"You seem distressed, Jeff," EDI observed, once the meeting broke up, the ground team heading down to begin assembling their equipment, those in support roles to prepare in their own fashion for their own parts.

Adams was already giving instructions to Donnelly and Daniels in Engineering, and from what EDI could tell, the two engineers were both scrambling to keep up.

"Why should I be distressed?" Jeff's asked sullenly, though he didn't turn and shuffle back to the pilot's seat.

"Because your vitals indicate an elevated state commonly associated with distress, you are glaring at me, and are otherwise…copping attitude…when I inquire," EDI answered with perfect seriousness.

Jeff's glare intensified. "You know why," he grunted, some of the anger, but none of the distress, easing.

"I may surmise, but it would be more productive for you to be up front with your concerns."

"Concerns?!" Jeff exploded, as she knew he would. "You wanna head straight into Cerberus Central!"

EDI was glad no one else was in the meeting room for Jeff's sake; she, on the other hand, rather enjoyed knowing he felt so strongly about the matter. For once, there was no humor to deflect.

"They could have a kill-switch! They could have some kind of weird EDI-specific virus! They could have some way of nuking your central processor or whatever!" In the wake of his outburst, Jeff seemed abashed.

EDI, on the other hand, smiled gently. "They have already tried all of those things—well, except the virus, but my adaptive learning suite should keep me ahead of their efforts. Not that they should have had time or resources to worry about creating a virus for me, given their various failures and setbacks."

"That doesn't make it better," Jeff grunted, dropping into a chair and looking morose.

"Shepard and the rest of the ground team face non-functionality every time they enter a combat zone."

"Still doesn't make it better."

EDI, still enjoying the gentle positive feedback in her neural net, came and perched on the arm of Jeff's chair. She was gratified when he rested his head against her. "I will be very careful, Jeff," she assured him.

"You'd better be." He shifted in his seat, then snaked an arm around her waist.

"Jeff?"

"Hm," came the preoccupied grunt.

EDI considered, then decided to press forward. It was something she had wanted to ask him for a while now, and now seemed like as good a time as any. Perhaps better, since concern might make him more amenable to things that might otherwise cause minor discomfort until he got used to the idea. "Shepard believes it will be Cronos Station and then Earth."

"Yeah…but you think so too. Don't you?"

Busted. "I am…aware that it is the high probability," EDI answered delicately. "But even if we were to go from the Horsehead relay to the Sol relay, there would be at least one night cycle between origin and terminus."

Jeff shifted in his chair, the better to look up at her. "Yeah, so?"

An unfamiliar surge ran through EDI's neural network; she wondered if this was what 'embarrassment' felt like. "I wanted to ask you…" Yes, this was definitely what embarrassment felt like. Part of her reveled in the new sensation of it, most of her could have done without it.

"EDI?"

"I'm sorry, Jeff," EDI blinked. "I appear to be experiencing something analogous to embarrassment. It is…unexpected."

"You? Embarrassed?" Jeff asked, tone insinuating, as if he would deflect with humor for her sake if she gave him the opportunity.

"The matter is personal. And serious," she added, which caused the burgeoning leer to slide off like mud down a window.

"…serious…" Jeff repeated. He didn't do 'serious' well unless it involved piloting.

"May I be frank with you, Jeff?"

"…this isn't the 'dear John' talk, is it?" Jeff asked uneasily.

"Not at all." Her random response suite triggered, ending in a nervous laugh. "I wanted to ask you," she leaned over, lowering her voice so it couldn't carry. Not that there was anyone to hear it. "…would you spend that one night cycle with me? I want…there may not be another opportunity once we get to Earth, and I-I wanted…" The embarrassment sensation had become truly distracting by now. She wondered how organics managed to deal with it. "I just wanted to know what it would be like to hold you…and be close to you. Have I overstepped? Am I making you uncomfortable?" She could see that he was, but when she made to move, to give him some space, he didn't move his arm to let her go. "I'm sorry if I have misunderstood something and made an improper request."

Jeff was silent for a very long moment—it seemed longer than EDI's internal chrono indicated it was, and left her reevaluating her understanding of the adage 'a watched pot boils not'—before he answered slowly, taking her free hand in his and lacing their fingers together. He watched the interlaced digits, as if he was unsure whether he wanted to see her expression. He took a deep breath then, "If you come back safely…I will be your snuggle-bear." Then, almost shyly, self-consciously, he kissed the palm of her hand.

Something sparked across her neutral network, a sharp, but ultimately pleasant feedback. "Then I will be very sure to come back safely. You are…alright…with the request?"

"Yeah," he answered, as if contemplating it and finding he really was, somewhat to his own surprise. "Yeah, I'm okay with it." Then, looking up at her with an unusually unguarded expression. "Thanks for asking, EDI."

She smiled, then kissed his upturned forehead. "Thank you for agreeing. I should go and prepare for the assault."

"Yeah…uh, remember to double up on shield generators like Shepard does."

EDI slipped off the arm of the chair, and this time Jeff let her. "Shall I walk you to your station first?" she asked as Jeff climbed laboriously out of the chair.

"…sure. Why not?"