Chapter Text
Garak had on occasion been severely inconvenienced by transportation during his prior career in service to Cardassia. That the problem continued into his more recent stint as a tailor was, as a human might put it, an example of how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
“Garak! Good news, I got a brief call in to DS9 before the comm out right died.They confirmed receiving our distress signal and have our coordinates, so they’ll be around to fetch us soon enough,” Julian chirped. He’d been busy repairing what systems could be while Garak did likewise in the back section of the runabout. They’d both been at it since their rather bumpy emergency landing.
The communication array had been one of the most damaged systems, which was normal given its relative delicacy. Garak just nodded at the news, unsurprised. It had been working only intermittently, that it would become fully inoperable had been expected.
“I take it the replicator isn’t equipped to produce parts for it,” Garak said, as if he didn’t already know. Even if he hadn’t snooped about in one before he’d been doing so for an hour as he replicated tools and parts for the repairs he was working on. He had detailed knowledge of its inventory.
“No, too fiddly I’m afraid. It would need an industrial replicator and runabouts aren’t seen as important enough to rate those. They're manufactured rather than replicated. Makes them a pain to replace,” Julian offered.
“Understandable,” Garak said mildly. The things that tended to casually come tripping off Julians tongue would have gotten one of Garaks' countrymen an all expenses paid trip to an Obsidian Order blacksite. Garak blinked slowly, as always having to remind himself that he was not in fact being casually handed a state secret. A UFP grade schooler likely could have looked it up on an unsecured pad using a public holonet connection simply for curiosity's sake.
“Since we’ve got environmental's stabilized it’s probably time for a break. I’ve got a couple replicator patterns you might like on my pad, fancy a cup of redleaf?” Julian asked with a grin.
“That would be lovely, Doctor. Though I must ask why you decided to keep a secret stash of Cardassian replicator patterns on hand. Finally developing a taste for something other than zabu stew?” Garak asked with a small smile of his own. It wasn’t unlike Julian to keep a collection of things that intrigued him on hand. He tended to go through phases when it came to food and other less critical interests.
“Indeed, that's why I’ve got ikiri buns and scale oil saved. I plan to spoil myself,” Julian said, laughing as he turned to go fetch tea. Garak was deeply grateful he’d done so quickly, the trip had only been intended for a day so he’d forgone bringing cosmetics. His chufa was probably turning an absolutely mortifying shade of blue.
Stranded on an M class planet in a mostly working runabout was hardly a dire hardship. Julian even seemed to be having some fun “setting up camp” as he called replicating and placing odds and ends around the exit hatch. Chairs, an awning, he seemed bent on creating an outdoor living space.
Garak didn’t strictly mind that, it was nice to be on a planet and have the leisure of walking around somewhere other than the promenade. The relatively dull light of the sun filtered through a thick marine layer also supplied a comfortably dim illumination and welcomedly high heat. Nothing so luxurious as that of his native Cardassia, but enough to take the chill out of his bones and hydrate his scales.
The single problem they ran into quite quickly was that neither of them had brought an entertainment pad or rod collection. Julian had only intended to spend a day visiting a planetary market to pick up medicinal plant specimens for himself and Keiko to study.
Garak had tagged along after inadvertently creating a pretext to do so unintentionally. Like Julian's habit of spilling what should have been secrets freely all Garak had to do was wonder what the local fabrics were like aloud to be invited to go. As if that were a simple matter and required no further justification. Bizarrely no one had challenged him on the point though Kira had given him a half hearted dirty look.
As it was due to that lack of planning they were limited to the runabouts selection of books and other amusements. Not a problem per se, but definitely something that left them both a bit wrong footed. Garak would had preferred to know what he was getting into argument wise lest he accidentally push things too far in the heat of debate.
That was the real problem in Garaks book. Alone, relatively relaxed, and without any questioning eyes about it was the sort of situation that led to questionable choices. Choices he was having a bit of trouble keeping from his mind in such close quarters with the good doctor. Even when Julian wasn’t physically present, his scent was and would only get stronger as time passed.
“Are any of these familiar to you, Doctor?” Garak inquired, passing a pad to Julian. It was tethered to the runabout’s library but he wasn’t familiar with anything listed. None of it seemed like the usual fair he and Julian shared.
“Well, some of it… they mostly stock the most popular list rather than classics, but… Oh, this one has an old animated 2d movie attached. That might be fun, read the book today, watch the movie tomorrow?” Julian asked. His eyes pleading ever so slightly with Garak.
“Very well,” Garak agreed. Julian handed him the pad back. The book, one “Howl's Moving Castle” was already downloading to it. It was an interesting departure from their usual routine since the book wasn’t really either of their choice. Merely a rather whimsical selection from a limited list.