.... How do genders work?

Dr. Asanyahi T'Esria was armed to the teeth, alone against a conglomerate of universes who would never be able to truly understand her. At times like these she couldn't help but seek out quiet solitude for a brief respite from the insanity, drink to take the edge off, and think longingly of the home she had left behind.

Or more accurately, she was bored as the human image of 'hell' and had found a strip club. Asa wasn't necessarily 'classy'. That term, while often used in regards to the Asari, didn't fit with the image the spectre had built for herself. Goddess, she did not regret her decision to investigate, the woman here were at least as flexible as most of her own kind that she knew, and had the lovely hair that the humans possessed. Meant that there was something that she could hook her hands in and pull.

First of the green ladies she had talked to however had seemed remarkably uncomfortable with Asa- muttering something about how she should be angry or something. Which was... Strange. To say the least. Running her tongue over her teeth thoughtfully, the asari approached the bar where a charming redhead human worked.

Humans had always been easy to read intentions on- so perhaps this woman could explain why a number of the green ladies were looking at her like she ought to be slapping a singularity on them all out of... rage? jealousy? Asa's brow ridge bent under the weight of her confusion, before taking a seat at the bar. "Excuse me- Do you by any chance have any ryncol- and can you explain why the green folk look like they're expecting me to knife them?"

@kel

Belle wasn’t a regular sight at the Goddess any longer, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t cover a shift or two if Jaya asked; she owed the woman the world and it was a tiny thing to repay that.

“Ryncol?” Belle repeated the word to the lovely blue lady, “It’s na one I’ve poured but lemme check hun!” Bouncing belle pivoted on her toe, spinning in place she bent to check the lower less used cabinets.

Now Jaya had zero issues with her old bartending outfit, daisy dukes and a tied off checkered shirt that struggled to remain buttoned apparently played just as well in Hub as it had at the old Honky Tonk bar she’d last used it at.

“Ah!” Pulling fat little violet bottle out Belle snagged a glass triumphantly “Ms. Jaya almost always has what a customer wants.” Well that sounded way creeper out loud in context.

“Ah! It’s because ya are a girl?” Belle glanced up and down the newcomer, “Most females react poorly ta Orion’s.” She explained with a smile, setting the green liquid filled glass infront of her.

@alex

Asa laughed in surprise as the caustic drink was placed in front of her. It smelled like pain and nights spent trying to convince her cousins that she was as tough as any of them. A whole lot of hazy memories came with that viridian swill- she was actively surprised that anyone had any here, but rather pleased. It seemed amusingly right for Ryncol to be one of the few things that had made it into the hub. Just like the stubborn bastards who made it, it was made of stronger stuff than most could handle.

She grinned at the woman. "Reason you haven't poured it? Shit goes down like glass shards. Gets you wasted like nobody's business though." Asa offered with a wink, tossing back the cup easily, humming in pleasure at the searing agony that followed in it's track. It was almost a masochistic thing to drink it, but it was something she associated with her family, so she expected that and savoured it.

Asa threw hear head back with a groan, running her hand self-consciously along her scalp. "That's super rude. Do they just get super jealous or something? Is it biological? If so, how are you immune?" Asa started spitting out questions before stopping herself abruptly. "Er. Sorry, no need to answer if you don't want."

Laughing at herself slightly, she extended a hand across the bar to be shook. "I'm Dr. Asanyahi T'Esria. Asa. Aliens fascinate me."

@kel

“It’s a biological thin’ their pheromones cause most ladies ya see em as threats. All hind brain.” Belle winked “Ah know a darlin’ Doctor tha’ numbs out mah nose just enough.” Belle tapped the side of said organ. “Belle Street.” Belle grinned shaking her hand back. “Ask away hun! Everyone is new at some point!” She did hold up a quick finger as another customer signaled for a refill.

“Sorry about that! Always busy at the Goddess.” She apologized with a grin after bouncing back. Belle eyeballed the green liquor at her description, “Well now sometimes a taste of home is a taste of home no matter how bitter isn’t it?”

Asa listened with interest to the description, tapping her fingers along the bar thoughtfully. She sniffed the air experimentally- and even though she knew there were pheromones there, she felt... decidedly unaffected. Maybe a tiny warm- but that could be the Ryncol. She pursed her lips. "Maybe I'm unaffected because I'm not female?" She hypothesized, forehead ridge furrowing with thought. Part of her was tempted to see if she could get a sample, to analyze, test, and potentially create a counter for.

Asa grinned. "I don't know that I'd call myself new- but I haven't met these- Orions?- before. New species, new things to learn." She explained. "It's a pleasure to meet you Belle. Is this your full time occupation?"

"Yeah fair enough. I almost miss the irradiation of Tuchanka sometimes." She replied wistfully, thinking of the home away from home, where despite being an oddball, she was still accepted into her father's clan. Sort of.

@kel

“Tha might explain it.” Belle chuckled “Not all tits make a woman.” She was sure Jaya herself wouldn’t make that mistake, but sometimes the shades did.

“New ta Hub.” She clarified head cocking at the off bits of information. “Na. Ah help out these days, but ah own a little bakery.”
@alex

Asa laughed, hands on her hips in the most 'effeminate' pose she could manage. "My species- we're all capable of being the child carrier, so we all have the same requisite equipment." She explained, confident that it wasn't most people's first assessment upon meeting the asari. Most wondered where 'her' 'male' counterparts were. The humans had been delightfully confused for longer than most of the ones alive would be willing to admit to.

Asa rubbed her forehead, shaking it with a grin. "I assumed as much. I've been in and out of hub for most of your lifespan now. Admittedly I've spent more time out of hub rather than in- but if we're talking age than I have some stories to tell you." She offered with a wink, happy to leave the woman completely clueless as to Asa's real age.

She perked up at the mention of the bakery. "Oh that's awesome, I should check it out. I became fond of those- uh. What do humans call them..." She muttered to herself before snapping her fingers. "Cupcakes! One of the first humans I met introduced me to them."

@kel (In which Alex pulls random decisions out of a hat because sure why not.)

“Oh! Tha sounds interesting!” It really did if who carried the baby was equally divided between who wanted to vs who HAD to. That would change everything she suspected.

Cupcakes? Oh well than!

Belle pulled out a fresh glass, placing her faith in Hub never allowing someone to be poisoned as she mixed the Birthday Cake rum with salted caramel rum. “It’s a cupcake in a cup!” She explained grinning “What flavor was it?”

@alex

Asa shook her head with a laugh. "Is it? I know a lot of humans were confused by it at first- but my species can procreate with any sentient who is willing." She said with a shrug- entirely too used to that being common knowledge amongst the galaxy. "Your reproduction is far more confusing for me." She added with a cheeky grin, as a quick reminder than alien was relative.

Asa took the offer drink pretty comfortably, raising one side of her brow ridge in amusement. "If you say so." She offered noncommittally before sipping at it.

Personally she preferred her sweets to be sweet and her drinks to be harder- but then that was probably evident in the fact that she had asked for Ryncol. The stuff was so caustic that she had actually used it to clean drains before.

"What flavour?" She asked with confusion as she focused back in on the other words. "Do you mean the cupcakes? Because it's been a couple years, but she shared them once a year on the anniversary of her birthing."

@kel

Belle blinked at THAT little tidbit of information! “Oh my!” She had so many questions, and wondered if it would be terribly rude to ask a few of them; “An’ if they aren’t normally the kind to carry do you or...do ya implant somehow?” She attempted to ask delicately the question that burned in her brain.

“Awww thats sweet.” Belle smiled softly, “An’ do you celibrate your birthday?”
@alex

Asa could be offended by such questioning if she felt like it, but she was a less than wholesome type. She was fine with any questions that others had to ask, though she did snort at the image of an asari implanting a child inside of another being.

She shook her head quickly, still laughing slightly. "An Asari- which is what I am- doesn't require any sort of physical connection to create a child. Our children are always Asari- on account of us simply reading our partner's genetic history and using it to randomize our own genetics. Theoretically the same idea could be done with dice, you would just require an absurd amount of them. The only time an Asari does not carry their daughter is when their partner is also an Asari, and they choose to do so instead."

She shrugged in reply to the follow up question. Asa was content to reply in vagueries rather than in detail, so she winked slightly before her lips quirked into a smirk. "I stopped somewhere around 200 years."

@kel

Belle blinked at the explanation, cocked her head thinking about it and blinked again. “Oh my what an interesting way to create a child! An’ do ya do this with your partners knowledge or pair bondin’ or just take the genetic features of someone you admire of find attractive?” She asked without judgement simply, purely curious.

Who was she to judge another race anyhow? Even if she might find one of those options morally repugnant she wasn’t a saint and if that was how they had developed she couldn’t judge. If Asa became a friend perhaps she’d mention it later and ask more questions as to the why and how it had started so.

Giggling at the response Belle poured herself a drink, clicking it to Asa’s glass “A Lady always has the prerogative ta na age past the time she chooses.” Belle nodded firmly in female solidarity.

@alex

Asa grinned again. "While it can be forced on someone- it is ingrained in us to never do that. It's a mind to mind connection so to force it on another is actively painful for both parties- and we live more than long enough to find a willing partner." She explained, calmly and with a shrug. "No, the worst of my kind are those who hurt their partner in the act. The act can also just be used to share thoughts- it's a mind meld."

Asa did laugh large and bright at the commentary. "No no- I don't mind my age. Asari live to a thousand easily. It's more that after a certain age, you can get anything you wish for for yourself when you celebrate a birthday. It's also about when I joined my society's military." Tapping her finger's lightly on the surface of the counter, She paused before elaborating further. "My most recent birthday was my 307th."

@kel

So rather like the societal prohibition on rape than- Belle nodded sagely, content now to have placed that box in order.

“Oh! I just turned thirty -one.” she leaned in whispering almost conspiratorially, ending with a little wink. “Which is also about a third of my life span iffen I treat mah body well.” so she figured they were about the same ish in the hierarchy of senior women. “An’ ah stopped aging na a day over 28.” this time the wink was very clearly inviting Asa into the female conspiracy.

@alex

Asa would have shrugged if she knew the comparison in this young woman's mind. It wasn't wholly incorrect- though she seemed to be missing the part where it was painful to the Asari as well. The backlash of forcing a connection... Asa had the misfortune to need to do it once, and she had been laid up with pain for days. She was aware that she was particularly sensitive to an improper mind meld, but the fact remained that it was pleasant for no one involved.

Asa chuckled at the reply. "I'm not quite a third of the way through my life yet. It's... well, it's rather obvious when my people move on to the next phase of our lives. We never stop developing, and our breasts become more cumbersome as we age. We have three distinct periods in life. The maiden stage, which I am still in, characterized by a desire to explore and learn. The matron stage, defined by the desire to settle down and raise children. And the matriarch stage, not unlike a uh. Grandmother? Only for the entire species as well. It is not an easy task, living to 700, even when your genetics allow for it. So those who reach matriarch are those who have the wisdom to make it through." She explained, her hands waving a little as she tried to shorten her explanation without leaving anything out.

When she was done, she leaned forward conspiratorally. "See, my people know that aging is beautiful. A sign of intelligence, and wisdom. Often bravery too. You are kind enough, I can scarcely believe someone as beautiful as you is only 31." It was thoughtful of Belle to try and invite Asa into a female conspiracy, but she seemed to have forgotten that Asa wasn't exactly. Well. Female.

@kel

Now belle had to be misunderstanding, because it sounded like “Am sorry-“ she didn’t want to offend but the image in her mind had to be resolved “- are ya saying ya keep…growing for the next 200 or so years?.” Her gesture outwards from her own impressive chest was half disbelieving and half terrorized shock at the idea at both the image and the back strain!

The rest was nodded along to “- sorta the same in my culture. Aunties are women that had their kids already grown an’ sorta keep an’ eye on the littles no matter who they belong too.” At least in the good towns, these days less so as the towns grew bigger or emptier.

And Belle was sort of forgetting that Asa wasn’t female… but well she was still set in particular mind frame and genders were something she framed in her own experience.

@alex