As the old man brought to a conclusion whatever dialogue he'd been engaged in with Quark, Julian slipped around the door and cut a path through the gathering crowd. Clusters of people glanced his way, occasionally shifting to one side as he directed himself towards the newly vacated seat.

"Doctor!" the smaller man enthused. Light reflected in shades of white and crimson across his bulbous forehead, and his grin returned tenfold as he mopped up a puddle of spilt liquor from the gleaming surface of his bar. "Always a pleasure to have you here. How can I be of service?"

Julian leaned forward, his own gaze even more intent than Morn's. "You can start by telling me who that was just now."

"Who was what?" Quark glanced around the throng of customers just beyond the doctor's shoulder, and toyed with the rag in both orange-tinted hands.

"Quark…"

"Oh, him. You mean Emanon." The Ferengi shrugged. Rotating just slightly to the left, Morn stared for a moment before turning back to the drink he'd clasped in one enormous paw. But when Quark looked back, his expression was one of carefully calculated innocence. "What can I tell you? He's no-one, really. Just a friend of a friend… of my cousin Gaila."

The last four words were quiet, indistinct, mumbled a little too quickly as though in an attempt to let them slip past Julian's hearing.

"Gaila?" he repeated. Hearing the name did nothing to lessen a slow, squirming apprehension that was gradually uncoiling in the pit of his stomach. "Wasn't that the same cousin who was trafficking weapons through Deep Space Nine barely two and a half years ago?"

Quark stepped back as if to withdraw - or possibly even recoil - from a quietly civil battle. His steel blue eyes now studied the taller man with open suspicion. "Are you sure you're not really a changeling in disguise?" he lisped.

Huffing quietly, Julian expelled himself from the barstool and made for the exit. Hew-mon or not, the sound that came forth from deep inside his chest would have made for a more than passable Odo.

"I've got work to do."

DS9's operations centre was far more easy and subdued on that day than the bustling hub of Julian's infirmary had been. He hadn't been at all sure that he would ever find the chance to visit. But a lull in his workload had continued into the early afternoon, allowing him time to journey up through the arteries of the station, and into its equally familiar heart.

Ezri Dax looked up from her place at the back console, watching the lift slow to a halt with Julian still inside it. Her short, dark hair was slightly ruffled, he noted with some amusement. Either she had been too distracted that morning to do anything about it, or she had worked it into that restless state throughout the course of the day.

Swinging a little as he pushed himself from the rail, Julian stepped forward into the open room. He found himself reciprocating the fullness of her open smile, even as it brought a new-found levity to his step. "You're awfully cheerful today," he commented playfully.

"All the more for seeing you. Finally."

"All right. I confess." Julian raised both hands in surrender. "It was a busy morning. I'm sorry I couldn't have joined you earlier."

Reaching up to wrap both arms around his shoulders, Ezri planted a brief but welcome kiss upon his lips. Her expression had taken a decidedly quirky turn. "Very well," she said. "All is forgiven. So what brings you all the way up to call on us mere mortals?"

"Reminders," he told her, wishing briefly that he could have found a happier excuse to venture up to Ops. "Annual reports to Starfleet Medical are due any day now. Or have you forgotten as well?"

"With the number of times you've already told me?" Dax teased, and then conceded with mock formality. "Very well, Doctor. Always happy to oblige."

Julian could not have prevented the tiny chuckle that escaped from the back of his throat, even if he had wanted to. "If only everyone was this easy to convince."

"I'll offer you a struggle if you really want one." And then Ezri dropped her voice to a whisper. "But I just thought it was better to set a good example, especially with everybody watching us like they are."

One or two people grimaced in an unsuccessful effort to hide their smiles, but others continued to grin and stare. A pair of nearer officers coughed under their breaths, and shied away from the sudden revelation that they'd been thwarted in their attempts to eavesdrop.

Partly to distract himself from the pressure of their open stares, Julian allowed his gaze to drift up stairs, to the slightly darkened office of the station commander. He stepped forward, suddenly curious and wishing that he could carry out a little subtle spying of his own. Kira Nerys was seated at her place behind the large, black desk, talking to a pair of new arrivals in loose-fitting civvies, both seated at the visitors' end, their outlines clearly visible through the transparent, geometric panes.

"Pity you were never at lunch with us," Ezri accused before he could even ask. "You would have been quite interested in some of the stories they had to tell."

"Who are they?"

"Researchers from a ship that docked here earlier this morning." She shifted her position to stand beside - and half a step behind - her slightly darker companion. "They're on their way to one of those ecology expeditions heading for the edge of the Badlands. You know how the Federation Council's been talking about sending people for months already by now? Well - now they finally have."

"Scientists?" Julian turned to glance her way, but with yet another unasked question clear behind his eyes.

"The one on the right is Professor M'Pel." Ezri nodded to indicate a tall, raven-haired Vulcan woman. Julian looked, wondering yet again how it was that Vulcans managed to sit so stiffly for so long without doing irreparable damage to their spinal column. "And the other's name is…"

Her brow furrowed slightly. "…Dowling. That's right. Professor Dowling. Come on - I'll introduce you."

She started to move forward, but Julian discovered that he was hesitating. His toes curled as though to grip the floor beneath, legs suddenly heavy and reluctant to take a step. Professor Dowling was not particularly tall - certainly not with the commanding presence of her Vulcan comrade - but hers was the face that grabbed his attention. Her hair was cut short around her ears, slightly brown, but fine enough that it could once have been blonde. Occasional dry wisps escaped in a cloud from where it hardly seemed able to keep itself in place.

At a signal from Kira, both scientists turned towards the exit - where the doors slid open automatically at their approach. Professor Dowling was slower to rise than either of the other two women, but first to descend the stairs into Ops. Her smile was broad and open, although possibly a little timid at the edges, and her eyes were shaded although the brows that arched above them were barely distinguishable from her pale, slightly dusky skin. But her own gaze locked immediately with Julian's.

"Ah," said the dark-haired Bajoran captain as soon as she noticed the most recent arrival. There was a clear glimmer behind her eyes, as though she was deep in some conspiracy with the universe, and the smile she cast down towards him bore a promise of mischief. Turning to the visiting scientists, Kira held out a hand to indicate the young man standing below.

"Here's someone I'm sure would be fascinated to hear about your latest research efforts. Professor Dowling, Professor M'Pel. Our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Julian Bashir…"

The younger of the two women paused, and failed to hold back a sudden gasp. Her blue eyed stare was fixed upon him. But she cast it deliberately to one side at almost the instant she realised that he was looking back up at her.

From the corner of his eye, Julian noticed that Ezri's smile had turned to a pensive frown. She was staring too, releasing her hold on him only just long enough to glance up at the other strangely silent Human.

"I… I'm sorry. I just remembered, I… er… I do have a lot to be getting on with today. Erm… Excuse me." Fighting to conceal a rush of heat just beneath his skin, Julian forced a smile and almost tripped over the slightly uneven border of the turbolift in his haste to stumble back inside.