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Shore leave was almost always exclusively on planets that were hot. Thrawn understood this, even accepted it: Humans were a heat loving species. Even the ones that heralded from cold worlds couldn't resist the sunshine. The more sunshine the better, and what was sunshine without water as warm as a bath to frolic and lay next to? Thrawn would never understand but he wasn't upset by it either.
He didn't see the point of taking shore leave outside of one's quarters anyway. Give him a holo projector and a data chip with art and he was happy anywhere. Because of this Thrawn usually declined shore leave. It was nice: the ship was quiet, and he was on half duty, which was quite relaxing. His fellow crewmen came back, their skin a shade darker and their attitudes joyful.
This time he decided to see what the fuss was all about.
The last beach Thrawn had been to had been covered in ice. He had been six years old and had held a fishing pole in his hand. Now he stood in a short sleeved sun shirt and shorts, a wide brimmed hat atop his head. He looked at his half buried feet, the white sand dusting the tops of them making his blue skin look dry.
“Do you tan sir?” Faro asked.
He shrugged, making her smile.
“Well, I guess we'll find out,” she said, patting him on the shoulder and walking off.
He decided to take a walk along the water's edge. The water is not cool by his standards, but it was certainly cooler, and the contrast between it and the air temperature was pleasing. Thrawn found he also enjoyed the sound of the waves.
He found a spot under a tree. Its long, frond-like leaves offered more shade than one would think, wispy and delicate looking as they were. Out of the sun, the air felt warm but with none of the sharp edges. It made him feel drowsy and he found himself dozing off.
Thrawn had never fallen asleep in public, and he tried to keep himself awake. But as he looked across the beach, he saw many people doing exactly as he was, resting blissfully along the water’s edge, without any concern at all. Thrawn thought that this must be what people who lived on warm planets did. There was something about the heat that made one comfortably lazy. He gave up and snoozed.
When he slowly woke sometime later, he felt more rested than he had in years. He decided then that warm plants weren't all bad, he could see why his fellow crewmen enjoyed shore leave.