Lena Ryder paced the cabin of the Tempest in four large strides. When she was stressed it would be four, when she was happy it would be ten, it was one of her ways of dealing with anxiety. SAM called it intriguing, said that her dad never did anything like that but then she was never anything like her dad.

Her small braided ponytail and shaved head had always been in complete contrast to the smart, finely cut do's of her family, and that's saying nothing for the purple tint she put on it. It contrasted well with her dark skin and she was in love with how she looked. The tattoo on her neck and her scars made her look butch and she felt beautiful.

Especially when Vetra looked at her.

Christ alive, the way that turian looked at her, it sent more butterflies into her stomach than the prospect of falling onto Habitat-7 again.

Fighting a planetful of kett would have been less anxiety producing, Lena had always been a scrapper, but right now this anxiety she was feeling was good.

She loved Vetra. She truly, honestly did. That sickening, nauseating, beautiful ball of jelly in her heart exploded every time she saw her. She was just so damn tall! Lena practically swooned every time she had to look up to see her beautiful face, and she knew that Vetra would catch her.

Love wasn't what she came to the Andromeda Galaxy for, but by all the gods, spirits and whatever in the whole universe, she would not turn away from it now. Not ever.

She paced back across the room, five steps, and pressed the small comm receiver on her table. Vetra had given her a private line, something not even Tann could listen in on.

"Hey, Vee," Lena whispered into it. It wired directly into the headset Vetra always wore. That far too sexy than a headset had any right to be, headset. "When we land on Eos, wait behind for me, yeah? I've got a surprise for you."

Vetra didn't reply, but Lena knew she had heard her. They weren't exactly keeping their romance a secret, Sid, Vetra's sister, was far too much of a blabber mouth for that, but Vetra liked privacy and Lena respected that. That wasn't to say she didn't hold the woman's hand every chance she could. Public displays of affection were too much for both of their anxieties but hand-holding? That was perfection in and of itself.

Lena sat back upon her couch and smirked. Hainly Adams back on Prodromos had helped her come up with the best idea for a date yet. Something she just knew Vetra would love. Hainly had quickly become a good friend, they had bonded over their gender issues, surprised to find another like them so quickly. Twenty thousand people and one of the first she meets is another trans-woman? The odds were against that but then Lena was always beating the odds. Even if she liked to joke about her bad luck.

They were at war, even Lena couldn't make jokes about that, but they deserved all the downtime they could get. Every party was treated as though it was the last, but it wouldn't be. She would kick the Archon's bony arse to the Milky Way and back again if it meant having a future with Vetra. She was going to fight for that.

But right now? Right now she was going to panic that her perfect date plan might not be as smooth as she had hoped. Lena was a lot of things but a worrier was near the top of the list.

"I love you," Vetra's voice sparked from the comm unit. "So damn much."

And just like that? The panic was gone.