It was strange. Just lying there with him, having been so stannic and separate for so long. And yet, here they were. More to the point, he had been the one to break the mould. He was still unable to sleep, that seemed to be the only thing that hadn't changed but they appeared to be happy enough to lie there together in companionable silence. Their position hadn't really changed over the course of the night, he still clutched her close to his chest while her cheek warmed his collar bone and the messy ponytail soothed his shoulder. The snoring of the Vornskr had melted into the background, ignored in favour of this new, gargantuan undertaking that Hux now found himself to be encased in, even comfortable in and it was nothing to do with the plush mattress or the luxurious sheets.

She had managed to drift back to sleep but he was contented to savour the individual strands gently grating on his skin whenever he slowly stroked his chin along the top of her head, cautiously enough not to wake her. Her soft, slumbering breath travelled across to tickle his earlobe and while he tried to think about it, pick through the past weeks up until now; he couldn't fathom why he'd waited this long. What had he been afraid of? Maybe it wasn't her reactions he feared, he knew from day one she harboured a soft spot for him. Perhaps he had overthought everything, he had focused too much on his own lack of experience that he had projected it onto her somehow; worried about how she would receive him if she knew how little human contact he had actually experienced.

Surely that wasn't his fault though? His childhood had not ben ideal and even before that, the circumstances surrounding his birth held the potential for scandal if the secrecy had not been managed correctly. And because Brendol Hux Snr valued what others thought of him, his illegitimate son was kept out of sight and therefore out of mind. How could he grow into a normal human being in such a smothered environment? Kept as a dirty secret until it was no longer possible or viable for his father to keep him as such. In typical alpha male fashion with no other heirs, Brendol had unofficially changed his son's name to emulate his own; as was the norm with any other first-born legitimate son.

That particular topic dictated his focus while he lay there: His name. Despite the dire treatment he had received in his childhood and at the Academy under his father's watchful eye, he had only ever wanted to please him and prove his worth but nothing ever seemed to be good enough. Expectations were never met, let alone exceeded, every report of a victory was always railroaded by a buried failure he was positive his father kept on hand just to emasculate him. Being on the base with Raina….. It made him think. It made him wonder if he wanted to keep bowing to his father's impossible wishes, if he still wanted to be a puppet.

When it was confirmed that everything he had worked for was gone, he hesitantly let go of that crippling desire to please and that was how he found it within himself to seek out Raina. He needed to break that cycle of expectations that were impossible to fill and live by his own standards, possibly with someone as unorthodox as Raina to encourage him. To relinquish the name, that was the first step and as soon as the blonde opened her eyes, he would confess the truth to her. It would happen sooner than he thought but for now, he wallowed in the blissful throes of rebellion of falling for and choosing to remain with a Republican officer.

The stirring and straining of a stretch woke him from those musings while his head dipped to watch her come around. Her legs extended then recoiled, her arms did the same shortly after. Her face contorted slightly as wakefulness took over and the tempo of her breathing against his ear changed tempo. The last indication of her transition from sleep was the flickering of her eyelids only to reveal those magnificent blue eyes that captivated him more and more every day from across the breakfast table. She took a moment to allow her eyes to adjust before manoeuvring to ensure the guest appearance of the night previous had, in fact, happened.

"Hey."

"Good morning."

"So it wasn't a dream."

"No, it wasn't a dream. All very real, I assure you."

"Seems so, yeah."

"I take it nothing has changed between now and a few hours ago?"

"Nothing. You want to stay, I want you to stay; we're golden." Raina pulled herself up as much as her post-slumber strength would allow but not enough to be released from Hux's guarding grasp. The extended height made it possible for Raina to claim her new lover's lips in both a 'good morning' greeting and a solidifying of a pact that was seemingly in the making from when he first stepped on her base. "You made your decision. Have you spoken to Vida?" Hux's confident composition fell into a grimace.

"No. I haven't seen her since I last saw you. We went our separate ways back to our rooms and I didn't see her after that."

"I knew you were both in your rooms." Raina began, unravelling her hair from the ponytail and letting it splay as the sleep started to drain from her system. "The housekeeping droid kept record of food delivered so at least I knew you were both fed but…. I hope she's okay."

"It's hit her as hard as it's hit me." Hux reasoned while Raina got comfortable again with obviously no intention of getting up just yet. "But I'm sure she's fine. She has a life-altering decision to make, she can't make it lightly."

"True." Raina conceded with no attempt to hide her worry but sank back against the stronger form of the General, paired with an amicable kiss to her forehead. "I'm sure she'll speak to you as soon as she's ready." The blonde hummed but didn't commit to an answer as such. A sort of benign peace had engulfed the room and even though their mistress had risen (not literally), the Vornskr snored on. Hux, however, remembered the promise to himself that now that the time had come to fulfil it, he found it difficult to broach the subject.

"Raina?"

"Mmm?"

"I haven't been entirely honest with you." He probably should have expected her to stiffen in his arms and the slow heighten of a disappointed and suspicious gaze.

"Oh?"

"About my name, Raina."

"Okay?" Hux freed one of his hands and swept it through his hair, half to tame it from lying on it and half as a stalling tactic but the fiery blonde on his chest wouldn't be kept waiting. "Wanna clear that up for me or…..?" More reluctance which only irritated her.

"My father changed it unofficially when I started my academic career at the Academy." The opening sentence didn't answer much but if the female had anything, it was patience and she could appreciate his struggle which clearly hindered him. "I am…. Illegitimate."

"But-!"

"I know, it's not common knowledge and I was a last resort when his wife didn't provide him with a male heir."

"Hell…."

"Mmm….. He went about the traditional route of giving me his name, as if I was a respectable, legitimate son to fool those at the Academy. My step-mother's family, needless to say, had ties there; otherwise he wouldn't have married her so the rouse was necessary. I just wanted so desperately to please him, wanted to make him proud and prove I was worthy of his name but nothing was ever good enough and I have no shame in saying that I have given up. I feel so much more embraced and accepted here than I ever did at home, at the Academy, in the Order. I doubt he would be pleased if he knew where I was and with whom-"

"Join the club, my father would be pissed. And my brothers. I'd be tarred with the same brush as Vida; a whore to the First Order."

"You're not though. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do. C'mon, back to the name."

"My name…" A deep sigh dug up the name he hadn't uttered or even thought about in years. "Is Armitage." Whether the responsive silence was good or bad, he couldn't tell but eventually, he did feel something, some sort of an indication that she had taken the information on board. A light heaving of her chest against his. "Raina?"

"Armitage! Fucking Armitage! No wonder you fucking let him change it!" The heaves had been joined by tell-tale huffs of laughter and it was Hux's turn to be unimpressed. Lips pursed and eyes averted to the corner of the ceiling by the door, he waited for the laughter to subside. He waited and waited and waited but Raina's convulsions only seemed to intensify. "Oh my God! I can't! I can't!"

"Raina."

"I know! I'm sorry! But shit, Armitage! Who thought that was a good idea?!"

"We should probably get ready for breakfast. Vida might join us."

"Just…. Just two minutes! I can't do anything like this! I… I think I'm gonna wet myself!"

"I haven't used it in almost thirty years and I'd like to start again; a clean slate with you and a new name. Provided you don't lose control of yourself every time you use it." Raina did try to regain herself upon the declaration and its serious connotations; after several attempts, she managed to calm herself.

"I'll try. Renouncing the Order and now your name? I'm a lucky gal."