#bkld

“Yes, ma’am.” Eli takes Thrawn’s elbow and guides him out of the apartment. “What did you say to her?” Eli asks, though a smile is twisting his lips. 

“Truthfully, it was a series of miscalculations,” Thrawn answers. “Talking to women is not one of my strengths.” 

“I would say talking to people in general isn’t.” 

Thrawn looks over at Eli. He is smiling, ear-to-ear as the saying goes, and Thrawn allows the joke to pass with ease. “At least people can understand me when I speak,” he sniffs. 

The only comforting aspect of Coruscant is the sheer amount of aliens that reside here. The rest makes Thrawn long for Lysatra. The skyscrapers obscure any possibility of seeing the sky and even if they didn’t, the smog blankets the city entirely. He and Eli have messaged for the majority of the summer, mostly about inconsequential happenings—the first cow to fall pregnant, Cassie and Daro’s upcoming nuptials, the continued silence from his father; though he doesn’t seem too upset about the latter.

The sun beats ruthlessly against Eli's back as he thrusts a shovel into the dirt. Sweat burns his eyes and wipes his face on the shoulder of his shirt as he pushes the shovel deeper with his foot. Cassie stands guard beside him, hand resting on the blaster holstered at her hip. 

“So,” she begins, eyes still fixed on the horizon. “What do you think of Daro?”

Eli squints at her. “How do you mean?”

His shovel strikes the safe buried deep in the earth and he lowers himself to his knees. He brushes more hot, red dirt aside and heaves the metal box into the light of day.

“I mean, do you think he’s a good man?”

00:43 CT

Made it to Coruscant.

00:57

Good :) How was the trip?

01:00

I do not understand how every infant must suffer severe emotional distress when in hyperspace

01:03

Probably the pressure or something

01:04

Were you seated next to another distraught infant?

01:05

Unfortunately

In the weeks that pass after Eli’s harrowing trip to Coruscant, they fall into a sort of rhythm. Thrawn is away during the day, ironing out the future of the Wild Space Education Initiative while Eli adventures through the city. He goes to a few little shops here and there, but waits for Thrawn to take him to the truly amazing sites at night. They have gone to a variety of museums, an opera, and the senate library where Eli basked in the smell of worn books. 

Lysatran heat is dry. The winter and spring usually bring about a wet season, even if it is only for a few weeks, that fills the spring that provides the town with most of its water supply. Most people also have evaporators to siphon what little water is in the air into something drinkable, but this summer has been a record breaker in every regard. 

It hasn’t rained since before the solstice, the air is especially arid, meaning evaporators are struggling to produce anything meaningful. The underground spring hasn’t dried up yet, but the town is rationing water to ensure that it doesn’t. 

Rationing, however, does not bode well for their crops. 

Or for Eli’s leaking water tank. 

AHHHH!

Thank you so much!! <33 Here have a snippet of the next chapter because I can't stop thinking about these two either XD