Demoted (Hux X Reader)

Blood Orange

-----Two weeks later-----

Phasma and I sit at the bar with our drinks in hand. I pull a single short orange hair off my black shirt. I wonder if Hux is letting his hair grow out just a tad? He's starting to wear it like he used to again- with that gorgeous orange swoop that seems so silky and smooth- rather than just combing it completely back and out of the way. I sip on my vodka cranberry through a little straw and inspect the hair, lost in my own thoughts.

"Do you think you'll have time to break them in?" Phasma asks, putting down her mixed drink. She takes the orange strand out of my hand and tosses it into the air. It floats away for it to be someone else's problem. I wish it were still in my hand. It would be weird to put it in my pocket, right? Yea. I shouldn't do that.

"I still don't even know if I'm going. Armitage says that it's an easy target for the Resistance." I reach down and pull at my new shiny black heels I just got. I doubt I'll have the time to fully break them in, but some is better than none.

"We're on the brink of victory. The Resistance is practically gone. This is the first Imperial Ball in thirty years!" Phasma says.

"We're still fighting a war."

"If we have time to drink here and chat, then we can afford an evening of drinking and chatting, but with fancy clothes. If he's too stubborn to go, then I'll be your date, yea? Cheers."

I clink my glass with Phasma's and we drink to it.

"Mm!" I quickly try to swallow my drink. "Don't be mad, but I invited Foskett tonight."

Phasma runs her fingers through her short blonde bangs and pushes them back with a sigh. "I'm not particularly fond of her."

"Her words can be a little off putting, but she means well."

"Whatever happened to you not trusting anyone since the incident on Starkiller Base?"

"I never said I trusted her. Having a girls night with some coworkers doesn't mean I'm not willing to put down anyone that tries to take advantage of me. Don't mistake my intentions." My tone becomes a bit serious. "Besides, she's been my gym buddy."

Phasma rolls her eyes and smiles at that. "Now you're starting to sound like him."

"No. I sound like every officer on this damn ship. If I had plans to kill each individual person here, then I would sound like him."

"He's so thoughtful, isn't he?" Phasma says in complete sarcasm. "Anyways, how have you and Hux been doing?"

"Pretty great. We're sort of in this evening routine now and I think it's been helping him sleep better."

"Then what in the bloody Hell happened on the bridge this morning? I walked in and you were already going off on Hux."

"Oh... well. It's a long story. It all started when Ren said something stupid and Armitage took offense to it. I think it was something about me giving them morning lattes. Things escalated. Ren thought that phrase actually meant coffee. I guess it doesn't mean coffee? I don't know. Armitage was pissed."

"Hux was pissed as in drunk?"

"What? No. He's pissed as in angry. So, of course he nearly shot this technician for no reason. I had to yell at him. That's when you showed up. I planned to have a serious conversation with him tonight, but he's stuck in that damn meeting."

"I doubt that meeting will finish anytime soon."

"I heard you were invited. You didn't want to go?"

"Absolutely not. I had way more important things to do with my troopers. We're adding some training exercises and I want to be sure it's all prepared for next week."