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[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.]

Don't you feel warm?

[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?

For me? No, it's fine.

[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.]

The Enforcers, are you kidding?

[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.]

No, Alderaan is gone.

[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.]

When they leave?

[her voice sounds distant and distracted as she repeats his question. On some level, she understands what he's asking and what he means, but it's clear that she hasn't fully registered what he's getting at. As she thinks, slowly but surely, the ice fades a little more.]

Why would they leave?

Because we don't get to choose to stay here, Leia, it's at the whim of...of...whatever controls this place, remember? Luke's gone, ain't he? He's been gone for months and his amulet disappeared too. There's no such thing as staying here forever so I really need you to snap out of whatever the hell this is!

[he starts out sounding...reassuring, almost, like he's trying to be gentle, but by the end his voice has raised in a mixture of aggravation and desperation. she's frightening him and when he's frightened he becomes cold, like the smuggler in him is coming to the front.]

[she looks even more thoughtful, fighting through the cloud of confusion over her to listen to Han's reasoning. He is right, Luke did leave. His amulet is gone and everything, and he hasn't returned like Finn had. And it seems to work to help lift that cloud and bring her back to the present.

But even with all the good that did, she can't help but flinch at his tone by the end of all that. And instead she focuses on how he's feeling over his arguments.]

Are you upset with me? I can stop talking about this, just... stay here with me. Don't leave.

How'm I supposed to promise you that?

[he still sounds agitated, but he turns her back toward him much more gently than he did before, leaving his hands on her shoulders. his grip is a little tight, as he's hoping that will keep her in the moment rather than make her obsess over him more.]

Something weird's goin' on here, Leia, I need you to focus. Me or you or your dad or Ben could disappear at any moment and never come back. You already knew that, yeah? There's nothing here for us long term.

[she still looks a little dazed, like there's something in her head just interfering with how she's processing all this and how she's thinking about everything. But she doesn't make an effort to move her hands to be on him. He said he needs her to focus, so that's what she's doing. If it makes him happy and is what he wants, she can do that, even if she'd rather have her hands on him.]

...Right. We can disappear at any moment.

[well, whether or not she's just repeating it or actually believes it is debatable, but her brow is furrowed, and it looks as if she's trying to sort through something there, but isn't quite there yet.]

[this seems to be working, maybe? han continues on, hoping that he's doing something that will help her.]

We got a lot to live for back home. I know we've had our tough times but at least we're guaranteed to have'em together, alright?

[he thinks about it for a second, then decides to rephrase it in an easier to understand way.]

We'll always be together back home.

[it does help, and her attention focuses on him far more clearly than it has since she's started talking about staying here. It's as if she's just really realizing he's there for the first time, and that he's clearly worried about something. ...and that he's home at a time of day when he's usually at work.]

We will.

[she pauses, breaking her attention from him to look at where his hands are holding onto her.]

...Han, are you okay?

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