ficlet: invitation
DS9 fic. very light Julian/Garak and Miles/Keiko, but mostly Garak and Miles conversing because Empok Nor didn’t have enough of it.
This was written primarily because I have spent too long reading Garashir fics, and too many fics make Miles out to be unreasonable, homophobic, and/or space racist. Listen, Miles O’brien can be homophobic and racist maybe in your 90′s AU, but in the Year of Our SpaceLord Stardate Whatever, Miles O’brien is nothing but supportive of Julian’s relationship with Garak. Does he like it? No. Is he gonna bitch to Keiko about it? Absolutely. Is he going to treat Garak and Julian with utmost respect in regards to their relationship? You better believe it.
Timeline: Post-Empok Nor in some vague future where everyone is still on the station but Julian and Garak are dating now.
The panel outside his tailor shop has been on the fritz for at least a week, and while Garak is used to unexpected attention, he really doesn’t expect to see the Chief himself working on it. It’s a job better suited to someone like Rom, but no: the Chief Petty Officer is here, fixing his broken panel himself, it seems.
He should go and say hi to him, but they aren’t–they aren’t really friends, and he doesn’t think the Chief would appreciate it much, especially given the events of Empok Nor not so long ago–but the thought does draw him nearer to the front of the store, fiddling a bit with a scarf on the mannequin.
Chief O’Brien grunts, and pulls a wire out of the panel. “‘Fraid I’m going to have to break a promise, Garak.”
It’s the first thing the Chief has said in the past twenty minutes, and it stops Garak in his tracks. As far as he can remember, the Chief has never made any sort of promise to him. “Oh?” he says casually, taking the scarf off of the mannequin. (It’s the wrong color for fall.)
“Yeah,” the Chief grins, pulling out his hydrospanner and fiddling with the panel. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to invite you and Julian to dinner tonight, what with you dating my best mate and all.”
