albinomilksnake | STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

[She blinks at him. So much for that set jaw. Jakku?]

Oh.

[Strange, how easily the planet she'd spent her entire life on could slide off to the side like that, like since that moment in the corridor in takodana where Maz had told the truth - that no one was ever coming back for her to find her there -, she'd placed it in a box and buried it in the sand. She blinks a few more times. Frowns because it feels like the sturdiest option.]

No. I'll take the ride to D'Qar. [And because it's as good an opening as any:] Have you sent a transmission to them? About-- him?

[ "him." so that's how it's going to start. his disbelieving joy has not yet abated. but in the time since they escaped the doomed base and especially after his initial attempts to bridge… something with ben —

the reality has begun to set in. at least the reality of how it'll look to everyone else. leia will defend their son tooth and nail; she loves him too much and missed him so long. han lacks her presence, but he still has some pull. still that may not be enough. ]

Don't need to. [ a beat. ] Leia knows.

[ or she's hoping very, very hard. first with luke, then more often with leia, he had found that their hopes tended to translate to reality. unfortunately, the opposite often did too. worries and fears he would brush aside with healthy bluster would materialize around him later, usually in the guise of the bad end of a blaster.

he was never one of them — unknowingly guided, then actively tapping into that strange wealth of knowledge that is the force. he was never ben either who was always too aware, felt things too keenly. what will he feel when they touch down in the heart of the much-loathed resistance? what are his hopes? ( what does he fear? )

the benefit of being chased is it doesn't give you time to think. once in the safety of hyperspace, suddenly there's too much opportunity. for everyone aboard. ]

[Leia. Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker's sister and Resistance-- leader? Commander? She knows there's a tie there because there's always been (Leia Organa fought with the Rebellion back then too), but the details are hazy thanks to Jakku being the definition of backwater in every way except for the water. She's... not surprised, exactly, but if there's an answer she's expecting from him that isn't it.]

She knows? That we're bringing a leader of the First Order to the Resistance's secret base?

[It's a blunt way of phrasing it, but she can't help herself; had that been the point all along? Recover Kylo Ren while destroying the base? What kind of plan was that? Is she missing something here where this is a good idea?]

She knows I'm bringing our son. [ if she is blunt, he is more so. but not as a warning. direct as is his habit and strangely matter-of-fact considering the emotional ( and extremely volatile ) subject hiding out where han left him.

leia will have felt him. the more he thinks it, the surer he is. she has only been dreaming of this moment since they sent ben away. ]

Luke wasn't the only one capable of knowing the Force.

[She flicks a glance - from him to the doorway leading from the cockpit and back. Princess Leia knowing the Force isn't the part about this that sits strange and uncomfortable, but what can she say? How is she supposed to explain that every second they spend at lightspeed coursing their way to D'qar, the presence of his son feels like weight around her neck doubling; that they're carrying a bomb straight back to the Resistance.

She chews the inside of her lip, pinching until it hurts. There's an urge to tap her fingers along the edge of the control panel too, but she pins that down. Presses her fingertips against the worn framing to keep from twitching them.]

If you're sure.

[ a neutral mm sound. one doesn't need to be attuned to the force to read her disapproval. it radiates off her in troubled waves. somehow this is worse than finn in his far too enthusiastic manner questioning not so subtly if he's finally lost his mind.

it's also a reminder that he knows nothing about what happened to her inside the base. he'll leave the debriefing to leia's people. but he does look over to her, brows knitted in concern. ]

How are you holding up?

[It catches her unaware and unexpecting like she's been looking behind her and running, turning just in time to smack her face into something solid. It's a strange thing to be asked. First Finn who says anything that comes to his mind, and now Han Solo who-- well, who doesn't seem the type to ask how someone is every day. The shock of it has something close to honest popping out of her mouth:]

My head's killing me. [Blurts it out and then opens her mouth like she might say something else - doesn't know what - before her brain catches up with her mouth. She corrects herself, catches whatever it is before it slides past her tongue.] But I'm-- fine.

If you want it, Chewie's got tea in the galley. [ han's more of a coffee drinker himself when he isn't hitting corellian spirits, but there's no denying the wookiee knows his leaves. no one aboard had been poisoned yet, though han sometimes wished he'd been after trying a few of chewbacca's recipes. neither human stomachs or human tongues were made for those. ] Tastes awful — you didn't hear that from me — but it'll clear up all sorts of aches in no time.

[ after a moment, he lays a hand on her shoulder. ]

You had us all worried there, kid.

[Call her crazy, but that sounds-- good, actually. Something that tasted awful might give her something else to focus on at least - something simpler than the heart pounding uneasiness of traveling anywhere with Kylo Ren, much less at lightspeed in the direction of the main Resistance force.

His hand on her shoulder startles her. She doesn't jump, just goes taut and prickly under the weight. It's only for a second before the line of her shoulder smooths, but it's still embarrassing. In her head, she jams down the twitching anxious feeling in her stomach and every thought of being pinned to an interrogation chair or being forced to stand rooted in the spot on Takodana; she wills herself to be fine and she is. He's being kind to her. That isn't dependent on the Falcon's cargo.]

I know it's not the only reason anyone was there, but-- thank you for coming to find me.

[ quirking an eyebrow at her, ] You really think we'd have left you behind? [ he doesn't care except he actually does and way more than he likes people knowing. ]

Besides, Finn would never have let any of us hear the end of it.

[ he does not need finn following him around judging everything he is ok. that's why he has chewie. ]

[Maybe she did think that - had thought it. But the way he looks at her makes the whole idea seem silly in retrospect. --Still doesn't mean she's on board with this whole 'bringing Kylo Ren to the Resistance' thing, though. For the record.

But it's enough to sway her focus and to make her blink.]

I don't know. But it was nice anyway.

[An understatement. She briefly redirects her attention to the controls, mentally logging that the ship's on the calculated course (no deviation, no change from the last time she'd looked - but still), and then makes a small noise against the back of her teeth.

Unfolding from the co-pilot's chair:]

Tea in the galley, you said?

Come on. [ getting up, ] I'll show you.

[ despite the earlier word of warning, han looks forward to a cup himself. like the low buzzing hum from the transponder that he never could fix ( it was an outdated piece, removed from an imperial ship, but it hadn't failed him ) or the attitude the computers had developed over the decades that sometimes required a good smack to get behaving, chewie's horrible tea is another sign of home. he never did bother stocking anything else. ]

STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

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