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Huh. I guess being from different points in time kind of throws things off.

[A pause, then...]

So, am I older or younger than you? By our calendar, I mean.

[It can't hurt, he figures, to steer the conversation a little away from the things that neither of them want to talk about. Better than letting it drift any closer to the other reasons he hates this day, or the reasons she might hate her own birthday, if they're like his. He's not trying to be depressed today, after all.]

You'd be older by a few days.

[Which makes it doubly weird that she's from like seven-ish years in the future.]

[This tickles him for some reason he can't quite pin, the emotion sweeping through the bits of gloom in their connection.]

Darn, if you were my sister, I'd totally claim big brother privileges.

[on one hand, it's nice to see (sense?) Ezra cheering up about something, and it is nice to learn that his birthday is almost the same as her and Luke. But on the other hand--]

Two days is barely anything. That's hardly enough to claim "big brother privileges."

[wait until she learns about Luke's like two minutes on her.]

Hey, two days more experience can make all the difference sometimes.

Hm, I wonder if there's some kind of big brother privilege equivalent for friends born at almost the same time...

You're forgetting you're still several years younger, based on our timelines.

[Is she maybe a little bit huffy about Ezra's claims? Well, that's surely just his imagination. Princesses don't get huffy.]

What even are big brother privileges?

But I would be older if things were normal. I was older when we met.

[Leia, don't get huffy. That's taking this way too seriously.]

I've never been a big brother before, so... I dunno? First dibs on the cookies? Full rights to tease you for being shorter than me? Threatening to kick someone's butt if they don't respect you?

Wait, I'm already doing those things...

[WOW EZRA. Wow. It's not her fault she's super short. Everyone else is just too tall!]

You don't need to threaten someone in my name, Ezra.

[Especially when she knows at least one person he's already threatened.]

[But see, now she can just blame it on being younger than him!]

I know I don't need to. That's why it's a privilege. I know you can take care of yourself just fine.

Unless you have a better idea for what big brother privileges are?

[The only explanation: she's so short because she's really younger than this 16 year old, even though she's in her 20s. It all makes sense.]

I'd say, perhaps better than continuing to threaten Han--even when he deserves it--those privileges should include spending more time together. Or we could visit one of the other cities.

I could live with privileges like that.

[A pause.]

No promises about Han, though. If he does something to deserve it, I'm not holding back.

Only if he does something to deserve it.

[Which, probably, is pretty often. But she doesn't want unnecessary fighting when it can be avoided.]

But I promise you, you don't need to worry much about him.

Deal.

[In hindsight, Leia might realize that a teenager's sense of what someone deserves might be a little bit skewed. That's probably a lesson she'll have to learn from experience, though.

Experience from Ezra and Han.]

Speaking of Han, he is treating you right, right?

[She'll grow used to it fast, largely because Han also has the tendency to act just as immature at times. It's a bad combination, Han and Ezra trying to one-up each other somehow.]

He is. I told you before, you don't need to worry about him. He may seem... prickly, but he cares.

He's not just prickly. There's things that he says.

Like, are you really okay with him calling you "his woman"?

Edited 2017-01-23 01:32 (UTC)

I've spoken with him about that before.

[Calling her "his woman" is one she's not sure how she feels about, if only because she doesn't like the implication that he owns her or anything like that. "Old lady" was kind of amusing and she didn't truly mind that one. And everyone knows it's actually the other way around, that Han is "her man."]

What else has he said?

Well, he called you his future wife.

[Does Ezra sound a little bit skeptical? Because he's skeptical.]

Was that part true, or was that just more of the whole his woman thing?

No, that much is true.

[her words are accompanied with a warm feeling of affection, and whatever the mental equivalent of a smile feels like. She's not nor has she ever been the type to fawn over romantic relationships, or even place priority on them before now, but that future with Han is one of few things she doesn't want to change about the future.]

We aren't married yet, of course, but some day.

[Ezra somehow manages to convey the impression of blowing out a breath. He's still not sure he approves of Han calling her his woman, but anyone who can make Leia feel warm and smiley like that...

Well.]

Alright, I guess I won't bug him about that, then.

So, you're not married yet, but you know you will be? Then you met someone who knows you in the future?

I do. There are several people here from our galaxy from decades after our time. You may have met some of them.

[she's not going to dump the Kylo Ren bomb on him just yet, that might be a bit much. She won't deny it if asked, but it's a complicated issue.]

You mean like Rey?

[Technically he's met a couple others two, but he doesn't know exact timeline points for them, so they're not coming to mind.]

Yes, Rey is one of them. There are around four others that are from her time.

Oh? Who else is there?

[Anyone he knows, he wonders?]

I don't know if you've met all of them, but Poe Dameron and Finn are two of them.

[Two she pretty much always approves of. She has no real issues with either of ~~her adopted sons~~ those two.]

There's also Kylo Ren and General Hux. I don't know if you've met either of them.

[She hates saying Kylo Ren, she'd rather say Ben, but. She doesn't want to explain that right now.]

[Ezra rubs his chin, even if Leia can't see the gesture. It helps him think, which he kind of needs. It's been a while, after all.]

I think I've met Finn. And talked to someone named Hux when I first got here. Maybe he's the same one? I don't think I've met the other two yet.

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P.S. Can we say this is backdated to before the Excursion?