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Ren stared down his nose at the furry orange splash curled on his lap. Moments ago, it had stood up from its sentry on Hux's pristine desk where it had been sitting and licking itself, and on a whim sauntered over and onto him without explanation. He wasn't sure what confused him the most about Hux's exalted pet.
It's so prim and postured, slick and malleable physically but not so much in demeanor, Kylo thinks, perplexed, realizing immediately that the description also fit Hux with uncanny perfection. He began to wonder with a burning curiosity how Hux had created a lesser-mammal version of himself, convinced that these similarities were not coincidental. Could it actually be a sentient, just an infant at this stage of development, Hux's offspring from a union with an odd non-human species? Supposing this were true, how should he react to its insistence that it sit on his lap? Was he even allowed to touch her? How protective of this sleek quiet thing was Hux? The more Ren wondered the more confused he became, opting to return to his book silently and stiff with uncertainty.
"Oh, so Millicent does like you." Out of the corner of his eye, Ren caught slick boots polished and absolutely gleaming pass through the room until Hux promptly sat down next to Ren on his non-standard loveseat. The soft ginger roll on Kylo's lap let out a faint sigh and hints of a purr at Hux's scent wafting into her tiny pink nose.
"Is sh-she, I mean Millicent, your child? Imeanshelooksjustlikeyou except she takes the form of a lower mammal but she even acts just like you and reminds me of you so is she?" Ren blurted out in one ineloquently rushed sentence, intent and graceless as usual, feeling infinitely curious and a tad embarrassed for not approaching this question with more tact.
Hux stared at Kylo for several moments. Slowly, a smirk pulled at his ever-serious face. "You think she is...my child?" he mused softly.
"W-well? Is she?" Kylo demanded, floundering for an answer, his book long forgotten.
It started out slowly, almost inaudible, but the more Hux tried to stifle it the harder it was to stop his laughter. Ren pouted, dark eyes narrowed, pink spreading conspicuously across his cheeks.
"I don't see what's so funny," Ren huffed indignantly.
Tears were strolling down the general's face. "H-hold on," he gasped, typing something into his commlink, and a few moments later, before Ren could even protest, Phasma was in Hux's quarters as well; to arrive so fast, she must have been patrolling or attending to other business nearby. As she stepped through the threshold of Hux's quarters, her laughter reverberated through her chrome helmet, causing Millicent to blink up blearily at the new scent and sounds in the room. Promptly she returned to her sleep, no longer interested.
"It's a cat, Kylo Ren!" Phasma's voice, even stifled through the heavy armor, could not hide her hysterics.
"A what?" Another round of laughter ground Ren deeper into his humiliation. He could feel the pink blush of his cheeks deepening into a profound scarlet that he knew was perceptible to both Hux and Phasma. So what he had never seen one of these...things? He had been well-travelled in childhood, dragged across the galaxy by his father from one exotic world to the next, so he had probably been acquainted with more species than either of them combined; what in particular made him the subject of ridicule?
As if Hux could sense Ren's good humor fading quickly, and as if the look in his capricious eyes weren't enough indication, he made a sincere attempt to cease his laughter, Phasma following suit, trying desperately to swallow her giggles.
"A cat," Hux began in his matter-of-fact voice that mildly irritated but also somehow endeared himself to Ren, "is a type of feline that are frequently kept as household pets. And no, Ren, she is not my child, my god." He fought valiantly against another round of laughter. "However, I've heard pets and their owners often resemble each other a great deal." He was still wiping the tears from his eyes.
Phasma, her shoulders shaking from trying to not erupt into another fit, left Hux's room wordlessly before she lent herself to Ren's temper.
"I've seen so many more types of species-" Ren tried to defend himself earnestly, but immediately felt a softness against his lips. Hux had reached over to pet Millicent, still nestled into Ren's warm lap. Her purring was the only sound that could be heard over their lips sliding wetly against each other.
"It's fun, Kylo," Hux finally pulled away slightly and drawled quietly past lush black whorls into Ren's ear, "to know something that you don't."