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After Crait, Hux returned to the Finalizer with Ren. Usually there was a tension between them, but the air had been one of defeat, for Hux especially. The entire time he’d been dizzy, trying not to show how much pain he was in. Beyond the haze, all he felt was hatred for his superiors abuse. Though Snoke throwing him around had been mild compared to nearly breaking bones against the wall of Ren’s command shuttle.
Or at least he hoped no bones were broken. He certainly wouldn't be able to tell if they had.
Hux waited for hours until he was certain the medbay would be empty. The room was cold, white, and smelled of disinfectant. The on-duty droid scanned him, reporting bruised ribs, nothing more.
As it turned out, bruised was an understatement. In the 12 hours since hitting the radiator on Ren's command shuttle, his side had turned deep purples and sickly greens, stretching from his hip bone to his armpit. They spread across his lower back as well, a reminder of how little regard Ren held him in. Hux applied the smallest bit of pressure, then winced.
One would think Hux would have stopped bruising so easily after years in the Order. But they had gels and creams that could heal within a week, days if ones bruise was light enough.
"Sir-?"
The voice was barely above a murmure, but Hux whirled around, commands of “Get out” forming on his tongue. Commands that were stifled when he saw it was only Mitaka.
"Lieutenant." He replied, nodding. Another common victim of Ren's temper, through Hux’s fault as much as Ren’s. "What are you doing here at this hour?"
Mitaka tugged down his collar in response. A necklace of deep purple painted his otherwise pale skin.
"Seems Ren is the root of both of our problems. Here." Hux gestured to a seat, rifling through a cabinet to get the gel. The ginger tried to ignore the small gasp from the other man upon seeing the extent of the marks.
When he turned back around to toss the bottle to Mitaka, the Lieutenant’s head was down, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Sir you were here first, you should-”
"As your superior, I order you to use the damn gel Mitaka." When cutting him off Hux couldn't help noticing the weariness that crept into his voice.
The bottle was uncapped, though reluctantly. Mitaka was quick, not even bothering to remove his shirt as he wiped the substance around his neck. He seemed preoccupied, staring past Hux, past the room before them.
"Will I be sent to reconditioning?" There was a quiver to his voice.
"Of course not." Hux replied, arms crossing as he leaned into the wall. "Reactions and performance during Ren's emotional outbursts are not factors into whether one is sent for reconditioning. Besides, it's mostly for stormtroopers, not officers."
"Oh. Ok." Mitaka nodded, capping the bottle. But instead of handing the bottle to Hux, he crossed the room to open a different cabinet.
"What are you doing?"
"With your state you need something stronger than this anyway." Mitaka murmured, fishing out a jar of something Hux had never seen before.
"I can assure you-"
"General." The invocation of his title caused Hux to link eyes with the Lieutenant. "Trust me."
Mitaka walked back, opening the jar to reveal a slightly green tinged, cream like substance. He looked ready to apply it to Hux, but the ginger snatched the jar before he was able to.
"Are you sure this is safe?" The stuff had no odor, and Hux couldn't tell if that was good or bad.
"Yes it is, but you might want someone else to apply it for you-" Mitaka murmured, watching Hux dip two fingers in and try to smear it on the middle of the bruise before hissing and almost dropping the jar.
"What the- it stings!" Hux scowled as Mitaka took the jar back. He felt like someone had used a cattle prod on him. “Put that blasted jar back where it came from!”
"I told you- it feels worse if you do it yourself. Here." The Lieutenant stepped to assist, despite Hux’s protests.
He must have let the weariness show on his face however, because Mitaka gave a small smile, pulling one of Hux's arms over his shoulder.
"Brace yourself." His voice was calm, obviously trying to hold back amusement. "You can trust me sir. I promise you won't regret this." He murmured as Hux tensed, fists clenching.
The arm on Mitaka's shoulder locked around the back of the man's neck as the sting returned in full force. The Lieutenant was quick about it, and Hux met the mans dark eyes more than once during the process. Instead of the pain, he focused on the small words of encouragement Mitaka uttered to him, things like “Good”, “Almost done” and the sharp intake of breath as the others fingers traced over the sickly, flowering shapes. Hux didn't need to read minds to know what Mitaka’s opinion of Ren was in this moment.
"Done. It'll be gone by tomorrow." The lid was capped, and jar returned to cabinet.
Hux's side was still stinging, the kind of buzzing, annoying pain that he knew would keep him awake.
"You going to be alright sir?" The question was gentle, with the hint that the man might actually care what Hux answered.
"I'll be alright." Hux slid his undershirt and uniform shirt back on, refusing the meet the man's eyes again. "Yourself?"
"Uh- yea. Yea mine's not even that bad compared to yours."
"Mitaka?"
"Yes sir?"
"Thank you."
The man joined him outside of the medbay, clueing Hux in to a decision that needed to be made.
He knew what Mitaka wanted, and Hux considered pros and cons of letting him have it. The pros consisted of being distracted from the annoying buzz, distracting himself of the events of the past 24 hours, and the cons- well-
Hux reached for the other man, placing a hand on the small of the Lieutenants back. To hell with protocol. He needed this, after the day he had. They started walking again, Hux glancing for any stray guards or other possible witnesses.
"Where are we going sir?" Mitaka already knew the answer Hux had no doubt, but he answered anyway.
"My personal chambers." He murmured, glancing down at the Lieutenant, who was now pressed against him.
His alarm sounded hours later, forcing Hux to sit up enough to switch it off. He commanded the rooms lights to life, but kept them dim.
The alarm and lighting were enough to cause Mitaka to stir as well, and he sat up yawning.
"Sir-?"
"Don't call me that." Hux muttered, rubbing his eyes as he grabbed his datapad from a nearby table. "Not in here."
"It’s- your alarm, I take it that's my cue to leave?"
Actually... Hux glanced from the alarm, to Mitaka, who was pulling one of the blankets over his shoulders. He hadn't received any comms about Ren breaking things, so sleeping in couldn't hurt.
"I’m not moving, leave if you have to." Hux closed his eyes again, throwing himself back down against the pillows.
“Sir I have a shift.” Hux leaned up to watch the Lieutenant attempt to get dressed while still half-asleep.
His datapad found its way into his hands again, and by the time it was set back down, Mitaka had been informed that he no longer had a shift that morning.
Moments later Hux felt Mitaka’s head against his chest, the other man's body heat infecting him. It had been enough to ignore the pain last night, and it was enough to ignore the remnants of it now. The lights flicked back off.
In the dark, Hux traced a finger around the back of Mitaka’s neck. The bruises hadn't faded too much since the application of the gel.
Mitaka stirred, shifting to get closer to Hux, murmuring something unintelligible.
Hux’s comm pinged with the tone he’d set for Ren, but he ignored it, rolling and burying his face in Mitaka’s hair. Ren could go to hell for all he cared.