The sky was looking decidedly grey.
Ben winced at the clouds and shrunk his chin further into the collar of his coat, his hands settling deeper into his pockets. He was starting to see it as a bit of a bad omen.
Not that he'd been on all that many dates recently, but as far as he could remember, most good ones usually played out alongside pleasant weather.
The ravenette sighed and watched as his breath streamed out of his mouth, hanging visibly in the air,
It probably didn't help that he had arrived over twenty minutes early, but he was having more and more doubts about this date by the second, the longer he thought about it, the worse it got.
The sight of Hux's smile made all of his apprehensions do a one-eighty spin however.
The redhead was dashing across the street towards him, in a similar stance of receded head and fists bundled into pockets,
Ben smiled and regarded him, something akin to elation starting to wipe out all the other thoughts and feelings that had been dwelling on him.
"Snap" Hux said with a smirk when he finally came to a stop before the other man,
The ravenette raised a confused brow before he realised what he was talking about- they were both wearing dark grey peacoats, almost identical save for the size.
Just one of the inevitabilities of dating within your gender, he supposed.
Ben blushed and scratched nervously at the back of his head, "Yeah" he nodded, "So, any idea where you want to go?" he then asked, managing an anxious smile,
"I've got a good idea" Hux replied with a nod, "Come on"
0o0o0
Ben certainly had not predicted that Hux would have such expensive taste, not that he minded, it was just unexpected. In retrospect, he should really have anticipated it, the redhead was so well put together after all.
"I hope this is alright" Hux said as they sat at the small, circular table, straightening his pale grey waistcoat as he went,
Ben considered the dim lighting, the flickering candles on each table, and the five-figure champagne on the top shelf behind the bar,
The entire place screamed romance.
"Yeah, this is great" he said with a smile,
"Good" the other man nodded, wearing a similar expression.
They looked over the drinks menu in relative silence, and Ben briefly started to worry again until Hux regarded him once more, after their order had been taken- a beer and a glass of white wine.
"How long have you been skating for?"
The ravenette thought about the question for a moment, calculating the answer quickly and being a little stunned by the result himself, "I started when I was fifteen, so nearly half my life I guess", a seductively curved glassful of beer was then placed on the table in front of him, "How about you?" he asked, taking it up.
"Thank you" Hux nodded to the waiter, having tasted his wine and given the go ahead to receive a full glass of it, he then smirked and picked up his own drink, "I'm a little older than you" he said before sipping at the pale liquid, "I've been skating for about eighteen years"
Ben was surprised by the answer. He knew most people started skating at far younger ages than he did, but he was sure Hux couldn't be that much older than him, "How old are you?"
The redhead laughed and shrugged, "I'll be thirty-four in autumn",
The other man smiled in response, "My birthday's in fall too"
0o0o0
"My parents thought that hockey would help with my aggression problems" Ben admitted about ten minutes into their entrees,
He'd had less to drink that he thought, so could only assume that he'd told Hux that truth because he had actually wanted to.
The man simply shrugged in response, putting down his wine, "Does it help?" he asked,
The ravenette couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised- he'd much rather everyone was so casual about his issues, that made them easier to talk about.
"Yeah actually" he nodded, he then blushed as he recalled the events from earlier in the day however, "I only have minor slip ups now",
"Ahh" Hux nodded, "So that's what happened on the ice today?"
Ben winced, "Yeah, I just lost concentration for a second and Erno caught me off guard",
"I'd hardly say that you were to blame then",
The man smiled softly, "How about you? Did your parents make you get skating lessons as a kid or something?",
In Ben's experience, most ice skaters took on the sport from such a young age because their wealthy parents encouraged it,
"Oh no, quite the opposite" he said shaking his head, "My father was completely furious when he found out that I had really been going to the ice rink every day after school. He thought I was tutoring younger students in maths" he said, placing his knife and fork together over his empty plate, signalling that he was done.
Ben raised an eyebrow and his smile quickly became a frown, "What happened?" he asked, his tone lowering a little,
"My coach took me in" Hux replied with a shrug,
The ravenette's eyes bulged in their sockets, and he went to ask one of the many follow-up questions he had, but the waiter cut him off before he could begin, collecting their empty plates.
Once the man had gone, he opened his mouth to speak again, "So your dad kicked you out?"
The redhead shrugged again, "And disinherited me too, he owns a large multinational company you see, and I was meant to take it on. It was probably for the best though, if he hadn't found out about the skating, he likely would've thrown me into the street at nineteen when I came out"
The tone the man used told Ben that he didn't want, or indeed need sympathy. He couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by the information however,
"And I thought my relationship with my dad was bad" he added quietly.
"So it's strained between the two of you as well?" Hux asked, quickly changing the topic, "Is it also because you're gay?"
"No, no it's not that. My parents are fine with that" the ravenette said dismissively- although he immediately felt guilty in doing so, part of him thought it might have sounded like he was boasting. His parents had never had any problem with his sexuality, at least for the most part. His mother had been very supportive. His father had been mostly silent on the matter, but a least he wasn't ignorant to it, or judgmental, "We're just a family of confrontational people I guess" he said quickly, continuing, "Even my uncle had monumental fights with my granddad back in the day, so of course, my mom just had to marry the guy who would cause the most arguments, it's our nature"
Hux laughed softly and Ben immediately felt reassured again,
"Are your parents still together?"
He nodded, "Yeah, somehow"
The waiter returned in that moment, and he immediately clamped his mouth shut- it was an old habit from family dinners out when he was a child and a teen. One wrong word could have consequences, even end up in the newspapers,
Their main courses were placed down in front of them, and once he had refreshed his mouth with a glug of beer, Ben proceeded to explain, "They argue constantly. It doesn't help that my grandad never approved, he said that dad was bad for mom's public image or something"
Hux quirked his brow, swallowing the piece of smoked duck he had placed in his mouth, "Her public image?"
The ravenette shrugged, taking up some crab meat with his spoon, "She's a state senator"
"Ahh" he nodded, "And him? What does your father do?"
He winced as he tried to think of an answer to that question, "Well, when my parents met, I think he just spent most of his time in the back of his van with my uncle Chewie getting high" he replied.
The redhead laughed and signalled for him to go on, sipping at his drink again,
"Now he doesn't work, they've got the money. I'm not sure what he did in between though" he concluded.
Conversation about his family wasn't done with though, apparently,
"And your grandfather and your uncle? Are they still in the image?" Hux asked
The ravenette swallowed a mouthful of food, "Grandad died a while back, but my uncle's still around... We don't get along though" he admitted, grimacing at the thought of the last interaction he had had with the man,
"You and your uncle?" Hux said, his brow furrowing,
The ravenette shrugged, staring down at his food as he thoughtfully chewed and swallowed his latest bite, "Yeah" he said with a nod "Before the ice hockey, my mom thought maybe I could practise with my uncle to work out some anger. He's a martial arts instructor" he paused, an even deeper wince setting into his face, "It didn't go to plan", he then shook his head, "What about you? You have no communication with your parents at all?" he asked, speaking long before he realised that he was turning the conversation back to something Hux had clearly been trying to avoid earlier.
"No" he replied. Again, his tone was hard to read, he could've easily have been annoyed by the question, but instead he came off as nothing more than neutral,
Ben frowned, "Not even your mom? Where did she stand on the skating?"
"My stepmother had nothing to say, as usual"
"Stepmom?"
The redhead nodded and shrugged, "My mother died when I was very young"
The other man blinked, and guilt settled in his stomach once more, "Oh, I'm sorry"
Hux shook his head, "I didn't know her, I hardly remember her. Even growing up my father didn't talk about her. They were never married" the way he continued to eat from his plate as he spoke told the ravenette that he either honestly did not feel too disheartened by the fact that he was motherless, or that he was very good at hiding it. Either way, he was avoiding eye contact.
"Do you know what she did?" Ben asked softly,
The man paused and a gentle smile upturned his lips, "She was a dancer I think, ballet", he then shook his head however, "But I think she worked as a cook at the time she fell pregnant with me",
"That must be where you get your grace from"
The redhead smiled softly, "Perhaps"
0o0o0
The rest of their dinner proceeded well into the evening, accompanied by vivid conversation, most of which was not about their respective families, and when they finally left the restaurant and started the walk to Hux's apartment, the sky was dark, but the rain had all dried up.
Ben's face felt hot with a blush as his eyes shifted sideways to glance at the other man,
They had both been quiet for some time, simply enjoying one another's company, but the ravenette was desperate to ask him a question,
"What is it?" Hux asked after catching him staring for perhaps the tenth time in a minute.
His breath caught in his throat briefly and his eyes widened, "Oh, it's nothing, I just-" he paused, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head, "I've got a match in two days, would you maybe come to it?"
The redhead smiled softly, "Is that all you wanted to ask?",
Ben felt his face glowing red, but he remained quiet,
"Of course" Hux then nodded, licking his lips, "As long as you come to my show, it's at the end of the week"
Having never been invited to anything as far back as he could remember, the other man found himself incredibly flattered by the request and he nodded vigorously.
The smaller of the two smiled back and they continued the walk in silence, only pausing when they came to a large, wrought iron gate,
"It's quicker to go through the park" Hux explained, shrugging, "And nicer too" he added,
"Okay" the ravenette replied, following him.
The park was darker than the sidewalk they had been traversing, but the path was lit by lines of fairy lights, strung between lampposts that also glowed dimly. The entire scene was yet another romantic element to the evening that Ben was glad of,
As far as he was concerned, the date had gone perfectly.
"You'll be okay getting home after this won't you?" the redhead asked after a moment, just as they were crossing a small footbridge over a tiny stream,
"I'll get a cab" he replied, nodding,
"Sorry to take you out of your way"
"No, no, it's alright" Ben assured him, "I wanted to walk you home"; to him, that was an important part of the evening, not that he would admit that. The whole thing was already so childishly sweet.
"Well thank you" he replied, nodding, the man then lifted his eyes and pointed across the thin woodland park, "That's me" he said softly,
His hand was directed up towards an apartment building, not too tall, but very wide. Each individual apartment seemed to be reasonably sized, even from the outside, and balconies jutted out from them on all sides,
It looked like an exceptionally nice place to live.
"You don't still live with your coach, do you?" Ben asked with an amused smile, just as they were getting to the gate out of the park,
The redhead laughed softly and shook his head, "No, I live with my partner"
The other man almost stopped on the spot. It couldn't be true, Hux had been with him all night, on a date. He couldn't have been in a relationship, unless he had misunderstood the invitation of dinner, or worse yet, had been using Ben for something,
He could've very easily have gotten angry at the idea of that, but he didn't. He was too devastated for even his anger flare, "... Oh" he said softy.
Hux stopped on the sidewalk just outside of the gate and regarded him, catching sight of his sullen expression and downcast eyes, "Phasma, my skating partner" he added,
Now the ravenette just felt embarrassed, "Oh" he repeated, blushing once more.
"You probably saw her out on the ice today" he went on, his hands leaving his pockets, "I've known her a long time, she's a very close friend. I live here with her and her boyfriend",
"I see" Ben nodded, still fairly mortified that he had mistaken the other man's words to mean that he was seeing someone, seeing someone other than him.
"I had a wonderful night Ben" Hux said, moving toward the man in question,
He took hold of one cuff of the ravenette's coat, and now holding his attention, he craned his head up to press a small kiss to his lips,
He blinked at the contact and stooped down a little, making the kiss easier to hold.
It had been a while since he had been kissed at all, let alone been in a relationship, but he was fairly sure that it was a good sign when the redhead moved his hands up into his hair and prolonged the connection, rather than pulling away.
Just when Ben anxiously considered the terrifying prospect of introducing tongues into the equation, they instead separated,
Hux smiled at him, his own face starting to bloom with a roseate tint, "We'll do it again soon" he said, placing his hands back into his pockets, "If you want to"
"Definitely" the ravenette said eagerly, "Definitely".