Summary: Bashir suspects that Garak is up to something, but as usual the Cardassian is not immediately forthcoming.
The lunch meeting proceeded as planned. Garak and Bashir greeted each other on the promenade and waited in line at the Replimat. The tailor was resplendent in a thick custom tunic in shades of blue. It was heavier and more ornamental than usual, but it was tastefully patterned and it matched the doctor's teal uniform. The Cardassian seemed to be in good spirits and he smiled at his friend with affectionate warmth.
"Ah, doctor, what intellectual delights do you have in store for us today? Have you chosen your novel that you would like me to peruse?"
Bashir suddenly frowned and a look of guilt crept over his features. The Cardassian paused but quickly recovered.
"Oh, it's perfectly all right. I can find other ways to occupy myself." Garak accepted Bashir's negligence with good grace. "Perhaps I can pick out a human novel for you."
The offer had been an unexpected one. Garak rarely volunteered to read literature from different cultures unless it was handpicked by the doctor. They shuffled up in line while they conversed. The Bajoran ahead of them dithered over the menu choices.
"Really? That would be interesting. I don't have the slightest idea of what you'll choose."
"Nor do I." The tailor looked disquieted with the notion that he had just resigned himself to wade through insipid human novels that would probably include penny dreadfuls and bodice rippers alongside works of literary art. Humans had the habit of making up varied reading lists.
Elim's turn came in the line and he ordered a customary Cardassian dish with a drizzle of yamok sauce and cup of rossaka juice. He walked over to claim their preferred table and he waited for the doctor to join him. Julian accidentally ended up with yamok sauce as a side when the replicator disregarded any attempts to change the sauce order. The doctor was able to sit quietly for a moment and eat while Garak talked.
The tailor gossiped about his customers in an impersonal fashion, telling him about different species that made unusual choices in aesthetics and the cultural reasons behind them. Julian was certain that it was interesting from an artistic point of view, but it was far out of his field of study. It was pleasant to listen to, nonetheless. Garak brought up the topic of holosuite costumes. Finally the doctor's hunger abated enough to allow him to converse. He voiced something that had been on his mind since he had talked with Quark.
"You know, for all the comments you make about my holosuite programs, you seem to have the same interests."
The Cardassian tilted his head curiously.
"You've been spending a lot of time in the holosuites." Julian continued to survey his companion while he sipped his tea.
"Does it surprise you that a Cardassian might want to indulge in fantasies from time to time?" Garak said it innocently, but there was a peculiar lilt to his voice. It was usually present when Garak was concealing something that was of personal importance.
"Quark says you've been visiting the sauna frequently."
The tailor's eyes widened. "And you want to know about this because you would care to join me? Why doctor, how thoughtful! Of course you are welcome to join me in the sauna, though you may want to stay localized to a cooler area in the cavern."
The doctor watched his friend closely. He could tell that Garak knew that he was really after information. One simply did not ask the tailor why he did something without getting an answer that was more obscure. Sometimes finding answers required playing along with his schemes and elaborate games.
"You know, I just might."
Garak beamed. "Wonderful, doctor. Perhaps this evening if you're not too busy? I would have invited you before if I had known you would find the idea agreeable."
Julian observed the Cardassian's open delight with a pang of guilt. Was Garak so lonely that the promise of friendly company in the evening made him light up like that? He would certainly play along with this game now, if only for the reason of keeping the tailor company.
"What should I wear?"
The Cardassian looked thoughtful. "That presents a minor problem. I normally use the sauna fully clothed but the temperatures can be stifling to someone of your species. A Starfleet issue bathing suit might be more appropriate."
It was an accurate assessment. Garak could remain fully clothed in a sauna due to his inability to sweat and his species' endurance of high temperatures. Julian was not so comfortable in a damp and sweltering climate but he was committed to the plan now. The Starfleet swim suit that he would be using was long and form-fitting, faintly resembling something meant for scuba diving. It was much like his racquetball outfit only a bit more…modest. The doctor and the tailor arranged a time for the meeting and then lunch continued on as normal.
Garak preened like a Terran peacock when he had turned the doctor's curiosity into a pleasant evening filled with intelligent conversation. Unknowingly, Julian had stumbled into participating in a Cardassian custom.
It was true that Cardassians took love interests to a sauna, but they were primarily family places. Essentially, Garak was telling him that he was as close as a blood relative. The doctor had no idea of the implications. Elim wondered idly if he was taking this deception farther than what was advisable. If another Cardassian besides his father found out that he took a human to a sauna, Bashir would be subjected to all kinds of speculation.
He should arrive first and meet him in the holosuite covertly. The longer time in the sauna would help abolish his lethargy and chilliness. Perhaps the line had to be drawn somewhere; Eventually, Julian would find out about his recent deceptions. The genetically enhanced human was observant and Elim wondered why he had not already noticed his current dilemma. Perhaps the good doctor would never find out. Ignoring the small pang of disquiet, Elim looked forward to the afternoon spent in warmth and company.
The holosuite safeties were shut off as they usually were when an inactive program was playing. Safeties dulled the physical sensations in relaxation scenarios and Quark was hardly a stickler to monitor safety negligence. The doctor would have to be careful not to get too light headed or simply too hot.
Bashir opened the holosuite door and a blast of warm air hit him. A large sweeping cavern took up the room. It was not Garak's usual sauna program. This one was more elaborate. There were heat lamps and heat rocks scattered here and there.
"Doctor, I'm so glad that you could join me."
"I'm sorry I'm late. It was busy in the infirmary today." Julian strode into the cavern room sporting a blue swim suit and carrying a fluffy towel.
He could already start to feel the sweat break out on his skin. It was like stepping into a damp oven and the heat made him drowsier with every step he took. He found Garak already waiting for him, his body flush beside the heating lamps. The tailor had his head propped up on his crossed arms as he laid sprawled on a rock. He blinked sleepily at the doctor, managing to appear quite smug despite his vulnerable basking pose.
"You may wish to remain on that side." The Cardassian indicated the cooler vicinity of the cavern.
The doctor's brow furrowed as he watched his friend snuggle up by the lamp. The waves of heat it was emitting were stifling.
"I know that Cardassians like to keep warm, but isn't it too hot? You're nearly on top of the heat lamp." Julian wiped away the rivulets of sweat dripping down his brow.
"It's perfect." Elim purred a low growl.
The tailor's eyes shut and he rolled over, remaining eerily still. He was in lighter clothing than his usual baggy tunic and trousers. Julian stopped watching him and picked his own boulder to sprawl out on. It was actually quite pleasant to be lounging on the warm rock in the low lighting. He yawned.
"While I'm still awake, did you have anything you wanted to talk about? Have you searched for our next book yet?"
Elim answered him with a croaky voice. "Yes, it was dreadful. So many human adultery books with no plot or clear point…nothing of interest…" He trailed off with a faint hiss.
"Garak?"
There was no answer. Julian sat up and felt his head swim.
"Are you falling asleep?"
Again there was no response. Julian slowly stood and thought over the situation. How long had the tailor been in here? He seemed lethargic, almost too lethargic. He had never fallen asleep in front of the doctor like this. If Julian wanted to check on him that meant going over to the hot side of the cavern space.
The doctor did the only rational thing he could think of.
"Computer, delete heat lamps."
The sweltering atmosphere steadily cooled as the source of heat vanished. Julian approached Elim's rock, noticing how the prone tailor seemed vulnerable in his relaxed state.
"This isn't funny, Garak." Julian reached out and shook his shoulder.
The tailor's collar was low and the doctor accidentally brushed his hand against his friend's neck. His scales were heated to a high temperature. The doctor snatched his hand away. Garak murmured something unintelligible and shifted his arm. As the tailor stretched sleepily, his sleeve shifted upward. Darkened flesh was exposed along with abnormal swelling.
"Garak, wake up! You're burned. You were too close to the lamps. Why didn't you notice?" Julian tone was bewildered as he tugged down Garak's sleeve to expose his burned forearms. The scaled flesh was blistered. The tailor twitched his limbs out of the doctor's grasp.
"It's fine, just sensitive." The Cardassian had opened his eyes and he surveyed his companion with a puzzled expression as if he had forgotten that the doctor was there.
"Sensitive! You were pressing your body too close to that lamp and now you have thermal burns. Where are the rest?"
Bashir knew that his brow was becoming furrowed with anger amidst his concern. How could the tailor be so calm? He was injured badly. It must hurt.
Elim shut his eyes. "I'll tell you if you turn the heat back on."
"Garak!" The doctor barked at him with fire in his voice.
Now that got the Cardassian's attention. The tailor's eyes opened wide and he looked at his friend with surprise and a tilt of his mouth that indicated he was impressed. The doctor knew that he could look thunderous and firm when he was dealing with a difficult patient. He could not help but become passionate about his concern.
"My, my. You are insistent, aren't you? Very well, you may wish to inspect my left ankle."
Julian pulled up the bottom of his friend's pant leg to expose a scaly and singed ankle. The damage was not as bad there. The Cardassian started to shift into a sitting position and he grimaced briefly. The expression was quickly transformed into a friendly smile as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Shall we end the evening with a drink downstairs? The heat has perhaps gotten to us."
Bashir's expression was hard and unyielding. "You're not going anywhere except to the infirmary. You have serious burns that need to be treated."
The Cardassian gave a humanoid eye roll.
"Really, they're only small burns. It's nothing. Humans go without treatment for burns often enough."
Garak made to rise. He flinched violently with an expression of pain flickering across his features.
"Small burns…right." The doctor watched as the Cardassian sat gingerly, keeping his torso ramrod straight.
"You've hurt your abdomen."
The tailor gave a nervous smile, but he continued to hide his injuries. "It's nothing to concern yourself with. I wish that you would put this amount of effort into rereading The Never Ending Sacrifice with an open mind. That, doctor, is a masterpiece that human novels have yet to-ah!"
The tailor gave an involuntary gasp as Julian jerked up the hem of his tunic. It chaffed against his injured skin and his pale and nearly scale-less belly was exposed. At least his stomach would have been pale if not for the dark puckers and blisters covering it. Julian's eyes were wide as he gazed at his friend's middle.
"Oh, Garak."
Hazel eyes fixed on bright blue ones, searching for an answer, desperately wondering why the Cardassian had let this happen. The former spy's observations and instincts were impeccable. He must have known that he was cooking himself and harming his own body. A minor burn or two the doctor could understand…but this? It was mind-boggling.
"I was cold."
Bashir simply stared, gaze unwavering.
"Very well, perhaps I was overusing the sauna, but these little trips to the holosuite were the only reprieve I had from the environmental controls. The longer I stay on this station, the colder I become."
The explanation just made his friend frown incredulously. He had heard about this happening to pet Terran reptiles that were kept in temperatures that were too frigid. They sought out the nearest heat source and lay on it until they cooked themselves. He never would have guessed that Cardassians had similar instincts.
"Well, aren't you going to debate with me? You're always determined to give me your viewpoint on medical matters."
Bashir seemed to come out of his trance-like state. "The important thing to do now is to treat you for the pain. We're beaming straight to the infirmary. Many Alpha Quadrant species with damaged scales and exposed skin are extremely susceptible to parasites and different kinds of bacteria. I'm assuming that Cardassians are the same."
Garak nodded. He had been expecting the doctor to react like this. He waited while Julian pressed his attached badge and ordered Ops to transport the two of them into sickbay. Elim knew that his injuries had to be treated. He had never planned for this to go so far, and now he was paying the price by attracting too much attention for the wrong reasons. They were beamed in a blink of an eye and soon they were surrounded by more medical personnel.
Elim was helped to a bio bed and Julian put on his scrubs while ordering his medical team to give them some space. He knew how uncomfortable the tailor felt whenever he was in the infirmary and the doctor wanted to make the experience as relaxing as possible. It was both a reptile and a humanoid trait to seek a safe, warm, and quiet haven. He knew that Garak's self-inflicted injuries were doubly embarrassing for him.
None of the Bajoran nurses commented on Julian's unusual attire, likely unfamiliar with human swimwear and various sportswear. Jabara was appointed as Bashir's main assistant since she was on close terms with the tailor after the incident with the Obsidian Order implant.
Garak lay under the bright lights and waited while they took more scans of his body. Julian cut off his tunic to get an unobstructed view of the burns on his upper torso. The tailor tutted mournfully about his destroyed clothing. The doctor smirked before his professional mask slipped back into place. Now was not the time to socialize. Garak was given a painkiller and an intravenous line was prepared and inserted into his forearm. Only Julian was afforded the honor of finding the vein and piercing his skin.
The Cardassian was beginning to feel sleepy from the burn treatments and the medicine. He started to blink heavily during the examination. He stifled another yawn and Julian smiled at him and told him to rest. Garak, who was normally the most guarded individual of all, let his constant vigilance abate. Subjected to that charming smile and calming demeanor of the doctor's, how could he not? The heaviness of drug induced slumber dragged his eyelids closed and like so many times before, he put his fate in his friend's hands and drifted off to sleep.
Garak awoke slowly. Like always, he was cold, though not nearly as cold as he had been during these past few days. He heard several hums of a mechanical nature. The loudest noises came from above his head. He recognized the sound of another heat lamp on its lowest setting and the distant hum was that of a spacecraft. One only heard it at that particular frequency while in the interior of one. He remained still while he assessed his surroundings. He sensed someone's presence beside him. It was a human. He could identify the species by the scent and he knew that it could only be one person.
"Doctor."
"Garak."
The Cardassian could almost hear the smile in his voice before he started asking his standard questions.
"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"
"Not that I've noticed. I feel tired, but recovered."
"That's normal. You slept for 7 hours. Your body needed rest."
Garak's eyes slowly opened and he observed his surroundings. "We're in a runabout."
Grey decking surrounded them and the Cardassian lay on a bunk encircled by some simple medical equipment. The temperature was unusually elevated for a typical spacecraft.
"Where are we going? I'm exiled from Cardassia, doctor. I can't step foot on the planet even as a patient."
"I know. We're not going to Cardassia. We're headed to a similar M class planet in close vicinity to Risa."
Julian was scanning him with a tricorder.
"You know, you weren't wrong about what caused your condition."
"Oh?"
The doctor nodded with satisfaction at the tricorder readings. "You were cold. Your core temperature difference might be easily endured by a human, but modern Cardassians have evolved in such a way that they can only tolerate certain climate specific regions for a long length of time. You need warmth from a less direct source and at a constant level, which is why Commander Sisko let me take you on a vacation."
Garak rolled over and grumbled when he became tangled up in the intravenous line. The doctor put a firm hand on his arm and disentangled him.
"Cardassians don't take vacations." The patient was still irate from the mix of drugs in his system combined with his sleepiness.
"Perhaps not, but I do. I won't be able to stay the whole time, but I'll make sure you're on the mend and that your abdominal scars don't reopen. That was the first time I've ever done scale grafts."
Unable to do much else, the tailor laid back down. "I'm certain that you did an excellent job as always, doctor. I wish that you would turn up the runabout air temperature."
The doctor smiled and shook his head. "I'm cooking Miles as it is. We'll reach our destination soon."
The Cardassian's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "The Chief is piloting the runabout?"
"Yes, and quite grumpy about how sweaty we are." Realizing how insensitive he sounded, the doctor hastened to reassure him. "But I'll happily trade a few hours of sweat for your health any day. I think even Miles was worried about you. He kept on saying that you were too pale and too still."
"He probably didn't want to be faced with transporting a Cardassian corpse. Humans find our reptilian scent quite distasteful, especially after death."
"Garak, stop that. At least one human cares about you. I was worried that you were going to have some permanent scarring, but your skin tissue just takes longer to heal."
The Cardassian observed him for a moment, gauging his sincerity by looking into his eyes. Julian really did care, no matter how unlikely or foolish it was to worry about the fate of a former Obsidian Order operative. He saw concern and affection written plainly in those hazel eyes.
Garak's hands and forearms were unblemished and completely healed. His stomach must be in a similar state. He was grateful to be treated quickly. On Cardassia, many operatives died from such injuries. There was no stench of contamination or infection here, only human scent mixed with sharp antiseptic.
Elim felt warmth spread through him. He urgently needed to speak, to say something in response to all of this. He caught Bashir's hand in his, reminiscent of a similar gesture he had performed not so long ago. The doctor listened intently.
"Thank you."
Thank you for being persistent, for treating me with more kindness than I ever deserved, and for your unconditional friendship.
Julian smiled and wrapped slim fingers over his scaled knuckles. He seemed to understand every word.
The End