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“You don’t have to do this right now” They had been here for fifteen minutes already, and Thrawn was yet to move.
“Yes I do” Thrawn says. He smooths his hair back out of his face and ties it back with a band. Eli had offered to cut Thrawn’s hair numerous times since his return from exile, and each time he was refused. “I am required to practise once a day”
Eli anxiously chews the inside of his cheek. “I meant, we could wait after lunch. Get something from the hospital cafe downstairs. Maybe something in your stomach will help”
Thrawn gives him a droll look. “Yes, because I heard stale hospital sandwiches are the must have fix for long lasting spinal injuries” He bit, turning back to stare at the beams.
Eli sighs. Thrawn had turned from sad to hopeful to sour since his return to the Ascendancy. Eli could hardly blame him, and he would put up with any foul behaviour from Thrawn since he got him back. But it was tiring; Thrawn had become a great lover of sarcasm and was prone to great flare ups that had Eli avoiding him for hours. Considering they shared a one bedroom, this was exceedingly difficult.
“Please, if I am interrupting your eating schedule then go ahead, I can call a medic in to take your place. It does not have to be you” Thrawn waves a dismissive hand at him. Eli closes his eyes and counts to ten. Like Thrawn would ever prefer a stranger to touch his body. Thrawn still hissed at the nurses whenever they came to take his blood. For a murderer the man was very squeamish.
“Nope, let’s do this” Eli stood up and rubbed his hands together quickly. “Arms up”
Thrawn politely raises his arms. Eli slots his hands underneath his armpits and raises him out of his wheelchair. This once impossible feat was all too easy now. Years of malnourishment had made Thrawn bone thin. The time back in the Ascendancy hadn’t improved this. Hospital IV’s and Eli’s home cooked food and screaming hadn’t helped. Eli showered him every morning and could still count his ribs. Thrawn liked to close his eyes when Eli did this; he had whispered to Eli once that it helps him pretend he is invisible.
Thrawn’s hands grab the twin beams that stood about a yard apart.
“Are you good?” Eli asks.
“I am alright” Thrawn lets his feet touch the ground lightly and Eli carefully lets go. He hears a small hiss coming from Thrawn.
“Are you okay?” Eli asks, alarmed.
“I am fine, my Eli. This is part of the process” Thrawn’s breathing was regulated and slow, breath in and breath out, in and out.
“Don’t rush this, you ain’t gonna be able to speed run this stuff”
“I forgot you were a medic” Thrawn’s left foot moves perhaps just short of an inch. His arms tremble slightly. “I made it five steps yesterday, I shall be able to do more today”
Eli exhales slowly. “I am right behind you love” His hands rested mere inches from Thrawn’s waist, ready to catch him at a moment’s notice.
Another slight shift of his foot. Another wince that Thrawn attempts to hide. Thrawn exhales and his grip on the beams becomes tight. He lifts his right foot completely off of the ground and places it back down.
“Good job” Eli leans forward and presses a kiss to Thrawn’s clothed shoulder.
“You do not need to patronise me” Thrawn snaps. Then stops. “Sorry my love. You know I do not mean it”
“I know” Eli does know, and it is why he doesn’t care whatever insults Thrawn hurls away. It is not about him at all.
Thrawn braces and prepares to take another step with his left foot. His hands shift an inch further down the beams.
“One, two, three” Thrawn mutters under his breath. And his left foot takes a step.
His arms tense and begin to shake slightly. Eli heard a small groan. Eli’s hands brush Thrawn’s waist. Thrawn is tense under his touch.
“You still doing alright, darlin’?” He asks worriedly.
“I am fine” Thrawn breathes. The shaking off his arms begins to rattle the beams. His knuckles were white. “No, I am not fine. Help me off, please”
Eli does not need to be told again. He grabs Thrawn by the shoulders and Thrawn lets go. He rather inelegantly hauls Thrawn into his wheelchair, his feet dragging across the ground. Thrawn sits in his wheelchair, limp as a doll. He doesn’t meet Eli’s eyes.
Eli rushed off the ship to the small encampment off the edge of the woods. He ignores Vah’nya’s calls. This was it. Near a water source, near natural shelter. The smashed corpse of the Chimaera on the horizon. Two years of searching, of deep space scans. Getting more and more desperate until he broke a statue in Ba’kif’s office. He had finally done it.
The camp was lonely. Only two figures; one was standing, one was lying down. Eli’s face broke into a wide grin. He knew that figure; he would know that person anywhere. He ignores the gangly teenager asking who the hell he was and kneels down in the mud and embraces Thrawn tightly. He feels the arms wrapping around his own back tightly.
“Sweetheart” He whispered into Thrawn’s ears. “Finally fucking found you, I never gave up hope, not once”
“My Eli” Thrawn whispered in response. Eli broke out of the embrace, grinning.
“Thrawn” Eli looked down and frowned. Thrawn’s legs were bound tightly together at the calves with leaves and twine. “Wha-” Eli looked at him in confusion and Thrawn wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“I made five steps yesterday” Thrawn whispers. “Five”
“And you made two today” Eli caresses Thrawn’s cheek.
“I will try again tomorrow” Thrawn says, determined. But he finally looks up into Eli’s eyes and Eli can see that his heart wasn’t in it. That spark of hope was getting dimmer by the day. “You are free to drive me, yes?”
“Of course I will be here” Eli squats down to Thrawn’s eye level. He pulls Thrawn’s hair out of the band so it falls in soft waves around his face. He kisses Thrawn softly. Thrawn doesn’t return the kiss. Eli doesn’t mind.
“Let’s go home” Eli stands behind Thrawn’s chair and pushes him out of the room.