Fic bits: "Velveteen" (Garak+Bashir, PG-13)
Pieces from "Velveteen", the PG-13 Garak+Bashir (maybe pre-slash if you squint hard enough) fic I'm working on. First draft, yadda yadda. ~800 words in currently unconnected segments.
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“Well, Garak,” Bashir asked with barely contained eagerness once they’d finally settled down with their food at their usual Replimat table, “what did you think?”
Garak took a moment to taste his soup before replying. “Let me guess: it’s meant to be a tale about the redemptive power of love in the face of impossible odds.”
“Yes. And?”
It was all he could do not to smile at the Human’s enthusiasm. Sometimes Bashir made this too easy. “In that case, I’d say it fails miserably.”
“Fails -? I’ll have you know that The Velveteen Rabbit is one of the classics of Terran children’s literature!”
“And like most of your classics, it falls apart under critical examination.”
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"The implication is that to be Real is to always be truthful, which I for one deeply resent."
"I thought you'd like the Skin Horse. He's been through the wars, after all."
"Maybe, but he fills the Rabbit's head with all sorts of nonsense."
"Which doesn't turn out to be nonsense at all in the end."
"Only because the story as a whole lacks internal logic and consistency."
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"I suppose that the Cardassian version would be all about duty to the State and being a proper citizen."
"Cardassians aren't in the habit of telling our children stories about stuffed toys that talk," Garak sniffed. "We much prefer to offer instructive histories. But if you think about it, it actually works much better when interpreted in those terms." In response to Bashir's look of borderline exasperation Garak sighed and put down his spoon. "The Velveteen Rabbit fulfills his duty by comforting The Boy as he lies ill, but when that task is accomplished he's full of contagion, worn out and quite useless to any healthy child. The responsible thing for him to have done would have been to go to his destruction secure in the knowledge that he'd completed his mission and served his purpose. But what does he do instead? He stews in his own regrets, and weeps until a massive deus ex machina clanks into view to pull him out of the hat."
"The sack."
"I beg your pardon?"
"He was in a sack."
"Sack, hat… rabbits are such magical creatures in your culture, aren't they?"
Bashir was now looking both disgruntled and amused, and did not rise to the bait.
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"And then there's the notion that love is essential in order to be Real. On the contrary: love tends to make people behave in ways that are quite unlike their usual selves, not in keeping with their fundamental characters at all."
"Really?" Bashir put down his fork, set his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on the backs of his folded hands, regarding Garak intently. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
Garak smiled blandly. "Are you going to deny that people 'in love' often do the most unexpected things?"
"No, but I'd also argue that love taps into who a person really is. It makes them capable of astounding charity, compassion and self-sacrifice."
"Like the Boy when he abandoned the Rabbit without a backward glance when offered a trip to the seaside?"
Bashir sat up straight again, scowling slightly. "Well… he'd just been seriously ill, and he probably didn't realize that the Rabbit was about to be burned."
"A conclusion unsupported by the source text." Garak took a delicate bite of his hasparat salad. "It seems that the Boy loved the Rabbit only when it was convenient for him to do so, which rather undercuts the story's assertion that love is a transformative force."
"But the Boy's love was only part of the equation. The Rabbit's love for the Boy was equally important, if not more so. Being loved isn't enough to make one Real, not unless one learns how to love in return." Bashir had that look on his face that meant he was thinking on the fly. It always pleased Garak to see it. "Or how to weep. That was what made the Rabbit Real in the end: the single tear he shed. If he hadn't wept the Fairy would never have appeared and he would have ended up going into the fire in the morning."
"So you're saying that love without pain isn't really love?"
"I suppose so, yes."
"Hm. For once, Doctor, you and I agree on something." Garak wiped his lips on his napkin before continuing. "But really - the nursery magic Fairy?" He chided Bashir with a stern forefinger. "The nonsense you fill your children's heads with! It's no wonder they grow up to be Federation physicians and devotees to all sorts of lost causes."
Bashir humphed softly and picked up his sandwich. "Fine, be that way. But the fact remains that in the end the Rabbit became Real, and lived happily ever after."
"That's another horribly misguided trope, but we can discuss it another time."
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“Well, Garak,” Bashir asked with barely contained eagerness once they’d finally settled down with their food at their usual Replimat table, “what did you think?”
Garak took a moment to taste his soup before replying. “Let me guess: it’s meant to be a tale about the redemptive power of love in the face of impossible odds.”
“Yes. And?”
It was all he could do not to smile at the Human’s enthusiasm. Sometimes Bashir made this too easy. “In that case, I’d say it fails miserably.”
“Fails -? I’ll have you know that The Velveteen Rabbit is one of the classics of Terran children’s literature!”
“And like most of your classics, it falls apart under critical examination.”
********************
"The implication is that to be Real is to always be truthful, which I for one deeply resent."
"I thought you'd like the Skin Horse. He's been through the wars, after all."
"Maybe, but he fills the Rabbit's head with all sorts of nonsense."
"Which doesn't turn out to be nonsense at all in the end."
"Only because the story as a whole lacks internal logic and consistency."
********************
"I suppose that the Cardassian version would be all about duty to the State and being a proper citizen."
"Cardassians aren't in the habit of telling our children stories about stuffed toys that talk," Garak sniffed. "We much prefer to offer instructive histories. But if you think about it, it actually works much better when interpreted in those terms." In response to Bashir's look of borderline exasperation Garak sighed and put down his spoon. "The Velveteen Rabbit fulfills his duty by comforting The Boy as he lies ill, but when that task is accomplished he's full of contagion, worn out and quite useless to any healthy child. The responsible thing for him to have done would have been to go to his destruction secure in the knowledge that he'd completed his mission and served his purpose. But what does he do instead? He stews in his own regrets, and weeps until a massive deus ex machina clanks into view to pull him out of the hat."
"The sack."
"I beg your pardon?"
"He was in a sack."
"Sack, hat… rabbits are such magical creatures in your culture, aren't they?"
Bashir was now looking both disgruntled and amused, and did not rise to the bait.
********************
"And then there's the notion that love is essential in order to be Real. On the contrary: love tends to make people behave in ways that are quite unlike their usual selves, not in keeping with their fundamental characters at all."
"Really?" Bashir put down his fork, set his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on the backs of his folded hands, regarding Garak intently. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
Garak smiled blandly. "Are you going to deny that people 'in love' often do the most unexpected things?"
"No, but I'd also argue that love taps into who a person really is. It makes them capable of astounding charity, compassion and self-sacrifice."
"Like the Boy when he abandoned the Rabbit without a backward glance when offered a trip to the seaside?"
Bashir sat up straight again, scowling slightly. "Well… he'd just been seriously ill, and he probably didn't realize that the Rabbit was about to be burned."
"A conclusion unsupported by the source text." Garak took a delicate bite of his hasparat salad. "It seems that the Boy loved the Rabbit only when it was convenient for him to do so, which rather undercuts the story's assertion that love is a transformative force."
"But the Boy's love was only part of the equation. The Rabbit's love for the Boy was equally important, if not more so. Being loved isn't enough to make one Real, not unless one learns how to love in return." Bashir had that look on his face that meant he was thinking on the fly. It always pleased Garak to see it. "Or how to weep. That was what made the Rabbit Real in the end: the single tear he shed. If he hadn't wept the Fairy would never have appeared and he would have ended up going into the fire in the morning."
"So you're saying that love without pain isn't really love?"
"I suppose so, yes."
"Hm. For once, Doctor, you and I agree on something." Garak wiped his lips on his napkin before continuing. "But really - the nursery magic Fairy?" He chided Bashir with a stern forefinger. "The nonsense you fill your children's heads with! It's no wonder they grow up to be Federation physicians and devotees to all sorts of lost causes."
Bashir humphed softly and picked up his sandwich. "Fine, be that way. But the fact remains that in the end the Rabbit became Real, and lived happily ever after."
"That's another horribly misguided trope, but we can discuss it another time."
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