âWinterâs advice certainly doesnât often have much in common with yours,â Leia drawled with arch diplomacy, âthatâs true.â A kernel indeed, she thought, the scoffing tone of her mental voice loud in her own ears. Wait until Winter hears this oneâŠ
Leia wriggled her toes in their overlarge boots, then swung her feet up onto the shuttleâs console â careful to perch them in an open space where there were no controls to bump â to brace her heels while she rolled her ankles, working out the kinks from so much time spent in a disguise three sizes too big. She had to agree with Han about Chewbaccaâs advisory gifts, but then again of course she did: sheâd been the one to bring it up, after all. âOhhh, I donât think anyone could argue with your resourcefulness,â she agreed with dry affection. âCertain other things, perhaps, but never that. In fact, I daresay that sometimes the rest of us wish youâd be a little bit less resourceful.â
Only sometimes, though. As infuriating as Hanâs brand of resourcefulness could be, Leia couldnât deny that it had gotten them all out tight spots more than once. Sure, sheâd spent most of those times yelling at him, but that was only because sheâd been convinced he was going to get them all killed.
And he was a decent shot. A more than decent shot, really. She was just better, was all. Not faster â there werenât many, if any, people in the Rebellion who could claim they had a faster draw than Han Solo â but better. There was no point saying that no, thought. This shuttle was too small and too well-packed with the supplies theyâd just swindled out of the Empire to be a suitable place to hold a shooting contest, and Leia had little doubt where that conversation would end if she let it get started.
Instead she let the comment pass, although she did groan when he boasted about his high-quality reflexiplast. âPlease, donât,â Leia said, fluttering a hand by her face as though to fend off a particularly bloodthirsty insect when really it was his words she was trying to dodge. She couldnât help smiling even as she shook her head in exasperation; somehow, Han was adept at combining those two otherwise contradictory responses. âIâm afraid you would tell me, and Iâm even more afraid the story would involve one or more of those ârespectable contactsâ of yours Iâve met, and I would have to throw myself off a balcony the next time they turned up to sell the Alliance something rather than bring myself to meet their eyes.â
She snorted at his comment about his proportionate ego. âIâm sure you do,â she retorted. âThat might have been my point, in fact, captain.â
âNo, we usually give very different advice,â he agreed. âThatâs why sheâs only known for dispensing a slight amount of wisdom while I, on the other hand, and renowned the world over for my insight.âÂ
He enjoyed the sight of her getting comfortable in the co-pilot chair a little too much, truth be told. She was not much of a pilot as best he could tell, but it was nice having her around. When she wasnât yelling at him, that is.Â
âGlad to know that my gifts are universally acknowledged. Resourceful and gifted with a blaster. Itâs all that Iâve ever wanted people to think of me,â he snorted. âWell, mostly.âÂ
âEh, someday youâll want to hear the story and when you do, you know where to find me.â These days, she knew where to find him more than any of his other contacts did. âItâs quite a tale.âÂ
It wasnât. He had bought the reflexiplast when heâd been doing some upgrading. That was all. Nothing exciting about it, really. Still, it was fun to let her think that there was.Â
He grinned. âGlad to see you agree. I have earned all of my ego.âÂ
He looked over the instrument array and leaned back in his seat. âSo, that was some party on the base the other night. Why arenât you ever at those things? Not your scene?â