Comparative Anatomy

by airandangels

Summary:

An entirely scientific investigation into, um, bits. Things. Privates. Wedding tackle.

Notes:

• For deesarrachi.

There is absolutely no reason for this story to exist except for a conversation on Tumblr about elephant penes. I would find it more excusable if I had been drinking at the time, but it was around midday on a Saturday and all I'd had was a sugar-free V, a custard scroll and some amoxycillin.

Do caffeine, custard and amoxycillin interact in any sort of making-you-giggle-about-the-penis way? Or am I just generally a silly girl? I apologise in advance to anyone with a penis, or any penis fancier, who finds this unpleasant, objectifying or just ridiculous. And, of course, if I have goofed on my research, which largely consisted of Wikipedia since I did not have an appropriately equipped research assistant to hand, and written something simply inaccurate, I am appropriately contrite. ('Quickly! What do you call that bit?' 'Well, I call it Ted.' 'You are no help whatsoever.')

I suppose one of the things about this is that whenever reading or writing smut I find myself thinking about the word choices one has to make when referring to the fun parts of the body. What terms will sound sexy? Which words will be bathetic? How long before I crack up giggling because this romance novelist referred to a man's erection as 'his velvet hardness' or because this ancient Chinese scribe called it a 'jade whisk'? But is there anything less sexy than just using the correct anatomical names? I thought I'd just use them and giggle to myself.

'I spend my leisure . . . composing a sort of debauchee's catechism for the use of my pupil. There is nothing in it that is not called by its technical name, and I am already laughing at the interesting conversation this will afford her and Gercourt on the first night of their marriage.' - From Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, as translated by PWK Stone.

This story bears no relation of continuity to anything else I have written.

'I don't believe you,' Garak said firmly, and walked away.

'Why not?' Julian asked, scurrying to catch up, nipping into the elevator up to the habitat ring just in time.

'You're not contributing to a paper on comparative anatomy. You're just being prurient.'

'No, honestly,' Julian protested. 'Federation medical information on Cardassians is scanty at best, and every little bit helps. That's just the specific focus of this study.'

'Well, wouldn't it be more germane to report on our cardiovascular or endocrine systems? Something that might actually help your physicians to treat us if necessary?'

'I have, and I am, and I think you'd change your tune if you found yourself stuck on a Federation facility suffering from balanitis.'

'Isn't that a disease of whales?' The lift stopped at Level H-3 and Garak stepped out, Julian following close behind.

'Very funny. Go on, please, for Science. I think I'm the only one with a chance to report on a Cardassian, and you're the only Cardassian I can get hold of.'

'Ah, so less for science, more for your professional ego.'

'Please. It can all be done in total privacy and confidentiality and no details that could be used to identify you will ever, ever be published. I swear on Chief O'Brien's life.'

'Does he know you're taking his name in vain?'

'Please.'

'You're rather in my way, doctor.' Garak nodded over Julian's shoulder, towards the door of his quarters.

'I know. Please?' Julian attempted a melting, beseeching look, which was probably not consistent with best practice for medical research.

'If I say yes, do you agree to owe me one entirely unreasonable favour to be called in at a time of my choosing?'

'Within the confines of the law and my conscience, certainly.'

'Tch. That's quite confining.' Garak shook his head. 'I would make the further condition that we do this in my quarters. Not in the infirmary.'

'That's absolutely all right!' Julian's face lit up. 'I've actually got everything I'd need in this bag. Really, honestly, it's nothing complicated or invasive. And it won't hurt.'

'I would hope not. Now, will you please let me get into my own apartment?'

'Gladly!' Julian stepped to one side, then followed him in, talking all the while. 'Now there's biometric data, observations, and of course I'll have a variety of questions for you, which I just ask you to answer as completely and frankly as you can. I hope you won't feel embarrassed, there's really no need. Of course with a sample of one none of this can be considered statistically significant, but it's a starting point, and as I say, every little bit helps.'

'I think I'd rather, on the whole, that you didn't refer to it as a "little bit".'

'Oh! Oh, sorry, that wasn't what I meant to imply at all. Though on the other hand, with as little data as we have, I really have no idea about average dimensions, or what would be considered large or small.' He set his bag on the table, opening it and looking over the instruments.

'Really, is this the sort of information your scientists busy themselves gathering?' Garak went to the replicator and ordered tea.

'Well, yes. Enormous amounts of research have gone into it. Well before we met any alien species we were compiling all sorts of data about different ethnic groups and geographic distribution - look, if you want to understand humans, an absolutely key point is there's nothing the average man is simultaneously more fascinated by and more insecure about than his own penis.'

'Would you consider yourself average in that respect?' Garak handed him a cup and sat down on the couch with a bland smile.

'I choose not to answer on the grounds that it may embarrass me. Now, er, if we did do this in the infirmary I would have asked you to change into a gown. Of course, under the circumstances, I suppose you can just, well, take off your trousers. When you're ready.'

'Then I think I'll take off my jacket as well. I would feel strange undressed from only the waist down.' Standing up again, Garak began unsnapping the fastenings.

'There's no rush. You can finish your tea.'

'I didn't think I should keep Science waiting.' He shook out the jacket, folded it neatly over his arm and draped it over the back of the couch.

'I don't want you to feel uncomfortable,' Julian said lamely.

'I don't. Perhaps you do?'

'Of course not. I'm a doctor.'

'Ah, but in this case, you can't say "I've seen it all before".' Garak sat down again and removed his shoes, then rose and began unsnapping his flies, in an entirely businesslike, brisk yet unhurried manner, which paradoxically made Julian feel slightly flustered. He sipped his tea and burnt his tongue slightly. The trousers hit the floor and were, in their turn, neatly folded and slung over the arm of the couch, leaving Garak in a snug-fitting dark grey undershirt and shorts. 'Should I be standing or sitting?'

'We can begin standing. Pants down when you're ready.' Julian composed his face into professional neutrality. However calm Garak seemed to be about the whole thing, it was hard to imagine that he felt no self-consciousness, and he didn't want to exacerbate that.

'There.'

'Oh.'

'I almost think you sound disappointed.'

'How could I be, with no expectations?' That wasn't true, of course; he had had a vague idea simply based on the outline of Garak's body fully clothed. What he was seeing was considerably less than he'd expected, about a thumb-length of uncircumcised penis protruding from a sort of nest of ridged skin in Garak's groin.

'Would it help if I pointed out that it's almost entirely retracted?'

'Ah! Now that's very interesting and I shall make a note of it. In what circumstances does it retract?'

'Chiefly when I don't need it to do anything. Though as I now need it to be seen, I'll try to coax it out. Ah. There.' With a faint grunt, Garak pressed in on his pubis with his fingertips, and the rest of the organ emerged, roughly doubling its visible length. It hung with a gentle downward curve to its shaft, listing slightly towards Garak's left thigh.

'My word, that's deceptive.'

'Ah, now you sound impressed. I've heard things. It's all about size with you people.'

'And do you have complete, conscious control of retracting or extending it?' Julian asked, politely ignoring the somewhat true slur on his species.

'Generally, yes, although it will retract on its own if I'm alarmed, to be out of harm's way.'

'That's sensible. Have you a baculum, do you know?'

'I'm afraid I don't even know what that is.' Garak put his hands on his hips and looked down at his own penis as if it might be hiding something from him.

'A bone inside the penis. It's pretty common. Klingons have one, for example.'

'No, definitely no bone inside it. I believe there's some cartilage in the ridges at the base.'

'I'm going to need to touch it to examine it properly. Is that all right?'

'I place myself entirely in your hands. Which are disconcertingly cold.' Garak winced slightly at the first touch.

'Sorry. Hang on.' Julian rubbed his hands together briskly to warm them. 'Better?'

'Thank you. Though I must ask why you aren't simply using one of your clever little scanning devices.'

'A clever little scanning device can't report on texture or range of motion and so on. But if you feel any discomfort, tell me at once.' He gently lifted Garak's penis to examine the underside, curious about the slight ribbing of the skin. It felt warm, dry, not unlike handling a small, fat, very relaxed snake.

'So it isn't merely idle curiosity?'

'You're still so suspicious about my motives.'

'I think I'm being extraordinarily trusting, actually. If I were suspicious I certainly wouldn't let you handle me so freely.'

'Oh, good. Thanks,' Julian said drily.

'Though I do keep wondering whether you're going to say something like "I could examine you more easily if I used my mouth".'

Julian felt his face grow uncomfortably warm; his hands abruptly felt clumsy and uncertain. 'Well, doctors only say things like that in very badly-written pornography. If you're concerned about what I'm doing, I can explain it all. What I'm doing now is checking whether your foreskin can fully retract. If it couldn't, well, in a human male that would be a condition we call phimosis, which is a problem because it makes it difficult to keep the glans clean. You know what I mean by the glans? The head, here? And if you can't clean the glans, remove the usual secretions on a daily basis, besides a tendency to develop an unpleasant smell, there's a risk of what I mentioned earlier, balanitis, an inflammation or infection of the foreskin, which is painful and rather embarrassing. On the other hand, sometimes balanitis develops for some other reason and causes a temporary phimosis because of the swelling. In the past it was often surgically treated by circumcision, but in most cases that's quite unnecessary. In any case, there's nothing wrong with yours; the foreskin moves freely, everything appears clean and healthy and there's no sign of any discomfort for you.'

'Quite the reverse.' He wasn't looking at Garak's face, but he could hear the smug smile in his voice.

'I can't do this if you're going to say things like that. It would be completely unprofessional of me.' The organ in his hands had grown noticeably longer and thicker, the glans peeping from the opening in the foreskin. It didn't stand up, retaining its downward curve, but it stood out from Garak's body and he could feel how hard it was.

'I don't call your curiosity idle, but I don't believe it's completely professional either.' Garak's voice was quite gentle, quite quiet. 'Now, I've let you see me, and I've let you touch me. Why not return the favour? In the spirit of our usual cultural exchange?'

'You're not being fair.'

'Firstly, if you didn't like the idea at all, you would surely have moved away by now. I'm doing nothing to stop you, nor will I. Secondly, we could consider this my entirely unreasonable favour. I'm sure neither the law nor your conscience would be truly offended. Thirdly, you are still holding me.'

'I don't do things like this.' Not only still holding him, but getting rapidly into the same state as him, and humiliatingly aware that it probably showed.

'Perhaps you should. Come and sit down. Isn't it a time-honoured tradition that, having shown you mine, you should show me yours?'

'That only counts when you're children,' Julian said, although he sat down beside Garak. He recognised the feeling he had now, and it was right out of childhood, or perhaps more properly the grey area between childhood and adolescence when everything was changing and fascinating and thrilling and scary, and you wanted more than anything in the world to touch and see and feel, and made all kinds of deals with yourself that meant it would be all right this once, especially if nobody knew. It was that exact weird intersection of being almost sick to your stomach and being so hot between the legs you couldn't think of anything else. He concentrated on unzipping the front of his uniform so he didn't have to think of anything else.

Garak was watching him intently, smiling very slightly, and his light eyes looked dark, their pupils were so large. He pushed his jumpsuit off his shoulders, freed his arms, pushed it down from his hips.

'Tell me what I'm going to see,' Garak said softly.

'I don't know what to say.'

'I'm sure you know all the anatomical terms. Otherwise medical school was a terrible waste of time.'

'Here.' Julian pushed his shorts down from his hips, feeling his penis swing free with a flush of shame and pleasure. 'Not that different from you, just... just surface details are different... and it doesn't retract, of course, though it does shrink up in the cold.'

'It can't be cold now.' Garak touched it very lightly, tracing the length with the tips of his fingers. 'Is this as big as it gets?'

'Not quite, but close. Don't - don't just tease it like that, take hold of it. Hold it. Oh... that's lovely.'

'How does it feel?'

'Very, very warm... and heavy... when it's first like this I really notice the weight of it, how it pulls.'

'Should I examine you? See if all's well with your foreskin?'

'I think it's all right, but see what you think.' Julian bit his lip as Garak eased it back.

'Not hurting you, I trust?'

'It doesn't hurt at all. Just... let it slide back up, then stroke it down again. And again... and... oh, keep doing that.' He stared at the contrast of Garak's greyish hand stroking over his flushed shaft, golden brown sliding over and revealing glistening pink. He felt that he ought to reciprocate, reaching for Garak's erection, noticing the garnet colour of his glans, protruding and weeping syrupy clear liquid.

'I can't believe how soft the skin is,' Garak murmured.

'Surface difference. Feel here... the bare head... and that's just like yours, isn't it? It feels slick and smooth... it's got that... that very slightly spongy texture. People say it's like the cap of a mushroom. Here.' On an impulse he shifted over to straddle Garak's lap. 'See? They feel just the same.' He pressed them together, rubbing softly, circling his glans against Garak's. He couldn't look him in the eye, concentrating on the two warm shafts in his hands and the sweet building heat he felt, tingling and throbbing there in the head. 'Is... is that normal for you?'

'Which bit?'

'The...' He cleared his throat, tried to show that he did remember some proper medical terminology. 'The pre-ejaculate. The fluid emerging here. There's such a lot of it.'

'I was going to ask if it's normal for you to have so little, by comparison.'

'Mm. It's normal.' He was fascinated by it now, spreading it over his own skin, noticing its faint odour, something pleasant but not quite familiar.

'I suppose... it's an adaptation... you, being so silky, need very little to smooth the way for you, whereas I, being a little rougher, need a bit more. Tell me more about this. Give me the guided tour.'

'You don't really need me to, do you? You seem to know your way around it.'

'I want you to. I think I'd enjoy it very much.'

'All right. Give me your hand, and pay close attention. I might give you a test later. Here's my penis. As you may be able to tell, it's now fully erect. It's full of spongy erectile tissue, sometimes also called cavernous tissue, that always strikes me as funny, which is engorged with blood, making it stiff and thick and longer than it would be at rest.'

'How much longer?'

'I think it gains a couple of centimetres. Not a spectacular difference. It's on the larger side either way. Now here at the tip, you know this of course, here's the foreskin, covering the glans. So you feel you're learning something new, feel here... under the glans... here's where the foreskin is sort of anchored, this little pinch of skin, it's called the frenulum and it might be the most sensitive place on my whole body. So if you rub it very, very gently, I'll be very, very happy. That is exactly it. And... and if you trace around the base of the glans, the sort of rim of it, that's called the corona. That means a crown. Very... very elegant language. And some not at all elegant language, the little slit in the glans, here, this has a terrible name. It's called the meatus. I feel sorry for it. And what else can I tell you... all right, if you feel down under the shaft, down the length of it, this ridge, this is called the raphe.'

'I always think of that as a seam.'

'That's very tailorly of you. So that seam runs right down here to another bit with an unattractive name, the scrotum, which is this soft puckery bag of skin where I keep my testes. Where do you keep yours?'

'Tucked away inside me.' Garak's hand cupped the warm pouch and gently palpated, feeling the strange soft egg-shapes inside.

'Another very sensible arrangement. Mine have to be out here, though, because if they were up in my abdomen they'd get too warm and that's not good for the sperm. Just follow the seam with your fingers... that's right... and now you're feeling my perineum, which is another very, very good place to touch me. Yes. Exactly like that. Oh, God...'

'And if I keep following the seam?'

'Well, what do you think?'

'I think I'll find somewhere warm and tight to put my fingers.'

'Just one finger, please.'

'Oh, why?'

'Because that's all I put in when I'm playing with myself.'

'I insist on a full demonstration and commentary.'

'Are you sure you wouldn't like me to attempt examining you with my mouth instead?'

'Not instead. Just later.'

'You're very sure of yourself.'

'I feel increasingly sure of you, doctor.'

'Oh? What if I put my clothes on right now and left?'

'You'd spend the whole night wondering what would have happened if you'd stayed. I'm led to believe you'd experience considerable discomfort here - though I doubt they'd really turn blue. And, of course, you wouldn't get the material you need to publish your paper.'

'You're lucky I'm such a good sport. All right. But bear in mind I'm not used to doing this for an audience, so don't expect any... stagecraft, I suppose.' Feeling equal parts awkward and eager, he shifted out of Garak's lap and sat beside him, pulling off his boots and kicking his way out of his pants legs.

'I know you won't disappoint me. Do you want to take your shirt off, too?'

'But then I'd be naked.'

'And that would make all the difference.'

'All right, as long as it's strictly understood that the expectation of confidentiality runs both ways.' Julian shrugged out of his shirt, wondering when precisely this situation had got away from him, and why it didn't seem to matter as long as they were fencing back and forth the way they always had.

'Absolutely. I don't want to share this with anyone. Tell me, would you say your masturbatory habits are typical of a human male?'

'Um... reasonably typical of those human males who are willing to discuss their habits.'

'Ah, the dirty exhibitionists.'

'I am not an exhibitionist.'

'He said, spreading his legs to better display his erection.'

'But you see, this is a private showing, not an exhibition.'

'I feel duly privileged. How do you like to begin?'

'Just like this... moving my hand up and down, so the skin goes up and down... see?' He leaned back, tilting his hips comfortably. 'You know, I don't usually consciously think about it. Now that I do it looks odd. It's like when you say a word too many times and it loses its meaning.'

'Keep going. I'm sure you'll overcome any initial awkwardness once you warm up sufficiently.'

'I'm feeling pretty warm as it is. Um... well, this is the basic stroke I use, and sometimes I vary it a bit... overhand like this... or this.' He kept stroking the shaft with one hand, spat in the palm of the other, and cupped it snugly over the head of his penis, swivelling it there. 'Oh...'

'And how does that feel?'

'How do you think it feels?'

'I might assume entirely the wrong thing. It's not my penis. So please describe it as thoroughly as you can.'

'Warm, very very warm, sweet and sharp and... and it's like itching, but if you could have an inverse itch that's the best feeling ever, and the more you rub the stronger the itch gets so the harder you rub...' His hand moved faster and faster, a frantic rough pumping. 'And... and I'm going to come really soon now... oh God... I just want you to know I usually last a lot longer than - ah!' His whole body tensed as a great wash of heat rolled through him, and he grunted and gasped as his penis spat streams of white over his belly, only gradually calming to lie sprawled, half sliding off the couch, panting as little aftershocks twitched in the muscles of his thighs.

'Are you all right?' Garak asked.

'I'm fine... I feel stupidly good.'

'You looked almost as if you were in pain for a moment there.'

'Not at all... not at all.' He had stopped rubbing now, but was still cradling his penis in his hand, stroking it lightly, squeezing the last drips from the head. 'What a mess.'

'Is it usually that... copious?'

'This is an unusually heavy load. I haven't done it for a couple of days, with one thing and another... poor cock, it must have missed the attention.'

'How did it feel?'

'Um... well, first, there's a sensation of tightening, everything drawing together, and I feel a really deep surge down low in my... no, we won't say balls, we'll say testes, because this is very medical... and then at the same time as a series of intensely pleasant muscular spasms, there's this wonderful sensation of the semen shooting up through my urethra and out. It's pretty thrilling. And for a moment my mind is blank and everything is just... humming and pink and blissful. Then afterwards I feel hugely relaxed all over and just want to lie here and diddle myself very gently while I get my breath back.'

'You're petting it as if it were... well, a pet.'

'I suppose so.' Julian smiled drowsily. 'I tend to be feeling rather proud of it about now, especially if it's made someone else happy as well. Good cock. Well done. Daddy is pleased with you.'

'And what do you do about your mess?'

'I've no real habit there... sometimes I have a shower, sometimes I wipe it off with a tissue... sometimes if I'm feeling a bit squalid and ready to sleep I just rub it in and let it dry. A few times I've tried licking it off my fingers but I don't like the taste very much.'

'Ah, and what is the taste like?'

'It depends a bit on what I've been eating and drinking lately. If I've had too much tea or coffee it gets very bitter. Generally it's just sort of salty. Do you want a sample? I seem to have enough of it to share.'

'Thank you. How generous.' Garak dipped his finger in the pool of semen that had formed in Julian's navel, smelled it curiously, then sucked it clean.

'What do you think?'

'Actually, I quite like it. It has a pleasingly astringent finish.'

'You sound like you're wine-tasting it.'

'Am I allowed just one sample, or may I go back for more?'

'Oh, be my guest, absolutely.' Julian caught his breath in surprise as Garak leaned in and licked his next taste directly from his skin, his tongue flickering just under his ribs.

'Yes. I've decided; I like this and will have more.' While Julian watched with wide eyes he continued to lap at his skin, working over his stomach, assiduously seeking out every trace of his ejaculate.

'Are you sure you like that?'

'Perfectly. No more?' He nudged Julian's spent penis to one side to lick up the semen that had pooled under it, then gently licked the head.

'No more... sorry... all gone.'

'No... I think there's just a drop more that I can suck out.'

'Oh God...'

'Unless you object?'

'I very don't object. I mean... oh...' He shuddered with delight at the wet warmth enclosing him. 'Be gentle... it's really sensitive after I come.'

'Mm.'

'You're very, very good at that.'

'I'm glad the technique transfers.' To Julian's profound disappointment, Garak lifted his head and sat up. 'I confess I'm slightly let down.'

'Why? I thought I gave you quite a good show.'

'I beg your pardon, but you heavily implied that I would see fingering, and all I saw was common-or-garden masturbation.'

'Oh...'

'Don't look so crestfallen, doctor. It was a good show. I enjoyed every bit of it. Wouldn't it be a shame if all my curiosity was satisfied by only one experiment?'

'That's a good point. Though I don't know if I have the energy for more now.'

'You'll find the energy. I believe you also made an offer which I said I'd save for later.'

'Oh. Is later now?'

'Later is now. I am excruciatingly hard and very much in need of your ministrations.' He took Julian's hand and guided it to his erection. 'See?'

'I'll do my very best, but having only ever been on the receiving end, I'm not sure how good my best will be.'

'Well, remember that the whole point is for you to examine me, to learn, to study, not just to give me an orgasm.'

'I know... but I've got standards. All right... sit back and I suppose I'll get down here.' He knelt on the floor, glad both that the floor was carpeted and that Garak tended to keep his climate control turned a few degrees higher than most people, and rested his arms on Garak's knees.

'Just a moment,' said Garak, reaching for Julian's chin, lifting it on the side of his crooked index finger. 'Allow me a moment to simply enjoy the fact that you are on your knees between my legs, with your face all flushed with... scientific enquiry.' His thumb brushed Julian's lower lip, teasing at it, until he opened his mouth and sucked the tip of it. 'You see? You have the right general idea.'

'I try.' Julian took hold of Garak's penis again, lifting it and pressing it back against his stomach, leaning in to lick it from root to tip. He was rewarded with a gusty sigh and a warm hand on his head, stroking back his hair. Garak tipped back his head, resting against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. Feeling slightly bolder, Julian nuzzled in and began to lay a line of sucking kisses along his raphe. The thought, or rather, the fact of what he was doing was affecting him far more than he had been prepared for. His mouth and nose were full of the taste and smell of Garak's penis, his face was wet with its juice, and he kept thinking that surely he should have some sort of inhibition about this, but it just wasn't there. 

'You are... suspiciously good at that,' Garak murmured. 'Tell the truth... have you taken lessons?'

'Uh-uhm.'

'But... ahh, you clearly love it. Nobody sucks so hungrily unless they love it.' Seeing those beautiful eyes all hazy and glowing with lust was affecting him almost as powerfully as the lush wetness enveloping his glans. He wasn't sure if Julian realised quite what he could do by looking up at him with that expression, particularly while moving his tongue like that, while swallowing like that, while making that urgent, needy little sound in his throat. Such a sweet face, turning more sluttish by the moment, self-control slipping away and taking his own with it.

'Come up here.' He lifted Julian's chin again, letting his penis slip from his mouth and slap back against his thigh.

'I'm doing it badly, aren't I. I suck. Except not very well.'

'No, you're doing it so well I'm at risk of disgracing myself.'

'Like I did?' Julian asked, still looking dismayed.

'Did I, or did I not, tell you to come up here? Here, across my lap, the way you were before.'

'All right...' Julian climbed back up on the couch, all long brown arms and legs, all angles, feeling awkward again when he had just started to feel properly sexy.

'It occurs to me that there's been no kissing yet.'

'Do you want to? I was wondering if it's not a thing for you.'

'It is very much a thing for me, but the, er, the demands of research got in the way. I don't think I want you to have the impression that I'm the sort of man who ordinarily puts his cock in your mouth before his tongue has ever-' He was cut off by a very forceful kiss, nothing like he'd imagined from Julian, who he'd had pegged as gentle and subtle, at least to start with. Then again, this wasn't a normal starting point, and frankly he was enjoying the aggression of it. He wrapped his arms around Julian's waist and held him tight, and let the dear boy feed him his tongue until they both needed more air than they could get from quick wet gasps.

'You see,' Julian said breathlessly, 'I knew what I was doing there.'

'You certainly did. Making up for lost time?'

'A bit... I want to go down on you some more. Want to make you come.' Another fiercely eager kiss.

'Ah, but I still want to see what I was promised.' He slid his hands down to squeeze Julian's buttocks.

'Seriously?'

'Absolutely.'

'This is turning into just me getting off, though. That doesn't seem very fair.'

'I'll cope.'

'No, I mean it's not fair to me. When do I get to observe a Cardassian orgasm? Or taste your semen?'

'Do you think I'm not planning to come at all tonight? Or only once, for that matter?'

'Oh.'

'You're staying over, by the way.'

'Am I indeed?'

'I've decided.'

'I didn't bring my toothbrush.'

'I'll lend you one, and you won't need your pyjamas. See how I'm trying to facilitate your research?'

'It's kind of you.'

'So, in return...'

'All right, but I feel stupid showing you.'

'I have every faith that you'll get past that.'

Julian edged to one side, still on his knees on the seat of the couch, bending forward with his elbows on the seatback. 'Can you see all right like this?'

'Perfectly.'

'Okay. Usually I'd be doing this in bed.'

'We'll go to bed later.'

'I'm just explaining, in bed I'd do this either lying on my side or, well, on my knees and elbows with my bum in the air. So if I'm a bit clumsy it's because I'm not used to this position.' He shuffled his knees a little further apart and arched his back, pushing his rump out. 'I feel like... well, never mind what I feel like. All right, this is what I do.' He popped his middle finger into his mouth, wetting it well, then reached back, hesitantly probing down the crevice between his buttocks, finding and lightly rubbing the puckered opening of his anus. 'First I just tickle it a bit. I can feel - and if you look you should be able to see - I can feel it start to twitch and wink. Damn, it's drying off already.'

'Would it help if I wiped a little of my precome there?'

'I think so. Straight from the source?'

'No. Here.' A finger to finger transfer of the slippery stuff.

'I suppose I'm skipping ahead.' He said it with a faint, nervous laugh.

'You wait and see. Keep going.'

'Um... well, do you want me to talk you through what's happening here anatomically?'

'I'd love it.'

'The, ah, well, it's another slightly unattractive word. The sphincter muscle that holds my anus closed is... I have partial control over it, put it that way. Its default state is to be squinched closed like this, and it needs encouragement to relax enough for anything to go inside. Hence this rubbing and stroking... which feels lovely, hot and ticklish and shivery.'

'And I take it that blood is rushing to the area, because it's become distinctly more pink while I've been watching.'

'Has it? Nice. So... when I feel ready, when the lubricant is well spread and it's twitching pretty hard, I press in with my finger and I... well, I push out with my inner muscles. Ah!' He rested his cheek on his other forearm, his head thumping in time to his heartbeat, pulsing in his temples. 'And it yields a little bit... and I... I keep going like this... keep going till I can get it in to the first joint, and I stop and breathe hard and... and honestly, I feel hot because I have something going up my bum and I'm taking it. And I go again... and try to sink it in deeper... ohh... that's it...'

'Not painful?'

'No... it's never really hurt. And then I just... I keep wanking with my other hand, and I slide my finger in and out, just like this, you see? Oh... it feels so good if I squeeze down on it while I slide it out... then I push it open when I push it back in... and I keep going...' He whispered something against his arm that Garak was almost sure was a very faint 'fuck.' The puckered opening was tight around Julian's finger, flushed deep pink, gently distended and indented with the motions of his hand, and he found it obscenely beautiful.

'May I?'

'May you what?' Julian turned a rosy face towards him, seeming honestly flustered, as if he was so lost in what he was doing to himself that he couldn't think what Garak meant.

'Join in.'

'Oh, please do... here, pop it right in after mine... yes...' Now it was Garak's finger enclosed in that gripping heat, and he was surprised and pleased at the effort it took to move against the twitches and pulses of Julian's muscles. The inner surface was as slick and smooth as wet satin. He kept his other hand circling over Julian's lower back, soothing and warming his skin.

'Do Cardassian men have a prostate gland?' Julian asked faintly.

'I haven't heard of it, but perhaps we call it something different. Describe it?'

'If you reach deeper in, and feel along the inside of the rectal wall towards the front of my body, you'll feel it. It'll feel like a soft lump about the size of a walnut. It's bigger than that really, but that's what you can feel from in there.'

'And why am I feeling for this elusive gland?'

'Because if you push on it and rub on it enough I can come without even touching my cock, at least so I'm told, I've never actually pulled that off but I keep hoping I will. It sounds like a great trick.'

'What a wonderful organ. Does it exist for any other purpose?'

'It made some of the liquid for that spunk you had earlier. And it - that! There! You've got it! No, no, don't move, you were right on it, go back, there!'

'All right, I think this is roughly equivalent to my Karran's glands. There are two of them, though, sort of flanking the rectum like... hmm, I'm not sure what would be the right analogy...'

'Fuck the analogy and rub it.' Julian's voice became a low croon of pleasure as he obliged. 'Yes, yes, there, right there, diddle it round and round, now push, and rub, really... oh God... yes you've got it... oh! Could you... could you try and see if you can get two fingers in?'

'You're sure?'

'I have no idea, but I want to try it. It's an experiment, right? Let's see how far I can stretch... how much I can take.'

'With that attitude you never know what will get stuffed in here.'

'Let's stick to fingers for now, eh? I know where I am with fingers.' He felt the pressure of another finger alongside the first, felt his flesh resist and yield and stretch and fill, and Garak saw the look of fierce concentration on his face give way to a kind of awed delight. 'It doesn't hurt,' he murmured. 'Feels like it wants them in there.'

'I think it does.' He eased them deeper, making Julian gasp and push back on his hand. 'Just there?'

'Yes.'

'What was that elegant word you used for what you're doing to yourself there? Wanking?'

'Shut up. Feels nice.'

'Well, I believe our experiment has established that your anus, with the proper encouragement, can dilate to at least four centimetres. Very likely more; I can still feel a bit of give in the opening. Of course, that's only a tailor's estimate; if we were really to be scientific about it I suppose we'd need some sort of... adjustable probe with markings like a ruler, or a little readout panel like a thermometer.'

'You're wondering where to get one, aren't you.'

'It does sound like something that should have been invented by now.'

'I... ah... I actually have a surgical instrument very like that, but I didn't think to bring it.'

'A terrible oversight. Now how will we know?'

'You're such a good tailor, I trust your estimate.'

'You look remarkably comfortable, under the circumstances.'

'Shh, don't call attention to it, it might stop working. Just keep moving your fingers... keep diddling me.'

'I was only going to say that I don't think the diameter of my cock is that much more than four, so perhaps you'd be comfortable with that too.'

'Oh,' Julian said faintly.

'And while of course it pleases me to please you, it would please me more still to please you while pleasing myself. As it were.'

'That was very confusing.'

'Which part do you need me to explain again?'

'Never mind. Right. Okay, let's try it, quick before I lose my nerve. Do you need me to move or am I all right where I am?'

'You are perfect where you are, and I only need to move a little.' One knee on the edge of the couch, between Julian's knees; the other foot on the floor to keep him steady; hands on Julian's hips, to keep him steady. He entered him with great care, alert for the slightest sound or flinch of pain. If he ever received any indication that Julian would enjoy a little pain, he would provide it without hesitation, but he had a strong feeling that uncomplicated pleasure was more appropriate just for now. He groaned softly as he slid deeper and the warmth enclosed him more and more, an all-over simultaneous caress for his achingly eager penis. 'All right?' he murmured.

'Yes... yes, just hold still a bit while I get used to it.' Julian was breathing hard, as if climbing a hill, not just kneeling on a couch.

'I can feel your muscles twitching.'

'Well I hope you like that, because I can't stop it.'

'I was going to ask if you could do it harder.'

'Can't twitch on purpose... but I can squeeze, like this. Ow! No, maybe not.'

'My poor doctor! Have you hurt yourself?'

'Only for a moment. I'm all right... you can move now if you want.'

'Thank you.' A moment's bliss, interrupted by a startled yelp from Julian.

'What the fuck are you doing?'

'I'm sorry - does it hurt?'

'No! I mean - how the fuck - it feels like it's wiggling inside me!'

'Your point being...'

'That it's moving! Your cock is moving on its own!'

'Yes, and in other news, things fall when you drop them. Did you honestly not know?'

'No! It's not as if you gave me any warning! Or any demonstration!'

'Oh. I really didn't know you needed me to. If you don't like it, I can try... whatever it is you do instead. What do you do?'

'Pelvic thrusting.'

'Well, so do I, just not right away. It's a pretty blunt instrument. Wouldn't you rather I started out like this?' The undulation inside him rendered Julian speechless; he could only answer by moaning and pushing his hips back. 'If you'd scanned it properly,' Garak said, sliding his hands back to squeeze Julian's buttocks together around the base of his penis, 'I dare say you'd have noticed the relevant muscles.' The only response was a sort of gurgle of delight and a frantic shuddering of the hips. 'I'm not going to get any sense out of you for a while, am I? I suppose I can go without conversation for a little bit...'

'Sorry, but - oh...'

'Turn your head so I can watch your face while I do this. That's good. You really are... a beautiful boy.'

'M'not a boy.'

'You're surely not going to tell me you're a girl.'

'M'anadult. M'a man. Oh God, yes, like that...'

'Do you really think you can argue from your position?' He leaned in to make his point, rewarded with a whimper. 'How does this feel?'

'Like a big fat snake humping my prostate. Which is... oh... oh it's delicious... and I can't believe I'm letting you... can you do it any harder?'

'Of course I can, beautiful boy. You know, one thing I didn't anticipate about you... and I do like it... is your complete lack of shame about masturbating through all this.'

'I need to stop it, though, or I'm going to come again, and I want this to last longer... will you hold my hand to help me not?'

'You could just put it on the back of the couch with your other one.'

'I'd rather you held it, though...' Julian reached back, his hand flushed red from friction, his eyes sweetly appealing. 'Please?'

'Since you said please.' Garak wrapped his hand over the back of Julian's, interlacing their fingers, leaning into him more heavily and smiling to himself at the deep grunt that drew. 'Too much?'

'No... oh...' Julian drew his hand in again, pressing it and Garak's to his chest, his heartbeat thumping through his palm and into Garak's. 'Oh Garak...'

'Shh. You're shaking. Take a deep breath.' He lowered his voice to a whisper, bending low over Julian's back, shifting his free hand to the back of the couch and bracing his arm. 'Relax... you've just tightened up so much I can hardly move. And you do want me to move, don't you?'

'Yes... oh... try now. Oh, God, yes!'

'Shh.' He kissed the nape of Julian's neck, tasting the salt of his sweat.

'What does it feel like to you?'

'You just want praise, don't you?' He mentally stepped back from falling into a babble about how unbelievably good it felt, how each motion whipped him on, how hard it was not to just plough into him like a rutting beast.

'A bit...'

'To be told that you excel in this as you try to excel in everything you do. Isn't that right? That you're a good, sweet, tight little slut, the best I've had.' Another kiss, to reduce the sting of the comment.

'I'm not a slut.' Julian actually sounded indignant, and straightened his back a little.

'What should I call someone who sleeps around the way you do?'

'I - I don't know - look, just because you're not lucky enough to come from a culture that accepts free love doesn't mean you get to call me names. I'm not a slut, I'm not a boy - oh God, you're right, I can't argue while you're doing that.' With a hopeless moan he dropped his forehead back onto his arm. 'Call me whatever you want. Just fuck me.'

'But think about it...' Garak paused to press another kiss to the side of Julian's neck. 'I called you my beautiful boy, and my sweet slut. Really very complimentary. And alliterative. And you're very tight... very soft... very warm... and very, very good. The little sounds you make, and the way you move against me, the way you rock your hips against mine, very, very good. And if you're not quite the best in all respects, well, we can put that down to inexperience, and I'm very willing to coach you.'

'How do you keep talking so coherently?'

'You just remembered the word coherently. You're not doing too badly.'

'This can't feel anything like as good to you as it does to me. You're too calm.'

'Tell yourself that if it helps. Or make a medical observation... during the early stages of copulation the Cardassian male remains surprisingly calm and articulate, or something of the sort. And I'll make a note that in the early stage of copulation the Human male clearly enjoys himself enormously but suffers an almost total loss of dignity. He needs a firm hand.'

'I'm not like this with women, you know.'

'I don't care what you're like with women. It won't help you here.'

'Is this just you, or what Cardassian men are like all round?'

'I'm not going to tell you.'

'That's not fair... and you surely don't want me to go round fucking every Cardassian I can find to find out...'

'How do you know I wouldn't commend your empirical approach?'

'But I don't want to... I just like you.' Julian's tone was so plaintive that Garak settled on not laughing by means of kissing his shoulder. 'And finding them would be hard work. And how would I explain it? Hallo, I'm letting Cardassian men fuck me for science, would you like to contribute?'

'It takes a truly dedicated seeker of knowledge to make his own arse the laboratory.'

'Wouldn't actually be the worst line I've ever used.' A brief flash of a smile, cut off by a little gasp. 'Oh... I'm going to pay you the compliment of assuming they couldn't be better than this.'

'That's very unscientific of you.' He eased back, steadying himself. 'All right... I'm going to fuck you now.'

'What have you been doing until now?'

'Warming you up. If this is too much, say something... although I'd obviously rather that you didn't.' He drew further back, feeling the air cold on his wet skin, then thrust in, smooth and deep, Julian yielding completely with a short, sharp cry.

'Yes?'

'Yes!'

'Good.' He wished he had the patience to give Julian the sort of protracted, relentless fucking he deserved, but he'd let himself get far too deep for that. Somehow Julian had managed to rearrange their hands so that he was holding Garak's, and had it clutched to his chest, startlingly strong, and the boy was talking to him, urging him on in the most obscene terms, all fuck me this and come inside me that. All he could do was oblige, and he told himself he would just kiss his shoulder, no, just suck, all right, Julian could cope with being bitten a little, and he was closer with every stroke, his mouth full of the taste and his head full of the smell of hot skin and hair and sweat and oil and sex.

Julian was masturbating again, using the hand that had propped him against the couch, and calling on that strange anonymous all-purpose god of his with increasing fervour. Garak heard him in a vague, distant way, as the fierce hot joy in his penis seemed to expand so suddenly that his whole body shook with it. In the same vague, distant way, he knew that he was groaning deep in his throat, the sound muffled by his jaws' grip on Julian's shoulder, that his hips were moving in a rapid, punching motion, that his penis was gushing semen in erratic bursts, and that something similar was happening to Julian. He was dizzy and mindless and nothing, nothing he had ever had or lost, mattered at all.

That didn't last very long, but at least he felt pretty sure he could get to it again with very little difficulty. Clarity was coming back, with all sorts of tiny odd details like the way little rivulets of sweat ran down Julian's back, trickling along the paths where the ridges of his own chest and stomach gave them a little space. He opened his mouth, having to make a conscious effort to unclamp his jaw, and lifted his head. Julian was resting his cheek on the back of the couch, his neck crooked at what must be an uncomfortable angle, panting with his eyes closed and his face glowing red, a branched vein standing out on his forehead.

'Doctor.'

'Hrm?'

'I need to move or my leg will cramp. I can't keep holding you up.'

'Okay...'

'You'll have to move.'

'Okay...'

'You're not moving yet.'

'In a moment...'

'Now. Thank you.' Julian shifted to take his own weight on one arm, and Garak eased himself out. His penis slipped free with a soft, moist pop, and Julian made a soft little sound, not quite protesting, as he sank down on his knees before rolling over. He half-sat, half-lay slantwise across the couch, pushed his damp hair back from his forehead, wet his lips with his tongue, swallowed, lips parting again so he could breathe deeply. Garak realised he was noticing every detail as if it were magnified, and felt a futile but pleasant little twitch in the root of his penis as he slumped down on the couch to catch his own breath.

'Aahh...' Julian sighed. 'Oh, God, I feel weird. So good but so weird.'

'So... the experiment is a qualified success?'

'Well... it doesn't really count as an experiment, because we didn't start with a proper hypothesis. You're not allowed to invent a hypothesis after the fact. Like... "I predict that Garak will make me come like a dropped fire-hose"... that's not really permissible now, even if it's what happened.'

'Ah, I see. So next time, shall we hypothesise something? Or just continue with general observation?'

'Are you already thinking about next time?'

'I don't know yet how it is for you, but I need several goes to feel... finished.'

'All right... do you want to have a hypothesis about how many goes you'll need?' Julian gave him a slightly dazed smile. 'You think of a number, and I'll think of a number, and whoever is closest wins... um... lunch.'

'That's not science, that's a bet.'

'Well, the scientific method is like having a bet with yourself.'

'I have a bet with myself that you know exactly how fuckable you look sprawled out like that and are doing it on purpose.' He realised he'd lost his bet as Julian blushed and sat up straighter. 

'I - not really, I wasn't thinking about it.' That had been a stupid thing to say, Garak thought, because Julian had gone from languid and debauched to self-conscious and flustered in no time flat. 'I'm sorry, I've just realised what a mess I've made. God, sorry. Can I use your bathroom?'

'Not unaccompanied, no.' He leaned over and kissed Julian firmly on the lips, feeling him respond a little through his tension. 'Now calm down. Do you think I give a damn about the couch?'

'Well... no.'

'Tell me something, what's the proper name for where I've so inconsiderately bitten you?'

'What? Oh. That's... the upper trapezius muscle. Now that you mention it, ow. What was that for?'

'I wasn't thinking at the time.' Garak congratulated himself on that bit of redirection.

'I can't see it properly. Is it bleeding?'

'No. My teeth left quite deep prints, but they didn't break the skin.'

'All right, then - can you get the dermal regenerator from the case on the table? That one - no, next to it. Give it here? Right. Now just shine that little light over the bruised area, about five centimetres from the skin.' Having set the instrument and switched it on, he handed it to Garak.

'What if I'd rather leave it there? A sort of brand?'

'I'll let you brand me somewhere else. That's too sore. I've cricked my neck as it is. That's better... keep moving the light slowly over the area.'

'Are you letting me operate on you?'

'Actually using the regenerator isn't hard at all. Recognising injuries that will respond to it, and calibrating it correctly, is what takes a doctor's education.'

'I see.' The clouds of fresh, angry bruising were clearing, restoring the caramel brown of Julian's skin. Frankly, he wanted to bite it again, or at least lick it.

'Do you know, the light doesn't do anything? People assume it does, that it disinfects or something, but it's just to make it visible where you're treating. Like a laser sight on a weapon.'

'Secrets of the medical profession?'

'Shh... if you tell anyone else, I'll have to use our even more secret memory erasure techniques.'

'But as you've pointed out, Federation medical knowledge of Cardassians is scant at best, so you don't know they'd work on me. And while I'm only too happy to let you experiment on my body - with your hands and mouth, at any rate, I'm not sure about your array of glittering instruments - my brain is off limits except for emergencies.'

'That feels a lot better,' Julian said, turning his head experimentally. Garak was partly put out, partly intrigued by the fact that he didn't immediately respond by promising never to do anything to his mind. Perhaps it was only that he was more focused on the immediate physical concern of the pain or comfort of his neck and shoulder; perhaps it was that he merited a slightly closer watch than Garak had so far given him. Well. A different kind of close watch, more concerned with the risks he might present, less concerned with how distractingly beautiful every part of him seemed to be. 'How does it look?' Julian asked, reminding him that he really should be paying more present attention. Difficult, considering what all these endorphins were doing to his brain chemistry.

'It looks gorgeous.' He kissed the spot softly.

'That's not really medical language.' Julian shrugged slightly.

'I'm not trained in medical language.' Another kiss, heavier and lingering.

'Why aren't I allowed in your bathroom unaccompanied?'

'Oh. The shower is tricky. Only I know how to balance the hot and cold, ever since it went wrong and I decided to fix it myself rather than trouble Chief O'Brien.'

'I see. So you didn't want me to get scalded.'

'Or inadvertently take an icy shower and lose all enthusiasm for our research.'

'Promise I wouldn't. After all, I still need to observe the elusive Cardassian orgasm.'

'It's not that elusive. I bet you can coax one out.'

'Shower, then?' Julian half-turned to face him. 'With that hypothesis?'

'What hypothesis is that?' Garak asked blandly.

Julian looked at him for a moment, the faint trace of a smile at one corner of his mouth. He leaned in as if to kiss him, then feinted left to whisper by his ear 'That I'll make you come.'

'I invite you to try.' Garak got to his feet, taking Julian's hand and pulling him up beside him, noticing his wince and indrawn breath. 'Sore?'

'A bit... mostly it feels strange. Stretched, and wet, and as if I might leak if I don't keep everything clenched.' Julian shifted his balance uneasily. 'But I'm tremendously proud of myself for successfully taking it in the first place, so it's sort of...' He gave a rueful little laugh. 'Sorry, you didn't ask for the full analysis.'

'Come here.' Garak pulled him closer, wrapping arms around his waist. 'You have my permission to assume that I want your full analysis at all times. I am intensely interested in your perspective.' He slid his hands down over Julian's buttocks, spreading his fingers to cup and grasp. 'You aren't joking about keeping everything clenched.'

'Well, no.' Julian evaded his gaze, put his head down on Garak's shoulder.

'You were saying you felt proud of yourself, I think?'

'Mm... you were right. I do want to think that I'm good at this. There, I think... I took that great big cock right down to the root. Quite an achievement.' Garak could feel Julian's sheepish smile against his neck, the curve of his mouth tightening to an exploratory kiss on the ridge that ran from behind his ear down to his shoulder. 'Because yes, I do need to feel that I'm really good at everything I care about doing. Couldn't be happy if I thought I was less than an excellent doctor, or of course an excellent lover.'

'I can't really tell if that was a boast, or an expression of humility, or somehow both at the same time.' Garak closed his eyes, the better to concentrate on touch, as the warmth of Julian's mouth sank into the ridge, lightly sucking, licking, tongue-tip outlining each scale with a soft upward flick. 'If it helps, I was quite proud of you too. Come now. The shower is waiting.' He led Julian by the hand into his bathroom, drew him into the shower recess and wrapped his arms around him again as the hot water flowed over them both.

'I thought you had to balance the hot and cold... fiddle with the taps.'

'Oh, I know it so well I can do it without looking now.'

'Really.'

'Of course.' A deep, devouring kiss, pressing Julian back against the tiled wall. Precisely this had been a recurrent feature of the many fantasies he'd entertained regarding sweet, trusting, eager Dr Bashir; that was, at least, when he limited himself to what might actually be possible on this godawful station, as opposed to the sheer pipe dreams of what he might be able to do to him in a Cardassian sauna cave. Here it was, really happening, the lovely boy yielding to him and at the same time trying his best to stand up to him, tongue fighting his, strong slender hands gripping his shoulders.

'I've just thought,' Julian breathed, 'what we should be investigating here.'

'Hmm?' Yes, of course, that was the game they were playing. 'A hypothesis presents itself?'

'A line of inquiry, anyway - the refractory period.'

'Which is...'

'The proper name for the length of time between a man's orgasm and his recovery to the point where he could have another. How long it takes to muster a new erection. Everyone has an average.' His hand snaked down between them and curled around Garak's penis, gently squeezing the soft flesh.

'How many times are you planning to bring me off in order to establish an average?'

'Oh, no, that won't work, not in one night anyway - because if you're anything like me the time increases a bit with each successive orgasm.'

'Granted. Then what?'

'Well, it's been, I would say, in the neighbourhood of five minutes since you came in me... shall we see how long you need, just as a starting point?'

'A starting point?'

'Perhaps for a longer-term study. There's no need to decide now. Particularly as I'm still slightly reeling from the fact that you came in me.'

'As you urged me to do.'

'That too. Give me some soap, please, so I can clean you up. Thanks.'

'Hard or not, I do very much appreciate the rubbing.'

'Can you wriggle it when it's not hard?'

'Not so well. See?'

'I could happily play with this for hours, you know.'

'I think you're exaggerating very slightly, doctor.'

'All right, I am, but it is fascinating. And I think quite beautiful.' His fingertips were probing the fine-scaled creases at the base now. 'If you stepped back a bit I could kneel down and have a better look.'

'Perhaps even examine it with your mouth again,' Garak murmured, obliging. He slid his hands over Julian's shoulders as he knelt. 'May I say, your beautiful mouth? Since you've abandoned scientific objectivity.'

'I can be objective and give you a compliment. You could be objective and accept it graciously.' The smile was mostly in Julian's eyes; just a quirk at the corner of his mouth as he took Garak's penis in hand and kissed the tip. 'I could find another word if you don't like beautiful. Or I could just...' He opened his mouth and sucked it in. The taste was nothing like as strong as the first time, and he found he wanted that taste, the smell, in a way that made him wonder about pheromones with the sensible, analytical fraction of his mind that wasn't currently buzzing with 'I'm sucking his cock,' 'I'm sucking cock,' 'oh dear God I think I love cock how did I not know?' 'more cock please,' and an incidental, crabby 'water's falling in my eyes.' He didn't want to stop looking up at Garak, though, to miss seeing the undisguised emotion on his face, the fierce desire that made him more than a little nervous, though not nearly as nervous as he was eager.

He wanted to do this well, to be the best cocksucker he could, and it made him achingly self-conscious that he was trying to copy things women had done to him, what this one had done with her lips and that one with her tongue and that other one with her hands. He could feel Garak's penis stiffening, thickening in surges, filling his mouth, that strong sharp taste blooming on his tongue, and his own erection was rising in response. As he sucked and stroked the hard shaft that analytical fraction was trying desperately hard to put things in order, to make comparisons between this and how he felt face down between a woman's thighs, and whether his arousal was so intense now because this was a man or because this was Garak, the man of mystery and danger. The man of mystery and danger was stroking his hair, and his hands were shaking.

 

'My beautiful boy, my treasure...' Garak stopped abruptly and took a deep breath, holding it a moment, his body tensing until he breathed again. 'I'm getting very close now. Can you feel that? Mm? Not so... not so calm and articulate now, am I? Oh...' Another moment of tension, and his fingers clenched in Julian's hair, almost hurting him. 'If... if I could make one request...'

'Mm?'

'To continue this in my bedroom, because you are making my head spin and my knees buckle, and while I'm sure you could patch me up if I were to fall in here, it would spoil my fun.'

'Oh - of course! Sorry. Really? I mean, head spinning and knees buckling?'

'Ah, now you're pleased with yourself. Get up, doctor.' Garak gripped his hand and pulled him up.

'I think I should be pleased. Come here, you.' Julian wound his arms around him and kissed him joyfully, pressing his erection against Garak's belly.

'Come here, you. This way.'

'Wet as we are?'

'Move, my dear.' Garak fairly dragged him into the small bedroom, pushed him onto the narrow bed and climbed astride him, pinning him down to kiss him voraciously. Julian got a little lost in that, and in the full-length press of body to body, and in running his hands over Garak's arms and back and buttocks, following ridges and tracing scales, discovering dense powerful muscle beneath the slight padding of a sedentary life.

'You're forgetting the experiment,' he managed to say when Garak lifted his head to catch his breath. 'We can't time it accurately now.'

'Oh. Well, it's no great loss to science; would you like it on your front or your back this time?'

'Neither - I still want to see you come.'

'It's such a waste,' Garak said, his tone wheedling, almost whining. 'It's not that interesting, and don't you want me to fuck you again? We could repeat the experiment - aren't you supposed to do that to make sure the results can be reproduced?' He slid his hand under Julian's thigh and up, fingers probing between his buttocks as he kissed him again. 'Don't you want to feel it moving inside you again?'

'Of course I do, but I want this too, and I don't see why I can't have both. Come on. Be fair. You got to see me - we need to even it up,' Julian said, trying to sit up.

'You don't have to keep score.'

'It's not score so much as basic good manners. Now stop trying to get your fingers up my bum and let me see.' He gave Garak a push towards the bedhead, squirming out from under him.

'You don't know what's good for you,' Garak said with a resigned sigh. He rolled onto his back and tucked his hands behind his head. 'There - do as you will.'

'Thank you. Can you turn up the light a bit? Perfect. And you're wrong about it not being that interesting. I'm very, very interested. Look at the colour of your glans - and the way the pre-ejaculate doesn't just come from the urethra, you seem to have two little orifices under the corona releasing it too. And your little bumps and ridges... you must think my penis is very plain by comparison.' He lay on his side, head at Garak's waist, legs curled up at the foot of the bed, hoping he wasn't going to slip off.

'Well, it has a minimalist charm. It's streamlined.'

'Thanks very much.' Julian pressed his lips to the base of Garak's penis and applied a kind of sliding kiss up to the tip before lathering the glans with the flat of his tongue.

'Ah!'

'Can you move it now? Does it feel better if you do?'

'Yes... I was inclined to hold back in case you choked.'

'Show me.' Julian watched avidly, biting his lower lip.

'Are you trying not to laugh?'

 

'Um... not in a mocking way, in an astonished, delighted, overexcited kind of way. With that preface, yes, a little bit.'

'Well, just keep biting it back, there's a good boy.'

'I promise not to bite here.' Another wet, sliding kiss-and-lick.

'But you can. I'd love that.'

'Seriously? I wouldn't. How?'

'Not hard - not there - but use the edges of your front teeth to scrape.'

''ike 'is?'

Garak shivered slightly. 'Exactly. And if you - agitate it like that and then soothe it by licking... yes, just like that.' His hips hitched involuntarily as Julian tried again.

'Too much?'

'Oh, no... do that one more time, then suck the head hard.'

'Mmh.'

'And look at me... let me see your lovely eyes... yes... oh, doctor dear...' Garak's hand tightened in Julian's hair, and then his voice was gone, apart from a harsh whimpering as he flexed his penis against the young man's tongue. Julian could feel him tensing again, his hips rising as his buttocks tightened, and eagerly wrapped his hand around the shaft of Garak's penis, pumping quickly, willing this to bring him over the edge, mentally chanting 'come, come, come.'

He felt the glans flare in his mouth and released it, the first spurt of semen hitting the roof of his mouth, the second splashing his cheek and chin, the third pouring over his hand as he gasped and tried to swallow, bewildered by the quantity (where did Garak keep it all?) and the colour (pearly grey) and the taste (sweetish and musky). Garak was gasping too, great heaving breaths as he gradually went limp, his hand loosening its painful grip amid Julian's hair. He had a dazed, blissful look on his face, and there was something strange about it; it took Julian a moment to realise that it was completely unguarded and had nothing else behind it, a one-layer look. Then he closed his eyes, blinked a couple of times and the normal Garak seemed to be back, looking down at him fondly and a little wryly.

'Please stay just like that while I commit the picture to memory,' he said contentedly, and there was an undertone to his voice that was almost a purr. Julian felt his face grow, if possible, hotter, and quickly wiped his cheek on his arm. 'Oh, no no no. You looked so pretty. Now. You wanted things to be even, didn't you? So you'll clean me up the same way I did you? Thank you... ahh, that's my good boy. Do you see why I wanted to keep such a mess neatly contained in your tight little arse? But you would have your way...' Julian bit his thigh, not hard but pointedly, and he chuckled. 'All right, I won't rub it in any more.'

'You asked me not to laugh.'

'I think my cock is a good deal less funny than your face. No, I don't mean that, your face is beautiful. The look on your face, in your eyes. You were excited and shocked and out of your depth - it was an amplified version of how you looked the first time I talked to you.'

'Is that your idea of not rubbing it in any more?' Julian asked grumpily. He scooted himself up the bed to lie beside Garak.

'Come here, and don't pout at me.' Garak kissed him lightly, then ran his tongue over his chin, under it to capture the line of viscous grey that had trickled down his neck. 'You were irresistible then and you're irresistible now.' He wrapped a hand around Julian's taut penis and gave it a kindly rub, dragging a little moan out of him. 'And I know just as soon as you know your way around you'll turn confident and seductive and that will be very lovely in its own way... but let me enjoy you being all flustered and freshly deflowered while I can.'

'I was deflowered, as you quaintly put it, when I was seventeen.'

'Not by me.' A twisting squeeze that almost finished him; it was all he could do to hold Garak's gaze.

'Oh, and therefore it didn't count?'

'Not to me.'

'Garak - please stop.'

'Why, when it's so obviously giving you pleasure?'

'But I'll come and then we'll be uneven again.'

'This again,' Garak sighed.

'I want to come with you inside me,' Julian said desperately. 'I want to hold on for that.'

'That's a little more persuasive. Why do you want that?'

'Because it feels so unbelievably good.'

'Are you sure you can wait? Look at the state you're in. The poor thing looks ready to burst.'

'If you just don't touch me for a few minutes, I think I can calm down enough.'

'No touching at all? Can't even kiss?'

'All right... kissing... but keep your hands up here.' He lifted Garak's hand to his shoulder. 

'Just as you wish.' Garak proceeded to kiss him with such delicacy and restraint that it made him whimper with frustration. He rolled on top of him, thrusting his tongue into Garak's mouth, groaning low in his throat. 'Make up your mind, my dear,' Garak murmured as Julian panted against his lips.

'All right. All right, that was a bit inconsistent.'

'Let's say I keep my hands away from your cock. Would this be permissible?' Garak's hands settled on Julian's buttocks, maddeningly lightly.

'Oh, yes.'

'And this?' Kneading with his fingertips.

'Yessss...'

'A little harder?'

'Yes.'  Julian shifted his hips to get comfortable, and Garak's hands stopped.

'No humping, now.'

'No, I promise.' The massage resumed, gradually intensifying, until Garak was prising his buttocks apart to full stretch, the cooler air of the room like a teasing breath on his tingling perineum, then pressing them hard together, smothering that tender flesh with his own heat. He hitched one knee up, spreading his legs wider, hiding his face in the pillow beside Garak's head.

'You like that?'

'Oh, yes...'

'Would you like me to just keep doing this?' Julian hesitated, grunting softly as Garak's strong hands squeezed, fingertips sinking into his sweat-slick skin. 'Or would you like something more?'

'More, please.'

'Like this?' One finger travelling down the cleft, softly rubbing his tender anus.

'Yes!'

'Wet my fingers, please.' They were pressed to his lips and he let them in, rippling his tongue over them. He thought he could feel Garak's cock shift gently against his thigh, and he was sure he felt it when he sucked.

'Slut,' Garak breathed, sounding delighted, and then those fingers were back in the cleft and pushing sharply, one forcing its way in with a brief twinge of pain, another slipping in in its wake, both diving in deep as his anus convulsed around them.

'Ohhh...'

'Good?'

'What do you think?'

'I make no assumptions. You tell me.'

'Yes... oh, you could push them in deeper.'

'Finger-fuck?'

'Please...' The pleasure of it was making him twitch and shiver, and it only grew as Garak's fingers dug in and drew back. He drew up his other leg, lifting his rump. 'Oh... that's lovely, keep going just like that.' The ridge of Garak's neck was pressing into his cheekbone, and he shifted his head a little to kiss it as he had before, tracing the scales and sucking lightly.

'Harder, please,' Garak murmured. 'That's another place where you can use your teeth.'

''ike 'is?'

'Mmm. Exactly.'

'So you bit me where you like to be bitten. I'll make a note of that.'

'Make a diagram. All the sweet spots on my body shaded in. More scientific.'

'Mm... and shading in different colours to indicate intens- ah! intensity...'

'Should that have been shaded red?'

'Orange at least.' The steady, soft friction of Garak's sliding fingers certainly made it feel red, a pulsing fiery red; having this done for him, having someone else's fingers probing the most private bit of him, was making him burn.

'You're opening up for me so sweetly... but you're getting dry, so let me just...' He slid his hand down to rub the glans of his own penis for lubrication. Julian tried his best to concentrate on Garak's neck, on working out exactly where and how he should suck and bite to elicit a sigh or a moan, though most of his attention was inescapably on the throbbing, tingling, prickling warmth of his anus, which had even managed to distract him from his erection. Erection; was Garak really hard again yet? That was the problem with a downward-curving penis; it was down between their legs and he couldn't feel it without bringing his legs together and cutting off access to his anus - where he could feel Garak's fingers again, wet and slick and heavenly, slipping in against minimal resistance.

'Nice?' Garak asked, breathing warmly against his ear, and the word was so bland and mild and insufficient that he did have to laugh, weakly.

'Yes... God, yes.'

'I think I asked before but I can't remember if you ever said. Would you like to be on your front or your back for our second attempt?'

'Umm... I think on my back... because that way I can see more of what you're doing. Does that mean you're ready?'

'I have been for a little while, but I've been making sure you're ready.' His fingers scissored apart, stretching the over-stimulated flesh around them, and Julian inadvertently bit down on the ridge much harder than he meant. Garak hissed, though he wasn't sure that was a bad thing.

'All right... roll over. Comfortable? I do apologise for the bed. If I'd known I'd have company... well.' He leaned in to kiss the young man, his smooth dark hair dishevelled and swinging forward, brushing Julian's cheeks.

'Well what? You'd have done it up with flowers and candlelight and silk sheets?'

'Would you like that?'

'I wouldn't need it. How do you want to do this?'

'Like this - you can put your legs over my shoulders, and lift up your hips... perfect. How quickly you catch on, my dear. Can you see, as you wanted?'

'Hold on.' Julian scooted his shoulders up against the headboard, Garak shuffling forward on his knees to follow. 'Yes... I can see everything I want.' He reached down, one hand to cup and lift his testes out of the way, the other to touch Garak's penis, curling his hand under to lift it, fascinated by its strangeness all over again, and pressed the flushed head into his perineum, its wetness trickling down. 'I want this, please.'

'Inside you?'

'Deep inside me. Please?'

'I didn't plan to make you beg, my dear. I can't think of a better place for it. Hold still for me.' He gripped his penis and pressed the glans into the tender opening of Julian's anus. 'Ready? Here it comes.'

'Oh... oh God...' Julian's hand slipped back to his own penis, rapidly stroking as his anus was stretched and filled, fiery pleasure blossoming all around its rim and extending deeper and deeper inside. Garak was breathing more heavily, his hand on Julian's hip gripping tight as he eased his way in, shifting his weight forward, at last reaching the limit of his penetration with a soft grunt. Still he leaned in, bending to kiss Julian's panting mouth, smothering his moans until they quieted on their own.

'Easier the second time?'

'I - I knew what to expect - but it's - oh... oh, look at it.' Julian peered down between their bodies, his eyes hazy.

'Ready for me to move?'

'Not yet. Not quite yet. I still can't quite believe I'm letting you do this.'

'You're not letting me. You asked me to. Very important difference.' Garak's voice was low and caressing; the only sign of how excited he must be was the fire in his eyes.

'I did, didn't I.'

'Very sweetly.'

'Like a good little slut, I suppose.'

'If you say so...'

'I might say so...'

'If?'

'Kiss me and move your cock, please.'

'Like so?'

'Ahh...'

'And why do we think you like this so much?'

'Um... hypothesis: Julian is a slut. God...'

'Evidence for: well, look.'

'Mm...'

'Any evidence against? Hmm? If you don't say anything, I have to assume you agree...'

'All right, I agree, I'm a thoroughly wanton little slut and I deserve everything you do to me.'

'You do. You've earned it.' A deep, wet kiss, shifting forward onto his knees, bringing more of his weight onto Julian's body as his penis churned inside him, savouring the groan that ran through Julian's tongue into his.

Julian made a belated effort to think his way through this experience, at least to separate and analyse the physical sensations by area. Mouth, lips burning, feeling swollen, tingling, rasped by every stroke of Garak's tongue (oh, his tongue), sloppy and wet and not caring, only wanting another and another good hard kiss. Penis, blissfully hard, pulsing with joy at every stroke of his hand, glans dripping with thin slick pre-ejaculate that spread as he rubbed till it took a conscious effort not to overshoot at the end of each upstroke. Sensation spreading down through the root and almost blurring into prostate, a ball of rolling sweet heat like a tiny sun down low in his abdominal core, sending flares up his spine every time Garak's undulating penis collided with it. Rectum, incredibly, obscenely full, anus feeling oddly similar to lips, that same tingle and burn, besides being almost - not quite - painfully stretched around the thick, ribbed, ridged shaft.

'Beautiful, precious slut,' Garak breathed against his lips. 'Don't you love that? Do you know you're whimpering?'

'Mm... please...'

'What do you want? Hmm?'

'Want you to fuck me...'

'One condition. Hands off your cock.'

'No. Why?'

'Because I want to take a nice long time and bring you along with me. I was in a rush last time.'

'What if I come just from the fucking, though? Sooner than you want?'

'I'll be proud of you. Now let it go... there's a good boy. Put your hands on my shoulders and hold tight. There...'

'Oh, God...'

'If you like, but "Garak" will do.'

'Smartarse...'

'Lovely tight arse...'

'Oh fuck...'

'Shh...'

'Ahhh...'

It was a slow rocking at first, the bed creaking faintly beneath them, Julian moaning softly under each stroke. Garak shuffled his knees a little farther apart, planting his hands firmly under Julian's arms, and leaned in to kiss his panting lips again as he quickened the pace. He let himself forget for a moment that he was in a drab, ugly Terok Nor room, on a thin, cheap, mean-spirited mattress; he was fucking a glorious, golden-brown young man worthy of a bed of silk and down in a palace of ivory and jade. Julian arched up to him, whimpered, that sweet urgent needy sound, and he ploughed in with a joyful growl, pumping himself to the verge of rapture. He forced himself still, gritting his teeth, taking a perverse delight in Julian's plaintive moan, counting down until he could trust himself to move again.

'Don't do that to me again...' Julian breathed. 'I was nearly there.'

'So was I.'

'Don't do it to you, then. Come. Fill me up.'

'You first.' A deep thrust.

'Ohh...' Julian bit his lip as Garak's hand wrapped round his erection. 'Oh, that's not fair... if I'm not allowed to touch it...'

'I didn't promise you fairness. Good?' He was moving slowly again, flexing his penis as well as rocking his hips, the trickiness of it distracting him from a shameful performance like last time.

'Mm.' Julian's expression was one of fierce concentration, his eyes closed and his brows knotted together. That vein was standing out on his forehead again, and Garak kissed it on impulse.

'Look at me, my dear. That's right. Such lovely eyes.' He lowered his own head to rest against Julian's, their noses almost touching. 'Keep looking at me... and feel me inside you, feel me moving inside you...' 

'Garak...' Julian gave him an utterly beseeching look and pulled him down into a kiss, his hips shaking and bucking helplessly as he came. Garak sank down on him, his own movements slipping beyond his conscious control, long, blissful moments stretching out until he was dropped back into shivering, panting reality, Julian limp beneath him, breathing softly and deeply. At length he lifted his head and kissed Julian's brow.

'That was lovely,' Julian said drowsily. 

'You're not too crushed and cramped under me?'

'Oh, I'm crushed and cramped all right... just too happy to care.' Julian moved his leg stiffly against Garak's arm. 'I'm really not supposed to bend this way.'

'Yes you are. But here.' Garak lifted himself, disentangled their limbs, lay down beside Julian, though this meant they were both at some risk of getting nudged off the bed.

'Mmph.' Julian rolled onto his side, curling up to Garak so that he took up less space. 'Are you planning to bend me a lot? Because a "see how far you can stretch Julian's legs before something goes pop" experiment is not my idea of fun.'

'What could go pop?' Garak half-turned towards Julian, admiring him, resolved to say nothing that could make him self-conscious this time.

'I don't know. A hip? I don't think I want anything dislocated. I'd have to go to the infirmary and have some sort of explanation for what I'd been doing. Could be awkward.'

'A terribly vigorous game of tennis in the holosuite.'

'That wouldn't really account for the fact that I'm covered in spunk,' Julian said, an undercurrent of laughter in his voice. 'Mine and yours. This may be the messiest sex I've ever had, and that includes the time -'

'I don't want to hear about any of your other times, thank you very much.'

'Oh well. Fair enough. Can I steal your pillow?'

'No you can not. Co-operating with your experiments and indulging your curiosity doesn't mean I'll let you do anything you please. You could try not to smirk while I scold you.'

'I'm trying. I just can't help it. Anyway, I have trouble believing you mean it. You may not be all giddy like me but you're happy.' He squirmed onto his front and rested his chin on his folded arms. 'There's another thing I should ask you about. How you feel after sex, all the afterglow stuff. It's all chemistry, of course. Human males usually experience a great backwash of endorphins so we feel very contented and usually very sleepy. No-one's sure why, but women don't get quite the same effect - they're more likely to lie awake afterwards, even if they're quite satisfied. Some people get this odd thing known as post-coital tristesse, where they actually feel quite lonely and miserable afterwards.'

'You don't appear sleepy.'

'No, but I'm funny like that. Can I say that the ladies seem to appreciate it, without annoying you? Now what about you? What's usual for you?'

'I tend to feel rather cold after the flush of exertion wears off - so if you don't mind, I'm getting under the covers.'

'Me too, please. Go on, what else?'

'Well, you seem to be thinking of sex as a single, self-contained incident with a before, during and after - whereas from my point of view it's more of a series of events.'

'Building to a peak?'

'Actually, the most intense point is usually near the beginning. It's the nuances that are important as you go on, until, eventually, you're equal parts satisfied and exhausted, having... appreciated one another from all angles. Having rallied several times.'

'I'm starting to fear for my backside. You'll wear it out.'

'We don't have to fuck every time... though I think we will at least once more before morning.'

'What time is it?' Julian twisted to look at the bedhead display. 'Only eight - I'd thought we'd been carrying on much longer than that. Since we both seem disposed to have a little break and in the interest of my continued stamina, shall we have some dinner?'

'An intermission?'

'Yes, please.'

'All right. I'm going to clean myself up a little. Then you may have the bathroom, and I'll do something about the bed and the food, as befits a good host.' Garak kissed Julian briskly on the forehead and left him.

Julian stretched out his legs, noticing how wet they had made the sheets - and now the warm water had cooled off the whole thing was quite clammy.

He's left me alone, he thought, which I suppose means he's sure now that I won't want to leave. That business with the shower... he didn't want me to be alone and develop doubts about going any further. Or of course, perhaps he just wanted us to shower together, since he seemed to enjoy that a lot, but he wanted to manoeuvre me into that rather than ask for it directly... oh, I don't know. Ooh, I'm going to have sore thighs in the morning. If I want to go on with this sort of thing I might have to take up yoga.

The thought of 'if I want to go on with this sort of thing' had to be off-limits for now, though, he decided. It was a worthwhile and necessary thought, an 'if' to be followed by an assortment of 'then's that he would need to give careful, honest and searching thought. Tomorrow. 

Garak emerged from the bathroom, favouring him with a smile.

'I see you've put it away for the time being,' Julian said. Garak's penis was fully retracted, his groin showing only a ridged mound with a closed slit in it.

'Oh? Yes. I have to say that it seems tremendously vulnerable and uncomfortable for you to have yours out all the time.'

'It is sometimes. On the other hand, you have to admire the ease of access.' Julian sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

'I admire the whole apparatus. Go and wash it; it's sticky.'

'All right... I'm going... I just have to go slowly.'

There was nothing tricky about the temperature controls in the shower as far as he could see; it did occur to him, though, that he might be running up a higher than usual hot-water bill for Garak, who didn't get his utilities for free the way he did as an officer, so he tried to be relatively quick. It only occurred to him that using the sonic setting would have been cheaper still when he'd already had the water on for a couple of minutes; he'd only thought in terms of how much nicer the water would feel. Well, he'd find a way to make it up to Garak if necessary. 

He hadn't paid much attention to anything but Garak when he was in here before; he took the opportunity to look around while he dried himself, and, after a brief struggle of conscience, snooped into the cabinet. A small bathroom with station-standard fittings; everything very neat and tidy, slightly but not extravagantly expensive toiletries. The cologne was nearly empty; would it be a good move or a misstep to give Garak a new one? No, that was something to think about tomorrow or after that. He realised as he closed the cabinet that he'd been half expecting to find some evidence of deception or vanity - a bottle of black hair dye, perhaps? - but there was nothing to embarrass Garak here. Nor was there anything to give a bit more away about him, unless you considered it a revelation that he had a bit of a problem with dry skin.

Feeling foolish, but also knowing that he had to check for peace of mind, he twisted himself around to look over his shoulder in the mirror and spread his buttocks with both hands. No visible bruising, no sign, thank goodness, of any abrasions or bleeding. In fact, everything looked better than it had any right to; the perianal area was somewhat reddened and slightly puffy, but overall it must be far more resilient than he had thought. Cardassian secretions must be an awfully good lubricant, too. If he were actually serious about doing research he really should collect a sample for analysis. Garak seemed unlikely to mind, and he was curious now.

 

In the bedroom, Garak had left a sort of dressing-gown hung over the end of the bed for him. It was made of a heavy, silky grey-green fabric, and smelled very faintly musty, as if it had been stored a long time. Julian pulled it on and fastened the front, which had a sort of point like an envelope flap that was secured by a button on the hip. Based on his reflection in the narrow mirror on the closet door, he didn’t think it really suited him, but perhaps Garak thought otherwise; or perhaps he just didn’t want him to get cold.

He found Garak, in a similar robe, taking food from the replicator.

 

‘Hello. Sit down, won’t you?’ Garak handed him a plate.

 

‘If I can. What’s this? Cardassian tapas?’ He tried what looked like a sort of pâté on flat bread and found it quite good, sort of fishy and nutty at once.

 

‘After a fashion. Something light but sustaining. Do you think you’ll require a cushion?’

 

‘I’m not quite that delicate.’ Julian sat down on the couch, a little cautiously, but found himself comfortable. Garak sat down beside him, very close, placing a possessive hand on his knee.

 

‘I’m glad to hear it. I confess I wasn’t quite sure how well this would go. I don’t actually know any other Cardassians who’ve been to bed with humans, although I doubt you and I are the first to try it.’ He helped himself to a bit of something-or-other from the plate.

 

‘For someone worried about how it might go, you were awfully vigorous in your approach.’

 

‘Well, I didn’t want to make you nervous by appearing hesitant. Grasp the nettle firmly. Do you still think you’ll write a full account of the experiment, for the edification of your fellows in the scientific community?’

 

‘Perhaps under a couple of layers of obfuscation as to who, when and where, for the sake of both our privacy.’

 

‘“My Intimate Encounter With a Cardassian” by Anonymous.’

 

‘Might as well make it “a Cardassian Spy,” then - it would be more sensational.’

 

‘Would it outsell those horrible “Vulcan Love-Slave” novelisation things?’

 

‘Rather a different target audience, I think. The stereotypes and fetishes are so different. In fact, I think anyone picking up a story called “My Intimate Encounter With a Cardassian Spy” would be terribly disappointed if it didn’t involve Anonymous being captured by said spy and subjected to all sorts of imaginative and athletic sexual torture.’

 

‘I don’t think torture is the word, do you? Interrogation, perhaps. Stern interrogation. In any case, our encounter has involved you trying to get information out of me.’

 

‘Could you sell a dirty story about an encounter with a human to Cardassians?’

 

‘Perhaps, although it’s not really an established genre - you’d have to present it as a twist on the usual Bajoran interlude.’

 

‘Oh, I haven’t read any of those -’

 

‘And nor will you. I expect you to stick to texts of genuine literary merit.’

 

‘Nor will you? Not nor should you, but nor will you? What will you do if you catch me furtively reading Bajoran interlude smut?’ Julian asked, trying not to laugh.

 

‘Why, doctor, I’ll simply be terribly disappointed in you.’ Garak widened his eyes in the usual look of mild innocence.

 

‘Don’t my reactions to Cardassian literature usually disappoint you?’

 

‘I remain hopeful. I think you’ll mature into a deeper appreciation of its merits. When I met you, I said to myself, there is a young man with potential.’ Between the two of them they had picked the plate clean; Garak set it aside and leaned in cosily, resting his arm on the back of the couch behind Julian’s shoulders.

 

‘I sometimes think you said, there is a young man I can amuse myself with.’

 

‘And you do amuse me. Don’t I amuse you?’

 

‘That isn’t quite the same thing and well you know it.’

 

‘You fascinate me, dear.’ While Julian was trying to decide what to make of that ‘dear’ all on its own without the cover of overwhelming arousal, Garak kissed him, tightening his arm around his shoulders, sliding his other hand from his knee up his thigh and under the hem of the dressing-gown. ‘I think it’s time we began again.’

 

‘That was a short break.’

 

‘Do you need longer?’

 

‘No fear.’ Julian wrapped an arm around Garak’s waist and returned the kiss, giving himself up to it, wilfully losing himself in the suck and slide of it as Garak’s hand massaged the inside of his thigh, lifting his leg over his own lap.

‘I’m doing another experiment on you, you know.’

‘You are? A stealthy one?’

‘Observing the effects of what we’ve just had to eat. All fairly notorious aphrodisiacs where I come from.’

‘Oh. I’m awfully sorry to say I just thought they were... nice little snacky bits. And it’s probably invalidated by the fact that I was in a fairly frisky mood to begin with. What you want to do is, when we’re having lunch on an ordinary day and I’ve forgotten all about this conversation, suggest that I try something you think I’d like - then observe whether I get flustered. But that’s flawed too, because I don’t think anything would happen without some sort of stimulus, like touching my hand or making some loaded remark, and then I might just have the reaction that I would anyway. And I don’t think I believe in aphrodisiac foods anyway, because I once ate a dozen raw oysters and fell asleep immediately after.’

‘Only anecdotal evidence? I’d have expected you to be able to cite all the relevant research.’

‘I always take the view that what matters is that people think things like strawberries and champagne are aphrodisiacs, so they work by placebo effect. It’s all in the way you present it, the tone of your voice as you explain it, the look in your eyes - and hand-feeding doesn’t hurt.’

‘Then shall I hand-feed you strawberries?’

‘No, I’d far rather you went on groping and kissing me. That’s guaranteed effective, as long as I fancy you, which obviously, by now, I do.’

‘I hardly dared hope. You’ve given me so little encouragement.’

‘Less sarcasm and more kissing, thank you.’

‘Mmm... all right. But I’ll still be monitoring you for interesting reactions.’ A minute or two passed very pleasantly, until Julian grew a little impatient with Garak stroking no higher than his thigh, and pulled his hand up.

‘Here’s an interesting reaction. What do you make of it?’

‘If I remember my lesson, this reaction is the cavernous tissue growing engorged. Correct?’

‘Absolutely. I award you a gold star. Oooh... and do you remember the name for what you’re diddling there?’

‘Corona, of course.’

‘Of course... oh... want me to do yours?’

‘I’d like to concentrate on you for now.’

‘You have my full permission.’ Julian fumbled loose the button of his robe and pulled his arms free of its sleeves.

‘I might have wanted to undress you,’ Garak said, his tone faintly reproving.

‘I was too warm. Actually, I feel quite hot. Maybe your experiment’s working - something in that food makes me take my clothes off. Could take ages to narrow down what, though. Come here, gorgeous.’ He hitched himself closer, wrapping his arms around Garak’s shoulders, kissing him avidly.

‘Me? Really, my dear? That is encouraging.'

'Mm... hang on, is it affecting you?'

'Wouldn't you like to know.'

'Well, I quite would!'

'I do feel fairly... amorous, but that could equally be due to having you sprawled across my lap in a state of undress.'

'I hope so. I'd like to think I don't really need the help.'

'A boy like you seldom does.'

'Pfft.'

'Are you enjoying what I'm doing?'

'Very, very much.'

'I only ask because there's less gasping and wriggling around than previously.'

'I'm a bit more relaxed, that's all. No, I love what you're doing. I can wriggle and gasp if it helps.'

'I insist on only genuine wriggles and gasps. Which was that?'

'Just a deep breath. Will you - will you put it in your mouth? Please?' There was a little tremor of eagerness in his voice.

'Be patient.' Garak bent to kiss Julian's clavicle.

'I'd wriggle and gasp like anything then.'

'I can well believe it.' He kissed the place that he had bitten earlier, sealing his lips to the skin and kneading with his tongue.

'You're going to leave a mark.'

'Yes, I am. And another one next to it.'

'That's a bit mean...'

'You did say I could. I distinctly remember.'

'And I distinctly remember saying somewhere else.'

'So you did... but it's too late now.'

'Are you giving me a collar?'

'A necklace, if you prefer.'

'It can't show...'

'Not to worry. I'm very familiar with the line of your uniform.'

'This is another of those things I can't quite believe I'm letting you do.' Julian hung his head forward, letting Garak work around the back of his neck.

'I wonder if I can think of... a justification. Hmm. Well, I am very interested in the way you bruise.'

'That's a tiny bit creepy.'

'Your skin's so tender. It takes considerably more than this... to raise a bruise on me. And the colour really is so pretty.'

'If I regret this in the morning... oh, never mind.'

'That's right. This way... yes. Good boy. Nearly there.'

'This... this can't be a typical Cardassian thing, can it? Not with your necks.'

'This is something I've improvised just for you.'

'What do you do?'

'Bite off a scale.' He closed the loop and admired the effect.

'Ow. Sounds painful.'

'Depends... a newly grown, tender scale, yes, almost as bad as tearing a fingernail down at the quick. An older one close to being shed, only a little twinge. Depending on how kind or cruel a lover wishes to be, he can choose.'

'Now that's interesting. Show me the difference.'

'New scales here... old scales here, at the top of the ridge. I expect you noticed before that they have a little give in them.' He closed his eyes as Julian nibbled at him, testing the edge of a scale with his teeth. The twinge came, and he hissed softly.

'I'm sorry,' Julian said, 'it just came off - I must have loosened it - I didn't actually mean that yet.'

'Don't undo the good you just did, ninny.'

'What do I do with it now?' He picked the scale off his tongue and looked at it doubtfully.

'You mean, spit or swallow?'

'Ah, there's another underneath... ready to come in. Like a shark's teeth...'

'Am I like a shark?' Garak suppressed a shiver as Julian's fingertip probed the delicate new scale.

'Thank God, no. D'you mind if I keep this as a sample?'

'Not in the least. So you've decided to be the kindly lover?'

'Oh, I don't know. I might tweak out one of the little soft scales next.' Edge of fingernail under edge of scale, running from side to side, making him wince. 'You never know, do you?'

'I think I do, though. And no nails. It's done only with the mouth.'

'You know what else can be done with the mouth.'

'What a subtle hint. I suppose you have been quite patient.' Garak shifted himself back, stroking Julian's hips, lowering his head to kiss the tender glans.

'Thank you. Oh... ohh... that's just perfect.' Julian stretched out on his back with a soft grunt of contentment. 'I was starting to worry that you don't like giving head and were trying to put it off.'

'The only part I don't like is that I can't talk to you while I do it.'

'That... that's all right... I can do your part too. Oh, my dear doctor, your cock is just delicious! Don't pinch don't pinch. That's not what you'd say? Maybe... Julian, I worship your glorious prick? Oh, dear, don't choke.'

'I am trying not to laugh. Please don't say things like that.'

'It's just such a - ah! - perfect opportunity to put words in your mouth. Oh, I love your mouth! Your lovely, clever mouth...' He slipped his fingers into Garak's hair, stroking as he rose and fell. 'I... I think maybe... maybe once upon a time you were a little bit of a slut yourself. Is that why you're so good at this? Or... or no, I shouldn't assume... no, what I think is, this is part of your spy training, yes, you, you use your sexual wiles to, to, ooh, you see, I know your plan, you're thinking, first I'll suck the spunk out of him, then the secrets, Starfleet secrets, but it won't work, because I'm onto you... Garak, you shouldn't roll your eyes at someone while going down on him, I don't know if you know that. But I forgive you... because your tongue... ahh... oh fuck! yes! there! there! Aah!' His hips twitched and jerked, and Garak steadied him as he came.

'You are the most absurd young man it has ever been my pleasure to fuck,' Garak said, wiping his mouth. 'If I wanted to get secrets out of you, reducing you to babbling incoherence would not be the way I went about it.'

'Just my little bit of fun...' Julian stretched lazily. 'Oh... four times in one night... I am doing well...'

'You're less productive, though. I only got a taste that time; a little squirt.'

'That's normal. Look, you should be impressed by my stamina. This is well above average, I'll have you know. I'm - I'm quite special.' He struggled up into a sitting position, looking flushed and indignant.

'And what makes you so special, my dear?'

'I'm - I'm just gifted, all right? Who knows, maybe your sneaky aphrodisiac dinner helped.' Julian sat up straighter and reached out to try to smooth Garak's ruffled hair. 

'Which could just as easily have been loaded with some sort of truth serum if I were a spy,' Garak pointed out, angling his head to let Julian groom him better. 'I could have had all your security codes by now, and hmm, what else?'

'I'll never tell. There, you're all sleek and debonair again.'

'Like a spy, I suppose?'

'Like a sneaky, sexy spy. Kiss me and let me ruffle you up again.'

'I suspect you of spending a lot of time masturbating to spy stories in your adolescence.'

'Just kiss me. Mmm...' He slipped his hand into Garak's lap, disappointed to find that he was still all tucked away. He traced the central seam, two rows of small, smooth scales pressed closely together, wondering how to coax it open. 'Tell me about this, won't you?'

'I'm afraid I lack your technical vocabulary.'

'What do you call it?'

'Usually, my purse.'

'Ah, because it's where you keep something precious.'

'Well, and because it closes up like a purse. Snap.'

'What makes it open up? Say, if a doctor needs to examine you? You were halfway out when you first showed me. Then you pressed - here? No?'

'I have to want to open it up.'

'Well, if you do, you'll get it rubbed and licked and sucked, which I'd call a pretty good incentive. Mm?' Fingertips tracing up and down. 'Does this feel nice? Are you sensitive here?'

'Not very. It's protective. The sensitive bits are all inside.'

'Then please open it up so I can make you feel good. Ah! Something just shifted in there. I felt it.'

'You look so delighted. Tell me, do you consciously make your face light up like that?'

'Less about my face and more about your cock, the emergence of.' He flipped back the flap of the dressing gown to get a better look.

'Will you call it delicious and glorious?'

'Garak, if it gets you off I will call it the Mighty Cock of Destiny and swear that it tastes like ice-cream and sunshine.'

'You can't taste sunshine.'

'I can taste this, though.' Julian pushed himself back, getting onto his knees on the floor and nudging Garak's legs apart, pressing his lips to the seam in a wet, sliding kiss.

'Having just told you that it's not very sensitive... my dear, you can't actually use your tongue as a crowbar. That... that borders on ticklish.'

'Mmmm?' He gave his best beseeching gaze upward, sucking and fluttering his tongue, and was rewarded with a sudden yielding, a musky taste filling his mouth. He quickly slipped his tongue between the rows of scales, running it up and down the cleft, hoping that what worked on labia worked here too; though he couldn't quite imagine labia edged with tiny scales, unless that was what Cardassian women had. The inner surface felt wet, soft and slick, so rather labial there too, and the whole thing was beginning to feel a bit hermaphroditic. The thought flickered through his mind that he might be able to get his own penis in here, under or over or alongside Garak's, and would the suggestion be entirely offensive? It seemed too much to ask, at least unless or until they were much better acquainted.

'Oh... my dear... all right, I grant you, that's becoming... more of a pleasure.' Garak took a deep, slow breath in and out, caressing Julian's head, stroking back his hair and cupping the back. 'Ah... what a clever little tongue.'

'Delicious.'

'You don't have to say that.'

'I actually do like your taste, though.'

'Isn't that nice... I'd feel a little bad if you were just grimly ploughing through your revulsion.'

'Where are you in here... hmm?' Probing deeper, pressing mouth and nose into the cleft, finding the sheathed glans and flicking his tongue-tip against the soft foreskin. Garak inhaled sharply, his hips giving one little involuntary twitch, and Julian felt the glans surge forward against his tongue with a little thrill of achievement. 'Mmm... come out, come out, you lovely thing. You're not trying to hold it in, are you Garak? Don't do that... you might strain something.' Another little surge, and he could get his lips around it, could suck softly, feeling a very faint tremor in the muscle of Garak's thigh under his hand. Still sucking, he drew his head back a little, feeling absurdly like a bird trying to pull a worm from the ground. It seemed to be working, though; the foreskin was slipping back and the whole thing was coming forward and his mouth was filling with slippery wetness.

Garak's breathing had grown deep and ragged, a faint growl at the bottom of each exhalation.

'For someone who must be making it up as he goes along... you're doing well. My beautiful boy... really, you've never looked lovelier. Except perhaps while being fucked. Clearly, contact with my cock becomes you. Do you remember, dear, how I showed you to use your teeth? Oh... oh yes... don't be timid. That's... ahh...' He leaned back, rubbing Julian's still-damp hair, shudders of sharp pleasure rippling through him. Long steady fingertips probing into his purse, too, going where no well-bred Cardassian's would go, not a shameful orifice but a very secret one.

'Deeper... yes. Take me deeper. Tongue... round and round. Yes. Yes.  Teeth, now... oh, dear little doctor. This is a second vocation for you, isn't it?' Reluctantly, carefully, he pushed Julian's head back. 'Now, before I get too... too overwrought... would be a good time for us to decide where I'm going to come.'

'Anywhere you like. All over my face if you want.'

'Do you think you could cope with another time in the rear? I hesitate to ask, I do, because you're so new to it, but oh, how I'd love it.'

'I did say anywhere.'

'On the floor, then, please. On your back.' He lowered himself over Julian on his knees and elbows, pressing a deep, hungry kiss into his soft mouth, feeling him yield, the languid movement of his jaw, the surge of his tongue, hand on his wrist, sliding up his arm, stroking his shoulders, gripping the ridges tight and holding him, while those long slim legs lifted and wrapped around his hips. There it was, that confident, seductive manner he'd known Julian would find, but still silvered with uncertainty, newness.

'Like this?'

'Exactly.'

 

 

---

'This whole thing,' Julian mused, 'has been so massively unethical and unprofessional that, if he could, I think Hippocrates would personally smack my bottom.' He was lying atop Garak's body as he lay on his back in bed, as if a wave had washed him up there, his hands folded on Garak's chest and his chin resting on them. They were both, finally, entirely worn out, basking in their exhaustion and the delicate aches of tissues taken to the sharpest edge of their capacity for pleasure.

'A wasted effort, as you would only enjoy it, and probably urge him on.' Garak trailed his fingers up and down Julian's spine, taking care to stop short of the rug burn on his lower back. 'Unprofessional or not, I'm glad you finally made up your mind to seduce me. Took you long enough.'

'Oh. Yes.'

'That was your intention all along, wasn't it, doctor?'

'Absolutely. You walked right into it. Really, I'm a little ashamed to have taken advantage of you that way.'

'Still, I'm sure this evening's activities were of immeasurable scientific value, and that's some consolation. I don't feel too used.'

'True frontier medicine.'

'Do you feel heroic and exploratory?'

'A little bit. Mostly sleepy. Sleepy and warm.'

'Good night, dear doctor.'

'Mmnight.'