Warning: smooching between two men, yada yada yada.

Disclaimer: Garak and Bashir and DS9 belong to Paramount. I don't profit, I
just write for fun.

Summary: Heather's Holiday Challenge was issued, I took it. Julian shows
Garak the joys of Christmas.
 
 

"Garak!"

He blinked at the unaccustomed hail: Julian was practically yelling from
across the Promenade. The young human hurried to his shop, and burst in with
a huge grin on his face. Garak smiled back much more sedately. "Can I help
you, Doctor?"

"That depends. Are you interested in furthering the cause of our little
cultural exchange?" Julian's face still glowed, but his tone changed to
match Garak's.

"Always, my dear."

"There's a human holiday coming up: Christmas. Would you like to celebrate
it with me? Captain Sisko is giving all the Christians two days off, so we
can spend time with our families. Miles invited me to spend it with them,
but I'd rather spend it with you..." Julian's enthusiasm was beginning to
build in his voice again, but he paused to confirm, "If you don't mind?"

Garak chuckled affectionately. "As long as it doesn't involve anything too
unusual, I'm sure I would be happy to spend 'Christmas' with you."

Julian grinned and kissed him soundly. "Come to my quarters for dinner and
I'll tell you all about it."

~~~

"What do garishly decorated trees have to do with the birth of your god as a
mortal?"

Julian sighed. "Do you want a full history lesson, or do you want to learn
the story and the traditions?"

"I would like to know how the traditions grew out of the myth. It doesn't
seem very congruent."

They were on the couch, drinking wine and kanaar, after dinner and a
preliminary explanation of Christmas.

"That's because in order to convert the pagans that surrounded them, early
Christians appropriated many of the pagan traditions and festival times,
integrating them into their own celebrations. Tree decoration was originally
part of a celebration of the mystery cult of Cybele in Classical Rome..."
Julian sighed. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"Quite certain, my dear! This does sound fascinating: in attempting to
convert the pagans, the Christians were if fact themselves converted. Does
every festival you celebrate have its roots in paganism?"

"Yes, Garak, but that's not really the point!" Julian leaned his head on his
hands in frustration. Blocked temporarily from his view, Garak smiled
fondly. How lovely his face was when it was flushed with the heat of
argument, how passionate his voice as he pressed his point.

And surely he knew why Garak did this... "What is the point, doctor?"

"To spend time with the people you love, and celebrate life. To give of
yourself to them, let them know how important they are." Julian looked up.
"You know how much I love you, Elim. I want to spend Christmas showing you."

Garak smiled gently at him and moved closer. "When does Christmas start?"

"Christmas Eve is tomorrow night. I have... mmm... I have tomorrow and the
next day off." Julian's eyes shut as Garak nuzzled his throat. "Oh, Elim,
yes..." He wrapped his arms around Garak's neck, brushing his ridges. The
slim, hard body writhed and squirmed under the Cardassian as Garak laid him
back on the chesterfield.

"What will you give me as a Christmas present?" Garak whispered. Julian
moaned softly and began to open his tunic.

"Me."

Garak chuckled. "But Julian, my dear, I already *have* you! Don't I get
something else?"

Julian glared up at him, holding back a smile. "How about a text by John
Stofford on the history of the relationship between paganism and
Christianity, from the first century to the twenty-fourth?"

"It sounds like a rather lengthy treatise."

"It's five thousand pages contained in twelve paper volumes."

"Oh, my dear, that would be lovely. It would keep me occupied for at least a
week or two!" He planted a kiss on Julian's lips to stifle the sarcastic
comment that was obviously forthcoming. "How long did it take you to read?"

"Two months. But *I* was in medical school, you arrogant beast, so wipe that
look off your face!" Julian grinned suddenly and kissed him.

As they kissed Julian worked at the fastenings of Garak's tunic, taking it
off slowly, groaning at Garak's practised hands on his own body as his
uniform fell to the floor.

"Elim, let's go to bed."

"Ridiculous, my dear, we just had dinner!" Garak said cheerfully, squeezing
Julian's rear.

Julian growled. "Please!" he demanded through clenched teeth.

The Cardassian smiled down at him. "Since you ask so nicely..." He stood
smoothly, holding out a hand to the young human. "Shall we, my dear?"

Julian took his hand, his eyes shining. "Merry Christmas, Elim," he
whispered as he led him into the bedroom.

~~~

The End