boxofmisfits | Mirror Image

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Mirror Image

In forty years, Thrawn had kept the galaxy, mainly the Unknown Region, safe from many threats. He did it with his beloved at his side, living a full life with the one he loved, even when Glenn remained young while Thrawn grew older. They both knew there would come a day when they would have to say goodbye forever.

That day came, and Thrawn's last wish was to see Csilla. Many strings were pulled, and the Ascendancy allowed Thrawn his request, as well as agreeing to rescind his exile, seeing as he wasn't going to cause more trouble.

On his deathbed, Thrawn had given Glenn some parting words: "I hope you understand why I never told you this. I had to keep it a secret, to ensure the galaxy's safety. Not even Pellaeon or Parck knew of this. Forty years ago, I placed my genetic material into a cloning cylinder, in the event that I was ever killed. The cylinder was programmed to activate once I was declared dead." He'd reached into his pocket and given Glenn a datacard with directions to where he was keeping the clone. The card also contained the same message Thrawn had given Glenn, in the event that he died before he could tell his mate. "Go there, Glenn. Keep him safe until he is done. Know that you made the galaxy a brighter place for me."

Mitth'raw'nuruodo died the next day. A few loyal Chiss and Empire of the Hand members attended his funeral, where he was put to rest in the Mitth family crypt, alongside his brother. Thrawn had made sure his brother's remains had been found and given a proper resting place.

Meanwhile, on the edge of the Outer Rim, a cloning cylinder activates.

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Thrawn glances down at Glenn, while the birds pay no mind to them and just fly overhead. "Do you typically chatter at birds?" Last time he checked that was a feline behavior.

"Uh."

Immediately, his ears swivel back, the insides and fleshy barbs turning pink and absolutely lighting up in the infrared. At least he doesn't lose his stride.

"Not... just birds," he replies haltingly. "It's also interesting to see how other creatures react to different sounds. If anything."

"Those birds may not have heard you, or just disregarded the noises you made, since they were not those of their natural predator nor was it similar to the noises they themselves make."

Thrawn glances over his shoulder for a moment. "Do not stray too far from the fortress. I wish for it to be in sight while we explore." Even if Glenn can smell his way back, Thrawn prefers to take this one step at a time.

"Hmm." If anything, Glenn's embarrassment deepens, but he's grateful for the change in topic. He blinks a little and tilts his head as he processes their current location compared to the fortress, and nods.

"Thank you for letting me know. I will encircle it, then."

Glenn changes course enough to bring the fortress a little more into view, and then proceeds onward. Like this, and so long as he's careful not to drift too far among trees from time to time, it should remain always in sight.

"How are you faring on my back so far? I hope-- I am not terribly uncomfortable for you."

Honestly, some part of him means it also on an emotional level as well.

"I am doing fine," Thrawn reassures Glenn. After all, Glenn is the one who offered him a ride. Though, he now wonders if Glenn ever did this for the original Thrawn, or if the original even enjoyed something like this.

"You can go faster, if you want. I will hold on tightly."

"I see. Then, just in case...."

A tendril ripples out of his back, covered in a thin amount of fur, and slowly coils against the center of Thrawn's waist at the back. It's warm, even through clothing, especially as he adjusts its size and his pulse races through the body part.

After a moment's deliberation, he coils it around Thrawn once, mindful not to touch more than just his back out of respect for him. There's also plenty of room for Thrawn to actually get off of him if he wants to.

"While I do not predict there will be any use for my top speed, if my fur does not give you the leverage you require, like this I can offer you a bit more stability."

Still, as a start, he eases into a trot, although even that is a bit faster than one would expect something of his size to be able to move. The fluidity of his movements also, perhaps, tell of the precision he boasts with those movements. His body shifts and flexes beneath Thrawn to make the movements feel less abrupt, and the tentacle he's extended helps to offer any additional bracing leverage for the younger man to use.

His footholds are just as precise, and while Glenn may shift a little waywardly in his path to minimize jostling, he's still mindful to keep the fortress always in Thrawn's sight.

His ears are slightly folded back to minimize hearing the wind whistling into them, but only just.

"I trust you." While Thrawn is slightly anxious, he knows that Glenn won't let him fall, and can easily catch him if he slips off. He clutches at the fur and tightens his thighs on Glenn as he begins to trot.

It doesn't take long for Thrawn to get used to it, since Glenn's not jostling him with his movement. He's actually surprisingly smooth to ride. Thrawn grips the tentacle just for extra balance, still not used to riding anything other than a machine.

Glenn, of course, hears the effects of anxiety on Thrawn's cardiovascular system, but doesn't comment on it. He maintains his smooth stride, and very gently speeds up further in order to minimize even further jostling. His movements flow into one another, muscles rhythmically stretching and contracting. His breathing increases to an audible level as he shifts the structure of his head and face, but it's still easy and even. The larger nostrils and mouth just make it easier for him to gather the breath he needs to avoid overexertion.

If Thrawn looks, although the pace is easy, Glenn only has one paw on the ground at some points.

At times, he softly clicks and trills at Thrawn to communicate, the sounds gentle and soothing, but otherwise, completely meaningless to the Chiss.

Thrawn actually starts to smile as he rides Glenn, much like someone riding a speeder for the first time, and the extra appendages that Glenn produced for his convenience make him feel safe, knowing that he won't fall off.

Looking up, he can see rain clouds on the horizon. "Perhaps you should return us to the fortress. It may be about time for me to reveal myself."

Glenn smells the potential for rain before he sees it, snuffling the air as he slows down a little. He turns his head a bit to regard Thrawn with one eye, the iris briefly reflecting Thrawn's red, and he gives a nod in answer. Turning around, he starts up slow again and then breaks into an easy run like before, only slightly winded from a general lack of exercise over a prolonged period.

But rather than heading for the cloning facility aspect of the fortress, he makes a line for the main entrance. Without any complaints to the contrary, this is where he stops for them, and patiently waits for Thrawn to dismount before returning to human form.

Thrawn easily slides off Glenn, taking a moment to stretch after that ride. "Thank you, Glenn. That was most enjoyable."

Waving Glenn along, Thrawn makes his way inside the fortress. The front area doesn't have anybody but some guard droids, who remain inert, apparently recognizing Thrawn. He makes his way to the lift and from there, one of the main chambers, where Thrawn and Parck would convene.

In this room are many Chiss at computers and an elderly Chiss sitting on a chair in the center of the room, overlooking things. The elderly Chiss sees Thrawn and his red eyes widen, looking as if he's seen a ghost.

Thrawn's clone smiles pleasantly, looking very much like his template. "Hello Commander Kres'ten'tarthi."

"Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo?" Stent takes a moment to process this. "Clever Thrawn cloned himself, I see." Stent turns his gaze to Glenn, husband of the late Syndic and Grand Admiral. "Am I correct?"

"You are correct," Glenn replies, standing mostly at attention out of politeness. He knows he hasn't really socialized much with anyone here since his arrival to guard his mate's clone. Fortunately, despite the more or less prolonged disuse of his voice, he sounds like he's never stopped talking.

"My mate, just prior to his death, gave me notice of such plans. And based on him keeping that secret until such a time impressed upon me the prerogative to act with similar secrecy in kind."

After all, he's never let anyone near where Thrawn's chamber was, his instincts refusing to allow him to entertain anything else, and grief left him rather crippled in terms of the energy to socialize.

Perhaps selfishly, he still worries about the loss of purpose now, and that he might be sorely tempted to eventually retreat back into himself, but he knows that it is no one else's burden to bear but his own.

"So Mitth'raw'nuruodo had a cloning chamber underneath us all along? I am not entirely surprised. Nor is it a surprise that he kept this from us, and trusted you alone with this information." Stent doesn't sound too torn up about this, since he knows Thrawn did what he did only for good reasons, and he can understand why Thrawn kept this a secret.

The elderly Chiss regards the clone, stepping off the dias and vacating the chair. "I was at your maker's funeral. The day we lost him was a sad one indeed, for the galaxy lost a great man. But now his genius lives on in you."

"With all due respect, Commander, I may need some time to adjust." Thrawn looks back at Glenn. "And I wish to keep Glenn at my side. He protected me while I was still in the cloning tube, and can protect me still."

"Of course," Stent nods. "We would never dream of turning away the life mate of Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Especially not when we have him to thank for making sure you came to us."

Glenn gives an almost imperceptible flinch at the phrasing, disliking the potential implication that he acted in any way to circumvent Thrawn's free will. But, having picked up a thing or two, he's able to keep his reaction to that little twitch alone for now, and he resists the urge to correct the elder over something so trivial. His sensitivity aside, the meaning is clear enough.

Still, ludicrous is the thought of, even in formality, requiring permission to linger from outside of those immediately concerned.

Thrawn's path is however he chooses to forge it.

"You shall have me at your side for however long you wish it of me, and the knowledge that accompanies me."

"You make it sound as if there may come a day when I will not want you with me anymore." Thrawn has only been aware for a few hours, but Glenn is all he knows, discounting his memories of the original Thrawn. Glenn is his only friend, and has been for him when he was but a cluster of cells.

"Well, all of this is yours now," Stent says, waving at the chair. "We await your command, Syndic. Anything you and your friend wish is yours."

"For now, you may continue as you were, Commander. I wish to rest for the time being. I assume Thrawn's old quarters are available?"

"Indeed. Please, make yourselves at home."

Thrawn gives Stent a polite nod before waving Glenn along to the lift again. When the doors close, he turns to Glenn, "I am less than a day old and they are expecting me to be Thrawn resurrected."

"To attempt to sit in their boots, so to speak, you may very well be that to them."

Glenn thinks a moment, doing his best to work with his thoughts. In the lift, Thrawn's scent is more potent than in an open space. His mind once more notices the difference, his instincts mildly confused at the similarity between this man and his late mate.

"As he said, we were there during his funeral. But he wasn't there to see any sort of process beyond that. I suspect that as a result, his perception of you is warped to more strictly accommodate your predecessor's image. I imagine if you spoke with him frankly, he may come to a better understanding that the two of you are not the same person, however his emotions may lead him to feel.

"Meanwhile, I have had five years to reconcile the differences. However slowly."

Looking to Thrawn a moment, he then lets out a small sigh and glances away.

"And in that, is the source of my earlier comment. There indeed may come a time when you wish for me to leave. However composed I am right now, and however useful I am to you, I still have distinctly heavy emotional baggage. Some of which has still persisted since I was chronologically in my late teens.

"Your predecessor accepted me all the same, roughly when we first met, however.. uniquely."

His lips twitch a little in an almost smile.

"However, I have no desire to shift my burdens onto you. You already have much before you to contend with, however you choose to."

Even setting his grief aside, there is still pain there, that he is still discovering how to navigate thanks to his slowed aging both inside and outside. He hopes that Thrawn can pick up on it even without him saying exactly as much.

"I also have a bad habit of being... reclusive... whenever I am struggling. Ever since I was a child."

Which has been the case at times even before his mate's death, but especially while he was learning to accept his mate's acceptance, and then after his death. Because of how long it took for him to reach each goalpost, his mate's death felt heart-wrenchingly soon, and sent him backwards in that progress to some degree.

But even saying this much probably spells out just what kind of state he was in while guarding Thrawn. Sure, he's had some better days, but for the most part? Even he knows that refusing contact with others was more out of a maladaptive coping mechanism.

"You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish, and I will not force you to be social if you do not wish it. But do not be afraid to seek me out if you need company." After all, Glenn is his friend, and the widower of his template, and he hasn't shown any awkwardness in speaking of his mate to the clone.

Perhaps they both have their emotional baggage to handle. For Thrawn, it's the way he has to live up to a great man, while trying to make others understand that he's not the same man who did all those great things. Stent seemed to understand, but Thrawn could tell that he is excited at the idea that the Grand Admiral has been reborn.

"I appreciate it."

He's not entirely sure how to conduct himself right now, and he rubs the back of his neck again, a few gray feathers curling out of the way.

"If I need company... I'll ask. Even so, do not be afraid to turn me down if you simply do not wish for company."

As genuine as his words are, it still looks like he's expecting to be turned away. He's the widower of Thrawn's template, after all. And as intensely pack-oriented as Glenn is, he doesn't want to blur the line at any point between the man before him and his mate. It will only cause trouble.

"Do you wish for me to quietly communicate to Commander Kres'ten'tarthi regarding his conduct to you earlier?" he asks, not wanting much attention pointed towards himself. "I wished to speak up earlier regarding his choice of words, but I did not wish to impose, nor cause any offense between the two of you."

"I doubt you could cause offense between us. But, you may speak to him about his conduct if you wish." It's odd seeing Stent so old, since in his flash learned memories he was a man in his thirties. It must be equally odd to Stent, since he didn't know Thrawn when he was this young.

The lift comes to a halt and opens the doors. Thrawn steps through, into the original Thrawn's old quarters. It's rather large, with a huge front room serving as a sitting area, with a holo-projector in the center and works of art decorating the walls. There's doors leading to the bedroom, refresher and kitchen. Thrawn probably didn't entertain in here very often. And now all of this is his.

"I can speak to someone about setting up a room for you. Unless you want me to simply have a cot brought in so you may sleep in the front room." Rukh practically slept outside the original Thrawn's door while he was serving as his bodyguard.

Glenn steps into the room, and aside from tidying up, it's exactly how he last remembered it looking. There's no scent of his mate in here anymore. Some of his own art is on the walls, and all at once, Glenn remembers that there's a post-wedding portrait he drew of them in the bedroom.

He doesn't seem like he hears Thrawn as his mind rushes through the few memories he has of them in this place, remarkable only because his mate was here with him. His hand touches over one of the tables as he stiffly enters, fiercely reminding himself that this is no longer a place he can selfishly belong.

He doesn't make a sound as he tears up again, breathing carefully and deeply to keep from agitating the urge to cry outright.

Not that he isn't, with a steady stream of them running down his cheeks.

"A-- separate room-- would be best," he manages to eke out, and he hastily wipes at his face with the back of his hand.

"...That said, there is-- an art piece I should remove from your room and replace with something else, if anything. I had forgotten it was even here until I came in here, and..."

At least the art of his in this room is nondescript enough. Just little things like a horizon's portrait at dawn, and a few insects and ysalamiri climbing trees.

Thrawn isn't sure if he should comfort Glenn or give him space, or if any move to comfort him would be awkward since he's a clone of Glenn's dead husband. He regrets bringing him up here, not even considering that Glenn might have come here in the past with Thrawn, and shared quarters with him.

"Of course. Take what you need."

In the meantime, he looks at the artwork around the room. Strange to turn his analytical mind on artwork that belonged to the man he was cloned from, and thus he's reading himself. Though, he can tell that some of the artwork belongs to Glenn. Thrawn must have treasured his mate's art.

"...Yes. Sorry. I won't remove it from your possession, if you would prefer, but.. I doubt you would want to look up every time you wake up and see-- a portrait containing your likeness, but of the life that isn't yours."

It would feel like he's forcing it on him. Glenn enters the room and very carefully removes the portrait from the wall. It's a larger piece, crafted over a period of several months. Glenn sets it down out of the way by the wall and finds a cloth to cover it with.

That done, he moves it out of the bedroom entirely, and leans it against a wall in the communal space. Part of him just wants to hide it away entirely.

"Just... I was here a few times before. Always on business, but... I wanted this place to also feel like home. To me, there's nothing really remarkable about this place. It just served as a comfortable roof.

"...But because my mate was here with me, it meant something a lot more. Everything... meant more to me when we were together."

He wipes at his face with the back of his hand, and sighs.

"Anyway. Know that if you find any of the art here to be... not what you would prefer to look at, other pieces can be cycled in. I kept possession several pieces in their original formats. Many of which are safely stored aboard the Morpho, and I can easily bring them in. Consider it... as sharing something of mutual interest."

He offers a watery smile.

"I also have holo versions of them on the datapad, in case you would like a preview of them. However, there are some personal pieces that I am not open to sharing at this time."

Thrawn looks at the artwork once more. "You may take the wedding portrait, but I wish to keep the other pieces that you will allow me to. I would also like copies of whatever you wish to share with me." It's a combination of how he wants to examine the artwork to get a view into his predecessor and Glenn himself, and just because he finds the artwork nice to look at.

"You can have the room next to mine, so that you are still close by, unless you would prefer to sleep in the floor directly below." In case it hurts too much to even be next to the room that his mate occupied, knowing that a man who looks just like him is using it.

"...Yeah. That's fine. On... both accounts." He shifts a little bit awkwardly, and contemplates which piece to bring in from the Morpho. A lot of them are personal pieces, just like the wedding portrait. But there are some that are a bit less personal that he simply likes.

Regarding the covered wedding portrait, he picks it up again with the support of a few tentacles, one peeling the covering back.

"...If you want to look at it -- the wedding portrait -- you're welcome to."

It's an incredibly colorful piece, after all. One of his best works, he thinks. There was frustration at times in making it, yes, but mostly joy to recapture such a lovely moment. He still remembers the scent of the flowers he'd insisted on, the feeling of his mate in his arms, and the loving words they spoke in Cheunh.

The work itself was painstakingly painted on the thick canvas with various transparent, colored inks, each layer left to dry before applying the next. He'd practiced digitally for a long time before taking this on.

The portrait is almost photo-realistic. Their ages are plain, though compared to now, Glenn's hair has less gray.

Glenn lightly bites his lip.

"...This is one of the only portraits I have where it is... also an accurate self-portrait. Showing me as I am, rather than how I often feel. So I don't mind if you wish to study it. In a little bit, I can show you some holos of other works I have. I'll let you decide which art piece you'd rather fill the empty space this one has left behind. No sense in letting them continue to just sit in storage without anyone to appreciate them."

Thrawn examines the painting. That's him. Or rather, it's the man he was cloned from. But it's still his face, albeit older, with lines on his face and a few grey hairs. It's almost surreal, to see this version of himself, to see the man he was created to continue the legacy of. Even if Glenn said that this piece was meant to be more true to life, he can still see the sheer depth of how much he loved Thrawn in this painting, and how much he wanted this painting to represent a cherished memory.

To suddenly regain this reminder of that day, while being around a man with the face of his mate, he can only imagine how that must feel for Glenn.

"He meant a lot to you."

Mirror Image

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