The next week was more than busy, Rose worked from morning until late in the evening to fix and prepare the updated weapons for the fighter - and of course to take care of the everyday stuff that's always popping up. Like when the heating unit failed and the base was getting clammy and chilly in the evening. Of course that thing had to fail in the beginning autumn and not in the summer, making everybody cranky.
Days started to blur into each other as she felt she would fall asleep standing. There was only one constant between the countless cups of caf and tea: Hux. He was there when she got to the lab and he was there when she left.
Tireless, brilliant and so damn fast with coming up with new plans and designs.
One day she came in only to discover that he was missing. She stopped dead in her tracks. Where was he? Had he fallen down or something? He couldn't possibly be late.
She decided to go look for him and hurried to his quarters only to discover that they were empty, next stop was the command center and then the tree trunk outside the base where they had started to go during their nowadays not-so-rare breaks.
Hux was nowhere to be found. Rose was about to call him on the holo when she suddenly spotted him coming out of the med bay.
"Hux!" She quickly stepped his way.
He turned to face her, surprise apparent on his face. "Sergeant Tico?"
Somehow he was even taller than before, she noticed with confusion. How- then she sight dropped and she noticed that he was standing on his own two legs without the crutch. "Oh, today was the day? Sorry, I kind of forgot."
His face softened. "It's not your task to keep track of my injuries - you're busy enough with the maintenance schedule."
"So - everything alright?"
"Yes, Dr. Kalonia said the nanobots have reconstructed the bone as planned. They also repaired the tissue damage from the blaster shot. So you don't have to bother bringing me tea and caf - it's my turn now."
"Meh, I didn't mind. Gave me an excuse to go for another mug when I was going stir-crazy."
He gave her a small smile. "At least the soup incident won't repeat itself."
She crossed her arms in feigned indignation. "That was just once - and who thought that holding two trays at once would be that hard?"
He laughed and the bright sound made a warm shiver run down her spine. Since when did Hux laugh? Come to think of it, when had he begun to smile at her? She couldn't quite remember.
"Well, anyway - I worked yesterday evening a bit longer and I think I finished the plans for the updated cleaning droids."
She started to beam. "You're the best! Ugh, I was so sick of the mess in the hangar and the way we were displacing screws and bolts."
He seemed to blush a little, perhaps he had gotten a cold when the heater was off? "I'm certain you will find ways to improve the plans, you always do."
She waved aside. "You're exaggerating." She turned to walk back and noticed with surprise that he was now much faster - she had gotten used so much to his slow hobbling that his quick strides took her by surprise.
After dinner she decided to go for a walk outside. She put her jacket on and exited the base - then she saw Hux kneeling in front of a bush with his hand stretched out. Quietly she stepped forward and saw that a loth-cat was nibbling at something he was holding in his hand.
Gently he raised his other hand and was about to pet the loth-cat when it suddenly flinched and ran away.
"I'm sorry," she said, "perhaps it sensed me."
"Ah, Sergeant Tico…" he got up and brushed over his pants to get rid of the wet leaves. "I don't think it was you. After all you can always pet the loth-cat." He pulled the zipper of his dark leather jacket up. "I even brought a piece of sausage from the kitchen but it doesn't let me pet it."
"It takes time to build trust," Rose said and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. "I guess it's gotten used to me."
"I think it's female."
"I bet you read up on loth-cats."
His lips twitched. "Well, yes. I did. How did you know?"
She shrugged. "Because it's what you do. Like when you read up about X-wings last week. And about huttball."
"I like to be informed," he said with a defensive undertone in his voice.
"Relax, I know." She looked up at the setting sun and took a deep breath. The cold fresh air felt good. "I actually appreciate it."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I had this foreman back on Hays Minor - when I was working in the mines. Brilliant guy, really good with rigging the equipment. But an arrogant dork. He thought he already knew everything about anything - stars know why. Bored me out of my mind with his rigid views on isolinear chips and how to use them."
She almost said 'You are not boring' but she stopped herself in time. Why would she even say something like that? She set her gaze on him, he was still brushing off dirt from his pants.
Perhaps because it was true, whispered a tiny voice in the back of her mind. He was anything but boring. She actually liked going to lunch with him, talking to him about tech and silly things like huttball. He had such a curious mind, always thinking, probing and questioning.
And there was his underlying doubt that sometimes crept in, despite all his great blueprints and the ease he drew them up he still sometimes looked at her as if- as if he wanted her approval. She couldn't figure out why in the galaxy he would want that.
From time to time he glanced at her with his blue-green eyes and- wait, that was not something she was supposed to notice. And neither was how warm and soft his hair looked in the evening light, like Vossian birch in the fall.
Kriff, she-
"Hey Rose, I was looking for you," rang Rey's voice out.
Rose turned to greet her. "Hey! I just had to get some fresh air," she said a little too loud.
Rey closed in on them. She was wearing a light grey jacket and a cap. "Uh, it's so cold. Why would anybody go outside? I swear, not even the nights on Jakku were this cold."
"It's just typical early autumn weather. Wait until winter before you complain."
Rey rubbed her arms. Only now she looked at Hux. "Ah, I barely recognized you with the beard, General Hux. We seem to miss each other - I was wondering if I could have a word with you."
Hux rolled his shoulders back. "Of course, but I still have work to do. If you would excuse me." Without waiting for her to reply he briskly walked away.
Rey watched him leave. "He's avoiding me. But now is perhaps not the best time to talk to him."
Rose crooked her eyebrow. "Why should he be avoiding you?"
"Because he's scared," said Rey in a matter-of-fact tone.
"He's always anxious, I mean this guy is so intense that it makes me tense just watching him trying to avoid conversation at dinner."
Rey smiled. "He wasn't scared before I arrived."
"Well, he should be - I'm known for my mean left hook - and my trusty electro shock pod," quipped Rose.
Rey laughed. "You're right of course. I just wanted to ask how things are going with the tracker?" Her face darkened. "Ren is up so something, I can feel it. I can't shake the feeling that we're missing something and I need to know where he is."
"Hux finished the blueprints and the programming yesterday. We're assembling it now. The problem will be to gather enough data to see if it works - we thought of letting Poe jump through the galaxy a couple of times. In fact he already volunteered."
Rey's frown faded and she smiled. "Of course he would."
"Come on, let's go back inside before you freeze to death, desert girl," said Rose with a chuckle. "How is your training coming along?"
They turned to head back inside. "Great, Leia is a wonderful teacher. And less melodramatic than her brother. But I can't seem to keep my focus sometimes - it feels like my mind is drifting and I don't even realise it."
"Did that happen before?"
"Not like that, it feels like I'm seeing something from the corner of my eye and when I look it's gone. It distracts me. Do you know that feeling?"
Rose shrugged and started to unwrap her scarf when they were inside. "No, not really. When I'm working I kind of lose myself in it - like getting into a flow."
Rey sighed, "I wish I could do that."
"And I wish I could levitate rocks, but here we are."
Rey grabbed her by her shoulder and pressed her against her side. "You are horrible."
"Not as bad as you," she replied fondly.
.
-o-
.
Hux appeared exactly at 06:00 in the Cantina to get his oatmeal and his black tea. As usual there were only a handful of people at breakfast. He noticed with satisfaction that the Zabrak cook had everything ready the moment he entered.
"Thank you," he said when he took the tray.
"No problem, Hux"
The mention of his name made him hesitate. "I- What is your name and rank?"
"Sergeant Tobo Suta at your services - well, at least if it's about food."
"Thank you, Sergeant Suta. I appreciate the efficiency."
Suta put a toothpick in his mouth and chewed on it. "You're different than I thought you would be."
Should he ask what he meant by that? Perhaps he just wanted to insult him? No, so far the Rebels hadn't mocked him. "Uh, am I?"
"I thought you would be an arrogant prick, but you're just odd."
"I don't know what to say to that."
"Keep up the good work around here and I will add cloudberries to your oatmeal," said Suta before he turned around and disappeared in the galley behind him.
Hux blinked and then he went to an empty table and quickly ate his breakfast.
He took a holopic of his pad to commemorate the occasion, he had quite a collection of holopics now, he thought with pride. Then he started to run tests on the programming of the tracker, adding to the QS list whenever he found a bug. Damn it, programming really wasn't his forte. His chronometer beeped at 06:51 and he went back to the Cantina to get two cups of caf.
When Sergeant Tico appeared at 07:02 he wordlessly handed her a cup. She didn't say anything, as per usual. She didn't like talking in the morning. She yawned and sat down at her desk, wiping across her face while rummaging in a drawer for a XP-hydrospanner. Her ponytail was sloppily bound and when she lowered her hand he saw that there was a tiny smudge of hydro-oil from the hydrospanner on her cheek.
She looked absolutely stunning. How she managed that so early in the morning was beyond him, but a woman like her - brilliant, practical and efficient - would of course know how to pull it off.
Soon she would have gulped down the caf, becoming more lively - there was a sparkle in her dark-brown eyes that mesmerized him, it reminded him of the glow of anti-matter when it was super-heated for an reactor. No, that was not it, it was powerful but kind at the same time…
He realised that he had been staring at her. He averted his gaze. He shouldn't ogle her like that, she deserved better… she was a highly-intelligent, beautiful woman. She had probably already noticed him looking at her.
Disgusting, weak.
Hot shame burned in his face. He wasn't supposed to look at her like that. He was lucky that she didn't call him out already. He stared at the reflection of his face on the pad display. Dameron would laugh at him in the face if he knew, would grin at him, ask him if he really thought that a pasty, skinny turncoat could expect anything else but contempt from any sentient being let alone a woman like her. She was kind to him because that was who she was - certainly it didn't mean anything as Dameron would remind him.
Dameron would pat him on his shoulder like he sometimes did. 'Don't worry, Hugs. I'm certain that we'll find an ex-First Order officer for you - somebody who doesn't mind that you tried to kill them.'
Hux gulped. Best if he ignored his budding feelings towards Sergeant Tico - over time they would surely go away.
When they returned from lunch they found Rey waiting for them. Hux felt a cold shiver run down his spine, he straightened himself and looked her straight in the eye. He collected his thoughts and tried to project calmness.
"Rey, how nice of you to visit the tech gremlins in their liar!" said Sergeant Tico.
"Of course," she said with a smile. Then she turned to Hux. "Since we keep missing each other I thought I should come here. I wanted to talk to you about Kylo Ren."
Hux nodded. "As you wish, Lord Rey."
"And please - it's just 'Rey'. I'm not lord of anything."
"As you wish," he said again.
"Let's go to the command center. Leia said that I could use her office."
It made sense of course, to find a quiet place to talk. But he still didn't like the idea of being alone with her - she was stronger than Ren. Stars knew what she was capable of.
She went ahead and he followed her, when he walked next to her he realised that she was about a head smaller than he was. Odd, up until now he thought that she was taller.
"Do you want to stop by in the Cantina for a cup of tea?" she asked. "I don't want you to think that it's an interrogation."
He thought about it and decided that he was actually in the mood for tea. "Yes, please."
They strode into the Cantina and Sergeant Suta handed him his black tea without him having to order. He beamed at Rey. "Good to see you!"
"Hi Tobo! Got any fruit tea?"
"For you - always."
He gave her the tea and soon they entered the command center. Hux registered how all eyes were on Rey, nobody seemed to even see him. It seemed that his plan to blend in was working.
Rey sat down on General Organa's armchair and he opted to sit down on a simple chair across from her. He could feel that he was tense, he tried to consciously relax his shoulders.
"I can sense that you are keyed up," began Rey. "There is no need for that. I just want to ask you a couple of questions."
"Of course," he pressed out, stirring his tea. For a moment the clanking of his spoon was the only sound in the room.
"How are you, Hux?"
He froze. What did she mean by that? Was he supposed to feel in a certain way? "I'm fine." Then, like an afterthought. "Everything is fine."
"That's nice to hear. I take it that you like working with Rose? You two seem to be quite a team."
He resumed stirring his tea. "I enjoy working with Sergeant Tico."
"I thought so, BB-8 told me that it likes the way you built interfaces. In my book that's a huge compliment. So I took a gander at it and I like how you designed the access ports. It resembles the old Imperial tech I used to find on Jakku."
He sat up a little straighter. "Really? I wasn't aware. Perhaps that's because I was trained by former Imperial engineers."
She smiled a little. "Perhaps. Actually I'm a bit partial to Imperial tech - I used to live in the husk of an AT-AT. Their insulators were the best against heat and the cold."
An AT-AT? That was indeed a fascinating piece of technology. "I've never seen one myself. Only the newer models with the fixed hydraulics."
She pulled one of her legs up and leaned against the backrest of the armchair. "Yeah, the hydraulics were a mess. No wonder they didn't work properly on sand or ice."
"That's why we used the AT-M6 on Crait-" he broke off, pressing his lips together. "I didn't mean to bring that up."
"Not talking about it doesn't change the past," she said and took a sip of her tea. "Stars know that I've tried - but it just doesn't work."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Since I realised that I was Force-sensitive I kind of thought I should act… more dignified. Like the noble Jedi from the stories I've heard. So I tried to play the part, especially when I met Master Skywalker."
She laughed. "I mean, can you imagine what that meant for me - the Luke Skywalker! A simple scavenger like me was meeting Luke Skywalker! I was determined not to tell him that I had been nothing more than a grave robber, but the harder I tried the more I felt like a fraud. So I made a decision: Who I was in the past does not determine who I am going to be in the future."
"I see your point," Hux admitted. "But I'm afraid that my deeds are more grievous than scavenging old tech."
"Of course they are. But you're still here, with us. You saved our necks more than once when you spied for us. So at one point you made a decision to do the right thing."
He exhaled. "You wanted to talk about Ren?"
"Indeed. You worked alongside him for years, and I'm trying to figure out what his next moves could be - even with the tracker working we still need a strategy."
Hux leaned back and took a gulp of his tea, it was bitter - perfect. "What do you want to know?"