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spacedogfromspaceSaving Lives One Fake Date at a Time
Trektober 2024
Jadzia drags Julian into her shenanigans.
Fandom(s): Star Trek DS9
Character(s): Julian Bashir, Jadzia Dax
Tags: Fake Dating
Rating: General Audiences
Content Warnings: Mention of Ritual Suicide
Word Count: 1482
Type: Oneshot, Standalone
Collection: Trektober 2024
Trektober Day 21
Prompt: "Fake Dating"
Julian Bashir was rather looking forward to his lunch break. He wasn't meeting anyone, but that suited him just fine. After the sheer amount of patients he had to see that morning— a Bolian freighter had come in looking worse for wear and nearly the entire crew had minor injuries for him to tend to—he was looking forward to some time alone. Just lunch by himself, with a book, in a quiet corner of the replimat. It sounded perfect.
Unfortunately, fate— or rather, Jadzia —had other plans for him that day.
"Julian!" Jadzia's voice called the second Julian stepped out of the infirmary.
Julian sighed, somehow sensing that he wasn't going to be getting that quiet lunch hour after all. But he put a pleasant smile on his face and turned to see what it was that Jadzia needed.
She closed the distance between them before he could react, throwing her arms around his neck and enthusiastically kissing him on the cheek. She pulled her head back to look at him, beaming.
"Uh, hello, Jadzia," Julian stammered awkwardly. His first thought was that Lwaxana must be back on the station with another case of Zanthi fever, and started to remove himself from Jadzia's grasp.
"Don't," Jadzia hissed through her teeth, still grinning at him. She leaned in, brushing her cheek against his in a nuzzle that did not rule out the Zanthi fever allegations, but positioned her mouth conveniently close to his ear. "Pretend like we're together," she whispered.
"What?" Julian asked, too loudly, and tried to push her back.
"Please? I'll explain later!"
Julian winced at how desperate she sounded. "Alright," he said, awkwardly returning her embrace.
Thankfully, Jadzia released him soon after, giving him a nod of gratitude. "I'm glad you're on time for lunch for once," she said, speaking a little louder than her usual. She linked her arm with his and started dragging him down the Promenade.
"Oh, um, yes," Julian answered, still bewildered at this turn of events. "Where would you like to go today, uh, my dear?" It came out stiff and fake.
"Try to act more natural," Jadzia said quietly.
"None of this is natural," he whispered back.
"I think I feel like going to Quark's today," Jadzia said, restoring her voice to her slightly louder than usual volume. "Is that okay?"
"Whatever you desire," Julian said amicably, still trying to puzzle out what could possibly be going on in Jadzia's life to require this.
They strolled down the Promenade together, with Jadzia much too close for Julian's liking. They went into a fairly deserted Quark's and sat across from each other at a table for two. Jadzia glanced around casually, but Julian could tell she was searching for something, or someone.
Jadzia put her elbow on the table and stretched her arm out towards Julian. "Hand," she ordered, gesturing with her fingers when Julian gave her a blank look. Looking around to see who might be watching, he slowly brought his arm up and placed his hand in Jadzia's, and let her entwine her fingers with his.
"Would you please tell me what's going on?" Julian asked, exasperated.
"In a minute," she told him, turning her head to smile at someone approaching. The lack of business meant that Quark himself was coming to take their order. He bustled up to their table with a PADD in hand, and glanced down at Julian and Jadzia's entangled hands.
He gave Jadzia a look. "Really, Jadzia? This nerd?"
"Hey," Julian protested, halfheartedly.
Jadzia stuck her tongue out at Quark.
Quark rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What'll it be?"
Jadzia ordered something, Julian wasn't sure what, as he wasn't particularly listening. His head was still buzzing in confusion, and the anticipation of getting let in on whatever the hell was happening was getting to him.
"And for you?" Quark asked him.
"Same as her," Julian said, just to get Quark to leave faster. As soon as Quark was out of earshot, Julian leaned in towards Jadzia. "Tell. Me," he hissed.
"Alright," Jadzia said, releasing Julian's hand so hers was free to punctuate her story. "So, you've heard about that Czenrathi freighter that's been docked here a few days for repairs, right?"
"Yes," Julian said, impatiently. As CMO, he was always made aware of uncommon alien species so he could prepare himself in the event that one of them needed medical attention.
"So I ended up hanging out with a few of them, and we ended up having a bit of a party in one of their quarters last night," Jadzia grinned. "Let me tell you, the Czenrathi really know how to throw a good party. I mean their taste in—"
"Jadzia," Julian said, cutting off a tangent. "Focus, please."
"Right. So I was having the time of my life with this one guy, Thorix? I thought we were becoming great friends. But then he proposed to me, drunk off his ass. And I'm drunk off my ass, in a panic, thinking, 'I can't marry this guy,' so—"
"So you lied and said you were already involved," Julian surmised. "Why couldn't you just say you weren't interested? Reject him like a normal person? Why drag me into it?"
"Well, if you didn't interrupt me you'd know that I did reject him like a normal person, Julian," Jadzia said, rolling her eyes.
"Ah, so he didn't take it well, then."
"Actually, he took it remarkably well," Jadzia said. "All things considered."
"What things considered?"
Jadzia grimaced. "Well, after that ordeal, I found out that in their culture it's customary and expected that in the event your marriage proposal is rejected, you ritually kill yourself."
"That's... a bit extreme," Julian said, trying to hide his shock. "Couldn't he be excused from that? He was under the influence, at the time."
"Well, no," Jadzia said. "Apparently not."
"So you accidentally sentenced a man to death."
"Yeah," Jadzia said. "But obviously I don't want anyone to die on my account, so I did some digging, and apparently if the person who you proposed to rejects you on the grounds of already being involved with someone else, then you don't have to kill yourself over it. And that's where you come in."
"Well, I suppose if I'm helping to save lives then this is worth all the trouble," Julian said flatly.
Jadzia's smile faltered. "Julian, I'm really sorry. I wouldn't have done this to you if it wasn't literally life or death. I realize that, considering your feelings, this might feel like a particularly cruel joke, and I'm so sorry."
Julian blinked at her. "Considering my..." He snorted. "Don't worry, Jadzia, I have long since given up on you. I mean, no offense..."
Jadzia raised her palms in a 'none taken' gesture.
"Trust me, if I'm upset about anything, it's that I was rather looking forward to having a nice quiet date with a book, until you hijacked my lunch hour."
Jadzia relaxed, and the smile returned to her face. "Well, if you really want I can leave you alone."
Julian shook his head. "No, no. We should keep up appearances for your Czenrathi. Would hate for someone to die because I was feeling a little anti-social."
"I suppose we can't have that."
There was a long pause in their conversation.
"You know," Julian said. "This whole thing would have been extremely painful for me if I still had feelings for you."
Jadzia groaned and put her face in her hands. "I know, I'm sorry."
"But I don't, so there's no need to be sorry," he said. "I just thought that now would be a good time to thank you."
"Thank me?" Jadzia squinted her eyes at him. "For what?"
"For steadfastly rejecting my ever obnoxious and stubborn pursuit of you."
"That's a weird thing to thank someone for," Jadzia said. "I thought you would have appreciated if I gave you a chance."
"Well, if you gave me that chance we might not have the friendship that we have now," Julian said. "I fell in love with you before I even got to know you, and now that I know you..."
Jadzia raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "And now you've realized I'm unlovable?" She asked.
"I didn't mean it like that," Julian said hastily. "It's just that now that I know you I realize how great of friends we are. And I would hate to have missed out on this just because I fell in love with a pretty face one time."
Jadzia grinned. "You think I'm pretty?" She teased.
"Absolutely gorgeous."
"Oh, stop it," Jadzia laughed. "But I'd hate to have missed out on this too. Thanks for being down to partake in my shenanigans."
"You're quite welcome," Julian said. "Just try to limit your shenanigans to something less harmless than rejecting a Czenrathi's marriage proposal, in the future."
"I'll give it my best."
Also, great!
Date: 5 Jan 2025 14:02 (UTC)