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Into the quiet silence and hazy light of the Cardassian morning, Julian chuckled to himself.
Garak looked up from his tea and the PADD he was perusing. A ridge raising in query. “Are you quite alright, my dear?”
Julian chuckled again, a little more self-consciously. “I was just thinking, Garak,” he said, knowing better than to put Garak off. He sipped at his own tea, choosing his words. “Seven years on Cardassia. When I first arrived, I couldn't see beyond six months.”
“Cardassia was grateful that you stayed.”
“Yes,” Julian agreed, hearing the real meaning beneath the Garak speak. “Cardassia.” Never mind that as Castellan, Garak practically was - is - Cardassia. The point was that Julian had chosen to stay, and it had meant something to both of them.
Obviously. Given their cohabitation and commitment.
“You were not merely commenting on the passage of time.”
“Marvelling,” Julian confirmed, smiling over his tea. “At how much has changed since you and I first met on Deep Space 9.”
Another chuckle. Julian was almost embarrassed to remember himself as he'd been then. So young, so eager, constantly putting his foot in his mouth. Giddy at the thought of being befriended by a Cardassian spy.
“I was so naive, Elim,” he said, shaking his head at himself. “I can't imagine what you saw in me.”
Garak stared at him with twinkling eyes. “Can't you, my dear?” He waved a hand, removing Julian's responsibility to answer. “We were both different then. I was merely a plain and simple tailor.”
“You've never been plain and simple in your life, Garak,” Julian retorted fondly.
Garak blinked. An innocent I have no idea what you mean.
“Did you ever think we would end up here?”
“On Cardassia?” Garak's tone said all that needed to be said. Back then, Garak's exile was showing no sign of ending and even he could not predict the war that came. “You and I, Julian? As you would say, thinking and hoping are different things.”
Once again, Julian heard what wasn't said. How Julian himself hadn't seen what was right in front of him. Garak, as ever, had patiently waited for him.
“I was blind.”
“You were not ready,” Garak corrected, reaching out and brushing his drier fingers over Julian's. “That is all.”
“Oblivious and foolish,” Julian corrected; the years had at least offered him some objectivity on his past. He blinked, “Did I ever give you The Go-Between?”
“I cannot recall that you did.”
“No,” Julian agreed, flashing a grin. “I can't imagine you would have enjoyed it overly much. Not that you seem to enjoy any Earth literature.”
Garak's eyes flashed with amusement. Bickering over books was their most favorite pastime.
“The opening line is very famous on Earth,” Julian continued, seguing back to his point. “'The past is a different country; they do things differently there.’”
"A different country," Garak repeated, giving the words a melodic quality. "How very... Federation of you, Julian. To view the past as a place one simply visits and leaves behind. On Cardassia, the past isn't a different country. It is the soil beneath our feet. Our strength."
“Now you are deliberately misinterpreting,” Julian said huffily. “You know I was meaning-”
Garak waved a hand gracefully. “That you and I would find ourselves strangers if we returned to the way things were your first months on Terok Nor. I suppose from a purely Federation standpoint, you would not be entirely incorrect.”
Julian scowled into his tea, fighting back a dry smile. “How nice of you to say.”
The silence settled between them, comfortable as it always was.
“We may be exiled from that country, my dear,” Garak said, tilting his head thoughtfully. “But we would not be where we are without it. Do you not agree?”
Accusing Garak of some federation softness flitted at the tip of his tongue, but Julian held it back. Some romantic notions could belong both to Federation and Cardassian sensibilities.
“All we've endured has led us here?”
“Precisely.”
Julian leaned across the dishes from their breakfast, stealing a quick kiss. “I could not agree more, Elim. And I wouldn't trade them for that country back.”
Garak pressed their foreheads together. “In that, my dear, we are in agreement.”