SNOW DAY
Chapter 4
The lounge area was relatively uncrowded, and Han, to his delight, discovered they had reclining chairs and immediately claimed one. He was unhappy at not being able to join the kids and Chewie. He'd always wanted to try iceboarding and had never had the opportunity. Now he was on the injured list and not at all pleased about it.
Han decided that the first opportunity he had to try it out, he would.
He'd gotten much better at making friends over the years and began chatting up another guy there who'd brought his teenaged kids.
"Used to go with 'em all the time, but got a knee injury a few years back. Never quite been the same."
"I'd rather be out with my kids but I was slammed head on in my speeder not that long ago. Trying to knit the old bones back together."
"Tell me about it."
"How old are your kids?"
"Eleven, ten, and two. Eleven year old twins."
"Mine are fifteen and thirteen, two sons, eating me out of house and home."
"Yeah, my kids eat like starving Wookiees."
"Hoping that a few more sentients show up. Usually we get a sabacc game going. You play?"
"Oh yeah." The idea of a sabacc game always interested Han. "You have any problems getting here?"
"Nah, we're in the foothills. You?"
"Capital city."
"I like it out here. I teach and like living where it's quiet."
"My wife and I are urban animals. What can I say?"
"Well, most of the sentients I know love iceboarding, and a day like this, they'll be here soon. Your wife with the kids?"
"My wife's out of town. Did you see the Wookiee that came in with us? My oldest and closest friend, and the kids love him. He's pretty bad about letting them get away with stuff. My wife and I always get to be the hardasses."
A few more sentients, including another Wookiee, made their way to the lounge.
"Hey, Frak, how's it going?" Everyone seemed to know the person Han was talking to.
"Fine, ready for some sabacc. BTW, this is Han."
Hand and paw shakes went all around, and Frak went to get the cards from the counter agent. A dealer was chosen, and the game began.
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Han was winning nicely.
"You think you'd played before," the Wookiee player said, laughing.
"A time or two, yeah." Han scooped up the chips from the hand just played.
"You're killing us!" Frak said. "I fold."
"Same."
"Well, we could play another round and you can try to win it back," Han said, grinning wickedly.
"Sure, why not? I've got nothing to lose but my shirt," one of the players said, and everyone laughed. A new dealer was chosen and the game commenced.
"So Han, what do you do?" One of the female sentients asked him.
"I own a shipping company, train pilots. I like working for myself except that the boss is a complete dick." Several other players were all self employed and laughed on the basis of their similar experiences.
"What does your wife do?"
"She's in government."
"In what office?"
"Actually, she's the minister of state."
"Seriously? Minister Solo?"
"She is, and she's mine, guys, so be jealous on your own time."
"She's quite lovely," a female player commented.
"Yes, the most beautiful woman in the galaxy." Han had to smile. "So, let's play again, and maybe, just maybe, some of you might get your investment back."