That episode had so many humorous moments to work with. The three of them in "the clinker" together was so hilarious to me the first time around and Sisko's reaction to it. Odo always had the stern headmaster vibe going, didn't he?

Yes, Julian is behaving poorly. I imagine that as being a difficult conversation to have, and really, there is never good timing for it. It just has to be done. While I do see him as a person of integrity, I also see him as a man used to keeping secrets and compartmentalizing in his life because of the necessity of the BIG secret. I feel that could easily spill into other area's of his life and wanted to explore that a little. What are some unintended consequences of always having to be secretive? How else could that manifest?

If I hadn't read Andrew Robinson's "A Stitch in Time", I never would have thought of Rom and Garak as being friends. I found his attitude toward Rom in the book touching and unexpected. It opened up a lot of doors creatively for finding someone Garak could interact with that we didn't necessarily see on the show all that much but that made sense, nonetheless. They've been surprisingly entertaining to write together.

Thanks for the review, and I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the chapter!