#softkylux

He put a hand on Black’s console - he’d apologize, but she didn’t feel upset about the situation, just alert - then got up and went to the back, hopefully out of visual range of anyone who happened to look into the cavern he’d backed the lion into on this asteroid.  Ideally shutting it all down would keep them off the scanners of the Galra patrol slated to come through this sector momentarily, but neither of them could be completely sure.  Hence why Allura was currently setting down one of the Mylar (or whatever the Altean equivalent was) blankets so their body heat wasn’t sucked out below them.  Another two were folded next to it.

“As I’ll ever be.  Black told me... I think... that she’ll alert us when the patrol’s passed, but it’ll be a few hours at least.”  He sat down and pulled one of the blankets over him.  Allura did the same, her nose scrunched up in irritation.

“I should have taken a closer look at their schedules,” she muttered.  “We wouldn’t be stuck here right now if I had.”

“Don’t blame yourself. We just have to sit tight for a few hours, that’s all.  The others back at the castle know what’s going on, they won’t panic.”  Shiro nudged her shoulder with his own.  “It’ll be fine, Princess.”

Allura rested her head on her crossed arms, looking at him, and Shiro was glad for the black suit he wore under his paladin armor.  It hid the fact that his heart sped up anytime she looked at him with that expression on her face, like she could see into his mind. 

“I’m sure it will be,” she agreed.  “Both you and Coran have been after me to rest, anyway. Surely this period of enforced inactivity counts.”

“Nope.  Rest means sleep, and you really should get some.  I can stay awake, keep an eye on things.”  Shiro kept his expression neutral and very deliberately shut down any thoughts of Allura, dozing against his chest, curled up in his arms.  That kind of thing was nice to think about, but it wouldn’t ever happen for him.  She was a princess, and he... well, he was who he was.

“That does sound like a good idea,” and oh no, she was leaning her head on his shoulder, he had miscalculated terribly, this was a bad idea--

“Keep us safe, Shiro,” Allura mumbled, and he was too afraid to move once her breathing slowed and the rest of her body relaxed.  If he moved, if he did anything but stare through half-open eyes at the star field visible through Black’s viewport, then he’d wake her up, and she needed her rest, but more importantly he’d have to acknowledge how good it felt to have her here like this, with him.  In the middle of a war, that was a whole can of worms he didn’t think ought to be opened.

Still, it was nice.  He could admit that it was nice, that she was warm, that he was warmer and more comfortable with her head resting on his shoulder even though the position was cutting off his circulation.  He could admit that this was the most relaxed he’d been in... well, since before the Kerberos mission, anyway.  He could let himself relax.

*

A soft, insistent beeping woke her, but Allura kept her eyes shut.  Even though they’d dropped the temperature in the cabin, she was warm all over, face pressed into soft black fabric and something pleasantly heavy on top of her head.  

She opened her eyes; on the bench beside them, an indicator was blinking on the clear visor of Shiro’s helmet, and the lion was coming back to life around them.  That meant the Galra had passed, and they could continue on back to the castle.  But she didn’t want to just yet; she was warm and comfortable here, tucked in against Shiro’s side.  What harm would it do to linger?

That thought made her sigh and shift, rolling back away from him and leaning against the wall, stretching her neck and shoulders.  But the motion had woken Shiro, and Allura felt her chest constrict watching awareness come to him.  He opened his eyes and looked at her, completely relaxed still, and it was  physical ache to know she shouldn’t want to wake up to that expression on his face every day for the rest of her life.

I want you to stay with me always was what she thought.

“You’re not very good at keeping watch,” was what she said.  Shiro made a face.

“I guess I needed rest, too.”  He stood, extending a hand to help her up, and if she held on a little longer than necessary he didn’t call attention to it.  “Let’s get going.”

Hux then felt a gloved hand pat his cheek a few times, a voice coming through to him, as if through deep water. Muffled, distorted, and low. That annoyed him. Why were they speaking in such a manner? He raised a hand to try and swat them away, but he quickly realized his limbs felt like they were made of lead. What…What just happened to him?

The voice spoke again, and the patting on his cheek got a little more firm. Then he felt a familiar sensation—someone in his head. Hux knew who that was—only one person could do such a thing. And that was Kylo Ren. Just as he tensed up, preparing to scold him, the sensation changed, and it was as if someone gently blew away the smoke in his head, his senses becoming a lot sharper. And the voice that spoke became clear, at last.

“General? Are you coming back to us?”

Now Hux understood why the voice sounded distorted—Ren was speaking through his damned mask. But wait, that meant—

Hux blinked his eyes open, everything being a sickly blur of colors and shapes for a moment, before some more blinking finally got things into focus. He was staring up at the ceiling of the bridge…and Ren was looking over him, hovering like some masked reaper. His hands were under Hux’s arms, no doubt preventing the general from crashing back onto the floor, when he stumbled. …Because that’s what happened, right?

“You fainted, right into my arms.” said Ren, his amusement clear even through his mask, “If you wanted my attention that badly, General…”

Hux grumbled, swallowing hard, realizing his throat was parched, taking a few moments to speak, “Fuck off, Ren…And I didn’t faint. Impossible. The ship just malfunctioned, is all. I could’ve caught myself.”

With a struggle, he tried to get to his feet, feeling Ren helping him up. With a growl, Hux wrenched himself from him, and quickly stood up, walking a bit away, before whirling on him. Hux then realized that they were indeed still on the Finalizer’s bridge. And the troopers and officers were all staring at him, some confused, other concerned. Had…Had they all just watched him collapse? See him in a moment of weakness?

Impossible. Hux men don’t faint.

“Listen, Ren…” started Hux, staring down Ren, who stood there, simply watching him. But before he could get in more words, he felt the ship shift again. He could’ve swore it was the ship moving, and not him! It couldn’t be him, he was in peak health, there was nothing wrong. Sure, a few sleepless nights, and skipped meals, but nothing that could do this…Or so he thought. He realized too late, that standing up quickly and whirling around like that was a bit too much.

Hux tried to talk more, wanting to scold Ren for touching him, but his tongue suddenly couldn’t work. His vision was blurring, everything was shifting, and there was a ringing, rushing sound in his ears. Then, as quickly as everything started, it stopped and everything went silent, as Hux blissfully became aware of nothing more.

********

This time, when Hux came to, he knew he was laying down. He was laying on something soft, and whatever was covering him was soft, too. And he was warm. He shifted slightly, before grunting as he felt a dull throb behind his eyes and around his temples. Hells, that was a headache… Why was there a headache? He tried to sit up, eyes fluttering open slightly, before he felt a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down.

“Stay still. You’ll just collapse again.”

Kylo Ren.

Hux tried to speak, but all that came out was a strangled croak. His throat was more parched than before. He heard Ren move away, and while he did whatever he went to do, Hux opened his eyes fully, blinking them into focus, before slowly looking around. He was surprised to find that he was in his quarters. And he was laying in his bed. How’d he get here? He was on the bridge just moments ago, wasn’t he?

Ren came back moments later, a glass of water in his hand. With his help, Hux carefully sat up, that throbbing getting a bit worse in his head, but he didn’t make it known. Though, knowing Ren, he probably ‘sensed’ that it was there. Taking the glass of water, Hux drank long and slowly from it, unable to help but let out a soft, content sigh through his nose, as cold water coated his tongue, and whet his throat. When it was all gone, Ren took the glass and adjusted Hux’s pillows, so he could sit up and lean against them.

“Almost a week with little to no sleep.” started Ren, sitting on the edge of Hux’s bed, “And you’ve hardly eaten anything. You’ve gotten almost too light. And skinny. You’re lacking rest and nutrition, and that’s why…” He reached out, his ungloved fingers brushing against Hux’s forehead, “You have a headache.”

“Don’t lecture me…” huffed Hux, giving him a look, “And I’ve been busy. I couldn’t afford to stop and eat, or sleep. I’ve nibbled on a few things here or there, and I’ve taken short naps when I could’ve. I don’t have the time to lay here and…”

Just as Hux started moving to get up, Ren once again moved in, gently pushing Hux back down. Hux then saw that, in the dim lighting, that Ren didn’t have his mask on. Or his gloves. Before Hux could protest, the Knight of Ren’s hand raised up, pressing his fingers lightly against Hux’s temple. He blinked, before he felt a strange sensation going on, that made him shudder. It was like water was trickling into his head, a cooling, soothing water. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, feeling his headache getting literally washed away, by whatever Ren was doing to him. Once the last dregs of pain were gone, the sensation stopped, and the hand was pulled back. Opening his eyes, Hux saw that Ren had gotten closer.

“The headache’s gone. But you still need to rest. And eat.” he said, frowning with disapproval, “And no, you’re not going to sneak away from me. I’m staying right here, until you’ve ate something and slept for more than a few minutes.”

Hux opened his mouth, before closing it.  How did he know—? “First off, these are my quarters. I can order you out of them if I wish. And I’m not giving you permission to stay, or take care of me, so…”

His words got cut off, as Ren moved quickly and pressed his lips up against Hux’s, effectively shutting him up. He was too stunned and a bit drowsy to really respond, other than his eyes widening. Ren lingered there for a moment, before pulling back, resting his forehead against Hux’s.

“Shut up and let me take care of you, since you ‘don’t have the time’ to take care of yourself.” he said firmly, but softly. Giving Hux one more light kiss, he pulled away, before getting off of the bed and crossing the room, leaving Hux sitting in bed, blushing darkly, fingers touching his lips, where Ren’s once were.

They were soft…he thought, dazedly. He thought he heard Ren chuckle, as if catching that thought, causing him to glare over at him, before his eyes widened again.

Ren was walking back towards his bed…with a tray full of hot food. Sitting back down on the bed, he carefully set the tray on Hux’s lap.

“While you were unconscious from your second fainting episode, I went to the mess hall and got you a few things.” he said, taking some of the utensils and cutting the food into bite-sized pieces, “And after you eat some of this, you’re going to sleep. I already alerted the crew that you’ll be…indisposed of for the rest of the day.”

“Wha—“ Hux blinked at Ren, before glaring at him, “R—Rest of the day?? Ren, you had no right to do th—“ His words were cut off, as the knight all but shoved the fork into Hux’s mouth, with food on it.

“Do I need to repeat myself, Hux?” sighed Ren, letting Hux huffily take the food off of the fork, before pulling it back, “Now…eat. You need to, you skinny waif.”

Hux rolled his eyes at that, but didn’t protest any further. All and all, it was almost…kind of Ren to do this. And while he’d never admit it to him, he liked being taken care of. Being able to relax, and let someone else do all the work. As Ren fed him some more food, Hux let two words cross his mind, not caring of Ren would catch them or not.

…Thank you.

And he did.