Hi! So, yes, the fic covers (almost) a full school year. It starts in August, and by chapter 9 we are up to the end of November. Once these two fell for each other things moved along quickly! I am going to skip some time toward the end of the first part after things get solidified between them. I’m thinking about what I’m going to do after that, re: telling the story after graduation. 🙂
Thanks for asking!! Hope you’re enjoying the fic!!!
Ben grinned as Hux barked a laugh through the headset. His exams had just finished, and while he was still stressing about the result, he’d been on early to suggest to Ben that they spend the day gaming to celebrate. Ben’s desktop was littered with the evidence of their marathon session, pizza box lying open with one last slice inside, two one-litre water bottles that doubled as weights, both lying empty.
“It’s true!” Ben protested, knowing that his grin was going to come through in his voice. There were many things he could have done in that moment, but not wiped the smile off his face from hearing Dearg laugh.
“I’m not sure I believe you,” Dearg said when he finally got his breath back.
“I am offended,” Ben said.
The match they were playing was a done deal; their advantage was too great now for the opposing team to catch up with them before the game counted out, so they used the time left to indulge in somewhat patient behaviours. Dearg had scrambled to a high vantage point and was executing flawless headshots, while Ben snuck around the battlefield, killing foes with a single blow from behind.
“Which part offends you?” Dearg asked, the sound of his rifle reloading in the background.
“The part where you insinuated that people don’t like me,” Ben said, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout even though Dearg wasn’t there to see it.
“I didn’t say they didn’t like you completely,” Dearg said, “Just that maybe people would like you more if you didn’t murder their loved ones.”
Ben paused as he looked at the screen, his avatar swaying lightly on the soles of their feet. Still considering, he moved them forward, behind a pair of newbs who seemed to think they were hidden behind a wall feature. Ben unleashed a flurry of moves, grinning as the local chat lit up with the players’ complaints as their characters dropped to the ground.
“Alright, you may have a point.”
“Of course I do,” Dearg replied, making Ben roll his eyes at his assured tone.
The game ended shortly after that, Dearg excusing himself from chat to fetch more snacks, leaving Ben tapping his hands against his legs. He’d been rehearsing what he was going to say all week, but now that the moment was here, it didn’t seem to be any easier.
“I’m back,” Dearg’s voice announced. “What do you want to do next?”
“Can I ask you something?” Ben said, fighting off the urge to cough against his suddenly tight throat.
“Sure.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but there’s a big games convention happening in a couple of months here, Blizzard are going to be running a few tournaments at it.”
“Yeah, I heard of it. What about it?”
“Well, I was looking at our scores, and we qualify to enter the tournament. My parents bought me a ticket as a gift, but I wouldn’t be much without my partner, now would I?”
“I’m glad you’re finally willing to acknowledge my superior status in our pairing.”
“Asshole,” Ben muttered, to Dearg’s laughter. “I’m trying to invite you to come with me.”
Silence stretched out then, the only sound the crackle of the empty voice chat in Ben’s ear.
“Let me check the flights.”
Ben stared at the screen, watching as Dearg’s avatar switched to afk, moving idly. Every now and again Ben could hear the tapping of keys in the background.
“The whole two weeks, or just the Blizzard expo?”
“Two weeks,” Ben said quickly. “My parents made it a birthday gift to me.”
A few more taps, the static crackle in Ben’s ear.
“Yeah, I should be able to do that,” Dearg said.
“I can pick you up at the airport,” Ben said. “And the room has two beds, if you don’t mind sharing.”
“I’m a student,” Dearg replied. “I’d have been happy with the couch, but thank you.”
Ben felt himself blushing, wondering what Dearg might have said if he’d told him there was only one bed.
“Just like that,” Ben snorted.
“Just like that,” Dearg replied. “You wanted it to be more difficult?”
“No,” Ben said, running one hand through his hair before tangling it in the band of the headphones, scowling as he tried to set them right again. “It’s just.. You don’t even know what I look like.”
“You’re going to be the guy holding a sign with my name on it.”
Ben frowned.
“And I don’t know your real name.”
“You mean you’re not just going to put my screen name on the sign? I’m disappointed.”
“I can’t call you that all week.”
“Yes, Darth_Lord.”
“Dearg.”
“Yes?”
“What is your name?”
Ben could hear Dearg sigh heavily.
“It’s Hux.”
“I think I preferred Dearg,” Ben said, a smile slowly growing on his face.
“Fuck you.”
Ben laughed, more so when he noticed that Dearg was back in the game and commanding his avatar to make all manner or rude gestures in his direction.
“Well, if you’re done doing that, I’ll book us in the for tournament.”
“Great,” Dearg said. “And then I will be seeing you in just over two months.”
“Yeah,” Ben repeated, taking a deep breath “great.”
Hux is prying Ben’s fingers off the armrest, turning Ben’s palm over and twining their hands together. It brings Ben back to himself, forcing him to think about not breaking the bones in Hux’s hand by squeezing it too tightly, and he slowly lets the air out of his lungs through his nose.
Hux is an assassin with the Dark Brotherhood. He serves without question, but is sent on his most trying mission yet. What is the music of life? What is the color of night? What is life’s greatest illusion? Contract: Kill Kylo Ren
Explicit
Former Lovers, Assassination Attempt, Non-Graphic Violence, Implied Character Death, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex
He is southern! When I started that fic, I was really missing the south (I’m from Tennessee right on the border of Georgia originally), and have a lot of history with small southern towns. I originally imagined his family as Irish immigrants, but I decided I wasn’t enough of an expert on the genuine culture, so I just made them have Irish heritage.
Something I really wanted to include was the idea that home is something you can’t ever really go back to–the way things seem as kids always seems so much larger than life. I think that’s a theme for both Ben and Hux in this fic, and that their future is something they have to make for themselves to include others on their own terms.
Hux took off out of Tully when he was 18, and went to school in Chicago. I headcanon that he worked on not having an accent, that he quickly adopted an urban lifestyle, and he alienated his family for a long time to try to escape the past. He made his own way, which the canon Hux did as well. 🙂
I’m so excited to get a question about this fic! Thank you so much! I hope I answered it? 😀
Jules' Kylux Stuff 