This only inflamed Hux more.
“I am not your father and I will never be,” he spat, thick blue vein in his neck throbbing. His fingers dug into his gloved palms.
And suddenly, like the eye of a storm, he fell quiet. A heavy, eerie silence.
Then, softly, mesmerizing, “Toss yourself over, Adeline.”
Techie’s eye nearly popped out of his head. “Shit, no!” he gasped, and Hux heard him. Leveled a serene, wan smile in Techie’s direction.
They walk for a long time in silence, Techie trailing behind, careful not to alert Hux. He feels the thrum of Kylo Ren’s energy in the air; it fills him with a bravery he didn’t think himself capable of. Not even his hands shake.
Finally, Hux stops abruptly on a narrow metal bridge over the Finalizer’s engines, which hum down deep below. Techie, meanwhile, ducks behind a column and watches.
She remained silent throughout their walk. When they stopped on a narrow bridge she aderveted his gaze
Hux’s voice echoed in the spacious room: “You, Adeline, are unworthy of the Hux name. My clones should have all been perfect copies of me. And yet, what do I get instead? An… ANOMALY. Less than perfection! This will not stand, do you hear me? There will never be a Hux that is useless, or weak, or defective. I won’t allow it. My attempts to temper you into something passably acceptable were for naught.”
As he speaks, his eyes grow more and more ice cold, a piercing blue, and he starts to tremble with passion as he spits out angry, terrible word after angry, terrible word. Hux doesn’t pause for breath, or even to consider what he will say. This is a speech he has memorized and taken to heart.
But it is not his own.
They walk for a long time in silence, Techie trailing behind, careful not to alert Hux. He feels the thrum of Kylo Ren’s energy in the air; it fills him with a bravery he didn’t think himself capable of. Not even his hands shake.
Finally, Hux stops abruptly on a narrow metal bridge over the Finalizer’s engines, which hum down deep below. Techie, meanwhile, ducks behind a column and watches.
“Walk with me, Adeline,” Hux commanded, and took a few measured steps towards the hallway, fully expecting her to follow.
Techie watched silently, solemnly, and wondered if her legs would even be able to walk after being in disuse for so long.
“I’ve come for the girl.” Hux distentangled himself from Techie and stood close to Kylo Ren, nose to nose, a silent dare.
“I simply want to speak with her.”
Techie looked on, wide-eyed and shaking.
While they’d been speaking inside, Techie had caught sight of Hux and quickly masked his alarmed expression into an affectionate smile. “Armitage,” he said, and to his delight Hux only flinched a tiny bit instead of those horrible full-body shudders he did upon hearing his first name.
“Techie,” Hux said as he brushed past him towards the door. He still hadn’t warmed up enough to even TRY calling him his real name. Techie didn’t know what it was so there wasn’t much he could do.
Flinging his arms out to wrap around his brother’s bicep, Techie pulled Hux in for a sudden hug, desperate to keep him away from the door and from Adeline.
That’s how Ren found them when he opened the door: caught in an awkward embrace.
Smile faltering a little, Techie nods and says, “Uh, y-yeah! Of course.” He slips out of the room and shuts the door behind him. Leaning against the wall, his heart pounds. He’s irrationally jealous of Kylo Ren and his relationship with Adeline.
Straightening up his spine, Techie invited Kylo Ren inside to his (somewhat cramped) quarters. “She just woke uh-up,” he said excitedly. “I was scared that she w-wouldn’t,” Techie admited, moving over so Kylo could get closer to Adeline.
“P-please say somet-thing if y-you can,” he breathed, happy beyond belief. Techie pressed sweet little kisses all over her cheeks.
She was about to say something then the door swished open. She shut her mouth
Techie moved to stand in front of Adeline, but visibly relaxed his tense, defensive stance once he realized who it was: Kylo Ren, who had felt her awaken. “C-commander Ren,” Techie smiled, lopsided. For a moment he’d been afraid that it was Hux storming into the room, ready to dispose of Adeline.
He and Hux had been meeting infrequently, slowly, ever so slowly, warming up to each other. It was a long, hard process, and Techie hoped with all his heart that at least he’d convinced him to leave Addie alone.
TechieHux 