The Cruellest Thing

The Rescue

The next morning came and with it a guilty conscience. Rose grabbed hold of her medallion while eating berries for breakfast. She watched Hux cooking tea, the rays of the morning sun shining on his back and the back of his head, lighting up his ginger hair, making it look soft and warm.

She clenched her fist around the medallion. He had no right to look so soft and warm. And she had no right to want to touch his back, run her hand through his hair.

By the stars! She- no, she had to calm down. They were stranded on an alien planet, they had done what they had to to survive, eating larvae, snakes and Force knows what kind of plants. She just had- she interrupted her train of thought again. No it hadn't been about survival what she had done in the night, it was a small comfort, nothing more. Yes, it's perfectly human to react this way when under stress. Once they were off this planet she could just file it away under 'stupid things Rose has done' and forget about it.

Ah, whispered a voice in her head, and you're picturing mussing his hair because you're stressed now? Do you think Poe would do that if he were here instead of you? No, of course not. He would annoy 'Huggs' until his pasty face turned red.

She thought about Finn, the way he had looked at Rey back on Crait. They had never spoken about their kiss after that. She had really liked Finn, admired him. A true hero of the resistance – strong, good and brave.

Her gaze fell again on Hux. He had finished his task and was drinking a cup of tea. He turned and smiled at her. Stupid Hux. He looked striking in this light, his usual blue eyes seeming almost green, the stubble giving him an adventurous look. In a perfect galaxy she would've crashed with a dashing rebel on this planet, not Finn though, he was clearly out of reach for her, but perhaps ... it didn't matter. She let go of her medallion.

It wasn't a perfect galaxy.

In the evening they didn't even bother to lay apart from each other or pretend to be cold. Hux put his arms around her and brushed her neck with his lips, not quite a kiss.

"Not tonight," whispered Rose.

"I didn't mean- yes of course," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

He shifted a little. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Do you have somebody back in the Order?" She asked suddenly, emboldened by the darkness around them.

"No. You?"

"Not really."

He shifted again. "Then why can't I look at-"

"I just don't want it, okay?" she snapped. Oddly enough she felt sorry for her harsh tone and she softly added. "This way we can both pretend. It makes it easier."

He stayed silent for a moment, then he said: "Of course."

"Aha," said Rose and lifted one of her traps triumphantly in the air. "Behold the spoils of the mighty hunter!"

Hux stepped next to her and inspected the noose, or rather the small animal that was caught in it. "What is it? A rat?"

She squinted her eyes. "Looks more like a rabbit to me." She looked up and grinned at him. "Anyhow, we could try to make a soup of it. There isn't much meat on it, but perhaps it goes well with these potato-like vegetables you found the other day."

He nodded and put the small animal in his back bag. They marched on towards the other traps Rose had laid out.

Four were empty, but the last one had trapped another small animal. Rose pulled it out of the noose and handed it to Hux.