The Art of Teaching ↳ Kylux au

(3)

It had been a few days since their first encounter. Hux and Kylo both arrived the same time every morning and said their same bitter hellos. In the half an hour they sat at their desks preparing lessons and what not, they would sit there next to each other, mostly in silence. Hux would never admit this to anyone, not even himself yet, but he found himself glancing discreetly at Kylo when he wasn't looking. The man had lovely eyes, he thought, like there was a whole other planet in them. Thinking this, Hux mentally slapped himself and continued working. 

Hours later that day, during lunch, Kylo wasn't at his desk like usual, so Hux ate on his own. He was supposed to hate Kylo, that's what he felt when he first met him. The ginger haired man knew he still hated him, however, deep down he knew he had very slight feelings for the man.

No, he did not have a crush. Hux didn't get crushes. He crushes his enemies, yes, but does not get crushes. Especially when they are that asshole art teacher who sits next to him in the staff room, with his luscious black hair and broad shoulders... Hux shook his head again. He hated Kylo Ren. There was only hate, nothing more.

Minutes later, Hux finished his lunch and decided to finish some marking before lunch was over. He had twenty minutes, plenty of time. However, soon he became distracted. Mr Ren still wasn't back at his desk. Hux looked at the door, then with discreet movements, had a look at Kylo's desk. There wasn't a lot of things there, and it was fairly messy and unorganized. He snarled. Piles of books, some pens, a sketchbook and a mug of coffee. Hux's curiosity got the best of him. Swiftly, he picked up the sketchbook and started to flick through. 

He was taken aback. Kylo's drawings were absolutely gorgeous, they were so delicate and detailed. There were many drawings of galaxies and landscapes, then some human portraits. Flicking through, Hux marveled at the likeness to real people his drawing's had. Then he got to the most recent drawing and his eyes widened. Raising his hand to his mouth, Hux ran his other hand along the paper. He felt a blush creep along his cheeks.

It was him. The drawing was of him, and it was beautiful. So well drawn, he even painted some of it, keeping the edges of the lines precise and perfect. The hair was a vibrant orange, with thin paint strokes. Hux knew he was blushing even more than before and tried his best to hide his face. Why on earth would Kylo draw him?! Him.

Before he could think about it anymore, Hux felt a tap on his shoulder, startling him. He turned and saw the only other history teacher he really liked, Mr Mitaka. 

"Dopheld, you scared me," Hux shut the book and placed it on Ren's desk quickly. "Can I help you?"

"No thank you, Hux. Just wondering if you're ok," the teacher smiled. "I heard an odd squeak sound and I recognized it as you."

"Oh..." Hux, again, mentally hit himself. "I'm fine, thank you, not to worry."

Mitaka rested a hand on Hux's shoulder softly. "Alright, if you need anything I'll be at my desk." He beamed and walked away from Hux towards his desk. Mr Mitaka was a marvelous teacher, despite his slight bashfulness in some situations. He was a student favourite, and it wasn't surprising seeing as he was kind, cute and a good teacher.

Before Kylo walked in the room, Hux made sure the sketchbook was in the right place again. Hopefully he wouldn't notice anything. When Kylo sat down, Hux badly wanted to ask him about the drawing, but he would be caught if he did. He tried to find his way around this problem.

"Afternoon Kylo, how are you this lunchtime?" Hux turned to look at Kylo, trying not to get caught in his eyes.

"Can't complain, had to run the art detentions again. I hate it," Kylo groaned. "I ate my lunch at the front of the class and the students were looking at me as if they wanted to eat me."

Hux, without any control of his actions, let out a small laugh. "I've been there, it's always fun eating your lunch in detention."

Kylo nodded and laughed softly. Hux was still trying to figure out how to weave his way around asking Ren.

"Kylo? Is that a sketchbook on your desk?" He blurted out. "Not that I care about it, or you. I was just curious."

Kylo looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, it's mine. Nothing really special in there, just some doodles."

Doodles. Fucking doodles. Did he just say that? Those masterpieces were far from doodles. "I'm sure they're good, could I take a look?"

The dark haired man looked away and felt his cheeks go ever so slightly red. "I could show you some, but I'll pick. I don't want you seeing anything awful," He smiled and picked up the book, flicking to his favourite painting he did of a night time landscape. "This is my favourite."

Hux looked at the piece for the second time, gazing at the brush strokes. "It's amazing, how do you paint like that?" 

"Practice, I suppose," Kylo felt happier at the positive comments. "Wait a minute, I thought you hated me?" Kylo smirked. 

"I do hate you, very much," Hux stopped as he realized how childish he was being. "No... I don't hate you. I hated you at our first encounter, but you've grown on me." Hux found himself involuntarily smiling like an idiot.

"That's good, I like you too Hux. You're a good friend," Kylo closed the book and placed it back on his desk.

Friend. Hux didn't think that would hurt as much as it did. Did he want to be more than friends? He sighed. "Maybe you can teach me to paint someday."

"I'd like that," Kylo smiled at the teacher and took out some books he needed to mark, despite there only being a few minutes left of lunch. Hux found himself admiring Ren again, before jerking his head back and finishing his marking. His phone vibrated on the desk. Hux snatched it and looked at the text, which was from Mitaka.

Mitaka: I see you staring at him, something you should tell me..? ;)

Hux: Shut it

"You have friends?! That's a surprise," Kylo joked, laughing.

Hux rolled his eyes. "Yes I do, thank you very much, ass."