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"Hux, can you not?" For the seventh time today, Hux was complaining about how he wanted a cat. But not just any cat; a bookstore cat. Despite the many arguments involving lots of book – throwing and scolding from Phasma, Hux still demanded a cat. Ben could barely handle the literal frequency of it. His reasoning was simple, and practical. At least, Ben thought so.
"I told you, I'm freaking allergic to cats. Especially bookstore cats. Now stop it, there's an old lady at the register waiting for you." Oops, shouldn't have said that, Ben thought as he watched the redhead's face puff up with frustration.
"Well, FINE THEN. If that's what you want. But I don’t care if you're gonna be a goopy mess, I'm gonna get a cat for this place." Luckily, there weren't too many people in the store, so nobody really heard the outburst. Except for the old lady, who, as Hux stomped over, said something that sounded like "Oh, my bad, can you repeat that?"
Ben snorted, and continued organizing the shelf he was working on. Even if Hux reeaally sounded like he was gonna kill someone if he didn't get what he wanted, he wouldn’t actually do it. Probably.
~
The next morning, Ben waltzed into the store, actually feeling good about the day. He headed over to the register to set up, and the first thing he did was sneeze. It wasn't any ordinary sneeze, either; it was the loudest and itchiest sneeze ever.
"Allergies?" Phasma had somehow materialized right next to him in the few seconds he'd been there. She was grinning too widely, and something about her expression made Ben a little suspicious. He squinted at her, trying to see what the heck was so funny.
"Yeah, allergies alright. Okay Phasma, where's the goddang cat?" Ben barely spat out the question when a soft meow came from. . . Somewhere. For several seconds, Ben wasn't sure whether he wanted to scream because of Phasma suddenly cracking up, or slump down at the table and call it quits.
Ben elbowed Phasma as he walked past her. He had a plan; he was gonna get rid of that cat and pretend to not know what the happened to it. He marched over to one of the bookcases, and was about to take one out when a book from the higher shelf smacked him in the head. It literally knocked him down, and as Ben went to pick it up, he did a double take. A freaking dictionary had tried to cream his brains out. Honestly, why would they even need dictionaries anymore? There was Google for a reason!
Ben was questioning his choice of jobs when something red flashed in the corner of his eye. He whirled around violently, expecting Hux to be standing there with a smirk on his stupid face. Instead, he found himself staring up at the top of the shelf, where a very fluffy and very orange cat perched. Big green eyes blinked at him curiously.
No. He didn’t. He freaking didn't.
"YOU FREAKING DIDN'T!" Ben would've been mortified at the shrillness of the scream, but that would be for another day. Right now, he had to talk to a certain someone.
~
After lots of running around the store with a rather entertained Phasma, Ben finally found that by following the cat (which wasn't hard to do), he could easily find Hux. In about five minutes, he was face – to – face with the redhead jerk. Hux was reclining in one of the cushy leather chairs in the loft upstairs, smirking.
"How do you like the new addition, Ben?" The cat purred and jumped into Hux's arms at the word addition. Ben clenched his fists with frustration; if there was something that he'd noticed, both the cat and Hux were ginger and rather rude. Phasma stretched out her hands, and the cat literally leaped in for a hug.
"It's gonna be a new subtraction soon if you're not careful. I'd watch out for flying dictionaries." Ben pointedly glared at the cat, who hissed at him. Hux crossed his arms, frowning.
"Millie won't have to worry about anything, I'm sure she could take 'em out in five seconds." Memories of falling dictionaries the size of bricks bubbled in Ben's mind, and with some grudge, he had to admit that the cat probably could kill someone.
"So, it's got a name?" Ben asked, deciding to whatever this. If Ben had to collapse because of the stupid furball, then whatever. Phasma stuck her tongue out at him and rolled her eyes.
"Millicent is not an it, and second of all, I'm surprised you're even interested." Phasma scoffed, and Ben swore that the fricken cat rolled her eyes.
Ben probably would've spat something back at her, but he was too busy sneezing.