"Keevan." Keevan looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected Yelgrun back so early. Weyoun had now been on the station for approximately two days, in which time Keevan had seen very little of Yelgrun.

"Yes?" he asked, stepping towards the other Vorta.

Yelgrun put his hands on Keevan's shoulders, pulled him up close and stared into his eyes. "You will keep that thing _away_ from me."

"'That thing'?" Keevan asked, smiling and leaning forward slightly.

Yelgrun didn't smile back. "Your friend. The verbal diarrhoea sufferer."

"Don't you like him?" Keevan asked, dodging Yelgrun's arms and moving in for a hug.

Yelgrun pushed him back. "Don't you listen? Keevan, you will keep him away from me. Preferably keep him off the station."

"I thought you'd like him." Yelgrun shook him, sharply.

"I'm going to tell you one last time, my _darling_, and I expect you to acknowledge the information, and act accordingly. I do _not_ like the annoying little midget, and I do _not_ want him anywhere near me. All right?"

Keevan nodded, a dour and serious expression on his face. Then he darted forward, threw his arms around Yelgrun's waist and planted a kiss on his cheek. Yelgrun cuffed him sharply on the ear, but Keevan jerked back, lessening the force of the blow, and backed out of Yelgrun's reach, grinning smugly. "Why don't you have a nice relaxing bath, my love," he suggested. "I'll go and push Weyoun out of the airlock in his underwear."

Yelgrun raised one eyebrow, quizzically. "That was the general idea." Keevan blew him a kiss, and left.

***

Weyoun was hunched over a console in the central operations area, his long, slender fingers dancing over the keys. He turned at the sound of Keevan's footsteps, and gave a delighted smile as he caught sight of him. "Keevan! I was looking for you earlier."

"I was busy. How are you settling in?"

"Oh, fine, thank you," Weyoun replied, watching Keevan sink into the chair opposite.

"I take it you've... met Yelgrun."

"Yes. Yes I did. He seems a little... distant...?"

Keevan nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, he can seem that way at first. I'm sure he'll warm up to you eventually. In the meantime, I suggest you, uh, tone it down a bit." Weyoun looked puzzled. "He doesn't like people to be enthusiastic around him. Be brief and to the point, and keep quiet as much as possible. That's how Yelgrun prefers to run things."

"Well, that doesn't sound like much fun," Weyoun protested, grinning disbelievingly.

"Yelgrun doesn't like fun," Keevan replied, smiling back. "Yelgrun likes efficiency. He thinks fun should be indulged in behind closed doors."

"I'm not sure I like that philosophy."

"You don't have to like it. You just have to adhere to it." Keevan laid his hands on the table between them. "While he's around, anyway." Weyoun took Keevan's hands, and lifted them to his lips.

***

Keevan lay beside Yelgrun's sleeping body, and slowly drifted in the misty wasteland between sleep and wakefulness. By rights he should have been asleep hours ago, after first taking Weyoun over the ops console, then going home to Yelgrun and having the best sex they had had for a long time. After which Yelgrun had simply rolled over and lapsed into unconsciousness. Keevan turned his head to observe the sleeping being beside him. He experienced a sudden rush of warmth and affection for his long-suffered partner. *I was right after all then*, he thought, muzzily. *All we needed was a change of pace. Now all I have to get is get those two together...* The image of Weyoun and Yelgrun together, on this very bed, ran through his semi-conscious brain, and he grinned to himself.

He wrapped his arms around Yelgrun and buried his face in the warmth of sleeping Vorta. To his surprise, rather than pushing him away, Yelgrun hugged him back. Absurdly touched, Keevan found Yelgrun's ear with his mouth and whispered, "I love you."

"Mmm," Yelgrun replied, non-committally, settling back into a more comfortable position. Keevan followed suit, and was soon completely asleep.

***

Weyoun was troubled. He had tried his utmost to follow Keevan's instructions, but, despite his best intentions, his relationship with Yelgrun, both on personal and professional levels seemed to be remaining at worse than nonexistent. He stopped outside his quarters and glanced down the corridor, chewing gently and absently on his lower lip.

Maybe he should stop by. Maybe an informal chat, just the two of them, would help. Away from the silent ranks of Jem'Hadar, before whom Yelgrun was forced to maintain a certain image. Making up his mind, Weyoun stepped away from the door that would lead to his own quarters, and continued up the corridor towards Yelgrun's.

***

Keevan strolled happily through the maze of corridors, paying no attention to where he was going, but travelling on autopilot along the routes that he had travelled many thousands of times before. In his left hand he clutched a basket full of small, round, light blue berries. They were Kiol berries, and he had been keeping them in storage for a special occasion, as they were Yelgrun's favourite. Today, on impulse, he had decided to make Yelgrun dinner. Mainly to thank him for last night, but also because Keevan felt happier than he had in a long time and he wanted to share it.

He reached Yelgrun's door, transferred the berries from left hand to right, and reached out to open the door. He wasn't sure exactly what made him pause, his fingers hovering over the lock, but he glanced either way up the corridor, saw nothing untoward, gave himself a quick mental shake, and opened the door.

The instant the door slid apart far enough to break the sound-proof seal, Keevan realised that his instincts had been correct. A high-pitched, wailing shriek reached Keevan's ears, followed by a wet _thunk_. Keevan grabbed the edge of the door, and squeezed himself through, his heart pounding in apprehension and low-level panic. However he was completely unprepared for the sight that met him as he managed to push himself completely into the room.

Weyoun staggered towards him, his hands outstretched and his mouth open. Dark blood poured over his chin and pattered to the floor. Keevan took a step forward and reached out for his friend, but before he could catch him Weyoun collapsed to the floor. Keevan fell to his knees and cradled him in his arms, pulling him up into a sitting position. The little Vorta's chest had been sliced open and the carpet beneath them was already saturated by the rapidly-slowing flow from his wounds. His hands gripped at Keevan's shoulders so hard that Keevan could feel the nails cutting though his skin even through his tunic, making his own blood flow. In a sudden aching moment of realisation, he clasped Weyoun against him as hard as he could. He heard him give a long moaning gasp... then silence. He did not breathe in again. Keevan lowered him gently back onto the floor and looked down at him. The bleeding had stopped. He reached out and carefully closed his eyes. Then, finally, looked up.

Straight into the eyes of Yelgrun. Who was splattered with blood, wiping clean a long knife, and gazing curiously at Keevan. "I didn't realise you were quite that close," he said, smiling amiably.

Keevan looked down at the body in front of him, and back up at Yelgrun. He got slowly to his feet and took a few steps towards him, his breathing harsh. "Closer than I've ever been to you, you murdering bastard," he hissed.

"Keevan..." Yelgrun began to look a little concerned as Keevan advanced on him, lips drawn back from his teeth, and fists clenched by his sides.

"Why?" Keevan asked softly. "Why did you kill him? Because he wouldn't shut up, was that it? You killed him for _talking_?"

"Keevan , you don't know..."

"Then why don't you _tell_ me." The two bloodstained Vorta glared at one another in silence. Eventually Keevan held out his hand. "Give me the knife."

Yelgrun smiled at him. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I'm not the one who's just stabbed a two month old to death for no good reason, remember? Now give me the knife."

Yelgrun put the knife down onto a small, waist-high table. "I think it's safer there for now, don't you?"

Keevan stepped up until he was within arms reach of his lover. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" He asked, keeping his voice soft and calm.

"He threatened me..." Yelgrun began.

Keevan gave a harsh, barking laugh. "He never threatened you, Yelgrun. All he ever wanted was to be friends with everyone in the entire universe."

"Then maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought you did, because he barged in here, started criticising practically every move I've made for the past two days, and insisted that I be immediately replaced."

"And I suppose he tried to kill you."

"Yes, he did."

"And you were acting in self defense."

"Yes."

"He can't have been a very proficient assassin. You haven't got a scratch on you."

"His training wasn't complete."

Keevan mulled it over. "I don't believe a word of it," he said finally, and grabbed the knife. "I think you killed him just because he annoyed you." He pointed the knife at Yelgrun's throat. "Didn't you?"

"No," Yelgrun insisted, cautiously stepping backwards.

"Yes," Keevan persisted.

"Keevan, darling, you're in no state to make any rash decisions. Just calm down, and we'll talk about it. After all, it's not worth throwing everything away just for..." he indicated the sad, damp little bundle lying on the floor behind them... "for that."

"For what?" Keevan whispered.

"I'll tell them what happened, and it'll be alright. Keevan, everything will go back to normal."

Keevan shook his head. "I'll tell them what really happened."

"Who'll believe you? Yelgrun asked gently. "It's your word against mine, and you weren't even here. Besides, your record isn't exactly spotless. And then there's the case of your... sexual preferences..."

"_What_?"

"Oh, Keevan, Keevan... Jem'Hadar are supposed to be used for killing things, not for, well, other purposes. Just put down the knife, and I'll make everything alright again, I promise..."

He got no further. Keevan lunged forward and rammed the knife into Yelgrun's stomach. The Vorta doubled over and fell to the floor, clutching desperately at his abdomen. Keevan crouched down beside him and retrieved his knife. He then jammed it into Yelgrun's body again, just below the ribcage. He dragged it down, gutting him like a fish. And, like a fish, all Yelgrun could do was thrash helplessly. Keevan pulled the knife down to the original wound and watched as a bundle of light pink intestines flopped to the floor. Grinning like a skull, Keevan got to his feet and began kicking at Yelgrun's middle. More organs pattered to the ground, and Yelgrun's struggles began to weaken.

Keevan stamped on the pile of intestines, making them rupture and spill their foul-smelling contents to mingle with the blood. Leaving Yelgrun to gasp and writhe in a puddle of his own bodily fluids, Keevan scooped up Weyoun and carried him to the sofa where he sat, stroked his hair, which was stiff with drying blood, and rocked him gently back and forth.

the end