@ladyvean wanted smth w damar and… i love dogs
Damar stands with his hands behind his back, waiting outside of Ops. Dukat is within, speaking with Sisko and no doubt displaying his obscene ego; Damar had contentedly taken Dukat’s nod to stand outside, having no especial wish to stand in the presence of Dukat’s posturing. He receives enough of that view every day.
He’s comfortably settled beside the lift, the heavy, thermal-lined material of his armoured shirt making it easy for him to keep his spine rigid and his body upright. Keeping his hands together makes it a little easier to retain warmth in the uncomfortably cool corridors of Deep Space Nine – how he regrets the loss of the station to the Bajorans and the Federation, and not merely because the corridors are now too cold and far, far too bright.
He’s hyperaware of how lowly his eyes are lidded, but it’s too uncomfortable to keep his eyes open wider, and it’s not as if anyone is watching him. The corridor is comfortably quiet, at least, but-
Damar freezes, his head snapping one way as he hears the sound of claws on the corridor’s polished floor. An escaped beast? He’s known all manner of animal to be transported through the station to Ferenginar – what if it’s something he cannot face himself, like a sehlat?
His hand jumps to the phaser at his belt, but then the animal comes to a screeching halt before him.
It is… Small.
The animal is four-legged, with bright, shining eyes, and it comes up only to Damar’s knee, with a slightly heavy body and floppy patches of flesh that hang about its cheeks – its ears?
The animal comes to a halt, sits on its haunches, and looks up at Damar. It emits a short, sharp, “ARF!”
“Indeed,” Damar replies, awkwardly. The animal has a collar about its neck, and hanging from the collar is a long cable – if the creature is attached to so generous a leash, Damar can assume it is not venomous or too aggressive. Slowly, he drops into a crouch, and he offers the creature the palm of his hand.
Immediately, the animal rushes forwards, and it presses its nose to Damar’s palm, its tail wagging excitedly from its backside. Its nose is cool and slightly wet, but when it licks Damar’s skin, he finds that the animal’s tongue is wet.
“From where did you come, beast?” Damar demands, slowly putting his hand on the animal’s head and stroking it gently. The animal wags its tail more vigorously, which Damar extrapolates as meaning excitement or delight, and he pats the animal’s flank. Standing, he takes up the small beast’s leash, peering down at it. It is obviously not intelligent enough to communicate verbally, and Damar sees no sign of its understanding his reply, so with the leash in his hand, he walks down the corridor the animal had come from.
Seeing no sign of the beast’s owner or master or companion, Damar makes his way down toward the Promenade. Again, he sees no other creatures, and so he goes to the most efficient part of Deep Space Nine, since the Cardassians were removed.
“Odo,” Damar says as he crosses the threshold. The animal emits another “Arf!” and pulls at its bindings, attempting to cross the room and maul Odo. Damar, feeling that this would be improper, keeps a tight grip upon the leash. “This beast was wandering the corridors. Where does it belong?”
From behind his desk, Odo peers down at the animal with apparent suspicion. “I don’t know,” Odo says. “But-“
The doors come open, and two young Human women rush in, letting out noises of distress, before they stop short.
“Oh, Aramis!” The elder of them declares, throwing her body onto the ground and wrapping her arms around the animal. It lets out more noises, licking the girl’s neck and face and putting its hands upon her knees and chest. “Oh, I didn’t know where he’d gone – thank you so much, sir! He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”
“He wasn’t a masterful tactician,” Damar says dryly. The woman places her hand under the animal’s ribcage and another behind its rump, and she lifts it like a child, clutching it in her arms. Damar returns the handle of the leash to the other woman, who beams at him in a way that makes him uncomfortable. Humans simply do not smile like Cardassians do, and Damar has never been one for smiling anyway. “What is it?”
“This is a dog, sir,” says the other woman, putting her hand upon the animal’s side. “He’s actually the descendant of the first dog in space! His ancestor was Porthos, who was on the original Enterprise!” She grins at this piece of proffered history, and he stares at her. “We were so worried – he loves to play chase, you know, and he was just running down the corridors and we couldn’t keep track.”
“A dog?” Damar repeats. “A very affectionate animal. Does he serve any purpose?” The girls share a look, and then laugh.
“Uh, no, not really. Thanks so much for bringing him here.”
“It was no trouble,” Damar says. Before he turns on his heel, he reaches out, cupping the animal’s muzzle with his palm, and the dog – Aramis – licks his palm once more. Damar is not one for too much smiling, but he smiles slightly now. A dog. “Good morning.” He steps out of Odo’s office, and he sees Dukat waiting for him on the stairs to the upper level, seeming amused.
“Making friends, Damar?”
“We should go,” Damar says, and Dukat’s chuckle is low. Damar wonders, idly, how common these Earth dogs are – and how, more interestingly, one might fare on Cardassia.
—
feel free to throw any requests my way atm! and if you feel like it, consider buying me a coffee!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just left a comment on A03 about how this felt like it was written especially for me and it turns out it WAS.
