Han’s face seems to lose a shade of color when Leia picks up a little too much of what he was saying. Yes, it does seem like he knows the Empire, doesn’t it?

“I didn’t ...” say that. The lies were already on the tip of his tongue. He could say he heard from someone he had met that was discharged. He could make up a name on the spot or tell her the name of someone he had met in the academy. It’s not like she would know and it wasn’t something she could look up.

“There wasn’t a lot of places for me to go.” He says, finally, opting to tell her some of the truth.

It was hard to admit that to Leia who, he knew, had very well defined feelings for what the Empire stood for. He had been wrestling with his own feelings about the whole thing since he’d deserted, but he felt extra embarrassed about his participation now and it showed on his face. At least for a moment. He can see that she got something else on her mind entirely and he was glad for that — though the kiss comes as a bit of a surprise.

Han settles into the moment quickly enough. He’s reaching his hands almost possessively around her lower back and he pulls her into his lap. He’s not shy about the pressure from his nose and jaw rubbing against her as he kisses back hard. This was a no-holds-barred backstreets of Corellia kind of kiss now and Han was perfectly at home in it.