Almost all the arrangements were made to have a soccer game down at Prodromos. Something simple. Or it should be. All Liam needed was a confirmation from Bradley that enough folks could be let off duty to play. It was hard to nail down exactly when they'd arrive, so it wasn't a small ask.

Soon as he heard back from Bradley, he could sleep. Felt like it'd been days since he properly slept. It wasn't, though- just a bare, easy twenty hours, with only a few firefights in between. He must be losing some of his edge.

While he waited, he sat down on the couch in the cargo bay, a vid playing on the screen, and just leaned back. If he didn't close his eyes, he wouldn't fall asleep, or miss Bradley's call. All he had to do was keep 'em open.

No easy task.

He was in the middle of fiddling with security measures on his omnitool, to stay awake, when Sara came in. He smiled sleepily in greeting.

"Hey!" She came and sat down on the couch, across from him. It took a moment to register, but she seemed tense. He dug deep for the last few shreds of alertness and turned his attention to her.

"What's up?" A nice, neutral beginning. With luck nothing too big would be wrong.

"I, um. Well, I talked to Scott," she said, and stalled. He waited as patiently as he could for her to continue. Of course she talked to Scott, she did so every time they visited the Nexus. Also known as the only place he went today where people didn't shoot at him.

"He reminded me I sometimes don't communicate what I'm thinking very well. I can be a little oblivious." She wasn't looking at him. The whole conversation gave him an uneasy vibe. He sat up straighter. Something was definitely up, and he really wished he could put a pause on this conversation until he'd had some sleep.

"What's wrong?" he asked, because she wasn't really saying. For a moment, she looked at him, right in the eyes- and that had the usual effect on his insides, but it didn't help him figure out what was going on. He had to fight rising frustration- that wouldn't help anything.

"I never asked you if you wanted to date like, seriously," she said, at last, and wow that really wasn't what he expected when she came in.

He stared at her for a long moment, unsure what to say or do. Because she hadn't, exactly, asked him a question. And she hadn't said what it was she wanted. And he really, really didn't know what to say. Except, what came out of his mouth was, "I thought you had a thing for Reyes?"

Because his mouth was an idiot.

Her eyes widened, eyebrows climbing. "No? Other way around, if anything. Not that I don't admire what he's done with Kadara port, because I really do. But that doesn't have anything to do with. . ."

"Doesn't it?" Because if she had a thing for someone else, that was just it for them. Romantically. No hard feelings, but that was one area of life where he just didn't want to compete with anyone else.

"No." Her brows drew down, confused, frowning. "No, I don't. . . I am not . . . I wouldn't be asking you about this if what I wanted was someone else. I'd just tell you that. Clean break."

Wait, so she wasn't just telling him that, and did that mean that what she wanted was him? Was that what was happening? His heartbeat picked up.

"So what are you telling me?" And damnit, but that was the wrong question too. His hands balled into fists, shoulders tight as a bowstring, because there was something important hanging just out of reach of his exhausted mind. Of all the times he really wanted to be smart, and here he was, being dumb as a box of bricks. But the words were out there, non-committal and not what he wanted to say, floating to her ears already.

Her frown deepened.

"I . . . wanted to say we should figure this out. Certainty is better than uncertainty. Scott called it a personnel problem," she said. And God, she was telling Scott about him? What was she saying? "This is all just a lot of pressure neither of us need. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. Not yet. We're nowhere near done."

"We'll never be done," he assured her, but it didn't seem to come across as reassurance. Her frown didn't fade at all. "I don't mind taking just the time we have, for now, it's not about-"

His communicator sounded off. Bradley. Bradley and his damn timing.

They stared at each other a moment.

"I have to get that," he said, lamely. She nodded, her frown softening to a rueful smile. Which was not, damnit, what he wanted. That smile still meant unhappiness.

"Go ahead. We're fine. I'm sorry for bringing it up," she said, but no, that wasn't what he meant, and she was already standing up and leaving. "You're really important to me. To this team. I hope. . . I hope I'm not messing that up. Let me know if you want to talk more later."

And then she was gone. Gone before he figured out what to say.

Cursing under his breath, he answered the comm and endured Bradley's good-natured ribbing about how long it took him to answer. They made a plan for the game, and signed off.

Except now he didn't want to sleep. He was still as tired, just, not nearly as peaceful.

Pressure, she said.

He returned to the couch and laid down, eyes closed, mind racing. She said all of this was pressure neither of them needed. Did that mean she did want to be serious with him, or that she didn't?

Maybe he could do something. A grand gesture, to get the conversation moving. Like when he traded that armor to Jaal. Maybe he could get some of that fruit from Aya? No, terrible idea. Or, maybe he could set up a vid night for the two of them . . . except they'd done that, that wasn't exactly a grand gesture. He could engineer something fun. A little bot that said nothing but encouraging things. A jump-jet mod that made her vaportrail a bunch of little hearts. A bouquet of heleus-flowers.

No. None of that would help. That wasn't what she wanted, or needed- she'd said there was too much pressure. Already. What they needed was just to talk.

And, it sounded like she needed to know where he stood. Which seemed crazy to him. How could she not know? Didn't she realize how absolutely incredible she was? How anybody would be dying to be closer to her?

Maybe he was trying too hard. Like with the angara. Maybe he needed to just get back to basics. Talk to her. Gently. Without pressure.

Maybe at the game.