a/n: insp. by Ellen and Portia.

Scare

He had come home for the day, and tossed himself down on the sofa, intent on lying there for a brief moment to recuperate from the shock of actually having worked a full day, and then some. His moment of rest accidentally turned into a lengthy, impromptu nap, from which he woke up several hours later, in a much darker apartment, with every single one of his muscles angrily protesting about the terrible position he'd left them in while he slept.

Han lifted his head from the pillow he'd buried it in, looking around blearily.

"Leia?" he called gruffly – surely she'd been at home when he got back; she'd said she would be.

How was it that the whole apartment seemed as if it was the dead of night – it couldn't be past midnight, could it? He lifted his head a bit more, narrowing his eyes and looking around.

"Leiiiiiiiiiiaaaa?" he called louder.

Nothing.

He pushed himself up with a wince, scowling at himself for falling asleep flat on his face, sprawled out on a too-small sofa, and stood, rustling his hand through his hair and running a hand over his jaw as he yawned. He kicked aside the jacket he'd stripped off before he collapsed, and shuffled around the furniture, prowling around to look for his wife.

His checked the blinking chrono on the stove, and his brow furrowed – he'd only been asleep two hours. Had she not been home when he got here? Gone out when she saw him asleep? What - ?

He went into their bedroom, and found the 'fresher light on, the closet door open – plenty of evidence that Leia had been around, in the past few hours, and just as he was about to transition into a full panic, he noticed a small foot poking out from under the bed.

Arching a brow, Han came closer, standing right over the foot, and staring down at it.

It was definitely Leia's. He tilted his head, and nudged it with his boot.

"Leia," he said loudly.

Without wasting time, he crouched down, and then got onto his knees, and then finally stretched out flat to be able to see into the small space under the bed – where he found Leia, proned out, her head facing towards him and pillowed on her arm – fast asleep.

Amused, he smirked.

He reached out and poked her in the ribs gently, tickling her. Leia's eyes flew open, and he grinned.

"Hi, Sweetheart," he greeted, and she gave a soft, surprised scream, lifting her head and smacking it against the bottom of the bed.

Han tried to stifle laughter, and scooted back a little, reaching out his arm to take her hand and help her shimmy out from under the bed. Forcing himself not to laugh too hard, he rolled up on his side, propping his head up on his palm smugly.

"What the hell're you doin' under there?" he drawled.

Struggling with a yawn of her own, Leia's face flushed –

"I was…going to – grab your foot, when you – I was trying to scare you!" she stammered.

"You fell asleep under the bed while you were tryin' to scare me?"

"What took you so long to come into the bedroom?" she demanded, scowling.

Han snorted.

"Fell asleep on the couch the minute I walked in," he retorted.

Leia gave him a withering look, drawing her lip into her mouth to bite back a smile.

"You scared me!" she accused.

He started laughing, without holding it back this time. He reached out with his free arm, beckoning –

"C'mere," he growled playfully.

Leia rolled over closer, barreling into him aggressively and attempting to roll over him. He grabbed her about the waist, curving his fingertips into her ribs again, and she squealed at the sensation, ticklish, and dramatically attempted to fight out of his grip.

He tilted his head back, pretending to be solemn, and caught her eye.

"'M sorry I scared you," he said, patting the back of her head. "Is your head okay?"

She sighed, jabbing her elbow into his chest softly and resting her chin on her palm, shaking her head at him while clicking her tongue.

"Not since the day I fell in love with you," she teased.

Han gave her a mock glare, and rolled to his side, letting her go – pretending to push her back under the bed, while she giggled and kicked her feet out, this time, trying to comfortably climb back into his arms.

- alexandra