#included Julian's speech in case garak is evesdropping

[jsbashirmd]

Julian smiles softly, and, because he can't resist and he doesn't see why he should, he presses a brief, affectionate kiss to Garak's lips. "Alright. I'll go speak to them. We'll be back in a few minutes. You can enjoy your moment of peace to drink your tea." Then he steps back, gently rouses Mina for the group discussion, and makes his way to wherever the children have gathered. When he finds them, he gestures them all close, kneels down, and puts on his serious face. "Alright team, listen up. Your Yadik isn’t who he usually is. Some sort of time travel messed everything up and so now he's younger. Sooo young that he doesn't know any of you yet. That doesn't mean he doesn't love you--it just means he's not grown up enough to know anything about you. The Yadik in our kitchen right now is the Yadik before he and I even got married. Now, we're going to get older Yadik back and put younger Yadik back where he's supposed to be in the timeline, but until we do, we need to make sure he doesn't find out too much about his future. So, Selek, Soren, Emkari: Get creative. You can tell him all about anything you want, but he can't find out whether what you're saying is the truth or not. If it is the truth, add in things that are made up. That's for everything, okay? World history, you guys, each other, me. Whatever you talk about, it should be at least half fiction. You can even change your names around if you want. Okay?"

There were interruptions, of course, and Julian had to field about a dozen questions and soothe a lot of worries with assurances that he hoped very much were the truth. But eventually, they accepted the gameplan and Julian pulled them into a big hug before giving them one last rule. "We don't know how older and younger Yadik switched, so nobody is allowed to hold onto him. No getting in his lap, no asking to be picked up, no holding onto his hands or arms or legs. I couldn’t bear to lose any one of you in some scary time vortex, so nobody is taking any chances. I'm being very serious right now because this is about your safety, and if anyone breaks this rule, there will be big consequences to remind you of how seriously we take safety. Do you all understand?" Only when that was sadly agreed to did the children tumble their way into the kitchen for lunch, all of them stopping less than half a meter away from Garak to stare.

Selek was the first to ask a question. "Is it true you don't know who we are?"

"Oh no, it's too late for that. Selek saw you, and he'll have told the other two everything." Not that he would've agreed to that plan anyway--the last thing his love deserves is to be hidden away for convenience' sake. "And anyway, it's good for them to see the occasional strange thing. Just... they're going to want to fill you in on everything, if we say you don't know them yet. The timeline is already royally fucked, if you remember this when you go back, or if you don't go back." The last words get caught in his throat a little, as though he can't quite bear to think of it. "But how much are you willing to risk hearing from them? They're well-behaved when it's important--I can tell them not to tell you anything if that would make it easier." That said, they were still children.