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“You want another one?”
Garak hums deeply and thinks about cracking open an eyelid.
Instead, he doesn’t need to, Julian holds the chocolate to his mouth without really waiting for an answer and Garak eats it contentedly.
“You know, chocolate goes great with a whole bunch of things, you should try some of the combinations humanity has put together- of course we’d have to check none of them had any potential side effects for you- there might even be some beneficial ones! I wonder how ginger would interact with your system- if I replic-
“Doctor” Garak intones lowly, slowly, “I believe we agreed this would be a quiet activity for the pair of us”
“Just because you slow down when you’re digesting and cosy-
“I was under the impression that Humans had that particular metabolic trait as well”
“Well yes but nowhere near to the extent that rept- well I mean, Cardassian-
“Call me a reptile again, I dare you”
“Oh, you couldn’t follow through on any threat right now, you’re too”, Julian wriggled closer and wrapped his arms tighter around Garak’s middle, “comfortable”
Garak did indeed follow through, albeit merely upon cracking open the eyelid he had considered earlier.
The doctor sounded far too smug for someone who also allegedly enjoyed post-dinner cuddling time.
In fact, he had been the one to suggest it in the first place.
When he put together that the stations temperature controls made it impossible for Garak’s body to absorb adequate nutrients and vitamins from his food- how the doctor had known was still eluding Garak and he refused to entertain that it was anything to do with knowledge of so-called Earth reptiles, he was of course much more refined a creature.
Yawning, he moves closer to the Doctor, shifting so the heat mat along the back of the sofa presses against the base and tip of his tail.
His front is lucky enough to have Julian wrapped around it, torso to torso.
If his mouth is perfectly in line with the doctor’s neck, it is pure, lucky coincidence that he’s so well positioned to give him a warning nip.
“Naughty lizard”
Garak nips him again.
Some people only learn through negative reinforcement.
Guls-know it’s how Garak made it into anything resembling the skilled operative he is today
…Perhaps not today…he muses.
He’s much too soft in his exile, but, then again, there are rewards to his current state he thinks, upon hearing Julian rustle about in the packet of Delavian chocolates again.
Sweet, chewy bliss unfolds on his tongue as Julian passes him another three chocolates, one after the other.
“There, will you settle down now?”
“Me? You were the one who disturbed the peace my dear”
“Oh, please forgive me for the heinous crime of trying to make sure you receive adequate nutrition”
Garak curls his tail around Julian’s warm ankle affectionately.
“Although…nutritionally speaking, I am probably feeding you too many of these”
Garak does not let the dismayed noise he wants to make at that statement loose.
Julian takes his silence the wrong way, an unfortunate side effect of being such a chronic bearer of foot-in-mouth syndrome.
“I mean nutri- purely nutrition-wise, nothing to do with BMI, you’re a lovely shape – I’m talking about your vitamin balance and the like, your scales have been so shiny lately it would be a tremendous shame to have them dull as a result of too much theobromine, although the psychoactive substances and consequent dopamine release is definitely hel-
“Doctor…” Garak sighed
“At risk of repeating myself, the only effect of your incessant babbling at present is some rather soothing vibrations – if you must talk, realise I am decidedly not listening. This is your allocated time as my basking rock as you so charmingly put it last Wednesday”
Julian pauses, snickers and at a complete contradiction to his previous statement feeds Garak another several chocolates.
He’s actually quiet for long enough that Garak does begin to doze off again.
Alas, no heaven is permanent for mortals.
“Elim?” He whispers, stroking his hair.
Garak sighs.
“D’you want some more of the Zabu stew? I’m thinking it probably needs to be disposed of if either of us isn’t going to have any more and there’s two portions left it seems a waste…”
Garak considers.
He’s still full certainly there’s no real need for him to consume any more food, definitely nothing as rich as the stew the Doctor has so lovingly recreated using a traditional Cardassian recipe.
Especially when he’s already had more than might be dignified.
Pressed into having seconds and now thirds by Julian.
But it’s precisely that sort of effort and attentiveness that leaves Garak feeling so…well, unfortunately there is no other word for it than cared for.
It makes his scales crawl at such glaring weakness but it’s a pleasant sort of crawling.
He shakes his head at himself, evidently his body is putting its resources towards metabolic pursuits rather than eloquence right now, which is the point of this exercise, he supposes.
“Darling?” Julian prompts
“That would be delightful my dear Doctor, if not terribly self-indulgent of me, I have no hope of ever reclaiming the trim figure of my youth at this rate”
“And you don’t want to anyway, didn’t you tell me once that, ah, sturdier figures were a desired feature on Cardassia? Not that it matters, I’m your partner anyway and I think you have many desirable features, that you’ve filled out some since I first met you is definitely near the top of the list” Julian presses his own sharp hipbones into the giving curve of Garak’s belly, then evidently not satisfied unwraps an arm and slides it under Garak’s shirt.
“Surely, I cut a better picture with a more svelte waistline, after-all you seemed quite, hm, taken when we first met at the…replimat” It’s a little hard to concentrate with the gorgeously warm hand stroking the micro-scaling on his stomach.
The doctor has an unhealthy obsession with that part of him, he decides.
But who is he to stand in the way of personal preference, especially when it makes such lovely circular motions with that professionally practised perfect amount of pressure?
He feels himself beginning to purr and is rudely snapped out of it when Julian’s hand pinches his fleshy flank then brusquely pats his stomach.
“C’mon then, no going back to sleep- I promise I’ll let you rest properly afterwards, I’ll butter some more of that bread too, I might have a little jam sandwich come to think of it” He chatters as he begins to sit up.
For the second time in half an hour, Garak supresses a plaintive whine.
His heat source is abandoning him.
“Anyhow, yes you had a different sort of beauty to you when we first met. It was mainly your eyes that, ah, captured me so-to-speak. You actually, I mean, I at least thought you looked a little…gaunt isn’t the right word but you didn’t look healthy that’s for sure- obviously the wire was-
“Hmph yes well doctor the past is the past” Garak still doesn’t like to discuss the wire.
He has a revolving door of reasons but Julian doesn’t ever tend to make him justify unless they are truly arguing.
He sits up on the sofa, feeling drowsy as Julian clatters about the kitchen.
After a moment of debate he folds his legs under himself and pushes his bare feet against the heat mat, whilst it would be proper to go to the dining table the thought of moving is an unsavoury one.
Instead, he helps himself to a couple more chocolates where the bag lies on the sofa arm.
“Catch, Doctor” He quips, and whilst he isn’t surprised, he remains impressed when Julian easily intercepts the small chocolate he had tossed his way.
He wasn’t even looking, the bastard.
“You’re going to ruin my appetite now” he scolds, eating it anyway, “mmm”
“I fear nothing could ever put a dent in that monstrous metabolism of yours Doctor”
“It’s a good job I’m skilled up on supplement development is it not then, Garak, for both our sakes”
Despite saying there were two portions left of the stew, Julian brings over only one bowl and deposits it in Garak’s lap before returning to the kitchen and collecting one plate with buttered bread and another with Ikri buns.
He collapses back on the sofa, with a little less gusto than his usual bouncing demeanour, obviously mindful of Garak’s rather full bowl.
“Ahh, perfect” He sighs as he bites into his sandwich, “I was really craving something jammy, you know”
Garak raises an orbital ridge and dutifully eats his food.
Julian doesn’t seem to need an answer, instead humming and placing a chocolate inside his sandwich.
The delightfully warm bread garak had just been dipping into his bowl meets it’s untimely end there as he gapes in disbelief.
“WHAT are you doing?” He asks, aghast, as Julian hums again, nods to himself and adds more chocolates to his sandwich
He frowns at Garak.
“I told you, chocolate goes excellently with a variety of foods, here I’ll push one into an Ikri bun for you-
“You will do no sssuch thing!”
The doctor has the audacity to laugh as Garak stares at him in horror.
“Eat your soup Elim, it’ll be getting cold- I thought you would like them with the Ikri buns, honestly but never mind, I promise I’ll leave some untouched for you”
“That isn’t what I’m concerned about, well maybe a little”, he allows at the amused glance Julian sends his way, “Anyhow, it’s irrelevant, I am far too full as it is- you will have to torture me with absssurd flavour combinations tomorrow instead”
“You’ll finish your food won’t you, it’s good for you, the protein in the-
Garak yawns quietly and surreptitiously, he still has manners after all, even if his dear doctor insists on shoving chocolate in sandwiches of all things, and at the table no less.
He’s aware his affronted sensibilities are no-where near as fully verbally developed as he would like them to be but really his stomach is warm and full, a comforting weight against his lap, a slight stretch is making itself known at the crest and sides but it is one associated with a good meal, or several, of indulgence.
The saltiness of the stew is welcome after the sweetness of the chocolates so he appeases his palette thus under Julian’s watchful eye.
“Really Doctor it is little wonder I have put on all thiss weight, you feed me as if I were ssstarving” He’s pleased his sentence comes out in order, never mind the sibilance, he really is quite sleepy now.
Julian flushes, Garak promises himself to look into that later and instead drinks the last of the stew with satisfaction.
“I-I, well, Cardassians best absorb energy in the opposite way to humans really- you benefit from large periods of consumption followed by long periods of rest- like a food coma, as- as we humans would call it” He seems to become aware of Garak’s half-lidded glare.
“It’s not offensive- it’s true!”
“And you really believe the two to be mutually exclusssive?”, he sighs as he is handed the last slice of bread, “My dear Ch’ulian, how…naïve”
“Are you really denying that the last few weeks have worked magic on your overall energy levels?”
Garak narrows his eyes further.
“And that you are not in fact, doing exactly what I am describing right now?” Julian continues with a smug, if not endearing smile.
Garak supposes he can’t deny the doctor a feeling of victory.
Especially seeing as he is returning to his original position and pulling Garak on top of him so he can absorb both heat sources again.
He thinks of the soup bowl a moment too late then frowns when he realises Julian has already placed it on the floor for him.
Adding it to the list of things to be concerned with later, Garak accepts that the food coma Julian has tried so hard to implement is upon him, just like it has been most evenings since the Doctor had what he termed his “medical breakthrough regarding Garak’s chronic fatigue”.
Well, it seems bizarre to fight fatigue with fatigue but whatever the case it seems to be working.
He won’t admit it to Julian’s face but he is right.
The pest can’t help himself, however, and has to make one more amused comment at Garak’s expense, oh how he loves him for it.
“You don’t want another chocolate then?” He murmurs roguishly
Garak growls and after a moment opens his mouth.
Julian moves beneath him as he chuckles and moves to oblige him
“Greedy lizard” he whispers affectionately
Garak nips him.
“My greedy lizard” Julian amends
And then his hands are on his belly again, warm firm pressure gliding through hypnotic figure of eight motions and Garak is out in a matter of seconds.
“Good night darling” Julian smiles, closing his own eyes.