driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

[ The question takes him a bit by surprise, and it's not an easy one to answer. He's always angling to gain something but really the things he wants are intangible. Freedom. Independence. Not having to do a damn thing he doesn't want to, to get by in the world with a reasonable level of comfort.

Simple, except not at all. ]

Right now I'd want my ship back, [ he mutters, which is maybe a bit of a stall. ]

[A stall, perhaps, but it does earn him just the smallest smirk from Leia, if only because she fully understands and agrees with him. Sure, the Falcon is a pile of junk and probably not the best smelling ship in the galaxy, but it's comfortable and familiar and could possibly help them leave.]

Believe me, I'd want you to have the Falcon back just as much.

Yeah?

[ now that makes his eyebrows raise. He leans in a bit closer. ]

You must really hate the Vanquish.

[It's not rolling her eyes, not exactly. It's more like his comment has her shaking her head, and lifting her gaze up and away from him.]

The Vanquish holds itself together far better than the Falcon. But the Vanquish is bound to go wherever Atroma sends us next.

[ He can handle a little eyerolling. She still likes his ship better, and he's never letting that go, ever. ]

All I'm saying is these things have engines like hundred-year-old satellites. And we're stuck on their course. Of course you like a better ship better.

That depends on how you're measuring better. The Falcon has a lot of room for improvement, if you really want to consider it better.

[Not that she dislikes it, despite complaining about it. But that she finds it comforting in a familiar sort of way is something she'd rather left unsaid but understood at the moment.]

Mmmhmmm.

[ Sorry Leia, it's too late, he'll never let this go.

He looks way more pleased with his situation than he's got any right to be. ]

[For the moment, any thoughts of gift giving and what might be good to get for him are pushed to the back of Leia's mind, thanks to that overt smugness in his expression.]

You don't need to look so pleased with yourself.

I don't know, I kind of think I do.

[ Though really, he's already settling back to a usual level of smug, that teasing sort of smirk she must be painfully used to by now. ]

C'mon. What about you?

[She's more than used to it, and more fond of it than she knows she should be. It's also much easier to deal with than the earlier level, perhaps because of that fondness.]

What would I want? I've never really thought about it.

[Just as stalling as his answer, yes, but it's honest.]

I'd rather give something than get a gift of my own, I think. Though I could use a good blaster here.

I haven't seen much here but I'll keep an eye out.

[ Life without a blaster by your side is unnerving. ]

At the very least, I doubt we'd find one in this market.

[As far as Leia can see, anyway. Most things here seem to be textiles, food, or other harmless, non-blaster-like goods. At least, as far as obvious sale items are concerned.]

But I'm not an expert on that.

A little tourist-y for arms dealers,

[ he agrees. There's always some kind of a black market, somewhere or other. But probably not right here. ]

How about a... fat glass bird?

A fat glass bird?

[No laughter, but it's obvious from her expression that she's amused, in a good way, by that suggestion. Amused enough to want to at least see it.]

Where did you see that?

I think it's a bird...

[ He points at a booth stacked with glittering glasswork, with something vaguely penguin-like perched at a corner. Actually, the rest of the stuff is nice-- little figurines and flat stained-class panes to hang, colorful suncatchers and clear glass mobiles hanging from the tent frame. ]

[It is nice. And it has Leia's attention, as she turns from Han to inspect some of the hanging panes of stained glass. Some of them have what looks like a landscape shaped in the glass, but naturally they show nowhere Leia can recognize. But that's fine; it doesn't stop them from being any less beautiful.]

I'm not sure what sort of bird it's meant to be.

[Nothing like anything she's seen back in their galaxy, at least. Glancing down at the figures, there's a small collection of animal figures aside from just the penguin-like bird, including a slightly lumpy brown figure that likely is some sort of bear. But--]

We could get you this one.

[ It makes him bark a laugh. ]

I could hang it in the cockpit.

[ He'd never be without a copilot again! ]

[She'll take that laugh as a win here. Or at least as a sign that he doesn't hate it. Leia grabs the shopkeeper's attention so she can actually buy the faux-wookiee lumpy looking bear figure.]

Hopefully he can stand up to your sort of flying.

[ Never in his life would he expect he'd enjoy a weird, lumpy glass creature, but he's pretty entertained. ]

We're never gonna find you a glass Falcon, [ he says, mock-mournful. ]

I've never known you to give up so easily.

[Half teasing, yes, but also entirely true. After paying for and taking the glass chewie-stand-in, she shakes her head, then turns to look up at him.]

Though, the Falcon is one of a kind.

[For better or for worse. She's silent for just a moment, weighing her response, before deciding she may as well just come out with it. It's nothing particularly deep or personal, and even if it were, she reminds herself, Han already knows the most personal thing she could have told him.]

I think I saw it on Coruscant once, years ago.

On Coruscant? When?

[ He's come and gone-- there aren't that many places he hasn't been-- but strange, thinking they might have crossed paths. ]

Around three years ago, from your time.

[His time, which is easier than using anything with the Death Star or Alderaan directly as a way to identify time, at least out loud for now. Mentally, it's a different story, but that's neither here nor there.]

I needed passage on a ship that wouldn't attract attention.

[And a dingy, battered freighter wouldn't get anyone to look twice, at least at the time, she was sure.]

[ Hmn. Well, he can't exactly say he wasn't there, now and then. Certainly he doesn't remember it, but perhaps he wouldn't, if it's just that she spotted the ship.

Also, that's more or less how he met Luke and thus indirectly how he met her. Funny, that. ]

I probably would've charged you a ton, [ he teases. ]

[That's an issue she isn't interested in pressing as a serious subject; she knows better than that now. Instead she just rolls her eyes, partially in response to the teasing and partially because she doesn't fully believe he would anyway.]

Would you have recognized me as someone who could be charged a ton?

Maybe not at first.

[ But anyone in a hurry is usually willing to pay a premium for it. Whether they actually ever pay is a whole other issue. ]

But I probably had cargo, not passengers.

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