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.
“I promise I w-will, Captain. As soon as I’m done f-fixing up this console! “You-know-who” s-smashed it again.”
“You’re w-welcome,” he preened, unconsciously leaning forward to chase after her retreating lips. His pupils are wide open and whirring as he stares at Phasma with obvious puppy-love. “I worked r-really hard on them,” Techie says, and parts his lips the slightest bit.
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.
“I promise I w-will, Captain. As soon as I’m done f-fixing up this console! “You-know-who” s-smashed it again.”
Techie couldn’t help it; he turned a pretty shade of pink. “You, um, d-do too,” he said, looking straight at her instead of slightly off to the side (like he usually did). His pupils were constantly focusing and refocusing.
“Oh! Th-this is what I wanted to, uh, show y-you.” Techie went over to his nightstand and pulled a cluster of chrome flowers out of a vase. “F-for you, Phasma.”
He held them out to her, and now, up close, she could see that they weren’t flower at all, but a collection of thin silver wires wrapped and twisted together to resemble a bundle of roses.
Techie bit his bottom lip, awaiting her reaction.
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.
“I promise I w-will, Captain. As soon as I’m done f-fixing up this console! “You-know-who” s-smashed it again.”
Like a rocket he shoots out of his desk and opens the door for Phasma. He quickly adjusts his clothes: a nicer-than-usual blue dress shirt with a navy bowtie and long black pants.
“Hi, Phasma,” he greets her, out of breath from excitement. He welcomes her in. “You can sit h-here,” Techie says and pulls out the chair of his desk. “S-sorry it’s a little c-cramped.”
TechieHux 