((I apologize for the radio silence! Precious Cargo took longer than I thought it would! Anyway, hope this is worth the wait! TheJewellersHand, I think I got it right? :L ))
"The falcon and the dove sit there together, And th' one of them doth prune the other's feather."
Michael Drayton
He must have been exhausted. How could he not hear it? Lucilla turned over without opening her eyes but from the solid arm against her cheek, he was clearly still on his back. He wasn't as restless as Lucilla during the night. If anything, he grounded himself so she had room to wiggle about.
"Darling." The sleepy murmur was accompanied but her hand stretching across his chest in an attempt to rouse him. If she opened her eyes though, she would have seen he was already awake. "Orion, darling, your com."
"I know, little dove." He didn't sound drowsy like she did nor did he bat an eyelid when his name was used, as if she had been using it all along. It was a revelation from the night previous as he kissed her to sleep. Hux's back partially rested against the headboard, obviously torn. He must have been awake for some time.
"That's the third time it's buzzed." Lucilla's eyes finally opened and she blearily took in the time from the clock like device on the bedside table, it was some time before he was due at the bridge. In fact, he was perfectly entitled to still be asleep. "I was hoping it would stop before it woke you."
"Why haven't you answered it?" Her eyes were heavy and stinging from the sudden rude awakening though the light in the bedroom was low. Lucilla's forehead rested against her General's chest in a resignation of exhaustion and of course, his arm wound round her frail form. If it was important, he would never hesitate in answering it. If it was the bridge, he would be gone by now.
"It's my father." He responded quietly with an amicable kiss to her temple, the only patch of skin he could find with the way she had buried her head and the way her hair had fallen. Comfortable and all as she was and while returning to sleep was tempting, there was dread in his voice that she couldn't ignore. "No doubt he wants to discuss the conversation I had with the Colonel."
"Remember what I said to you last night." Lucilla had lifted her head enough to look her master in the eye, he returned the curtesy. The dread in his voice remained and now it caressed his usually staunch and confident face. The com had fallen silent. "You are destined for greater things than some banal marriage and retiring to the Academy for the rest of your life."
"You will carve your own destiny and I'll be there when you do. For each and every step. Everything you ask of me, I'll do it. You already know that." The dainty, ivory hand on Hux's chest was enveloped ever so carefully in his larger and more calloused one. She would be there; he'd make sure of it.
In that support alone, the General found the strength to pick up the com when it buzzed again though Lucilla's hand was still held when he did so. He would ensure she could hear everything; she had every right to hear what was being said about her. Though Lucilla was sensitive, Hux would ensure she believed none of it.
He kept his arm around her, holding her shoulder and the little female, stretched her hand across to hold his. His other hand was taken up with the selecting the loudspeaker function on the com device.
"Yes?"
"Still in bed, General?"
"Some of us do sleep, Admiral." Lucilla's face scrunched into slight confusion. General? Admiral? This was how they addressed each other? Regardless, her master's hand was given a comforting squeeze; a much needed show of loyalty.
"I assume you know the reason for this com?"
"I would venture a guess that it has something to do with my refusal of the Colonel's offer?"
"Are you out of your mind? I gave you that skinny toy as a temporary distraction. Not a long term solution and CERTAINLY not as a substitute for a fruitful marriage. What of your standards?"
"My standards are higher than they have ever been with thanks to you and your thoughtful gift, Admiral." Hux felt Lucilla stifle a laugh beside him and pulled her even closer to his side with another kiss to her face.
"I don't have the time or the patience for a 'fruitful marriage', Admiral. And why would I put myself under the Colonel's thumb? Should I not have more pride and respect for myself than resigning to the will and good graces of a father in law so I might get a respectable position within the Academy?"
"That vile creature has poisoned your mind! Where is she now?!"
"She hasn't. If anything, she has made me realize that I am destined for far greater things than just a General. Or gods forbid, a safe residency in the Academy with my father in law breathing down my neck. She is here in bed beside me, exactly where she is supposed to be. And might I remind you, Admiral; you chose her."
"That is all she is good for and you know it!" If it was possible that absolute rage and irritation in the Admiral's voice climbed at his son's insolence; something he'd never had before her. "And what of your line?! Children are just going to magically appear, are they?! You know she can't give you what you need!"
"What I need is not what I want. And there is more to life than simply breeding." The General countered calmly as he had done with Lucilla before when the match was initially mentioned. The com was held away from his face for a moment while he released a light sigh of impatience though he found this oddly satisfying. Especially when he looked down at Lucilla and found her enjoying it as well.
"Lucilla and I have not spoken about children, it is a sensitive topic but when it is a more pressing situation, then and only then will we discuss it. Your input is not required, Admiral." The General rewarded himself with a brief inhale of Lucilla's berry scented hair.
"You will be accepting the Colonel's offer. You will be marrying Alessa and you will produce as you are supposed to! Think of your line, for goodness sake! Think of your legacy and your reputation, your name! Think of your future! There will be an unquestioned position for you in the Academy when you retire! You are mad to refuse it!"
"The funding for any project you apply for would be guaranteed to be granted and you're throwing it away for a whore with Stockholm Syndrome!" Hux's nostrils flared. How dare he?! "Keep your tramp on Finalizer if you wish but fight this arrangement and I will not hesitate to waste fifty thousand units!" There was the answer to that question.
"Thank you for your concern and generosity, Admiral. But the fact of the matter is if you intended on backing a marriage, you should not have given me this wonderful distraction. I might have considered it once but now, I will not."
"You will not tell me what I will and will not do. You will not tell me who I will and will not be marrying. And most of all, you will not be expected to be included in such matters that do not affect you directly."
"And Admiral?" The General's tone darkened and Lucilla looked up again, almost worried. "Any hazard to Lucilla and her safety will be resolved with swift, brutal and deadly force. Who makes the threat is irrelevant but it will not be tolerated."
"Are you threatening me, General?"
"Yes, I am. Any attempt by you or any of your solicited parties on my companion will be responded to by any number of officers and Stormtroopers. That I will promise you. Or perhaps Starkiller will target the Arkanis system first? Now Admiral, I have absolutely no inclination to continue this conversation so if you will excuse me, Lucilla is waiting for me."
"General-!"
The com cut off and was set back down onto the bedside table. Hux rolled over and both arms pulled his dark haired darling into his chest. He'd meant it. Every word. The bridge of the General's nose was lined against his lover's hairline; it was easier to press a kiss to her forehead that way.
"I will not be bullied."
"I know."
"I will not be dominated."
"I know."
"Not by him, not by anyone."
"You made that perfectly clear to him. He would be a fool to test your patience." Lucilla assured him as she gently rubbed her hand up and down his arm. There was silence for a few moments as they just laid there and appreciated each other. Even more so now with the provocation of his father, the threats and the implied severing of ties.
"I might not be able to give you everything you need." The significantly younger of the two broke the silence but barely. "But I will give you everything I can."
"Lucilla?" He was already an hour late for the bridge though his own Colonel would know to step in in his absence.
"Mmm?"
"I've been thinking….."
"You do a lot of that."
"I do. Since I became a General, I have had many hours of allocated personal time that are still pending-"
"Why haven't you taken them?"
"Well, I was busy working, dedicating every waking moment to the rise of the First Order. To me, those hours were a waste of precious time. Now…. I believe I'll take them."
"You should. You deserve a break." There was sleepy concern behind the observation. If Lucilla wasn't there to moderate him, it was impossible to know what kind of state he might work himself into. The rest period would do him the power of good and only now did he seem to recognize it. If he had done it sooner, Starkiller might not have been such a daunting undertaking.
"And you can actually stay in bed with me." She added with an affectionate snuggle to his bare chest. Those unforgettable blue eyes shifted upwards to his and his mind was made up. He would not risk the events of Starkiller again.
True, the relationship was completely different now and she had far more power now than she did then but still, he could be volatile when stressed. A break was precisely what he needed and a break with Lucilla was exactly what he would have.
"I will stay in bed with you." Hux confirmed and laid a kiss laced with adoration to the space between those magnificent eyes. "But only if we don't do it here." That earned him a curious look which urged him to continue.
"If you allow me to take you somewhere. Anywhere but here. I think some fresh air might be exactly what we need. What do you think?" It wasn't just about fresh air or waking up somewhere different. Ashamed as he was to admit it, his father's threat had struck his core. He would prefer to get her off Finalizer for a few days, just until the apparent danger cleared.
"Where did you have in mind?" Lucilla asked with the same endearing curiosity after a moment of self-debate. Finalizer was her home but if it was only for a few days, what harm could it do? Of course, she would follow wherever he led her.
"I don't know." Her General confessed though Naboo jumped into his head every time he looked at her. The cascade of that waterfall matched the way her hair moved, her eyes looked as if they had just been lifted from the depths of the pond and the way she spoke was soft and playful like when the stream from above met the calm of the pool below.
"Have you ever been to Naboo?"
"Only a cantina in Theed."
"We won't be going to any cantinas."
"But isn't Naboo all cities?"
"A decent portion of it, yes. But the rest of it is wild and remote. Where there would be no one for miles and it would just be the two of us. Alone. To do what we please."
"When do we leave?"
In the year that Lucilla lived with General Hux, he had seen her display a variety of emotions. But he had never seen her speechless with awe. The presentation of the skull (which she had debated bringing with her) or when he returned to their quarters covered with blood had been a different kind of silence.
He'd found the waterfall. He had somehow remembered where to find it and it was exactly as he recalled. The purity of the water was the same; no doubt the temperature was perfect too. The surface seemed to glisten in the afternoon sun like liquefied sapphires, like to drink it would cleanse the very soul. He felt a tug at the memories from before, from when he was young and innocent and little mattered. It was somewhat painful, bittersweet.
The abundance of colour in the surrounding wildflowers remained true to his recollections; blue, pink, red, white, green and shades he couldn't even begin to describe. They contrasted so brilliantly with the azure behind it that if he was not standing before it, he would have sworn it was not a real place; that it was taken straight from an artist's imagination.
The warm, caressing breeze was the same as it had always been; it carried the sweet birdsong probably for miles. Comforting and welcoming, it promised to envelope and protect which was the assurance he craved. He needed no greater guarantee that this was the correct choice for his beloved companion.
Beautiful and all as their surroundings were, he found himself fascinated only with her reactions to every possible stimuli. Every flower, every bird, every spirited splash of the waterfall. Finalizer was home but this place spoke to her, whispered knowingly to her though she couldn't understand what it said.
That delightful smile was immovable. It was like something from a dream… No, she didn't think she could conjure something this exquisite in her subconscious or otherwise. Eyes wide and childlike, Lucilla took her first enthralled step down off the ramp. When the grass sprung slightly underfoot, there was a light gasp as she looked down, as if she had hurt something living.
But it was merely the change; going from the dead metal of everything on Finalizer to this expanse of green before her and the explosion of colour that met her eyes. To be among life, however passive it was, was almost incomprehensible to the little female who had spent the last year afloat in space and before that, confined to a dry compound and shepherded to and from dark cantinas.
"I have only read about places like this." Lucilla managed to breathe through her absolute wonderment, her eyes gorging themselves on everything she could set them on. The scenery, the noises and the atmosphere were drunk in; even the air was spotlessly clean.
"How do you know about this place?" She inquired, still somewhat breathless from mesmerized shock, the very sound of it made her General's heart flutter, even more so when she turned to him. Lucilla still held his hand from where he had helped her on the decline from the ramp. She would have run it if he'd allowed her but she was ever the lady.
"I used to come here with someone else I cherished very dearly." Her awed gaze still flickered around in an attempt to take everything in but his words brought her back to look at him with a curious frown.
"You brought someone else here?" Cherished dearly? That was cutting. And he said it with such fondness! Lucilla's hand was used to bring her back to him; in her stupor she had continued to walk when he had stopped. She landed in such a way that her chest pressed to his and her gaze automatically directed upwards to his.
"My mother, little dove." It was quiet and patient, so much so that Lucilla felt a little prick of embarrassment and sorrow. It didn't take much thought to realize she was no longer with him. It was the first time he had mentioned her and she had been jealous, however temporarily.
"Darling, I'm so-" She was silenced when his forehead pressed to hers in a gesture of the utmost affection and devotion; one of the first signs of companionship he had learned to show. She leaned in to it as she always did. He had been raw then and stirring memories ensured he was raw now but there was no one he trusted more to guard him than his precious Lucilla.
"I know for a fact she would have adored you just as much as I do." He was still quiet and his eyes had closed; the slight pressure of his forehead against her's was a remarkable comfort, one of the things he had noticed when he explored it first. "I do miss her. But I think she sent you to me."
((I have based Hux's relationship with his mother (and possibly his father) on this fic.
s/11747302/1/What-Makes-A-General
Hope you liked the name!))