This was well worth the wait. I absolutely love your characterizations; I love how you have Garak trying to figure out Julian, instead of the other way around, which is so common in other stories. How frustrating for Garak, too, since Julian can hardly figure out himself.

Besides characterization, you have a gift for painting the scene; your use of metaphor (and similes? Curse you, high school English!) is so effective. With some writers, I'm compelled to gloss over their descriptions, but my mind wants to sink into yours. Even the first lines of this chapter set the stage beautifully by reminding the reader just how isolated the station is in space and how things simply *cannot* operate the same way there compared to what we are used to here. It's alienating and sets the right tone for the desolation Julian feels.

Emotionally, the angst was harrowing and the release Garak gives Julian is keenly felt for the reader, too. The aftermath of Julian's confrontation with Marcia and the feeling of peace that Garak senses on the station really felt like a breath of fresh air. The ending was so quiet and understated that it really fit perfectly with the notion of grieving and learning to put things behind you - that situations *do* improve given time. That Garak was the one to convey that feeling at the end was a great way to show that he is regaining his own equilibrium.

Thank you for this. :)