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Kylo had been hiding from him. It wasn't unheard of him to avoid Hux, but this was different. He never removed his helmet in front of him, and if he was somewhere and Hux joined him, he left as quickly as he could. He never answered messages, and if Hux managed to speak directly to him he was monosyllabic, at best.
Besides, Hux had truly thought they were passed all that. Their animosity had faded to an irritating hum, and they had actually been working together, achieving things together.
Hux had actually thought they were on the cusp of becoming more, together.
But then Kylo came back from a mission and it all had changed. He rebuffed every invitation, every attempt to speak privately. He started taking on unnecessary missions that had him away for weeks, even months at a time.
Hux was sick of it. He actually missed Kylo. He missed having a real co-commander, and he missed whatever it was they had been building between them.
So he ambushed Kylo in one of the conference rooms. He hacked Peavey's holopad and sent Kylo a request to meet him. He knew how much he hated Peavey, and that he wouldn't turn down a chance to meet with him alone.
He wasn't wrong. Kylo was late, of course, but he showed. Hux stood beside the door so that Kylo was already in the room, and he had blocked the exit, before Kylo realized the trick.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kylo demanded, drawing himself up and advancing on Hux. The blank mask reflected his image to himself.
Hux refused to be intimidated. "You are the one that forced this. You've refused to meet with me."
"Of course I have. We have no reason to meet." He tried to brush past Hux, but he didn't budge. "Move."
"No." Hux said firmly. "You finally started acting like a co-commander, and you need to be that again. I need you to, the ship needs you to. The First Order as well."
"This is exactly why I stopped. You don't need me. The ship doesn't need me. I go where Snoke needs me; I do his direct bidding. That is all. Now move."
Hux knew from experience that if Kylo wanted him to move, he would move him. The fact that he hadn't yet emboldened him. "No." He said again. "You owe me an explanation."
"I owe you nothing." Kylo hissed. "You are nothing to me." There was a long pause as Hux felt that blow in his gut. It hit him harder than he thought it would. "You mean, nothing to me." Kylo continued. "Now move."
Hux was stung, but he recognized what Kylo was doing; had done it himself to others. "I don't believe that. You're avoiding me. Why? This has something to do with your ridiculous mission to Eado, doesn't it? Something happened to you. What?"
"That's none of your concern." Kylo wheezed through the mask, but he turned away, back into the conference room.
"You're my co-commander. Of course it concerns me. Whether you like it or not, you're central to the operations on this ship. If you've been injured . . ."
"I wasn't injured! Leave it alone Hux."
Hux pressed, feeling his tenuous advantage. "I won't do that. You're important here. You're important to me, Kylo."
Kylo had been agitated, had begun pacing in front of the long table, clenching his fists. Hux advanced on him, pushing him back until he fell into one of the chairs. He sat, looking up at Hux. Finally, he pointed a gloved finger at him. "You asked for this." He reached up and hit the latches for his helmet.
Hux watched, finally nervous with anticipation, as the servo-motors released and Kylo pulled off the mask .
Hux managed to hold in the gasp, just barely. He kept his face neutral and his breathing calm as Kylo lifted his eyes to meet his.
They were completely black. No iris, no color. Just black pits.
His features were unchanged, but his skin: it was striated and textured, bright, toxic colors. "I'm like this all over. I knew you would think I was hideous." He looked away, set his mask on the conference room table, surprisingly gentle. "At the Jedi Temple on Eado, I encountered a trap. A curse." He waved a hand at his face.
Hux took a moment to collect himself, then scoffed. "I'm assuming you're still the same dark-hearted, murderous bastard on the inside?"
"Yes." Kylo answered cautiously, eyeing him.
"Then you haven't changed one bit. Not in my eyes."
Kylo unfolded himself slowly from the chair, standing to look Hux in the eye. "You really don't care how I look?"
Hux reached out and stroked a fingertip across the scar that still decorated one side of his face. It was the same as before, but turned a livid orange. He looked in Kylo's eyes, the black pits they had become. He gave a little shiver as now he couldn't tell where Kylo was actually looking. And it rather felt like they saw him, and only him, even better than before. More deeply than before. "All I see is something that intrigues me even more. I already wanted to strip you down and acquaint myself with every inch of your skin before--I want to do it even more now." He stepped closer, "You're not like anyone else now. What will I find?"
Kylo's pupils couldn't dilate, but his eyes widened. "You truly don't care? That I'm a monster now?"
Hux leaned in and whispered over Kylo's lips. "You were always a monster. I like that you're not hiding it anymore."