ext_833062: (Default)
[identity profile] speakingwosound.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] babylon5_love
Title: Day of Birth
Author: [livejournal.com profile] speakingwosound
Pairing: Londo Mollari/G’Kar
Rating: PG, just ‘cause I can’t bring myself to actually rate a story G
Spoilers: none that I can think of
Summary: Birthdays aren’t usually celebrated on either Centauri Prime or the Narn homeworld.
Disclaimer: JMS is a genius, a serious genius. I, unfortunately, am neither JMS or a genius. These characters are his and I am just playing for a little bit.
Notes: This is short and kinda ridiculous, but it’s my first foray into these characters, so please forgive me.



Celebrating birthdays is strictly an Earth custom. On Centauri Prime, the only significance of one’s day of birth is for the Emperor, in which case it’s used as another excuse for a party. Or, on the rare occasion, for an enemy to play a particularly ironic joke. On Narn, there are more things to worry about on the day of birth than jotting down the date and time.

So, when Londo enters G’Kar’s quarters to find him covered head-to-toe in a fluffy white substance, grinning over what can only be described as a Birthday cake, Londo can only squint and remember back to a similar concoction at Ivanova’s so-called Birthday Party a couple of months back. But, there had been copious amounts of champagne that night, and he can’t be sure.

“What is this?”

G’Kar should have been hurt, he really should have, but after doing this for so long, he remains pretty much un-phased by Londo’s pursed lips and disdainful tone. Instead, he points at the cake and grins wider. “Mr. Garibaldi has been teaching me how to, what’s it called? Oh, yes, how to bake.”

Bake?”

“Yes. Bake.” The word is said with much more assurance this time, as if G’Kar’s decided to just go along with it, rather or not he’s remembered the right term for the cake in front of him.

“But why, hmm? Is it a special occasion I should know about?” Londo reaches a finger out to swipe a dab of icing of the top, and G’Kar reaches out to swat his hand away. Londo raises the finger to his lips and tastes gingerly. “Mmm, this is actually quite good. Are you sure you made it?”

“Of course I made it. Who else around here would slave for hours in the kitchen to make something like this for someone like you?”

“You are right there.” Londo grins, dragging a chair forward and checking it for bits of flour and egg before sitting down.

“Oh,” G’Kar looks around for a moment, digging under empty cartons to pull out a rather wet and dirty piece of paper, which he hands over triumphantly. “This came for you today. I intercepted the courier and promised I would get it to you.”

“What-?” Londo begins to ask, before he looks down and notices his eldest ex-wife’s handwriting. So, it is the second reason, then, for a Centauri to remember the day of his birth. He should have known. “My ex-wife.”

“Oh, yes. She hates you, quite a lot.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

“She also mentions,” G’Kar reaches across the counter to point at a specific passage, “that today is the anniversary of the day of your birth.”

“She would know, I suppose.” Londo drops the page to the counter and frowns at it. “She would find it ironic to off me today. I suppose you are marking this day for the same reason, yes?”

“To kill you?” G’Kar does a perfect imitation of Ivanova raising her eyebrow and Londo can’t help but chuckle.

“Yes, G’Kar, to kill me.”

“If I was going to kill you, would I have not done so in your sleep these last few months? It would have been a lot less messy.” He motions to the disastrous state of his quarters and Londo chuckles again.

“You were buttering me up for this day all along. Lulling me into a false sense of security.”

“Precisely.”

“Explains everything, finally.”

When they had started this thing, all those months ago, it wasn’t supposed to last. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than the world’s ending tomorrow, so damn the consequences ‘cause we won’t be alive to face them anyway. Except, the world didn’t end. Not the next day. Nor the day after that. And now, Londo wakes every morning to find his tentacles tingling and a dark, Narn-shaped arm around his waist. And, the worst part of all? He’s used to it. So used to it, in fact, that he not only expects it, but he’ll miss it when it’s gone.

But, these are worries for other Centauris, the ones who don’t get to celebrate their birthdays and the ones who don’t have Narns with spit-eating grins leaning across the counter at them. And Londo can’t do anything but lean over the counter and give G’Kar a soft kiss as he takes the offered slice of cake and grin back.

“Happy Birthday Mollari.”

Date: 2010-08-16 05:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nhpw.livejournal.com
“Bake?”

“Yes. Bake.” The word is said with much more assurance this time, as if G’Kar’s decided to just go along with it, rather or not he’s remembered the right term for the cake in front of him.


So cute. And so G'Kar. Thanks for sharing!

Date: 2010-08-16 06:06 pm (UTC)
ext_428359: (londo and g'kar - armies cannot stand)
From: [identity profile] amatara.livejournal.com
Londo/G'Kar !!! *squeals* It's been ages since I read something new in that pairing, so this is an absolute treat! :) Funny and sweet, with just the right amount of snark.

I love your opening line:
Celebrating birthdays is strictly an Earth custom. On Centauri Prime, the only significance of one’s day of birth is for the Emperor, in which case it’s used as another excuse for a party. Or, on the rare occasion, for an enemy to play a particularly ironic joke. On Narn, there are more things to worry about on the day of birth than jotting down the date and time.

and this one

You were buttering me up for this day all along. Lulling me into a false sense of security.

because yes, he so would say that, and G'Kar so wouldn't deny. *g*
You made my day with this! Thank you for sharing!

Date: 2010-08-17 06:29 am (UTC)
ext_428359: (londo)
From: [identity profile] amatara.livejournal.com
Well, there can never be enough Londo/G'Kar! *g*
(On the other hand, there is much goodness out there! :) Maybe you've already found everything there is to find, but AO3 holds some good stuff, and apart from that [livejournal.com profile] selenak and [livejournal.com profile] andraste are the most obvious authors to look out for - they've also been around the longest! Several others have written lovely stories as well, like [livejournal.com profile] kangeiko and [livejournal.com profile] kakodaimon.)

Date: 2010-08-19 01:34 pm (UTC)
ext_428359: (Default)
From: [identity profile] amatara.livejournal.com
Sharing the squee over Londo/G'Kar is one of my favorite things in fandom, and occasions are generally rare, so yay! :) (oh, and *insert shameless self-promotion warning here* if you browsed either AO3 or FanFiction.Net you probably bumped into them already, but I've been known to write some Londo/G'Kar fics of my own. ;) Some of them even have some, ahem, tentacle action. Though [livejournal.com profile] andrastewhite is champion on that account, really. ;) )

Date: 2010-08-19 01:35 pm (UTC)
ext_428359: (Default)
From: [identity profile] amatara.livejournal.com
(for some reason I can't edit this post anymore, but I meant [livejournal.com profile] andrastewhite, not [livejournal.com profile] andraste (whom I don't know :)) )

Date: 2010-08-16 07:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maspalio.livejournal.com
Aw, that's so cute!
Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed it a lot.

Date: 2010-08-16 08:44 pm (UTC)
ext_251819: Abby Sciuto from NCIS (Default)
From: [identity profile] rebecca2525.livejournal.com
LONDO/G'KAR FIC!!! W00t! Ahem. This is lovely! The snark is so in character! And I can just picture G'Kar in all the mess, and reading Londo's mail and being gleeful about it...

Except, the world didn’t end. Not the next day. Nor the day after that. And now, Londo wakes every morning to find his tentacles tingling and a dark, Narn-shaped arm around his waist. And, the worst part of all? He’s used to it. So used to it, in fact, that he not only expects it, but he’ll miss it when it’s gone.

That's a great part!

Date: 2010-08-16 10:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com
This is so cute! But also snarky and funny and "tentacles tingling" was surprisingly...well, I wasn't thinking anything PG after reading it, heh.

Date: 2010-08-17 06:32 am (UTC)
ext_428359: (g'kar)
From: [identity profile] amatara.livejournal.com
Whoo! Yes! You must! *waves tentacle p0rn banner at you for support* :D
(And I'm sure there are many, many ways one can be creative with tentacles and/or pouches and/or other, ahem, attributes. ;) )

Date: 2010-08-19 12:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vjs2259.livejournal.com
G'Kar must get his own show on Food Network...Cooking with the Narn. Or maybe Baking with the Narn. Londo would so filch icing; good characterization of them both!

Date: 2010-08-19 10:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aris-tgd.livejournal.com
N'aww, this is adorable! They're both very cute, in their own ways. (But in purple...)

Date: 2010-08-21 01:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mithen.livejournal.com
Eeee, this was just wonderful! *beams* G'Kar's enthusiasm for launching himself into projects like this knows no bounds, and I could so clearly hear his cheerful tone as he mentions how much Londo's ex-wife hates him, lol. Love the description of how they ended up together, it seems very plausible. :)

Date: 2010-08-22 07:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ingrid44.livejournal.com
Oh! Did not see that coming! Rather sneaky having such an unexpected ending.
The sight of G'Kar baking a cake! I can just picture flour over every piece of furniture, egg shells on the floor as well as in the cake, egg whites and sugar sticking to the utensils etc.
Glad you went ahead and posted the story; 'verrry inter-esting.'

Date: 2010-08-29 04:58 am (UTC)
ext_18428: (Delenn2)
From: [identity profile] rivendellrose.livejournal.com
Awwwwwww, this is just adorable. ♥ Perfect characterization for both of them, and a delight to read.

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