35, angst ;KMFDM 2/? Garak & Tain.
“The more tears you shed…”Garak is torn between shying from the hand that administers punishment and being terrified of the closet with its darkness and cramped space."Come on out. Stop your snivelling."Garak bolts, thinking he's small enough to squeeze past, but Enabran scoops him up. Garak's tempted to bite, but he doesn't want to be punished for that too. So he lets Enabran hold him, though it's uncomfortable and Tain's presence makes Garak's eyes water with fear."One day, Elim," Enabran says, locking eyes with Garak, "you will understand. And when that day comes, you will thank me."He squirms so Enabran has to drop him, Garak bolting out of the house, hiding in the garden. He cries until night falls and he gets scared of the dark enough to go inside.Mila takes one worried look at her son and wipes the dirt from his face. Tolan's face is set hard and he doesn't hug the young Garak, perhaps knowing it will only make him more upset. Years later, when Garak gets his first assignment, he seals up his mark in a confined space, somewhere out of the way, where no one will find them before they suffocate. It's a thing that makes Elim Garak wake up in a half-formed cry of terror some nights.He never does understand.
