Log Date: 8/30/98 Log Cast: Han Solo, Leia Organa-Solo Log Intro: Han's most recent visit to Caspar space, brought about by a request for his presence from Tarroc D'agor, has proven to mean trouble yet again for the Corellian. Having headed down from Home One to Kichnar Station to look for Luke, he has instead wound up having to break up a fight in Talon Karrde's Keepon Casino... and has found his wife there alone. Deeply bothered by the potential of something happening to Leia if she moves about a neutral space station without an escort, he's convinced her to return to the _Falcon_ with him -- but on the way, he's gotten jumped by a Rodian bounty hunter. Only the timely intervention of local Marines fortunately uninclined to honor the Rodian's Imperial warrant, as well as the presence of a bizarrely hostile and arrogant young man recently brought into the NR diplomatic corps, has kept Han from getting into an even nastier situation than the brief exchange of shots he's had with the Rodian. Given a ten minute headstart back to Home One -- since the Marines are wary about going too far in favoring him over the bounty hunter -- Han is then left with the task of trying to explain to Leia, who'd made it safely onto the _Falcon_ ahead of him, exactly what kept him... ---------- Bunk Room(#5165Rnt) A cramped little nook sandwiched in among the engine room, maintenance areas, and other sections of the aft half of the _Falcon_, this room sports enough bunks to accommodate a small number of passengers. Along the back wall are a bank of tiny lockers to stow personal gear, a catering facility, and a door leading off into a refresher. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Leia -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- ore leads to Main Ring Corridor (Starboard). With Arands' warning ringing in his ears, Han has wasted no time in getting the _Falcon_ spaceborne and winging back to _Home One_. Dreading that Leia would corner him the moment he came on board, the Corellian has been fairly astonished that she hasn't... but grateful, for at least this way, he's been able to get them out of the immediate trouble zone. Once the ship is safely docked back on board the cruiser, however, he's found himself having to face telling the Princess what happened, and thus, he edges into the bunk room towards the back of the ship, looking for his wife. Not only is the shower on full-tilt, but music - something bouncy and Ewokish - fills the room adjacent to the refresher. Now and again, Leia's humming can be distinguished over the splattering waterdrops and cheerful Endorian tune: she is tired, it seems, but in a happy mood. Ah, hells. An awkward, guilty look crosses Han's face as he catches the sound of that shower running... and Leia's uplifted voice. He's not sure of the last time he heard the Princess actually _humming_, and now, the thought that he's about to disturb that sits very badly with her husband. He edges warily over to the refresher nook hatchway, peeking in, and then leaning against the nearest wall. "Uhhh... Leia?" he calls out, raising his own voice to be heard over the water. "I'll be out in a moment," she answers almost gaily, what can be seen of her body through the transluscent walls plastered by the sheen of her water-soaked chestnut mane. Her head is tilted back against the stream of steamy water as it splashes across her face and through her waist-length hair. "What took you so long?" Han winces to himself at that cheerful tone, and tries to convince himself it's because of the chanted 'yub nubs' coming over the sound system. Fidgeting with the now powerless blaster at his thigh, the Corellian turns over several answers in his brain before discarding them all and recklessly resolving, _Out with it!_ He clears his throat and speaks up levelly, "Bounty hunter." Off goes the water. Leia pokes her head out of the refresher's door and studies her husband through the dewy length of her dark lashes. "Beg your pardon?" In the background the Ewoks continue singing. Sounds something like what was heard the night before the Battle of Endor. Uncomfortably, Han turns to look down at his beloved, his mouth drawn together in that short line it makes when he's trying to be stoic, accented by the scar that crosses his chin. His gaze, however, remains grim and steady. "A bounty hunter," he repeats, bracing himself for the expected blast. Leia says to the empty air, "Music off." A pause, the Ewoks cheerfull yubnub along, and more stridently she repeats, "MUSIC OFF." Meekly the _Falcon_'s system obeys, and silence ensues. Leia reaches sightlessly for her towel while staring at Han in a way that says, "Start talking, bub." Managing to ignore his relief at the muzzling of the short furry chorus, Han's hazel eyes meet those of royal brown. And he clarifies, "A Rodian. He jumped me about two seconds after you came on board and shut the hatch behind you." His gaze flicks briefly into the 'fresher. "Guess that explains why you didn't, uh, hear the shots." As she plucks her robe from the conveniently located hook near the door, Leia instructs her husband, "Go on," and wraps the terrycloth about her. Then stops. "Rodian? A few seconds after I came aboard? What bounty hunter would do -that-?" "I didn't recognize him," Han admits, with the sort of gruffness he gets that signals unease. "But that new diplomat you pointed out to me -- the one who tried to buy our drinks the other night -- he was out there, too, and he tried to shoot the Rodian when I did. He went down, and then... well... station military personnel showed up." He pauses, then goes on grimly, "The Rodian had an Imperial warrant for me, tried to invoke it. Claimed the station respected Imperial bounties. I told 'em they're also respecting the presence of the New Republic in this system... and a couple of 'em knew me, so. Gave me ten minutes to get the _Falcon_ back to Home One before they had to let the Rodian go." "What?" Leia's voice is pierced with indignation as she bundles her satiny locks into a towel. "You're not some visiting smuggler from Kessel; you're the General of the Republic's Ground Forces. I should find the station manager and give him a piece of my mind." Han's mouth curls sardonically. "Princess, as far as the Empire is concerned, I might as well be a visiting smuggler from Kessel." Leia shakes her head, her earlier serenity vanished in a puff. "That's not the point," she insists tersely. "The point is that as a visiting Republican officer, you deserve more than a ten-minute headstart to Home One." The Corellian sighs, looking abruptly very weary, and reaches for the shoulders of the woman he loves. His eyes full of dismay that he's destroyed her cheerful mood, he says gravely, "How much more than that can they give me, without bringin' the Empire down on their heads for aiding and abetting a 'known criminal'? You're the diplomat here, Your Highness. You tell me." Leia, sighing, explains as patiently as possible, "Han, as one of our representatives, you have some small protection because of recently won relations with Caspar. What would have happened if I were attacked? I'm officially on a diplomatic mission, and you can bet they consider me a criminal too." "Along with the rest of our fleet," Han agrees, lifting a hand up to rub a thumb along a royal cheek, his eyes still dark with his dismay. "But if you'd have been attacked, I'dve had to kill the Rodian." Her fingers curling about the hand beside her cheek, Leia tells the Corellian with palpable gentleness, "We've discussed that sort of thing. We're both targets, and we have to follow local laws as best we can. Was anyone hurt in all this?" Han shakes his head, his mouth still curled in something that can't quite decide between smile and smirk. "Only the hunter. I shot to stun, but I think that rogue diplomat of ours knocked a few of his scales off." Leia mutters, "Stalh," with a decided lack of enthusiasm. "Well, at least for once he did something I respect. Sort of." "Though I had to pound it into his head that when an armed Marine tells you to drop your weapon, you drop it." Han smirks full-bore, now. "I've seen enough of him to know that he's got an even worse attitude problem than I do, now." Leia draws Han's hand backward until he gets the idea his arm's wanted about her rather than beside her. "That," she notes quietly, "is impossible." Obligingly, Han's arm slips down and around the Princess, and his other one, apparently liking the first's idea, joins it. "I dunno," he rumbles, making a face that he's rather bemused at himself. "Breaking up fights and everything. If I keep this up, somebody'll accuse me of being an officer." With a smirk Leia adds in counterpoint, "But never a gentleman," then raises her lips to caress his mouth tenderly. Once the kiss ends, and regrettably so, she tells him more seriously, "Han, if I'm going to walk around with a guard detachment...maybe you should, too." Han readily engages in the kiss, but as it breaks, he can be seen to grimace even more than he had before, an expression only topped by the wince he'd previously displayed at the presence of actual Ewok music being played over _his_ ship's sound systems. His only audible reply is a surly little groan, as he starts to claim that he's never needed anybody at his back but Chewie. Then he catches himself and starts to attest instead that he's never needed anybody at his back but Chewie... and okay, well, maybe Lando. And Luke. "Aaahh..." Leia does not play fairly when her husband's safety is at risk, and she utilizes the two most powerful weapons in her arsenal. Giving him a full dosage of her large brown eyes, she asks a bit meekly but entirely sincere, "For me?" Ouch. Han's resolve can be observed to crumple a little under that melting brown regard, but not for naught has this man had his commission reactivated. "Only if you promise not to ditch your guards," he complains. "What were you doin' alone in Karrde's joint anyway?" "Alone when?" All innocence is the princess now; she probably tendered the same look to Bail Organa when she was caught doing something unregal at an earlier age. "After I broke up that fight," Han retorts, immediate and unthinking. Leia prompts, maintaining that expression of guilelessness, "Was I alone?" Wait a minute, Han thinks; hadn't he told Leia he hadn't _seen_ her in the Keepon, on his way out of there? Nevertheless, he's not about to lose an advantage here, dubious though the advantage might be. "Aside from me," he scolds. "That you saw," purrs the princess, entirely sober. "Uh huh, don't try to pull a fast one on _this_ scoundrel, sister," Han chides. "You're ducking the question. You were alone, weren't ya?" Leia scoffs, gaze dropping from that hazel insistence, "Don't be silly, Han. There were dozens of people around." "And this is a situation in which you don't need to be guarded and I do _why_....?" drawls the Corellian, dark eyebrows arching. Leia counters crisply, "Well, I wasn't the one the bounty hunter was after, now was I?" Ha. Take -that-. His lean features starting to crease in growing consternation, Han retorts, shooting a forefinger into the dainty face before him, "Only because you got onto the ship before he caught up with us!" Okay, so he has a point. Grasping the jabbed finger, Leia says soothingly, "If you go out with two guards, so will I. Deal?" Han's mouth pulls up into that tight small line again, as he grumbles huskily, and with obivous reluctance, "..... deal." Leia chuckles, having won another hard-fought decision from her beloved. Odd how she does seem to come out on top each time... "Thank you, Han." He draws his Princess to him, trying to hide the sheepish expression darkening his features... and trying to distract himself by the clean scent of her freshly washed hair. Something rumbles out of him that might be a muttered 'you're welcome'. As she nestles her head against his shoulder, eyes fluttering closed as she enjoys the warm security of his embrace, Leia lets a sigh escape her, one that dictates plainly her emotional exhaustion. The trip has been a costly one on her nerves, no matter how brave the face she presents to Caspar and the Republic. "This is very nice..." she concedes softly, voice muffled by his tunic. Those Corellian arms squeeze the slender form they're holding, tenderly. "Tired Princess," he murmurs, brushing a kiss along that cleanly fragrant, silken dark hair. Leia confirms wearily, "Tired princess." She has a rampant case of lethagy and a lack of desire to move from Han's arms anytime in the foreseeable future. He stoops, then, and scoops Leia up, towel and loose hair and all. "Can't have you on your royal feet any longer then," he opines straightfacedly. At time Leia would protest this treatment, this taking advantage of her far-inferior size. Not now. Not tonight. "No," she murmurs, not bothering to move her head from his sturdy shoulder, "our royal feet and the rest of our royal personage want our royal consort." "I'm yours to command, Your Worship," rumbles Han, just a touch of playfulness lightening the gravelly velvet tones, as he manfully succeeds in keeping his straight face at being referred to as a 'consort'. "Do we have a royal decree, then...?" Leia's features crumple; she raises a hand to cup Han's cheek and whispers, "The princess would like her handsome prince to hold her the rest of the night. Yes." 'Consort' he can handle; 'prince', however, does summon up a slight dry smirk, though it doesn't touch the gentling hazel gaze. Placing Leia gently over on the bunk they've been sharing in the time they steal together on board the refuge of his ship, he whispers, "As Her Highnessness wishes," grinning down into her eyes. A touch of fatigue drains from her in the light of his devotion, teasing as it may be, and she smiles at him, for a moment the blaze of her feelings coming forth full-force in the expression. "She does." "Does the royal consort get to take his shirt off?" Leia's smile grows into a grin, if a bashful one. "That's the princess's job...and perogative, thank you." Han's brows arch, and his grin broadens, that familiar white lopsided grin. "Well," he breathes out softly, "far be it from me to stand in the way of royal prerogative." Pausing as she draws on the white tunic, Leia observes softly, "I'm really, really glad you took that job for Ben Kenobi and Luke." 'Nuff said. Hazel eyes now lightened and warm, Han rumbles simply, "I know," as he lowers his head to claim Leia's mouth with his own. [End log.]