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"I haven't, actually," and he gestures for her to lead the way.

Hopefully it looks casual, because he's a wreck. This is not how he'd hoped to meet Leia's mother now that meeting her was an option, and he has no bearing for how to react to a noted senator spouting off that much about her starship's specs.

She's married to Anakin Skywalker; of course she knows that much about her starship's specs. Anakin's traveled with her often enough (as a Jedi protector and not her husband, of course) for her to have picked up on the attention he's paid to the ship's engines and general schematics. Reading up on them herself has given them something to talk about in front of those who would find other topics cause of suspicion.

Time, war, and a politician's talents for masking reality and convoluting it into something all their own have ensured that she is very, very good at hiding. At living the lie she once told Anakin she was certain would destroy them.

"I'm sorry for this." The apology leaves her lips the moment the ramp doors shut tightly behind them. "For him. He's not usually this... deceitful, and I'm not sure what he expected to accomplish by leading you here to me, but rest assured--"

She'd been leading the way down one long, glimmering corridor. Nabooan technology was pristine, and how the walls very nearly shined was a testament to both her current status and previous position. Padmé stops, turning to face him, and smiles reassuringly.

"It won't be to berate you for whatever your intentions may be with our daughter. She's a grown woman; she can make her own choices without either of us interfering."

And in her opinion, neither of them really had the right. They hadn't raised her, and without the Force to bind her children to her as it did where Anakin was concerned, she was a bit more detached from the idea of motherhood and the desire to protect child who, from where she was standing, had managed to grow up fine (relatively fine, for war did no one any favors) without them.

Edited 2015-10-27 08:20 (UTC)

Nabooan ships remind him a lot of Imperial ones. Which makes sense, considering Palpatine is from Naboo. The way everything shines, how it's all kept in place. It's not enough to put him on edge, though. Of the two parents of the two he spends his time following into trouble, Padmé isn't the one that tortured him in another timeline. She's not one who would call CorSec on him, either.

A mother of his girl that hates him, that he can just get angry about. Storm off and feel justified, especially when they're rich and noble.

"Yeah, she usually does."

He has his hand rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly nervous now that that has been brought up. There's no storming off from this, and he has absolutely no exit strategy unless Luke does his Force-thing and calls him over the comms to give him an excuse.

Padmé has mixed feelings on the subject of Palpatine, though they're not nearly as mercurial as her husband's. In contrast to Anakin, she's seen the signs for a while now, and has been in talks with other senators in regards to the chancellor's abuse of power and what it might lead to. Talks she's yet to inform him of, not wanting to add to the stress that's already plaguing him.

"Speaking from experience?" Her lips curl upward in obvious amusement. "I can only imagine. She's very headstrong; like her father."

'Like her father.'

File that under confusing revelations he's not sure what to do with. Not that he hadn't noticed the growing mountain of similarities every time he saw Leia and Anakin together. It made sense, and he's always argued in defense of her pre-Vader heritage, but that had been when Anakin was just some figment of the past. It's different now, and he's still figuring out how much.

He nods, though, tries to keep the meager conversation afloat. "Always said the reason she's in High Command is because she didn't take anyone else's orders."

She has to laugh at that, leading the way to the engine room. Should anyone storm in here and happen upon them, whether it be one of her handmaidens or someone else, she would have the easy excuse of showing one of the Jedi supply runners some simple modifications that were made to the hyperdrive. A favor to some of her Jedi friends.

Two minutes into this conversation, and she already has a plan.

"High Command... I'd say that's difficult to envision, but ambition runs in the family. As does an affinity for command. I hear you accompanied Anakin one of his more recent exploits."

One that both unsettled and, sadly, didn't surprise her. The clones... She liked some well enough, but se was never entirely comfortable with the Grand Army. Something was off, something about it was just too convenient.

If anything, he might suggest some modifications to her. Still, it's a good enough cover, and he's taking note of every vent and coupling he sees.

The mention of the mission with Anakin catches his attention. Not exactly the best adventure, but considerably less of a mess than certain other ones he's been a part of in the past. Future. Whatever.

"Oh, he mention that?" Casual, in control, not at all suddenly worried about what else Anakin has been telling this nice mother of his girlfriend about him.

"Among other things."

The look she shoots him over her shoulder is almost coy. Anakin is her husband. Of course he told her about it. There was very little they withheld from one another, and that which they did were secrets tied to either the various committees she sat on or the Council he so desperately wanted to be on. Like all of her discussions with Bail, Mon, Bana, and other senators over the chancellor's continued abuse of powers granted to him during times of crisis.

Times that were drawing to a close, powers that would soon need to be revoked. She feared the future her children spoke of coming true if they weren't taken away from him soon, regardless of whether or not he was really the Sith Lord in question. Too much power was dangerous in anyone's hands, and they didn't need to be a Force-user to wreak havoc.

Of all the things to get his back up, for some reason that does. Maybe it's the implication that there's another loop for him to be out of in this already absurd and closed off situation. Or just the idea of Anakin talking about him behind his back.

"How many other things?" Or, 'What all do you know,' only in Han's version of diplomatic, and said as he makes an effort to casually inspect some particular bit of her ship.

She stops, turns, and plants her hands on her hips in mock offense. (She isn't offended. If anything, she finds something inexplicably adorable about the way he seems almost paranoid.)

"Is it really that odd of a notion that Anakin and I actually talk? That's what couples do; especially when they're married, Mister Solo."

~~#effingcorellians~~

His hand is rubbing the back of his neck, awkward and boyish, when he turns back to look at her. Given what he knows of Anakin, both now and later, he's still having trouble seeing him as a real entire person with real human relationships.

"Well, when you put it like that..." The point trails off, and he shakes his head as his hand falls to his side. "I don't like not knowing what my reputation is, is all."

"And you presume that you have a reputation?" Padmé questions, tapping her chin with one painted fingernail, circling him like that nexu had when she climbed up a stone pillar to escape it. "Or is it that you're accustomed to having one and expect it to have followed you back in to the past?"

She was toying with him. Perhaps it was a little mean of her, but he was awfully jumpy. She didn't know whether to attribute that to general oddness that Corellians seemed to have about them or something else entirely. Something she was struggling to see.

Hmm...

This got unnerving really quickly. At least with Anakin he had a reason to feel like he was getting sized up like prey.

Still, he's trying very hard to not make the impression he's making on Leia's mother any worse than it already is.

"When people are talking about you, that's a reputation. And a big one is the last thing we need right now." Because while Han's brain glossed over the idea of Anakin and Padmé speaking like a couple, it had spent far too much time considering what Anakin and Palpatine discuss behind closed doors.

"Relax."

Padmé does much the same, her shoulders and stance loosening. Amusement bleeds into her features -- hopefully an obvious sign that she'd been messing with him, nothing more.

"I'll be blunt: You're involved with his daughter. He may not have raised her, but judging by the way my own father reacted to boys Sola and I brought home in our youth, is anything he's had to say about you that's less than flattering really all that surprising?"

Edited 2015-12-28 04:50 (UTC)

Han sighs, and while the tension doesn't entirely leave his posture he at least manages to stop looking like he just felt a vrelt crawl up his pant leg.

"Not surprising, no." Then he shakes his head a little, a vain attempt to dislodge what's left of this awkward start. "Leia'd probably say plenty of unflattering things on her own anyway."

"Oh, I'm sure she could," Padmé says with confidence, but without the sort of fondness that was present in Anakin's tone when he spoke of his children.

"If you're here to rally against the things I've been told, I assure you, I've yet to make up my mind. I've had some... interesting dealings with the Corellians, but I won't hold that against you."

"Thanks, I think."

He remembers, vaguely, things about Corellia and Naboo, but he'd studied the battles rather than the politics, so whatever recognition he has for the reference is fleeting at best.

"And I did actually come to find your husband. It was either here or trying to find him in the Temple, and I was hoping here I'd get less funny looks." From his tone, it is obvious that he's aware he misjudged.

"He's hiding," she says, amusement blossoming in both her tone and the way she can't seem to stop grinning like a lovesick fool.

"I'd offer up some of his hiding places, but I don't actually know all of them and don't think he'd appreciate me sharing with you the ones I do know."

Yeah, he doesn't miss the way she's smiling. He has a feeling he'd done his share of it even before Hoth, and if this nice woman likes Anakin so much maybe there's hope after all.

"It can wait," he says, and it's entirely true. He could probably talk to Kenobi about it, instead, but that's a whole different set of issues. "Besides," and he looks a little awkward, a little out of his depth, "I'd meant to meet you before now, anyway. Just figured I'd have Leia or Luke with me when I did. Or that you'd have Goldenrod."

"Goldenrod?"

It takes her moment to realize he's talking about Threepio. How he even knows about the droid is beyond her, but she's content to placate whatever other thoughts threaten to plague her with the notion that Leia probably told her about him.

Unlike her husband, there are things that Padmé just isn't keen on knowing. The parts she does are unsettling enough. (Like her absence. Anakin's fall.)

"Threepio is assisting my handmaidens with preparations for tonight's debate. Should I have him brought here?"

Han shakes his head emphatically. "No, that's fine. He interrupts enough as it is without the added opportunity."

Which isn't something Leia would've told him, or known to tell him. Another little oddity, another confirmation of what goes on into the lives of these people from the future from this time that isn't her. Han seems to realize it and looks sheepish.

"Should I go?"

Padmé is, perhaps, the only one outside of Anakin's own mother who had developed a certain genuine fondness for the crotchety droid. His personality was unique, but he was surprisingly well suited to playing assistant to a Galatic Senator. Much better than whatever he was doing on the Lars' moisture farm, judging by how quick Owen was to return the droid to his step-brother.

"No." There grin that pricks the corners of her mouth is almost mischievous in nature. "Ani's not the only one who hides from the spotlight."

Did you notice there was nobody else on this ship, Han? The senator has shed her attendants, her bodyguards, and everyone else who's slated to keep an eye on her.

Which, in her husband's eyes, probably means the duty of watching her has now fallen in your lap, Han.

He's noticing it now, but what he's noticing even more is --

"Ani?"

And he is trying very hard to not laugh.

She clamps a hand over her mouth, wincing visibly. The freedom to talk about Anakin without having to play it off as professional, of being able to call him her husband with someone who wasn't supposed to be a child of hers in another life, apparently came with consequences. Such as blurting out your husband's childhood nickname.

"Pretend you didn't hear that. It's a nickname from another life. He wouldn't appreciate you using it."

He does laugh at that, and nods his agreement. "Don't worry. I don't need to give him another reason to be annoyed with me."

PICK YOUR POISON
PIC PROMPTS / TFLN / RANDOM SCENARIO
HAN SOLO velocities	BETTY MCRAE bombsheller	RIVER TAM subsulcus	RIVER TAM (AU) comprehender
SIMON TAM vest	BRIA THAREN exulted	NADINE CROSS bridaled	GU JUN-PYO toddler
available on special request: veronica sawyer, benjamin linus, imani, maria deluca, mushu, poseidon, niccolò machiavelli, malik al-sayf, chloe

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