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"Eli," Thrawn stood stiffly in their conjoined quarters. "Where is the pool on this ship?"
Eli, who was lounging on his bunk, looked over his datapad at Thrawn. "Sir?" He asked, by way of clarification. "Generally they don't have swimming facilities on battleships. Especially ones this size."
Thrawn flexed his knees, his shoulders a tense line. "Perhaps I misspoke," he said after a few moments. "I am looking for a bath."
"To bathe in, sir?" Thrawn gave Eli a flat look. Eli flushed. "No, I mean do you want a bath for cleanliness? They don't have…. well you see, sir there's only showers on board. And all of them are sonic. I think only the highest ranked officers get water showers."
Thrawn blinked and something flashed briefly across his face. "There are no tubs on board?" he asked, a surprising amount of brittleness in his tone.
Eli stared, his mind trying to catch up and process whatever weird Chiss thing this was now. Eli had been with Thrawn long enough to not be surprised by weird. But wanting to take a bath out of the blue in the middle of their deployment had to be the strangest. "Sir, can you tell me what you need the tub for?" Eli asked, trying to understand and maybe get to the bottom of this.
Thrawn took a tight breath through his nose and let it out in a huff. "No," he answered curtly. He turned and retreated through their shared fresher to his room.
Eli raised his eyebrows and blinked a few times before shrugging and picking up his datapad once more.
The next morning Eli lay in bed listening for the sound of Thrawn in the fresher getting ready for the day. Any second now he would hear the sound of the sink turning on, the faint buzz of the sonic, some indication that Thrawn was up and about. Eli looked at his chrono, it was getting late. Thrawn better hurry up or they were going to be late for their shift. Finally Eli couldn't wait any longer; he got up and entered the fresher himself. Like always, Thrawn's door was slightly ajar. Surprisingly the room was darkened and still.
"Sir?" Eli called hesitantly. No response.
Eli walked over to the door and poked his head in. Thrawn was still in bed, a lump under the covers. "Sir!" Eli said, taken aback. "We're going to be late if you don't get out of bed." Eli blushed at his own forwardness but Thrawn didn't seem upset. Hell, Thrawn didn't even seem responsive. "Sir," Eli said again, worry raising his voice an octave. "Are you all right?
Eli surged into the room and as he did so he got a better look at Thrawn. The man was huddled under the sheets, curled in a ball around himself. Eli hesitated, then placed a gentle hand on Thrawn's shoulder. "Sir," he said tentatively. "We are going to be late if we don't get ready now."
Thrawn’s eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath, momentary confusion on his features, before his face fell into a more neutral expression. "Apologies ensign," he said. "I appear to have…" his voice trailed off and he blinked a few times. "I will get ready," he eventually said.
That whole shift Thrawn was off. He was stiff and distracted, alternating between staring out in the distance and staring at his data pad blankly as if he had forgotten Basic.
By the end of the day Eli was concerned enough to confront him. He ambushed him in their shared fresher. Where Thrawn appeared to be looking at his stomach sideways in the mirror? His gaze was hollow, almost methodical.
"Is there something I can help you with, sir?" Eli asked.
"No," Thrawn said, the answer prompt. He sounded distracted.
"Sir, perhaps if you tell me what's troubling you I can help," Eli tried again.
"Nothing," came the rote, slightly subdued answer.
Thrawn began to retreat back into his room. Eli was out of time. "Thrawn," he said in a softer tone. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help."
Thrawn stopped and turned back, staring at him. To Eli he seemed like he was staring across time.
Eli remembered the nights they had spent as roommates. Talking late into the night about everything: different idioms in basic, homework projects, even just talking about their day. They had been so busy on their new assignment they had lost sight of their burgeoning friendship. "Thrawn, I want to help. But you have to tell me what's wrong."
Thrawn pursed his lips and beckoned Eli into his quarters. He sat stiffly on the bunk and without thinking Eli sat next to him.
"I…" Thrawn started, stopped, then began again. He had a light dusting of color on his high cheekbones. "I require a tub. Or some body of clean water, big enough to submerge in."
"May I ask why?" Eli said.
The blush on Thrawn's cheeks deepened. "I'd prefer you didn't," he said quietly.
Eli took a moment to process this. "All right then," he murmured, as he racked his brain trying to fulfill Thrawn's strange request. "I suppose…I suppose.. Well we could request shore leave. The ship will black dock over the planet Raxus in two days for restocking. We can ask for a day of planetary leave. It shouldn't be a problem, many others are doing the same thing."
Thrawn swallowed. "Two days?"
"Two days," Eli confirmed. "Can you…can it wait that long?"
Thrawn looked haunted for a split second before he blinked and muttered, "I suppose I'll have to."
The next two days were quite strange in Eli’s opinion. That is to say, Thrawn acted quite strange. It was barely noticeable to anyone but Eli of course, who at this point knew the man quite well. But by the end of the two days Thrawn was definitely a lot more than just simply off.
It started with more of that strange tight muscled, distracted behavior, that only got worse by the end of the first day. Eli had to repeat himself more than once to get Thrawn’s attention. Thrawn didn't want to work on his Clone Wars relics. He barely wanted to eat, taking only a few bites before retreating to his room to lie stiffly in bed.
He was also spending a great deal more time sleeping. In fact, Eli had never seen the man sleep before. Ever. Even as roommates. He'd seen him in his bunk, reading or relaxing but never actually asleep. Now that seemed to be all he wanted to do.
By midway through the second day Thrawn had moved from looking tense to looking downright uncomfortable in his body. He couldn't stand still; he kept shifting from one foot to the next, tensing his thighs and rolling his shoulders. When Thrawn thought no one was looking Eli noticed his fingers twitch and his breath hitch as if he was pained by something.
The night before they were released from duty to go down to the planet Thrawn was a mess. He sat on his bunk hunched over. He refused to go to the mess with Eli to eat and refused to eat the food Eli brought back for him. Eli was getting nervous. "Sir, if you are unwell maybe we should visit the med bay."
Thrawn looked at him with such an openly pained expression at this suggestion -his eyes wide and his mouth a brittle line- that Eli only nodded to him. "Tomorrow, sir," he said, by way of goodbye. He gave a small wave.
Thrawn returned the gesture, his movements jerky, but did not speak.
Thrawn seemed better the next day, his movements loser and a carefully neutral expression on his face. Eli was in civilian clothes in preparation for their leave but Thrawn wore his uniform.
As they prepared to board the shuttle that would take them to the planet Eli was actually a bit excited for their impromptu shore leave. "Everything is all set and we check in at three. That should give us plenty of time to get settled." Switching to Si Bisti he added, "The only room I could get with a tub was the honeymoon suite. But the accommodations are quite large and I can sleep on the couch."
Thrawn didn't appear to be listening. His gaze was held fixedly on the shuttle. Then out the window at the planet as they descended.
When they had landed Thrawn became tense again, almost anticipatory, his body a live wire, ready for action. Whatever action that may be. He looked like a man going into battle as they made their way to the hotel.
He was back to non-responsive as Eli handled the check in and got them to their room. But once in the room he sprang for the fresher with a burst of speed. Eli had rarely seen him move that fast.
"I would have been happy to stop at the spaceport…" Eli started, but then he remembered the tub. Anticipating Thrawn's needs, he followed him into the fresher and stopped up the drain.
He began to fill the large basin with water. Before it was even halfway filled Thrawn began to remove his pants. Eli reeled back. "Sir, would you like some privacy?''
"I would just like.." Thrawn’s breath was coming fast, he was almost panting. "I would like to submerge." His words were muttered, absentmindedly, as if his mind were somewhere else.
Eli, afraid something was wrong, stayed put.
Thrawn had not stopped his mad dash to disrobe. The tunic came off next, and then the undershirt and underwear.
Eli had seen glimpses of Thrawn naked but never full on. Never enough to see what he was packing. He appeared to be packing nothing. Nothing but a pale slit between his legs. It seemed to be slightly open and glistening with some sort of moisture. That was all Eli could tell before Thrawn splashed into the tub, his eyes wide and his breath even more erratic.
With a groan Thrawn lurched forward as if someone had punched him in the stomach. His eyes squeezed tightly shut and he gasped for air. Then with one large intake of breath he straightened up. Only to lurch forward again, crumpling in on himself with a broken groan. He did this several more times. It seemed rhythmic, almost like a muscle contraction.
Then Eli noticed something. The tub was filled with tiny objects. They were spiral shaped and a deep red color. They twisted in the water before clumping together into large glistening masses. It was as if they were pulled together by some sort of magnetic force.
Eli leaned forward to get a closer look; just as Thrawn bent forward again. His hands flew to the sides of the tub as his body bent double. He let out a pained grunt, guttural and harsh. More of those spirals came flying into the water. They were coming from the slit in Thrawn’s groin, now completely open and an angry purple color. They spiraled in the water catching the light. Their transparent centers winked with color, before they clumped together and settled on the bottom of the tub.
Thrawn bent forward one more time, his insides expelling more of the strange coils, before he collapsed boneless against the side of the tub. It was as if he was a puppet whose strings had been cut. He looked exhausted and still vaguely pained. His eyes were dull and his cheeks and chest were painted with a purple flush. The parts of his body not submerged in water were moistened with beads of sweat. His hair, wet and disheveled, hung in his eyes.
"Would you like out of there?'' Eli asked gently.
Thrawn nodded weakly.
Eli helped him to hoist himself out of the tub. He hobbled with Thrawn over to the bed. Thrawn moved stiffly as if sore and as soon as he was near enough he collapsed gratefully on the bed.
Eli sat down beside him. "What are they?" Eli asked. "Eggs?"
"Yes," Thrawn said simply. His voice was harsh and his breath still slightly elevated.
"What should we do with them?"
Thrawn closed his eyes, exhaustion etched into the plains of his face. He waved his hand in the air faintly, as if to say, 'I don't care'.
"Do you suppose they'll go down the drain?" Eli asked.
Thrawn only huffed a tired breath.
"Better not," Eli said in an undertone. "With how they were clumping they'll likely stick to the pipes." And then because he was intensely curious Eli added, "but why the water?"
Thrawn made another vague gesture but Eli had figured it out. "It's the clumping isn't it? The water prevents them from clumping too soon." Eli thought about the ramifications of that and grimaced.
Eli still had questions but Thrawn didn't look to be in a talking mood. His breath had evened out and he had rolled on his stomach. He lay limp and stark naked on the bed.
Eli, feeling quite protective after that performance, moved to get Thrawn a cool glass of water. He even brought him a washcloth to wipe his sweaty face.
Within the hour Thrawn was looking much better. His eyes were bright and he ate all of the meal Eli ordered up to their room.
By the time two hours had passed he was spry enough to clean the fresher himself -at his insistence- and get dressed.
He began to exit the room.
"Where are you going?" Eli asked.
"Back to the ship of course," Thrawn said. "We have much work to do."
"I don't think so," Eli said. "We still have another day of shore leave and I intend to enjoy it."
Thrawn gave him a long look before he plopped on the bed again next to Eli and pulled out his datapad. "Well I suppose there are a number of museums worth visiting."
"That's is the spirit!" said Eli.