This is a wonderfully written scene in which lots of things are not directly said but are implied. Let’s see how good you are at inferring things.

But first some background…

We are in the universe of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The story is centered on the space station Deep Space Nine, located near a wormhole connecting the United Federation of Planets territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy.

The young man sitting at the table is Julian Bashir, the station’s chief medical officer. The man approaching him is Elim Garak, an exiled spy from the Cardassian Union. Garak has established a tailoring business on Deep Space Nine. While during most episodes of the series, he is indeed a harmless tailor, he is also a complex character with an important place in the series.