Ren nodded as best he could in response to the General’s words. Of course Snoke had called on Hux to retrieve him. His brows creased into a frown and he couldn’t help but let out a displeased groan at the thought. He felt horrible, and the fact he had, in fact, felt weakened by killing his father only seemed to increase his fears about why Snoke wanted him to be found. Perhaps he’d be killed in person. The light in him was stronger and he hated it.
“Thank you for confirming that, Hux,” he replied quietly. He kept his eyes locked with Hux’s, hoping his fear was well hidden despite his weakened state. “You were worried you wouldn’t find me? Now, now General, one would think you were sentimental over me. Honestly though, it takes a bit more than nearly bleeding out in the cold to take me out. I don’t think, once I’m with Snoke, I’ll be seeing another day past the first. I failed him far worse than you think…”
He let out a short sigh, eyes closing. The Knight was exhausted and letting his fears get the better of him at this point wasn’t going to help anything. He let one eye open just a bit when he could feel the other man’s eyes on him. The corner of his lip turned up in a faint smirk. “Do I really look that awful that you must stare, General?”
“Awful wouldn’t be my word of choice, Ren.”, he replied with a faint smile on his lips, not even thinking about turning his gaze away as he stared deep into the Knight’s eyes again, “and neither would I say sentimental. I’m well aware that it takes much more than bleeding out in the snow to kill you, but without my help you would have died in that giant explosion and I-“
He suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence and fell silent for a while as a cold shiver ran down his spine. It felt like the weak echo of an emotion that wasn’t his own and though Kylo did his best to hide it in his weakened state, Hux knew that he was the source of it, that he was scared.
Without thinking properly about his next move, the General took the Knight’s hand in his. He was unsure wether the gesture was supposed to ease Kylo or himself or both, yet he quickly decided that he didn’t care. “You’re not the only one who had failed our Supreme Leader today.”, he said after a while, “I take full responsibility for the destruction of Starkiller base and the loss of countless lives that died with the planet. I’m to blame for this defeat.” He lowered his head slightly and as he remembered his last talk with the Supreme Leader, his eyes were cast to the ground. What would happen once they arrive at Snoke’s citadel? He didn’t know, couldn’t even guess, but somehow Hux felt like if he was walking towards his own funeral.