The BLTS Archive - The Diplomatic Thing To Do
by Rilwen-Shadowflame

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Disclaimer: DS9 is definitely not mine. Reviews welcomed.

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Weyoun could never quite work out how he'd managed to slip
into this persistent and exasperating situation. Certainly,
he was prepared to do many things to smooth the paths of
diplomacy for the Dominion; pouring wine, talking for hours,
even in one memorable case struggling to participate in one
culture's ritual dance. He was fairly certain, however, that
even by these standards his efforts in getting along with
the Dominion's Cardassian allies were a trifle unusual.

It wasn't a diplomat's place to outright refuse even the
bluntest demands, and Dukat had not been blunt. He'd started
with veiled insinuations, subtle suggestions, mild remarks
with multiple levels of meaning. Aided by his research into
the motivations of other species, Weyoun became more and
more aware of what was going on; aware, but with no clue on
how to head this situation off.

He'd gone through speculation on what the Founder would say
to him, but had been forced to conclude she would have no
interest. This was the business of solids, things gods were
above. If he wasn't being asked anything that would weaken
or compromise the Dominion, then she would not care to issue
orders preventing the matter.

In front of the Founders, a Vorta's dignity did not matter.
Now it seemed that Dukat was intent upon lessening his
dignity in other areas as well. It was really rather vexing.
Resigned to the difficulties of his tasks, Weyoun had
acceded.

On the positive side, Dukat was far more cooperative after
their meetings. Weyoun began scheduling his day accordingly-
earlier times for participating in Dukat's bizarre antics,
followed by general committees and other procedures, in
which Dukat's relaxed, possibly even amused attitude made
reaching agreements much easier.

What did it really matter if Weyoun was inevitably exhausted
by the end of the day, as long as the Dominion's goals were
furthered by his efforts? It really didn't matter at all,
surely. Contorting himself into strange positions, doing or
saying whatever he was prompted to, or merely remaining
still and silent...none of it mattered. It didn't even
matter that he saw amusement lurking in the Cardassian's
eyes more and more frequently. Regardless of how unorthodox
the methods required, Weyoun was doing his job. It really
had to be that simple. He was a diplomat. He was maintaining
channels of communication between allies. Still, he wished
he could figure out why the situation had become so strange.

***

Dukat was very proud of this particular success. It had
taken a great deal of manipulation to bring matters to this
point. Weyoun was not the primary goal here. Instead, it was
his dignity Dukat was after. If the Vorta was prepared to
sacrifice that quality for his so-called gods, then it was
only fair that he do so for Dukat as well.

Naturally, once he'd secured his success in private, it was
time to expand his influence. Dukat dipped into more exotic
ideas, and watched as Weyoun concocted excuses for bruises,
cuts, splatters of dye... really, there was no end to the
number of ways he could subtly mark the Vorta, just to see
him scramble for ways to explain the marks to others. Of
course, those brutish Jem'Hadar were oblivious, but some of
Dukat's underlings had begun to realise. They too had no
great liking for Weyoun, and Dukat's amused demeanour was
spreading. They became obscurely proud of Dukat for
outwitting the Vorta, regardless of his methods. In the end,
it was all about gaining superiority, wasn't it? And he had
done that.

Of course, there came a day when the Founder was no longer
satisfied with vague excuses. She'd become curious, and had
secreted herself in Dukat's quarters. Of course, he'd
realised she was there. Cardassian memory was not feeble,
and he'd have remembered if there had been three of those
little statues rather than two. On that day, Dukat took a
great deal of pleasure in encouraging Weyoun's degradation
much further, with the extra thrill of knowing the Vorta was
being judged by his 'god' without ever knowing.

Stammering apologies disregarded, Weyoun had
been...replaced. This had been a rather more complete
replacement than the usual change of clone. The new Weyoun
had made it clear that he bore the same number as the last,
whose existence in the chain of Weyouns was to be forgotten.
Dukat didn't mind. Nor did he try the same tricks on this
Weyoun. Once had been enough. He had already proven control
complete enough to utterly destroy the previous Weyoun, and
saw no further need of that game.

Dukat even went so far as to openly accept the forgetting of
the other. It was what the Dominion wanted, there were no
more exciting challenges to be had in doing otherwise...and,
as Weyoun would have said...it was the diplomatic thing to
do.

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The End