Archive of Our Own

"...and did you hear, your cousin Gaila just got engaged." His moogie told Quark over subspace. Quark grimaced back at the screen and her face.

"Only from the wedding invitation, the reminder for the wedding and the wish list of marriage gifts he forwarded. He'll need to buy a second moon soon with all the kids he'll have running around."

"And he sure can."

Quark sighed.

"I know how successful he is, mother."

"I was talking about the fund."

"Fund ? What fund ?"

"The one that's activated once one of you boys got married. From your granmorgie."

Quark gaped at her.

"I thought you were always joking ! That it was a trick to get us to accumulate and marry faster ! And now you're telling me, decades later, Granmorgie Adred is actually handing out money ?!"

"It's all true. Yes, your granmorgie isn't any good with money either, dear. Your father figured one of you boys would be faster than any of your cousins, that's why he never tried to renegotiate."

"...but,..but we were faster !"

"Rom didn't get the money then because your granmorgie had wanted to see how durable the contract was."

"What has changed now ?!"

"He's gotten older and more impatient."

"Well, so am I and I'm ready to receive the money now !"

"Like I said, you need to be married-

"I am !"

"My little lobe, I understand it's tempting to lie to get the money."

"N-no, I'm really married, I'm so very married, Moogie!"

Ishka didn't say anything for a moment.

"Who?" She asked finally.

Quark showed her a smug grin.

"Oh, you'll see. Didn't want to ruin to surprise for you next time I visit."

"Odo, I need your help."

"Will me not helping immediately result in your certain death ?" Odo asked, not looking up from his PADD.

"Emotional, yes. Social, probably."

Odo looked up. Quark saw this as a sign to continue.

"My cousin is about to get his second moon. He hasn't earned the first one and- well, he did, because he made the money.. but now he's about to get more money!"

Odo leaned forward. "From illegal activities? That why you're here, to tell on a family member?"

"I need your name to be on a wedding certificate with me." Quark said. "That's the way I get the money instead of both him AND also the next moon seller he would find."

"You get money for marrying me ? Is that the next trend after wanting to own exotic pets ?"

"My granmorgie, he, he wants to help the most successful of his grandkids even more with the money and you need to be able to afford marriage so that's a sign for him. My mother already bought it halfway, so once she sees the certificate I'll have her totally convinced."

"You told your mother you are married to me ?"

"Can't ask my waiters, would be too obvious a fraud attempt, I have taste after all, and Ferengi marriage contracts are no joke in terms of security standards. Bajoran certificates on the other hand...I mean, I never actively tried to forge one, but it would also fit with your background and make it more convincing, we also know each other-"

"-I have a contact who can help out with getting such a certificate." Odo interrupted him. Quark stumbled over the realization of what that meant in detail.

" You .... you know a guy ? You ?! You have a forger ? Like, you just know some person who fakes certificates ?"

Odo shrugged, not feeling to hide a growing smug grin. Quark went on:

"I mean, sure, you must know of a couple forgers, arrested a few-"

"Thanks to you-"

"..but for you - YOU - to come around with a forger on speed dial..." Quark was still very much in shock. Odo allowed himself a short chuckle.

"She might be good with faking but not with researching. She used the wrong name, the name of a dead person. I would not have spotted this certificate as fake, hadn't she used the name of a Bajoran whose murder I had just investigated. So yes, I know someone. I just need your written statement that you asked me to do this for you."

"So you can lock me in a cell immediately."

"I might also be in there, when what you told me is a lie and you wanted to get me for forging documents. Can't blame me for wanting security."

Quark stared him down, analyses of Odo running. Then:

"If this person is really as good as you claim then I should be fine with just taking the certificate with me. I can tell my mother you were too busy with wor-"

"Oh, I can accompany you, that's no problem."

"...I can see you have an angle.." Quark told him, eyeing him suspiciously, "..but I'm way too desperate at the moment. I need to leave as soon as possible. Today, preferably."

"Can be arranged. An hour ?"

"Uhh...okay ?"

"Or is that too soon, husband ?"

"Uhhhhhh,...no, an hour- an hour's fine. Long enough to, uh, remind Rom again he shouldn't interfer with the way Morn will be running the bar."

"And here is your certificate." Odo presented the freshly made and sent over document his contact had sent him directly to the shuttle, two hours into their journey to Ferenginar.

"I will try to make our stay as brief as possible." Quark told him, checking the document. "The less Moogie gets to see of us, the less suspicious can she become. Tomorrow, we'll already be back on the station."

"I see." Odo said. "Any special behavior required of me ?"

Quark eyed him. "You are way too motivated for this." Deciding his desperation once again had to win over his suspicion, Quark went on, instead saying:

"Our marriage of course will only last for my family until I've reinvested the money in something Gaila can't just easily take. I was thinking of a moon. If I build just one house on there, he could buy the moon from me, but I would never give him the house and could demand all kinds of sums."

"Interesting." Odo replied drily.

"Whatever." Quark huffed back. "Just try not to raise any suspicion."

" Me ? With a relative of yours whom I've never met ? Easy ."

"Quaark!" Ishka hurried towards her son, a smile on her face. She grabbed him by the ears and pushed their foreheads together as he copied her.

Her eyes darted over to Odo, her expression changing, a mixture of calculation and amusement.

"You'll have your money bringer 's ears back in a moment." She announced. Odo could already tell from the strange wording that this translator he had brought along was having the same problems he had heard elsewhere about Ferengi words and their very descriptive, not exactly to the point nature. Belatedly, the translator mumbled that 'money bringer' - 'Lata-ruh' as he had heard Iskha use below the translator - meant 'husband'.

Stepping back from Quark, she asked him with a head tilt in Odo's direction: "He seems to be a jealous one. Is he ?"

Quark's eyes flickered over to Odo before he grinned back at his mother.

"Oh, he watches me all the time."

Ishka took in that answer, then looked Odo up and down. She went to him and patted all over his torso, starting from his chest and ending with his arms.

"You are very tall and don't feel too skinny. You surely eat a lot." Ishka told Odo.

"I eat nothing." Odo replied.

Ishka grimaced, showing teeth.

"Ugh, picky eater. Special, costly diet then."

Quark hastily stepped in, waving his hands.

"No, Moogie, he literally neither eats nor drinks."

Ishka's eyes started to shine.

" Nothing ? What a catch !" She started beaming at him so suddenly, Odo had almost taken a step back in reaction.

"You two'll be staying in Quark's old room." She told them, as she lead them into her home. Turning to Odo with a sly smile, she added: "I'm sure you must be very curious to see where Quark grew up. The things he enjoyed in his youth."

"Mother," Quark stepped in between them, squeezing his bag against Odo, partly pushing him aside, "Odo's not a toy collector. I doubt he'll be interested."

In reply, she only grinned at Odo. Who had no idea how to react. Until eventually settling on an awkward smile.

Once their luggage was taken care of, they headed to the living room and took seat on the couch.

Ishka set down a plate of cold, grilled insects on the table, then sat between them, a PADD in hand.

Quark presented here with the Bajoran marriage certificate. Holding the PADD above it for translation, Ishka studied it intently for a while.

Quark worked on keeping his breathing normally so she wouldn't suspect anything until she closed the translator function on her device. She next opened up pictures on the PADD and held them out for Odo to see.

"That's Quark's first contract. Rom couldn't read then yet, but Quark made him sign anyway."

"Sometimes still works today." Quark said, fondly, taking a large bite of something resembling a fat cockroach.

"And here-" Moogie continued, choosing a thin, charred looking caterpillar for herself to chew on, "is the first time Quark tried to swindle the neighbors."

"Hey, they almost bought my 'light as air water' !"

Odo stared over at him.

"What ?" Quark said.

"You did improve your schemes after all." Odo told him.

"That sounds like you are working together." Iskha said. Quark grimaced.

"Not...exactly."

At that, Ishka turned to Odo.

"So, Odo, how are you supporting your shared assets ? How do you earn your money ?"

Odo opened his mouth, but Quark put his hand on his leg, half hugging it, and said in a very proud and clear voice: "My Odo is the Head of Security!"

Odo looked at Quark, Moogie at them both.

"Your husband seems to be confused, Quark."

"He-" Odo replied, trying to save his mistake, "He has never announced my job with quite so much pride."

"I see." Moogie said and from the way she said it, it was hard to say if she really did. "But what is a 'Head of Security' ? Do you mean 'Security of the Head' ? Are you the body guard of the Head of your station, just like the Grand Nagus has a servant acting as his body guard ?"

"No, I-" Odo stammered, never having had to explain this before, "I am security , I-"

"For example," Quark helped out, "when I do something with my bar the station objects to, it's Odo they send to tell me. Or rather, he sends himself and complains."

"Ah, so he works for the hoo-man's FCA!" Ishka concluded.

"N-NO !" Quark shouted, startling Odo with his vehemence. "First of all, the station's run by Starfleet and there are many different species involved- yes, A LOT of them are hoo-mans-"

"Ah, so he is a police man !"

Both Quark and Odo stared at her, disbelieving it had come so easily.

" Right ." Quark groaned, berating himself. "I had forgotten I could have used that as comparison."

"So you do have security, police on Ferenginar." Odo repeated, to make sure. Ishka waved it off.

"Oh, the police is only a minor department. Handling alien business partners on vacation here."

"You mean tourists."

"My dear, everyone is a business partner." Ishka told him, amusement over his lack of knowledge all over her. She turned to her son with a stern expression. "Make sure you teach your husband that. I don't want your children getting that wrong."

Quark started coughing on the baked beetle he had taken next.

Odo, almost feeling Ishka's eyes on him, turned to him to feign concern. He had no idea what to do against a cough. He was in security, not a doctor.

After Quark had stopped coughing, Ishka had declared they were probably tired from their journey. After exchanging wishes for a good night and dreams of riches, they went into Quark's old room.

Quark had let him known on their flight he would much prefer changing into his sleepwear in a different room, but couldn't, as this would make his mother suspicious why his alleged husband couldn't see him hardly or not at all dressed.

So Odo was standing in their room with his back to Quark while telling him:

"Your mother seems still suspicious, but also... happy ." His own observation seemed to shock him.

"That's what mother's do, I suppose." Quark replied from behind him. "Be happy for their kids when they are happy."

"She thinks we are happy together ?"

"We didn't give her any reason to think otherwise. Apart from the whole we could be lying to her face part."

Quark, now in his sleepwear, appeared in front of him, got a piece of paper and held it out. Odo was surprised there was Bajoran written on it. It read:

My mother can hear everything. In case you forgot what I hopefully told you on the way here. So don't read this aloud, best you do something while reading as an alibi.

Odo looked up from the paper at Quark, but he was looking down on the words, urging Odo silently to read on while he started flipping through nearby books without looking at them.

Yes, I know it's in Bajoran. Yes, I know you can read Ferengi, even though you will deny it. You know who can't read Bajoran ? My mother. We have to also make it /sound/ convincing.

When Odo had reached the last sentence, he looked back at Quark. Quark looked at the paper, then at him, to ask if he was done reading. Odo nodded and Quark....started moaning, then banging against the wall with his open palm.

He motioned for Odo to follow his example, but the Changeling looked back at him, confused.

Quark came over and pushed against the bed, shoving it against the wall repeatedly. Then he started pushing down the mattress, producing squeaking sounds. He looked at Odo expectantly.

Odo seemed still clueless.

Quark rolled his eyes, pointed at him, then on the bed, then did an up and down movement with his hand.

Odo climbed on the bed- then grabbed Quark by his sleepwear, first smashed him against his chest, knocking all the air and protest out of Quark's body, then raised him above him, only to let him come down on his chest with another smacking sound and a steadily rising groan from Quark.

Ishka was grinning at both of them when they entered the dining room the next morning. Quark was still limping.

Odo felt immediately embarrassed, even though he knew exactly that they hadn't done what she had interferred from the noises mostly Quark had done.

"You had a good night." She told them, grin still in place. "But little sleep." Ishka put a steaming mug in Quark's hands and a bowl in front him. "Drink your fresh coffee, new fly roast, and eat up, dear, there's another coming just like it."

"Thanks, Moogie, but I'll be fine after this on-"

"Your father ate at least this much before we had you. Gets the juices flowing."

Odo had never witnessed another person's embarrassment so clearly and had never felt their embarrassment almost as if it were his own. He wondered why it had ever seemed a good idea to him to want to trick Quark into this so he could shame him in front of his mother before dragging him to DS9 to arrest him for acquiring and using forged legal documents.

" Mooogie !" Quark whined.

" Quaark !" Ishka echoed, but in a stern voice. With her fists planted on her hips, her eyes drilled into Odo. "Well ? Are they already flowing ?"

Quark's eyes became even bigger, something Odo would not have thought possible without them popping with an ugly sound, and fixed on him. Quark definitely had learned the eye drilling technique of his mother.

"Well.." Odo started, not having been this uncomfortable since meeting Lwaxana Troi for the first time.

A sound from the door.

Quark had never been more happy for his mother to be able to collect the mid sentence interruption fee from whomever was at the door.

Moogie rose and came back to the dining room with...Rom.

"ROM ?!" Quark shouted. "But who's watching Morn ?"

"Hello, brother. The whole bar is, of course."

"Look who came on the cheaper shuttle." Ishka said, clearly pleased.

Rom went up to Quark.

"I thought you were on a business trip! How could you visit mother without me?!"

"So she would have you for herself once we took the next shuttle home !"

"Nonsense!" Ishka declared. "You can't leave now, just after your brother's arrival! You and your husband also still need to rest, what if you need emergency doctors on your way back, do you know how much they charge ?!"

Rom turned back and forth between all three.

"Husband ?" Adding a couple 'u' to 'Lata-ruh'. Then, understanding. "You are married ? And why is Odo here anyway ?" Semi-understanding.

"Of course I'm married ! To Odo !" Quark hissed at him. "You know I'm married! Mashed beetles for a brain, I tell you, Moogie."

Rom looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm, I wish I had been invited. I like weddings, the food's always good."

Ishka turned on her eldest son.

"You didn't invite your brother to your wedding ?!"

"It's not like you've been there either.." Quark defended himself and only then realized what he was saying.

His mother's eyes became very small.

"Why did you marry like this, exactly?"

"To save money, of course."

Ishka looked both unconvinced and intrigued.

"How ?"

"You see, Moogie, Odo grew up on Bajor and Bajorans don't have the tradition for wedding gifts we do."

"In other words, you did not get any wedding gifts."

"We did AND we are not expected to gift something back."

His mother stared at him. A proud smile appeared on her face and she put her hands on either one of Quark and Odo's ears.

"I have to congratulate you on your smart business choice."

"I'm not surprised." Rom chirped.

"About me being smart ? Thanks, Rom." Quark replied with an eye roll.

"I meant you two getting married. It's honestly surprising it only happened now."

Odo and Quark stared at him.

Ishka also took note of this, then pushed her other son towards the breakfast table. "Come, eat. Have some fresh fly coffee."

Rom's eyes widened, a big smile appearing on his face.

"Pre-chewed food! Moogie, you shouldn't have."

Ishka looked very pleased with herself.

"Chewed all through the night. Wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway while those two had their personal mating season." She said, nodding at Quark and Odo. "I chewed a bit too much, had forgotten my new lata-la is so cheap in maintenance. Rom, your brother said Odo doesn't eat or drink."

It sounded like a statement, but Quark knew it was a test of that statement. Meanwhile Odo was wondering why he was referred to as 'lata-la', 'money money'.  Before he could ask, Rom replied, while filling his bowl:

"I have never seen him eat anything. Or drink."

"Quark also said Odo is jealous." Ishka continued, handing him his coffee.

"Oh, yes. I remember that one time we had a new bartender. Well, he was actually- nevermind," Rom corrected himself after feeling a death glare from Quark, "but I remember Odo telling me very upset that if he had a brother, he would no one let come in between. He looked ready to smash every glass we had."

"Odo said that ?!" Quark asked, looking from Rom to Odo and back.

"Yes, and then when Quark's Cardassian friend came back, Odo was practically part of the table, hovering like the best service bots. So yeah, Odo gets jealous a lot."

Ishka seemed happy with those answers, Rom as well since he could help and Quark and Odo not so much.

Back in the living room, she got out the old pictures and documents again, so Rom could see them as well while munching on his breakfast stew. For once Quark didn't mind him hogging all his mother's time and attention.

Unfortunately, Rom's presence wasn't enough to distract her from coming up with questions.

While looking at pictures of Rom's first suit, she turned to Odo on the couch and said:

"Odo, since you are eating nothing, you must gain your strength from another source. Your clothes maybe ? Are Bajorans strengthened by what they put on their skin ? If so, the fabric must surely be expensive."

Quark could see Odo's face go through a range of emotions.

"He's a Changeling." Rom blurted out.

"Is that a special kind of Bajoran?"

"No, he isn't Bajoran, Mother. He's a Changeling." Rom repeated, slower for her.

"But what does it mean , dear ?"

"That he can turn into ANY-THING! Like, uhh..." Rom struggled with examples for a moment. "A table ! A chair at at the table! The person sitting on the chair at the table !"

"He can turn into another person ? Objects ?" She asked, then added in an awed whisper: "A bar of Latinum?" 

"He occasionally looks melty enough to be unpressed Latinum." Rom offered.

"Rom !" Quark hissed. He had the feeling he ought to get defensive.

"Quark !" Ishka hissed back on Rom's behalf. "Your brother is saying nice things about your husband."

"Maybe my husband doesn't like to be likened to runny Latinum." 

"Who wouldn't ?!" Ishka shrieked. She put a hand on Odo's. "You don't mind, do you, Lata-rii-la ?"

Odo's translator informed him happily that he had been called a 'money piner money', then it recognized parts of the word and turned it into 'son money' before ending on 'Latinum son' as the device's best guess for this context.

Odo looked at her, unsure what to do. Then slowly shook his head. Ishka beamed at him.

"That's a good lata-la ! Well done, Quark !

It was decided to watch a movie while Moogie chewed food for lunch.

"Oh, we used to watch this one so often !" Rom shouted in excitement over the movie they had picked. "Everytime I had an ear infection, at least !"

"And you had them a lot." Quark reminded him with a wistful grin.

"Pfat pfu fit." Iskha agreed.

"Ah, just like old times!" Rom sighed.

"Isn't that the one where they get evicted at breakfast?" Quark asked, excited.

"Yes, and the FCA eats their stew in front of their eyes!" Rom getting even more excited.

"And then it was too spicy for that one FCA guy!" Quark practically shouted.

"And then they save their parents from debt prison !" Both brothers shouted in unison.

"But how..." Quark tried to remember.

"By selling the family slug !" Rom said, recalling. 

"Ah, yeah, because they realize it's actually a rare breed ! But I don't think they actually sell it.." Quark went on.

"Uhm,...I think they do." Rom replied.

"Wait, they only try to and-" Quark continued, but was interrupted by his mother.

"-and then realize they can make more money by breeding it and selling the eggs in advance." Iskha helped out, before reaching for the next bit to chew.

"Oh right." Quark said.

"And in the end, ...they all go to Latinum Land !" Rom added, excited.

"They don't. That's literally in 'Let's go to Latinum Land!'." Quark corrected him.

"That's where they travel all over Ferenginar to advertise it!"

"No, they don't, they make a tv commercial that's cheap, yet effective !"

"You're both wrong." Ishka interrupted. "That happens in the sequel 'Let's save Latinum Land!'."

She turned to the Changeling.

"Odo, what movie did you watch recently?"

"Oh, he's not that big into entertainment-" Quark started, but was cut off by his mother.

"Let him talk for himself! Well?" Ishka asked again, staring at Odo in expectation.

"...'Gone With The Wind Of My Shuttle'"

"What ! That old thing ?!" Quark shouted.

"I'm not familiar with that movie." Ishka said.

"Me neither." Rom seconded.

"It's a very cheesy Bajoran movie." Quark explained to his family.

"It's about cheese ?"

"Worse, it's not about money."

Ishka looked horrified and turned to Odo again.

"Lata-la, you have a strange taste in movies."

"What does that term mean, anyway, 'Lata-la'?" Odo asked. "You've used it before. The translator tells me it's 'Money Money'."

"Because that's what it means. Literally." Quark explained, then switched to accented Bajoran. "It's 'son-in-contract'."

"Son-in-contract, you really need to brush up on your Ferengi." Iskha scolded Odo.

" I can speak Ferengi ! " Odo replied, in Ferengi instead of Bajoran and despite the fact that he hardly spoke it actively and rather read or listened to it on the station.

Ishka suddenly looked amused. Rom as well. Both of them looked over to Quark.

"He sounds just like you !" Iskha said. "With an accent, but the emphasis is just like you, Quark."

Rom laughed in agreement.

"Moogie's right !"

Odo made sure not to reply anything. Especially not in Ferengi.

They had been watching the movie for a few minutes, when Ishka spoke up in Odo and Quark's direction:

"Don't feel like you can't sit as you do at your home. Or don't you usually touch ?"

"Oh, they touch all the time." Rom answered for them and Quark could have strangled him. Especially since his brother went on: "In public, Odo stands really close to Quark when they are talking. Sometimes he even pulls him by the collar and-"

"We don't need to tell Moogie everything, now do we, Rom ?"

"Can't be worse than what I heard from the two of you last night." Ishka told him.

Odo and Quark looked at each other, silently making an agreement. Odo awkwardly reached out his arm towards Quark and pulled him against his side. There, Quark put his hand firmly (and hopefully not too demonstratively) on Odo's leg. They saw Moogie nodding.

The movie went on, bringing out laughs in all three Ferengi. Odo gradually got used to Quark being so close to him. Especially when focusing more on the movie.

Turning to his brother, Quark said:

"Hey, Rom, do you remember how we would-"

He didn't proceed, too distracted by his ear brushing against Odo's face during his turn.

Ishka saw her son become tense and immediately scolded him:

"I know you'd much rather go off to your room right now, but you had quite enough last night. You really need to take care of your ears." She turned to Odo. "You need to watch out for that for him. If his ears aren't any good anymore, how is my Quark supposed to carry out sons for you, hmm ?"

"M-maybe you can distract your ears with nose kisses ?" Rom offered.

"Good idea, sweetbar." Ishka said, then watched them until they would follow the suggestion.

Quark and Odo both stared. At each other. At Ishka. At Rom.

"Come on now, we're all family, no need to be embarrassed. Also, my favorite scene is coming up shortly and I wanna focus on that, so hurry up."

Quark's panicked stare on Odo intensified and Odo guessed that meant he should proceed. Nevermind that he had no idea what exactly to do for 'nose kisses'. Was it kissing someone on the nose ? But where exactly on it ?

Quark seemed to have the same realization. Finally, he leaned his head forward and moved his nose against Odo's own from left to right. Odo was able to feel every single of the ridges on Quark's nose. The sensation of them against his own nose, shifted but still, was intriguing.

A vibration accompanied by a loud, purring sound rose from Quark after a few seconds and Odo noted his eye lids had dropped significantly. Since neither of the other two Ferengi had screamed yet or made any other sound of alarm, this probably was supposed to happen.

"Ah, I think that's quite enough, Quark, if you still wanna be able to see the rest of the movie." Ishka warned, but sounded amused.

Quark did not react at all, instead blissfully busy with moving his head in front of Odo and purring. Odo leaned back to break the contact. Quark blinked slowly a lot, before coming out from what seemed like a daze.

A couple of scenes later, he was commenting on the movie again.

When the credits rolled, he suggested watching 'Let's go to Latinum Land' next.

When humans talked about movies, Odo had often heard them mentioning a place called Disneyland. They had explained it was a theme park that made movies to advertise rides. Judging from this movie, this park seemed to be advertising itself.

"Is it really like that ?" Odo asked.

"Oh, yes." Ishka said. "It's a wonderful place with an affordable learning experience for children. You should take your kids there."

Quark looked at him.

"We should." He said, in agreement with his mother. Odo noticed he kept eyeing his nose. He figured it was an easy way to keep Ishka convinced, so he brushed his nose against Quark's again.

"Of course there's also plenty to do for adults." Ishka continued, monitoring their nose kiss activity. "Nice restaurants, plenty of steam ponds - more private ones at a reasonable price even -, a variety of shops and rides. Plenty of places to spend good money well."

"I see." Odo replied, leaning away from Quark again. Who almost fell into his chest this time, trying to follow his nose.

When the movie was over, Ishka went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Rom turned to Quark on the couch.

"I'm happy for you two."

Quark looked back, dumbfounded. He studied his brother. "You really aren't only saying it for Moogie's sake."

"Why should I?" Rom asked. "I'm happy that you decided to make your feelings for each other official. Getting married is a big step."

Quark still couldn't believe it.

"I mean," Rom added, "from what I heard you managed to make it a less big step by making it cheaper with the Bajoran way,... but still ! Well done, brother. You, too, Odo. Started wondering which of you would make the first step, if ever."

Quark was about to remind his brother that it was all fake- then remembered that Rom wasn't supposed to know.

"You did wonder, did you." Quark redirected his sentence, doing his best to add a sly smile. Odo at first looked confused, then caught on, folding his arms with a smug grin. Rom looked back and forth between them.

"Yes, you really fit well together. Wonder if your kids will be any different. I mean, if you wanna have any in the first place."

"You think we would make good parents?" Odo couldn't help but ask, surprise making him drop his act. Rom looked at him.

"Yeah, why not ? Both of you already know how to look after things. My brother after the bar, you, Odo, after a whole station floating in space."

Odo looked astonished.

During lunch, they ended up watching the sequel to Latinum Land, while Ishka started chewing food for dinner.

"The door won't close." Quark said, pressing the button on his room's door again.

"What do you mean ?" Odo said, looking at him.

"I mean, Odo , that the door won't close ."

"Rom played around with it." Moogie chimed in, appearing in the door frame. "There's no sense in repairing it in the middle of the night, they would only take more money for the service. I hear what you boys are doing anyway, there's little difference if I additionally see what you do on my way to the toilet. Good night and try to be less noisy. Maybe you could split and do some now and some in the morning ?" And Ishka left them there with their open door.

Quark stared after her.

"I can't believe my mother. And I can't believe my brother! What is he doing, going around, breaking doors ?!" He turned around to the Changeling.

"Odo, you need to shield us. Can you make something soundproof ?"

"I don't know.. ?"

"Then lie down and try." Quark told him, indicating the bed. Odo stared at him. Quark scowled back, his mother's eye drilling technique in place.

Odo laid down on the bed with a drawn out sigh. Parts of his arms stretched out above him, creating a kind of goo - or maybe Latinum - colored dome over his upper body.

"Does it work ?" Quark asked.

No reaction from Odo.

"Can you hear me ?"

Still no reaction.

Quark went over to the bed and tapped him on his leg. The goo cocoon (goocoon?) broke open, revealing Odo staring up.

"Did you hear me ?" Quark asked again.

"Only very muffled."

"Great. Now close up again and say something so we know how it sounds from outside."

Odo did as told. Even with his Ferengi hearing, Quark could only make out THAT he was saying something, but not what. He tapped Odo's leg again.

"Works, now let me in."

Before Odo could say anything in protest, Quark placed himself on top of him, hands resting on his chest. 

Odo stared up at him.

Even when his mother would walk by and see them like this, it wouldn't seem suspicious at all for them to want some kind of privacy; the fact that both of their feet were sticking out together in close proximity only made it more convincing.

And now that she knew of Odo's shifting abilities, seeing a gooey cocoon around them would also freak her out less.

After some more staring back and forth, Odo eventually closed the goocoon around them. 

Quark looked down at Odo, his hands and body getting more accustomed to this unfamiliar surface. 

"..were you really jealous ?" Quark asked him, after studying his face.

"How should I know ?!" Odo shot back.

Quark looked back in disbelief. 

"How can you NOT know ?!?"

Odo stared back, defiantly.

Quark sighed and crawled backwards out of the goocoon before Odo had the sense to open it. Then returned.

"I'm gonna read for a moment to become more tired." Quark told him. "I got your PADD, too, I figured you'd rather continue 'Dark Moon, Hidden Fire' instead of staring into my face staring onto my PADD."

Odo stared at him, eyes narrowing. "You-"

"No, I didn't hack your PADD. Didn't have to. Recently, you had it open in your office when I was around and I recognized it from a paragraph."

"You know the novel?"

Quark grinned back down at him. "I'm currently reading the sequel."

"There's a sequel?"

"Yes, it's called- wait, how far have you read, it might be a spoiler."

"Tell me the name of the sequel." Odo insisted.

A loopsided grin from Quark. "Don't say I didn't warn you. It's called 'A Universe Of You'."

Odo looked back in surprise.

"So he DID survive !"

Quark rolled his eyes, but kept his grin up. "Told you I'd spoiler you. But, I think, both books, are still less good than 'My Interest In Your Heart'."

"Never heard of it."

"It's a Ferengi novel."

"So ?"

"You read Ferengi literature ?"

Odo averted his eyes, caught. "Well, not yet.." 

Quark chuckled, then returned to his book.

They both busied themselves with reading and swiping through the pages. Until Odo spoke up.

"...it says here the main character is jealous..."

"And ? Do you want to know if I remember that scene or if it becomes important in the sequel?"

"No....I was hoping it could help me answer your question." Upon Quark's quizzical look, he added: "If..if I had been jealous."

" Oh ." Quark said. Then, after a moment: "And ?"

"Well, they are described as irratic. I wouldn't call myself that, but from what Rom described.."

"If he said you looked scary, that must have been something. He's seen his share of bar fights and drunken customers, after all. Not to mention that I make him try out new holosuite programs and some of those bugs can be quite something, let me tell you."

"Hm." Odo simply replied. Another moment of silence in which Quark wondered if he was going to add anything else on this topic. Then Odo spoke up again: "Does it really feel so good for Ferengi to touch noses ?" 

"Well, our noses are sensitive."

"Good to know. Then I'll drag you by it to your cell next time you get out of line."

Quark's eyes widened in fear and his hands, while not leaving Odo's chest, twitched in the direction of his nose. Odo started laughing, causing Quark to wobble above him.

"You feel like a water bed." Quark noticed, delighted.

"What's that ? A bed... out of water ?"

"More or less, yes."

"Isn't it wet enough on your world ?" Odo's confusion turned into suspicion. "...are you- are you mocking me right now ?"

"Noo ! I'm serious! You'd make a wonderful water bed. If you would turn yourself a bit warmer, then it would be perfect."

" Quaark ." Odo said in a warning tone.

"Just saying." Quark rested his head on his hands, getting more comfortable on Odo, as if already feeling the warmer temperature. "If we were really married, I would request you doing that once or twice a week, I guess. At least." 

"And then you would just lie on me ? Wouldn't that be too boring for your elaborate tastes in the bedroom?"

"If that is your way of calling me kinky..well, work is hard, one's gotta just rest now and then."

Odo harrumphed.

"So you picked up our language." Quark said next.

"You talk quite a lot, every Ferengi does, so it's not that hard." Odo grumbled back.

"I know I should be affronted on you eavesdropping on us, hardworking individuals that we are, who just want to make everyone's lives a little fuller-"

"Of alcohol and addiction?"

"Don't forget the excitement of the holosuites! So I should be affronted, but I can't really blame you for wanting to learn our great language."

"Every second word is money."

"Like I said, great language."

Odo chuckled, rolling his eyes. Quark closed his eyes as the laughter let Odo's torso rise and fall, reminiscing in his water bed idea.

"You'll have to bear with my mother confusing Bajorans and Changelings. As a female, she doesn't get out much." He told Odo, his voice a bit more drowsy than usual.

Odo nodded. Looking distracted by it. Then he finally asked what seemed to have bothered him for longer than this moment:

"Do I really look like Latinum to Ferengi while I'm shifting?"

"Uhh, I never had thought about comparing you before. I'm always more focused on the question what you'll turn into this time and how fast you'll hide."

"But if you think about it now ?"

"Hmmm,... I guess...? Could you really turn into Latinum?"

Odo first averted his gaze. Grimaced. 

Very eventually, when Quark hadn't expected an answer anymore, below him, in front of his own eyes, Odo shifted into an Odo sized Latinum bar. 

Quark remembered after a long moment that he regularly needed to breathe...probably.

Odo turned back and fixed a glare on Quark as long as his breath was irregular.

"You could have asked the majority of your dabo girls, if you needed a Bajoran wedding certificate."

Odo said, eventually, with Quark breathing normally again. "Most of them are Bajoran. Why didn't you ?"

Quark blinked at this. Seemingly honestly taken aback.

"Well, it, ...uhm, well it made sense to ask you." Quark replied. "We know each other pretty well and that helps a lot with pulling this off."

"It made sense??"

"Yes, it just made sense. Now that you mention it, yeah, I suppose I also have Bajorans on my staff...but I still don't have the same level of background as I do with you."

Odo felt a familiar itchiness in his being that told him of his need to regenerate soon. For once, he was glad. Glad to have a reason to get away from this conversation and all it entailed and the /sensations/ created by Quark being spread out and moving on top of him.

"I have to get up now." He told Quark.

"What do you mean 'get up' ?"

"To regenerate. It won't take long."

Odo opened the goocoon and sat up, making Quark slide off him in the process, staring at him. Odo glared back. "Don't look."

"Why ? What's going to happen?"

"That's exactly what I don't want you to see."

"You do realize knowing this only makes it more enticing?"

" Quaark . I really need to do this now."

"Alright, alright." Quark said, covering his eyes. Leaving enough space between his fingers to peek; Odo had only prohibited looking, not peeking. In fascination, he watched Odo turn into goo with the fabled Latinum like color and disappear into his bucket.

Odo hadn't been in his bucket for a minute, when Quark could very distinctly hear Moogie approaching their open door on her way to the toilet.

Quark jumped out of bed, tore the bucket off the floor, held the opening over his head and started shaking.

"Odo, I need you now !" 

A stream of goo spilled out all over his face and body and in the next moment he was pinned to the floor under Odo's sudden body and weight.

Just then, with both of them on the floor, Odo sprawled all over him, Moogie walked by, peeked in, they stared back, Moogie nodded, and walked on.

Odo got up, eyes fixed on the floor in embarrassment.

"I..I will put my bucket next to the bed. If you can hear your mother again, you will just need to reach out and tap it and I'll know I should come out."

Quark nodded. Odo shifted and went into his bucket again.

The next morning, they had barely walked into the kitchen, when Ishka said:

"You know, my dears, when I said to go easier on the ears, I didn't mean you had to stay up half the night, talking and laughing. Listening can strain any lobe."

Rom was beaming at them, his fresh coffee in hand, larva cake in the other. "I'm glad you two have so much to laugh about. Figures, can't be arguing all the time."

Ishka stopped. Quark felt the need to hit his brother again.

"You argue ?" His mother asked, innocently enough for untrained ears. "About business ?" Her tone changed from interrogation to intrigue.

"You...could say that." Odo helped out. Quark looked over to him briefly, trying to figure out his plan.

Ishka stepped closer.

"What kind of differences do you have ?"

Odo crossed his arms. In defiance ? Trying to buy time ? Quark wasn't sure.

"He likes to venture into dangerous business areas and I try to get him out of there or not there in the first place." Odo told her.

Iskha looked at Quark.

"Are those areas usually worth the risk?"

Quark was a little embarrassed. "It's not always easy to say beforehand...or during.."

"Or after ." Odo chided.

Iskha patted Odo's arm. Again, Quark couldn't tell if it was to comfort Odo or to applaud him.

"Let's have breakfast, my dears." His mother said.

"...so we really should be going today." Quark finished. "Rom is staying, so you won't even notice we're gone."

Iskha sighed. "All right. But stay until the evening. I still have to make copies of your wedding certificate to show to your granmorgie once he's back so he can forward you the fund."

"Where are he and granmoogie again ? Diamond Lakes ?" Rom asked.

"No, dear, cruise through the Golden Sea." Turning to Odo and Quark she said: "You could go there. It'll only use a fraction of the fund."

Quark gave a non committal nod. "Gotta buy my moon first." A quick look to Odo. " Our moon." He corrected himself.

"You kids and your moons, that's all you can talk about these days. If it has to be a celestial body, why can't it be investing in a sun ? Everybody needs energy or a safe place to hide a body. Head hunting is a business that will never get old."

"Maybe energy and discretion was all the rage earlier, now everybody wants space. Literally." Quark replied.

They kept discussing the pros and cons of different business areas well over breakfast time. Eventually, Quark and Odo got their luggage and stood at the open door, ready to leave.

"Well, Moogie, we'll be off-"

"Not so fast !" Gaila cried, hasting around the corner. Coming to a halt before them he quickly straightened his clothes and posture.

"The news of the current events had taken a bit to reach me." He looked Quark and Odo up and down.

"So, cousin, apparently you are married."

Quark lifted his chin and straightened up as well, arm looping into Odo's.

"I am. We are."

Gaila stepped closer, teeth starting to show more.

"And you just happen to tell your mother of your marriage the moment you hear I'm engaged. I find that very... suspicious."

"I wanted to surprise her." Quark replied.

"Surprise her...I see ."

"Are you accusing me of planned fraud ?" Quark said, with more teeth as well.

"Are you out of your mind making that accusation outside ?" Ishka hissed. "Do you want to give the neighbors the witness payout ?! Inside. Now." She ordered and quickly closed the door behind them.

"So you are accusing me." Quark repeated.

"Long term planned fraud, even." Gaila said haughtily.

"Long term ?!"

"The decade variant."

"What ?!"

"You have known of this fund since you were a child, the same time I have known of it. At some point during your unprofitable life you must have realized I will marry before you and so prepared for this very situation to seize my rightful reward."

"Did you just call my son's relationship fake in my own house ?" Ishka interrupted.

"You better pay up, fast !" Quark said. "For Moogie, Odo and me. Oh, and future children !"

"How are you even planning to have those ?" Gaila said, skeptically.

"Another insult !" Quark shouted. "And we were thinking about having five." He said, his turn at  being haughty. 

"Ten." Odo grinned. Quark grinned back at him. "Fifteen." Quark upped.

"That's ridiculous!" Gaila shouted.

"You want to know what's ridiculous, nephew?" Ishka said. "That I'm still seeing no money transfer happening !"

Gaila made a show of arranging the transfer and held the receipt out for all to see.

"Since you are unwilling to cooperate, I will have to clear this up with Granmorgie Adred."

"You can't." Ishka said.

"If he's not on the planet, I can easily call him over subspace." Gaila said with an eye roll.

"He is on the planet, but he and your granmoogie are on a pleasure cruise through the Golden Sea. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to call directly to the ship ?! I should tell your mother how much you like to throw around money." Iskha hissed. 

This made Gaila's eyelid twitch. He turned to Quark and Odo.

"If you are married, it shouldn't be a problem to act the part. Kiss."

"He's your cousin, not a slug on display in the zoo !" Ishka scolded him. "At least I didn't see you pay any according entrance fees."

"Fine." Odo suddenly said, taking hold of Quark's arms and bringing their mouths together. Literally. From the feel of it, Odo's face melted around the area of his mouth and became one with Quark's.

"What's that ?!" They could hear Gaila shout, horrified. 

Odo let go off his face and the both of them stared at Gaila. Who was pointing at them.

"That- that looked very fake! You didn't look happy about it!"

"Because usually no one is screaming 'what's that?!' in the background!" Quark replied.

"Did you just call my son's marriage fake again ?! I'm charging you with repetitive slander !"

Gaila bared his fangs at her, but typed in  exaggerated movements on his PADD nontheless.

"I won't give up so easily, you hear me ?! I will stay here and keep an eye on you!"

"You are welcome to sleep on the couch." Ishka told him.

"I will, even though it won't compare to my new four zone water bed in my new apartment! If it means catching liars," He started making another transfer, "and getting the fund as I ought to." He typed on his PADD some more. "I will have my things brought here by express-"

" Planetary express ?!" Ishka shrieked. "That's way too expensive!" She pointed at the door. "You go home and get your things yourself!"

"But, keerkie.." Gaila started to protest, but was cut off by his aunt again. 

"Home! Now !"

The moment Gaila left, Ishka turned to Odo and Quark.

"That ought to buy us some time from his cheap accusations!" She shook her head. "That he wastes his money saying such lies about you two! Yes, the fund is a lot of money, but if he keeps going like this there won't be much left, even if what he said was true."

Taking part of their luggage from them, she led them back to Quark's old room, where she left them, repaired door closing behind her with a much more quieter sound than before.

Odo blinked, the situation slowly sinking in.

"It appears we are spending another night here."

"Yeah.." Quark said slowly, getting out the PADD. "The shuttle,...gotta cancel the seats on the shuttle.." 

His hand kept hovering over the screen, however. He raised his head to look at Odo, the beginnings of panic in his eyes over this development. 

With Ishka listening, they couldn't even plan ahead, Odo realized and that this was probably at the forefront of Quark's mind. Not that there was much to plan with a faked certificate, but to wait and see, Odo mused. 

He tried his best to convey calmness over his eyes towards Quark, then gave up and instead closed the distance to the Ferengi and put a hand on his shoulder he hoped was reassuring. Quark's lips tensed shortly, then he nodded, bravely. He busied himself with his PADD.

"Cancelled the reservation." Quark mumbled.

Odo nodded in acknowledgement, then: "What was so strange about the way I kissed?" He supposed it wouldn't be the strangest thing to overhear between a couple.

"You've read too many descriptions of someone's lips 'melting' together during kissing. Either that or that one time you've read it in 'Dark Moon, Hidden Fire' really stuck with you. Anyway, you took it much too literal." 

Quark beckoned Odo closer. He looked like someone who didn't have much too lose anymore.

"For the future, I might just show you how it's done. Put your lips - like they are right now ! - on mine and move them."

"Put them on AND move them ? Isn't that a contradiction?"

Quark sighed dramatically.

"Just- just copy me." Quark said, before pulling him forward by the shoulder and pushing their mouths together.

Quark could hear the door open, then the voice of his cousin Gaila shouted: "HA! Stop your plotting against meEAHH?!"

Quark turned his head away from Odo. Gaila looked more than shocked.

"But you are- why aren't you- why are you-"

"The door has its purpose, you know." Quark told him, voice dripping in sarcasm. "And if you're already freaked out by that you should be really glad you didn't come in here in five more minutes." 

Gaila started and cancelled a few more sentences, then turned around blindly.

Quark chuckled softly at having shocked his cousin and it was contagious to Odo.

Eventually Odo asked him: "Do solids really kiss like that ? It seems so ... close . Very un-solid."

"Yeah, it's like that. That's why so many people like it."

"Could we practice again ? Just to see if I got it right this time ?"

Quark nodded and Odo leaned forward, bringing their lips together - and only their lips this time.

Odo did move his mouth a little against his, putting different pressure here and there the longer the kiss went on. 

He hadn't suddenly improved since their last kiss, - except for the skin connecting thing - but Quark felt himself becoming excited by it. He opened his mouth a little and Odo immediately copied him, Quark's tongue finding easy access into his mouth. A gasp escaped Quark, the need for Odo to touch his ears suddenly coursing strong and clear through him. His hands reached out and guided Odo's hands slowly towards them. Odo broke the kiss before they could get there.

"What are you doing ?"

"I thought we were- nevermind." Quark said quickly. "Let's go to bed. I mean, let me sleep."

Odo blinked, nodded, then got out his PADD and started reading at the desk.

Quark was woken up by the voices of his keerkies coming from the living room. Moogie talking to her sisters wasn't unusual, neither was waking up from it; he had experienced that often enough growing up. Gaila's voice amidst this was new and in the current situation not something to be left on its own. 

"Everyone's talking, c'mon." He told Odo, who from the look of things hadn't left the desk and had read through the night.

Past Rom who was listening by the door, they stepped into the living room where his mother was talking to two different screens, Gaila next to her.

"...what else did my sister have to tell me of my wasteful son apart from wasting money on insults ???" Morka started, staring Gaila down. "Witness payouts you didn't look out for ?" She continued. "Planetary express you wanted to use ?! You even wanted to call granmorgie on a cruise ship ??!"

"...but me taking the certificate to the notary would not have wasted money from the fund, Moogie !" Gaila tried to defend himself. Odo shot a quick look over to Quark; knowing that it could be suspicious, but needing to know if he was planning to act. But the Ferengi had his side was busy following the attack on his cousin.

Quark saw a new face appearing next to Keerkie Morka on the screen. It was a young female Ferengi and she hissed at his cousin upon her entrance. Gaila's eyes widened in both shock and surprise.

" Sham ? You're here, too?"

"Using one screen saves money and one of you two has to keep the money in !" Morka hissed at him, nodding towards the young female next to her. "If I wouldn't want to keep my future daughter-in-contract, I would tell her to cancel the engagement!" Morka hissed at her son, Sham at her fiance. Gaila hissed back at them briefly, then stopped, changing his tone and bringing his hands together with his eyes on Sham:

"My tiny-lobe, krhk-ling," (Odo's translator quickly updated it to 'slip-ling'), "size of one fourth of a slip-" Gaila started, but was sharply interrupted by his fiance.

"Don't you 'tiny-lobe' me! And it's one EIGHT of a slip, with the value of one fourth!"

Odo was surprised about the way they talked with each other from what he had heard of how Ferengi treated their women. He didn't comment on this to Quark, though, not even in whisper, because in the presence of Ferengi he might just have shouted into their conversation.

Gaila's locked wrists rose higher and closer to his fiance on the screen, while he bent his back to make himself smaller.

"It really isn't what it looks like!" Gaila told Sham. "I- I would never waste money like this ! You know me-"

"Because I've seen your entire behavior so far, I'm only thinking about reducing the proposed 500-year contract to a 100-year one!" Sham spat and continued, despite Gaila's cry of terror.

"That way there's enough time for me to start a new family with a more reasonable husband and keep you stranded with your kids ! Who'll probably be as wasteful with money as their father! I'll make sure we have a couple, so you will go bankrupt trying to feed and clothe them !"

"My- my fountain of Latinum!" Gaila pleaded.

"It's gonna take more than a fountain to compensate your wastefulness !" Sham shot back.

"She is very right you know, son." Morka nodded gravely.

"She is, nephew." Ishka and Zerka echoed in similar fashion.

"None of my sons-in-contract has ever wasted money like this." Zerka continued. "Only make it grow and grow! All my daughters have married well!"

Her sisters turned to her at the last statement. 

"For the last time, Zerka, marrying someone who works for the FCA doesn't count as a good marriage!" Iskha scolded her and Morka nodded along strongly.

"You dare tell that to my sons-in-contract's face ?" Zerka replied with a sharp look in Ishka's direction.

"No, but neither would you !" Ishka fired back. 

A pause, then the Ferengi eyes on the screen moved over to Odo.

"That him ?" Zerka asked.

"He looks very tall. Surely eats a lot." Morka noted.

"I eat nothing." Odo said.

"Ugh, picky eater." Zerka said, followed by Morka: "Special, costly diet then." 

"No, keerkies, he literally neither eats nor drinks." Quark said, quite proud.

Morka and Zerka regarded Odo with new interest.

"/Nothing/? What a catch !"

"But he has no proper lobes." Morka warned. "How is he supposed to know how to pleasure his husband ? A husband can become a real bad businessman with too little Oo-mox." 

"Or too much." Zerka giggled.

"I did my research." Odo said firmly.

"Hmm." Morka replied, difficult to say if she sounded convinced.

"Annual average of climaxes your husband reached ?" Zerka asked.

"Monthly might be more accurate." Morka offered.

"Good idea! Or better yet: weekly !" Zerka noted.

"Favorite oo-mox technique?" Morka continued.

 "He-" Quark interrupted. "He's a Changeling. He has his own custom style."

 All Ferengi blinked with interest at the term 'custom'.

 "I do it gladly to please my husband." Odo said firmly.

 "That sounds as if you're doing it out of your own volition, without a contract." Zerka said with raised lips, slowly revealing teeth. Her sister on the other screen did the same.

 "Well, I am." Odo said, despite seeing Quark stare him down.

All Ferengi hissed.

"What he means," Quark quickly interferred to save the situation, "is that he showed me a free sample to further negotiations for said sampled technique to be included and he was so successful in those negotiations that it's almost as if he can use them at his own volition."

An impressed sound from all four Ferengi females. Even Gaila had to gulp.

"My son-in-contract can even turn into Latinum!" Ishka shouted full of pride.

"Well, that's obviously a lie !" Gaila yelled.

"Is not ! Slander! Pay up !"

While Gaila pressed his thumb demonstratively on his PADD, he hissed, "He's a cooop!", trying to shift opinions. "They- they kiss weird!"

"So do you!" Sham hissed back. "Without teeth! Slug-lips !" 

Gaila looked flustered.

"And you purr in the strangest moments!" Sham went on.

"That's not-" Gaila tried to defend himself, but was cut off by his fiance once more.

"There, you're doing it now !"

"P-pay up!" Gaila spat. A purr clearly coming from him.

"Gladly! With your money !"

"Stupid engagement rules!" Gaila groaned.

"And had you read up on the marriage contract literature like I had told you, my sweetest lobe, you would know that sticks with you in marriage as well!" Morka told him. The screen turned black.

Gaila blinked. He tried calling back. Tried calling through his own PADD. Then went for the door with big strides.

"This isn't the last you will hear of me!" Gaila cried in Quark's direction, running out of the room.

"It's true what they," Rom said, stepping into the room at last, "'females and finances don't mix'."

After finally making in on a shuttle heading back towards the station and some hours of quiet reading or staring into space out the window of their seats, Odo turned to Quark in his seat.

"I have to confess something."

Quark turned to him as well and Odo continued.

"I had planned to use this trip to humiliate you in front of your mother, then would have used your written statement to arrest you."

Quark's eyes widened. "But..when I saw how genuinely happy your mother was, for you, for me, for us , I felt.. bad."

He saw Quark look away, blinking a couple of times and he wasn't sure if the Ferengi wasn't trying to calm his breathing.

"So let me get this straight.." Quark started, his expression dangerously even, "you were so eager to help out just so you could watch me suffer ?Faster ?"

Odo nodded slowly. There was no use in denying it when he had already confessed to it, though he still felt the urge to.

Quark blew out some air, looking ahead. Not at him.

"Wow. You must really hate me."

"That's not it !" Odo hastened to say and it actually made Quark look at him.

"Then what ?" The Ferengi demanded. "Just a little sardistic ? A little bored?"

"Ignorant." Odo replied. "I didn't know what it is like to have a mother, to be.."

"...judged by a mother ? Belittled by a mother ? And other assorted relatives ?"

"...yes.." Odo said, looking down.

He heard Quark sigh.

"You played the part well, though." Quark said. " We played it well."

Odo wasn't sure how he could tell if Quark had forgiven him already. He could only tell that it felt less bad to talk to him than it had moments before.

Odo nodded towards the PADD in Quark's lap.

"Are you going to buy your moon now ?" He asked Quark.

"Browsing for now until the money comes in. But,  yes, it'll be a small moon, but it will be my moon."

"What size is your cousin's again?"

"Small."

"Then I'll give you some of my money so you can buy a medium sized one."

"What-"

"We have shared funds. At least temporarily, remember?"

Quark looked at him, a disbelieving grin working its way out of the corner of his mouth.