(A little tiny thing for @eglantineprice )
The shuttle ride is so long and Hux is lagging, it’s clear. With no helmet to hide his face, there’s no way to hide the delicate purpley-grey smudges under his eyes, the paleness of his face, the strands of hair that are slipping free. A quick probe of his mind shows how thoroughly single-minded he is at this point. Bed bed bed bed bed.
“You need to lie down,” Ren says.
“Nowhere to lie,” Hux snaps. “I’ll get into bed when we make it back to the ship.”
Nearly every night, Hux uses Ren as a pillow, his arm, his chest, his shoulder. Whether he’s leeching away Ren’s heat or is trying to combat his years of touch starvation, Ren wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. A little clinginess never killed anybody.
But that’s always in the full dark of the bedroom, not anywhere someone could walk in and find them. They’re alone now, but when they land...
“I’ll handle it, if that happens,” Ren said. He beckoned Hux closer. “Just come, come on.”
Hux rolled his bloodshot eyes but obeyed, tucked himself under Ren’s arm. “This isn’t really lying,” he griped. “More like sitting.”
“It’s better than the sitting you were doing before.”
“Mmph.” Hux was already losing the battle with his exhaustion, the warm closeness of Ren’s hold doing him in. “I suppose.”
They sat in silence, listening to the sound of the shuttle moving impossibly fast. Before he knew it, Ren was holding Hux’s limp, snoring body upright, Hux’s head drooping backwards. It’d be easiest to wipe the memory of anyone who sees, Ren decided, but it’s amusing to try and think of an excuse for this, for holding the highest-ranking general on the ship like a sleeping bride, as they make their way back home.