writertobridge:

YES AN EXCUSE TO FINALLY PUT AN ARBORETUM ON DS9. I mean what.

Enjoying The Moment

Ever since Chief O’Brien mentioned building Keiko an arboretum on the station, the thought hadn’t left Julian’s mind. He’d talked the Chief out of it, sure, but the more Julian thought about it, the more he was convinced that an arboretum would be a fantastic addiction to the station. It would be a great place for many people to escape to, especially ones that didn’t enjoy the holosuite.

Julian brought the idea up to Kira first. Although she was somewhat leery of Julian’s ideas and he knew it, her face immediately lit up at the suggestion. She spouted off a list of flowers that would be fantastic on the station and even considered a few options for gardeners, one of which actually owned a flower shop on the station.

After that successful meeting, he brought the idea up with Chief O’Brien again. The Chief protested at first, but after telling of Kira’s enthusiasm and insisting the pros of having the arboretum on-board, O’Brien relented and fished out the old arboretum drafts.

They both took the drafts to Commander Sisko. It only took the Commander five minutes to say “yes”.

A few Bajoran workers took three days to clean out the storage space. O’Brien helped when he could and Julian, in his office hours, ran over to help as well. It cut his time with Garak, who protested about the matter after the first night. Julian insisted he’d make it up to him once the arboretum was finished. He even suggested that Garak help, but the Cardassian was less than thrilled about that prospect. Julian was disappointed, but let it slide.

Four days after the storage unit was cleared, Julian found himself alone in the arboretum planting some of the flowers that the Bajorans brought from their planet. There weren’t many left, so Julian thought he would surprise the small team of Bajorans by finishing the work while they slept. He didn’t mind living of Raktajinos for one day. He did it plenty of times before and the delight at the finished work would make the tired work day worth it.

He shoveled out some of the dirt, set the hand shovel aside, and placed a red Bajoran flower where the dirt had once been. It looked pretty lined up with the other reds and pinks that filled that section of the arboretum. He then shifted the dirt over, ensuring the flower base was covered completely before moving onto the next plant. He did this with a number of flowers, some small bushes, and a rather tiny tree, no doubt in it’s infancy. He moved onto a section of blue flowers to continue the process. He shoved some dirt aside, placed one flower in the soil, and began to cover it up.

“Really, my dear, you garden as quickly as you eat.”

Julian jumped and nearly screamed. His eyes flicked over to the door where Garak stood. The Cardassian was wearing a rather plain brown top and some blue trousers, neither of which Julian had seen before.

“You really should take your time with such things,” Garak said as he crossed the room, “How else will you be able to appreciate the process?”

“I just want to get this done,” Julian answered as Garak walked behind him. Julian reached for the hand shovel and took his eyes off his Cardassian partner. He felt Garak’s eyes on him as he shoved aside dirt, picked up a blue Bajoran lily, and placed it into the freshly dug hole. Just as he was about to cover up the roots, two cooled, Cardassian hands covered the tops of his own human ones. The thumbs rolled against the outer edge of his palms as the fingers guided gently against his own.

“Take your time,” Garak whispered, his breath warm against his ear, “You’ll appreciate the process more, my dear.”

Julian hesitated. Then his hands started moving again, slowly, delicately. Garak’s hands moved with his own as if they were a piece of him. They never hindered, never resisted, only felt the guide of his gentle pace.

Two more blue flowers were planted this way before little kisses brushed against his ear. The first came when the third flower was in the ground, the second when the forth flower was picked up, the third when the roots of the forth were covered, the forth when the next flowers was picked up. Soon the kisses were only spaced apart by seconds and they shifted down Julian’s earlobe, crossed over his jaw, and trailed against the side of his neck. There were only three plants left but the more kisses he received, the more focus Julian lost. As his the third to last flower was placed in the ground, a small nibble nipped at his jawline. He gasped and rolled his head back. He felt Garak’s lips ghost back over his earlobe.

“No, no, my dear,” Garak said, “You wanted to finish the garden, remember? Don’t stop on my account.”

Julian groaned and let his head fall forward again. He almost glared at the remaining flowers as the kisses resumed. Luckily, they started back on his earlobe. He could manage that. His slightly shaky hands covered the just planted roots before he started digging another hole. His pace sped up. Garak’s fingers wrapped around his wrists and started restricting his faster movements. He still could move enough to plant the second to last flower and cover it up, but the pace he was forced to was agonizingly slow. It only became more so when those damn kisses moved down his neck again.

At that forcibly slowed pace, Julian dug the last hole and placed the last flower inside. As he was about the cover the dirt over, Garak’s hands clasped tightly around his wrists and held them in place, just out of reach of the green stem. The kisses stayed at the same pace, but nibbles intermingled with each one. Julian moaned. His eyes tilted back and he squirmed.

“G-Garak, you’re not being fair,” he said. It almost came out as a whimper.

“You should know by now that I don’t always do fair, my dear,” Garak whispered between nibbles. They moved back up to Julian’s jawline. Julian moaned again.

“But once I’m done, we can take this back to your quarters,” Julian said, attempting to wrangle what little clarity he still had.

“Ah, but I’m enjoying the moment, my dear.” A gentle bite nipped at the skin just above Julian’s carotid artery. “Aren’t you?”

Julian shivered and whimpered. He couldn’t help it. After a second, Garak’s grip finally eased. Julian used what little sanity he had left to cover up the roots of the remaining flower. Then he twisted around in Garak’s arms and glared at the man’s face with playful intent.

“This is revenge, isn’t it?” Julian asked, “For putting you off this week to finish this?”

“Perhaps,” Garak said. His arms snaked around Julian’s waist and pulled him close. “And there is a possibility that I’m not quite done either.”

The grin that spread across Garak’s face could’ve scared another man but Julian knew what motivated it. He didn’t shy away from the man’s lips. He kissed them instead.