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It started as an inside joke.
Eli had been invited for a quick drink in the officer’s lounge after shift by Hammerly. As expected, Pyrondi had secured a table near the bar by the time they arrived, several colorful drinks cluttered around the small table ready to cause mischief. Faro had waltzed over, loaded down drink tray in hand, demanding everyone start off the night with some mystery shot she had somehow convinced one of the bar staff to make. Eli put up his best half-hearted protest, giving some excuse about several personal projects he had planned to work on since he was off the next two rotations.
Faro, as usual, was taking no shit tonight.
“Vanto, we’ve worked too damn hard today to not have a good time tonight,” she slurred, apparently having thrown back a few mystery shots before coming back to the table.
Eli looked up at Faro’s determined face before glancing over to Hammerly and Pyrondi, both of whom were grinning, waiting eagerly for his response to see how the night would go. He had agreed to come out for a drink, he hadn’t really intended to spend all night at the bar.
“I just came out for a quick drink Karyn, that’s all,” Eli sighed. He heard the lack of conviction in his own voice and held back a grimace at Faro’s growing smirk.
“Then we will drink everything quickly.”
Fits of giggles danced around them as Eli accepted his fate and knocked back the first of his share of drinks. It didn’t take long for the stiff drinks and cheery company to have him relaxing into easy conversation.
Okay, yes, maybe Faro was right about needing to cut loose tonight.
The next few hours passed with a range of friendly banter, embellished retellings of past missions and, surprisingly, a few bawdy puns from Faro. Eli had rarely seen his companions in such an unguarded state, openly joking and forgoing ranks and every formality that went along with them. Their contentment was infectious and Eli was pleased he had decided to unwind with his girls.
Okay, yes. Faro had indeed been right but it’s now 0320 and those projects really do need to be worked on at some point the next two rotations.
Eli groaned as he stood, heavy limbed and a little wobbly on his feet but controlled enough to stumble back to his quarters unassisted.
“Thank you ladies for a wonderful time, but it’s gone late and I’m gonna turn in.”
Eli watched as Hammerly adjusted a sleeping Pyrondi on her shoulder before giving her best porg-eyes and a honest to goodness tearful, “Just one more drink?”
“Nice try, Hams. But that’s not gonna work tonight,” Eli chuckled. Not 20 minutes ago, Eli had divulged just how effective porg-eyes were on him.
Hammerly’s face shifted to a teasing grin at his comment, and just as Eli was nodding his goodbye, he felt a presence at his back.
“And where do you think you are going?” Faro huffed.
Eli sighed. Well there went all hopes of a hasty retreat. He rolled his eyes before turning, hands already raised in defense, to stare up at Faro.
“I have projects I need to work on Karyn. Tonight’s been fun, but it’s late and I need sleep. I’m already going to have a hangover tomorrow,” he groaned.
“Oh dear, our favorite math expert always working so hard on all of his secret, important projects. He never has time for us anymore Hammerly,” Faro teased. Eli heard Hammerly giggling into her drink from behind him.
Eli looked down and shifted on his feet as Faro ribbed him.
“Well someone around here has to,” he mumbled as he crossed his arms.
“What was that, Lieutenant Commander?” she all but barked.
Eli froze. “Umm.. you’re pretty?”
He wasn’t sure what pushed him to say it. He had never claimed to be good at deescalating situations, but it seemed just the right amount of absurd to catch Faro off guard in the moment.
The two stared at each other for a beat, wide eyed and unsure of what exactly just happened. A roar of laughter burst from the other side of the table as Hammerly threw her head back, jostling Pyrondi awake. Faro quickly joined in before falling back into her seat with a fresh drink.
Blushing furiously, Eli used the distraction to make his escape, giving a clipped “goodnight” and making his way down the corridor to his quarters.
A couple weeks later, Eli was passing by Hammerly’s station with a brief request for her to revise a maintenance order on a sensor station that returned an abnormal output rating. He then needed her to rerun an analysis on the backup reactors to calibrate them to their upgraded system settings. She grumbled a sarcastic reply about priorities that Eli didn’t quite catch and he whipped around on the spot.
“What was that, Senior Lieutenant?”
She swiveled her chair to face Eli fully and gave him a glare that would make Faro proud.
“I said, you’re pretty,” she drawled.
He continued to hold her gaze as Hammerly’s sabacc face began to crack. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards before a snort broke free, breaking her composure and sending her into a silent fit of giggles. Eli followed quickly behind and they shared an amused grin before parting and resuming their duties on the bridge.
They continued this little game over the next few months. When a cheeky comment was made under one’s breath, or a friendly argument began to unravel in a less that friendly way, a timely uttered “you’re pretty” could send any and every one of them into a fit of laughter, breaking surrounding tension and sending them off to their next task feeling just a bit lighter.
That was until today at least.
Eli had made a breakthrough this morning in one of the projects Thrawn had assigned him, the feeling of accomplishment giving a spring to his step that carried him all the way to the bridge. His good mood was palpable as he made initial shift assessments and mentally began making a list of orders to be filled and a loose agenda for Thrawn’s day.
The day proved blessedly uneventful.
With a few hours left in their shift, Thrawn excused himself for a meeting in his office and Eli decided to use this time to finish the report he had been working through. Engrossed as he was in his work, he did not hear Thrawn’s return and continued to mumble calculations and data predictions under his breath.
Thrawn waited for a moment by his station, following along and attempting to decipher the muted ramblings but waiting patiently as to not interrupt Eli’s thought process. Thrawn heard what sounded like a potential theory and broke his silence.
“What was that, Lieutenant Commander?”
Eyes still focused on his datapad, Eli huffed out a laugh. “I said, you’re pretty.”
Eli typed in a final output and sent off the finished report before turning and standing to look up at Thrawn. His smile died as he took in Thrawn’s face and the last 30 seconds finally registered in his mind.
His eyes were widened slightly and seemed to grow brighter than Eli had ever seen. His jaw was held tight and the lightest dusting of purple trailed delicately up his cheeks to the tips of his ears.
Eli stuttered over several beginnings of an explanation before snapping his mouth shut and taking a deep breath. “Uh, I sent that report to your datapad. Sir.”
To his credit, Thrawn looked slightly more composed now. His cheeks were still tinged purple and his eyes still bright, but he had schooled his face into a neutral mask and gave a brisk nod before turning and walking away.
Eli stared after him as he made his way to the center of the bridge, mind still processing the look on Thrawn’s face. He met Faro’s eyes as she leaned against the back wall, a smug grin firmly in place and doing absolutely nothing to hide her amusement at the situation that had just played out. Eli steeled himself and hesitantly made his way to his post just behind and to the side of Thrawn.
The blush remained along Thrawn’s face for the next 20 minutes and Eli was certain he felt the weight of Thrawn’s stare any time his back was turned for the remainder of the shift.
Later that night, secluded in his quarters, Eli laid in bed thinking about how the flush on Thrawn's face reminded him of the sunsets back home. The sky would go vibrant shades of purple and violet just before rain in the summers. He would sit on the porch steps and watch the colors roll along the horizon until the rain drove him in or the sun had set and all had faded dark.
It was as breathtaking then as it had been on Thrawn’s face earlier on the bridge.
Eli felt his own face begin to warm as he considered what he could do so he could see it again.