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The ship was bored and lonely. It had tried talking to the workers but they didn’t seem to like it very much, except for the one maintenance human that came regularly. It liked the human because they would trade songs and the human was genuinely friendly, but the human wouldn’t come for another five days. None of the usual things it did to keep occupied seemed to be interesting and Kosh hadn’t needed it for a while. Then it had an idea.
~O~
The odd looking alien sat in the café watching the people in the Zocalo go by and humming a very strange sounding tune. “Can I get you something else? More tea?” a waiter asked eyeing the untouched cups of tea that covered the table. The alien seemed distracted as it watched the crowds. “No more tea, thank you” it said slowly. The waiter was accustomed to aliens that had trouble with English so the slow response wasn’t a problem. “Is it always…” it asked motioning to the crowd. “Crowded? Sometimes more and sometimes less” the waiter responded. “Would you like your bill now?” “Bill? What is a bill?” it asked in confusion. “You have to pay for the tea” he said as he counted the cups, “That’ll be thirty credits” he said. “Thirty… credits? What are credits?” it said with complete confusion.
The waiter sighed. “Have you been to the exchange yet?” seeing the look of confusion he sighed again, tourists! The waiter took in the smooth slightly greenish skin, mottling and what appeared to be a crest on top of its head before saying “You are Abbai correct? It works out to fifteen Nori.” The alien didn’t appear to understand. “The wooden chips?” the waiter said patiently. “Oh!” it said and pulled out a handful of currency, “Enough?” What it was holding out was a handful of different currencies worth considerably more than fifteen Nori and for a moment the waiter was tempted to take it, but he was a decent person and it was bad for business to cheat a customer. He gathered up the correct amount and held it in the palm of his hand for the Abbai to see. “Fifteen, correct?” he said with great patience. The Abbai nodded and then smiled. “Enjoy your stay!” the waiter smiled in response. The Abbai stood uncertainly before edging into the rush of people. “Tourists” the waiter muttered shaking his head.
~O~
It was a relief for the ship to finally be alone back in Bay 13. It shuddered slightly causing the docking clamps to groan as it remembered the crowd. All those beings touching one another! Still, it had been exciting. It didn’t think any other ship had ever even bothered to try that and supposed that being linked to Kosh accounted for its curiosity. It worried that Kosh would be upset that it had used part of its biomass as an avatar but all it could sense from the Vorlon was amusement.
The maintenance human came into the bay and said “Hello! How was your week?” cheerfully to no one in particular as she began her routine. She stopped with a sharp intake of breath. “No way! Really? I didn’t know you could do that!” she exclaimed in surprise. She walked up to the ship and reached out a hand, not quite touching it. “I promise I won’t tell anyone. Did you have a good time?”
She continued to clean, laughing occasionally at some unheard anecdote, humming while she worked.