i will never get over how garak likes julian for his talking and excited curiosity, and how julian accepts garak as he is, lies, secrets, and all. like that shit fucked me up.
And meanwhile other people are annoyed by Julian and deeply suspicious of Garak. As is not inappropriate. But they like one another.
I am a total sucker for Garashir lit-fic (this is a sub-genre) and for any and all Garashir by @tinsnip, so of course I love this one. Here we have Julian, left to his own devices, discovering a book Garak as “accidentally” left out. He goes to investigate and, hmm, practice his Cardassian. Let’s just say the book contains a message.
Excerpt
He traces a finger along the top of the page, where Garak’s hands have worn the edge to thinness, where the corner of the page is bent. That’s something: it’s actually, purposefully bent. It’s a bit sacrilegious for Garak to treat a book that way. For a Cardassian without deity or religion (or so he claims), Garak’s books are very nearly holy artifacts.
Over the page his finger moves, circling around the block of text sitting in the middle. It’s not very complex, actually. That’s a nice surprise. God knows the average page of Cardassian text looks a bit like a circulatory system pulsing away on the page, defying his hesitant eye. Hardly something I want to unravel…
But this he can follow. It starts… here.
He sounds it out to himself, alone in the house.
“Way… the way, all right, a specific way… The way your… lover? To… embrace? Or kiss. Probably kiss.”
He stops there, realizing what he’s saying, then smiles and speaks to empty air.
“Garak, you’re a fraud.”
Metadata
Title: The Taste of Fruit
Author: tinsnip
Year Posted: 2014
Approx. Word Count: 1,400
Chapters: 1
GB - Slash or Platonic: Slash
My Rating (1-5): 5
Keywords: Poetry, Literature, Language, Romance, Post-Canon Cardassia
It’s only with the greatest restraint that I refrained from posting this straight away when I started this blog, but as with all my favorite favorites, I made myself hold off until I had a couple hundred followers (over 300 now!). I did this despite knowing that this particular story is pretty legendary in DS9 fic / Garashir circles, because it is SO good and hits all the right notes. I love it. Love Julian’s relationship with the old doctor in the clinic, love how he’s so unsure, love Garak not saying anything outright but being an outrageous tease, and love the way it all ends. I bow to you, thehoyden.
I also love the podfic of this fic – recommend it. The fic has also been translated into Chinese and Spanish (links on the AO3 page).
Excerpt*
* I’m so tempted to put in 3-4, but just go read it :)
“Computer, record message,” Julian said, rubbing his eyes a bit. “Hello Garak, I’m alive, although I suspect you’ve already independently verified that fact. Our relay got scrambled in the storms last week, so I didn’t receive your messages until just now. Kevna and I paid the repair person in ration bars and kanar, so I’m only too glad to hear that actual food might be available to the population in the future, courtesy of the new water treatment plant.”
He paused to collect his thoughts. In the first messages he sent to Garak, he’d aimed for a sort of perfected oral report – but as weeks went on, he stopped thinking about how he must look and just talked about what was on his mind.
“The new antiviral seems to be doing the trick – combined with the prospect of clean water in the future, I think we can forecast some stability in the region. The loss of life has been appalling, even on this continent – but I see things on the street everyday that seem encouraging.”
Julian stopped again. He really was exhausted, but he didn’t want to let Garak’s blatant flirtation go unanswered. If he really thought about it, they’d been teetering on this edge for too many years to count – and he’d never really told Garak why he came to Cardassia.
“I hope you’ll have fun making up an appropriate title – I intend to stay on Cardassia for the foreseeable future.” He took a deep breath, and smiled just a bit. “But I hope that we won’t spend all of that time on separate continents. Someone has to look out for my fashion faux pas, after all, and I certainly don’t trust anyone with my inseam but you. Good night.”
He worried for a moment that he hadn’t sounded seductive, that he’d merely sounded foolish and that there was no way that Garak had finally drawn a line in the sand and jumped over it. He played the first message again, and concluded that if Garak was going to look at him like that, like he wanted to lean over his desk and pull Julian out of his chair, a little return flirtation was definitely in order.
But it was late, and he had rounds to make tomorrow. He dragged himself over to his cot and was asleep almost immediately.
Metadata
Title: Letters from the Northern Continent
Author: thehoyden
Year Posted: 2010
Approx. Word Count: 8,000
Chapters: 1
GB - Slash or Platonic: Slash
My Rating (1-5): 5
Keywords: Post-Canon Cardassia, Epistolary, Courtship, Romance, Smut, Cross-Cultural, Flirting, Literary Discussion
Here be smut. Porn without plot. At length. (Did I say length? Nuk nuk.) Anyway, yeah, so I’ve shared lots of high-minded stuff, domestic fluff, angst, mysteries, hurt-comfort, but not so much PWP smut. So this is a change of pace. The basic premise, as it were, is that Dr. Bashir convinces Garak he’s collecting data for a “comparative anatomy” book and needs data on Cardassian “business.” And just like in any porn, things get kinky fairly quickly.
Excerpt
‘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?’
Metadata
Title: Comparative Anatomy
Author: airandangels
Year Posted: 2011
Approx. Word Count: 19,000
Chapters: 1
GB - Slash or Platonic: Slash
My Rating (1-5): 3
Keywords: PWP, First-Time, Smut
This oneeeeeeee~~~~~
Deep space nine, everything is the same except Weyoun is a cat.
He lives to knock Damar’s kanar over.
… fancomics are so much fun to make. Did I mention that I’d be interested in collab-ing on some, if people wanted to write drabbles for me to adapt?
Seriously, if you have an idea for a fun, short scene? Drop me a note sometime. I can’t guarantee (as always), buuut. :D
Oh. Em. GEE.
deepintheshadyglen
Information for Gyakuten Kenji (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth) from Tokyo Game Show 2008.
Nintendo Power
Issue 236, Page 50
