The next couple of days were surprisingly quiet. The perfect opportunity for Rose to work more on her ideas. There had to be a way to even the odds, she thought to herself as she pinched the back of her nose. She was in Hux's quarters, sitting on his bed. The pictures on the wall had grown: now there were new pictures of the heater and some chips they had been working on. In the far corner was a picture of Millie sitting on the tree trunk.

She sighed and turned to stare back on her data pad as if the answer would magically appear on the screen.

Hux sat up behind her and gave her a kiss on her naked shoulder blade. "Had an inspiration yet?"

"It's strange, usually I can come up with some sort of idea after a while. Remember that broken condenser in the nav system? That took me only two hours. But here- it's elusive."

He peeked over her shoulder on the pad. "It's always hard to come up with a new concept. Much harder than to work with designs that already exist."

"Do you only say that to make me feel better?"

He chuckled and gave her another peck. "It's true. I once wanted to come up with something to make communications between pilots and mechanics easier - so that the pilots could just report the technical issues without sending a full report. One would think that kind of process management isn't that hard but to be honest, I never made it work. I think that they write reports to this day."

She let herself fall back on his naked chest and enjoyed his warmth as he embraced her. "Ugh, sounds tedious."

"It is, but with the size of the Order's operations these standardized procedures are necessary. The Resistance would need it too were it- well, were it more vast."

She reached up and put her hand on the back of his head, pulling him down to kiss him. "All I need is some inspiration… and please don't hold back if you got any ideas."

He gave her another kiss, brushing over her cheeks with his thumb. "I'm afraid that all my ideas aren't realistic with the resources the Resistance has. Not without doing business with Canto Blight."

She looked him in his green eyes. "Maybe we just need to relax a bit to get creative."

"That is a very cheap pick-up line, Sergeant," he said in a low voice and leaned in to kiss her.

"It's working, isn't it?" she replied and kissed him back.

He cupped her breasts and nibbled at her neck. Just feeling his soft hands on her naked skin excited her. She bit her lips when he began to gently massage her nipples with his thumbs. She sat up straighter, leaning against his naked chest. She could feel his dick perking up against her back, she snuggled closer, drawing a gasp from him.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the caressing touches. She could feel heat pooling in his crotch, the sensation made her wet.

She reached down and gently rubbed her clit. She could hear him pant behind her, his cock was now hard, pressing against her.

She bit her lips and propped herself up on her hands, sitting down in his lap. His cock brushed against her labia, making him suck in air. She grabbed it at its base and lowered herself on his throbbing dick.

His hand dropped from her tits to her hips as he adjusted himself under her. She could feel him inside her and she lifted herself a bit only to lower herself in a tantalising slow pace.

She could feel how his big cock parted her folds, how it slipped inside and she moaned when she was fully seated. He pushed inside her, pressing her hips against his.

His breathing was ragged, and he gave her a greedy kiss on her shoulder and her neck, trying to push even more inside. She laughed and lifted herself again only to lower her wet pussy on his throbbing cock once more - slowly.

"Stars, Rose!" he moaned.

"Fuck me," she said in a sultry voice as she pressed herself down on him.

He grabbed her at her hips and pushed her up on all fours. He grabbed her hips hard and started to pound inside her, fast and hard.

She groaned and felt a delightful pressure building up inside her, she felt full, hot and close to cumming.

Moments later his thrusts became erratic and with a low grunt they both came. He rode his climax out with a few lazy thrusts.

"This feels nice," she said. It almost felt like he was caressing her. No hasty movements.

He finally pulled out.

"Good to know. I like it too."

She turned around and smiled at him. "Relaxation is the key, just as I thought. Just now I came up with a great idea?"

He was still out of breath and ran his hand through his hair. "You did?"

"Yeah," she said and leaned over to kiss him. "I think that we need a midnight snack!"

He laughed. It was still an unusual sound - it made her feel warm and happy.

"Come here, you!" she said and snuggled up to him.

He smiled and gave her a peck on her mouth. There was something tender in his eyes when he looked at her. "Perhaps we can just stay like this for a moment?"

"Okay, but I still need that snack."

A couple of minutes later they got up and she noticed that for the first time he hadn't dimmed the lights during sex. He didn't seem to realise it himself as he put on his boxers, his bare back on display.

There were old scars on his skin she hadn't noticed before. She felt them whenever she touched him but seeing them made her realise that they weren't from an accident. They were too even for that.

Was this the reason why he didn't want to show himself before her? Well, either way he obviously didn't want to talk about it, otherwise he would have already done so.

She put on her clothes and pulled her jumpsuit up.

Rose understood. He didn't want pity, didn't want to explain himself for something that was obviously private.

.

-o-

.

Hux stepped outside looking for Millicent - usually she was already waiting for him. He went to the trunk to look for her, to his surprise he saw that Captain Mircah and two other men he remembered seeing in the Cantina were already sitting there.

"Gentlemen," Hux said cautiously and nodded towards them.

Mircah smacked his lips. "Ah, Hux. I bet you're looking for that loth-cat." His eyes dropped down to the box Hux was holding. "It looked hungry so we gave it our sandwiches. It retreated in the forest after that."

"Ah, I see." Hux put the box back in his bag, feeling oddly disappointed. Perhaps he had just gotten used to feeding Millicent. "Good day to you."

He turned to leave when he heard a "Mrrrau" from a distance. A quick look towards the forest revealed nothing, but the heavy snowfall made it hard to see until the treeline.

"Mrrau!"

An orange spot appeared in the snow, hurrying towards the base. Hux couldn't help but smile when he saw Millicent with her bushy tail high in the air.

"Mrrrauuuu! Mrau!" She protested as she came closer until she had reached his legs and wrapped herself around them, nudging with him with her big round head.

He crouched down and scooped her up with her arms, after a short moment of hesitation he sat down on a free trunk next to the others. He scratched Millie behind her ears, she purred loudly.

"Looks like you finally made a friend, Hux," sneered one of the men. "All you had to do is bribe it with food."

Hux glanced at the man. A short, light-skinned human, his words had meant to provoke him without doubt. But the last bit was added with a quieter voice as if he wasn't entirely sure of himself. An odd combination. Unless Organa had been right and they were not quite sure if he was still dangerous.

An interesting thought. He mustered his best cold stare and looked him straight in the eye. "I don't think we have been introduced. I am General Hux and you are?" If the man didn't see thought this simple manipulation he would possibly tell him his - without doubt - lower rank and name, thus establishing that he was lower in the hierarchy.

The man was visibly taken aback. "I'm Lieutenant Orax."

He just looked at the man once more before he focussed his attention on Millie. It seemed that Organa had been right. How curious considering that he was at their mercy. Especially since he had no real authority, especially with his scruffy clothes, the old parka and the slightly messy beard.

Mircah cleared his throat. "Alright, boys. Break-time is over." The other men got up and walked back inside, Mircah lingered.

"I knew that you would show your true colours, Hux. You can play the polite nobody as much as you like but just now you showed your hand… you're as cold and calculating as ever." He shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not surprised. You're just hoping to get rid of Ren so that you can take over the Order."

"And how am I supposed to accomplish that by joining the Resistance when they are about to be wiped out?"

"How the kriff do I know? I'm just a stupid grunt. But I know right from wrong and I know that it's a mistake to trust you." With that he turned and left.

Hux watched him walk away and kept petting Millicent. Even Captain Mircah thought that he was some kind of evil genius who had masterminded his ascension to Supreme Leader with an intricate gambit. Organa had been right, they still thought of him as a larger-than-life figure.

He returned to the lab. Rose had her feet on the table and was rubbing her temples while staring at her pad. She looked absolutely striking - why a woman like her had deigned to be with him was still beyond him. She certainly didn't think he had a hidden agenda, the way she looked at him was much too open, too trusting.

He felt a warm knot in his stomach. Stars, he wanted to kiss her right now.

She looked up and beamed at him. "How is Millie?"

"Good, a wonder she didn't follow me inside."

"Awww, one of these days we just have to take her inside. She could sleep in a box or something while we work."

He chuckled. "I doubt that she would like it in here, her fur is too thick for room temperature."

"A propos temperature; some of the pilots said that the isolation in the cockpit isn't working properly. Apparently it's getting quite cold after a few hours in space."

Her eyes had the gleam they always had when she was talking about tech. He went over and gave her a quick kiss. "I assume there are no blueprints?"

She laughed. "Of course not, where would be the fun if we had proper blueprints?"

Just when he wanted to lean down for another kiss he heard the door behind him slid open and straightened his back.

Captain Finn appeared with BB-8 in tow. "Hi! Do either of you guys have time to look at my blaster? I was just on the shooting range and I swear that thing isn't properly calibrated - but according to the scans it's fine."

Rose pulled her feet from the desk and got up. "Hux is the weapons expert." She went to the door. "I'll go check the isolation. It's probably just the condenser anyway." She headed out.

Finn crossed the room and pulled his blaster from his holster. Without hesitation he gave it to Hux. It was an DL-44, ancient even by Resistance standards. He activated his scanner and took a couple of readings.

"Hm, my scanner also shows that everything is correctly calibrated. What made you think that it wasn't?"

"I'm a very good shot but I kept missing the target. First I thought that I was having a bad day but then I tried it with another blaster and... bullseye."

Hux disassembled the barrel, the scope and finally the energy pack. "It's the energy pack," said Hux and wiped his hands from the weapons oil. "DL-44s are very sturdy and reliable but even they tend to show signs of fatigue after fifty years or so. The energy pack is leaking slightly, every time you fire the blaster the residue of the plasma causes a tiny friction, deflecting the blaster bolt slightly. I recommend that you ask the quartermaster for a new weapon."

Finn groaned, BB-8 beeped in disappointment. "Come on, is there really no way of fixing it?"

Hux crooked an eyebrow.

"Okay, listen Hux. It's a gift from Poe, alright? It's his mother's blaster. He wanted me to have it because I'm the better shot."

"This… blaster has a sentimental value to you?" It made sense, Hux also bought his wrist blade after he killed his father to commemorate the occasion. He'd been quite partial to it too.

"It does."

"I'm certain Ro- Sergeant Tico could fix it." Hux's breath faltered when he realised his slip of the tongue. He quickly continued to talk. "Or I could just refit the loading chamber. The handle would be slimmer though. Of course I could refit it and keep the larger handle by filling the empty space with polymers."

Finn smirked at little. "It's okay to call her Rose, you know. No need to panic."

"What? No, no, I didn't panic. Why would I panic?" he said a little too quickly. He cringed at his own words. He had to calm down, so what if they were on a first name basis? It's common in the Resistance, it didn't have meaning. Yes, he just had to play it cool.

"You're so tense, Hux. A little informality doesn't kill you, you know." Finn laughed. "It's not like you calling her by her first name means you're making out with her."

All of Hux's carefully laid plans disappeared from his mind, he could feel heat spreading on his cheeks, unable to utter a single syllable.

Finn's laughter stopped. "Hux?" His eyes went wide. "Oh stars! You are making out, aren't you?!"

"No! Of course not," Hux said. "It's just that your suggestion is so preposterous that I couldn't reply right away." He took a deep breath. "Rose Tico is a brilliant, beautiful woman, there is absolutely no reason why she would lower herself to consort with the likes of me."

Finn wiped over his face. "Stars, you two are really making out. I can't believe it."

Hux realised that the nexu was out of the bag. He shouldn't have said that he admired Rose. He felt miserable, he had single handedly made sure that she would stop seeing him - how could she not? What would the others say if they found out that she was sleeping with him - the scrawny bastard? Their enemy?

"I'll do anything, just- just dont' tell anybody," Hux said in a low voice. "I'll fix your blaster just like you wanted. I'll fix anything you want or even design something for your convenience." He would pay the price for his mistake. There had been enough blackmail in the Order, he knew how to play this game.

Finn exhaled. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "I won't tell anybody, even if you don't fix my blaster."

Hux stared at him. "What? But-"

"It's nobody's business but your own, and it's certainly not my business to tell people." He looked down to BB-8. "Right, buddy? We won't tell anybody."

BB-8 beeped in acknowledgment.

"Besides, that would be a bit hypocritical, wouldn't it? We eat, shower and fight together and what- the bucket is supposed to stop with intimate relationships? That's where we draw the line? Not at the fact that we let you design our weapons?" Finn sighed. "Rose knows exactly what she is doing. And I'm assuming so do you."

Hux almost couldn't believe his ears. "I- Thank you." He cleared his voice. "I'll of course still check with Rose about the power cell. If you don't mind you can leave the blaster here."

"Right, and now if you'll excuse me - I need to drink a beer in the Cantina. Or maybe two." Finn awkwardly patted him on the shoulder and left.