The conversation was fascinating. There was so much to be learned on both sides, and Julian soon became immersed in a detailed analysis of scientific and cultural differences between the dimensions. The Doctor seemed as excited about the new information as he was, and even Garak had a good time comparing literature. For a while, Julian lost himself in the nuances of the discussion, eager to be intellectually stimulated and engaged. It was only as he was reciting part of this world's version of the Bajoran religious texts that he caught himself. Slow down, Julian, he told himself, and "forgot" the rest of the passage. This was dangerous territory. Medical discussions were easy, since no one else knew what he was saying anyway. But this was different, and he had to remember that normal people didn't remember whole books word for word. He dropped out of the conversation for a bit, and settled for listening to Garak lecture the Doctor on the merits of Cardassian mystery novels. Maybe he could turn the conversation to his own life - he might sound narcissistic, but at least he would be safe.
Garak manoeuvred the conversation like a dance - a nudge here, a hint there - and delighted when he found that this "Doctor" could fight back. As Julian sipped on his Tarkalean tea, he led this newcomer into a discussion of Cardassian literature. It was one of his favourite topics, and he could discuss it for hours, but he was pleasantly surprised when the Doctor began to use the conversation for his own gentle probing. It was little questions - subtle ones, like Garak himself had used in the early, gentle stages of interrogations. "How old were you when you first read that book?" "When was that published?" "What parallels do you see between that and Earth literature?" Delicious. This was a man who knew how to draw conclusions from the little hints and clues a person dropped. He had to be careful with this one, or else even the lies he told might make the mask transparent. He ran through his stories, editing them as he went - a name here, a word there - just enough to make them the stories someone else would tell. Just a little more cliché; just a little more outlandish. Although his stories were false, his smile was genuine. This was fun.
As they spoke, the Doctor examined the conversation from several simultaneous angles. The man sitting in front of him was clearly someone who loved to be seen as a mystery. Given his lack of experience with this dimension, he couldn't say for sure if this was a species-wide trait, or something unique to this particular individual, but it certainly made for an interesting conversation. The Doctor was sure that at least half of what he said was not at all true, but the lies were just as interesting as any truths may have been. Far more interesting, however, was the literature they were discussing. This world must have diverged from his own quite some time ago, judging by the differences in culture and empire in this time period. There was so much here to explore and discover! He must take Clara here sometime.
The conversation shifted, as conversations tend to do, and soon they were focusing on the Doctor's world. How much should he tell them? He wasn't familiar enough with this dimension to know what the fixed points were, although he didn't think there were any with which he was likely to interfere. Well, as long as he kept them away from the important things, some basic trivia couldn't hurt. So he did what he did best - what he always did - and regaled them with stories of faraway places and things which defied the imagination, keeping them too enthralled with the new discoveries to question the important things. He usually took his companions to exotic planets and distant times, but here he found himself talking mostly about Earth and other familiar planets. It was more fantastic to learn about something old turned new than to learn about something completely unheard of. And it worked. It always worked - even on himself. He ran away from his secrets, hiding them in the dust of his past and ignoring them until he was reminded by pain. In his experience, it was easier to hide the darkness if you keep it a secret from yourself.
Julian had a fascination with history. He loved to read old Earth stories, and collected holoprograms taking place in antique eras. It was unsurprising, then, that he soon found himself caught up in the discussion once more, despite his earlier decision to avoid dangerous subjects. This was not really a new experience for him - he was interested in so many subjects that he always found himself excitedly joining in a conversation, talking much more than he'd intended to, and later mentally bashing his head against a wall and wondering why no one else had caught onto him. The conversation really was wonderful, though - it appeared that Earth's history had remained very similar throughout most of the nineteen hundreds, and they had a wonderful time discussing the historical similarities and impacts between their worlds. The Doctor appeared to have access to some sort of unregulated time travel (Julian could already picture the horrified faces of the Temporal Anomalies inspectors), and the casual way he mentioned various historical figures was astonishing. Julian himself spoke mostly about his own opinions of and fascinations with these historical figures, and despite his obvious perceptiveness, the Doctor appeared to take more interest in probing Garak than Julian. That, he mused, was one advantage of being around the mysterious "Tailor": his intentionally enigmatic nature did a successful job of masking Julian, as well as himself.
Garak, for his part, was starting to find the entire conversation just the slightest bit unsettling. He was used to having the upper hand in these situations - he could almost always grasp the other person's motives and personality in just a few sentences, even if he didn't necessary get all the details right away. It had certainly been that way with Julian - he'd unsettled the good doctor from the start, gained the advantage, and quickly assessed the other man's character: he was optimistic, enthusiastic, and rather remarkably naive for his considerable intelligence. This new man, however, remained a mystery. There was obviously more to him than met the eye, but his very nature seemed to shift whenever he began to decipher the man. The Doctor himself appeared almost unaware of his evasiveness, as though it was a habit so deeply ingrained that he was no longer conscious of it – or else was intentionally ignoring it. It was maddening. Still, Garak knew he was far from losing this delicate sparring match. He was certain that the stranger was still largely in the dark about his own past, and took no small amount of pride in that knowledge. No, he wasn't losing, but it had been so long since he'd been on equal footing that he found the conversation disconcerting nevertheless.