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“Are you really sure that I need to see a therapist?”
“Yes! She can diagnose and treat your specific issues and—”
“And you can’t.” A pause, as Garak thinks. “But you have in the past.”
“I have, but only because we didn’t have someone better then.”
He leaves out that the previous therapist didn’t want to touch Garak with a ten-foot pole, and Garak hadn’t felt comfortable divulging his secrets to anyone else.
He still doesn’t, especially not…
“Do we now?”
Julian sighs. “Yes. I know she’s young, and untested, but… She’s a better choice than me.”
“But…”
“Let me finish! There’s a standard in therapy. You’re not supposed to see someone who is part of your regular life.”
His frown begins to lift, and there’s a wry upturn to his mouth as he lifts his hand to smooth back Garak’s hair. “Especially not an intimate partner.”
“You know me too well.”
Julian laughs. “Indeed. And so I can’t be objective. Which is what you need.”
“Perhaps I don’t want ‘objective.’”
Julian lets his sigh be his response, as he settles against Garak’s shoulder, planting a small kiss on his neck. “I do understand, though. She is very new.” A beat. “There was something she said to me today…”
“Hmm?”
“She said if not for Worf, it would’ve been me. For Jadzia. Romantically.”
Garak lets in a breath, and tightens his hold on Julian.
He scoffs. “Oh, don’t get all jealous now. I’m not going anywhere… And that’s why it didn’t make sense to me. I really don’t think Jadzia felt that way, and I realized… I don’t want her to.”
He lifts his head and smiles at Garak. “I moved on long ago. There's someone else now.”
“I cannot imagine who,” Garak quips as their mouths find each other.