Wrapping my love for you

"A minute later they were all inside. It was a chocolate shop, Eli noted distantly, heavy with an aroma he would have found pleasantly enticing under other circumstances."

I will repeat myself here.

Among all the others, I owe to Mr. Zahn the fact that chocolate exists in canon, and Eli finds it "pleasantly enticing."

["Under *other* circumstances"]

I know.

I already reported this quote, and I normally try hard not to, but last time I ranted about layers of reality and fandom (!), so I feel entitled to do a silly post just about Eli and his love for chocolate (and Thrawn).

When Jun sent me these Japanese sweets, together with a gazillion of other beautiful things, I immediately craved to post about it.

And, since Feb 14th was kind of taken by my TED talk about Thrawn's love for -basically- everyone, I immediately thought to share it on White Day.

If you are not familiar with the celebration, very Japanese indeed, on March 14th people give reciprocal gifts to those who gave them presents on Valentine's Day.

So, as the total idiot that I am, I ended up imagining Eli fantasizing about some beautiful sweets to gift to Thrawn.

Dark or sweet chocolate?

Simple truffles or perfect French culinary *art*?

Picking the box, the colors, the flavors.

Not too informal, Eli. Elegant, classy.

What gift did Eli receive from Thrawn beforehand, you are asking?

Very simply, his most precious possession: Thrawn's intimate thoughts.

In a life dedicated to maintaining strict appearances in the Ascendancy first and in the Empire later, feeling like an odd fit among all "normal" social environments, his journal was a gash on Thrawn's heart and soul.

"Eli read the entry a second time. Then, with a sigh, he shut down his datapad.

He still didn’t know why Thrawn had left him his journal. []

Perhaps the reason was encompassed somehow in that final entry.

Distantly, Eli wondered if there had been any more to the journal.

And, if so, if he would ever find the other entries."

Wrapping the beautiful ribbon around the chocolate box, Eli just wondered if it would be ever enough.

~

And, yes.

This post is just 10 days late.

[Kriff!]

[Photo: charms by @_art_and_chaos_ ]