Work Text:
It had been a mess. An absolute disaster, frankly, Kylo thought as he stormed across campus. Of all the things Professor Snoke could have said during critique, of all the possible suggestions he could have given, he just had to tell Kylo to completely redesign his final project.
Which was bullshit, complete and total bullshit! Snoke knew how long these sculptures took, he knew how much time had gone into crafting each aspect of the piece, so for him to tell Kylo to start from scratch cut deep. Kylo grew more and more aggravated as he crossed the Student Union, boots mashing into the freshly cut lawn rather than sticking to the paved path, wanting to get back to his campus housing as fast as possible.
He had no idea how the hell he was supposed to completely redesign, execute, and complete his final project with ten days of the semester remaining, but Snoke had told him to. Not only was the old geezer the head of the fine arts department, he was also Kylo’s personal mentor and academic adviser, who had been helping Kylo with his focus in abstract sculpture ever since he broke from his parents’ wishes to go into politics and ran away to art school.
Snoke knew what he was doing, but fuck did it sting to have all his hard work called, what was it again? Unimaginative. Ugh.
“Looks like someone had a bad day today.” Hux said from the kitchen as Kylo slammed the front door to their dorm shut.
“Fuck off.” Kylo bit out, wincing at the ferocity of his own voice. The last thing he needed was to be taunted and teased by his roommate, the perfect engineer who got perfect grades and wore perfectly tailored trousers that hugged his narrow hips and perfect little ass.
Nope, absolutely not. He absolutely did not need that calculating smirk thrown his way, he needed to grab his things and head back to the studio before he could be pinned down by Hux’s charm.
“Ooh touchy. And here I spent all afternoon slaving over a hot stove to make us a nice lunch.” Hux gestured to the kitchen, somehow both a mess of pots and pans but also sparkling clean, not a drop or crumb on a single surface.
Kylo let the tension drop from his shoulders, he had been so stressed on his walk from class that he hadn’t even realized his shoulders hunching up, the joints popping as he stretched them out. He rubbed the back of his neck, already regretting his outburst. Hux’s teasing towards Kylo had recently turned more friendly, dare he say flirtatious, and Kylo supposed he was still expecting Hux to give him the cold shoulder like he had on the first day they met. Instead, Hux was looking at him with concern, and Kylo only now noticed the two plates in his hands.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He dropped his bag gently onto the sofa in the common space and moved to hover in front of the counter where Hux was standing.
“Don’t be, I’m sorry you had a rough day. Do you want to talk about it?” Hux asked, not sounding at all pitying, something that Kylo was extraordinarily grateful for. Still, he just wanted to put the days’ events behind him, knowing he would get all worked up if he kept thinking about Snoke’s comments.
“Not really, no.” He admitted, and Hux just nodded. That was another thing Kylo was beginning to love about his roommate, Hux never pressed any issue.
“That’s fine, but come eat. I really did make too much for myself. Besides, I know how much you love Mexican.” He held up a plate of still sizzling chilaquiles and refried beans, making Kylo’s mouth water. He had forgotten to eat breakfast earlier, too excited to showcase his sculpture to make even a bowl of cereal.
“Holy shit, are these real? Like not from Taco Bell?” Kylo asked. Hux’s ability to cook never ceased to amaze him, considering the engineering student mostly relied on red bull and espresso to function properly – especially times like these, with finals around the corner.
“No Kylo, they are not from Taco Bell.” Hux laughed, shaking his head fondly. Kylo couldn’t help but blush, that laugh doing wonders to his mood, improving it significantly with each smile flashed his way.
Hux and placed the plate in front of Kylo, taking his usual spot next to him. Kylo had always thought it was strange how Hux never wanted to sit across from him, opting instead to choose the seat to his left. The closeness made Kylo’s hands shake just enough to knock off some of the onion slices that were garnished on top of the dish.
They ate in silence for a little while, simply enjoying one another’s company, when Kylo received an email. The alert pinged on his phone and both he and Hux snapped their heads around to glare at the intrusion of their peaceful lunch. Kylo’s glare darkened further when he saw the email was from Snoke, no doubt the written version of his comments from class.
“Want me to read it?” Hux asked, chewing the inside of his cheek. Kylo’s hands clenched into fists as he shoved the phone so far away from him that it toppled over the edge of the table and landed on the floor with a loud clack.
“No need, I already know what it says.” He replied, hating himself for the way his voice wavered.
“If it’s about the sculpture, I think it’s perfect the way it is.” Hux said, placing a tentative hand on one of Kylo’s own.
That small gesture was enough to make all the emotions too much, keeping them bottled up inside clearly wasn’t a possibility anymore. Having Hux like the sculpture was almost surreal considering it was inspired by him. Everything from the use of reds that perfectly matched Hux’s particular shade of ginger, the creams and browns of his sweaters, to the sharp angles and nearly impossible balance of glass and metal, both fragile and yet stronger than any structure he had ever made, all was directly taken from how he viewed his beautiful muse of a roommate. Kylo would be mortified if Hux ever made the connection, and something told Kylo that he was getting close.
“It’s just unfair!” Kylo practically exploded, the realization that Hux probably knew the design inspiration for his piece the final straw. He simply couldn’t change his idea, not now. Not that Hux actually liked it. “I do nothing else besides work on this fucking project, and sleep, and sometimes I don’t even get to do that. I spend all my time in the lab, I apply every correction he gives me, and he still finds problems with it in the next class!”
“I’m so sick and tired of working my ass into the ground for no pay-off, I’m sick of being held to a standard that is out of our skill range. He calls my work unimaginative and tells me to add more elements to it, and then when I do he says there is too much going on and to cut shit out.” He continued, screeching the chair against the floor, pacing.
“Just now in class he told me I should probably start from scratch even though this fucking assignment is due in a week!” He punched the wall, hitting a support beam and feeling the pain from the impact ricocheting up his wrist.
“Just breathe, okay?” Hux sprang into action, pulling Kylo’s fist against his chest. “Listen to me, you are more talented than the entire fine arts department combined, you know that, I know that, Snoke knows that. His suggestions are just that – suggestions. At the end of the day, you’re the artist and it’s your project.” Hux said, trying to calm him down.
“You think I’m talented?” Kylo asked, chest heaving, heart beating faster than it ever had.
“Of course I do. I may not be an arts major, but I can recognize beauty when I see it. Your work is beautiful.” Hux said, face bright red with embarrassment.
“I thought you said it was a pile of junk welded together?” Kylo raised an eyebrow, a slow teasing smile replacing the tense grit of his teeth, relaxing his face.
“That was before I really looked at it.” Hux mumbled, unable to meet Kylo’s eye.
“Oh.” He replied dumbly.
“Why don’t you take a break tonight? Go out with your friends or something, do what makes you happy.” Hux said, still looking down at the floor.
“When I’m with you I’m happy.” Kylo blurted out, making Hux look up at him with wide eyes. Those eyes were so green, Kylo could get lose in them forever.
“Then we’ll stay in and put a film on. I’ll even endure Star Wars for the eight-hundredth time.” Hux rolled his eyes, dragging Kylo to the couch and all but pushing him down onto it.
“Shut up, you like it.” Kylo grinned, the proposal of Star Wars always a way to get him to unwind.
“It’s tolerable.” Hux simply replied, although secretly he loved how excited Kylo got whenever they watched it, how he quoted every single line for all of the movies, how he spouted random trivia and made all the sound effects along with the lightsabers.
Hux had gotten up to go find the binder of DVDs, when Kylo suddenly got an idea.
“Hey, Hux?” He called, anxiously fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt.
“Yeah?” Came the reply from the other room.
“I was wondering, if you had any plans for winter break…?” Kylo asked, mouth going dry as Hux emerged with the binder, somehow also changed into soft pajamas that made Kylo want to hold him close.
“Most likely staying here, avoiding my parents like the plague. Why?” He asked, confused.
“Well, it’s just that I’m driving home, and I know I wouldn’t want to be home alone for Christmas if it were me, my dad’s a piece of shit – not like your dad, but there’s definitely enough room in my car, I could really use the company for the trip and – ” Kylo stumbled through the sentence until a quick press to his lips cut him off.
It took a few moments before Kylo could react, too stunned by the motion to even really process it before he was kissing back, every nerve in his body alive sing. Hux’s mouth was soft and mesmerizing, at the same time as it was firm and insistent. Kylo felt like he could create a sculpture dedicated to the sweet way Hux’s teeth nipped at his bottom lip, he could build a monument celebrating the way their tongues slid together.
“I’d love to come with you.” Hux breathed, pale eyelashes brushing against Kylo’s cheek as he pulled away to look at him.
“Yeah?” Kylo asked, suddenly feeling like he could take on twelve more critiques from Snoke, or anyone else.
“Yeah.” Hux replied, giving Kylo’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
Kylo couldn’t wait to get into the studio.