theweddingofthefoxes:

The first signal that Ren gets that perhaps his feelings for his coworker are not as unrequited as he originally thought was his reaction to the news. He and Hux have arrived in town for an enormous conference, one that brings in industry professions from not just all over the country but all over the globe. The hotels have been sold out for weeks for this event, and the desk clerk looks like she might cry when Ren questions the booking.

“I’d thought it was two full beds, not one California king,” he told her, not even sharply, just genuinely not understanding, but she seemed fragile and had probably been shouted at all day. 

“I wish there was something I could do, sirs, truly, unfortunately we have no more –" 

Hux cut her off. “It’s late. A California king is more than enough for the both of us, and I just want to get to sleep.”

“We can provide you with vouchers for free meals, and free drinks in the Premiere Lounge,” the clerk suggests, her voice just wobbling.

“That sounds very nice,” says Hux, like he’s consoling an upset child. “We’ll be sure to take you up on that.” The flight was hard on Hux–even in the nicer seats up front, all paid for by First Order Inc., Hux absolutely cannot get to sleep on a plane, and now the circles under his eyes are as pronounced as if they’d been applied with an eyeshadow brush. It does nothing to diminish his beauty, of course. Ren had admired him from the first day they met, though Hux had never seemed like the sort who wanted to be admired when there was business to be done. Sure, he wasn’t married to any particular person, but he did seem married to this job. It’s only been in recent weeks that Hux has suggested they go out for drinks or dinner on the days they both work late, stopping by their favorite taco truck or drinking hipster beers at a hole in the wall that Ren has always been a fan of. For Hux to not seem concerned that they’re sleeping in the same bed…

“I can sleep on the chair if you want,” Ren teases as they begin unpacking in their room. It’s a dainty thing, maybe too small for him to even sit in, and Hux snorts.

“If you plan to break it. Just get in the bed and go to sleep, Ren, we’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”

All business, as usual, but also, maybe not.

Ren had cranked the air conditioning when they’d gotten into the room, half because he was too warm, half to give himself something to busy himself with while Hux had undressed, right there in the middle of the room, not bothering to hide away in the bathroom. When Ren had turned around after fiddling with the controls, Hux was climbing, just in his boxers, under the covers. But late in the night, Ren wakes, freezing – he’d set the damn thing too low. There’s only one spot of him that’s not ice-cold, a little spot of faint heat against his chest. A slow and shivery pulse of warmth….

Hux. Hux is pressed up against him, desperate, his forehead pasted to Ren’s collarbone. “Hux,” Ren whispers, half-regretting saying anything already because the spell will break, he just knows it, he should have taken more time to enjoy it, but Hux looks so miserably cold. “Hux, let me go turn the air off. I put it too low.”

Hux gives a soft little moan of assent, nodding drowsily. “Sorry,” Ren goes on, gently unsticking himself to adjust the airflow. When he gets back into bed, Hux cuddles right up to him once again, his teeth chattering.
“Still cold?”

“You only just turned the air off,” Hux mutters, sharp-tongued even when he’s groggy. He softens his tone, though, when he adds: “You’re so warm. Your whole body, so warm…”

No apologies, or requests for permission. It’s as though Hux has simply understood the months of agonizing pining and acted accordingly, here in this bed that could fit four or five of them, though they’re just two, pressed up so near that they hardly take up any space at all. 

“I’ve got you,” Ren says, wondering if Hux can feel how hard his heart is beating. “Keep you warm…” It’s just erring on the side of nonsensical, like the way you’d coo a baby to sleep. It is the most fulfilling thing Ren has felt since he walked in the door of First Order Inc. for the first time.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I confess something?” Hux asks, his eyes still closed.

“What is it?”

Hux’s voice is low and distant, getting sleepier by the word, but somehow Ren can tell it’s all true. “I made the reservation like this on purpose…figured I’d sleep on the far side if you didn’t….but you were reaching for me in your sleep and I was so chilly….”

“I was?”

“Mmhm.”

This realization takes a bit to process, and as Ren chews it over, his heart keeps hammering even though his brain is so sleepy – and now Hux is pressed up close again, pleased that his little plot has been successful. Even as the temperature of the room settles back to normal, Hux doesn’t draw away, just soaks up Ren’s heat, his attention, his adoration that has come to this lovely head.