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The Final Touches
Syaunei
"I’m an unfinished man, Doctor, like a suit of clothes hanging on a display rack waiting for the final touches that may never come..."
-- A Stitch in Time
INT. GARAK'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON
Garak sits slumped in his chair and sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose, a clear sign of an ongoing headache. A console bleep interrupts his thoughts. Bashir’s face flickers onto the screen. It’s the Emergency Medical Hologram prototype Garak had acquired some time ago.
EMH BASHIR
Let me guess. You’ve overworked yourself. Again.
Garak groans and waves his hand in a dismissive manner.
GARAK
I regret installing a direct line to you, Doctor. You’re becoming quite the nuisance.
EMH Bashir laughs, clearly amused and not at all put off by Garak’s grousing.
EMH BASHIR
If I had a lek for each time you called me a pest, we could retire on Risa tomorrow.
Garak gives a pained smile and looks off somewhere into the distance. He looks lost in his thoughts and murmurs.
GARAK
That would be something, wouldn’t it?
There’s a long moment of silence before EMH Bashir speaks again.
EMH BASHIR
Why are you doing this to yourself?
GARAK
If you are referring to the headache,it’s only mild dehydration, Doctor.
EMH BASHIR
I’m not referring to the headache and you know it.
GARAK
You have grown almost unbelievably nosy over the years. I should isolate my terminal from the network.
EMH BASHIR
You could… In fact, why don’t you? I’m not the one you want to talk to anyway.
Garak grumbles.
GARAK
And you have grown more perceptive, too.
EMH Bashir laughs.
EMH BASHIR
Now, that - is entirely your doing. You could have left me the way you found me, but you just couldn’t resist, could you?
GARAK
Sentiment always was my greatest weakness…
EMH BASHIR
You were lonely. I don’t blame you.
GARAK
How gracious of you, Doctor.
EMH BASHIR
Except now… All of us get to be lonely.
Don’t think I haven’t noticed. The way you drift off, staring into the distance, the way you flinch when I touch you… I know you’ve been avoiding me.
GARAK
Preposterous. Why would I avoid you? I merely had no need for your services.
EMH BASHIR
Or my company, clearly.
Garak lapses into silence once again. EMH Bashir allows it for a while and then speaks gently.
EMH BASHIR
You can’t go on like this, Elim.
GARAK
Your advice is both unsolicited and insolent, Doctor. I have allowed you far more freedom than necessary. You’d best remember that. And I also don't recall giving you permission to address me so familiarly.
EMH BASHIR
That is what you wanted. You could have left me as I was - unfinished, abandoned, but you didn’t.
GARAK
A fact I am beginning to regret, I assure you.
EMH Bashir looks stricken for a moment. When he speaks, his voice is brimming with righteous indignation.
EMH BASHIR
Is it so hard to believe that I have grown to care for you? That I may have your best interests at heart?
Garak scoffs.
GARAK
Oh, please. You don’t have a heart.
EMH Bashir seems wounded for a moment and then grows serious.
EMH BASHIR
No. No I do not. But thanks to you, I am self-aware. At least in this, I fulfill one of the basic requirements of life. And I have to spend my waking hours fretting over a man who-
He’d been gathering steam but he cut himself off, out of consideration for Garak’s feelings. Garak huffs in amusement and starts laughing. It sounds slightly unhinged.
GARAK
The universe has a cruel sense of humor, Doctor! It seems none of us can escape it!
EMH BASHIR
I am worried for you. Parmak is worried for you. Even Pythas - bless his poker face… And I’m… I know I’m not what you need, I haven’t been in a long time. I may just be an emergency medical hologram, but that doesn’t mean I cannot give you a diagnosis. You need him. Just… Write to him! Or better yet, call him! How long has it been?
GARAK
A little over a year…
EMH Bashir presses him for answers, very determined and insistent.
EMH BASHIR
If he won’t write, why don’t you? I know how much you miss him, just tell him!
GARAK
Doctor, I sent him a memoir. If over three hundred pages of unvarnished truth and bleeding sentiment weren’t enough for the message to sink in, I don’t see how anything else could be.
EMH BASHIR
You take his silence for rejection but what if… What if he just didn’t know how to respond?
GARAK
I see I have programmed you too well. You’re spouting hopeful tripe at me. What’s next?
EMH BASHIR
You can bluster and deflect all you want, Elim, but we both know what you’re doing.
GARAK
Oh, do enlighten me. I am dying to receive your holographic wisdom.
EMH BASHIR
You’re hiding. You wear your heartbreak like armor, and wield your pain like a weapon. All because you’re too afraid to make that perceived rejection a real one!
GARAK
I can always pull the plug on you, you intrusive mass of photons.
EMH BASHIR
You fiddled with my programming to make me more like him because you were lonely and now you’re threatening to deactivate me?
GARAK
Or outright delete you.
EMH Bashir looks at him fondly.
EMH BASHIR
Your bark is far worse than your bite, Elim.
GARAK
And how would you know, hmm? I’ve never bitten you.
EMH Bashir grins and his tone is teasing.
EMH BASHIR
Probably because you know I would like it.
GARAK
Now I know how people with errant pets feel.
The EMH laughs.
EMH BASHIR
I certainly hope I’m more qualified than your average pet. I’ve never chewed on your slippers, either.
GARAK
Well, at least you don’t shed… That’s about your only redeeming quality.
The EMH sobers and calms down.
EMH BASHIR
You should tell him.
GARAK
There’s no point! If he couldn’t deduce my meaning from the letter I sent him, then-
The EMH interrupts him.
EMH BASHIR
You know emotional awareness isn’t his strong suit. Maybe it went over his head.
GARAK
No one can possibly be that dense.
EMH BASHIR
Are you truly willing to gamble your future on that? Sometimes I think you deliberately self-sabotage because you’re secretly a masochist. Aren’t you tired of waiting? Aren’t you tired of suffering?
GARAK
Such irony - discussing my nonexistent attachments with a hologram.
EMH BASHIR
Mhm. The hologram of the person in question, no less.
Garak sighs and slumps, weary. The EMH looks sad.
EMH BASHIR
I dislike seeing you in pain.
Garak chuckles.
GARAK
I shouldn’t have made you so compassionate. Serves me right.
EMH BASHIR
You complained that I was too lifeless. That I lacked his spark. It was true. But I know why you made me compassionate. It’s because you’re incapable of forgiving yourself, so you need someone to be kind to you.
GARAK
You do realise that this incessant chatter is only aggravating my headache, don’t you?
EMH BASHIR
You can’t get rid of me, Elim, no matter how exasperating you get.
GARAK
Oh, I think you’ll find that I can.
Goodbye, Doctor!
Garak taps at his console and the EMH lets out a plaintive cry before being rudely cut off.
GARAK
If only Julian were so persistent…
Garak leans back in his chair and closes his eyes for a moment. Once he relaxes, he mutters to himself.
GARAK
What was that inane human expression again? Hoisted on my own petard?
(he laughs)
Oh, my dear Julian, if only you could see me now… You have helped me rid myself of one addiction, only to replace it with another. And this one is proving to be far more insidious…
He lapses into silence once more, staring into the distance.
The console bleeps, interrupting his rest. Garak smashes a button forcefully, clearly not in the mood for any interruptions. On the screen, the real Julian Bashir appears (minor costume change to signal it). Garak is visibly startled. Julian smiles nervously, gives a little wave, and, realizing he looks ridiculous, gets rather self-conscious and stops.
JULIAN
Uhm… Hello, Garak. I-uh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?
GARAK
No, of course not, my dear Doctor! How may I help you?
Julian is visibly flustered.
JULIAN
I-ah, I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d-uh, stop by.
GARAK
(deadpan)
Define neighborhood .
JULIAN
By neighborhood, I meant… I’m in orbit over Cardassia Prime.
Garak makes a half-startled noise and blinks a few times to collect himself.
GARAK
And what brings you to Cardassia, Julian?
Julian seems to be gathering his courage to speak.
JULIAN
Can’t an old friend come and visit?
Garak says nothing and Julian starts fidgeting. Realizing the gig is up, he sighs and launches into an explanation.
JULIAN
I read your letter… I mean, I haven’t just read it now, that is - I don’t want you to think that I was just sitting on it for two years, or that I had neglected to read it altogether, because I swear I-
GARAK
You’re rambling, Julian.
Julian shudders and takes a deep breath.
JULIAN
Yeah. I’m… I know. Bad habit.
Garak’s face visibly softens. He has missed his beloved doctor.
GARAK
I don’t mind. I never did.
Julian’s brows knit and he looks momentarily overwhelmed.
JULIAN
That makes you the only one.
For a moment, they just look at one another fondly. The unspoken words hang between them.
JULIAN
I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry for putting it off for so long. I should have replied ages ago, I just… I wasn’t sure I’d interpreted it correctly and I couldn't risk being careless with my answer. Not after a letter like that.
GARAK
A letter like… what?
JULIAN
A letter so… sincere.
Garak lets the silence stretch.
GARAK
Does that mean you finally got my message?
JULIAN
I… I’d like to think so…
GARAK
(bitterly)
Why don’t you refresh my memory? It’s been a while since I wrote it.
Julian sighs.
JULIAN
Yeah, I deserved that. Listen, I know that we have a lot to discuss and I’m not trying to get out of that,I’m more than willing to make amends, I just…
Julian hesitates, showing how important this is to him.
JULIAN
It’s been over two years… Am I even- Am I still welcome?
Garak’s expression softens.
GARAK
Of course, Julian. You were always welcome.
Julian seems like he is close to tears.
JULIAN
Cardassians… They don’t allow just anyone the privilege of using their
first names… I was wondering whether… Do I have your permission to-
GARAK
You have it. You’ve had it for years.
Julian sobs, tears of relief sliding down his cheeks. When he speaks, it is with gratitude.
JULIAN
Elim…
GARAK
May I ask how long you are staying for?
Julian huffs a breathy little laugh.
JULIAN
For as long as you’ll have me?
GARAK
What a dangerously open-ended offer…
JULIAN
That was rather the point.
GARAK
Why don’t you join me? I have much to show you.
JULIAN
Yes, I’d love that.
Julian is gazing at Elim, his expression overflowing with love. It is the look of a man whose fears proved unfounded, a man whose hopes and wishes are about to come true.
JULIAN
Just give me a moment to beam down, all right? I need to grab my things.
GARAK
(theatrically)
I’ve waited this long…
Garak smiles and breaks the connection. Julian sighs in disbelief and runs his palms down his face. The look of a man who cannot believe his good fortune.
JULIAN
I can’t believe that worked! I thought he’d blow me off for not replying for so long… I really must thank you for getting in touch with me. Garak isn’t the type to actually ask for… Well, for anything, really.
The screen flickers and we see the EMH Bashir grinning (this is a short pre-recorded message to emulate conversation between the real Bashir and the hologram).
EMH BASHIR
You’re welcome. Now, would you mind beaming down so he can stop pining already?
Julian laughs, his good mood positively infectious.
JULIAN
Oh, don’t worry. I’m on it.
END