Red Opus

Chapter 17 - Exposed

"Hey!"

You jerked upright, the voice snapping you back to staring straight into the eyes of General Hux. His soul was on display through his ice blue eyes, studying your face with a pitying glance. He tutted, turning his face away and waltzing back over to the window. Shock gone, you continued your spacing out, staring down at your lap and running a finger absently along the ridges on the helmet which sat there.

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

You shrugged, the nail of your index finger catching along the triangular cuts through the top of your helmet. His nasal voice made you cringe as he whined like a child. You wanted to put your fist through his face. Hux let out an over exaggerated sigh and continued to pointedly stare out of the window. His room had the finest view of course, and he stood with his back to you admiring it through the floor to ceiling window.

Kylo Ren had returned to the Finalizer two days ago after what you were sure was another successful mission, yet at your behest General Hux had not yet told him you were back on board. From what Hux had told you, Snoke had kept you on the Supremacy for just over a month. Hux had been sheltering you in his own personal quarters, though you were almost certain the reason for his hospitality was more as a silent middle finger to Ren than over concern for your well-being.

But there was still the matter of Ren at hand. As far as he was concerned, you'd just disappeared. You stared down at your warped reflection in the helmet. Would he be angry? He probably thought you'd betrayed him, after all. Your knuckles gripped tighter at the orb in your lab. You weren't sure you could defend yourself if he raised his hands to you right now. Snoke was right, vulnerable was definitely the right word for how fragile you felt. It had been four days, probably the longest you'd ever given yourself to mope over what a pathetic situation you found yourself in. Casting your hands up and skimming them over your face, the bandages covered your mouth, but you prised your thumb between them and began to chew on the nail anxiously.

A low grumbling sound came from underneath you. You frowned. Were you hungry?

A large, ginger cat leaping onto the bed told you otherwise. You gave her a wary side eye and in return she hissed loudly, baring her fangs at you. Hux leapt back at the noise as if he'd been stung, quickly striding over to the bed and scooping her protectively up in his arms.

"You must stop tormenting her."

You smiled slyly and crawled from the bed on the opposite side to where Hux now stood cooing over the little beast. She gave you a snide look, leapt down from Hux's arms and curled herself up in a ball in the warm patch where you'd been sat. You cocked your head at her.

"She doesn't like me."

"She doesn't like anyone. You're not special."

You gently scratched underneath your eye, finger clipping the bandage that stopped just below your socket before finishing your scramble out of the bed and making your way over to the window. Hux had been right to look outside. The violet nebula currently spinning in the distance was hypnotic to watch. Hux cleared his throat, joining you at the window, cat thankfully absent.

"You're only delaying the inevitable."

"I know."

"...He won't be angry."

You cocked your head silently at him.

"How do you know?"

Hux twisted his neck, brushing his nape against the collar as he sought the right words. You listened carefully, hanging to every syllable.