Here at the Right Time

by cruelestmonth

Thrawn/Jorj Car'das - Jorj Car'das learns that life is more interesting with a Chiss than without one. An AU of sorts taking place after the events of Timothy Zahn's Outbound Flight.

3. Chapter 3

Title: Here at the Right Time (3/?)

Fandom: Star Wars

Rating: R for this part (sex in the second section)

Pairing/Characters: Thrawn/Jorj Car'das, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine

Summary/Notes: In which Car'das gets an unexpected but necessary promotion and there is much talking and then sex. Pretty soon I'm going to just make the Clone Wars happen and speed things up, but I will not be following the Star Wars EU nonsense timeline. So if things happen in months and not years, I hope none of you will be too incredibly sad.

"You have an urgent transmission."

Car'das sat up in bed and relaxed when he saw it was just Thrawn leaning down over him. They'd eventually gone to his room, fooled around there, and he'd passed out sometime after the Chiss excused himself. Basically, Car'das had been sort of looking forward to sleeping in.

Throwing on his clothes, he mumbled something about Thrawn needing to be less in his face when waking him up.

The Chiss patted his cheek before disappearing somewhere.

The screen reveled a familiar face. Not because Car'das knew him personally, but it would have been difficult not to know who Palpatine was.

"Oh. Um." Car'das had no idea how he was supposed to address a Supreme Chancellor. "Are you sure you didn't want to just talk to Thrawn? Sir."

"Oh, this hardly warrants the Commander's attention. I merely wish to extend a job offer to you."

"Ah. Um."

"You may not be aware of this, but there was Chiss within the Republic. In fact, several are Jedi Knights."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. One of them is quite young, in fact. Orphaned and raised by the Jedi. But I imagine that is of little interest to you."

Car'das wasn't sure if he cared, but he just politely shook his head. "No, that's... I find the Chiss to be really interesting."

"Then I am sure you will agree to represent the Republic as an Ambassador."

Car'das blinked. "Sir, I don't know that-"

"The Republic has an infinite amount of Ambassadors, and I can appoint new ones whenever I deem appropriate."

"It's not that I don't appreciate your confidence, but I'm not sure I need to be an Ambassador."

"Nonsense. How do you propose to do anything during your stay without a title? You yourself are of no importance to the Chiss as it is. Being an Ambassador can only help you and in turn help the Republic. You are one of the few people who even understands their native tongue."

"Yeah, but I have a feeling that won't go over well with some of the Ruling Families here."

Palpatine smiled placidly. "The matter is a simple one. As I understand it, there is an Artistocra Sev'eere'nuruodo of the Second Ruling Family who would be more reasonable than Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the First."

Car'das had to admit that he felt a little better after listening to the Supreme Chancellor butcher the names of important Chiss leaders.

"The Chiss, I surmise, do not like outsiders. They will not want to learn much about you, but your interest will please them seeing as you have opted to return to them clearly believing that the Chiss are superior to your own people if many ways."

The hell if Car'das did. He sincerely hoped Thrawn was not under that assumption. Half-tempted to ask how the Supreme Chancellor knew any of this, he merely frowned. After all, there was no point in asking. If the Republic provided a safe haven for abandoned Chiss children or exiled adults, it wasn't Car'das' place to question that decision. Not that he really thought this was about the Republic. This was about Palpatine's own personal agenda, but they sort of ended up being the same thing in the end. The Republic was a lot more crooked than most people knew and the Jedi seemed to be willingly blind to the corruption. And the Supreme Chancellor performed many other secretive tasks.

"I don't think they're superior," Car'das said at length.

"Of course you don't," Palpatine said with a light laugh. "No. Merely let her believe that you do. I do not expect them to open their arms to you or present you with unlimited access to their resources or technology. They will simply subject you to their ways of life and thinking, but that is valuable in of itself."

Car'das rubbed his forehead. "You're sure about this? I'm not really trained for this sort of thing. I was a smuggler."

"There are more similarities between that position and the one I've giving you than you realize."

"I guess."

"Regardless of if you yourself feel qualified, I am certain that you are."

"Well. Okay." There wasn't much he could do and turning the position down would be stupid. And maybe Thrawn would rather be with an Ambassador than a translator.

"It is an official promotion. You will want to return to Coruscant to make a formal report in the near future, but the matter can wait. I should prefer you please the Chiss than assuage my curiosity. I believe that is all I need to say to you."

"Um. Sure. Thank you. I'll make it work."

The Supreme Chancellor smiled thinly. "Of course you will."

Car'das punched a few buttons and contemplated banging his head against a wall. Not that he could get to most of the walls thanks to the traveling art show he'd been saddled with.

The doors to his room slid open and Thrawn wandered back in, looking as calm and prepared as ever.

"I've only been back for a day and already I wish you'd stop doing that."

"I am not interrupting anything," Thrawn observed. "Your communications with the Supreme Chancellor are at an end for now."

"Did you listen in?"

"Of course not. I remain as unaware of what you have discussed as anyone else here."

Car'das considered this and smiled. "So instead of monitoring, you made sure no one else could."

"I think you will find there is a great deal I am willing to do for you."

"How do you make that sound so ominous?"

Thrawn chuckled warmly. "I am sure I do not know. So what did your Supreme Chancellor want? Assuming any of it can be shared?"

"I'm an Ambassador now. And I have to meet with Aristoca Sev'eere'nuruodo. Is that right?"

Thrawn raised an eyebrow as he strode closer. "Yes. I am sure it can be so long as your status can be confirmed and you are willing to sign several non-disclosure agreements."

"Mostly about not stealing stuff?"

"About discretion, I should think. An Ambassador is hardly likely to steal things or even be accused of such things when representing something as large as the Republic. Even if he was a smuggler."

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm not here for your awesome ship plans or anything."

Thrawn kissed his cheek. "Then congratulations on your promotion." Car'das sighed, looking down as the Chiss' fingers massaged his temples. "But you are unhappy. Why?"

"I am going to suck as an Ambassador. What do I even know about administering good will to others and talking up the Republic?"

"You will simply be acting as a positive representative for your people, which is what you did during your last stay. Regardless of what Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano might have thought of you, there are many who were impressed that my model prisoner wanted to learn Cheunch."

Feeling a little bit like a trained tauntaun, Car'das shrugged.

"You'll be able to learn a great deal about my people as well. No schematics as you well know, but we rarely gift other races with any information on our developments. I can certainly show you our Clawcraft vessels and the rigorous training the Phalanxes undergo."

"I suppose you think this is great."

"I do."

"How is this great? Because I'm going to amuse all of your friends by answering questions in really bad Cheunh?"

Thrawn turned him around. "If I did not believe this was merely you thinking poorly of your own self, I would be offended. You must stop finding insult in simple observations, Jorj. You were a model prisoner and you were an excellent teacher. Your status as Ambassador provides us with more equal footing which is what I would prefer."

"Sorry it's just a lot to take in."

"I am sure it is, but you need to remember that your last stay among my people was quite beneficial. I can only imagine this one will prove to be just as helpful and enlightening for me and everyone else including yourself. There is also the fact that with you being an Ambassador I need not come up with an explanation for your being here."

"Why is it so complicated?" Car'das complained.

"You wish I was going to simply inform people that you belong to me," Thrawn stated. "You are angry."

"No, not... Not like that. I'm not angry."

"What would please you?"

Car'das threw up his hands. "I don't know."

"I would never tell someone I was not interested in you. I just see little sense in bringing it up at the moment. I do not want my position to effect yours."

"You're a Commander. And the youngest and brightest. How can that jeopardize my position?"

"I started out as a merit adoptive and trial-born, Jorj. Whether or not my family has accepted me, I am originally an orphan of another house and as such of a considerably lower status than an Ambassador even as a Commander."

"The hell if I care."

"I am aware that such things do not matter to you."

"Then don't try to protect me from things that neither one of us care about."

Thrawn raised one eyebrow. The gesture was the same as ever, but something about the tight line of his jaw indicated sadness or frustration. "And have you accuse me of using you to get myself exiled later on? I think not."

Car'das blinked.

"You already think I'm keeping you here as a trained pet for reasons I cannot fathom. I will not add to that or provide you with the means of having your ridiculous suspicions confirmed."

Feeling a bit guilty, Car'das tugged the Chiss to him. He let his fingers brush over the side of Thrawn's face down to his lips. "I don't think… Okay, sometimes I do. I'm sorry. But if I really thought you were using me, I'd be trying to leave. And I'm not leaving."

Thrawn nodded stiffly.

This was stupid. If they both were worried about the other reacting to things that weren't true, they both needed to convince the other to give it a rest. "Look. We have to be able to trust each other so let's just trust that I want to be with you and that I think you're sincerely interested. Because clearly you are in your own Chiss way just as I want to be with you in a very human way. And it's going to just result in misunderstandings and we have to be able to work them out."

"That would be better," Thrawn said.

Exactly. So I'll stop flinching every time you use the word prisoner. And you can stop thinking that touching my hand in front of other people will kill my career as an ambassador before it even starts. And I can stop thinking that you care any less deeply than I do simply because you're not all that eager to hold my hand and piss off everyone you know. Deal?"

Thrawn considered this stoically. "Agreed."

Instead of moving back and shaking hands, Car'das just gave Thrawn a kiss. And then yawned. "I can't wait until this isn't so confusing."

"Neither can I."

Car'das imagined it was going to take years, but he didn't think he completely dreaded the prospect of spending years among the Chiss trying to figure out what made Thrawn only a small twinge of guilt, he found himself wondering just how interested he would be in making things last between them if Thrawn had been normal and easy to decipher. No sense feeling guilty over something that would never happen or matter. Thrawn was about as complex as a person got.

"What about the whole dealing with Aristocas? I didn't like that last one."

"You needn't see him. There would be no reason for you to do so. House Nuruodo handles all Chiss relations with outsiders," Thrawn soothed, kissing at Car'das' neck. "If nothing else, know that you're being an Ambassador only makes things easier and safer for both of us."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. Our interest in one another will make a bit more sense to most Chiss once you have a legitimate cause to remain with me. Furthermore, should anything go wrong, we would have no choice but to send you directly back to your government."

"I'd rather avoid that," Car'das said.

"As would I," Thrawn admitted.

"I have to report back anyway. For more instructions and to report. Eventually."

"This will be a brief albeit recurring sojourn, I trust?"

Car'das nodded.

"Acceptable."

Car'das laughed. "Yeah. I guess it is."

The rest of that second day passed by relatively quickly. Thrawn went off to do something of actual benefit to the Chiss Ascendency, and Car'das worked on moving art from his room to Thrawn's room. The next day was much the same only the commander was off in the Springhawk on a frontier patrol.

They spent the evening together, however, and most of that was sitting in another small, dim galley room with a large panel. This particular viewing chamber was situated in front of the Chiss commander's room and much more secluded. The conversation was mainly in Basic, which was a nice change of pace.

Car'das eventually slid down to the floor and leaned back against one of Thrawn's knees, completely uninterested in the dark inky blackness.

Thrawn chuckled, running fingers through the Corellian's hair as his red eyes contemplated the infinite. "Am I boring you?"

"No. I just think the floor is a nice alternative to that torture device you call a couch."

"I have no objections to having you at my feet so long as there are no complaints later."

"Not unless you're imagining your life as Supreme Ruler of the Galaxy on some comfortable-only-to-the-Chiss throne with an attractive Corellian consort collared and chained to the damned thing."

"I dislike being given pleasant mental images only to be told to discard them."

"Sorry."

"Hm."

Car'das dozed off for awhile as Thrawn's fingers continued carding through dark locks. And eventually when he stared up, he found that nothing about Thrawn's intense gaze or posture had changed. "This is about Thrass, right?"

"I know that he is gone, but I would prefer to be wrong. I find the thought of forgetting about him to be extremely distasteful."

"It's all right to have a hard time letting go of things."

Thrawn blinked slowly and continued eying the panel. "Before he was my brother, he was a good friend when there was no benefit to be gained from such a friendship. When he was my brother, there was never any doubt in my mind that we would do anything for each other. But I never asked him to do this."

"It's not your fault."

"It is no one person's fault, much to my dismay."

"You think too much."

Thrawn looked down. "It is how I am."

Car'das reached up and brushed a few fingers over Thrawn's cheek. "And I like that about you, but there's no point beating yourself up and wrecking your eyes like this. How about I try to distract you?"

"For your information, I cannot wreck my eyes."

"For your information, I'm just looking for an excuse to get you naked."

Thrawn considered this and pressed a combination of buttons until the window in front of them was obscured by tinted glass that slid over its surface.

"So. Chiss do have dirty minds, after all."

Thrawn rolled his eyes. "Distract me with something other than your rapier wit."

With a smirk, Car'das sunk down to the cool floor beneath them and kissed his way up Thrawn's boot. His fingers wandered over the commander's uniform-clad thighs as he slowly brought his lips up to join his hands.

Thrawn sank back, watching him with some strange mixture of cool contemplation and slow arousal.

Car'das' lips kept moving and he relished the pull of Thrawn's fingers at his scalp. "It's hard to tell if you like kissing or not."

Thrawn offered up a smirk. "What does the evidence before you suggest?"

"Not as much as I'd like it to," Car'das said before leaning in to mouth Thrawn's erection through the thick fabric covering it.

"We can't have that," Thrawn decided. He hauled Car'das up as he rose to his feet. A few kisses and deft movements later, and they were mostly undressed. And Car'das would have gone without complaining if he hadn't been unceremoniously shoved down onto the couch behind them.

"Not on this."

Thrawn smirked, holding the Corellian easily in place. "Should you be left with any lingering pains, I will nurse you back to health."

"Oh for...mmf." He bit lightly at the three blue fingers that had been inserted into his mouth.

"Hush. You must merely make the necessary adjustments," Thrawn murmured before nipping at Car'das' ear and neck.

He managed a few muffled snorts of protest, but the thoughtful expression on Thrawn's face and the grip of the Chiss' little finger and thumb on his face eventually convinced him to put his tongue and lips to better use on the three finger currently available to him.

Thrawn's teeth grazed lightly at Car'das' nipples as the nails of his free hand moved over the human's chest. "Distracting me should certainly be of a larger priority than your back. Yes, Jorj?"

Car'das managed a nod.

Thrawn's tongue licked in a wide stripe over Car'das stomach. "If you will be good, we'll do more. If you will not then I am interested to see what you'd look like if I decided to make that delicious mental image you gave me into a temporary reality. Not that I suspect you would mind so much as you would protest."

Car'das nodded again.

"Good." Thrawn dragged him further down on the couch before patting his cheek and moving his hand away.

"You're kind of a bastard." Only saying it did it occur to Car'das that calling someone who might have actually been a bastard was in poor taste. But Thrawn looked pleased as if Car'das had merely confessed to some ruthless act of espionage or professed his undying love.

"You kind of like it."

"Well, yeah."

Thrawn kissed him, biting at his lower lip before lightly pushing one of his slicked up fingers into Car'das. "Just as I like you just the way you are," he murmured going back to speaking in Cheunch and adding a second finger. "Have you done this before, sweet boy? It doesn't feel like it."

"Plenty of times," Car'das hoarsely insisted. He switched immediately to speaking Cheunh himself as he was in no desire to really beg for sex all that much. "Do more than that."

A third finger went in, all of them twisting lightly and teasingly. Car'das groaned.

"I intend to do much more than that," Thrawn promised. His free hand stroked absently at the human's cock until it was slick with precum.

Car'das groaned again as the hand squeezed before releasing him just as all three fingers slid out. He tugged Thrawn down with a violent grab of hands, biting at the Chiss' neck until the near-human chuckled darkly and finished preparing himself.

"All right," Thrawn murmured, parting Car'das legs. "All right." He slid in and rocked forward, pulling Car'das to him before thrusting again. He repeated the motion, nails digging lightly into Car'das' hips.

"Glad I came back," Car'das admitted, before his teeth began grazing over Thrawn's shoulder. Eventually he was released and his head hit the couch with a soft thud, but he was too busy focusing on the way Thrawn's cock felt to notice too much.

He lay there, taking everything in through half-lidded eyes. Seeing only blue with the occasional glimmer of red as they continued moving in tandem.

After he climaxed, Thrawn stroked Car'das lazily but roughly until the Corellian did the same.

"I officially declare myself distracted," the Chiss said with no small amount of smug cheer as he pulled out. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction in the faint light and he was only too willing to all but carry Car'das to the bedroom.

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