Day 6

Poe looked at the insignia on Hux's dress uniform. "Grand marshal, huh? What, do you get promoted every time you lose a battle? I'm surprised the whole First Order aren't generals, then."

"Eliminating my enemies from the field is hardly 'losing'. I'll wager you had more ships in your squadron when you were a commander than you have under you now as a so-called 'general'."

"You don't need a big fleet when you're not a bunch of tyrants and slavers. You ought to try it."

"If you had any legitimacy at all, perhaps you'd have the support of more than the malcontented scum of society!"

"Show some respect," Ren said, chiding Hux for getting too strident. The first day of attempted negotiations with the Resistance had gone … about as well as one might expect for two sets of people bent on killing one another, still nursing very fresh wounds and bitter hatreds. But they'd managed to get through most of it and Ren had hopes they could get through what little of the first day was left.

"You know how difficult that is for me when it's not earned," Hux complained to Ren, but honestly he seemed in good humor about it.

"Legitimacy?" Poe said, not done with the argument. "That's rich coming from Armitage the-" Poe stopped because Kylo Ren stepped between them, one black-gloved hand raised towards the Resistance general.

"Both of you," Ren said.

Poe stared at him silently with dead eyes. Ren stared back, utterly unmoving.

Rey finally said, "Poe? Are you okay?" She'd been in a different group, but the conflict had drawn her attention. There were ground rules everyone had agreed on, one of which was not using Force powers to suborn or harm one another.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He's not doing anything. He's just making a threat." Poe kept staring for a moment or two more, then looked past Kylo's shoulder at Hux. Hux had turned a redder shade, but was holding his tongue. His sensitivity to 'Armitage the bastard' was well-known. Poe could see he'd scored the point anyway, having said enough that it was clear where he was going with the comment, yet having cut himself off quickly enough that he hadn't actually said it. Perfect. He gave Hux a wink and walked away.

Later that evening, formal talks finished for the day, Poe finally saw a moment where Hux was not within arm's reach of Kylo Ren. (Really, the First Order people stayed ridiculously clumped up, like they couldn't not be in some sort of formation.) The grand marshal was standing near the door to the veranda, sipping a glass of white wine and staring outside, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. "Hey," Poe said as he walked over to the opposite side of the double doors. Hux turned to look at him with a frown. "We need to talk about that war criminal stuff," Poe said.

"Seems fairly straight-forward." Hux took another sip. "The entire Resistance is a war crime."

"Yeah, well, from our point of view-" Poe blinked, having glanced to the side and noticed the reason for Hux's choice of location. Out on the veranda, Kylo Ren and Rey were leaning against the stone balustrade some twenty or so paces off, facing the water and talking under the starry night sky. He blinked. They were holding hands. Or at least, Kylo's gloves were off and his hand was over hers where it rested on the stone between them. Their faces were very close to one another. It looked for all the world like they had been or were about to be, kissing.

Poe's head whipped back to Hux. He noticed the man was mostly obscured from the pair outside by the curtains. Had he been chaperoning or something? Impulsively protective, Poe moved out onto the stone terrace. "Hey, what's going on out here?"

"No!" Hux whispered, following him out.

Neither of the interrupted parties were happy to see Poe. Both turned and faced him.

"I knew you liked him," Poe said, "but are you okay? Leia said he couldn't be trusted alone with you."

Kylo's expression darkened. He put his gloves back on. Rey shook her head. "I'm fine. It's not your concern, Poe. Leia wasn't right about everything."

"Uh, it is my concern. She made me general. You're telling me Leia was wrong?" Poe gestured at Ren. "Look at the guy! He's a walking advertisement for the Sith! He's killed everyone in his family and the guy he worked for, too! I've been on the wrong end of this guy. Everything Finn said was true, you know. It just came out wrong."

"What?" Rey said, feeling betrayed that they had to go over this again, in front of Ben, no less. It was embarrassing and humiliating.

"I have a very large body of water behind me," Kylo said in a low, dangerous voice and a single shake of his head. Hux came up on Poe's right, arms crossed. Behind him, Finn had come to the doorway, aware there was trouble brewing. Rey looked livid.

Poe hesitated, because Ren's statement made no sense, but Kylo was obviously threatening him just like he had earlier. There was, indeed, a lake right behind them with the shore starting under the veranda itself. "Good for you, buddy. Go take a jump in it," Poe said. The guy couldn't hurt him with the Force without getting kicked off the planet (or at least, that was the idea – whether it would really happen was a good question.)

"Poe!" Rey said in outrage at his continued antagonism.

"Ha," Kylo said humorlessly. "You first." With that, he extended his hand to the general and used the Force to fling him in an arcing path over their heads and fifty or so paces into the lake. He hit with a splash.

Rey wheeled, staring out at where Poe had ended up. "Poe!" She turned on Ren. "You don't do that!"

"He's not hurt," Ben said.

She might have said something in response, but there was a scuffle behind him. Finn had run forward – it was unclear what he'd intended to do because Hux tackled him from the side before he got halfway to the pair. They rolled across the stone, grasping and tussling.

"Stop struggling!" Hux shouted. "I will get in so much trouble if I hurt you!"

The comment was so odd that Finn froze. It was only then that he noticed there was a monomolecular-bladed knife at his throat. "Where did you get a knife?" Finn said, baffled. "Everyone's supposed to be unarmed!"

"Let him go!" Rey ordered. Hux looked at her, then Ren, who nodded quickly. Hux released Finn and got to his feet, backing away. He turned the knife upward along his forearm so it wasn't as visible. Several people had come to the doorway to see what was going on. Finn stood and angrily brushed himself off. He glared at Hux, who glared back at him.

"Neither of you are hurt. Drop it!" Rey said. Both men looked at her and didn't argue. Hux did not drop his weapon, even assuming that was what Rey had meant, but Rey didn't wait to make sure. Instead, she wheeled and ran down the steps, circling towards the water below. Ren followed her like her shadow. A moment later, Finn and Hux followed, each shooting the other hostile looks as they ran.

At the water's edge, Rey plunged in without hesitation, but stopped when the water was up to her armpits. "Poe! Hang on!"

Kylo stayed on the bank. He extended his hand, fingers curling. It was obvious he was channeling the Force.

"Hey!" Finn yelled, throwing himself at the guy in the assumption Kylo was trying to drown his friend (either of them). In an instant, Ren's attention shifted. Finn was jerked to tiptoes and left clawing at his neck like so many First Order officers had done in the past. Hux moved to his leader's side and smirked at the former stormtrooper's plight. He knew good and well what that felt like. Kylo looked back out in the water. Rey was doing exactly what he'd intended to do – using the Force to pull Poe into shallower water where he could regain his feet.

The hand Ren had directed at Finn opened, fingers splayed. Finn could breathe now, but the rest of his body was frozen. His arms snapped down to his sides. He was lowered so his feet rested on the ground normally. "Let me go," Finn growled.

"Not yet," Kylo said, watching as Rey and Poe began wading out together. They reached the bank, both dripping water. Rey looked from Finn to Ren. Kylo shrugged. "He was complicating things. I didn't hurt him. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said evenly. "Release him."

Ren dropped his hand. Finn shuddered as he shook off the tendrils of the Force. "I hate that."

"So do I," Hux said quietly from the other side of Ren. Even though it was barely over a whisper, it carried because everyone else was silent. They all looked at him. "What? The Force is awful."

Poe snorted and then he started laughing. He went to the ground and sat, facing the water, and laughed harder. "Very large body of water – ha!" Poe grinned in good humor. "You got me there. Totally got me. I did not see that coming and I should have."

There was a menacing splash as something as large as a fully-grown Hutt surfaced, rolled, and disappeared under the water out where Poe had been.

Finn said, "Uh, maybe we should get away from the water? I think I saw tentacles." He grabbed Poe under the arm and hauled him up and away. Rey moved herself. Kylo did the opposite – going the water's edge between the creature and the three as they moved up to where the stone steps began. Hux glanced back and forth between them, then set himself next to and a few feet back from Ren, knife in hand. The water swirled again, closer to shore.

Poe said, "Come on, guys. I get it. You're gonna protect us from the monsters. Come on back up here before you kill some Gungan's pet sea-nerf and get us all in trouble."

Kylo backed up. Hux moved with him. Whatever it was didn't seem to want to come into the shallower water. It waved a few rubbery arms above the surface of the water and eventually moved off.

After getting minimally dried off, Dameron moved over to where Hux was standing. He had a question he wanted to ask and didn't want to miss his chance at it. "So, uh," Poe said quietly, "Hugs?"

The orange-haired man pivoted slowly, an expression of loathing on his face.

"Grand Marshal. Sorry," Poe smiled charmingly and shrugged helplessly.

"What?" Hux hissed at him.

Poe moved in a little closer to speak quietly. Hux stiffened and drew his head back like that was far too close. Poe still smelled strongly of lake water and while it wasn't a terrible odor, it wasn't pleasant. "Earlier you said you weren't any good at showing respect if it wasn't earned. Right?"

"You heard me." He was definitely looking down his nose at Poe at the moment. He sniffed distastefully.

Poe raised his brows and moved his tongue along the inside of his cheek. His eyes jerked to the side along with a side tilt of his head. He indicated the black-clad form a dozen or so paces away. One finger uncurled for a second to point, because Hux was staring at him like the facial contortions were a sign of mental instability.

Reluctantly, Hux looked over at Ren, then back to Poe. "What are you getting at?" His voice was low now, matching Poe's.

"I haven't seen you be anything but respectful to him. Finn said you clobbered him when he tried to go for that guy. When that fish was out in the water, you were right there next to him with nothing but a knife." Poe chuckled. "You weren't doing that to protect us. I've been in enough combat, man, to know you're willing to die for him. Why is that?"

Hux pursed his lips and waited several moments while he considered how to answer. "The details are none of your business, but your assessment is correct."

"I think it is my business if we're going to have some kind of alliance and if Rey's as into him as it looks. I need to know who I'm working with." Poe shook his head a little. "It's like he's not the same guy Leia was warning us against, or I met on Jakku."

"He is not the same man that he was while serving Snoke. Neither am I. And for that, I am grateful."

Poe nodded. "Okay. That's a pretty good answer." He reached out and telegraphed a slow slap to Hux's upper arm, one that was sneered at by the recipient, and said, "I didn't expect to get much information anyway. Maybe a hug, but not much else."

"You smell like the scum that you are. Might I recommend a shower?"

Poe looked him up and down like he was considering attempting a hug anyway. Or maybe something else. "Sure," he smiled. "Want to join me?"

"No," Hux said with emphasis.

Out of the corner of his eye, Poe saw Kylo Ren turn and head their way. Poe gave him a quicker slap on the arm and headed off to get clean. Hux's upper lip twitched in the beginning of the snarl. He stared at the back of Poe's head.

Ren said quietly, "Everything okay?"

"Yes," Hux responded in the same low tone. "They're beginning to trust you."

"Good."

"By the way," Hux said even more quietly, "Earlier … I didn't hear anything about who killed Snoke."

"Ah." Ren nodded. "That's probably for the best."

"Yes." Hux looked away. "It is."