Loves and stratagems

repressedgarak:

reblogging this from myself because i just thought of some things to say about it oh man oh boy 

The first time they touch Julian is frightened and thrilled and embarrassed and Garak is flirtatious and predatory. They’re both, in their own ways, looking for some fun and a distraction. He touches him because he wants to alarm and intrigue him and Julian is drawn to him because he’s naive and he wants excitement and is attracted to mystery. The way Garak’s hand hovers slightly and then rests on his shoulder is so significant because he knows exactly what he’s doing and it’s all so deliberate and perfectcly orchestrated. He’s introducing himself through the suggestion of sex and a facade politeness as something undeniably dangerous… and Julian can’t resist it.

The last time they touch they’ve been through a war, sometimes together, sometimes apart. Julian has unravelled some of Garak’s mystery and knows him better now, understands him more, is far less susceptible to his tricks and traps, and along the way has lost his innocence and his thirst for mystery and adventure. He sees Garak as a person now and understands his mystery as a defence mechanism instead of something alluring. He knows more about Garak then anyone else alive. Garak has also learned that Julian had secrets of his own that he was far better at hiding than he ever suspected. He’s trusted Julian enough to be vulnerable with him and sometimes (almost and mostly indirectly) be honest with him. They drifted apart during the war but they’re drawn back together like it’s natural and inevitable in the end and when they part they’re both so damn tired and beaten and it doesn’t really feel like they won and Garak’s home has been destroyed and there’s nothing either of them can say but they don’t really need to because all that history which maybe, just maybe, amounts to something close to love, is hanging in the air between them. So he just touches him, gently, fondly, and they look at each other and they know, they just know.

(via edosianorchids901)

spyrograph:

Julian being genuinely annoyed when people don’t automatically know Kukalaka is a teddy bear… such a mood? Like, I would not at all be surprised if Julian thought kukalaka was a common teddy bear name and everyone was just being dense and/or making fun.

(via the-shy-lonely-weirdo)

(via platoapproved)