A Collection of Julian Bashir One-Shots

Swampweed

tw//life endangerment by drowning, sensuality, nudity, implications of sex

Summary: You and Julian go swimming on a holosuite date. The catch? You're not a very strong swimmer—and Julian's borrowed program has some assets he wasn't aware of.

***

The chirps of frogs and crickets cut through the damp night air the moment I stepped into the holosuite, filling me with an ineffable feeling of home. Swamps were a common phenomenon on M class planets, not specific to earth, but this one's atmosphere sounded and smelled so distinctively Terran that it almost made me feel nostalgic. It was almost distracting enough to forget the anxiety at hand.

"Don't worry—the water's safe. I made sure it was coded without the diseases," Julian said, as if that weren't a given, and squeezed my arm before heading towards the edge of the water. He went ahead and stripped off the robe he'd worn in Quark's, revealing a pair of basic swim trunks and leaving it by the shore.

"It's not contracting a disease that I'm worried about," I insisted, following his lead and sliding off my own robe. I watched as Julian dipped into the water fearlessly. The impact of his body disturbed the bright green algal blooms, and they rippled out almost magically, clearing our section of water entirely until it looked almost Prussian blue. I dropped my discarded robe next to his and slipped into the swampy pond across from him. My skin prickled at the coldness of the water, but it was clean, like he said. He'd even managed to filter out most of the murkiness while he was tweaking the program.

"The water doesn't get any taller than six feet at the deep end. I promise you'll be fine," Julian said, and took a stroke through the water towards the far end of the pond. I frowned and bit my lip before kicking off from the surprisingly not slimy bottom and following him.

It didn't take long for me to catch up to him, and once the water was up to our shoulders, Julian gently urged me towards the deeper water with the palm of his hand.

"You can do it," he promised, his voice gentle. "You'll be fine as long as you don't panic—and if you do, I'll bail you out."

I gave Julian a hesitant look, but simply nodded and paddled in. I didn't see why he though me facing my fears was a great idea for what could have been a more lighthearted a date, but... I suppose I really did need to learn how to swim at some point.

Once my feet kicked off the ground, there was a moment of weightlessness, before fear set in. I was tense, and I began to sink, but I heard the sound of Julian swimming up behind me. He whispered a soft "relax" near my ear, and reminded me to kick softly. I closed my eyes. I did as he said, trusting him, and soon, I actually found myself... floating. Just a bit. When I opened my eyes up again, Julian looked actually impressed.

"Good job!" Julian said, a grin spreading across his face. "Okay—I won't make you stay any longer. I just wanted to show you that you can do it. Want to head back to the shallow area?"

"Uh..." I hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was some sort of test, but the look in his eyes seemed genuine. "Yes?"

Julian smiled and nodded. To my surprise he didn't look at all disappointed.

Once we were back in the shallow end if the pond it didn't take long for our hands to be all over each other. There was nothing lascivious, really, just an almost childish desire for romance, but that didn't make it any less real. We paddled around each other, myself teasing Julian a bit until he became a bit playfully aggressive and herded me against a tree whose roots were reaching into the pool of water. My back bumped against the bark of the rotting trunk as I tried to gleefully get away, and Julian went in for the "kill," pushing me up against the tree and kissing my neck aggressively. I giggled a bit and thrashed in the water, but he held me tight, and once I realized there was no place to go, I gave in and relaxed in his grasp. Once I was no longer fighting against him, his kisses became slower, deeper, until he hummed softly and rested his head in the crook of my neck.