After cleaning up they snuggled in the bed. "You were right earlier… there was something I wanted to talk to you about," Ren said reluctantly, running his hand through Hux's hair as if he was in deep thought.

"Is it about the scavenger girl?" asked Hux, he couldn't help sounding bitter.

Ren leaned down and kissed him. "You don't need to be jealous."

"Who said I was jealous?" Hux shot back.

"Would you rather not talk about it?" asked Ren softly.

Hux closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the caress of Ren's fingertips as he massaged his scalp. Then he looked up at Ren. "Ignoring it doesn't make it go away. What do you want to talk about?"

"Rey and I, we connected again through the Force. She told me that Skywalker didn't want to kill me, that Snoke is manipulating me. I- I know that I already talked about this but it confuses me. How can she confuse me with a few simple words?"

Hux shrugged. "Perhaps it isn't about her. As always it's just about you. You are conflicted about your role, you always have been. You said it yourself, you are always what other people expect of you."

Ren frowned. "Give me some credit, I'm not that fickle."

Hux sat up. "We are all slaves to our nature and to our triggers. Come on, Ren. We have been over this. For all your posturing you are not cold-hearted. It's the root of all your problems. Perhaps it's time to make your peace with it."

"You're one to talk," replied Ren with a huff.

He was right of course, they both had their issues. Hux sighed. "At least I tried to make peace with my demons. But that doesn't make them go away, Ren. It's not a fairy tale. There is no cure for what ails us."

Ren chewed on his lower lip. "No cure at all?"

Hux took his hand and kissed it. "I'm afraid this is as happy as we can get. We should enjoy it as long as it lasts."

"I can't accept that this is all we're allowed to have," said Ren. "We deserve more than waiting for Snoke or Pryde to take us down a notch."

Of course the golden prince of the Resistance wouldn't settle for anything but a happy end. Hux discovered that he wasn't surprised by it. Wasn't that what he had always thought? That he was surrounded by incompetent morons like Pryde who weren't able appreciate his genius because he was a threat to his power?

"Pryde and Snoke are the past, we are the future," said Hux. "They are fossils. We just need to be patient, and soon their power will be at our fingertips. Nobody will ever again hold us down, hurl us against walls, hurt us or tell us who we are supposed to be."

Ren took his face into his hands and gave him a peck. "We will show them, won't we?"

Hux smiled. "They will bow to us."

Ren pulled him into a passionate kiss.

-o-

The next few days, Hux felt calmer, stronger, even Pryde's constant nagging about Starkiller didn't bother him as it used to. When Pryde was going on about mission details everyone in the War Council was aware of, Hux's thoughts drifted and he couldn't help thinking about the promise he and Ren had shared. The old man's days were numbered, one way or another Pryde would die - preferably through Hux's hands. So would Snoke, with his old timey power plays.

Only when Pryde stared at him with his most soulless cold stare Hux realised that he was smirking.

"Did I say something to amuse you, General?"

"No, Allegiant General. I'm merely looking forward to the briefing about Starkiller." His words were smooth but an veteran back-stabber like Pryde would possibly detect that there was more to it.

Hux knew that he was too cocky for his own good but he just was fed up of scraping and bowing to Pryde and he couldn't help but fantasize about slitting Pryde's throat for the rest of the meeting.

Starkiller was progressing as planned, from what he gathered even Snoke was satisfied - a near impossible feat by itself. During his days he worked harder than ever before, in the evening he and Ren lived out their raw lust.

For the first time in his life Hux felt like he was actually living instead of just surviving.

"What did Snoke want from you this time?" Hux asked when Ren wolfed down food at the low living room table.

"Just the usual, he tried to play old games." He shoved a forkful in his mouth. "I did as he asked, I brought him the amulet from the old Sith temple on Dromund Kaas. He was going on about some valuable lesson I was supposed to learn but in the end he just wanted me to say that I'm weak."

Hux stirred in his tea. "We should be more careful, Kylo. We are getting too sure of ourselves."

"I know, but it's just so… tiring." Ren furrowed his brow, he seemed deep in thought.

"Are you brooding again? I told you that we need to be patient."

Ren sighed and put the empty plate in the kitchenette, then he leaned against the counter. "I think it's a mistake to wait. If we give them time to think and act we will be at a disadvantage. I say we should strike before they find a way to keep us down."

Hux scoffed. "You are too rash. Besides… what's your plan? To strike down Snoke and take the throne for yourself?" He took a sip of tea. "There is a reason why Snoke is still on it after so many decades. He is very powerful."

Ren crossed his arms. "I think I can take him."

"Stars! You're really serious about this, aren't you?" asked Hux wide-eyed. "Are you mad? It's one thing to think about it, but-"

Ren pushed himself away from the counter. "Of course I'm mad! It's driving me crazy that they lord over us - we are better than them, in every damn way!"

"They will kill us if we even consider this," whispered Hux, feeling all the colour draining from his face. "You said it yourself that Snoke can read minds."

"Only to a certain degree, he pretends that he can, but he has been wrong often enough."

Hux put his tea mug down and got up, he went over and put his hand on Ren's arm. "Listen to me, Snoke is a plotter and a secretive old snake. I know that kind, he has more than one ace up his sleeve. You have to forget this! We have to wait for an opportunity."

Ren looked him in the eye, still pondering. Then his face softened and he put his hand on Hux's. "If you say so, then I will hold back."

Hux realised that he couldn't hold him back when he thought that his moment had come. Ren would act because that was who he was, that was what Hux loved about him. The boldness, his passion. It would be their downfall.

He gulped. He had known from the start that Ren was dangerous for him, that he could be the instrument of his demise, he just never had thought that it wouldn't be hatred that would lead to his premature death - it would be love.

If it were anybody else he would inform Internal Security to prove his loyalty to the Order, to Snoke. But of course he couldn't.

Ren had been right about one thing, having tasted freedom, true companionship made everything pale in comparison. He didn't want to merely survive, he wanted to live. Even if that meant that Ren would doom him with his actions, with his impulses.

"Yes, I know that you will," he lied.

Then he kissed his murderer.