No, no, c'mon. My clothes are a little big on him, so I'm sure he would fit into something of yours just fine.
[ah, that laugh. he can't help wanting to hear it again, so of course he'll continue his teasing. seeing leia happy is better than medicine for a terrible mood.]
[Han succeeds in those efforts, and she laughs again, thanks to the mental image of Luke dressed in some ridiculous formal dress of hers. From the dress itself, to the fact that she's sure it'd be slightly too small on him given the difference in their height, there's nothing not amusing about it all.]
They'll be far too small on him. The sleeves alone will be a couple inches too short.
[since arriving back in verens, han has had more on his mind than the continuing airship thefts, and the increase in workload for himself and his crew since they're now manning one of the few functional airships left in the dock. unfortunately, that other thing is leia and how odd she's been acting. sure, when he first got back she was a little clingy. it's not like he could blame her, he was the exact same way when she died for a few days last year...or was it three years ago...damned timelines and leaving and coming back.
at any rate, he didn't think much of her wanting to be near him constantly at the time. it seemed only natural. but in the weeks since it seemed like her behavior had slowly been ramping up, like she was getting worse about it instead of better. and this morning when he got up he noticed she felt a little warm. even though she insisted she felt fine--while proving he wasn't the only one in this relationship capable of acting like an octopus in bed, which was alarming in its own way--he couldn't help but worry about it. he went on to the docks, but the longer the day went the more it bothered him, and finally he gave up and told the kids he was leaving early.
so, it's barely past lunch when he gets back to the house. he even picked up some medicine from the local apothecary, not that he trusts the medicines available in this backwards civilization that much, but it didn't kill him the last time he was sick so it must be all right. he enters the house cautiously, thinking she may be resting due to obviously not feeling well. you don't feel good when you run a low grade fever, right??]
Leia?
[he's not even yelling, just wandering through the house trying to find her.]
[contrary to what he expects, Leia is far from resting. She feels perfectly fine, she has no need or desire to rest anymore than she already does. And what good is lying in bed if Han isn't there with her? She was almost tempted to follow him to work to continue to be close to him, but luckily for Han, he had left before the impulse crossed her mind.
So instead she made up her mind to be useful here by making their home feel more liveable. More permanent. Because there was a lot that could be done to improve their life here, and why wouldn't she want to do that? Verens was a wonderful place, and she had a home here. A physical home. It was more than she could say for back in their galaxy. Han was here, Ben was here, her father was here. They should really just... stay here.
It doesn't take much from Han to get Leia's attention, the effect of him just wandering and softly calling out for her pretty much the same as if he had bellowed for her. Leia drops whatever she had been doing in favor of immediately going to his side. She reaches for him instantly, placing her hands--still oddly warm feeling--on his shoulders as she beams up at him.]
[on the one hand, he's relieved to see her up, moving, and not feeling nearly as poorly as he was afraid she would. on the other hand, there's something discomforting about her being so chipper when it seems like she should be feeling under the weather.
despite his unease he offers her a gentle smile and reaches out to caress her face. it's part pure affection, part an excuse to see if she still feels warm everywhere.]
I was worried about you.
[he admits it freely, since he's able to feel that she is indeed feeling warm in the face too.]
[she leans eagerly into his touch, her eyes closing briefly as she relishes the feeling of his touch. Not for long, though, because she opens her eyes to give him a fondly exasperated sort of look. She doesn't lift her cheek from his hand at all, though. It's comfortable where it is, and shereally only wants to be close to him.]
That's sweet, but I told you, I'm fine. I won't complain if you've decided to stay home today, though.
[it saves her the trouble of having to go to the airship docks and possibly wait around for him to return, if he was off making deliveries.]
[and then there's exactly what just happened--the way she's acting much more enthusiastic than usual about him touching her. it's not...bad?...but it's not entirely like her and that worries him.]
[Her bewilderment at his question is more than apparent, between the look on her face and the way she pauses to try and figure out why he's asking this in the first place. It must be the weather. That's what he means. The weather is back to normal and nice and warm and lovely outside, and for some reason he's worried because they don't exactly have environmental controls in their house here.]
It isn't that hot outside, and it's comfortable in here. Is it too warm for you?
[is his knee-jerk response, though he sounds confused when he delivers it. it's like they're having two different conversations or something.]
I, uh, I just thought we could spend the day together. Take it easy.
[maybe if he just hangs around he'll be able to figure out what the hell is going on. he sets the bag of medicines on the coffee table and turns his attention back to leia, resisting the urge to put his hands on her again. maybe he should limit that until he figures out what's going on? not that his resolution will last long if she comes to him, but at least for now he's made up his mind.]
[his resolve will be tested a lot sooner than he may have expected, because the instant that medicine is down on the table and his attention is on her, Leia's hands are back on him. Nothing too extreme, just her hand resting on his upper arm, but it's as if she doesn't want to be more than two feet away from him.]
I'd like that. That's one of the nice things about being here, isn't it? We can actually relax here. There isn't as much to worry about.
[no empire, no war, no gossip about their relationship or anything like that. It's a nice change of pace.
While her touch is still warm, slowly but surely the back of her neck starts to ice over. Leia hasn't noticed it or just doesn't care, because being here with Han is a much higher priority for her]
[he actually looks at her hand on his arm as though surprised before turning his attention back to her. that was a little quick, wasn't it?]
I got plenty to worry about.
[he says it with a slight frown. his stress levels are nothing like they were before he disappeared and came back, but there's quite a bit going on that he's directly responsible for compared to back home.]
Bastards are still nickin' stuff off the Hawk, not even postin' a guard has gotten them to back off. I'm not sure whether to doubt her abilities or be real impressed by the thieves.
[she looks a bit confused by Han not immediately agreeing with her on this, as if there were possibly negative points about being here and being able to relax. Sure, people did annoying things and she knew Han took them very personally, but overall Verens is a safe and relaxing place. Being here is one of the best things to happen to her recently, she's sure. He must just be doubting himself and blaming the thefts on himself or something, that's he only saying that because he's stressed about everything again.]
I'm sure they'll catch the thief soon enough. It can't hurt to let the Enforcers do their job. We can relax for once and let other people help out while we're here. It isn't like being back home.
[the frosty patch on the back of her neck only grows at that, creeping down to grow over the backs of her shoulders.]
[that's it, he decides, something is definitely wrong. he takes leia's hands in his suddenly, looking more than a little concerned and anxious, with a pinch of irritation thrown in.]
You think General Hux is gonna come take care of my ship? Leia, what's gotten into you, huh?
[her gaze looks a bit fuzzy, a bit out of focus as Han disagrees so suddenly and loudly. Why is he disagreeing? Why is she saying something that clearly bothered him that much? She isn't entirely sure, but his hands are on hers again, so she focuses on that instead. She shifts her hands so she's able to tangle her fingers with his, still very much focused on touching him as much as possible.]
Not... not him.
[her voice sounds as dazed and distracted as she looks, just for a moment, before she recovers.]
But there are others. The locals here can't be that bad, and we really should get to know them better.
I know the locals just fine? We go out for drinks? You complain because I come home late and sloshed?
[it happens less often now that he's got his own ship, but...come on, leia. he squeezes her hands, trying to get her to focus. obviously something freaky is going on and he's going to get to the bottom of it, dammit.]
Besides, don't tell me you'd rather stick around here than go home? Home to Ben?
[her focus remains cloudy, especially after he asks about staying here. Didn't he want to stay? There was no empire, no first order, no one who would turn on her if they learned who her birth father was. It was peaceful, relaxing, and... Ben?
She looks slightly more thoughtful at the mention of Ben, as if she's trying to fight off the mental fog enveloping her. But it doesn't quite work, because she realizes with a smile that she doesn't have to go home for Ben. Ben is already here. If that's Han's worry, he must have just forgotten about that, and he'll agree with her once she reminds him. That has to be it.]
Ben is already here. We can stay here and make this our home. We'll have Ben and my father and Takashi. And maybe Luke and Chewie will come, too.
We have a home already! Listen, you can't tell me you don't want to experience Ben's life from the beginning? You--you could sense him when you were pregnant, did you know that? Luke taught you some Jedi tricks and you used to meditate to feel him, that's how we found out it was a boy.
[he's starting to sound desperate. he's a half step away from tossing her into a cold shower or something. whatever's been wrong with her up until this point is clearly taking a serious turn, and despite his growing sense of panic he is glad he came home early after all.]
[is the first thing that comes to mind at his insistence that they have a home back in their galaxy. Han and the Falcon may be home now, but that word will always mean Alderaan to her on some level.
But rather than looking numb or hollow at the mention of Alderaan in this context, Leia just looks... confused. Not entirely all there, and quite literally frosty. It isn't spreading as fast as before with Han's continued arguments, but the frost on her neck has creeped its way around to the front, visible now from behind her hair. Leia still hasn't noticed or decided to care about it.]
If we go home, we just have to watch Ben turn first hand. Wouldn't it be better to just stay here?
[han makes a wordless frustrated noise at her continued argument, but his alarm ratchets suddenly as he notices the icy patch on her neck. he pulls his hands away to examine it, running his fingers over it and feeling deeply alarmed when he realizes it literally feels like ice. he spins her around, not bothering to be too gentle in his hurry, and pulls her hair back to see how far it extends.]
What the hell!
[what exactly is he supposed to do about this? it's like...an emotional effect, right? probably connected to how she's acting, but he has no idea what he can do about it. he suddenly vividly wishes that luke was here to deal with the mystical crap.]
Leia, would you listen to yourself? We do have a home, we got a house on Chandrila. Listen, this Rebellion crap, it don't last as long as you think it will? Back home we're just, just takin' care of the baby and livin' our lives! Where is all this crap about staying here coming from?
[she tries to focus on his touch, but before she can really savor it, he's turning her around and shoving her hair to the side. She stumbles slightly as he turns her, and for the briefest moment, the fog surrounding her breaks, and the ice on her neck recedes slightly. Not entirely, but enough for Han to notice a change.]
What...? Han?
[Before he can inspect it more closely, however, she moves her hands behind her head, placing them on top of his. She wants to be close to him and wants to touch him, too; his hands being the only ones doing the touching just isn't fair.
Her return to normalcy doesn't last as long as he'd like, however, and she's soon slipping back into wondering just why he's so against staying here. Maybe it's because he's mad she isn't thinking about the Falcon? She isn't sure. The longer she pauses to think about things, the more the patch of ice starts to spread again, slower than before. ]
Is it so bad to want to stay here? Things have been nice, haven't they?
Stop! [he snaps impatiently, swatting her hands away. let him look, dammit.] No, things have not been nice! It's boring as hell and half the people we care about aren't here!
[his snapping seems to help, at least with the ice. As abruptly as he shouts, the ice recedes to a much smaller patch only on her neck. Unfortunately, just as the ice recedes, so too does Leia. She drops her hands from his as if she were burned, hunching forward and going silent as he continues to speak.
She doesn't respond right away--almost as if she isn't sure whether she should reply or not. He had gotten mad the last time she did and threw her hands off of him. She doesn't want him mad at her, because if he's mad, he could very well storm off and leave her here, and then she wouldn't get to be around him. But after a moment or two, she does respond, albeit softer than before.]
There are people we care about here, though. Ben is here. My father is here.
[and there are others, the ones not from their galaxy, but these two are the most important.]
Okay, and what happens when they disappear? Think!
[he hates that it seems like he's hurt her feelings, but on the other hand he's completely freaked out by the ice thing. for now he'd rather her be sad than be covered in ice.]
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