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Thrilling Tales To Tantalize The Senses ( almost had full alliteration bingo)

Chapter 7: Eli Attends His First Cult Party

Summary:

Madness is beauty, chaos is order

Chapter Text

"So, there’s this cult that believes in absolute madness as order, and that murder is their right, and insanity is beauty. They worship these creatures that came from the stars, and they communicate through telepathy within your dreams. The cult has an active sect on Coruscant, and I think it would be fun to attend a meeting.” Eli is hopeful, he pouts slightly, eyes dilate, he wants this.

“Would this be the remnants of that death cult we shut down a few years ago?” Thrawn is busy sorting through relevant information for their current project and his own private investigations. Eli nods, he’s sitting on a curved love seat in the corner of Thrawn office on the ship, and he’s itching to go to that meeting, but he doesn’t want to go it alone.

“Your association was to end after their leaders were apprehended.” Thrawn casts Eli a sharp look before he returns his attention to the datatpads in front of him.

“I may have hung on to some of it,” Eli speaks slowly, as if the words are resisting his tongue.

“They were manipulative scoundrels and murderers.” Thrawn swipes through irrelevant pieces of information on minerals and mining companies.

“I know, but they were fascinating. The cult god is awesome.” Eli eyes are wet with awe and adulation. He’s bouncing in his seat, Thrawn pauses, and he slowly looks up from his work and carefully reads Eli, Eli in turn, reads Thrawn’s eyes. He blinks. Thrawn is concerned.

“Help me understand your attitude about this. You like the cult?” Thrawn is perplexed. He had not expected Eli to find the occult so interesting.

“Yes! I mean, no. I mean, the cult itself is interesting. The lore, their god, and the entire belief system, all of it is beautiful in its own way. Their art is just murder.” It takes a minute for Eli to process that he justified murder and called it beautiful, meanwhile, Thrawn is questioning Eli’s sanity.

“That came out wrong. Murder is wrong, yes. I just find them so captivating.” Eli cringes, none of his word choices or sentences are on point tonight.

“What are your intentions? What do you wish to gain from attending this meeting?” Thrawn leans forward, he rests his chin on his knuckles.

“I don’t know. Cure my boredom. It’s Hallows Day, and I think it would be fun to go to a cult meeting on Hallows Day. Just for a laugh.” Eli shrugs and tries to look cool; he leans back but changes his mind when he remembers there is no back support to the love seat.

“I’m concerned for you.” Thrawn says gravely.

“Why?”

“I fear you’ll be an easy target.”

“This is whimsical! Going to a cult meeting? On Hallows Day? It’s funny!” Eli laughs to play up his point and the bit. Thrawn is not amused or convinced.

“Was there not something else you had interest in?” Thrawn exhales in exasperation and defeat. He had not wanted to do that other thing either.

“The haunted house party?” Eli asks, Thrawn nods, he is not happy, but if that is an alternative to a freaky death cult, he’ll take it.

“Hammerly cousin is renting the space for the party. You are encouraged to spend the night if you dare.” Eli tries to sound spooky; he curls his fingers and makes scary noises.

“Hammerly is involved.” Thrawn groans and leans back in his chair, he's lost interest again. Hammerly is an impressive person who can get Thrawn to emote his feelings visibly and vocally about them and the things they do. In short, Thrawn immensely dislikes her, and he cannot completely conceal it. Eli is oblivious to this, Hammerly is not.

“Yeah, she invited me, I’m inviting you.” Eli just wants to do something at this juncture.

“Do you not see the problem?” Thrawn half smiles, annoyed.

“You are afraid of ghosts?” Eli asks, almost hopeful. Thrawn shakes his head.

“I cannot be your plus one if the others I command are present.”

Eli’s face warms.

“I don’t know if the rest of the crew will be there.” Eli frowns, he hadn’t thought of that. Honestly, everyone thinks they’re sleeping together anyway, so what harm could it be to just show up, since they’re not wrong. Thrawn, however, takes his command role seriously to the nth degree, despite his contradictions. He is a leader, and he has responsibilities and an image to uphold. He also just so happens to be screwing his aide, however, his personal life is no one’s business, and he is tight lipped about it.

To attend a party as the plus one of the aide he is screwing, that a member of his command is hosting would be most inappropriate.

“It is not a risk I am willing to take.”

"So, Death Cult meeting?" Eli's claps his hands together in a praying motion, his eyes pleading, begging. Thrawn groans inwardly and nods. He has so many feelings about this.


The meeting is not what Thrawn had anticipated. He expected to come to a pyre where bodies were mutilated and burned while members chanted feverish in a strange language. Instead they were led to a grand ballroom that the elite use for their events on Coruscant. Eli, Thrawn has noted, is shaking with discontent and disappointment. 

"Where's the murder?" He mutters angrily. Eli huffs and looks around, this is not how he thought the night would come to be. That concerned feeling rises again within the Chiss.

"Disappointed, commander?"

"Yes!" Eli snaps, he gestures around the room.

"This is awful, this is disgusting." Eli glares at the cult members, they are singing, laughing, joking, being jovial and gregarious creatures, not the weirdo creepers who stalk among the shadows.

"Not what you were expecting?"

Eli gags and shakes his head.

"This is awful in every way. It's a visceral sort of discomfort and discontent. If I could kill this I would." Eli shudders, Thrawn raises a brow studies him. Eli does appear to be in pain. Eli turns to Thrawn, once he feels his stare and offers a sly smile.

"I know I legally can't." His eyes sparkle, and Thrawn sighs.

"But you've considered it," Thrawn says gravely and Eli nods.

"I hate all of this. They're confirming to a normalcy that should be beneath them. If I wanted a Hallows Day Party we should have gone to Hamms's shindig. Is that spooky punch? Oh, gods, they have spooky punch. What is this? They should be against all of this!" Eli crosses his arms and glares at everything.

"What would you have them do? Murder?" Just when Thrawn thinks he has an understanding of his human partner, Eli veers a hard left and then nose dives.

"Yes! Maybe! No. That's bad, but I don't know. Not this." Eli scratches the back of his head.

The lights go out and a few seconds later the red haze of the emergency back up system fills the room, the cultist shed their clothing and an ominous, animalistic chant hums, thrums throughout the room.

"Hello, there." Eli perks up.

"More what you wanted?" Thrawn scans the room for exits and cover, anything that could be broken down and be used as a weapon if the need arises and it is likely. There is movement ahead, Eli grabs Thrawn's arm and gasps, Thrawn can see perfectly well and a female human is brought forward and displayed front and center of the room, a man in a dark robe, wearing an odd distorted mask presents a ceremonial blade, the masked one walks behind the human female, he turns the blade, then he slices her throat, she fall down dead, the room's chanting increases, the cadence and tempo speeds up.

"Oh, that just happened." 

"Yes."

Eli and Thrawn reach for their blasters.

"This could very well be, the most epic party yet." Eli smiles.

"We don't have these sort of things back home."

"Welcome to the Empire, Mitth'raw'nuruodo." Eli says cheekily, they both get into serious men of law and order position.