oratorical | IC Contact

[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?

[he opens his mouth, ostensibly to say something else about their life back home, and ends up just gaping at her for a second when she asks her question. he does a quick mental reboot and, nope, still can't believe what he just heard.]

Am--am I okay?

[he sounds a little too calm now, as he looks down and back up like he's searching for some kind of inner strength.]

Am I okay? Well, babe, I gotta say I've been better.

[his voice is mild, quiet, but there's a definite audible strain there.]

[the strain in his voice isn't lost on her, and Leia returns her gaze back to his face. Concern and confusion are written all over her expression, but the fogginess from before is mostly gone. Her expression is clear and back to being 100% Leia.]

What happened?

[he inspects her face closely rather than answer, then uses his grip on her shoulders to turn her around one last time. he's just gotta see if that ice is gone, then he'll calm down.]

You tell me.

[he says grimly, as he gently pushes her hair aside to better see her neck.]

[she's clearly confused but complies with his request, letting him turn her around. The ice on her neck is gone by now, all that's left is her skin there being cold to the touch. The feverish warmth in the rest of her body has vanished, as well, returning her to a more normal temperature.]

Tell you what? I don't know what you're worried about. Would you please talk to me?

[he strokes the back of her neck, half worried that it'll cause her bizarre behavior to return but also wanting to warm up the skin there. she certainly sounds more like herself now, though, so that's something.]

You scared the hell out of me, that's what happened. Do you even remember anything that happened today? Yesterday?

[she lets him rub her neck without so much as a flinch or a complaint. Which is the norm, but shows just how much she trusts him, considering she doesn't even wear shirts with high necklines anymore--hasn't for a year now--due to not wanting that pressure there.

She doesn't answer him right away, instead taking time to think over his question. Because she remembers parts of it, it isn't a complete blackout. It's just... hazy. Like something isn't quite right about it all, and she wasn't fully acting like herself.]

I remember wanting to be around you, and that I was glad you came back early today.

You've been actin' real weird.

[he still sounds worried, even though it seems like the danger has passed. for all he knows she'll have a sudden regression or something.]

And it's like--

[he presses his palm against the spot where the ice was, feeling like it seems a more normal temperature now, and then pulls away and doesn't try to touch her again. which is a touch odd, for him, considering how anxious he sounds.]

[in contrast to before, she doesn't try and lean back into his touch. Instead, she turns around to face him, clearly still perplexed by everything, including his description.]

It's like what?

[she's trying to be patient and understanding but as much as she doesn't want to pressure him for information, she really wants to know.]

[for the first time ever, he finds her not immediately trying to touch him to be reassuring.]

Like you were turnin' to ice or something.

[he looks deeply uncomfortable, like something he doesn't understand just happened and it frightened him. which, you know, is exactly what happened.]

[this, on the other hand, does cause her to reach for him. She reaches out--slowly--to grab his wrist, bringing his hand up and placing it against the side of her neck. She figures this must be where the ice was, given his reaction earlier, and she wants to reinforce the point that now, at least, she's fine.]

I'm fine now, Han. I don't... know what happened earlier, but I'm fine. I promise.

[well there's no way of telling, but she feels fine, and is absolutely not frozen.]

That's what you said before, too.

[for once, the physical contact doesn't seem to soothe him, though he doesn't pull away. it's nice to feel that her skin isn't icy cold where the patch of ice was growing.]

[she drops her hand from his, pursing her lips and looking up at him thoughtfully. If he's not willing to accept that this easily, something must have been severely wrong before.]

What would help you believe me?

[his brow furrows as he gives it some thought. the most obvious symptoms have stopped, obviously, she doesn't look dazed and there's no ice that he can see on her body. he shifts his hand from her neck to her forehead, then he lets it drop to his side. it doesn't feel like she's overly warm anymore, either.]

You seem okay. [but he still seems to be nervous about it.] I just don't know how to tell if it'll happen again, or what caused it in the first place.

[he worries his lip with his teeth uncharacteristically, then sighs.]

You...you don't feel funny or anything? I brought medicine.

[She shakes her head, because no, she doesn't feel funny. Not anymore. Her memories from before are fuzzy and the more Han talks and the more unsettled he looks, the stranger she feels about how she must have been behaving before.]

I don't know, either. What was I doing?

[She remembers mostly wanting to be close with Han and wanting to be here with Han. Beyond that is too fuzzy to recall clearly.

She glances down at the table where the medicine is sitting, not quite reaching out for it yet. She isn't sick, she doesn't need it. But--]

Do you want me to take it?

[his expression wrinkles in distaste at that, and he answers without even having to think too much about it.]

Don't take that stuff if you don't feel sick, who knows what's in it.

[han and his distrust of "hokey medicine", oops.]

I just thought--[he sighs, beginning to feel annoyed with himself at his lack of ability to confidently deal with this,]--I don't know. You were all warm and glassy-eyed and hangin' all over me like, uh, not that I mind that but it's kind of weird for you. And then you kept going on and on about how terrible life is back home so we should just stay here forever--which is not happening, all right?

[he's trying to be cool about it, like he feels he ought to be reassuring her, but the stress is evident in his voice.]

[Any slight amusement at Han's continued distrust of the medicine here--medicine they've both probably taken and been fine with--is tossed aside as he continues to explain. His explanation makes sense; it sounds vaguely familiar, like something she experienced at a distance, not something that she thinks sounds like her. It's easy to see why Han would be alarmed, too.]

I know. I don't want to stay here forever, Han.

[For however long they're here, she can't say she really minds it. It has its benefits and she'd be foolish to not take advantage of them as well as she can, especially since she can't do that back home.

She shakes her head, both for emphasis and to see if that will somehow help clear things in her mind.]

I don't. There's too much we have to do back home for us to stay here.

[that assertion more than anything else seems to take a weight off of han's shoulders. he steps into her personal space and wraps his arms around her in a relieved hug, bowing his head so he can press his cheek against hers.]

Good, don't you forget it again. [and, nope, it doesn't seem like he plans on letting go anytime soon. unless, of course, she starts acting like a creepy affection zombie again.] Don't go scarin' me like that.

[She isn't acting like an affection zombie, but there's no way she wouldn't return Han's embrace, especially as relieved and emotional as he's being. Her arms go around him, and she nuzzles her cheek against his.]

I'm sorry I worried you.

Not your fault, is it?

[he says it in a near-murmur, like it's aimed more at himself than her.]

Just...tell me if you start to feel funny. Right away, alright?

You don't have to ask twice. If I notice anything odd, you'll be the first to know.

[Not that she's sure she'd notice anything off, given she didn't earlier. But this time, perhaps, now that she's aware of it, she'll be able to catch that behavior more quickly and put a stop to it.]

Are you planning on going back to the Hawk?

[he draws back from the hug at last, just in time for her to catch the hurt look on his face. an unfortunate coincidence, as if he realized he was making that kind of face he'd probably prefer her not to see it.]

Do you want me to?

[he sounds unhappy about that possibility, too. he came home early to spend time with her, it would be pretty demoralizing for her to shoo him back to work.]

[even if she didn't intend to ask him to leave--or even want him to, really--she feels a bit bad upon seeing the hurt expression on his face. She isn't sure how he'll take the gesture, given how uncertain he looked at her reaching for physical contact before, but Leia reaches up to brush his hair back, a fond sort of smile on her face.]

I was hoping you wouldn't. You're already here, so there's no point in making the trip back.

[not just because she does like spending time with him, but also because of something happens and she starts acting strange again, having Han here to help would be a relief.]

[he watches her cautiously, but doesn't move away and even relaxes a bit as she messes with his hair. it's not that he doesn't want her to touch him, it's that he's wary of it being a trigger to whatever was affecting her before.]

Oh. [and with that explanation, the hurt fades from his expression, leaving a slightly guarded but otherwise relaxed expression in its place.] Right, yeah. It's been a while since we had a day together, anyway.

[a couple weeks since he had a dedicated day off, which isn't too bad but also isn't ideal. stupid thieves and their stupid hassling his ship every time he turns his head for five seconds.]

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