Garak couldn't run as fast as Julian could.

His reflexes were about evenly matched with Julian's own, if not the slightest bit faster in the event that Julian didn't have a moment's pre-warning, and as exciting and fun as that was to think about, it was very exciting to run through the corridors around the command quarters, know that Garak was coming after him, and that speed wasn't enough.

They oughtn't have been doing this, really – at the very least, it was late afternoon, early evening, and that meant that most people weren't yet retired to their quarters from their shifts, so they weren't disturbing people as Julian rushed down one corridor and then turned rapidly to shoot down another instead.

He could hear Garak's boots on the floor panelling when he ran, and when he slowed his pace, Julian could still hear him move – when he was close enough, or when he was in a corridor parallel to the one Garak was in where the angled ceilings let the sound carry, he could hear the creak of Garak's armoured tunic and sometimes hear the floor shift underneath him, or feel the movement in the air where he blocked a through draught.

He couldn't hear Garak breathe.

The thought was dazzling, that Garak was twice his age and chasing after him, and not only was he chasing after him, but he was so controlled his breaths weren't even audible – Hell, as far as Garak's tunic went, Julian was pretty sure he couldn't even hear it himself, and Julian could only hear it when Garak moved at a quick enough pace and moved his arms in the right way.

He kept it up for ten minutes ago, making sure he knew where Garak was, always keeping him one or two corridors away, and then he slipped through one of the Jeffries tubes that he knew was recently oiled near to some of the science officers' quarters.

He dropped to the level below so that he could move while making as little noise audible on the level above as possible, and only climbed the ladder again to come out at a point diagonal from his own quarters, far enough away from them that Garak wouldn't be able to trace him from them. He stayed on his belly, keeping his own breath almost inaudible as he listened for Garak.

He was four corridors away, three corridors away – it was Garak, Julian was certain, because his pace was far too slow for it to be someone just walking through, and far too even for it to be anyone who wasn't creeping. Julian waited for him to go past, two corridors past, three—

He carefully pushed the panel out, slipping it back into place, and turned—

Garak's hand was at around his neck, and Julian raised his chin to give him a better grip.

"How did you do that?" he asked, aware that he was almost laughing, feeling the bright burn of exertion in his cheeks. "I heard you—"

"What ever are you smiling about?" demanded Garak, his tone chiding. "If I were giving a serious pursuit of you, Doctor, you would be dead by now."

"Well, I'm not dead, Garak, so I suppose I see that as reason to smile."

"Doctor," Garak scolded him, squeezing his throat before he retracted his hand, his lips twisting, his eye ridges drawn slightly forward with his frown.

"The through drafts are the same," said Julian, understanding dawning. "They're not as strong as they were – Cardassian environmental controls allowed for thicker air, with a higher level of humidity and a higher temperature, so they wouldn't have been as strong, but the current still runs in the same directions through the corridors. It's the most efficient way to ventilate – they're designed like that on purpose, aren't they? It's not just ventilation. You can…" Julian looked up at the corridor ceilings, the corners and the angles, tracing them back down the corridors, to the panelling that connected each corridor unit. They'd repanelled a lot of the floors, even here in the sleeping quarters, but none of the ceilings had been changed. "I understand how you use the arches to transfer sound – it's how I thought I was staying ahead of you. I was, wasn't I, until I went through the engineering tube? But I could hear you, I could feel the movement in the other air current – how did you transfer that? Is it mirrored, somehow? Have I been wrong all along, thinking I was feeling one thing when I was feeling another, tricked by the Cardassian architecture because I didn't know what it was doing?"

Garak was looking at his face, and although he was still looking stern, ready to give a command at any moment, his frown had softened slightly, into something that was very nearly a smile.

"They're called whispering galleries, on Earth," said Julian. "Not the bit with the air currents, that's new to me, but the way that the ceiling designs transfer sounds. They were often employed in cathedrals and halls, so that you could stand in one corner of the vaulted ceiling's base, murmur very quietly, just like this, and be heard all the way on the other side. They were used to collect gossip, of course, but spies used to use them to quietly pass information to one another without being anywhere near one another – and of course, they've been used to replicate hauntings, to produce uncanny acoustic effects. I thought I was so brilliant for noticing them in the corridors – that's me and my Human arrogance, isn't it? Thinking I'd outsmarted the Cardassians, but of course, you're always one step ahead."

"You wouldn't be the first to be so arrogant, my dear," said Garak softly.

"You're not going to tell me, are you? I'll have to figure it out myself."

"If I told you anything, my dear, you'd never learn things for yourself."

"Oh, I know," said Julian sarcastically. "All those years of medical school, and they never told me anything – I had to rip out a professor's teeth for every confirmation of a correct answer I'd given."

"Whose blood did you most like the taste of?" asked Garak softly.

"I had a Tellarite professor who taught us about debate and speechcraft," said Julian. "Tellarite blood tastes ever so slightly sweet. Did you know that?"

"I did," said Garak in a rumbling voice. "How did you?"

Garak bit him when Julian came in for a kiss. His teeth were sharp, worried against Julian's lower lip as he shoved him back against the wall, the metal column pressing between his shoulder blades. Julian threw his arms around Garak's shoulders, locking his arms at the base of Garak's neck, and when Garak let out a sound of surprise and kissed him deeper, Julian hiked himself up and wound his legs around Garak's waist.

"My dear, I'm far too old to carry about a you—"

"No, you're not," said Julian, and bit the side of Garak's jaw. Garak grunted, his nails digging into the sides of Julian's hips in a way that made Julian's back arch, and Garak shoved him harder against the wall.

Garak's mouth was hot where it trailed down Julian's neck, coming to nip and drag his teeth over the side, pushing down the collar of his shirt, and when Julian ground his waist against Garak's belly, Garak laughed, caught his lip between his teeth and tugged. Julian gasped, digging his knee into Garak's side, and Garak turned away from the wall.

His hand landed hard against Julian's arse, the sound reverberating not just in the corridor, but probably in the corridor two across, and when Julian jumped, Garak took advantage of his shift in movement and threw Julian over his shoulder.

"Garak!" Julian protested as he fell over Garak's back, laughing as he pressed his nose into the back of his shoulder.

"If you want to get free, Doctor, I suggest you start fighting," said Garak cheerfully.

"Perhaps I don't want to hurt you," said Julian.

"Perhaps you want me to hurt you," said Garak.

"I'm not fighting, am I?"

Garak's laugh was a wonderful sound, low and dark and sultry, and Julian didn't properly struggle, but he wriggled slightly for the pleasure of feeling Garak's grip tighten over the back of his thighs and squeeze the back of his knees, the better to feel the radiating heat of Garak's body.

"You should add additional security protocols," he said as they went through Julian's quarter doors, and Julian didn't knee him in the chest like he would have, if Garak was Human. He moved his knee forward slowly, feeling the hard, strong carapace of Garak's chest – Cardassians had very strong torsos, the scales strongly packed, the centre of the chest armoured even before you got to their sternum or all their ribs. Trying to knee Garak in the chest wouldn't do anything except maybe give Julian pins and needles if he did it hard enough, and in the position he was in, Julian couldn't reach Garak's solar plexus, not enough to put sufficient strength into the blow.

"Should I?" asked Julian.

"Oh, yes," Garak said, "Starfleet security protocols leave far too much allowance for the purposes of friendship and community, and too easily allow other officers or coworkers to enter into your quarters – I mean, my dear, really, I didn't even have to enter a security code, when I have you prone over my shoulder, and you didn't say a word. Why, I could do anything to you, if I slipped in here unannounced in the dead of night."

"Anything, hm?" asked Julian. He'd been waiting for Garak to step into the centre of his living quarters, which Garak now had, and when he shifted in Garak's arms, Garak didn't relax his grip or twist, certain in the knowledge he could keep Julian in his place.

That was why when Julian hooked his hands into the two pieces of reinforced pipe he'd left in place when he'd pulled down the lighting unit, he was uniquely positioned to pull himself up, twist, and throw Garak onto the floor.

He landed on his side instead of his back, as Julian had been hoping for, but Julian had already landed on the other side of the floor, and when Garak lunged to meet him, Julian met him with his feet wide apart on the floor and his posture straight-backed. Garak was strong, strong and hot-blooded and hard-fleshed, and there was a wonderful satisfaction in, when Garak's hand came to slam hard against Julian's side, Julian could slam his own elbow just as hard against Garak's inner arm.

He didn't have to worry about hurting Garak – Garak, if anything, would be offended if Julian didn't hurt him. Now, he hissed in pain and, mostly, a visibly perverse pleasure, and Julian met him body to body.

They fought for a little over ten minutes, but they weren't as aggressive, either of them, as they easily could be – they didn't overturn any furniture, didn't break anything.

When Garak tore the front of Julian's uniform shirt, and Julian said, "Garak!", Garak even said, with no note of apology whatsoever, "Oh, my dear, I am sorry."

Julian landed on his back with Garak on top of him, and Julian didn't try to wriggle free or pull himself away. He let his head tip back onto the floor, and when he tried to lean away, Garak showed his reflexes could indeed be faster than Julian's: Julian's wrists were pinned over his head, and Julian inhaled softly.

"I don't use my hand-to-hand training that often," said Julian. In a tone of almost apology, too teasing to be taken seriously, "I do hope I didn't disappoint you, Garak. Please, don't take my lack of practice for Starfleet standard."

"My dear, how I could be disappointed?" asked Garak in mild tones, slidng his knee between Julian's legs and making him softly exhale. "Here you've fought me, lost the battle quite honourably, and now you're lying for no reason at all."

"Now, Mr Garak," said Julian. "How could anyone lie for no reason at all?"

"I've no idea," purred Garak,

"Are you going to fuck me now?"

"My dear, always so blunt, and always so impatient. Is there nothing I can teach you?"

"I'm sure there are a few things you can teach me," said Julian. Garak's weight was warm and wonderful on top of him, and his grip was strong and pleasant around Julian's wrists. Julian liked it, when he was held tightly, when there was weight on his body. "I was evading you, wasn't I? When we were in the corridors?"

"Are you always so desperate for approval, Doctor Bashir?"

"All my life," said Julian. "Pathetic, isn't it?"

To his surprise, Garak's expression showed something that wasn't triumphant for a moment, and wasn't pleased, either. He studied Julian's face, taking him in, tracing the lines of his features.

"It's just a joke, Garak," said Julian. "I'm an arrogant man, I know that. I like to have people's approval – I like when people find me impressive. I know my flaws. Isn't that something Cardassians find important? Knowing one's own character flaws?"

"Cardassians don't have character flaws."

Julian sniggered, the sound derisive, and even as Garak laughed, he smacked him on the thigh.

"Come to bed?" asked Julian.

"May I ask you a question, Doctor?"

"Why would I say no?"

"Have you formulated a strategy, my dear, for how you will address this endeavour of ours, when it is questioned by your superiors?"

"Who says I haven't already?" asked Julian, arching his eyebrow. "Who says I haven't filled out the form registering my desire to couple with a non-Federation species, to uncertain cross-species results? Who says I haven't filled out the other form stating my intention to couple, as a Starfleet officer, with a citizen of a nation currently at war and/or in dispute with Federation interests? Who says I haven't filled out the third form, giving Starfleet permission to search my personal logs for reference to an officer and/or representative of a foreign state at war and/or in dispute with Federation interests, so as t ensure I am not putting Federation interests at risk?"

Garak sighed, wistfully. "You make the United Federation of Planets, my dear, sound equal to the Cardassian Empire, as far goes our passion for bureaucracy."

"I wouldn't go that far," said Julian. "But, yes, there's bureaucracy on my side, too. Did you submit a mission report, when you approached me in the Replimat that first time? Did you weigh my value against the other command personnel as a potential contact, evaluate my usefulness as a source, and as a Federation contact? Have you given much thought, Garak, as to how useful I might be if you made me into a double agent?"

"My dear, must you continue with this foolish fancy that I might be a spy?"

"Who says I'm asking because you're a spy? The business of my paperwork has nothing to do with espionage – I'm asking about yours because whether you like it or not, and I like to think that you do, the two of us are on opposing sides of a conflict."

"Are we, indeed?"

"Mmm," said Julian, and he arched his back off of the carpet, frowning down at the tear Garak had made in his uniform, the same one Garak was looking at with satisfaction. "I think you'd make a good spy, if you were a spy." It made Garak's lips twitch. "Perhaps I should be asking you about Cardassian espionage methods. After all, if you're not a spy, there's no reason you oughtn't tell me about them."

"By that logic, ought I ask the same of you, my dear?"

"I grew up reading spy novels. Did I tell you that?"

"You didn't."

"Well, now you know. What did you grow up reading?"

"People," said Garak, and Julian groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Let me up," he said. "I'm being crushed under the weight of your ego."