#ohthefluff

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.