Chapter Text
Ben’s boss was a fucking asshole. He’d been kept after work nearly every night this week filing briefs that could have been done anytime. They weren’t even time-sensitive, but he had to be in the trenches up to his elbows filing paperwork that was so dense with tables and numbers and graphs it made his head spin.
His job had always required a lot of extra work on the side, long hours without pay, but this was above and beyond. In the past month, two of Ben’s fellow paralegals had quit, and he was starting to think he was for some reason being punished for it through no fault of his own, having to do the work of three.
“It’s just, like, how long does it fucking take to hire a new paralegal? Just one would do it. I’m not asking for much here, just a little relief. It’s torture, is what it is. It’s immoral.” Ben complained over drinks with his friends Rey, Finn, and Poe. Or, to be more accurate, his friend Rey and her friends Finn and Poe. They were packed like sardines into their favorite dive bar, staking out their usual table and on their third round. It was Friday night, and the place was hopping.
Poe groaned loudly enough to be heard over the music. “It’s torture to have to listen to you bitch about the same thing week in and week out. If it’s as bad as you say, just quit! Come work retail like the rest of us plebeians. Promise you’ll be happier.” Poe worked as a bartender, bouncer, and part-time DJ at some hole-in-the-wall music venue downtown.
Ben shook his head. “No, I can’t do that.” He’d staked it all on this job; financially and, he had to admit, emotionally. If he quit, he’d have to move out of his swanky high-rise he couldn’t really afford and room back in with Rey and Poe in their cramped apartment.
Besides that, he’d made kind of an idiot of himself when he left home, telling his parents he was really going to make something of himself, they’d see. Quitting his job at the law firm would feel too much like giving up, like failure. He had a lot to prove, mostly to himself. If he couldn’t make it in this cutthroat town, he wouldn’t be able to look at himself in the mirror.
“Then here’s a crazy idea. Why don’t you just ask if they’re going to hire somebody else? Tell them you’re overworked!” Rey threw out, one arm around Finn and one around Poe. They had some strange sort of thruple situation going on that they’d tried to explain to him many times, but he couldn’t quite understand how it worked. That had been one of the reasons he’d moved out of their apartment. There wasn’t anything quite like being a fourth wheel to his friends’ very complicated love life.
“I guess I could…” Ben said doubtfully. “I don’t know… they’re kind of… intense…”
Technically, he had three bosses. Snoke, Phasma, and Hux were all partners in the firm where he was employed, and if he was being honest, they intimidated him. He generally did his best to stay out of their way and do the best he could. He wanted them to be impressed with him, but the threshold for mistakes was very low. In his first week, a woman was fired for forgetting to order toner for the printer.
“Please, what are they going to do if you just ask a question?” Finn asked, draining his drink. Finn had a series of odd jobs that seemed to change every other week, but spent most of his time as a grassroots organizer for various causes, each more noble than the last. He’d never said so, but Ben always got the idea that Finn thought he’d sold out by working for the corporate bloodsuckers he hated so much.
“Yeah, I guess you have a point…” Ben trailed off.
Rey patted him on the shoulder. Her cheeks were red, and it was clear she was already over the line into drunk. “Just do it, Ben. Speak up for yourself. Make your life easier. What’s the worst that could happen?”
By next week, Ben had completely forgotten about his halfhearted agreement to speak up. Complaining in the safety of your circle of friends was one thing, but actually telling your boss that you had a problem was another thing. His plan was to just continue suffering in silence, as unpleasant as it was.
That was until four new clients’ caseloads were dumped on him the next week. He had to do research into all the cases, make calls all over town to make things happen, manage the billing, and maintain the piles and piles of duplicate and triplicate paperwork that made his job such a nightmare. He nominally had two other people on the team with him doing the work, but they were similarly busy with other clients and other attorneys that Ben couldn’t reasonably ask them to pick up any more of the slack. They were just doing the best they could, same as him.
It was all coming to a head on Wednesday when Ben remembered the weekly attorney’s meeting that he was supposed to attend to deliver the progress reports and take notes on next steps. He was elbow-deep in county property records for a client who was trying to justify the expansion of his penthouse apartment into the vacant apartments next to his when he glanced at the clock and noticed it was 2:58 pm. The meeting was at 3 o’clock, and he hadn’t even printed out the papers he needed yet. Slamming into panic mode, Ben gathered everything he needed into case files and took the stairs three at a time up to the executive levels instead of waiting for the crowded elevator.
He was just slowing down and trying to make it seem like he wasn’t out of breath when he glanced at the clock outside of the conference room and cringed. It was 3:06. He was late.
Ben opened the conference room door as quietly as he could, somehow hoping beyond all hope that they wouldn’t notice if he did it quietly enough. He slipped into the room and went to his seat.
The partners were all sitting around a sleek wooden table in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on a conference call with one of their clients, the CEO of some electronics company. Snoke was an older, grizzled man who’d shaved his hair to get ahead of the male-pattern baldness that all the money in the world couldn’t do anything about. He had a wedding ring, but was the kind of man who would talk openly of his affairs in the office, arrogantly knowing nobody would say anything about it.
Phasma looked more like an Olympic bodybuilder than an executive. She wore charcoal-gray suits with the top button undone, and short platinum-blonde hair that stuck close to her scalp like a helmet. She had a perpetual sneer on her face, and seemed like she ate men for breakfast.
Hux was a little younger than the other two, but no less intimidating. He had slicked-back ginger hair and just the tiniest hint of an Irish accent that Ben couldn’t help finding entrancing. He was always dressed to the nines in perfectly-tailored suits no matter the time of day, and even had matching bone-white cufflinks to go with the set. He spoke less than the other partners, but when he did, he made it count. He had a nasty talent of cutting someone down to size with only a few words, and there was a steely undercurrent to everything he said.
As Ben snuck to his seat, Hux looked up at him, raised one eyebrow and tapped his watch. You’re late, his flat gaze said.
Ben made an apologetic face and slunk into his chair, trying to spread out his notes and files on the table as quietly as possible while the partners finished up the call. He spent the next few minutes trying to slow his galloping heartbeat and get himself in more of a meeting frame of mind.
Finally, they wrapped up the call. Snoke hung up the phone and turned to Ben, frowning. “You’re late.” He snapped.
“Sorry, sir, I lost track of time, and I was looking into property lines for the Broderson case and-” Ben started rambling, one of his worst tendencies when he was nervous, but one of the harder ones to stop.
Snoke cut him off. “I don’t want to hear excuses. Just don’t let there be a next time, or there won’t be a third.”
Ben flushed and nodded. After that, the meeting proceeded as scheduled. Ben dutifully took notes and tried to stay unnoticed. He just allowed the talk from the three attorneys to flow over his head as he tried to keep up, offering up statistics when asked, but otherwise making his hand cramp up by taking notes so quickly. There was something magnetic about the way they talked, the self-assured way they proceeded with business, the cool knowledge that there was nothing truly standing in their way. Ben watched Hux rattle off the exact wording of some obscure statute that would allow them to use a loophole to get their client exactly what they wanted, and he did this all off the top of his head. Ben was fascinated.
As the meeting was wrapping up, Ben slid the case files he’d been asked to compile across the table to the three of them and started to pack up. He was already thinking about the piles of work he still had waiting on his desk. He’d probably have to stay late, again. He was composing his apology text to Rey in his head for having to cancel on movie night when he was interrupted from his thoughts.
Hux was standing at the table, leafing through the case file he’d been handed, posture straight and assured. “Organa, I’m missing the phone records from March in this folder.”
Ben started frantically searching through the papers in front of him, already knowing they weren’t in there. “Oh, I’m sorry, sir, I thought for sure I’d put them in there. I can get them to you by the end of the day.”
Hux snapped the file closed with a quick motion and looked up at him, unimpressed. “You’ll get them to me immediately following this meeting.”
Ben swallowed nervously and averted his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Of course.”
He was really hoping he was going to be let off the hook, but found Phasma was looking at him too. “This isn’t the first time this has happened, either. I seem to remember you forgot to send off a few emails to clients last week. This is becoming a pattern.”
Ben’s throat started to close up. He fully recognized that these were things said to someone shortly before they were let go. He remembered the advice he’d gotten from his friends and decided to just take the plunge. He was already failing dismally at this job. It couldn’t get any worse.
He took a deep breath. “Um, if – if I could speak freely?”
Hux and Phasma’s faces were stone. Ben forced himself to maintain eye contact with Hux even though he felt like he was about to be vaporized where he stood.
“It’s just that, that after Susan and Graham quit, I’ve had to do the work of three. Not that I’m complaining,” he hastened to add. “I’m happy to do it, but it’s a lot of work, and some things might… slip through the cracks. I just wondered if I could ask whether you are planning on hiring somebody else? I would, uh, really appreciate it.”
“In fact, we just hired two new associates. They’ll be starting next week. You would know this if you took the time to read the weekly newsletter in your email.” Hux said icily.
“Oh,” Ben said, looking down awkwardly at his papers on the table. He felt like an idiot. If he had just sucked it up for a few more days, replacements would arrive, and all his problems would have been solved. Now, he just made himself look like an ungrateful whiner who wasn’t even good at his job. Fuck.
“Get those records to me right away, Organa. I’ll be in my office.” Hux said, before turning around and leaving the room with Phasma. Snoke was already long gone.
Ben watched them go, feeling a little sick. He was doing nothing lately but making himself a liability. At this pace, he’d be out of a job in a week’s time. As he marched dejectedly back down to his cramped desk in the file room, he wondered what he could do to make it up to Hux, to prove his worth.
He gathered up the requested files right away and hightailed it back up to Hux’s office on the executive level. As always, when he emerged onto this floor, he was overtaken by a powerful feeling of not belonging here. The deep, plush carpeting, classy wood-paneling, and expensive yet soulless art lining the walls all served to show him all the ways he didn’t match up, all the reasons why he would never have an office in this hall.
He opened the door to Hux’s secretary, giving her a nod before opening the inner door leading to Hux’s expansive office. The office just oozed luxury and class, somehow even more than the hallway outside. A burgundy-leather couch was on the far wall with a matching glass coffee table. Of course, floor-to-ceiling windows looked out on the city outside. The view never failed to take Ben’s breath away. Coming from the Great Plains, he never quite got used to how impressive, how huge the city really was. The walls were lined with canvases that had blocky stripes of color in a way that Ben supposed was artistic in the kind of way that people like him didn’t really get. That kind of art was kind of boring to him, but he probably didn’t have enough culture to truly appreciate it. Not like somebody like Hux would appreciate it.
Hux was sitting behind his long, intimidating mahogany desk composing some message longhand, on a pad of stationery instead of his laptop. His hand cruised confidently over the page, punctuating every sentence with an affirmative period that felt like a statement. He didn’t look up when Ben entered the room or acknowledge him at all.
Suddenly paranoid that he should have knocked before entering, Ben backed up a few steps and knocked on the door. Hux didn’t look up. Now feeling like an idiot, Ben walked into the center of the office, bouncing uncomfortably on his heels. He waited nearly a torturous full minute before coughing to announce his presence. Maybe Hux just didn’t hear him. No reaction.
Ben stood there like a moron clutching the papers Hux had requested in one sweaty fist. He wondered if Hux was expecting him to wait to be acknowledged. He’d already tried to attract Hux’s attention twice, and felt like he couldn’t do it again. Maybe he was supposed to just drop the papers on his desk and leave, and he was making a nuisance out of himself by not doing so.
Feeling more and more uncomfortable, Ben internally debated with himself over how he was supposed to behave when Hux finally looked up, gaze flat and cold.
“Well?” He asked, snapping and holding a hand out. Ben walked up and put the papers in his hand mutely. Hux looked them over, to make sure there were no mistakes, no doubt. The fact that he felt the need to check the pages for errors told Ben everything he needed to know about Hux’s perception of his abilities.
Hux went back to not acknowledging him. Ben stood there, feeling gangly and in the way. Was he supposed to wait for further instructions, or just leave? He waited, consumed with indecision. After this afternoon’s meeting, he didn’t want to make any more mistakes.
After a silence so long Ben could have run all the way to the basement floor and back, Hux set the papers aside neatly and looked up at him. He had an unnerving way of watching Ben, like he was cataloguing every part of him, dissecting him, and placing each piece on a shelf where it belonged.
“What’s your progress on the Tucson case?” Hux asked.
“Well, I have the files sitting on my desk right now. I was going to, uh, stay late tonight and catch up and those were at the top of the list.” Ben said. In truth, they were more like fifth or sixth on the list. Phasma had him digging back into criminal statutes from the ‘70s, and they were all blurry photocopies of microfiche documents, and he basically had to decipher every word like it was written in code to make heads or tails of it. He had a very busy night ahead of him.
“Staying late?” Hux asked. Ben wondered if he would be impressed by his dedication, or just see this as yet another sign of him falling down on the job.
“Yes, sir.” Ben replied.
“Because of how heavy your caseload is.” Hux said as a statement, sounding like he was thinking aloud.
Ben nodded, cursing himself for ever deciding to bring it up at all.
Hux folded his hands and tapped his thumbs together. “Well, I can’t say it’s escaped my notice that your work has been… slipping of late. It’s very dangerous to attract my attention that way, Organa.”
“I know.” Ben agreed nervously, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was going to get fired, and he only had enough money in the bank to make next month’s rent. After that, he’d have to find another job, another apartment, basically move his whole life around, admit to failure.
“The two associates we’ve hired are very bright, very dedicated. They’ve just recently graduated, and newer attorneys are always so eager to take on extra work, basically show off so they can climb the ladder quicker. I expect they’ll have that sorry file room you call an office cleared of mess within a fortnight. We’re also working on hiring another paralegal, so that will be taken care of before too long.” Hux mused.
Ben nodded slowly, wondering why Hux was even bothering to tell him about this. He supposed the subtext was that they would be doing all his work, but better, that they would be paid more to clean up a mess Ben wasn’t able to do himself. He knew this was unfair, that given the circumstances, he was doing the work of three people, pulling insane hours, with only a few slip-ups to speak of. If anything, he was keeping this place together, but he knew saying any of that would simply make him look desperate, so he kept his mouth shut, waiting with dread to be fired.
“I suppose that only leaves… what I’m going to do with you.” Hux said slowly.
“Sir, I – I know my performance has been, unsatisfactory as of late, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for that. But I’m very dedicated to this job. I’m very invested, and I’ll do anything to earn back your trust if you’ll give me the chance.” Ben stumbled through his apology.
Hux raised an eyebrow, seemed amused for some reason. “Really?”
“Yes. I’m very dedicated. I want to do well.” Ben said, hoping he was managing to save his job.
Hux thought for a moment, tapped a finger slowly on the desk. “My secretary is retiring this week. Her last day is Friday.”
“Okay?” Ben said in confusion, unsure why Hux was telling him this.
“The way I see it is, you can do most of the same work you’re doing now, but your main responsibility would be me. You might still need to work for the other partners if it came down to crunch time, but this way, you’d have a little more time to… prioritize.” Hux laid it all out as if were fact already.
It took Ben a few moments to even put two and two together. He wasn’t being fired, he was being… demoted? Transferred? He wasn’t sure what kind of move this was.
“You want me to be your secretary?” Ben asked.
“Partly. You’d still be doing largely the same work, but I want your sole focus to be me. Do you think you could make that work?” Hux asked, the undercurrent to his question You better, or you’ll be out of a job by next week.
“Yes, of course. Thank you so much for giving me this chance. I won’t let you down.” Ben said eagerly, knowing that he was being thrown a bone.
“I hope not.” Hux said coldly. He had such an icy, immovable look to his face that Ben had the barest thought that he might have made a mistake before they were moving on.
Hux turned back to his computer, dismissal in his tone. “You start Monday. Be here at six forty-five. I take my coffee extra hot with two shots of espresso and a splash of cream. A modest splash. No more, no less.”
“Of – of course.” Ben said, mind scrambling to remember that order. He’d be expected to get Hux coffee? Well, if that’s what it took. He started heading for the door, relieved to be getting out of this oppressive office.
“And one more thing.” Hux called him, compelling him to turn around. “I expect my personal assistant to wear something better than rejects from the Sears catalogue. Buy a nice tie.”
Ben glanced involuntarily down at his nondescript black tie. He hadn’t thought anything of it when he’d bought it. It was just a tie. It only occurred to him now to be self-conscious about it. He was going to promise he’d find something good, but Hux was typing something, and had clearly completely forgotten about Ben’s presence. Ben fled the room.
Monday morning finally came around, and Ben was just about buzzing out of his skin. He’d spent all weekend obsessing over his new position, trying to make sure he did more to impress in this job than he did in his last. Since he’d be working directly under Hux, he felt like he was going to be under the microscope. He had to do everything right this time. No more slipups.
Ben checked his cheap watch as he emerged from the coffee shop two blocks away from work. It was 6:30. He had plenty of time to make it up to his new desk on time. As he stood with every other early commuter in the city waiting for the light to change, he smoothed his new tie with one hand. He hadn’t gotten very many guidelines from Hux as to what constituted a nice tie. He assumed that meant expensive.
He’d dragged Rey with him to a men’s wear shop over the weekend. The place was way over his price range, but he wanted, no, needed, to impress, and he needed a second opinion. They spent almost two hours sifting through tie after tie, rejecting some for being too fat, too thin, too long, too colorful, not colorful enough. It got to the point where they were getting the eye from the clerk in the store, who assumed they didn’t have the money to purchase anything from the store. This wasn’t a store meant for someone like Ben, it was meant for men like Hux, powerful and assured and well-off. Rey complained vociferously about being forced into this, but she helped Ben pick a muted maroon tie with a subtle, cubed embroidery to give it character. It cost nearly half a paycheck, but Ben forked over the money. He didn’t want to let Hux down in the very first thing he requested from him.
Ben entered the building, walking past security and entering the elevator, feeling a little thrill when he pressed the button for the top floor. He was still in the hot seat, but this definitely felt like a bit of a step up. He held Hux’s coffee in one hand, hoping he’d done it right. The extra-hot part of the order was what was worrying him. He’d wanted to arrive to work early enough to ensure he didn’t have to worry about being late on his first day, but if he showed up too early, Hux’s coffee would be lukewarm by the time he arrived. Ben supposed he could always warm it up, but the thought of Hux walking in to see him warming up his coffee in the microwave was not a good one.
Before he’d left the previous Friday, Ben had already moved his few things into the newly-vacant secretary’s desk so everything was ready and waiting for him on Monday morning. Hux’s office was completely obscured from the hallway outside, but the small anteroom where Ben’s desk was had glass windows that looked out on the hallway. There were privacy blinds which he left open.
Ben spent a few minutes obsessing over whether he should leave the coffee on Hux’s desk or if he should have it to hand to Hux when he walked in the door. He ended up leaving it on Hux’s desk. He assumed Hux was the kind of man who liked things to be in their place, and Ben didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself.
He sat at his desk and spent a few minutes half-heartedly checking his emails while looking at the clock. 6:39. 6:42. 6:46. He was sort of nervous for no reason he could put a finger on. He’d been working for Hux for months, but not this close, and he wanted to live up to expectations. As the minutes ticked by, Ben thought nervously of the cooling coffee in the other room. Maybe Hux wanted it extra hot so by the time he showed up, it would be the right temperature.
Hux walked in the door at precisely seven. Ben guessed that being here by six forty-five was only for him. He stood up abruptly to meet Hux, bumping his knee on the desk.
“Morning, sir.” He said brightly.
Hux barely glanced at him. He took his coat off with a smooth, practiced motion and handed it to Ben without a word before walking into his inner office.
Ben took the coat and looked around him, wondering where to put it. There wasn’t a coat rack in here that he could see. He’d just hung his own coat over the back of his chair. After a bit of investigation, he found a discrete handle to a hidden door that opened up to reveal an empty closet. Ben hung up Hux’s jacket, making sure it didn’t have any creases in it. On reflection, he ran over to grab his own jacket and hang it up as well. He supposed Hux didn’t want coats hung over chairs. He wondered if Hux had noticed his coat, and decided he probably had.
He hovered at the door to Hux’s office, wondering if he was expected to come in. He ultimately decided yes, and walked into the room. Hux was standing at the window checking something on his phone. Ben glanced over at the coffee on the desk. Had Hux seen it? He didn’t want him to think he’d forgotten.
“Uh, I left your coffee on the desk. I got it from Mortimer’s, down the street. I hope that’s your usual coffee spot. I think they’re pretty good.” Ben started rambling again before cutting himself off.
Hux had his back to Ben. “Yes, I saw it.” He said coolly.
“Oh, okay.” Ben said, biting his lip, starting to regret coming in here. Maybe Hux wanted his few minutes of solitude before the day started.
Hux tucked his phone into his front pocket and turned around, morning light catching in his hair. “Well? Bring it here.”
Ben hurried to comply, pressing the coffee into Hux’s hand and standing there trying not to stare while Hux took the first sip. Hux’s face was expressionless, and Ben struggled to decipher how he felt. Hux looked out the window down at the outspread city. He took a second sip. Then a third.
Hux looked at him again, flinty eyes not reflecting the warm morning light. “Acceptable, however there’s too much cream in this. Do better next time.”
“Oh, o-okay. Too much cream. Got it.” Ben stuttered. He could have kicked himself. He had been so bent out of shape about the temperature of the coffee he hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of the order.
Hux had already turned away, and walked over to sit at his desk, turning his computer on. “Alright, Organa. Let’s get started.”
The next few minutes were filled with Hux giving out a truly dizzying number of instructions that Ben did his best to keep up with. He wished he’d brought a pad of paper in here so he could track of it all, but he couldn’t imagine asking Hux to wait a moment while he went in the other room to grab one. He did his best to keep it all in his head. After going through everything, Hux sat back in his chair. “Got it?” He asked curtly, with a quietly amused expression on his face that meant, ‘If you don’t, I wouldn’t say so, because I won’t be repeating myself’.
“Yes, sir. I’ll get started right away.” Ben said, fleeing the room for his own desk. Once he was out of sight of Hux, he fell upon a pad of paper and scribbled down everything Hux had said before he could forget anything.
After that, Ben hardly had any time to think about whether or not he was living up to expectations. It was all he could do to complete all the tasks Hux had assigned him in the time allotted. He ended up skipping lunch because there was just so much to do. He kind of thought the point of this new position was that it was going to give him a bit more breathing room, but he was being worked as hard as ever. Maybe this was just how it was on the first day, and after he’d settled into things, Hux would ease up a little. Either way, he didn’t have time to think about it.
While Ben typed up legal briefs, made phone calls, and trotted up and down the stairs to deliver files to different departments, Hux went about his business largely without Ben’s intervention. He left a few times to have conversations with the other partners, and even took an hour-long lunch. Perks of his position, Ben guessed, although he didn’t even have the time contemplate what Hux was or wasn’t doing. He was too busy.
The end of the day arrived, but Ben still had work to do. He was trying to avoid his budding headache while checking for spelling errors in a press release he was sending off to another department when he noticed that Hux was standing right in front of his desk.
Ben looked up, startled. “Oh, sorry, Mr. Hux, I didn’t notice you. Did you need something?”
“I’m leaving for the day.” Hux announced wryly like Ben was supposed to do something about it.
“Well, have a good night.” Ben said, turning half an eye back to his computer.
Hux was still standing there. “It’s a chilly night, I hear.”
“Sure is.” Ben agreed, privately hoping this guy would just get out of here so he could get back to work. A moment later, he noticed Hux still standing there, staring at him expectantly.
“Oh! Your coat! Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I’ll go get it right away.” Ben babbled, jumping to his feet and rushing over to the closet to get Hux’s coat. He’d put the coat away this morning, it made sense he would be expected to give it back at the end of the day. He rummaged around in the closet and turned around, holding the coat out to Hux.
Hux didn’t move to take it. Slight contempt was on his face. “Ah, Organa? I believe I would recognize my own coat anywhere. That’s not it.”
Ben noticed with horror that he was holding his own shabby coat out to Hux. He flushed a deep red, turned around, and got the right coat out. “Sorry.” He muttered, deeply embarrassed.
Hux didn’t take his eyes off of Ben while he slid his coat on. “Tell me, are you always so absentminded? Because if you are, that’s something we’ll have to work on.”
If anything, Ben flushed even more. “No, I’m usually pretty on top of things. This has just been a very hectic day.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Hux said. “I don’t take things slow.”
Ben nodded, letting out a breath when Hux stepped away from him and head for the door. Hux turned around with his hand on the doorknob. “Oh, and Organa? The tie is a surprisingly elegant choice.”
Ben’s hand returned to his tie. He’d forgotten about it, and kind of thought Hux had too, but apparently Hux noticed everything and just stored it away for later. He only had the chance to appreciate the praise for a second before Hux pulled the rug out underneath his feet just as quick.
“I just wish it matched the suit.” Hux said before closing the door and leaving.
Ben reeled a little from the whiplash, but he didn’t have time to think about it. He had work to do.