"Ren?" Hux asked sharply, "What the fuck is going on here?",
Kylo blinked, taken aback, "What?",
The redhead scrambled to sit up quickly, dragging the covers around himself, as he glared about the room, interrogating it, "Where are we?",
The other man sat up too, less concerned about covering himself, "Our apartment…?" he said softly, raising an eyebrow.
Hux hardly seemed to take that as explanation however, and his expression became a scowl, "What have you done? Drugged me? Knocked me out and brought me here?",
Very slowly, far slower than it should have taken him, the realisation dawned on Kylo. This wasn't Hux, not his Hux at least, this was- Somehow, this was the General.
"Hux, listen to me" he said evenly, almost impressing himself with how coolheaded he was, "Stay calm"
"Stay calm?" he scoffed, now going as far as to retreat from the bed all together and grabbing a shirt from the ground to cover himself, "You had better explain Ren, explain this immediately!" he barked, making his identity as the order giving General all the more obvious.
"I will, I-" Kylo faltered, shrugging a little, "I'm just not sure I understand it all myself anyway",
"Very well" he snapped, his cheeks stained red with fury and possibly some embarrassment too, "Tell me what you do know then!"
The ravenette took a deep breath, steadying himself, "A few days ago, when I fell asleep, I woke up here" he began,
Hux seemed to be following him, as he gave one sharp nod for him to continue,
"At first I was confused, just as you are now-" he added, gesturing to the other man, even if he didn't seem to appreciate the comparison, "I thought maybe I'd been drugged, or perhaps even that someone was using the force to manipulate my mind, but then it became very clear",
"'Clear'?" the redhead yelled, "What about this is 'clear'?",
"We're dreaming"
Hux blinked and put a stop to the retort he was working on before it even left his mouth. He looked about the room again, and then to the window above the bed, squinting at the light that poured through it, "I suppose- yes" he nodded, "That adds up",
Kylo shifted on the mattress and quickly got up from the bed, pulling on a pair of lounge trousers that he located on the ground, "I don't know how it happened or why, and it is not my doing",
The redhead looked completely unconvinced by that, but didn't address it, "So what, we're sharing a dream? Or am I in your dream?"
"I don't know" the other repeated,
Hux rose an eyebrow and began to button up the shirt that was now hanging about his shoulders, "Were you alone?",
The Sith knight could feel the tips of his ears burning, as his look of neutrality became worried, embarrassed almost, "What?"
"You didn't seem too surprised to see me here, to be sharing a bed with me" he replied, folding his arms, "Explain that",
Kylo stifled an awkward cough and lowered himself to the bed once more, staring at the white covers, "What do you mean? What- what're you suggesting?",
"You know perfectly well what I'm suggesting Ren" the redhead snapped, "Now tell me, were you alone here!?",
"No!"
Hux stiffened up as he shouted the response, but showed no fear in the face of it, "So who was your company?"
"You were" the ravenette said quietly, he then winced a little, "But you weren't. You were you, but you weren't you",
"That makes no sense Ren" the other said with a sigh, sitting on the other side of bed and looking vaguely for a pair of trousers.
"Fine" Kylo grumbled, "Then he looked like you, and his last name was Hux",
"What was his first name?",
"Armitage"
The redhead paused, "'Armitage'?",
The larger man looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, why?",
Hux shook his head, "Believe it or not, that's my name" he then sighed and took up a pair of jeans from the foot of the bed, "Seems your company- it sounds like I was here with you",
"No, he was far more agreeable" Kylo said, sneering at the other man,
"Oh really?" he asked, quirking his brow as he pulled on the trousers, and tucked in his shirt, "So agreeable that you didn't mind sharing a bed with him?",
Kylo felt a blush come to his face again, darker and hotter this time,
"Great" Hux said with a sarcastic sigh, and with that, he stomped from the room, slamming the door closed behind him,
The ravenette gripped the bedsheets beneath his hands, feeling a sort of primal anger beginning to strain his muscles already.
0o0o0
After some time had passed, although he was not sure just how long, Kylo opened the bedroom door, and stood staring down the length of the short corridor outside of it.
Part of him hoped that somehow Hux had disappeared, he'd rather be alone than with the real General, in fact the idea of an empty apartment was becoming more and more pleasant by the minute,
It was certainly silent enough to be empty, but the ravenette knew for a fact that Hux could simply stand in silence for up from an hour, just thinking, strategising.
He sighed and stepped out, now more dressed, albeit slightly, and began towards the living space, walking a little slower than perhaps he usually would.
Just as he came to the corner, he became aware of light footsteps padding towards him, but before he could locate them, they rushed to him and then streaked past.
A cat was in the apartment.
A slender ginger cat.
How was a cat in the apartment, in his dream, in his mind?
…Had he somehow turned Hux into a cat?
Kylo sighed again, what a ridiculous thought.
He rolled his eyes at himself and took another step forward, entering the wide living space just in time to see the cat jump up from the ground and into the lap of the General, who was sat in the only single person seat they had.
Hux was holding a book which he was reading with a highly suspicious air, and once the cat settled down on his legs, he set the other hand stroking it,
"What is that?" Kylo asked, keeping his distance still,
The redhead cooked his jaw slightly and turned his eyes to the other man, slipping his look of disinterest to one of disdain with impressive ease, "What is what?",
"That" he repeated, raising a hand to point to the animal that had apparently joined them.
"It's a cat Ren, are you seriously so uneducated that you've never seen one?" Hux replied, closing his book,
"I know what a fucking cat is" the ravenette snapped back quickly, "How the hell did it get here?",
The General rolled his eyes and shook his head, "This is a dream" he said, as though that made it obvious,
Seeing the look on Kylo's face, he realised that he would have to go into more detail however,
"In a dream, if you know that you're dreaming, you are often able to manipulate it" he explained.
The other man was actually slightly impressed, it was sound logic, and he certainly hadn't thought of it himself. He couldn't help but be confused still however: "You realised you could manipulate the dream, so you decided to introduce a cat?",
Hux huffed, "This clearly isn't a normal dream, I don't know exactly what can be changed, and what can't be" he then shrugged and turned his attention back to his book, "I thought I better start with something small",
Kylo arched an eyebrow, "But a cat?"
The redhead violently snapped the book shut, making the cat in question twitch in his lap, "If you must know, I had her as child. Excuse me for wanting something familiar in this place",
The knight remained silent for moment, mostly processing the prospect that he had actually just learnt something about Hux's personal life. He then shrugged however and with a sigh, finally lowered himself to the empty couch, thankfully on the far side of the room to the other man.
"I imagine you've had a look around then?"
The General sighed and closed his book once more, clearly realising that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it anymore, "Yes, of course. Do you really think I'd be sat here reading, doing nothing, if I had found something useful or of interest?",
Ignoring his harsh tone, Kylo continued, "And?",
"And what?" Hux replied, "The front door doesn't open, it's locked with no key holes or chains. All of the buildings surrounding us are entirely identical. There's a constant sound of traffic from outside, but when you look down to the street, it's completely empty. And finally, you can see a tree outside from the bedroom window"
"And?" the ravenette repeated, shrugging. He couldn't help but think that that last point had been a rather minor one, he wasn't even sure what the point of it was,
"It's a tree that couldn't possibly be there Ren, because we're twenty stories up" he replied, "This apartment couldn't possibly exist in any real setting", he then paused and arched one of his eyebrows expectantly, "Or have I missed something you haven't?"
Once again, the other man was impressed. In all honesty, those were things he hadn't noticed at all during his entire duration there, but in his defence, he did have one major distraction.
"No, I think that about sums it up" he said shaking his head, his eyes shifting out to the balcony,
Now he had mentioned it, he couldn't help but notice even from this distance, that every building across the road was indeed identical,
"So what do we do?" Hux asked,
"Hmm?" the Knight replied, turning back to him and raising his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"
"Well you've been here before" the redhead said with a shrug, "How do we leave?",
"We don't" the other said, shaking his head,
"What?"
"We fall asleep here, and wake up on the Finalizer, just as we fell asleep on the Finalizer and woke up here, in the dream" Kylo replied, shrugging.
Hux's lips parted for a second, as he seemed to think on the new information, "Well, I don't feel tired",
The ravenette shrugged again, "Too bad",
He quickly stood from the couch, deciding very suddenly that engaging in conversation with the other man only ever made him feel frustrated, and in this case more embarrassed about the whole situation they found themselves in, especially the fact that he had been sleeping with Hux, in one form or other, for the past week or so. Kylo entered the kitchen and set about opening cupboards, trying to remember where his Hux had gotten ingredients for meals from, and indeed how he had put the meals together.
It didn't take him long to find everything for an omelette, including all the little details that Armitage had added to make it especially delicious, such as the dried herbs. After what could only be described as an uphill climb, he put together a palatable looking omelette, and carried it out to the balcony, refraining from making eye contact with the man still sat in the living room, but quite sure that he had caused some kind of jealousy in him by achieving sustenance.
Kylo sat himself at the small table and began to eat his omelette. It wasn't a master piece of any kind, and he at one point found a small amount of egg shell in it, but the taste was more than satisfactory, and he sat for a good five minutes, enjoying his food. Almost forgetting the disturbing new development in the dream world.
His joy was shattered before long however, as he quickly became unable to see anything but the fact that every building out there, was exactly the same. Undeniably identical.
The longer he sat there the more he noticed it, and in the end, he begrudgingly had to turn away, facing the apartment instead to avoid having to see the painfully clear fact that he had not picked up on until the General had said it.
Despite having been so confused in his first visit, and then having been in so much denial after the events that took place, it didn't take Kylo long to come to the feeling that this place was for him. He had thought that it had been built for him, a place for him to experience joy, with wonderful company no less.
But now, in new company, that idea was crumbling around him.
He sighed and jabbed at what was left of his now cold omelette,
Within the apartment, movement then caught his eye, and he swiftly forgot the food before him.
Hux was settling back down in the seat he had been in earlier. The cat was stooped by the side of the chair, her tongue lapping at a small bowl that had been placed there, and her master had apparently helped himself to food also. The redhead was balancing a bowl in his lap, and holding his book in the other, steely faced as ever.
His nonchalance only made Kylo angry again- he just had to be able to cook too, didn't he?
The ravenette took up his plate and stomped into the apartment once more, whisking through the living space and storming to the kitchen, where he froze at the sight he was met with.
He couldn't believe it! The bastard had cleaned all of the items he had used to prepare his food, and now they were drying on the rack by the sink!
Kylo dumped his plate on the side, opting to clean it later- he just couldn't stand the idea of giving the other man the satisfaction, standing in his line of sight and letting him watch as he cleaned up his own crockery.
The Knight left the kitchen once more and headed straight to the bedroom.
He considered slamming the door behind him, but guessed rather bitterly that that would probably earn some kind of sarcastic comment from Hux about him being a child.
He stripped off the hooded jacket had had found earlier and sat heavily on the bed, noticing all at once, just how heavy his breathing had gotten.
It was outrageous just how easily Hux could anger him. Whether it was in all those sardonic remarks, the way he felt the need to establish his superiority by making it clear that he was smarter than Kylo, or even just in the way that the ravenette could anticipate exactly how the redhead might react to his actions, and vice versa.
After minutes had passed, he stood on shaky legs and turned, very slowly to look out of the bedroom window.
Why did Hux always have to be right?
The branches of a tree did indeed splay out beyond the frame of the window, not a tree however, that could exist in the middle of the city.
Kylo gritted his teeth and slowly left the room once more, padding down the corridor and stopping at the fresh hold to the lounge space, setting his eyes directly on the redhead that still sat there,
After a few seconds, Hux realised that the other man had joined him, and he rose an eyebrow at the man.
The ravenette could've screamed, even that tiny action made a surge of rage pass through him.
He quickly broke off the eye contact the made for the balcony, as though that had been his destination from the start,
Hardly processing his actions as they played out, he strapped the gloves waiting on the ground to his hands and started at the punching bag. He skipped the build-up of power in each strike, and immediately set about making the heavy vinyl bag jump and rattle on its chains instead, with strong blow after strong blow.
As if his ears were filled with cotton, he drowned out all of his surroundings and hit over and over until his hands were sore, regardless of the protection of the gloves. Even after the ache set in, he continued, releasing the anger that had been building up in him, even over the short time that had passed since waking.
Soon though, he could feel eyes on him, and letting up his onslaught on the punching bag only a little, he briefly shifted his eyes to the side, seeing Hux watching from the door to the apartment,
"What?" he snapped,
The redhead sighed, and folded his arms, "You probably don't realise, but that's incredibly loud… and obnoxious" he replied,
"So?" Kylo barked, his wrists now starting to buzz with pain.
"So, stop it, I'm trying to read" the General said, tightening his own grip on his arm,
The ravenette scowled, "Leave me alone",
"I'm stuck here Ren, I'm stuck here with you" Hux snapped, "If I have to put up with your company, I want to be able to ignore you, and at least read while I wait to get away. Your temper is ruining a perfectly simple, unspoken arrangement",
"And you've ruined this dream for me!" Kylo yelled, taking a step away from the punching bag and sweeping his arms in a grand gesture to encompass the city around them,
"What are you talking about?" Hux replied, his eyebrows knitting together,
The Knight shook his head, tearing the Velcro of his gloves open, "I had a nice apartment, somewhere I could relax with my nice, handsome boyfriend... Now all I've got is you" he concluded bitterly, now staring intently at the ground and throwing down the gloves.
That was the truth of it. He didn't just hate Hux because he treated him with such contempt, he hated him because he had taken away the one thing Kylo had left. A space so tender, with a man who loved him unconditionally.
A deafening silence sat between them for a moment after the admission, a silence that was only cut off as the redhead suddenly moved forward from the doorway,
As soon as he was close enough, he took Kylo's cheek into his hand, tilting his face up so their eyes met, and then, in less time than it took for the ravenette to let out a shocked breath, their lips became locked in a wholly desperate kiss.
Kylo couldn't help but wince at the contact, hoping beyond hope that it meant that everything was back to normal, and that he had his wonderful boyfriend back,
They then separated, but the ravenette found himself sinking his fingers even deeper into the others hair, keeping their faces close. He sighed, still holding the man against him, his eyes still shut to try and capture the moment he was hoping for,
"Armitage?" he asked softly, practically begging to have the man in question returned to him.
He did not reply, and Kylo begrudgingly opened his eyes,
"Never call me that again" the redhead commanded, before pulling him into another lip bruising kiss.
The other man's eyes bulged from their sockets as he was not only held firmly in the violent kiss, but guided back into the apartment from the balcony, being led directly to the couch,
They landed with a thump and a slight groan, their lips never parting.
'Never call me that again'? That could only mean one thing. It wasn't the fantasy that Kylo had grown to love that was kissing him right now, it was Hux. The real Hux. The man who argued with him, looked down on him, and treated him worse than a dog. Hux was the one pulling at his lips, writhing and moaning beneath him from their contact, and running his hands along his sides. Hux was the one who wanted him, and in that moment, Kylo couldn't help but realise how hot under the collar that made him.
Blocking out all thoughts of just how obscure this all was, the ravenette finally pushed back against Hux's relentless onslaught, sliding his dominant tongue into the others small but sweet mouth, earning another deep groan from him,
He then moved his strong hands to the General's legs that were bent either side of him, allowing Kylo to lie intimately close to his body, and he hooked them around the back of the redhead's thighs, hoisting him up from the couch with very little effort. The smaller man squealed in response and gripped onto the ravenette's shoulders even tighter,
"What're you doing?" Hux panted as he began to run his tongue across Kylo's neck, his legs twisted around his waist to keep from falling,
"Bedroom" he replied with a grunt, squeezing the redhead's thighs before locking their lips into another rough kiss, as he stumbled the short distance to the bedroom, carrying the other man.