12 Days of Reyuxmas – DECEMBER 14 Prompt – FOOD
Title: ENOUGH
"Kriff!" Rey curses as she pulls the smoldering pile of burnt loaves out of the gasser. Smoke spills out of the small oven unit, and she begins to cough.
"You know I could help—" Hux starts, turning around and looking up at her from over his datapad.
She places the pan with the crumbling mess onto the counter, she's nearly on the verge of tears.
Hux rises from his chair, setting the datapad down on his desk. Since she'd moved into his quarters aboard the Finalizer almost a month ago, he'd rearranged the furniture at least four times, and he might have to do it again. He wasn't fond of the fact that he couldn't watch her in the kitchen while he worked.
He liked to watch her flit about their shared living space. She made the cold, stark room look warm and happy. Much like what she'd done to him.
And since she'd grown up without much food on Jakku, she'd taken to cooking more often than they accepted the standard dinner from the meal droids. She insisted on trying and tasting everything. Not that she was a skilled cook. But Hux didn't mind. It usually meant she'd try to make the dish first and then he'd end up having to help. And although it wasn't the ideal situation since they ended up wasting food and she felt enormously guilty every time they tossed out a burnt nerf steak or an overcooked patte roll, there was something decidedly domestic about cooking together. Something Armitage Hux had never experienced, and he didn't want it to ever end.
"I just—I wanted to do this on my own," she says crossing her arms.
"But you don't have to," he says, making his way to the kitchen. With a gentle tug, he pulls off the oven mitts and sets them next to the pan. Then, taking her hands in his own, he presses warm kisses to her knuckles.
"I'm here," he says softly. "With you. And I can cook."
"I can cook," she says tiredly.
"Heating up dehydrated bread is not the same thing," he says kindly.
"I just wanted everything to be perfect," she says, eyes filling with tears.
It was their first time hosting the holiday dinner for everyone. Rey had been quite insistent that they do it, after all, they had the space. And it would be their first time hosting anything together. Another big step forward in their relationship.
"It will be," he reassures. "And even better, because we'll do it together."
She sniffs, and he reaches up with his thumb to wipe away the tear streaking her cheek. Then he brushes the hair away from her face, it's frazzled and unkempt. Just the way he likes it. Because it means that she's here, with him, really here. After all that's happened, after all, they've been through. He gets to see her like this, comfortable and safe and with him.
He'd never thought it would be possible for this whole thing to work out. But thankfully it had. And now, they'd spend the holidays together, and enjoy the peace that followed the war.
"And Finn, and Rose, and Poe, and Ben," he smiles at their names. His friends. Not just hers now. Even his old rival now a companion, a part of their makeshift family. "Even Leia, they'll all love it."
"Poe's going to make fun of me," Rey says, half smiling.
"Well," Hux agrees. "It's what he does best isn't it?"
"He'd kill you if he heard you say that," Rey laughs.
"Oh, would he?" Hux grins. "Because he'd say the thing he does best is. . . ?"
Rey snorts, laughing breathlessly, "Fly, you idiot."
Hux feigns surprise, "He flies! I never would have guessed. That pompous little man is a pilot?"
At that Rey can't help but stretch out on her toes and press a kiss to Hux's cheek. He always knows how to make her feel better.
"What exactly were you trying to make anyway?" He asks, turning to inspect the burnt loaves.
She sniffs, biting her lip.
"Umm, they're supposed to be suloux. . . but I don't think I got the consistency right," she says embarrassed.
"Suloux?" Hux can't help the lump that forms in his throat. Suloux was a delicacy on Arkanis. One he was intimately familiar with since his mother worked in the kitchens. She had made the small delicious chocolate pastries for him on numerous occasions, and they were probably one of his favorite memories of Arkanis.
"You tried to make them for me?" He asks softly.
Rey barely gets a nod out before he's wrapping her in his arms again and pressing his forehead against hers.
"You know," he whispers against her. "You are the best thing I've ever had."
"Stop!" She laughs, but she knows what he means. Because it's the same for her. He's the best thing she's known. He's the calm to her storm, the logic to her passion, and still, even though they're so different they're also so much alike. They were just lost children once. Now they're found.
"Do we have enough ingredients to try again?" Hux asks, tightening his arms around her frame and kissing the top of his head. "Or should I order more from the galley?"
Rey buries her face against his chest and inhales the deep scent of him. The smell she's grown to love over the last year. He always just knows exactly what she needs.
"I think we have everything we need."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Please be sure to check out my accompanying art on tumblr at: dark-london