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>>Cadet graduation, Royal Imperial courtyard<<
Eli glanced over at Thrawn who was peering out at all of the graduating cadets, many of them meeting and rejoining with their families across the courtyard where graduation was taking place. To his surprise, Thrawn had his lips pressed tightly together, the beginnings of a frown on his face.
Eli hesitated, scooting a little closer. “What’s the matter?”
Thrawn glanced at him, the tight line of his lips softening a little. “I do not understand something.”
“What is it?” Eli asked patiently.
Thrawn pressed his lips together again. “The…lip touching. The pressing of lips against an individual's forehead, cheek, or lips. What is that?”
Eli chuckled slightly, smiling. “Kissing sir,” he said, still eyeing him and raising his eyebrows when Thrawn continued frowning and didn’t do his usual ‘ah’ of understanding. “You don’t like it?” He guessed, studying him.
Thrawn carefully shook his head. “No, is it a human custom? Further, is kissing done as a form of affection?”
Eli hummed. “Well, not all humans do it, no. But a vast majority do, even non-human species. It’s a pretty common thing in a lot of different cultures, usually used to show affection between loved ones. There are familial versions of the kissing, as well as romantic ones.”
“What is the difference?” Thrawn, of course, asked, leaving Eli to awkwardly continue his explanation on kissing.
“Well, familial kissing is most of what you see here, kissing on the forehead or cheek. Romantic kissing usually involves a kissing of more intimate areas, like the lips, for one, and…the neck too usually. I mean, it varies from culture to culture and on what is considered romantic or what is not. But most commonly, any form of lip kissing between adults is most likely romantic if we were to look at Coruscant's dominant culture, for example,” he explained, glancing at Thrawn to see him staring at him curiously.
“What of your culture, Ensign Vanto,” he asked, his expression neutral and letting on nothing of his inner thoughts.
Eli sighed, knowing this question was coming. “Well, it’s pretty similar to what I explained. Kissing on the lips isn't common between family, and if it is used it's between a parent and a very young child. So, any form of kissing on the lips, neck, or anywhere under that, is probably romantic.” He blushed a little, probably not needing to add the last part. “And the rest is the same with forehead and face kisses and all,” he said, clearing his throat awkwardly.
Thrawn finally nodded, apparently satisfied for the moment before asking the worst possible question. “What is your opinion on kissing, Ensign Vanto?”
Eli choked a little on nothing but surprise, glancing at Thrawn and trying to control the growing blush he could feel rising to his cheeks. “Um…I don’t mind it, sir,” he said, not daring to look at Thrawn. Thankfully, the conversation topic changed after that, leaving Eli with a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach and his cheeks still slightly warm.
***
>>Overcrowded, disgusting, rundown civilian transport shuttle. Couruscant. Lieutenant Commander Vanto//Admiral Thrawn. Coruscant Ascension Week//aka: The time of THE INCIDENT<<
Eli jerked forward, the crowded civilian shuttle Thrawn and he were standing on taking a jerky stop and nearly causing Eli to stumble despite the hand rail on the ceiling he desperately held in a vice grip. He repositioned himself, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he saw Thrawn smirking slightly at him. He supposed it was only fair, he had teased Thrawn about his loose grip on the hand rail when the man stumbled slightly earlier.
“Wanna switch sides?” Eli said in Sy-Bisti to prevent the other passengers from eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Very well,” Thrawn returned in the same language, accepting Eli’s challenge before letting go of his hand rail and moving over to Eli’s side as Eli walked over to Thrawn’s.
“Now you get to see how bad my side was,” Eli said, grumbling.
Thrawn shook his head. “I would like to argue my side was worse. You simply may not have noticed because of my superior strength and biology.”
Eli rolled his eyes, Thrawn pressing his lips together in a clear attempt to stop himself from smirking again. Eli, against himself, also had to prevent himself from smiling. He had to try pretty hard not to let on to the fact he found that joke funny, even if by the smirk on Thrawn’s face it seemed Thrawn already knew.
Right then the shuttle jerked again, causing Thrawn to stumble forward slightly.
Eli laughed loudly at him, completely unashamed. “What was that about uh…superior somethin?’” He asked with a wide smirk of his own.
In an event that caught them both by surprise, the shuttle then took a sudden, unexpected stop. Eli stumbled forward yet again, the force of the stop causing him to lose his grip on the overhead handle. Unlike Eli, Thrawn caught himself right before he fell backwards, leading Eli to collide into his chest a moment later with a surprising amount of force. Thrawn’s fingers slipped on the overhead railing, causing them both to fall to the ground with almost all of the other formerly standing passengers. As they fell Eli grabbed Thrawn’s uniform, unintentionally pulling himself against him as they fell and causing their lips to briefly press together as they hit the ground in an uncomfortably rough kiss.
Eli’s eyes widened as he made uncomfortable eye contact with Thrawn. He quickly scrambled up, staring at Thrawn who was in turn staring ahead at the transport's ceiling like a Tooka who had a bright light shined in their eyes. Eli just stared back silently, unsure if he should offer Thrawn a hand or leave him to lay there and process. “Thrawn…sir?” He eventually murmured, Thrawn slowly sitting up and looking at Eli with raised eyebrows. “I’m sorry,” Eli said, holding out a hand to Thrawn who took it gently before standing. “I…I really didn't mean to- look, I’m sorry I-”
Eli paused his rambling as he heard Thrawn huff slightly at him before smiling minutely. “Well…” Thrawn began.
“Sorry,” Eli said again, coughing into his hand in a pitiful attempt to hide the deep infrared glow he knew was covering his entire face at this point.
“It was an accident,” Thrawn said reassuringly.
“You’re not traumatized?” Eli dared to ask, grabbing the hand rail above his head before there was another incident.
“Why would I be?” Thrawn asked, looking at him intently as he also grabbed Eli’s hand rail, his eyes scanning Eli’s face and body quickly. Eli shrugged a bit, their close proximity and Thrawn’s weirdly intense examination not helping him feel any better about the situation. “I remind you again that it was only an accident. I do not hold ill will toward you because of it,” he said, Eli relaxing a bit in return.
Or at least, he was relaxed before he saw a few people in the transport looking at them. “What?” Eli suddenly asked in basic, anyone looking quickly averting their gaze.
***
Faro replayed the video on her holo-pad, Hammerly hovering next to her as they both tried not to laugh. They watched with baited breath as the holorecording of Eli falling on top of Thrawn on the public transport replayed, both of them unable to contain their laughter as they watched Eli pull away and reveal a traumatized looking Thrawn.
“Dear gods, that’s the best part!” Hammerly cried, wiping at her eyes as Faro replayed that part of the clip again.
Faro spoke the best she could through her laughter. “It’s just the way he lays there. He short-circuited,” she joked, both of them having to muffle their laughter with their sleeve or shirt as they watched the clip play through to the part where Thrawn was helped back up.
“I feel bad saying it, but it’s no wonder the holo-news picked up on this,” Hammerly said, trying to catch her breath.
“Picked up on what, exactly?” Came the voice of Admiral Thrawn behind them, both of them jumping slightly and standing to attention. Faro quickly hid the holo-pad behind her back as she stared at them.
“Nothing of importance, Admiral Thrawn, Sir,” Faro said quickly, shivering slightly when Thrawn raised an eyebrow. The longer he stared the more Faro realized she was going to have to fess up; awkwardness had no effect on Thrawn. Faro sighed. “There is a video…circulating…umm…are you sure you want to know, sir?”
“I do,” Thrawn said, holding out his hand.
Hammerly visibly cringled next to her, Faro handing over the holo-pad as she also died internally. Thrawn stared at the holo-pad, replaying the video and staring at it with a blank expression. Hammerly and her held their breaths, watching him closely for any negative reaction before being shocked when Faro saw Thrawn smile ever so slightly, a small, amused huff escaping him. “This is very amusing,” he finally said, Hammerly stuttering next to her.
“You aren’t made, sir?” Hammerly asked quickly.
Thrawn hesitated. “I am only disappointed you were not working on what was meant to be worked on, Commander Hammerly” he informed before doing something that baffled Faro. "Lieutenant Commander Vanto?” He called, Faro watching with wide eyes as Eli made his way over with a smile, of course not ever too far away from Thrawn.
“Yes, sir?” He asked, looking between them as he smiled slightly, cluelessly.
Thrawn turned and handed him the holo-pad, Faro suppressing a groan as Eli looked at it for a moment before his eyes widened. “Is this…”
Eli did not need to finish before Thrawn nodded. “A slightly compromising video, yes.” He paused. “I personally found it rather amusing.”
Eli choked, his face slightly pinkish. “Amusing? Sir…I was under the impression this would be embarrassing.”
“Why would you be embarrassed over a mistake? Or are you embarrassed because you were not strong enough to rebalance yourself?” Thrawn asked, Eli rolling his eyes slightly in a way Faro would have never dared to.
“Sir,” he said with a bit of amusement. “You aren’t worried about how this looks for us?”
Thrawn thought for a moment. “I assume this is the moment you inform me that this video is more politically compromising than I originally assumed it to be.”
Eli nodded with a sympathetic frown. “Give them a little and they’ll take a lot,” he quoted the familiar phrase, Thrawn apparently familiar with this one and nodding with a small ‘ah.’
“I believe I understand,” Thrawn said. “You are saying some may see the video and assume more of our relationship than necessary.”
Vanto coughed a little and hid his face momentarily in the way he did when he was embarrassed before nodding. “Exactly that, sadly,” he said, sighing as he looked back at the video. “At least it was an accident. They don’t have much to go off of.”
Thrawn suddenly grabbed the holo-pad out of his hand. “I still stand by my earlier conclusion,” he said, Vanto waiting for him to continue with a raised eyebrow. “This video is amusing,” he said, Eli groaning and covering his face in a way that made both Faro and Hammerly need to stifle their laughter.
Faro carefully took the holo-pad back from Thrawn when he handed it to her. “My apologies, sir,” she made sure to say. “Commander Hammerly and I will return to our duties.”
Thrawn nodded to her. “Make sure of it,” he said before leading Vanto away with him.
***
Eli glanced at Thrawn who sat next to him on the couch in their joint quarters, the holo-film they were watching picturing a rather graphic kissing scene Eli had been certain Thrawn would have looked away from by now.
Eli really couldn’t explain how they got here, only that earlier that night Thrawn knocked on his door and asked (looked at him with the eyes of a wounded animal before looking at the floor in utter, somehow still stoic sadness when Eli almost decided to continue working) to watch it with him. Thrawn did not share many reasons as to why exactly he wanted to watch it, only that he thought it would help him further understand some aspect of human culture; the aspect he was referring to, Eli was quickly learning, may very well have been some kind of romance. They were near the end of the film, the film that ended up being so much more romantic and emotional than Eli would have expected it to be. If he was honest with himself, he actually quite enjoyed it. It had been a long time since he had sat down and watched a holo-film, much less next to someone else. That said, most regular people didn’t pause the film every ten minutes and ask a long list of questions. Despite this, however, Eli supposed he was a little more fond of this trait then he would ever let on, and so, didn’t mind terribly.
Back to the present, Thrawn continued to stare at the screen, his head tilted and his expression showing mild fascination. Eli found himself a bit taken aback, now blatantly staring at Thrawn instead of the screen. “Vanto?” He suddenly asked, Eli jumping next to him.
Thrawn huffed, the corners of his lips rising ever so slightly. “Is something the matter?” He asked, sounding a bit amused.
“No, not at all,” he said. “You got a question?”
“Yes,” Thrawn confirmed bluntly, pausing the holofilm before suddenly hesitating. “Perhaps not,” he then said, reaching for the small remote again.
“What is it?” Eli asked, now more than curious.
Thrawn grabbed the remote, sitting back against the couch and holding it in his lap. “After more reflection I deemed it inappropriate to ask.”
Eli narrowed his eyes, trying to imagine what it was Thrawn could possibly want to ask him. “Do you not wanna ask because you decided you don’t want an answer or because you think you’ll make me uncomfortable?”
“That I will make you uncomfortable," Thrawn responded, now looking at him directly again.
Eli smiled a bit, shrugging. “I doubt it could be too bad. It’s not like you haven’t known me for years anyhow. Shoot,” he said.
Thrawn was silent for a short moment before speaking. “It was about…kissing,” Thrawn informed, Eli blushing slightly already against himself but unwilling to back down from his previous statement.
“Go ahead,” he informed despite his slight regret over letting Thrawn continue. He was supposed to be hiding his crush, not giving Thrawn’s hints as to its existence.
“You once informed me that kissing was a part of your culture, correct?” Thrawn asked, Eli nodding slightly in confirmation. “Have you ever kissed anymore?” He asked, staring at him with thinly veiled curiosity that Eli didn’t quite understand the origin of.
He coughed awkwardly, averting his gaze as he stared off at the far wall. “I have…”
“Did you like kissing?” Thrawn asked, his gaze causing Eli to suppress a shiver.
Eli thought a moment before shrugging slightly. “Yes and no,” he finally answered, looking back at Thrawn. “How in depth of an explanation do you want?”
“As deep as you’ll give me,” Thrawn murmured, Eli giving up on any attempt to hide the heat on his face.
“Well, it’s not like I dislike the idea of kissing, but I’ve never really done it with the right person. Uh…so, a bit of a mixed experience,” he explained, Thrawn nodding slightly.
“I see,” he said, looking to the side thoughtfully. “Thank you,” he said, starting the film again and leaving Eli to wonder if that was really all Thrawn had wanted to ask. He turned back to the film as well, trying to focus on it and being unable to as his mind continuously returned to the meaning behind Thrawn’s question.
When the film neared the end Eli glanced at Thrawn, his courage finally built enough to ask the question that had been sitting on his tongue. “Why do you find kissing so intriguing?" he asked, watching Thrawn closely.
Thrawn stared thoughtfully ahead before answering. “It is a form of open human expression, another way to show emotion without words.” He paused. “I simply…find the idea of showing emotions in such an intimate way intriguing," he said, glancing at him.
Eli smiled ever so slightly. “I like that about it too.”
***
Something had changed, and Faro couldn’t decide if it was for better or for worse. Admiral Thrawn, for starters, had been in a shockingly good mood. Things he would normally nitpick seemed to be going unnoticed as his usual stoic expression was now more often than not replaced by a slight smile when he seemed to think no one was looking at him. Not only that, it seemed she knew the root cause of such distraction, Lieutenant Commander Vanto.
Faro had not thought it possible for them to be together more than they already had been. She caught them often smiling at each other across the bridge during times they were separated and then being insufferable when they were reunited again. She often caught them smiling and laughing quietly together during moments they got to communicate one on one. And then there was that stupid look Eli gave Thrawn, his own little version of a fond smile she had never seen him give anyone but Thrawn. It was not as if she had not seen Vanto give the man that smile in the past, but it was a bit more rare than it was now, as it truly was nearly constant now.
She had her suspicions as to what was going on, suspicions that revolved around a certain bet that she was also certain that she would win if she wasn’t as loyal as she was to protecting her blissfully and annoyingly distracted co-workers. The truth was, even if her sneaking suspicion that some kind of deeper…fraternization…was going on between Thrawn and Vanto, she would never be able to tell on them and risk both of their well-being. It was infuriating, but she had made her mind up on the subject a long while ago.
On the mental subject of Thrawn and Vanto, she had not seen either of them in quite some time, their quarters seemingly empty, neither of them anywhere on the bridge, nor in the messhall. She sighed, comming Vanto this time instead of Thrawn and rolling her eyes when she got nothing once again. They were very peacefully in hyperspace, but she had to let herself be a little annoyed over the idea that the disregard of comms currently was a safety risk.
She walked through the halls to the private meeting chamber, deciding that if anything else Thrawn and Vanto could be analyzing art there privately; that possibly explaining the current disuse of their comms. She arrived there, keying open the door in annoyance before freezing.
***
“It’s just an accident,” Eli murmured amusedly, kissing Thrawn again as they laid on the floor, Eli on top of Thrawn as they recreated what Thrawn had described as ‘the art of the scene.’
It was interesting, mentally tracing back the steps that led them to be laying on the top of the meeting room table. The only explanation he could really offer is that their conversation about art had gotten a little too in depth as they discussed the different forms of art and the ‘many ways it showed itself in life,’ as Thrawn had put it. Of course, Thrawn had really been referencing the ‘incident’ when he said that, and how it had awakened him to a new form of accidental art. Eli remembered him saying something about the ‘art of emotion.’
Back to the present, Thrawn smiled back at him, a genuine show of emotion Eli was always happy to somehow manage to retrieve from the other man.
“Completely an accident," Thrawn agreed.
“I keep fallin,’” Eli joked, Thrawn huffing at him again as Eli kissed him with a stupid smile.
“I assure you it is nothing to be ashamed of. Humans simply….do not have the superior strength that the chiss-”
“Yeah yeah,” Eli grumbled, rolling his eyes. “I really feel immersed in the ‘art of the scene’ now.”
Thrawn smiled a little more, showing his teeth for a brief moment. “I do not really mean it,” he admitted, watching him closely.
“I know,” Eli said, sitting up slightly. “I know that y-”
“You’ve ruined it,” Thrawn suddenly declared, frowning a bit.
“What?” Eli asked in confusion.
“The art of the scene,” Thrawn said and looked away, Eli rolling his eyes so far back he may have seen his brain.
“Kryat-spit, just ask me to start kissin’ you again,” he said, leaning down and kissing Thrawn before he could think of any excuses.
They were mid-makeout when Eli heard a loud gasp that caused him to jump slightly before he gained back his senses and looked in the direction it came from. He held completely still as he saw Faro staring at them from the entrance of the meeting chamber, a shocked expression on her now slightly red face. “What is-” She choked. “Be more subtle next time!” She yelled before turning and storming out of the room.
Eli slowly looked back at Thrawn who was staring at him with a similar, surprised expression, his eyes widened a bit in a manner that made him look like a surprised tooka…just like he had that one day on the transport….
“Hey,” Eli said, breaking the silence and already regretting his next words. “In a way, Faro represents the passengers who were staring at us after we kissed on the transport.” There was another long moment of silence before Eli continued. “Art of the scene,” he whispered awkwardly.
Slowly, Thrawn smiled. “Art of the scene indeed.” He paused. “Also, we should most likely endeavor to speak to Faro as soon as possible.”
“Fine,” he grumbled and rolled off of Thrawn before accidentally rolling too far and falling off of the table with a loud thud.
“Interesting that you fell again.” Silence. ”Art of the scene…”