Scuttlebutt
By Elektra
(elektrasfic (at) yahoo.co.uk)
Leia’s head jerked up as she heard someone come up the
Falcon’s ramp.
“Any news?” she called from
her position at the table.
“Not really.” Han seemed to
avoid her gaze, concentrating on setting out the breakfast he’d picked up from
camp. “The main topic of conversation seems to be… err…
us.”
“Us?” Leia’s eyebrows shot
towards her hairline.
“Mmmhmm.” Ah. She’d always known that if and when
they were officially ‘together’ the gossip mill would go into overdrive. She
just hadn’t expected it to be this soon. Judging from Han’s expression he
hadn’t expected it at all.
Leia observed the man in front of her as he seated
himself and set about assembling his meal. She knew there had been plenty of
rumours floating around about the two of them ever since Yavin.
Hell, she suspected he’d probably started most of them. But this time it’s the truth, isn’t it flyboy? Even growing up in
the public eye, she hated to think of someone poring over her love life. For
Han, whose willingness to share private information began and ended with giving
his name, this would be intolerable.
Still, both of them sitting
in silence was not going to help the situation. She
picked up her juice and took a sip.
“So what are they saying?”
“Do you really want to
know?”
“Only if
it’s juicy.” That caused his lip
to twitch, though he still didn’t look at her.
“Well obviously somebody saw
you and me leaving the village together last night.” His tone promised dire
consequences for the ‘somebody’. Given the number of Rebels celebrating the
destruction of the second Death Star, Leia imagined
that ‘somebody’ could pretty much encompass the whole damn Rebellion.
Han took a deep breath.
“According to Blue Squadron, I got fresh with you against a tree and was kicked
in the kneecap for my trouble.”
“Ah –
hence the limp.” His limp was
from a twisted ankle sustained in blowing up the bunker, but she had to admire
the Blues’ attention to detail.
“Exactly. Now the Greens’ go one better.”
“You got fresh with me
against a tree and I missed?”
“Oh, no
trees for your highness.
Apparently I ‘lay your willing body down among the soft ferns and made sweet
passionate love to you until dawn.’” He took a swig of his drink and made a
face. “That’s a direct quote by the way.”
“Oh sweet
goddess.” A thought occurred to
her. “What about the Rogues?”
If the Blues were fatalists
and the Greens romantics, then whatever the Rogues had come up with was
probably downright pornographic. The look on Han’s face told her she was right.
“You don’t wanna hear what they said.” Han was staring intently at the
cup gripped with both hands. She slid closer to him.
“Were they accurate?” He
looked at her like she was ever so slightly nuts but answered her wicked grin
with a small one of his own.
“No.” He looked back at his
cup. “I still don’t like it though.”
Leia ran her hand up his back, feeling the familiar
muscles under his shirt. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. They
sat like that for a few moments until Han leaned back and rested his head
against the wall.
Leia took that as her cue and moved so that she knelt
straddling him. Gently she reached for his face and brought it down so that it
was looking at her. She could see that he was getting distracted by her
position and figured that she had about thirty seconds to make her point before
his attention wandered.
Deciding that actions spoke
louder than words (since she’d distracted herself with that last thought), she
leant forward and kissed the very tip of his nose, then rested her forehead
against his. His warm hands came up to cup her face, one tucking a tendril of
hair behind her ear. Looking into his eyes she could see the resigned
acceptance. If having her meant being the subject of everyone’s wagging tongue,
then so be it. Han Solo could be maddeningly all-or-nothing
at times.
“Hey
Princess.” His voice sent a
tingle all the way past her stomach.
“Hey
General.” She leaned in closer in
anticipation. Whatever the gossips said, last night had been exclusively ‘The
Princess and The Smuggler Were Exhausted So Got Some Well Deserved Sleep.’ Now
as she brushed her lips over Han’s and worked open his shirt, she could think
of some other things that were well deserved.
Her last coherent thought as
Han’s mouth blazed a trail down her neck was that even the Rogues had probably
underestimated this one.