Work Text:
It had become a game of sorts, between him and Phasma, started from a normal procedure once a new planet or system had been taken over and defeated. At least once a month a large crate of delicacies were delivered to the finalizer, and if Hux always ensured some more of the promiscuous substances from whichever planet being included, no one was going to deny the general. Of course it helped quite a bit that the rest of the crew was always far too excited over the break from monotonous food the canteen served that the general could have sex slaves brought in and face little to no questioning.
This month, they'd managed to overthrow the government of what was more than likely some backwater civilization the general hadn't even bothered learning the name of, just signing his name with a flourish on whatever documents Mitaka had placed in front of him to ensure the deed was being done. He added as he often did that he wanted the dark haired lieutenant to do the research on the planet and have a list of anything worthwhile on the rock on his desk no later than the morning before the scheduled takeover. This was a common demand of the skinny man, one that he never failed, always having an itemized list of anything that looked even vaguely interesting sitting on the general's desk, often before the red haired man made it out of bed in the morning.
Ithor, as Hux learned the morning of his designated day off duty, a cup of caf close to one hand as he studied what turned out to be a seven page list of tourist traps and souvenirs, that sold nothing but candy and booze. The ginger tossed the stack of papers onto the messy desk in front of him with a sigh before taking a long drink of the hot beverage he’d brought with him from the canteen, thankful that he’d done so. After glancing through less than half of the list, he’d already accepted the fact that his ship would be full of drunk officers and sugar high stormtroopers less than an hour after the crate from this particular planet was placed in the shipping bay. The amount of paperwork it would end in would be a nightmare worse than Ren’s latest tantrum. Thankfully, he himself would likely be in a similar state, and wouldn’t care about any damage until much later once the activities had finished and everyone was nursing some form of sickness.
As always, the general was waiting for the delivery, standing near the main door of the loading bay with Phasma by his side. He was expecting Ren to make an appearance no earlier than the moment the delivery ship left; just in time for the short-tempered man to take what he desired before the rest of the crew had a chance to even glance at the crate. While he would love to do the same thing as the knight, Hux unfortunately, was awarded the task of ensuring each member of the crew got a share of the goods before he could collect the small box bearing his name and escape to his quarters to indulge.
“As always, after you General.” Hux looked up from where he was staring at a plate of what appeared to be blue and purple mold, to meet Phasma’s eye. The tall woman had shown up to his quarters once the crate had been emptied in gym wear, her short blond hair held back by a fabric band. He’d chosen a trio of different substances, a wine the pair had already drank, an expensive brand of chocolate, and the monstrosity that was sitting between them on the table. According to the information Mitaka had gathered for him, it was supposed to supply a floating feeling once eaten.
“I do believe the phrase is ladies first.” were he going to be honest with himself, he didn’t want to touch the stuff, as it looked as appetizing as bantha brains; which he’d tried on a dare back during his days in the academy.
“Very well sir, I suggest we go at it at the same time.” Phasma suggested, picking a piece from the plate, looking expectantly at the redhead. Hux grimaced as he chose a piece, watching Phasma mirror his actions as he started chewing on the gummy substance.
***
Kylo was enjoying a solitary evening, laying sprawled on his bed eating chocolate from one of the many boxes marked with Ithor’s trading symbols. It wasn’t often that he allowed himself time to lay about; normally by this time of the evening he was still in the training room going through his katas. He was debating whether or not to use his datapad for decidedly non-work matters, when he felt it. Being the only force sensitive being on the Finalizer had its downsides, the main one being the lack of control anyone put into their thoughts. Another being the lack of sensing anyone who wasn’t baseline. At least until tonight.
Climbing off his bed and grabbing his helmet from its stand, Kylo put it on as he exited his quarters. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but he could feel the pulse of the force coming from somewhere on the ship, and he intended to find who it was coming from. As he stalked down the corridors, he was thankful that most of the crew aside from the skeleton members that were required to run the massive flagship were tucked away in their rooms, making it all the more easier for the knight to pinpoint where the thrum of power was emanating from. His search led him to one of the many officers quarters, where he only hesitated for a moment before forcing the door open, silencing the alarm that rang out from not using the access code.
“What are you doing in my quarters Ren?” a weaker man would have turned and scurried away at the glare Hux was sending his way, however Kylo simply stood and stared at the scene before him. While the general was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine held loosely in one hand, Phasma was sprawled on the floor at the red haired man's feet; giggling madly.
“Looking for something.” the knight replied, staring at the general from behind the expressionless mask. While the stormtrooper captain giggling like a schoolgirl was strange, Kylo was much more fascinated by the power Hux had rolling of him
“Well you aren’t going to find it here. Leave.” Hux sent another glare at the black clad man who’d interrupted what was truly entertainment of watching Phasma roll about on his floor. While the plant hadn’t done anything to him other than a splitting headache he was nursing with wine, it had the normally stoic captain acting like an imbecile.
“I’ve actually found exactly what I was searching for.” The knight moved and sat on the couch next to the skinny man, gesturing to the blonde. “Care to inform me of what the pair of you have been up to, to cause this lack of decorum?”
The general stared at him, raising a fine eyebrow, before waving a hand at the small table corner of the room. “It’s still on the table if you want to try it; it can't affect you much worse than it did her.” Scowling, Kylo stood and headed over to the table, looking at the empty glasses and chocolate boxes briefly before his eye found the plate that looked as though it’d been shoved off to the side. The dark haired man immediately recognized the plant, having read about it when he was a child.
“Where did you get this?” he demanded, whirling around in a flurry of black fabric.
“It came with the rest of the stock from Ithor. It’s supposed to cause a euphoric feeling, though I ate three pieces and don’t feel a thing.” Hux answered, sipping from his glass as he did so. “Why is it so important?” Instead of being answered, Hux watched as the other man took the plate before exiting his quarters in a flurry of black robes.
***
After the strange exchange between himself and Ren, Hux enjoyed three days of silence without the knight being in the same room as he was. Almost as odd was the lack of reports of destroyed equipment, though the redhead was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. While the general was enjoying the peace that didn’t oft en grace the ship; Kylo had locked himself away to do research on the plant he’d taken from the general.
The force user had finally tracked down the book he’d read about the plant from, rereading the outdated passages about plant life, he found the reason behind the strange development of the force the general seemingly acquired. Though speaking of the general, the man had become unbearable to be around as he didn’t shield his thoughts at all, practically screaming them loud enough that Kylo had to expend a fair amount of effort to block it. While the plant didn’t have a name, the small paragraph about it he found spoke about it giving the consumer the euphoric feeling Phasma had apparently gotten, though it was also rumored to strengthen force sensibility, or make latent ability show itself. The passage didn't offer any information on undoing the effects
While normally the only use the general was to him was someone to anger, Kylo found himself avoiding the one person aboard the ship that was his equal. Even when the ginger man was on the bridge and he was in his quarters, the scrawny man’s thoughts screamed. Kylo had thought the man was far too loud when he was running on the baseline, but he was finding himself missing those thoughts. He’d managed to go three days without being near the General, but he didn’t think he could take it much longer, which is why he found himself standing near the other man's quarters, waiting for Hux to show.
“Is there a reason you’re waiting by my door like an anxious puppy Ren?” Hux drawled as he approached his quarters. He’d had a headache for days and the last thing he wanted to deal with was a tantrum from the overgrown manchild he was forced to house on his ship.
“We need to talk, privately.” The taller man pushed himself off the gleaming metal wall that now sported scuff marks from the ridiculous helmet the force user insisted on to loom behind Hux as the redhead scanned himself into his quarters. Kylo stayed close on his heels as he entered his room, the edges of the layered closure wore brushing against his own coat as they moved.
As soon as the door slid shut behind them, Hux made quick work moving around the small paperwork laden desk to put distance between them. “What have you deemed so important that it warrants your infringement on my personal time?”
“I'm here because you need to do something to control your internal dialogue. You have been driving me up the wall for days!” Kylo could have kicked himself as the words came out far more snappish than he wanted, so much for doing things civilly.
“You can hear people's thoughts?” The redhead looked a little sick at the implication.
“Not usually unless they're angry, you've just been exceptionally loud since you unlocked your force sensitivity.” To Ren's surprise, at his attempted reassurance the other man burst out laughing.
“Force sensitive, that's a good one Ren. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?” Hux was breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself down.
Kylo gave the redhead an unimpressed look. “I'm not joking and I can prove it.” giving Hux almost no time to comprehend the words, Kylo flicked his wrist and sent the death star paperweight resting on the general's desk flying across the room towards Huxs’ face.
“What the kriff Ren!” Hux snarled, the red mark on his cheek slowly disappeared as his face flushed, the trinket lying in two uneven pieces on the floor.
“Why didn't you stop it?” The demand was met with unimpressed anger.
“Maybe because I wasn't expecting you to be immature enough to throw my things. An obvious mistake on my part, clearly.” Hux took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before continuing “Just leave Ren.” he gestured pointedly at the door, only slightly surprised when the hulking man listened.
Fuming, Kylo paced the length of one of the training rooms, not even noticing the pair of troopers that were trying to slink past the angry man who'd barged in on their sparring session. It should have been simple to prove the general's sensitivity, throwing things at each other had been a standard game when he'd been training under uncle Luke. He was honestly disappointed the man was so unaware of his surroundings that he was able to strike him so easily, expecting better from someone with such high ranking. He racked his brain, trying to figure out how to prove to the infuriating man that he had access to the same power Kylo did. He supposed he could always try to communicate with him through the force as he did with the scavenger girl…he shook the thought away, Hux wasn’t trained enough to speak back to him and he would only take it as another intruding liberty Kylo decided to take with his privacy. It seemed he’d have to catch the general off guard to prove he was right and teach the redhead enough control to finally have some peace.
Despite being impulsive the majority of the time, Kylo did try to approach the issue of the general with a plan. This found him approaching the half asleep man the following morning in the mess hall where he sat nursing a cup of dark coffee, projecting his schedule loudly as he went over it in his mind. He snapped the other man from his thoughts as he slid into the seat across from him, dropping the book he'd brought along with a loud thud onto the table and causing a few drops of the redheads drink to splash over the side of the cup.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” The drawled words were accompanied by Hux thinking about putting times in place that his co-commander could bother him, making Kylo grin despite himself. Not saying a word–the vocoder on his helmet was grating before he'd had breakfast, Kylo flipped the book open to a single marked page, shoving it towards Hux.
As expected, the general's eyes moved to the paragraph, skimming the words quickly before making eye contact with Kylo. “You expect a three sentence section of some mouldy old republic book to convince me?” Watching the almost invisible eyebrow of the other man rise into his hairline was becoming one of Kylo's least favorite things.
“It's proof I wasn't just trying to get a rise out of you last night.” He hissed as quietly as he could with the mask. He would have preferred to have this conversation privately so he might remove the thing but Hux insisted he take his meals in the cafeteria with the rest of the crew. Some garbage about morale and not placing the command personnel on a pedestal.
The general's thoughts were rapid as he went through insulting Kylo, his lineage, and the ‘idiots of the old republic that would put any old bantha shit into books’ while his face remained impressively impassive as though he was actually considering the information offered to him. After a couple moments he responded, tone carefully managed.
“While I appreciate the effort you've gone through to convince me Ren, I was tested in the academy and am very much baseline. I'm sure I can pull the results if you need further proof.” The redhead scoffed before standing and sweeping from the canteen, great coat billowing behind him.
***
Kylo was swiping his saber through the third training dummy of the night, taking his anger out on the stuffed figures. It had been a fortnight since he'd tried to reason with the general using logic and failed and had moved to trying to push the man into using the force unconsciously. He’d tried everything he and the other padawans had pranked each other with, moving things out of place, flicking small objects at the man, even tripping him up while he held cups of caf, datapads, or on one memorable occasion a rare stack of paper battle plans.
Instead of using the force, the general manually moved the things back in place, had yelled at him for being a child over the small objects and instead of saving the held objects by floating them to safety they'd lost two separate datapads and he'd been glared at viciously over everything being dropped. Hux had yet to say anything out loud about the force however, only barking orders at underlings to mop up spills and gather documents. Once even going so far as to threaten anyone who wished to continue staring could do so on the other side of the airlock.
Currently and despite the late hour that would have normally sent him to his quarters, he set up another dummy. He’d escaped to the training rooms once the general's shift was over and was trying to drown out the projected thoughts with the sizzle of his saber. The redhead had retired to his rooms per usual, and was currently reading through battle plans from the old empire. It wasn't the actual reading that was the problem, the dry material was boring enough to put most people to sleep, but rather the snide commentary the general was providing in response.
He gave the redhead a couple more hours, until the time inched past the halfway point of what normally were his sleeping hours before abandoning the destroyed training room–uncaring about the cleaning droids that had their work cut out for them, and stomped his way to Hux's door. He barely paused to forcibly move the door out of his way to reveal the general sprawled comfortably on the small sofa, datapad in one hand, the other holding a glass of dark whiskey.
Hux sat up quickly as the door to his rooms opened with a screech, Kylo standing in the doorway, helmet in one hand and long hair disheveled in a manner unbefitting of military personnel even during off hours. He placed his datapad off to the side without a thought, rising to his feet to meet the other man's stare.
“Do you really believe yourself so far above the rules that you can destroy my ship and barge into my quarters whenever you please?” Arms crossed across his chest he was acutely aware that while Ren stood in his normal attire, he was dressed in the closest thing he owned to civilian clothing; a threadbare pair of linen pants and a military issued sweatshirt that hung loose on his slight frame.
“Believe me, I would much prefer to be sleeping, but you're being too loud.” The dry tone was unusual for the animated man and Hux found himself bristling.
“Are you really still on this inane idea of yours that I've spontaneously developed magic powers?” he scoffed gesturing to the couch he had just vacated. “I've got about as much force sensitivity as the kriffing furniture.”
Rather than the argument he expected from their other interactions, Kylo flung his helmet off to the side, stalking forward and closing the small space between them. Unconsciously he took a small step back before he could catch himself, noting the way Ren’s face fell at the action but continued his approach. It took less than a minute for the gap between them to close with heavy footsteps—Hux chided himself for the fleeting thought of what the force user was tracking onto his carpet, coming to halt centimeters from his chest staring down at him.
Kylo’s eye twitched as the panic from the slighter man washed over him; though outwardly Hux was doing an admirable job at hiding his discomfort of his co-commander being so close. He only had one other idea to prove his intentions weren't to mess with the other man; one that he’d only seen done once as a child under his Uncle's care between two padawan’s who had arrived together. He gave a slight shake of his head to clear the suddenly present nerves before reaching out, grabbing handfuls of the man's sweater and hoisting him into the air until their faces were level.
He ignored the flinch from the other at being lifted from the ground, he wasn't about to back out when he'd gone this far. Pulling the seething general flush against his chest he pressed their lips together before either of them had the opportunity to think about the action.
Eyes closed, Kylo’s thoughts ran wild with the softness of the skin pressed against his, almost able to believe he was kissing someone who didn’t make their hatred of them clearer than the ice lakes of Hoth. Muscle memory had his tongue tracing Hux's bottom lip to deepen the kiss, but instead of parting lips he found himself flying through the air.
His back made contact with the steel wall beside the door he had forced his way through, metal concaving around his body. A sharp ache shot its way up his spine. head already pounding from bouncing off the hard surface. Forcing his eyes open took more willpower than he'd like to admit, taking in the sight of Hux looking panicked, hands still held in front of him. Kylo let his head thump back onto the wall, immediately regretting the action as stars sparked along his vision. He had assumed like the children he remembered, the emotional response would have caused a few things to float around them; not taking into account their relationship.
There was a part of him that was impressed the untrained man was able to toss him back so far and with so much strength; though it was mostly overridden by the anger at being caught off guard by someone he could snap in half with barely a thought. Across the room Hux appeared to be having an existential crisis, breathing quick and shallow, eyes wide and hands shaking.
“Do you believe me now?” Kylo couldn’t hide the wheeze in his voice, air knocked from his lungs from hitting the wall. Hux had snapped to attention when Kylo spoke—muscle memory more than likely; aside from his eyes flicking between his hands and the dent of the wall the large man was still filling as though he wasn’t quite understanding their connection, but gave a miniscule nod in response to the question.
He could feel bruising on his back as he pulled himself out of the wall, attention on the general. “Excellent, we’ll start by teaching you to shield your damn thoughts.”