Story Challenge #25: 16th June 2004
Write a fic about introductions: explore the moment Han and Luke first met; have one of them introduce the other to a new person, situation, or sex toy; just write an introduction. You have fifteen minutes. [Oops. Exceeded the time limit again.]

Jealousies
A SW fic by Morgan D.
Messing up Dave Wolverton's "The Courtship of Princess Leia"

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"And this is our esteemed Captain Han Solo, a hero of the New Republic, working on his private--er, uh--ship, the Millennium Falcon."

Luke discreetly moved to the shadow of the nearest Y-Wing, concealing his presence to witness Threkin Horm's sneering pose as he introduced Han to Prince Isolder of Hapes. The nasal voice of the president of the Alderaanian Council rang loud and clear in the huge, metal-wrapped chamber that sheltered the repair docks, but the two other men spoke too low and softly for Luke to hear them at that distance.

A pity. From what Luke could see, Han needed little more than a dozen words to create a diplomatic incident. "Captain Solo!" Horm shrieked, his face shining crimson with rage and mortification. "I apologise, Prince Isolder! I rather expected more civility from a former general of the Rebel Alliance. I thought at least he would know how to behave himself."

Whatever Han had said, it failed to unsettle the Prince, though. Isolder's gaze was calm and confident, and it measured the Corellian up and down without any dissimulation.

Luke bit his lip, seeing Han return the stare with equal frankness. Every word the Jedi could think of to describe Isolder seemed to come from those mawkish romance holo-tomes his aunt had used to read — and which Luke would always deny to have ever peeked at. The guy was gorgeous. And his clothes made sure nobody could fail to notice how gorgeous he was.

Well, at least now he was wearing a white top, instead of presenting himself bare-chested in all the glory of his sculpted muscles and dark tan — like he had done this morning, when he showed up with priceless treasures from each of the sixty-three worlds of Hapes and asked Leia to marry him.

Luke was finding it a tad hard not to hate the man at first sight.

Isolder pointed to the Falcon and, to Luke's surprise, Han gestured cordially to invite him inside. Threkin Horm, the Prince's bodyguards and the rest of the entourage remained outside, all of them showing signs of anxiety. Luke managed to keep himself from reaching out to touch Han's mind and probe his intentions — his irrational insecurity gave him no right to pry.

The two men stayed inside and out of sight for a considerable while. Enough for Han to give Isolder a full tour of the ship, with detailed explanation about the main systems. Enough for Han to come up with a hundred diplomatic incidents of galactic proportions. Enough for the two of them to tear each other's clothes apart and have passionate sex in every bunk of the ship and on the holo-chess table.

Having a fertile imagination has its drawbacks, Luke thought darkly.

They came out eventually, sporting similar smug grins, their clothes as tidy — or in Han's case, as dishevelled — as when they had gone in. Horm hurriedly led the Prince and the small crowd around him away from there, but not before sending Han a murderous glare. The Corellian merely waved at him, unruffled.

Only then did Luke make himself visible. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Han smiled. "I was wondering where you'd gone to."

The Jedi joined him at the Falcon's gangplank. "Leia's quarters. She needed someone to talk to."

"No shit. How is she?"

"Confused, to say the least. From a political point of view, Isolder's proposal is a dream come true. The alliance with Hapes would be a big, big help to the New Republic in defeating the Imperial Remnant. The fortune Hapes is offering Leia herself would be more than enough to fund the settlement of the Alderaanian refugees. She promised Isolder that she'll give him an answer in thirty days, but both Mon Mothma and Threkin Horm are calling her every five minutes, asking if she's come to a decision already."

"Right," Han groaned. "No pressure."

"Those two don't seem to think that marriage is more than a political decision," Luke sighed.

"Sometimes it isn't."

"What do you mean?"

But Han shrugged the issue off. "Never mind. The Royal Suitor has just dropped by for a visit, by the way."

"I know."

"I know you know."

Luke looked away, fidgeting under Han's amused gaze. "He's quite a sight, isn't he?"

"Is he?" Han asked with his most innocent look. "I hadn't noticed."

The Jedi saw him climb back into the ship, gritted his teeth, and followed him inside. That man could be such a pain sometimes...

He found Han at the core of the Falcon, grabbing a step of the ladder for support as he looked down the gun well. "Chewie?" the Corellian called. "You done with the ventral blasters?"

A sharp, non-enthusiastic growl was the only reply.

The sound coming from Han's throat wasn't any more pleased. "Then leave them for tomorrow. Leia invited us for dinner, and I know you'll wanna show up all clean and fluffy for His Majestic Tallness the Prince of Hapes."

Chewbacca moodily answered that his wife Malla was the only one he would ever bother to make himself fluffy for. However, he did cease repairing the blasters' focusing lenses and squeezed his way up to the deck.

"Oh, I don't know, Chewie... Luke tells me the guy is very attractive. And Malla doesn't need to know..."

The Wookiee eyed Han as if the man had grown a second head. As if he would ever want to trade lovely Malla for a puny furless human, he snorted. Not only he had principles, he had taste.

Han smirked. Luke pursed his lips, his cheeks blushing treacherously.

Shaking his head at his friends' odd behaviour, Chewie fled to the 'fresher, leaving the two alone with their eccentricities.

"So," Luke started, folding his arms. "What did you think of the Prince?"

"Well... he's not one to beat around the asteroid field, I'll tell you that. He knows what he wants and goes straight to the point."

The old pirate was teasing him, Luke could tell. He took the bait nonetheless. "No foreplay? Quick and rough?"

"And naughty."

"Naughty?"

Han folded his arms as well, slowly walking toward him. "Oh yeah... But his Intelligence sources leave a lot to be desired."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's offered me a Nova-class battle cruiser."

Luke's eyes went round. He and Wedge had ogled those ships for almost an entire hour when the Hapan fleet arrived. "Meaning that someone failed to inform him that you're more into flying junk?"

He got a warning glare for that insult to Han's lady. "He said he'd give me a cruiser if I promised to use it to fly far, far away from here."

"He did what?!"

"He also gave me the old talk about how a man like me has nothing to offer a woman like Leia..."

"You're kidding."

"Like you said... no foreplay, quick and rough."

"I don't believe this... What did you tell him?"

"I was really tempted to accept the cruiser, you know," Han admitted, coming to stand inches away from the blond. "If only his wording had been a little different.... If he had asked me to promise to give Leia up... I'd have loved to see his stuck-up face when he found out that he gave away a state-of-the-art ship to get in return nothing that he wouldn't have got anyway. But I have no wish to be far away from here." He leaned over to plant a sweet kiss on Luke's lips. "Unless you could come with me."

Luke felt his annoyance melting into warmth and contentment. "So... that's why he wanted to be alone with you?"

"Have some faith in me, kid. If I were to cheat on you, I wouldn't do it right under your nose."

"Gee, that's a comfort," Luke muttered sarcastically, punishing his lover with a playful kick in the shin. "You can't deny you were checking him out."

Han rolled his eyes. "Obviously, so were you. He's quite a sight, you said?"

"Well, I've heard you're quite easy on the eyes yourself," the Jedi grinned, putting his arms around Han's waist. "Drahsyr said so in his Daybreak with Kolch Drahsyr, you know."

"Kid, you shouldn't believe everything they say in those talk shows," said the Corellian, returning the embrace. "The same Drahsyr said I had proposed to Leia during that Lovers' Festival at Ennocma Werceci, remember?"

As if Luke could ever forget it. Either the agony of hearing the news, or the joy when the misunderstanding was cleared up. "You and Leia made a formal statement denying it. They must have heard about it at Hapes."

"There's an old proverb... Leia loves to quote it. 'A hoax only gains credibility after it's officially denied.'"

"So Isolder thought you were his rival for Leia's affections?"

"Still does."

"You didn't tell him the truth?"

"Let him sweat a little," Han shrugged. "Besides, you said you wanted to keep us a secret."

"I just want to give it time. None of us want the press suggesting you jumped from her bed to mine in the blink of an eye."

"Yeah, instead they'll say she jumped from mine to that conceited prince's just as fast."

"You really don't think Leia will agree to marry him, do you?"

Han's silence spoke volumes.

"She can't do that, Han!"

"Why not?"

"Do I really have to number the reasons?"

"Do you have anything to add after, 'she doesn't know the guy'?"

"Actually, 'she doesn't love him' would've been my number one. But yours puts the issue on a broader scale."

"He asked her to marry him. Not to love him." Han kissed the tip of his nose. "I told you before, marriage is a compact. Especially when money is involved."

"My sister wouldn't marry for money!"

"Maybe your sister wouldn't. The Princess of Alderaan, on the other hand..."

Luke stepped away from him, wishing he didn't understand what Han was talking about, wishing wholeheartedly that he knew nothing about the dilemmas of having a public persona in conflict with his personal life. "She shouldn't have to give up on love and happiness for the sake of the galaxy," he muttered.

"Who says she will?"

"You think she'll fall in love with him in thirty days?"

Han put his arm around Luke's shoulders and steered him into the lounge. "He is quite a sight."

"Leia isn't shallow, she won't fall for looks alone. If she were like that, you wouldn't have taken three years to win her."

The Corellian smiled at the implicit compliment. "Yeah, but... you know... that was because this hot farmboy kept distracting me."

Luke softly pinched his lover's butt. "Silly... How well do you know a person after only thirty days anyway?"

"Then maybe she'll fall for him three years into their marriage."

"What if she doesn't? What if they don't get along at all?"

"There's always the fine art of infidelity."

"Han!"

"Think about it, kid! If you're gonna get yourself into a lifetime commitment with someone you don't particularly care about, wouldn't it be best if you had someone you do care about sneaking into your bedroom whenever your spouse is out having his own adulterous adventures?"

"What about all the stuff you've told me about your trip with her to Ennocma Werceci? About her yearning for true love, for devoting her life to the person that completes her, for utterly belonging with someone? If she's willing to have a marriage of convenience while looking for all that in someone else, she could very well have married you."

"Except that I don't have seventy-three worlds worth of treasures to offer her." Han gave him a rather irked look. "Don't get funny ideas, okay? I can only deal with one Skywalker at a time, thank you."

"I wasn't getting ideas," Luke grumbled. "You're mine now. I'm not sharing."

Han pulled him into a much deeper kiss, surrendering to his lover's unusually possessive touch.

For too long Luke had pretended not to love him. For too long he had tried to stop loving him. Now that his feelings were accepted, desired and openly returned, it was like his soul had been finally freed from the cage where it had been left for years, starving for attention. Luke sometimes wondered if the Jedi of the old days would have approved of his... ardour. Han didn't seem to mind it all, and often joked that as long as the spirit of Obi-Wan, Yoda or — the worst possible scenario — Anakin Skywalker didn't materialise to interrupt them with a loud, ethereal "Ahem", it would be okay.

They parted rather reluctantly.

"Isolder doesn't want a façade marriage," said Luke then.

"You haven't even met him in person yet. What makes you so sure of that?"

"The battle cruiser. Why would he bother bribing you to stay away, if all he wanted from Leia was a formal contract?" Luke shook his head. "No, he wants her, I'm positive."

"You think he's in love with her?"

"I don't know. Hopefully I'll be able to tell when I meet him."

"I did ask him about it, actually," Han confessed. "Doesn't seem like Hapes will get much from this deal, does it? Alderaan is gone. Surely there are other princesses out there with much more impressive dowries."

"What did he say?"

"That he'll explain himself over dinner. I suppose Leia invited you too."

"Yes. And she asked me to probe him as deeply as my scruples allow me."

"See?" Han grinned. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, kid. She demanded thirty days to consider the proposal — and that is twenty-nine days more than Hapans usually wait for an answer — and she's gonna make good use of them."

"I know," Luke sighed, slumping in the seat around the holo-chess table. "It's not that I don't trust her judgement, Han... It's just that..." He stared at the ceiling, giving himself time to organise his thoughts. "I don't know him. I don't know if I like him. And I know that thirty days aren't enough for me to decide if I want him in my family or not."

Han sat beside him, their thighs touching. "You know it's not your decision."

"I know."

"She'll hear your opinion and advice. She's already asked for it."

"I know."

"But she'll do whatever she wants, whatever she thinks is right."

"I know."

"But knowing doesn't make you feel any better about it, does it?"

"Not at all."

Han leaned back on the seat, mirroring Luke's position. "I know."

"I do want her to be happy, Han."

"I know."

"But Hapes is so secluded, so far away... from everything!"

"I know."

"And since Leia came back from there three months ago, she hasn't stopped talking about how beautiful the cities are, how amazing the Hapans are, how peaceful it felt, how much it reminded her of Alderaan, how at home she felt there..."

"I know."

"What if she accepts Isolder's proposal? That'd mean she'll become the reigning Queen of Hapes someday. She'll have to live there. Permanently."

"You'll always have this piece of flying junk at your disposal, you know," said Han, knocking on the table. "So at least you can go visit her whenever you want."

"How many visits until people start getting suspicious? With our luck, the press will restart the rumours about me being her secret lover."

"The truth is still out of the question?"

"It's up to her. It's always been up to her. But if she agrees to a politically convenient union, then I suspect she'll get even more reluctant to disclose our heritage."

"Listen, kid, if there's one thing I know for sure about Leia is that she won't give her only family up. She won't agree to anything that forces her apart from you again. She made that clear to me when we were together, and she'll made that clear to whoever she chooses to be with." Han brushed gentle fingers along his lover's arm. "So don't fret, okay? You're not gonna lose her. Not to Prince Quite-A-Sight, not to anyone."

Luke took a deep breath, and nodded. "What about you?"

The Corellian frowned. "What about me?"

"Aren't you... you know... jealous?"

"Jealous?! Of what, his self-important pose? His shiny battle cruisers?"

"Of Leia. Of her being with him."

"Leia and I are ancient history."

Luke turned his head to study Han's face. "Ancient?"

"Okay, maybe not ancient. But it is history."

"History leaves... powerful memories."

"Still, that's just memories. I have you. She should have someone too."

"So you're not jealous."

"Nope."

"Not a bit?"

"Nope."

"Because... it'd be okay if you were."

"Would it? Is it okay for me to be with you and still resent that she might find happiness with somebody else?"

"Well... As okay as it is for me to hope she'll refuse a proposal that might make her happy and that will benefit countless lives just because I don't want her to be away from me, I guess."

Han arched an eyebrow, watching Luke out of the corner of the eye. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yeah."

"And you're not gonna freak out and think I've had a change of heart or something?"

"Have you?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going to freak out."

"Good. Because I'm jealous as hell."

Luke entwined his arm with Han's, resting his head on the older man's shoulders. "I thought so."

"She's ours, dammit. We took her out of that blasted Death Star, and put up with her endless grumbling about our rescue plan. We let her scold us, mock us, lecture us, order us around. Then we let her trust us, depend on us, confide in us, and be there for us. We were the ones who turned her from an untouchable icon of the Rebellion into a real person, willing to love and live. And now she's gonna love somebody else and live far away from us? That's wrong! She belongs with us." Han let out a bitter chuckle. "That's gotta be the most selfish speech I've ever made."

"I don't know about that..." Luke grinned. "I can remember a handful of times when..."

"Shut up."

They remained in cosy silence for a moment, lost in thoughts, comforted by each other's presence. They could hear Chewbacca's singing in the 'fresher — or rather, making sounds that Chewie claimed to be singing, although Han described them as 'the last lament of an asthmatic Rancor as it died a painful death'. Right now, Luke found the strangely melodious roars quite soothing.

"This is the Dark Side, isn't it?" Han asked suddenly.

"Feeling like this? I don't know... Doesn't feel quite so. I mean, we're brooding, but we're not doing anything. Maybe if we don't act on our petty jealousies, we'll be okay. And might stand living with ourselves too."

"You mean we haven't acted on our petty jealousies yet. We have a very long dinner ahead of us. And Horm will be there too, fussing over that Prince and loudly reminding Leia that someone of her lineage should keep proper company. That's a lot to tempt my dark side."

"I'll kick you under the table if you start misbehaving."

"Okay... so I'll play footsie with you if you start misbehaving."

"That's hardly punishment."

"It'll distract you for long enough until you calm down."

Luke laughed. "You see? This is why the New Republic keeps dragging you back to the military. You're a great strategist."

"Why, thank you. Wanna hear about my other plan then?"

"What is it?"

"We gotta get cleaned up before dinner, but it'll be hours until Chewie is done rinsing his fur. So... what about we make use of our waiting time to get really, really dirty?"

"As in grease-covered, or sweaty and sticky?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

An ear-to-ear smile shone through the Jedi's face. "Sounds like a plan to me..."

Han kissed the corner of his mouth teasingly, and got on his feet, pulling Luke with him.

"Wait..." Luke stopped him, stroking the table's surface with his index finger. "Can you remember the last time we did it... here?"

"Yeah... It's been a while."

"Hoth?"

"I think so. No foreplay, quick and rough."

"That's how I remember it too," Luke nodded.

"Is that how you want it?"

"Not now. I just thought we could show this table how we... evolved since then."

With a very pleased smirk, the Corellian raised his lover in his arms and sat him on the table. Their hands were already working on the fasteners of each other's clothes. "I swear I'll never complain over the time Chewie takes in the 'fresher again."

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