fulfilling a promised lesson on the fine art of blasting things ...

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Walking back to the Millennium Falcon through the Nexus has gotten a little bit easier each time.  The first time, it took him more than an hour to get back despite the fact that his ship has always been parked about a thousand yards away from a path that leads to the forum.  The shiftable nature of this place makes no walk to and from anywhere as straightforward as it seems, but you can get used to it.

 

For a while, he cleans up the areas that he thinks both he and Verity are likely to be in for a while - the cockpit and the lounge especially, but also near the entry ramp and the living quarters.

 

He did promise lessons on how to fly and in due course, he will get her into the sky with him ... but he's still doesn't have a ton of fuel yet and the priority was always teaching her how to use the blasters.  So he's pulled four weapons out of the storage lockers, completely disassembled them and cleaned them.  He also discharges all, but one, of the plasma magazines.

 

They get placed them on top of the holochess board, which, sadly, is among one of the biggest flat surfaces available to him on the YT-1300 and then, he takes a shower and slips into a light weight pair of pants.  It seems to take a long time for him to drift off in the small bunk that he's claimed for himself.  The sound of the winter wind skips across the surface of his ship and makes a low howling sort of sound.

 

This is one of the reasons it's always preferable to put your ship in a proper hanger, but, when you're Han Solo, you work with what you got.  After a few hours he wakes up, not knowing what time it is, until he opens the entry ramp and looks outside.

 

It seems too early for her to arrive.  The sun hasn't even reached the apex of it's path yet, so he decides to lay back down.  Leaving the ramp down for her to facilitate her letting herself in. 

Comments

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He knows that was to make fun and she got him pretty good. He knows he's called her that a few times already, but has been hesitant to offer any compliments of greater substance because they so easily and throughly get her out of her comfort zone. To call someone pretty is fairly benign.

"This Captain gets busy." He says, after a few moments of trying to come up with the right response. "I can't stop to chase every pretty thing I see. I have to find the things that are worthy of my attention."

He's pretty pleased at himself for arriving at that reply.

As for cowboy, yeah, he' noticed that whatever they are, he seems to have things in common with them. They don't have cows where he comes from, though, ranching exists in it's equivalences out there. At minimum, pistol duels of speed are stupid and dangerous; an older Han would know better not to let it come to that if he had any say in it.

"No. None of them were door prizes or party favors either."

[brave_heart_verity]

Ah, to live in a galaxy free from the politics that make every compliment a battle zone and every kindness suspect.

It's a good answer and gets another smile. She manages to clamp down on the urge to say something self-deprecating, especially since it might only give him the idea she wants more compliments. (Not that she dislikes them, but she's not going fishing for them.) "It's good to be discerning."

Someday she'll have to show him a cowboy movie or two so he knows what she's talking about. But that would require watching a movie. Hmm. "No? What kinds of party favors do smugglers give out, then? All sorts of scandalous things, right?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

In general, we'd agree that Han's world is a lot less concerned with political correctness, but, considering Leia, it's not as if the idea that compliments as munitions in a war between two persons doesn't exist there too.

"A smuggler's party." He muses with a snort. "Vibroblades in the back for every guest and a spirited game of whose wearing a comlink."

The tone of his voice clearly projects a sarcasm there.

[brave_heart_verity]

Han is less concerned with it, and since he's all she really knows of his world... well, assumptions are frowned on for a reason.

"Sounds like fun," she tries to joke. It'd go better if she didn't sound so amused. "You're gonna invite me next time, right?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Every experience and detail he can offer her is through the viewpoint of the world as he sees it. Which should make for when she does get to see these things for herself and make her own opinions on them an interesting experence. Han sees things very much in his own way, for better or for worse.

"If picturing a whole room full of people like me seems like fun to you, sure. I'll be your date to the Smuggler's Ball, Ver."

[brave_heart_verity]

But isn't that always the way of things? Every experience is colored by those with whom it is shared. First impressions are colored by what's expected and what's been learned secondhand. Someone with a strong sense of self is more interesting.

"Aw, thank you. I promise to wear something that'll conceal lots of things."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He has to admit he's glad that he contributed to this appearence of good cheer. Seeing her amused makes him feel good, in a way that he can't fully grasp why.

"That's very paragmatic of you." He says with a thoughtful nod. "You would make a lot of friends in a room like that if you, instead, wore something revealing."

There's something to be said for the power of distraction.

[brave_heart_verity]

It's good to be able to make friends laugh. It's one of the most delightful reasons to have them.

"Mm, probably. But would they be friends worth having?" Distractions are all well and good, but sometimes it's very distracting to be the distraction.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"It an old con to go social event as a couple and one person act as the distraction while the other acts as the thief." He elaborates. The implication being that she could be his distraction and he could then work the room.

But. It's been a while since he's tried to lift things from people and he wouldn't necessarily, in this hypothetical, want his first time back in the saddle to be robbing other thieves.

"Though, if this is already a gathering of crooks, at least two other people would be trying that."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Yes, I've heard of it." It's not a con Loki ever asked her to help with, but he had stories. So many stories.

And, she has to admit: it does appeal to her mischievous nature, to help him with something like this. Steal from the thieves to give... well, to thieves. She's not so good a girl all the time as people might think.

"So it might be more of a distraction to bring a pretty girl who doesn't want their attention. Make them work for it."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han starts to lean in closer to Verity. It's subtle. He's a little more interested in this all of a sudden. And he's a bit surpised that she's willing to entertain and even encourage this behavior, though, it seems a shame that is no smugglers ball to speak of.

"Allow to speak from experience that sometimes that does work." He purses his lips thoughtfully. "Do you think you could pull it off?"

In fact, making someone work for attention feels like it's happening to him right now, on some level.

Also, not that he's apt to say this aloud, but he kinda struggles with the idea of Verity commanding a room, with her being on the withdrawn side around him.

[brave_heart_verity]

It really is a shame. She secretly loves that kind of thing. Especially if there's dancing. But really, any excuse to get dressed up and take her mind off things is welcome.

"No con is guaranteed success, and anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to pull one over on you." She smirks and leans forward, casting him a glance over the top of her glasses that's both playful and challenging. "Can I get dolled up and then spend an evening not being interested in boring people? Gee. That sounds tough."

She knows how to flirt, she just rarely chooses to.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han places the palm of his hand on his chest to keep himself from swooning and he flashes her a rueful smile.

"Careful, sweetheart, it's working."

Honestly, he wishes he was kidding, although, he might be embellishing his reaction a little bit for the sake of making her smile again.

[brave_heart_verity]

The pantomime makes her laugh again and shake her head. He should be careful what he wishes for.

"I promise to only use my powers for good," she answers solemnly. "My good, your good... what kind of good might be negotiable. But always something good."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Frankly, he never wanted to lock lips with her as badly as he did when she was mock flirting with him and talking about stealing from people. As much as they're laughing it off right now.

Han's not surpised at his own realization of that, but he's not sure what it means and, ultimately, it's not likely to affect what's going on between them. At least, he's pretty sure his efforts aren't going to get him any closer to her than they are right now. Not anytime soon anyway.

Still, he's done eating, so he's going to stand up and stretch. Crates will do for sitting on when you got nothing else, but they're hardly comfortable for a long period of time.

[brave_heart_verity]

There's a brief look of surprise when he gets up without a word. Guess that's done, then. She'll take the moment when he's stretching to clean up. (Yes, she was prepared for that, too.) It's also a chance to try and figure out what she did wrong.

The flirting, she decides. It was too far. Won't be doing that again.

"So, what's next?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

A shame. If he would have known he had a moment, and missed it entirely, he would have been kicking himself. Still, it's not as if he hasn't been up front that he likes her - her ability to detect his lies notwithstanding. There's only so much he can do before it's on her to reciprocate a little.

"I'm gonna put these crates away." He points out. "Then we either handle my prized possessions or we can go see the stern of the ship."

[brave_heart_verity]

Her passions have never run hot; they're so rarely flaired most people would think they don't exist. He isn't missing much. But she's aware that she's the defective one, and she shouldn't tease. That was wrong, and worse, it was unkind.

"One prized possession or another? Tough choice. But we might want to get some practice in before we lose the light?" It does get dark so fast this time of year. She'll help him move the crates if he'd like.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He can honestly say, he's got no idea what Ver's thinking. Not now and not really at any point before that either, which is saying something, because he has a knack for reading people.

Maybe that's part of the allure, she interests him because he can't see right through her. He also likes her to the point that he doesn't really want to push her away. So for now, he's walking the fine line.

He's not going to request her to move them for him, the crates, that is, but he wont deny the help either. He stacks the two they were using for seats on top of each other and starts pushing them back to the cargo bay.

"Wasn't planning on shooting today. I was thinking we'd just going over parts and maintenance and trying to figure out which size, if any, jump out at you."

[brave_heart_verity]

She's pretty much a human Voynich manuscript, all full of color and mystery and signifying who-knows-what. Cryptography has its fans for reasons. Mysterious reasons they don't want anyone to know. And maybe even scoundrels like having boundaries sometimes.

No, he doesn't need to ask her to help. Being useful is the price she pays for companionship. Moving a crate is nothing compared to some of the things she's done.

"Ah. Right. Safety first."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Is that disappointing to you?"

Part of the problem is that they don't really have a good place to shoot either. He wouldn't want Verity's first shots to be in the cold and the wind. There needs to be some stillness while you're first learning everything.

But, ... thre seems to have been a shift in her mood as far as he can tell. He, probably wrongly, assumes its because she's tentatively being told she'd not being able to blast anything.

[brave_heart_verity]

Her emotions are a discarded heap on shifting sands. She had no idea what's going on half the time either.

"A little," she admits, "but I understand why we're starting there."

There are gun ranges and shooting galleries and the like, but she's grown up with the idea of tin cans on the back fence. Some cultural hand-me-downs are hard to shake. "I'll get to shoot them someday, right?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han wouldn't blame her. If it was him, he'd be utterly dissapointed, as a matter of fact. There's maybe a small part of him that wonders if there was something else, but ... he shakes the feeling off.

And his preference would be shooting outside too, if the weather were better.

"Well." He purses his lips. "Maybe we'll go up on the roof and shoot a few bolts." He actually kind of wanted to get up on the roof to gaze at the stars later ...

[brave_heart_verity]

There is always something else. Several of them. A face she'll always look for in the crowd, a name that makes her want to cry, memories of fire.

But there's something nice to look forward to, so she chooses to smile instead of moping. "That sounds fun. Thank you."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He certainly has his own baggage. Not to mention he has a fair bit of experience consoling women in pain, but that's neither here nor there. You can only help when someone wants to let you and he understands both sides of that.

"No problem."

Han secures the trio of crates back in the storage crates with a maglock and then, he'll lead them over to the holochess board that his toys are laid out on.

"I laid out four types. There's a hold-out blaster, two kinds of heavy pistols, and a blaster rifle.