Ginger Gears

Power Cells

Rose visited him the next couple of evenings. They were still working on the mouse droid. Hux was right, it was relaxing to work on something without time pressure, without deadline. From time to time they would take a break and drink tea.

She had brought cookies from her personal stash – once a month they were available on commissary, of course completely overpriced, but Rose thought that the honey-caramel taste was absolutely worth it.

Hux smelled the cookie carefully before he nibbled on it.

"I'm not trying to poison you, you know."

"Maybe, but I'm not used to these ... sugary pastries."

No wonder he was so skinny, she thought. "And if you don't like them ... no problem. I will eat all of them."

He ate the cookie but judging from his face he didn't particularly enjoy it. He drank some tea quickly. "It's beyond me how you can eat something so sweet."

"Cookies help me think, they give me the strength and energy to look yet again at the power cells of a certain droid."

"I think nuts and dried fruits would work better."

She shoved another cookie in her mouth. "Maybe, but they don't taste as good. I'm not as bad as my sister though – she's the real sweet tooth in the family."

The half-smile he sometimes showed faded and he looked into his mug as if there was something interesting in there. She had noticed that he used to react this way every time she mentioned her family – or rather the version of them she thought was safe to talk about.

"One day I'll have to bring you some Wagashi – their sweetness would be a nice contrast to the bitter tea you like," she continued, "especially the ones with sweet bean paste in them."

The barely existent smile returned to his lips and he leaned back in the swivel chair he was sitting in. "What about scones?"

She waved off. "Scones are boring."

"Scones are great!"

"Nope."

He laughed. It was a bright, unexpected sound and it caught Rose off guard. Again it was striking how different he looked – years younger and in a weird way healthy. Nice, she though, he looked nice. A strand of his reddish hair fell in his face. "You're incredibly stubborn, you know that, right?" He brushed the strand of hair back.

She grinned at him. "That's a little like a pot calling a kettle black, isn't it?"

"Perhaps."

They returned to work until Rose felt tired.

"I guess I'm calling it a day."

Hux looked up from his pad. He could barely suppress a yawn. "Alright."

"See you tomorrow?"

"I'm away, but I'll be back the day after."

To her surprise she felt slightly disappointed. "Oh, well, see you later."

He didn't dismiss her she noticed as she turned to leave. Come to think of it, he hadn't dismissed her the day before either. They had become quite informal but she only now registered how informal they spoke to each other ... on the other hand she hadn't bothered to be overly formal in the first place.

Her clicks of her boot heels were the only sound as she walked through the empty hallways. The way from his lab to her quarters had become quite familiar.