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deepspacedukat · 1 year ago

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I'm so in love with this fic!! Daro is just so adorable, and I love how you've portrayed him! I've reread this more times than I should probably admit. I can't wait to see what happens next!! 💖

You're bringing my emotions for Cardassians screaming back to the surface, @crowfootwrites!! 👀💚

Devotion & Diplomacy - Part III

This chap is so self-indulgent, y'all 😅. I also went into a Cardassian language deep dive one night and so from here onward there's generally some Cardassian words/phrases included in each chapter. Translations will be located at the end of each post (for some words or phrases that get used a lot, I'll also have a pronunciation included because I'm a giant language nerd). I have to thank @cardassianlanguage and @tinsnip for all the work they've put into creating a Kardasi/English dictionary. The language I've included in my story and the translations provided are sort of an amalgamation of direct translations and adaptations I created using their content and that of Nerys Ghemor in "Star Trek: Sigils and Unions".

Tagging @deepspacedukat, @horta-in-charge, @sleepycat82, @vreenak, and @starrynightgardens if y'all are interested! Def forgot to tag for Part II, in case you missed that update. 😩

Part I | Part II | Read on AO3

Warnings: tooth-rotting fluff; mention of the death of a family member | Words: ~2,680

Early the next morning, Emrys had donned her Starfleet uniform once again and made her way back to the temporary quarters that had been assigned to the glinns of the Trager.

She found herself surprised when, after pressing the door chime, Glinn Daro answered, already fully dressed in armor.

With a kindhearted chuckle, she teased, “Do you sleep in that stuff?”

She might have been seeing things, but she could have sworn there was the slightest tinge of blue fanning across his scaled neck. He returned her smile readily.

“Only when I must share quarters with Telle.”

Emrys couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled giddily out of her chest. She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “I would do the same,” she whispered.

“But!” she returned to the matter at hand, pulling herself upright and tucking her hands behind her back, still grinning at the glinn. “I believe we should be encountering the USS Phoenix today, but until then, I wanted to see if you and Glinn Telle would like to join me for a stroll around the arboretum?”

Daro leaned forward this time, his tone playfully furtive. “Well, Telle has been confined to quarters for the remainder of our journey-” Emrys’ eyes widened playfully. “I am not entirely certain what he did to warrant such a penalty; however, I would love the opportunity to join you.”

Emrys felt her grin slipping into a much softer smile, but couldn’t bring herself to do anything about it. The door hissed closed behind Daro as he stepped into the hall and adopted the same stance as Emrys, back straight, hands tucked behind his back.

As they made their way down the halls, Emrys found herself once again appreciating Daro’s bearing. He carried himself with a quiet confidence and seemed to be constantly surveying his surroundings curiously.

When they had arrived at the arboretum, Daro hesitated for a moment, falling slightly behind Emrys. She paused and turned to look at him as he stood there, gazing at her earnestly.

Before Emrys could ask if he was alright, he took the step forward that would carry him to her side and offered her his arm, his eyes locked on hers.

For the first time in a very long time, Emrys allowed herself to act without thinking. In her current assignment, every word, every movement, every interaction had to be carefully considered. There was too much at stake for anything to be perceived the wrong way. For once, in the quiet calm of the Enterprise’s arboretum, standing beside a charming and terribly unorthodox Cardassian, she wasn’t worried about anything. She linked her arm with his, shooting him a shy smile, feeling heat pulsing around her cheeks.

As they ambled slowly past the Cypirion cacti, Emrys allowed her nosiness to get the best of her. “So, Glinn, did you always know that you wanted to join the Cardassian Guard?”

He glanced down at her briefly, his expression contented. “Please, Commander, call me Daro.” His free hand came to rest atop Emrys’, tucked around his arm, warmth spreading through her limbs at the touch.

He continued casually. “I don’t believe I ever thought there was another option, to be quite frank. All of the males in my family before me were somehow involved with the Guard or the Central Command, since its inception. So I followed in their footsteps.” He paused pensively, but began to smile again. “It wasn’t until my younger brother came along - well, he decided to do away with all that tradition.” Emrys caught the hint of a proud smile crossing his features and let it prompt one of her own.

“What did your parents think of that?” she asked curiously, hoping it wasn’t too personal a question.

“Ah. Well, my father did not approve, as you can probably imagine.” Daro didn’t seem too troubled by this. “He was actually quite furious when my brother announced that he would be continuing his studies at Central University… My mother, however, was more understanding. She always fostered a sense of independence and determination in my brother and I.”

“It sounds like she did a wonderful job with you two,” Emrys added kindly.

“She is an exceptional woman,” he agreed. "And what about you, Commander? Do you have any siblings that you tortured in childhood?"

Emrys stumbled just slightly, surprised by the question though she had no real reason to be. Daro was quick to tighten his grip, keeping her upright. He noticed immediately that something had shifted, his concern altering his countenance completely. Emrys attempted to recover, but the smile she fixed upon her face seemed somber. Daro noticed that she couldn’t meet his eyes and he gently guided them to a stone bench beside a small pond near the center of the arboretum. His thumb idly rubbed at her fingers that were still clutching at his shirt.

"An older brother," she said quietly. "He was just a couple of years older than me… We were very close growing up. I mean, he still tortured me the way only an older brother can," she added with a distant chuckle, seeming lost in her memories.

She continued on after a moment, unaware of the grief darkening Daro's eyes. "He joined Starfleet as soon as he was old enough, and I followed right after. He was an excellent officer - clever, confident, kind-hearted. Once he graduated to lieutenant, he was posted to a ship that was involved in several skirmishes along the Federation-Cardassian border." Emrys paused, her breath hitching.

"Their ship was destroyed - there were no survivors." She let out a deep breath, trying to center herself as Daro laced his fingers comfortingly with hers. She looked up at him and flushed, remembering where she was.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Didn’t mean to bring the mood down."

"You haven't," Daro reassured her. "On a planet with as long and harsh a military history as ours, these conversations are very… familiar."

Emrys examined the way their fingers were twined together, an alternating pattern of smooth and pale, and scarred and ashen.

"I am so very sorry about your brother."

"You know," Emrys said thoughtfully. "I think that people like Miles expect me to feel the same way that they do about Cardassians, because of what happened to my brother." She shook her head slowly, taking in the lush and cheery garden around her.

"But I like to think that I'm honoring his memory by making sure that the wars that killed him don't claim the lives of anyone else. Maybe I'm deluding myself," she shrugged, "but I just know that he would never have wanted anyone to kill in his name."

Daro lifted Emrys' hand from where it rested on his arm and brought it to his lips, his eyes shining with something like wonder.

“I must say, Commander-”

“Please… just Emrys,” she urged with a slight shake of her head, flushing slightly at the way his lips had felt against her skin.

He smiled. “Emrys. You have done nothing but surprise me since our introduction. I can certainly see why you were chosen to conduct peace talks with my people.”

The faint blush coloring her cheeks deepened. “You flatter me, Daro.” Suddenly intrigued, she glanced at him earnestly. “Although I’m somewhat ashamed it took me this long to consider it, I suppose I should probably ask you how you feel about the war and the signing of the armistice.”

Daro sat up a touch straighter, but did not relinquish his hold on her hand. He was quiet for a long moment, but Emrys was patient, a skill she’d been practicing since the war ended, and waited for him to collect his thoughts.

“I am sure that, to many,” he began somewhat haltingly, focused intently on the glassy surface of the pond, “it makes little sense to feel this way when one makes a living as a member of the Cardassian military. But, I have never felt pleasure at invading or occupying other planets, at political games, at senseless killing… at so much destruction.”

He sighed. “When I was young, and under the powerful influence of my family’s legacy, I believed that joining the Guard was a measure of protecting my home, my people. And that was something I wanted to be able to do.” He was very still as he spoke and Emrys shifted closer to him reassuringly.

“But I was blind to the realities of war. I learned quickly enough how mistaken I had been, how naive, and I have been trying to reconcile my own personal beliefs with the path that lies before me ever since.” He finally tore his gaze from the water and met Emrys’, finding comfort in the way she had moved closer to his side. “For my part, I am very glad an end has been called and the armistice has been signed. The day a treaty is finalized will be a magnificent one indeed.”

“You may be waiting a while,” she countered with a chuckle, bumping his arm with her shoulder.

“Ah, well. I am nothing if not patient.”

“An important skill to have when dealing with Cardassians, I’ve found,” Emrys quipped.

Daro’s eyebrow ridges rose marginally, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Except for you,” she added in playful haste. “You seem reasonable enough.”

Daro laughed, the sound sweet and almost musical, and warm triumph flooded through Emrys at having earned that jovial sound from him.

“I am glad you think so,” came his rejoinder. “Although, if I had to guess, given your role in navigating concord with my people, you would likely be uniquely capable of handling me if I were not.”

Emrys hummed. “That may be so. But it would seem such a chore - I much prefer you this way.”

“Then I will continue endeavoring to remain as I am.” His words hung in the air between them, loaded, but with what, exactly, Emrys couldn’t be sure. He was, after all, a Cardassian glinn who would likely be returning to his ship very soon. She might never see him again - that thought heralded the return of that tendril of sadness that had coiled around her the evening before. She was disinclined to consider more deeply what that was about.

She was denied the opportunity to respond (although her mind had been floundering for an appropriate response to his potentially layered statement) when a brief chirp emanated from somewhere along Daro’s armor. His expression slipped into a stoic mask almost immediately, but Emrys thought she saw a hint of disappointment flickering in his eyes just before.

“Glinn,” came the clipped, disembodied voice of Gul Macet, “we are returning to the Trager. Meet me in Transporter Room Three immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

Emrys did her best to hide the disappointment that she was dismayed to find tugging at her chest. Instead, she fixed a supportive smile on her face and rose from the bench, pulling Daro up with her.

“May I escort you?” she asked quietly.

“Please,” he murmured, a confused jumble of emotions playing over his visage.

As Emrys did her best to shove down the unpleasant emotions that were threatening to crawl up her throat, she guided Daro towards the exit. In an instant of clarity, she realized how the rest of their trip to the Transporter Room would go, as opposed to the relative freedom they’d enjoyed in the empty arboretum. Halting their progress just before reaching the doors, she turned to Daro. The doleful look on his face felt like a punch to her gut and before she could overthink it, she hugged him. Perhaps it was more for her own benefit than his, but maybe, she thought, he needed this just as much as she did.

For a moment, as Daro froze in her grasp, she worried that she’d made a mistake and, although she was not afraid to have offended someone as easygoing as Daro, she was more concerned that she was making him uncomfortable. But as quickly as the thought occurred to her, he was returning her gesture, gathering her fully in his embrace. His lips pressed meaningfully against the crown of her head and he sighed into her hair.

Silently, Emrys drew back, giving him a small smile before pulling herself up to her full height and placing her hands behind her back so he wouldn’t see the trembling of her fingers. He mimicked her posture, offering a rueful smile of his own, and the pair made their way back towards the Transporter Room, a professional distance between them.

As they reached their destination, Emrys halted outside the door and Daro turned to face her, studying her intently.

“Kiba'avzayn,” Emrys intoned as Daro’s eyes widened. “Safe journey, Glinn Daro.”

Daro cleared his throat quietly. “Your pronunciation is… very good.” He inclined his head respectfully. “Be well, Commander Beck. Pokor malin çad lox-Cardăsa Terăm. I hope that our paths will cross again soon.”

She gave him the brightest smile she could muster as he nodded with a note of finality and entered the Transporter Room. The door hissed closed behind him and, feeling her throat constricting, muttered, “Computer, locate Counselor Deanna Troi.”

— — —

Emrys spent the next few days aboard the Enterprise as they returned to their original position before the incident with the Phoenix occurred, completing their mapping survey. She had found it difficult to focus on her work initially, but insistent communiqués from both Jellico and Nechayev found her throwing herself into various tasks, determined to take her mind off Daro. She’d spent so much time holed up in her quarters, in fact, that Deanna had taken to coming to fetch her, if only to convince her to stop working and join her for a drink for an hour or two. She expressed her concern openly, but Emrys brushed it off, downplaying her despondency about Daro and trying to convince both of them that she simply had too much work to do to spend time on anything else.

As the Enterprise finished their survey, they turned their course toward Starbase 395 and Emrys opted to stay aboard. She hesitated a bit when Picard had announced their next destination, as Admiral Nechayev had an office aboard that base, and Emrys had no desire for another chewing-out from a superior officer. But the desire to work down her never-ending to-do list won out.

“What are you going to do while we’re docked at the station?” Deanna had asked over dinner the evening before their arrival.

Emrys laughed around a bite of Fettran risotto, covering her mouth belatedly. “Work, of course.” She swallowed her food before continuing. “A friend of mine is a stellar cartographer posted there, and she’s agreed to help me look into some claims the Cardassians are making about borders and mapping errors.”

Deanna looked surprised. “They’re claiming our maps have errors? Where?”

“In various places along the hotly disputed borders, of course, but specifically around Minos Korva.”

“That’s right,” Deanna replied thoughtfully. “I think I remember the captain saying something about them trying to annex the area before the war ended.”

Emrys nodded apprehensively, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. “Whatever information I’m able to collect, in addition to verifying the accuracy of our Federation maps, is certain to be necessary during our next round of negotiations. The Cardassians are pushing hard for their claim over the disputed planets."

Deanna sighed, perhaps sensing her friend’s flagging energy. “I don’t envy you. Not knowing how long all of this could take must be very difficult.”

Emrys sunk lower in her chair, meeting Deanna’s eyes only briefly, hesitant to share the vulnerability in hers. She bit her lip and fiddled with her spoon.

“Perhaps we will reach an accord quickly,” she said, but she knew it sounded hollow.

Deanna sighed. “Perhaps.”

That evening, Emrys called it an early night, eager to get to her next destination and focus on something so complex and expansive that there would be no room in her mind to consider anything - or anyone - else.

Translations:

Kiba'avzayn - “Good tidings.”

Pokor malin çad lox-Cardăsa Terăm - “You do a service for Cardassia.” (Expression of thanks to an equal)

#fic recs #crowfootwrites #DARO #GLINN DARO HAS A FIC #AND I'M VIBRATING ABOUT IT

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