The BLTS Archive - Idle Gossip by Orkney Sarah --- Just a short conversation between Dax and Sisko where she points something out to him that he had not noticed before. Only my second post. Comments gratefully welcomed. This is Season Five, post Leeta but before Rapture as I haven’t seen that far yet. Yes I know the Klingon isn't mentioned. If we all ignore him, he might just go away. Disclaimer Everyone knows the drill. All Hail Paramount. Everything in this belongs to them except the story/plot(?)/dialogue etc. (unfortunately - can't blame them for that) --- "What are you grinning at, Old Man?" Dax glanced up quickly, smiled and gestured for Sisko to sit before returning her attention to the people below. Ben glanced over the balcony before he took his seat. "What are you looking at?" he asked a little impatiently. "Don't you see?" Sisko looked again. The gambling tables were crowded as usual. There was an occasional shout of "Dabo!" Quark and his two waiters were scurrying around, the bar was packed. Nothing unusual there. He looked closer, trying to spot any unfamiliar faces. Morn was at his usual spot, wouldn't be Quarks without him. O'Brien and Bashir were playing darts and Miles appeared to be winning for once. Anyone else? Oh yes, there in the corner, Kira and Odo with faces like thunder. Sisko was glad he hadn't spotted them on his way in. He scanned the bar again. No Klingons, no Romulans, no one out of the ordinary. What on Earth could Dax be so fascinated by? He glanced over at her and followed her gaze. Garak and Ziyal? Was that who she was watching? What could possibly be so interesting about that pair? Well, granted, if Dukat ever found out there would be hell to pay, but, apart from that, they did not make an interesting couple. In fact, they turned his stomach. He had almost grown to feel some sort of, well not liking, definitely not trust, more like a grudging respect for the Cardassian exile. Cut off from friends, family, home. That couldn't be easy for anyone and Garak seemed to be coping well. Plus, he was occasionally a useful person to have around. But this thing with Ziyal, it was just not on. From what Sisko had seen of the girl she was just a child, an innocent. Garak was old enough to be her father. And if he was only seeing her to infuriate Dukat... Frankly Sisko thought that was worse. Garak was an expert at lies and deception and if he was lying to her, then he was picking on someone who could not possibly realise what was going on, let alone match him at it. Sisko looked back at Dax. She was watching someone else now. He peered down trying to see who it was. Ah, Kira and Odo, still looking pissed off. "What's the matter with that pair?" "Look who they're watching," Dax said. Sisko followed Kira's angry glare. "What's Garak done to the Major now?" "She warned him off Ziyal and there he is, flaunting his lack of respect for her. It's driving her nuts. She doesn't dare order Ziyal not to see him; she thinks that'd only make her more determined to and anyway he is the only Cardassian on the station," Dax explained. "I think I agree with Kira on this one. Garak should be ashamed of himself." "Oh there's nothing going on there except friendship." "Does Ziyal know that?" "Yes, she's not interested in Garak anyway. He's far to old for her, she told me herself. And Garak's affections lie elsewhere." "How do you know that, Old Man? I can't see our resident spy confiding in you, or anyone else for that matter." "I've been watching this show for ages. It's fascinating. But if they don't get together soon, I'm going to bash their heads together." "Who?" "You've got to figure that out for yourself." Dax smiled. "But I suppose I can give you a few clues. Garak is only here with Ziyal in the hope of making someone else jealous. It's working as well." She laughed and continued. "Plus he knows how much he's annoying Kira and there's nothing he enjoys more. He had better watch out though, or he's going to push her too far" With that Dax picked up her empty glass and, complaining about the lack of service, wandered off to fetch another drink. Sisko watched her go thoughtfully and looked back at the scene below him. Who could Garak be interested in? More to the point, who could be interested in Garak? It must be someone Sisko and Dax knew or she wouldn't be so interested. Sisko just could not imagine what anyone could find attractive about the Cardassian. Even apart from his reptilian appearance there was the major factor of trust, or lack of. You could never trust Garak. He didn't tell the truth if a lie would do and everything he did seemed to be part of some secret scheme. Bemused at how interested the Trill had got him in this, Sisko kept his attention on the bar floor, barely glancing up as Dax returned with two drinks. She smirked at him as she sat down. He could never resist gossip and she could not keep a secret to herself. Part of her was not sure if she should have drawn Sisko's attention to the possible relationship. As a person he would have no objection, but as a Captain? Well, it was too late now. He might not figure it out anyway. Then again, Julian was making it very obvious, to her at least. Sisko was still people watching, and his attention had been drawn to the dart board where Miles and Julian were still playing. Well, Miles was playing, Bashir appeared somewhat distracted. His gaze kept wandering to... No, that was not possible. Julian and Garak? Without thinking, he blurted out, "Not Julian!" Dax was not surprised. She had been following his gaze and had noted the look of shock on his face. She nodded in confirmation. Now Sisko's attention was fully focused on the woman opposite him. "Julian and Garak?" he spluttered. "They're together?" "Not yet, but it's heading that way." "But, but , but..." "But what? Don't tell me the thought had never even crossed your mind. They've been having lunch together for years now." "Lunch yes. Sex no." "Lunch was only ever and excuse to flirt with each other." "So why has nothing happened until now?" "Well, nothing's happened yet, and I don't know a lot of the details..." "Oh, go on, tell me what you make of it then. You've got me fascinated now." "Right, what I think is-" Jadzia paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "At first Garak flirted with Julian, mainly because he flirts with almost anyone, but also he could tell it made Julian uncomfortable. And it did make Julian nervous, until he realised he was being flirted with. Then he flirted back, almost without thinking what he was doing. This went on for ages, neither of them wanting it to go further, until Garak realised that he was not just flirting for the sake of it, that he was actually attracted to Julian. That was ages ago but he never did anything about it because..." "He was scared." "Precisely. Julian is his only friend. If he tried to initiate something more than friendship and got rejected, possibly nastily then he would have lost everything, the friendship and his fantasies." "Interesting, but what about Julian? He was with Leeta and has never shown an interested in other men." "I know. This is what I think is the interesting part. Julian's straight, but he's in love with Garak and doesn't know what to do. Garak's not helping by flirting with Ziyal. Julian might just pluck up the courage to let Garak know how he feels, but now he's getting mixed signals from him and, while he is jealous, he's also pissed off. Garak might just lose him if he doesn't do something soon." "Dax, look," Sisko broke in. They both peered over the railing to see Julian walking out of the bar, looking both angry and confused. A pair of inscrutable Cardassian eyes followed his progress. The expression on Garak's face was unreadable, but Ziyal was shaking her head at him. Dax downed the last of her drink and stood up. "Same place, same time tomorrow?" she asked, grinning. Sisko smiled back and nodded. "Wouldn't miss this for the world. But a large part of me hopes it goes no further. Starfleet command would have a fit if they discovered that one of my senior officers was sleeping with an exiled Cardassian spy." "That's a conversation I'd love to hear." "Go on, get out." Sisko laughed at her and settled back in his seat to enjoy the rest of his drink, glad he had come into Quarks for once. He felt someone's eyes on him and looked up to see Miles standing behind him, looking puzzled. "Mind if I sit down, Sir?" Sisko shook his head and O'Brien sat down in the seat recently vacated by Dax. He sat quietly for a while, then asked, "Do you know what's wrong with Julian lately? He's been acting really odd." Sisko could not help it, he felt himself grinning. Miles looked more confused than ever. "Never mind, Chief. You don't want to know." --- The End