Work Text:
Consciousness arrived slowly, and then all at once. It was a gruesome, sudden shock.
Thrawn had felt pain before. But it was nothing like this. His mind was screaming.
It tore through his brain, tearing his skin and shattering his skull. The pain spread to the verge of numbness, stilling his hands and feet. He couldn’t move them properly, he couldn’t feel them properly, but he could - the pain dancing through his body and setting his bones alight.
He shifted, and heard himself moan.
“Thrawn?”
That voice. He knew that voice - it was more familiar than his own. Sounds of summer and warmth, thick as honey.
“ Eli ”
There was a new pain - a lighter one - an unfamiliar heat stinging his cheeks. He felt himself whimper; the burning just wouldn’t stop. Thrawn felt a thumb brushing the pain away and only then did he realise they were tears.
“Thrawn, you’re safe, they’ve gone”
They. Thrawn couldn’t picture them, but he could feel them. Hands and kicks and a thick dull thud.
He could feel what happened then, but not now. He suspected he was lying on the floor, but he couldn’t feel it.
“What happened?” his voice was slurred, even he couldn’t comprehend his own mouth.
Eli did not answer, but Thrawn had a creeping suspicion he had chosen not to.
“I have already called for help, they are on their way”
Thrawn tried to nod, but his movements were jerky and caused another wave of pain to sear through his brain.
“Can you open your eyes?” Eli asked.
Thrawn heard himself moan again as his body refused to listen to orders. “I… i don’t think I can”
A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders tightly before loosening, hesitant, gently supporting his body. “Yes you can. Give it another go”
He tried. He really did; bracing himself for the shock of light, the stinging images searing into his screaming mind. He opened his eyes and saw- nothing.
It wasn’t like staring into endless black or suffocating white. It was just, nothing.
“Commander?”
“Thrawn” He sighed in relief, running a hand through Thrawn’s hair. Thrawn could practically hear the smile on his face. He greedily leaned into the touch, into the comfort Eli was willing and wanting to give him. “You’re going to be alright”
“Eli-” his voice broke.“I cannot see you, Commander”
There was a silence above him. Thrawn reached out blindly, in an attempt to feel Eli before him. But his arms were lead and they dropped before he could even try.
“That’s okay, just focus on my voice” Eli’s words were carefully chosen. He was trying to remain positive.
Thrawn wanted to remain positive. But the numbness was creeping up his body and had almost reached his throat. There was the urge to fight, to push back against the suffocating pressure.
But then there was the urge to give in- to sink into the warmth and simply let go.
He just wanted to rest.
“Let me sleep, Commander,” he whispered. He reached with one arm desperately, fighting and stretching until it had locked with Eli’s own. Yes, Thrawn wanted to give into the warmth, but he would fight it for this.
The hand gripping his shoulders grew tighter. “No Thrawn, you need to stay awake, remember?”
Thrawn smiled loosely at Eli’s words. He did need to stay awake, not that he could really remember why. Sleep was comfortable and dreams were cosy.
“Help is coming, they are going to be here really soon, okay?” Ah, that was why. “So I need you to stay awake”
“Okay” he breathed. “I am awake” He thought perhaps he could stay that way, but wasn’t sure. He didn’t know whether his eyes were open or closed - he couldn’t tell.
"You better not be lying to me" Eli snorted.
"I would never" he whispered. That wasn't true, and they both knew it. Thrawn never wanted to lie to Eli, but there were too many secrets to share. Some things were better kept private.
Eli? Eli had shared everything. It was in those small moments - in the twilight of the evening where they could sit and talk and be just themselves. Thrawn and Eli.
Thrawn loved to hear Eli talk.
“Tell me a story”
He heard a choke of laughter. “I think I have told you all the stories in my arsenal already, I don’t know if I have any others”
Thrawn hummed lightly. “What about the one with. . . the tractor”
Eli laughed lightly. He heard the Commander shift closer to him, almost pulling Thrawn into his lap. And Thrawn listened to the story of Eli accidentally leaving an unmanned tractor to run wild over his Uncle’s farm - knocking over fences and chasing sheep that desperately tried to get out of the way.
It was a charming story. It had taught Thrawn the word sheep.
But the story was over, the images of sunny Lystra had ended, and they were alone.
“I don’t think help is coming, Eli,” he mumbled.
“They are coming” Eli sounded determined. But no longer positive. “They have to”
“Eli-”
“I can’t leave you here and I can’t take you with me” Sobs choked the Commander’s throat. Thrawn wanted to reach out and hold him, his hearing and speech were the only senses that he remained in command of. He hoped his hand were still holding Eli’s but he had no way of knowing.
“I am going to be okay, Eli. Help will come”
“I need to rest my eyes. Just for a little while”