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Timing had never been Kylo’s forte. Most of the major fuck-ups in his life had been due to poor timing, and yes, maybe also his occasional inability to control his emotions. Mostly, though, he blamed it on his bad luck with timing.
Like now, for example, in this horrible moment suspended in time where he waited for Hux’s reaction with bated breath and not daring to move a muscle.
The evening had started perfectly in his opinion. He had Hux pierced on his cock, his face pressed against the pillows on their shared bed, quietly gasping for breath and long, slender fingers clutching the sheets. Kylo had paused to take in the beautiful arch of Hux’s back, from his sharp shoulder blades to the supple curve of his buttocks where the flushed, heated was skin pressing against his own. Kylo had pulled back until only the very tip of his cock had still been inside Hux, grabbed his hips with both hands and thrusted into the impossible heat of Hux’s body once, twice, punching broken moans out of Hux’s mouth with each slam of his hips.
He had become overcome with emotion, then, realizing that this indeed was their shared bed, located in their shared bedroom in their new, shared apartment. They had been living together for almost three months now, but Kylo hadn’t really internalized that yet. He hadn’t dared to believe this was true and that he was allowed to have all this. He had felt a powerful need to tell Hux how much he loved him, how incredibly lucky he felt that someone so perfect and beautiful as Hux had chosen him with all his faults and imperfections, and how this very moment was the happiest of Kylo’s life. He had conveyed the complex depth of his emotion by grabbing a fistful of Hux’s hair and pulling until Hux’s back was flush against his chest, locked him in place by wrapping one arm around his waist and bitten a bruise in the flesh of Hux’s shoulder. Mine, he had snarled in Hux’s ear. Yes, Hux had breathed, fueling the flames burning in Kylo’s guts.
And then, true to form, he had spoiled it all by opening his damned mouth.
“I won’t share you,” he had growled, hips pumping in a steady rhythm and tightening his grip of Hux.
“Wha- ?” was all that Hux had managed to say, his brow furrowing but mouth falling open in pleasure.
“I’ve seen you with your phone. You spend far too much time on it. If it was work, you’d complain about it to me, but now you hide.” Kylo had to bite his teeth together to stop him mouth from moving. Hux stilled in his lap but did not make any attempt to move away. Kylo’s breath hitched in his throat when he realized he’d, once again, gone too far and ruined the one good thing that had ever happened to him.
“It’s not -” Hux began and bit his lip. “Look, it’s not – Better if I show you.” Hux put his hand over Kylo’s arm, keeping it wrapped around his waist. He bent forwards to reach the nightstand on his side of the bed and grabbed his phone. Kylo tensed, bracing for any of the awful possibilities his imagination chose to conjure up to torment him.
“Go on, take a look.”
Kylo hooked his chin over Hux’s shoulder and blinked in confusion at the bright screen. The search results Hux was showing to him made no sense, until suddenly they did.
How to decorate a Christmas tree
Christmas things
How can you tell your cat has eaten tinsel
What to do if your cat has eaten tinsel
Is cooked turkey meat good for cats
Is ham good for cats
How to cook ham
Is tinsel necessary
Gingerbread recipe
How to buy the perfect present for the love of your life
“It’s not necessary. Tinsel, that is. You don’t have to have it if you don’t want to,” Kylo rambled, sheer relief flooding his system and making him light-headed. He had no idea how he was supposed to react in this odd situation and settled for answering the easiest question first and working his way up to the more complicating ones.
“In my family Christmas was always for business partners, never for kids,” Hux said softly. “Ever since I moved out it’s just been me and Millie and a pepperoni pizza. I know you love Christmas and I want to make it perfect for you. I just don’t know how.”
Kylo swallowed, mind racing, still trying to process what he had seen, stuck on the words love of your life . His dick, the sentimental fool, softened and slipped out of Hux. He hugged Hux tight and buried his nose in the crook of his neck, trying to wrap himself completely around him, to shield him from the any and all harm, real or imaginary. Hux molded himself against Kylo’s chest and allowed himself to be clung to like a human-sized safety blanket. Eventually he wriggled himself around just enough to steal a reassuring kiss from Kylo’s lips.
“In my family the holidays were noise and chaos and me feeling an outsider,” Kylo started, haltingly. “It usually ended with at least one of us storming out after a major argument and the rest awkwardly pretending everything was fine for the rest of the evening. I thought it was you who wanted to have the magazine-perfect holidays.”
Hux shook in his arms and Kylo was confused until he realized Hux was laughing.
“Huh. So, it turns out neither of us is actually fond of a traditional Christmas.”
“I guess not.” Kylo grinned and pinched Hux’s side lightly. “But the thing about traditions is that they all gotta start somewhere.”
Hux’s little sound of surprise went ignored as Kylo suddenly scrambled from the bed and pulled Hux up by his hand. “Come on,” he said, barreling down the short corridor towards their living room.
“What are you doing?” Hux demanded as soon as they were stood in the small room, barely big enough for the uncomfortable, but stylish blue sofa Hux had insisted on bringing with him to their new home.
“You’ll see, Don’t move a muscle, I’ll be right back.” Kylo said. He kissed the tip of Hux’s nose and left him standing there, heading to the overstuffed scrap room which in its former life had served as the previous occupants’ nursery. Now it housed all the stuff that hadn’t found a purpose or a place yet or was waiting for recycling. He found what he was looking for behind his bike and Millie’s old scratcher.
“Ta da!” he announced as he dragged his loot to the living room. Hux hadn’t stayed still as ordered but had found a sweater and a pair or fuzzy socks to keep himself warm. Kylo’s sweater, to be precise, far too large for him with the sleeves covering his knuckles and one of his shoulders almost peeking out of the collar. Kylo hummed in appreciation, all but forgetting his mission at the sight the collarbone decorated with his own bite mark.
“What’s that?”
“This,” Kylo said, returning to the present, “is a Christmas tree.”
“It’s in a box,” Hux said cautiously.
“Yeah, well. Buying a real tree always seemed a waste of money. I only got it because Rey said it wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without a tree,” he said, trying to coax the battered cardboard to open without tearing itself apart. His life had been a constant flow of breaking and mending his relationship with his family, but for some reason he had always been unable to say no to his younger sibling. Her, and now Hux. That made a grand total of two people in Kylo’s life he had not alienated at least once.
To his surprise Hux burst out laughing. “Look at us,” he chortled. “Both thinking the other is the holiday maniac. I still want to make it perfect for you,” he finished, sobering up.
Kylo grinned in response. “That’s the beauty of it. We are now free to make our own traditions. Make everything perfect for us.”
Hux was suddenly right in front of him, cradling his face in his cool hands and leaning in to give him a feather-light kiss on his lips. “Go find the ornaments. I’ll put up the tree.”
Kylo didn’t need telling twice. He stole another kiss for good luck and deposited the tree box in Hux’s waiting arms. He rolled his shoulders and with a determined step strode to brave the chaos of the scrap room.
It took a while to locate the crumpled box containing the few ornaments he possessed. The tree was already up by the time he returned to the living room. Hux was doing his best to fluff up the branches, but it was mostly a lost cause. The tree had been dirt cheap, and it looked worth exactly every penny Kylo had forked over to the harried-looking cashier all those years ago.
“It’ll be fine,” Hux said, stepping back to give the lopsided cone a critical once-over. “Once we put the ornaments on, it’ll be perfect.”
“There aren’t that many to put on,” Kylo confessed, shaking the box in his hands. “No tinsel in sight, you’ll be happy to find.”
“Oh well. That can be our first new tradition. Each year we both buy a nice new ornament for our tree.” Hux turned to smile at him and nudged the lid off the box. “I see you weren’t lying,” he said, eyebrows rising. He picked up the short string of fairy lights and began to untangle it from the many knots it had tied itself into.
Kylo looked at the meagre number of baubles barely covering the bottom of the box, each just as dull and plasticky as the tree itself. He tossed the box to the sofa, earning an indignant trill and a glare from Millicent who had been napping on the cushions. “I like that. And we can start out ornament-hunting now, Christmas is still a week away.”
“I’m definitely investing in new lights, these are atrocious,” Hux grumbled. He had managed to straighten the string out and was reaching to the top branches to start twining them around the tree. The sweater he was wearing rose as he lifted his arms, revealing the swell of his buttocks, still rosy pink from their earlier activities.
“I don’t know,” Kylo said, admiring the view. “Everything looks just fine from where I’m standing.”
Hux shot him a look over his shoulder, but it was without any venom. Instead, he winked. “Are you suggesting this should become a tradition too? Decorating the tree naked, after a fuck?
“Hell yeah! Although you’re not technically naked.”
“Well, I run cold, and I don’t have you to keep me warm now. And since you brought up technicalities, we didn't actually finish the fuck either.”
Kylo considered this. “So, how about we fuck before starting the decorations, then fuck again after we’re done?”
Hux draped the last of the lights over a lower-tier branch, sauntered over and flung his arms around Kylo’s shoulders. He pressed his body firmly against Kylo’s frame and gave him a gaze full of intent. “That’s precisely what I’m saying,” he whispered before capturing Kylo’s mouth in a heated kiss. Kylo grabbed him by the waist and pulled him even closer, deepening the kiss and soaking up every single one of the tiny throaty sounds of pleasure Hux made at the manhandling.
“It’s a deal,” he said hoarsely when they had to break for air. His cock had lost its earlier shyness and had started to fill out a bit, as had Hux’s. The friction of them bumping against each other made them both shudder.
“Later,” Hux promised and pulled away from Kylo’s embrace. “I want to finish this.”
Kylo tried to reel him back in but to no avail. He grumbled his disappointment and with a deep sigh picked up the ornament box and joined Hux in contemplating where to hang the few unfortunate baubles he possessed. He didn’t even have a star to put on the top of the tree and decided that it would be his first addition to their future collection of ornaments.
“What else do you want?” Hux asked after a while, struggling to get a crimson ball to stay on its chosen branch. The thin, short nylon loop refused to stretch over the artificial needles and the ornament kept falling from its perch.
“Huh?”
“For our traditions. We’ve got the tree covered. What is Christmas made of, to you?”
Kylo mulled this over. “Food,” he said eventually. “There’s gotta be plenty of good food.”
“All right. What would you like to have? Turkey? Pizza?”
Kylo laughed and poked Hux on the side playfully. “You know I eat whatever’s put in front of me. But I’m not that keen on turkey, I prefer chicken instead.”
Hux grabbed Kylo’s hand before he could poke him again. He placed the recalcitrant bauble in it and nodded at the tree. “You can have your chicken if I get to have some nice fish. And - “ Hux fell silent, biting his lip.
“Go on,” Kylo said, handing the box over to Hux so that he could force the damned ball to stay where he wanted it to stay. “We’re supposed to lay all our cards on the deck, remember?”
Hux took a deep breath and pecked a quick kiss on Kylo’s cheek. “You’re right. I don’t know if it’s a real tradition someplace or if some celebrity spoke of it in some magazine, but I’d like us to have champagne and fine chocolates on Christmas night.”
Kylo couldn’t think of anything to say, until Hux frowned and hunched his shoulder to burrow deeper inside his sweater. “Just say if you think it’s stupid. I only thought it’d be nice for us. I’ve wanted to have it for so long but thought it was silly if it was just me.”
“Babe. No. I want it, I promise. I’ll get you the finest champagne and the best chocolates. I just never thought of you as being romantic, that’s all.”
“I’m not romantic,” Hux sniffed. “I just happen to enjoy the finer things in life.”
“Sure, babe. Whatever you say,” Kylo said with a grin. Hux seemed a bit brittle still, so Kylo sidled over to wrap his arms around him. He nibbled Hux’s earlobe and slid his hand under the sweater, finding a nipple and giving it a light pinch. “I can show you all sorts of unromantic things you can do with those chocolates.”
Hux squirmed and dug his sharp elbow in Kylo’s ribs. “Get off me you brute,” he complained while arching his back to rub himself against Kylo's chub and making no effort to free himself from Kylo’s clutches. Kylo laughed and slid his hand downwards, splaying it over Hux’s belly momentarily before moving to trace a fingertip along the length of Hux’s cock.
“Kylo - ah – Kylo, stop. Kylo.”
“All right, all right.” Kylo pulled away with the greatest of reluctance. “I know. You want to do this first.”
“Yes I do. Now go put this away,” Hux said, dropping the empty ornament box in Kylo’s hands. His cheeks were pink and his hair mussed, and he was the most beautiful sight Kylo had ever seen, pretending to ignore Kylo in favour of fussing over the tree in his overlarge sweater and ridiculous socks, spilled lube still glistening on his thighs. Kylo put the box on the floor and nonchalantly kicked it behind the sofa when Hux had his head turned.
“I think the tree’s as good as it’ll ever be,” Hux said thoughtfully, tweaking one last branch before nodding and stepping away from it. It was a bit wonky and sparsely decorated but they had set it up together, for the first Christmas they’d spend as a proper couple and Kylo agreed, all things considered, it was indeed a very nice tree.
“So. We’ve covered the tree, and the food, and the chocolates. What else is there?” Kylo said,
“I don’t want anything formal,” Hux declared firmly. “No set schedule, no church of any denomination, no obligation to wear a suit. I want to sleep in, eat when I’m hungry and lounge about naked if I feel like it.”
Kylo couldn’t agree more. “Perfect,” he said. “Do you want to cook from the scratch? Because I’m perfectly fine with just ordering out or something.”
Hux contemplated for a moment, chewing his lip. “I don’t know. I could rustle up something simple, I quite like cooking, but I refuse to spend the entire day in the kitchen.”
“In that case we’ll see how the mood takes us.”
“Excellent. How do you want your presents? On the Christmas morning, or on the Eve?”
“In the morning! Definitely. I want to hone my anticipation.”
Hux gave him a look and shook his head. “You’re a weirdo,” he muttered.
“Yeah I am. But I’m your weirdo.”
“That you are,” Hux said, and now there was a definite fondness in his voice. He went silent for a beat, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “There’s one more thing,” he said quietly, not looking directly at Kylo. “Families. Or rather, your family. Do you want to visit them over the holidays?”
Kylo chewed his lower lip, considering. His fingers felt suddenly numb, and he started to fiddle with the cord of the fairy lights to distract himself. “I don’t know,” he said after a while. “I don’t- I mean, sometimes maybe yeah, I’d like to see them but sometimes – I don’t know. Not for the entire Christmas, at least. A lunch, perhaps, on the Eve.”
Hux took his hand and squeezed his fingers lightly, letting him know that whatever Kylo decided, he would support him. Kylo pulled his hand away and cleared his throat before he’d ruin the evening by sobbing like the fool that he was. “Let me just -” he said hoarsely and dropped on his hands and knees to crawl under the tree to plug the lights in. “There. All set.”
Behind him Hux whistled and Kylo dropped his head between his shoulders, relieved of the lift from the heavy mood. He wiggled his ass and tried to crawl back out again in an enticing manner. Judging from Hux’s laughter he failed spectacularly. He brushed that aside, rocked himself on his haunches and then all the way up, casting a critical eye over their accomplishments. “It’s not all bad,” he declared, hands on his hips and head tilted to one side for effect.
“No,” Hux agreed. “And it’ll look better after a few years when we’ve added some decorations to it.”
Something hot and huge lanced through Kylo’s body at Hux’s words. He had never truly thought about his future with Hux, he’d just sort of assumed they’d be together always, but now that the possibility had been spoken into reality, he found himself truly wanting all the days, months and years of his life spent with Hux by his side. He wanted to let Hux know how he felt, so he grabbed him by his arm and pulled him flush against him, biting Hux's lips before delving into his mouth with his teeth and his tongue. He began to back them towards the sofa, planting one hand firmly over Hux’s supple buttocks and kneading the soft flesh. He was fully hard now, aching for Hux’s touch.
“Kylo Ren,” Hux said sternly when Kylo was just about to sit down and pull Hux on his lap. “You will not plant your bare bottom on my sofa, or so help me.”
Kylo gave him a half-hearted glare. He grabbed Hux’s sweater by its hem and yanked it up and over Hux’s head, flung it down on the cushion and plopped down with maximum show. Hux's sounds of indignation turned into a surprised yelp when Kylo manhandled him to straddle his thighs. His flailing stilled when Kylo dipped one finger between his buttocks and circled the pad of it around the rim of Hux’s hole, still wet and open for him to enter. Hux hissed and flinched a little when Kylo pressed his fingertip in, touching the sensitive skin.
There was a light thump when Millicent, obviously fed up with her human’s antics, hopped down from the sofa. She sauntered over to inspect the tree and after deeming it fit for purpose arranged herself into a contented loaf under the branches. Soon after a loud purr filled the air. On Kylo’s lap Hux had slapped Kylo’s hand away and was already sinking down on his cock, agonizingly slowly.
“Merry Christmas,” he breathed once he was fully seated. He pressed his forehead against Kylo’s, sharing his breath, their noses brushing against each other.
“And a happy New Year,” Kylo answered, murmuring the words into Hux’s mouth.