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“Eli Vanto..”
Eli glanced up from his datapad; they only had two more months to complete their studies, and none of their instructors were taking it easy on them. "Yeah?"
Thrawn was stretched out on his bed, staring at his own datapad, his cheeks slightly flushed and brow furrowed. “This term - ‘Covering Fire’..” He tapped the line of text, the words said with a distinct tone of concern.
Eli swiveled his chair away from his desk to more fully face Thrawn. “Yeah? What, Chiss don’t have a concept for covering fire?” That seemed extremely unlikely - so far as he knew, the tactic was ubiquitous across all militaries. It was basic stuff, on land or in space.
“Of course we do.” Thrawn half turned his head, eyeing Eli briefly. “It is hardly something we need to be taught in our advanced schooling, though. Only small children still need to be reminded to use it on a daily basis. The rest of us have mastered its use long before this point.”
Eli blinked. He knew the Chiss were renowned, legendary warriors - but their children knew and utilized covering fire every day? Thrawn’s home was far more warlike than he had ever imagined it to be. “What situations can possibly pop up for your young children that covering fire is an everyday need?”
Scoffing, Thrawn turned back to his datapad, his cheeks flushing even darker as he stared at the screen. “We are not emotionless droids, Eli Vanto. How does your society not fall apart if your people do not learn the necessity of covering fire until young adulthood?”
Confused, Eli blinked. What did emotions have to do with it? “I’ve never had to use covering fire. Most of us never do, I’d bet; its just not a situation that most people find themselves in.”
Thrawn hunched his shoulders, uncomfortable. He was quiet long enough that Eli assumed he had moved on and turned back to his own reading. A few moments passed before he heard Thrawn respond, his words almost inaudibly soft. “I have had to use it every day I am here.”
Eli looked up again, brow furrowing. Every day..? That wasn’t right. “Wait. Are we using the same term..?”
“Ibembi imyve onkenyku?” Thrawn asked, the Sy Bisti coming haltingly from his lips.
Eli shook his head. “No.. Okheve ymlolu. Firing weapons to cover the movement of troops.” The two phrases were vastly different. His was a literal translation of the Basic words ‘Cover Fire’, but Thrawn’s meant...
Oh.
Oh.
The Chiss was determinedly keeping from making eye contact, staring at his datapad. “I see. In my native tongue, covering fire means.. “
“.. To hold back your desires?” Eli supplied, translating Thrawn’s Sy Bisti to Basic.
“Yes. Simple wants in the young. More... complex desires as one gets older. Covering one’s fire.”
Eli set down his datapad and got to his feet, then took the few steps it took to get to Thrawn’s bed. He looked down at the Chiss, who was still refusing to look back. “And you have to cover your fire every day, huh?” he asked in a low tone. Thrawn swallowed and said nothing, nodding his head minutely. “Is that 'cause of someone in particular?” Eli’s accent thickened as he spoke, his heart starting to race. Thrawn nodded again, holding his datapad tightly. “It is ‘cause of me, Thrawn?” Eli drawled, plucking the device from the Chiss’s fingers, brushing them with his own as he did so. Thrawn flinched like the touch burned, his eyes wide and staring. He nodded a third time, then risked a quick glance up. Eli was standing with his hands gripping the top bunk, hip canted to one side, his skin flushed and eyes dark, crawling over Thrawn’s prone form. He reached down to cup one purple-blue cheek, guiding Thrawn's face and attention up to focus on himself. “And what if I didn’t want you to hold it back? What if I wanted you to let it run wild?”
Eyes flashing with sudden hunger now that he realized his deep-running desires were, in fact, reciprocated, Thrawn closed his hand around Eli’s wrist and pulled him down onto the bed, their mouths meeting in a searing, desperate kiss. The space wasn’t large; when Thrawn rolled himself on top of Eli they bumped up against the wall, but the impact was all but ignored as they ground their hips against each other in desperation. Thrawn rumbled as he leaned down to sample Eli’s lips again and again - Eli moaned softly between kisses as Thrawn moved from his mouth to his neck, his lips pressing and teeth closing on warm, sensitive skin. They began to pull off their clothes and flinging them across the room, the garments neither needed nor wanted for the time being.
Thank the stars, Eli absently thought as Thrawn's hands slowly ran along his naked flesh, and his own fingers sunk into dark, soft hair, for misinterpretation.