Hux squirmed beneath the heavy fabric covering his body. He wriggled and clawed his way free and padded onto the pillow before him. He sunk into the eiderdown and stumbled as he lost his footing several times due to its softness. He finally managed to curl up into a ball atop of it.
The room was still dark, the lights not coming on until commanded to do so. He huffed in frustration. He forgot how infuriating it was to be stuck in his animal form. At least when he was a human he could actually do useful things, such as work on his reports, which must have been steadily building since he has been preoccupied.
He tried to look around the darkened room, but even with night vision, objects were only just visible. He blinked and turned his attention to the other occupant in the room.
Ren was stretched out across the bed, hugging one of the pillows to his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around it. Hux would have called it cute if he didn't hate the man so much.
He stayed like that for several minutes until he realised sleep was evading him. There was no point in laying there waiting for Ren to get up, so he practically climbed out of the pillow, since he had sunk a little way into it, and jumped down from the bed with a heavy thump. He paused with his front paw held in the air, listening in case Ren had woken up from the noise. He tensed up when a rustling sound came from the direction of the bed, but he sighed with relief when the loud snoring carried on. He was still asleep then. He preened happily as he wandered from the bedroom into the living area.
He thought about taking another look around again, but he had explored the whole of Ren's quarters the previous day. He snickered to himself as he thought about waking Ren up himself. Sitting on his head was an idea, but Ren might startle and throw him across the room with the force. Not such a good idea. So he decided to just sit on the sofa and await for Ren to wake up in his own time.
He was just starting to get bored when Ren stumbled out of the bedroom. He staggered over to the kitchenette and started preparing a coffee. Hux sighed dreamily as he thought of his morning coffee. But since he was now stuck as a cat, morning coffees were a thing of the past.
He was surprised when Ren came into the room with two bowls, not one. He watched in astonishment as he put the smaller bowl in front of him on the coffee table. He looked up at Ren and waited until he pointed at the bowl.
'Well eat up. I doubt you've eaten anything since yesterday, or maybe even the day before that'.
Hux continued to look at Ren in trepidation. Was this a joke? Was he going to take the bowl away as soon as he got close enough to see and smell what was in it? He cautiously edged closer to the bowl until he was in front of it. When Ren didn't whip it away, he looked down to see what was in it. Inside the bowl, mixed together, was a combination of tuna and cornflakes. He pulled away with a face of disgust. The only saving grace, was that it was human food. It could have been worse. Ren could have put out a tin of cat food. He gingerly tried some and was surprised to find that the combination wasn't as bad as he first thought it would be. He personally wouldn't put them together again though.
Once we had eaten it all, he sat down on the coffee table and stared up at Ren. He enjoyed watching the man squirm under his intense gaze.
'What do you want now? I've given you food'.
Hux watched with growing interest as Ren continued to get flustered under his cold stare. He finally relented and gracefully jumped down from the coffee table and sashayed over to the main door that lead out into the corridor. He looked back over his shoulder before he plopped down and sat in front of rhe door. He waited patiently for Ren to get the gist.
'You are incorrigible'.
His ears twitched as he heard Ren move towards him to open the door. He ignored the man and just shot between his legs and raced out the door. He only slowed down when he neared the bridge. He hoped Phasma would be there. He needed to be around someone sane and someone who he can trust.
He was disheartened to find that the Captain was nowhere to be seen on the bridge, so he decided to relax and stretched out on the computer terminal as he watched the crew of the Finaliser work. He was so relaxed that he hadn't noticed that he was nodding off until he was jolted awake by someone running their fingers through his fur. He inwardly groaned. There was only one person who would be so bold to do such a thing. Ren.
He was unsure whether Ren knew that the cat and General Hux were in fact one in the same, but before he could voice his complaint, Ren switched tactics and started to gently scratch behind his ears. It was in the perfect spot and Hux couldn't help the purr that started up in the back of his throat and vibrated through his body. He settled back down onto the terminal and closed his eyes, enjoying the massage whilst it lasted.
He mewed in disappointment when the scratching stopped several minutes later, and it was when he heard Ren chuckling beside him that he leap off the computer terminal and race off the bridge in mortification. He knew that if he were still in his human form, he would have been blushing. He only stopped running when he crashed face first into something solid and silver. He also noticed that he could see himself looking back in the reflection. He didn't even need to look to see who it was.
'I thought it was you who made the rule of no running in the corridors, sir', Phasma's voice had a slight sarcastic lilt to it.
He scowled up at her. He didn't like the tone of voice she was using, but unfortunately, he was in no position to tell her so.
'I was going to go to the cantina, you are welcome to join me, sir'.
He considered his options seriously. It wasn't like he had many. He could either prowl around the corridors, head back to the training room and sleep in his nest or he could go with the Captain. It was not a difficult decision at all. He certainly wasn't going to go and wait outside Ren's quarters until he found him and let him in.
He hurried after the Captain, who was already a couple of paces ahead of him. He easily caught up with her and had to practically run to keep up with her long strides. Oh how he missed his human legs.
They continued like this down several more corridors before they arrived at the cantina. Hux lingered next to Phasma as she stood in the ever increasing queue for food. It was quite a relief when she was served. All they had to do now was find a suitable table somewhere quiet. He was just starting to relax when a presence behind him made themselves known.
'Oh my, who's this cutiepie. Isn't she just an adorable little thing'.
'He', Phasma corrected, even though she sounded like she was trying to contain a laugh.
'Pardon?'
'The cat. It's a he'.
'Oh. My apologies', the other woman stood there for a couple of seconds before she muttered out an excuse, 'I should really go back to the others now', she continued meekly before she scurried off.
'How embarrassing'.
Hux was inclined to agree. Even though he knew it was impossible, he was sure he could feel his cheeks heating up with anger. How dare she call him a girl! He grumbled quietly as Phasma continued to eat her food in silence. It didn't take long for her to finish her food and then excuse herself, she apparently had an important training exercise to oversee with her stormtroopers.
Hux resigned himself for another boring day of exploring the ship. By the time he turned back into his human self, he would know the layout of the whole of the Finaliser like the back of his hand. So far, he only knew the command deck, the engineering deck and the quarters that intimately.
A couple of hours later, and he had just about finished exploring the engineering deck. He had recieved a few raised eyebrows at his presence, but all in all, the engineering crew were too busy working to take much notice of him.
He decided he had done enough exploring for the day, so he headed back towards the bridge. He only got as far as the command room when he heard a low growling sound from behind him. He turned around cautiously and stumbled backwards, curling himself into a ball as he went, trying to make himself look as small as possible.
Standing before him was a large rottweiler. Foam seemed to be dripping from its mouth and it had a half crazed look in its eyes.
Hux couldn't stop the terrified whimper from escaping his vocal chords. He hunched further into himself and backed himself as far as he could go into the corner of the room. He cursed as his instincts overrode his body and he trembled as he imagined all the gruesome ways he would be torn apart and then eaten.
He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a possessive snarl, followed by the sounds of a fight. Hux looked up just enough to make out that the rottweiler was now fighting against a much large black jaguar. The other cat was massive. Its paws were thick and muscular and its claws were like scythes.
He watched as the larger feline snarled, its lips pulled back to show an impressive array of sharp white canines. It moved in front of the dog and crouched protectively over Hux's much smaller body as he challenged the other shifter standing only a couple of metres away.
The other shifter must have known that it wouldn't win the fight, as it gave one last growl before it slunk away into the shadows and disappeared down the corridor.
Hux waited, unsure whether the other cat had scared the dog away to help him or so that it could eat him itself. He cautiously peeked up at it and found himself gazing into familiar brown eyes. They bore straight into his luminescent green ones. It was then that Hux made the connection. The black feline before him was Ren. Of all the people to rescue him, it had to be him. Hux just knew that Ren would hold this incident over his head for the rest of his miserable life.
The man's cat form was huge. Muscles rippled under his sleek black fur as he cautiously crept forwards, trying to make himself look less like the dangerous predator that he was. Hux broke out of his stupor and crouched low as he hissed at the larger feline before he came to his senses and broke out into a run. Before he had even made it to the door, a giant black paw crashed down right in front of his face and he slammed straight into the thick leg. He didn't have enough time to sneak around Ren's leg, before he felt teeth grab at the scruff of his neck and he was being hauled into the air. He scowled as he was carried through the corridors like a naughty kitten and back towards Ren's quarters. He huffed. Why was Ren so infuriating?
Ren settled him down on the bed and placed him between his paws. Hux only had time to stand up when there was a wet feeling up his back, fur being dragged the wrong way. He froze and it happened again. And again. And again. What the... Ren was grooming him! Hux tried to escape but was stopped by a paw pinning him in place and the grooming resumed immediately. What the hell did he think he was doing?
Hux's delicate features scrunched up as he hissed at the much larger feline. His patience was diminishing quickly with the black jaguar. He scowled and bucked beneath the other cat. He only (froze) when Ren growled at him as he continued to wriggle about. He hissed back in frustration. How dare he growl at him. He tried to turn around so that he could strike out at the other shifter, but Ren tightened his paws around him to prevent him.
When Ren considered him clean enough, he released some of the pressure, letting him escape from Ren's clutches. He spun around and slashed at the bigger cat's face, but Ren had anticipated the move and had moved away to a safer distance.
Hux raised his hackles, trying to make himself look bigger and more intimidating, but all he got in response was an odd coughing sound. He hissed and spat in fury. How dare Ren have the gall to laugh at him!
He went to jump off the bed, but Ren stepped in front of him and herded him back towards the pillows. Hux stared up at Ren, challenging him as he puffed up his chest to try and make himself bigger. He looked up in surprise when Ren backed down and lay down on the right side of the bed.
After he was sure he had asserted his dominance, he stalked over to the pillows and lay down with a frustrated huff. He quirked an eyebrow up at the other cat. He bristled when Ren rolled his eyes.
He curled up and decided to ignore Ren. The man was infuriating, it seemed he was just as annoying in his animal form as he was as a human.
He shivered as the recycled air cooled during the night cycle. He squeaked in surprise when he felt Ren scoot closer to him. He looked over his shoulder at the other cat, wary of his motive, but when Ren only wrapped his body around his own, he relaxed into the warmth of his much larger, warmer body. He subconsciously snuggled closer, siphoning from Ren's warmth and slowly relaxed to the point where he quickly fell asleep.