Nebulous - Han Solo [2]

Chapter 10 : 'Excited'

"We're gonna have to turn off everything except for the emergency power," Tasha said, pulling herself out of her chair and beginning to flick switches above her head, and the falcon made a small humming noise, almost like a sigh or a yawn, as though it were happy to get some rest. Tasha seemed distracted, well, more distracted than usual, as her sleek fingernails softly caressed the ship as though it were alive. Leia walked out of the cockpit, grumbling about something or other.

"Excuse me sir," said Threepio to Han, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but does that include shutting me down?"

"No," said Han, and Tasha couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, "we need you to talk to the falcon, find out what's wrong with the hyperdrive," Tasha made her way over to the other side of the cockpit, knocking out the rest of the power. The ship rocked, creaking, and the four of them in the cockpit all lurched to one side, struggling to get a hold on something. Han grabbed her waist, steading her. she cast him a small grateful look, careless yet sincere, pulling herself back up into an upright position.

"Sir," pipes up Threepio, "I do believe this asteroid is not entirely stable," Han's face turned to thunder as he turned to Threepio.

"Not entirely stable? well I'm glad you're here to tell us these things," he said sarcastically, "Chewie take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive," the Wookiee growled in agreement, grabbing the droid and pulling him back out of the cockpit as Tasha finished disarming the weapons and engaging the emergency power systems.

"All set-" she began, before another rumble of the ship cut her off, throwing her off balance and onto Han's lap. Tasha's mind flashed back to the last time this had happened, to how different things had been, to how . . . happy she was, how free. How different it was now, on the run again, with more dangerous people after her. Han slides a hand around her waist, keeping her still as the floor continues to move.

"Let go," Tasha said, quite quietly, straining slightly against his hands. A small rumble fills the air and the cockpit continues to shake, Han shushing Tasha when she protested.

"Let go, please," she was still quiet, her voice soft, almost too soft for it to be Tasha saying it Han thought. Something had happened down on Hoth. Since they had moved the base she had become more distant, as though her confident demeanour was an act, instead of how she really was. He missed that almost carefree attitude she had had once.

"If you don't let me go Solo, so help me-" there it was. That brash confidence that he admired so much. She hit him lightly with her elbow, and Han scowled slightly at her.

"Hey, don't get excited," he said, a touch of annoyance in his voice. she scoffed. Yep, she was definitely back.

"Solo, as you well know, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me 'excited'," she spat. Han smirked, setting her back onto her feet as they stood up.

"Sorry sweetheart," he said as she rounded on him, "I haven't got time for anything else," he smirked at her once more, enjoying her gaping expression as she struggled to find words strong enough to describe him, before walking out of the cockpit.

"Do you really think you can get this bucket of bolts back into the air again without my help?" she shouted after him, grabbing the doorframe that led into the cockpit. A small smirk graced her lips as he stopped, turning and facing her with an annoyed expression. She stalked past him, her mask of a confident smirk covering her face as she hit him with her shoulder. She grabbed a welding tool off the floor by her feet, turning to him and pointing to a small room filled with pipes and wiring. A perfect place to sit and ponder what had happened down on that ice cube.

"I'll start in there," she said, flicking her head as she walked, "you boys always miss the smaller details anyway."