AN: An AU, but everything will be described as the story "unfolds" so to
speak. Read and review as you like
Chapter 1
Kay walked through campus, smiling at the folks she knew, and enjoying the view. It wasn't often that she remembered to pull herself out of the sarcastic, constant state of cultural interrogation that she engaged in to simply enjoy the view, but the scenery was all the more precious when she did. Suddenly, the world was inverted and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and a striking numbness in her ankle.
"Shoot" she yelped. "I can't believe I did this again!" Ignoring the snickers and polite offers of help as she lay sprawled across the front lawn of campus, Kay mentally surveyed the damage she was sure to come with the confidence of a lifelong klutz. Let's see she thought, the ankle should be fine for a few hours, the shoulder is going to hurt right up until the ankle swells up, better stand up quickly so the leg doesn't get too stiff.
"Kay, what in the world?" Miguel asked, grinning down at his best friend. "Did you fall again?"
"Shut up and help me up," she said without looking at him.
"Does this mean that you're going to be walking funny again? I've had a rough week, I could deal with the laughs."
"Miguel, I would smack you if I didn't need you to help me up," she paused for effect as she slowly turned around and looked at him. "But if you don't give me a hand, I won't have a reason to exercise restraint."
Still laughing at pointing with his free hand, Miguel reached down to help her up. As they began to make progress away from the scene of the fall, someone came up and asked "Are you alright, Kay? That was a pretty rough fall."
"I'll be fine eventually," she replied shortly, "But in the meantime, people coming up to me and asking how I'm doing while describing how badly I looked going down should do wonders for my health."
Miguel snorted and wacked her on the arm. "Kay!" She grinned his way as the unsuspecting well-wisher hurried off.
"What?" she replied innocently.
"Nothing at all," he said. He looped arms with her as they slowly made their way off, "Let's get you home and order in before that bad boy starts to swell." Kay gladly agreed, not minding the excuse to skip out on dinner in the caf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You guys, the problem is that people just don't recognize their privilege," Kay was in her element. A captive audience, agreeing with her every word as she ranted about the unawareness of her peers on campus was all she needed to forget her falling woes. "If people understood the concept of majority-ness, the state of being in the majority and how that is an identity in itself, instead of simply hoping that the minority will one day overcome identity itself to conform."
"Excuse me, but may I ask what your background is?" a voice from the audience asked.
"I'm sorry?" Kay jerked out of the heightened state of understanding she always felt when speaking about what she believed in. "Who asked that question?"
A tall, slim, but well-built blonde man stood up slowly and replied, "I did. I was just wondering, what is your background.. Uhhh, Kim, is it?"
Kay recovered quickly, "No, it's Kay. Kay Bennett. And please, introduce yourself and clarify your question for the rest of us," she replied smartly.
"My name is Nicolas Crane. And what I mean by background is that I was wondering about your family's economic status when you were growing up. You're speaking to us about privilege, but we haven't heard anything that suggests you've confronted your own."
Startled whispers and sudden snorts of laughter shot through the audience. Kay, for her part, kept her composure, while internally fuming at the audacity of this Nicolas Crane.
"I don't see how that could possibly be relevant but."
"Oh, but surely you do, Kay Bennett," Nicolas grinned broadly, almost startling Kay into responding with a smile of similar wattage. "You must see that your life, if you have managed to confront your own privilege, could serve as a wonderful demonstration to the rest of us as to how we may move beyond simple guilt to productivity and progress."
Trained by years of social marginalization and the nerve that comes along with it, Kay responded, "That's a wonderful point, and I'm pleased that you've paid so much attention to my presentation. My background is indeed one of economic privilege and I confront it through recognition and constant interrogation of my motives."
"A wonderful, politician's answer, Kay Bennett," Nicolas' smile almost imperceptibly transformed into a smirk. "But since you culturally aware types are always into action and affecting change, how do you turn that interrogation into productivity?"
Knowing when to quit while ahead, Kay continued relying on her political science training. "Again, wonderful and perceptive question, Nicolas, but one that will have to wait for our next meeting," Kay lifted her wrist and glanced obviously at her watch. "Yes, we have now reached the end of this discussion session, but I look forward to seeing you all here at the meeting next week. This meeting of AWARE is hereby dismissed."
A few minutes later After accepting the praise of her peers for yet another heartfelt and inspiring piece, Kay scanned the remaining people in the audience. Never one to back down from an obvious challenge, Kay walked slowly, yet purposefully towards the place where Nicolas was sitting.
She smiled carefully down at him, mentally taking in his appearance and self-carriage. She observed a young man her own age, perhaps a couple of years older, self-confident, but, as she inspected more closely, not as a result of his clear physical perfection, but something else. Yes, that's it, I suppose. He's used to being right, Kay thought. Well, we're going to have to fix that aren't we?
At the same time that Kay's internal assessment was taking place, Nicolas was conducting one of his own. He saw a tall woman, rather heavyset, with a good hair cut that was totally unflattering and nice clothing that was completely ill-fitting. Her self-confidence was evident, but it appeared to rest on her like the clothing - forced onto a form not quite comfortable with it. He suddenly felt the need to back off, sensing that Kay needed this victory much more than he did.
Nicolas returned Kay's careful smile with a genuineness that he hadn't felt when he was teasing her earlier.
"That was quite a presentation. What exactly does AWARE stand for?" he asked her.
Kay, understanding that something had changed in his attitude, but not quite sure what, decided to cautiously match his response in kind. "It's an acronym for Awareness Watch." she paused as she internally spelled "aware". "for Action Required for Equity," she finished with a smile.
"So basically, you took your main tenet, turned it into an acronym and then made up the words it would stand for."
She grinned widely, her quirky sense of humor activated by his candor. "Even better. Someone came up to a table where I was passing out anti-war literature one day, and asked me what group I represented. I was there filling in for a friend, but it sounded like a good idea to have my own group, so I made it up on the spot."
Nicolas laughed quite possibly the most attractive laugh that Kay had ever heard.
Encouraged, she continued, "Your question was quite unusual."
Nicolas's smile faltered as he blushed slightly. "I'm sorry about that, I have a bad habit of."
"Oh, it's aight," Kay interjected, "I was going to say that I was glad to hear someone question me, it shows that you were paying attention. I sometimes worry that people are awed by my ability to speak and not what I'm actually saying."
Nicolas's good humor returned. "Ah, she's modest and attractive," he grinned.
Kay blushed, knowing that neither was true. "Yeah, well, I try." She paused, not wanting the conversation to end, but having nothing else to say. "Well, Nicolas, it was nice mee."
"Hey, where are you headed now?" he interrupted, not looking forward to the end of the exchange any more than she was.
"Just to the dorm for now. How about you, do you live on campus?" she asked.
His smirk returned, not nearly as offensive as the first time she saw it when he was grilling her. "Nah, I'll leave that honor to the undergrads. I have an apartment in the burbs. I actually better move my car before the meter runs out," he admits reluctantly.
Kay was upset to learn that he was a graduate student. Not that she'd had a chance with him before, but graduate students tended to look on undergrads as children, despite the small difference in age. "Oh, well. umm." she stuttered, searching quickly for something to say. "Well, my dorm is on the way to the parking lot, I'll walk with you."
"You can be my protection," Nicolas quipped.
Kay was sobered, instantly aware that she was significantly larger than Nicolas. Although he was taller than her by a couple of inches, her weight problem definitely made her the natural protector and he the protected. "Yeah, sure," she said calmly, and began to gather her things and walk quickly out of the room.
"Whoah! Slow down there, Kay!" Nicolas called as he quickly shrugged on his coat and hurried after her. "The meter won't run out for at least ten minutes," he said as he caught up with her.
She couldn't help but to grin over at him. "Isn't that lucky?..." She was once again unsure of what to say next.
Fortunately, Nicolas wasn't quite as speechless. "So what are you studying? I assume political science?"
"How'd you guess?" Kay smirked. "Actually, I'm double majoring in anthropology. I figure all politicians should have a little dose of cultural understanding to be truly effective at what they do."
"I completely agree," Nicolas said.
"Oh you do, huh? So what are you studying? Are you working on a masters or doctorate?"
"I'm working on a master's right now in East Asian studies, actually."
"Well, that's something I have nothing to comment on, being totally unknowledgeable on the subject." She paused, but continued just as he was about to, "Which means you're in luck and should probably win an award for getting me to admit any lack of knowledge." Nicolas laughed out loud again. "Well, isn't it actually an appropriation of knowledge to disclaim it?"
Kay stopped in her tracks. She'd never met anyone who could read her so effectively.
"That's GREAT!" Nicolas looked startled at her enthusiasm.
"Happy to please, Kay Bennett."
"Well, this is my building. It was nice bantering with ya, Nicolas Crane."
"Likewise, Kay Bennett. I hope to have the fortune to do so again."
"Sure ya do," she smirked.
"Kay Bennett, I can't wait," Nicolas responded with an awkward intensity.
Unsure of what to make of this awkwardness, which sat so strangely on the man's beautiful shoulders, Kay slowly backed away towards the front door. "Well, I'll see you around then. Bye, Nicolas."
"Bye, Kay."
Chapter 1
Kay walked through campus, smiling at the folks she knew, and enjoying the view. It wasn't often that she remembered to pull herself out of the sarcastic, constant state of cultural interrogation that she engaged in to simply enjoy the view, but the scenery was all the more precious when she did. Suddenly, the world was inverted and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and a striking numbness in her ankle.
"Shoot" she yelped. "I can't believe I did this again!" Ignoring the snickers and polite offers of help as she lay sprawled across the front lawn of campus, Kay mentally surveyed the damage she was sure to come with the confidence of a lifelong klutz. Let's see she thought, the ankle should be fine for a few hours, the shoulder is going to hurt right up until the ankle swells up, better stand up quickly so the leg doesn't get too stiff.
"Kay, what in the world?" Miguel asked, grinning down at his best friend. "Did you fall again?"
"Shut up and help me up," she said without looking at him.
"Does this mean that you're going to be walking funny again? I've had a rough week, I could deal with the laughs."
"Miguel, I would smack you if I didn't need you to help me up," she paused for effect as she slowly turned around and looked at him. "But if you don't give me a hand, I won't have a reason to exercise restraint."
Still laughing at pointing with his free hand, Miguel reached down to help her up. As they began to make progress away from the scene of the fall, someone came up and asked "Are you alright, Kay? That was a pretty rough fall."
"I'll be fine eventually," she replied shortly, "But in the meantime, people coming up to me and asking how I'm doing while describing how badly I looked going down should do wonders for my health."
Miguel snorted and wacked her on the arm. "Kay!" She grinned his way as the unsuspecting well-wisher hurried off.
"What?" she replied innocently.
"Nothing at all," he said. He looped arms with her as they slowly made their way off, "Let's get you home and order in before that bad boy starts to swell." Kay gladly agreed, not minding the excuse to skip out on dinner in the caf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You guys, the problem is that people just don't recognize their privilege," Kay was in her element. A captive audience, agreeing with her every word as she ranted about the unawareness of her peers on campus was all she needed to forget her falling woes. "If people understood the concept of majority-ness, the state of being in the majority and how that is an identity in itself, instead of simply hoping that the minority will one day overcome identity itself to conform."
"Excuse me, but may I ask what your background is?" a voice from the audience asked.
"I'm sorry?" Kay jerked out of the heightened state of understanding she always felt when speaking about what she believed in. "Who asked that question?"
A tall, slim, but well-built blonde man stood up slowly and replied, "I did. I was just wondering, what is your background.. Uhhh, Kim, is it?"
Kay recovered quickly, "No, it's Kay. Kay Bennett. And please, introduce yourself and clarify your question for the rest of us," she replied smartly.
"My name is Nicolas Crane. And what I mean by background is that I was wondering about your family's economic status when you were growing up. You're speaking to us about privilege, but we haven't heard anything that suggests you've confronted your own."
Startled whispers and sudden snorts of laughter shot through the audience. Kay, for her part, kept her composure, while internally fuming at the audacity of this Nicolas Crane.
"I don't see how that could possibly be relevant but."
"Oh, but surely you do, Kay Bennett," Nicolas grinned broadly, almost startling Kay into responding with a smile of similar wattage. "You must see that your life, if you have managed to confront your own privilege, could serve as a wonderful demonstration to the rest of us as to how we may move beyond simple guilt to productivity and progress."
Trained by years of social marginalization and the nerve that comes along with it, Kay responded, "That's a wonderful point, and I'm pleased that you've paid so much attention to my presentation. My background is indeed one of economic privilege and I confront it through recognition and constant interrogation of my motives."
"A wonderful, politician's answer, Kay Bennett," Nicolas' smile almost imperceptibly transformed into a smirk. "But since you culturally aware types are always into action and affecting change, how do you turn that interrogation into productivity?"
Knowing when to quit while ahead, Kay continued relying on her political science training. "Again, wonderful and perceptive question, Nicolas, but one that will have to wait for our next meeting," Kay lifted her wrist and glanced obviously at her watch. "Yes, we have now reached the end of this discussion session, but I look forward to seeing you all here at the meeting next week. This meeting of AWARE is hereby dismissed."
A few minutes later After accepting the praise of her peers for yet another heartfelt and inspiring piece, Kay scanned the remaining people in the audience. Never one to back down from an obvious challenge, Kay walked slowly, yet purposefully towards the place where Nicolas was sitting.
She smiled carefully down at him, mentally taking in his appearance and self-carriage. She observed a young man her own age, perhaps a couple of years older, self-confident, but, as she inspected more closely, not as a result of his clear physical perfection, but something else. Yes, that's it, I suppose. He's used to being right, Kay thought. Well, we're going to have to fix that aren't we?
At the same time that Kay's internal assessment was taking place, Nicolas was conducting one of his own. He saw a tall woman, rather heavyset, with a good hair cut that was totally unflattering and nice clothing that was completely ill-fitting. Her self-confidence was evident, but it appeared to rest on her like the clothing - forced onto a form not quite comfortable with it. He suddenly felt the need to back off, sensing that Kay needed this victory much more than he did.
Nicolas returned Kay's careful smile with a genuineness that he hadn't felt when he was teasing her earlier.
"That was quite a presentation. What exactly does AWARE stand for?" he asked her.
Kay, understanding that something had changed in his attitude, but not quite sure what, decided to cautiously match his response in kind. "It's an acronym for Awareness Watch." she paused as she internally spelled "aware". "for Action Required for Equity," she finished with a smile.
"So basically, you took your main tenet, turned it into an acronym and then made up the words it would stand for."
She grinned widely, her quirky sense of humor activated by his candor. "Even better. Someone came up to a table where I was passing out anti-war literature one day, and asked me what group I represented. I was there filling in for a friend, but it sounded like a good idea to have my own group, so I made it up on the spot."
Nicolas laughed quite possibly the most attractive laugh that Kay had ever heard.
Encouraged, she continued, "Your question was quite unusual."
Nicolas's smile faltered as he blushed slightly. "I'm sorry about that, I have a bad habit of."
"Oh, it's aight," Kay interjected, "I was going to say that I was glad to hear someone question me, it shows that you were paying attention. I sometimes worry that people are awed by my ability to speak and not what I'm actually saying."
Nicolas's good humor returned. "Ah, she's modest and attractive," he grinned.
Kay blushed, knowing that neither was true. "Yeah, well, I try." She paused, not wanting the conversation to end, but having nothing else to say. "Well, Nicolas, it was nice mee."
"Hey, where are you headed now?" he interrupted, not looking forward to the end of the exchange any more than she was.
"Just to the dorm for now. How about you, do you live on campus?" she asked.
His smirk returned, not nearly as offensive as the first time she saw it when he was grilling her. "Nah, I'll leave that honor to the undergrads. I have an apartment in the burbs. I actually better move my car before the meter runs out," he admits reluctantly.
Kay was upset to learn that he was a graduate student. Not that she'd had a chance with him before, but graduate students tended to look on undergrads as children, despite the small difference in age. "Oh, well. umm." she stuttered, searching quickly for something to say. "Well, my dorm is on the way to the parking lot, I'll walk with you."
"You can be my protection," Nicolas quipped.
Kay was sobered, instantly aware that she was significantly larger than Nicolas. Although he was taller than her by a couple of inches, her weight problem definitely made her the natural protector and he the protected. "Yeah, sure," she said calmly, and began to gather her things and walk quickly out of the room.
"Whoah! Slow down there, Kay!" Nicolas called as he quickly shrugged on his coat and hurried after her. "The meter won't run out for at least ten minutes," he said as he caught up with her.
She couldn't help but to grin over at him. "Isn't that lucky?..." She was once again unsure of what to say next.
Fortunately, Nicolas wasn't quite as speechless. "So what are you studying? I assume political science?"
"How'd you guess?" Kay smirked. "Actually, I'm double majoring in anthropology. I figure all politicians should have a little dose of cultural understanding to be truly effective at what they do."
"I completely agree," Nicolas said.
"Oh you do, huh? So what are you studying? Are you working on a masters or doctorate?"
"I'm working on a master's right now in East Asian studies, actually."
"Well, that's something I have nothing to comment on, being totally unknowledgeable on the subject." She paused, but continued just as he was about to, "Which means you're in luck and should probably win an award for getting me to admit any lack of knowledge." Nicolas laughed out loud again. "Well, isn't it actually an appropriation of knowledge to disclaim it?"
Kay stopped in her tracks. She'd never met anyone who could read her so effectively.
"That's GREAT!" Nicolas looked startled at her enthusiasm.
"Happy to please, Kay Bennett."
"Well, this is my building. It was nice bantering with ya, Nicolas Crane."
"Likewise, Kay Bennett. I hope to have the fortune to do so again."
"Sure ya do," she smirked.
"Kay Bennett, I can't wait," Nicolas responded with an awkward intensity.
Unsure of what to make of this awkwardness, which sat so strangely on the man's beautiful shoulders, Kay slowly backed away towards the front door. "Well, I'll see you around then. Bye, Nicolas."
"Bye, Kay."