"Are you sure this is traditional?" Garak asked skeptically as he looked over at Julian. The younger man was wearing a roguish smile on his lips as he nodded, and Garak shook his head a little. "Somehow, I feel that you are exaggerating things just a little bit, preying on my relative naiveite in regards to Terran celebrations."

"Oh, perish the thought, Elim! I would never lead you astray." The good doctor waggled his eyebrows at Garak, causing him to chuckle lowly. "Besides, I had to spend quite a few credits to have this situation written for me. And you were the only on that I wanted to share it with."

Despite the teasing tone to his voice, and the self-deprecating smile on his lips, Garak knew that Julian had just revealed the truth to him. It wasn't anything that Garak didn't know, since he had been encouraging something between them from the moment they had met, but to hear that Julian felt something even remotely similar caused him to smile, though he wasn't entirely certain that it was a nice smile. "Still, did you have to make it so cold?"

"That's the only way to truly experience a proper, Terran, Christmas. There are countless stories that tell about the snow, the cold, the way that lovers cuddle up together to share their warmth, and the general feelings of love and affection that arise around this time of year. Well, Terran year, I suppose. There are times when I forget that not everyone has the same divisions of time that I grew up with. Christmas, though, everyone should have the opportunity to celebrate it at least once."

"And just what goes on at a Christmas celebration?" Garak asked as he tried to conceal another shiver. Julian gave him a small wink before stepping closer to his side and hooking their arms together, leading him through the snow up to what could only be described in Terran terms as a cozy cabin. "Julian?"

"It all depends on the family or friends that are gathered. Since it's just the two of us, I thought that it should be a more lowkey affair. Just us, the woods, the cabin…"

"And hopefully a few bottles of Kanar," he muttered as he shivered a little more violently. "This is a holoprogram, couldn't you create the same look while making it a living temperature?"

Julian had the audacity to laugh aloud, and Garak narrowed his eyes at the man as he stopped them along the path. Julian smiled a little as he squeezed Garak's arm firmly. "There has to be some semblance of the truth in these stories and settings. This is what it would look like in Minnesota, which seemed like one of the most Christmassy places when I researched this for us."

Again, he was using terminology that partnered them together, and Garak frowned a little as he took another step forward. "After the war, there was no us," he said lowly before gently pulling his arm away from Julian's grasp and stalking towards the cabin. A part of him expected the man to immediately reach for his hand and clasp it, to pull him back and say something, but when that didn't happen, he began to walk a little faster.

"And what, exactly, are you?" he hissed as he stopped in front of what appeared to be three balls of this snow that Julian had said was a vital part of their experience. There was a crude face on the top ball, and he glared into its eyes before knocking that top ball onto the ground and stomping into the cabin, slamming the door with a resounding thud.

He didn't even really know (or want to acknowledge, truly) why he was so upset, but it felt good to let some of that irritation out through the small acts of violence. As he tramped over to the couch, Garak tried to silence the voice in his head whispering that he was making a mistake by even being here with Julian, since he knew that the man had went to so much trouble to put this together.

"You left me."

Garak stiffened when he heard the yearning hurt in Julian's voice. "I did. I didn't want to hurt you by lashing out."

"No, you just beheaded our snowman. Honestly, Elim."

He chuckled a little, the absurdity of the situation finally hitting him. "So that's what the odd creation is. I take it that's a human thing?"

"Yes. Most children grow up making them during the winter. I, I just wanted to share something from my early life." The hurt was back in Julian's voice, and Garak sighed a little as he patted the cushion next to him. Julian came around to face him. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was still upset, but it was more sad than mad, and Garak felt his heart clench a little the longer his Doctor took to sit down.

"Thank you for sharing that with me," he replied, in what was probably the first overt time he had been honest in quite some time. There was something about the younger human that drew the truth from his lips, much though he hated it. "Were there any other traditions from your early life that you had planned on sharing?"

The closed off look was slowly leaving Julian's face as he nodded and finally took a seat next to him. "There were a few that had come to mind, yes. But one of them will take a bit of time to make. I didn't want to leave this to the replicator, it wouldn't be in the Christmas spirit."

"Ah," he replied as he relaxed a little on the couch, enjoying the warmth from the fire, even though it was thoroughly artificial. "Well, get to it."

"Ever the one to order people around," Julian teased back, and Garak was grateful that he had picked up on that undertone. "I don't suppose that you'd want to help me?"

"If you twist my arm, yes." Julian chuckled as he got to his feet once more, holding his hand out expectantly, as if to make up for the fact that he had ignored the move earlier. Garak nodded and smiled at him, not one of the false, crocodile, smiles he reserved for the fools he was normally surrounded with, and Julian returned the gesture with an openness that shook him to the core. He never thought that he would be able to see that on the man's face ever again, so to be on the receiving end was a boon beyond measure.

It became clear to him that they were going to be cooking something, as there were a number of containers out on the counter, and he frowned a little, turning a skeptical eye on Julian. "Oh, do play along, Elim. I know that you will enjoy this little exercise immensely."

He shook his head a bit, only to grin widely when Julian held up a bottle of Terran wine. "If you had said that from the get go, I would never have frowned at you. Getting drunk on fine wine is a Cardassian holiday tradition as well."

Julian chuckled lowly as he shook his head with mirth. "There are a few more steps to our mulled wine, Elim. We'll need to add these ingredients to that pot on the oven and bring it all to a boil. Then it's just a matter of waiting ten minutes for everything to settle as it simmers, and we drink it warm."

"That sounds delicious."

"I thought you'd say that. And while we're waiting for the water to boil, I thought that we could heat up the air around us with another thoroughly Terran way." Garak cocked his head to one side as he watched a naughty smile spread across Julian's lips. "Look up."

He did as he was bidden, and saw a ball of green leaves and white berries hanging above his head. "I take it that this plant has some significance?" he asked, eyeing the ball suspiciously, wondering if it was a poison or an explosive device.

"If I wanted to kill you, I'd have locked you out of the cabin, Elim. That's mistletoe, and according to tradition, any couple…"

"We're not exactly a couple, my dear Doctor."

"Couple as in two, Elim. Do not be deliberately obtuse." He laughed lowly as he shrugged, causing Julian to shake his head once again. "As I was saying, it is tradition for any couple caught standing beneath the mistletoe to kiss."

"Oh." It wasn't often that he was speechless, but Garak found himself that way when he looked at Julian and saw a yearning in his eyes that he hadn't seen since before everything had driven them apart. Stepping closer to Julian, Garak reached out and cupped the back of his skull, bringing him in close before capturing his lips in a possessive kiss. "That was…"

"That was a kiss of peace, from me to you, hopefully with the promise of something more in the days to come?" Garak knew that this olive branch would only be extended once, and before he could allow himself to overthink and talk himself out of a chance of real happiness, he nodded and kissed Julian once more, thankful for the Terran traditions that had brought them together once more.