The Casualty «Dukat/Damar & OFC» 🔞 ✔️

13. Substitution

Gul Zessad° took the time and care to visit her now and then, to see if she had changed her mind, and it was warming her up to him. She remembered Dukat getting closer to her slowly in the beginning as well, but this felt different. He had no power over her and she could have easily evaded him, but the conversations they engaged in were very pleasant. She actually found herself looking forward to the next one.

Damar delivered upon his promise to look up everything about Arem, and beside his marginal involvement in the Occupation, there was nothing shifty, not even from long forgotten past. So after a few of his visits, she finally agreed to go out for some dinner and dancing with him, warning him upfront not to expect much from it. She thought it would be a nice distraction of her own.

It turned out to be more than just a distraction. They went out again after that, and again. The more time they spent together, the more she liked him. A friendship began to bloom between them. He was nice and he was fun and so far also everything he claimed to be. His directness seemed natural, genuine. His sense of humor clicked with hers. And boy, could he dance!

Damar noticed her general mood improving after each date. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him, but he had the right to know how her feelings for Arem grew, so she told him. He just nodded his head numbly for a couple of minutes, staring into nothing, and then changed the subject. He'd been evading the topic ever since, pretending everything was fine, and there was nothing left to do for Nyran, except hope that he would manage to deal with it without drowning in kanar.

All their interactions had been purely friendly so far, but friendship was not exactly what Arem hoped for. One evening, when he was escorting her home from their date, as usual, he asked her about it.

"Are you consciously avoiding anything intimate with me, or is it still some kind of automatic defense caused by Dukat's betrayal?"

She had disclosed much personal information to him since they had started spending time together, including what exactly happened between her and Dukat. She remembered the way Arem gritted his teeth while listening to her, his hands balling into fists. He was truly appalled. And it felt good to unload it, as the only other person who had known until then was Damar and he had his own trouble to worry about.

Nyran sighed at his question.

"I'm not sure. Maybe both. Also, I may be single, but my heart is elsewhere right now."

"Oh," he exhaled. "I see. You're in love with someone already."

He sounded so disappointed, Nyran felt sorry for him, sorry for even telling him.

"I can't have him," she explained, "but I don't know if and when I'll be over him. I like you and really enjoy your company, but I would be thoroughly unfair to you if I let you feel like you stand much of a chance with me right now -- that is if you're looking for anything more than sex."

Arem smiled and shook his head.

"A young enough Gul is desirable company to many women," he shrugged when they arrived at her door and stopped. "So I am looking for something more. With you. You've caught my eye right away and it wasn't just your face or your body. I liked what I saw in your eyes, in your expression. And the more time I spend with you, the more I want of you."

Nyran was dreamily listening to his words, sensing the truth underneath. He was falling in love with her.

She recognized it in the way he was looking at her. It was familiar. But not from the times Dukat was trying to convince her to be with him, no. She knew this look from Damar's face. His eyes were filled with the same tenderness and warmth, a kind of silent pleading hoping to be heard and answered. She closed her own eyes in defense, her heart wailing.