The icy walls of the tunnels almost seemed to glow around Pellaeon as he followed Thrawn through the underbelly of an abandoned rebel base on Hoth.
What little Thrawn had told him about what they were searching for hadn't sounded like enough to warrant both of them leaving the Chimaera. At least he had been invited to come along on this time, as opposed to that stint the admiral had pulled with that painting on Tatooine. Pellaeon was still a little miffed about that if he were honest...
That was beside the point though. The point was that he hated this weather, this place had started to creep him out, and thank the stars Thrawn had finally stepped off into a side room. Hopefully they could find what they had came from and then leave; the sooner he can get into a hot shower the better.
He held up his lantern as he followed Thrawn into what appeared to be a small crew quarters. There were some cots scattered around the room, a few still had a blanket and pillow on them, and a few dressers.
The thought of the people who must have lived here (who probably died here) didn't help calm Pellaeon's nerves. At least there weren't any frozen bodies – there had been enough of those in the hangar they entered in.
He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge those thoughts and kneeled down so he could the lantern on the ground. He dimmed it so it wouldn't reflect of the walls so brightly, and that had the effect of turning the ice from a blinding white to a softer, pale glow. He could see the individual flakes in the ice as they shimmered, reflecting a thousand specks of blues in the light as the light hit it. It was admittedly gorgeous, although it hardly made up for the chill that bit at Pellaeon's face.
Thrawn's voice caught his attention and he stood up. "What did you say?"
"I asked if you can hear that?"
Pellaeon strained his ears, but heard nothing but the sound of the wind as it moved between the halls. "No."
"Exactly." Hands grabbed Pellaeon's shoulders and nudged him towards one of the cots. "We're all alone. No noise, no people." Thrawn pushed on Pellaeon's shoulders and he turned to sit on the mattress. He gave the alien a questioning look as Thrawn sat down next to him and started unfastening the front of his coat. "No interruptions."
Pellaeon scoffed and smacked at Thrawn's hands. "You dragged me to a freezing planet just to get me alone with you?"
"Of course not, Pellaeon. The data chips I told you about are real and we will recover them." He ran a gloved hand up Pellaeon's thigh. It could barely be felt through the thick padding of his snowsuit, but the action sent a warm shiver through him regardless. "I just think that we can hit two targets with one blaster shot."
"And we couldn't do this on the ship, where it is warm, for what reason?"
"Have some imagination, Pellaeon," Thrawn mumbled as he pulled down Pellaeon's hood and kissed along his jaw. "The two of us trapped in this freezing cold room. With only each other for company and warmth. Oh, whatever shall we do until help arrives?"
"That is not good roleplay material."
Thrawn pulled away from his skin to glare at him. Pellaeon ignored it as best he could and lamented the sudden loss of warmth. "Do you want me to stop?"
Pellaeon blushed. "Well, no."
"Then stop thinking and relax." Thrawn went back to work on his zipper and pulled it down with a hum.
The cold immediately began to seep into Pellaeon's skin through the insulated suit he wore beneath the coat, but it was chased away by Thrawn's unnaturally warm hands as they pressed against his chest. His voice washed over him as he continued to undress him, mouth pressed back against his neck. "We're alone here, and we can be with each other, for as long and as loudly as we please."
Hot fingers finally touched his bare skin and Pellaeon gasped, back arching into Thrawn's grip.
"No one will even think to call us for another two hours," Thrawn said breathily, his eyes glittering as brightly as the walls around them as he stared at Pellaeon. "And I plan on keeping you very warm until that call arrives."