#gingerpilotfic

 Nuzzling her face against Poe’s scruffy jawline, Millicent purred loudly.  Her whiskers tickled his nose, causing him to stir in his sleep, blinking a few times as he woke up to the strange sensation before realizing that a cat was standing on his chest.  

 Reaching a hand out from beneath the covers, Poe scratched between the orange tabby’s ears, eliciting a soft meow from her.  

 “You’re not so bad” Poe said as Millicent turned her head to rub against his palm.  “You’re actually kind of cute when you're not being a reclusive weirdo”.  

 Poe reached to pet the top of the cat’s head again, but his sudden movement startled her.  Pushing off from Poe’s chest, she hopped down off the bed and trotted away.

 Poe glanced over to the clock beside the bed.  He groaned as he read the time.  7:12 am.  As much as he planned on sleeping in on his days off, which also happened to poorly timed during Hux’s absence, he knew falling back asleep now wasn’t going to happen.  Kicking the blankets from his body, he got up and made his way to the kitchen.    

  Millicent was nowhere in sight as Poe set the coffee maker to brew and reached for the container of kitty food on top of the fridge to fill Millicent’s bowl.      Two scoops only    , Hux had reminded him time and time again. Apparently Millicent had very little self control and would eat until she made herself sick if given enough food to do so, something Poe most definitely did not want to have to clean up after. He’d seen Hux wipe up a hairball once and seriously questioned how he managed to do so without retching himself.

     Feeling hungry himself, Poe open the fridge, grabbing a carton of eggs and setting them on the counter before reached above into the cabinet for a bowl. He made quick work of his breakfast as he cracked three eggs into the bowl, tossing the shells into the nearby trash bin before whisking them and pouring them into a pan to cook.  He absentmindedly stirred them as they firmed up over the heat of the stove.  A pitter patter of paws against the tile kitchen floor followed by loud crunching alerted him to Millicent’s presence.  She was happily crouched down in front of her bowl eating her breakfast as he prepared his.  

 “Figured you’d come out for food” Poe said towards the cat he scraped his scrambled eggs from the pan onto a plate. Millicent paused for a moment, looking up towards Poe with her large tabby eyes.  Finding nothing interesting about the man standing in an undershirt and boxers talking to her, she focused back on her kibbles.

 Poe balanced his breakfast and his mug of coffee in his hands as he made his way to the living room.  Sitting down onto the couch, he set his mug onto the coffee table and leaned back to balance the plate on his stomach.  He knew if Hux was here he’d be gently reminded that      we have a perfectly good table to eat at.      Taking a forkful of food, he chewed slowly, looking around the apartment.  A stack of moving boxes sat in the corner, waiting for his attention.  They had put away the essential things right after the move, but Hux’s books and Poe’s extensive record collection still needed to be arranged on shelves.  

 He need to run a few errands first, deciding that his records could wait until another day.  It would likely be a job that would take up most of an afternoon, seeing that it was one of the few things in his life aside from flying that he was meticulous about.  He always made sure his records were categorized not only alphabetically, but also by genre.  

 Passing back through the kitchen, he deposited his plate and empty mug into the sink, noticing that Millicent was gone from her bowl.  He continued on to the bedroom, picking up a pair of jeans he’d left on the floor the day before.  Pulling them on, he rummaged around the closet, settling on an old t shirt that was well worn, but comfortable. He hardly cared if he looked nice or not.  There was no one he needed to impress at the corner bodega or the grocery store a few subway stops away.  After brushing his teeth and running his fingers a few times through his unruly curly hair, he grabbed his wallet and phone off the nightstand and made his way to leave.  

 He’d barely gotten the door to the apartment open when he felt something brush past his ankles.

 “Millie!” Poe shouted, the orange tabby dashing down the hallway towards the staircase that lead down to the outside.  In a panic, he let go of the apartment door, the heavy steel shutting behind him as he sprinted after her.  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He hardly cared about the noise he was making as he chased the wayward cat.      

 “Gotcha!” he exclaimed as he scooped the cat up from the stairs with a single hand, turning her so he was able to cradle her.  He began walking back down the hall, Millicent happily purring in his arms as if nothing had happened.

     Nudging the apartment door open with his foot, he was thankful he had left the deadbolt open.  He couldn’t imagine what he’d do if he’d gotten locked out with a cat.  There was no way he’d be able to take her on his errands or on the subway with him.

 Setting the cat down inside the apartment, Millicent trotted away across the living room with her tail held high.  She seemed contented with her little adventure and the fact she gave Poe a miniature heart attack in the process.  Hopping up onto the windowsill, she quickly became engrossed in licking her front paw in the warm sunshine, completely ignoring Poe as he glared at her from doorway. Wiping the few beads of sweat that had formed on his brow in the chaos, Poe shut the door, twisting the key and jiggling the handle, making sure it was locked firmly.  He knew Millicent didn’t posses the skills needs to open a door, but the last thing he ever wanted to do was explain to Hux was how he accidentally let his cat escape.  

 Poe felt his phone buzzing in his front pocket as climbed the staircase that up lead to the street from the subway.  Fishing the device out, he smiled as he read the caller id and quickly swiped across the screen to answer.  

 “Hey babe” Poe answered cheerfully.  “How was your flight?”  

 “Would have been better if you were here with me”  Hux’s voice replied from thousands of miles away.  His flight to Los Angeles had been anything but exciting and his morning had been spent in a pointless meeting that could had waited until he had at least checked into his hotel and settled in.  “How’s everything at home?”

 “Good, good”.  Poe debated if he should share Millicent’s escape with Hux, deciding that it would be best to not share in fear of worrying Hux.  “Just out now doing some running around”.  

 “How’s Millicent been?  Were my feeding instructions clear enough?”  

 Poe laughed.  As much as he loved his boyfriend, he wondered if he’d ever done something dumb enough to make Hux think he wasn’t capable of putting the proper amount of food into a bowl for a housecat. “She’s fine.  Still getting used to the new place but she’s been a little more outgoing”.  

 Hux breathed a sigh of relief.  While traveling for business was commonplace for him, he always worried about Millicent while he was away.  

 Poe could hear other voices on Hux’s end of the call, followed by his boyfriend’s voice in a clipped tone.  “Can it wait for a second? I’m on a call”.  He could hear Hux let out an annoyed huff.  “Fine. I’ll be right in”.  

 “You still there?” Hux asked Poe.  

 “Yeah”.  

 “I've got to go.  Apparently Kylo can’t wait five minutes to go over this blueprint”.

     Poe smiled.  Hux often complained about his coworker Kylo Ren. While both men were senior architects at the firm, it often seemed to Poe that Hux played babysitter to a rather volatile man-child who couldn’t control his emotions when things didn’t go his way.  After hearing Hux rant about Kylo’s behavior and meeting him once at the company holiday party, he understood why some days Hux came home and poured himself a stiff drink before he even took off his coat.

 “I’ll call you later” Hux assured.  “Love you”

 “Love you too”.    

 Tucking his phone back into his pocket, Poe continued about his morning.

 Poe tried to balance the bags of groceries in his arm and the handful of mail he’d picked up from their box in the lobby all while trying to fit the correct key into the apartment door.  As the lock clicked open, Poe saw the flash of orange fur near the bottom of the door and quickly stuck his foot out to catch Millicent before she could run down the hall again.

 “Oh no you don’t” he chided to the cat as he nudged her back inside and closed the door behind him with a bump of his hip.

 Millicent meowed a few times, chirping happily as she followed Poe to the kitchen.  Setting the groceries and mail onto the counter, he began unpacking the items from bags.  Millicent weaved through his legs, nearly tripping him as he leaned into the fridge to put away a bag of sliced cheese into the deli drawer.  

 “Geez, Millie, careful” Poe warned to the cat who was still near his feet.  She meowed again, staring up at him with wide eyes.  “What is it?”  Poe asked, feeling slightly ridiculous he was talking to a cat.  In a single leap, Millicent hopped from the floor to the counter and began rubbing against the side of the paper grocery bag.  

 “Oh no”  Poe said as he wrapped his hands around the cat’s middle, picking her up and placing her back on the floor.  “No cats on the counter”.  

 Millicent gave him a pouty look before walking over to her now empty food bowl.  Sitting down in front of the bowl, she reached out one paw, slapping it against the side.  The metal bowl clamored against the tile floor as it rolled onto it’s side.  Poe leaned over the side of the counter, grabbing the bowl with two fingers to place it back upright where it belonged.

 “No Millicent.  You got breakfast already” Poe reminded the cat firmly.  He remembered that part of Hux’s instructions clearly.  Two meals a day for the cat, no more.  Millicent let out an annoyed meow before slinking away.  Poe couldn’t help to think how Hux would do the same thing when aggravated, a low huff instead of a meow before turning on his heel.

     The next few days, Poe found that sleeping in was never going to happen as much as he wanted it to.  Millicent, without fail, would paw at his chest and meow loudly before eight o’clock every morning, demanding he get up and feed her.  He’d grumble about how she could wait a few more hours before kicking off the blankets and giving in to her wishes.  The cat had become more comfortable around him, most likely knowing that he was now the hand that was feeding her.  Instead of hiding away under the couch, the orange tabby would often follow Poe around the loft.  Usually in the evenings as he relaxed on the couch, Millicent would curl herself into a ball next to him, purring contently as he pet her side.  He had to admit he liked the companionship in the absence of Hux.  He was beginning see why his boyfriend liked the little furball so much.    

 Poe finally got around to unpacking his record collection.  Hux was due home that evening and he was growing antsy awaiting his return and figured the task would be a good distraction for a few hours.  

 As he pulled the last stack of records from the moving box, setting them among the piles of records already stacked around the bookshelf waiting to be organized, he noticed Millicent sauntering across the living room.  He watched as Millicent hopped gracefully into the empty box, popping her head up wide eyed before ducking back down into the cardboard.  He couldn’t help but to laugh at the tabby’s enjoyment of being in the box.  

 “What are you doing in there, Millie?” Poe asked as he sat down on the floor cross legged.  He reached over to the box, scratching his fingernails against the cardboard, causing Millicent to pounce from within the box at the noise.  Laughing again, he repeated the action. The box scooted a few inches against the floor as Millicent pounced again from within.  The orange tabby popped her head up from the top of the box, resting her paws against the edge giving Poe a long look.

 “It wasn’t me!” Poe joked towards the cat, causing her to tilt her head with a curious look before dropping back into box.  Poe seized the opportunity to scratch against the box again, causing Millicent’s tail to twitch before pouncing again.  

 Hux opened the apartment door, wheeling his in luggage behind him.  As he shut the door, he heard Millicent meow, followed by Poe’s hearty laugh.  Abandoning his suitcase, Hux walked towards the living room, finding Poe laying on his stomach near a cardboard box.  

 “What are you doing?”  Hux asked, smiling at the sight he’d come home to. The fact Poe and Millicent have warmed up to one another while he was away delighted him.  

 The sound of Hux’s voice caused Millicent to abandon her hunt and pop out from the box, heading straight for her owner.  Hux scooped her up in his arms, giving her a kiss on top of her head.  

 “You’re home early”  Poe said cheerfully as he pushed himself off the floor and made his way towards Hux.      

 The two kissed above Millicent, who let out a happy meow as they pressed their lips against one another.  

 “I got an earlier flight back”  Hux explained as he broke away from the kiss.  “The group in L.A. loved the plans and signed the deal as quick as possible”.  Moving to set Millicent down on the floor, she scampered quickly back to the empty box, allowing Hux to finally embrace Poe fully.  

 “Plus I missed you” Hux hummed as he traced his fingers up the back of Poe’s shirt.  “I didn’t like sleeping alone”.  

 Poe smiled as he tucked a loose strand of ginger hair behind Hux’s ear.  He always slicked his hair back to perfection, but had no doubt fallen asleep on the plane, ruffling his usually coiffed style. “Millicent has taken a liking to sleeping in bed with me”.  

 “I feel like I’m going to have to fight for your attention now” Hux replied playfully.  Millicent had always slept near him before Poe had come into the equation, deciding after he had started sharing the bed with the strange man, she’d find another place to rest at night.  

 “I don’t mind sharing you.  But only with her” Poe said as he held Hux close, enjoying the fact he was back in his arms.  It was only a week that he was gone, but it had seemed so much longer.  

 Hux gave Poe another kiss, pressing his lips against the pilots, losing himself in the feeling until he heard a tell tale wheezing coming from the box behind them.    

 Hux immediately let go of Poe, who followed him over to where Millicent was unceremoniously hacking up a hairball inside of the empty box.  

 “Oh Millie, sweetheart, are you okay?” Hux chided in a worried tone.  She looked up at the two men staring down at her before hopping from the box and happily walking away with a skip in her step.  

 Hux couldn’t help to smile as Poe glanced over at him, his face twisted into a disgusted expression at the cat’s actions.  

 Resting his palms against his knees, Hux tried to press himself as far back as he could in the cramped space.  It was clear to him that Resistance fighter jets were not built for two people, even ones as heavily modified as Poe’s appeared to be. Hux squeezed his fingers against his pant legs as he felt the ship hover above the ground before a loud roar overtook them and the ship shot into the planet’s atmosphere. The General watched as the blackness of space surrounded them and Poe worked the controls with grace and ease he rarely displayed when on the ground. Hux was in awe, having never seen the pilot in his own element, doing what he always bragged he was best at.  It was obvious to him now why that Poe was known as the best pilot in the Resistance for a reason.  His ship seemed to be an extension of his own being as he piloted it with ease, banking to the left gracefully as it continued to gain altitude.  

 As the ship leveled off, the stars that surrounded them twinkled. The planet they had just left was now nothing more than a distant glow behind them. Poe glanced over his shoulder at Hux, who was still watching him work with a bemused look.

 “You’ve never flown before?”  Poe questioned, his eyebrow cocked in slight surprise.  He’d always figured that as General, Hux had received some sort of flight training based on the fact that General Organa was an excellent pilot herself, even if she rarely used her skills.  Yet again, Leia was married to Han Solo.  She had picked up piloting skills (of questionable morals) long before Poe was even born.    

 “No.  Never learned how to” Hux admitted. “Always had a pilot assigned to me if I ever needed one”.  

 Poe flashed Hux a devilish grin.  “You never had the best pilot before though”.

 As Poe grabbed hold of the controls, he pitched the X Wing sharply to the right before leveling out in a clear expanse of space.    

 “What are you doing?”  Hux questioned.  The look on Poe’s face as he eyed the openness before them made him skeptical, knowing that the pilot had something up the sleeve of his flight suit.  Hux just wasn’t quite sure what it  was.    

 Poe laughed as he accelerated his ship’s engines causing Hux to clutch suddenly onto his sides in surprise as the X Wing quickly lurched forward in a burst of speed.  The engines whined as Poe tilted the controls back, causing the X Wing to race upwards before whine dropped to a dull hum as the ship began arching to the side at a sharp angle, continuing on into a graceful loop.  Hux’s stomach dropped as the force pressed against him, his fingers digging further into Poe’s ribs.  The pilot’s laughter echoed in his ears. All of his other senses went numb as the X Wing continued through the remainder of the barrel roll.  His heart raced as he realized they were momentarily suspended upside down, the hazy light from the planet glowing beneath them.  Time seemed to move in slow motion as the X Wing continued to turn before leveling out to its normal, upright position.  Hux’s heart pounded in his chest as tried to loosen his grip on Poe, prying his fingers free from the orange fabric they had entwined themselves during the pilot’s little trick.

 Catching his breath, Hux leaned back in the seat.  He tried to still his shaking legs, to little avail, as his knees shuttered and knocked against the sides of the X Wing.  

“Kriff, Poe!  Do you always fly like that?” Hux managed to stammer as he ran his palms against his thighs, trying to rid himself of the beads of sweat that had collected on his pale hands.  

 “Only when I’ve got cute red-headed Generals aboard” Poe replied with a smirk as he began entering coordinates into the navi-computer. “You okay?”  

 “Of course” Hux said as he leaned forward, placing a kiss against the side of Poe’s helmet, unable to reach his actual cheek due to the plastic pieces that partially covered his face.  After the initial shock of being turned upside down in a matter of seconds, Hux rather enjoyed Poe’s daring moves.  It had been a long time since he’d felt such a rush surge through him, never having experienced temporary weightlessness during space flight.                      

 “Here. Flip that switch” Poe instructed, pointing to a blinking blue light on the control panel. He was enjoying the feeling of Hux pressed against his back as he flew, his sharp chin resting against his shoulder, watching each one of his moves as he piloted them along.    

 Hux reached forward, his arm sliding against the top of Poe’s leg as his finger made its way to  rest against the metal flip switch. He wasn’t quite sure if he fully trusted the pilot after the stunts he pulled minutes prior.    

 “What will that do?” Hux asked, making sure Poe wasn’t about to send them into another crazy maneuver, even if part of him wanted the pilot to do so.  His rational side reminded him that he needed to stay in one piece.    

 “Lightspeed...Just flip it” Poe encouraged.  

 Hux always liked the feeling of jumping into hyperspace. Even in the large starships he normally called home, there was a certain rush that overcame him as the jump was made.  He’d never seen the blue streaks he’d heard others talk about that supposedly appeared through the transparisteel in the cockpit, always working somewhere out of view while the jumps were made.  Hux obliged, flicking the switch, causing the control panel to light up and a loud hum to echo around the small cockpit.      

 In a blink, the X Wing shot forward, the stars and darkness that once surrounded them melting into streaks and swirls of blue light.   Contented that his ship had made the jump safely, Poe settled back against Hux, who wrapped his arms around the pilot’s waist.  

 “It’s really beautiful” Hux commented, taking in the ebbing cobalt and sapphire light surrounding the ship at it hurdled through time and space.  

 Poe worked the buckle of his helmet free from his chin, pulling it from his head before setting it atop the control panel in front of him.  Relaxing into Hux’s embrace, his ruffled curls fell around his face as he tilted his head back with a smile.  Hux dropped forward slightly over the pilot's shoulder, his lips brushing against Poe’s in a gentle kiss, glad his face was finally exposed for his affections.    

 “I always liked hyperspace” Poe admitted.  It was only better now having Hux in the cockpit with him.  Normally the hours spent speeding through the galaxy were ones used by the pilot to communicate with BB-8 or to catch up with filling out mission reports, not in the arms of the man he loved.  “You know, we’ve got some time” Poe added with a smirk and a wink.  

 “Not much space though” Hux commented back, trying to fathom how two full grown men would maneuver themselves into a comfortable enough position to do any of the ideas he knew were going through Poe’s mind.  

 “We can make it work” Poe replied, shifting his weight slightly against Hux to place a kiss against his jawline.  “Trust me”.  

 “Sounds like you’ve done this before” Hux said coolly as he felt the pilot’s lips work up against the side of his face, creeping towards his ear before feeling Poe’s teeth give his earlobe a playful nip.  

 “No, actually”  Poe whispered honestly in Hux’s ear as the tip of his nose nuzzled into the General’s ginger hair.  “But it’s something I’ve always thought about”.  

 Hux let out a low laugh at Poe’s admittance, liking the fact while he was flying missions for the Resistance, his mind was wandering to how he could possibly take a First Order General in his ship.

 Wrapping an arm around the pilot's broad chest, Hux turned Poe around to face him so he was straddling him on his lap.  As his hands settled on Poe’s hips, an enticing smile crossed Hux’s face. 

Spinning around in his chair at the sound of Poe’s footsteps against the hardwood flooring, Hux didn’t have time to stand before Poe leaned down and pressed his lips against his.

“Hey” Poe mumbled between their kiss.

“You’re home” Hux muttered back, the words hardly escaping his lips before Poe began another assault on them with his own.

Poe’s hand dipped into the pocket of his uniform jacket, blindly searching as he continued to kiss Hux. It never failed whether Poe was gone for a day, a week or a month, the minute he got home, the two were like sloppy teenagers for the first few minutes after reuniting with one another. His fingers grasped the item in his pocket as he pulled it from from his coat and finally broke away from Hux.

“Here. Little something I got you” Poe said as he held out his hand towards Hux.

Taking the tissue paper wrapped item from Poe, Hux looked up at him with a smile.

“What’d you get me?”

“Just open it”.

Unwrapping the gift, Hux couldn’t help to laugh as he examined the shot glass. In neon letters painted across it, it read No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem - Miami, Florida in a garish font. If anyone besides Poe ever gifted him with such an item, Hux would scoff at the lowbrow humor and tackiness of it all. But Poe seemed to have a knack of finding the ridiculous and Hux secretly adored the growing collection of absurd glasses and random items that adorned his office bookshelf.

“It’s perfect” Hux commented as he stood from his chair and added the newest acquisition to the others.

“I don’t think any one will top that one I found you in Tulsa” Poe commented as he stepped behind Hux, wrapping his arms around him. He rested his head against the side Hux’s arm, their height difference making his shoulder too far away to place his chin on. He admired the ever growing collection of items, each etched in some way with the name of some random city he’d spent a night in.

“That one from Tulsa is just obscene. I have to hide it in a desk drawer whenever we have company over” Hux replied with a smile as he turned in Poe’s embrace to face him.

Poe laughed. It had been his best find to date and Hux’s reaction to it was priceless. He ran his hands down Hux’s arms, the knit of his black cashmere sweater soft under his calloused fingers. “You hungry?” Poe asked, knowing full well Hux rarely bothered to eat much while he was gone. It was always the second part of their routine after Poe returned home. Grabbing dinner together, an integral part of the evening that provided the energy both needed for part three of welcoming each other home. That always happened once they actually returned home, sometimes barely making it into the living room before clothing was shed and bodies became entangled with one another.

Poe crossed the living room towards Hux who, in the amount of time it had taken him to shower and unpack a little, was engrossed in sketching something at his work station again.

“Are you finally ready?” Hux asked, looking up from his drawing and taking in Poe. Gone was his polished pilot’s uniform he had returned home in. He now wore a faded pair of denim pants and a flannel button down shirt. A flat newsboy cap had replaced the proper hat he wore for work. His dark curls poked out around his ears in an untamed fashion that made Hux’s fingers itch to smooth down into place. “I didn’t know it took so long for you to look that unkempt”.

“You love it” Poe chuckled as Hux rose from his desk.

Poe and Hux found themselves at a table in their favorite, and frequently visited, Thai restaurant down the block from their loft. Hux fumbled with his chopsticks, managing to pull a long strand of noodles from the bowl of heavily spiced vegetables before him. Despite the number of times they had dined together here, he had yet to fully master the utensils.

“I got an offer today at work” Poe said, looking across the dimly lit table.

Hux finished chewing, setting aside his chopsticks at the edge of the ebony bowl, giving his full attention to Poe. “Oh yeah?”

“They want me to fly international”.

“International?” Hux asked with a cocked eyebrow. It had been something Poe had mentioned before, a desire of his but something never formally offered to him before from his employer.

“It’s better money” Poe presented. “And in six months or so, I’ll have the seniority to control my schedule. That’s much sooner than if I stayed on domestic”.

Hux offered a gentle smile. There was no reason for Poe to plead his case on the issue. They lived comfortably on their current salaries, the prospect of more money was only an added bonus to the offer. He would never hold the pilot back for his own selfish reasons. Hux knew Poe, how his very blood was mixed with jet fuel, always seeking the next adventure.

“When would you start?” Hux inquired, hardly needing to voice his approval of Poe’s new job. He could see the excitement flickering in Poe’s dark eyes against the candlelight.

“Two days”.

“Good. Plenty of time to properly say goodbye to you” Hux said with a wink as he popped a peapod into his mouth with his fingers.

Both were more than ready to go as Hux placed a crisp fifty dollar bill on top of the check that seemed to have taken forever to get to their table. Part three of tonight was going to be not only a welcome home but also a congratulations.

The morning Poe left was bitterly cold. Winter had settled over the city early that year, leaving it in a dreary hazy of leafless trees and frozen concrete. Poe had slipped from Hux’s embrace beneath their oversized down comforter before dawn had even broke. He readied himself with a shower and a quick breakfast, trying to make as little noise as possible as he moved about their apartment. Zipping his small carry on luggage closed, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand and leaned over the edge of the mattress. Hux was still asleep, his breaths short and shallow, his body engulfed in the blankets. Poe smoothed back his ginger hair from his forehead, causing Hux to stir slightly in his sleep. Pressing a light kiss against Hux’s pale cheek, Poe whispered in the dark to his sleeping boyfriend.

 Goodbye, love.

The following days passed with little communication from Poe. He was jumping from country to country, zig-zagging across Europe in a dizzying pattern Hux hardly tried to keep track of. The time zones were too vast to try to connect them together for more than a few minutes, a quick phone call here and a text message there. Hux missed him, of course, but dealt with the void left by him in the only way he knew how. Immersing himself into his work, he was more than happy to sign onto an important project. To design a new building from the ground up was to Hux what flying was to Poe. He quickly became engrossed in designing and drafting, his thousands of ideas for the structure flowing from mind to paper with ease.

Sitting back from his drafting table, Hux let out a long sigh. He was running on black coffee and the occasional nibble of cold leftovers from the fridge. The table was covered in rolls and rolls of papers, odd bits of pencil shavings scattered across them. Hux rubbed at his temple, a dull headache radiated across his brow as he looked out the large windows at their neighborhood on a cold winter’s evening. From the fifth floor, his view was of yellowed brick buildings and archaic water tanks perched atop rooftops sprawling out for miles against the dusky sky. It was an adjustment to have Poe gone so far away. He missed his voice, his warmth next to him in bed. How usually at this time he’d get a phone call from him, reminding him to take a break from work and eat a proper meal.

An orange tabby strolled into the office area and hopped up onto Hux’s lap. He stroked the cat’s back as she happily purred, settling himself on Hux’s legs in a compacted ball. He smiled to himself as he thought back to when him and Poe first looked at the apartment space together. Protesting the idea at first, Hux agreed to look at the loft in Brooklyn. It was a stark contrast to the endless stream of condos with crisp modern finishes they had already toured in Manhattan, all of the properties falling short of Hux’s endless list of requests. The realtor had led them into partially finished loft, explaining to the couple that with a few projects, it would be the perfect work/live space for them. Hux admired the view from the windows much as he did now, pulling Poe close and whispering into his ear.

“You just can’t help being a Brooklyn hipster piece of shit, can you?” Hux playfully recited. Words he had once said long before he had fallen so deeply in love with the pilot. Words from a time when Hux would complain about the cost of the Uber ride across the river to Poe’s studio apartment in Greenpoint he shared with one too many roommates. There was no malice in them, now a joke shared between the two of them.

“And you can’t resist it, can you?” Poe murmured back with a devilish grin on his lips. He never cared much for long subway rides with a transfer between it took for him to get to Hux’s apartment on the Upper East Side.

They told the realtor they’d take it and moved in together a week later.

Reaching forward, careful not to disturb the now snoozing Millicent, Hux grabbed his phone from the edge of the table. His intentions were to call for take out, his stomach rumbling with hunger. He noticed multiple notifications on the home screen that he had ignored throughout the day, too engrossed in his work to bother checking. Swiping his finger to activate the device, he allowed the Snapchat story from Poe to begin playing.

He watched the images flash across the screen. An aerial view of Paris. A plate of crepes covered in sliced strawberries drizzled with crème fraîche. Another photo taken from the air, this time an expanse of deep blue ocean along a rocky shoreline. Then a picture of a rainy London street filled with people and taxis. Poe’s tanned fingers wrapped around a cone of newspaper containing battered fish and fries drenched in a curry sauce. Hux smiled at the image as the time ran out on it. Leave it to Poe to find some kind of deep fried street food thousands of miles away. He’d always been more adventurous, and unhealthy, in his eating habits than Hux ever was.

The last bit of the story was a video. Poe in his crisp pilot uniform looking into the camera with a smile, the cockpit of a plane behind him. Judging by the idling engine noise in the background, he had clearly recorded it in a sliver of downtime, waiting for clearance for takeoff on some unknown tarmac.

I miss you and love you. I’ll be home soon.

Hux watched as Poe’s face disappeared, leaving him staring at a blank screen. Clicking out of the app, he scrolled through the various menus saved to his phone, settling on a nearby deli. Placing his order, he scratched Millicent between her ears, eliciting a sleepy meow from the tabby as he set his phone back onto his drafting table.

“I need to work, Millie” Hux chided to the cat as he shifted his weight in his seat, hoping the movement would cause the cat to jump down from his lap. The orange tabby only purred contently as she settled back into her spot, unbudging as Hux conceded to her wishes and pulled his chair closer to the table.

Hux snapped a picture of Millie eying his turkey sandwich hungrily after his order arrived and another of himself with the caption miss you too followed by a line of heart emojis. Normally detesting the little pictures, deeming them stupid and juvenile, Hux didn’t think twice about including them this time, knowing that upon seeing it, it would make Poe smile. Sending the snaps off to Poe, Hux returned to his work, only stopping to take the occasional bite of his dinner.

After hours hunched over his drafting table, his lower back began to throb. He found a decent place to stop his drawings, setting his tools aside. He was usually methodical about cleaning up after himself, but was far too tired to care and with Poe gone, there was no one there to tease him how he would put his pencils away facing the same direction in their metal case. Hux made his way into their bedroom, flipping on the switch to the light that sat on the nightstand. He worked the buttons free on his shirt as he plugged his phone to charge. He opened Snapchat. The arrow next to Poe’s name was still solid, indicating he had yet to look at the pictures Hux had sent hours ago. He frowned a bit as he turned away from his phone and pulled his arms free of his shirt. He dismissed the momentary sadness, reminding himself that Poe was working and not always able check his phone.

After a long, hot shower, Hux changed into a simple black tee shirt and sleep pants and collapsed into bed. Millicent jumped up onto the mattress, claiming the spot on Poe’s pillows she had taken to sleeping on in his absence. Pulling the thick down comforter over himself, he hardly remembered falling asleep.

Poe arrived home late that night. Tiptoeing across the apartment, he noticed Hux’s desk a mess which made him smile that normally perfectionist boyfriend had let himself go a little in his absence. He made his way into their bedroom, leaning his luggage against the nightstand before sitting against the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped under his weight as he worked his polished dress shoes off. He didn’t bother to remove his pilot uniform as he slipped beneath the covers next to Hux.

“Hey” Poe quietly whispered.

Turning to his side, Hux opened his eyes as Poe kissed him lightly. He smelled of jet fumes and cologne. Sweet with a hint of danger, a signature scent of Poe that Hux had missed dearly in his absence.

“You’re home” Hux muttered sleepily as he worked an arm free from the blankets. His fingers traced against Poe’s starched navy jacket, checking to make sure he was real and not a figment of a dream.

“Mmm-hmm” Poe hummed. “Sorry to wake you up”.

Hux blinked slowly, letting his eyes adjust. He’d neglected to turn off the lamp on the nightstand, it’s yellowish glow illuminating the bedroom. “Come here”

Poe obliged, working himself under the blankets and closer to Hux. He took in how warm he was, how much he missed the feeling of him next to him all the nights he spent in cramped European hotel beds.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Not really” Poe said with a shake of his head. “Jetlagged probably”.

“Thought the galaxy’s best pilot didn’t get jetlag” Hux teased as he ran his fingers through Poe’s dark curls.

Poe laughed as he nuzzled against Hux. “I don’t even know what time I’m on anymore”.

“How long are you home for?” Hux inquired as let Poe rest his head against his chest, relaxing his arm around his back.

“Two weeks” Poe replied as he tilted his head up. “You know, we can go anywhere in the world for free now” he said quietly as he began pressing his lips against Hux’s neck, peppering him with soft pecks. “Fiji”. Kiss. “Hawaii”. Kiss. “Thailand”. Kiss.

“Those all sound good” Hux replied as he caught Poe’s mouth, returning his kisses with ones of his own. Tugging at Poe’s bottom lip with his teeth, Hux let him go for a moment. “But I’d rather stay right here with you” he added with a mischievous smile.

“I like the sound that” Poe hummed. “But first, I got you something” Poe added, affixing one final kiss on Hux before turning over to the edge of the bed.

Poe stretched his arm out, fishing into the outer pocket of his luggage, extracting a small plastic bag and handing it over to Hux.

Hux sat up in bed, Poe joining him. Their backs rested against the headboard as Hux pulled the item from the bag, working it free from the tightly wrapped bubble wrap.

“Oh that is bad!” Hux exclaimed with a chuckle as he examined the gift. His two years of French courses in college made the translating the rude joke on the glass simple enough, not that there was much complexity to the statement.

“Worse than the Tulsa one?” Poe asked with a smile.