Infiltration (Thrawn x Reader)

Chapter 11 - Cards and Tempting Death

A year and a half later, 3 BBY

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I woke up in Thrawn's quarters, and sighed when I saw it was only 0515. My squad had returned from a mission late last night; we'd been gone for eight days, so we wouldn't be meeting this morning. They'd earned a day off. Apparently, I wouldn't be sleeping in, however. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to recall the dream I'd been having. I was fairly sure Obi-wan Kenobi had been in it, but that was it. I remembered nothing else. Typical.

I started brewing some caf and walked to his front room to peek at his books again. I picked one, then poured my caf and washed my hands really well. I curled up into one of the soft blue-green couches, pulling the Chiss book carefully onto my lap over a white blanket. Obviously, I couldn't read it. But I tried.

The book was ancient, wrapped in exquisite leather of some sort, the pages darkened from time. I did my best to touch it as little as possible. After a while, I noticed some repeating words, and decided they had something to do with the Chiss government. I tried to cross reference some of them, but found nothing.

When Thrawn walked in over an hour later, he looked at me curiously. He was sweaty, clearly he'd been training. I wondered if he was on duty today. Probably not, since he'd worked out for longer than usual.

I read a sentence to him. He gave me a little smile, probably at my poor pronunciation. He repeated the sentence in Cheunh. It sounded beautiful from his mouth, and I had to resist the urge to physically melt back into the couch at the sound. Then, he repeated it in Basic. Somehow, it still sounded sexy.

"The eleven ruling families showed their discontentment with the Syndicure by creating the Circle of Unity, where the patriarchs would meet in secrecy."

I looked back at the sentence. "So this word means Syndicure? I've noticed it a lot."

He sat on the couch next to me and peered at the book. "Yes. This phrase says eleven ruling families," I looked at where he was pointing. Yes, I'd read the word for families a lot as well.

"Could you count to ten for me?" I asked, my unfocused gaze drifting toward the paintings on the wall. He counted, and I smiled. I enjoyed his language, at least from his lips. I tried to repeat them, and he said them again. My second round, I felt much more confident, though it wasn't perfect. I realized it might be the first time he's heard a human count in his own language.

"Would you like to learn Cheunh?" I scrunched my face in thought. I hadn't learned a language since I was a teenager.

"I think I'd like to learn some, yes," I said, finally looking at him. He smiled, and I saw his eyes flash a bit of pride. He was happy I wanted to learn his language, and for some reason, I was happy to make him happy.

"I will create a file on some of the basics, as well as bureaucratic terms." I nodded. Exactly what I would start with during my schooling. A princess didn't need to know every word of every language, but one could try.

I closed the book and set it gently on the table in front of us.

"Thrawn, what do you know about the orbital battle station?" His eyebrows lifted.

"I understand it is a bit of a passion project of Tarkin and Director Krennic. Personally, I find it to be a waste."

"Yeah, I got that much. I agree that your Defender plans will be better for the Empire in the long run if they're approved. But, Thrawn, I've done research. This battle station is draining the Empire of resources. How could that be?" He eyed me closely for a moment.

"Would you like me to look into it further?" he finally asked.

I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. Would he really be willing to find information on it, and give it to me? It is way above my clearance level. "I don't know. There's just something... off, about the whole project."