Leia wandered through the hangar. She was a common enough sight there, though she would deny it. She wasn't aware how often she came down to seek the company of certain pilots because she was usually preoccupied with something else.
Her brow bore a slight furrow, and her expression was distracted, as she often was when coming to the hangar, as if her feet were leading her there and her brain did not know why.
She walked up the ramp of the Millennium Falcon, unaware of the nudges observant pilots gave each other. They set their tools down and watched the ramp.
"Han," Leia called. "Are you here?"
She did hear a strange sound, a type of chuffling.
A muffled reply also reached her ears, and she set out to locate it.
Han was in a part of the ship as yet unfamiliar to Leia. It was spacious, as if it was used for storage, but that space may have been created by the ship's captain, for there was also a good assortment of equipment.
Leia gazed upon the scene. Han was sitting on a crate. He wore only one boot. The other was a short distance away in the middle of the clear floor. It almost looked as if there were a foot in it. The high leg was leaning at a bit of an angle, but the sole was wholly on the floor. It should fall over, Leia thought, but it hadn't.
Han, on the crate, was bending over his first mate's arm, and that's who was chuffling, Leia realized. Chewbacca looked terribly unhappy, stooped over in an awkward position with his forearm against a pipe.
"What's going on?" Leia asked.
"Luke's in the med bay again," Han informed her immediately.
"Not again," Leia said in dismay.
"Yeah. Shut your noise, Chewie." Han gave her a look, a bit sour, to show his mood. "You ever feel like you're the only adult at camp?"
She smiled. She knew she should ask about Luke, but Han's question let her know it wasn't serious.
"All the time."
He shot her another look, showing he did not care for her lumping him in with the other pilots.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Hang on, let me finish with Chewie," Han said.
Leia took a step closer. The huge Wookiee was usually silent and very strong, but he was neither at the moment. "What are you doing?"
"Shaving his arm fur. Shut up, Chewie, I'm almost done. And no one's gonna care a Wookiee's got a bald arm."
Leia waited patiently. Chewie's chuffling had changed rhythm, losing the sense of distress and becoming softer.
"There," Han said and shut off the tool he was holding. Leia identified it as a razor, since he mentioned he was shaving.
Chewie rubbed the now very-short fur of his arm.
"You big baby," Han said.
Leia continued to take in the scene. The pipe upon which Chewie had rested his arm now had a length of fur stuck to it. There was a tattered section of tarp on the ground, and the pipe was not connected to anything.
"Don't step there," Han warned. "I'm not sure I got the whole floor covered. You might get stuck."
"Stuck?"
"Yeah, like my boot. You see, Junior came by and offered to help me. This," Han pointed at the pipe, "gets all clogged with goop. Every once in a while, I got to open it up and clean it out. Nasty job."
"So you thought you'd give it to Luke to do."
He smiled at her. "I love it when you predict me. Exactly, give it to Luke. He told me he's very handy, fixed all the machines on his farm."
"He's told me that, too."
"Only, he didn't know that pipes need solvent cement instead of the usual cyanoacrylate, and when he wondered why it wasn't sticking, the idiot used his fingers to spread it around and you can guess what happened."
Leia covered her mouth with a hand. "Oh, no," she said.
"Yup. Now a piece of my pipe is a patient in the med bay."
"Oh, that's awful."
"How come you show my pipe more sympathy than you did when I got shot in the leg that time?"
"Because I was also admitted to the med bay with a blaster wound and unconscious for two days. By that time, you, with your meager wound, were already discharged."
Han chuckled. "You just always gotta win. Lemme find another boot, and we'll go see how my pipe is doing."
"And Luke."
"Sure. 'Course. Chewie, you wanna come?"
The Wookiee roared an answer, pointing to his shaven forearm.
"He says no. I'll meet you at the ramp."
Leia waited for Han, turning her head first to the left to observe activity, and then to the right. If she looked straight ahead, she probably would have noticed the group of pilots trying to hide behind the body of an X-Wing.
Han came out, hopping on one leg and trying to insert his foot into the high leg of a boot while he hopped. Once he had managed that, he stood, stamping his foot down into the boot sole. He also made an odd gesture, raising his arm overhead and pumping his fist three times. He and Leia set off for the med bay.
The group of pilots closed their circle tighter, animatedly discussing what they thought they had witnessed.
"What was that for?" Leia asked as they moved away.
"Nothing," Han said.
"You think I don't know," Leia accused. "I know everything."
"If you knew Luke would glue himself to a big pipe, you should've spoken up."
"You're insufferable."
Han grinned. "I know."
Luke was the lone occupant in the med bay. He sat on a chair and his right arm, looking ungainly heavy with the pipe attached, rested on a table.
His face flushed when he saw Leia. "I told you not to tell her," he said to Han.
"Kid, the appearance of the Falcon more or less told her. I just put a face to the story."
"How are they treating it, Luke?" Leia asked.
"They're looking in to what will dissolve it," Luke said miserably. "My fingertips are burning like Tatooine at high noon. And don't look like you're trying not to laugh."
"Sorry." But a bubble of laughter escaped from her mouth. "I'm more relieved you aren't seriously hurt, really."
"My pride is hurt."
"It should be," Han said.
"What on earth caused you to-" Leia began, when Luke interrupted.
"It's Chewie's fault. He even went and got it for me. And I'm real suspicious, Han-"
"What about?"
"This is the third time Chewie has caused me to go to the med bay. He dropped that hydraulic piston on my foot, remember? And I couldn't fly. Then, he shut me in the locker and I almost suffocated."
"There were open slots. You could breathe."
"And now this. He even suggested smearing it with my finger!"
"I thought you couldn't understand Chewie," Leia said.
"I'm getting better. And he demonstrated with his finger!"
Han laughed at Luke's outrage. "He would never sabotage you, kid. He likes you."
"He likes you more. And he likes Leia. And every time I'm here you two go on the mission without me."
"We can't take the pipe, kid."
"And Chewie's really upset about his arm, Luke," Leia added. "I don't think it was deliberate."
"Glad you're okay, kid. They'll have you out in no time," Han said.
"I don't know," Luke grumbled sourly. "Something's up."
"Maybe there's some carpet here that'll make a good camouflage for his arm, eh, Princess?" He made his way to the door, smiling roguishly.
"A walking carpet," Leia chuckled at Han's joke.
Han walked briskly through the base back to the Millennium Falcon.
"How's the Boss," the other pilots called out to him.
"Receiving visitors," Han answered. "Needs some cheering up." He darted up the ramp of his ship to locate his first mate.
"Look, Chewie, getting your own fur stuck was a brilliant stroke, but it's getting kind of obvious. Time to lay low for a while, eh?"
The Wookiee growled a question at Han.
"Yeah, she and I are flying out tomorrow. Don't think Luke'll be accompanying us."
Chewie growled a comment, and then he laughed.
"Yeah," Han said, a smile spreading across his own face.
AN: I missed yesterday in my Advent calendar of fics. Sorry! I have a few more I'm trying to finish. Thanks for playing along :)