Chapter Text
The Promenade was set for arrival: the deck cleared past the docking ring access, the upper-level traffic rerouted, the Replimat's morning crowd thinned to the early-shift regulars. Kira stood at parade rest a half-step ahead of Reeve and Ezri, hands clasped behind her back, watching the airlock cycle. The status panel ticked through its last verification. The seal hissed.
The Wadi came through three abreast, the lead one a hand's-breadth ahead of the others, hair coiled high and the same impossible color it had been seven years ago. They were smiling before the door finished opening.
ESKARRA: Colonel Kira. (her voice was warm, her eyes already moving past Kira to scan the Promenade) Or… I have heard Commander.
KIRA: Provisional. Welcome back to Deep Space Nine.
ESKARRA: Provisional. (she tasted the word) How human.
Reeve's mouth pulled in at one corner. Ezri's eyes flicked there and away.
KIRA: Allamaraine, Lieutenant Commander Reeve, my executive officer. And Lieutenant Commander Dax, station counselor, you may remember her predecessor.
ESKARRA: Jadzia. (her gaze settled on Ezri with new attention) I remember.
EZRI: I remember too. (her hands clasped at her waist, still) Differently. But yes.
The Wadi smiled. This one reached her eyes.
ESKARRA: This is delightful. Allamaraine, Counselor. Allamaraine, Commander Reeve. I am Falow's successor, Eskarra. He sends his regards from the homeworld, and his apologies that he is not well enough to travel.
KIRA: Please return our regards.
ESKARRA: Of course.
She glanced past Kira again, openly this time, taking in the curve of the Promenade: the new lighting, the upgraded signage, the unfamiliar contour of the diagnostic mesh humming faintly along the bulkheads. Her two companions stood a precise pace behind her, hands folded the same way, watching everything.
ESKARRA: We have heard much about your station's recent developments. The Federation has been generous in describing them.
KIRA: We try to be hospitable.
ESKARRA: And we are grateful. (her eyes returned to Kira's face, moving over her, collar, pips, jaw, and back up) Now. The games.
Kira's posture didn't change.
KIRA: The Wadi delegation's quarters are on Level Three, near the…
ESKARRA: The games, Commander.
Reeve made a sound that wasn't a word.
KIRA: There will be time for…
ESKARRA: Games are not a recreation for us, Commander. You know this. They are how we greet. They are how we know one another. We have come a long way. (she gestured behind her, vaguely) It seemed appropriate to begin properly.
Kira held her position for another half-beat, then inclined her head.
KIRA: Of course. Quark's is…
ESKARRA: No.
The word landed cleanly. Eskarra was still smiling.
KIRA: No?
ESKARRA: No dabo.
Her two silent companions tilted their heads in perfect synchrony.
ESKARRA: We played dabo. We have played dabo. Dabo is… pleasant. We are not here for pleasant.
KIRA: It's a popular game on the station…
ESKARRA: Quark cheats.
The corner of Reeve's mouth lifted. The corner of Kira's lifted with it, briefly, and went flat.
KIRA: That has been a topic of conversation.
ESKARRA: He cheats consistently. (with admiration) We respect this about him. It is a kind of artistry. But we are not here to play a game we already know the answer to. Dabo is… solved. For us. We have played it. We won. We lost. We have learned what it is. (she spread her hands) We are looking for something else.
KIRA: What kind of something else?
ESKARRA: Unique.
Her eyes held Kira's.
ESKARRA: We are aware that the station has changed. The Federation tells us so. We are aware that there is a… Curiosity. (the word came out delighted) We would be very interested to play something we have not played before.
Ezri's hand had moved, slightly, to her side, not quite a gesture.
KIRA: Counselor?
EZRI: I might know someone.
KIRA: On Curiosity?
EZRI: On Curiosity. He's an ensign, navigation. He's been working on a project. (her gaze flicked to Eskarra and back) It's a game. He designed it himself.
Eskarra straightened. The two silent companions straightened with her, exactly half a second later.
ESKARRA: He designed one?
EZRI: Yes.
ESKARRA: A new game.
EZRI: A new game.
ESKARRA: For Starfleet. (she was tasting the words again, slower this time) A Starfleet ensign has designed a new game.
EZRI: He has. He's quite proud of it. He hasn't had a chance to run it for many people yet.
A small silence. Eskarra's two companions exchanged a look (the first independent motion either of them had made) and the one on the left murmured something Ezri couldn't catch but that ended in a rising inflection.
ESKARRA: What is the game called?
Ezri smiled, a little, not soft.
EZRI: Starfleet: The Game.
Eskarra closed her eyes.
When she opened them, the warmth had reached them again, and this time it stayed.
ESKARRA: Counselor. We are so pleased to be here.
Down the Promenade, a service door cycled open on its own and closed again three seconds later. None of them noticed. Behind Reeve's left shoulder, the diagnostic mesh hummed at a pitch that was, very slightly, off.