Copper for the Charlatan

Re-Orientation

Ichara gets a little taste of Hux's routine

Kylo is either not as alone as he thought... or more alone than ever.

After a tumultuous night of attempted sleep he gave up on rest, deciding to get an early start on his day. After the incident in the hangar he wanted to ensure Ichara didn't do anything to endanger either of them during the meeting with their emotionally unstable leader, and decided to speak with her before she went to him.

As he was scrolling through his itinerary for the day on his holopad the bluish light caught divots across the usually smooth surface of his gloves. He realized they were from... teeth. He could feel the blood rush to his groin as he ran his thumb over the half moon of divots reflecting on the top of his closed fist.

No. No no no. That's enough.

He snatched up his thermos of tea off his coffee table and polished off most of the burning liquid, hoping the pain of the heat and the bitterness of the leaves would bring him back from the distraction.

"God, man, get it together" he said aloud to himself, mentally going over the checklist of all the horrible things that could happen to him should this meeting go poorly.
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-

She was already awake, seated in the middle of the common area of her quarters meditating when Hux entered unannounced at 0800. There was no pretense of pleasantries.

"Good, you are awake. We have very little time to prepare you for your meeting with Kylo Ren. I don't know what he expects of you, but if you wish to be alive and of any use to me we will not have a repeat of last night."

She was dressed in her black mercenary gear with low-profile armor plating; a dark blue velvet robe draped over it all, saber in front of her on the floor.

"I am aware of that, General" she replied, without opening her eyes. "I'll be docile and appease his ego. Once he finds me of no interest he'll move on-" she laughed softly "I'm not concerned about it, and neither should you be."

It was a lie. She had more riding on this meeting than Hux was aware of, and a fear she had long kept stowed away crept through her veins. There was a panic fluttering in her chest, and it was all she could do to keep it at bay.

What if I overplayed my hand in the hangar?
What if I gave away too much?

Part of the joy of mercenary work was that it was generally fairly clear cut, and the majority of people she dealt with were either too stupid or too inept to be decent at elaborate schemes and ruses. This was a different, much more dangerous playing field- and it wasn't just her life in the balance. She was responsible to Orgida for the General's as well, but it was a responsibility that extended past the parameters of a mere contract.

There was something vicious and frigid in him that fascinated her, and against all intentions, there was a flicker of personal interest growing. She couldn't risk losing someone so... intriguing.

"Is that so?" His polished boots stopped a foot in front of her. He pictured the leather keeper of his crop lifting her chin to look at him and the image lit a fire in his stomach. He clenched his jaw as he pushed it back, reiterating that control was paramount now. At her lack of response Hux huffed and extended a gloved hand to assist her to her feet. "Enough. Stand."

As soon as she stood up he lunged forward threateningly; leather clad fingers again pressed against her neck. "Your flippant attitude may well be the death of you, and I could care less- but I refuse to lose all I have built because of your insolent behavior."