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Care to Wager? -----

Chapter Two: The Conscience Speaks OR Socks

Intuition should have told Leia that playing Sabacc with an avid gambler was a very bad idea, but her better judgment told her that it was just a card game, and no one ever lost anything more than their possessions in a card game. Of course, being a dignitary had its downfalls, and the lack of experience with many social imperfections, such as gambling, left her with nothing more to go on than a long, white dress, the necklace he bought for their second wedding anniversary, and a pair of socks. It was basically everything she had left to wager.

The little voice in the back off her mind kept telling her that possessions weren't the only thing on the line, her dignity was laid right out on the table as well.

Staring at her cards, she could almost see her conscience dancing its way across the nine of staves. It spoke to her, "This isn't going to end well!"

"Stop it," she scolded.

"If that's your brother you're talking to then I'm going downstairs to kick his ass," Han frowned. "This is our time."

Leia blushed a little, embarrassed that she had been caught talking to herself. "You couldn't kick his ass if you tried."

Han laid his cards down on the table and began to stand. Leia grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down to the floor.

"You aren't going anywhere without your pants," she chided.

"Hey, winning my pants doesn't give you the right to be cocky, it just means that I'm letting you win."

Leia fingered the 'Balance' card, a card worth negative eleven points. Altogether her hand of four cards was worth 12 points, hardly enough points to guarantee a win. She kept the nine of staves and discarded the other three cards, pulling three fresh ones from the stack.

Han watched the concentration on Leia's face. He was shocked that she had picked up on the game so quickly. In truth she had beat him into the ground with her Pure Sabacc win, and as an added bonus he had let her choose the article of clothing that she wanted the most.

Of course she wanted his pants, it was the most obvious choice. They had pockets and everything, what self-respecting woman couldn't resist?

"Alright, I call it," Leia said, laying her cards on the table. The nine of staves, three of coins, the Idiot, and the six of sabres. Altogether a hand worth eighteen points.

Han grumbled and laid out his negative two point hand on the table.

"What was that?" Leia asked with a grin.

"It's because I let you win, sweetheart. It's always because I let you win."

"I was under the impression that this was a game of chance," she said smugly. "Give me your sock."

"Start undressing now," Han warned as he pulled at the sock, "because I'm not gonna go easy on you anymore."

"Oh I'm shaking," Leia mocked.

Han tossed the sock across the table where Leia made a show of setting it on top of her growing pile of clothing. Of course, Han was not without victory, and he set a heavy hand on top of his winnings, which included Leia's earrings, a long-sleeved jacket, and his favorite prize: her underwear.

Han shuffled the cards and dealt out new hands. He stared at the numbers and pictures on his cards, wondering if he should just call the hand right then, or if stringing Leia along was worth the wait just to see her squirm. He could tell by the way she was biting her lip that she didn't have a good hand.

If she wanted to be ruthless, he could play her game.

"I'll call it now and save myself the trouble of this hand," he said arrogantly. He laid his cards on the table and Leia's mouth opened as if to say something.

"Sock please," he requested.

Leia dropped her cards face down in the discard pile and lifted her foot to pull off the called for garment. She threw it in his face, determined not to let him enjoy his win too much.

He dealt new cards and glanced at them with grim satisfaction again. Leia tossed two of her cards out into the discard pile, accepting two new cards that seemed to please her much more.

"Well, shall we go another round or would you like to call it now?"

Han picked one card out of his hand and pitched it into the discard pile, favoring a new card much more. Satisfied, he laid his cards out for Leia's inspection. Frowning, she added up his score of twenty-two, which beat her own sum by three points. It was close, but not good enough.

Silently she began peeling off her other sock.

"I always thought you had nice feet," he commented.

"You never paid attention to my feet."

"Well I am now," he grinned. "You have nice feet."

"Shut up, laser brain."

She threw the sock at his chest and waited for the next hand, hoping that it played more to her favor than his. After all, she couldn't let her conscience be right all the time. Especially not a Jedi conscience.

Leia surveyed herself while Han shuffled the cards. She was seriously lacking in things left to wager. She had a necklace and a dress. He had his shirt and his left sock.

"Well, Captain, it looks like this game is just about over."

"Double or nothing?"

"I'm game," she nodded.

Han grinned maliciously.

a/n: Short and sweet, just the way I prefer to write them. Still one more chapter to go. I've been working on a ton of other stories for this fandom, I'm just trying to do five hundred things at a time. They'll get done one of these days, hopefully sometime soon. Anyway, the next chapter is coming soon. Be patient.

It's a fanfiction sin to read without reviewing.

Now to my reviewers, a big thanks: kilafer, vegemite (I've always got another trick up my sleeve…), Turtle Sister (of course there was more! And you have the reviewer's right to complain because you left a review. Besides, I delivered, didn't I?), Pitdroid (Thanks!), LVB (I aim to impress haha), Jillie Rose, GreatOne (You're so dirty! But I like it…), Ratiocinate, From-Heaven2Earth (It wouldn't be half as fun if I wasn't evil), CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88, Charli Fenwick (Hail Mary's… ahahahahahaha), dm1 (I'm always doing something crazy for the sake of fanfiction), HopelessRomantic225, Frank and Avery.dont ask, mikelover (Thanks! I go for the best characterization I can without being too cliché)

Mwah! Until next chapter, my little minions…