Work Text:
Kylo Ren stalked through the halls of the Finalizer hunting for the general. Hux’s locator pointed him towards an officers’ lounge on the sleeping level.
Wrenching open the doors with the Force, an insult springing forth about the general’s slacking his duties in drinking and ….whatever they all did in the lounge (Ren had never been invited, nor had he wanted to be invited. Mostly).
But he was silent as he took in the scene. General Hux, several of his lieutenants, various other staff were all seated on the floor, on piles of pillows, leaning on each other, in each others’ laps, someone was combing someone’s hair for kriff’s sake. And there in the middle, Hux was laughing.
His temper now out of control, Ren barked “General Hux, forgive the intrusion on your orgy, but I must speak to you about the repairs to my personal shuttle!”
Hux’s eyebrows drew together in his typical scowl and he disengaged from the pile of crew members, straightened his tunic and walked calmly to the door and out. Ren had to speed up and follow him.
A few steps away, Hux turned on him.
”How dare you insinuate such a thing about me and my crew!” He hissed at Kylo.
”Why else are you crawling all over them? The rumors I heard were that you slept with all the superior officers, not with those under you.”
Hux’s fingers twitched, wanting to reach for his hidden blades.
”I know your deviant Republican upbringing doesn’t allow you to touch another person unless you’re trying to fuck them or kill them, but control your impulses, you fool,” he said, after a deep breath. “My crew and I have been together since almost childhood. We are practically siblings. When the lights went out at our compound after the Republic attacks, we huddled together in fear. When there wasn’t enough power on our home ships, we curled up together for heat. When the Academy faculty got drunk and searched for students to abuse and terrorize, we hid in closets together.”
Ren was frozen at this, the sparks of fear and sorrow bleeding from Hux’s memories too powerful to ignore.
“I. We never did that. Had that,” he finally uttered.
“Gosh, I am shocked at that.”
Ren nodded, contented with Hux’s usual sarcasm.
“I didn’t think you were all that close. You all seem so stiff and polite and…” Ren sighed. “Cold.”
”Would you ever want to?” Hux asked softly.
“No. They’re afraid of me. Everyone’s afraid of me. Since I was a kid.”
Now Hux nodded. “Of course they’re afraid of you. You’re terrifying.” He smiled a tiny bit. ”Did you know the Troopers have special banners that say ‘Kylo Ren kicked my ass and it was awesome’? Some have made undershirts with that type of sentiment, for downtime wear, of course.”
Ren scowled and shook his head.
“Yes, it IS true, you oaf. Yes, we’re all scared of you. Well, they are, I know what a silly twit you can be. But they’re just as thrilled to have you on our side.”
Something cracked inside Ren’s heart. “Could we? Now?”
Hux paused, considering. “Take off your gloves.”
”What?”
“Remove. Your. Gloves. If you haven’t been touched, and you dive in headfirst, as it were,” Hus explained as patiently as he could, “You might react strangely.”
Scowling, Ren tugged off his gloves, hoping Hux wouldn’t comment on how his bitten, dirty nails. He then noticed Hux’s hand were bare too.
Hux slowly brought his hand to Kylo’s, and grasped it gently. Kylo gasped softly, and held his breath a beat. The warmth and softness of Hux’s hand hit him like a punch.
”I can…I can feel your blood.”
”Very good, Ren, that’s called a pulse,” Hux almost sneered. “Most humans have one.”
Ren laughed. “I promise I won’t cry if someone hugs me.”
“Excellent. After you,” Hux titled his head toward the lounge.
”I do still want my shuttle fixed.”
Snorting, Hux smacked Ren’s arm. “We’ll talk about that later.”