You made this happen. Your stupid games.
Manna's heart was thudding in her chest even as Hux recovered next to her, wiping the sweat from his brow and closing his eyes.
Ren was displeased. In fact, that statement alone was laughable: he was more than displeased. When Manna reached out to him, tentatively, trying to see how he felt in the aftermath of her tryst with the General, she could nearly feel the rage wafting off of him like heat from a burning sun.
It wasn't fair! It had been his idea, he had told her to seduce Hux. He had told her to play with her hair, tell Hux she wanted him. She hadn't wanted to go along with any of this!
Liar.
The Commander's single word sizzled in her head. It sizzled not only with his anger but with the truth to his claim: she had wanted to sleep with Hux, eventually. At some point in the process of Ren's stupid game she found herself wanting to be with someone else, someone a little gentler, someone who made it feel like she had a choice.
Choice. You value 'choice' so much? It's overrated, you stupid, silly thing.
The word 'stupid' was enunciated so hard she felt it almost like a knife in her heart. Manna had considered the nickname to be Ren's unpracticed way of showing that he had some sort of fondness for her. Now it just sounded like an insult.
Then:
Just wait until you leave his quarters. You can't stay in there forever.
Manna swallowed hard but decided not to give in. Not this time.
Oh? Like you expected me to stay in your quarters forever?
She let this land, then added:
Maybe I like it better here. Maybe I won't leave.
A moment of still, stony silence. Meanwhile, Hux sat up next to her, a look of confusion on his pale face.
"This was a mistake," he murmured.
It was hard to have two conversations at once, but Manna focused and tried to manage.
"What do you mean?" She propped herself up on an elbow and began toying with a strand of her hair coyly.
Hux pursed his full lips, then let his eyes wander along her naked body.
"You're a technician. This is... inappropriate." The General paused, then ran the palm of his hand over her breasts and down her abdomen. "It's just - it's been so long since I've been with..." He trailed off and let out a sigh.
Get his hands off of you.
The thought was so angry it almost hurt her head to receive. Manna smiled a little to herself to feel his jealousy; she was either teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown or a death wish but it didn't really matter, did it?
She opened her legs and scooted closer to Hux.
"Everyone has a choice," she whispered, sliding her fingers over his chest. "And every man has... urges."
The General let out a quiet sound of pleasure and moved his hand lower.
If he touches you there, you'll regret it.
His icy eyes were inspecting her face, trying to figure out her game. He had no idea that her game was actually Ren's.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head against Hux's bare chest.
"I won't tell if you won't," Manna said softly, drawing delicate invisible pictures on his skin.
This is your last warning.
She did her best to shoo this thought away like a fly from warm food. She ignored Ren's anger and gave her hips a minute twitch towards Hux as though to say, go on. Do it.
Manna watched Hux's handsome face, chewing her lower lip, and held her breath as his hand hovered over her womanhood.
Then - a sudden white-hot burst of pain in her skull, a lightning bolt of agony straight through her brain. She let out a cry of shock and grabbed her head, jerking away from him.
"MN-8486?" the General barked in surprise. He moved over her, grabbing her shoulders and trying to look at her face. "What's wrong?"
As soon as he touched her the pain came again. It was unbearable, nearly blinding. She tried to form words but could only moan.
"What's wrong?" Hux cried, sounding genuinely concerned, and if she could've thought clearly she would've thought this was kind of him. To be concerned for her.
But apparently the thought was clear enough for Ren to hear it because then the pain was so much, so all-encompassing and terrible that she couldn't even hear Hux shouting at her, everything went black and then she was lost to the world.
"MN-8486."
There was a light slapping to her face as she slowly came to. When Manna opened her eyes, everything was white - almost blindingly so. Her head ached fiercely.
"MN-8486, do you know where you are?"
Med bay. She was in the med bay.
"Med bay," she murmured, finally focusing on the First Order nurse before her. The nurse smiled.
"Yes. Very good. And how do you feel?"
Shitty.
"Okay." Manna sat up and realized she was wearing a hospital gown. She blushed at the idea that Hux had, perhaps, carried her here naked.
"You're very lucky the General found you when he did." The nurse checked something on a metal clipboard, then nodded curtly. "Waiting on test results, but it must be something neurological for you to experience such intense pain that you lost consciousness."
"When he did?" Of course he had an alibi. She should've expected as much.
"Yes. If you'd been left alone in your quarters for too long, who knows what might've happened."
Of course.
Before Manna could open her mouth, a deep synthetic voice came from behind her:
"You're excused."
The nurse turned, saw the dark form in the doorway, and ducked her head down. She hurried out of the med bay without another word.
Kylo Ren took a step towards Manna, lifted one gloved hand. The door slid closed behind him.
His mask regarded her coldly. The empty eyes were like black, hollow pools.
"I release you for an hour," the metallic voice droned, "and look at the mess you get yourself into."
"I got myself into?!" Manna demanded. "It was all your stupid idea -"
He thrust a hand into the air and squeezed his fist closed. All the air went out of her lungs; she gasped for breath, kicking her bare legs against the hospital bed.
The Commander took a step towards her, his boots clicking. Another step. Another click. All the while Manna struggled to breathe against his phantom grasp.
Soon he was right at her side. Her vision was starting to go; little bursts of light exploded before her. At last he lowered his hand, releasing her.
She took in a huge gasp of air. The action made her head ache madly, her chest hurt with the effort. Before she could even be thankful for the oxygen the Commander seized her by the hair and jerked her face towards his terrible mask.
"If you're going to act like a whore," Ren said coldly, "I'm going to treat you like one."
