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Nog played his first game of tongo at fifteen. Not that it had been his plan for the night. Cardassians weren’t known for having generous tipping policies so his earnings hadn’t even been enough to deal in, let alone consider playing a couple rounds. He’d said as much when Quark called him back into the bar, tried to weave around to the door only for his uncle to catch him by the shoulder and turn him around effortlessly. His small size was good for a lot of things, sneaking around especially, but it definitely didn’t help to prevent him from being steered right back inside. “Uncle Qua—“
“Don’t argue with me, Nog. You should have started learning this game a long time ago. No Ferengi businessman ever got his start without learning at least the basics of tongo and no nephew of mine is going to fall behind on something so simple.” When Nog didn’t immediately give in, he gave an exaggerated sigh. “Think of it as a test run. If you learn the rules behind this, you can learn anything.”
“Yes, but if I don’t have the latinum, how am I supposed to play?” The hand at his shoulder dropped down to his own hand instead and Nog could barely suppress the sound of shock when he felt a few strips of latinum press into his palm. The strips didn’t even clink together as they were gracefully dropped into his hand. Quark’s only change in expression as he moved from Nog’s side to the table was a quick glance back that told him in no uncertain terms that this generosity was never to be mentioned.
And with that, Nog found himself sitting down with the older waiters, being treated as an equal for the first time instead of a child. Tongo wasn’t a quiet game, or a slow one, but he’d kept up well enough at first, feeling a stab of pride each time he heard his latinum land in the central pot and a tingling at the base of his lobes when he thought he spotted the exact opportunity he’d needed to come out ahead in the game. Maybe even leave the table with profit.
That hope lasted him precisely two rounds. Lobes and youthful energy could only get him so far when he didn’t fully know the rules of the game. His own father was the one to strike the blow that cleaned him out of his meager stockpile, the waiters barking out laughter at the childish pout that instantly crossed Nog’s face. The one problem with sitting there as an equal, it meant no one went easy on him. Not even Rom.
He could have fled the table then and maybe most Ferengi teens dealing with their first loss at the tongo table would have. He’d have had to sit through the teasing the next day but no one would really have been surprised, least of all his family. Instead though, he leaned forward in his seat and set himself to observing the game instead. He could see on Quark’s face that it was what he’d actually wanted, more than for Nog to actually win anything. To see if he’d run off or stay to see exactly where he’d gone wrong and plan for how he’d change his strategy the next time.
Like a real Ferengi. Someone that was going places. Nog held onto that to deal with the lingering embarrassment from just how badly he’d lost.
Timing had been what took him down, he hadn’t planned out his moves far enough in advance. Quark retreated at just the right second to let Broik take a massive loss in his stead, evaded until a well placed confrontation had him knocking Rom out of the game. Suddenly his earlier generosity made sense – he’d expected to get the latinum back from the beginning.
Nog took mental notes of every second that led up to his victory, filing it away in the back of his head. Even if he never became much of a tongo player, that didn’t mean the time he spent sitting in on games was wasted. Quark had said it earlier, if he could learn tongo, he could learn anything. Bartending. Bar owning.
Dating.
Nog supposed that was also sort of like business. He’d done research into human mating customs and while it may no longer include actual purchasing of their spouses, the same basic principles still held. Timing. Timing was the key. Knowing what he wanted, how he planned to get it, and making sure that he presented his proposal with absolute confidence.
All very easy in theory. Nog had felt his lobes tingling with the opportunities in the air as he waved Jake into the back room with the promise of an important question. He even had a speech prepared for why giving dating a chance would result in a mutually beneficial arrangement. It had bullet points and everything. He’d rehearsed it.
And now that Jake was standing in front of him in the darkened side room, it all left his head at once.
Ferengi weren’t built to see in the dark; even with how close they were he couldn’t quite see Jake’s face clearly. He didn’t have to see it, his ears let him know that Jake’s heart rate had been steadily spiking ever since the door closed, as his silence stretched out from awkward to actively concerning.
“Nog?” Jake’s voice was tentative, unsure and it made Nog’s heart squeeze in his chest.
His mouth opened, closed again. That tingle in his lobes had vanished along with his carefully prepared words. They were somewhere in his stomach now and it felt much less like opportunity and much more like he was about to throw up.
“Well, I…” He swallowed. “I wanted to ask you if you were interested in…” A date, a kiss, a snack at the replimat, he’d run through a dozen potential offers and now none of them were actually coming out of his mouth. Nog breathed in and finally something came to mind. “Playing a game of dom-jot with me, tonight after my shift.”
Well. It was something at least. Still, his voice had trailed off into near silence as he spoke, heat burning into his ears and all down his neck. Dom-jot. He asked if Jake wanted to play dom-jot. They always played dom-jot. The way Jake shook his head said that he was thinking the same thing.
“You called me back here with that serious look just to ask for a game of dom-jot?”
He reached out to give a little shove at Nog’s shoulder. The familiar, playful touch made goosebumps rise on his skin, like tiny insects rushing over him. A simple touch shouldn’t have worked him up this much. None of this should have worked him up this much. Nog forced a grin through the burning shame.
“I wanted to be certain that you were free, if I don’t come to him with solid plans tonight I’m certain my uncle will keep me late tonight. With that ship coming in from the gamma quadrant, it’s bound to be busy.”
A solid excuse, though one that he shouldn’t have had to make in the first place. Jake at least seemed to take it at face value, laughing as he went to open the door. Any other time and Nog would have been glad to have a friend to count on for a night’s plans. It was more than he’d ever had when this station was Terok Nor.
But knowing he could have had more made even that small comfort feel empty. Nog bit his tongue until his sharp teeth made it bleed and silently followed Jake out.
***
“So what is this really about?”
The sudden question froze Nog right in the middle of his carefully aimed shot. His hands tightened around his cue until his knuckles paled and, for that long moment, he didn’t look up from the table as if deep in thought over his next move. He let out a breath all in one irritable huff. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered. “We’re just playing a game and I’d really like to actually focus on it.”
Of course after that his shot went completely sideways, none of his carefully calculated plans actually playing out. Nog tried to blame that on the interruption of his train of thought instead of acknowledging the way his hands shook.
They definitely didn’t stop shaking when, instead of taking his own turn, Jake circled around the table to stand by him, leaning forward to plant his elbows on the edge of it. “I know we’re playing a game.” He rested the tip of his own cue against the floor, clearly not intending to make a move anytime soon. If he really did know they were playing a game, he at least could have looked it. “I meant more about why you’re acting so weird.”
“I’m not acting weird!” That blush started creeping its way up his neck again and Nog struggled not to pay any attention to it. If he did, it would just get worse and he really wouldn’t live it down if Jake managed to notice it. “You’re the one interrupting all my plays, I’d say you’re the one acting weird.”
“Oh, so you took me off into a room like you’re hiding some kind of big secret, then you just tell me that you wanted to play the game that we play at least three times a week. You don’t think that’s acting weird?”
Nog stood up straight to move away from him, grumbling as he positioned himself on the other side of the table. His eyes scanned over the dom-jot balls, briefly focused on how he could try to recover on his next turn. It was a welcome distraction but useless if Jake refused to take his own turn. When Jake didn’t move for several seconds, he glanced up, mouth twisting into a frown. “Can’t you just drop it and play already?”
“I’ll play after you tell me what’s going on.” He finally picked up his cue but instead of lining up a shot he reached it out to poke at Nog from across the table, drawing out a frustrated hiss. “Seriously, I’m not going to take my turn until you say what you actually want to say.”
“Are you just trying to throw off my game?”
“I’m not trying to cheat here!” Jake started to circle again and this time Nog simply matched the movement to studiously stay on the opposite side of the table. No matter how ridiculous it looked for Jake to be literally chasing him around the dom-jot table. Nog knew they were being stared at now, by the waiters if nothing else, but he tried not to pay any attention to that. “I know there’s something going on.” Jake wasn’t shouting but to Ferengi ears he might as well have been. “I just want to know what it is.”
The blush was definitely growing now, spanning up into his lobes and across his cheeks, he could only hope that the bar’s lighting was low enough to keep it hidden. He looked away. “Jake would you jus—“ Suddenly, in that brief moment that Nog took his eyes off of him, Jake had reversed his path to end up in front of him.
“Come on Nog.”
He let out a noise that wasn’t quite a hiss but tried its very best to be. They were closer now than they had been in that room and every bit of Nog’s body was very intent on making sure that he noticed it. That urge to throw up had made its reappearance, entire body breaking out into that same goosebump feeling that Jake’s touch had brought earlier. “I just… I…” Jake was staring at him now. Staring intently, to the point that Nog found himself squirming under his gaze. Nog slammed the cue back onto the dom-jot table loud enough to make Jake jump. “I’m done.”
“Nog, wait!” One step towards him and Nog bolted, darting between people to duck out the door.
***
The problem with living on a space station was that, ultimately, there weren’t many places to hide. Or, more accurately, there were plenty of places to hide provided that the person he was trying to hide from wasn’t Jake. Nog should have held back on showing him some of these little nooks and crannies but, at the time, he hadn’t even considered the idea that he’d ever have reason to hide from his best friend.
He cursed his own past self’s short sightedness as he listened to Jake’s footsteps draw ever closer to the vent that he’d taken refuge in.
To his surprise, Jake didn’t remove the grate to crawl into the vent beside him or even knock at it in an attempt to draw him out. He just lingered at the entrance, peering in – probably to confirm that Nog was even in there. Then, once satisfied that he’d actually found him, Jake slowly sank down to the floor, sitting beside the vent with his knees pulled up to his chest.
Silence hung in the air, thick as Ferenginar’s clouds. Choking. Oppressive. It took ten minutes of listening to nothing but the steady beat of Jake’s heart just feet away from him for Nog to realize that he wasn’t going to be left alone anytime soon. Unless he intended to live in this vent forever – and his family would put an end to that the instant he missed a shift – he was going to have to face Jake.
Nog started to scoot his way down the vent, until his side was pressed to the grate. Jake didn’t react to his movements and, not for the first time, he had to wonder if those tiny human ears had even noticed something that seemed so obvious to a Ferengi. This was where his affections had decided to throw themselves. Not with any proper Ferengi or even an improper Ferengi but with a tiny lobed human that didn’t even have any money.
Or sense, apparently, seeing as Jake had come all this way to chase Nog down yet again. He’d done the same thing when Nog had briefly withdrawn from school. He’d even done it when they first met and Nog hadn’t been willing to even give his name. Jake was always chasing him back down it seemed and, eventually, he’d have to run out of chances. But, for now, Jake was still here and waiting. It’d be tempting fate to keep him out there much longer.
“So…” He thought back to his carefully prepared speech and all of its sorted bullet points and sighed. He couldn’t even begin to describe how badly he’d messed this up. Couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment things had gone wrong, only that they had, in epic fashion. “I take it you still want to talk about things?”
Jake reached his hand out to rap lightly at the grate. “Sure I do. But can we do it without this in the way? It feels weird to talk to you when I can’t really look at you.” He could have pulled the grate off himself but he waited for Nog to start making the move to remove it to start helping, setting it aside. The vent was low enough to the ground that Jake had to lean over, folding in on himself so that he could get his head in and actually face Nog. “There. Now we can talk.”
“About?” Nog mumbled, one last ditch effort to deflect.
Jake was having none of that. He stared Nog straight in the eyes, pinning him there under his gaze. “Come on. You’re going to have to try harder than that to get out of this one.”
Damn it. Now Nog was staring too, his entire body a live wire with the urge to flee or to lean forward and nuzzle their noses together or at least to do something other than sit there in an awkward silence. Maybe it was just because of that lingering urge to nuzzle him and make his affection obvious, but his lobes had started to tingle again. And he had to say, their position certainly seemed like opportunity to use action where words had failed him.
He thought again to the tongo matches he’d sat in on over the years, learning the ins and outs of the game, business, and a host of other things. Retreating and evading had their place and any game would feature plenty of both. But no one ever won without confronting on occasion.
Nog’s fingers tensed against the metal below him, his entire world narrowing down to that distant memory of latinum clinking in the pot and the sight of Jake’s face just inches from his own. His research into human dating had told him that humans pressed their mouths together rather than their noses, an odd idea that had somewhat disgusted him at the time but now that he was here and so close to Jake’s mouth, he thought he might be able to learn the appeal.
The thought had barely run through his head before he was leaning forward to make contact.
Their noses touched together first and Nog nuzzled without thinking about it, Jake’s nose strangely small against his own. Jake breathed in sharply, tilted his head almost quizzically and instead of explaining, Nog moved again to press their lips together.
Ferengi ran naturally warm, warmer than humans, and that made this kissing thing even odder. Jake’s lips were cooler than expected and for a long second he didn’t move, leaving Nog with the aching impression that he was doing this wrong.
Then the slightest press back made his heart leap in his chest.
The kiss couldn’t possibly have lasted that long, not with Jake’s tentative movements and Nog not having the slightest clue what he was doing. Still, when they broke apart, Nog felt as winded as if they’d been at it for an hour, breathing heavily as he simply. Sat. Waited for any sort of reaction to what he’d done.
Confronting at the wrong moment could bring everything crashing down, that possibility lingered at the back of his mind. He could have just made his losing move, ruined everything but especially their friendship. The anxieties started welling up to a near cacophonous racket in the back of his head, days of panic all compressed into that one second when their eyes met again.
“So…” Jake spoke tentatively and that one word felt like a stab. “That was what you wanted to tell me earlier?”
Nog sorted out every layered tone in Jake’s voice for hints as to where to go from here, found quite a bit of shock but also a heartening thread of what sounded like excitement. He relaxed, if only the smallest bit. Maybe he hadn’t actually ruined this. “Yeah.” He swallowed and, this time, when the blushing started to creep its way around again, he didn’t try to suppress it. “Yeah, this was it.” Fidgeting, he laid one of his hands over Jake’s, careful so as not to scratch at him too much in his nervousness. “Was it okay?”
Jake’s hand slowly turned so that his palm met Nog’s, practically big enough to engulf Nog’s entire hand without even trying. He smiled nervously. “Not sure… think we can try it again to find out?”
This time, Nog didn’t get the chance to make the first move. Jake lunged forward, brought their mouths together again, and Nog was at least halfway certain that this counted as winning in the brief seconds before thinking stopped mattering at all.