May 1, 2363

It only took half a bottle to get Blue to open up. Andor is in the middle of a population crisis, the fertility window is shrinking and due to the number of people involved in the child making process, it makes it hard to create enough children to make each generation as large as the last. So, in a vaguely self preservation style, any member of Andorian society that isn't contributing to the creation of new life is shunned, guilted, and some times even physically assaulted to remind them of their duty.

This very clearly explains why Blue has been hesitant to return to his home world. He's not interested in having children, and if that's all he ever hears about while he's there, it would be understandable that he'd choose to avoid it. His shi is dear to him, and she's the only family member that seems to accept his choice to not contribute to the next generation without fuss, otherwise he wouldn't even bother going home for her bonding.

While part of his reason for bringing Travis and I is indeed to ruffle feathers, to distract and hopefully distribute strife between the three of us that he'd otherwise have to bear himself, he's also bringing us along to act as his emotional support.

I figure it'll make things easier if Travis and I at least attempt to respect their culture, so I'm going to spend a little time doing some research, since Blue doesn't want to be very forthcoming on his people at the moment.

He did mention that it might be a bit of a fuss to get me onto the planet fully armed, but his older zhi (sibling of the zhen gender, the other vaguely female gender and looks like what most non-Andorians expect a female to) is in the guard, so he hopes that we'll be able to work around it. He's supposed to get in contact with her, and see what we need to do.