Chapter 2

Morning comes and Hux wakes to find himself alone in Ren's room. He scurries out of the bed, straightens up his wrinkled attire and throws on his coat as he rushes out the door. He walks at a fast rate to his room, he needs a quick shower and change before he can feel presentable to his officers on the bridge. "Damn it" cursing himself, he had forgotten his gloves in Ren's room. It is too late to go back for them now he thought as he reached his room. He pulls off his clothes in a rush and throws them in the general direction of the laundry bin as he stumbles into the shower. Turning it on as he steps in, the water was as cold as ice as it hit his body. He shivers through the cold as it begins to warm, he washes up faster than normal and slips as he steps out of the shower. He lands ass first on the cold metal floor of his washroom, "that'll leave a mark for sure" he though as he bit his lip. Standing up he throws a towel around himself and starts his daily grooming a bit slower now.

He can't help but wonder where Ren had gone to so early and why he would not have woken him up. "Did he have somewhere to be that I didn't know of?" As he finished getting ready for his daily shift on the bridge of the star destroyer he felt a buzzing around him again. This time it was very faint, just like if it was a bug fluttering around his head. Hux may not be very sensitive to the Force but Kylo always emanated his power to him, either knowingly or not. They had developed a deep connection over the few years they have had together. It was clumsy and angry at first, and it still was at times but they have at least grown to know what the other was actually trying to say when they were either smashing things to pieces or threating one another. "Ren?" He tries to focus the name in his mind, maybe it would reach him. No response yet.

About to put his hat on to leave his quarters and he felt a quick sting in his forearm, he dropped his hat and jolted his arm up abruptly. He rolls up sleeve and examines the spot he felt the pain, nothing appears to be there so he fixes his shirt. Hux grabs hit hat from the ground, brushing it off slightly as he exits the room. Slightly perturbed at the thought that Kylo had Force pinched him he continues on down the long hall towards the bridge. Standing at the main console is the captain. "Sir" the Lieutenant greets the General as he walks in, Hux nods to him and walks over to read the reports. The buzzing continues in his ears, slightly distracted by this he doesn't notice a bridge officer approach behind him. "General I have a few forms for you." The officer says, seeming to startle the General he apologizes and leaves the important form tablets on the desk for him. Rifling through the papers he sees another repair bill. Ren. He had gone and destroyed a training room console, "great, this was done yesterday? How am I only hearing about this now?" he thought to himself as he rubbed his temples. This buzzing was starting to give him a headache.

The General turns to the head lieutenant and asks "Where is The Knight of Ren stationed today? I have some paperwork for him." The lieutenant walks over to the General and begins to speak. "Sir. I am unaware of where The Knight of Ren is. Sorry Sir he never reported for duty this morning. Shall I send someone to find him?" The General felt a sting in his arm again at that moment, however it was now larger and felt as if it was throbbing. Hux tried to not squint from the pain and stood from the desk with the forms in his other hand. "No lieutenant, it will not be necessary, are we still on schedule to meet Supreme leader Snoke in 3 days?" The Lieutenant replies "Yes Sir, we should be right on schedule. Is there anything else I could do for you now Sir?" "No, resume your duties. I will take my leave for now. Report back to me if anything changes or if Supreme Leader Snoke requests for me." With that he turned and walked out down the hall. "When we get there I wonder what kind of training Ren will have to do."

The buzzing now had intensified and Hux began to focus on it more and more. He stopped in the hall just outside the mess hall, "I haven't eaten today have I?" He thought to himself as his stomach started to growl. He looked to the mess hall and wondered if he had time to grab something. He decided to run in for a quick bite to take with him on his walk. As he did so he ran right into Captain Phasma, knocking her lunch container from her hands. She juggled it for a moment before Hux grabbed it from the air. "Sir!" she said as she stood to attention. "My apologies Captain. I was in a rush." He said as he tried to move around her. "It is alright Sir. I am headed to the bridge Sir. Is there anything I may assist you with?" she said knowing that something was bothering him. Phasma and Hux have learned one anthers subtle traits while working in such tight quarters for all this time. She could tell that something was making the General distant today, but would not bring anything up in such a public space. "No, nothing as of now. Carry on Captain, however please report to me if you come across Knight Ren." He says as he quickly grabs a food bar and leaves the room. Captain Phasma lets out a quiet sigh as she watches him leave the room thinking to herself. "Well he doesn't look so good. What is Ren doing to him?"

Walking briskly down the hall towards the med bay, Hux notices the buzzing had stopped in a quick instance. "That's odd." He thought back to last night, how damaged Kylo was and it was bothering him. He almost never sees him in that kind of state, Kylo is usually so strong and stubborn. For him to truly collapse under this meant it was serious. Those tears. Kylo's face streaming with tears, flushing his normally pale face with color bothered him. "This cannot affect my job. No one knows of us and I will not let this interfere with my duties." He tries to tell himself, to be reassuring that Kylo is fine.

He straightens himself up, smoothing out any wrinkles in his great coat and walks into the med bay. Once inside he tells the medical droid to give him some pain killers for his head, that buzzing had really bothered his head and he definitely needed something to make it stop. The droid did a quick check over the General as routine before giving him a bottle. Hux grabs a glass of water and takes a few of the small pills, he ate his food bar fast; then shoved the bottle into his coat pocket and proceeds to leave the bay. He was still holding onto the tablets the officer had given to him earlier today. Hux started to review the files again closer this time now that he can actually pay attention properly. He comes to a file that was in action at this moment, apparently Ren was supposed to take a group of troopers out to capture a few rebels hiding in a small asteroid field in the nearby system. He never showed up so another high rank officer had taken the mission.

He found himself to his office and continued his day. As the day goes on, Hux finds himself in his normal routine. Signing paperwork, yelling at incompetent troops, and making his head hurt worse. He needed to take a few more of the painkillers from this morning and shortly after doing so became ill. He ran to the toilet where he dropped to the ground and threw up the painkillers with all the bile in his stomach. "Great…just great." he grumbled to himself. Feeling weak now, he tried to stand and just found himself flopping over and sitting down on the ground. "I really need some food." It is already past his normal time for his 3rd meal, all he has eaten to day was the food bar in the med bay. Hux found himself the strength to stand and wobble back to his desk, it felt like a mile to him. He sat flopped back down in his chair and pressed the communication panel. Click "Sir what can I assist you with?" Comes over the channel. "Send in a droid with something for me to eat. That is all." Click. He says and sinks into his chair.

The door of Hux's office slides open as a small droid rolls in with a tray of food. The droid places it on his desk and with a few beeps it rolls back out the door as it shuts behind it. Taking the tray closer to him he began to eat. The food hitting his empty stomach at first made him queasy again but it settled swiftly. Starting to feel better now, Hux finishes the few last reports of the day and decided to end his shift early, the officers can come find him if they need him but he needs some time to himself. The buzzing came back at this point. He stands from his chair, smoothing out his uniform and cleaning up his desk of any debris. Click "Yes Sir?" the communication panel sounds. "Please send in a cleaning droid. I want my office fully done now. I am leaving for the day, if I am needed send for me." Click. He puts his hat on and leaves his office.

Walking down the halls of his ship, hands crossed behind his back and head held up high. Hux keeps wondering what Ren is doing and why he is avoiding his responsibilities "hopefully he isn't destroying anything today…" Hux thought to himself. The buzzing still in his head getting louder and louder now. He decides to follow it since he is off his shift. Closer and closer to the gym he walks as the buzzing starts to make it feel like there is static in the air. His hair on end as he tries to shake it off unsuccessfully. As he reached the doors to the gym's training room he feels almost charged the energy in the air. He accesses the control panel and realizes that it had been locked, but not to him. The door slides open and the General walks inside the dark room, it feels heavy; claustrophobic. He cannot see Ren, but he can feel him.