intermediate ✰ luke skywalker

010

As he promised it would, the ship did, in fact, kick. She felt her body jerk towards the table and then backwards, Luke's grip on her tightening.

"I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster," she admitted anxiously.

Luke said nothing, but she could hear his quiet laugh coming from beside of her. The ship finally came to what felt like a very sudden stop, then began moving forward at a gradual pace. Avery sighed and let the tension drain from her body at last, leaning her head back against the seat— only, it wasn't the seat, but instead Luke's shoulder. She waited a moment to gauge his reaction, but he was distant, his eyes trained on some sort of metal sphere in a nearby corner.

"Something over there that's more important than me?" she teased, trying to crack a joke.

"No," he whispered.

He didn't move, though, and he was still staring.

"What is that?" she asked.

He finally turned to her. He looked thoughtful, as if he were trying to make a difficult decision that she simply wouldn't understand.

"Go pick it up. Turn it on and find out," he told her.

He said it like a challenge, as if he knew that was the best way of convincing her to do something, and she stood at once, easily persuaded by the pressing desire to wipe away the small grin on his face.

She approached the strange sphere, surprised by its weight when she picked it up. She then rolled it around in her hands until she found what looked like a power button. Pressing her thumb into it, she was startled to see the sphere hover in place. The machine seemed to size her up for a moment, placing itself a few feet away from her shoulders.

She looked at Luke, who was leaning back in his seat with a mischievous glint in his eye, and raised her brow, wordlessly telling him that she was unimpressed.

"It's pretty cool that it floats, I guess, but— Ow! Shit!"

Luke broke out into a fit of laughter, watching her dance across the floor as she tried to dodge the remote's rapid fire.

"Turn it off! Luke!"

Still giggling, the boy waved the remote over to him, deactivating it and putting it back on the shelf. She stood as far away from him as possible, arms crossed. Betrayal.

"C'mere," he tried, reaching out his hands for her. "I'm sorry."

"Something about the way you're still laughing isn't convincing me that you're sorry," she frowned.

"I'm sorry if you were hurt, but I'm not sorry for making you turn the remote on. It was really entertaining."

Still trying to feign anger, she started to move towards him. Before they could reconcile, however, Leia strutted into the room, a sack handing loosely at her shoulder.

"This is a hard copy record of every documented member and position in the Alliance," she explained, pulling a thick binder out from her bag. "I brought it with me. After speaking with you all over the comlink, I had a feeling that you would be coming back with us. Luke tends to have a difficult time letting go of people."

"Does he?" Avery replied, throwing Luke a sideways glance, as if to ask, 'So, you pick up confused girls from isolated planets often?'

"He got himself lost in a snowstorm so his friend would come rescue him. He couldn't stand the thought of Han leaving, I guess," she said.

Perhaps she was only imagining it, but Avery thought she might have seen a small flicker of worry pass through Leia's eyes. After a brief moment of confusion, she finally pieced together Leia's nervous grin and Luke's irritated expression, and wait, was the princess trying to joke around with her? The very same woman who had seemed so stern only moments ago?

"That doesn't surprise me," Avery laughed, trying to let the other girl know that she appreciated her joke. "He actually tried getting my attention by nearly getting himself killed in a museum shootout."

"Alright, alright. As much as I love this whole ganging up on Luke ordeal, I would like to know what you have planned for Avery," the boy interrupted.

"Well," Leia sighed, "I have some starter positions open, but they're mainly just tasks like preparing meals and cleaning up around the base. However, since Luke seems to think pretty highly of you, I'm willing to look into some other jobs for you. Do you have any special skills?"

"Uh, I'm in pretty good shape. I run a lot," she stuttered out, picking at her nails.

The princess flipped through her book for a few seconds, finally finding the page she was looking for.

"I'm not sure how much Luke has told you about the Alliance, but we're always trying to avoid Imperial conflict. We have to move around a lot. When we do relocate, we send an exploration unit to scope out the area surrounding our new base. This requires a lot of walking, climbing, and sometimes running, so you would need to be in good physical condition to perform this job well. Do you think that's manageable for you?"

"I can do that."

"Absolutely not."

Avery turned to look at Luke, who had been listening to Leia's proposition with a distasteful frown.

"What do you mean?" she asked, growing irritated.

"That's a dangerous job. Besides, you don't have any experience with lifeforms that aren't from your planet. You would have no idea what you were dealing with. It doesn't sound like a good fit," he rambled.

"I don't care. I can't do petty chores while you do— wait. What do you even do, Luke?" she complained.

"He's a pilot," Leia offered, brow raised in clear interest.

"Seriously? You're allowed to fly off into space, yet I'm not allowed to walk outside? I thought you had more faith in me."

"It's not— I do have faith in you, Avery," he tried, stumbling over his words.

"Then what's the problem?"

He opened his mouth to speak, yet no sound would come out. He tapped his fingers against the side of his leg quickly, eventually just standing up with a dramatic sigh.

"Forget it," he mumbled, walking out of the room.

Avery turned back to the woman in front of her. She felt a little awkward now. Thankfully, Leia spoke before she had to.

"I've never seen him act like that."

That caught Avery's attention.

"Like what? An estranged brat?" she snapped, unable to stop herself. "Sorry, I don't mean that."

"I know," Leia reassured her.

There was an unusual degree of understanding in her voice, as if she had come to a different realization than Avery had.

"Well," she began, clearing her throat, "Let's not mind him for now. Would you like to further discuss my plans for you in the exploration unit? Despite what he says, I think you'll really like it."

Avery smiled. She allowed herself a moment to observe Leia, a newfound admiration for the woman surpassing the previous cold impression she had made over Luke's comlink. She was much more diplomatic in person, surely, but there was something else about her that Avery couldn't help but feel drawn to. Perhaps it was the underlying plea for friendship that surfaced during the woman's attempt at a joke, or maybe it was Avery's own loneliness that prompted this attraction, but she sincerely hoped that they could find companionship in one another.

She was thinking too far ahead, so far ahead that she nearly forgot about Leia's question, which was still hanging in the air. She brought herself back down to Earth— that phrase wouldn't really work anymore, she realized —and met the princess's inquisitive gaze with as much confidence as she could muster.

"I'd love that."

a/n: hello! this was sort of a filler that i've had in the works for a long time. a lot has changed since i last updated. how are you all doing? i hope you're safe. i should be able to update a bit more regularly again, considering i have a lot more time on my hands now. remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed; feedback is always welcome!