Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

"Name me six color schemes."

He rattled them off, his brow furrowed in concentration, but as he said the sixth one he smiled in triumph.

Vamshi wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek lightly. "I'm proud of you, my friend. You've done well."

Weyoun breathed in slowly when her arms wrapped around his chest and he smiled at the sensation of being in her embrace once again. In all his lifetimes, he had never been happier, spending nearly two hours a day with a god, learning what he had always wanted to know. She treated him like family, like her dearest friend, and although she was loathe to accept his worship she tolerated it as fair payment. Vamshi had said that she didn't want to impede on his religious beliefs, but she insisted that he keep his awe and fear to a minimum if at all possible.

She sat in the chair next to him and pulled a ream of paper toward her.

"Now, I'm going to shapeshift for a while and I want you to draw me something while I do. Use those colored pencils there, and...all right, use an analogous color scheme and your theme is...repetition. Have at it, sweetheart."

He glanced at her almost lovingly at the name, and an achingly joyful smile graced his lips. She smiled back and walked over to the middle of the room. Weyoun made sure to avert his eyes as she changed form, not considering himself worthy to gaze upon her in her natural state. He was her lowly servant, no better than the floor beneath her feet, and yet she treated him with kindness and affection. He picked up a blue pencil and started making lines on the paper, and he liked the feel of the slender pencil in his hand.

He felt something brush his leg, and he looked down to see Vamshi as a calico cat, weaving between his legs and rubbing her back against the fabric of his pants. He set down the pencil and watched in awe as she rubbed her head against him, purring and mewing. She looked up at him with startling green eyes, and the next second she was in his lap. She rubbed her head against his chest and purred again, and her tail brushed a bare section of his arm. He gasped.

She quickly turned toward him and tilted her head.

"It's...nothing," he said softly, letting out a long breath.

She narrowed her eyes and put her paws to his chest. Her nose was inches from his, and it was funny to see him almost cross-eyed trying to see her.

"Vorta have sensitive skin...not many people know that. When you brushed your tail over my arm...it was the strangest sensation."

She licked his nose and purred, fondling his chest and neck. Again, he was struck with how intimate her attentions seemed, and he blushed at the thought. She caught sight of it and returned to the floor, changing shape as soon as she touched down. Soon she was back in humanoid form, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Weyoun, I...if I'm making you uncomfortable-"

He let out a pained sigh and knelt down in front of her. "I live to serve you, Vamshi. You may do as you wish with me."

She bowed her head. "You were honest with me, so I'll be honest with you. When you touch me..."

He blushed in shame. "If you want me to stop-"

She lifted his chin and he fell silent. "I...it's like you said...it's the strangest sensation I've ever felt. You never touch me in earnest, and it...tingles."

"Vamshi?"

Hardly believing her audacity, she reached out and lightly stroked his face. "It's like that," she said as he breathed in sharply. A crazy notion popped into her head and she grinned at him mischievously. His eyes widened.

She started to tickle him, running her fingers up and down his body, concentrating on his waist, neck and lower back. To his surprise, laughter escaped his lips, at first short bursts of air, then uncontrollable giggling. He collapsed onto his back, impulsive laughter still pouring from his lips, and she kept tickling him until he couldn't breathe. His eyes had shut of their own accord, and when he wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at her again, she was kneeling over him, her face less than a foot above his own.

He panted for breath as he lay there, staring in awe and confusion at her. Her dark eyes roamed over his face, and he blushed at the sheer intimacy of the moment. She only had to lean down and brush her lips to his...

He blushed furiously and his heart pounded in anticipation as she leaned down. But, to his relief, her lips brushed the skin of his forehead. Shame filled him at his sacrilegious thoughts, and he frowned in confusion.

"That's for being such a good sport, Weyoun," she murmured, helping him to his feet. "Come here, I want to play you something."

She picked up the piano from a table in the corner and set it on the workspace. She took a seat and Weyoun followed suit. Her fingers began to dance over the keys and she turned to him.

"I wrote this about two weeks ago. I'm not sure what to name it, but I have something in mind."

"Such as?"

"Eros Pines."

He was nonplussed. "Eros was the god of love in Greek mythology," she began, still playing the piano piece. "He fell in love with a mortal named Psyche, but Eros' mother Venus wouldn't allow the union..."

She continued with her story, and Weyoun stared at her in awe as she retold the myth. He admired Psyche's devotion to Eros, but he thought she was rather stupid for listening to her sisters. Couldn't she feel a god's presence? And if so, wasn't that proof enough that Eros wasn't a monster?

"And Zeus married them on Mount Olympus, and I guess they lived happily ever after. I think they had a daughter or something like that."

She let the story soak in as the piano piece progressed toward its ending, and she too contemplated the story. She remembered the story clearly from a book of world mythology Rahaat had given to her on the second anniversary of her being able to turn into humanoid form. She chose the title and the story for the song because it echoed her relationship with Weyoun so well. Here she was, Eros, a god to a person that she could not love because of outside interference. She hadn't anticipated falling in love with him; no one anticipates that. But still, she loved him, as a friend, as her protegee, as an equal. It was her only hope that one day, he could see how much he meant to her.

Vamshi sometimes wished that their roles were reversed. She could love him if he were a god; she would gladly worship and love him until the universe fell apart at the seams.

But things were not that simple, she decided as she played the last few notes. It would never be that simple. Quite the contrary. She couldn't hide these meetings from the Founder forever, and she doubted she could hide her feelings from her either. The Female Founder's only goal, it seemed, was to return her and Odo to the Great Link. Odo said all the other Changelings were in tune with each other, so it was likely that the Founder's personality was common amongst her people. To join the Great Link was to lose Weyoun. But to choose Weyoun would make her an outcast, and the Founders might look on her as a traitor. And if that happened, she would probably lose him anyway.

And she didn't want to make him choose. He was Vorta and was made to serve the Founders; although she tried to show him kindness and compassion, the Female Founder would always have more sway over him, considering she held his life in her hands.

Perhaps it would be best for both of them if she tried to distance herself emotionally from Weyoun. These feelings she had for him would only bring both of them pain. But even Vamshi knew that this task was easier said than done, and even as she resolved to do it, she knew she would fail.

Weyoun stared at his god in awe as the music filled the silence between them. She was lost in thought, and he dared not disturb her. It felt so strange to feel comfortable around her, as he was used to trembling in awe and fear when in the presence of a Founder. But he couldn't deny the joy of that feeling either, and the best thing was that he felt safe and secure around her. Of one thing he was certain, no matter how much Vamshi confused him with her attentions, and that was that she would protect him against anything. She didn't even have to say it; he could read it in her eyes, he could feel it in her touch, he could sense it just by sitting here beside her.

She looked at him with a melancholy look on her face after the song ended, and it pained him to see a god so sad.

"Vamshi, are you all right?"

The look faded and she smiled. "I'm fine. But, it's getting late, and I think you should be going. Take that with you and try to have it done by the time we see each other again, all right?"

He bowed his head, stood and gathered his things.

"And if anyone asks, those are from Ziyal."

Weyoun frowned, but he trusted her, and he didn't dare question a Founder.

"Don't worry, Weyoun, Ziyal's in on this too. She's the one who gave me those supplies in the first place."

"So if someone needs to verify the story, such as Dukat-"

"Ziyal's on board. She owes me a favor, but more than that...she's my sister in a way. We understand each other, and she's taught me how to be strong, even when it feels like no one accepts me. I'd do anything for her, and since I have art supplies to loan you, and good ones at that, it appears she'd do the same."

He nearly cried when she admitted to feeling unaccepted, and it tore at him inside to think that a god could feel outcast and alone.

She came forward and stroked his cheek. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He breathed in slowly. "It pains me to think of you alone and unaccepted."

"But I'm not alone," she said emphatically. "I have friends on the station and back on Earth. I have Odo and Ziyal and Jake. And you."

He couldn't help it; a tear rolled down his cheek at her words, and she embraced him tenderly.

"No matter what happens," she whispered in his ear, "I'll be here for you."

She let him go, and he bowed his head in utter gratitude and joy, then exited her quarters. Once he got back to his own, one of the Jem'Hadar soldiers guarding the outside stopped him.

"The Founder wants to see you immediately."

He nodded and put his things down, then hurried to her quarters. She was standing at the window, her arms crossed. Two Jem'Hadar soldiers also occupied the space, and they flanked him once he entered. He spread his arms wide and bowed submissively.

"Founder, it is an honor-"

"Why did you disobey my orders?"

He looked up at her and plastered a confused look on his face. "I obey the Founders in all things."

"Not according to my observations. Of all the Vorta, I thought you were the most loyal, but I see I was wrong."

Before he had a chance to explain himself, he was knocked to his knees by the Jem'Hadar.

"You may not be loyal, but you are an asset. And I have a feeling that Vamshi had something to do with your disobedience as well. Therefore, you will not die for nothing, Weyoun. You will have the honor of returning a Founder to her rightful place."

She nodded to the Jem'Hadar, and the butt of a phaser rifle made contact with the Vorta's skull, and he collapsed onto all fours. Blow after blow rained down on him, and before he knew it, blackness settled over his vision and he passed out.