The BLTS Archive- All For You
by Invicta (invicta11@yahoo.com)

---

Copyright Invicta,1998

TIMING: This story is set during the 4th season of DS9.

DISCLAIMER: Star Trek DS9 and the Star Trek characters are owned by
Paramount Pictures. All rights are reserved and no infringement is
meant.

---

As Julian Bashir lay on a biobed, for once a patient in the infirmary
himself instead of merely at work there, he reflected on how lucky he
was to be alive. Ten days ago he had been at home with Garak in their
quarters. The two lovers had shared a pleasant dinner together, and
the meal had been almost over when Julian had suddenly passed out.
Garak had immediately called ops to register a medical emergency and
they were both beamed to the infirmary. In the days that followed the
medical staff tried in vain to identify the cause of Julian's illness.
He suffered from a drastic fall in blood pressure, a virulent fever
and a number of other minor symptoms which were believed to be the
effects of some kind of virus.

It had at first not been possible for the other medical staff to
identify a cure, especially as the virus type was not recognised by
the station's medical computer. Bashir's condition had grown steadily
worse and all the time Garak stayed by his bed, visibly worried to
death. The only time that he paid attention to anything else but
Julian was when several of the senior staff visited the doctor - Worf,
Kira, O'Brien, Dax, Odo. Garak glared at each person as they arrived,
openly displaying his feelings of anger and contempt. All of them had
been distant and withdrawn from Julian since he had started dating
Garak. O'Brien and Dax especially had been positively hostile towards
the doctor once the fact of their relationship had become public
knowledge.

//You didn't want to be around him before, but now that he may be
dying you're suddenly interested in him again. So hypocritical, but
after all so very predictable.//

Garak's considerable powers of observation and deduction allowed him
to determine that some people clearly felt uncomfortable, if not
downright guilty when they looked at Bashir's unconscious form. From
the tailor's point of view this was extremely satisfying. It had not
been easy to control his anger on the recent occasions when Julian
came back to their quarters, visibly upset over some comment or verbal
slur that had been passed by one of the people who were supposed to be
his friends.

Fortunately after six days the illness had been identified by
Starfleet Medical Academy, following a deep scan of their archived
records database. It was Parikh's syndrome, an incredibly rare
condition which originated from a distant planet known as Ant'kraa.
The Ant'kraa people rarely left their homeworld, but it was soon
confirmed that one of their number had briefly passed through DS9 a
few months ago, during which time he had been treated for a minor
medical complaint by Dr. Bashir. Parikh's syndrome was usually fatal
if the correct treatment was not given within 14-15 days of the first
symptoms appearing. However, once Julian was finally given the
required antidote he made a rapid recovery, and was feeling almost
back to normal within a day. In fact he would be free to leave the
infirmary tomorrow, they were only keeping him in overnight in for
routine observation. This gave the doctor plenty of time to think
about what had happened, all the more so since Garak had just left him
to get some much needed sleep. And he more he thought about it the
stranger things seemed, because Julian distinctly remembered studying
data records of several Parikh's syndrome cases about 18 months ago in
connection with a piece of research. Why then was there no record of
the illness itself in the station's own computer records? Julian had
an excellent memory, he was sure that he wasn't mistaken.

And then, there was also something strange about when he passed
out...it felt as if something cold had touched him just before he lost
consciousness. However the only other person in their quarters that
night was Garak, and he had been at the other end of the room at that
point using the replicator. From the tailor's account of the incident
Julian had just keeled over without warning, and there was nothing
that Garak had seen which would account for this memory. Bashir knew
that his version of events could in fact be a hallucination, the first
sign of the disease taking effect, but still it puzzled him. As the
night passed, he continued to think about it until sleep finally
claimed him.

---

Two days later a fully recovered Julian was again eating dinner with
Garak, this time in Quark's. As usual people looked at them, gossiped
about them.

//I can hardly believe that our relationship is still the focus of so
much speculation and attention around here,// thought Julian
irritably. //If only people would accept what we are and act normal
around us. Taking Garak as my lover has provoked such a negative
response all round. I really wish that it could be different.//

Garak looked across at his mate and instantly knew what he was
thinking. The tailor leaned forward and took hold of the doctor's
hands, then spoke earnestly. "You've lost most of your friends on this
station because of me Julian. There are to be honest with you very few
things in life for which I feel guilty, but this is one of them. Don't
you feel any resentment against me for the way things are?"

Julian smiled, because they had this conversation more than once over
the last few weeks. "NO, NO, NO, NO! It's true that I have lost
friendships with people that I care about and that this hurts me, but
I have chosen YOU Garak! It was my decision to make and I have no
regrets whatever about starting an intimate relationship with you.
Please believe me!"

Garak smiled, convinced of his lover's sincerity. "I do Julian, but it
would seem that I am still in need of reassurance every once in a
while. Perhaps we should go to our quarters and you can work on
persuading me that you still care about me as much as ever." Garak
smiled seductively at Julian, not caring one jot about the nearby
diners who avidly watched them both.

"Actually I have a better idea. The new holodeck programme that I
ordered a while ago just come in, it's very... relaxing. Would you
care to try it?"

"Why not?" said Garak with a smile. A little relaxation after all they
had been through certainly couldn't hurt!

---

Once in the holodeck with the programme activated, Garak found that
they had come into the dining room of a large house. It was late
afternoon, the temperature was pleasantly warm by his standards and
sun streamed in through the open windows. Garak considered the setting
to be pleasing and was already starting to anticipate the delights of
the evening ahead. The tailor had a high sex drive and he had not been
intimate with Julian since before his illness; it was all that he
could do to restrain himself from ripping off the doctor's clothes
then and there! Still, it seemed only polite to allow Julian to
demonstrate the facilities of his new holodeck programme first. A male
holosuite character came into the room carrying a tray of drinks.
Garak noted that several of his favourite varieties of kanaar were
included on the tray, and appreciative of the doctor's consideration
in catering for his needs he took a glass and drank. About 15 seconds
after he swallowed the first gulp of kanaar, Garak passed out. With a
wickedly amused smile, Julian moved swiftly to catch him before he hit
the floor.

---

When Garak regained consciousness, he found that he was now in a
richly decorated bedroom, and it was night time. The tailor had been
placed on all fours and positioned sideways on top of a large four
poster bed. With a jolt of surprise Garak realised that he was naked,
save for a collar of some kind around his neck. An intricate
arrangement of chains and leather straps emanating from each of the
bedposts bound him securely to the bed, and ensured that he could not
move his body more than an inch or two in each direction. The bonds
were in fact so restrictive that he was not even able to turn his head
around. Garak felt both furious at being tricked and admiring of his
mate's skills in deception.

//It would seem that he has learned something from me after all,//
Garak mused, unable to be angry at heart when the situation was so
interesting. The two lovers had rarely played bondage games with each
other, and so he did not really know what to expect from Julian. What
would happen when his lover returned? To Garak's surprise he found
that the sheer helplessness of his own situation, combined with the
seductive environment, was making him feel completely aroused. Just
thinking about what Julian could do with him whilst he was this
vulnerable and exposed was making him painfully hard, but in this
position there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

After a few moments Garak was fully erect, and in dire need of
satisfaction. He called out Julian's name several times, and finally
the doctor came into the room. When Bashir moved round to the side of
the bed so that Garak could see him, the tailor gasped at the lovely
sight he beheld. Julian had changed into an outfit which the tailor
had never seen before, a one piece skin-tight shiny black catsuit
which left very almost nothing to the imagination. Every line and
curve of the doctor's body was sharply defined, so thin and close
fitting was the material. Garak found that the sight of Julian so
beautifully adorned had only served to stimulate him even more. His
aching member throbbed with need, almost causing him to moan out load.
Gods, the man looked simply gorgeous! Now, if he could only persuade
Julian to remove the bonds then he could grab hold of that luscious
body, stroke it, take it...

Julian was smiling at the tailor, and his smile became even broader
when he caught sight of Garak's fierce arousal.

"Elim my love, I'm so glad to see that you're awake! How are you
feeling?"

"Ready to kill you for deceiving me," replied Garak with venom. The
doctor was however not deceived by the words, or by the look that went
with them. He studied his mate's body openly, as always fascinated by
the beautiful and intricate pattern of scales, markings and ridges
which adorned the whole length of him.

"To kill me?" he exclaimed with an innocent glance at Garak. "From the
look of things I'd say that you have something quite different in mind
for me right now" he said seductively, and reached down to stroke
Garak's shaft lightly. The tailor groaned with sheer delight, then
gasped in frustration when Bashir quickly took his hand away.

"Don't stop Julian, please. I want you now! Take the chains off and I
will show you how much you are desired!"

Julian felt something inside himself melt with pleasure as Garak spoke
these words, but forced his mind back to the task at hand. There was
something that had to be done before he could sample the many
delicious pleasures which his lover's body offered.

"I'm sorry Garak, but that isn't possible right now. You see I have
brought you here in order to discipline you, and your punishment must
be completed before we move on to any more - interesting encounters."

As the words were spoken Garak looked bemused, and clearly he could
not think of any action of his which would require a punishment of
this nature. Presumably then this was a game of some kind which Julian
wanted to play. Garak moved restlessly in his bonds, quite unable to
free himself. The tailor supposed that he could order the computer to
remove the chains, but he was intrigued by this rarely seen dominant
part of the doctor's personality. Garak decided to  let the human take
the lead for now. After all it was unlikely  that Julian would go too
far, he was simply far too caring and compassionate for that! He
therefore decided to play along with the adventure and glared at
Julian.

"You will not dare to punish me, now let me go!" he thundered.

To Garak's surprise Julian merely grinned, and then tugged teasingly
at the chains which held him so securely in place. "I can and I will
punish you, Garak. You deserve it. After all, it was you who
deliberately infected me with the Parikh's syndrome virus, wasn't it?"

For a moment Garak was speechless in surprise, which rapidly turned to
admiration. He'd been so careful and yet Bashir had still found him
out! What an intricate and challenging paradox of a man he had mated
with, to be sure. Garak hastened to explain, lest the Human
misunderstand his motives

"Yes Julian it was, although I have no idea how you could possibly
know that. It may be hard for you to believe, but I did this all for
you. You see it seemed probable that if I ensured that you were
dangerously ill, and then that you survived that it might lead to-"

"Me getting my friends back" interrupted Julian before Garak could
finish. He sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked his lover's
hair tenderly

"Yes, that's right. I was sure that the sight of you half dead would
make people feel remorse for their animosity towards you. If that
happened then it seemed likely that, once your recovery was complete,
they would attempt to restore their friendship with you. I also felt
that you would forgive them and agree to be friends again, because
you've always been far too ready to forgive. I don't suppose that you
will ever learn how to nurture and sustain a really nasty decades-long
hatred against another person, such as the one Dukat and I have for
each other." Garak uttered the last sentence so sadly that Julian
could not help but laugh. "You do understand that you would never have
been harmed, don't you Julian? I had the antidote with me at all
times, and if there had ever been a sudden worsening of your condition
then I would have used it immediately. I love you Julian, and despite
being in control of the situation this was a very difficult thing for
me to undertake."

Julian reached out and moved around the chains to give Garak a hug. "I
know that you would never have hurt me, dear one. That's why you
aren't in a holding cell under suspicion of attempted murder right
now. But I was unnecessarily ill for several days with a number of
nasty symptoms, and people's time was wasted on finding the cure. That
is why you have to suffer for what you've done."

Julian got up and walked round to the other side of the bed. The
tailor could not see him now and was inwardly frantic to know what was
happening. He remained hard and longing for release, but there was no
sign of Julian letting him loose. He just had to take Julian now!
"Computer, remove chains" he snapped out suddenly. There was no
response and the chains remained firmly in place. "Computer, end
programme! Computer respond!" Still nothing.

Garak heard Julian's soft laugh behind him. "Oh didn't I tell you? The
computer has been instructed only to respond to my voice pattern for
the duration of this programme" he informed the tailor gleefully. "I
do believe I'm about ready to begin."

Before Garak could ask what he meant, Julian had belted his ass hard
with a thin whip. Garak howled, then again as a succession of blows
struck. Each one was centred squarely on his rump, which was already
starting to darken in colour.

"Julian, please stop!" Garak cried out pleadingly, although the tailor
was surprised to realise that actually this was the last thing that he
wanted. It was a novel experience for Garak to be so completely under
someone else's control, and despite the pain he wanted the sensation
to continue. Bashir refused to stop in any case, and administered more
stinging blows to Garak's ass and upper thighs. The Cardassian moaned
and whimpered as each blow struck, writhing with an incredible
combination of discomfort and delicious enjoyment. Every now and then
Julian would pause for a moment, and make Garak wait in an agony of
half frightened, half excited anticipation for the next stroke. After
a while he changed to using a swishing cane, then to a flat leather
belt. As each slap landed Garak cried out, but his pride would not
allow him to beg for mercy.

//You will pay for this my love, even if it takes me years to find a
suitable punishment. Oh gods, what must this look like to him!// Garak
could hardly stand the pain but there was pleasure too, so much
pleasure...

At 40 strokes Garak's ass had turned charcoal grey in colour and was
covered in raised weals, although hardly any blood had been drawn. As
a doctor Bashir had found it easy to inflict a suitable amount of
pain, whilst still ensuring that no permanent damage was done. Julian
laid down the belt and went round to the other side of the bed,
smiling sweetly. Garak was sweating freely and trembling with shock
and excitement. He saw the telltale bulge in Julian's catsuit, and
realised that the doctor had been aroused by the act of meting out his
punishment. How wonderful!

"Ah Julian, let me have you now my love!" he cried out in desperation.
Julian grinned impishly. He was nearly ready to remove the chains, but
there was yet one more part of the punishment to be completed.

"I will remove the chains now Elim, but only if you will first say; I
humbly apologise for all of the trouble that I have caused by my
foolish actions, so please forgive me Julian, and thank you so much
for taking the trouble to teach me the error of my ways."

Garak didn't hesitate. "I WILL NOT SAY THAT! YOU TAKE THIS TOO FAR
JULIAN!"

To Garak's surprise, Julian only laughed at him. "You can choose not
to say the words if you want of course" he said cheerfully. "Should
you do so then I will order the computer to accept voice commands from
you again after 20 minutes have elapsed. That will give me plenty of
time to change, get back to my quarters and secure the door...so that
I can spend a quiet uninterrupted night alone. Of course I could stay
here with you and pleasure you in every way that your heart desires,
but you do have to say the words first, my dearest."

Once again Garak felt a rush of admiration for his lover's masterly
grasp of the essentials. Julian knew that Garak wanted to make love to
him more than anything, and that being dominated in this way had
aroused the tailor to such a degree that he was about to explode with
unsatisfied lust. Although Garak knew that he had no choice but to
submit, he still made one last attempt at regaining control of the
situation.

"You do know that I will make you pay for this degradation, don't you
Julian?"

"Oh yes of course" replied Julian, so readily that Garak found himself
smiling at his mate's easy acceptance of the inevitable. "But you see
I've already learned with you to expect the odd nasty surprise every
now and then. That you will punish me for this night at some point in
the future I quite understand, but right now my only thought is that
for once I have outmaneuvered you completely. The idea that I have
completely deceived you after so often being the victim of your own
deceptions is so very sweet that I will happily pay the price for it
when the time comes. Admit you've lost now and say it."

He was quite right Garak thought to himself, and it was a timely
lesson to him not to underestimate this deceptively innocent young man
in the future. Reluctantly Garak spoke the words that were required of
him, and with a smug smile Julian had the chains removed just as he
had promised. Instantly Garak grabbed Bashir and began roughly and
speedily removing his catsuit. Julian had been expecting nothing less
- he had kept the tailor waiting an awfully long time for
satisfaction, and Garak did so hate to be kept waiting! Very soon they
were both naked. Julian handed Garak the lubricant, and with scant
hesitation the Cardassian applied it to his throbbing member. There
would on this occasion be no time for foreplay, no measured rise
towards their mutual climax. With a flick of his arm Garak flipped
Julian over onto his stomach and a moment later thrust into him deeply
with one firm movement. Both men groaned at the sheer depth and
ferocity of sensation that this single act produced.

"Oh yes Garak, just like that!" Julian cried out in ecstasy. Garak
paused just for a second, exulting in the end of what had seemed like
an eternity of waiting. Then he began to move in and out of his lover,
in small movements at first then deeper, faster. Julian was twisting
and writhing in joy beneath him, calling out Garak's name and begging
him never to stop. All too soon Garak came, the force of his climax
also triggering Julian's. Both men felt wave after wave of sheer
pleasure sweep over them, and although Garak tried to prolong the
moment he knew that it was time to withdraw. He slipped out of
Julian's body and lay down beside him, kissing this wonderful man with
vigour. Julian responded eagerly, and they lay side by side on the bed
lazily stroking and touching one another for the longest time.

As Garak's hands moved with sureness all over his body, Julian felt
his own sex hardening again. He reached down to stroke his erect
member, and with a quick movement Garak brought his arm down to help
him. Together they stroked and pumped Julian's shaft, their movements
perfectly harmonised. Julian moaned and gasped with abandonment at
this exquisite sensation, then moved his hand away to allow Garak the
freedom to fully stimulate him. Bashir cried out in passion as Garak
moved faster and applied more pressure on his sex. With one last
joyful yell of Garak's name Julian came, spurting his seed forcefully
into the tailor's hand. Both men felt totally exhilarated, and each
one at the same moment felt supremely fortunate in his choice of
partner.

"I love you" Julian said tenderly, after they had both gotten their
breath back.

"And I love you, more now than ever. I will however have to think
about reporting your most vicious and unprovoked assault to Constable
Odo when we leave here."

"How could you possibly do that without explaining why I attacked you,
and also the precise methods that I used?" said Julian teasingly. "I'm
sure Odo would LOVE to hear all about what went on tonight! Would you
like me to go to his office now and make a statement? I'm quite
willing to confess!"

"Perhaps that wouldn't be such a good idea after all, now that I come
to think about it. But Julian, how did you know that it was I who
caused your illness? The whole operation was so carefully planned, and
even now I have no idea what went wrong."

Julian explained about the missing Parikh's syndrome data and the
feeling he had that something had touched him.

"I could only think of two reasons why the data was missing. Either it
was accidentally wiped or someone had deliberately moved it. However
the computer had no record of there ever being any Parikh's data on
file. That made it more likely that there had been sabotage. There are
very few people on this station who could do that AND leave no trace
for me to find; you could, and so could O'Brien and possibly Dax,
nobody else. But why would Dax or O'Brien delete data from a simple
medical research file? And once I realised that you could have come up
silently behind me from the replicator without my seeing you, and then
injected me with a sedative in about two seconds flat I knew that you
were responsible. Your motive took a little longer to work out but I
managed it eventually."

Garak was delighted. "My dear Julian, so much deduced with so little
evidence! Perhaps you would make a good intelligence agent after all!"
For a moment Garak forgot his recent punishment and sat up, instantly
wailing as his bottom pressed against the bedclothes. He turned over
again quickly. Julian grinned, displaying absolutely no remorse
whatever.

"Feeling a little sore, are we?"

"More than a little actually. Perhaps you might care to do something
about that, DOCTOR!" replied Garak sarcastically. Julian grinned at
the words but also got up right away to retrieve a medical kit from a
cupboard in the corner of the room. After a few minutes of treatment,
Garak's wounds were completely healed. When Bashir had finished, the
tailor turned over again and smiled at his lover.

"I am sorry for what you went through Julian, but there was nothing
else that I could think of to help you. It pained me very much to see
you ostracised by your friends, and to feel impotent and unable to
assist you was very painful to me. When this idea formed in my mind I
was so sure that it would work. Are you very angry with me?"

"Sadly your idea doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. Since my
discharge from the infirmary there has been no noticeable change in
the way that people act towards me. And no I'm not angry with you at
all, in fact in a strange way I feel rather proud of you."

Garak looked frankly surprised at this. "Proud of me? But if that is
so then why-"

"Did I punish you?" finished Julian with a smile. "Because as I
explained before, you deserved it. And because, although I do feel so
very appreciative of the fact that you care enough about me to try and
help, I don't approve of the methods that you used. Besides, if you
were allowed to get away with this little deception who knows what you
might try next? And to be honest, it has been in my mind for some time
to cast you in the slave's role and then to see how you responded.
This provided the perfect opportunity!"

Garak laughed heartily, then kissed Julian with a passion. "I hope
that you were sufficiently satisfied with my interpretation of a
slave's role then?"

"Frankly, no I wasn't, you were far too impertinent. I expect you to
try harder to please me - next time! Now let's go to sleep, all this
dominating has worn me out." With a low laugh Garak agreed. The two
men cuddled up together tenderly and fell asleep almost right away.

---

The following morning Bashir and Garak showered, dressed and finally
left the holosuite at 07.00 hours. At Garak's suggestion they then
went to the replimat for a very large breakfast. Julian was not due at
work that day and the tailor did not intend to open his shop either,
so their meal was leisurely and relaxed. Garak was even pleased to see
that Julian was making an effort not to eat his food in a hurry!
Neither man noticed that they were being intently observed from across
the promenade by Chief O'Brien. The Chief hesitated for a long time
before finally walking up to their table.

"Could I join you for a moment? There's something that I need to talk
about."

Julian looked surprised for a moment, but then made the assumption
that the matter for discussion was station business of some kind.
"Certainly Chief O'Brien, please sit down. Would you like to speak
privately?" Julian's tone as he spoke was polite but wary.

"No, I want you both to hear this. O'Brien paused for a moment,
clearly finding it difficult to say what was on his mind. He looked
very serious, and Julian began to wonder whether he had done anything
else to offend the man. Certainly it was easy enough to upset him at
the moment.

"Julian, I want to apologise for the way that I've treated you. When
you told me that you were dating Garak I should have tried to
understand and to be happy for you, even if it seemed to me that you
had made a wrong choice. You may still have done just that, I don't
know. What I do know is that you were entitled to my support and you
didn't get it. That was wrong Julian, and I'm sorry."

Julian tried to speak, but O'Brien overrode him. "No, please hear me
out before you say anything. You have to know the full extent of my
actions. Not only did I toss aside our friendship because you had
chosen to care for a person that I didn't like or trust, but I tried
to persuade others to do the same. I went around the station quietly
telling people how bad this match was, and that for your sake it had
to be broken. You were infatuated with Garak I said, and he had gained
an influence over you which was dangerous to both yourself and station
security. A Cardassian former spy could not be trusted not to harm
you, I said. And so I suggested to people that it would be better if
they didn't spend too much time with you. The sense of social
isolation that you were bound to feel as a result would put pressure
on your relationship which would hopefully lead to it ending - you
know, the old cruel to be kind idea. And of course the people that I
talked to were influenced by me, because they knew we were friends and
so they felt that I was acting in your best interests. I'm not
responsible for all of the trouble that you've encountered, but I have
to admit that a large part of it has come from me. If you can forgive
this it would mean a great deal to me, but I wouldn't blame you if you
can't. And Garak I ask your forgiveness too, I had no right to
interfere with your life in this way."

After O'Brien finished speaking, there was a momentary silence. Julian
simply could not believe that the man who had been his friend for so
long would do something so cruel. As for Garak, he said only one word.
"Why?"

O'Brien swallowed nervously and looked extremely uncomfortable. He
didn't want to answer the question, but he knew that they were
entitled to an explanation of his motives. "I was jealous."

"JEALOUS?" both men echoed with surprise. Julian could not imagine his
cheerful, confident friend feeling that way and even to Garak it
seemed unlikely.

"Yes, that was how it was. Julian, when you first came to the station
you tried so hard to win my friendship but I just wasn't interested at
first. After a while though, I got to know you better and started
enjoying your company. We became good friends but still you stayed
friendly with Garak too. At first I didn't even realise that this
bothered me, but one day I became aware that I was didn't like you
hanging around with him. I kept on thinking that now you had ME for a
friend, why would you still need Garak? Maybe he had something to
offer you which I didn't. All that talk you two did about literature
and art and music, I wasn't able to provide anything like that. It
made me feel insecure and angry. There's no logical reason for this
idea at all, it's not like we all need to be limited to one friend in
life! Still, I kept having these thoughts. I knew better than to
mention it to you, you would have been angry with me and you wouldn't
have stopped seeing Garak anyway. So I suppressed the feelings,
instead of dealing with them and working things out. I can see now
that this was a bad thing that was to do, because when you two became
lovers I just lost control. It was like there was a volcano inside me
pouring out rage and jealousy and hatred towards you, and I couldn't
stop it. Only, after a while the volcano suddenly burnt itself out. I
could see the damage that was being caused to you and I came to my
senses at last. I'm very sorry for everything, please believe that."

O'Brien had kept his eyes fixed on the table whilst speaking, but now
he looked up at both men to try and gauge their reactions. Garak's
face was quite impassive, and even Julian's expression was hard to
read. Finally Bashir spoke, choosing his words carefully.

"You ask for my forgiveness. It's a difficult thing for me to provide.
I can forgive your decision not to be my friend since friendship is a
personal choice, but to forgive the fact that you have tried so hard
to turn other people against me? That's tough to do. However... it
must have taken a lot of courage for you to admit these things in
front of us both. I've never been a man to bear grudges and our
relationship has always meant a lot to me. I forgive you Miles."

"As do I" added Garak with a smile. In truth he did nothing of the
sort - forgiveness was not a thing that he was good at - but he had
simply decided to follow whatever line Julian chose to take on the
matter.

O'Brien smiled for the first time. "Thank you both. I won't forget
this." He stood up and left the replimat quietly.

Garak watched him go, then turned back to Julian. "So, my little plan
had some merit after all, did it not doctor? Perhaps you will admit
now how wrong you were to punish me?"

"Not a chance!" replied Bashir merrily. "But Garak, do you think that
O'Brien will tell anyone else about this conversation?"

"I would imagine that he will feel the need to put the record
straight, yes. To do that will probably mean that he has to repeat to
quite a number of people what he told us today. How totally
humiliating that will be for him!" Garak spoke with mock sadness, and
although Julian pretended to reprove him it was clear that secretly he
too was amused.

"He didn't make any effort to restart our friendship" Julian
reflected. Garak smiled, and kissed him on the cheek.

"That would have to come from you, my beloved, because he has clearly
made the assumption that you could not possibly want him as a friend
after this. Could you?"

Julian thought about it. "Perhaps. If he gets through enough
humiliating conversations over the next few days then I'll consider
it! Come on, let's go back to our quarters. We have the whole day off
after all, and I certainly don't want to waste it!"

Smiling, Garak got up and went with him. As they walked towards the
turbolift Garak realised how much he would enjoy planning his
retribution for last night. There must be no advance warning, he
intended to take Julian totally by surprise when the time came. That
would mean ensuring that the doctor was totally relaxed and off guard,
which would not be easy to arrange. And what exactly could he do to
embarrass his lovely mate as completely as he himself had been whilst
strapped to that bed?

//Ah well,// Garak thought to himself, //I'll think of something
spectacular in a little while. Don't I always?//

---

The End