Chapter Text
Happy endings were not meant for a man like Kylo Ren. In fact he usually provided endings for others—and gruesome would be a better adjective for those particular kinds of which he had an affinity for.
Right now it seemed he was due to deal one to whatever idiot forgot to replace his shampoo in his absence.
Shampoo, or lack thereof, was not a typical motive for murder—but then again Kylo Ren was anything but a typical man. He was not unfamiliar with killing people for far less. He had arrived at his quarters after a month-long mission thoroughly exhausted, ready to finally relax, an activity that was quite foreign to him. The first order of business before that could occur was getting the layer of filth off of him that still currently coated his body like a second skin.
The dark-haired man had expected a hot shower, his one and only tangible reward after working so hard for so long. The issue being, of course, upon entering his bathroom, he had turned on the water only to have to promptly turn it back off. Although the man did already have naturally luscious, raven hair, shampoo was a necessary component to the showering process.
Kylo Ren cursed at the negligent oversight. He took a breath, trying hopelessly to calm down and keep his fury at bay. Kylo Ren thumbed his lightsaber, anger begging to be released. The urge to destroy was like a siren’s call—it beckoned him. These people were idiotic and useless, but, more importantly, they were disposable. His possessions, though few and far between, were less so. Kylo Ren knew what was said about him, felt the judgmental glances, heard the muffled snickers at his inability to control his emotions.
The man ripped his hand from his weapon as if burned. He sighed, the idea of going back out was not appealing to him, but waiting until tomorrow to wash was even less so. Gathering his resolve, the short-tempered man quickly put his mask back on and stormed off, ready to yell at somebody—anybody—for their carelessness. A few moments later he was forced to slow, realizing he had not the slightest idea of who was in charge of such trivial things as shampoo.
“You there!” The Commander of the First Order pointed at an on-guard stormtrooper, “who is in charge of restocking items such as shampoo?”
“That would be the administrator, sir.”
Not wanting to admit he did not know who that was, let alone even know that it was a position on the Starkiller Base, he asked, “where can I find him?”
“She’s probably in the female quarters at this hour, Commander. Her door should be marked.”
The female quarters—the large man was quite familiar with that area. Not bothering to respond he headed out to find this girl who was becoming quite the thorn in his side. Finding the door marked Administrator, and underneath Administrative Assistant, Kylo Ren knocked aggressively, more than ready to unleash his pent up rage on whomever this unfortunate girl happened to be.
“Sienna thank goodness you're back! I can’t get this stupid thing out of—oh!”
You were stuck in a peculiar position, not at all prepared to meet your Commander. When you were trying to take down your ponytail your hair tie had instead gotten tangled in your hair, leaving you hunched to the side trying to work it out without having to simply rip your hair out.
On top of that issue, you were in your comfy clothes, wearing nothing but sweatpants and a tank top sans bra. Flushing you realized that Kylo Ren was probably getting an ample view down your shirt from this angle. At that thought he gave a small cough, almost as if he was reacting to your train of thought.
Embarrassed you righted yourself, crossing your arms over your chest protectively. Taking a steadying breath you said the smartest thing that you could come up with, “you’re not Sienna.” Ugh stupid, stupid, stupid!
“Obviously. Are you the Administrator?”
Taking note of his clenched fists, you smiled, hoping to put him at ease, this was a question involving your job, that you could do well. “Yes Commander, that’s me. What can I help you with?”
Voice raising he half-shouted, “are you the one responsible for this negligence?”
You cowered, you had never been particularly afraid of his modulated voice before, hearing it often enough while you worked, but it had never been directed at you. You could see better now why he was so feared, and revered as well.
You tried to remain calm, steeling yourself into a mask of pleasantry, “what is it you need, sir?”
“Shampoo,” he spat.
You grinned at him, it was slightly amusing that your Commander was so worked up over something so insignificant, perhaps under that imposing mask there was just a man after all. “That I can help you with. Please come with me!” You directed and began to walk into the hallway. Kylo Ren’s gloved hand was suddenly on your bare shoulder, his touch sending shivers down your spine. Odd.
“I give the orders here. Show me.”
Trying not to tremble, you led the way.
In tense silence you led him to the storage room. As you walked you became more cognizant of the current general disarrayed state of your appearance, made even worse by your hair awkwardly hanging off the side of your head. Oh well, too late now. Time to fake some confidence.
Once you made it inside the storage room you felt more comfortable and at ease, this was your terrain. He may be your boss, but here Kylo Ren had no knowledge over you, you were on level footing. Confidently you located the shelf of shampoos and grabbed his, handing it to him with a satisfied grin.
“How did you know which shampoo I use?”
“It’s my favorite scent sir, smells like cinnamon,” you responded before your face heated, realization setting in. Perhaps you had an itty-bitty crush on your Commander. Something was intriguing about the brooding enigma of a man. Or at least you thought he was a man, a human man that is. Or at least you hoped. Still, juvenile crush aside, he was still your superior even after work hours, you couldn’t talk to him so casually.
Thankfully he ignored your mortifying statement, “how are you the administrator of this base?”
You crossed your arms, “what exactly do you mean by that?”
“I offended you.”
“Yes you did. Why can't you imagine me being the administrator of such a base as Starkiller?” You didn’t see the point of lying to him, of disguising your annoyance, you were used to being doubted—even so, any criticism still irritatingly got under your skin.
“You’re young, and…”
“And?”
He waited a beat before continuing, “and...pretty. Why don’t I have any idea who you are? Are you new? Is that why this whole oversight occurred to begin with?”
You narrowed your eyes, “my name is Y/N, and I’m the young and pretty thing that keeps this base running—and frankly sir the very fact that you don’t know who I am means I am doing a good job!”
“Do not talk back to your Commander, I keep this base running girl. It would be in your best interest not to forget that.”
“I just don’t appreciate being talked down to, sir.”
He visibly tensed and you stuck your chin out at him, ignoring the alarm bells going off in your head.
“Are you trying to get punished, little girl?”
That shut you up quick. Instead of fear butterflies fluttered in your stomach. You did not have time at the moment to unpack that particular reaction to a clear threat.
You licked your lips, preparing to fire back.
“I advise you keep your bratty mouth shut lest you end up getting more than you bargained for.”
You dropped your eyes to the floor, too infuriated to even look at him. This was not how I imagined my first real conversation with Kylo Ren would go.
“And how did you imagine it, Y/N?”
You gasped, you had heard rumors of course about his ability to read thoughts, but you didn’t quite believe it to be anything but entertaining gossip until now.
“Tell me.”
You bit your lip, face flushing. “Well I guess I thought you’d maybe be...nicer? And you’d say that you appreciated my work and that—well that I was doing a good job.”
You both went silent and you nervously began yanking at your hair tie.
“I can help you with that,” Kylo broke the silence.
You looked at him, surprised, but who were you to deny the Kylo Ren? “Um ok? Just be gentle please it’s really difficult to get out, I’m sensitive.”
You tensed as he began carefully working at your hair. It felt strangely intimate and you were confused by his sudden change in demeanor as well as the unexpected tenderness towards you.
The silence felt overwhelming so you murmured, “you should be honored you know.”
“And why is that?”
“I don’t often let people touch my hair, especially strange men.”
You swore you could hear the smile in his voice, “well I often touch the hair of strange women, so you are in experienced hands.”
You giggled as he finally got your hair tie out. Strangely you felt forlorn when his hands left you, it felt like a grave loss to be deprived of his soft touch.
You looked at him shyly and reflexively resumed chewing at your lip, not sure what was going on, but the air definitely felt different than when you had entered.
“Well, Y/N, I got what I needed. Did you?”
Your mind froze at the vague yet oddly titillating nature of his question.
He promptly turned to leave, stopping to look back at you, “good job.”
You glowed at his compliment, but you were left confused, emotions swirling.
Before you returned to your room an object out of place caught your attention and you grinned mischievously. He had left his shampoo, he must have put it down while untangling your hair. You hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, but you couldn’t deny that it made you excited.
Perhaps the crush was an itty-bit bigger than “itty-bitty.” Perhaps.