It had been almost a week since the incident and Lana was still wracked with guilt for what she had done. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him, shocked, scared and almost concerned. She hadn't seen him since and she often thought of going to look for him so she could give him a proper apology, but alas, overdue work was crippling her and she couldn't even think of leaving it any longer. Tying her hair back in a usual ponytail, Lana left her room and made her way to her office, never shifting her view away from the floor. It had been almost two years since she had been diagnosed with depression, and whilst she was tackling it best she could with a smile on her face, very often it came back with a vengeance. This was one of those times when she felt, in every definition of the word, miserable, and the fact that she threw a potential friend at a wall for the simple fact that he touched her didn't help. It wasn't exactly obvious that she didn't want or like to be touched, only when someone hovered over her when forgetting that she didn't want to be hugged or when no reaction was spurred when a person reached out their hand expecting a hand shake. Only when she knew a person would she let them in, and that was a fact that made her very disliked. Stepping into the same old Crew's Quarters, Lana was greeted by a crowd of blank faces, branding her unable to stop the rolling of her eyes and a sigh from escaping her lips.

'Who told them this time?'

With no Jason or Rani to be seen, Lana grabbed a seat and took it to her desk, searching through files to find the reports she had forgotten to write and the jobs she had to do. She couldn't help but feel like a handyman to everyone on the ship as she scanned the files. She rarely used computers for her work, always preferring the use of paper however rare it was. Placing all of her work on the desk, Lana heard a sudden rumble in her stomach, remembering that she hadn't eaten.

'A quick visit to the mess hall wouldn't hurt.' she thought to herself.

Standing to leave, Lana noticed a folded piece of paper on her desk which she hadn't seen before. A note perhaps? Picking up the piece of paper, Lana flipped it open, pausing in confusion at the message it delivered.

I'm sorry.

She automatically knew exactly who it was from. But why would he apologize? She didn't understand. Without a second thought, Lana knew that she had to find Vann, and that it was her who would apologize, not him. Leaving the note on the desk, Lana realized just how hungry she was and made her way to the mess hall.

The Armageddon's mess hall was almost exactly the same as any other ordinary canteen, other than its view to the galaxy outside of the ship. Lana often found herself staring at the distant stars as she ate, wondering just how many were there. Buying herself a sandwich and eating it quickly, Lana starting making her way back to her office. She continued to keep her head down as she walked, not noticing a certain person walk past her. Hearing them stop and turn around, Lana froze, turning to see who it was with her hand pressed to the gun on her hip. To her relief it was Vann, who stood there silent as usual, grinning with a warm yet worried expression.

"Hi, Vann." Lana mumbled, unsure what to say. "I got your note. I wanted to see you before I saw it anyway, but... why 'I'm sorry'? It wasn't your fault. It wasn't you who-"

Vann waved his hand as a signal to stop.

"No. It was my fault." Vann paused, searching for his words. "I should have known better."

"Known better? How could you? I hadn't spoken to you before." Lana asked.

Vann shrugged, his hand on the back of his neck now nervously. Lana hesitated, eyes still glued to the ground.

"Well anyway, I'm so sorry, Vann. I've spent all week regretting what I did. It's me who should have known better, not you. I-"

Vann nodded with a slight smile.

"Please don't worry. Don't apologize. It's alright." he reassured. "I understand."

Lana couldn't help but smile, causing Vann to look away with a timid grin.

"I... yeh." Vann growled at his loss for words.

Still smiling Lana frowned, realizing that her work was still piled up on her desk.

"...I need to go. I have a hell of a lot of work to do."

Vann nodded.

"See you." He mumbled.

Waving, Lana ran back to her desk leaving Vann to continue on his way.

After the short apology the two interacted a lot more. Simple glances turned into greetings and asking how they were, until they were speaking to each other almost everyday. To Lana's joy Vann spoke a lot more, still hesitating and not finding much to say, but speaking nonetheless. The more time Lana spent with him, the more curious she was about him, until she was tired of wondering and plucked up the courage to ask him a few questions.

"Morning, Lana." Vann mumbled as she walked towards him.

"Hi Vann, how are you?"

"I'm alright. Well other than a few of my guns decided to break whilst some of our crew were using them when a few rogue geth decided to attack... what about you?"

"You haven't been blamed for it have you? I'm alright, by the way."

"No. It was my own fault anyway. I was too busy humming along to the music they were playing overhead during the time to pay attention to what I was doing."

Lana couldn't help but laugh. "That music is catchy."

"Yeh... So, ah, I... Damn it." Vann growled at himself. A perfect opportunity to ask the question she'd wanted to ask most.

"Don't worry, we all have trouble speaking sometimes."

"Not like me."

"Why do you have trouble speaking so much?"

Vann froze, eyes darting, searching for an answer.

"I..." he started "... don't know. I always have. Since I was little. Sometimes... I just can't say anything. Is it annoying you?"

Lana yelped to herself.

"No, of course not! I don't mind at all, I think it's quite cute."

"Cute?" Vann puzzled, emerald eyes turning blank for a moment, before chuckling to himself until the chuckle turned into a loud highly amused laugh until Lana found herself laughing with him.

"What's so funny?" she giggled.

"Cute! It's just... that's one word to use for a shy babbling idiot." he laughed until he was almost breathless.

Finally the two were dry of laughter and stood there giggling. Deciding that she had taken this far too childishly, Lana stood up straight again in an attempt to appear serious.

"But seriously, you aren't a shy babbling idiot. You just need to be more confident." Lana said sincerely. Vann smiled and nodded, genuinely grateful for her kind words.

"Thank you, Lana."

"You're welcome."

She found herself gazing into his eyes again, unsure why she found them so appealing. There was so much promise in them, so much kindness and genuine trustworthiness. They were attractive, whatever way you looked at them.

"Hey, did you hear about the riots on Feros?"

"Yeh, apparently the council's thinking of sending some troops down there to 'deal with it'. Let's just hope they don't decide we're up for the job."

Lana couldn't help but listen into the conversation of two crew members passing by, just the sound of the word riot sent a shiver down her spine.

"A riot..?"

Apparently Vann had been listening in also, and was now looking at her with curiosity.

"Do you think they'll send us down there?" Lana couldn't help but ask.

Unsure, Vann simply shrugged.

"Well, I still have some work to do." Lana groaned. "I'd better go."

"Alright. See you." Vann smiled.

"See you."

Back at her office, Lana was lost in her deep thinking. She'd been friends with Vann now for a while now, yet compared to the time she'd known her other friends, she barely knew him. Yet she trusted him. She trusted him with the bottom of heart and it was scaring her. After all she'd been through, she felt like she had someone who cared, and she didn't know what to do.

"Are you alright, Lana?" Rani asked, who had noticed her sitting still for a long time.

"Yeh... I'm just thinking... It's just... do you think I can trust Vann?" Lana replied, trying not to sound as lost as she so obviously was.

Rani's eyes opened wide.

"Of course! He's so sweet, isn't he? In all honesty, I think he's one of the most trustworthy people on the ship. But then again I always have trusted the wrong people."

"Like that drell guy? Or that human women?" Lana teased.

"Shut up. Can I hug you?" Rani opened her arms wide.

Hugging, Rani placed her hands on Lana's shoulders.

"Don't worry so much. Okay, girl?" Rani smiled.

"I won't." Lana answered as truthfully as she could.

"Rani! I think I've broken it! Help!"

"Coming, Jason!" Rani rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Bye for now."

Smiling, Rani walked away, leaving Lana to her thoughts.