Married Bliss (Star Wars, Han Solo)

[RiversD]

Oneshot giftfic for a good friend.

Post-RotJ, married Han/Leia. A little over 1800 words in which Leia gets a little introspective about losing her planet and Han breaks the tension with an allergy attack.

 

 

Han Solo watched Princess Leia refill her drink from the cooler and glide serenely back to her seat in the bow. Her deep blue dress pulled tight across her hip as she sat, and Han let his gaze linger a little. A man could look at his wife, after all.

They had only been married for a few weeks and he was still reeling from the interminable parade of people and meetings and ceremony you apparently had to endure if you married a princess. He had told her, as they both knelt to receive some kind of sacred silk rope from the High Priest of Can’tRemember, that she was only just worth it, and she had elbowed him in the ribs for making her laugh. The place still ached, but it made him smile when he felt it.

Their current situation was a much more comfortable one. Leia had arranged a pleasure-craft for two, droid-piloted so that the newlyweds could enjoy a little privacy. It was a broad, single-decked skiff with a repulsorlift engine and a beautifully smooth ride. Continuous couch-like seating lined its edges, surrounding a central space stocked with various pull-out or fold-away amenities currently functioning as a serve-yourself bar. A waterproof canopy hung over the stern, ready to be extended into a makeshift cabin in case of rain, or if they wanted additional privacy even from the droid.

The craft turned to starboard, moving through a gap in the long avenue of trees they had been following and out over a wide meadow, pastel-smudged with flowers. Beyond it a lake, or possibly an extremely wide river, glittered as it caught the sun. The change of scenery was seemingly the only motive for the diversion, as the droid swung them back around until their path across the undulating fields was almost exactly parallel to that which they had been following through the trees.

Han gathered his own drink and moved to join Leia at what was now obviously the superior rail to lean over.

“That’s some view.”

“Mm.” Leia shuffled in so that she was nestled under his shoulder, sheltered from the steady breeze created by the little craft’s forward motion. They watched the flowers sway for a while, breathing in the gently perfumed air.

“I love Chandrila,” said Leia. “It reminds me of home.”

Han hesitated. This felt like a trap.  He looked down. Leia was looking at him now, having sensed the tension in him. She was starting to frown.

He shrugged awkwardly. “You know I don’t know how to answer when you say things like that.”

Leia sighed through her nose. “You don’t have to say anything. People always feel like they have to say something.”

She pulled away from him, folding her arms on the rail. Han waited her out for a while- probably not long enough- before saying:

“You know I’m not a mind-reader, right?”

Leia’s shoulders tensed, then relaxed as though by a deliberate effort of will. “Sorry.”

Han managed to hold his tongue this time and was rewarded with further softening. Leia rested her chin on her arms and made a peace-making effort to explain.

“It’s just- It would be nice to mention Alderaan now and again without having to set aside space to be comforted.”

Han took a deep breath, immensely relieved. That was alright. That was fixable. If she wanted less sensitivity from him about her loss, he would gratefully comply. Han had never been at his most comfortable talking through the complicated emotions.

Leia continued, “Before the Resistance, Alderaan was the centre of my life. I spent my whole childhood there. I have to be able to remember the happy times without making everybody around me sad, or I’ll burst.”

It was such an obvious statement of fact that Han felt embarrassed by it.

“Well, when you put it like that. Sounds exhausting.”

His nose was itching all of a sudden. He turned his head to one side and scrubbed at it with his available wrist.

“I thought you’d understand.”

Leia took a long sip of her drink, staring out towards the lake. Han seized the opportunity to set his own aside and give his nose a vigorous two-handed rebuke. This itch was a determined one.

“Yeah, I’m very understanding. Everybody says that.”

He got a nudge in his bruised side for the sarcasm, but Leia came back to his arms all the same. He wished she’d done it at a time when he didn’t desperately want to scratch his nose again. It made it difficult to properly appreciate the soft warmth of her belly under his hand. Never impossible, though.

“We can have a moment without all that, you know. There’s nobody listening who might think you’ve gone soft.”

“Hm, you never know.” Han rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. Her hair was soft too- how did this woman manage to project such diamond-hardness, when every constituent part of her was softness itself? Mystery within mysteries. “Droids can be terrible gossips.”

She laughed, a light, fond chuckle that vibrated through them both. Han would have enjoyed it more, but there was a sharper prickling in his nose now that wouldn’t let him think beyond- oh. Yes, that was definitely turning into a sneeze.

Han wrenched his head away from Leia’s and twisted as far as he could to direct his face away from her. He still pushed her up against the rail, his body flexing involuntarily into the half-repressed sneeze.

“hh-uht’schHH!”

Leia made a small hiccup-like noise of surprise, but recovered quickly.

“Bless you!”

“Thanks,” Han sniffed, wrinkling his still-ticklish nose and trying to persuade himself that was enough. “Sorry about the jump there, I wasn’t- didn’t-”

Han retrieved his arms as quickly as he could, the growing tickle in his nostrils fast becoming unbearable. He swung a loose elbow across his face and sneezed, surprising himself with a pair.

“hht’chHH! uh… huh’SCHHhuh!”

“Bless.” Leia swivelled round to watch him, the first shadow of a frown descending on her face. “Are you alright?”

“Y-ye-”

“Still?”

Han nodded, rolling his eyes in frustrated acknowledgement of his own ridiculousness. He shuffled a short way along the bench, facing into the skiff, and dragged a scrap of cloth from his pocket. Breath barely supporting the words, he said,

“Hang on, I’m gonna try and get this out.”

Han pushed himself to breathe deeply, all the time stroking his tongue along the roof of his mouth. It was a long-practiced, though seldom-needed trick, with the aim of encouraging the sneeze to build and then trying to hold off on the release just long enough to make it worthwhile.

“hiuhhH’ASCHHhoO!”

It was a good sneeze, a strong, relieving, throat-scouring sneeze, and it cleared the horrible buzzing itch for all of three grateful breaths before it came crawling back to taunt him.

“Ugh, what the hell?”

“Still itching?” He had Leia’s full attention on him and, not for the first time, wished it was possible to look a little more alluring when you were failing to scratch an itch fast enough not to sneeze again.

“I-” Yeah, that wasn’t working. “huhh’SCHhoo! Sorry, normally if I can sneeze hard enough it s-sorts anything, but-”

Han had to stop talking for the sake of his dignity (what little remained) and blew his nose hard into the cloth. He lowered it cautiously, fretting at his nose with one curled finger instead.

 Leia was still staring at him. Han felt distinctly studied.

“Are you allergic to anything?”

“Apparently I mu-hh- must be-.” Han pressed the back of his hand hard beneath his nostrils, the tickle inside growing steadily back to full strength. His eyes watered in sympathy with his twinging nose as he vainly tried to insist that enough was enough.

“hh- huH’SCHHhh!”

“Bless you.”

Leia leaned out over the side of the skiff, far enough that Han automatically tensed, ready to grab her dress if she started to fall.

“The engines are pressing the grasses down beneath us.” She called back. “They must be disturbing an awful lot of pollen, and it probably gets drawn up here as we pass. You must be sensitive to something in the meadow.”

Han could only offer miserable agreement. “hhih! hh’SCHHoo!”

“Bless you.” She wriggled back to her seat and called out a command to the droid. “RP-3, take us over the water!”

Their pilot bleeped acknowledgement, and the craft started to turn.

“Y-you don’t have to-” Han made a token effort not to seem too pathetically grateful.

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s the only sensible thing to do.”

After a few sniffling beats, Leia reached out a cautious hand for his shoulder. “Besides, if we’re going to watch a proper Chandrilan sunset, Founders’ Lake is the place to be.”

“Yeah?” Han wiped his nose again. Too much rough handling was starting to make it burn, but it still itched too much for him to bear leaving it alone.

“Second only to the Silver Sea.” Leia leaned in to kiss his cheek. “But in this season that’s lousy with tourists.”

“Mmm. I prefer having you to my-myself-”

Cursing internally, Han ducked back behind his increasingly damp square of cloth.

“hh-hhuh’SCHhoo!”

He recovered cautiously and grimaced at Leia. “Somehow I don’t think this is gonna stop as easy as it started.”

She smiled and shuffled her hips back into contact with Han’s, letting her arms wrap around him this time. “Nor do I. But I don’t mind.”

“Easy to say when it’s not your- hh!” Han paused to let the sneeze happen, but it didn’t. Typical. He sniffed. “When it isn’t your nose on fire with it.”

He felt the slight vibration of her laugh through his shoulder. “Alright. But if you’ll help me get the canopy out, I think we can find some things to take your mind off it.”

Han paused again before responding, and this time got a better return on it. “hh’ASCHhhuh!”

“Bless you,” Leia murmured, close by his ear.

In his current state, Han didn’t dare risk going in for a kiss, but he moved one hand down to caress the inside of her thigh. Just in case she thought he wasn’t still keen.

“You have all the best ideas.”

When she kissed his neck, he could feel the smile pulling at her lips. “Keep that in mind, Captain Solo, and this marriage might just work out.”

“Please. Like I’m not the best idea of them a-all-”

She held him while he sneezed again, then dragged him into the centre of the craft, where they spent a very pleasant afternoon exploring the full range of its available functions and inventing one or two of their own. By the time they docked for the night, Han’s annoyance with the meadow had faded into warm and hazy memory.

Fortunately for him, Leia’s memory was a little more practical. She picked up a pack of antihistamine boosters from town before they set off again. Just in case.

[dw124]

Awwww, I loved this! I've never read allergic Han before and now I want more. Well done!

[Prongs]

😍😍😍😍😍

Excellent. I didn’t know I needed this. 

[lighthousegirl]

Oh my god I love this. 

[angora48]

Ooh, this was so good! The banter between them was pitch perfect, and I love allergic Han!

On 6/16/2024 at 11:57 AM, RiversD said:

Han rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. Her hair was soft too- how did this woman manage to project such diamond-hardness, when every constituent part of her was softness itself? Mystery within mysteries.

Fantastic line! And I really loved Leia wanting to talk about happy memories from Alderaan without people having to walk on eggshells around her.

[RiversD]

Ah, thanks so much guys ❤️ Allergic Han made me happy to wrote, so I'm glad he made you happy too!

[Lunaconner]

i love this i hope we get more!!!! it’s so good!