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fictionwordcounts · 3 years

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Sweet Things in Bitter Places [Luke x Reader]

Word Count: 3000+

Summary: Being a barista on the coldest planet in the galaxy isn’t exactly a glamorous job, but it does have it’s perks. The cute rebel who buys a cup of caf from you everyday is one of them.

Requested by @racheltheclumsy

As you waited for the caf beans to finish brewing in the caf distiller, you brushed your hair behind your ear and stifled a yawn. It had been a long day with very few of the rebels asking for anything at your small coffee stand. There had been rumors of a lifeform somewhere out in the swirling snow that had gotten everybody rushing this way and that to do their jobs. It left very little room for stopping to get even just a small cup of the bitter drink. You watched the distiller even though your customer was behind you waiting in silence. You tried to casually look around, but it seemed to make the waiting worse. Finally, after a good two minutes, you turned around to Wedge Antilles.

"What was out there today?" You asked him, genuinely curious. "I heard that they might have found something?"

Wedge, obviously relieved you had started talking, chuckled. "It was just snow and ice today," he reported. "That's all it ever is." He shook his head and smiled. "Sometimes I think the generals make that stuff up just to keep everybody on their toes."

You laughed and maintained a casual conversation until the caf was done. The distiller let out a beep indicating it was finished. You poured Wedge a glass of it and added sugar and cream until he said it was enough. He placed a few credits on the counter and grabbed the cup.

"No, Wedge." You told him. "You don't have to pay." You shoved the credits back to him. He always did this and it made you feel greedy when he insisted you take them. Credits, of course, were of no use on the secluded planet of Hoth, but they were held onto in hopes that going back to a normal life someday was possible.

You put the currency in the pocket of your apron when Wedge refused to keep them, and looked up as two tauntauns rode in the open hatch door across the base, their riders covered in snow. The riders hopped off the tall, furry animals and shook the snow off of themselves.

After a while, Wedge called to the pair. You recognized one of the riders as Luke Skywalker as he ran toward the friend who had called him. He sat down next to Wedge with a big smile on his face. The other rider you assumed to be Han Solo, the "scoundrel" everyone complained about. The friends chatted merrily as you cleaned up around the small stand you had stayed at all day. Your job seemed so unimportant, but all the rebels agreed it was good to have something warm to keep their energy up. Noticing Han waving you over, you put the cleaning supplies down and walked over to see what he wanted.

"How much for one of those?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee Wedge was drinking. You shrugged.

"Whatever you see fit."

Han looked at her with interest now. "Anything?" He questioned. "Even nothing?"

Laughing, you nodded.

"Well then I'll take one." With his final decision he nudged Luke. "She's giving drinks away for free, Luke. You want one?"

Luke nodded knowingly. "I know, Han. Haven't you ever ordered caf from here before?" He inquired.

Han scrunched his face. "Caf?" he said sourly. He turned to you as you started pouring the drink. "Nevermind."

Stopping quickly, you looked at Luke and rolled your eyes. He laughed softly and offered to take the drink instead.

"You're telling me you drink that stuff?" Han asked him, surprised.

With a spark of mischief behind his eyes, Wedge answered him.

"Are you kidding?" he snorted. "Luke comes by here every day and drinks twice as much as any of us." He elbowed Luke. "Because you don't come here for the drink, do you?" he teased.

Luke laughed, finding a new interest on the counter in front of him. He stumbled on words, trying to say something cohesive. It caused him to turn beet red with embarrassment. You turned back to cleaning. Blood was rising to your face and making your cheeks warm. Wedge was always joking about you and Luke "having a thing" (as he put it) for each other, and you both should've been used to it by now. Still, you couldn't help but feel butterflies flittering around in your stomach every time he brought it up, but you could easily cover your nerves with the thin veil of a shy smile.

It was true enough that you had begun looking forward to Luke coming to the caf stand every day. He always showed up with an upbeat and terribly contagious attitude, and it was a bright part of your day to laugh and joke with him until he left for whatever work he had been assigned. Often times, he'd tell you the burdens of his mind–whether they were trifling small or unbearably large. You didn't mind it when he did, and equally as often you found yourself able to talk to him about your own concerns. Perhaps it was your imagination, but you both always seemed more at ease when either of you revealed your troubles to the other. You willingly shared whatever burden the other had.

You were subconsciously aware of Han and Wedge walking away while laughing to each other. You poured yourself the last of the caf and sat down next to Luke.

"They'll never let that go," you joked. He nodded silently for a second then jerked his head up.

"Come with me next time," he suggested. With one look at your face he knew he needed to explain. "The next time I go out there to patrol come with me."

Could you really do that? You knew that only a few select people would be chosen for that job, and a small, quiet, coffee stand attendant wouldn't even be considered. You liked the idea though. The thought of trying something new from your general routine exhilarated you.

"I don't think I can," you reasoned, trying to suppress the sudden interest in the idea. He turned more towards you.

"Sure you can!" he said excitedly. "I know Leia. She's my friend, and I'm sure if I asked she would let you." You tried not to be as excited as he was, but as he smiled certainly, you couldn't help but feel that it was worth a try. He set his caf down and stood up. "Let's go find her," he said lending you his hand. You gladly accepted and Luke guided you through the rebel base to find Leia. You turned into a small tightly packed room with flashing buttons and screens in every direction.

"I haven't been here before," you admitted quietly to Luke, whose eyes were darting around the room. He continued walking.

"Most of the rebels haven't," he answered. "They're always busy with this or that, but they can come in when needed." He stopped abruptly and pointed.

"There she is!" He jogged up to the woman he pointed to in the little space he had with you close behind him. The princess was standing with a man who was examining a clipboard she was holding. She looked up when Luke approached.

"Luke, I'm glad you're here," she said, relieved. "I had Garven Dreis on patrol duty for tomorrow, but his sickness has only gotten worse and he can't do it." Leia turned back to the clipboard. "I can't find anyone to replace him. Do you know of anybody?" Luke looked hopefully at you.

"Actually, I do." He nudged you forward. You stuck your hand out but withdrew quickly. How was one supposed to act in front of the former princess of Alderaan?

"I'm Y/N," you said with a quick and awkward bow. It didn't feel right, but, thankfully, Leia said nothing of it.

"Have you been on patrol before?" she asked you. You shifted nervously, realizing this might not work after all.

"No, I haven't," you confessed. Luke stepped in.

"But she is good with the tauntauns and the scanners," he stated. "I'm sure she would be a great help."

Leia looked you both over then nodded. "If you think so, Luke. I trust you." She turned to you. "You can take the north markers tomorrow." With that, you and Luke left the room.

"I guess I have my work cut out for me tomorrow," you said, relieved that Luke's plan worked. He grinned.

"Yeah, but you'll want some sleep. Patrols start early." You said goodnight, to him and watched as he walked away. You didn't think you would get any sleep that night, but you would try so you could see him tomorrow.

________________________________________________________________

You waited by the closed hatch door on the north side of the base with your tauntaun next to you. You had been given warm clothing to replace your casual wear, but the coat you were wearing was so bulky it was hard to bend over. You hoped it wouldn't be a challenge to mount your tauntaun. Many of the rebels were up already and scattering about doing their jobs. You looked around eagerly for Luke, but you hadn't seen him yet. You figured he must be at a different door than you were now.

"Please stand clear of the doors!" An announcement came over the speakers indicating it was time for the doors to open. Even though they said this every time, you felt embarrassed as you backed away from the huge doors. You spun around quickly when you heard another tauntaun approaching. Tauntauns were not quiet animals with their constant, strange chatter to one another, but they were very sweet and useful. Luke steadied the animal and smiled down at you.

"Are you ready?" He raised his voice to be heard over the sound of the opening doors. In response you nodded and mounted your tauntaun with the difficulty you had hoped would leave you alone. You followed Luke to the side of the base where he stopped and turned around to you.

"We have to let the airspeeders go first," he explained as he smoothed his tauntaun's fur. "Are you excited?" You looked out into the freezing landscape the doors had hidden just few seconds before. You were excited, but the weather on Hoth was not the type you go out and have a good time in.

"I'm a little nervous," you answered.

He laughed. "I can't say I was my first time," he admitted. "I mean, I was pretty excited." He looked to the hanger door as the last of the airspeeders left. He turned back to you. "It's our turn now. Don't worry, you'll do great." He kicked his tauntaun lightly urging it to go forward. Yours bleated and followed right after without instruction.

As soon as you were outside, the cold wind whipped at you angrily. You had forgotten to pull your goggles down and the ice blowing into your eyes made it impossible to open them. You would have gone back inside, but Luke was already far ahead of you. You pulled the goggles down and lead your tauntaun farther through the swirling snow. Luke had stopped at the top of hill and waited for you to catch up.

"Is it always blowing like this?" you hollered over the wind.

"Sometimes in the mornings, but it'll clear up," he assured. He moved his tauntaun closer to you and showed you the map he had on the scanner. "You can go east to where the north and east markers meet up." He pointed in the direction you would be headed. "When you're done with that it should be clearer. Meet me north-west from there. I have something to show you." He smiled and headed off to where he would patrol, and you did the same.

After you found the east marker the weather cleared, making it easier to find your way around. You took the cloth from your mouth so you could breathe some of the fresh cold air and lifted your goggles so you could wipe them off. You looked down at the scanner you had been relying on to tell you what was out in the snow. There was nothing exciting about it, and you wondered why Luke had wanted you to come with him. You looked off in the direction Luke had wanted you to go next. Whatever was over there was the reason. You urged your tauntaun forward who seemed confused about going in the strange direction but obediently trotted on. Finally you spotted Luke standing at the entrance to a small cave.

"What's this?" You asked curiously as you approached. He smiled widely.

"Tie your tauntaun up here and follow me," he ran inside the cave without waiting for a response. You suspiciously tied the loud animal next to Luke's and ran after him. You collided with him which scared you more than it hurt you. "Sorry," he said after making sure you were alright. "You have to close your eyes."

"Luke, what's this about?" you questioned him.

"Come on, don't you trust me?" he asked. You stared at him skeptically for a little bit before you closed your eyes. "Just be careful. It's a little slippery," he grabbed your hand and led you down through the cave. His gloves were stiff from the ice that made its' home there, but he made sure you didn't fall once. He let go leaving you standing there with your eyes closed.

"You can open them," he said from seemingly farther away. You opened your eyes to a beautiful opened cave where ice hanged, glistening from the ceiling. There was soft snow that lay thinly over the thick ice floor and mounds of snow that almost made you want to lay down in them. Luke stood in the middle of the ice with his arms outstretched to show off the cave

"It's amazing," you said, awed. You took a closer look at the ceiling and found large hole that was letting the sun in and making the ice glow purple. "How did you find it?" you asked, hoping he hadn't found it by falling into it.

"I thought I saw something come this way once, but it was nothing and I saw the entrance." Despite the beauty of the cave, you were shivering with cold. You rubbed your frozen hands together and put the cloth back over your mouth. "I'm sorry, you must be freezing!" He jogged up to you and put his arm around you. "Let's get you back to the base." You stayed close to him as he led you out of the cave. Once you were back outside, you were greeting by the obnoxious noises of the tauntauns that were waiting for you.

"How many more markers are there?" You asked Luke.

"Don't worry about it," he said, turning you toward him. "I'll finish up the markers. You get back to Echo Base and warm up. Save some caf for me, OK?" He smiled and started walking toward his tauntaun. You held his hand firmly until he turned back around. "Is something wrong?" You looked into his blue eyes, wondering what to say to him. You stood on your toes with your heart pounding and kissed him on the cheek. Your face turned red standing out against the white snow around you. Luke walked backwards into his tauntaun still smiling despite the loud bleat it made.

"I'll be waiting." You said as you mounted your tauntaun.

"I'll be there." He murmured in response. Feeling warm suddenly you rode back to the rebel base and worked at the caf bar while you waited to see him again.

________________________________________________________________

You waited anxiously at the north doorway for Luke to come back. You had already closed up the bar and made an extra batch for you both to drink to help him warm up. The wind was starting to pick up again, making the snow blow in. At the sound of a tauntaun you strained to see the incoming rider. Han Solo entered the base and hopped off his animal swiftly. You couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Where's Luke?" You asked him. Han turned to you, just realizing you were there.

"He went to check out a meteorite that crashed near here," He answered before walking off. Luke was always very inquisitive. It made sense that he would do that, and you felt stupid for worrying so much.

The rest of the day passed slowly and still there was no sign of Luke. You had wanted to ask Han if he had seen him at all, but he was in a bad mood and ignored most of your questions. You found Han standing with C-3PO next to the Millennium Falcon. Before you could reach him He had run off to talk with somebody else, but you knew Threepio wasn't one to keep secrets if he was told one.

"What's going on?" You questioned the droid. He turned around startled.

"Oh, it's just that, master Luke has gone missing," He responded. "Nobody knows where he is." Your stomach flipped. You knew something had been wrong, but you tricked yourself into thinking otherwise. A hand seemed to be squeezing your heart with no mercy. You looked over to where Han was stirring up commotion to see him ride off into the hungry snowstorm waiting outside. You spotted Wedge standing by the open hatch door and ran up to him.

"Where's Han going?" You asked breathlessly.

"He's gone to look for Luke," He responded without even glancing at you. You sat at the base of the Falcon, feeling too weak to stand. Everyone was on edge while waiting for Han and Luke to return. The later it got, the colder it was, and the need to close the hatch doors was growing. The decision was final and the whole base fell silent as the massive door shut slowly. You buried you head in your hands. Why hadn't you said it to him before? You were scared. Too scared to admit it to yourself. You loved Luke. The three small words that had scared you into denial were a powerful tool you had chosen to put away. Now you regretted that. I love him. You thought over and over until morning.

A gentle hand placed on your shoulder stirred you.

"Y/N," you heard Leia's voice and you woke up quickly. She smiled warmly at you. "Y/N, it's OK. They found Luke and Han." You sat up from the hunched position you had slept in. It took you a second, but you processed what she was saying.

"Are they alright?" You asked hurriedly.

"They're alive," she assured you. "Luke just barely made it, but he should be better soon." You stood up sorely with strong protest from your legs.

"He's here?" Leia nodded.

"He's in the recovery room. He asked for you," she said with a knowing look then stood up and walked away.

You walked into the recovery room to see Luke sitting on a small couch they had there. He turned around quickly.

"Luke." You said relieved. Luke stood up quickly.

"Y/N!" He hugged you tightly. Your heart raced happily.

"I thought you were dead." You whispered to him with tears in your eyes. You felt him shake his head.

"I'm alright." He responded. "Han found me and looked after me." You pulled away from him and reached down for the cup you had set on the table.

"I saved you some caf," you told him. He laughed and sat back on the couch. You sat next to him after putting the cup back on the table. "You can drink it when you tell me what happened." You bargained. He explained shortly about being abducted by a huge creature whos home had been the cave they had been admiring earlier. How he had escaped you still didn't understand, but you understood all too much about Han having to stuff Luke into his dead tauntaun's stomach.

After the story you sighed and rested your head on his shoulder. You were just glad to have him back. Luke had always been a good friend to you, but you noticed the more time you spent with him, the more you wanted him to be around. The want turned into need as he became the only happy thing in the messed up world around you. He was much more than a friend to you, and you hoped dearly he would feel the same. The fear that he wouldn't kept you away from the three words you wanted to say to him from the beginning.

"You scared me," you whispered to him. "Don't ever do that again." He held you close to him.

"I won't," he promised. You hesitated as you practiced the words in your mind.

"I love you," you voiced, shaking. He rubbed your shoulders to calm you.

"I love you, too, Y/N"

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imagining-imagines · 7 years

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Sweet Things in Bitter Places [Luke Skywalker x Reader]

Request: Hi there! I was wondering if you would consider writing a space barista!reader x Luke in which Luke finds that after everything that's gone down after ANH the only person he can really talk to is the sweet girl (the reader) who works at the caf bar on the base on Hoth. She has a unique way of understanding and solving his problems and the universe just seems simpler when he's with her. @racheltheclumsy

Words Count: 3000+

Warnings: Fear

"What was out there today?" You asked him, genuinely curious. "I heard that they might have found something?"

"How much for one of those?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee Wedge was drinking. You shrugged.

"Whatever you see fit."

Han looked at her with interest now. "Anything?" He questioned. "Even nothing?"

Laughing, you nodded.

"Well then I'll take one." With his final decision he nudged Luke. "She's giving drinks away for free, Luke. You want one?"

Luke nodded knowingly. "I know, Han. Haven't you ever ordered caf from here before?" He inquired.

Han scrunched his face. "Caf?" he said sourly. He turned to you as you started pouring the drink. "Nevermind."

Stopping quickly, you looked at Luke and rolled your eyes. He laughed softly and offered to take the drink instead.

"You're telling me you drink that stuff?" Han asked him, surprised.

With a spark of mischief behind his eyes, Wedge answered him.

"Are you kidding?" he snorted. "Luke comes by here every day and drinks twice as much as any of us." He elbowed Luke. "Because you don't come here for the drink, do you?" he teased.

It was true enough that you had begun looking forward to Luke coming to the caf stand every day. He always showed up with an upbeat and terribly contagious attitude, and it was a bright part of your day to laugh and joke with him until he left for whatever work he had been assigned. Often times, he'd tell you the burdens of his mind--whether they were trifling small or unbearably large. You didn't mind it when he did, and equally as often you found yourself able to talk to him about your own concerns. Perhaps it was your imagination, but you both always seemed more at ease when either of you revealed your troubles to the other. You willingly shared whatever burden the other had.