Chapter 10

Franklin awoke blearily at what the Citadel insisted was 7:00 AM but Franklins body told him was 3:00AM. Slapping at his hot pink omni tool to silence the shrill alarm Franklin rolled over and sat up. The time difference had been hard enough to get over but combined with the fact that the galactic standard day was almost 28 hours long, and the ambassadorial staff was sleeping at most 5 hours a night, meant that most of the staff were fairly sleep deprived.

Groaning as he rolled out of bed Franklin tried to ignore the softly muttered curses of his roommates as they started moving as well. By the time Franklin had had a quick shower, shaved, brushed his teeth and put on his last pair of clean underwear Franklin felt at least a little awake.

Leaving his room Franklin looked forwards to tomorrow when he was set to move into Mistress Shan's apartment. The dominatrix had accepted the System Alliances offer and was scheduled to travel to earth on the next outbound ship, and as part of the deal Franklin would be house sitting the place by himself meaning that he was one of the few people on the expedition that would have his own room. The others being the senior diplomats.

Helping himself to a cup of coffee in the commissary, he was as ready for the day as he ever would be. Leaving the building he and the rest of the human expedition had been given access to Franklin said good morning to Rajilth and Kalithorn the Salarian and Turian C-Sec officers who advised Franklin on where to go on his first day of free time at the citadel.

It seemed the two were assigned to this area regularly, so Franklin had made a point to introduce himself and talk to the duo regularly.

"And where are you headed to this morning Franky?" The Turian, Kalithorn asked.

"I'm going to meet a friend for breakfast Kali, and how are you doing this morning?" Franklin asked. For some reason that Franklin wasn't certain about the Turian had taken a real liking to him and had asked Franklin if he had a nickname people used. When Franklin had told him that Franky was short for Franklin the Turian had called him that exclusively and insisted that Franklin call him Kali in return. Rajilth was friendly as well, but not nickname friendly. Franklin wasn't sure if this was due to a difference in culture, or if the Salarian just didn't like him very much.

"Kali, I grabbed you this from a store yesterday. I made sure that it was Dextro so enjoy. Rajith, I just got back the confirmation from the citadel department of health and chocolate is perfectly fine for you to eat so I have this for you too. It's from Earth so I hope you enjoy it." He said handing over a small packet of chocolate. Franklin had decided early on that if he could enamor the security to him he probably should, the fact that he genuinely liked them helped.

"You know we have to report this to our superior right? Let the department know that we got these?" Rajith asked holding the sweet in his hands.

"Does that mean I should give you enough for everyone?"

Sighing the Salarian put the treat in his pocket and thanked Franklin. Kali's mouth was moving in a way that Franklin was starting to associate with a smile from the Turian.

"Thank's for the food! What time can we expect you back at?" Kali asked.

"I shouldn't be too late, it's just breakfast and then straight back for some meetings." Franklin always logged his travel itinerary with the human security officers, but he figured it couldn't hurt to let c-sec know just in case.

Waving goodbye to the duo Franklin took a moment to once again be amazed by the view of the massive space station, no matter how often he saw it the sight never failed to amaze him.

Renting a car Franklin punched in the address for the restaurant he was meeting Elara at, a small Asari establishment that specialized in pastries.

Franklin had thought that he wouldn't be allowed to meet with the Asari again, but Sir Patrick had surprised him in a quick meeting after his session with Mistress Shan.

"Of course you can see your friends again, most of your duties revolve around getting to know the locals, obviously I want you to keep your pants on when you see them, but I encourage you to make and maintain as many relationships as you can." The aging man had said.

Franklin was already feeling guilty about what he had done with Mistress Shan, so he fully intended to keep this meeting strictly professional and friendly. He knew that he wasn't in a relationship with the Asari, but it had still felt a little too like cheating for his tastes.

As he approached the restaurant he got a good look at it. It was near a small park and as such had a lot more open space than a lot of places and it took advantage of that. It was a small building with only a handful of seats inside, but the building was surrounded by a large patio with more than a dozen tables, almost all of them had people sitting at them. The clothes were a rainbow of colors and styles, with every species represented. Apparently, this restaurants claim to fame was the ability to serve everyone; no matter their dietary restrictions, a delicious meal cooked in the best traditions of Asari cuisine.

Smiling as the delicious smells hit his nose Franklin introduced himself to the maître de, an extremely tall and attractive Asari who towered over Franklin and must have been at least 6 and a half feet tall. She blushed at him in a way that Franklin was starting to recognize as interest and she led him onto the patio.

Just a nice breakfast, have some good food, have a few laughs, no flirting. Easy. Franklin thought to himself, just as Elara stood up at her table to great Franklin.

Franklin stopped in his tracks as he looked at her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, with the light paint on her face accenting her stunning features and slender body with just the right curves. But what really stopped him in his tracks was what she was wearing.

Instead of the usual ankle length Asari dress she was instead wearing a Japanese School Girls outfit. It was the classic sailor outfit with a white top with blue accents, a red neckerchief, dark blue skirt that reached down to the higher side of midthigh showing off an impressive amount of smooth blue legs.

By the time Franklin had finished taking in every inch of her amazing body and he once again made eye contact with her he saw a dark purple blush on her cheeks.

Approaching her with his own blush at having been so obvious at checking her out he reached out towards her hands. Grasping her hands Franklin smiled at Elara and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"It's great to see you again, you look great."

"Thank you, it's so good to see you again." She said looking at Franklin with barely disguised adoration in her eyes. "Iri wanted me to say that she wishes she could be here, she almost quit her job to come. She only agreed to go to work when I said I would give you this." She said, then pausing for a moment she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.

Franklin caught by surprise as he was barely had the chance to relax into the kiss before it ended and with a soft smacking sound Elara ended the kiss looking up at the stunned Franklin with a small smile.

"Well please tell Iri thank you and I'll return the favor as soon as I can," Already forgetting his promise to himself Franklin continued. "did you have anything to give me?"

Elara looked up at that and smiled.

This time when she leaned up and kissed him Franklin was ready. He moved his head down slightly deepening the kiss just a little. They were still in public after all. Even still the feeling of the warmth and softness of her lips caused Franklins body to relax and he almost melted into her body. After what felt like several minutes Franklin broke the kiss and looked down at Elara seeing that she was breathing just as hard as he was.

Slowly stepping away he pulled out her chair and pushed it in for her as she sat down. Making his way around the table he sat in his own chair. "What your wearing, that's something from human culture right? Or do Asari have those as well?"

Clearing her throat Elara looked down at her clothes before looking up her cheeks still a deep purple. "Yes, they are human, Asari clothes are fairly different from these." She said reaching down to smooth out the skirt, clearly uncomfortable with its length. "Iriel saw it somewhere and thought that it looked nice, so she had it custom made. When she realized that she wouldn't be able to make it to breakfast today she asked me to wear it. I hadn't realized the skirt was this short, otherwise I wouldn't have worn it. Does it look... ok on me?" She asked her voice laced with nervousness.

"You look amazing in anything and everything, but especially that." Franklin said causing Elara to beam a smile at Franklin. "But I do have to tell you something." He said hesitating not sure how to proceed. "Those aren't really clothes."

Elara looked confused at Franklins statement and looked down at herself. "They aren't?"

"Not really, that's a uniform for a female high school student from Japan. It's not really something people wear outside of school, or after they graduate. You do look amazing in it though."

Elara smiled at Franklins compliment but, looked hesitant at the rest of Franklin's words. "I can't believe I let Iri talk me into wearing this. The two women, no maidens I suppose were posing for a picture in a quick picture in a video. I think it was a first contact message showing different humans from different places. And of course the one that caught Iri's eye was a uniform for children. I feel like such a fool."

"Well don't, you look great in it, and no one will ever know. Can I get a picture of you in it actually? I honestly think people from Japan would love to see an Asari wearing some of their clothes."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Well alright then." She said hesitantly. Elara stood up and posed towards Franklins camera, she made a peace sign in a picture perfect recreation of a Japanese schoolgirl posing for a picture. Snapping the picture Franklin showed it to Elara and then sent it to his friends back home.

Smiling at him a little more broadly the two sat down, Franklin pulling out Elaras chair for her a second time.

Murmuring a thank you she buried her nose into her menu as Franklin scanned his menu with his omni tool allowing it to highlight the safe items on the menu, which was fortunately almost everything on the menu.

"So, what do you recommend?"

Craning her neck to see Franklins Omni tool Elara scanned his display, her eyes opening slightly as she took it in. "You can eat almost anything, even Turian dextro foods. I think only the Krogan can eat more than this. You should have the Kare Pelack with the Sharn bread, it's a great combination of salty and sweet. It was always one of my favorites when I was younger, it was one of the few things my father and I could eat together."

"Really?"

"Yes, my father was a Salarian, do you know how Asari reproduce?"

"I've read up on it a little. Asari can have children with any species right?" Elara nodded yes and Franklin continued. "To be honest I've had a few questions about Asari families and melding."

"Many people do, even species that have been part of the citadel for centuries have questions. Please feel free to ask."

"Is your father still alive?" Franklin asked bluntly hoping that Elara wasn't just being polite when she said ask anything.

"No." She answered immediately. "Salarian life spans being what they are she passed away many years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Smiling at Franklin Elara continued. "Thank you, I was very young when she passed, only 23 years old, but I still remember her very clearly.

I grew up on a small colony in Asari space, my father met my mother there and," At this point in the story Elara hesitated. "Do humans believe that two people can form an almost instantaneous connection just after meeting?"

"Yes, we call it love at first sight." Franklin said.

"Love at first sight." She said looking down, seeing how the phrase felt on her lips. "I like that, Asari say their nerves were on fire. I saw him and my nerves were on fire." She said looking up at Franklin and staring into his eyes before continuing.

"My mother and father met and it was love at first sight. They had me shortly after meeting and were together for almost 24 years.

When I was younger I never realized how little time we would have together, even though I knew the average Salarian life span of course, but still, I always thought we would have more time." Elara said tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

Franklin reached out and grabbed her hand with his own giving it a squeeze. "I'm sorry to bring this up, we can talk about something else if you like."

"It's alright, I like to remember him, and I enjoy speaking of her as well." Elara took a moment to get herself under control and began after a minute. "Many people, even many Asari think that Asari with Salarian fathers lose something, that because our fathers are not around for very long so we miss out. I never felt like that. She was a brilliant woman and I cherished every moment I was able to spend with her, I wouldn't be the person I am today if not for her. I remember when I was young I would be at the kitchen table doing my schoolwork with my mother. My father would come home and quietly enter our home. She would always wink at me over my mothers back, like my mother didn't know she was there, and then she would sneak up on my mother with these big exaggerated steps. My mother would always play along and pretend like she didn't know she was there the entire time.

When my father got to my mother she would grab her and my mother would pretend to be surprised. She would get up and run around the kitchen like she had no idea of what was going on. My father would chase her and when she caught my mother they would laugh, and hug and kiss. Then I would run over and my father would pick me up and spin me around.

I understand why some people think I missed out because my father died when I was young, but I don't think I could have asked for a better parent, and I know that my mother still misses my father." She said wiping a tear from her cheeks.

"That was beautiful Elara thank you for telling me about that."

"You're welcome."

"Has your mother ever thought of having another child? Or finding someone else?"

"No, many Asari don't have many serious relationships after the loss of a life partner. My mother currently lives now in a small commune with some other Asari Matrons who have all lost their life partners. But enough about me, could you tell me about your parents?"

"Sure. My parents are fairly average for humans, they met at work, started dating fell in love got married. They've been together ever since."

"Married?"

"A commitment to a monogamous relationship, there used to be a heavy religious component to it as well, but that's less true these days."

"Are all human's monogamous?"

"No," Franklin answered slowly. "Most are, but certainly not all. A long time ago it wasn't too uncommon for men to have mistresses, a lover outside of their wife. But that was hundreds of years ago when marriages were arranged as a political tool. Now that people choose their own spouses, they are usually monogamous, but not always. If a couple decides to have an open relationship or bring in a third its seen as their business."

"Are marriages between one man and woman?"

"No, marriages are between two people, but the people's genders aren't important, but that wasn't always the case."

"So if two people are married, they wouldn't be able to have a third person in their relationship?"

"They could, they just wouldn't be married to them. There are certain legal protections that marriage can grant you. If you are married to someone and suffer a serious injury, they would be able to make choices regarding your care, or end of life choices. If there were a third person in the relationship they wouldn't necessarily be counted in that and you would have to ensure that any other legal paperwork was completed to include them."

"I see, and what about physically or emotionally? Do humans usually just form strong romantic bonds with just one person?"

"As a rule, yeah usually. But like I said it can be up to the people involved. What about Asari? You mentioned a Mother and Father, no one else."

"Asari like most species in the known galaxy will pair bond, but like human's there are exceptions, and Asari are more likely than most to have those exceptions. As maidens all Asari are taught to prize cooperation over competition. Usually this is meant socio economically, or militarily, however many Asari also apply this romantically.

If two Asari are interested in the same person romantically it is fairly common for them to work together to ensure that they are both fulfilled sexually, and romantically." Elara said staring unblinking at Franklin.

Frankling tried to speak but found his voice cracking on the first syllable. Taking a drink of water he cleared his throat and tried again. "That's interesting. So for Asari reproduction is all about the melding, and anything physical isn't really necessary right?"

"Not exactly, melding causes an Asari and their partners nervous systems to join, they literally experience the same sensations, and while a light meld can usually be carried out with someone you just met it is best for the people's nervous systems to be similar. And when Asari spend time with others our nervous system changes to become more similar to theirs, close physical contact can speed this along. So physical acts of affection and pleasure can help an Asari's nervous system adapt faster than just being near a person. Physical affection and pleasure increase the ability to meld, and melding encourages physical pleasure."

"Your nervous system changes? That's amazing, is it something you can feel happening? Does it change you noticeably at all?"

"No, it's something so subtle we don't notice it. Some people believe that it can cause changes to an Asari's personality, but science has never supported that."

"So why does the meld need to deepen over time?"

"For an Asari to be able to have children with someone the meld must be very deep."

"I see so what I experienced wasn't a very deep meld?" Franklin asked expecting a to see a blush on the young woman's face. Instead she looked playful, and inviting.

"That was a little deeper than just a simple meld, but not by much, if you wanted a deeper meld we would have to spend much more time with each other in close proximity, like this." She said grasping Franklins hand. "Of course that could be sped up by spending more time with our naked bodies wrapped around each other."

"Is that an invitation?" Franklin asked.

Elara simply smiled.