Geraldine was preparing the tea herself, Wena apparently off with none but Lieutenant Mitaka, or so she said. It was some type of tea that was brewed only on Vand, that central planet that was home to so much of the Order’s highest ranking families. “If you find it too strong, I certainly have more types if it would suit you more,” she was saying, measuring out the leaves to steep. “This is Brendol’s favorite, would you prefer something else?”
“I don’t drink much tea, Mrs. Hux,” said Kylo, still listening to the edges of her mind for any proof that she wasn’t just this kind.
“Oh do call me Geraldine.” He simply bowed his head a moment, acknowledging the request. He really ought to remove the mask, he couldn’t possibly drink with it on. But not just yet.
“If you will forgive the personal question, how did you come to be married to the General?”
A smile crossed her face, and memories glanced past, caught by the proximity of his mind to hers. Hux, younger than he was now, smiling at her from across a dinner table, the glint of sunlight off a lake where they were walking, his hand taking hers. They were fond and nearly romantic and Kylo braced himself for whatever story would be told and was surprised to hear, “It was an arranged marriage, our fathers set it up. But love is a choice, my lord, and we choose each other every time. To be married on passion and to expect that first burst to carry you through, that will only end in sadness. But to be choose someone again and again, to put them first in your thoughts and heart and to keep putting them there, that’s what makes love last.”
Kylo remembered his parents, and thought about how they had been married on that first passion, and Geraldine seemed wise beyond her tender years, thinking of ships taking off towards different planets and the fledgling Senate needing constant attention and wondered if his parents hadn’t chosen the New Republic before each other. Biting his lip, he simply watched Geraldine set the tea to steep, trying to banish thoughts of a dead life that didn’t matter. Instead he found himself saying, “Working for love is admirable. My parents never seemed to bother with that.”
Geraldine turned to him at that, surprise painted across her features. He supposed it was surprise that he had actual parents, most people didn’t think of that. But a brush near her mind proved surprise that he trusted her enough to say anything, and Kylo wanted to prove her wrong on principle for that alone. Because he certainly didn’t trust her, surely she was turning around and telling her dear always-chosen husband everything that she heard. But her voice was so gentle and understanding when she spoke that he began to hope that that wasn’t the case.
“I’m sorry for that. Seeing your parents unhappy is something I would wish on no one.”
By the time Hux arrived, Kylo had already removed his helmet, a vast show of trust, and was speaking to Geraldine of simple interests, listening to her talk of how her favorite thing to do on summer days back on Vand was to take her books down to the lakeside and read there with a large thermos of cold tea to drink. But when the General arrived, his wife immediately stood to greet him, pressing a fond kiss to his lips as Millicent abandoned where she had made herself at home in Kylo’s lap to greet her master. “Lord Ren and I were just having a lovely conversation,” she said. “You know he’s never actually been to Vand? Next time you take shore leave at home, do bring him. I would love to take him to the lake, and Jenison Grange gets few enough guests as it is.”
“I see you’re already halfway through the tea,” he said with a smile.
“I can always make more, Brendol. Now come sit, have some tea.”
Geraldine was a remarkable hostess, smoothing what was usually so rough between Kylo and Hux to where they were able to hold quite the cordial conversation. Somewhere along the way, Kylo found himself smiling to hear Geraldine recount an Admiral’s daughter’s faux pas at some dinner held at the man’s estate on Vand. She wasn’t even telling it as a story of another’s embarrassment, she was speaking of the young woman’s mistake and how Geraldine had copied her to ease the embarrassment and her standing as Mrs. Hux had certainly changed the atmosphere of the dinner. “Next thing you know every last person is using a fork on the Yil Noodles, and those actually using the jeotgarak like they should are actually setting them down to pick up a fork.”
“You’re going to singlehandedly make jeotgarak obsolete, my dearest,” said Hux, warm fondness and amusement in his tone and love pulsing out around him, made stronger when Geraldine laughed. Millicent jumped out of his lap then, and walked into the other room, where she began to meow loudly.
“And that’s my cue to feed her,” said Geraldine. “Wena is off with one of your Lieutenants, Brendol. Jenison Grange might yet have two wives of the military waiting for their husbands’ return.”
“Let their courtship do what it will, my dearest.” Geraldine only smiled and stood, going into the kitchen next door to feed the protesting cat. As the sounds of her moving around filtered through to the sitting room, Hux turned to Kylo and said, “This is the most well behaved I’ve ever seen you.”
“Yes, well, your wife is…” whatever defense he had fell short there. What was he to say? Your wife is too earnestly good and I can’t see if she’s being false? Your wife is charming and I like her and want her to like me? Your wife is delightful and she’s got every officer wrapped around her finger and I’m getting wrapped up too and don’t know how to stop it?
“She does have that affect,” said Hux, nodding and sounding proud and fond all at once. There was too much emotion in him now that Geraldine was aboard the ship, and Kylo found himself actually liking that fact, much to his surprise. “My father did many things, and perhaps I am biased when I say it, but the best thing he did in my opinion was match me with Geraldine.”
“She…she has done you good. Jenison Grange is your estate?”
“Hers actually. The Hux family doesn’t have an estate as such, her maiden name was Geraldine Jenison. The Jenison family has a few estates on Vand; they live at an estate called Notting Park most of the time, the Grange was a wedding gift.”
Silence fell, both men listening to Geraldine moving about in the kitchen and her eventual laugh of “Millicent, behave! Food is coming!” followed by a persistent thump. Hux smiled to hear it and said,
“The advantage of a cat, you can throw them across the room and no harm will come to them.” That suited Hux more than Geraldine from what Kylo had seen.
“Where did Millicent come from?” asked Kylo suddenly.
“She was mine, originally. But when I made General and was obliged to spend more and more time away from Vand and the Grange, she stayed behind with Geraldine. I acquired Millicent when I was on Umb, she was a gift.” Kylo nodded, and sipped at the tea. Vand teas, especially in high class circles, were prepared very strong, but Kylo had endured things a thousand times worse than nearly-bitter tea barely abated by the milk this particular style was served with and he wasn’t going to complain.
Geraldine finally returned, and by the time the pot of tea was finished Kylo found himself just as charmed as any of the officers he had scoffed at the day before and wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Because instinct told him to ignore it and end any feelings on the matter, but when she saw him to the door with such a kind open face, he didn’t mind. And perhaps it was the odd fondness that had bloomed for her over tea that bled over to Hux, who held his wife from behind, his arms around her waist as she bid him goodbye.
“The door is always open to you,” she said, and was entirely earnest. “Perhaps not when we’re asleep, since Brendol gets so little, but aside from that.” Kylo nodded, oddly touched by the idea and fonder of this couple than he had been not even five hours previous, and found himself filing away that open invitation for later.
The Hux couple had transformed in his opinion, he found when he dined alone that night, mind reaching out to where the two were sharing dinner together to feel the closeness they had. They had gone from impossible to oddly dear. Hux himself had slowly been making that transition, but it was Mrs. Hux who had brought them to the other side of that regard. And there were so few on that side that their presence was very well marked. How odd.
------------------
Geraldine’s departure was sadly noted by most of the senior staff and a few petty officers as well. Lieutenant Mitaka and Wena were talking to one another softly off to the side, but the Lieutenant was off duty so they were carefully ignored by the rest. Millicent was safely in Geraldine’s arms, and when she had bid her farewells to the staff who had come to see her off, the cat reached to paw at Brendol Hux’s chest as if bidding her own farewell.
Kylo stood to the side, just watching as the couple made their farewells. They were both sad, he could feel that, even if he couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying. They had said goodbye more properly earlier, in private, but the chaste kiss was plenty public display, no one needed to see more.
Kylo stood away from the rest of the officers, and when she spotted him, Geraldine went to him and said, “It was an honor and a delight to meet you, Lord Ren.”
“The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Hux,” returned Kylo, and he meant it, too.
“I do hope you’ll come visit the Grange if possible. If you are ever near Vand…” Kylo nodded his agreement, and to see it so made a smile spread on the woman’s face. Now Wena was stepping away from Mitaka, and that seemed to be Geraldine’s cue. “I hope to see you again, Lord Ren. Take good care of my husband.”
“He’ll get back to Vand to help you make jeotgarak obsolete, I promise.”
“Good. Until next time, Lord Ren.”
“Until next time, Mrs. Hux.”
Hitching up Millicent into her arms more securely, Geraldine Hux stopped to give her husband one last kiss goodbye before boarding her shuttle and sailing away. Her husband stood there a long time, watching her craft leave the hangar and then watching it jump to hyperspace. It would be a day and a half before she would land on Vand, and if the set of the man’s shoulders said anything, Hux would be unable to relax until she told him she was safely arrived at the Grange.
Kylo felt the absence too, even moments after her craft disappeared. Geraldine, with her plain features and tasteful clothes and kind nature, she had colored the ship in a way that made her easy to miss. Kylo could feel in the minds of a few officers the question of when she would be back, and he found himself asking that same question. How things had changed since he had followed Hux to the hangar in confusion.
He had much to thank Geraldine for, he realized in the days after she was gone and reported safely home to the estate; the sudden smoothness between himself and the General where they had once been rough and clashing, the feeling of being wanted enough to invite him to the estate when he could think of no one doing anything remotely like that before in his life, and also, he thought with a feeling between exasperation and amusement, the ginger hairs from Millicent that persisted and reappeared on his clothes no matter what he did.
[Fill] Mrs. Hux (2/2)
“I don’t drink much tea, Mrs. Hux,” said Kylo, still listening to the edges of her mind for any proof that she wasn’t just this kind.
“Oh do call me Geraldine.” He simply bowed his head a moment, acknowledging the request. He really ought to remove the mask, he couldn’t possibly drink with it on. But not just yet.
“If you will forgive the personal question, how did you come to be married to the General?”
A smile crossed her face, and memories glanced past, caught by the proximity of his mind to hers. Hux, younger than he was now, smiling at her from across a dinner table, the glint of sunlight off a lake where they were walking, his hand taking hers. They were fond and nearly romantic and Kylo braced himself for whatever story would be told and was surprised to hear, “It was an arranged marriage, our fathers set it up. But love is a choice, my lord, and we choose each other every time. To be married on passion and to expect that first burst to carry you through, that will only end in sadness. But to be choose someone again and again, to put them first in your thoughts and heart and to keep putting them there, that’s what makes love last.”
Kylo remembered his parents, and thought about how they had been married on that first passion, and Geraldine seemed wise beyond her tender years, thinking of ships taking off towards different planets and the fledgling Senate needing constant attention and wondered if his parents hadn’t chosen the New Republic before each other. Biting his lip, he simply watched Geraldine set the tea to steep, trying to banish thoughts of a dead life that didn’t matter. Instead he found himself saying, “Working for love is admirable. My parents never seemed to bother with that.”
Geraldine turned to him at that, surprise painted across her features. He supposed it was surprise that he had actual parents, most people didn’t think of that. But a brush near her mind proved surprise that he trusted her enough to say anything, and Kylo wanted to prove her wrong on principle for that alone. Because he certainly didn’t trust her, surely she was turning around and telling her dear always-chosen husband everything that she heard. But her voice was so gentle and understanding when she spoke that he began to hope that that wasn’t the case.
“I’m sorry for that. Seeing your parents unhappy is something I would wish on no one.”
By the time Hux arrived, Kylo had already removed his helmet, a vast show of trust, and was speaking to Geraldine of simple interests, listening to her talk of how her favorite thing to do on summer days back on Vand was to take her books down to the lakeside and read there with a large thermos of cold tea to drink. But when the General arrived, his wife immediately stood to greet him, pressing a fond kiss to his lips as Millicent abandoned where she had made herself at home in Kylo’s lap to greet her master. “Lord Ren and I were just having a lovely conversation,” she said. “You know he’s never actually been to Vand? Next time you take shore leave at home, do bring him. I would love to take him to the lake, and Jenison Grange gets few enough guests as it is.”
“I see you’re already halfway through the tea,” he said with a smile.
“I can always make more, Brendol. Now come sit, have some tea.”
Geraldine was a remarkable hostess, smoothing what was usually so rough between Kylo and Hux to where they were able to hold quite the cordial conversation. Somewhere along the way, Kylo found himself smiling to hear Geraldine recount an Admiral’s daughter’s faux pas at some dinner held at the man’s estate on Vand. She wasn’t even telling it as a story of another’s embarrassment, she was speaking of the young woman’s mistake and how Geraldine had copied her to ease the embarrassment and her standing as Mrs. Hux had certainly changed the atmosphere of the dinner. “Next thing you know every last person is using a fork on the Yil Noodles, and those actually using the jeotgarak like they should are actually setting them down to pick up a fork.”
“You’re going to singlehandedly make jeotgarak obsolete, my dearest,” said Hux, warm fondness and amusement in his tone and love pulsing out around him, made stronger when Geraldine laughed. Millicent jumped out of his lap then, and walked into the other room, where she began to meow loudly.
“And that’s my cue to feed her,” said Geraldine. “Wena is off with one of your Lieutenants, Brendol. Jenison Grange might yet have two wives of the military waiting for their husbands’ return.”
“Let their courtship do what it will, my dearest.” Geraldine only smiled and stood, going into the kitchen next door to feed the protesting cat. As the sounds of her moving around filtered through to the sitting room, Hux turned to Kylo and said, “This is the most well behaved I’ve ever seen you.”
“Yes, well, your wife is…” whatever defense he had fell short there. What was he to say? Your wife is too earnestly good and I can’t see if she’s being false? Your wife is charming and I like her and want her to like me? Your wife is delightful and she’s got every officer wrapped around her finger and I’m getting wrapped up too and don’t know how to stop it?
“She does have that affect,” said Hux, nodding and sounding proud and fond all at once. There was too much emotion in him now that Geraldine was aboard the ship, and Kylo found himself actually liking that fact, much to his surprise. “My father did many things, and perhaps I am biased when I say it, but the best thing he did in my opinion was match me with Geraldine.”
“She…she has done you good. Jenison Grange is your estate?”
“Hers actually. The Hux family doesn’t have an estate as such, her maiden name was Geraldine Jenison. The Jenison family has a few estates on Vand; they live at an estate called Notting Park most of the time, the Grange was a wedding gift.”
Silence fell, both men listening to Geraldine moving about in the kitchen and her eventual laugh of “Millicent, behave! Food is coming!” followed by a persistent thump. Hux smiled to hear it and said,
“The advantage of a cat, you can throw them across the room and no harm will come to them.” That suited Hux more than Geraldine from what Kylo had seen.
“Where did Millicent come from?” asked Kylo suddenly.
“She was mine, originally. But when I made General and was obliged to spend more and more time away from Vand and the Grange, she stayed behind with Geraldine. I acquired Millicent when I was on Umb, she was a gift.” Kylo nodded, and sipped at the tea. Vand teas, especially in high class circles, were prepared very strong, but Kylo had endured things a thousand times worse than nearly-bitter tea barely abated by the milk this particular style was served with and he wasn’t going to complain.
Geraldine finally returned, and by the time the pot of tea was finished Kylo found himself just as charmed as any of the officers he had scoffed at the day before and wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Because instinct told him to ignore it and end any feelings on the matter, but when she saw him to the door with such a kind open face, he didn’t mind. And perhaps it was the odd fondness that had bloomed for her over tea that bled over to Hux, who held his wife from behind, his arms around her waist as she bid him goodbye.
“The door is always open to you,” she said, and was entirely earnest. “Perhaps not when we’re asleep, since Brendol gets so little, but aside from that.” Kylo nodded, oddly touched by the idea and fonder of this couple than he had been not even five hours previous, and found himself filing away that open invitation for later.
The Hux couple had transformed in his opinion, he found when he dined alone that night, mind reaching out to where the two were sharing dinner together to feel the closeness they had. They had gone from impossible to oddly dear. Hux himself had slowly been making that transition, but it was Mrs. Hux who had brought them to the other side of that regard. And there were so few on that side that their presence was very well marked. How odd.
------------------
Geraldine’s departure was sadly noted by most of the senior staff and a few petty officers as well. Lieutenant Mitaka and Wena were talking to one another softly off to the side, but the Lieutenant was off duty so they were carefully ignored by the rest. Millicent was safely in Geraldine’s arms, and when she had bid her farewells to the staff who had come to see her off, the cat reached to paw at Brendol Hux’s chest as if bidding her own farewell.
Kylo stood to the side, just watching as the couple made their farewells. They were both sad, he could feel that, even if he couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying. They had said goodbye more properly earlier, in private, but the chaste kiss was plenty public display, no one needed to see more.
Kylo stood away from the rest of the officers, and when she spotted him, Geraldine went to him and said, “It was an honor and a delight to meet you, Lord Ren.”
“The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Hux,” returned Kylo, and he meant it, too.
“I do hope you’ll come visit the Grange if possible. If you are ever near Vand…” Kylo nodded his agreement, and to see it so made a smile spread on the woman’s face. Now Wena was stepping away from Mitaka, and that seemed to be Geraldine’s cue. “I hope to see you again, Lord Ren. Take good care of my husband.”
“He’ll get back to Vand to help you make jeotgarak obsolete, I promise.”
“Good. Until next time, Lord Ren.”
“Until next time, Mrs. Hux.”
Hitching up Millicent into her arms more securely, Geraldine Hux stopped to give her husband one last kiss goodbye before boarding her shuttle and sailing away. Her husband stood there a long time, watching her craft leave the hangar and then watching it jump to hyperspace. It would be a day and a half before she would land on Vand, and if the set of the man’s shoulders said anything, Hux would be unable to relax until she told him she was safely arrived at the Grange.
Kylo felt the absence too, even moments after her craft disappeared. Geraldine, with her plain features and tasteful clothes and kind nature, she had colored the ship in a way that made her easy to miss. Kylo could feel in the minds of a few officers the question of when she would be back, and he found himself asking that same question. How things had changed since he had followed Hux to the hangar in confusion.
He had much to thank Geraldine for, he realized in the days after she was gone and reported safely home to the estate; the sudden smoothness between himself and the General where they had once been rough and clashing, the feeling of being wanted enough to invite him to the estate when he could think of no one doing anything remotely like that before in his life, and also, he thought with a feeling between exasperation and amusement, the ginger hairs from Millicent that persisted and reappeared on his clothes no matter what he did.
She certainly left her mark, he’d give her that.