Chapter Text
The cantina had Senator Ben Amidala Organa’s latest speech playing on the HoloNet. That alone would be enough to make Hux leave a room, ordinarily. If the people who ran this place could bear to listen to Solo's drivel about universal rights and dignity, Hux had better places to be. It was just a minute-long clip before the hosts on the net show went back to discussing Solo's clothing, but that did little to sooth Hux's irritation. Organa was a passionate orator. He spoke with emotion, rawness lacing his voice. His rhetorics were flashy and colorful. People, especially opponents, became lost to his arguments, overwhelmed. Blindsided. However, just like his mother, Organa seemed to live in a dreamworld. Such would, at least, explain where the ostentatious, unabashedly lavish clothing and make up came from, Hux mused. Hux doubted even he would be able to identify the man under the costume.
Hux was just about to give the whole trip up as a lost cause when a pair of familiar hands closed over his eyes. "Guess who?"
Hux smirked. He spun around, laying claiming eyes on his erstwhile lover. "You are late."
Kylo shrugged. "I was caught up. Figured you'd rather have me in one piece than on time." He reached up and tangled his hands in Hux's hair, using his size to back Hux up against the wall. Kylo had wonderful hands, Hux thought idly. Long-fingered and calloused, dexterous in ways that should have been illegal. That were illegal, sometimes. His knees, leather-clad, bracketed Hux's hips, caging him, controlling. The cantina inhabitants didn't even turn their heads. Why would they? Hux, despite his propaganda work, had always been forgettable in a universe of aliens and extravagant dressers, and Kylo was just one of many shadowy characters scattered around the place. The few that did look only did so because Kylo was beautiful and pressed against him Hux made an interesting juxtaposition.
This rare anonymity for the General of the First Order was only part of the reason Hux allowed himself these forays. The rest was entirely Kylo's fault.
"You're thinking," Kylo growled, teeth nipping Hux's tender jugular. Copper bloomed in Hux's mouth as he bit back a keen. "I hate it when you think."
Hux huffed, curling his arms around Kylo's broad shoulders. "Only when it's not about you."
Kylo laughed, wild and just this side of feral, his white teeth flashing in the grimy light. He mashed their mouths together, like to suck the metallic tang right off of Hux's tongue. Hux's stomach flipped, his sense of propriety warring with raw sensation. Ordinarily, he would never do this. Ordinarily, Hux never left the Finalizer. Ordinarily—
Kylo's hand settled over Hux's crotch, palming him through his loose cotton trousers. He could feel Kylo's nails through the cloth. Fire lanced Hux from the points of contact, though the touch was so terribly light. He pressed into Kylo, desperate.
"There we go, Armitage,” Kylo murmured, nipping Hux's ear. “That's just how I like you." Hux seized against him. "Let's go somewhere private before this whole place knows just how thoughtless you are."
Anyone else, Hux would have snapped their neck. Hux may not look it, bundled in his First Order uniform or swamped in layers of gauzy civilian wear, but Admiral Brendol Hux II had raised no bureaucrat for a son. Kylo, though... Well. Kylo was a disaster. But he was Hux's disaster, and Hux didn't harm his own.
The glimmer in Kylo's too-clever dark eyes assured him that the feeling was mutual. Yet, that way lay madness... among other things. 'Love' was too dangerous a word to think, so Hux didn't. The emotion remained, however. It lurked just under his skin.
Mind fuzzy, Hux valiantly bit back a dissatisfied moan when Kylo pulled away, releasing Hux from against the cantina wall. Possessive by nature, though, Kylo didn't keep his hands away. Hux found one heavy arm curled around his waist, Kylo's nails pressed against his skin. Hux's first instinct was to reverse the hold and dislocate the arm, but the warm scent of leather and metal negated the reaction. Instead, he relaxed, content in the shield of Kylo's possession.
Outside, old alcohol and low-lying bodily stink clouded the air, the stars twinkling dimly in the oily, muggy sky. Frankly, Hux much preferred the sterile lights of the Finalizer's halls. Thankfully, the walk to Kylo's ship was a short one. Renamed as many times as Hux had fingers, Hux could never rightly decide what the ship was. Middle-sized, black, and a collage of pieces and bits, Hux got a headache just looking at it. Inside, the chaos only continued. Mods of all kinds were visible in the cockpit, pushing the engines faster and the guns hotter. Crates of contraband and various other cargos were strapped down haphazardly, the holding bays probably full of something even more illegal. Kylo liked to deflect that assumption, but liar Hux's lover was not. Hux found his attempts at a straight face oddly... cute.
There was nothing cute about Kylo now. As the door slipped shut, Kylo curled his arms around Hux's thighs and pulled him up, leaving Hux to scramble. Not that Hux ever scrambled. Instead, he gracefully wrapped his legs around Kylo's ridiculously muscular body and his arms around his neck, diving in for a kiss before Kylo could dominate that, too.
Lightning shot through his body. Kylo's mouth was hot and wet, tasting vaguely of alcohol and Coruscant chocolate. Hux barely resisted a smile. He was well acquainted with Kylo's sweet tooth.
Kylo broke the kiss with a nip to Hux's lip. "Want this off you," he said, and rolled his hands over Hux's ass to emphasize his point.
"Get us to that cave you call your quarters and you won't want any longer," Hux snapped, unthinking. Kylo smirked. Hux felt his stomach bottom out.
"As you wish, General." And then, as Hux should have expected by now, Kylo proceeded to do the most absurd thing and bodily carried Hux to just that cave.
"You are absolutely insane," Hux squawked. Kylo merely grinned, maneuvering nimbly through the warren of his ship until they reached his abode. Hux was deposited on the bed, not given enough time to complain before Kylo was on him. Astride Hux's hips, Kylo shrugged off his leather doublet, leaving his upper body bare but for his bracers. Hux couldn't keep his hands away. He propped himself up against the pillows, hands exploring the divots of Kylo's torso and chest. He tweaked a pert pink nipple, heat licking his body when Kylo lost his breath in a ragged moan.
"That's it, Kylo," Hux coaxed. "So gorgeous for me."
Kylo didn't speak a word, only his heaving breath making any noise. His eyes were intent on Hux, wide-blown and focused. Had Hux been a lesser man, he might have felt hunted. Stalked. Kylo was predatory in that way, with his large, dark eyes and sharp features. He made people think of wolves, Hux imagined. With his lithe, elongated limbs and easy lope. His thick black hair. His beauty, in that animal way. In that barely-all-there, feral way.
So different from that airhead, Organa. Like comparing a predator to a butterfly. Utterly ridiculous.
Pushing away such silly a thought, Hux shifted into a kneel, keeping his eyes locked with Kylo's. He feathered his touch, exploring further, watching with growing glee as Kylo reacted. How his breath hitched and started again. The unwilling flutter of his tense muscles. The careful stillness of his frame.
Satisfied, Hux ran his hands up Kylo's sides, reveling in his lover's long inhale, and then nipped in for a kiss before Kylo had a chance to breath out. At once, the stillness shattered. Kylo's hands came up, grasping and possessive, scrabbling at Hux's loose shirt; his leather bracers biting into Hux's back through the material. His tongue soothed the ache he had left on Hux's lips with little, teasing bites. The fires that had been breaking across Hux's skin kicked up a notch, and now Hux's hands were scrabbling at his shirt, too. Between the two of them, they found enough resilience to part long enough to get the shirt off Hux. Immediately, Hux realized that if he'd wanted to maintain any control of the kiss—or anything else—he'd just given up his advantage.
Moving with his easy power, Kylo locked his hands around Hux's wrists and tipped them both horizontal onto the pillows. At least Kylo's sheets were soft. Clean. The cotton felt cool on Hux's sensitive skin and he couldn't help the sigh that left him. Kylo grinned again, a teasing flash of teeth framed by lush, pink lips. Hux wanted that mouth again, and then to mark that long, pale neck with his teeth. Then, maybe, he'd lay claim on Kylo's long, pretty cock, too.
Hux had always liked laying claim to things. Kylo had quickly become his favourite thing to lay claim to.
Trusting that Hux wouldn't move, Kylo settled his big hands on Hux's hips, his fingers looped into the waist band of Hux's trousers. His mouth branded Hux's skin, burning red marks that would make lovely bruises not long from now. Hux thought he bore such tortures admirably, holding back his whines even as Kylo payed wicked attention to his chest, nipping and biting at his nipples until Hux was sure they would bleed. His cock was the only obvious sign of his distress, straining piteously against the material.
"Oh, General," Kylo murmured, voice like a sigh. Kylo was one of the few who had ever recognized Hux in civilian clothes. It was half the reason Hux had let Kylo take him to bed the first time. The other half was that, of course, Kylo was gorgeous; especially now. His lips were wet and red from sucking at Hux's skin. He kissed a line from Hux's throat to naval. "Am I boring you? I can only assume so," Hux hissed as Kylo's nails dug into sensitive skin. "After all, you're so quiet."
"Maybe if you did something better with that big mouth of yours, I wouldn't be," Hux gasped. His stomach twisted wildly when he caught sight of Kylo's expression, his poor cock leaking through his tented trousers.
Kylo's eyes glittered like Arkanian black diamonds. "Yes, Sir."
Hot lips descended on Hux's cock, mouthing him through the fabric. Hux's whole body jerked, his senses shrieking. He tore his hands down from where Kylo had placed them and buried them in Kylo's thick hair, gritting his teeth as pleasure ripped through him. "Kylo..."
"Feeling a little less bored now, General?"
Hux just barely kept from shouting. "If you don't do something now, I may actually shoot you."
Glee shone from those dark eyes. "Guess I'll have to do something, then."
And then Kylo undid Hux's pants. With his teeth. He then looked up, grinned, and swallowed Hux balls deep.
Hux gave in. He cursed violently, falling into Arkanian when he felt the brush of Kylo's teeth. Kylo—radiating smugness, the brat—fucking hummed, then, and Hux felt his heart give out for a beat.
"Kylo, dammit. If you keep—ah—that up, I'm-"
Kylo pulled away with an obscene pop, resting his chin on Hux's bared hip. His eyes laughed at Hux as he drew little designs on Hux's skin with a lazy finger. "You can, if you can't hold on. Thought you might like to put this," and Kylo drew one long finger along Hux's cock, making him shout, "somewhere more interesting, though."
Hux was breathing through his teeth, nails cutting crescents into his palms. He'd abandoned Kylo's hair when he felt himself losing control. Now, Kylo took one hand and kissed Hux's fingers, taking one into his mouth and sucking, his eyes locked on Hux.
Fuck this, Hux thought, and pulled his hand back so he could pull Kylo closer. Kylo came willingly, laughingly, scrambling to shuffle off his pants and knock off his boots and strip off his socks. Hux, too, shed his remaining clothes, cursing and cringing as his oversensitive cock met unsympathetic cloth. "Get over here," Hux snapped.
Kylo snorted, "So I'm the impatient one."
In a fit of immaturity, Hux stuck his tongue out at him. Kylo laughed, head back, long hair tickling his shoulders. Hux’s mouth went dry.
"If I hadn't been so eager earlier, I might take that you up on that," Kylo said, crawling onto the bed to straddle Hux's waist.
Hux raised a brow, trying for an imperious look that was probably ruined by the flush he could feel on his face. "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, my General," Kylo hummed, and poised himself over Hux's frankly painful erection. "Use your imagination."
Hux could. He did. The images he came up with were almost as torturous as Kylo's teasing expression, his straining muscles, his slow descent.
"You're incorrigible," Hux hissed, and then cursed as Kylo made contact.
Kylo bent and kissed him. "And you love it."
Snarling, Hux grabbed Kylo's hips and brought him down hard, satisfied by the curse Kylo snapped at him. Hux grinned, enjoying the heady weight of Kylo, the way his sides moved against Hux's palms. He especially enjoyed how Kylo gripped him, slick and desperate, with a heat that seared. He thrust up, growing bold off how Kylo keened, knowing Kylo had taken worse, had liked worse. He certainly liked this now, writhing as Hux set a brutal pace. His cock bobbed against Hux's abs, flicking him with precum. He had nearly doubled over, leaning forward to support himself on Hux's shoulder. Hux didn't mind. The position made it easier to get a hold of Kylo's mouth while Hux fucked him.
Once in rhythm, neither of them lasted very long. Kylo had tortured the wherewithal out of Hux and Kylo was never very patient. Before long, they collapsed together, a sticky mess trapped between them. A warm, soft silence settled.
Hux would later like to kick himself for breaking it.
"One day," he murmured, running his fingers over a scar the curved long and cruel over Kylo's hip, "I think I'd like to have you in my bedroom, home on Arkanis." He kissed Kylo's cheek. "Perhaps even abroad the Finalizer."
"There's something strange about a guy who considers his work quarters more sacred than his house," Kylo replied.
Hux snorted. "Like you're any different," Hux paused. "Also, you are deflecting."
Kylo sighed. "And you're hinting. Don't know why. We've already had this fight."
Hux pursed his lips, but kept his tone purposely calm. Speaking with Kylo was sometimes like interacting with an animal. The wild, carnivorous sort. "I simply don't understand why you won't admit to reason."
"Reason?" Kylo queried. "I've got tons of reason. Enough to know that I'm not First Order material."
"Kylo—"
"Don't 'Kylo' me!"
"You have so much potential," Hux carried on, ignoring Kylo's indignation. "I see it and so would the rest of the galaxy if you just took a position."
"I've never gone to your Academy," Kylo growled. "I'm not military."
"Neither was Phasma."
Kylo huffed and sat up, looking Hux dead in the eye. "I don't want to be military, Hux. I don't want to join the First Order!" He gave Hux a poisonous look. "You know I don't agree with your policies."
Hux may have flinched, had this been a new topic between them. Unfortunately, Hux was rather intimately familiar with Kylo's political leanings. Also, the temper tantrums Kylo threw when Hux insisted his position was, to put it gently, ill-thought.
"I don't always, either, Kylo. But the Order is more than policy." Hux reached for Kylo's hand. "It represents hope for the Outer Rim, for my planet, and for my family. Without the Order, all of those planets would still be swarmed with raiders and slavers and every other monster who showed up after the Empire fell." Hux kissed Kylo's wrist. "One day, I want you to see that."
Kylo's face softened, though his mouth didn't lose that stubborn edge. "I know, General. I know."
"Then why won't you just consider?" Hux asked, striding onto new territory. Hux usually let the conversation lie after the first angry volley of words, wary of spooking Kylo into realms unknown. It had happened before. When Hux had seen Kylo next, it was with an array of new scars adorning his skin.
Kylo stilled. "I... I've been part of similar stuff," Kylo offered softly. "I'm not cut out for it."
"I have seen you fight and I have seen you command other smugglers in a fight," Hux pushed, intrigued. Kylo was an enigma, as secretive and consuming as a blackhole. Such small scraps of information were to be hunted and guarded ruthlessly. "Why would ordering Stormtroopers be any different?" Hux tilted his head. "Is it working under me that makes you wary?"
"No!" Kylo cut in. "I swear."
"Then what?" Hux said, suddenly exhausted with the conversation.
"I would join you in a heartbeat," and Kylo kissed him softly, "If it was just you I would be working for."
Hux felt a chill race over his skin. "I am... familiar with the sentiment."
Kylo grimaced. "I know."
Hux kissed Kylo again, to washed out the taste of rumors from his mouth. Of course, Hux knew they were more than rumors. There was an official report circulating among the high command that the Order had a new leader: an all-powerful one. That, as Hux interpreted it, the Order was being manipulated by some grand mystic who had the Senate enthralled. The idea gave Hux hives. Mercifully, he had nothing aboard his ship to draw the attention of the self-titled 'Supreme Leader.' Hux wanted it to remain that way. At least, until he had a firmer plan in place.
Hux enjoyed claiming things. The First Order had been on that list for a while. There was no way he was going to let some wretched spell-weaver take what his blood and sweat had made. Especially if the whisper of such was keeping Kylo at arm's length.
"It's all about hope," Kylo murmured, finally settling down again beside Hux. His eyes were distant, focused on some far-flung place Hux couldn't see. Such happened with Kylo, sometimes. Words wouldn’t help. Hux couldn’t follow where Kylo went. So, Hux hummed in agreement and pressed kisses into Kylo's hair. In the morning, they didnt speak any more about the First Order, nor would Hux bring it up for the remainder of hsi week-long leave from the Finalizer.
That did not mean, however, that Hux was not thinking. He was a strategist, a general, a leader. He made goals and followed through with them. Watching as Kylo's ship disappeared into space a week later, Hux smiled. He had a new goal. A goal no one would be permitted to intercede.