Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
like this one’s for sure shipping goggles but it’s SO funny to imagine that “not so boyish anymore, doctor” is literally just a blatant come-on because they either just hooked up recently for the first time, or julian did something exceptionally slutty. like the whole scene is garak doing Cardassian style flirting, coming on STRONG, literally just whore behavior, and when julian finally breaks and flirts back like a human, which is their thing because something something cultural exchanges, garak brushes up against him, says something else snarky, and then dips. he absolutely got railed for hours in a state-honoring way that night.
god its just,,,, do you ever think about how the level of intimacy that garak and julian have by the end of the show is so intense. even if you take canon depiction VERY seriously and assume they didn’t have many offscreen interactions that were substantially different from what we see onscreen, and that they seemed to grow apart in the last two seasons, they are just!!!! like, they obviously desire each other Sexually ™ but there’s a point at which it doesn’t feel like sex would actually be much of an upgrade intimacy-wise. they are so close. they are already physically comfortable being in each other’s space. and of course there’s “by inferno’s light” but i can’t get into that again or i’ll go feral. but like, the way they are just? so? connected????
When I read on the wiki that Andrew Robinson played Garak as attracted to Bashir but then toned it down after s2 because the writers weren’t on board I was pissed, but I’m over halfway through season 3 and this sure as HELL doesn’t seem toned down to me.
My headcanon for that is that the not-high!Garak just got a little bit subtler in his flirting, but at that time Bashir was very much Into That.
don’t make me go on a rant about how i just realized their scene in the SEASON SIX PREMIERE is obvious foreplay in an existing sexual relationship because i will do it again
basically i think it adds a really fun “repressed longing” dynamic to their postcanon relationship if they never fucked during the show but the more i look at the material we’re given, it is almost inconceivable that they didn’t. top contenders for the breaking point in chronological order:
past prologue. basically, garak cruised him in the replimat and it worked. they are casual FWB for a while until their friendship deepens. i think this is the least likely, although there’s a compelling argument to be made that julian is not nearly startled enough when he wakes up to garak in his quarters in “cardassians.” i think that’s just down to his personality, he’s a doctor and deals with weird shit and people acting out of pocket all the time. it’s advantageous for him to stay calm and not get rattled until he gathers all the information.
after the wire, obviously (“i’ll help you through your withdrawals” with what, gay sex? ok)
after civil defense, obviously (twink boutta pounce! garak is visibly surprised by julian’s outrageous flirting in front of all his coworkers, so i think you can mark this as possibly the moment garak realizes that julian actually has a genuine sexual interest in him and he’s not just playing around - plus he doesn’t care who knows. plus they almost died together. trauma bonding baybeeee)
after our man bashir, obviously (dark!julian in that episode which is exactly the point, garak is openly horny for him whenever he is being cold and exacting)
after camp 371, obviously (this is the point at which it becomes less and less feasible that they HAVEN’T fucked).
offscreen in “dr. bashir, i presume” between julian being outed and starfleet deciding to let him stay. he thought his life as he knew it was over. don’t tell me he didn’t show up with a bottle of kanar at garak’s door
before their interaction in “a time to stand.” garak literally orchestrates a booty call to a deserted storage room in the defiant so they can lean up on each other and purr insults. are you fucking kidding me
rocks and shoals. at some point after they’re all reunited and waiting for the rescue signal to reach someone. bet they “went to get more firewood” or something
on the defiant during the rest of the “retaking the station” arc. they’re for sure rooming together. don’t tell me they’re not.
thank you for coming to my TED talk
Anonymous:
Garak how were you at dealing with Julian being gone for like a month curing that quickening plague?
THIS IS LITERALLY HOW THE SCENE ENDS. I THOUGHT I REMEMBERED GARAK LEAVING THE ROOM BUT HE HAS TO STILL BE IN THERE BECAUSE ANY EXITS WE KNOW ABOUT ARE VISIBLE BEHIND JULIAN. THE ONLY STUFF TO THE RIGHT OF FRAME RIGHT NOW IS A REPLICATOR AND SOME MEDICAL SHIT
I love a reading of Julian and Garak’s relationship, especially in the later seasons, as two people who silently understand the depth and nature of their connection but intentionally choose not to nurture it because they place their duty to their homeworlds and fellow soldiers over the possibility of a romantic relationship. The post-canon potential for Garak to believe that his relationship with Julian will never be redeemed or resolved and he just has to make peace with that and peace with dedicating the rest of his life to restoring the soul of Cardassia and finding beauty if not some degree in solace in that he came so close to having someone as good as Julian.
Whereas on the other hand Julian would land on Cardassia with a 10/10 “welcome to Jackass” energy 12-18 months after the end of the war because he failed a Starfleet psych eval and has reached critical levels of “fuck it” and arrives on Garak’s doorstep and Garak is immediately livid because they had an understanding and he was healing and learning to let go and instead the beautiful boy has roundhouse kicked that door back open and he needs to learn about healthy communication and how to be in a relationship now.
