Han’s humor, conversely, was low brow. It was certainly influenced spending about a decade around people who weren’t all that well educated and weren’t too concerned with impressing the people around them. Yet. Han himself was clever and just a little more observant than you’d expect. It made for an interesting sense of humor to match the persona it belonged to.

“Trying to get away from me already, huh?” It’s a light tease, but he can’t help himself. It’s becoming a bit a pattern he’s noticed in the way she behaves. “It’s okay, I still like you.”

If she’s not comfortable it was better to let her ease back, wasn’t it? He can’t help but feel a little disappointment, but he’s also questioning what his endgame was here — did any of the things he hoped might happen seem all that realistic.

“Your troubles, whatever they are, are a long way away from here, your highness.”

He wasn’t trying to be sarcastic. He wasn’t trying to belittle her for feeling beholden to things he couldn’t understand, but at the same time, if there was ever a moment where she wanted a break from being the Princess ... this was likely the only place she would ever really have it. Pointing that out to her was no guarantee that she would embrace the fun of being with him, though, so he’s trying to steel his heart from the possibility of rejection.

“I feel like I like you the right amount.” He says with a shrug. “But. You’re accomplished and classy and smart. I can’t find anything to dislike yet.”

It wasn’t supposed to relieve her of them, no. It was just a gentle reminder that she could finally take a break, without the repercussions of people who knew who she was noticing that she was taking it easy. With the various retellings about what her aunts were like and how she had an inclination to want to break the rules once in a while, he thought that reminder might serve her well.

He’s not like he’s gonna pretend he didn’t have a rooting interest in her deciding that a scoundrel was worth her time. But yes. It was also a chance for her to let him down gently.

“Kinda makes me wonder if you’re looking so hard at the forest, do you ever see the trees?” He regretted saying it almost immediately. Leia was so driven and so smart that surely some stupid metaphor he’d heard somewhere wasn’t going to impress her. And yet, Han can’t help like it’s an important thing to say anyway.

It was what would make the Rebels different from the Empire, after all. What had to make them different if they were ever going to be ‘better’.

“Well.”

Han cleared his throat and took a moment to try to think about the best way to describe his point to Leia. He didn’t want to sound like some kind of thick-headed wanna be intellectual to her and he could sort of understand how people could find her intimidating like she said — despite her small stature.

“So the Empire acts in it own interests. It doesn’t really care about the people it has to choke the life out of to get what it wants. We’ve all heard the stories of worlds being stripped of all their valuables and them not being compensated in any way that’s sustainable for the people that have to live there, so I won’t go on about that — they treat their own people just as bad, though. Not as many people know that. You get dehumanized and devaluated. Issued a number. Who you were before doesn’t make any difference to them once you enlist.”

He pauses for a moment, then continues.

“I was just thinking, and there ain’t really a rebellion like you’re talking about where I come from yet, but if you thinking of this as one big battle after the next or your resources versus theirs and who has the most advantageous position at any given time ... you sort of become like them. You gotta remember that all your Rebels have a place they came from. Things that are important to them. They’re not just parts in a big machine.”

He forces a little bit of a smile, though not much of one because the subject is a somber one. “That includes Rebel Princess. I’m pretty sure they’re people too.”

Han’s face seems to lose a shade of color when Leia picks up a little too much of what he was saying. Yes, it does seem like he knows the Empire, doesn’t it?

“I didn’t ...” say that. The lies were already on the tip of his tongue. He could say he heard from someone he had met that was discharged. He could make up a name on the spot or tell her the name of someone he had met in the academy. It’s not like she would know and it wasn’t something she could look up.

“There wasn’t a lot of places for me to go.” He says, finally, opting to tell her some of the truth.

It was hard to admit that to Leia who, he knew, had very well defined feelings for what the Empire stood for. He had been wrestling with his own feelings about the whole thing since he’d deserted, but he felt extra embarrassed about his participation now and it showed on his face. At least for a moment. He can see that she got something else on her mind entirely and he was glad for that — though the kiss comes as a bit of a surprise.

Han settles into the moment quickly enough. He’s reaching his hands almost possessively around her lower back and he pulls her into his lap. He’s not shy about the pressure from his nose and jaw rubbing against her as he kisses back hard. This was a no-holds-barred backstreets of Corellia kind of kiss now and Han was perfectly at home in it.

“I think it would be reading my mind.”

He murmurs with an unbridled smile. Han, being the recipient of any kind of affection she would be offering in that instance, wasn’t in a position to judge. Even if he had been, he wouldn’t. This is what people did when they had an attraction to each other and if they were going back to different points in time ... it wasn’t like he’d ever find her anywhere except for here.

He’d have to look into the best way to make sure they could find each other again, before going back home.

“We can find a place. I don’t really have an apartment here the way some people do, but finding a room won’t be too hard.”

Han makes a slow nod. It’s not like there was all that much of a need for her to elaborate further and he supported all the reasons she might want for them to have privacy. He was just as into the idea of being alone with her as she seemed to be of him.

“We would go down to the commerce district and see what there is to see. You can also go on the network, which is like this place’s version of the holonet, and pay for the room before you get there.”

In hindsight, he’s not all that surprised that the Princess has had a wealth of experience getting her own hotel room somewhere. He didn’t get the sense that Leia snuck away with handsome scoundrels much. Or ever.

“Are you picky about your accommodations, Leia?”

“Alright, that’s a fair point.”

Though his eyes narrowed at the reveal that she had spent some time in an Imperial holding cell and he reached out to place his hand over hers in empathy. Han knew exactly how poorly people who were detained by the Empire could be treated, though, he’s not certain how being a princess might change the usual approach. Would they treat her better so as not to ruffle Queen Breha and Bail?

Alderaan might not have a military presence anymore, but even Han knew it wasn’t necessary wise to pick a fight with a influential core world all the same.

“Okay Princess, ready to be lead around by a wild stallion?” He teases her with a fractional smile on his face. His big hands settle on her little waist and he easily picks her up off of his lap and sets her on her feet. “I think I saw a few good places last time I was here in the nexus.”

His hand was offered to her if she wanted to have it.

“You know, the opposite of a thoroughbred.”

He’s not sure that he needed to explain his joke or not, but he felt like it was a clever thing to say. And Han was alright with calling attention to the fact that he can be smart in front of her. He wanted to impress Leia as badly as he’d ever wanted to impress anyone.

If she happens to be looking at Han, the moment she asks her question, the young man winces. It hadn’t even dawned in him how that might sound to her. “It’s not like that.” He says, shaking his head. “I grew up on the streets, Leia. I spent about as many years having to sleep on a padded roll on the ground as I have in a real bed. You just get in the habit of looking for places you might need to go ... if things start to go sideways.”