At the end of the day, he decided he was too tired to move from his office couch. After the long hike through Mount Tantiss, getting C'baoth situated in the Chimaera's guest quarters, and tending to some of his own duties, the captain was exhausted. Somehow, he'd managed to work in a meal, and afterward had sat down to do some of the administrative tasks required by his position. Focus wasn't coming to him though, and after an hour of attempting to work and failing miserably, he quit. Setting aside the data pad, Pellaeon slouched down on the couch so he could rest his head against the back of it, deciding that a few moments of resting his eyes would do him wonders.

He was too tired to move, but too concerned about having a Jedi Master on his ship – and probably an insane one at that – to fall asleep. Shifting in his spot just a little, Pellaeon tried to get more comfortable. There were plenty of good things to come out of the trip, he reminded himself in hopes of getting his mind to relax. The thousands of Spaarti cloning cylinders would allow them to rebuild their military without the use of conscripts. Thrawn presumably had plans for the cloaking shield, though he had yet to share them with Pellaeon, and likely wouldn't until the last minute. It would be interesting to see how well something widely considered so tactically impractical would employed in the hands of a master strategist.

The door to his private office slid open, and Pellaeon found he was too tired to reprimand whoever had barged in unannounced. It was for the best he hadn't opened his mouth to try – Grand Admiral Thrawn hardly needed his permission to go wherever he pleased on his flagship, the captain's office included. Pellaeon attempted to summon the energy to stand, and gave the Grand Admiral a grateful look when he waved the captain back down.

"I'm not sure you could move for the Emperor himself right now," Thrawn commented. He took a seat on the other end of the couch, glowing red eyes flicking over the captain's relaxed form.

It wasn't fair, Pellaeon decided as he turned his head to look at his commander. Thrawn didn't even look tired. His hair was still perfect, he'd changed into a uniform that wasn't coated in dust from their exhaustive search of Mount Tantiss, and his posture was still parade-ground perfect. That wasn't fair at all.

"Probably not," Pellaeon answered wearily, "but the fear might give me just enough adrenaline to move."

Thrawn gave him a small smile in response to his joke. "Perhaps," he agreed, then fell silent for a moment as his face took on a more serious look. "You've not slept in nearly thirty-six hours, Captain, and you're hardly being fueled by adrenaline now."

"Have you slept?" Pellaeon countered softly, far too tired to raise his voice any more than it already was.

"No." Thrawn shook his head. "I was on my to my quarters when I heard you hadn't yet emerged from your office."

He hadn't even slept and he still looked perfect and wide-awake. That was definitely not fair. How did Grand Admiral Thrawn manage to do that? Was it something to do with his species, or was there some secret trick to it that he'd picked up in his time in the military that no one had bothered to pass on to Pellaeon?

Pellaeon shifted into a slightly more comfortable position and drew his mind away from his musings. It would be rude to completely zone out during a conversation with the Grand Admiral, no matter how tired he was. "So you came to check on me."

Thrawn nodded. "I suspected you might have fallen asleep."

"Nearly."

"Surely you would prefer to sleep in your own bed, Captain. I came to offer my assistance in getting you there, as your second-in-command seemed rather concerned about letting you doze off in here." Thrawn gave him another small smile, this one was amused. "Something about how, the last time it happened, your back gave you trouble for days."

"He would tell that story," Pellaeon grumbled, silently vowing to have revenge as he contemplated Thrawn's offer. Assistance was nice and would be appreciated, but that meant he'd have to get up. "Walking that far sounds like an onerous task right now."

Thrawn smile faded slightly as he stood and offered Pellaeon a hand. "It's not that far. No excuses, Captain. Come on."

Resisting the urge to protest, Pellaeon wearily accepted the offered hand. It was warm and soft and felt pleasant and comforting against the skin of his own hand. Thrawn effortlessly tugged Pellaeon to his feet and rested his other hand on the captain's elbow for a moment to steady him.

"You're done working until you get a full eight hours of sleep," Thrawn informed him as he steered Pellaeon to the door. "Consider that an order."

"Yes, sir," Pellaeon replied, and let himself be taken back to Officer's Row and deposited on his bed. Sleep did sound good, and he wasn't about to disobey a direct order from his superior. The Grand Admiral saw himself out, and Pellaeon didn't even bother to move to tug off his boots before he was sound asleep, dreaming of the victories that would come.

I've got some new RP blogs. You should check them out and send me asks, even anonymously if you must:

-Ask-the-Empire. Ask it anything you want!

-RP blog for Captain Pellaeon. Asks, RPs, gardening.

-RP blog for Grand Admiral Thrawn. Art, asks, RPs.