"Proud of you kid." Han said patting him on the back.
Kylo remained silent, hunched over in his chair and staring at nothing in particular.
"Leave him alone, Han." Luke said, pulling his friend away.
"Luke, that's all I did." Han responded back.
Luke wasn't sure how to respond to this. He wasn't sure how to respond to any of this.
"Ask him." Luke finally said. "Ask him if he wants to talk."
"Alright." Han said, still at his son's side, his voice calm and sincere. "Ben, do you want to talk."
"No." Kylo mumbled through his hands. "Not right now."
"Alright." Han said. "I'll go. But when you need me, I'm here."
All of the ghosts disappeared, leaving Kylo alone with his thoughts.
He wasn't sure what to do. The goal had been 'get the girl'. That was the only goal he had for the longest time. But Rey wasn't some prize for him to win. He shouldn't see her as such. But he did. He shouldn't. He didn't know how to change that.
His treatment of her...his treatment of everyone. His temper-he had to learn to control it. His unchecked rage was great when you're a bloodlusting attack dog. But he was tired of being this way.
He needed help.
He couldn't go to his father. As much as he seemed to be trying, Kylo knew that would only end in arguing and heartache. And Han had little to no experience in sincere emotional help. The other ghosts were no help either. He needed someone he wasn't close to... preferably someone who actually had experiences with abusive behavior.
He hated the idea that came to his mind.
…
Hux was going through his daily routine. He was doing aerobics in a yellow and purple aerobics outfit while reading the most recent reports of all the items Kylo had destroyed in the past month, all of which (except the items on the Starkiller) had to be replaced. Millicent was sleeping curled up in his coat.
He was mid downward dog when the door to his room whizzed open.
"Hux I need you to do something." Kylo said, barging in, "It's important and...what the kriff are you doing?"
"What the kriff are you doing in my room?" Hux said.
"I told you, I need your help with something." Kylo said, staring at Hux's strange attire. "Could you-what they heck are you wearing."
Millicent began to hiss at the intruder. Hux instantly went over to pick up his cat.
"I didn't know you had a cat."
Kylo went to pet the cat's face. She scratched at him, causing his fingers to bleed.
"Ouch, stupid thing."
Millicent hissed at him.
Kylo hissed back.
"What's the deal with your cat." Kylo grumbled.
"Maybe if you didn't put your helmet in her litter box," Hux said, petting the cat like a James Bond villain, "she wouldn't mind you."
"Wait that's her litter box?"
"Ren," Hux said, getting tired of this conversation, "what is it that you want?"
"Oh yeah, uh." Kylo said, trying to remember why he was here, being extremely confused by the cat and the yellow and purple aerobics outfit. "I need anger management classes."
Hux threw his head back and laughed.
"Stunning deduction Sherlock!" Hux said, still laughing cruelly. "What gave it away? The lightsaber marks in the ceiling, the dead red guards that you still haven't cleaned up or did your scavenger girlfriend tell you that you need a life coach."
Kylo clenched his fists and Hux slammed into the ceiling, Millicent still his Hux's arms looking more annoyed than anything else. Hux let millicent go and she gracefully landed on her feet. Hux did not land as gracefully.
"So…" Hux stumbled to his feet. "Anger management classes. And what do you want me to do about that?"
"Get me some."
"Unfortunately, we've tried this." Hux stretched his back, not feeling anything broken but knowing that there will be a few bruises in the morning.
"No we haven't."
"Ren, we've had group counseling."
"No we didn't."
"We had a huge meeting about it on the Starkiller. It was in the MPR. Snoke had food catered in."
"I have no memory of this."
"Ren, you talked to a doctor for 4 hours on the galaxy's news network."
"Not ringing any bells."
"Ren, when the doctor asked if anyone had been victimized by you personally, everyone in the room raised their hands."
"Nope. Didn't happen."
"When the cameras were off and you went to your first private session, you killed the doctor...and anyone else who came after him."
"Oh that's who that guy was?"
"Yes Ren. He was your anger management teacher."
"Oh...that's why he kept asking me about all my business."
"Yes, Ren." Hux had his face in his hand, so done with everything and regretting every decision that led him to his moment.
"Oh...so did you hire another?"
"I tried. No one else would take the job. I offered a freakin' planet in the inner core and no one would take it."
"I'm that bad?"
"Yes. Yes you are."
"Huh. So what do we do?"
"We? You mean me."
"Ok, you. What's your idea?"
Hux gave another exasperated sigh.
"I have your word that you won't kill the person I hire."
"Promise."
"Alright. Your first session starts in 30 minutes. Maybe 45."
"You can get someone here that soon?"
"Well yes, all I have to do is take a shower and do my hair again."
"Wait what?"
…
Kylo was laying on the weird couch. Hux was a few feet away, his legs crossed and a datapad in his hands.
"This is stupid." Kylo mumbled. "What do you know about anger management?"
"More than you." Hux said, continuing to pretend to write something down. "I have a degree in psychology."
"You went to college?"
"Yes. Didn't you?"
"I dropped out of Jedi School when I was like 17 or something."
"Your success annoys me."
"You annoy me in general. So what's your plan?"
"Welp, first we need to get to the route of your anger." Hux said, now doodling a picture of his cat wearing his hat. "So tell me about your childhood."
"No."
"Ren."
"No."
"Ren, I've got actual things I need to get done."
"No."
"Ren, seriously." Hux finally put his foot down. "We both have better things to do. I have to find a way to pay for all the stuff you've broken and you have to go track down your scavenger girlfriend."
"I'm not going to track her down."
Hux paused.
"Why is that?"
"We got in a fight." Kylo mumbled. "I almost hurt her."
"Go on."
"We were just talking." Kylo started, opening up a fraction. "You know the standard "Join me on the dark side" "No back off you monster" but then she started coming onto me."
"Ren, there are children present."
"Nothing happened." Kylo said, annoyed. "Unfortunately… Anyways, since she was flirting with me, I asked her to come to my side. I mean she seemed pretty into me so I thought I had a chance this time. But she refused! I felt so betrayed.
"These voices in my head kept telling me to strangle her. I wanted to. I wanted to force her unconscious and then force her to ma...force her to be by my side."
"You corrected your statement halfway through saying it." Hux commented. "What is it you wanted to actually say."
"You're pushing it Hux."
"It's for your own good." Hux said, loving the tea.
"If you tell anyone this…"
"Patient confidentiality, Ren. I legally can't tell anyone anything you say here. If I even tried I'm sure you'd put a lightsaber through my chest within five seconds. And I rather like living."
"Alright. I wanted-want to marry her. In that instance, I wanted to force her to marry me."
"Hm." Hux said, hiding his smile.
Kylo went on for hours, going into every little gritty detail he could possibly go into. It got a bit out of hand.
"Like, my dad had this Stormtrooper helmet." Kylo rambled. "And he would wear it and chase me around the house. It was terrifying."
"Kylo," Hux finally cut him off. "It's 3 in the morning."
"Really? It's that early? Thought it was later."
Hux gave an exasperated sigh and looked to the heavens.
"So, what's wrong with me?" Kylo asked.
"Kylo, I could have a week and not be able to tell you the number of things wrong with you." Hux said into his hands.
"So what do I do?"
Hux gave another sigh. He then wrote something down on the piece of paper in front of him and then handed it to Kylo.
"What's this?"
"10 ways to manage your anger." Hux said. "We're going at this with goals in mind. First week something simple: go a week without killing anyone."
"I can do that."
Hux gave a small humorless laugh, hoping for the sake of the galaxy and his high blood pressure that he could.