albinomilksnake | STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

[That gets the flash of a satisfied grin. He likes it when people don't question his opinion or experience, though due to his age and fairly youthful appearance still it's often an issue he faces.

Like any campus, it's a bit of trek before you even reach anywhere with parking but once they're in sight of it, he pulls out the fob from his pocket and it chirps as he unlocks the vehicle from a few feet away.

His car is excellent. A top of the line model kept in pristine condition, falling in line with the stereotype that nice cars are often used to project status. Heated seats in the front and back seats, all leather interior, satellite radio, the works.]

American, European, or Asian cuisine? [Wine, Wine, or Saké (also Wine) is what he's really asking.]

[He's trying to be chill. Honestly, he is, but he's staring a little too long at the leather interior, the polished dashboard and all its expensive looking buttons. Misses the question at first, running his palm along the door, only bouncing back a belated second later as his brain tries to catch up to the time he's already lost.]

Uh. [Good start so far.] European sounds good. Fine.

[Hux seemed like the type that was into European food, if he had to hazard a guess. Thinks, only a half-second later, that it's probably not fair of him to keep speculating like that when he hardly knows anything about him.]

[It feels pretty good actually, to have someone fawning over his car. The people he'd often been set up with - so very begrudgingly - by parents or people he could call friends if he felt so inclined, often expected the high standard and level of quality so it never went as appreciated as it was in this moment.

As if to show off further, the vehicle was a manual, which often people liked to read as an allusion to other dexterous talents and they wouldn't be wrong but also never made it even into Hux's apartment.]

European it is. Seatbelt. [Both a reminder, and also a warning. He was a very aggressive driver.

Once they're both belted in, he starts up the car with the press of a button (one of those models that didn't even need the key to be in the ignition, ooo), allows a moment for Finn to appreciate the beauty of the dash all lit up, and then peels on outta that parking spot quicker than you can say Fast and Furious 7.]

Oh shit-- [Heaved out under his breath as his back flattens against the seat, fingertips curling to try and find a grip. He's not panicking, not even afraid, but there was nothing about the sheer force that car was packing under its hood that Finn was expecting, or the way its driver decides to jam down on the pedal. Board meetings and politics, suits and ties and quiet drinks - that's what he thought Hux dwelled in. This? This is--

His feet find the floor, his shoulders round out, eyes fixed on the road in wonder under the heated pulse carrying adrenaline through his veins. He's starting to grin and he has no idea when that happened.] Oh, shit.

[He doesn't even try to hide the look of satisfaction on his face. Once they've reached a long strip with no immediate need to change lanes, he kicks one knee up to support the steering wheel from the underside and rips off his tie, undoing the top button of his shirt. There's a content sigh as he tosses it in the back and then places his hands back where they are supposed to be.]

Don't need that thing anymore. [Ties were not really his thing, even if they were considered a staple of formal attire. Oh well. Appearances to keep and all that.]

Having fun yet?

Like you wouldn't believe.

[He says it because it's true, even with his grip still locked down over the handle, he's smirking like an idiot, attention flicking back and forth between the road ahead as it streaks past and Hux's deftness with the steering wheel (his knees?? the man's using his knees as he's tearing off his own tie??). Wants to laugh but it's pitched, scooting forward in his seat to get a better view of everything.]

You're-- [Finn scoffs, wildly amused.] not what I expected, you know that?

[There's a quick look over at Finn before his attention is back on the road. Or at least directed in that general area.] This is the only place where I don't have to live up to anyone's expectations of me. Depends on who I have as a passenger but you seem like the kind of person I could be honest around.

[There's a reoccurring theme, of course, to not place expectations on people but he's observed his company candidly. There's a basis of understanding what kind of person he is.

An honest person, at the very least. No manipulation, no double-sided nature to play games for the most money or better numbers.

So he feels inclined to ask, curious:] What were you expecting, precisely?

I...almost feel like an ass for thinking it. [It's hard, having a conversation at nearly 70mph in traffic, but he manages it pretty decently from where he's still half-gripping his own door. Flashes a smile at nothing in particular (that's meant for Hux) and then he's swallowing dryly over the taste of his own spit.]

I don't know, just, you know. Nice car, chauffeur, maybe a little classical music or something just as stuffy.

[Stops, nearly swallowing his tongue.] Did I say-- did I say stuffy? Because that is not the word I was aiming for.

[It takes everything in him not to completely laugh about that, because it's so true to what most people think and he can't even be offended with the way Finn says it and then regrets his word choice.

But there's a devil of a grin on his face. Not the kind of thing perhaps you'd want to see from someone who's already driving like a maniac.]

Well, you're only right about one of those things - though I do have a chauffeur forced on me when I visit my parents. Their stomachs turn just thinking about the way I drive.

[Family is family, but they deserve it. The fear, the unease it brings.

And then he flicks on the radio (defaulting on CD), which seems calm enough at first with the fade out of crickets chirping from the last track on the album before moving on to the next one.

Which is definitely not nature sounds or classical.]

[He laughs, wide and stupid as anything once that track hits home, attention flicking away to settle on some distant point far off in the distance. No, Hux isn't at all what he'd expected, but the more time he spends with the man, the more he appreciates that fact. Makes him think that dinner won't be half as awkward, that maybe they can take it all down a peg and chill. Talk about life instead of learning, which is the only difference Finn has ever found between textbooks and the feeling of his hands--

Well.

It's different, doing something for real. Being real.]

[At first he'd been thinking about steak and wine but watching Finn out of the corner of his eye, he reconsiders where would be a fun place to go for dinner. Initially he'd entertained the thought of watching the younger man squirm awkwardly in some Too Elegant fine dining establishment, but ultimately he can see that this time is better spent in something more natural, more genuine.

So, in equal parts re-routing his course and showing off, he drifts wildly yet expertly around a corner, rubber audibly peeling on the pavement as he does so.]

I know a place that serves the best fish and chips I've ever had. [your body is not ready for what lies ahead.]

[~~Is that a challenge, Hux?~~

Finn wheezes out a strained little yelp of 'yo' as Hux sends the car skidding on some predetermined course, the vibration of tires catching rattling up to his jaw in a way that makes him feel more alive than he has in weeks.]

Now you're speaking my language, buddy!

[And he likes that, the idea that they could in the first place.]

STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

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