Are you willing to go through with it?

"Well done, Captain," Ar'alani said, an edge of annoyance in her tone.

"Next time you have a clever plan, kindly share it with me before executing it."

~

"You disapprove," Thrawn said.

Ar'alani eyed him, her head still spinning from the idea he'd presented to her and the two younger women.

"Of course I disapprove," she said. "The whole thing is totally illegal in at least three directions. Not to mention insane."

"Agreed," Thrawn said. "The question is, are you willing to go through with it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course," Thrawn said. [...]

"Come on, Thrawn, this is crazy. Even for you." [...] "I assume you aren't going to let Ba'kif or Ja'fosk in on that part of the plan?"

"I'm not that crazy," Thrawn said with a small smile.

"But they're going to find out eventually," Ar'alani said. "Have you thought about what they'll do to you afterward?"

A muscle in Thrawn's throat tightened. "If we've eliminated Yiv as a threat, it doesn't matter what they do to me." He cocked his head.

"My real concern is you. What they're going to do to you when it all comes out."

"I'm an admiral," Ar'alani reminded him. "Not nearly so easy to get rid of."

"They'll still try."

"Only if we fail. If we succeed- " She shrugged. "But the future's out of our hands. Let's go with the present." [...]

"And hope that my assessment of General Yiv is correct."

"Right," Ar'alani said. "Let's really hope that."

~

Sparring, wine, dates.

But the apex of Thrawn and Ar'alani's relationship is when they are partners in crime.

The level of trust, despite the madness.

The grounded love and respect.

The bluntness between them.

Stars, I so love these two.

Bonus? Thrawn's amusement.

Seriously, we should stop depicting him as always mad and frowning.

The man smiles. A lot.

And, fundamentally, he enjoys the absolute insanity of his plans.

[Hopefully, you'll excuse the not Ar'alani-related photo, given the out-of-this-world beauty of these @outerspaceoutpost earrings. The universe inside. The colors are hypnotic, and the red stars among the galaxy of blue are the true soul of the Chiss]