Chapter Text
“In nature, nothing exists alone.” - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
***
“You what? ”
If Hux clenched his fists any tighter his nails would break the skin of his palms but he just. Didn’t. Care. It was taking every bit of long-cultivated self control to keep from strangling the man in front of him.
The man in question stood mere inches from Hux, his ridiculously muscled arms folded in defiance, his gaze unwavering where it met Hux’s. Kylo , he called himself, though Hux doubted it was his real name. Who the hell named their child Kylo? He was a zookeeper here, one of the most experienced, though Hux wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that. He did work all over the zoo, but his main focus was the big cats.
“I did my job . The clouded leopard’s enclosure isn’t big enough, not if we’re going to bring in a second one for mating.”
Hux took a deep breath before speaking slowly.
“So you...had Mr. Snoke...reallocate some of the budget to expand it?”
“Yes.”
Hux could feel his face growing redder by the moment. “And you didn’t think to run this by me?”
“Why should I?” Kylo asked, infuriatingly smug. “Snoke is the owner.”
“And I’m the director. The budget is my job. You can’t just go over my head with these things!”
“Except I did,” Kylo said with a shrug of his shoulders, hands stuffed into his pockets. He was unbothered by Hux’s rage, but Hux suspected it was only because he got his way. Kylo had a reputation for his temper and most of the other keepers avoided him for it. Some were even scared of him.
Well Hux wasn’t afraid of some self-important overgrown teacher’s pet. And he wasn’t about to let Kylo win so easily. Mr. Snoke might be the owner, but Hux was the one who ran this place like a fine-tuned machine. He knew every inch of it by heart, knew the animals, the history, the policies, the budget, the names and roles of every staff member.
This is my zoo, he would find himself thinking in his most traitorous moments. He would never utter it aloud, not when Mr. Snoke regularly reminded him of how lucky he was to be chosen out of a dozen equally qualified candidates. The message was clear: I gave you this, I can take it away.
It was a challenge, a game, one Hux intended to win.
“You’d really let your personal interests stand in the way of what’s best for the zoo?”
Kylo scowled at that and Hux felt he’d finally gained some footing.
“What’s best for the animals is my interest, Armitage ,” Kylo retorted
“Don’t call me that - “
“But it’s not like you’d understand. You spend all day in your office running this place like a military base. You don’t care about the animals, you just care about appearances, about schmoozing people at fundraisers…”
“Those fundraisers keep this place open ,” Hux spat, “not to mention pay your salary, which is outrageous, by the way. Why you make so much more than the other keepers is beyond me - “
“Oh, you want to talk about salary? I’ve seen your car, you’re not doing too badly yourself for someone who stays in the air conditioning all day signing paperwork - “
At this point they were talking over each other, voices growing louder by the minute, sure to draw unwanted attention. Kylo had moved closer, right in Hux’s space, and Hux held his ground, not giving an inch.
“Hey!” a voice snapped.
Both their heads turned in unison. “ What?”
Phasma, the zoo’s personnel manager, was standing there shaking her head like a disappointed teacher. “We’re still open, you know. At least take your lover’s quarrel inside.”
Just when Hux thought his face couldn’t get any redder... “It’s not a - “
“I’m done here anyway,” Kylo interrupted, turning his back on them both. “I have work to do.”
With that, Kylo stormed off and Hux hated him just a little more.
*
Later that day Hux sat in his office, still seething over the earlier altercation.
Five years. It had been five years since Hux got this position at Chandrila Zoo after spending several years before that working at a much smaller zoo in the middle of nowhere. Five years, and Kylo had managed to make every one of them an uphill battle. If Hux had his way, Kylo would have been fired without a second thought years ago.
But for reasons he would never understand, Kylo was Mr. Snoke’s golden boy, his protégé. It made no sense . Sure, Kylo had a knack for dealing with animals, and he knew the zoo like the back of his hand. But he was volatile, uncooperative, stubborn, he skipped meetings and didn’t play well with others and bent the rules to his whim…
Crack!
The sudden, sharp sound snapped Hux out of his daze. He looked down, bewildered, to the form he’d been signing just moments ago before he zoned out. The tip of his pen was snapped off, leaving a pool of black ink in its wake, slowly spreading across the page.
Hux cursed, quickly moving the paper and pen into the garbage can beside his desk before it could leak onto anything else.
Leave it to Kylo to ruin something without even being here , he thought irritably.
He took a moment to look around his pristine office. It was half the size of Mr. Snoke's, and the owner was rarely even on the premises. Hux practically lived here.
Hux closed his eyes and allowed himself this small indulgence: picturing himself in a plush seat behind a large desk with his name on the name plaque, the wall lined with awards for the zoo's conservation and education programs…
...and a staff group photo with one Kylo Ren notably absent. Yes, that sounded perfect…
Slowly he opened his eyes to the reality that was his cramped space, lack of appreciation, and dull headache from the argument with Kylo.
He sighed, straightened his posture, grabbed a new pen and continued working.
One day…
*
On an evening at the end of the week Hux took some time to stroll through the zoo. They were closed and the only staff left were a handful of keepers.
He liked it best on evenings like these. It was late May, warm but not hot, the sun just beginning to near the horizon. And it was quiet . As much as he relished seeing the visitors enjoying themselves, the fruits of his hard work there in their smiles and appreciative comments, it was nice to be able to see and hear the animals unobstructed, to bask in the calm that settled over the whole place.
It was with no small amount of longing that he watched the keepers as they cleaned enclosures, fed and played with the animals, and joked amongst themselves. As soon as they saw him they sobered, immediately returning to their tasks. Hux nodded in approval and turned away feeling strangely empty.
It seemed the old saying was true: it was lonely at the top.
Hux knew he was lucky to have such an important position in an award-winning zoo. He also knew deep down it was a substitute for what he really wanted…
He was pulled from his melancholy by the sound of muffled cursing. A sound he’d know anywhere from the way it made his shoulders tense and his jaw clench. For a moment he debated whether he wanted to disturb his otherwise peaceful evening with... that . But it was his job to see that the zoo operated perfectly at every level, and if someone was cursing, well, they were probably cursing about something and it was his duty to see what that something was.
With a long sigh, he headed to the tiger exhibit. There was no one, human or feline, to be seen in the outdoor enclosure, so he went around back to the attached building.
The interior was divided into barred off rooms. In one sat the male tiger their zoo had brought in from another for potential mating. And in the other, with none other than Kylo, was Millicent.
Millicent was a beautiful, healthy four-year-old Sumatran tiger who had been at Chandrila zoo since she was a cub. Hux could still remember the day they brought her in. He was immediately smitten with her, and she remained one of his favorite animals in the whole zoo.
At the moment, she paced around the room, deliberately avoiding Kylo’s attempts to approach her with a small flashlight in one hand, the other extended with his thumb and forefinger open in an L-shape. She seemed mildly agitated, tail flicking and ears folded back, but she didn’t seem poised to attack. Personally, Hux wouldn’t blame her if she did.
Hux watched their antics for a moment before clearing his throat. “What exactly are you trying to accomplish?” he asked.
Kylo spun around, already scowling. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a desk chair to keep warm?”
Hux kept his expression carefully neutral at the jab. “You know very well I do more than that. Now can you explain to me why you’re upsetting Millie?”
“I’m not trying to upset her, I’m trying to check her teeth. But she won’t - stay - still - “ with each word he leaned forward with the flashlight, only to have Millicent move away.
Hux smirked. “Smart girl. She knows you aren’t half as competent as you pretend to be.”
He could have sworn he heard Kylo growl . The man had definitely been spending too long around cats. “I don’t have this problem with any of the others. She just doesn’t like me.”
Hux kept his response to that to himself. It was too easy, and Kylo was too distracted with his task to be a fun target.
“Let me try,” he said instead.
Kylo stopped again and looked at him with a level of disbelief Hux felt was unnecessary. Hux might not be a keeper, but he didn’t get to where he was without having knowledge and experience with animals. More knowledge than experience, but regardless. He’d never had any trouble with Millicent.
Their gazes remained locked for a long moment before Kylo shrugged and walked away from the tigress, handing Hux the flashlight. “If you lose a hand, don’t blame me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Hux approached Millicent slowly, the flashlight hidden behind his back, and crouched in front of her at eye level. The tiger watched him cautiously, but didn’t move away. When he crouched, she sat.
He opened his hand in the same shape Kylo had earlier. Immediately, Millicent opened her mouth wide for him. Hux couldn’t hold back a grin of satisfaction at the accomplishment, and in front of his nemesis it was twice as sweet a victory.
Hux gave her teeth, tongue and throat a quick examination. Determining everything was fine, he closed his hand and stood, grabbing a treat from a container on the wall to toss to her. Millicent caught it in her mouth and strolled away, chewing contentedly.
“See? Easy.” Hux said with no small amount of smugness as he handed the flashlight back to Kylo and strode out of the building. “Are you sure you’re cut out for this?”
Kylo rushed to catch up with him, a dark look on his face. “Beginners luck,” he growled. He shut and locked the door behind them. “I bet she saw that hair of yours and thought you were a relative.”
“A ginger joke, very original. You’ll have to try harder to come up with anything I didn’t hear in grade school.”
“Just don’t let your head get any bigger. So what, Millicent likes you. She’s the only one here who does.”
If that one stung a bit Hux didn’t let it show. He continued in his fast stride, which Kylo kept up with easily. “Why are you still talking? I have things to - “
“There you are!”
Both men stopped short and turned to see one of the junior keepers, Thanisson, running towards them.
“What is it?” Hux asked while at the same time Kylo demanded, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mr. Snoke. He had a heart attack.”
*
The moment Hux entered the main office building he could tell something was amiss. There were whispers, staff looking at him then quickly away, some of them greeting him with more caution than was necessary.
Hux began to feel the stir of anticipation in his gut. It had been a week since Mr. Snoke’s sudden passing, the funeral had come and gone, which most of the staff attended only to take advantage of the free brunch that followed. Most of them had never even seen the zoo’s mysterious owner, and more or less viewed Hux as their boss.
Which was why he had a feeling about what all this meant. It was obvious, really. Hux had been running this place for five years, the zoo flourished under his command, and now the previous owner was dead. Who better than Hux to be his successor? There was no one more qualified, no one more familiar with every inch of the place.
That had to explain it. The staff was acting strange because now he wasn’t only their boss, but something more, something better .
Finally .
“Well, someone’s got to break it to him,” he heard from across the hall. Phasma walked up to him, tall and confident as ever, while others - Mitaka, Bascus, Unamo - cowered back.
Hux raised his eyebrows, trying to suppress the grin that was threatening to burst through at any moment.
“Break what to me?” That all this is mine?
Phasma sighed. “It’s about Mr. Snoke. He, uh. Appointed his successor in his will.”
Hux’s lips twitched. “Oh did he? And?”
“And...don’t freak out, okay? Maybe you should sit down - “
“Phasma, just say it.” The edges of his mouth were beginning to curl up and there was nothing he could do about it…
“It’s Kylo.”