The Doctor's sense of time was very finely tuned - he could tell if something was a fixed or mutable point, and he knew what sorts of things should and shouldn't be allowed to happen. Despite this, he was still astonishingly bad at actually gauging the passage of time. He usually found himself more frequently impatient than anything else, however, and therefore was greatly surprised when Julian informed him that almost an hour had passed, and he had to get back to work.

"Well, then," he said as they started walking, in unspoken agreement, towards the TARDIS. "Maybe I'll see you round sometime, drop in for another of those replicated lunches of yours."

Garak nodded. "That would be most kind, Doctor. Perhaps I could do something about that," he paused, pointedly, "outfit of yours. I am a tailor, after all."

The Doctor frowned defensively. "I'll pass, thanks." Following Garak's gaze he straightened his bow tie, and added "Bow ties are cool."

Garak shrugged politely and threw up his hands. "I can't say it's any worse than those Starfleet uniforms, I suppose." He smiled innocently at Julian, who shot him a look which greatly implied the frequency with which this exchange happened. Garak had no time to reply to the silent admonition, however, before they reached the TARDIS.

"Well, here's my ride," the Doctor joked. He opened the doors and started in. "Hang around a moment - you'll like this bit."

Julian and Garak watched as the doors closed behind the strange man and the stranger ship, and the whole thing began to disappear. Julian could only guess at the technology involved in the process, and wondered just how great the extent of the Doctor's knowledge really was. He would have loved the chance to discuss the experience with Garak in greater detail, but they were surprised by Jadzia's voice from behind.

"What are you two looking at? Is something wrong with the bulkhead?"

They turned, and Julian opened his mouth to respond when he saw Garak shoot him a look from the corner of his eye. He stopped, and shook his head. "No, sorry, we were just..." He paused, floundering.

Garak helped him out. "We were just examining the colour scheme of the wall. I was trying to explain a pattern I'm considering to the good doctor."

Jadzia gave Garak the sort of disbelieving look he frequently received (and, truthfully, delighted in), but shrugged and turned back to Julian. "You're needed in Sickbay. Morn injured his arm in an argument with some Klingons."

Julian sighed, nodding. "He really does need to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. I'll be right there."

He said goodbye to Garak and strode towards Sickbay. Why had they not said anything about the Doctor? There was really no reason to keep quiet about it, but the whole experience had been so unusual and perplexing that it just seemed best to keep it a secret. Garak certainly seemed to agree with him - but then again, Garak thought everything should be kept secret except the lies. Well then, he supposed, a secret it will be. He could manage that. He certainly had the experience, if his life to date was anything to go by. I know how to keep a secret.

The Doctor dashed about the TARDIS console, flicking switches and pressing buttons. He wasn't really sure where he was going. He could explore this world some more, or go get Clara, or try to examine the wormhole more closely again. In the end, he supposed it didn't really matter; he just wanted to keep moving. To keep running. He could feel his secrets catching up with him, and he didn't like it. Secrets were best kept safely behind you, in the dark where no one - not even yourself - could see them. The problem, he supposed, was that if you left secrets in the dark for too long, they came back and started to haunt you. And if they started to haunt you, other people started to realise that you were running from them. Still, running was better than nothing at all, and the wonderful thing about Clara was that she had secrets of her own. Secrets which kept him busy, too preoccupied with her mystery to focus on the fact that he knew his own was coming back to hunt him down. He remembered Dorium's words to him as he spoke of what was coming. "Doctor who?"

Ask as they might, he would never tell. Haunting him or no, he knew how to keep a secret.