Work Text:
"I'm thinking about what to do about Hux," Rose said, a deep frown on her face.
Poe stiffened. Things were pretty good between him and his boyfriend, ex-First-Order-General Armitage Hux, but he was still very aware that things were not similarly good between Hux and everyone else here on Ajan Kloss base. The war had taken a lot out of everyone, Rose included. The fact that she had forgiven Poe proved that she was a far better person than he was. She was forgiving. Super forgiving.
So if Rose had doubts about Hux, that was a problem.
"Why? What's up?" Poe asked, settling back onto Rose's couch and making sure his body language was open and non-defensive.
Rose sighed gustily. "It's his work — well, not his work precisely, because that's always perfect. Scary perfect. It's..."
She frowned even harder. "This is going to sound dumb, but I think he's deliberately hiding things."
Poe's gaze sharpened. "What kind of things?"
"Like — okay, so if I want a motivator for a certain type of droid, that should be easy, right?" Rose asked. "There should be, like, a section for motivators, and then it should be easy to find the right part based on the droid model. But that's not how Hux set it up."
"You let Hux reorganize all the parts?" Poe asked, widening his eyes.
"He wouldn't shut up about how the old system wasn't optimally efficient. So yeah, I let him reorganize one bay — but then he said that his system doesn't work in just one bay. He looked at me and said —"
Here, Rose broke into a frighteningly accurate impression of Hux —
"'The system is holistic. It either functions as a unit, throughout all of Engineering, or it does not work at all.' And then he said something about getting me 21% more speed in parts retrieval, and 24% more compact storage space, than the way we'd been doing it before, and I caved."
"And does his system actually deliver on those promises?" Poe wanted to know.
"Well, yeah — but it means I can't kriffing find anything without Hux there!"
"Ah. Yeah, that does seem like a problem," Poe said thoughtfully. Hux needing to be right there in Engineering every single day wouldn't be good for him long-term.
It also meant Poe wouldn't be able to steal him away to a Core world for a week of fun and relaxation, like he'd been hoping to arrange.
"You can just order him to put things back like they were," Poe said, but without much hope.
Rose scoffed. "Yeah, I could, but he'd be such a pissy bitch about it the entire time. Honestly, my life wouldn't be worth living."
"I'll talk to him and see what's up," Poe decided.
"Thanks, Poe — you're a pal. And can you get him to take a vacation day once in awhile?" Rose asked. "Sometimes I worry about his ginger ass. I don't think he takes care of himself."
"That's what I'm for!" Poe announced grandly. He resolved to find his boyfriend and get to the bottom of everything — just as soon as Hux's shift was over. He had told Poe he needed to work late in Engineering every night this week.
Hmmm. Now that Poe was thinking about it, how many hours a week did Hux spend working, anyway?
Yeah, there might be a problem with the current situation, Poe thought. Or, problems. At least two.
"I see no problems with the current situation," Hux announced, glaring down at Poe in that sexy-scary way Poe liked so much.
"Babe — you've been working late every night this week," Poe said. "When do I get to see you?"
"You are seeing me now," Hux pointed out.
"Over breakfast. Over phraig gruel and caf."
"Which make me long for the sour vitamin drink and carbohydrate loaves of the Order."
"Don't change the subject. I'm asking you about your workload, and about why Rose says she can't find anything in your new organization system."
"Those are unrelated," Hux replied.
"Are they, though?" Poe asked, letting his arm open out to the side and tilting his head. "Because if Rose can't find anything without you right there, like she says, then no wonder you have to work double shifts every day. First you're backing up Rose in finding whatever she needs during her shift. And then after she's done for the day, you can start your actual work."
He looked accusingly at Hux. "That's why you're never around."
"I am around!" Hux objected, stirring his caf vigorously with a spoon. "We just spent time together last Zhellday."
"But I'm talking about a pattern here," Poe said. "And you have to admit that your pattern is to spend too long at work, and I'm kinda thinking that this org system of yours has something to do with it."
"Efficiency is up after the optimization of the storage system," Hux replied. He seemed to be getting agitated. "Commander Tico agrees that operations are running more smoothly. Plus we can fit far more parts in the same square footage."
"We're on an uninhabited jungle moon," Poe pointed out. "Real estate is free. We can just build a storage hut."
"And waste the time traveling from Engineering to this 'storage hut' to find the correct part?" Hux shot back. His gaze was flinty, but it seemed to be covering something Poe couldn't immediately name. "Be realistic, Commander Dameron. Efficiency is paramount, and your organization needs all the help it can get. You should be pleased with the improvements I suggested to your organizational system. I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise that you should be grateful to receive. Now, if you'll excuse me."
Poe muffled his sigh as Hux gathered his things and swept away.
"So that didn't go too well," he muttered.
The thing was — Hux wasn't exactly wrong. They did need more efficiency in Engineering, and everywhere else, for that matter. Sure, the New Republic had won the war, but now that it was peacetime, the central government didn't allocate too much in the way of budget to this remote base. They were on a jungle moon, far outside the Core Worlds; they didn't merit even a footnote in the Senate's budget.
So it did make sense for Ajan Kloss base to scrimp and save — to pinch its credits until they squealed, as his dad Kes used to say back on the farm.
Poe just didn't want it to be at either Rose's or Hux's expense.
He decided to stop by the shop the next afternoon and just observe for awhile.
Rose and Hux were focused on replacing a series of actuators in five agricultural droids. Each was a different model, so each needed different parts, which seemed reasonable.
What didn't seem reasonable was where Hux had stored all the parts. Poe watched in bafflement as he flitted from one corner of the Engineering bay to another to gather things.
"How do you know where things live?" Poe asked, hoping his air of innocent enthusiasm would get Hux to give him a straight answer.
Hux sniffed, "It is a simple transformational algorithm."
"Oh, it's simple? Teach it to me," Poe said.
Rose shot him a look so quick that Poe almost didn't see it, then returned to swapping out an actuator, pinching her lips closed.
"It's quite simple," Hux began, raising his eyebrows and taking a proprietary stance near a droid. "We shall use this droid as an example. This model is from the standard L9 series, manufacturer unknown, but presumably Coruscantian in the original design, as you can see from this input port, here." He gestured.
"Okay," Poe nodded along. He didn't know about input ports, but he assumed Rose did.
"From its tread patterns, we surmise that it was most likely designed to operate on hard, packed earth, perhaps as a type of glorified wheelbarrow. It would not be at all suitable for, say, harvesting bogberries, which would require a semiaquatic model."
"With you so far," Poe said.
"So, we take this information — series L9, manufacturer Unknown, design Coruscanti, type Land-based, function Transport. Plus two or three more subtle designations having to do with the exact interface between hardware and software, but I need hardly go into those now."
"Wait, what —"
"And we translate those into a seven-digit unique code." Hux made some scribbles on his datapad and held it out so that Poe could see.
"That's Outer Rim Basic," Poe said, peering at the datapad.
"It is."
"We don't use Outer Rim Basic here. We use Aurebesh," Poe said.
Hux sniffed again. "Aurebesh has thirty-four characters, which is too many. The Outer Rim Basic character set numbers only twenty-six, which is twice thirteen — a far better number for many reasons."
"And those reasons are...?"
Hux shot him a glare. "Take my word for it — twenty-six is better than thirty-four, at least in this instance. Or are you doubting my expertise?"
Poe sighed. "So, you have every part categorized and labeled according to this system of yours. And if I knew the seven-character code —"
"Or eight," Rose broke in. "Or nine. Sometimes ten, depending on what Hux feels like is important."
"There are subtleties that are not easily captured in a mere seven characters," Hux replied hotly.
Poe raised his voice to overcome the competition. "So if I knew Hux's code, and Outer Rim Basic, I could just go find the part alphabetically? These bins are all labeled in order?"
"Hah!" Rose huffed. "I wish!"
"A brute-force assignation of bin space leads to inefficiencies," Hux said. "My system optimizes for storage space. We currently have less than eight percent unused capacity, a significant reduction from baseline, and recent trends are well within the targeted range of five to twelve percent."
"So how do you know where things live?" Poe asked, trying for the 'innocent enthusiasm' angle again.
"I don't," Rose said with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah — I mean, Hugs, how do you know where things live?" Poe asked, giving his boyfriend one of his very best smiles. "If you know that code, then — what do you do next? You gotta have a lookup program or something on that datapad of yours, right?" He made a grabby motion towards Hux's pad.
Hux stepped back, clutching the pad to his chest.
"I — do not," he said. Twin spots of bright pink had appeared high on his cheekbones, and he had a look in his eyes that Poe did not like. He seemed to be a hair's breadth from turning and running out of Engineering, or grabbing the nearest torque wrench and defending himself by force.
"Okay," Poe said, pulling his hands back and resting them on the table, cupped palms facing up. No weapons. Not grabbing for you. I am not a threat.
"I've spent far too much time explaining the system," Hux said. His voice sounded frayed. "If you'll excuse me — I see that Commander Tico will shortly be in need of several more specific pieces." Then he wheeled and stalked away, around the corner of a shelf.
Rose gave Poe a glance. "Thanks for trying."
Poe blew out a breath. "Wow. He's hella defensive. What's that about?"
"Efficiency, I guess," Rose said, shrugging. "Seems like he's married to it."
Married to efficiency. Poe didn't really like the sound of that. He was more of the opinion that people should marry other people, rather than huge concepts like efficiency, or the First Order, or even freedom and justice.
Freedom and Justice can't tuck you in at night or feed you soup when you're sick, he thought. Efficiency can't hold you when you cry.
"Rose — let's get out of here. I want to talk," Poe murmured. He meant, I want to talk where Hugs can't overhear us. From her face, he knew Rose understood.
"We're going to get some caf!" Rose called into the back. "Do you want anything?"
"No!" Hux called back.
"Big surprise there. He never wants anything," Rose muttered, holding the door open for Poe. "But at least he didn't berate me about taking unnecessary breaks on the job this time. I think he wants to get you out of Engineering so his day can get back to normal."
Poe gave a little half-shrug. That did, in fact, sound very Huxian.
They headed a few buildings down and went to a serving droid to pick up some of the fancy caf that Rose liked.
"So, after hearing all that — I see your problem," Poe said, giving her a sympathetic glance.
"Yeah! And he's so infuriating about it!" Rose said, gesturing. She dropped into another impression of Hux: "'My system far outshines anything the motley New Republic could create. With the famed efficiency of the First Order' — blah blah blah. It's insufferable!"
"So why not just put everything back like it was?" Poe asked, receiving a cup of caf from the droid and taking a sip.
"It would be a huge effort to reorganize everything. It would take weeks!" Rose said.
"How long did it take Hugs to do it the first time?"
"I have no idea. It was over his first Life Day holiday here, and he just barricaded himself inside Engineering while we were all celebrating. When I finally went back three days later, he'd done the whole thing himself."
"Hugs did weeks of work in three days?" Poe exclaimed. "Did he sleep at all?"
He felt a swift stab of guilt. He'd known Hux was somewhere on base during his first Life Day with the New Republic, but he hadn't gone to seek him out, or make sure he was actually resting on the holiday, like everyone else was.
"I think he reorganizes the bins every evening after I leave for the night," Rose confided. "I've been trying to make notes about where things are, but they keep changing. As for whether he sleeps — you would know better than me, right?"
Poe frowned again. If Hux was really reorganizing stuff every night, that would mean that in addition to fetching parts for Rose all day, he was performing two whole additional jobs every night after hours — his own assigned work, and then reorganizing the bins however his efficiency plan required, based on that day's work and deliveries.
That was three jobs for one person. And the last time Poe checked, one person could not do three jobs. Or — well, they could, apparently, since Hugs was managing, somehow. But Poe knew one person could not do three jobs indefinitely. Not without burning out.
"Hmm. Okay, I'll try something else," Poe said, wracking his brains for what that might be.
"Great. Because he's right — his way really is more efficient. But also, I can't have my own area completely outside my control this way. I'm supposed to be in charge! If he keeps on like this, I'm gonna have to fire him." She took a sip of her own caf, her face filled with determination.
"Oh, kriff," Poe swore softly. "That would kill him. He would not take well to that at all."
"Yeah. I really don't want to deal with that drama. Can you at least find out why he's doing all this? No one asked him to! And I'd rather he didn't!"
Poe clapped Rose on the shoulder. "Fear not, Commander Tico. New Republic hero Poe Dameron is on the job."
"I'd feel better if the job was already done," Rose grumbled.
Me too, Rose, Poe thought as they parted ways. Me too.
A week passed without Poe gaining any traction on The Problem, as he had started to call it in his mind.
The thing was — Hux needed to be approached delicately. Poe couldn't just charge straight in demanding answers; that would only get Hugs to clam up even tighter, as though he was worried about being sent to reconditioning. Even though the New Republic didn't do that.
But Hux was never around. They caught little bits of time — fifteen minutes here, thirty minutes there — but Hux was always rushing off to the next thing. Even when they had an overnight in one of their quarters, there was never any time for a thorough conversation. Hux would come in too late, and then get up and leave far too early.
So Poe decided to soften him up some. He made a plan, booked some tickets, and talked to Rose. He smiled, imagining pampering his boyfriend, and hoping that with enough pampering, he would open up a bit more. Maybe a lot more.
Poe had faith in his pampering skills.
"Heya Hugs!" Poe said in a bright tone, catching up with him as he was on his way to work. "You have the day off."
Hux frowned. "I most certainly do not."
"Actually, you do! I cleared it with Rose already," Poe said. "I'm whisking you away on a sexy adventure!"
Hux's frown turned into more of a glower.
"If you are serious and you have interfered in my professional employment here, then I will have strong words for you, Dameron," he said, speeding up his pace. "However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that this is one of your ill-conceived 'jokes.'"
"Ah — no, no it's not," Poe said, trotting faster to keep up. They were within sight of the Engineering building now, and Hux was walking towards it as though it was the one safe haven from an incoming bombing. "Why would I joke about this? I just thought it'd be nice to take you somewhere for a little R&R. You know — we could fly to a decent restaurant, have a nice meal, then maybe after we could —"
"Stop it," Hux hissed at him, wheeling on him and practically vibrating in place. "Stop interfering. Just because you're sleeping with me doesn't mean you own my life or my time."
"Whoah," Poe said, taking a step back and putting his hands half-up.
"I am well aware of my status here," Hux continued. "I did not think that you would seek to control me, as well. I thought you were different from all the others. But perhaps I was wrong. I have been wrong before."
He was panting, and that same distressed-looking flush was back on his cheeks.
"Hugs, I —"
"And stop calling me that preposterous nickname!" Hux spat, blinking rapidly. "My name is Armitage Hux. H-U-X, Hux. I do not appreciate your — mocking of me with this overfamiliarity."
That upended Poe to a degree he had not expected. He stood there, blinking like an idiot, at a complete loss as to how to respond.
Hux breathed in and out, hard, then turned and strode towards Engineering.
"I wasn't mocking you," Poe called after him.
By the set of his shoulders, Hux had heard him. But by the length of his stride, he was not looking to continue the conversation.
Huh, Poe thought, making his way back to his quarters moodily. That did not go at all the way I thought it would.
He'd thought Hux would appreciate an impromptu day off and a romantic date at the very best restaurant within easy flying distance. Poe had made the reservations days before, and had even pre-ordered a nice bottle of wine that he thought Hux would like. And after their fancy meal — a night in a high-end hotel room, complete with one of those pools that bubbles when you flip the switch. Poe had really been looking forward to it.
And then, after Hux had been wined, dined, and was relaxed and warm and sated in Poe's arms, Poe would have asked him more about why he needed this particular organizational system so much. His defenses would be down, so he'd be more likely to answer truthfully.
But I guess that's all out the window now, Poe thought, kicking a rock off the path and watching it skitter into the jungle underbrush.
Fine. What's the next plan? he wondered. He couldn't just give up. Giving up wasn't in his nature!
"I really wish I could talk to you about this, Leia," he muttered, leaving the path and heading into the jungle. If only Force ghosts were the sort of thing regular people like him could see!
He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what Leia would say, if she were here.
He's scared, his vision of Leia told him. Her intelligent brown eyes had missed nothing in life, and of course that would be true even after her death. Did you hear how he mentioned people trying to control him? And his 'status' here?
"We're not trying to control him here," Poe objected.
Except that you are, Leia answered. You want him to handle things in Engineering your way. Not his way. Can you see why that might make him feel threatened?
"What's there to threaten?" Poe asked. "He's here with us, right? He has a life here?"
Poe, have some imagination, his idea of Leia told him, shaking her head. How secure do you think he feels right now? Everything he had in his former life is gone. He wasn't imprisoned or executed for his war crimes only out of the mercy of the New Republic government. And you know they could change their minds about that at any moment.
"Hugs knows we wouldn't just execute him. He spied for us during the war. He saved us!" Poe argued back.
But you can imagine why maybe he feels like he needs to prove himself every day? Leia asked.
Poe paused. He didn't have a good answer for that one.
Just think about it, Poe. I know you'll figure out the right thing to do, Leia said, seeming to fade into the background noise of Poe's mind.
"Ya know, even though I'm someone who can't see Force ghosts, I think I just saw one," Poe told a nearby tree. "Well — not saw, not exactly. It was more like a feeling."
The tree, unsurprisingly, made no reply.
Poe straightened his shoulders. Imaginary-Leia had a point, and he was going to run with it.
"I want to apologize," Hux said that evening, with no preamble. He had just turned to close the door behind him, and was now standing at attention with his hands behind his back, his eyes skimming past Poe to the opposite wall. "I snapped at you this morning."
"You did," Poe acknowledged, walking up and pausing an arm's length away. "I appreciate the apology."
Hux's eyes flicked to Poe's, then away. Seeming to find no threat, he looked at Poe more squarely.
"However, in the future, please do not seek to interfere with my work," he continued.
Poe huffed out a breath and scrubbed one hand through his hair. "I guess I'm just — confused about why you need this," he said. "Is it because you feel like your status here is precarious, so you're looking to establish a power base by hoarding knowledge?"
"No," Hux said reflexively, then paused as though suddenly struck by something.
"Here — come on in, take a seat," Poe said, gesturing. "Do you want some tea?"
"Yes, thank you," Hux said, a tiny line between his eyebrows. He took a seat on the chair near Poe's one couch, which was currently half-covered with books, clothes, food wrappers, and other random detritus, and Poe could see his eyes running over the pile disapprovingly, although he said nothing out loud.
Poe made the tea while chattering on about the various unimportant minutiae of his day, then brought over a tray with a pot, two cups, and the sugar bowl. He found it absolutely essential if he was going to ingest the same bitter tarine tea that Hux liked so much.
Hux, naturally, drank it black.
"I am curious about something you said, before," Poe ventured after he had poured for them both. "You mentioned your 'status here.' What did you mean?"
Hux took a sip of tea. "As an enemy captured in time of war —"
"We pulled you out of that escape pod half-dead, with Pryde's blaster bolt still sizzling against your body armor," Poe pointed out, adding several spoonfuls of sugar to his cup. "You weren't an enemy. You were an operative behind enemy lines. Downed by enemy fire."
"Yes, well. Most in the New Republic do not see things that way," Hux rejoined. "Surely you must understand that my position here is precarious at best."
"Which is why you came up with the filing system," Poe nodded. "I get it."
Hux looked at him suspiciously. "You do?"
"Oh, sure. Back when I was trying to get with this girl I liked, but she wasn't giving me the time of day, I found out what she needed, and changed my whole life around so I would be the one to give it to her." Poe smiled a bit, reminiscing about his past. Seventeen-year-old him had been such a dumbass.
Hux tightened his lips. "From her absence in your current life, I assume that things did not 'work out.'"
"Yeah," Poe said, shaking his head a bit to dislodge those memories. He had been a whole different person back then!
He liked to think he had a lot more maturity now.
"Anyway, like you said — that didn't work out. But I was thinking. I'm in charge of a lot of the base paperwork here. And I think you need an official position in the New Republic's Civil Service."
Hux breathed in as though about to reply. Poe lifted one hand to forestall him, and continued, "Only with your consent. You could write the job description. The Civil Service typically has its own command structure, but there's a clause where they can lend out personnel to the Navy on a permanent basis. The Civil Service would pay us for the trouble of taking you, and we would pay them an exactly equal amount for the honor of taking you."
Hux was frowning. "I'd want to see the paperwork."
"Sure thing. Thought you might," Poe said, springing up to fetch the dossier he'd spent the afternoon collecting and collating.
If there was one thing Poe knew, it was that Armitage Hux would always want to read through the fine print.
"We'd still pay you, of course," Poe said. "That comes out of the Engineering budget. The finances are in good shape — there's a yearly cost-of-living increase built in. And as a registered civil servant, you'd be eligible for a pension upon retirement. As well as regular holidays — Life Day, New Republic Day, and so on. Oh — and personal vacation days. And sick time. Bet you didn't get any sick time in the Order! Here — the info on all that is in the back, behind this blue tab."
Hux was looking mildly stunned.
"You run your base this way?" he demanded, examining the paperwork behind the blue tab. "Your whole society? With this many non-working days for everyone? How does anything get done at all?"
"Through teamwork and collaboration," Poe said cheerfully.
Hux gave him an extremely dubious look.
"Oh, okay — sure, so maybe we're not as efficient as you were back in the First Order," Poe said. "But this approach means people don't burn out, or get choked to death or reconditioned for a minor mistake. It means we can do things like take a day to spend time with a loved one — say, a boyfriend, just for example. Which I'm betting you never did back when you were trying to take over the galaxy."
"It was never a concern, no," Hux agreed. He was still skimming through the contract.
Poe just took a few moments to relax on the couch, sipping his tea and watching Hux reading through complex legalese. He had to admit that it was pretty hot.
Finally, Hux set the dossier aside.
He took another sip of tea, then set his cup down with decision.
"I find this contract acceptable," he said. "I am assuming that it would go on file with the authorities? And could be referred to in the future, to prove that I am a New Republic citizen in good standing?"
"Sure," Poe said, internally wincing, because he was behind on filing that paperwork for other workers who had started in the past — uh, however many months. But now that Hux would have the same papers that needed to be filed, Poe would be more motivated to get it done. A side benefit.
"And I could take this work history and experience, and apply to work somewhere else, if I so chose?" Hux asked.
Poe sat forward suddenly.
"Yeah, you could do that. But why'd you want to, though?" he asked, feeling strange. "You don't really want to leave. Do you?"
Hux took another sip of tea and looked at him.
"I do not currently wish to leave, no," Hux said. He gave a tiny sigh and let his eyes run over Poe. "There are certain — features — to Ajan Kloss base that I would miss, were I to take up life elsewhere in the New Republic."
"Oh?" Poe asked seductively, slipping off the couch and knee-walking his way over to the chair so he could press himself against Hux's thigh and rest his head on Hux's arm. "Like what?"
"The hydroponic garden here is quite nice," Hux said, which prompted Poe to say "Hey!" accusingly, which then inevitably led to Hux leaning down to kiss him.
Poe kissed back happily. Thanks, Leia, he thought to his mental image of his former mentor and friend. You really did me a solid there.
Hux broke away and looked down at him. "Just so we're clear — a storage hut is an objectively bad idea."
"You could program droids to fetch things," Poe pointed out. "And if we hire a couple more people for Engineering, then you wouldn't have to work so hard."
Hux looked interested at that. "I suppose that, as an official civil service member, I could be the one to supervise them when Commander Tico is otherwise occupied."
"Already going for the team leader position. Love the ambition," Poe said, drawing him back down into a kiss.
"I suppose it would be pointless to even attempt to teach the system to mere novices," Hux said after another bout of kissing. "We might have to switch from Outer Rim Basic to something that even a trainee could comprehend."
"Mmm," Poe agreed. "All in the service of teamwork, right?"
"Dameron," Hux said after another few long, breathless minutes.
"Hmm?"
"I... did not mean what I said earlier," Hux said, all in a rush, as though the words were tripping over each other to leave his mouth. "I find that I actually — do not mind it when you use that particular name for me."
"What — 'Hugs?'" Poe asked obnoxiously. "Well, then I'll make sure to use it more often from now on!"
"Oh, joy," Hux said, rolling his eyes, but in an affectionate manner, Poe was pretty sure.
Then they kept kissing, and then other pleasant distractions occurred, none of which involved paperwork or filing systems in any way. Which was just fine, because according to the guidelines in Hux's onboarding dossier, he was definitely overdue for a vacation.