driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

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.

I can't imagine what you would've been taking off of Coruscant.

[Not that Leia enjoyed much of the more coruscanti parts of Coruscant. She liked the places she went with friends, at the time, and she liked the apartment her family had owned there. But it wasn't anywhere she'd consider pleasant, and even with the importance she knew her work held in the Senate during her time there, it wasn't ever somewhere she liked being.]

Besides, I don't take up much space.

Something completely legal which I got fair and square, obviously.

[ His lips twist into a small smile. Leia is small, and incredibly stubborn, and he has to concede a point. ]

You might've convinced me.

[Okay, that comment succeeds in getting a short, quiet laugh out of Leia. Because she knows what he's been hauling around for them--helpful, still illegal--and a bit about the sort of work he was involved in before meeting Luke, in a broad sense and that that work was done for Jabba. Absolutely something legal that he got fair and square.]

I'm sure I could've convinced Chewie.

[since naturally if Chewie makes up his mind, she's got the impression that's what he and Han wind up doing.]

[ He doesn't do everything Chewie wants to do!!

Okay, mostly, he does end up doing everything Chewie wants to do. ]

You probably could've,

[ he concurs, tacking on a long-suffering sigh on principle. ]

[She'll take that as a win. Leia: 1 Han: 0, at least how she views that hypothetical situation argument.]

Don't sigh like that. Imagine how he must feel.

I don't have to imagine a thing. He's not exactly shy.

And you still pretend to disagree with him?

[She shouldn't really be surprised, really, not with knowing how much she and Han argue in circles about absolutely nothing. But she can pretend, sure.]

I had to study Shyriiwook, you know. Years ago. I wasn't very good at it then.

We've been flying together long enough, it evens out.

[ He shrugs. Sometimes he wins, usually Chewbacca wins. Often enough they do agree. They get by. ]

Yeah? Easier to understand than to speak.

[ For humans at least. ]

It's easier to understand when you're around a Wookiee regularly.

[She doesn't even want to attempt to speak even one word of it, because she doubts it's even possible for her to make her throat make those kind of sounds.]

Not so much when you're being formally taught how to understand it.

[ The look he gives her now is fairly neutral, quiet-- much more serious than he's prone to being. It doesn't last very long. But it's thoughtful. ]

A lot of people don't bother trying, [ he says breezily. ]

[She catches that look, as short as it may be. It's not one she's never seen before, but it's one that's rare for Han here, she's noticed.]

A lot of people don't know what they're missing out on.

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