Ben did not think "doing something with it" meant crouching in front of a computer terminal in the dead of night, trying really hard not to make the keys clack too loudly. One would think, with all of the money being poured into the Finalizer, they'd be able to afford touchscreen consoles.

"That's because all of our funding goes straight to your repair bills, Ren."

(...Tantrums, Anakin had said suddenly once. That'll be your shtick.)

Ben shoots up, spine straight in alarm. He hadn't even realized he had spoken aloud. His frame blocks the screen, and he furiously taps an override command before turning to face Hux. The chip placed on the side of the console gave a reassuring red glow, confirming that it was still accepting data. "Hux. What are you doing here?"

"It's my ship," Hux sneers. "I'll do as I please." He gives Ben a suspicious look-over. "In any case, I should be asking you that question."

"You're still a lieutenant general," Ben retorts, crossing his arms. "You're not the one with the great coat. But it looks like you'd need the padding."

Hux bristles. "General Needa is a kriffing idiot." He sniffs, recomposing himself. The veneer of a calm, calculating officer is back on. "Give me a year. The ship will be mine. And you still didn't answer me."

"I was receiving my orders from the Supreme Leader," Ben snarls. The excuse has worked on Needa before, but, of course, Hux was right about the man. Broysc, Jr., the command staff had called him behind his back.

"He corresponds with you at this hour?" Hux asks, clearly unconvinced. He approaches Ben, stopping short to stare deeply into his eyes. "And without your little get-up, too. I find that hard to believe."

"The physical exterior dark makes us stronger," Ben shrugs. He can feel a ping of ?! from Anakin in the back of his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Clearly."

"You didn't answer me," Ben says, briskly changing the topic. "What are you doing here?"

Hux scoffs. "You think I owe you answers, Ren? How funny. Well, I suppose I'll humor you. I star-gaze." Now that seems even more outrageous than Ben's lies. "Don't look at me like that, Ren. I'm being honest with you."

"Clearly."

Hux gestures to the door. "If it'll convince you, I'll show you what I look at every night." He seems to stand even straighter, shoulders pulled back imperceptibly, taut like a bowstring. The complete opposite of Poe's posturing, sloping, lackadaisical, always draping himself over the nearest person that he knew.

("The reason you're short is because you keep slouching," Ben had joked once. Poe had bopped him on the nose before kissing him.

Even at these inopportune moments, his thoughts kept wandering back to Poe.)

"Well?" prompts Hux, uneasiness edging its way into his voice. Regret rolls off of him in waves: Oh, kriff, I shouldn't have asked him. Now he thinks I'm an idiot, or a liar, or both. Nevermind, I'll just go; he'll forget about this hopefully, maybe-

"Oh," Ben says smartly. "You were being serious. I... Yes. Okay." The chip still glows in his periphery, more orange than it was before. Not even halfway done. Anakin ?!s again.

It's called a distraction, Ben retorts. He wants to show me his stars, I'll look at his stars and come back later.

He follows Hux to the bridge, stopping at the sight of the Hosnian system's sun, a small glowing dot. "Wow," he breathes. He catches amusement and fondness from Hux at his side.

"That's not even the half of it," says Hux, gesturing to the large, circular transparisteel on the observation deck. "See that bright, blue thing?"

Ben squints, edging closer to the transparisteel. "Yes, I think. What is it?"

"One of Arkanis's two moons. And..." Hux's fingers dance on a console in practiced movements, a screen sliding over the port. The moon of Arkanis blows up larger, glowing brightly. "It's reflective. Somewhat." Colors dance across the cratered sphere, a kaleidoscope of the galaxy. "That's the thing about being where we are. In between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim, we can see anything."

"Anything," Ben repeats, enraptured by the moon.

Hux leans against the console. "It's something, isn't it? I look at it every night, to remind me of my purpose and it's never the same colors in the same places two nights in a row. Sometimes the lights on Arkanis glow green to congratulate a graduating class in the Academy. Sometimes they glow red during an assembly in honor of the First Order. Purple for the day my great-grandfather was born."

"So it is true," Ben finds himself saying, looking over at Hux, who is still watching the moon. "You're..."

"Related to Emperor Palpatine, yes," Hux responds. His eyes grow heavy, tired. "Lieutenant General Aodhan Javin Arvis Sheev Hux."

And here, Ben thought he was stuck with the worst name on the Finalizer. 'Dopheld' couldn't even hold a candle to what Hux just spewed out. "I can see why you like people calling you by your surname."

"Quite," says Hux dryly. "Naturally, however, I am... expected of certain things, due to my heritage. There was a reason I graduated from the Academy at fifteen. You must know the intentions of the Order, no matter what we proselytize to the New Republic to keep them pacified."

"Equality through Order and Unity," Ben parrots automatically. Something Hux's own father had come up with; he had the misfortune of meeting the man when he had come to Arkanis at the age of sixteen, to complete his hand-to-hand combat training. It was when he had first met Hux, who was, at the time, the same height as him, but oh, so sterner. A rigid boy, Hux had been - clearly eager to please, but desperate to appear nonchalant. Torn between duty and forced enthusiasm. Ben could relate.

"Though my father would much rather he be the one to head this newfound dictatorial union, it is a contest between myself and my cousin Jagged. The newer generation leading the world." Hux sighs. "So I look at Arkanis and remind myself that this will be mine one day. That, for myself, my family, and especially my father, I'd be the one to take the throne." His lips quirk. "After all, the Hux dynasty sounds a lot better than the Fel dynasty, doesn't it?"

"I don't think you should allow yourself to be ruled by tradition like that," Ben says, absentmindedly. He was one to talk, Mister 'I will finish what you started.' Ben feels Hux's eyes wander over to him, not watching the moon anymore. There is a familiar warmth in the way Hux is watching him. It's the same way Poe looked at him.

Ben freezes at that, straightening from his relaxed posture. He moves over to the console, movements so jerky and rough that Hux quickly steps backward and away. "I need to see something." Without thinking, he jabs in the coordinates for Jakku.

"What for?" Hux asks, alarmed. His gaze turns to the sandy planet displayed on the screen, zoomed into Niima Outpost. "Ren?"

"There's someone - I," Ben stammers, silver tongue caught. He feels his breathing become labored as he sifts through the minds, glazes over Plutt's. So many old ones, none nearly as young as he was looking for to distract him.

"Oh," Hux says, voice small.

"What? No - not like that!" Ben looks at him. "The Supreme Leader's next target is on Jakku."

"Oh," Hux repeats.

Relief floods him as he hears his cousin's mezzo-soprano. She is thanking Bobbajo for carrying her things for her, laughing as the slouched beast croaks something at her.

She can laugh. She's not broken. Thank the Force.

His relief must show on his face, because Hux prompts him again. "Ren?"

"I'm... okay," Ben says, wholly unconvincingly. "Mission details and all that fresh in my mind. Just thought I'd get a head start." Hux watches him with blatant incredulity.

He cannot possibly think that I'm so stupid -

"I don't," says Ben, making Hux's eyes widen marginally. "I'm being just as honest. You showed me your dirty little secret; the least I could do is tell you the truth." Oh, how easy the words rolled off his tongue now, anxiety appeased. A true scion of Solo.

Hux flushes at his wording. "I wouldn't call this a dirty little secret. Perhaps a guilty pleasure." He frowns. "You'd better not tell the crew about this. Nobody's going to promote an officer who spends his recreational hours fantasizing about an empire."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ben tells him, holding his hands up in a gesture of mock-surrender. "You're my only friend on this ship, after all. Phasma tolerates me. Needa and the others are afraid of me."

"I am, aren't I?" Hux says softly. He quickly snaps at attention. "Besides, it's not like any of them would believe you. Well. I... This has been nice... Kylo. But we both ought to be back in our quarters." He pauses. "Thank you, I suppose. For listening to me." He leans in close. Neither he nor Ben moves. Hux walks away.

Ben waits until the thud of Hux's footsteps disappear down the hall before he makes a mad dash to the terminal, ripping the green chip off the metal. Data fully downloaded, he speedwalks back to his chamber, flopping onto his cot.

"What was that," says Anakin flatly.

Ben doesn't know.