A Collection of Julian Bashir One-Shots

An Unexpected Vistor

Summary: You're shouldering a lot of stress from the obligations of life on the station, and the cracks are starting to show. When your boyfriend, Julian, does an unprompted favor for you, you suddenly break down crying at the sudden kindness—and he comforts you.

***

Soft blueish lights pulsed around me as my feet padded along the carpeted corridor, and the back of my hand brushed against the ripped archways, but I was so in my own mind that I barely observed any of it, except for on the most surface level. Today was Sunday. I was going home. But what was next? Monday. Captain Sisko had asked for a report on my last away mission for Monday—tomorrow. It was halfway done, but I still needed to finish it tonight or tomorrow morning. Then, over course, there was the issue in engineering. I would have to deal with that. I would probably spend most of the day on my shift—then, I got out at 17:00 hours. After that I would have time to get the work done for Tuesday. Which was... what? Oh. Aloran. I had to get him the samples he'd requested by Tuesday—only two days from now, I realized with an unconscious gulp. And then Chief O'Brien wanted a meeting with me on our findings from the last mission. There was no time for work on Tuesday, as I'd already scheduled a meeting with Meexah. So anything due Wednesday... I had to do today. Or tomorrow—if I dared fit it in. I would probably end up doing that. After Wednesday was Thursday, when I was meant to attend a meeting with some of the junior officers, and I had to prepare a visual... which... I could probably finish Wednesday night. Then Friday... Friday. Oh, no. Jake had asked to do an interview for me. An interview... what did that entail? Oh, god. And then I had to get back to Ensign Jacklyn before Saturday... and when would I have time to get a birthday present for Julian?

I cracked my neck, sighing, and I turned into my quarters, not even needing to think before heading inside towards my bedroom. At first, I didn't think anything of it. All I was going to do was flop down on my bed and try to let it leech out all my stress. Before I could do that, though, I was struck by something... off. My bedroom was clean. Bed made, when I had left it in a disordered state that morning. The pile of dirty clothes piling up in the corner that had fallen to the wayside were no longer cluttering up the space. And on my nightstand was a vase with a single red rose sitting on it.

The door to my en-suite bathroom slid open and my eyes snapped towards the occupant emerging. With shock, I realized it was Julian.

"Oh, hey," Julian said, pulling down a casual t-shirt. "Sorry for dropping by without notice. I popped in real quick to borrow the shower—mine's broken, making a horrible noise. You want company tonight, though?"

"Hey..." I said softly, rolling my shoulders back in an attempt at relaxation and placing my work back next to the door. I rubbed my eyes softly, not exactly processing his request, and looked around. "What... happened?"

"Hm? Oh. I cleaned up a little. Looked like things were piling up on you a bit."

"You... cleaned up..." I said softly. My brow screwed into an expression of concentration.

"Yeah, uh... oh. I didn't get rid of anything important, did I? I was careful—"

Before Julian could finish his sentence, tears began to prick at my eyes and I suddenly, without warning, sniffled loudly. A few tears rolled down my cheek, and an irrepressible whine escaped my lips before I covered my face with my hands.

"What's wrong?" Julian asked, alarmed. Wrong, I thought to myself. Nothing was wrong—except, everything was wrong. Everything except for him. So much had been piling up, leading to an insanely stressful and busy week ahead of me. And yet, Julian, just by the act of cleaning, had reduced me to a pile of tears—because that simple, little act was enough proof of how much he loved me.