Chapter Text
When Hux arrived at work the day after the tank incident, it was with the washed and neatly folded keeper uniform draped over one arm, his briefcase in one hand and a cup carrier with two cups of coffee precariously balanced in the other.
He tapped at Kylo’s door with his foot, unsure if he would even be here this early. But after a brief pause the door opened and a groggy, suspicious Kylo answered.
“Oh,” he said when he saw Hux. “It’s you.”
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“No, no it’s just...really early.” He glanced at the coffee Hux held and then away.
“I like being here before everyone else. Why are you here so early?”
Kylo hesitated to answer. “I’ve been coming in early some days to...try to sort things out,” he admitted. He looked ashamed to admit it and Hux realized it was the first time he’d acknowledged that anything needed sorting out.
“Well,” Hux said. “Would some coffee help?” He held out the carrier.
Kylo looked at it with bewilderment. “You brought me coffee?”
“And your uniform back,” Hux added, deflecting. He was suddenly self conscious. Would Kylo want a visitor this early? Did he even like coffee?
“Uh. Come in,” Kylo said awkwardly, holding the door open for Hux. He shut the door behind him and hurried over to clear some space on the cluttered desk for Hux to set the drinks.
It was a relief to finally put everything down. Hux sighed, sinking into the chair and reaching for his coffee. Right as his hand closed around it both of Kylo’s did too, enveloping Hux’s hand and the cup.
For a moment neither moved. Hux wasn’t sure what was warmer, his hand trapped between the cup of hot liquid and Kylo’s hands, or his face . It felt as though all his blood was rushing to it all at once. I must look ridiculous…
Kylo wasn’t looking at his face, though, but at their hands around the cup. Slowly he traced his calloused thumb along Hux’s wrist, fascinated. Hux shivered.
As if snapped out of a trance, Kylo pulled his hands away and took the other cup instead.
“Sorry,” he said, “sorry, I - didn’t know which one was mine.”
“Doesn’t matter. They’re both the same,” Hux said stiffly, still staring at the spot where Kylo’s thumb had brushed.
Kylo nodded, sipping at his coffee and wincing when it burned his tongue. He stared down at the desk, looking like he wanted to crawl underneath it and hide.
Hux picked up his own drink and blew on it to cool it down. They sat in uncomfortable silence until Kylo finally spoke again.
“Sorry it’s such a mess,” he said with a sigh, looking around the cluttered office. “I’ve been trying to sort it all out, but…”
“He never trained you for this, did he?” Hux asked quietly.
It wasn’t an accusation at Kylo but at Snoke. It was becoming clear that dropping ownership of the zoo on Kylo was more curse than blessing. Now that he was actually paying attention, he could see all the ways it was wearing on Kylo. He looked perpetually exhausted and tense, his hair a little messier, his uniforms a little more rumpled. He was barely keeping his head above water, Hux realized. And there was only so long one could tread before they drowned.
Kylo shook his head. Hux braced himself and then said, very carefully,
“If you want, I can go through it with you. Maybe stay late a few days and tackle everything.”
The last time Hux had offered Kylo his help it had blown up in his face. Then again, the offer wasn’t so well-intentioned the first time. He only wanted to be in control and lord his superiority over Kylo.
Kylo remembered it that way too, Hux could tell from his wary expression as he considered Hux with his head tilted slightly.
“You’d do that?” He asked.
“I would.”
Kylo hummed, still thinking. Then, to Hux’s surprise, he got up from his chair, walked over to the door and locked it. When he sat back down he looked even more conflicted.
“Kylo,” Hux said. “What is it?”
“It’s about Snoke,” Kylo muttered. “Hux, what I’m about to tell you...it’s not good. If it left this room - “
“Just tell me ,” Hux insisted, growing worried.
Kylo sighed, casting his eyes down to the cluttered paperwork. He folded his arms across the desk and leaned forward, speaking quietly.
“You know how some of our sponsors dropped out?”
“Yes…”
“It’s probably good that they did,” he said. Catching Hux’s appalled look, he quickly continued. “They were shady as hell, Hux. Turns out Snoke was involved in some not so legal stuff. Extortion, bribery...I’m pretty sure one of the sponsors’ businesses was a front for a drug cartel. I’m not kidding.”
Hux frowned. He had never expected something that bad, but he couldn’t say that he was surprised, either. Snoke was always enigmatic and Hux often got the feeling he was hiding something. Turns out it was a lot of somethings.
“So why did they drop out?” he asked.
“Because he’s gone. They don’t know me and don’t trust me. Like I said, it’s probably good that they’re gone, but now I’m suspicious of every sponsor, I don’t know what’s what anymore. Plus we need to find new ones or we won’t make the budget…” he sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair and looking down again. “But Hux...it gets worse…”
Worse than that? How?
Kylo lowered his voice even more and Hux had to lean in to be able to hear him.
“Some of the animals here...the way Snoke got them, he...they were…” He closed his eyes, brow pinched. “He got them from poachers…”
Hux’s breath caught in his throat. Okay, that was worse. Much worse. Unsavory sponsors he could handle, but knowing that some of their animals had been acquired illegally was another matter entirely. It compromised everything he and the zoo were supposed to stand for.
“How many?” He breathed. “Which ones?”
“I’m still sorting that out, but...the gorillas, definitely. The snow leopard. The sea lions, the Amazon river dolphin, the sloth, at least one rhino. And…” He stopped, looking distraught.
No...
“...and Millicent,” Hux finished for him, voice hoarse. Kylo nodded in confirmation and Hux thought he might be sick.
Meanwhile Kylo looked like he might cry . “It’s so fucked up, Hux, all of it. All this time I thought this place was... good and right. I gave up everything to be here, I devoted my life to it, and he was - “ He put his head in his hands, gripping his hair tightly. “I didn’t know, I swear . But...I had a bad feeling about him sometimes. I thought he might be hiding something, but I - I never questioned it. I was afraid to. He gave me the keeper position when I had no training, he let me live here when I had no home...if I defied him, what reason would he have not to throw me out…”
I gave you this. I can take it away. Hux remembered the chill up his spine he got any time Snoke reminded him he was replaceable. He, too, was afraid to push, afraid to ask too many questions, for fear of losing what he’d worked so hard for.
Hux sat back in his chair with his hands folded, his throat feeling tight. He was shaken by the revelations, certainly, but didn’t feel nearly as wrecked as Kylo looked.
I didn’t know, I swear .
Suddenly Hux understood why Kylo had been so scared to tell him. Why he refused Hux’s help, or to even let him look at what he was dealing with.
Kylo was Snoke’s successor and long-time employee and protégé. If all the gritty details of Snoke’s dealings were to get out, Kylo would certainly be implicated along with him. He could claim all he wanted that he didn’t know; his hands were all over the proof, both physical and digital. And with Snoke gone and no other witnesses, there was no one to vouch for his innocence. He could face legal action, maybe jail time, and he would never work in a zoo again.
In his admission of Snoke’s crimes, Kylo had given Hux everything he needed to absolutely ruin him.
And the thing was, a few months ago Hux would have reported him without mercy or hesitation. He would have reveled in watching Kylo walk out the gates in handcuffs, never to return.
But now...
Hux let out a slow breath, easing the tension from his shoulders.
“Here’s what we do,” he began, more confidently than he felt. “We go through everything . Sponsors, the animals’ records, all of it. We weed out the bad and rebuild what we have to. The animals he got that way are here now, there’s not much we can do about that, but we can prevent it from ever happening again. And there are plenty of potential new sponsors, we can start a list…”
Slowly, Kylo’s face emerged from behind his hands. His cheeks were flushed and eyes wet as he stared at Hux.
“We?” he asked, voice cracking.
“Yes, we,” Hux answered firmly. He reached out and placed his hand on Kylo’s arm, an awkward but genuine attempt at comfort. “This is our zoo, isn’t it? Don’t we know it better than anyone? It’s broken now, but we can fix it.”
Kylo’s lip trembled, but he sat up straighter, bolstered by Hux’s words. “Yeah...yeah, okay. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Me too.”
To Hux’s relief, Kylo looked much less on the verge of a breakdown. He reached up a hand to smooth down his mussed hair and Hux reluctantly pulled his hand away from Kylo’s arm. He cleared his throat, stood, and picked up his now-lukewarm coffee. “I should...get to my office.”
“Of course. Yeah.” Kylo looked up at him, his face still so full of relief and gratitude it was impossible to look away. “Thank you, Hux.” His lips turned up into a half-smile. “For...the coffee.”
“Right. The coffee.” Hux chuckled and the last of the lingering tension left the room. Kylo was smiling fully now and just like that, Hux believed it would all be okay.
*
Hux didn’t see Kylo for the rest of the day. That was probably for the best. He needed some time to process everything he’d just learned and to form a more solid plan.
Luckily he was a quick thinker. By the end of the day Hux had come up with tangible, step-by-step ideas for getting the zoo back to how it should be. He just needed to go over them with Kylo.
Never, he thought as he packed up his things, never did he imagine he would be planning to meet after-hours with Kylo without even an ounce of dread or irritation. He was nervous about successfully executing his plans, he was hesitant to look at the details of all of Snoke’s misdeeds, but he wasn’t worried about spending time with Kylo.
A little after six-o’clock he tapped on Kylo’s office door. When it opened, Kylo peered out as guardedly as he had before. Once he saw it was Hux, though, he looked relieved and stepped back to let him in.
“Thanks for coming,” he said as he shut the door.
“Of course.” Hux looked around. The office had gotten marginally neater. The previously scattered about papers were stacked - in messy stacks, but still, there was the semblance of organization beginning to form. Kylo’s laptop was open on the desk and the paper coffee cup Hux brought him coffee in that morning was full and steaming once more. Hux glanced to his left to see a small coffee machine plugged in and sitting on top of a small filing cabinet. He raised an eyebrow.
“Been busy?”
Kylo chuckled. He pushed his hair back out of his face and plopped down into his chair. “Yeah, actually. Trying to get things organized so it’ll be easier to go through. There’s just so much and Snoke’s filing system makes no sense. A lot of the current stuff is digital - “ he motioned to a little flash drive sticking out of the side of his laptop. “But everything before 2005 is on paper…”
“We’ll figured it out,” Hux assured him.
Kylo nodded. He looked over the desk and then out the window, frowning.
“Do we have to figure it out here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been in this goddamn office all day and I bet you have too. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Like...where?”
“Like dinner?”
Hux gaped at him. “...dinner?”
Kylo’s lips twitched up. “Yeah. You know, when someone eats a meal, usually late afternoon…”
“I know what dinner is,” Hux snapped.
Undeterred, Kylo pressed on. “Have you eaten today?”
“I had a granola bar.”
“That’s not a meal, Hux.” He paused. “Do you do this every day? Skip meals?”
“I’m a busy person. I eat when I can.” Hux defended himself. But he only confirmed Kylo’s suspicions.
“God, Hux, no wonder you passed out.” Kylo stood up, closing his laptop and tucking it into a carrying case. “Come on. We’re going to do business over dinner.” He quickly grew uncertain when he caught sight of Hux’s bewildered stare. “My treat?” He offered.
Hux’s heart pounded a frantic rhythm in his chest. Why the thought of spending time with Kylo outside of the zoo made him so anxious he had no idea. They would be discussing the same things they would here in the office, right? What was the difference?
In spite of his fears Hux found himself unable to turn Kylo down. “Alright. But I’m picking where,” he insisted, trying to regain some footing. “I hope you like Thai.”
Kylo grinned. “Are you kidding? I love it. Let’s go.”
*
Within an hour Hux found himself in a round booth with a bowl of panang curry and his leg nearly brushing Kylo’s as they sat side-by-side looking at his laptop. Kylo had a noodle dish Hux didn’t recognize. From the way he kept turning away to eagerly devour it, it seemed Hux wasn’t the only one who had skipped meals that day.
Hux admired how unbothered he was by this bizarre turn of events. They were eating dinner together . At a restaurant . Before today they’d never even sat in the employee break room at the same time. He wished he could go back in time and tell his past self about this, just to see his own reaction.
It turned out when they weren’t at each other’s throats they worked surprisingly well together. They compiled a list of all the remaining sponsors, highlighted the ones most and least in need of examining, and split up the list so they could each take some to look into further, with a plan to meet up again at the end of the week to share their findings. Already a weight seemed to lift from Kylo’s shoulders.
Eventually the conversation turned from work to other things. An innocent comment by Hux remembering a holiday fundraising event years ago led to taking turns reminiscing about different events over the years. Specifically how out of place they both felt at formal occasions.
“I’m the director so of course I’m expected to greet everyone, have all the answers, talk all night...sometimes I have to give a fucking speech ,” Hux vented while Kylo nodded in agreement.
“Snoke would drag me around with him to talk up our animals. I think he didn’t want to be caught showing off so he made me do it. I barely got to touch the food most evenings,” Kylo grumbled. He closed his laptop and pushed it aside. “But Hux, you seem perfect for those sort of events. You’re...I dunno, professional?”
Hux sighed and stirred at the leftover sauce in his otherwise empty dish. “I had to go to a lot of fancy parties with my family growing up. So I guess I can play the part. But I’d rather be with the lemurs or the anteaters - or the tigers - any day. After all, I prefer animals to people.” He gave an awkward smile, hoping Kylo also remembered that conversation.
It seemed he did. He laughed and Hux was drawn to how warm his eyes looked and how endearingly crooked his teeth were.
“Yeah, exactly,” Kylo agreed. He chewed on his bottom lip and Hux had to look away. “But you know,” he mused, “as far as humans go, you aren’t so bad.”
Hux’s head snapped up to look at him. He didn’t know what he expected - mocking, sarcasm maybe - but all he found was sincerity.
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” he deadpanned in return.
Kylo’s face split in to a grin. He turned to face Hux more fully.
“How about something even nicer?”
Heat rose to Hux’s cheeks. Where is he going with this?
“What would that be?”
“You want to work with the animals more, right?”
“...right.”
“And I’m the boss, right?”
“Kylo just get to the point.”
“You do a lot of work that you don’t have to do. We have enough employees. And you’re helping me out with this mess Snoke left. Let me transfer some of your more boring crap to, I dunno, Mitaka. He won’t mind. And then you’ll have more time to do the things you want. We can get you a few keeper uniforms…”
Whatever Hux expected this wasn’t it, but it was better, it was wonderful . Joyful anticipation filled his chest until he thought he might burst. Only his perfected self-control kept him from throwing his arms around Kylo’s neck, but it was a close thing.
“So?” Kylo asked, eyes flickering over Hux’s face, searching for a reaction. “What do you say?”
Hux let out a shaky breath and swallowed down the rush of words that threatened to escape.
“I say...I’m buying your dinner.”
*
Summer crept onwards and soon the sun set just that little bit earlier each day and in the zoo offices talk began of fall programs and school field trip visits.
Day by day Kylo and Hux slowly unravelled the tangled mess Snoke had left them. It took long hours in their office and several more dinners out to talk plans - always suggested by Kylo, and always leading to talking about things other than said plans. They still argued but it was never like before, never with that utter resentment and disdain but instead heated, passionate debates, the byproduct of two strong personalities learning to coexist. More often than not they ended quickly and resulted in progress and a better understanding of one another.
Hux tentatively felt that things were finally going well . He was a worrier by nature and sometimes wondered if this peace was too good to be true. But it was such an improvement over how things were before that he refused to let himself dwell on it.
He also refused to dwell on how strange his relationship with Kylo had become, how the lines between coworker and maybe friend had become blurred. Or the things he found himself noticing whenever Kylo was around, like how nice his hair always looked or how big his hands were or how Hux could see the outline of his muscles even through his loosest shirts…
Those were things he definitely didn’t think about .
Luckily he had plenty of work to keep his mind off such things. There were his usual responsibilities and helping Kylo out. And now on top of that there was the opportunity to work with the animals more often. Kylo had kept his word and then some, not only reassigning some of Hux’s workload to other employees and ordering him a pile of keeper’s uniforms, but also giving Hux first pick of what he wanted to work with. It was a dream come true, and he was busy in the best way.
And then, on an ordinary Thursday in early September, he got news that made him put it all aside.
He was hurrying from the reptile house to his office, distracted with jotting down notes of everything he had to do when he got there, when he nearly collided with someone. He stepped back quickly, looking up from his notebook to see one of the vet techs.
“Sorry, didn’t see you there - “ He began to walk past her but to his surprise she followed him, talking quickly.
“Mr. Hux, you’re who I was looking for, actually! It’s about Millicent.”
He came to a sharp halt and whirled around to face her. “What about Millicent?”
“We think she’s going into labor.”
Immediately nothing else he had to do mattered. He shoved his pen and notebook into his bag. The tech had to hurry to keep up with him as he sped off to Millicent’s enclosure.
When he arrived Kylo was already there along with a small group of other zookeepers who had heard the news.
“Where is she?” Hux asked. “Is she alright?”
“She’s inside with the vet,” Kylo answered. “Just for supervision, Mal won’t interfere unless there are complications. We moved the male outside.” Kylo seemed as high-strung as Hux felt.
“Right. Good. Okay.” Hux took a deep breath. He gave a sharp look to the other keepers. “Back to work, all of you. We’ll let you know when there’s more news.”
Kylo watched them obediently hurry off with an amused look on his face before turning back to Hux.
“We’re staying, right?”
“Of course we are. That’s our girl in there.”
Kylo grinned. “Come on. Mal won’t let us in with her but we can watch through the window.”
Hux followed him inside. Sure enough, Millicent was lying near one wall on a cozy bed of straw. Her breathing was heavier than usual but she seemed otherwise fine. The head vet was leaning against the opposite wall, a kit at her side, watching diligently but not interfering. When Hux and Kylo entered she glanced up at them and nodded in greeting. They nodded back.
Every second that passed felt like an hour. Logically, they both knew that Millicent was healthy, her pregnancy had gone by without issue, and she was in good hands with their veterinary team. But Hux still had a flutter of worry in his chest that no amount of logic could stifle.
It was almost reassuring that Kylo seemed no better off. Beside Hux he was restless, fidgeting, his dark eyes glued to Millicent through the glass. Hux found that his own hands were shaking slightly, from both nerves and anticipation.
In an impulse he would later blame on said nerves, he reached over and felt around until he found Kylo’s hand. He grasped it tightly.
To his surprise, after a brief pause Kylo laced his fingers with Hux’s and squeezed. Tension drained from Hux’s shoulders. They would have to talk about this later, probably. For now it just felt nice to not be alone.
Slowly, one cub began to emerge. Millie struggled a little, but the little form came out without issue. As soon as it was out a second cub followed, this one more quickly than the first.
Hux and Kylo watched with bated breath for a few long moments, until it was clear there were no more left. They watched in awe as Millicent stretched and shook her head, then sat up and began licking one of the squirming cubs.
“She did it,” Kylo breathed. He leaned in closer to the glass. “They...seem okay? Right?”
Through the window, Mal nodded toward the door and then slipped out of the room. Hux tugged on Kylo’s hand.
“Come on.”
Kylo looked reluctant. Hux couldn’t blame him; he didn’t want to leave either, but he wanted to know what the vet had to say, and he wanted to tell the others. It took another gentle tug, but Kylo exhaled slowly and followed Hux. The moment they reached the door their hands parted as if nothing had happened. Hux’s hand felt too cold all of a sudden; he squeezed it into a fist to rid himself of the feeling.
When they stepped outside not only had the keepers they dismissed returned, but their numbers had doubled, everyone eagerly awaiting news. Mal was standing in front of the group. When Hux and Kylo joined them, she began to speak.
“The birth went perfectly smoothly,” she began, and there was an audible sigh of relief. “Millicent did very well and she and the twin cubs look healthy. There seem to be no complications. We’ll keep a close watch over her and the cubs with the monitor screen, but we need to wait a few days for the mother and cubs to bond before we can examine them and determine the sex.” She paused, looking around with a smile. “But as of right now I can say that we have two healthy newborn Sumatran tiger cubs.”
The group erupted into cheers, high-fiving, patting backs, chatting excitedly, some surrounding the vet to ask her questions. Kylo turned to Hux, absolutely beaming , and before Hux had time to react he was being pulled in tight against his broad chest.
Hux stood stiff, arms glued to his sides, blinking and trying to adjust his head so he wasn’t eating a chunk of Kylo’s soft, nice-smelling hair.
I guess I should…
Just as he began to lift his arms, awkwardly trying to find the right place to return the hug, Kylo pulled back and put his hands on Hux’s shoulders. His eyes were shining with unshed tears and he seemed oblivious to Hux’s plight.
“She did it,” he said, “ we did it. Twin cubs!”
Hux began nodding before the words even registered. And then a grin lit up his face to match Kylo’s. Right, that was right. They were celebrating. Millicent had successfully delivered twin cubs. This was a huge moment not just for himself or Kylo, but for the zoo and for the world.
“We did it,” he echoed. “Oh my god…”
He was pulled from the moment by Phasma clapping him on the shoulder out of nowhere, looking as elated as the rest of the staff. “Can you believe it?!” she gushed, “I can’t wait for this to be everywhere ! We have to get good photos of the cubs, put them on everything . People love babies - “
Hux half-listened, his eyes following Kylo as he moved away to speak with Mal, probably about Millicent’s treatment plan or what changes they’d need to make to the enclosure. Always looking out for his cats. Hux remembered when that single-mindedness annoyed him. Now it was...endearing.
After a while the fuss died down and everyone returned to their work. Everyone except for Hux, Kylo, and the vet.
“Will anyone be here watching the monitors overnight?” Hux asked.
“One of the techs volunteered, but she’s already been here all day, I’m worried she’ll fall asleep,” Mal admitted. “Do you think one of the keepers would - “
“I’ll do it,” Kylo interrupted. Mal and Hux both turned to look at him.
“Are...you sure?” Mal asked hesitantly. “You can ask around first…”
“This is too important,” Kylo said bluntly. “I want to keep an eye on her and the cubs, at least for the first night.”
“ We want to keep an eye on her,” Hux corrected. He felt Kylo’s gaze on him but ignored it. “I’ll stay too. We can sleep in shifts.”
Mal looked between them and then sighed. “Well, I can’t exactly tell you two what to do. Just call if anything happens, no matter what time it is.”
“We will.”
“Good.” She looked at the time. “I have some work to get done before I head home.” She gave them a look that was much too knowing for Hux’s liking. “You two have a good night.”
As she walked away, Kylo asked Hux, “Do you want the first shift or the second shift?”
“Neither,” Hux replied. He turned to head back to the office to gather his things. “I have no intention of actually sleeping.”
Kylo grinned and followed him. “Oh good. Me either.”
*
Night fell and the zoo became another world. Dim lamps lit a few places where night staff might need to walk but otherwise it was pitch black and eerily silent aside from the occasional movement or call from a nocturnal creature.
It was a cool, breezy night heralding the imminent autumn. But inside the tiger enclosure it was warm from the heat lamp which cast a warm glow through the room.
Millicent lay on her side on the straw-covered ground, content while her cubs nursed. So far she was bonding well with them, which was a relief. They didn’t want to have to transfer the cubs to another zoo if they could avoid it.
Hux sat in the entrance to the room, the gate partway open. The door to the building was shut on the off chance Millicent decided to go exploring, but he doubted that would happen. Her food, water, and cubs were all here.
He was still wearing work slacks and shoes - the shoes, he suspected, would come off soon, he’d been wearing them since five in the morning - but he had removed his belt and changed into a t-shirt for at least some comfort. At first he tried to work on his tablet for a while, only occasionally looking over at Millicent, but between the novel sight of the new mother with her cubs and Kylo trying to make conversation it became too hard to focus and he quickly gave up on any hope of getting work done tonight.
Kylo, meanwhile, was tempting fate seeing how good a look he could get at the cubs before Millicent growled at him. It seemed that three feet was her limit.
“Please stop,” Hux said, the words followed by a big yawn. “Mm...she’s going to attack you and I really don’t want to have to tranq her when she just gave birth.”
“I just want to see their faces. We still don’t know what they look like.”
“They look like baby tigers.”
Kylo gave him an unimpressed look. “You know as well as I do they all have unique patterns. I want to figure out which is which.”
“There will be plenty of time for that. We’ll need photos for the website and the press. It’s pretty safe to assume we’ll hold a naming contest for them.”
That made Kylo frown deeply. “Yeah I guess. I was kind of hoping we could name them.”
“What, have all the staff submit options and vote or something?”
“No, not we the zoo, we as in...you and me. We’re like, their godparents or something.”
“...oh.” Hux looked down, picking at the material of his slacks. He wasn’t sure how to respond to the strangely intimate notion of co-godparenting a pair of tiger cubs with Kylo.
When he looked over again, Kylo was watching him. His gaze was...soft. Maybe it was just weariness from the long day, or the lighting…
Kylo moved cautiously, careful not to startle Millicent or the cubs. He rose from his kneeling position and snuck over to crouch beside where Hux sat, looking at him with that strange, gentle expression.
Hux’s throat felt dry. His heart was pounding in his chest. Kylo was so close. He was leaning toward Hux, and Hux felt no particular desire to move away.
His lips were mere inches from Hux’s when he paused, his warm, shaky breaths brushing across Hux’s cheek. He was waiting for permission, or maybe to be pushed away. He was so close… Hux flicked his gaze over Kylo’s face, admiring the way the light and shadows painted the strange, beautiful angles of it.
Kylo’s tongue darted out across his lips briefly and that small, nervous motion was the only warning Hux got before Kylo closed the distance and soft, plush lips were pressed hesitantly to his own.
Hux’s eyes drifted shut. Yes, he thought. As though this was something he wanted all along and only now realized it. Before Kylo could pull away, Hux grasped the front of his shirt and held him there, tilting his head and pressing into the kiss. When he slid his fingers into Kylo’s hair, Kylo hummed deep in his throat. Hux shuddered.
Slowly they parted and Hux exhaled shakily. Kylo touched his forehead to Hux’s and for a moment they just sat there catching their breath.
When he was ready he gave Kylo’s hair a gentle tug and Kylo obediently lifted his head. Hux opened his eyes to find him sporting a crooked grin.
Hux cleared his dry throat. “Did you just -”
“Yeah.” Kylo’s voice was hoarse. The smile faded, uncertainty in his eyes. “Is that...okay?”
“Yes,” Hux answered quickly. “Yes, very...very okay.” He flinched at his own ineloquence. It was more than just okay, it was wonderful, do it again… But the words wouldn’t come out so he gave Kylo’s hair another stroke, hoping it said what he couldn’t.
It must have been enough, because Kylo smiled and dipped his head into Hux’s hand not unlike a cat wanting to be pet.
Hux indulged him a moment longer, until he noticed that Kylo was gripping a bar of the enclosure gate with one hand to keep himself upright, his legs shaking either from nerves or from holding his crouched position or both.
Hux pulled his legs in, motioning to the spot his feet had been. Kylo sat down on the concrete floor and let Hux stretch his legs out across his lap. As soon as he was settled, one of Kylo’s large hands gripped Hux’s shin and he leaned back against the gate with a sigh.
Millicent was watching them, her tail flicking and gaze alert as though sizing up the situation. Maybe she approved, because she licked her nose and shook her head and laid back down while the cubs crawled clumsily around her.
“...do you like sushi?” Hux asked quietly.
“Yeah, I do.”
“I know a great place not far from here.”
“How’s Saturday?”
“Saturday is perfect.”
Comfortable silence settled over the room like a warm blanket. Kylo’s thumb rubbed absently at Hux’s leg while he watched Millicent. Hux, in turn, watched Kylo until his eyes began to droop.
They ended up taking those shifts sleeping after all. It was alright. Hux could sleep soundly knowing that he and every animal here were in good hands and that whatever came their way, he and Kylo would handle together.
It was their zoo, after all.