(Welcome to the random bits and pieces of this fill, where everything falls apart. I managed to kinda sorta bridge the gaps in the parts above, but these are freakin chasms between fragments. I probably would have cut a couple of these, tbh -- not all ideas mesh well together. My inner crazy Context in the brackets.)
[Later, in Hux's cell, which is closer in size to a student dorm than a closet: Hux and Kylo are alone for a minute, talk a little. Most of their communication is nonverbal, but no telepathy -- more on that later, maybe.]
.
"You told them how to find me. You told them our code."
"Only what was necessary for you to listen to them. I didn't tell them what everything meant."
"I gathered that much."
As he crossed his arms over his chest, he made a quick motion with his fingers before that hand rested comfortably over his elbow. Hux replied with a different quick motion, his eyes shifting to the door and back. Ren nodded.
They always had contingency plans. Developing alternate means of communication was simply part of the strategy, as was switching from one code to another when necessary.
Raising his voice, Hux spoke to those who stood outside the door, "The supplies, General."
.
[Hux fixes up Kylo, Kylo doesn't let anyone else touch him, it's too much work for one person who isn't a medical professional whatsoever... The compromise: Leia sends for Dr. Kalonia, Hux does what he can in the meantime, Kylo will let the doctor do her thing if Hux stays in the room...]
[Leia and Han refuse to leave the entire time, but they're quietly watching from the other side of the room. Kylo has his back to them, which of course gives him two advantages from his POV: he can ignore them more easily, and they have to look at the some of the worst of of the body horror.]
.
Ren's expression was carefully neutral as he watched Hux scrutinize each unnatural blemish on his skin, both old and new.
Everything needed cleaning and disinfecting. Some of the blood was brown and flaking, and some still oozed over Ren's skin. His clothes had no holes that matched the injuries, but the fabric had stuck to Ren's skin in places, possibly causing fresh bleeding.
"This one needs sutures," Hux said in an undertone after a minute. He pointed to another, angrier wound. "That... might still have a piece in it." .
[Terrible attempt at lightening the mood during the injury check, in three... two... one...]
.
Hux studied Ren's upper left arm closely. It looked like the crescent shape of an animal's bite mark, the skin punctured in places and bruised in others along the line. There was a matching bite mark not far away, on his shoulder.
"What did this?" he asked, dabbing at it with a cloth. "Nothing poisonous, I'm guessing."
"A relic," Ren said, shrugging his other shoulder, "A fossil, more or less."
Hux raised a brow. "Was it dead, or not? You make it sound like the last living specimen of its species."
"Dead. Long dead."
"Good." It was still surreal and nightmarish, of course, but that was a slight improvement. Hux looked under Ren's arm, at the claw-like scratches over the side of his left ribcage. None were deep or wide enough to reveal bone, but they crossed each as if counting them. "Are these from the same dead relic?"
Ren glanced down at where Hux motioned as if he had forgotten them. Then he murmured, "Probably. I didn't see."
Hux didn't miss the slight pause in the carefully chosen words. Ren didn't see because he couldn't see. His gaze drifted to bruised and chaffed wrists briefly before darting back to his current task. He'd apply a salve later -- no, Ren could at least do that himself, if he was told. He wouldn't take the initiative to bother with it otherwise.
PARTIAL FILL ||| Extraction (Hux/Kylo) - piece 4/6
My inner crazyContext in the brackets.)[Later, in Hux's cell, which is closer in size to a student dorm than a closet: Hux and Kylo are alone for a minute, talk a little. Most of their communication is nonverbal, but no telepathy -- more on that later, maybe.]
.
"You told them how to find me. You told them our code."
"Only what was necessary for you to listen to them. I didn't tell them what everything meant."
"I gathered that much."
As he crossed his arms over his chest, he made a quick motion with his fingers before that hand rested comfortably over his elbow. Hux replied with a different quick motion, his eyes shifting to the door and back. Ren nodded.
They always had contingency plans. Developing alternate means of communication was simply part of the strategy, as was switching from one code to another when necessary.
Raising his voice, Hux spoke to those who stood outside the door, "The supplies, General."
.
[Hux fixes up Kylo, Kylo doesn't let anyone else touch him, it's too much work for one person who isn't a medical professional whatsoever... The compromise: Leia sends for Dr. Kalonia, Hux does what he can in the meantime, Kylo will let the doctor do her thing if Hux stays in the room...]
[Leia and Han refuse to leave the entire time, but they're quietly watching from the other side of the room. Kylo has his back to them, which of course gives him two advantages from his POV: he can ignore them more easily, and they have to look at the some of the worst of of the body horror.]
.
Ren's expression was carefully neutral as he watched Hux scrutinize each unnatural blemish on his skin, both old and new.
Everything needed cleaning and disinfecting. Some of the blood was brown and flaking, and some still oozed over Ren's skin. His clothes had no holes that matched the injuries, but the fabric had stuck to Ren's skin in places, possibly causing fresh bleeding.
"This one needs sutures," Hux said in an undertone after a minute. He pointed to another, angrier wound. "That... might still have a piece in it."
.
[Terrible attempt at lightening the mood during the injury check, in three... two... one...]
.
Hux studied Ren's upper left arm closely. It looked like the crescent shape of an animal's bite mark, the skin punctured in places and bruised in others along the line. There was a matching bite mark not far away, on his shoulder.
"What did this?" he asked, dabbing at it with a cloth. "Nothing poisonous, I'm guessing."
"A relic," Ren said, shrugging his other shoulder, "A fossil, more or less."
Hux raised a brow. "Was it dead, or not? You make it sound like the last living specimen of its species."
"Dead. Long dead."
"Good." It was still surreal and nightmarish, of course, but that was a slight improvement. Hux looked under Ren's arm, at the claw-like scratches over the side of his left ribcage. None were deep or wide enough to reveal bone, but they crossed each as if counting them. "Are these from the same dead relic?"
Ren glanced down at where Hux motioned as if he had forgotten them. Then he murmured, "Probably. I didn't see."
Hux didn't miss the slight pause in the carefully chosen words. Ren didn't see because he couldn't see. His gaze drifted to bruised and chaffed wrists briefly before darting back to his current task. He'd apply a salve later -- no, Ren could at least do that himself, if he was told. He wouldn't take the initiative to bother with it otherwise.
.
[Couldn't ruin the end, sorry. Surprise?]