[closed] we'll all go together when we go

[therewillbeorder]

Who: Armitage Hux & various
What: there is yelling and drinking
Where: house & his and Maketh's work space
When: May 9th/10th
Warnings: drinking, mentions of genocide, death, torture, pretty much just bad things all around



May 9th-closed to Kylo Ren (and possibly Anakin)

[He only flinched slightly as the lamp broke against the wall only a few inches away from him, refusing to show fear. He wasn't sure what the fight had started with, there was a broken coffee cup shattered in the kitchen but he wasn't going to clean up after Kylo Ren's temper tantrum.

He still held one of Kylo's shirts, clutching it tightly. He wasn't sure how long this argument had lasted so far but he refused to back down.]

And so you just decided to act like some kind of rampaging rancor? You're such an idiot sometimes, I wouldn't be surprised if it's because your father dropped you on your head a few too many times. That would explain a few things.

[He bunched up the shirt in his hands before throwing it in Kylo's face as hard as he could.]

May 10th-closed to Maketh.

[Maketh Tua was a traitor to the Empire and one of the most infuriating people he had ever met but she had strong whiskey and he needed a drink. He hadn't been able to focus on his work, staring at the components for the power casing before finally deciding that he wasn't going to figure this out anytime soon.

He put his hand on his blaster, listening to the door open but stood as soon as he was certain it was her. The blaster was tucked into his coat pocket as he finished tidying his workspace for the day, making sure everything was in place before he made his way out to the common area. He grabbed the two glasses on the kitchen counter, drinking in their lab had become a habit lately.]

I'm glad you know to bring the strongest whiskey you could find.

[He sat the glasses down on the table before sitting on the couch.]

Just hand me one of the bottles.

Comments

[therewillbeorder]

Exactly. I survive the same way he did. [Hux said as he took a drink of whiskey before smirking.] At least until he got blown up. That was a stupid of him.

[He was drunk enough to be amused by it all.

He laughed out loud at her question, thinking back to Brendol Hux. There would always be some fear of the man despite what he told her now, the first few years of his life had drilled that fear into him through painful lessons.

He took another drink of whiskey, amused as he looked at her.]

You knew him- why would I ever idolize him?

[He was glad that Maketh didn't know that his mother wasn't Brendol's wife, that was something he wasn't drunk enough to talk about.]

[mismanagement]

Did he now. Apparently that's something of a common fate for us Imperial officers.

[She raises her bottle in grim salute.]

I don't know. You only bring him up constantly.

[therewillbeorder]

To Tarkin.

[He snorted, raising is bottle in response before taking a drink.]

You were the one who brought him up tonight. And all the other times we've talked about him. Is there something you want to ask about him, Maketh? Go ahead and ask.

[mismanagement]

Did I?

[She honestly can't remember. She blames the whiskey.]

Never mind. Who finally killed the bastard?

[therewillbeorder]

You did.

[Hux downed the last of his bottle before reaching for another. He needed to be properly drunk before talking more about Brendol.]

He was a spiteful bastard to the last- he died of a heart attack not long after the end of the Galactic Civil War.

[mismanagement]

Oh.

[Maketh doesn't bother hiding her disappointment.]

That's horribly boring. I thought someone would murder him, at least.

[therewillbeorder]

I tried. He survived only to die of a heart attack.

[He had wanted to watch his father die by his hand but Brendol had been a spiteful bastard to the last.]

[mismanagement]

Hah!

[Maketh laughs, tipping her head back to drink.]

You must have been young. I bet you learned from that one.

[therewillbeorder]

I was around 7 years old.

[It had been a good first attempt but still a failure. Hux's expression was dark as he lowered the bottle, frowning.]

No one mourned him.

[mismanagement]

My, you were an ambitious child.

[Maketh wonders how he did it. Probably something obvious. Push him down a flight of stairs?]

Good riddance. I hope he's rotting.

[therewillbeorder]

I had to survive somehow.

[Hux took another long drink, glad for how the whiskey numbed the emotions that welled up when he talked about his father.]

As do I. The man was a pathetic, blubbering disgrace in the end.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh snorts.]

Of course. Only the strongest may live.

[It's easy to fall into old patterns around Hux, or laugh at them. The line is thin.]

That charms me, hearing that.

[Maketh gives the bottle a mean smile.]

What did you do to celebrate?

[therewillbeorder]

Admiral Sloane introduced me to Corellian brandy. She had a bottle or two and thought the occasion deserved to be celebrated properly.

[He took another drink, smirking as he remembered that night.]

I have no doubt that he was disliked at the Academy as well. No one mourned him and no one misses him.

[mismanagement]

I like this Admiral. She had the right idea.

[Maketh closes her eyes, tipping her head back.]

You're correct, of course. He was good at one thing and that was avoiding blame. Who was your mother, Hux?

[She's drunk enough that the question doesn't seem perilous.]

[therewillbeorder]

Grand Admiral Sloane. She taught me almost everything.

[Hux was silent for a long moment at that question, not sure how to answer before deciding that he would let her connect the dots. The last thing he needed was her knowing that he was the bastard son of a kitchen maid.]

Believe it or not, my father actually got married. Maratelle, I believe her name was. I don't remember her, however. Like any child of an Imperial officer, I was raised by a nanny droid and she was left behind on Arkanis when we left.

[mismanagement]

Then she was a good teacher.

[It's said simply. Maketh doesn't like Hux - not really, not where it matters - but he's a capable opponent, the sort of person she respects at the end of the day. Someone taught him well.]

Did he really? Hmm.

[She grimaces.]

Of course he'd stick you with a nanny droid. Never did any hard work if he could avoid it. Good to see some things don't change.

[therewillbeorder]

She was. I am grateful for everything she taught me.

[Hux knew why she said that- even if they were on opposite sides they could both understand what it was to be competent at what they did.]

I can't imagine why she agreed but perhaps it was his charming personality. And naturally, do you think he would have been capable of doing anything else?

[mismanagement]

[Maketh raises her bottle in silent salute. She had a mentor, once, or thought she had. It hadn't ended well.]

More like his bank statement.

[She grimaces.]

No. But he got a general out of the bargain. I suppose he took credit for that as well.

[therewillbeorder]

Perhaps but then he got assigned to a rainy planet in the Outer Rim, pissed off Tarkin, and then his assets were seized after we left Arkanis.

[He gave a short laugh before taking a drink.]

I suppose if there is anything left of him wherever he is, I'm sure even though he had little to nothing to do with that fact. I didn't become a general because I was a Hux, I was able to become a general despite that fact.

[mismanagement]

Hah! That doesn't surprise me at all.

[Not that it's difficult to annoy Tarkin, but most officers try very hard to avoid it.]

You became a general because you survived.

[Anything less would be unacceptable.]

[therewillbeorder]

Before I was born, apparently Tarkin sent one of his aids to investigate my father. My father, of course, never got over it even after Tarkin's death. He would yell about Tarkin sometimes, just go off on these rants about how Tarkin was an idiot, called him a miserable narrow-minded old man.

[And that had always amused Hux. He took another long drink, he was fairly certain that he was drunk by now.]

Yes, that's right. I did what I had to to get here. There is a bloody trail behind me and blood on my hands but I don't regret any of it.

[mismanagement]

He should have been happy he survived the experience at all.

[Maketh says it a bit smugly. She didn't survive Tarkin, of course, but she's drunk enough not to take it personally.]

None of it?

[She squints at him. Regret is pointless, of course. It slows you down. But still...]

Hmm.

[therewillbeorder]

I think that was only because Tarkin got himself blown up.

[He had heard enough stories about the Grand Moff to know that many didn't survive Tarkin and for good reason. Tarkin was not the forgiving or lenient type of man.]

None of it.

[He was quiet for a long moment, closing his eyes.]

Kylo and I ended things.

[He wasn't sure why he decided to share that, it seemed so final now that he had said it aloud. But there was no emotion in his voice even though it threatened to well up again. Instead, he took another drink of whiskey before laying out on the couch.]

it was either that or we would have ended up murdering each other.

[mismanagement]

Probably.

[Tarkin's enemies rarely last. She's evidence enough of that, though Maketh isn't arrogant enough to think she was ever a threat to the man. An annoyance at best.

She tips her head to the side.]

Over what?

[She's drunk enough that the question comes out almost gentle.]

[therewillbeorder]

Various things between me having the emotional range of a droid and him being...who he is.

[It had been a bad idea from the beginning but that didn't stop it from hurting more than he was comfortable with. Thankfully the whiskey had numbed a lot of it.]

It's for the best, neither of us was suited to anything like that.