Archive of Our Own ^beta

You squealed with laughter as oil splattered across your uniform jacket, the sound ringing out through the empty hangar bay. 

“Luke!” You exclaim. “I just had that washed yesterday!”

Luke had that annoying, innocent look on his face. You hated when he did that. He looked very cute, especially with his cheeks tinted pink from the frosty air.

“It wasn’t intentional, I swear,” He replied, holding back a smile. 

You rolled your eyes in response, but that smile was your weakness and he knew it.

“I hate you.” You murmured, before turning back to rummage through the toolbox you were crouching next to on the ground.

In the cold and crispy X-wing hangar on Echo Base, you were with your best friend, Luke. The ships weren’t currently in use, as snowspeeders and tauntauns were the preferred transport around the snowy plains of Hoth. But whenever the pilots of Rogue Squadron had downtime, they liked to tinker on their X-wings, which was exactly what Commander Luke Skywalker was up to on this night. The hangar was quiet, with just the two of you in there working on his ship. It was his pride and joy, and Luke was always looking for ways to upgrade it.

Working in the analysis team of the Rebel Alliance, you knew very little about starships. However, you liked spending time with Luke, which wasn’t always easy when you were both so caught up in the war. Tonight was a rarity, with Luke returning from a mission the previous day, he wasn’t due out again for at least a week. Which is what they always said, so you were expecting him to be out again tomorrow.

You were staring at the toolbox that you were crouched next to trying to find whatever tool Luke asked you to pass him before he went and ‘accidentally’ splashed oil on your jacket. 

“That blue one. No, the other one. With the thicker handle.” Luke directed you as you had no clue of what any of the tools were even called. You weren’t stupid, you were actually very smart, and he knew that. However when it came to all that mumbo jumbo starship stuff that Luke always assumed you knew because he knew what they were, you were basically blind.

You passed the tool to him with a fake scowl on your face and went back over to sit on the wing of his ship. 

“You’re my favourite,” Luke responded in a sing-song tone, teasing you for your annoyed expression. You felt his eyes on you as you climbed up the ladder of his ship and across the wing.

“I better be, Skywalker,” you teased back, a hint of a laugh in your voice. “Who else would be such an expert tool handerer?”

“That’s not even a real word.” Luke laughed, looking up at you perched on the wing before he went back to working on his ship, tool now in hand.

Luke really did think you were pretty. Sitting up on his ship, your legs dangling off as you stared into space across the hangar for a moment. He thought about your soft hair, that only he ever got to see out of its usual braid. He thought about how he got to run his fingers through it, he would do it right now if you were close enough. 

As if something in the Force prompted you, you took your hair out of its braid and let the soft waves the style created cascade over your shoulders as you shook it out. Luke thought you looked so beautiful, even with that oil stain he made on your jacket. Whoops. 

Noticing his stare, you flung your now unneeded hair tie at him like a little slingshot. 

“Ow!” Luke exclaimed as it hit him. 

You were very glad that your target had been met, smiling down at him kicking your legs playfully.

“Payback for my jacket.” You grinned. 

God, he’d let you get away with murder if you smiled at him like that all the time. Luke couldn’t help feeling lucky that he got to see you like this. Carefree, playful, all giggly. He wished that he didn’t have to go on so many missions and miss you while he was on every single one. 

Focus, Luke, he thought as his attention turned back to his X-wing. He was upgrading the sensor system. Spare parts weren’t always in abundance, and those were the parts that Echo Base had available right now. No complaints, however, as Luke liked to get that part of his brain working. Solving problems and figuring out where every component should go was one of Luke’s favourite parts of having his own starfighter, alongside testing out said upgrades. And spending time with you while he did it all.

“See, you’d neeever be able to do those upgrades if I wasn’t here, Luke. My tool passing is invaluable to the success of Rogue Squadron’s missions. Forget my strategy and analysis. It’s my skill as a tool passer that actually gets you to win battles,” You joked dramatically, finding amusement in your own words.

It was Luke’s turn to roll his eyes. He loved this part of your relatio- friendship. Don’t jump ahead, Skywalker. But you two always could make each other laugh.

You laughed quietly at his eye roll, which led to Luke joining in. Hearing Luke’s laugh was one of your favourite sounds. 

The sounds of Luke tinkering on his ship echoed throughout the hangar as the night continued and the conversation lulled. But you didn’t always need to talk. The comfort came from just being together and it was never awkward. You stayed perched on the wing of the ship, hopping down occasionally to pass Luke tools, the ‘reason’ for you being there. You both knew it was just an excuse though, otherwise you wouldn’t have been out of bed and in the crispy air of the Echo Base hangar bay in the middle of the night.

The rest of the time you watched Luke quietly as he focused on his upgrades. His X-wing, and all ships, were one of Luke’s passions. Growing up on Tatooine, Luke worked on a moisture farm and flew a T-16 Skyhopper in his free time, which resulted in his love of flying and ships. Now it was just something that he was good at, that helped him de-stress and not think about the war raging on in the rest of the galaxy. Luke was in his own world when he focused on his ship.

So focused in fact, that it allowed you to admire him without him noticing. Yes, Luke was your best friend. But that didn't mean that you couldn’t think he was the absolute cutest guy on base. With his dark golden hair, and piercing blue eyes, he was very popular. Known for being a star pilot, obviously having blown up the Death Star, people liked his kindness too, and it led to a number of fellow Rebels having a crush on him. Did you think about kissing him sometimes? Yes. And it didn’t help that he was biting his lip in concentration right now.

Some of the oil he was using had been smudged on his nose. You felt a rush of affection come over you. He was so focused, so in his element. You loved seeing him like that, it almost made you feel proud. As you continued to look at him, your face softened, but you also felt a little bit of guilt.

Sometimes you felt conflicted- he was your friend. Everybody wanted to talk to him, to be with him. You didn’t want to jeopardise that and have him think you only liked him for the same reasons everybody else did. Luke was a great friend, and you liked him as a friend. He was a natural leader, and so dedicated to the cause. He was talented with an X-wing and you loved seeing him practice with the Force. But you liked Luke the person, as well as Luke the Rebel. He was kind and caring, always saving a seat at the mess hall for you, and complimenting you on your skills both with a blaster and your quick wit in the analysis team. The two of you worked well together on missions, and he never ever doubted you, always trusting your instincts. When Luke looked at you, you always felt a little skip in your heart and your cheeks would warm up. You couldn’t help but smile. He always made you laugh, teasing you by twirling the end of your hair when he sat next to you, or like tonight, splattering the oil on your jacket. It wasn’t really ruined. It was only a little mark and it’d make you think of Luke and that moment every time you saw it.

After a while, Luke finally got up, stretching his back and neck, arms in the air as he declared he was done for the night. You snapped out of your thoughts, blinking your eyes and focusing on Luke again. 

“Everything looks good. I just hope everything is good. We can test it tomorrow, if you’re free,” He proposed. 

“Yeah, sure,” You agreed with a small smile. “As long as it's the same time again, I shouldn’t be busy. Unless something comes up,” You added with a quiet laugh and a roll of your eyes. Luke knew what you meant. Nothing was predictable in the Rebel Alliance.

He put his arms up to hold your waist as you slid off the wing and back onto the ground of the hangar. Your boots crunched in the snow as you landed. 

“Your hands are all oily,” You murmured, pouting. “You’re adding to your mess.”

“I’m sorry,” Luke replied softly, turning away and grabbing a rag and trying to dampen it with the snow to wipe the oil remnants off his hands. “Hey, tell you what. You can borrow my oil-stain-free jacket until yours gets washed again, alright?”

Hands now clean, Luke ran a hand gently up your clothed arm, pushing your hair behind one ear. “I really am sorry,” He admitted quietly. 

You leaned into his touch slightly. “I’m not really annoyed, you know. I just like to pester you. Although I’d prefer a stain free jacket.” you admitted, enjoying the opportunity to tease him.

Luke knew this, of course. It was just how the two of you were. You were his weak spot. He watched as you shrugged off your jacket and passed it to him, and he exchanged you for his own one, stain-free. You gave him a soft smile, and he could’ve melted just there. Luke thought it probably could have even melted the ice in the hangar bay. 

This close you could see all the details of Luke’s face. His long lashes, little marks and scraped he’d gotten since joining the Rebellion. His lips just a bit dry from the air and where he’d been biting them in concentration…

Just as you of two gazed into each other’s eyes for a second too long, you both turned with surprise to the door as both your surnames were called, jumping back slightly from the close contact. General Rieekan was about to shut the hangar lights off for the night and it was time to go to bed. 

“Skywalker, your squadron is on patrol in the morning tomorrow.” Rieekan told Luke as the two of you began to leave the hangar. Luke picked up the hair tie you had flung at him earlier on the way out, slipping it onto his wrist and carrying your oil-stained jacket over his arm, with his other hand on the small of your back as he guided you out of the hangar. You both bid General Rieekan goodnight as you walked past, with him giving a nod, and a knowing look in return.

As you walked through the icy halls of Echo Base, boots trudging along in the snow covered walkways, Luke moved his hand up behind your back to rest on your shoulder and twirled the ends of your hair. 

“I like it when it’s down,” he murmured, not wanting to disturb the silence of the base. It was quiet despite the generators humming throughout the halls as everybody was asleep, with a skeleton crew keeping the base running at night. “Your hair, I mean.”

You gave a small smile in response, the quiet of the night and the warmth from Luke’s arm making you feel sleepy. The rest of the journey to your quarters was made in comfortable silence. As you reached the door, Luke punched your code in and the door hissed as it slid open. “Thank you for being such an expert tool passer,” Luke said quietly.

“No problem,” You replied, stifling a yawn. “Couldn’t have done it without me, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Luke smiled in return.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, with you about to suggest that you should get to bed, Luke interrupted. “You promise you’ll come test out those upgrades with me?”

It was unlikely that you’d be able to with such hectic and unexpected schedules in the Rebel Alliance, but you knew that wasn’t the point.

“Of course, Luke. We’ll try our best.” You replied softly.

Luke pulled you in for a hug to say bye, pressing a quick, but soft kiss to your cheek. You felt yourself burning up as you remembered thinking about his lips in the hangar.

As you pulled away and bid each other goodnight, and Luke began walking down the hallway to his own quarters, you heard him loudly whisper. “Don’t get my jacket dirty!”

The door to your quarters slid shut and you yawned, the late night catching up with you. For a moment you let yourself just be a young person with a crush instead of a young person in a war. Yes, Luke Skywalker, your crush. You bit your lip, smiling about the way he had just kissed you on the cheek, you fingers brushing the spot. Beginning to get ready for bed, you took off his jacket and hung it on the end of your bed. You couldn’t always have moments like that with Luke, the war kept it to a minimum. But it was the moments like that which kept your heart happy, and motivated you to fight for a galaxy where you could have more than just a moment like that with Luke every single day.