Pairing: H/Lu
Rating: R
Series: Nope. Just a little sweet smut.
Spoilers: Set after the end of "A New Hope", before "Empire Strikes Back". In other words, anti-canon. :)
Summary: In space, no-one can hear you shiver. Well, *almost* no-one.
Warnings: I don't use betas.  :(  Any mistakes are solely my fault and the fault of my *#^&@ spellcheck.

Luke lay perfectly still in his bed, staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head. He could feel, all around him, the flowing, shifting Force of the other people on the ship; even though they were separated by walls, he knew they were there, scattered somewhere: Leia, Chewie, and Han. It still amazed him, this power that surged around, like waves, and that he was so attuned to it, now. It was like something he had always been aware of, in the back of his mind, without knowing what it was.

Still, even though he focused and tried to make himself rest, he could not. He thought that not moving perhaps would help him to focus, but it was only bringing his restlessness into even sharper relief. Finally, flinging back the thin blanket and pulling on his boots, he got up. Stillness hadn't helped, maybe doing something was the answer.

He wondered idly as he made his way to the cockpit if it was Han or Chewie who was flying tonight. He knew that they traded off regularly on this long trip to Dantooine; having decided to save the not-entirely stable hyperdrive, it would take them several days to reach their destination. He had been surprised when Han had offered the 'Falcon to shuttle the Princess to the old Rebel base for a strategic rendezvous, but nothing that the pilot did could ever be considered predictable. He figured that Han was just looking for an excuse to spend more time with Leia - baiting her, probably - and had been secretly pleased when Leia asked him to come, too. Luke loved space, loved flying, loved anything that got him away from the relentless sameness of his old life on Tatooine, and yet, it was so, so -

"Hey, kid." Han grinned at him, from the pilot's seat, feet up, a steaming cup in his hand. "What're you doing up at this hour?"

Luke shrugged, and slid into the seat beside him. "Don't know," he answered. "Can't sleep."

"Wet your whistle?"

"Sure," Luke smiled, taking the offered cup. "Thanks." He took a tentative sip, unsure whether this particular brew would be something that he would regret, as Han's beverages sometimes were. Instead, he found a perfectly harmless vegetable broth. "Good," he said, handing it back. "So, how much further?"

Their hands brushed as Han took the cup from Luke's fingers, and the Corellian nearly dropped it as he did so. "Geez, kid!" he yelled. "Your hands are like ice!"

"It's - very cold," Luke said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess it would be, at that, for someone from a planet with twenty hours of sunlight a day year-round," Han replied, with a chuckle. "You should have said something before, kid."

"Why? You'd change the inherent properties of space for me?" Luke asked, with a grin.

"Yeah, I would," Han said, deadpan and disgusted. "Either that or offer you an extra blanket or three. Got a bunch of 'em in one of the cargo holds, from a shipping run that didn't quite make its destination."

Luke was incredulous. "You mean to tell me that you carried blankets?"

"Kid, I carried everything," Han said. "Lemme get Chewie up here, and we'll go find 'em." He picked up the comm link, calling for his co-pilot.

"You don't need to do that," Luke protested. "I'll be fine until you're off."

"Yeah, I do, kid," Han said. "The Fuzzball was supposed to be here to relieve me ten minutes ago. Must be having another one of those dreams of his - " He faded off, one eyebrow raised, when Chewie's large form appeared in the doorway, giving an apologetic yelp. "Yeah, tell me about it later," Han said to him, as he stood up. "C'mon, kid."

Han pulled the cover from one of the cargo holds and dropped down inside. "Okay, let's see what we have, here. . ." Luke peered down at him, squatting on the edge of the hold, watching as Han opened up metal case after metal case. "No, no, no," he said to himself under his breath, keeping a litany as he went through each of them, finding clothing, tools, casings, even a disassembled R2 unit. Luke looked at the ever-widening array of things with silent amusement, realizing the truth of Han's assertion that he had carried everything on the ship. Finally, Han opened up a box shoved into a corner. "Ah, I knew I'd find 'em," he said, and pulled out several thick blankets of soft wool, handing them over to Luke. "This should help," he said, as he pulled himself out of the cargo hold, using one of Luke's hands for leverage. "And so should this."

Luke groaned inwardly at what else Han had brought up with him - a bottle of what looked like a pale yellow ale. "Don't look so disappointed, kid," Han said with a grin, and Luke flushed when he realized how easy it was for the Corellian to read him. "It'll warm you up and put hair on your chest."

"Did it work for you?" Luke asked, following Han to the central hold, still clutching the blankets. He resisted the urge to go to his cabin and wrap himself up in them and try to sleep, again, knowing that Han expected him to sit with him for at least one drink.

"You bet," Han said, leering at him. "You wanna see?"

Luke rolled his eyes. He could barely tell when Han was joking with him and when he was actually flirting, like he did with Leia. He wondered sometimes if Han himself knew the difference, it seemed to come so naturally to him, like breathing. He sat the blankets down and took a seat across from Han.

Their fingers brushed again when Han passed him a small metal cup with ale in it, although the pilot didn't react so violently this time to the feel of Luke's cool skin. "Drink up," he encouraged, taking a swig straight from the bottle.

Luke was more tentative, sipping at the pale amber, pleased when it neither caused immediate blindness nor tasted as if it had been fermented in the middle of a Dagobian swamp. He smiled at Han. "It's good."

"You say that like a person who didn't expect it to be," Han said, trying for a show of offense, but foiled by the twinkle in his eyes.

Luke shrugged. "The voice of experience," he said. He took another swallow of the liquid, which was warming him, slowly. "What's it like at your home, Han?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"This is my home, kid," Han replied, indicating the ship that held them. "I'll never find another one better. Always here for me, takes me wherever I want to go, lets me meet interesting people. What more could I ask for?"

"Don't you ever want to settle down somewhere? Have a family?"

"Kid, family is what you make it. Could be a wife and a pack of kids, or it could be a couple of good friends." He smiled, and Luke did, too. "I take whatever comes. It's easier that way."

"Is it?"

"Yeah." Han stood up and filled Luke's cup again. "Most of the time, the family that you make is a lot better than the one that you're given." He unfolded one of the blankets and draped it around Luke's shoulders, then sat back down. "You're still too cold, kid."

Luke shrugged. "I feel warmer. I'll go to bed, soon."

"I don't want you getting sick on me," Han said. "I wish we could use the hyperdrive; it'd cut this trip down to nothing."

"Wasn't your fault that it conked out on you," Luke shrugged. "Not even Artoo could get it come back on-line, and he can fix almost everything."

"Maybe when we get to Dantooine there'll be something there that we can use to - " Han started, until Luke looked at him skeptically, and he laughed. "Yeah, I know. I'm not expecting to find anything there, either. Why they can't put a Rebel base in the middle of a planet with a little extra-curricular activity available, is what I want to know."

"Han," Luke said, hesitantly, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, kid, shoot."

"Why are you doing this? You told me when we were at the Massassi Outpost that you were leaving and not looking back, and now - " He shrugged. "It's like you've changed completely since then. You saved my life, Han. I guess I just want to know why."

"You need someone watching your back, junior," Han said, grinning at him. When he realized that Luke was still expecting a real answer from him, he shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you. You and Her Worship make a good case for this lost cause, I guess. Never been much of one for betting on a sure thing before in my life; guess it's too late for me to start now."

Luke nodded. "Well," he said, standing up and catching the slipping blanket from around his shoulders. "I guess I should go to bed."

"Yeah," Han agreed. "You and me both. You gonna be able to sleep?"

"Probably."

"Well, if you can't, knock on my door."

"You'll tell me a bedtime story?" Luke laughed.

"Something like that, kid."

Cocooned up in the blankets, Luke was chagrined to find that he was still wide awake. He couldn't get his nose warm - ducking his face into the blankets cut off his fresh oxygen supply and made him dizzy, which in turn made him too tense to fall asleep. He despaired of ever being able to rest.

He thought maybe it was the not doing anything that was keeping him up; he hadn't had a problem sleeping after the battle at Yavin, too caught up in the thrill of the flight and the ensuing adrenaline rush. He'd crashed, still stoked on euphoria, and had wonderful, vivid dreams that made him smile when he awoke yet somehow remained elusive. He wondered if Han would let him take a turn piloting; Luke was sure that he'd more than proved himself to the Corellian, at least enough to be trusted with Han's 'baby', the 'Falcon.

He resolved to ask him in the morning, and turned over on his side, looking out the view-port, wondering idly why people ever decided to try spaceflight when it was so darn cold out here. Surely they couldn't have known about it before they left; otherwise, nobody would ever have gone anywhere.

The chime at the door startled him, and he called out without moving from his cocoon in the bed, "Come in?"

The doors slid open, and Han stood there, grin on his face. "Hey."

"Hey," Luke said, and tried to sit up, encumbered by the tightly-wrapped blankets. "Couldn't sleep, either?"

Han shook his head. "I could hear you thinking all the way to my cabin, kid," he said. "You're keeping me up."

"Sorry," Luke said, ruefully. "I don't know what it is - " Before he could say anything else, he suddenly found himself once again pinned to the bed, but this time it wasn't the bedclothes that restricted his movements. It was Han.

Warm, strong arms surrounded him, and Han's mouth was on his. Luke was so startled he didn't know what to do; he ended up not doing anything, just lying there stiffly, in shock.

Han pulled away, a lopsided smile on his face. "Well, that didn't go over very well, now did it?"

"Han, I - " Luke started, still trying to get his arms free from the blankets.

"No, kid, you don't have to say anything. I don't usually get my wires crossed like this," he shrugged. "I just thought - "

"Will you shut up for a minute?" Luke asked, and pulled his arms out of the vise-like grip of the blankets. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he caught Han by the forearms and pulled him back and down, into another kiss that turned into at least a dozen before they broke apart.

"It's better when you help, kid," Han said, before raining kisses over the rest of Luke's face, warming the skin wherever his lips touched.

"I would have helped the first time," Luke gasped, arching his body up to rub it - even though the multiple layers of blanket and clothing - against Han's, "if I had any blood left in my brain to form a coherent thought."

Han laughed, soft and low, directly into Luke's ear. The blond shivered, sharp tingles of desire running the length of his body, right down to his toes. Suddenly, the ambient temperature of the room became noticeably warmer, jacking up at least ten degrees in as many seconds, as far as Luke was concerned. He worked his way through the blankets, trying to get at Han, shedding each of the woolly covers and dumping them on the floor. Finally, he was free, clad in his flight suit with another layer of warm flannel underneath, and underwear beneath that.

Han started unfastening clothes. "How many layers are in here, kid?" he asked with a laugh. "I'm not complaining, but I'd like an e.t.a. on skin."

"Don't talk," Luke gasped, trying to wriggle out of his own clothes, unfasten Han's, and keep kissing him at the same time.

"In a hurry?" Han teased. He didn't slow down his movements any, though, flinging clothing away with as little finesse as Luke had disposed of the blankets.

"No more so than you," Luke countered, and shifted his weight, taking the pilot off-guard and flipping him over on the bed. It was his turn to grin down into the startled face beneath him. "You still like it when I help?" he asked.

"Shut up, kid," Han growled, and thrust up with his hips. He unbuttoned the flannel suit and slid his warm hands over Luke's ass, watching as blue eyes rolled back in the kid's head and a long groan ripped from his throat.

"More," Luke gasped. He, too, broke through to skin, and moved his head down to suck at Han's nipples.

Han shifted Luke over so he was half-resting on one hip, so he could grasp the kid's hard erection, which had made a small wet spot against the front of his underwear. He squeezed, tentatively at first, and then with increasing strength and speed, as Luke responded favourably to his touch, thrusting against his leg.

They behaved with a lot more passion than finesse, each one of them half-naked, half-clothed, kissing and stroking each other and rubbing their aroused bodies together wherever they could touch. Han couldn't remember the last time his skin had been an erogenous zone, the entire organ of it a tensed nerve under Luke's ministrations, from the lips and teeth nibbling his earlobes to the still- wet nipples, hard from the cold and his need, to the cock that Luke was expertly stroking as if they had done this a thousand times before. A thousand times in my dreams, maybe, Han thought, before he closed his eyes, blissing out on scent and touch.

They moved in tandem so that it was almost like touching themselves. When he felt himself start to come, Luke locked his mouth onto Han's, breathing his moans down the other man's throat, thrust his tongue into Han's mouth and came, hard, the come hitting Han's stomach and his own arm, still stroking back and forth over Han's cock. It took only a few more seconds before Han came, too, a mirror-reflection of his own orgasm. Luke opened his eyes and watched, bringing his sticky hand up to his mouth and rubbing his fingers over Han's mouth, begging an invitation inside. They licked each other's fingers clean, and then Han moved down the length of Luke's body, causing small aftershocks with the gentle lapping of his tongue over the blond's stomach and groin.

"Kid?"

"Mmm."

"I'm freezing."

Luke laughed, his eyes opening. "I told you it was cold," he said, and reached over the side of the bed, snagging a handful of blanket and pulling it up and over the two of them, still only half- clothed. It was as far as he wanted to move, until Han had to leave the bed and go back to the cockpit of the 'Falcon. Covered, he snuggled back into place, his cheek resting against Han's chest. Warm lips brushed gently against his forehead, and he smiled as he fell asleep.

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