Work Text:
"I honestly thought you'd like this one!" Julian exclaims dramatically as they sit at an outside table for lunch in the middle of the Cardassian cold season. "I picked it particularly because I thought you might enjoy seeing a human take on something akin to a repetitive epic."
The restaurant they're sitting in has an open patio on the streets of one of Lakaran City's recently up-zoned districts to encourage more economic development and growth and Julian had been itching to try it. A Vulcan-Cardassian fusion restaurant. What a brave new world they have forged.
"I suppose," Elim begins, looking at his meal skeptically, "A Hundred Years of Solitude does have something in common with the repetitive epic--"
"Exactly! I thought you'd appreciate the approach of focusing on several generations and their intertwining destinies."
"Perhaps, however, you must see my general opposition to the story as a whole."
"Oh, must I? I thought you'd really appreciate one of the themes that Marquez highlights, namely the way that past, present, and future are inseparable and built upon each other. What is that old Cardassian saying- 'the artillery of our past loads the armaments of our sons?'"
"Precisely, Doctor. And I found the Buendía family a very poor role model or example. This family, living in their city cut off from the state, and their willful disobedience, bring their own undoing unto themselves. Their rebellion leads to a violent massacre and the final destruction of the family. There may be individuals here on Cardassia who view such an end as justified and utterly brought upon themselves."
"Don't you think that your view is a bit simplistic? A good novel is more than an effective lead and art operate as more than an exemplar of how one should live their life."
"A Federation viewpoint if I've ever heard one," Elim shoots back. "Art, allegedly, for its own sake."
"Ah," Julian says, smiling airily as their food arrives at the table and speaking grandly, "is there no truth in beauty?"
Elim gave him an amused look "We will come back to that. Now, however, can you please help me with a more pressing matter?"
"Of course," Julian responds.
"What is this?" Elim replies, his lips slightly pursed in disgust.
"Oh- it is some type of fusion between Plomeek soup and Zabu stew. I thought you would like it."
"This is the last time I allow you to order for me in my absence, Julian."
Julian huffs in exasperated amusement. "Oh please spare me, Elim. I knew that if I left it to your tender mercies you would spend half the time eviscerating the menu and I had really meant for that time to be spent eviscerating the book I chose."
"I will never understand the human desire to flirt shamelessly over a meal in public."
Julian gives him a fond look, "liar."
"One of the best," Elim responds with a surprisingly sweet smile.
Julian opens his mouth to retort when he hears something. A faint sound of an object piercing through the air. Human hearing is unusually sensitive by Cardassian standards and Julian's even more so. It takes him less than a quarter of a nano-second to realize what it was.
Another to realize its trajectory is headed directly for Elim.
Not spending another moment to think about it, Julian leaps across the table to push Elim down.
He hears him say, "Julian, what are you--"
Then he feels a sharp prick into his lower left hip.
Then he feels his throat start to swell, the pain is fierce in its suddenness. In an instant, Julian feels as if he's caught fire. It feels like it lasts an eternity but, just as quickly, Julian feels himself pass out.
The pain vanishes as quickly as it began.
Beep... Beep...
"I'm his husband! You have to let me--"
Julian thinks he hears Elim's voice.
"Minister, he requires significant medical treatment, I cannot allow you--"
Beep... Beep...
"Patient, human male. Age, 45. Admitted presenting with symptoms consistent with Edosian orchid poison. Treatment plan--"
Beep... Beep...
"Mr. Garak, I really must insist..."
"He has been here for three days; I think I should be allowed to at least see him."
"I understand, Minister. However, his status is still extremely variable, and the intensity of his treatment requires--"
Beep... Beep...
"Julian," he hears Elim's voice. He tries to respond but finds his body unable to move.
"Julian, you need to wake up now."
Julian ponders this- he's asleep? But why can he hear? What is going on?
"You've been resting long enough. I think it's time you came back and finished your argument about your human book."
Book? Julian remembers they were reading one. Why is everything so hazy?
"You were right," Elim says; his voice is shockingly emotional and soft as he whispers close to Julian's ear. He can feel the hot breath on his skin. "You were right. I did like the book. I thought it was beautifully written. I-- Julian, you have to wake up so you can be unbearably smug about picking a book I enjoyed."
Julian tries to will his body to open its eyes, tries to get his vocal cords to respond, but nothing seems to move.
Elim shakes in Julian's silence. "Please. I'll tell you. If you wake up, I will tell you that you were right. That you were right about me, too. That I enjoy flirting shamelessly with you in public. That I enjoy being dragged to the young, trendy places being built up in Lakaran City with their exhausting insistence on making everything a fusion. But I cannot do that, my dear doctor, until you wake up."
Julian would do anything, anything, at that moment to move, but his body couldn't do it. He feels himself slip into blackness again.
Beep... Beep...
"And how long will you be taking meetings remotely?"
Julian recognizes that voice. It's Elim's assistant.
Elim's voice cuts in, a slight hint of resignation in his voice. "For the foreseeable future."
Beep... Beep...
He hears humming from his left and the faint smell of flowers. His mind feels clearer now, clear enough for Julian to focus on his autonomic nervous system and forcibly increase his heart rate to wake himself up.
"E--lim?" Julian tries. At first, he's not even sure if he actually said anything out loud, but then the humming abruptly stops, so he tries again. Gathers another shaky breath and says, "El--"
His throat cuts off with a cough.
"Julian!" Elim's voice sounds so beautiful when he's happy.
He finally manages to blink awake. The lights are blessedly dim, a benefit of being on Cardassia, where their eyes were so sensitive. He sees his husband immediately, clutching at the edge of his bed frame, calling for a nurse.
"What--?" Julian asks. He tries to remember. He remembers a restaurant, and... Jumping?
"We will discuss that later," Elim says, vaguely stern sounding before turning to the nurses. "He's awake."
Julian tries to smile at them, but he's exhausted. He knows them from around the hospital, though he can't place their names now. His role is primarily in research, given his keen prodigious mind for it and the unwillingness of some Cardassians to be served by a human doctor so he's less familiar with day-to-day hospital staff.
"It's good to see you awake, Dr. Bashir," one of them says, checking his vitals on a tricorder.
Julian's throat is parched, "w--w--water?"
Elim reacts first, bringing a cup of cool water to his lips and carefully helping him stream the liquid.
"You were hit with a dart filled with the poison from an Edosian orchid," one of the nurses begins while the other rearranges his pillows and continues to check his vital signs. "You were very nearly dead when you were transported here and have been under intensive care for three weeks."
Three weeks!? Julian immediately begins to aspirate the water he's drinking, coughing violently.
"Three weeks?" Julian splitters through coughs, though he feels Elim's broad hand rubbing consoling circles on his back.
"Correct."
"Why would someone try to hit me with poison?" Julian asks.
"They weren't," Elim cuts him. His voice is even and light, the way it always is when he's upset. "They were aiming for me. You just... You realized what was happening, and you pushed me out of the way, my dear."
Julian nods, "I remember."
From there, the room became a swirl of doctors and nurses checking on him, administering additional treatment, and congratulating him on surviving nearly unsurvivable odds.
Through it all, Elim was silent.
He was only able to remain awake for about two hours, but the Doctors assured him (and he assured himself after looking at his own medical file) that he would be more or less fully functional in three weeks.
Still- a six-week vacation was not exactly what he had planned when he went to lunch that day.
Finally, Elim and Julian were in a room together, and Elim still wasn't speaking.
"Darling?" Julian says and tries to reach his hand out to touch Elim's face but loses energy about halfway through, and his hand falls pathetically.
Elim turns to him sharply, and Julian is surprised to find fury behind those remarkable blue eyes.
"Doctor," Elim begins, sounding furious. "I'm so pleased to see you awake."
Julian tried to huff a laugh, "really? Because it sounds like you'd like to put me back into a coma yourself."
Elim didn't laugh, and with a low tone he rarely took, muttered, "you will never do that again."
"Fall into a coma?" Julian asks. "Well, I hope so."
"Sacrifice your life for me, you insufferable--"
Julian is able to touch him this time, so he grasps his hand. "My love, surely you don't think I can make that promise."
Elim looks softer than Julian has seen him in years. The look on his face reminds him of Tain's Shri tal. He could do without the parallel.
"I'm going to be perfectly fine, my love."
Elim turned away slightly, "I made a promise to you."
"On our wedding night? Yes, you made quite a few, but you followed through," Julian says; his voice is still weak and thin, but he knows Elim needs this right now. He needs Julian to be himself.
Elim doesn't even laugh. He just turns to Julian seriously and combs his fingers through Julian's greasy hair. "You were right. I loved A Hundred Years of Solitude. I love that you have forced me to enjoy the city I have built through duty. And most importantly, Julian. Most importantly, I-- I love you."
Julian blinks a few times, tears springing up in a sudden rush of emotion. "Oh, my darling. I know. I know you."
"Then you know, if you ever decide that you are going to sacrifice your life for mine again, I will--"
"What?" Julian asks glibly. "Kill me?"
Julian expected Elim to parry the taunt, but instead, he looked away sharply.
"I'm sorry, my love," Julian says softly instead. Clearly, this had shaken Elim more than he was willing to admit. "I'm not sorry for saving your life. I would do that a hundred times over if it meant keeping you alive. But, I am sorry for scaring you. I will never leave you if I have a choice, my love. Do you understand that?"
Elim's eyes were filled with tears, something Julian can remember seeing a mere handful of times in the years they've been together. "I-- Julian."
Sliding to the side of the bed with most of the wiring, leaving an empty spot to his left, Julian pats the mattress.
"I think we've both had enough sleeping alone, don't you?"
Elim hesitates for a moment before walking around the bed and sliding in. His scales are dull and unpolished; his hair is in a practical and clean ponytail but none of his usual adornments. Even his clothes, normally perfect and pristine, were casual. Clean, but unfashionable.
Julian curled as close as he could get, resting his head on Elim's shoulder.
They were silent for a moment before a grin curled across Julian's face.
"So. You actually liked a book I chose. I think that means I am officially winning."
Elim shook his head ruefully and pressed a firm kiss to Julian's forehead while inhaling deeply.
"Trust me, my dear doctor, I am certainly the victor here."