"Kid, I knew when you started having your own kids it would bring me trouble. Anything involving you always does."
Luke Skywalker frowned; would Han ever stop calling him "Kid"? He was on into his late forties now and a father at that-- he was hardly a kid anymore. And yet those who knew him best would easily point out the childlike heart that rested beneath the Jedi-forged exterior of wisdom and strength-- a heart full of earnesty and compassion that was unable to be completely concealed. No one that held him dear to their heart would ever want it to, for it was these qualities that made him simply Luke, no status or affiliations attached.
"It's only for a few hours, Han," Luke patiently assured. Ben tugged at his father's hand, struggling to get away and chase the Mon Calamari that had just strode down the complex hall. "No, Ben," Luke hissed under his breath, annoyed that his son had picked this particular moment to exemplify misbehavior.
"Yeah, yeah." Han Solo stepped back and opened his arm in a gesture of reluctant welcome. "Bring the little monster in here." He added in a mumble, "This was supposed to be my day off, ya know. You owe me, Junior." Leia and the twins were on a diplomatic excursion-- one of little gravity, a mere convenience to give the Jedi youth a bit of experience in propriety and social grace. She had given up on hopes that Han would ever acquire such traits and thus had not insisted that he accompany them.
"I'm really very sorry," Luke sighed. "But you know Mara. She… well… she's not the type of woman that takes no for an answer."
"So she's the one that caused this?" Han laughed heartily as he gestured down at Ben. "That little-- ha, I have something against her now--"
"What?" Luke's face reddened with realization. "No, Han, that's not what I meant!"
"So you are to blame, eh, Kid?" Han flashed a proud smile. "A Jedi knows no passion? My boot…"
If anyone could fluster a Jedi Master, Luke's brother-in-law was definitely the capable party. "I meant that Mara booked today for me to be fitted for some new formal outfits." Luke looked considerably disheartened as he considered a day at the mercy of Coruscant's snooty tailors and his wife's decisive choices in clothing. He would much rather be the one that got to stay here with Ben and play with toy warriors and model starfighters all day.
"Have fun," Han offered sarcastically. Luke grunted in reply before he knelt down next to Ben, whom had already emptied his backpack of toys across the apartment floor. The redheaded seven-year-old mimicked the noise of twin engines as he flew his model skyhopper through the air at arm's length.
"I want you to be a good boy for Uncle Han," Luke instructed sternly. "If I come back and hear otherwise, you'll be in big trouble."
"Yessir," Ben promised absently. "Will you bring me back a treat?"
"Perhaps. That depends on how well you behave."
"How would you know how good I am being so that you could buy me a treat?" Ben pondered. Han snickered and Luke frowned; simple evasive assurances were no longer very effective on the keen boy. He regarded his father with sincerely curious blue eyes.
"The Force tells me many things, Ben," Luke responded. Well it wasn't technically a lie-- if Ben did have any strong surges of emotion, Luke would sense it. He still felt a bit deceptive, especially when Ben nodded, apparently convinced in the omnipotence of the Force. "I'll see you in a few hours," Luke added as he tugged Ben into a hug. Ben impatiently hugged him back and writhed away to return to his toys. Luke gave Han a nod of gratitude before departing, the replusored door managing to sound foreboding even with its soft whoosh of closing. Slowly, Han turned to eye the boy that sat upon his living room floor.
As if he sensed his uncle's gaze, Ben lifted his own eyes and met Han's. "What?" the boy questioned. It kind of freaked Han out-- he didn't like kids using that Force business around him. It had been a long time since he had had young children in this apartment. He remorsefully reflected for a moment upon one of Anakin's first birthdays, smiles with missing front teeth and giggles playing throughout his memory. Anakin was gone, and Jacen and Jaina were grown. Luke was starting his family; Han's was leaving him. It brought him a pang that he'd never allow anyone to know he had. Perhaps he was not as begrudging about having to hang out with Ben for awhile as he had pretended he was.
"Nothin'. So… what do you do kid?" Han questioned awkwardly. Model ships were nice for a few minutes, but this kid surely wasn't going to play with them all day.
"I play with toys," Ben answered. "I'm allowed to watch holovision sometimes, but I snuck it on a week ago so Dad said I can't watch it for awhile."
"Oh?" Han's eyes lit. Luke was a bit strict on the boy, he knew. "How about we watch some now?"
Ben's blue eyes, so like Luke's, widened reproachfully. He was obviously torn between loyalty to his father and intrigue over his uncle's offer. "Dad said I'm not allowed until he gives me permission again," the boy repeated.
"Is Dad here?" Han looked around before answering himself. "I sure don't see him anywhere. Uncle Han's in charge today, little buddy, and I say we watch some holovision."
"Yessir," Ben whispered meekly.
"And don't call me sir," Han added as he urged his nephew onto the sofa. "I ask you somethin', you either answer 'Hell yeah!' or 'No way!' Got it?"
Ben looked as if he had been commanded to willingly jump into a sarlaac pit. "Er…okay…" His eyes widened with delight when his uncle handed him a remote.
"You just hit that button and turn it to whatever you want," Han instructed.
"Anything I want?" Ben tested. When Han nodded assuringly, the boy began flicking through the different channels, slowly at first and then too fast to even discern what was on, a delighted grin on his face as he stopped at various programs with enough violence and aggression in them to propel even a non-Force sensitive over to the Dark Side. Han could tell that it felt fabulously unorthodox to Ben.
"Having fun, kid?"
"Yessir-- er, I mean… he-hell yeah," Ben answered reluctantly, barely audible.
Han smiled fondly. It was a start.
***
"Greens? Boy, are you kidding me?" Han scoffed.
"Dad and Mom say they're good for a growing boy," Ben shrugged.
"If I hear one more sentence that begins with Dad says…" Han shuffled through the storage shelves over the kitchenette's appliances. Leia despised greasy, heavy Corellian foods, but Han managed to hide a few here and there to keep her from throwing them out. "Here we go. Mynock in thick meat sauce, greasesticks and Corellian firewater." He began prepping them into the food service station.
Ben lofted a brow. "That sounds very unhealthy."
"Unhealthy? This is a man's meal, boy! You wanna be a big tough Jedi like your dad, right?" Han inwardly wished that Luke was a bit taller so that he would serve as a better example of being big and tough.
The smile that brightened Ben's face made Han wonder why he had ever doubted that the boy viewed his father as the biggest, strongest, most wonderful man in the galaxy. "More than anything," the child whispered sincerely, and his uncle almost felt guilty for using such a device.
"Then you gotta eat tough food. Man-food."
"Man-food?" Ben was still skeptical.
"Man-food!" Han repeated with conviction. "You think your dad got big and strong by eating greens?"
"What's wrong with greens?" Ben persisted. His face dawned with newfound comprehension. "Are they… woman food?"
Han nodded nonchalantly. "Yep. The womanest food."
"Gross!" Ben exclaimed as Han set a plate before him. "I'm never eating them again." Han grimaced, forseeing a heated discussion between Luke and himself about why Ben was suddenly refusing to eat his greens.
"Is it good, boy?" Han questioned offhandedly as Ben tore into a mynock leg.
The boy swiped with his sleeve at a bit of sauce on his mouth and took a swallow of the firewater to wash the food down before answering. He eyed it with a mixture of delight and surprise when it induced him to belch-- rather loudly. "Hell yeah," he answered with a grin.
***
"I'm tellin' you, Ben, you won't get arrested!"
"I'm not supposed to operate real vehicles!" Ben wailed in protest. Han held him on his lap in the driver's seat of a Republic personal transport.
"I'm right here; nothin' is going to happen! I'll take the controls if you get scared."
"I'm not scared," Ben bit out, and Han was surprised to hear the suddenly steeled tone. "I'm not scared of anything."
"Then drive or I'm telling Jacen what a big baby you are. Big baby Ben… can't even take control of a small little transport…"
That did it. Ben idolized his older cousin, and would go to the ends of the galaxy to prove to him that he was as old and as tough as he and his own Dad were. He gripped the controls and Han operated the pedals. They began tearing through the empty backstreet, Ben whooping in joy as he swung sharply around a corner with Han pushing full throttle.
"You like the real thing better than your toy versions, kid?"
"Hell yeah!"
***
Both uncle and nephew were rushing madly about the apartment, cleaning up spilt meat sauce, tripping on stray toys, trying to tame their suspiciously windblown hair. It had been as such since Ben announced minutes ago that he sensed his father drawing near to the complex. Han had just managed to hide the sauce stain with a cushion when the door swooshed open. "Hi buddy!" Luke grinned as Ben barreled him with a mighty hug. "Were you a good boy?"
"Yesssir." When Han nodded in confirmation, Luke drew a brightly packaged bag of sweets out of his tunic pocket.
"Then these are for you. Get your things; Mom is waiting downstairs in the transport." Ben grinned delightedly, pecked a kiss upon Luke's cheek, and tore into the bag with the fervor of a thief sinking into a bag of gold. "Don't eat them all at once," Luke added concernedly.
"Thanks again, Han," the Jedi Master commended. "He wasn't any trouble?"
"You've got a great boy there, Luke," Han assured him. "You should be proud."
The boyish smile that brightened Luke's face from ear to ear left no doubt that he was. "We've got to get going; apparently, my suits will wither into useless oblivion if Mara doesn't get them home and hung in proper attire encasing immediately." He rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile as he and Ben walked out into the hall.
Han stood in his doorway, watching them go. He had had a great day with Ben and was somewhat sad to see it end, for it again brought the recognition that his own days of raising kids were long gone. He'd just have to get Luke to let Ben hang out with him more often. He heard Luke ask Ben if he had a good time with his uncle as they disappeared around a corner.
Han had to smile, all remorse forgotten, as he heard Ben respond with a hearty, resounding, "HELL YEAH!"