couldn't tell what they were over the high tone sounding in his ears. His vision narrowed until all he saw was Thrawn, his lips still bearing traces of frosting. Both men were shocked when Samakro’s fist seemed to propel itself forward of its own volition, landing a solid hit on Thrawn’s jaw that sent him staggering backward, eyes wide.
The other Chiss still waiting in line scattered. This was a long time coming, they knew. And from the look of unbridled bliss on Samakro’s face, he had zero regrets.
Until Thrawn straightened, hissed, and launched himself at the other man.
He was fast, and had reach; for every hit Samakro landed, Thrawn landed two. Samakro had the advantage of strength, though, and what hits he did land were enough to push Thrawn further and further back into the mess. The fight moved around tables and into the corridor, blood flying from split knuckles and lips. This wasn’t an elegant sparring match, this was a knock down, drag out fight. Thrawn managed to bring Samakro to the floor and the two were struggling for a dominant position when a glacial voice rang out.
“Just what exactly do you two think you’re doing?”
Both men froze, two pairs of eyes darting up to where Aralani stood, clearly livid. Thrawn was on his back and had Samakro in a headlock while simultaneously trying to bury the heel of his boot in the man’s crotch; Samakro had a great fistful of Thrawn’s hair, wrenching his head as far as possible while grinding his other elbow into Thrawn’s ribs and trying to protect himelf from that heel with his thigh. They released each other immediately and scrambled unsteadily to their feet. Samakro swayed slightly, his eye rapidly swelling shut with blood pouring out his nose; Thrawn kept his weight off his left leg, supporting himself with his hand against the wall and blinking in a way that suggested he was trying to focus the four furious Admirals standing before him into a single figure. He opened his mouth but was silenced with a single, scathing glance.
“This is not what I expected when you invited me over to the Springhawk for direct consultation, Senior Captain Thrawn. Senior Commander Kharill!”
Kharill, lingering behind the Admiral, snapped to attention.
“Ma’am!”
“You will take command while Senior Captain Thrawn and Mid Captain Samakro report directly to Medbay. They must be suffering some sort of short-term insanity, because I cannot fathom a single reason why the most senior officers of this ship would be brawling like children in the halls otherwise. After they are cleared, they will report to the Brig as they clearly need some time to reflect on their actions.”
Samakro opened his mouth this time, and Aralani silenced him with another glare. "DISMISSED."
Turning, the two men limped their way to the lift in silence.
------
Samakro’s mouth opened and closed again, his face purple from both bruises and rage.
"Excuse me?”
“I said, thank you, Mid Captain. You played your part perfectly.”
“Are you.. You’re… you needled me all day, you intentionally tried to get me to lose my temper, all so you could be sent to medbay?”
“Indeed.” Thrawn glanced up to make sure no medical staff were coming, then continued rifling through the medical supplies in the presently-unlocked drawer.
“Thrawn.. You're the Commander of this ship, You could have just come down here and asked to see whatever you want whenever you want to!” Samakro hissed the words out.
Thrawn must have found what he was looking for, as he pocketed something Samakro didn’t see and returned to his seat next to his First Officer, shaking his head with amusement.
“Ah, but then my want to be here would be obvious, Mid Captain. This way, I have many witnesses that can show I had no interest nor intent to be in medbay this evening.” He seemed very pleased with himself.
Samakro could hardly keep the growl out of his voice.
“And the impending stay in the brig?”
Thrawn paused, considering.
“I am sorry about that, Mid Captain. It will only be for a night or two. And in the grand scheme, this is hardly an important or lasting mark on your service record. It was not critical to the plan, but I do admit I knew it was a likely, unavoidable result.”
Samakro’s hand curled into a fist, trembling with the effort to hold back. Thrawn was right - after a year or so, the minor infraction would be meaningless. After a year or so, he might also be done being pissed off about the whole thing. When he released the punch this time, there was nothing unintentional about the strike. Thrawn looked up at Samakro, blinking from his new position sprawled on the floor, then stood back up and prudently sat two seats down from the other man.
“Yes. I anticipated that would be a likely, unavoidable result as well.”
Samakro massaged his temples.
“Thrawn, just.. Shut up. Please.”
For once in his life, Thrawn listened.