It was just another night in Vic's Lounge. The floor had been cleared somewhat to create a dancing area in the middle surrounded by the tables. Scantily-dressed waitresses were weaving between tables offering drinks to the people sitting at them. There were a number of couples present and the waitresses did their best to push drinks and food. A large portion of the waitresses income was from tips so the more they sold the more they got paid. Being scantily dressed always seemed to help. It seemed that the gentlemen would order something just so that he could have the waitress up close to them. The women didn't like the looks their men gave to waitresses but they knew there was nothing they could do about it. It was just part of the scene.
Just before Dax entered the Vegas club she checked herself in front of a mirror in the foyer. She had had a lot of trouble trying to decide exactly what to wear eventually trying on five different outfits before settling for what she was wearing. She didn't want to give Bashir the wrong ideas by dressing up for a date. On the other hand, as Vic once put it, the club was a class-joint so she couldn't exactly turn up in a t-shirt. In the end she has settled on a turquoise, sleeveless gown. The gown flowed down to just above the floor. It tightly fit her figure at the front and sides and fanned out at the back with a number of layers. She had even managed to replicate a pair of matched long gloves. Covering her shoulders was a white imitation-fur shawl that fit perfectly with the period and, she hoped, accentuated the spots on her neck. She completed the looks with a pearl necklace. She just hoped that Julian would understand that she had dressed up because of the club and not because she saw this as a special date. She made final adjustments to her clothes and then stepped into the club.
She was not surprised to see that Bashir had already arrived and was waiting for her.
Ever the gentleman. Don't keep the lady waiting , she thought. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.
She looked at him and saw that he too had dressed for the occasion with a dark blue evening suit, a white shirt and a dark blue bow-tie. He had even polished his shoes for the occasion. Vic would definitely approve and Dax had to admit to herself that he looked amazing.
Dax was not blind to the situation and the fact that she still had feelings for him, so this was going to make it doubly hard. She started to worry that maybe she had overdone it and was in danger of giving him the wrong impression.
Bashir came forward to meet Dax and offered her his arm. She took it and they slowly wove their way into the crowd. There was an audience building up and some dance music playing but Vic was nowhere to be seen. They made their way to the bar and perched on stools just looking out at the tables and the people milling around. They both sat there in silence, just watching the crowd fox-trotting around the floor feeling slightly awkward, with neither of them quite sure how to start the conversation. So, they were both relieved when the silence was broken for them by Ginger arriving after a few moments.
"Hey, Doc! Vic's been hoping you'd drop by. What can I get you two?" she asked, gushing with enthusiasm.
"Champagne, I think," replied Bashir, throwing a hopeful glance in Dax's direction.
Dax wasn't quite as enthusiastic. It just seemed like Julian was being too excited about all this. However, after a moment's hesitation, she acceded and nodded to Ginger.
"Great to see you too Ezri. It's nice to see you two together again I'll be back in two shakes with your drinks."
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all, thought Dax. Even the hologram seems to have misunderstood the situation.
"Earth to Dax. Do read you?" asked Bashir.
"What?" replied Dax, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?"
"I asked you if want to get a table," replied Bashir.
"I guess," answered Dax, trying not to sound too excited, all the time thinking how the evening has started. This has started badly. Let's just hope thinks improve as the evening goes on.
They hopped back off the bar stools and made their way into the crowd. As they skirted the edge of the dance floor they spotted two men at a nearby table - engineering Lieutenant Candlewood and Bajoran dabo boy Hetik.
Candlewood was wearing a nice dinner suit and he looked nervous enough to sweat right through it. Vic would definitely approve thought Dax. Hetik was wearing something dabo-ish but rather more dignified, appropriate to the setting. They both had drinks, and Hetik was seemed to be enjoying the spectacle of the lounge, though he did looked slightly bemused.
"Hi, John, Hetik," said Dax.
Candlewood jumped surprised.
"Oh! Lieutenant. Doctor."
He started to get to his feet with respect, but Dax waved him down.
"Oh, sit, sit, sit. We're all off duty. You two having a nice evening?"
Candlewood glanced back towards Hetik and the two shared a mildly embarrassed but distinctly flirtatious smirk.
"So far, Sir" replied Candlewood.
"Is this is your first time in Vic's, Hetik?" asked Bashir with a smile
Hetik smiled back and nodded to him.
"I thought so. You've got that wide-eyed 'I have no idea what's going on here' look."
"It's, an aah... experience," said Hetik.
"That it certainly is," replied Bashir with a smile. "You'll get the hang of the lingo soon enough."
"Lingo?" repeated Hetik, puzzled.
"Come on Julian - we're cramping their style," said Dax as she dragged him away with a mischievous smile.
Bashir let Dax lead him away, leaving the two men to their date.
Dax spotted an empty table and headed for it. Bashir made sure to get there before her and pulled out the chair for her. Her smile faltered again just the tiniest bit but she took the chair and sat down.
"Thank you, Julian."
He took the chair opposite, just as Ginger arrived and placed two glasses of champagne before them.
"Here you go, lovebirds."
Dax sighed inaudibly; this was definitely not going the way she wanted.
Bashir raised one of the glasses in a toast and waited for Dax to raise the other.
"To... new beginnings," he pronounced.
Dax agreed to it though she knew that 'New beginnings' had a whole different meaning to her than the one Bashir intended.
"New beginnings. Exactly."
They clinked their glasses, sipped, and placed them back down.
"It's nice to see him dating," said Dax.
Bashir was momentarily confused, but then looked up and noticed that Dax's eyes were on Candlewood and Hetik.
"Who, Candlewood?"
Dax nodded.
"I know he has this reputation on duty for being a prankster and the life of the party, but I get the feeling he's not actually all that good at socialising in real life. His actions at work are a sort of compensation for his private life."
"That sounds like the councillor speaking rather than the command officer," said Bashir.
"Maybe. But in nine lifetimes you do tend to pick up things even yourself. That's also the advantage of a space station over a starship. On a ship, your off-hours social group is limited to the same people that you work with."
"The same people with whom you work," corrected Bashir.
"Anyway …," continued Dax, obviously not amused. "Working and socialising in the same group means that if you don't get on so well with your work colleagues for any reason, there is no place to unwind because you are with them when socialising too. On the other hand, a space station allows you to socialise outside of your work circle. That's a major plus for someone who is shy and reserved."
"Is it really dating if it's with a dabo boy, though?" asked Bashir.
"You tell me - you dated Leeta."
"Touche," replied Bashir with a smile.
The band was playing fun, danceable swing music, just to keep the crowd warm for appearance of Vic. When the song ended there was polite applause from the crowd and the people dancing paused on the floor while waiting for the band to strike up the next song. Soon the music re-started with a new tune and the dancing began again.
"Speaking of dating...," said Bashir standing and formally holding out his hand to Dax, "...would you care to dance?
"I'd love to," replied Dax, momentarily forgetting that this was not meant to be a date.
Dax stood and took his hand and the two of them swept onto the dance floor. Bashir lead Dax into a basic but serviceable quickstep. Dax slowly let her nervousness go and started to relax into the music and the fun of the evening. She wasn't sure this was going the way she wanted but she couldn't help herself. Memories of times together flowed into her mind. Dax couldn't help looking back fondly on those times. She remembered how they had been close friends even when she had been Jadzia and, were it not for Worf, they probably would have been a couple then. Once they got together they made a wonderful pair and they had a great relationship. However, the memory of Jadzia, and Julian's original attraction to her, still hung in the background. He seemed to look at her as a replacement for Jadzia rather than as herself and tended to have difficulty seeing her as a separate person.
Even though both of them tried to ignore it, it still cropped up by itself from time to time and, in the end, his inability to differentiate between them was the catalyst to their final break up. She felt that it would always be there and he would never be able to totally forget Jadzia.
Dax and Bashir continued spinning around the floor until the song came to an end and, like the other dancers, they paused and clapped politely. They headed back to their table and chatted as the band took a break and the other dancers headed to either their own tables or the bar.
"That was fun!" said Dax, enthusiastically. "I'm a little out of breath."
"You're just out of practice. If we were to start dancing regularly again, you'd be waltzing them off the floor," replied Bashir.
"Not everyone has genetically enhanced stamina, Julian."
Bashir wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Dax realized with horror that he took that as a sexual come-on.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Oh I know," he replied. "I'm only messing with you."
Dax accepted his answer but couldn't help worrying that he wasn't. She could feel that this was getting out of hand and she had to deal with the issue quickly.
The more she enjoyed the evening the more she knew that she had made the correct decision in ending the relationship. It made the request for the transfer all the more important since she knew that if she were to stay on the station it would be difficult not to re-kindle it. As much as she knew she would enjoy a relationship with Julian she knew it had to end here and now. It was the only way she was going to exorcize the "spectre" of Jadzia in her life and be able to live a life of her own. A life that Ezri Tigan dreamed of living and not the one that Jadzia Idaris had wanted. She knew that having the Dax symbiont meant she could never be the original Ezri Tigan but she was going to be as close as she could to it. For this to happen she had to cut off her ties to everything that was Jadzia and this included her relationship with Julian, however painful that might be. She had to tell him, and she had to do it now, before he got the wrong idea.
"Julian...," she said. "I suppose you've figured out that I had an ulterior motive for asking you out tonight."
"I did," replied Bashir, realising that Dax was being serious.
It seemed that the time had finally come. He would try to keep his composure but he was excited and found it difficult to not show it.
"There's something that I need to talk to you about, because it involves you."
"I was hoping you'd say that," he replied.
Well, the moment of truth - it's now or never , thought Dax.
"The thing is, I've been...," said Dax, desperately trying to get through it. "The thing is, I've been thinking about some things a lot over the past couple of months. Do you remember back when we were …"
Before Dax could finish, an announcer interrupted with a big booming voice.
"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the stage of the fabulous Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, the man with the golden touch... Mister! Vic! Fontaine!"
The crowd cheered and clapped.
Bashir turned and joined the applause but Dax sighed in mild annoyance. She had finally plucked up the courage and then got interrupted. It seemed like the universe was out to get her.
Dax watched as, after a moment, Vic himself appeared from the wings and took his place at the front of the band. However, he did not seem to be his the usual boisterous showman. He seemed, to Dax, subdued and a little down.
Dax sat back waiting for Vic's normal "Welcome" preamble. She had been there so often that she almost knew it by heart.
However, Vic skipped it and immediately signalled the band to start the music.
The band stuck up and Vic launched straight into a subdued and somewhat sad version of Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye."
Dax attempted to get Bashir's attention, in hushed tones.
"So, Julian, like I said, there's something I want to talk about, something important …"
"Ezri, shush," he said. "Vic's on. We can talk in a minute."
Frustrated, Dax bit her tongue and gave up for the moment and turned to watch Vic's show.
They both sat back and listened to Vic. It was a long time since they had heard his soothing music.
Every time we say goodbye
I die a little
Every time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little...
Now that Dax was paying attention and she was watching Vic on stage, it became clear to her that Vic was feeling these lyrics for real.
Maybe a little too real.
Why the gods above me
Who must be in the know
Think so little of me
They allow you to go
She glanced over to Bashir, who was enjoying the show but didn't seem to have picked up anything worrying.
When you're near
There's such an air
Of spring about it.
I can hear a lark somewhere
Begin to sing about it
Dax continued watching Vic's performance not sure herself if there was anything wrong. Maybe it was just her tension with trying to tell Bashir.
There's no love song finer
But how strange the change
From major to minor
Every time we say goodbye
When you're near
There's such an air
Of spring about it.
I can hear a lark somewhere
Begin to sing about it
Vic moved down into the crowd and worked his way around between the customers. He finished on Dax, who was beginning to suspect something was seriously wrong with Vic.
There's no love song finer
But how strange the change
From major to minor
Every time we say goodbye
It was now midnight and Quark's was almost empty. Most of the customers had gone home for the night or onto night shift. Waiters were wandering around, cleaning down the tables and generally straightening out the bar. Quark was standing at the end of the bar calculating the day's profits.
In the corner just under the spiral staircase sat Dax and Bashir, each holding an end-of-night drink. Bashir had chosen a synthehol while Dax had opted for the raktajino.
It was obvious that Quark was desperate to close up for the night. There was no point in remaining open when there are no customers there. However, this was Dax. She was a special case and he would keep the bar open all night for her if necessary.
From his "discrete" distance, Quark eavesdropped on the conversation. People tended to forget the extraordinary hearing of Ferengii.
Dax sat there cupping her raktajino between her two hands. It had long since cooled down and she had no intention of drinking it. Cold raktajino is not the most pleasant of drinks. After a few more moments she looked up at Bashir.
"You can't tell me Vic didn't come off as a little down in the dumps to you," she said.
"It's just a sad song, Ezri. You wouldn't want him to dance a jig in the middle of it."
"It was more than that."
"Well... he's a sensitive man," replied Bashir nonchalantly.
"That's my point. I think he's depressed about something."
"You do realise we're talking about the emotional state of a hologram here, right?" asked Bashir, rather surprised. "I know you used to be a counsellor but surely diagnosing holo-characters wasn't included in your studies."
"But you're the one who called him 'no ordinary hologram' and you also just called him a 'sensitive man'."
Bashir wasn't sure what the problem was exactly. Just then, to his great relief, Treir appeared.
"Top up on the nightcap?" she asked.
Bashir decided to let Dax decide, still hopeful for tonight and how it might turn out.
However, Dax didn't want to give Bashir the wrong impression.
"No thanks, Treir. This is fine," she replied.
Bashir was a little disappointed and was now even more confused as to exactly why Dax asked him out for the night. He was just about to ask her when they heard footsteps. They turned and saw Candlewood and Hetik climbing down the spiral staircase from the holosuites, holding hands and exchanging cute glances. They reached the bottom of the stairs, paused and then share a romantic goodnight kiss.
Treir was looking straight at them and pursed her lips at the display.
"Careful with the public displays of affection, boys," she said.
"What do you mean? Are they not supposed to kiss because he's a dabo boy or because they are both guys? I thought that we were past that sort of prejudice!" said Dax very indignantly.
"No! Nothing like that. It's just that Quark likes to use Hetik to attract the young ladies to the dabo tables."
"And if they thought he wasn't interested in ladies then they wouldn't come, right?" asked Dax
"Exactly. It's all about profit. 'Don't let love come in the way of profit.' That's what Quark says."
Hetik and Candlewood separated and Hetik moved off towards the back rooms of the bar. Candlewood seemed to float towards the door, glowing. Dax and Bashir both smiled, amused at the sight.
Bashir turned towards Dax and reached across the table to grasp her hand, holding it tight in his own.
"Almost enough to put ideas in a man's mind."
Dax yanked her hand away, flustered.
"Julian... no. That's not what tonight was about."
Bashir was now more confused than ever. What was it all about then?
Dax knocked back the last of her drink and stood up, indicating that the evening was over.
"Look," she said. "I should go. Thank you for a lovely night. I'll see you tomorrow."
Bashir stood up and looked at her totally bemused.
"But... what about what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"You were right, it can wait."
With the moment passed, she turned and walked away, still flustered. How could the evening have gone so badly wrong?
Bashir was left at the table alone and was more confused than ever. What had just happened? He tried to "replay" the evening in his mind.
He entered Vic's bar and was thankful to find that Dax had not yet arrived. It was important for him to be first. A gentleman never keeps a lady waiting.
A few minutes later, he saw Dax enter the bar wearing a turquoise, sleeveless gown. The gown flowed down to just above the floor. It tightly fit her figure at the front and sides and flowed out at the back with a number of layers.
Covering her shoulders was a white imitation-fur shawl that fit perfectly with the period and seemed to accentuate the spots on her neck.
She completed the looks with a pearl necklace.
"You look amazing," he said as he went up to the door to welcome her in.
He offered Dax his arm and she took it as they slowly wove their way into the crowd and perched on stools by the bar. There was an awkward silence with both of them unsure of how to start the conversation so they just watched the crowd fox-trotting around the floor.
They ordered champagne, hopped back off the bar stools and made their way to a table seeing Lieutenant Candlewood and Bajoran dabo boy Hetik on the way.
He made sure to get to the table before Dax and pulled out the chair for her, all gentleman-like. He could tell she was a bit nervous but she took the chair and sat down.
"Thank you, Julian."
He took the chair opposite, just as Ginger arrived and placed two glasses of champagne before them.
"Here you go, lovebirds."
Bashir remembered how he thought that the evening was going to be perfect. Just what he had dreamt about for some time. He now realised how wrong he had been.
He raised one of the glasses in a toast and waited for Dax to raise the other.
"To... new beginnings," he pronounced.
"New beginnings. Exactly."
They clinked their glasses, sipped, and placed them back down.
Now thinking about it he could see how she hesitated slightly before replying.
"Would you care to dance?" he asked Dax.
"I'd love to."
Dax stood and took his hand and the two of them swept onto the dance floor. He led Dax into a basic but serviceable quickstep.
He noticed that Dax was slowly relaxing. This was an important night for them both and he could see she was nervous so he was not going to push her in any way. He would let her take her own time.
Memories of times together, both as Jadzia and Ezri, flowed into his mind. He remembered, with embarrassment, how he had almost fallen over himself when asking Jadzia for a date when they first arrived on DS9 all those years ago.
Though no romantic relationship had developed at the time they had been close friends.
Once she "became" Ezri everything changed and they became lovers quite quickly.
He did find that sometimes she had the problem getting to terms with her memories of him from when she was Jadzia and seeing herself as a separate person. If he was honest, he had to admit that he hadn't been supportive enough.
In the end, Ezri had found it too hard and she had ended the relationship because of it.
It seemed that now she had finally managed to get it sorted out and they could be on the mend. He honestly felt they could solve the problems.
Dax and Bashir continued spinning around the floor until the current song came to an end and they headed back to their table.
"That was fun!" said Dax, enthusiastically. "I'm a little out of breath."
"You're just out of practice," he replied.
"Not everyone has genetically enhanced stamina, Julian."
Bashir wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Oh I know," he replied. "I'm only messing with you."
He smiled to himself as he remembered that he had only been half-joking.
The more the evening passed, the more he was enjoying himself. He had almost forgotten what fun it was together. Getting back together would be wonderful and would probably surprise quite a few people.
He could see that she wanted to bring up the subject but he felt that it was important to let her do so at her own pace.
"Julian...," she said. "I suppose you've figured out that I had an ulterior motive for asking you out tonight."
"I did," he replied, realising that Dax is being serious.
"There's something that I need to talk to you about, because it involves you."
"I was hoping you'd say that," he replied - a little too enthusiastically he realised.
The moment of truth, he thought. Though she still seemed very nervous.
"The thing is, I've been...," said Dax, desperately trying to get through it. "The thing is, I've been thinking about some things a lot over the past couple of months. Do you remember back when we were …"
Before Dax could finish, an announcer interrupted with a big booming voice.
"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the stage of the fabulous Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, the man with the golden touch... Mister! Vic! Fontaine!"
The crowd cheered and clapped.
Vic appeared from the wings and took his place at the front of the band and the band stuck up. Vic launched straight into a subdued and somewhat sad version of Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye."
Dax attempted to get his attention, in hushed tones.
"So, Julian, like I said, there's something I want to talk about, something important …"
He could see that she was having problems getting it out. It's always hard to admit you want to reverse something you did.
Maybe it would be best to wait until the end of the first song to help her relax.
"Ezri, shush," he said. "Vic's on. We can talk in a minute."
This should give her time to sort out her thoughts completely.
Every time we say goodbye
I die a little
Every time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little...
Why the gods above me
Who must be in the know
Think so little of me
They allow you to go
He sat back listening to the music, sure that everything was going as perfectly as possible.
Bashir sat back in his seat in Quark's bar and tried to figure out what had happened. Why had Ezri suddenly left like that when everything seemed to be going perfect. How could the evening have gone so badly wrong?