After the transaction took place, Odo felt that he had no reason to keep avoiding Quark as he had been. It was obvious that Quark held no interest in resuming their relationship. It wasn't what Odo wanted, but who could say? Perhaps someday Quark would change his mind. Probably not. It didn't really matter, though, did it? They could at least be friends, or enemies, or whatever it was that they had been before.
Quark seemed relieved when Odo started dropping by the bar to investigate him again. Even when Odo found Quark guilty of a crime and threw him in the brig for a night, Quark was happy about it. He tried to hide it, complaining louder every time, but his veneer of hatred was paper-thin as always. It was almost enough to make Odo think Quark was still in love with him. Almost.
One day, when Odo dropped by Quark's as per usual, he was surprised to find Quark wasn't there. He didn't know the name of the Ferengi Quark had left in charge, but they informed Odo that Quark was out. Odo pressed for details, but the man behind the counter knew nothing of Quark's whereabouts other than that he was still on the station. Odo was relieved to hear that much, at least. He didn't like it when Quark wasn't on DS9. The outside world was dangerous; Quark needed to be kept safe. It was a beyond childish way of looking at it, but Odo was always a fool when it came to Quark.
The computer revealed that Quark was on the promenade— nearby enough that he probably wouldn't be gone for long. Odo waited around the bar for Quark since he had nothing better to do at the moment— although truth be told, he probably would have waited even if he'd had something more urgent to attend to. Again: he was foolish in matters concerning Quark. Some might say it was a side effect of love. A few months ago Odo would have scoffed at such a sentiment; how good could love be if it made you soft in the head? But that was before Quark's hand in his as they walked together down the promenade, before the look on the bartender's face when their eyes met, before Odo altered his appearance to include the other half of a nonexistent heart necklace that Quark had wanted to buy but deemed too expensive. Odo had always thought solids' obsession with love was ridiculous until he'd fallen in love himself.
Quark showed up soon enough, humming a cute, cheery little tune. He was terribly off-key, which he must have known full well with those Ferengi ears of his, but he didn't seem to care. Odo didn't know the cause for his good mood, but it clearly wasn't profit-related. Quark had a bouquet of flowers tucked in the crook of his arm— fancy ones. Odo recognized them as having been sold by a Betazoid vendor who charged an overly steep price. If Quark hadn't felt it was worth it to scrape together enough latinum to buy a heart necklace, there was very little chance he had bought those flowers himself. Someone else had given them to him. And from the looks of it, that someone was the reason for Quark's good mood.
It took Quark a moment to notice Odo sitting on a barstool with his hands cupping his chin. When Quark's gaze landed on Odo, who gave him a cautious smile to see how he'd react, Quark broke into a grin— a nervous one, but the sight of his jagged little fangs always made Odo's guard drop. Odo's fake smile melted into a real one, and he held Quark's gaze for as long as he could.
"Up to no good as usual, I presume?" Odo asked fondly.
"Huh?" Quark blinked rapidly as though jerking back into reality. "Uh, yeah, you could say that."
Face flushing, he grabbed a vase from his collection of glasses and hastily filled it with water. He shoved the flowers inside without taking off the paper wrapped around them; being submerged in water made the paper soften and fall to pieces. Odo reached over and fished the scraps of soggy brown paper out of the vase while Quark chewed his lip and drummed his fingers on the countertop, not meeting Odo's inquisitive gaze.
"They're very nice flowers," Odo remarked. The comment only prompted Quark's face to turn a darker shade of red. "Too nice for you, I'd say," he added with a teasing smirk. "Knowing you, you probably bought this bouquet off the black market."
"Well, good luck trying to arrest me for my floral arrangement purchases, Constable, because I did no such thing," Quark shot back, plucking a flower out of the vase to sniff it disdainfully. Nose wrinkling, he threw it over the counter; Odo picked it up and took a sniff himself. The scent wasn't too overpowering, but it wasn't something he'd want to make a perfume out of. "These aren't even real flowers. I replicated them to make them look like a bouquet from that booth on the promenade."
Odo stared Quark down. "You're lying."
"What makes you so sure?" Quark demanded.
"Simple," said Odo, tilting his head and giving Quark a smug smile. "If you'd really replicated these flowers, you wouldn't have told me so."
"How can you be certain?" Quark challenged, leaning across the counter and narrowing his eyes. "Honesty is the most important part of a relationship."
That word— relationship— confused Odo. Caught him off guard. "Need I remind you, Quark," he said, wincing internally at the truth of his next sentence, "We're no longer in a relationship."
"Well, uh, yeah." Suddenly Quark dropped his gaze. He fiddled with the stem of one of his flowers— a bright yellow blossom with petals that formed a star shape. "About that... do you maybe wanna, y'know, get back together?"
The proposition seemed too good to be true. Odo wanted nothing more than to get back together with Quark. He just hadn't thought Quark felt the same way. In fact, Quark had given Odo every reason not to think so. But if Quark's offer was genuine— and why wouldn't it be? — Odo wouldn't hesitate to take him up on it. He just didn't want to let Quark know how eager he was.
"I suppose there'd be worse things," Odo drawled, putting his hand on Quark's and relishing how the action made the bartender's face light up in red. "Maybe we can meet at the Klingon restaurant on the promenade tomorrow at 12:00 hours to discuss it in more detail."
Quark nodded, bringing his free hand up to his face to cover up his blush. On his other hand, he interlaced his fingers with Odo's. "I'd like that, Constable," he said. "But..."
"But?" Odo asked sharply.
"...But you're paying for lunch," Quark said, flashing Odo a devious grin. Then he ducked in, kissed him, and pulled away again like a frog's tongue lashing out to catch an insect.
Odo gazed fondly at Quark across the countertop. He loved that criminal well beyond reason.
After a discussion the next day, they came to the conclusion it had been obvious that they would. For them, there was really no other conclusion to come to. It was official: for better or for worse, they were a couple again.