.

Anger is a momentary madness,

so control your passion or it will control you.

Their silence was reserved, almost electric, as they made their way through the station. Kylo was tense and agitated, yet he still had not contradicted the general's order and kept but a step behind him. Hux was flustered with anger and the sort of bitter confusion that made one feel almost mentally irrational. He could not wrap his head around the knight's accusations, nor did he have time or any intention to understand them.

Although a knight of Ren was almost equal to the rank of a general in the First Order militia, Hux was the commander in charge of the station. Kylo Ren was nothing more than a political advisory, a puppet to oversee their work was in line with the knights' ideology.

The silent anger grew louder every step they took, and had spread to the general's pale cheeks by the time the two reached command deck.

At this time of their artificial day only a handful of officers were on duty, and to the general's fortune only one young, feeble looking ensign seemed to spot them from the narrow opening between the main deck and the corridor. Before the main deck there were two small, identical conference rooms, of which Hux chose the one on the right.

Kylo Ren stepped in right behind him with no hesitation or change of pace. The door swung close in one smooth sweep, and they were alone.

Confined, Hux thought.

Hux paced to face a large window at the end of the room, silently drew a few breaths and became overly conscious of the heat on his cheeks. Ren did not move. He stood extraordinarily still in front of the doorway. The silence thickened and lingered, growing louder every second. Now it was the general's turn to become tense, whilst the knight seemed oddly in peace. Although it was hard to tell since one could not see his face.

"Remove your helmet, commander" Hux almost hissed, still looking out to the red, blazing sun.

"General, I don't think it's necessary to-" Ren's mechanic voice sounded tense but amused.

"Remove that fucking helmet!" the general turned around, face red and sweaty, the veins of his forehead visible, his teeth clenched.

The knight seemed to freeze in disbelief. Hux breathed heavily, his enraged eyes charging at him.

Slowly, Ren lifted his arms and grabbed his mask with both of his hands. The helmet depressurized and slid away from the knight's head. Panting, he slammed it on the table between them.

Ren's dark eyes threw a sharp look at the general and as he spoke, the sound came somewhere deep inside.

"Happy, general?" the knight clenched his jaw.

Hux nodded slowly and shifted to regain his posture. He took a few steps towards Ren, who did not break their eye contact. The eyes of a bloodhound, full of anticipation and fury, and the stance of a bloodhound, calm but ready to strike at any given moment. Yet, there was something boyish in his appearance.

A plump lower lip, soft cheeks, downturned eyes. Although he was taller and about the same age as the general, he appeared almost adolescent with his waifish build and clumsy limbs.

"Happy for the fact that you finally took it upon yourself to follow my commands, as you should, boy?" Hux lowered his voice as he spoke.

"You have no power over me, Hux. There's nothing under your belt except toady words to the right people", Ren smirked.

"I choose to ignore your foolishness, however I will not tolerate your disobedience in front of our master. Do you understand?!" the general hissed. His hand tensely resting on his saber's handle, the knight took two long strides towards him, and they were now only a few feet apart.

"Trust me, boy", the knight sneered. "I do understand. However, if it has not crossed your megalomaniac little mind, I do not comply", Ren's deep voice cracked and his smirk was that of a maniac.

Suddenly, Hux felt like his head was about to burst into flames and freeze at the same time. He could feel the knight going through his thoughts - he saw his own delicate hands, the daunting nightmares, longing for his mother - and no matter how loud he screamed there seemed to be no avail.

Get out of my head you filthy beast, he thought as he felt himself fall to his knees, succumbing to the endless stream of pain, failure and disappointment. And then, as quickly as it had started, it was over.

"A dog? Is that what you think of me, general?" Ren made a strained, furious chuckle. His tall figure lingered over Hux, so close his robes almost touched him.

"Is that not what you are?" Hux said silently, with a low, dangerous voice.

He would not let meager memories of pain obstruct his view. He would not let this boy of a man toy with him. Breathing heavily, redden and sweaty, Hux stood up and looked Ren cold in the eye.

"A dog with the collar of a commander." he almost spat in his face.

The two stood still for a while, both afraid to make the first move. The general was protected by his authority, whilst the knight had brute force on his side. They could feel each others' breaths, read every twitch their faces made.

"Lay those sickly hands of yours on me and you're dead, general", the knight's words were a warning, but his dark eyes screamed a dare. As if he was still inside his mind. Maybe he was, or maybe he could sense these feelings Hux desperately tried to tame.

The general's every single cell screamed aggression, his every thought was submerged in fire. Yet those thoughts were clear, for they themselves had no passion.

Without any hustle, without any fury, the general slowly lifted his right hand, and with his left pulled the polished leather gloves off one finger at a time, careful not to break the eye contact. His hand slipped out of the glove, as delicate in the sunlight as it had been before.

"You enjoy this, don't you? You play with anger, you bathe in weakness. Yet what you don't understand-", the general lifted his bare hand to Ren's cheek, his thumb caressing the knight's disproportional lips, "-is that pain does not weaken me. Mere sentiment has no effect on me. How do you think I made my way up here? Brownnosing pretty boys like you?" His voice was quiet, angry, nonchalant.

Ren's eyes darkened with rage and fear, but he did not pull himself away, as Hux had suspected. The knight's fear of losing was stronger than his fear of humiliation. There was something else on his face too - longing, confusion, childish whimper.

Once Hux had had enough of the knight's distress, he withdrew his hand lazily, but left it in the air inches away from his face. With a faint, cold smile, he proceeded to pull it back and then charge it forward full speed.

Ren, flustered by what had just happened, realized what the general was about to do a second too late. His sword arm barely got a grip of the light saber before the general's bare fist hit his face hard, hurling him to the ground. Crimson poured out of his nose, and there was a cut on his right cheekbone. His eyes were on fire, but blurry, as if he couldn't quite concentrate on anything around him.

"You lazer brained motherfucker!" Ren spat out blood as he spoke.

The general promptly pulled his glove back on, walked around the knight and marched through the door. As it slid shut, he could hear a loud bang, as if an invisible canon was fired against the thick metal plate.