Kylo slowly blinked away, the blur in front of his eyes resolving into the sterile white ceiling of medbay. He stirred on the bed, winching at the pain that flashed through his body, and hearing the heart rate monitor let out a flurry of beeps before he settled back against the stiff bedding. He allowed his eyes to drift closed as he listened to the beeps slow and adopt a more regular beat. As he lay there, he became aware of a second sound, one that came frustratingly just out of time with the rhythm he had established on the monitor.
Kylo opened his eyes again to find Hux looking down on him, hands folded neatly behind his back and cap nowhere to be seen. Kylo thinks better of moving this time, and blinks gummy eyes at Hux instead, waiting for his tirade.
“What the hells were you thinking?” Hux spat, staring down at him a moment longer before he turns away and begins pacing the small space beside his bed. “Did you stop to consider the risk of trailing after that girl on your own, or did you actually presume to bring down the resistance with her head?”
Kylo let his head fall to the side as Hux marched along, body held rigid as he let out his tirade of complaints. Kylo listened less to his words and more to the thud of his footfalls; too fast for his regular pace, and showing no signs of slowing even as his words came to an end.
“For once I was glad of that ridiculous costume of yours,” he said as his coat whirled about him. “So much black in the snow was at least easy to find on a crumbling planet-“
Hux whirled around abruptly as the monitor began to shriek its alert. Kylo, half sitting on the bed raised a hand and sent it careening away, cables severed and machine mercifully silenced.
“What the kriff do you think you’re doing?” Hux asked the stiffness of parade in his voice.
He pressed one gloved hand to the bandages on Kylo’s side, tried to use the other to push him back to the bed, but for all of Kylo’s injuries, he may as well have been trying to press against the bulkhead.
“Ren, you need to lie down this instant-“
The whisper sounded like an explosion between them, Hux almost rocking back on his feet as he looked into Kylo’s eyes, the barest trace of vulnerability showing with the use of his given name.
“I’m here. I was rescued,” Kylo said, gripping Hux’s arms to keep him close, to hold himself steady.
“Shut up and kiss me already.”
Hux blinked at the demand, leaning forward slowly to press his lips to Kylo’s. For another, the kiss could have been called sweet, a reassurance that they were really there.
“So,” Kylo muttered against Hux’s lips, “am I still an- agh!”
Kylo gasped as Hux pressed his thumb into the packed bandages on his side. Kylo took Hux’s wrist and prised it away, ignoring the pout on his face.
“Well, if you have to ask.”
