a wee Body Parts fic in the Reyga Lives AU
i wrote this recently, partly to purge some feels, and partly to get the Fic Juices flowing again. idk if this is ao3-worthy as-is, so i’m sticking it here. i may eventually collect some of these and post them there together. anyway, here is Dr. Reyga reacting to Quark’s refusal to break the contract with Brunt for his desiccated remains.
“What in the name of Eternal Destitution do you think you’re doing, Quark?”
Reyga had just burst in unannounced, his face flushed and his eyes flashing.
“Nothing that has anything to do with you,” said Quark indignantly.
“That is, I believe, what the Starfleet people call ‘horseshit.’”
“You’re just going to barge in here-”
“I asked you a question! What. Do you think. You’re doing?!”
“… You’re angry with me-” he started, wondering where the hell Reyga got off.
“You’re damn right I’m angry with you! I’m furious with you! Because of you, one of my dearest friends is devastated! You’ve hurt someone I care a great deal about, for something utterly pointless! Rom is near tears every time I’ve seen him. He’s even broken down weeping in front of me! The last time I spoke to him, he was wondering how he was going to tell your nephew what’s happened.”
“Don’t you bring Nog into this-”
“And why not, exactly?!” he shouted. “He’s another person who’s going to lose you! You’re abandoning both of them, Quark! You’re abandoning a brother who loves you, and a nephew who’s away at Starfleet Academy, still worrying that he’s damaged your relationship with him by going away to follow his ambition instead of becoming your apprentice! You’re going to leave him thinking that for the rest of his life! You’re worried that he’s rejecting Ferengi ideals?! Well this is a good way to ensure that he does! Go ahead and show him that our society is literally killing itself, and watch him jump ship like a Cardassian vole!” They stood there- Reyga trembling with anger and breathing heavily, Quark as still as a statue- and said nothing for what felt like an hour.
“No,” said Reyga very gravely, “he won’t.”
“I don’t know what you could possibly be thinking, but just so you’re aware, a boy doesn’t stop caring about his family’s opinion just because he defies their expectations. Take it from someone who knows. He’s far more vulnerable now than you seem to realize, and what you’re planning to do will affect him far worse than you losing your damned business license!”
“I don’t have to justify my decision to you,” he said at last. “I’ve lived like a Ferengi and I plan to die like one.”
“I’m Ferengi too, in case you hadn’t noticed, and what you’re doing makes no more sense to me than it does to Rom!”
“You two are barely Ferengi anyway!” Quark finally shouted. “He’s an engineer, you’re a scientist! My nephew’s about to become a starfleet officer. None of you understands the responsibilities I have as a businessman!”
“This isn’t about responsibility, Quark! This isn’t about business! This is about your own stubborn, stupid pride! You can’t admit that you’re like us! That you’re dissatisfied with our society too! We’re as Ferengi as you are, and that’s what you can’t admit! That’s why Brunt is going to win! He’s going to get you to exterminate yourself rather than embrace the slightest modicum of compromise and change! And why? For what?! Who is he to you, Quark? He’s wealthy, he has a lucrative position, but who is he? He’s a replaceable FCA nobody! He has no friends! No one will miss him when he’s gone! The people who buy his remains will shove him in the back of a desk drawer and forget about him, while the people who mourned for you will have nothing.”
With that, Reyga turned and began walking away. Quark watched him, frowning deeply.
“I’m going to see how Rom’s doing, not that you care.”
Reyga didn’t give him a chance to finish before he started yelling again.
“Prove it then! You know, for the longest time, I thought Rom must have been exaggerating about how difficult it is to deal with you. But now? Now I get it. I thought my brother was bad. He’d never do anything this asinine, I can tell you that!”
He stormed off, and Quark did nothing but watch him go. Before he left, he paused in the doorway, staring bitterly. His voice cracked just the slightest bit as he was speaking.
“For what it’s worth, Rom says he’ll be able to forgive you for this eventually. He’s a better man than I am, because I know I won’t.”
