This fic was originally posted on Tumblr in two parts: "Making it better" (chapter 1) and "In the still of the night" (chapter 2).

Making It Better

The lobby of the Chardaan Suites Hotel was relatively quiet for once, and Seban was idly flipping through the holochannels when the couple stumbled in.

They'd apparently come directly from one of the many Jubilee Balls taking place in the city this evening, judging from the formal jacket the petite woman had draped around her shoulders and the formalwear the tall, lanky man was sporting. And judging from the red lipstick marks dotting his face, neck, and forehead, their private party had already gotten started in the speeder.

"Reservation?" Seban asked.

"Uh…." the man looked a bit sheepish. "No. Know it's a long shot, but you got anything for tonight? Damned Villa Downtown screwed up, gave away our room."

Seban was pretty certain they were booked—most of the hotels were—but checked the registry anyway. "Ah, you're in luck. Just had a cancellation."

They completed the transaction, the young woman clutching her boyfriend's? husband's? lover's? hand so tightly that he had to sign the registry with her hand over his own. "Sorry," he told Saban, as she broke into giggles beside him, "she gets like this after a bit of bubbly."

"Of course, sir," Saban said, handing him the key card, the woman now clinging to his arm. Well, at least someone's going to get lucky tonight.

Leia didn't stop giggling until after she had fallen safely into the room, dragging Han in after her and waiting to hear the click of the door closing behind them.

"You get the stuff?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes at him, pulling out from under Han's jacket the medkit she'd just pilfered from the front desk. "Of course. How's your hand?"

Han made a face, but shrugged. "I'll live," he said. "I'll just send out my drunk girlfriend for some ice."

"She will need it to chill that bubbly she likes so much," Leia said, wincing a bit as she got up off the floor. "Come on, let's see it."

"Not until we fix up your shoulder, Miss Diving Into The Line of Fire," he retorted, leading her into the 'fresher.

Thankfully, there was bacta in the kit, but by the time they'd cleaned up the blaster wound on Leia's shoulder ("just a graze," she claimed), the shrapnel wound on Han's forehead (conveniently covered up by the lipstick marks Leia had plastered across his face and neck), and the other wound on Han's ribcage (another graze, thankfully), there wasn't much left.

As Leia examined his other wounds, Han was on the verge of making a joke, but she stopped him. "If you suggest kissing them to make them better, I'll slug you."

They'd been pretending to be lovers for five days; evidently they'd turned into an old married couple in that time. An old, sexless married couple.

"C'mon, Sweetheart," he said. "Let's go to bed."

They'd each had their turn in the 'fresher and donned their hotel-supplied robes when Leia finally got a good look at Han's hand. It was swollen and badly bruised.

"Han!" she exclaimed. "That looks broken."

"Nah," he said, although it was throbbing with pain. "It's fine."

"Give it here," she demanded, and at his stubborn look, she softened. "I'll be gentle, I promise."

She cradled his hand in both of hers, examining it carefully. Her hands were soft as they grazed over his skin, and it would have felt wonderful had his hand not been pulsing with pain. She carefully placed his hand back in his lap and picked up the hotel comm.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Ordering room service."

After another round of her tipsy girlfriend act for the hotel, Leia had managed to secure a small bottle of whiskey and a bucket of ice. Han poured them each a glass while Leia wrapped his hand.

When she was done, he raised his glass. "To luck," he said. "Not sure we were gonna pull it off." Leia clinked his glass with hers, and they both drank.

"Think it was more than just luck," she said. "Getting that kid to prank call the hotel and cancel that reservation was brilliant."

"I do have a good idea now and then," Han mock-boasted, and Leia laughed. He tipped his head toward hers. "That whole lovesick tipsy girlfriend bit was pretty smart, too."

"To teamwork," Leia proposed, and they clinked glasses again.

They drank for a couple of minutes in silence, Leia seemingly lost in thought. She sighed.

"I'm glad it was you on this mission," she said. "I don't know that anyone else would put up with me for so long."

Han looked at her curiously. "Aw, you're not so bad." She gave him a dubious look, and he continued. "Okay, maybe the whole protocol thing was a little much at first, but—wait till I tell 'em you actually know how to have fun!"

"They'll never believe you," Leia said dryly.

"Wait till I tell 'em you're kriffing hilarious," Han countered.

"Maybe three people will believe you," she insisted.

"I could tell 'em you're a damn badass," he said grinning, "but I think they already know that."

Leia grinned back at him. "If they've run a mission with me, they do," she said, taking another slug of her drink, and Han laughed.

"The ice helping at all?" she asked.

"A lot," he said, holding up his hand. "Thanks."

She took it in hers again, carefully, and to Han's surprise, brought it to her lips and kissed it. Han raised an eyebrow at her.

"Making it better," she explained, her eyes on him.

His eyes darted to the whiskey bottle, then back to her. "Do I need to cut you off?"

She shook her head, putting his hand back down and releasing it. "Not even tipsy," she said, still looking at him.

He put down his glass. "Got anything I need to make better?" he asked.

She nodded, then turned up her palm. He took her arm and kissed the small wound just below her wrist.

It felt like the room had gotten so quiet all of a sudden. Han swallowed. "Anything else?"

Leia pointed at a spot on her collarbone, then another on her neck. Han kissed each of them softly.

He pulled back to look at her face again. She was still looking at him intently, her face smiling and serious at the same time.

Slowly, her finger moved to point at her lips.

Han leaned forward to make it better.