Work Text:
You stood with a cup of fresh hot chocolate, staring out at the gaping mass of space. Starkiller had a pretty nice view at night, though you couldn’t call it ‘night’ in a traditional sense. In space there aren’t any day and night cycles, just times where the majority of the crew on the ship were working, or the majority were sleeping. You weren’t worried about getting caught, if someone did see you you doubt they would care enough to send you back to your room. Not unless they were General Hux or Kylo Ren, but you doubted those two would spot you. Their rooms were all the way across the base, and Hux would most likely still be in his office working.
It had been a stressful week for everyone. Searching for the rest of the map to Luke Skywalker proved to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined. You could feel the tension growing on ship, and you had a hunch it was Snoke’s frustration being passed onto Hux and Ren, and subsequently onto anyone who crossed paths with them.
Unfortunately you were one of those people almost daily. You weren’t extremely high in command, but high enough to have to report to the General on your section weekly and have practically daily visits from him. It wasn't hard to tell how much stress he was enduring. Judging by the way his eyebags had been darkening, you guessed he wasn’t getting more than two or three hours of sleep a night. His beautiful blue eyes seemed hazy and unfocused sometimes, like he couldn’t concentrate.
Sometimes, when you could tell he’d had a particularly late night, pieces of hair would be sticking out of his normally pristine style. You’d almost told him that he needed to get some more rest earlier that day, when he showed up with pale (even more than normal) skin, heavy eye bags, and a cow lick prominently sticking up from the back of his head.
You’d resisted the urge, of course, for fear of being reprimanded. The General was certainly not shy for giving punishments, though you were lucky enough to never be on the receiving end. You’d messed up, sure, but only minorly. Usually even the smallest of mistakes would be punished, or at least reprimanded, but you seemed to skate by unaffected. For a few days you’d tricked yourself into believing that maybe the General harbored the same kind of feelings toward you as you did to him, though you kept that affection well under wraps, thank you very much. But you quickly snapped out of it, the General held no affections for anyone, much less you, his subordinate. A small bit of you still held hope, but you locked it away deep inside your heart.
Raising the cup of hot chocolate to your lips once again, and looking out the window of the empty meeting room, you took a sip. You coughed and almost choked, however, when you heard a familiar voice sound behind you.
“Lieutenant Cherrip. You’re up late. Enjoying the view?”
Fuck. Hux had caught you out of bed after curfew in a restricted area. His tone hadn’t sounded as commanding as usual, but you still feared the undertone of power it sent. You set the cup down on the long table and stood to attention, slowly turning to face the General.
Expecting to see anger written all over his face for your disobedience, you were shocked to see only a curious expression. Hands shaking slightly, you did your best to quell the shake and bring yourself to a salute.
“My apologies, sir.” You said in a monotone voice, “I will return to my quarters and report to your office at 06:00 for my punishment, sir.” Best to beat him to the punch and accept your fate.
“That won’t be necessary, Miranda. But you do have to let me join you.” Hux walked around where you were saluting and leaned on the edge of the table, looking out of the vast window.
To say you were confused would be an understatement. You slowly let your arm fall back to your side and slowly turned around. He had used your first name, and you weren’t being punished. Was this a dream? Too scared to pinch yourself and find out, you hesitantly make your way back to your previous position mere feet from him, hand still shaking when you picked up your cup.
“No need to be nervous, I’m not going to punish you.” Hux said.
“Not to be disrespectful sir, but may I ask why?” You asked, staring into your drink.
“I’m very tired. I hand out punishments daily, there’s no need for more. And you’re a very competent worker, it’s hardly a crime to enjoy a view every now and again.” He replied, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in a relaxed stance.
He looked very peaceful in that moment, and you wished you were force sensitive so you could access and relive this memory anytime you wanted. Longing to raise your hand up and smooth down the cowlick that was still running rampant, you fought the urge and instead looked back out to the stars.
“Thank you, sir.” You said quietly.
“For what?” Hux asked, eyes still shut.
“For calling me a competent worker. It’s a very high compliment coming from you, General.” You responded. It was true. The general rarely gave out any praise, and the highest you’d ever heard him speak of someone's work was ‘acceptable’ and here he was, calling you ‘very competent’.
Hux laughed softly.
“You’re much more than ‘competent’. Miranda. You’re astounding. Heading your entire section without the bat of an eye. Your work is always pristine and those under you are the same. It’s impressive, really, someday you’ll have to tell me how you manage to look so beautiful while working on reports for an entire shift.”
Your face heated up instantly. You brought your eyesight to your cup once again, trying to formulate a response.
“T-Thank you, General Hux.” You stuttered out.
“Please, we’re both off shift. Call me Armitage.” Hux said, opening his eyes and looking directly at you.
“Thank you...Armitage.” You whispered.
“My pleasure, Miranda.” He whispered back, shifting his view to the window once more.
The piece of your heart you had locked away for so long slowly began to resurface, threatening to beat out of your chest as the both of you stared out of the ship and into the beautiful void of space.