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He heard the shuttle approach and sighed. The porgs scattered as he shifted where he sat, eyeing him warily. For a few moments he contemplated pulling the shuttle out of the sky, but he could sense who was on it. He’d known this wasn’t going to last. He’d just hoped it would have lasted a little bit longer.
The rocky crags where he’d been meditating didn’t offer anything in the way of good landing spots so the shuttle settled on the beach. As he watched a stream of troopers stomped down the ramp, followed by a single black clad figure, one whose hair gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight. Sighing, he settled in to wait.
He followed Hux’s approach, allowing himself a small smile at Hux’s growing annoyance with each successive set of stairs. It took Hux the better part of two hours to reach him. His rest stops kept growing more frequent and longer, unused to anything but the flat corridors of star destroyers as he was. By the time he reached the top he’d slung his greatcoat over one arm and unbuttoned his uniform coat. His face had turned an unflattering shade of red, somewhere between carmine and magenta. It clashed horribly with his hair.
Still wheezing, at first all Hux could do was point and glare at Kylo. Kylo waited, facing out towards the water, watching him out of the corner of his eye. Finally Hux got enough air back into his lungs to start talking.
“Enough of this nonsense. You will come back with me now, Supreme Leader.”
“I’m not the Supreme Leader anymore,” he replied, voice level, every syllable dripping with disinterest.
“Yes you bloody well are. Someone has to be and I can’t do everything. And you’re the one that promoted yourself to begin with, or have you forgotten?”
“You have so little faith in yourself, then?” He needled Hux deliberately, curious to see if he could get Hux’s face to achieve a true purple in hue.
Ignoring the question, as if he sensed Kylo was baiting him, he stomped over to where Kylo sat.
“Move over, you.” He draped his coat over the stone before scrambling up next to Kylo. “Why on earth would you come to such a desolate place?”
“It’s tradition." He waited but Hux didn't ask what tradition, so he continued. "How did you find me?”
“I’ve got a tracker in your shuttle.”
“Ah. I won’t miss it next time.”
“There won’t be a next time, dammit. I won’t have it, Ren.”
“Why should I come back, Hux?”
Silence sat heavy between them while Hux fidgeted, delaying saying the words Kylo could hear chasing around in his head. At last Hux broke down.
“Because I need you.”
“Am I forgiven, then?”
“I’m still thinking about that.”
“But if I come back…?”
“It’ll be a good start.”
Somehow Hux’s hand had insinuated its way into his. Hux sat stiffly, staring out over the water, acting as if the appendage didn’t belong to him, not acknowledging the gesture.
“I miss you.” The words were barely a whisper, almost lost in the crash of the waves on the rock below. He had spoken them aloud – it wasn’t something Kylo had plucked from his mind. It was almost on the tongue to tease Hux about it, voicing sentiment, something he’d always claimed to despise, but fingers laced through his and squeezed and the urge passed, overcome by something else. Something almost soft.
“Watch the sunset with me first.” Kylo phrased it as a demand but he knew Hux would hear the question in it.
“Whatever for?” Nothing ever came easy between them but he felt Hux soften in return.
“Humor me, Hux. Allow me this one thing.”
“And then you’ll come back with me?”
“And then I’ll come back with you.”
“And you’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay.”
For as long as I can.