"Dressed only in clothes, from her head to her toes...this is way the talking part goes..."
Sheridan groaned softly. "Not again," he said to himself. He shook his head violently for a second, then went back to his paperwork. "Bills...bills...bills" He frowned for a second. "Doctor's bill for Anna's physical? What?" He scratched something on it, threw it in a pile, then flipped through more papers. "Last time I decide to go off to an enemy planet....the paperwork afterwards can be a pain in the butt."
"Exquisite dead guy, outside my high-rise apartment. Exquisite dead guy, hanging from a skyhook."
Sheridan groaned louder. "No!" He started slapping the side of his head. "Get (slap) Out (slap) Of (slap) My (slap) Head! (slap!)" He held his head in his hands. "Dammit, Kosh! Leave me alone! I know you saved me at Z'ha'dum, but this is ridiculous!"
"Can you hear me? I can hear you. I can just barely hear you."
"Kosh!" Sheridan began slapping his head again, just in time for a large group of Minbari to see it.
Lennier cleared his throat. "Captain Sheridan?" he said cautiously.
Sheridan straightened up instantly. "Yes, Mr. Lennier?" he asked.
"The Minbari from the original White Star wish to have a word with you. I am to be their translator."
Sheridan nodded. "Sure...go ahead
Lennier nodded at one Minbari woman standing next to him. She began to speak. Lennier paused for a second, then started translating.
"We," he said, "are distraught over the destruction of the White Star. You deceived us, Captain Sheridan. We were led to believe that it would only be for two hours. We left the ship believing so. As a result, everything that we had upon the ship was left upon it. All our personal belongings were upon the White Star when you took it to Z'ha'dum."
"I want to raise my freak flag higher and higher..."
Sheridan closed his eyes for a second, willed Kosh away again, then said to Lennier. "Go on."
The Minbari woman was about to speak again, when another Minbari began speaking violently. Lennier sighed almost imperceptibly, then began translating. "My clothes were destroyed. My sacred books were destroyed. My Kejin fish, Lennier..." Lennier broke off for a second and looked at the Minbari oddly. He began questioning her in Minbari. She answered in an apologetic tone, and shrugged slightly. Lennier stood there, slightly stunned, then shook his head. The original Minbari woman began talking, and Lennier began translating again. "We demand reparation for the damage you caused, Captain Sheridan."
"The bill collector's drinking lighter fluid, and says he'll tell our parents..."
Sheridan sighed. Kosh was getting worse. He turned towards Lennier. "Mr. Lennier, please tell them that I am terribly sorry for not being able to warn them before I went to Z'ha'dum, and will bring up the concept of reparation at the next council meeting. Until then, I'm sure the Minbari consul has emergency funds." Sheridan began ushering the Minbari out of his office, much to their protest. For once, Sheridan was glad that he had put off learning Minbari from Delenn, although she had been making him more and more curious, what with her various mutterings and all...
"How am I supposed to let you know the way I feel about you?"
Sheridan shook his head again. Maybe Lyta would know what to do about Kosh.
Lyta stood with her gills open, taking in all the scents she could find. A bit of garlic, that nice Minbari incense, the leather on a Narn's jacket... It was all so nice. She took another deep breath again, and instantly started choking. That scent was so foul! She looked up, and saw Captain Sheridan standing in front of her, looking concerned. She smiled lightly, letting him know that she was all right.
"Lyta," he said quietly. "Kosh is in my mind still. And he keeps on talking. How do I get him to stop? You have to help me!"
"Going precious and few are the moments that you and your own worst enemy share..."
Lyta giggled inwardly. Kosh was making more and more sense. She turned towards Sheridan, and decided to see how much he understood. "You live in the nightgown of the sullen moon."
Sheridan frowned. "What?" he said.
"Kiss me, Son of God."
Sheridan backed up quite a few steps. "Lyta, are you okay? You're not making any sense."
She sighed. Still the same old idiot. "Everyone dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful."
Sheridan stared at her in disbelief, then straightened up slightly when the new Kosh glided into the room. "Sing this corrosion to me."
"How can I sing like a girl and not be stigmatized by the rest of the world?"
The new Kosh glided back in surprise. "Hot metal and methedrine."
"You just forgot your one pet name for me."
The new Kosh glided out of the room, seemingly distraught, leaving Sheridan wondering how a Vorlon could look distraught. Lyta started to follow the new Kosh, then turned suddenly and graced Sheridan with a dazzling smile. "And the microscope reveals the scope of my very best intentions," she said, then followed the new Kosh out the door.
Sheridan stood there for a minute, confused.
"Why do you suspiciously change the subject and break my concentration?"
Sheridan sighed again, and decided that it was time to talk to Ivanova.
Sheridan found Ivanova in her quarters, halfway through a bottle of vodka. And judging by the amount of empty bottles scattered around her quarters, she had been halfway through a bottle of vodka for the past three weeks or so. She looked up at him blearily. "Oh...Captain...how are... things?"
Sheridan looked at her somewhat agape. He had never seen Susan so...relaxed. He sat down on a chair across from her, making sure that there weren't any bottles or anything else on it. "Susan," he said, slightly hesitant. "Are you okay?"
She poured herself another drink, a bit sloppily. "Have you heard of the Hour of the Wolf? I've been living in it, Captain. I've been living in it for..." she trailed off for a second. "I forgot how long it's been. Is this still second season? How long has Talia been gone?"
Sheridan didn't quite understand what she was saying, and surmised that she had been drinking for quite a long time. "Susan, ever since Kosh died, I keep on hearing...
"You gotta understand, she wants to be your man."
Sheridan cursed vehemently, causing Susan to get the giggles. Sheridan gave her a dark look and continued. "I keep on hearing Kosh's voice in my head. And it makes no sense!"
Susan giggled again. "Maybe I can scan you...hold still" She put her fingertips to her temples and stared at him intensely. "I'm..sensing...great...hostility, Captain."
Sheridan frowned for a second, wondering where he had heard that before, then shrugged it off. "I know that, Susan. I'm the hostile one!"
She fell back onto her couch, giggling again. "I tried," she said, in between giggles.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from the bedroom doorway. "Susan, my darling. Let me show you what I learned on Minbar!" He sprung to Susan's side.
Sheridan sat there in shock. "Marcus!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
Marcus looked at him in a cocky way. "I am, after all, fully functional." He began to kiss the nape of Susan's neck.
"You say I'm OK for a guy , but I can tell that you are lying."
Sheridan felt somewhat uneasy, and decided to leave. "Welllll....uh.....I better be going." He left the couple to their imagination.
Sheridan walked into his quarters and froze suddenly. Someone was in there. He turned on the lights, and looked around.
"Ignore the mountain of discarded folderol."
Sheridan sighed loudly. "Dammit, Kosh," he said quietly.
"John?" a voice asked from the bedroom. "Is that you?"
Sheridan frowned, but a smile was on his lips. "Delenn," he said in a cheerful tone. "Is that you in there?"
He heard a low chuckle. "Maybe," she said lightly.
"They were disorganized and that was what was wrong."
He cursed again, and plopped down on his couch. "Delenn," he said. "You will not believe what a day I've been having." He slipped off his shoes and leaned back for a second. "You just would not believe." He got up and started walking to the bedroom. He got halfway there, when he felt something cut into his foot. "Ow! Dammit!"
He looked down. There were pieces of glass everywhere, and a lighthouse on a wooden pedestal. "Delenn," he whined slightly. "Why haven't you picked up this snowglobe yet? It's been way too long..."
She appeared in the doorway wearing his robe. "Oh," she said distractedly. "It's an old Minbari tradition that anything that the woman breaks during the three nights that she stays over must stay where it is until they are properly joined."
He sighed again. "Why does it always seem like there's a damn Minbari tradition for everything?"
She smiled and held out her arms. "Oh, John," she said. "Just come to bed."
"But the best thing about New York City is you and me."
Sheridan shook his head one last time. "Kosh," he said to himself. "You better keep quiet for five minutes."
This Babylon 5 story was written by Kate Bolin. If you liked it, there's plenty more at http://www.dymphna.net/fanfic/. And you can feedback her at dymphna@dymphna.net.