I. Break of Concentration: Thrawn/Pellaeon

Pellaeon gets about halfway through the command when his voice cracks, barely coherent words breaking off into a loud moan. He winces at himself as it happens, already preparing for the reprimand he is about to receive as Thrawn slides his lips off of him with a soft pop.

He sighs, looking up at Pellaeon as he cocks an eyebrow at him. "Captain, that was much less than last time."

"I know, sir. I'm sorry," he mumbles, shifting awkwardly in his seat, feeling the cool air of the Chimaera drying the spit on his body.

Thrawn's face gives nothing away, but one of his hands begins to idly stroke up and down Pellaeon's thigh. It's a soothing motion but it does nothing to relax him. He is forced to bite his bottom lip to keep from making any noise when Thrawn's hand gets a little to close to exactly where he wants it.

"Captain," he begins, drawing Pellaeon's attention away from his lingering fingers. "If you are going to be my successor, you are going to have to learn to give orders under the occasional distracting situation."

Pellaeon acknowledges him, but can't help but wonder if Thrawn had ever had to give instructions under 'distracting situations'. He keeps his mouth shut though, knowing better than to voice these thoughts out loud if he wants to continue breathing.

Thrawn watches him a moment longer until he is satisfied by whatever he sees in Pellaeon's face. Looking back down he leans forward, until his mouth is pressed against the underside of the Captain's hot erection. "Again," he commands before taking Pellaeon in his mouth again, leaving his subordinate to struggle through with repeating the long-winded command once more.

II. A Favor: Thrawn/Pellaeon

Pellaeon had asked for it- on accident, with the help of some strong liquor- but never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that Thrawn would actually do it. And never so blatantly! Although he doubted that the Grand Admiral did anything half-assed, even if it was just a drunken request from his subordinate.

He wished Thrawn had given him some sort of warning though. As lovely of an image as it was, walking into Thrawn posed on his bed with nothing on except women's panties and stockings was almost enough to give the Captain a heart attack. Pellaeon could still see the look of confusion on Thrawn's face when he had shouted, clutching his chest as he dropped the datacard he was holding. "Do you not like it?" He had asked, and for a second Pellaeon had almost burst out laughing. Here was the most attractive man in the Galactic Empire, posed provocatively on his bed in women's lingerie, asking him if he didn't like it.

Honestly, Pellaeon was just happy he hadn't came on the spot.

Words had failed him- no matter how much Pellaeon wanted to assure Thrawn that no, he loved looking at him, and he was absolutely gorgeous, and that it would be fantastic if he could never move from that spot for the rest of eternity- nothing came out of his mouth except a few weak sputters.

Thrawn's look of concern had deepened and he almost sat up until Pellaeon had practically tackled the other man to the bed. As far as assurances went, it was a bit on the drastic side but it was effective enough to keep Thrawn there.

Not that he was really giving the other much of a chance to leave- especially when he slid down the length of his bed to press his mouth against the soft skin of Thrawn's inner thigh.

He could still feel those burning eyes staring at him as he kissed along the top of the stocking on his left leg, his lips brushing against smooth skin and silky material. Pellaeon moaned loudly, letting his eyelids droop in pleasure as fingers slid through his hair. "Have I ever told you that you're perfect?"

He heard a soft chuckle from above him and glanced up to see Thrawn smile. "No, but you have implied it quite often."

"Well, you are," Pellaeon responded, closing his eyes and brushing his nose against Thrawn's skin. "Absolutely perfect."

Thrawn allowed his smile to deepen even though Pellaeon couldn't see it, sighing contentedly as the Captain continued to kiss along his skin. "I know Gilad. I know."

III. Commitment: Thrawn/Pellaeon

"I'm going to marry you when this is all over."

The comment is so sudden it takes Pellaeon a few seconds to actually react to it, his eyes widening and his head whipping around to look at the Admiral after realizing what the other man said. "What did you just say?"

Thrawn glanced at him, blinking. "I said I'm going to marry you, Pellaeon."

The Captain can't even begin to wrap his head around that. It's rather sudden, really. Although he and the Admiral were not exactly strangers in public or private, it wasn't something that had ever occurred to him. Nor had it occurred to him that that would be something Thrawn would want. He was suddenly very happy that no one else was in the observation room but them.

He didn't realize his mouth had fallen open until the alien smiled softly at him, turning back towards the large window showcasing nothing but bright stars. "You are going to catch mynocks with your mouth gaping like that."

Snapping his jaw shut Pellaeon apologized, more out of habit than necessity. Thrawn's smile deepened just a hair and Pellaeon couldn't help but think about how endearing it made the other man look. He was still off balance from the comment- unsure of just how to take it. That didn't stop his mouth from opening up again. "What if I said no?"

Thrawn turned his head back towards Pellaeon and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Would you say no, Captain?"

His eyebrows shot up before he got himself under control. Of course, the Admiral would already know his answer- and it certainly would not have been 'no'. With a sigh he looked away from the alien, hoping that he wouldn't see the blush on his face. "No, sir. I wouldn't."

"Good." A hand slid into Pellaeon's own and lips pressed against his cheek. "Because when I'm done crushing this New Republic with the heel of my boot, I am going to hold you to that."

The words were warm against Pellaeon's face and with each hot puff of breath on his skin he felt an excitement build his stomach in a way that was in no appropriate beyond a bedroom. "I should hope so, sir," he replied softly, smiling as the star filled space outside seemed to glow just a bit brighter.

IV. Second Chances: Thrawn/Pellaeon

Pellaeon hated Csilla. Hated it with something that could almost rival a passion. Hated how far away it was. Hated how it's people glared at him as if he had a disease. Hated how they looked at Thrawn as if he was some sort of murderer. The Admiral had filled him in on what had happened between himself and his people, including Outbound Flight and idiotic military beliefs be damned, he knew that Thrawn was just trying to do what was right.

Most of all though, he hated how cold it was.

It was unnatural, how cold the planet was. Pellaeon was sure that even the ice planet Hoth was warmer than this place. He had worn no less than three layers of that was specifically made for this weather and he was still shivering.

Had been shivering for about two minutes now, but even with the cold biting into his flesh he couldn't force himself to interrupt Thrawn.

Thrawn was standing just a few feet away from the entrance of one of the caves that led down into the underground city, his eyes closed, just breathing. Pellaeon almost called out to him, but stopped himself. Thrawn was just... standing. Allowing the cold to bite into his face and he sucked in another deep breath, as if he was trying to suck in enough air to last him a year. Pellaeon felt a pang of sympathy for the Admiral.

He had told Pellaeon about his exile from his home world. Personally, the Captain couldn't imagine what it must have been like, being forced from his own home, for just trying to protect the same people that made him leave.

As if sensing his presence, Thrawn's eyes opened and he turned his head to face him. Pellaeon didn't even try to hide his smile when he saw the relief in Thrawn's face and noticed the clumps of snowflakes in his eyelashes. Hunching his shoulders up against the wind he began walking towards Thrawn, his feet crunching in the thin layer of snow and ice that covered the planet's surface.

He hated Csilla.

But if Thrawn was really being allowed to come and go as he pleased on his home once again, then he supposed he was willing to give the place a chance.

V. Left Behind: Thrawn/Pellaeon, Luke

Luke wonders if he should say something to the older man. It wasn't like he didn't deserve to know or anything. He just wasn't sure how Pellaeon would respond to the news.

His vision drifts to glance at the pair of red eyes hovering over the Imperial Supreme Commander's shoulder and the blue tinted face before looking back at Pellaeon.

Honestly, he wasn't sure how he was even seeing the ghost of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Before he had only been able to see other beings that were strong in the Force- Master Yoda, Ben, his father. To his knowledge, the alien warlord was no more force sensitive than any other being. It was odd and it left him with a gaping hole in what he thought he knew.

Did this mean that any being could attach themselves to another after their death, clinging onto them despite a lack of significant Force ability? Or was it some other factor? The level of violence in the death maybe, or the conscious decision of the entity in question to stay behind?

Possibly.

He fought a sigh and tried to seem like he was paying attention to nothing other than what Pellaeon was saying to him. He couldn't even begin to try to figure out what any of this meant. Let alone why he was apparently the only one who could see the late Grand Admiral. By the looks of it the late Warlord wasn't too happy about that either. Or maybe Thrawn had always looked annoyed. It wasn't as if Luke had met the alien in person, though now he was wishing he had- at least briefly and preferably at a distance. It might have helped him try to figure out what the ghost wanted.

This time he did sigh, hiding it by blowing the air silently out of his nose. He let his mind drift back to the original question, relaxing himself to try and coax the Force into giving him an answer.

Should I tell him?

He had first noticed the ghost about a month ago, and since then he had been keeping a close eye on the Commander and his seemingly unknown follower. Of course, he was beginning to think that Pellaeon was suspecting something. You could only blame the breeze for brushing an important piece of flimsi into your lap so many times before you had to start questioning the fact that there was no breeze there in the first place. Luke didn't even know if he had tried explaining away how the datacards that held whatever information he was looking for kept strategically placing themselves in his quarters.

He could still recall the memory of the faint blue outline of Thrawn carefully nudging a datacard across a table until Pellaeon glanced up to notice it.

If the Commander really did not suspect the truth, it was then Luke's obligation to tell him. At least, he thought it was.

He felt himself wishing that Ben was still here to answer his questions. His old teacher did not magically appear in front of Luke though, despite his silent plea. Not that he was expecting him too. No, Luke knew he was pretty much on his own here. Just him, the Force, and the annoyed ghost of an Imperial Grand Admiral.

There were always the Supreme Commander's own feelings to consider as well though. Pellaeon buried them well, but even after almost eleven years Luke could feel the other man's grief over Thrawn's death. Would telling him that his old commanding officer was following him around, helping him in the only ways he could just upset him more? Or would they in fact help Pellaeon get over his pain? Maybe- hopefully- move on.

Luke didn't know, and was just a bit afraid of the possible bad outcome. Imperial or not, he genuinely liked Pellaeon and he didn't want to see him hurt worse that he already was.

A frown formed on his face before he could stop it, causing Pellaeon to cut off suddenly and asked if he was feeling alright. After twitching out of his thoughts, Luke assured him that he was fine, just getting a bit tired.

The Commander smiled and agreed with him- it was getting rather late- but he could see the Grand Admiral arching an eyebrow at him knowingly and Luke fought the urge to tell the ghost to mind his own business. Pellaeon asked him if he would prefer to continue their discussion tomorrow, which Luke agreed to swiftly.

That was what he needed right now. Sleep. Hopefully during the night an answer would come to him.

Luke began to turn away from the Commander, but froze as he met those glowing eyes again. Pellaeon continued to leave, not noticing how the Jedi had stopped but neither Luke or the ghost moved. Thrawn held his gaze for what seems like minutes, and suddenly Luke was filled with the hope that the other would say something.

His mouth never moved though and after a long pause Thrawn finally blinked and turned, walking away silently to catch up to Pellaeon.

Luke let his confusion finally show on his face as he watched the ghost go before turning to go to his own room. A million question bubbled in his head but they pushed them all aside.

Tomorrow. He told himself, and silently hoped that he would have an answer by then.

And chapter three is done! I still have almost enough for two more chapters, but after that it might be a little slow- I'm going to go back and reread some of my EU books that I haven't touched in awhile so I can get some new people to work with.

To be honest though, when I fist started this I was worried that I would run out of ideas after the second chapter, but now I'm just worried that it'll all just end up being Thrawn/Pellaeon. Not that that's a bad thing, of course.