Disclaimer: I don't own Londo or G'Kar. No money made from this story.
Rating: PG-13.
Continuity: Takes place in early Season Five, roughly between The Paragon of Animals and A View from the Gallery.
Author's Notes: I actually sat down and worked out when the Narn solstice - whis is probably what the Days of G'Quan mark - was, every year of the series. (It doesn't happen at all in the Earth year 2261, if anybody cares to know this bit of triava.)
Into Temptation
By Andraste
The repeated sound of the door chiming penetrated G'Kar's consciousness gradually, and his return from the depths of meditation was slow and reluctant. Perhaps he should have been grateful that the interruption had taken so long to arrive. All things considered, G'Kar was surprised that Londo had allowed him two whole days of peace and quiet before he came looking for entertainment. He had been inflicting his company on G'Kar more and more often of late, and had obviously begun to take it for granted.
"Robes and incense?" the Centauri began when the door was opened. "What is the occasion?"
"I suppose a Centauri cannot be expected to keep track of our calender - but these are the High Holy Days of G'Quan," he explained. "I am surprised that you have forgotten that ceremony."
"Ah, yes," Londo said with a grin, "and have you had any trouble finding your precious plant this year?"
"Everything is arranged to my satisfaction," G'Kar said, the irritation in his voice more automatic than actual.
Sometimes it was hard to believe that it had only been three Narn years since that little incident, but given everything Londo had done since ... well, there was no sense in remaining upset about that particular display of childish petulance on the part of the Centauri.
"I am surprised that you still feel the need for all this," Londo said, gesturing around G'Kar's room at the incense burner, book and lit candles. "Don't you have a direct connection with the divine these days?"
"The purposes of ritual are many. I like to mark the passage of the years as I have done since my childhood. Besides, I have not abandoned the way of G'Quan, merely discovered my own branch of the path," G'Kar replied. "Is there a reason you have disturbed my solitude?"
"I don't suppose you would be interested in joining me for dinner?"
"It is appropriate for followers of G'Quan to fast at at this time - you will have to find somebody else to share your carnal pleasures with, Mollari."
"Am I to understand, then, that all physical pleasures are banned during the Holy Days?"
G'Kar was surprised that it had taken Londo more than a minute to get around to that. "This is a time for contemplation and reflection. A time to lay aside the pleasures of the body in favour of more spiritual pursuits."
"But G'Kar," Londo said, taking a step closer to him, "does that not make them all the more alluring?"
He was more tempted than he should have been, not that he'd admit it. The idea of Londo Mollari as an object of erotic temptation was something he'd have found ridiculous three years ago - even one. But that had been before he'd had sex with the man.
G'Kar had certainly never planned to go to bed with Londo, any more than he had planned to help him get rid of Cartagia, or to work with him to strengthen the alliance that had come to the aid of Earth, or to become his friend. Yet it seemed to have become something of a habit. The strength of their mutual desire when they fell into bed the first night had surprised both of them - or so G'Kar believed - and their ardour had shown no signs of cooling since. He would never have said it aloud, but G'Kar had enjoyed their encounters so far, and was not eager for them to end.
However, that did not mean that he was going to allow their ... activities to intrude upon his prayers. "I am sure you can wait another twelve standard hours until the ceremonies are over," he said. "I'm certainly more than capable of resisting your charms for that long."
Londo shook his head. "I do not understand why it should be necessary to wait at all. The Great Maker gave us bodies so that we could enjoy them. It is a strange deity that takes pleasure in seeing their followers suffer."
G'Kar knew that there was no sense in discussing philosophy with someone who thought of drinking until you passed out as a religious observance - but then, such trials were sent to test the faithful. "It has nothing to do with suffering. Through self-denial, we reach toward higher spiritual truths. We understand ourselves better, experience freedom from external distractions. That in turn allows us to connect more positively with the physical realm, when we return to it. The first meal taken after fasting is more enjoyed that the first meal taken after a feast."
Londo reached over and took G'Kar's hand, and the Narn didn't give him the satisfaction of resisting as he raised it to his lips and placed a kiss on the bare palm. "And is this not a way of understanding the universe too, G'Kar? If the higher powers wanted disembodied souls to worship them, that is what they would have made. Our gods demand no higher service of us than that we enjoy the lives we have been given, and in doing so bring them pleasure as well."
"That is hardly much of a religious duty, Mollari - if they exist, your gods must be as degenerate as the people they rule."
Londo's expression turned strangely serious. "I have often thought that it was the most difficult duty," he said. "The gods send us trials and torments - and yet they ask us to greet those, too, with joy. With the celebration of what they little they have left us with. For example, consider the deity Li. She promises us nothing but a moment of ecstasy, and in return for each one sends us a hundred moments of pain. And yet, I have not been sorry to worship her faithfully for many years, in the appropriate way. Surely a man of faith such as yourself would not interfere with my devotions?"
He kissed G'Kar's hand again, and this time the Narn did pull away. "In my opinion, your species would benefit from a religion that involved more meditation and less public drunkenness, Mollari."
"Very well," Londo said with a smile, "then you can instruct me."
"Instruct you?" G'Kar said, blinking.
"If you are determined to spend the night in pious meditation, I might as well take the opportunity to find out what you see in it."
G'Kar was tempted to point out that the Way of G'Quan was only for Narns, but he had long insisted that his own spiritual practices would be more open to other species - although he had to admit that he had never contemplated trying to convert a Centauri. Assuming it was even theoretically possible to convert a man with as little natural inclination to the spiritual as Londo Mollari.
"You will get bored," he cautioned, "and you will speak when silence is appropriate."
"I have attended more functions of the Centauri court than you have spots," Londo said. "Believe me, I have learned to deal gracefully with boredom. I am even capable of silence."
G'Kar contemplated pointing out that a complete lack of sincerity was not a good thing to bring with you on the path to enlightenment. Yet the truth of it was, the way had been revealled to him in order that he could pass it on to others. He could hardly turn away someone so in need of revelation - after all, it was through Londo himself that G'Kar had discovered what strange forms truth could arrive in.
"If you cannot sit still, I will not hesitate to throw you out," he warned.
"Excellent," Londo said. "Then when we have finished with your tuneless chanting, you will help me pray to my gods, yes? Break your fast with me?" He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
G'Kar sighed. This was going to be a long twelve hours.
The End