AN: Set Pre-ESB and requested by someone on tumblr. Han kisses Leia to get her to stop talking.
Han scoffed at Leia's remark, but kept working on the repulsors. He had a lot to do, and this argument was getting exhausting. Arguing with Leia was usually fun, except for those rare days when she was so angry about something so small that she didn't even let him get a word in edge wise. He didn't mind being her sparring partner, but he did mind being her punching bag. Han wasn't really sure what she was even going on about, anymore.
"And quite frankly, I don't even think you understand how bad the situation could have gotten," Leia demanded. Han turned quickly on his heel and stalked toward her.
Her eyes narrowed as he got closer, glaring at him with the heat of a thousand suns. He put his hands on her cheeks and pulled her face toward his. The kiss was, by most standards, pretty awful. Leia was mid-sentence, so he got lips and teeth and probably even part of her nose, but it definitely had the desired effect: she looked at him, wide-eyed, mouth hanging open, completely silent.
"I always knew that would work," Han bragged. Leia stormed out.
00
Han figured that the effectiveness of kissing Leia to get her to be quiet would drop off considerably every time he tried it, so he used it sparingly. The second time was when he'd come back hours late on a supply run and Leia made it her personal mission to ensure that he never forgot to check in when he got off schedule. After about the 300th repetition of, 'Honestly, you didn't thing to let someone know?', he turned quickly on her and pressed a brief kiss into her downturned mouth.
When he pulled back, he could still see the fire in her eyes. One was already becoming ineffective…
The next kiss he used pre-emptively. He'd made a risky decision in flight that morning, and, while it had all turned out alright, he knew she'd be mad.
"Han Solo, we need to have a discuss—" Han leaned in to kiss her. It was short and chaste, but hopefully effective. Their mouths had barely parted before she began speaking again. "—sion about your flight patterns—" Han tightened his grip on her, bringing her lips back to his once again, making this kiss slightly deeper and more indulgent than the previous one. "I'm trying to prove—" Leia began, but Han stole another kiss. "I hate you," she murmured, pulling out of his arms and starting toward the door.
"What was it you came over here to talk about, Sweetheart?" He couldn't clearly make out her response, but it sounded an awful lot like 'I can't remember.'
00
Han waited a long time for the next kiss. She'd had her guard up since the most recent kiss, and he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable or unsafe around him, just a little off-balance. One afternoon on Hoth, Leia was lecturing him about proper storage of some tools. He'd been trying to shout her down for close to ten minutes—it wasn't his problem, and he really couldn't care less princess, so if you don't mind—but she kept following him, saying just enough to make it impossible for him to walk away. Instead, they brought their argument from the command center to the Falcon, sending people scattering in every direction.
"You know, if you'd listened to me three days ago this wouldn't have been a problem—"
"This ain't a problem, sister, and I'm still tryin' to figure out why you're here—"
"You're a leader on this base, people look up to you can't you have some respect—"
"I never asked to be a part of this little rebellion, so you can just take your concerns and shove 'em up—"
"How dare you speak to me that way? Don't you know how hard I work for this rebellion—"
"Maybe if you took a few seconds to relax now and then you wouldn't be this worked up over somethin' I had nothin' to do with!"
"I would really appreciate it if you would stop lecturing me on my work habits, Captain." It was almost like she wanted him to shut her up. "What I do or don't do for recreation is entirely my business." Leia stared him down boldly, waiting for him to make a move. She didn't rebuff his advance, just tilted her chin towards him in a move that could have been defiance but seemed almost suggestive.
"You're gonna work yourself crazy," Han stated, stringing her along.
"What's that I hear in your voice, Captain, concern? I didn't know you care—"
Awfully hard to talk when there's an extra tongue in your mouth, eh, sweetheart?
His hands moved from her arms to her hips and he pulled her against him. One arm slid around her waist to keep her close and the other went up her back to cradle her head. Han teased her lips apart and Leia thought she might fall over if he wasn't holding on to her so tightly. Her hands, which had been fisted at her sides, were now wrapped tightly around his arms, urging him to hold her tighter as the kiss deepened.
When the kiss finally broke, Leia pulled out of his arms and Han could see her trying to put on an indignant look.
"You know, if you wanted a kiss, you could have just asked for one without yelling at me."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
00
Later that week, they argued again—this time about his staying or going. It wasn't too different from any of their other fights, really, but this one…he really meant it this time. If she couldn't admit anything, then he was done.
Han wanted nothing more than to shove her up against the wall right there in the hallway. He wanted to scoop Leia up and take her back to his ship and tell her over and over again how he felt about her. He wanted to kiss her till her eyes crossed and her knees were weak and if someone asked her a question the only answer she could give would be his name.
But she had to want it, had to admit to herself that she wanted it.
It took two more days for that to happen, when they kissed on his ship again. This kiss, though, this was different—Leia wanted this kiss. He tried to be nice about it, gentle and unassuming, but she'd looked him dead in the eye and whispered okay, hotshot, and kissed him for all she was worth.
Of course, that damn droid had gotten in the way, and whatever brave part of Leia had demanded that kiss was gone again.
00
That brave part of Leia managed to wiggle its way to the surface that night, when she kissed him shyly before turning in. He'd greeted her the next morning with a kaf-flavored kiss, and she'd thanked him for making breakfast with another. It hadn't taken long before they were out of excuses to kiss beyond 'why not.' Free moments were spent tucked into some remote corner of the ship, away from curious droids and sensitive wookiee ears.
Han spent some of the time working on his ship, which, predictably, got frustrating from time to time.
"Han, why don't you just let it go? The ship has been functioning with a bent tierod for how long, five years? There's no point in getting upset over it now," Leia reasoned.
"Because, Leia, I have all sorts of time on my hands now and I was hoping to do something half-way productive while we were stuck out here in the middle of deep space, and excuse me for trying to make this flight as fast and safe as possible for us—" His mouth closed reflexively around her top lip as she pulled his bottom lip gently between her teeth. She ended the kiss sooner than he wanted to and danced to the door.
"Works the other way, too," Leia mused, throwing him a coy smile and walking out of the hold with an extra swing to her hips.
"Get back here, you little minx."
Leia knew she should probably be much angrier at him than she was. If it had been anyone else, she would have slapped him across the face the first time. But then, no one else would dare do something like that, would they? Maybe that was what she liked about him—that he had the bluster to incur her wrath, to kiss her like he meant it.
AN: Reviews are like baby wookiee hugs!
I have decided to start a Shorties Volume 2 rather than make this a million chapters long, so go check that out, also!