She sat at her desk, her bleary eyes scanning over the results of the latest mission for the hundredth time. Most sane folk would be asleep by this hour, but she was restless. Her mind raced as she read and reread the datapad, the words blurring from staring for so long. She threw the datapad onto the desk with a grunt of frustration – she couldn't even remember what she was reading. Her head fell into her hands as she tried to keep herself calm.

She stood suddenly, the chair falling to the floor. She ignored it and began to pace, muttering to herself. Her voice grew increasingly louder with each turn of her heels as she tried to convince herself that everything would be okay. Abruptly she stopped and sank onto the edge of the bed. A wayward tear found its way down her cheek. She didn't bother to wipe it away. The door hissed open, revealing a very confused-looking Aric standing stiffly in the frame.

Aric Jorgan: her right-hand man, the one person she trusted most.

She turned away, suddenly ashamed. She heard him approach, felt his presence as he knelt in front of her. Straightening her back, she sniffed and hastily wiped her face. "Do you need something?" It came out more harshly than she had intended, despite her wavering voice.

"Just checking in." He paused, his intense gaze studying her face. "Heard you from down the hall, actually. I was up."

She blinked once, twice. "I was…I was that loud?"

He nodded and averted his gaze towards the floor. "I was…concerned when you went quiet."

This odd sentiment coming from the tough-skinned Cathar took her by surprise. Tack this uncharacteristic sympathy from the Lieutenant onto everything else she was responsible for and…

She turned her head away as fresh tears began to well up in her eyes. He lifted himself up from the floor and sat beside her on the edge of the bed. Tentatively, slowly, he put an arm around her waist. She gave a start – his hand was so warm! – and turned to look quizzically at him. He ignored her, pulling her closer until she had no choice but to rest her head on his chest, then wrapped his other arm around her torso.

They didn't say anything for a long moment, both trying as best as they could to convince themselves that their position wasn't awkward at all, before quietly murmuring, "I know the feeling."

That did it.

She hiccupped as the floods began pouring from her face. It was so simple, but it was exactly what she needed to hear, and this was exactly what she needed: a friend to just hold and comfort her for a moment. They stayed like that for a while – him holding her close and she taking comfort in his arms as she fought to control her raging emotions. He began to stroke her arm with his thumb.

"How did you do it?" she finally asked once she had calmed, breaking the thick silence that hung in the air. She was surprised that he hadn't pulled away by now.

He snorted. "What, keep a clear head under that kind of pressure?" She nodded against his chest; he looked down at her, his eyes oddly tender, something she'd never seen before.

"Kept myself busy. Took on more than I could probably handle – not something I would recommend, by the way." She smiled a bit. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly in return. "My advice: take it slow. One day at a time. Don't worry about what's going on tomorrow – as hard as that sounds. And don't forget…it's okay to let your hair down every so often."

His focus flitted to her ponytail, then back to her face. She lifted her head, wiping her eyes with her hand, and let out a shuddering sigh. He rubbed her back for a second, his face unreadable.

"Well then." He stood abruptly. "I should get back to my quarters." He started to leave.

"Aric."

He stopped, turned. "Sir?"

Her red-eyed gaze flickered to the floor, then back to him. "Thank you."

His stare softened. "If you need anything, I'm here. Good night, sir."

"Night." He left, the door sliding shut once again.

Hi readers! Just a quick one-shot fluff fest for you. Haven't written in a long time, so please let me know how I did (was it fluffy enough?) and if I kept Jorgan in character. Much appreciated!