The Perfect Leaf
PalenDrome (nerdherderette) Summary: Hux can't understand why they're spending the last day of a romantic weekend looking for the perfect leaf... [excerpt]:It had been a glorious weekend filled with cool, crisp nights and star-laden skies, and of frost-covered mornings and fluffy down duvets. It had been afternoons spent perusing jewel-colored glassware, thumbing through leather-bound books and wondering at sepia-toned daguerreotypes. It had been an epicurean journey bursting with the brilliance of Honeycrisp apples, spicy mulled ciders, gamey waterfowl, and full-bodied beers. What was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission to the Blue Marble planet's district of Upstate New York had turned into a unexpectedly pleasant, albeit quaint, respite of romantic, idyllic bliss. Which is why Hux is flabbergasted when Kylo requests that they spend their last two hours looking for leaves.
Work Text:
It had been a glorious weekend filled with cool, crisp nights and star-laden skies, and of frost-covered mornings and fluffy down duvets. It had been afternoons spent perusing jewel-colored glassware, thumbing through leather-bound books and wondering at sepia-toned daguerreotypes. It had been an epicurean journey bursting with the brilliance of Honeycrisp apples, spicy mulled ciders, gamey waterfowl, and full-bodied beers.
What was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission to the Blue Marble planet's district of Upstate New York had turned into a unexpectedly pleasant, albeit quaint, respite of romantic, idyllic bliss.
Which is why Hux is flabbergasted when Kylo requests that they spend the last two hours before they have to return to the Finalizer looking for leaves. There are so many other things they could be doing-paying a visit to an old fort, or perhaps sampling some of the local wines, or even partaking in the local traditions of corn mazes and hayrides, or-best of all-spending their last moments on Earth with their bodies entwined in a large and uniquely comfortable bed.
But no. The thing which fascinates his peculiarly curious and baffling boyfriend are the leaves.
"They're magnificent, Hux!" Kylo had exclaimed when he first spied the riotous explosion of yellows, orange, and reds. The flora here was nothing like the uniformly lush greens of the Takodana forests, or the short, knotted vegetation of the deserts, or the mangrove-like Perlote trees of Naboo. The trees on this planet were of all shapes and sizes: tall and short, narrow and wide, and proud and weeping. Their bark was white and brown, smooth and whorled, or furled with thorns. In keeping with the season, their boughs were starting to grow heavy with their fruit, and their trunks thick with the sticky sweetness of their sap.
A gentle breeze blew, rustling through the leaves, their shadows flickering on the ground like a kinetoscope. Hux drew his greatcoat closer, warming his hands around his cup of caf as he took a hesitant sip.
He made a small face as he tried to make out the different flavors of the drink. It was smoky, yet sweet.
"Our Harvest Special. Pumpkin, with a hint of nutmeg," the cheerful barista had chirped, her three buns bobbing up and down in her eagerness to please.
"Come on, help me Hux!" Kylo's running around with the exuberance of a child, clutching a thickly-bound book in his hands. Ever since one of the New York natives told him about the odd practice of pressing leaves, he's been on a quest to find the perfect one to bring back onto the ship.
Hux toes the carpet of scarlets and browns, the brittle older leaves and half-opened seedpods crunching under his feet.
He finds a large specimen. Its brilliantly colored, a bright, deep red shot through with veins of brown and five deeply notched, palmate lobes.
"Here," he says, proudly showing it to Ren.
Kylo's lower lips settles into a delicious pout.
"No," he says, shaking his head as he continues to look around. "It's too large."
Hux frowns, but places the leaf back down. He wanders a bit further, and sees a tree bearing some helmet-capped, leathery seeds. Its bark is scaly and hard, and its green and yellowed leaves are uniquely shaped: copious, rounded knobs which extend out from a central line, the indentations between the lobes running alternately shallow and deep.
He breaks off a particularly exquisite example off its stem.
"Here," he says again, with perhaps a bit more force. He looks at his offering objectively. It is a decent size, a pretty color, and an interesting shape.
"No," Kylo repeats, oblivious to Hux's growing flush. "It's too spotty."
Hux spins on his heels angrily. The smooth surface of his sole slides on a small pile of leaves, their surface slippery from the dank soil and melted frost. He rights himself quickly, his head swiveling around to see if Kylo has perhaps caught his inelegant motion, but the Force-user has already turned, deep in his quest for arboreal perfection.
Hux stomps a little more forcefully, taking pleasure in the crackling sounds of the drying litterfall which breaks underfoot. He kicks a loose pile with gleeful satisfaction, watching as a whirlwind of scarlet and yellow-greens and gold tumble in curlicued patterns through the autumn air. They slowly drift back down, drawn by the rich, sooty scent of the earth's embrace.
It flutters by, a straggler from the fold. It's pinnately lobed, and beautiful in its variegated pigments, awash in a palette of yellow, orange, brown and green. The surface is smooth, unspotted and unspoiled, its edges sinuate, a living example of nature's astounding symmetry.
It was perfect.
Hux can't help it if his strides are a little bit longer, his expression a little more eager, as he sneaks up behind Kylo.
He places a palm on Kylo's leather sleeve.
"Here," he grins smugly, his pumpkin-scented breath tickling the outer shell of Kylo's ear. He holds it out proudly, a multi-colored jewel, resplendent against the pink of his hand.
Hux's smile falters. The gleam in Kylo's expressive eyes dim ever so slightly as he surveys the presented leaf.
"It-it's beautiful, Hux," he hedges uncomfortably, shifting under Hux's observant glare.
"But..?!" Hux grinds out.
"But it's not exactly what I'm looking for," Kylo answers sheepishly, lowering his eyes.
That's it. Hux whirls about in anger and stomps off. He can't believe that he's wasted the last hours on this planet hunting for some arborical Holy Grail. He also refuses to stand idly by in the middle of this paint-splattered vastness while his boyfriend continues his infuriating search, so he clambers on top of a healthy tree and climbs until he reaches a strong and sturdy bough.
He pulls up and swings his leg over the long limb. The rays of the sun filter through the rainbow-colored canopy, bright yet cool due to the brisk breeze. Hux picks up the scent of ripening fruit-of crisp apples and nutty quince, their fragrance wafting deliciously through the air. The verdant valleys are dotted with farms and trees, and the fall foliage blesses the scene with its brilliant majesty, as Kylo's bends and straightens, stops and starts, all the while traversing the patchwork grounds with his gracefully loping gait.
Hux exhales. He wonders if Kylo will be successful, or whether he will have to deal with a disappointed partner for the remainder of the trip. In this particular quest, Kylo had been uncharacteristically difficult to please: the offerings were too limp or too stiff, too wet or too brittle, too green or too mature, too flat or too curled, or the veins too wide or too straight, or-
The branch dips suddenly. Hux looks up, and takes in Kylo's ecstatic gaze.
"I found it," Kylo proclaims joyously. He opens the pages of his book. He picks up the leaf which lays delicately between the two sheets of pressing paper, and holds it up to Hux' critical stare.
Hux's breath catches. It's not just the leaf's shape-a perfect obcordate heart-or the fact that it's unadulterated surface tapers down to a smoothly graceful tip.
The wind blows gently and a wayward strand of his ginger hair brushes across his pinkening skin.
Kylo gently tucks the strand back in place. The leaf in his hand rests against Hux's cheek: the pale jade of the stem mirrors the green of his eyes, and its surface disappears into the background of Hux's hair, an exact replica of its warm red, threaded generously with gold.
"I knew I would eventually find it," Kylo beams delightedly. His lips lower to capture Hux's in a kiss as Hux smiles happily in return.
"It's perfect and it's everything I've ever wanted, just like you."