Icon from a picrew by grgikau. 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.
[Art of Julian Bashir and Elim Garak dancing. They are wearing formal clothes and looking intensely into each other’s eyes. The colors are blue, black, and white. Text: “Especially the lies.”]
okay but like. how often do they eat lunch together?
simple enough question. fanon suggests anything from once a week to every day. in the wire julian says they’ve been having lunch together “once a week for over a year now,” but of course that’s quite early in their friendship. it’s not absurd to think they might have upped those rookie numbers at some point, but i assumed there wasn’t really any canonical support for it - just a fun concept like the idea of them having movie nights or drinks in each other’s quarters.
but!
okay okay this is all still speculative matpat level stuff. but indulge me! in this draft of the script for civil defense, there’s a hilarious bit where Garak flirtatiously asks dax to have breakfast with him. offhandedly, he says “my lunch calendar is full.”
obviously this is just a cheeky reference to the standing julian lunch date we all know about, but full? really? does he only take a lunch break once a week? is he having lunches with someone else? or do he and julian have more frequent lunch dates now?
okay fine whatever it’s a cut line. but then im thinking about simulation!garak saying “lunch hasn’t been the same without you.” which. (okay bear with me, im going to be talking about their simulated “return to the station” in “the search” as if it’s real because to Julian at his point it is, and the simulated Garak is saying what he thinks/wishes the real Garak would say to him when he comes back.)
“lunch hasn’t been the same without you.” not “lunch wasn’t the same without you.” the wording implies several missed lunches, right? so how long were they gone? when the jem'hadar attack the defiant, everyone is still getting acclimated to their cabins, bitching about the coffee, etc so they likely haven’t been there a full day. cut to sisko saying it’s been six days since the attack, then they “return” without much further passage of time implied.
your honor,,,, garashir lunches are happening multiple times per week. THIS IS REAL TO ME. the stakes have never been lower but i will die on this hill
Miles: We need to find Quark and stop him before Odo finds out. Who do we know other than Odo who has handcuffs? Garak: Well Julian and I- Julian: *elbows Garak* Garak: …wouldn’t know.
Ngl, I am really enamored with this concept that here Garak has been lamenting what a monster he is and how he can only hurt people and maybe he tells himself he’s just dazzling beautiful naive Julian with all his lies and expertise so he can use him for his own gains but really deep down he knows he’s in love with him but it can never be and it’s all so tragic and Shakespearean and then here this whole goddamn time… Julian was this master liar with superpowers who could have easily picked him up by the scruff of his neck like a kitten until he calmed down. Gives me a sensible chuckle every time I think of it.
