Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/7180637.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Star_Wars_-_All_Media_Types, Star_Wars_Episode_VII:_The_Force_Awakens_
      (2015), Star_Wars_Sequel_Trilogy
  Relationship:
      Hux_(Star_Wars)/Original_Female_Character(s), Armitage_Hux/Original
      Female_Character(s)
  Character:
      Brendol_Hux, Hux_(Star_Wars), Original_Female_Character(s), Original
      Characters, Armitage_Hux
  Additional Tags:
      Arkanis_Academy, Orphans, Friendship, Friends_to_Lovers, Male-Female
      Friendship, Romantic_Friendship, Friends_With_Benefits, Eventual_Smut,
      Eventual_Sex, Loss_of_Virginity, Protective_Hux, Hux_Backstory, Young
      Hux, Virgin_Hux, School, Boarding_School, Loneliness, Rape, Gang_Rape,
      Consensual_Underage_Sex, Female_Protagonist, Insanity, First_Time, First
      Kiss, First_Meetings, Bullying, Pre-Battle_of_Starkiller_Base, Commandant
      Hux_-_Freeform, Hux_Senior, Heartbreak, Sexual_Experimentation, Sexual
      Content, Sexual_Tension, First_Time_Blow_Jobs, Underage_Rape/Non-con,
      Mental_Breakdown, Mental_Institutions, Mental_Instability, Students,
      Imperial_Officers_(Star_Wars), Isolation, Death, Suicide, Time_Skips,
      Tragic_Romance, Tranquilizers, Mental_Disintegration, Medicinal_Drug_Use,
      Medical_Trauma, Rape_Aftermath, Secret_Relationship, Friendship/Love,
      First_Love, Sharing_a_Bed, Getting_to_Know_Each_Other, Neck_Kissing,
      Awkward_First_Times, Awkward_Kissing, Awkward_Sexual_Situations, Pre-
      Movie(s), Cruelty, Teenagers, Teen_Romance, Horny_Teenagers,
      Discrimination, Vaginal_Fingering, Hand_Jobs, Oral_Sex, Revenge, Cross-
      Posted_on_FanFiction.Net, Porn_Watching, Morning_Cuddles, Morning_Kisses,
      Snoke_Being_a_Dick, Evil_Snoke, Manipulation, Emotional_Manipulation,
      Prison, Implied/Referenced_Rape/Non-con
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-06-12 Updated: 2018-01-05 Chapters: 10/? Words: 25030
****** Learn to Love.... And Hate. ******
by Harrishawksuperiour
Summary
     What else could one expect from an Imperial academy? Superiority.
     Condescension. Belittlement. To be different was to be hated. Greya
     finds herself the recipient of a scholarship to the Arkanis Academy
     and the Cadet program under the direction of Commandant Brendol Hux.
     Isolated and alone for her background, the brown eyed Corellian
     endures the bullying and exclusion on a daily basis but it turns out
     the Commandant's own son is just as lonely as she is.
Notes
     This came to me fully formed last night and I had to write it! Might
     tank but we'll see. Enjoy!
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Vagabond *****
Chapter Summary
     Greya arrives at the Academy but the welcome is non-existent.
       What else could one expect from an Imperial academy? Superiority.
         Condescension. Belittlement. To be different was to be hated.
                                        
She was different and they didn’t let her forget it. She didn’t look different;
perhaps she was a little smaller than the rest but other than that…..  
 
No, what made her different was her background. It looked good for the Arkanis
Academy to offer a scholarship as a trial program; as a way of reaching out to
the community and showing some sort of inclusivity for the ordinary among the
privileged. It just so happened that said scholarship was won by a fourteen
year old from an orphanage on Corellia.
 
Greya Vardai left the Coronet City Orphanage and into the unknown to arrive on
Arkanis in time for orientation. At five foot and five inches; she was not
imposing or threatening but confidence and fire counted for plenty. The new
uniform was snug rather than tight; black and breathable but staunch against
the movement of her body. The heavy black boots were no better, close against
her calves and with little give in the cap if she flexed her toes. She told
herself she’d get used to them; she just needed to break them in.
 
The Academy itself was daunting. The orphanage had been nothing special but the
change from bricks, mortar and plaster to the overwhelming envelopment of dead
metal left a little tingle of discomfort in her system. The floors, the walls,
the ceilings; everything was cold and stannic. The theme continued into her
room (which she surprisingly wasn’t expected to share) of greys and blacks
alternating in the sterile metallic design. The bed was somewhere between a
single and a double in size in the corner of the room and scarcely covered with
thin sheets of unfeeling white; the door opposite served as a closet and the
wall beyond said closet was the refresher. The scheme didn’t seem to vary. Like
the boots, she persuaded herself she would get used to it.
 
The brunette expected a packed events hall but when she looked around at the
unfamiliar faces, she felt her stomach coil even tighter to a bundle of nerves
though it seemed to recruitment to the Cadets had been quite small. Whether
that was better or worse, she had yet to decide but for now it meant more
blending in. Of the approximately twenty four recruits, the brown eyed
Corellian was only one of three females. While the other recruits may not have
known each other personally, they knew their own and they knew an outsider.
Greya (inexplicably) radiated foreignness and it seemed to cause a ripple of
unwelcome in the rest who felt she didn’t belong.
 
There were plenty of seats on the layered benches where she could have slipped
in but when she tried, someone would shuffle over and spread their group to
prevent the blow-in from sitting down. Those who were already at the edges of
the seats rolled their eyes and blew out impatient huffs when she passed.
Eventually, she found a seat at the back and sat down though her discomfort
only climbed. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
 
There was a rustling of twenty four students sitting up and fixing their
postures before the silence of the room (if it was possible) intensified.
Looking over the heads, she found the podium at the bottom had been claimed by
a tall, lean and fire haired man. Commandant Brendol Hux. Her immediate
impression by looks alone were that the head of their group was strict,
unwavering and possibly cruel. When he spoke; he was cold, direct and
commanding and Greya understood now why her classmates had fixed themselves.
This man expected the best.
 
“You are here….”He began into the microphone and amazingly, the reverberation
just seemed to shake the ice in his voice enough to drop the temperature in the
hall. “Because you know there is something bigger than you. You know that that
something hangs in a very delicate balance. One wrong move by an army, one
wrong word by a politician and it can crumble. I know of many of your families
and I know of their concerns. With every passing day that the Republic exerts
its hold on the galaxy, we are ever closer to it descending into war and unrest
again.”He paused to let the students soak and looked around, his eyes almost
hawkish. He spoke from no prompter or notes; his speech was delivered from
experience and with clipped passion.
 
“For too long, there has been too much bloodshed, death and destruction in the
wake of the Republic’s rule and you’re here today as the next generation; to
join our cause, to rise up and take the galaxy back from those to whom it does
not belong. To survive and persevere; you will need order, regimen, dedication
and above all, you will need discipline. Without these, you cannot hope to be
part of restoring the galaxy to its former glory and shaping the futures of
those who depend on us to protect them from their current stranglehold. I know
you will all do well and I look forward to serving as head of your battalion.
Welcome to the Cadets.”
 
The light, polite applause peppered the atmosphere in the hall and the
Commandant appeared to deem himself above acknowledging it. When their leader
stepped down, the names of those present were announced with a pause and they
were simply instructed to raise their hand in noiseless response.
 
“Bast.” “Brandei.” “Cabbel.” “Childsen.” “Dyer” “Evax.” “Gherant.” “Hux.”
“Jerrjerod.” “Jir.” “Khurgee.” “Lennox.” “Motti.” “Needa.” “Nemet.” “Ozzel.”
“Piet.” “Praji.” “Tagge.” “Tanbris.” “Treidum.”Then….
“Vardai.”As the others had before her, Greya’s hand rose though it shook a
little. Subtly, heads turned and eyes flickered as the well-bred and young of
the military aristocracy regarded their invader. Even the Commandant who stood,
disinterested, from beyond the podium glanced up and looked for the hand of the
scholarship recipient. The stillness lasted less than thirty seconds though
Greya could have sworn it to be longer. The names continued after that as if
she was just another student.
 
“Veers.” “Yularen.”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
The discrimination continued. For the first two days; Greya was avoided,
elbowed in the hallway, glared at and anything else her classmates could do to
make her feel unwanted was done with the utmost effect. Unperturbed, Greya
brushed it off but resolved that maybe to do this alone was not the best
approach. As had become the habit on the first day at orientation, Greya was
blocked from sitting down at a table in the canteen though the space was
plentiful.
 
Cliques had formed and they all seemed to have one goal in common: Alienating
the outcast. It seemed their disgust had sprung from superiority; they were
born of the warmongering elite, backed with countless units, alliances and had
chosen their groups based on those values. Even the two other girls within the
battalion (who both seemed to know each other already) wanted nothing to do
with her. So Greya glided through the aisles of packed tables and when she went
to sit down, a sudden effort was made to stop her so she would try elsewhere.
 
With no free tables and lunch time beginning to dwindle; Greya looked around
helplessly, almost tempted to pocket what she could and eat in her room later.
But in another corner, she spotted an almost empty table. Tray clasped
hopefully, the female approached and found one of her classmates sitting alone.
That boy (well, he was about fifteen), she had seen him at orientation; or more
accurately, the back of his head. And that red head was impossible to mistake.
 
“Is there someone sitting here?” He seemed to be too immersed in his own food
and so didn’t even look up when Greya spoke.
“No.”
“Okay, do you mind if I sit down?” Again, he was too involved with his own meal
to spare her a glance.
“I suppose you may.”  Grateful to get off her feet, Greya’s tray met the table
and when she sat; her classmate still hadn’t looked up. However, when she
started removing her cutlery from the plastic packaging and taking the lid off
her yoghurt, she felt eyes on her; boring in with disapproval. Just like the
others.
 
“I would recommend you invest in some hair ties.” Greya looked across the table
to see she had been noticed after all. Her spoon paused over the open carton
with confusion. He was talking to her?
 
“I…. What?”
“Hair ties. To wear your hair down is against uniform regulation; I’m surprised
you haven’t been reprimanded for it yet.”
“Uhh…. Okay? I’ll bear that in mind.” She started to eat but promptly stopped
to investigate the furthered staring. Maybe she should have kept looking for
another table.
 
“You’re the one they call Vagabond.”
“Look mate, I’ll move tables if you want….”
“You may as well stay, lunch is almost over.” He sniffed and returned to the
remains of his own, poking them listlessly with his fork. Mildly insulted,
Greya tried refrained from further interaction but he was looking at her again;
curious if anything. He’d heard the murmurs of the one the Board had let into
the prestigious Academy as a PR stunt; the orphan, the urchin. She wasn’t what
his imagination conjured though; she wasn’t dirty, ugly or poorly nourished….
Quite the opposite of those things.
 
“Why aren’t you sitting with them?” The question was quiet and her focus was on
the tasteless dairy, as if the word ‘Vagabond’ had hurt her. “Thought you’d be
one of the popular ones.”
 
“I’m assuming you mean because of who my father is?”
“What else would I mean? You’re one of them. The rich, the powerful, the
untouchable.”
“Well, you’ll be surprised to learn that the Commandant doesn’t treat me any
differently to how he treats the others and therefore, they gain nothing by
pretending to be my friends so they don’t bother.”
“I see….” They lapsed into silence again while he continued to scrutinize her.
Veers and Lennox had commented on her hair colour, Jir had remarked upon the
way she walked and Nemet had made some disgusting observation on how her rear
was shaped by her uniform trousers. Of course, he was not part of these
conversations; merely listening from a respectable distance though he was sure
the subject could hear them too with how she shifted shamefully in her
classroom seat.
 
Greya tried to ignore him. She tried to ignore the way those bluey green eyes
(she couldn’t decide which they were) swept over her face and how his pale,
freckled nose wrinkled slightly in seeming offense by her ignorance of how the
Academy was run. He took in the light kinks of the milk chocolate shade of her
hair and the light dusting of tan on her skin. The physical judgements on her
appeared to be unjustified.
 
“Did you start that strategy assignment?” His concentration shattered and he
blinked to re-zone himself. He was merely answering questions and keeping them
as short as possible; if he needed to ask her to repeat it, she might get the
impression it was an inclusive conversation.
 
“I’m almost finished.”
“Huh? We got it yesterday!”
“So?”
“I haven’t even started; it’s not due till next week!”
“I would advise you to keep on top of your workload. It’s only going to get
more intense.”
“Thanks for the tip.” The intercom to remind them of the end of lunch disrupted
the rocky and somewhat bitter conversation chimed and Greya wasn’t sure if it
was a mercy or not. Getting to her feet, her scarlet-headed classmate was
slower but somehow more efficient in the endeavour. “I guess I’ll see you
around.” She remarked with an annoyed quirk of her lip, he simply arched an
eyebrow in return as his bag swung up over his shoulder.
 
“Perhaps you will. Vagabond.”
***** Brute *****
Chapter Summary
     Combat class proves to be a very useful tool for instilling even more
     hatred into the aristocracy.
By the end of her first week at the Academy, Greya had realized and accepted
that she would be alone for the remainder of her time there. The phrase
‘Vagabond’ became more widely used, both to her face and behind her back. Even
behind her back, she could hear it whispered. Stupid thoroughbreds. Was
Vagabond really the best they could come up with? Was that all their pampered
minds could fathom? Were their childhoods so shallow that Vagabond was the
closest thing they could conjure to a curse word or scarring insult? She was
stronger than them. She was more experienced than them. She knew real danger
unlike them. If Vagabond was all she had to worry about, she would keep her
mouth shut, her head down and humiliate them all.
 
 
She hadn’t spoken to her redheaded classmate since that day in the canteen. She
had seen plenty of him in classes but their conversations amounted to a grand
total of one.  He claimed he had no affiliations with the others, maybe he
didn’t. But by alienating and ignoring her like they did, he was no better;
despite his air of bitter superiority. Grudgingly, she had taken his advice and
bought hair ties (with the little money she had) and when he noticed the thick,
waving, chocolate ponytail; he regarded her with something of a smug wrinkle of
his nose then turned back in his seat. Condescending didn’t begin to cover him
and maybe he disdained her that little bit more than the others.
 
 
So when his back hit the training mat with blood pumping from his nose to match
his hair, Greya didn’t bat an eyelid. Asshole. Skinnier than she realized and
far paler; his vest top and shorts revealed just how pasty, gangly and bony he
was. There was a slight curl of annoyance in the Commandant’s lip though he did
his best to remain passive when his son’s agonized moan met his ears and was
scooped off the floor by a waiting medic. Rolling his eyes, he ignored the
younger redhead and surveyed the lightly sweating victor with something he
barely displayed as approval. Then he decided to shake things up.
 
 
“Vardai.”The coldness woke her from her bored daze like an icy bucket of water.
It was like he was indulging in his very own fighting ring. All twenty-four of
them, fighting two at a time under Hux Senior’s scrutinizing eye was probably
barbaric but if it didn’t surprise Greya that it was expected of them. Stepping
out onto the mat to face Nemet; the one who had commented on her rear in her
uniform trousers, she was surprisingly unafraid. Nemet was tall, he was broad
and he was ugly. And needless to say, judging by the state of the human
toothpick, he was merciless.
 
 
Greya stood maybe four feet from Nemet, choosing to tune out the scornful
remarks and the cruel laughter born of one of their own getting the opportunity
to put some manners on the Vagabond. Well, sort of. Nemet’s first mistake was
lunging for her which had been her reason for keeping back; she knew what he
would do. It also meant that while he stumbled and recovered, she could elbow
him hard into the back of the neck. Scandalized, outraged cries erupted in the
training hall as Nemet collapsed face first onto the mat. Her classmates turned
to the Commandant for justice, almost demanding she be stopped but the elder
had no intention of halting the exercise. In fact….
 
 
“Get up, Nemet.”The lazy, probing gaze was on the lump before her now. “Unless
you want to be remembered as the man who got bested by an orphan, a woman at
that.” Nemet flipped himself over and panted with a pained groan while he
crawled along the mat to procrastinate getting up. The Commandant’s words
resonated with him. He wouldn’t be bested by the Vagabond. Nemet made a grab
for her ankle from where he’d failed to get up. In an attempt to use his
obvious strength advantage and whip her leg out from under her, Greya was
faster. Before the male could jerk her, he received a swift and crushing blow
from the other heel into the jaw.
 
 
Sure, it hurt her too but she had learned not to show it. It was more than
worth it to see the blood dribbling from between his lips and the effort he put
into spitting with his (later diagnosed as fractured) jaw. The satisfaction
only intensified when those weak attempts birthed more blood and the weak
rattle of a tooth tumbling down onto the sweat soaked mat. The fury and
indignation rose again, seemingly unable to accept the defeat of their
unofficial champion but the Commandant paid them no heed. He was far too busy
looking over the conqueror and she looked back at him. With a dismissive nod,
the class was dissolved so Greya made a break to collect her bag and return to
her room to shower. As fulfilling as it had been, she couldn’t help but notice
how she had flared her comrade’s hatred even more.
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
Two days later, Greya sat alone in the canteen. She’d managed to secure a
rickety table in a dark corner where she could continue her isolation in peace.
Poking listlessly at some sort of half-cold stew with her pretty face contorted
in mild disgust, a tray being set down opposite her own was some sort of
distraction; good or bad, she wasn’t sure.
 
 
“Seat’s taken.” She growled automatically without looking up, even the bloody
dinner roll was almost inedible.
 
“No, it isn’t.” Off the cuff, self-righteous, rude. It could only be one
person. Oh Gods, not you. Greya looked up to see the redhead already sitting
down and off-loading his tray without a second thought for the female’s
protests. Even if he was settled, she was going to keep going; the terrible
quality of her dinner just seemed to fuel her irritation even more.
 
 
“Yes, it is!”
 
 
“No, it isn’t. No one likes you, remember?” Greya’s nostrils flared in utter
vexation and while he stripped the plastic from his cutlery and started to chew
away with contentment, she had to doubt his previous claims about being treated
like everyone else. Said suspicion came from the dreamy curls of steam rising
from his bowl and wafting across to tickle her nose while hers did nothing to
rouse her. Either the staff didn’t like her as much as her classmates or she
was just unfortunate enough to get the end of a batch while he got the
beginning of a fresh one.
 
 
Greya looked around the canteen with biting impatience; all the other tables
seemed to be full and she knew from experience that if she tried to edge her
way into an already occupied table, she would be ejected in record time. It
seemed even the older students in years above her (despite knowing nothing
about her) were just as ruthless as those her own age. She was stuck at the
table with the Commandant’s son of all people. That vile, rat-faced, teacher’s
pet, fart-smell-
 
 
“They’re calling you Brute now.” He informed her lightly and crashing her train
of thought. He was on the verge of swallowing his scalding mouthful; to speak
allowed just enough air in to cool it before he did. Greya wasn’t interested in
his teasing report; she wanted to get this horrendous dinner into her and be
done with it. The sooner she could do that; the sooner she could escape from
his suffocating presence. It was bad enough he was overly enjoying his meal to
(in her opinion) purposely rile her when he could see she wasn’t touching hers
but to speak to her when she clearly didn’t want him to?
 
 
“I know.” He looked up suddenly and Greya felt the sweet stab of gratification
when she noticed the twinge of disappointment in his face though he was still
chewing. She hadn’t looked up properly yet but she didn’t need to see him face
on to catch a glimpse of his expression.
 
 
“What do you mean you know?! How do you know?!” He’d swallowed a little too
quickly and felt the burn of the Bantha meat sliding down his throat,
scratching with discomfort as he made the demand.
 
 
“Lennox spat at me yesterday and screamed it so I assume I’ve been upgraded
from Vagabond now. Or downgraded?”
 
 
“She took it especially difficult.” He agreed, poking through the bowl looking
for another lump of meat among the vegetables. “They’re something of a couple
but I don’t see how that would work. And anyway, it’s against protocol.”
 
 
“Gods, do you ever shut up about protocol? No wonder you don’t have any
friends.”
 
 
“Protocol is important.” He replied haughtily but his nostrils stretched into
an offended sniff. Maybe that was a sore spot. So? If he was going to dish it
out, he had to be able to take it. “I’m better than those people.”
 
 
“No you’re not!” Greya argued, raising her voice but dropping it again, self-
conscious, when people turned to look. “You’re exactly the same as them if not
worse! You seem to think you have some advantage over the rest of us but guess
what? You don’t! You think all this crap about protocol is going to help you?
It’s not! You know what you’re doing? Talking down to people, making snide
suggestions? You’re driving people away! Maybe that’s why the others don’t want
anything to do with you! You’re painful!” He didn’t seem to have an answer for
that. If anything, he dipped his head and continued to root through the thick
broth clouding the ingredients, dejected. Had it been anyone else, she probably
would have apologised for the outburst but she wasn’t going to, not this time.
He was quiet, almost to a wounded extent, but wouldn’t stay that way for long.
 
 
“Where did you learn to do that?” Reticent, he was almost afraid to speak
again. That greeny blue gaze was trained down on his bowl, fishing around in it
but reduced to picking out the pieces of vegetables before he drank the broth.
If she’d noticed, his eyes appeared a different shade from the last time they
spoke, simply by the darkness of the corner they’d occupied.
 
 
“Gods….” Greya sighed, exasperated, reminding herself that murder was illegal.
“Where did I learn to do what?!”
 
 
“What you did to Nemet. It was…. Impressive. It’s been a long time since my
father looked at anyone that way.” Me included.Greya wasn’t really keen to have
this conversation. The less anyone (Hux Junior especially) knew about her
background, the better. It couldn’t be used against her. They had made their
own assumptions; some of it true, some of it not but it was best to keep them
guessing. At least if they teased her about the wrong things, it wouldn’t hurt
as much. Dead parents though; that was always a winner, that always stung. And
they used it very effectively.
 
 
“You don’t grow up in an orphanage and not learn how to kick the shit out of
someone.” She ignored the visible flinch at the curse word; theory of limited
vocabulary: Confirmed.
 
 
“You fractured his jaw, dislodged a tooth.” There was a degree of awe as her
classmate recounted the injuries he’d overheard in the medbay from Nemet’s
medic in the next cubicle. He may have been watching the fight from the side-
lines in bad condition but that didn’t stop him replaying it over and over
again in his mind and the last frame was always The Vagabond. Or Brute as she
was now known. He remembered her panting, strong and unchallenged until he
couldn’t remember anymore.  
 
 
“Mmm, I thought it might be something like that. It would’ve been overkill to
break it.”
 
“You can do that?”
 
“Yeah, want to be my guinea pig?”
 
“No but…. Can you teach me?” Greya stared, disbelieving while he stared back,
hopeful and nervous. He’d been defenceless at the Academy for years, more years
than he cared to admit. True, this was his first year of academia in the Cadets
but with his father presiding over such a prestigious post; his only heir was,
of course, going to spend more time there than he desired. Whether he liked it
or not.
 
 
“Teach you.” Greya repeated sceptically with an arched eyebrow to convey just
how utterly ridiculous she found this notion. He swallowed and waited for a
‘yes’ or a ‘no’. “You want me to teach you?” He probably would have scolded
himself if he saw his desperate little nod that rocked from his neck muscles
but the female saw it. “So, hang on, you’ve done nothing but insult and
belittle me since I got here and you want me to teach you?”
 
 
“Well…. Yes. I mean…. It would be very beneficial-“
 
“To who?! You don’t even know my name!”
 
“I do. It’s Vardai. Unless you prefer Vagabond? Or are you more enamoured with
Brute now?”
 
“You’re doing it again! And Vardai is my second name, genius!” In his lengthy
exposure to the Academy, how was it possible that not everyone went by their
surname? His eyes flickered to the side while he tried to comprehend it.
 
“So…. What name do you go by?”
 
“My name is Greya.” She was hesitant to part with the information, perhaps she
was being too closed. Perhaps not.
 
“Greya.… That’s…..”
 
 
“Yes, I know.” Testy didn’t cover how Greya responded to the unfinished
sentence nor did she bother to take in the thoughtful expression touching his
pale features when he processed the name. “Greya. Grey. Like banal and boring
and monotonous! I get it, okay?!” Taken aback, the male opposite her shifted
uncomfortably at the second outburst that hadn’t quite been warranted this
time.
 
 
“Alright….. I was going to say pretty and unusual but alright.” It was Greya’s
turn to be embarrassed. Hurriedly, she took a gulp of her tea to alleviate the
tenseness but found herself forcing it back and to keep it down while it
assaulted her taste buds. How did they get tea wrong?!
 
 
“And you?”
 
“Hux is fine.” Taken aback had shifted into indifference.
 
“Riiiiiiiiiiight. So Hux. Say I do this, what do I get out of it?” Hux shifted
again in his seat, he hadn’t thought that far ahead; why didn’t he think she’d
look for something in return? She didn’t owe him anything, she was more than
entitled to compensation.
 
“Uhh…. I can help you with assignments?”
 
“I’m doing well enough on those on my own. Next.”
 
“I can pay you?”
 
“I don’t want your money. Next.” The next suggestion was a long shot but it was
his last chance, his last card left to play.
 
“I can get you better food?” Slowly, Greya looked up from her poor excuse of a
meal. That got her attention so he obliged by eagerly elaborating, anything to
snag her time. “I’ve been here for years; I know the staff. They keep the
better portions for the officers, that’s what I get. Teach me and I can get it
for you too.” Nowthat was tempting.
 
 
“And when and where would you be suggesting these side lessons? Because we’d
need a training room and curfew-“
 
“Curfew isn’t a problem. The patrols on the corridor are timed, I know them by
heart by now. We would need to be quick in between the patrols; if we get
caught, the consequences would be dire. Our corridor-”
 
“Our corridor?” The female repeated dubiously, spotting that little oversight.
Chances were, they would be coming from two different areas.
 
“Yes, we live on the same corridor.”
 
“No, we don’t!”
 
“Block L, Eastern quadrant.”
 
“I…. Are you stalking me?!”
 
“Oh for goodness sake, they keep the Cadets in close quarters! Just because you
haven’t seen the others doesn’t mean they’re not there!” That was unnerving.
She was physically closer to the classmates who despised than she realized.
 
“Whatever. And the training room? We won’t be able to use the one in the
Northern quadrant where classes are held. There’s too much footfall.”
 
“You’re right.” He probably didn’t say that very often to another person. Hux
sat forward then paused as if calculating before the solution came to him.
“There’s an unused one off Block H and there’s a shortcut to it through a hole
in the wall. It’s been decommissioned for the last few years to my knowledge so
it’s impossible to tell what state it’ll be in. It’s worth a try.”
 
 
The pair watched each other for a moment, such a deal had plenty to be gained
on both sides. Food and self-defence. Both important in a place like this where
ridicule was rife. Eventually, it was Greya who broke the negotiating silence.
 
 
“Well, Hux. Looks like we have a deal. Come get me after curfew tomorrow night
and the food upgrade starts the day after when you’ve had time to have a word.
Let’s do this.”
***** Rest Week *****
Chapter Summary
     Hux makes progress in the training room and Greya makes a strange
     proposition.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
“I’ll bet my dessert that you broke his arm in at least two places.” Greya
observed, tilting her head and torso to the side, cryptically and smugly
informing her redheaded cohort who jogged back to the side-lines. Hux took the
water bottle she held out to him and took a mouthful, swishing it around to
wash out the blood from a hit he took to the face then knocked back another.
 
 
“Think so?” He did sound strained, he wasn’t the fittest but he’d come on in
leaps and bounds in the last few weeks of toiling in a training room; it was
visible in him and not just physically. He walked with confidence now, not
shrunk away and cowering when someone came too close. Perhaps it was more than
just self-assurance that he could protect himself better than before but now,
he was no longer alone. Wherever the Commandant’s son went, he had the pretty
brunette at his side. “Congratulations on making Veers cry.”
 
 
“Cheers. You heard me. I’d bet my dessert; you know I have food aggression.”
Dining together out of habit for the last few weeks, walking together in the
corridors and sitting beside one and other in classes meant he knew the
Vagabond better. Or Greya, as she preferred to be called. So he could attest to
the claims of food aggression. “Look at the way he’s holding it.” Hux obeyed,
lifting his blue-green gaze to the meaty figure of Cadet Piet. His right arm
stretched below his left, supporting the length from his wrist to his elbow.
“If that was broken in one place, he’d only hold it in one place. He’s not but
we’ll find out soon enough. Nicely done.” Greya’s next question was more
sweetly chirped rather than sinister. “Dinner?”
 
 
“I thought you’d never ask. I’m starving.”
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
The usual table in the dark canteen corner with the rickety legs was claimed
when two trays met the surface, one across from the other, exactly as it had
been for weeks. Two bottoms soon warmed the benches as they settled and seemed
to remove the plastic from their cutlery in sync. While Hux had come on
physically and in his self-assurance, Greya could now say with certainty that
she looked forward to meal times; now was a marvellous example. Nerf steak,
roasted Corellian potatoes, plump Antarian peas, soft carrots and all smothered
with a thick, steaming Dioche sauce.
 
 
“Nerf steak.” The brunette female did all in her power not to salivate as the
smell of meat invitingly caressed her nose, gloriously seasoned and cooked to
perfection. Hux watched her with a playful smirk; he’d found himself doing that
a lot lately. Perhaps she hadn’t noticed, he would have preferred that but for
now, he was happy to watch her slice through the slab with ease and savour the
first bite. They sat in companionable silence as they cut, stabbed and chewed;
that too was the norm; to enjoy their (superior) food and talk later while they
digested. “I don’t think I can move.” Greya whimpered once she’d set down her
fork for the last time, dinner and dessert were now a fond and tasty memory. “I
can’t…. You’re gonna have to carry me.”
 
 
“What makes you think I can carry you when I can barely carry myself?” Hux
replied with bloated exhaustion, arms folded on the table and lifting his head
from them to look at her. “We’re just…. Going to have to stay here for a
while….”
 
 
“You calling me fat, Hux?” The accusation was in jest; to call her fat would
have been a lie. No, Greya was curvy;he noticed that too.
 
 
“I’m brave but I’m not stupid.” The muffled retort came when he rested his head
back down in his arms as a mechanism to cope with the feeling of fullness; it
was painful just then but his system would eventually cope to break it down. As
would Greya’s.
 
 
“I think training’s off tonight.” Greya murmured, hooking her feet to the legs
of the fixed table and leaning back in her seat; hoping the action would
stretch her stomach and alleviate the feeling of crippling fullness. Hux
whimpered his agreement, again without looking up.
 
 
“Good thing next week is rest week.” He forced himself to speak, almost hoping
that any sort of bodily activity might help burn off the food. Talking seemed
to be the easiest. “If we’re going to keep eating like this, every week will
need to be rest week. Speaking of rest week….” The redhead practically dragged
his face from the comforting support of his forearms. Rest week, of course, was
a holiday of sorts where student classes were suspended and pupils could return
home for the week if they so chose. “Are you going home?” Greya arched an
eyebrow with an unimpressed curve of her lip though still leaning back in her
seat.
 
 
“What, to the orphanage?What do you think?”
 
 
“Right…. Yes, of course.”
 
 
“What about you? Aren’t you going home?”
 
 
“No, I’m staying here. Working on assignments and such, the others will be at a
disadvantage when they come back but we won’t be.” The awkward scratch at the
back of his neck was probably unnoticed by Hux himself but Greya smelled a rat.
 
 
“So…. That’s your plan for rest week? Study and do assignments? Seriously? None
of those stuck up assholes are going to be here!”
 
 
“Obviously I still intend to train unless you want to suspend it as part of
your rest week?”
 
 
“Don’t be thick, beating you up in the evening gets me through the day.”
 
 
“Charming. What do you intend to do then? Laze and do nothing?” Hux should have
been worried when Greya leaned forward again and clicked her tongue with
thoughtful enthusiasm; that was never good. Elbows on the table, the palms of
her hands cupped her chin and for a moment, she said nothing; just
contemplated. She toyed with the idea batting around in her mind before seizing
the decision, making it and finding a way to put it delicately so the Imperial
wouldn’t keel over in front of her.
 
 
“So this is going to sound strange….”
 
 
“Greya?”
 
 
“Just…. Hear me out. I heard Lennox and Nemet talking about it a few days ago….
They’re going home together, meeting parents and crap. I think they might be
getting engaged anyway….” Bamboozled, Hux just nodded along, waiting for her to
get to the point. “I was thinking about the virginity thing.” If he wasn’t
baffled before, he certainly was now. Was she implying what he thought she was
implying? “And well…. We get on well, we trust each other. It’s not a big deal
really, is it? It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just a bit of messing
around. So…. What d’you think?” The proposition was met with a confused
silence. He tried to gather his dumbfounded thoughts and it must have shown on
his face.
 
 
“Umm...” Unsure how to voice a response, he just kind of shifted uncomfortably;
not that the suggestion made him uncomfortable, quite the opposite. Maybe he
wanted to be sure he was taking her up correctly? He would look foolish if he
accepted when she meant something differently entirely and his emotions would
be open to scrutiny. “Alright, let me try and….. fathom this….” He tried to
process it and to be fair, Greya was patient. “You want to do that….With me?”
 
 
“No, I’m talking about Piet but I’m waiting for his arm to get better. I just
wanted to make sure you were okay with it.” She waited a beat while he tried to
let it sink but she didn’t allow it. “Gods, Hux, I’m joking. Of course I mean
you. I wouldn’t want Piet anywhere near me. Or any of them for that matter.”
Greya found the lack of response to be a concern. To her, it seemed the idea
didn’t appeal to him for whatever reason so she conceded with a shrug. “Look,
this obviously doesn’t sit right with you so don’t worry about it; forget I
said anything. I get if you’re waiting for marriage or whatever. Your lot do
that, don’t they?”
 
 
“I didn’t say no.” Hux informed her meekly, half convinced he should have kept
his mouth shut but this opportunity might never present itself again. If he
didn’t, she might continue to have no inkling of the foreign feelings that
poked at him when he was with her or even thought about her. “I’m just…..
surprised that you’d want to…. you know…. do that…. with me.”
 
 
“Why wouldn’t I? I told you: I trust you, I like you; what else do you need?
Like I said, we don’t have-“
 
 
“No, I want to!” Hux bit back the urge to close his eyes and scold himself for
jumping in and answering so quickly before he took the time to compose himself.
Now he looked desperate. “I…. I want to. I think we should. We just need to be
careful, it’s against protocol…. If we get caught, we could get expelled.”
 
 
“That’s not the only reason we need to be careful.” Greya answered bluntly,
feeling the pressure of the food starting to dissipate already. “I don’t think
the Commandant would be too impressed with being a grandfather this early in
his career. So…. We’re doing this? Are you sure?”
 
 
“We’re doing this.” His confirmation was joined by something of a disbelieving
smile. Losing his virginity to his closest friend, wasn’t it an ideal
situation? They were already close out of necessity to survive even if the
beginning had been rocky and she trustedhim. She trusted him to be gentle and
careful which he would strive to be. “What do we have to lose?”
 
 
“Well…..”
 
“Rhetorical question, Greya. Don’t answer it.”
 
“Nope, you asked a question-“
 
“Greya! I realize what I said, don’t answer it!”
 
“We have our virginities to lose!” Hux’s burning face sank back down into his
arms with a pained groan and he managed to resist the urge to bang his head off
the table. In truth though, how could he not find this behaviour endearing? How
could he not be infatuated with the splash of colour that the academy badly
needed? The Vagabond, the Brute? He was guilty of both those charges;
unfamiliar as those feelings were, he knew what they meant. “So, we’re gonna
need a couple of things.” The redhead pried himself loose from his own grasp
and looked up. Greya checked her surroundings subtly, dropping her voice as
people still milled around with trays.  “Condoms, lube…. The basics, the
essentials. Know what I’m saying? Any ideas?”
 
 
“I can get them.” Suddenly more upbeat, Hux sat up properly and took in the
striking face he was about to become more intimate with; arguably as intimate
as anyone could be. “Leave it to me, I know where to go.”
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
The rest of the cadets were leaving the academy directly after classes on
Zhellday since Benduday was a scheduled recuperation day at the end of the week
anyway, effectively a one-day weekend before rest week. Like any adolescent
male, Hux had often indulged in holovids of a certain genre.He watched one
alone in his room that evening after his conversation with Greya. Or at least
he tried to. When he watched the flailing and the moaning and careless slap of
skin on skin, none of it seemed real. He found himself distracted,
uninterested. He’d never had this problem before, why now? Disgruntled, he
turned off the holopad and crawled into bed, tossing his briefs over the side
from under the covers. Automatically, his mind drifted to her and driven by
anticipation, his hand started to wander. Only then did it feel more natural.
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
The corridors were more or less abandoned; void of students though the
occasional officer would pass through like a stray ant. However, there was only
one corridor of particular interest to two certain cadets and that was Block L
in the Eastern quadrant. Much to their relief, it was deserted. The lanky
redhead left his room and looked both up and down as if expecting traffic;
thankfully, he saw nothing. It was simply a case of crossing the hall and
passing along empty rooms until he found the correct one. She was already
waiting though tried to busy herself to keep her nerves at bay. He allowed
himself in with the code she’d given him.
 
 
“It’s strange to see you with your hair down.” He offered mildly, the beginning
of an amicable smile pulling at the corners of his lips when she appeared at
the door of the refresher.
 
 
“I had my hair down when we met. You told me to buy hair ties, remember?” The
darker of the two reminisced with a similar if somewhat nervous grin. The
chocolate brown waves coated her shoulders and her back, contrasting
beautifully against the white linen tunic that cut off halfway down her thighs
– the closest thing to lingerie or anything alluring that she owned.
 
 
“I do remember. It feels like years ago.” The promised items were set down in
an unassuming paper bag. It had been a task of distraction, born of
nervousness; now he had to face the real challenge. With his lips folded into
each other anxiously, he let his eyes wander and she didn’t seem to object; if
anything, she inched a little closer. Bare feet padded almost reverently on a
cold, stannic floor; the one she winced against in the morning but had adjusted
to now. “So…. What do we do?”
 
 
“Well….” Greya was just as clueless, just as nervous and just as timid; it made
him feel better in a way. “Maybe you should kiss me? Start small? You’re
taller, you’re gonna have to bend down.” So he did. It didn’t begin well. On
the first attempt; his nose collided with hers, causing her jerk back with a
small grunt of disorientation.
 
“Sorry….”
“It’s okay…. We’ll just…. Tilt your head to the side and….”
“Like this?”
“Yeah, like that. You go right, I’ll go left.”
“Your right or my right?”
“Your right. You know what, just stay like that and I’ll come to you.”
Eventually, the first hurdle was won. It didn’t last long; it was little more
than a lasting peck to the lips; nothing too deep lest they drown. Then
another. And another. And another until they started to mould into each other.
“You can touch me. I don’t bite…. Yet.” Pacing his breathing from the obvious
excitement (completely different from any holovid he’d watched); a pale, bony
hand lifted with half conviction and started to stroke ever so attentively up
and down her back. Lost in another kiss, she returned the favour by laying a
spurring palm on his chest; both were mutual gestures of support, understanding
and care.
 
 
“Umm....” He sheepishly pulled back but not far with a glance downwards at the
familiar discomfort growing below; he was wary of her feeling it just yet.
“Should we perhaps…. Maybe…. Uhh…..” He tried to ask about foreplay. Should
they? Shouldn’t they? “Do you just…. Want to jump in? What I mean is…. You said
start small….” By some divine intervention, he didn’t have to struggle any
further.
 
 
“I think we should wait a while before we start getting fancy.” Greya replied
softly, tucking a dark strand behind her ear with her eyes lowered shyly. It
was welcome news; he didn’t have the wick for anything else. “Just…. Do what we
came here to do for now.”
 
 
“So this is not a once off?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s see how this goes.”
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
The kissing became more intense, the touching got bolder and several layers
between them had been shed though Greya had significantly less to shed than
Hux. She’d never forget how he’d stared at her when the tunic pooled at her
feet, how she felt embarrassed undressed and unnerved. She’d made a quick stoop
to retrieve the garment, ready to abandon the venture only to have it snatched
from her hands, tossed away and be kissed again. She’d never felt more
appreciated and beautiful than the worshipping kisses to her shoulders,
forehead and chest. Even more so with the warm ghosting of his hands over her
thighs, hips and buttocks; anywhere Lennox and Bast giggled and sneered at.
 
 
They seemed to progress of their own accord with little instruction and
deliberation; as if moving purely by instinct. Greya’s back met the bed while a
portion of Hux’s bodyweight settled above her, supported mostly by his knees on
either side of her waist. His upper half pinned her when those pale pink lips
pressed genial pecks to her neck and jawline, eyes closed in awe of where he
was and what he was doing.
 
 
“Hux….” The shallow breath of wanting he’d never really heard before without a
screen or a speaker and certainly not uttering his name made him stop.
Hesitantly he pried his eyes open and simply by looking at her, he knew. While
the redhead lifted the box from the bag and fought with a foil wrapper with
trembling hands; Greya slipped to the refreshed and returned with a towel which
she lay on the bed. Today was simply about learning and their first lesson was
to get prepared then get aroused. Both were confident they would slip back into
it easily enough though.
 
 
“What are you doing with that?” The male glanced behind him, pausing his non-
verbal argument with the condom wrapper to address his curiosity. She lay back
down on it, taking care to position her hips and lower quarters on said towel.
Before she answered, Greya seized the wrapper from between his clammy fingers
and tore it with her teeth before handing back the defeated foil square.
 
 
“It’s to catch the blood.” She didn’t sound fazed or even frightened; like it
was normal. Hux, however, was not so comfortable with the revelation.
“Blood, what blood?”
“When it happens, I’m going to bleed and I don’t really want to do it onto my
sheets.”
“But…. Blood sounds a bit extreme, are you sure you want to do this?”
“It’s going to happen eventually, might as well be with you. At least I know if
I tell you to stop because it hurts, you will.” Glancing down to the rubber
ring he now held in his open hand, it became real; they were about to do this.
“I should have looked this up.” He murmured with a small sigh, his spare hand
hopelessly cupping the side of his face in utter befuddlement. “I’m never this
unprepared.”
 
 “Don’t worry about it.” Greya soothed, leaning over his shoulder from where he
sat on the edge of the bed and took the unstretched condom from his palm. “This
isn’t your comfort zone. It’s not mine either but we’ll get through it. Come
here.”
 
 
In her own mind, Greya noticed his size but said nothing. His breath hitched at
the raw touch when she held him and the odd tingle of the rubber as it encased
him made him writhe but not necessarily in a bad way. Before he could remark
upon the newness of this adventure, Hux’s face was held and his lips reclaimed
once again. The dark haired female started to sink back into her lying position
and pulled him with her without separating. Legs open and knees bent, he
settled between them and that assuring embrace continued.
 
 
“Are you ready?”His voice had dropped with being so near. Both feeding off the
anticipation and apprehension of the other, it was something of a comfort to
know neither of them was alone. Greya’s nod was slow but sure and Hux tried to
remember what he’d seen but found it more and more difficult to apply holovids
to this endeavour. Feeling his way in the (metaphoric) dark (it was hard enough
to be a virgin in the light, let alone the dark); the redhead ever so carefully
lined himself with the glistening entrance and slowly started to prod his way
in. No one said or guaranteed it would be perfect, especially with little
guidance. He did his best to keep his movements gentle and still only the tip
had been consumed so the feeling was minimal for both. He started to edge in
little by little until he went too far too quickly and was met with resistance
from below.
 
 
“OW!! OW OW OW!! OUT! OUT!”
“Sorry! Gods, I’m sorry, are you alright?!” Of course, he withdrew the second
she commanded it; even if it had been a partial jump due to fright.
“I’m okay…. I think I’m okay….” She had lifted her head off the pillow to look
downwards while he sat back on his heels, fraught with guilt and worry. “Did
you bring lube? We might need lube.” Off the bed in an instant with his covered
erection dancing along in front of him, he quickly located the paper bag and
the subtle bottle of gel inside.
 
 
She’d watched him slick himself and already, despite the disastrous beginning,
she knew she’d made the right choice in partner. Greya stiffened but for a
different reason from her prior discomfort and this time, he stopped
immediately having taken it upon himself to monitor her face for unease.
 
“Do you need me to pull out again?”
“No, it’s just cold this time.” She informed with a sweet attempt at a smile.
“It’s much better, thank you. What about you? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m just not used to being so restricted; it’s a strange sensation.”
“Just push in. It’ll be like ripping off a plaster.” The little shadow of
dubiousness reflected the concern but if she felt she might cope better that
way, he was willing to try it so he did as he was bid. Another pained gasp
though not as harsh as before met his ears when he buried himself to the hilt.
Before he could withdraw, she stopped him again with an agonized wiggle.
 
 
“Don’t move. Just…. Stay there like that for a second.” Strained, Greya panted
lightly and draped a leg over his waist. Not only did she want to give herself
time to adjust to the size inside her, Hux was enjoying the feeling of
envelopment that he never got from his own hand. True, he donned a strange
barrier he never had before but she was just so tight. It almost made him
squirm at the prospect of continuing. But he would wait. For a minute or so, he
did just that until…. “Okay.… Nice and easy.”
 
 
The thrusts were slow, gentle and amiable to keep his friend pain free but that
didn’t take away from the experience in the slightest. Their lips met umpteen
times with a new passion that wasn’t there when they began and they clung to
each other in a way they never had before. Panting heavily in unison, the
couple melted into one and other with their hips moving in time to ease the
burden of providing the pleasure they both enjoyed when they met in the middle.
Stiffness met wetness and every time it did, the whimpers and the groans
reminded him that this was natural; not the holos and whatever foul, staged
things they did. Thiswas real. He was closer to her, emotionally as well as
physically; his admiration only climbed and while they had agreed that this
would ‘mean nothing’, it appeared that consensus had been premature. Whether
she felt the same or not, only time would tell. Both Greya and Hux were new and
inexperienced so their first time didn’t last all that long.
 
 
“Greya.”The laboured breath indicated he was close and while his thrusts still
weren’t particularly strenuous, they were enough. Eyes shut and chest heaving,
the redhead couldn’t wait for an answer. The lack of control with immaturity
saw him come first; spilling into the condom before drawing gasping breaths
though his hips still moved to give her the opportunity to finish. She went not
long after him, whining uncontrollably with her forehead buried in his
shoulder. Together; they wound down and hesitantly, Hux removed himself and
lowered his sweating body down onto the bed beside her. Before they settled,
Greya swept the towel out from underneath her and examined the crimson patch
standing out brilliantly against the white. That was that gone. He’d seemingly
forgotten about it but Hux watched the darker hand curiously reaching below his
waist and a second later, the thin tunnel of rubber landed on the floor with
the towel.
 
 
They lay there quietly for a while, just sort of gazing at each other.
Gloriously fulfilled, maybe they had changed their minds on the noncommittal
nature of the arrangement. Smiles pulled at the corners of cheeks, prompting
them to shuffle closer and closer until arms and legs didn’t have any beginning
or any end. With his forehead pressed against hers and their stare unending; it
was a little bit strange but in by no means a bad way, when they both began to
laugh.
Chapter End Notes
     I don't really remember my first time. It wasn't a long time ago but
     I was quite drunk and it wasn't with the best person to do something
     like that with. So many things went wrong. That aside, I hope I did
     this justice. <3
***** Rest Week: Day 2 *****
Chapter Summary
     Assignments? Study? Unless the assignment is pleasure and the study
     is of each other, Hux and Greya are staying in bed for rest week.
Chapter Notes
     I’d like to thank my writing partner for his support on this chapter.
     Buddy, you’re the best Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the WHOLE
     GALAXY!! Love you, my little marshmallow thief, always with a wag and
     a smile. Xxx
 
Hux had always been a clear thinker. He felt it contributed to his success in
anything he turned his hand to, mostly his studies and his scholarly duties. Of
course, he chose not to include combat classes in that but he put that down to
being a physical failing rather than an intellectual one. Until he met Greya,
that is. His ability to focus on an assignment or a book or a mental challenge
had distracted and shielded him from his dire home life, his reasoning for
staying in the Academy for rest week; a decision he appreciated now more than
ever.
 
Now though, Hux couldn’t focus. His mind was so wonderfully blank and in
blissful unawares of anything around him; a state that once would have
frustrated and irritated him. However, while nothingness seemed to ebb away at
him, he was strangely grounded by being able to feel one thing and one thing
only: Her. Even the supporting seat of the mattress underneath him and the
headboard behind his back escaped his notice. Her breath on the side of his
face, her hair tickling his shoulder, the occasional press of her lips to his
temple, the graze of her breast on his arm and of course; the slow and gentle
movements of her hand in his lap. They had agreed on waiting to see how the
initial activity would go before they ventured further with anything ‘fancy’
but with the success in losing their virginities to each other, it made sense
for extra steps to be taken. And they decided to take them as early as the next
afternoon after a shower and breakfast.
 
“Greya….”The soft groan didn’t mean anything in particular, merely confirmation
that she was still there beyond his pool of pleasure.
 
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
 
“We still have assignments to do….”The delightful squeeze of her fist around
him elicited a low moan and a slight rising of his hips to follow her strokes,
as if her hand would leave him.
 
“You’re not thinking of assignments.”
 
“No but…. We should…..”
 
“Stop talking or I’ll stop what I’m doing.”
“Fine….”It was different to the night previous; the protective rubber layer may
have been necessary then but it would have hindered the intimate, naked strokes
of skin on skin they currently found themselves enjoying. He didn’t count each
careful and respectful pass of her hand over him nor did he ask which one would
be the last but her voice roused him once again after several minutes of
uninterrupted contentment.
 
“Hux?”
 
“Mmm…?”
 
“I kinda wanna…. Do the other thing.” One bluey green eye opened listlessly to
observe his companion (she didn’t seem to just be his friend anymore); she did
seem determined and expectant and who was he to stop a female with such traits?
 
“Are you sure?”
 
“Yeah, I wanna try it.”
 
“Very well, I won’t stop you.”
 
“I know you won’t.” The playfully unimpressed murmur was met with a quiet
chortle and Hux’s shaft was released without protest in favour of something
different. Greya shuffled from her warm, slightly damp spot at his side down
the bed and in between his open, bent legs.
 
“Are you comf- ARGH!”
 
“I barely touched you.” She chided teasingly, watching with a proud smirk
pulling at the corner of her lip while she watched her lover recover with his
head thrown back and his eyes closed. It was true, all she had done was lick
his tip.
 
“I’m a tad sensitive at the moment, I didn’t think it would be that…. intense.”
 
“We gotta build up your resistance then. D’you need a minute?” She asked as her
cheek rested against the balmy flesh of the inside of his thigh.
 
“Says she who spasmed when I touched her clit last night. Just a few seconds,
let it calm down.”
 
“Gods, I had no idea Imperials could be so bitchy!”
 
“That’s what you get for sleeping with one.”
 
“Oh we’re sleeping together now?”
 
“That’s what all the variables add up to.”
 
“I love it when you talk dirty. I hope you’re going to reciprocate all this.”
 
“Not a chance, you offered.”
 
“Oi!”
 
“Calm yourself, Greya, I’m joking. Of course I will. Try now.”  Greya obeyed
for her own curiosity and dipped her head again; his reaction was a lot less
dramatic but in the best possible way. The moist heat of her mouth wrapped
around him to the almost instant increase of breathing from the redhead above
her. Pleased with the non-verbal feedback, she paused a while adjust to the
size but the lack of movement, spurred concern. “Are you…. Alright?” The pant
was greeted by the heightening of dark brown eyes and a modest hum that also
made him struggle to contain himself. A minute or so was all Greya needed to
become accustomed to the fleshy rod in her mouth and ever so slowly, she
started to move over it.
 
Hux had squirmed incessantly under Greya’s hand; the feeling of someone else’s
grip other than his own had been an incredible breakthrough but now…. They had
upgraded that experience in a way that he could not mimic with his own hand and
it was magnificent.The shallowness of the act itself aside, there was no one he
would rather be in such a vulnerable and trusting position with. She was
beautiful, she was intelligent, she was strong and she liked him for him;even
if the activities of the night previous were originally supposed to be
meaningless in nature, there appeared to be a change in plan. The way they had
looked at each other, held each other, kissed each other and woken up placidly
together was enough to suggest it. Hux began to thread his fingers ever so
gently though Greya’s chocolate locks, his other hand resting amicably on her
cheek to stroke it which earned him a melting look of affection.
 
The redhead’s hips had started to lift to help Greya but not enough to choke
her; he knew she would have no qualms of informing him if she became
uncomfortable. The sensation burned into him in the most glorious way; not just
the physicality of it, but the way it made him feel. Greya’s initial proposal
had almost seemed like a cruel joke; dangling herself in front of a teenage boy
(who thought her stunningly unique and wouldn’t be swayed on the matter) only
to rip herself away and leave his raw feelings exposed. All the while, he would
be behaving like a kicked dog while still trying to be her friend; for the
training if nothing else. Thankfully, Greya’s proposition was legitimate and
there they were.
 
In the days leading up to their experimentation; apprehension and excitement
had collided brilliantly, leaving him smiling and dizzy whenever he saw or
thought of her. Even more so now when he had woken with butterflies as he
blissfully recalled the night before and almost exploded when she cuddled in
against his naked form. The need for touch tugged at Hux again and he saw
absolutely no reason to refuse it. After all, would it hurt her to know that he
liked and appreciated what she was willingly doing for him? Definitely not. A
thin, pale hand ghosted along the back of Greya’s shoulders while the other
remained in her hair. Up and down her arms were caressed and the back of her
neck received it too; all of which the female took as intended.
 
Also taking those actions as signals of encouragement, Greya’s pace and speed
(which had been perfect for him) increased to the soft moan and extra lifting
of his hips. Between the tepid wet of her mouth, her pace and the way those
great brown eyes would heighten to his with every bob of her head, Hux figured
he couldn’t hold out much longer. After all, it was still very much a time of
firsts for them, it only made sense to savour the sensations while they were
still new. Virginities aside, the pair had much maturing and experience ahead
of them; their stamina would have to build.
 
“Greya.”Her name was uttered reverently again for the umpteenth time since the
night before and suddenly, he had become somewhat more rigid; Hux was close.
“Greya. I’m going to….” The only response he got was more purposeful movement
over his shaft; faster with a slight grazing of her teeth to drive him over the
edge. His hips became restless; moving from side to side, as if attempting to
throw her off and spare her from a possibly unpleasant experience but if Greya
was going to do something, she was going to do it without taking shortcuts,
even if it was just this once. “Greyaaaagh…..!”It was done before he could try
again and despite the experimental mouthful of cum, she kept going but slowed
to give him clearance to come down from his high.
 
“What did you do that for?”He whispered, incapable of bringing his voice any
higher as he stared down at her in wonderment. Keeping the bed clean was in
neither of their minds, the sheets were already soiled. Greya wanted to try it
and Hux would gladly have come on himself if it meant sparing her something she
might not have been ready for. Her answer was an amused giggle through the
sweet saltiness though she had nothing else to compare it to. It wasn’t so bad,
anything she’d read had given mixed reviews on the taste but she gathered it
tended to be based on the male’s diet. And Hux’s was pristine. She ensured he
saw her swallow it, eyes locked on his and perhaps that changed his mind. It
was quite an erotic thing if he was truthful. With the mouthful gone, Greya
dipped her head again to clean him off; gently, since the possibility of him
being oversensitive again was real.
 
“Wanted to try it.” Her shrug echoed indifference but the confident (and
pleased) smirk blared pride and enjoyment; maybe it wouldn’t be a once off
after all. His arms widened to accommodate her as she crawled back to his chest
where her head was laid and her face kissed. “Why, didn’t you like it?”
 
“I did…. I just wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable.”
 
“I was fine. I quite liked it actually, I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t
sure.” Greya adjusted herself into a position that allowed her to prop herself
up on the pillows but remaining as close to her lover as possible. “And if I
had to taste it, I think it’s only fair you do too.” He had no intention of
objecting but if he had, he would have been given time to do so as Greya had
already moved in for one of the kisses they had perfected the night before.
 
“It’s….” The taste of himself had been a lot milder than he expected. Perhaps
that had been one of the things that concerned him when Greya wouldn’t move
from his lap. “I don’t even know how to describe it.”
 
“I get salt and a little bit sweet? We’re gonna have to cut down on your sodium
intake, mister.”
 
“But I like salt….”
 
“Nah, apparently it’s meant to taste like that; you’re fine. Though I would
recommend not pickling your soup every time either.”
 
“That’s hardly fair. And speaking of fair…. Lie down.”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“Gods….! Dear Gods….!”Hux couldn’t decide whether he was impressed with himself
or amused though it was completely possible to be both. As he’d promised, the
favour being reciprocated was his top priority and with the way Greya lay
sprawled on the bed with her legs open; perhaps she wasn’t the only one
relishing in this new exploit. How could he not congratulate himself on the way
she writhed under his tongue or involuntarily grinded her hips against his hand
where two of his fingers were buried to the hilt? The low rumbling of an
exhilarated chuckle against her clit provoked yet another ecstatic sob, acting
as even more incentive to keep going. He may have been new to it but he
appeared to be gifted with his oral abilities; they would serve him well as a
motivational orator in the future.
 
He could understand now why Greya didn’t stop when she had been the one doing
the pleasuring. Every moan, every whimper, sigh and tortured movement stirred
an addiction he didn’t know he had. It may have been effort to lift his eyes to
watch her face between her breasts but Empire, he didn’t care; it was worth it.
More than likely (and he could attest to this soon), she felt a great deal of
fulfilment at bringing her lover to climax by purely her own efforts; to
witness the continued crumbling over and over never got tiring. Somehow though,
he knew it wouldn’t have been the same if she had been just anyone. It was
common practice for young men of his pedigree (usually dedicated to their
studies and the Imperial Empire rather than a mate) choosing to rid themselves
of the virginal stigma with a prostitute. Had he not been so taken up with his
current task, he would have felt sorry for them. That sort of business-like
sterility had no place in the bedroom but it was their loss, he hadn’t suffered
that fate. He had something far better.
 
It seemed to be the norm for hands to be entangled in hair (for both male and
female) while the mouth did its mind-numbing work, the light tugging was
possibly the best compliment she could give him without speaking. His fingers
still thrusted to meet the wet, his tongue still brushed between her folds to
taste her and his lips still sucked at the tiny but swollen pleasure organ that
made her hips buck every time. His free arm was taken up with kind, genial
strokes up and down her leg and though his busy hand was starting to cramp, he
wouldn’t submit to it until Greya did. His own arousal had reignited, despite
being spent from Greya a little while previous; now it stood again, hopeful of
being sated.
 
“You’re soaking.” As if the sultry mutter dragged her closer to her inevitable
edge, Greya’s thighs tightened around her partner’s head; not enough to hurt
him but certainly enough to spur him on. “The bed is soaking, we have to sleep
here tonight, Greya.” Another almost pained mewl met the suggestive scolding
but he kept going, lowering his head again to try and make the bed even wetter.
Strenuous and all as it was; Hux managed to increase the pace and force of his
fingers into the brunette, chancing a third as well which followed the other
two quite easily. She didn’t last long after that. He’d seen her come before
but it had been a combination of both their efforts; now, it was only his and
he revelled in it. Panting and failing to contain the high pitched whines of
her orgasm, Greya trembled like a leaf while she tried to adjust herself in
such a way that she was comfortable on the bed but the white-hot prickling of
thrilling joy just made her twist in the sheets.
 
“Are you alright?” Shifting from the damp of her thighs and up between her legs
to her chest, Hux made sure his was pressed to hers in an effort to soothe her.
Kisses were scattered to random patches on her chest, neck and face which
seemed to succeed in easing her to a degree. “I’ve got you, you’re alright.”
 
“You watched the videos too, huh?”Greya managed as playfully as she could
through her heaving breaths, pulling herself in closer to Hux’s alabaster chest
where his arms surrounded and encased her. The question went unanswered save
for a knowing snicker and another kiss. “We’ll give it a minute then I want you
inside me.”
 
***** Summer Program *****
Chapter Summary
     The secret relationship of rest week continues, a proposition is made
     and an even more serious topic is broached.
Chapter Notes
     Do let me know what you think! xxx
See the end of the chapter for more notes
“But if we take the….” Hux sat at the desk in Greya’s room with his back to the
bed but his concentration on the book in front of him was fractured at best. He
twisted in his seat again, mouth drying like it had every other time he turned.
The raised eyebrows, the ‘come hither’stare and the unbearably teasing smirk
among the tousled sheets made him question his commitment to the assignment,
especially when he knew all her clothes were on the floor and therefore could
not be on her. “And…. The…. Umm….” The way she stretched with a longing groan
to ‘accidentally’ reveal more flesh darker than his clicked the decision in his
head. “To hell with it!” The chair was kicked back without mercy or care, his
underwear was stripped and that was the first time Hux could ever remember
disregarding an assignment. Wasn’t he human? Would anyone else not have done
the same if a beautiful girl lay sprawled in anticipation for them in bed? He
certainly wasn’t going to keep her waiting.
 
The sweet giggles as he dived onto the bed mere inches from her were both a
persuasion and a reward for abandoning the assignment as he covered her body
with his own. Those recently unexperienced lips peppered kisses that suggested
he hadn’t seen her in weeks while she squirmed playfully beneath him. The
longest time he’d spent away from her was to return to his own room to gather
fresh clothes and books; he’d been gone all of ten minutes. Aside from that
venture, he hadn’t left her side. The giggles were silenced when the kiss
became mutual and hands ghosted in all the right places; with only three days
left in rest week, he was more than adept at securing the precaution of the
condom now.
 
Pulled backwards into his lap, Greya seated herself before sinking her weight
down onto the throbbing, sealed shaft with a quiet whine though she only seemed
to be fully comfortable when a pale, spindly arm wound its way around her
waist. Hips rising and falling while his helped from beneath, those big brown
eyes closed to revel in the sensation that she knew deep down she would never
tire of. But what would happen when rest week was over? Would they resume their
plutonic friendship and never indulge in this again? Or would they boldly
continue their relationship in secret until….. They got caught? Until they
graduated? Until they tired of each other? She didn’t think the latter would
happen but it was a discussion she would have with him all the same. Woken from
her hazy musings by a jolt of electricity in the form of his free hand ambling
over her thigh and gently massaging the little pleasure organ between her legs;
Greya tilted back her head and rolled it along his collar bone.
 
“I was gonna suck you off first….”
“Later.”He assured her while the swirling of his index finger went on,
undisturbed; the very action of it alone prompted her to pick up the speed of
her hips until the sound of skin slapping off skin became somewhat obscene. Her
lover’s face had become buried in her hair, meaning his pleasured groans
reverberated in her ear drum. Greya’s arm curved backwards to hook around Hux’s
neck; simply another display of companionship that was reciprocated in the form
of an ardent lathering of his lips against her face. The passion climbed until
the redhead found himself becoming restless from the internal itch. His finger
ceased its circling and with a single push, his paramour landed on her side
with her thighs gripped from behind and he followed without vacating her. His
thrusts continued but Greya’s became hindered by the position though neither of
them seemed to mind. He passed the responsibility of his clitoral rings to her
which she accepted without hesitation.
 
“I never want this week to end.”
“I know….”The agreement was puffed as he re-immersed himself in her hair and
his hips consistently thrashing against her buttocks, paired with a heavy groan
before he forced out another sequence of words. “Neither do I.”
“Harder, Hux…. Please…..”How could he refuse that darling plea? He had no
intention of it and so obeyed with a vigour he probably wouldn’t have been able
to source if it weren’t for the spurring whimpers of delirium coming from ahead
of him. They slowly moulded as time wore on into delighted squeals and
whimpers, alternating as they both crawled closer to their respective peaks.
Greya’s orgasm hit her like a brick wall; mouth hanging open, walls contracting
around him and an extra shining film of her own cum dripping between her legs
and coating the inside of her thighs. He still hadn’t felt the thrill of
release. “Come in my mouth.”
 
Again, he had no desire to deny her. In one swift movement, he rolled over
(subsequently pulling himself out of her), off the bed and as a consequent
action, Greya struggled to her knees in just enough time to have her face
cupped and forehead kissed. He had already whipped off the condom and tossed it
aside to be disposed of properly later; it wouldn’t be long before he joined
her in post-orgasm satisfaction. He felt her in an instant; her eagerness was
met by a relieved moan and a respectful threading of his thin fingers through
those chocolate kinks. He didn’t need to resume his thrusts, her head moved
instead; back and forth, back and forth with a reverent hand resting on his
hip. That hand was covered by one of his.
 
“Greya….”Eyes met and just like every other time they did, his stomach
fluttered. And it was nothing to do with the physicality of their current
activity. He was close and he knew what she wanted. The first time they’d done
it, it had partially been an accident, partially not. He had been anxious then
but by now, he savoured it and was just as looking forward to it as she was.
Greya didn’t need to wait all that long for her request to be fulfilled; only a
minute or so after the condom was discarded, Hux became more vocal and that was
only one of her indications. Then they both felt it, that rush. His head shot
back, eyes clamped shut, teeth clenched tight and his entire body rigid; the
release hit the back of her throat but Greya didn’t stop immediately, simply
slowed to a stop then swallowed. Her face was cupped again, ever so chivalrous,
and kissed once more with the taste of himself scarcely bothering him. “You’re
so beautiful.”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“So…. I had an idea.”
“Uh-oh.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s something else. There’s something I want to ask
you.” Tired and spent but curious, Greya tilted her head back enough to look up
at her redheaded lover who lay beside her though the height difference was
sometimes a hindrance. His arm had curved across her shoulder and down her side
to hold her hand and while the sheets were stained and soiled, they still
provided warmth and comfort to the young pair.
“So ask me.” Greya retorted as she wiggled around and pushed a benign kiss to
his jawline, the only place she could reach and the contact was returned with
an affectionate nudge of his nose against her cheek.
“Well, it hasn’t been announced yet but every year, there’s a summer program.”
Adjusting herself again to look up with a confused grimace, he had expected a
reaction and was already looking down on her.
“Okay? Wanna fill me in?”
“When we’re finished talking.”
“Oh ha ha, very funny. C’mon, I wanna know what the summer program is!”
 
“Right, so every year, the two best cadets are selected based on their academic
achievements throughout the year and sent to intern on one of the Empirical
flagships.” The hold on her hand remained but with the addition of genial
strokes of his thumb spanning from her knuckles to her wrist though his gaze
had wondered shyly downwards. “So….. What I want to know is….. Will you do the
summer program with me?” For a moment, Greya didn’t answer and the gap in
conversation put Hux on edge. Was that a no? Did she want to spend the summer
with him, away from everyone else save for people that didn’t actually know
them? Or was that an indication that the events of rest week would stay in rest
week, never to venture beyond it?
 
“Would we be together?” Before the redhead could get fretful, Greya’s head
pivoted slightly in a bid to get the best look at her partner she possibly
could; the question didn’t seem to answer his initial one.
“Yes, of course we would. Away from Arkanis, away from the orphanage, my father
and everyone else on this Godsforsaken base that hates us for no bloody
reason.” Before he could rile himself by thinking of the outside forces that
collaborated against them, his whole body seemed to relax by the tranquil
pressure of Greya rolling from her side and onto his chest. Brown melted into
greeny blue and it was one of those moments when everything became still.
“Then I’m in. We won’t have to try too hard either, we’re the best in our
year.” No sooner had the words left Greya’s lips and Hux’s had taken their
place instead. Smooth and gentle, the older male released her after a brief
embrace but kept her close as always. She stayed on his chest to relish the
caress to her cheek; not unlike a cat or a dog would.
“Did I hear you right when you said Lennox and Nemet were engaged?” The
question didn’t seem out of place, Greya didn’t even open her eyes nor did his
careful brushing cease. After all, if it was one thing they had in common it
was how much they hated their classmates; it was only natural they’d express it
to each other in the form of gossip.
 
“That’s what I gathered but yeah, your lot get married young, don’t they?”
“Mmm…. I think that’s what Lennox and the other two girls came here for.”
“What?”
“They came to find husbands; they don’t care about serving the Empire. Well,
not on the front line anyway. Popping out sons, maybe.”
“Eww, d’you have to be so crude? We’re more than that, y’know.” The stroking
stopped when Greya’s eyes opened with a disgruntled curve of her lip.
“Well, it’s true! That’s what’s expected of them and they know it! I can nearly
guarantee that if they’re engaged, Lennox won’t be back next year!”
“What about me, is it expected of me?”
“Maybe. It depends on who you marry.” Deciding to steer the conversation away
from marital obligations; he tried a different tactic. A tactic that made his
face soften at the very thought of it and his companion noticed. “I think they
have the right idea though.”
“Oh?” An impish eyebrow arched at the lightening of his features and the
comforting arm across her back to keep her on him. “Don’t let them hear you say
that or they’ll think we like them. What right idea might that be?”
“Well, think about it.” He began as he sat up slightly and propped himself
against the pillows but keeping the smaller female to him, even closer than
before with his nose gracing against hers. “What could be better than being
married to your best friend?” Greya’s magnificent characteristics bloomed into
a charming beam with a quiet titter of laughter that became contagious when Hux
pressed his lips lightly against hers. The idea may have been somewhat bizarre
for two so young but it seemed it was expected of Hux and as he said; he’d
rather be married to his best friend than someone he didn’t know and maybe
wouldn’t like.
“That better not be a proposal!” She managed to pry herself away but didn’t go
far, just enough to scan his face with the smile immovable while his adoring
grasp still existed.
“No, I assure you when that time comes, no effort will be spared.” He promised
her loyally with another lasting, devoted peck. And he had every intention of
it. Even at just fifteen, his father had already spoken to him about the
importance of marriage and procreating with someone suitable and approved
though the son couldn’t see why. Why not dedicate himself to his career, even
though the journey would be long and he had only started? Why did he have to
involve himself with another person that would be a distraction, even if only
for a few days a year for a possible conception? That changed, however, when he
met Greya and their relationship began. "And what will your father say? He
won't be pleased. I'm not your type, after all."
"You mean the Imperial type? True, you're not approved or even of the right
bloodline but you know what? It doesn't matter what he thinks. We'll get
married when we can, when we're financially stable enough to do it and then it
will be nothing to do with him."
“If you insist.” The coy, flattered grimace was only enhanced by a shy lowering
of her lashes that caused a skip in the recovering beating of his heart. “Maybe
you’ll get down on one knee when you make General.”
 
“I love the faith you have in me.” He replied with a small, endeared chuckle as
he secured her as close as he possibly could; in the way they usually did, when
they silently agreed to settle down to sleep. “I won’t be a General for some
time and I want to marry you before that.”
 
“Look at you being all forward!” The giggle was just as sweet as when he’d
dived on the bed while she settled within his arms and under the covers. “But
whatever, I’ll go with it! Just make it good the first time ‘cause I ain’t
doing it twice!”
 
“You have my word. Now go to sleep. We’ll enjoy rest week while we can and
then…. We work for the summer program. Just to be safe.”
Chapter End Notes
     How sweet are they? <3
***** Fly Trap *****
Chapter Summary
     The cadets selected for the Summer Program are announced and Greya
     and Hux's relationship becomes exposed with horrendous consequences.
     Please see chapter notes.
Chapter Notes
     Proceed with caution: Upsetting content. This chapter is the one we
     feared so needless to say, it took ages to write.
     Don't read if you are sensitive, you have been warned.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
 
“Go on! Laugh!”
“Why would I laugh?”
“It’s awful!”
“Is it? I kinda like it.”
“Oh come on! Armitage!Who in their right mind!”
“Ah it’s not that bad.” Greya replied loyally from the depths of her comfort,
pulling herself as close to her slightly older lover as she could; her weight
on his chest and her leg draped across his waist always induced placidness in
the redhead. The last night of rest week was spent like the rest of it: in bed.
However, the much needed addition of honesty was the only change and he felt
better for it. “It’s got a ring to it. A powerful ring. General Armitage Hux.
It rolls off the tongue, inspires fear and moulds respect. And it will. I
promise, it will.”
“Greya Hux has a nice ring to it too, you know.”
“No more talk about rings! Go to sleep!”
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“I can’t look….” The petrified breath amused him to such an extent that a smirk
began to itch on those pallid lips. With her eyes covered in sheer terror, she
didn’t notice the other students walking away in disgust; the majority of the
scandal was directed at the outcast and her scarlet haired companion. With a
roll of his eyes and nothing to worry about, Armitage swept Greya’s hands from
her face to a temporary look of peril before she automatically focused on the
area of dread. It took her a moment, maybe two before she realized it; realized
everything they’d worked for had been fruitful. Two names at the top of the
list, two highlighted identities from very different backgrounds (or were
they?) made her stare but it was broken by choke of disbelieving laughter.
Cadet Armitage Hux. Cadet Greya Vardai.Two names at the top of the list,
separated from the rest and they were theirs.
 
“We did it.” Still numb with elation, Greya barely felt the amicable peck to
her cheek in the empty corridor. Enveloped in each other’s arms, Hux swayed her
gently from side to side as he felt the returned delighted squeeze from his…..
girlfriend? Nose nuzzled into his partner’s hair, he was careful to keep his
voice low though it crackled with excitement. “We’re going to be together.”And
what else could they ask for? Wasn’t it all they wanted? Wasn’t it all they had
focused on since rest week ended some months ago and worked towards together?
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
What’s success without celebration? Greya and Armitage were about to find out.
Falling into an empty classroom while joined at the face, Greya’s bottom met
the cold surface of a familiar desk; one they had sat at together many times.
Overly aware of the silver square grating against his leg from his pocket,
Armitage nudged his way closer to ensure her comfort though she masked the
twinge in her face well when the cold hit her rear. Arousal and apprehension
heightened as lips and tongues continued to wrestle and all the while aware
they were not in the private safety of their quarters but rather out in the
open where the danger of getting caught was ever present. But it was so
exciting.
 
He pulled away for a bare moment, just to check on her; just to gaze at her and
stroke her cheek as he had a habit of doing when they were close and intimate.
Sitting up straight, Greya was receptive as her hands wandered over her male
companion unchecked; a bold signal of welcome and consent. Lips claimed again,
Armitage shimmied his way in between her legs which hooked around his waist as
if daring him to retreat. Of course, he had no such intention. Instead, the
embrace became all the more demanding and insistent on both sides; pulling the
couple closer and closer. Until…..
 
“Oh!” An electric eel wove between them and pumped a jolting five hundred volts
to each, driving them apart to stare at the door; Greya attempting to make
herself more presentable out of complete reflex. Lennox. Menacingly gleeful
eyes swiped between the two red-faced and panting students who had disentangled
themselves in complete surprise; her features melted from genuine shock to
utter greed. Separately and simultaneously, they scolded themselves. How had
they not heard her coming? How had they allowed themselves to become so
enveloped in each other out in the open that they became completely oblivious
to one of the biggest threats? “I’m sorry, the door was open. I just thought
that it was empty….”Like the cat that got the cream, that sick satisfaction put
the cornered couple on edge, that vile smirk made them sick to their stomachs;
they had been caught. “I’ll just uhh…. I’ll be on my way then.”As quickly as
she arrived, Lennox was gone but the sense of unease she brought with her
lingered.
 
“I think we should go….” Greya murmured, noticing that Hux had not re-
approached her; instead he opted to watch the door with utter distress. “I
don’t trust her, I think we should go….”
 
“I think you’re right.” He replied, breaking his trance on the door and
crossing the room to help her off the desk. “Come on, let’s get out of here.
I’ll bring you back to your room.”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
They never went anywhere together as an open couple so they never really held
hands outside the comfortable privacy of Greya's bedroom. What was supposed to
be a gesture of affection and care had now become tainted as one of worried
support for each other as they hurried through the corridors at an urgent pace.
A pair of intertwined hearts hammered in separate chests and they seemed to
take it in turns to glance behind them while both sets of ears strained for
dogging footsteps. They were almost in the clear, almost to their corridor when
the ominous footsteps started to approach; not one set or two but a number
neither could really count. Even when Greya glanced back and felt her heart
plunge into her stomach and her stomach into her bowel to see the shadows
unfold, she couldn’t count them with her frenzied mind. Armitage felt the same
terror when he looked ahead and more emerged from around the corner. The
minimal grasp on each other tightened as Greya swung around and the couple’s
backs seemed to stick together as several cadets (some familiar, some not)
began to approach from both ends of the corridor; closing in at an alarming
rate.
 
“Not going to share, Hux?” Nemet materialized from the back of the small group
facing the redhead with the same look of terrible satisfaction that Lennox had
when she discovered them in the classroom; no doubt she was to blame for the
current trapping. “You know you could catch something from her, don’t you?”
Armitage didn’t answer; his grip on Greya’s hand only strengthened. The brown
eyed Corellian behind him faced down the group ahead of her with
uncharacteristic fear but with an unconvincing attempt to hold her nerve. Nemet
broke from the crowd and paced around the pair, slow and casual just to unnerve
them further and it worked. “Let go of her. Now.”
 
“No.” Hux barely found his voice; he was determined not to let it waver and
drew himself to his full height (which even in the midst of puberty was not all
too intimidating). While the intentions of the groups may have been unclear, it
was certain they were not good. “I won’t. You can’t make me.”
 
“So you’re perfectly happy to let this creature waltz into our glorious Academy
and decimate everything we’re trying to build?” The saunter took the shape of a
circle; constantly ringing around the two in a display of jeering dominance
that seemed to resound through the separate groups. “An outsider; a rough,
breedless urchin? Seems you’re happy enough to share your bed with her as
well.” A quiet, ominous snicker rippled through the solid walls of bodies at
the end of each corridor and the smirk echoed Lennox’s from the classroom; a
sickening one of disgusting pleasure. “She’s not one of us. She doesn’t have
the bloodline or the purity to ever be one of us or serve the Empire so let her
go and we won’t hurt you.”
 
“So you intend to hurt her?!” Hux’s challenge was snarled as Nemet meandered
closer and closer to the flame-headed male; his body language provocative.
Greya managed to keep quiet though Armitage assumed that to be down to pure
fear rather than wisdom as both connected hands started to numb from the
constriction of each other.
 
“I’m just trying to keep the standard from slipping around here; you understand
that, surely?”
 
“That’s not your place, Nemet! And hurting her won’t do that! You will only be
proving what the rest of the galaxy think! What the Rebels and the Republic
want them to think!”
 
“You know what? I’m finished talking to a traitor.Grab her!” The barked order
swiftly followed the calm unperturbedness and the others reacted as quickly as
his tone had changed.
 
“WHAT’RE YOU DOING?!”Hux’s howl of panic masked Greya’s whimper of utter terror
as both groups descended in perfect unison and swarmed them; prying them apart
and wrestling them several feet from each other. It happened almost in slow
motion with the entire thing on mute; shock kicking in and disbelief riddling
both victims but one would be significantly more scarred then the other.
Armitage’s pale fingers curled, looking for Greya’s as if each furl and unfurl
would reset the separation and she would reappear back at his side but to no
avail. Instead, he saw her being dragged down the corridor on her back; legs
kicking and arms flailing in a desperate attempt to free herself and perhaps
use what kept her at the top of combat classes. Only then did Hux register the
pulling; the pulling of his uniform and his entire person to a hopeless
distance when Nemet pounced.
 
“Greya….”Despite the struggle and the roared warnings to keep away; Armitage
was powerless. Amidst the terrified stupefaction; he almost didn’t hear the
shredding of fabric, the goading mockery and the blood-chilling shrieks of
begging, trepidation and agony ricocheting off every wall. In revolting
helplessness, he couldn’t help but stare, reviled, as Greya’s legs were
wrenched apart and Nemet went first. The screaming intensified and no one
seemed interested in stopping her; if fact, they only seemed to encourage the
brute pinning her to the cold, stannic floor and the movements of his pelvis.
Despite the effort not to but prompted by the shameless grunts of effort and
pleasure from Nemet, Hux did throw up though it didn’t appear to affect the
grip his classmates continued to maintain.
 
“Grey…. Greya….”When it appeared to be over and Nemet delivered the final
spilling thrust; Greya’s bawls melted into weak sobs of defeat and violation.
But when Nemet hauled himself away, Veers promptly took his place and the
horror erupted again and again when he finished and Motti quickly followed
suit. After that, Hux lost count. His brain seemed to switch off as if to
protect him from further trauma but he could still hear her and the urge to
vomit again rose though he wasn’t graced with a second time. Even as he became
limp, his captivity continued and the insistent hold meant he couldn’t look
anywhere but the panting, broken mass on the floor his partner had become.
Having cried, screamed and tired herself out in a fruitless bid to escape,
Greya simply lay there as if her brains had turned to mush.
 
It took Hux a moment to realize that the only thing restraining him was fear.
All bounds had loosened and his captors had retreated back until they vanished
into various corners of the Academy, leaving him free but traumatized. One
shaking foot stepped in front of the other but there was no one there to see
him stumble. His tunnel-vision focused on Greya; the used, boneless mess on the
floor a few metres ahead of him had also been abandoned but the desperate and
increasingly frenzied attempts to get to her had drowned out their exit. Lip
trembling and hands shaking, the redhead dropped to his knees when he finally
reached his companion though unsure of what to do; the extent of their
situation hadn’t quite registered yet.
 
“Arm….”The feeble sniffle told him to pick up her hand and squeeze it, any sort
of comfort would do. The soft whines of continued pain and frailty took a
temporary back seat as Hux looked down and felt the bile rise again at the
snail-trail of blood a few inches long where she had been pushed along the
floor when turns were being taken. “Arm, we gotta…. We have to….”
 
“It’s okay….”He lied gently with shock still fresh in his system while he tried
to assess a way of picking her up without hurting her even more. “I’ve got
you…. We’re going to…. Get to the med bay. Do you…. D’you think you can walk?”A
long shot but he would certainly take it.
 
“N…. No…. I can’t….”
 
“Okay. I need you to trust me. I’m going to lift you but it’ll hurt and I don’t
want to leave you here while I get help so….. just….. bear with me.”
 
“O….Okay….Just…. Make it quick.”He put it down to adrenaline when he lifted
Greya from across her back and under her knees. The quiet hiss of torment
plucked at him while guilt sang in his ear though he knew, deep down, there was
nothing he could have done to prevent it. It seemed like an age before they
reached the med bay and with splintering arms, Hux laid a barely conscious
Greya on the nearest available bed before taking a complete disregard for the
last hour and bellowing into the dark ward:
 
“HELP US!!”
Chapter End Notes
     I know. I'm sorry.
***** Names *****
Chapter Summary
     Armitage is hauled before his father before an inevitable visit is
     made to Greya.
Chapter Notes
     So I can’t decide who I see as Hux’s father more. Domhnall’s real
     dad, Brendan Gleeson (Mad Eye Moody in Harry Potter)? Or Charles
     Dance (Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones)? Thoughts? Or suggestions?
     :P
See the end of the chapter for more notes
 
The office was quiet and sterile but the cadet didn’t notice. He could have
been standing in the middle of a busy street and his stupor would have been the
same whether he was there or in the medbay. He couldn’t sit, despite the chairs
tempting him; his feet wouldn’t allow anything other than worried pacing. Five
minutes then ten passed before the distant whirring of a door stirred Armitage
from his grief-struck musings only to turn and mark the Commandant.
 
“Sit.” The gruff order went unheeded as the elder redhead stalked around the
desk to ease his feet with his own chair. It took a mere flaring of nostrils
for the son to obey and so he ambled to the nearest chair on still shaking legs
in the full heat of his father’s disapproving scowl. “Tell me what
happened.”Armitage hesitated, much to his father’s disdain though he wasn’t
sure if he could even articulate it; to do so acknowledged that it had actually
happened. To concede that it had happened meant that Greya was lying in a
medbay bed, traumatized to within an inch of her life; an admission he’d rather
not make to anyone, let alone himself. Of course he didn’t understand, how
could he? How could this brutal human being understand his son’s mental state
after such a horrific incident if he had no humanity himself? If he had never
experienced what Armitage had experienced?
 
“I cannot do anything if you don’t tell me what happened.”Biting on what was
left of his tolerance, Brendol Hux pushed on but his tone bristled; the cadet
noticed but found himself not caring, as if his fatherreally wanted to help,
which was highly unlikely. Armitage’s answer was not immediate. The nervous
smacking and wetting of lips suggested whatever it was had (and continued to)
caused him a great deal of stress. Hux Snr’s patience may have been self-taught
but with the standard of training he had become used to in his officers and
trainees, he didn’t have to exercise it very often. Now though, his son was
beginning to stretch it. As if deliberating not only his answer but if he
should give it or not, the student’s despondence became even more grating as he
began to chew the skin at the side of his lip, much to the older redhead’s
disgust.
 
“They ambushed us.”The suffering was plain in the short, quiet breath though
the Commandant barely heard it. Momentarily confused, he watched as a blood-
caked hand passed through Armitage’s more vibrant strands but leaving no
imprint of crimson; the stony silence was not inviting but it was meant as a
push to continue. “They restrained me…. They…. They held her down… Did aw-awful
things to her….”
 
“Who did?”The sympathy was non-existent as his only child crumbled before him.
To treat him equally in public was one thing but surely there should have been
some sort of sentimentality attached to him or paternal love or pride to relax
that fairness so behind closed doors? Apparently not. Nor, incidentally, was
there an ounce of compassion for the poor girl in the medbay at that very
moment. The cadet continued to unravel and was therefore proving useless;
pressing on his father’s nerve even more which certainly helped neither party.
“Who did?!”
 
“I…. I don’t know.”Armitage’s confession came in a devastated wisp that barely
fought through trembling lips. “I couldn’t see who restrained me…. I didn’t
recognize some of them….”Did he really dare to name names? Nemet, Veers,
Motti…. They wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for Lennox, he wanted to punish
her too…. After that, he couldn’t remember; as if his brain had shut itself
down to protect him, he found himself feeling in the dark for names that just
weren’t there. He hadn’t seen her since he was (more or less) forcefully
removed from the medbay into which Greya was swallowed but the image of her had
been imprinted onto his brain. The more he recalled the weak, bleeding and
violated form of his lover, the stronger his resolve became to expose the
culprits.
 
“Nemet.”The first incrimination had lost the simpering touch that had disdained
the Commandant; rather, it gained his attention and an encouraging nod though
he took no notice of the approval that he had once craved. Armitage had become
fixed, certain and expressionless when he realized that justice could be done,
even if he had to rely on his father to attain it. Again, he focused on his
broken Greya to coldly and surely deliver the next name. “Veers.”What did he
expect to happen though? Their families were Imperial elite, the most
impeccable of breeding and with incredible influence. At that moment though, a
righteousness stirred in his breast that seemed to cloud everything and
temporarily assure him that everything would be alright. But it wouldn’t last
long. “Motti.”Upon the last name, Armitage felt his icy confidence begin to
waver and the sense of expectancy from across the desk had sparked it.
 
“Is that it?”Mouth drying at the prospect if imminent failure; he had nothing
else to offer. He had ashamedly severed himself from the situation when it
became too much and Motti had been the last before he had done so. Armitage’s
eyes dropped, squeezed shut almost in punishment and confidence thoroughly
diminished, his father seemed to read between the lines with flawless
intuition. “I’m optimistic that more can be uncovered from those names.”Perhaps
gentle wasn’t the word to describe the lightening of the Commandant’s demeanour
but it was clearly less intense than previous. The son dared to open and
heighten his eyes, almost positive that he had imagined such gentility and when
he looked up, it definitely didn’t show in the Commandant’s face. “You’re
dismissed, cadet. If you recall anything else, I will give you priority of my
time but in the meantime, I will follow up this matter personally.”
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Meandering aimlessly and thoughtlessly, Armitage Hux’s steps tore him between
two places. His own room (nestled in a burrow of rapists) or the medbay.
Selfishly (and he later scolded himself for this), he found himself terrified
to see her. He had been given no instructions to refrain from the medbay but
would visiting her force him to relive his own failure? That failure of being
unable to protect her? Hesitating in the corridor in the late hours was sure to
get him reprimanded by a patrol should he be caught which left him with a
decision to make: Comforting his beloved Greya or retreating to his room like a
coward. He decided to be a man. He hadn’t been able to prevent this atrocity
but now, he was going to do all in his power to ensure that Greya not only
recovered but he would strive to rebuild her to the confident young woman he
was absolutely besotted with. As if on autopilot, Armitage found himself at the
entrance to the medbay and scarcely supressing his memory of his last visit
there; he could almost feel the weight of her in his arms.
 
The darkness of the ward didn’t frighten him but did put him on edge, unsure of
what he was going to find. Each bed he stalked past was empty and alarm started
to stir again as his head swivelled from side to side and his steps became more
frenzied when there was no sign of Greya. Working himself up into panic did
nothing to help him nor did it prepare him for the hand on his shoulder;
causing him to jump and exclaim aloud. The fright left a small ruffling of
panting in his chest only to turn and find the nurse who had taken Greya from
him; the nurse that had patched him up on numerous occasions. No words were
exchanged, not yet but he took it in his instincts to follow her in a solemn
procession from the desolate ward and into a section he’d never seen before.
 
“She’s sleeping.” The kindly woman he’d known for years informed him with her
voice soft and low when they stopped at a large, solid cubicle rather than a
curtained one. “She’s under heavy sedation and undergoing a course of vigorous
pain relief.”The troubled look of pity put Armitage on a knife’s edge as her
hand hovered reluctantly over the door handle. “She’s also been given a
substantial dose of contraceptives, just in case.”The implication chilled his
blood but before he could dwell on it sooner (and perhaps it was a mercy that
he was served with a distraction), her hand lowered to release the spring and
grant them entry.
 
Lights low, room silent, atmosphere heavy; the nurse hovered at the door as the
redhead’s feet seemed to be pulled into the austere environment that housed his
unconscious and severely injured lover. He could just about make her out; paler
than usual, mousy brown strands bundled into a ponytail behind her, breathing
shallow but most disturbing of all was the outlines of her legs under the
blankets, spread wide to relieve pressure and pain. He braved a few steps more
until he found himself even with the bed as a lump started to steadily develop
in his throat and his nerve started to fray; he needed to remember, he needed
justice and she did too. Considerate of the time and his delicate, sleeping
partner; Hux opted to lift the chair rather than drag it to the top of the bed
where he could be as close to her as physically possible. So close, in fact,
that they could share a pillow which they did, despite the awkward angle and
potential pain in his neck.
 
“There’s a spare blanket in the cabinet.”The doleful raising of his eyes loaned
his attention to the nurse once more. She stood poised with her hand on the
handle and ready to close it behind her to leave the couple in peace. “If you
need anything, you know where to find me.” No sooner were the generous words
uttered and they were left to themselves. Face to face, nose to nose and a
single hand warming her fragile cheek; Armitage did all he could to keep
himself in check. The apologetic press of his lips to the bridge of her nose
caught the very ghost of a breath on his chin; an overly simple thing that
meant so much.
 
“This shouldn’t have happened.”He told her, each word dripping with regret and
blame as his thumb ever so gently started to stroke her cheek. “But I’m going
to make it right, I’m going to make sure they allsuffer.”The thick swallow
reminded him to keep himself restrained; he needed to be strong and needed to
do so for her. “I promise they will.”
 
Chapter End Notes
     As always, tell me what you think. :D
     Sorry it's short. :/
***** Jevelet/ The Voice *****
Chapter Summary
     Armitage is summoned to another meeting with the Commandant and
     Greya's fate is revealed.
Chapter Notes
     Apologies for the delay!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
 
It had been a slow, hazy week since Greya had been attacked on the way back to
her dorm under the escort of her friend and lover, Armitage Hux. The brutal
events that unfolded in that corridor continued to plague him in his rare hours
of sleep and time did not seem to heal him as the age-old proverb promised.
Since her first night in the medical bay, he had not left her side, loyally
sitting at the edge of her bed and holding her hand over the cot rail; the only
break in his watch was the rare occasion in which he slipped away to shower or
closed his eyes to ease the exhaustion. The relationship he’d built with the
nurse over the years had been fruitful as she never shooed him away (despite
his constant presence), she kept his pillow and his blanket fresh and delivered
food at mealtimes. However, the longer Hux spent with Greya, the more he
realized that something was wrong. She never woke. Her sedation was constant.
When he questioned it, the nurse simply brushed it off. Still, he stayed.
 
His dedication to his classes and the summer program had faltered tremendously
for a number of reasons. The first: He could not bear to be in the same
breathing space as the smug thugs who had massacred his partner while they went
unpunished, the injustice of it was too much to think about, let alone actually
attempt. The second: How could he possibly focus on a lesson when there was a
possibility of a change in Greya’s condition? It would be just his luck that
the first time he ventured from her side for more than a half an hour that she
would wake and look for him. The third: There was little likelihood of Greya
being fit enough for the summer program now. The final few weeks of the term
loomed and her recovery was already hindered, almost purposefully. Needless to
say, he would not attend the summer program without her and was already in the
process of forfeiting his place.
 
The fourth and final reason: His studies and his goals had become meaningless
and of no interest to the redhead. His sole purpose seemed to boil down to
sitting in the med bay and waiting for Greya to rouse and thus far, still
nothing. Neither his father nor any other high ranking official of the Academy
came to check her progress, offer compassion, support or an update on justice.
There was no talk of compensation, how the results of her first year within the
Academy would be calculated given her condition; or anything else for that
matter. No one came, nothing happened; she languished, oblivious to the world
around her while Armitage had the pain of consciousness. He noticed the lack of
everything, how Greya had been swept to one side and ignored, how she wasn’t
worthy of a visit or even an apology from the so-called representatives of the
Academy. Why would he want to be part of it? If they could treat her, an
innocent, this way; why would he work towards becoming one of them and thriving
in that terrible environment? He didn’t. Not anymore.
 
The seat beneath his rear had inherited a perfect mould of his buttocks from
the continuous contact over the course of the week and even now, as he rested
his arms on the cot side and his cheek on his arms and forlornly gazed at the
motionless face; impervious to the passing of time, his own breathing and the
nurse hesitating at the doorway. Had he noticed her, he may or may not have
noticed the pity in her face and the indecision in her body language as she
floated just outside the threshold. The only thing to rip him from his daydream
was the gentle clearing of a throat that didn’t register right away. When it
did, however; the despondency flickered from one female to another.
“The Commandant wants to see you.”
 
===============================================================================
 
 
As before, it seemed his father was only interested in unnerving and whittling
him by staring him down in silence while hundreds of possible conversations
tore through his head. Armitage didn’t dare speak; his father always spoke
first and that would be common ground (proof that he was no more valued than
the others) between him and any other Cadet. Gaze unreadable, hands folded and
back rigid, Hux senior regarded his only child with something of disdain though
Armitage couldn’t fathom why. He was about to find out.
 
“I hear-“ That drawl always managed to inspire dread. “That your attendance at
your classes has waned since the incident with Cadet Vardai.”Another silent
stalemate ensued but Armitage knew better than to keep his father waiting.
 
“Yes, sir.” Neither cocky nor brazen but Armitage stood firm and (almost)
defiant.
 
“And may I inquire as to why that is?’
 
The itch to shuffle from foot to foot was almost unbearable under the heat of
that scalding, expectant and indecipherable surveying; particularly for someone
who was little more than a child and had been terrorized by this man for his
entire life to date. There were many reasons but was he comfortable disclosing
them to his father? Absolutely not. However, comfort had no place in the
Commandant’s office and he already waited for an answer. So he decided to part
with the most truthful and (at the same time) tormenting explanation.
 
“I feared that Grey- Cadet Vardai might wake from her sedation and look for me;
I feared that she would become distressed and even more ill if I wasn’t there
when she needed me.” How could he expect his father to understand that? Surely
to do so required humanity the Commandant just didn’t possess? Armitage was
correct in that sentiment. Clearly (and predictably) unmoved, the elder
redhead’s expression flashed indifference but questioning was far from over; he
could examine his son’s inadequacy another time.
 
“I followed up the names you gave me in our last meeting.” Armitage stiffened;
were they about to get justice? The indifference lingered in his father’s face,
impossible to tell the positive from the negative. “Those leads proved
unsuccessful.” And that was when Armitage forgot himself.
 
“Unsuccessful?” The beat in between was not enough for his father to interject
before the cadet continued to spew his incomprehension. “I… I don’t understand;
unsuccessful how? There’s…. There’s security feed! Surely! DNA! They… They…
Tested her!” Pathetic and all as the uncontrollable rambling was, the
Commandant would let it run its course. “They were all there! Question them!
Surely someone heard something?! She was screaming, how did no one hear her
screaming?!” The descent into frayed resolve and scrambling attempts at
absorption were swiftly cut short when Commandant Hux grew both bored and
agitated.
 
“They were questioned.”Brendol interjected cleanly with patience that had
started to waver. “They denied their involvement, denied they were anywhere
near the area when it happened. There was no security footage, nor security
recordings and no one reported hearing screaming or any sort of commotion at
the time of the alleged incident.”
 
“Alleged?!”
 
“What I did uncover from one of the accused-“Armitage listened helplessly,
hopes of retribution dashed. “Is that the only one in any sort of a sexual or
physical relationship with Cadet Vardai at the time-“Dumbfounded, the answer
was exactly what he thought it would be. “Was you.”
 
Mouth dry and eyes unblinking from the anticipatory form of his father; the
disbelief at the implication wracked him.
 
“You… You don’t think I did this?!”
 
“Were you or were you not in a sexual relationship with Cadet Vardai?”
 
“Y… Yes but-“
 
“You are aware, Cadet, that that is against regulations and can warrant
dismissal?”
 
“You can’t be serious! Theyraped her!”
 
“So you say.”Without invitation, Armitage sank into the chair on the outside of
his father’s desk before his quaking knees gave way. Face hidden by the bottoms
of his palms and his ivory fingers grappling at his hair, there was never a
more despicable display of spinelessness at such a prestigious hive of Imperial
learning. “No charges are being filed.”A morose shake of the fiery head added
to the piteous sight. “And Miss Vardei is being dismissed.”That last sentence,
the ultimate insult, inspired a slow heightening of his face from his hands;
eyes bloodshot and cheeks stained.
 
“Dismissed….?”
 
“Whilst here, she is a drain on resources. She is taking a bed, medication and
the nurse’s time and attention; she is no longer the concern of the Academy and
therefore is being sent elsewhere to be accurately assessed and treated
accordingly.”The callousness was revolting but had he really foreseen anything
different? Perhaps if his state of mind was not so scattered or frazzled, his
usual clarity of mind would have prevailed but this time…. He had really
thought his father would come through.
 
“Where…. Are you sending her?”
 
“She will be housed in the Jevelet establishment-“
 
“Jevelet….”That haunted word tumbled from horrified lips as snippets of
terrible information came hurtling towards him at the very mention of the word
and his breath shortened in utter dishevelment. “That’s…. That’s an asylum….You
can’t-!”
 
“It is already done!”His father snapped, tired of the mewling. He knew Armitage
had been weak-willed but this, this was an entirely different humiliation for
the Hux name, second only to producing a bastard son in the first place.
 
“Father, please!”
 
“YOU WERE WARNED!!”The sudden explosion, scraping of a shoved chair, booted
feet taking his weight and the heavy colliding of a fist to the desk marked the
end of a tether and the whimpered recoiling only added fuel to fire. “YOU WERE
WARNED NEVER TO CALL ME THAT!!”Putting a bull rancor to shame with the snort of
absolute incensement, Brendol glowered over the desk at the snivelling creature
made in his image; the only proof of an affair he’d had nearly sixteen years
ago. “WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT RISK A SCANDAL AT THIS ACADEMY, NOT ON MY
WATCH!!”The brief pause of hanging silence did not get a chance to settle. “IF
YOU TAKE ISSUE WITH THE CARE BEING ALLOCATED TO YOUR WHORE BY THE ACADEMY, BY
ALL MEANS, FEEL FREE TO PAY FOR IT YOURSELF!! NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
It had been perfectly timed. When he left the office, shaking like an Arkanian
leaf, and returned to the med bey, the cubicle was empty and the bed stripped
with little delay. At first, he assumed he must have wandered into the wrong
room, the wrong wing; anything but the obvious that waited to be realized. And
when he did finally realize it, how long had he stood there, disorientated and
dazed while agony and rage bubbled simultaneously beneath the surface? He
couldn’t say, time had betrayed him, along with someone else. The nurse
apologetically informed him that Greya had been discharged under his father’s
instruction and was already en route to the Jevelet System; so much for trust.
He didn’t even allow her to finish whatever soft excuses she had carefully put
together and it seemed she knew better than to follow him when he walked away
in distraught disgust; unable to remain in that dreadful place a moment longer.
 
His own room felt alien; the ceiling he’d stared at for years felt unfamiliar
but it welcomed him home regardless after spending rest week in Greya’s room
and the following week at her bedside. Too beside himself to cry, he simply
stared into the oblivion overhead while it felt like his internal pain was
bordering on becoming physical; like his entire body had fallen under the mercy
of some cruel vice.
 
Jevelet….. He’d heard stories, all of which he (unfortunately) had no reason to
disbelieve though to do so would have been a kindness, if only to himself. He
recalled hearing about the dangerous and the criminally insane that were
shipped to Jevelet, never to be heard from again; most, if not all, of them
men. He’d heard about the asylum renowned for its cruelty and its isolation
facility; the celebrated Jevelet that broke the criminals and silenced the mad.
And now, his Greya…. His defenceless, raw and violated Greya…. Being thrown to
the wolves and left to fend for herself. And all for the sake of the Academy
saving face, for refusing to punish the wrong and hiding the perpetrators.
 
So enveloped in his fret, he couldn’t place when it started but it woke him;
the breathing. Instead of alarm (as would be the normal reaction to foreign
breathing in an empty room), Armitage felt strangely at peace, like he did when
he was with Greya. Sitting up into the adjusting darkness, the redhead’s eyes
flickered in curiosity; he could see no one but the breathing, a frail sort of
rattle, continued.
 
“Hello?” The breathing shifted when he spoke, as though it was moving;
encircling him and being churned up by his greeting. He wet his lips and opened
his mouth to speak into the void again but-
 
“Young Hux.”His mouth dried again instantaneously as he chanced another glance
around; no one to be seen. Instinctively, he took a step forward without fear,
merely inquisitiveness for this faceless, bodiless entity that spoke in a
laboured, drawn out rasp.
 
“Who’re you?”
 
“I am your salvation.”Brow melting into a somewhat perplexed furrow, his
confusion became apparent. “I am her salvation.” Greya?
“Her salvation?!” Armitage almost stumbled over the words in a bid to get them
out fast enough but it seemed this thing, whatever it was, was in no hurry to
leave him just yet. Desperately, his eyes searched the darkness with newly
discovered frenzy but even if the lights were on, he would have seen nothing
and no one. “What do you mean, “her salvation”?!” The thing paused and in his
frustration, Armitage could feel his breaths getting heavier and his emotions
getting clamoured. “Speak to me! Please!”
 
“You are gifted.”
 
“What?!”
 
“You are clever, diligent and dedicated.”
 
“What does that have to do with her?!”
 
“Do as I instruct-“Armitage’s chest tightened and a hand knotted into scarlet
strands. “And I will return her to you. Free of affliction and illness, exactly
as she used to be.”
 
“Can you do that?!”
 
“I can and I shall but you must serve me in return.”
 
“Will you punish them?!”The Commandant’s son pleaded, sniffling into the
nothingness and choking on a dry sob as the possibilities unravelled
themselves; how could he be sure this was even real and not an elaborate trick
of his own mind?
 
“No.”He felt himself on the verge of crumbling after being built up with this
random hope but again, the voice cut in before he could fall too far. “You will
do that with the tools I will give you.”
 
“I’ll do it!”He had never been more sure, more resolute or more concrete on
anything in his fifteen years, even if it meant hurling himself into the
unknown. As an Imperial rule, everything centred around reality, logic and
discipline; the witchcraft referred to as “The Force” was little more than a
fairy-tale which rational and reasonable beings would scoff at. But now, and he
wasn’t sure how he brushed the “hocus pocus” concept aside, but he would bend
to it and disregard what he had been taught; for Greya. “Tell me what to do and
I’ll do it!”
 
“Rest now.”It soothed and inexplicably, his emotions became less inflamed as a
sudden wave of fatigue wrapped around him. “You will hone your talents, you
will supersede the weak and when the time comes, you will be unstoppable.”
 
Chapter End Notes
     Who was speaking to him, I wonder....? Hmm.....
***** Reunited *****
Chapter Summary
     Nearly three years after the life-destroying incident, Armitage is
     allowed to visit Greya at Jevelet for the first time as an eighteenth
     birthday present.
Chapter Notes
     I cried. Several times.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
So Armitage did as he was bid. The suspended voice instructed him to hone his
talents and he did just that. He dedicated himself to advancing and with no
Greya to ground him to the medbay, it became easier to seal himself off and
focus. He became rigid in his classes; encased in his own bubble of education
without the socialization that the others only seemed to attend for. He managed
to ignore the sneers and the predatory smirks of the guilty but not-so-guilty
parties; they were without doubt the most difficult part of remaining in the
Academy, second only to his father, of course.
 
Yet, he thrived like the voice said he would. He excelled academically and
surpassed all expectations, even if it meant doing it alone without the orphan
at his side to encourage him. He thought of her often; every night, in fact.
Sometimes he would weep, other times he would get a sudden surge of diligence
and take out a holo to study further and push himself to succeed.
 
“IF YOU TAKE ISSUE WITH THE CARE BEING ALLOCATED TO YOUR WHORE BY THE ACADEMY,
BY ALL MEANS, FEEL FREE TO PAY FOR IT YOURSELF!!”He couldn’t. As a cadet, he
had no income; income was only earned by officers and that income was dependent
on rank. He relied on the Academy for bed and board and what menial pocket
money his father grudgingly transferred once a week was scarcely enough
(despite how religiously he saved) for his minor needs, let alone the extensive
bills that would come with decent residential care.
 
Did she need residential care? Nearly three years later, when he visited her
for the first time as an officer candidate, he would find out.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Petrified. How could he be anything else? He’d told himself that the prison
exterior of Jevelet could not and did not extend into the institution but as he
marched with an armed prison officer flanking either side, the more his stomach
turned and he fought the urge to cry again. Dull, dark and dingy; light,
powerful light, was used as a blanket control mechanism for prisoners and
though his escorts navigated their way flawlessly, Armitage was not so graceful
until his eyes adjusted. Sinister shadows lurked behind their barred confines
and though secure, they threatened him nonetheless; sadistic and gleeful, some
of them predators and most likely eager to get to an unprotected female.
 
Cold, he noted with unease as booted footsteps rang on worn but sturdy
flagstones; his trepidation of this facility only worsening with every
atrocious discovery. This place…. This dreadful place….  It had been her home
for nearly three years and the only reason he was there then was on his
father’s “good graces”; an eighteenth birthday present that had, of course,
been designed to torture him.
 
“Inmate 1983!!”One guard at his side called nonchalantly up to another while
the redhead watched the exchange with climbing distress. Inmate?!Before he
could voice his concern that he wasn’t there to see an inmate, he was there to
visit a patient, the other countered:
 
“Yeah, she’s in.”
 
“She been sedated?!”Looking between the two in utter revulsion, his hair
flopping as he did; Armitage resolved that there had been a mistake, that they
referred to another inmate but caught between the two, he found it hard to
interject. The seemingly normal (if hollered) conversation between the guards
continued.
 
“’Bout an hour ago.”The one on the upper deck answered. “Took a while; had to
wait for the tranq darts. Medic wasn’t gettin’ near her with a needle today!”
 
“She hurt him?!”
 
“Not the worst.”
 
“She’s difficult.” The other guard beside him leaned in to address him quietly
when he noticed the alarm; this one seemed to have a more compassionate edge.
“Doesn’t like men near her. It’s fine on a normal day when she’s by herself but
it’s mostly male staff here; if she needs a check-up or her cell needs
cleaning, she needs to be sedated to be moved.” The titbits of information had
been intended as an explanation to ease him (not knowing his connection to one
of the few female inmates) but the actual result was a chilling of Hux’s blood.
“She doesn’t have visitors…” The officer added with a twinge of pity for both
Armitage and (seemingly) Greya. “So today is a first.”
 
Before any more terrible revelations could be made, Armitage was shepherded
into an elevator; a gloomy, decrepit cage that shut with a stuttering, rattling
snap. The surprisingly smooth ride went unnoticed as his anxiety climbed with
the prison levels and he became oblivious to everything but his own
consciousness. Sedated? Doesn’t like men near her? Cell?They didn’t sound like
they were dealing with a delicate, traumatized human; rather, a rabid, wild
beast.
 
He woke to the clearing of a throat; a gentle reminder from the kinder guard
that they had reached their destination. Even at the entrance to the block, his
I.D was checked and scrutinized; despite there being nowhere to go and no
change of company since it was last checked upon his entry. Stealing another
fraught look around as the guards exchanged briefs, Hux felt his stomach clench
when he realized that the prison and the “hospital” were not separate. They
were one of the same with very little allowances made for a poor soul like
Greya. Everything was the same as on the lower levels in the prison section;
the same icy stone floors, the same unforgiving brickwork in the walls and the
same foreboding guard presence who appeared a little too ready to pull a
trigger.
 
The nudge of the butt of a blaster rifle herded him on though his feet did not
want to seem to move. He was prodded until he fell into step and if he, a
visitor, was treated this way; he could only imagine what an inmate would be
subjected to.
 
“INMATE 1983!!”He brasher of the two guards announced when they came to a stop
outside a solid door with a small slot at the bottom; presumably for food. The
ruthless thuddingbash of a rifle collided with the door which caused Armitage
to jump; not just in fright but revulsion. “YOU IN THERE, PRINCESS??!! GOT A
VISITOR!!”Callously raising his voice to alert the sedated occupant, he saw
nothing wrong with his behaviour. The other guard, on the other hand, slid the
young redhead a look of sympathy though did nothing to correct his colleague.
He waited a benign few seconds then swiped his I.D at the panel beside the
door.
 
“I’ll go.” The (significantly) more humane of the two interjected before the
other could with method in his madness and obeying protocol at the same time.
“You stay out here.” The shrug suggested indifference, it meant he had less to
trouble him should things go wrong; why wouldn’t he accept? Another glance of
condolence prompted Armitage to follow his preferred guard into the cell.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The suspicion had been sneaking and he had told himself it wasn’t the case but
when it was confirmed, Armitage struggled to hold his crumbling perseverance;
the only difference in the cells he passed and Greya’s were there were no bars
in the door. Everything was cruelly the same, right down to the rickety, wire-
frame bed in the corner; the bed where a barely familiar form was sprawled. The
guard gestured inwards, an invitation to approach but Armitage hesitated when
fear gripped him again. Flashbacks of that nightmarish week in the medbay came
flooding back where she remained the same until she was disposed of without a
goodbye. In the following years, he had hoped she might have recovered; that
she might have made progress with the proper care but…. Obviously not.
 
One reluctant footstep set upon the other until he reached the bed and only
then did any hold he had on himself wither along with those hopes. Thin,
outrageously thin. Haggard, exhausted, gaunt. She lay there; one might have
been forgiven for thinking she was resting on first glance but with her eyes
half open and she watched him warily through the immobile slits. The child
solider sank on shaking knees to put himself on her level, to assure her he
meant no harm.
 
“Hi Greya….”It came out in a wobble with a sniff and he was suddenly overly
aware of the guard by the door. “Can you give us a minute please?”
 
“Sorry, kid.” He did genuinely seem apologetic and morose. “It’s against
regulation, one of us has to be here.” He could appreciate rules and regulation
in normal circumstances but whether those were to protect him or Greya, didn’t
really matter.
“Do you have a beloved?”He asked the guard, subdued and defeated, with another
sniffle, descending into personal situations with a man he didn’t know without
looking at him.
 
“I…..” Caught unawares and taken somewhat aback by the question, the guard
stumbled on the answer. “Well, yeah, my wife’s my-“
 
“So please give me a moment alone with mine.”What could he say? As if
corruption wasn’t already rife in Jevelet with far more important directives
being ignored; why not waver this one for a pure purpose that he could
understand on a personal level? So he did. A murmur of concession followed by a
beep of acceptance from the scanner on the wall meant the guard had left them
and Armitage took that as his cue to let his emotions cascade.
 
“What have they done to you…..?”He wept, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer from
the heavily drugged female that had once been bright, bubbly and the absolute
light of his otherwise dreary life. Her eyelids flickered in vain communication
but remained trained on his with her breathing shallow and laboured; the sight
of it was agonizing. Greya’s eyes (what was visible of them) mirrored distrust
and it devastated him to realize that she didn’t recognize him.
 
“Greya….?”The gentle grip on her hand resulted in a spasm-like twitch; as if
she had tried to snatch her hand away but the paralysis prevented that and so,
she was forced to endure the one-sided contact. He tried again with an edge of
desperation and a stab of unmistakeable grief. “Greya, it’s me…..
Armitage….”The little whinge tore at him, the protest of fear and helplessness
as part of her lip folded down in the barest of movement; as if she was trying
to plead with him to leave her be, as if she dreaded what would come next.
 
Doesn’t like men near her….Had he thought that didn’t apply to him? Perhaps
he’d assumed she would have recognized him and therefore, his male status would
not prohibit him from interacting with her. That was clearly not the case as
the hindered, pathetic attempts to be left alone grated at and disheartened him
into a fresh wave of floundering, tearful inhales. Heart aching and eyes
stinging, Armitage carefully withdrew his hand and shuffled back several feet
from the bed; the last thing he wanted to do was impose on her and further fray
her condition.
 
Armitage sat and stared through watering eyes; crushed and overwhelmed by the
wretched state he found her in. What had started as a simple (and positive day)
had spiralled out of control all those years ago and now, they both still
suffered for it though she significantly more than he. His father still denied
any wrongdoing and defended the reputation of the Academy with venom and pride,
protecting those who had obliterated this once confident young woman into a
shambling shadow of her former self; a crime which should have been punished
severely. He observed her still, knowing he was short on time and as much as it
destroyed him to see her like this, he persisted, ignorant of when he would see
her again. The urge to kiss her; either on the forehead or the cheek was
extinguished out of melancholic practicality.
 
He didn’t realize the guard had re-entered until he spoke.
 
“Time’s up, kid.” Eyes bloodshot and mind in disarray, the redhead managed to
untangle himself from thoughts of utter trauma. “Time to go.”
 
“It hasn’t been ten minutes, has it?”He responded meekly, barely tearing his
gaze from his beloved companion; weak and vulnerable on the bed. “I was told
ten minutes….” How despicable was that? The promise of torment in this hellhole
and he took it gladly if it meant he could see her for a miserable ten minutes.
Did he wish he had not accepted and forgone a birthday present? He couldn’t be
sure.
 
“’Fraid so.” The guard replied with the same empathy as before. “C’mon, don’t
do it to yourself.” But Armitage wasn’t finished.
 
“You said she had no visitors.”He murmured, chancing one more glance at Greya
before he stood to face the guard, stony-faced. “That’s not true, is
it?”Discomfort suddenly swept the guard’s demeanour; Greya was no longer the
only one defenceless. Then: Armitage snapped with an eruption of temper and
boiling fury. “IS IT?!”The armed one swallowed under the unwavering dissection
of the younger male; a creature he would have undermined in a heartbeat but
here he was, defying that expectation.
 
“They’re forbidden to, it’s against regulations….” He confessed somewhat numbly
though (to his credit) there was disgust nestled somewhere in that statement.
“They can wipe their I.D tag from the system, we never know who’s been here or
when but it always shows up in her check-ups or on the sheets….”Winded,
Armitage stumbled past him; physically sick and headed for the door. “I’ve
never touched her; I have a daughter, I wouldn’t-!“
 
It fell on deaf ears. Without waiting for the escort; Armitage tore from the
cell, then the corridor, then the block, then the prison itself with one
blazing, distinct and determined decision imprinted on his brain. She would not
be staying there, not if he could help it.
Chapter End Notes
     Do review. xxx
***** Divine Intervention *****
Chapter Summary
     Hux receives a com call then re-visits Jevelet.
Chapter Notes
     Sorry it's been a while!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
He didn’t know how he did it or how it happened but whatever it was, Armitage
Hux was grateful.
 
Another draining day, another wary evening; like everything was on repeat but
why should this night be different to any of the others?
 
Perched on his bed with uniform neatly folded to the appropriate creases (a
habit that would follow him into adulthood), Armitage sat and simply re-
evaluated the day. An officer now and thriving, his responsibilities surpassed
that of a cadet or even an officer candidate and somehow, he assumed his father
was responsible for that; anything to keep him busy and focused. Focused on
anything than a certain someone.
 
But Armitage played his father’s game. Fulfilled his duties, obeyed his
commands, ran the extra errands; did whatever to lure his father into placation
that his plan was working. However, between the hours of 08.00 and 20.00,
Armitage was paid. Maybe not exceptionally well but it was better than the
miserly and grudging pocket money that his father sometimes “forgot” to
transfer, the pocket money that was almost impossible to save. Needless to say,
said pocket money had ceased since the wage started coming in and Armitage
didn’t miss it.
 
The gentle buzzing of his com (set to a quieter setting for his off-duty hours)
disturbed him, though not immediately, as it reverberated on the bedside table.
His eyes rested on his uniform, disdained at the idea of dressing and
presenting himself to the usual standard for the sake of some stupid and menial
request of a drunken superiour. Resigned to do what would keep him in favour
and therefore continue to rise through the ranks, he readied himself to comply.
 
“Yes?”
 
“Hello. Am I speaking to a…. Armitage Hux?”Piqued and curious, he sat up fully
in expectancy with his brow creased.
 
“Yes. Speaking?”
 
“Good evening, Mr Hux, my name is Nara Mentar; head of applications at the
Merisee Grand Medical Facility. I hope I’m not intruding by comming you so
late?”
 
“Uhh… No, not at all!” Confusion deepened but in the most wonderful way,
Armitage scrambled from his sitting position in favour of pacing his restricted
quarters in just his socks, vest and boxers.
 
“Mr Hux, we’ve reviewed an application you’ve made on behalf of a Greya
Vardai….”Everything appeared to stop. Time suspended and the conversation
seemed to pause while his mouth dried and his mind went into overdrive of the
thousand different ways this com call could go: Good and bad. But Ms. Mentar
continued regardless of if the young Hux was listening or not.
 
“We acknowledge that the application was made over a year ago and we appreciate
your patience on the matter but we take the needs of our patients very
seriously and so overcrowding is not an option for us.”Armitage froze. To tell
him such a thing and refuse the application would be cruel; to know such a
facility (no matter how old it happened to be) was so well run and to turn them
down would be a terrible blow. Particularly when the facility in question was
the best case scenario, a dream come true.
 
“Of course…..”
 
“With that in mind, Mr Hux, we would like to extend our warmest welcomes to
Greya, should she still be interested in a place here at Merisee.”His heart
leapt and the butterflies in his stomach erupted. The Merisee Grand Medical
Facility was a collection of several buildings located in the city of Caronath
on the planet Merisee. Dedicated to the healing arts, its services were
expensive but fast, highly reliable and so, extremely sought after.
 
The facility, an actual hospital, was staffed by the finest doctors, nurses,
specialists, technicians, and medical droids from the Elrood sector. All these
combined made it an ideal place for Greya, where she would be cared for with
competence, compassion and gentility; the polar opposite of Jevelet and where
Armitage would have preferred to place her from the beginning.
 
“Yes!” The redhead remembered his decorum and clenched his jaw though he
doubted Ms. Mentar would have accosted him as his superiours (including his own
father) would have for letting his demeanour slip. Clearing his throat, the
woman on the other end of the com was patient. “Yes, we would. We absolutely
would, thank you.”
 
“Now, as I’m sure you’ll understand, Mr Hux, we can only off you the most basic
package of care with the figure you quoted us in your applicati-“
 
“That’s fine!” Armitage jumped in, almost petrified that she would revoke the
offer and they would lose the opening at Merisee. “That’s fine, we’ll take it!
Anything to get her out of where she is!” It seemed Ms. Mentar was sympathetic.
 
“Excellent! And, as I was about to say, Mr Hux, there is the possibility of an
advanced care improvement scheme. It’s offered to some of our more trustworthy
clients with the assurance of later payment-“
 
“We’ll take it.” Armitage cut in once again, the prospect of going into such
substantial debt so young meant nothing if Greya’s care was guaranteed; with a
facility as prestigious as Merisee, that guarantee was as good as granted.
Coiling his lips together to moisten them, these words would cement his
beloved’s future. “We’d like to accept the placement, please.”
 
“Wonderful!”Nara Mentar genuinely sounded pleased and enthusiastic; another
relief: humane staff. “We’ll be in touch tomorrow to finalize details of
Greya’s transfer to Merisee. Would you like us to collect her from her current
residence and bring her-“
 
“No.” Hux had never been surer of anything, ever. Resolution echoed in those
words and was reflected in those hardened features. He gripped the com firmer
than was probably necessary but a sudden bout of fury provoked it. “No, I’ll
see to that myself. Thank you.”
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Even with the strings he pulled, the favours he called in, the promises he
made; he still didn’t see how it amounted to the force he stormed Jevelet with.
As if everyone he approached had their mind in an invisible grasp, they agreed
instantly to aid him in his quest to release Greya from her prison. His
superiours commissioned squadrons, hundreds of Stormtroopers at a time. The
head medic dispatched a team of doctors, nurses, droids and equipment. And the
commanding officer of transport gifted him one of the finest, most spacious and
best suited carriers for the run from Jevelet to Merisee.
 
And all without a servile, pleading mumble to his father.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The guards scattered like cockroaches; trained for such an eventuality but had
grown lazy and complacent that such a thing would never occur. Armitage lead
the medical team in his pristine officer’s uniform and groomed appearance, the
small group flanked and proceeded by innumerable armed and ready Stormtroopers.
 
The obscene howling of prisoners dinned around them but Armitage, trained on
one target, didn’t hear it. The icy flagstones underfoot hadn’t changed in the
year he’d been there, nor had the bars on the cells or the walls a foot thick.
Even the smell of stale piss still hung insistently in the air. Prisoners had
come and gone; some had died and more had been admitted to take their place, he
doubted any had been released.
 
With his march impeccable, Armitage remembered his way, all the way to the
cellblock where inmate 1983 unknowingly awaited resc-transfer. Each checkpoint
they arrived at throughout the prison galvanized the cowardice among the guards
who simply over-rode the system at blaster-point to let the invading force
through; much to the future General’s disgust. He commanded like one; a
General, that is. He lead like one, paraded like one, decided like one; no
doubt his charisma and professionalism were observed and would be reported
back.
 
They met no resistance until they arrived where the bellowed conversation
between the guards had happened on his last visit to Jevelet. There, he noticed
something else had not changed; one particular guard, emerging from Greya’s
wing.
 
“OI!!”The holler earned little more than a casual glance upwards and a slowing
in the pace of the party but stopping was not an option. That guard, the same
brash and cruel guard who had treated his darling Greya like a prisoner who had
deserved such treatment. “WHERE D’YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING??!!”The guard
thundered the stairs, fixated on the redhead and trying to place where he knew
him from until…. “YOU!!”Even now, the guard held a significant height
difference but Armitage saw no threat. “I KNOW YOU!!”
 
“Yes, I remember you too.” Oozing nonchalance, it took a single, minute gesture
of his head and a series of micromovements to have the guard subdued. Standard
procedure of the butt of a blaster rifle between the shoulder blades and a
connecting of a front of a knee to the back sufficed to have the guard forced
downwards and arms restrained behind his back; subjugated to the young officer.
 
“Take this.” Armitage plucked the I.D badge from the guard’s person and handed
it to the tech to his right, one of his own team. “Go to the cell third on the
left, do not enter the cell. But tell me if that I.D has been used on that door
in the last thirty minutes. Thank you.” While the tech skittered off, Armitage
maintained an unnervingly calm and triumphant watch on the bleeding face of the
unnamed guard; smug even, despite what could have (and probably did)
potentially happen.
 
“Thirteen minutes, sir!”The tech called over the side of the railing after he’d
worked his magic; Armitage allowed the ghost of a smirk to pull at those pallid
lips as his eyes locked with those of the guard. He didn’t bother to struggle
but the brazen stare strengthened Hux’s resolve, as if wasn’t concrete already.
 
“Silly man.” Two words. Two simple words; of all the hundreds of thousands in
the Galactic Basic language, those two words were the last to ever enter that
guard’s eardrums. Or, arguably, the last sound. For the three direct shots to
his uniformed chest came from a silenced blaster in the gloved hand of a young,
redheaded officer.
 
The shell tumbled to the side with an unbecoming thump, nothing more now than a
useless sack of meat; to the thunderous approval of nearby inmates, naturally.
Callous and unrepentant for his deed, Armitage made a point of stepping over
the corpse to continue on his way while his flock opted to go around it.
 
“She will need to be sedated.” The brief outside the cell would be just that:
brief. “Men do not sit well with her so I would prefer this to be a female only
operation where possible.” The two female medics (who were the most
accomplished on their respective vessels, as he understood) nodded not only
their agreement but their comprehension of just how delicate this particular
case was. The team of nurses did the same before he continued with the strength
and poise leadership required.
 
“While she is out, I would like her examined before we move her. Anything that
requires treatment will be done so on the carrier, in a more sterile
environment; unless urgency dictates, of course.” Hux averted his gaze while
the tranquilizer blaster was being loaded by a medic. “Anything untoward is to
be reported to me.” With nothing else to say and the team ready, Hux stepped
aside before giving the final, approving nod. “At your discretion, Doctors.”
Chapter End Notes
     Do review!
End Notes
     As per the archive warning and the tags, this is going to get pretty
     horrible so please don't read if you don't think you can handle it.
     xxx
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