Contrary to the effect he hoped his letter gave off, Quark couldn't have been further from being over Odo. He wanted the constable back desperately, but he didn't want Odo to know how pathetic he was.

Quark had written countless sappy letters asking Odo to meet him at the bar, or at the replimat, or some other romantic location to talk things over, but none of them had felt right. Honestly and integrity wasn't how Quark operated, and being upfront about their feelings was rarely how he and Odo did things. Surely Odo would guess Quark's real motivation, though. He didn't care about the money (well, he did care about the money, but he cared about Odo more). However, he didn't actually think Odo owed him a thing, because the time they spent together was always its own reward. To Quark, true love was its own kind of profit.

The next day, Odo dropped by the bar right on schedule with five bars of latinum. It was the first time Quark had seen him there in far too long. Quark's breath caught in his throat when Odo marched, businesslike as ever, through the doors. Odo stopped and looked around, but Quark could tell he wasn't scanning the bar for him. Odo knew exactly where to find Quark: behind the counter serving drinks. No; Odo was probably marveling at how long he'd managed to stay away. Everyone loved to come to Quark's, after all. After a moment, Odo gathered himself and approached Quark.

"Here's your latinum." Stony-faced, Odo dumped the latinum on the countertop and turned to leave without another word.

Quark grabbed the latinum eagerly and tapped the bars together to make sure Odo wasn't scamming him— sure enough, it was the real deal. The unmistakable sound of genuine latinum was music to Quark's ears, but he didn't understand why Odo wasn't sticking around to talk. He did realize what this was really about, right?

Just in case he didn't realize, Quark grabbed Odo's hand before he could walk away. "Odo, wait," he said urgently. "Where are you going?"

"I gave you your payment, Quark," Odo said. "What more do you want?"

"Wait, so you actually thought that's what this is all about?" Quark wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. How could Odo be so clueless? "I can always do with a bit more latinum in my life, sure, but..."

He trailed off, unsure of how to end his sentence. With Odo standing right before him, staring him down questioningly, Quark didn't feel comfortable with admitting that the transaction had just been an excuse to make Odo drop by Quark's so they could talk. He had assumed that if Odo still loved him, he'd want to stick around and chat a bit anyway. Quark had been making a lot of illegal transactions as of late in hopes of getting Odo's attention, but the constable never investigated him anymore. Surely now that they were in the same room, Odo would be forced to stop ignoring Quark. However, it didn't look like that was going to be the case after all.

"Is there something else you want out of me?" Odo inquired. If his tone had been genuinely inquisitive, Quark might have considered giving him an honest answer. But the constable's voice was thick with sarcastic cloyingness. He knew there was something Quark wanted, but he wasn't going to give it to him.

Sitting back on his barstool, Quark dropped Odo's wrist and let his hands fall into his lap. "I've got all I want from you. I just wondered if there was anything you wanted from me."

It stung to pretend to be neutral about Odo, who he still loved and wanted back more than anything. But Quark couldn't let Odo see how much of an overly-dependant mess he was. Quark needed to stand on his own now— it was clear that Odo wasn't interested in talking to him even now that he had an excuse to do so, which meant that he probably just wasn't interested in Quark at all anymore. In that case, it would be beneficial to Quark's barely existent pride to act like the feeling was mutual.

Odo harrumphed, turning to leave. "Then I don't see what we have to talk about," he said.

As Odo left, Quark stared after him dejectedly. To cheer himself up, he admired the five bars of latinum. It was enough to pay off the debts he'd been building up, which meant he wouldn't have to cut his workers' wages again. At the risk of sounding like a philanthropist, he hated having to do that. You never knew when they might decide to form another union.

But no amount of latinum in the world could make Quark and Odo get back together again. Only they could do that, and as far as Quark could tell, he was the only one who was still interested.