Quark watched Major Kira toss down her drink without tasting it and stalk out of the bar.  He shook his head in disapproval. Anyone who drank so much yet got so little out of a drink shouldn't be drinking in the first place.  It was a foolish waste of liquor and latinum and offended his sensibilities both as a barkeeper and as a Ferengi.

Over in their usual alcove, Chief O'Brien and Dr. Bashir were playing an enthusiastic game of darts.  Now there were customers who got the most out of a glass of synthale!  They were working on their third round and would probably stretch the game out for at least two more "pints." Quark smiled benevolently.  That was much more like it.

He polished the bar absently as he checked the chronometer display under it:  24:40 already.  He tossed the rag away and gestured to Gilp to take over.  He didn't want to be late tonight.  It was Wednesday, and, as usual, he had an appointment.

He paused just long enough to slide a data crystal into his pocket.  It was a collection of Tevassian wind-harp concertos, just in, and perfect for his appointment.  He glanced at his reflection in the bar mirror, ran his tongue over his pointy teeth, adjusted his lapels a trifle, and hurried out of the bar.

He entered his quarters and grinned in satisfaction.  At least he was the first one there this time.  He slid the crystal into the computer.

"Computer, begin playing new audio recording, background level two."

Ethereal music softly filled the room, like raindrops sighing through crystal branches.

"Computer, dim lights to forty percent."

The room was cast in velvet shadows.  Quark nodded to himself, then went in to take a quick sonic shower.  He had just finished and slipped into a robe of thick silk when a low chuckle came from behind him.

"Ahead of time for once, hmm?" a voice said softly.

Quark turned around with a welcoming smile.  "I hate being nagged.  And last time, when I was late - through no fault of my own! - you nagged!"  He held out both hands and drew his guest into an embrace.

He was unprepared for the rush of emotion that welled up within him as he held and was held in turn.  "No one saw you come in?" he asked inanely.

That beautiful low chuckle answered him.  "Of course not!"

Quark tightened his grip a bit, then, to cover his confusion, asked, "Do you like the music?"

"It's beautiful," came the quiet reply.  "Who did you swindle it from?" was added in a teasing tone.

"Hey! I thought we agreed: no business!" Quark mock-protested.  He felt a delicate touch move from his shoulders up the back of his neck and around to his ears.

"You're right.  And there are better ways to spend our time, aren't there?"  The touch was tracing arabesques all over his lobes, and Quark thought he just might faint from the waves of bliss coursing through
him.

"Come here, you!" he growled playfully, drawing his visitor with him into the bedroom.  His lobes were nearly afire, and he barely managed to gasp, "Computer! Cancel lights!" before he and his lover toppled into the bed.

The twilight was replaced with a starless, moonless midnight.  Quark shrugged out of his robe and felt his lover toss it away. Their bodies came together in a rush of heat and sensation, their hands and lips exploring one another with increasing urgency.  An impetuous nip was repaid by a stinging lash across his buttocks, and Quark moaned in passion.

That maddeningly delicate touch massaged his lobes, then grew more intense and began duplicating the effort in regions farther south. Quark's own hands caressed his lover with aching need, drawing their bodies ever closer together.  His lobes and his loins were pulsing with desire.

"Oh, gods! Don't stop! Don't stop!" he gasped raggedly. Every nerve ending was throbbing in time to his heartbeat, accelerating wildly as his passion mounted higher and higher.  His eyes rolled back in his head and his entire body spasmed uncontrollably, as his lover gave an inarticulate, shuddering cry and collapsed against him.

For an immeasurable moment, every sense was overloaded by the magnitude of his release.  When his thoughts were once again marginally coherent, Quark sighed deeply.

"That was...phenomenal.  I love you, you know," he said quietly.

A long sigh answered him. "I suppose I love you, too."

Quark dropped a gentle kiss on his supine lover, turned onto his side, snuggled close, and went to sleep.

He woke and blinked blearily at the darkness.

"Computer, time?" he muttered.

"It is 04:21," came the automated reply.

"You could have just asked me," a quiet voice said from beside him.

"I didn't know you were awake already."

"I've got to leave soon."

"Yeah. You certainly wouldn't want anyone to see you leaving my quarters," Quark said glumly.

"You know no one will see me if I don't want them to. What's wrong?"

"It's...I don't know.  It's nothing.  Kira was in the bar tonight, you know.  Well, last night, I suppose it is, now," Quark amended.  He had no clue why he had brought that subject up.

"Oh?"  It was more an expression of bleak despair than a question.

"Yeah.  She's been drinking quite a bit, lately."

"Oh."

"You really need to talk to her." There, he had said it.  He didn't know why he had said it, and he didn't know why it hurt so damned bad to say it, but it was said.

"We have talked." The bleak despair was tinged with bitterness now.

Quark sat up in bed.

"Computer, bring lights up to twenty percent."

The room brightened just enough for him to see his lover's face clearly.  The brilliant eyes, so like precious Kavinnian sapphire, were shadowed with pain. Quark laid one hand on his shoulder.

"Odo, you and I both know that you and Kira have to talk. You need to tell her everything and make her tell you why she's stalking around like a constipated Klingon and drinking like she's trying to put me out of business."  That annoying pain was getting worse, but he tried to ignore it.

"I know you still love her." At the Changeling's sudden motion, Quark shook his head in negation.  "Don't try lying to me, Odo. We know each other too well."

Odo turned his face away from the Ferengi.

"Come on!  You and I - we're old opponents, old friends.  So we've had some good times, these past few months!  Nobody signed a contract." Damn it! He was getting a tight feeling in his chest to match that sickly, sinking feeling in his gut.  Must have been a bad batch of tube grubs he'd had for dinner.

"You go talk to that fe-male.  Today.  Find out why she's as miserable as you are, and if there isn't something the two of you can do about it."  His temples were starting to pound, too.  He'd have to go see Dr. Bashir about it later on.

"Quark..." that familiar growl was only half-hearted, but it was a start.

"Hey, I don't want to start losing money on the manhunt pool again!"  Something was blurring his vision as well.  Maybe it was some sort of virus. He turned away and blinked experimentally, but only succeeded in adding an awful burning sensation in his eyes to the equation.

A velvet-soft touch under his chin made him turn his head back.  Odo was sitting on the bed in humanoid form, but with his legs folded up under him in a way that no humanoid ought to attempt.  His arm melded into the tendril that
gently held the Ferengi's chin, and a sweet, sad smile was on his unfinished face as he studied Quark.

"So it's only been oo-mox?" he asked softly.

Quark shrugged.  "Sure.  Just friendly oo-mox between two old friends." He was having a little trouble breathing, but it didn't really surprise him.

"I see," Odo said calmly.  "Well.  All right.  I'll talk to her. It's not wise for the First Officer to be drinking heavily,
anyway."

"You're absolutely right.  It's a definite Security risk. I'd say that falls under your department, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose so."  Odo sighed.  "I'd better get back to my quarters.  I have a patrol to make in less than an hour." He stood up and reshaped into his usual uniformed persona.

"Odo..." Quark began.

"Yes?"

"If you can't help Major Kira with that problem of hers...well, you can always come and talk it over with me."  His throat seemed to be constricted, too.  He was definitely coming down with something.

"As a friend?" Odo asked wistfully.

"Sure." His voice cracked a little, but he swallowed hard and continued, "What are friends for?"

Quark slid out of bed and into his robe.  He stretched ostentatiously and yawned mightily.  "I'm going to have a light breakfast, then get some more sleep.  I'll see you later, Odo," he said as casually as he could manage.  The mere mention of food roiled his stomach, and the other symptoms weren't abating in the slightest.

"Just stay out of trouble for a while, Quark.  The holding cells were full of drunk Klingons last time I looked.  I don't have room for you, too," Odo grumbled in a pale imitation of his usual cynicism.  He walked toward the door, morphed into a vole, and scuttled out through a ventilation grid.

Quark sat staring at the grid for a long time.

Quark stood behind the bar watching Major Kira sip at her drink, her arm around her lover.  She giggled at something he whispered to her, then seized his face in her hands and kissed him soundly.

Quark had never seen either of them so happy.  Their betrothal had been announced on the Promenade only a few days before, and the station was humming with plans for their wedding.  He polished the bar top and sighed just a little.

"Brother? Is something wrong?" Rom had come up behind him and was being uncharacteristically perceptive tonight.

"Rom, do you know the 285th Rule of Acquisition?" Quark asked his brother solemnly.

"Uh...the 285th?  It's...uh...'Always...' ...no! Uh...'No deed,'...um...oh!  'No good deed...goes unpunished!'" Rom
finally managed, with an air of accomplishment.

"Right," Quark said sourly.

"Why, Brother?" Rom asked curiously.

Quark studied the happy pair across the room. Those Kavinnian sapphire eyes were glowing brighter than any latinum he had ever seen. A reluctant smile stole across the Ferengi's face, despite the stinging sensation in his eyes.

"It's all a crock, Rom."

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The End
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