Difficult Conversations (Closed/Kedron)

It wasn't often Charlotte hung around the courtyard, due to her natural body shape and size she didn't particularly enjoy the number of doors and stairs it took to reach this area in the academy, but on this rare occasion she had found herself taking lunch there waiting for her next medical class. She had sat herself atop her typical tartan blue, green and red picnic blanket and sat with a brimming basket before her. This position would draw the stare of others under even normal circumstances, it was quite strange that a student would go to such lengths to simply have lunch, but due to her body she had garnered more eyes than normal. They weren't so much talking about her, no she'd have noticed and likely moved if she found that, but every so often she would feel eyes set on her back; as if checking to be sure she was still there. Like a spider on your bedroom wall at night, unsure whether you want it to leave or stay there away from you. She did not particularly feel this stare from the security cameras in the courtyard however, she had grown quite accustomed to them and honestly felt safer under their gaze... even if she knew little about the man operating them.

She was sat, well lowered to the ground, atop her blanket with a metal set of knife and fork; digging into what smelled to be a whole lamb roast; the likes of which could feed a small family for dinner she was eating as lunch. This only garnered her more eyes naturally, but she knew there was no avoiding that. Her metabolic rate was through the roof, requiring more than twice what a regular human or more basic faunus did, and as such she had to eat these large portions for fear of passing out. She was eating as daintily as she could do, cutting up bite sized morsels and gently chewing them. Before her was the low wall of the courtyard, beyond which the trees and the mountains of the blue forrest bellow were visible; as she looked out she could watch the birds and the plants in their natural habitat... she wasn't paying a lot of attention to them, due to her hunger pangs, but it was a nice enough view.

Naturally she was sat alone.

Kedron face was no more then a mask, an amused smile and a raised eyebrow as he listened to the conversations of the students as he ate from his lunch. Perhaps if he had not set his goals against people this ignorant and proud, he would have enjoyed their conversation, but in its place was an irritation at their complete failure to bring up real issues. He, however, kept that face far from the surface.

His attention was drawn to the side as they walked however when he noticed the Faunus woman taking her rather enormous picnic on her own. It was obvious she was a spider Faunus, one would have to be literally blind to miss it. But just as obvious to him were people's reactions, mostly fear and avoidance. Disgust was also something that he could see on plenty of their faces. And that was what disgusted him about humans, they merely saw shells, and thus that's all they became, shells in a broken society echoing with the crowd.

He stepped out of line with that crowd a long time ago, just as he was doing now as he walked over a more genuine smile on his face then before, although it may have resembled one more of trying to strike up conversation with a stranger, which was really what he was about to attempt.

As he got closer he waved, but didn't sit down, instead gesturing to the grass off to the side, "Excuse me, do you care if I sit down? I noticed you were, well kind of alone and wondered if you wanted company. I'll leave if you want of course, but thought it would be best to offer." the words he spoke were true enough, he didn't bother putting any deception in them. Perhaps he didn't at that he was infuriated by people's extraordinarily clear bias against her, but that might not be long before it showed up, even if only slightly.

Charlotte was pulled from her meal by a boy, of average build and quite tall, asking to sit with her. This was hardly something new to Charlotte, less common than having to deal with abuse was having to deal with people and their prying. "What's it like having eight legs?" "What's this like?" "What's that like?" She'd heard it all before and was growing quite sick of it. Regardless she would humour it to a point. Besides, perhaps this one would show a little more tact than others... though she doubted it. If he was a faunus his trait was far from obvious, perhaps a tail or some form of skin trait. She'd encountered this once too often, she had grown quite the bias.

"Not without introducing yourself first, you tried which is more than most around here but to continue to work on your manners. It goes name, may I sit with you, await answer. Not may I sit with you, await answer, name. But yes, you may sit with me upon your introduction. My name is Charlotte Monochrome, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." And with that the large spider woman would rise slightly, curtsey, before returning to her prior seated position; re-grasping her knife and fork. "I'm afraid on this day I cannot offer you part of my picnic, as I would others, for I have only brought what I require." Though the basket did appear full to brim Charlotte hoped they would not push this point.

Kedron smiled apologetically scratching his head, "Oh, er, sorry about that." He said reffering to not having introduced himself. "It's Kedron Vermillion, or Joshua, it doesn't really make any difference. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Well how wonderful, I screwed that up, at least she doesn't seem to bothered. Then again, she's probably gotten good at not showing that too much.


He leaned down to the side as he sat himself down, "Heh, that's fine, it's your meal after all, I'm not exactly entitled to any of it." Kedron added smiling. This was much better then having to deal with those humans. His eyes drifted across the others for a moment and he mumbled, but just audibly, "Despite what they may assume."

Cocking his head towards her he added with a frown, "In place of the other students I'm gonna say sorry for the looks they've been giving you. I'm sure that it can be very irritating to have to deal with."

Ohhhh yes, it was one of these most certainly. Ones who thought they knew how it felt or wanted to know, he'd already shown poor tact with his manners, despite her rise to curtsey he hadn't bowed... it was only a matter of time before her blurted out something regretful. Of course she would overhear his whisper, being in such close proximity. "You think so? Lot of people do like my cooking. Honestly why most find the will to approach, asking for recipes or to try something. Never had it snatched from me or the like though, those truly afraid simply stay away.

And then came the apology, oh as though this was brand new to her. She shrugged, cutting deeper into the lamb, "Delivering an apology for someone else is not an apology from them, especially one without basis or their consent to apologise." She stopped cutting, swallowing and composing herself; "Look, I understand what you're trying to do, but this is nothing new to me. It's not nearly as common as the wide eyed stares and the odd scream, but it's the next on the list. If you have any questions, how do I get up stairs or how do I get to classes then just do it please. Get it out of your system so we can continue."

"Ah well, may be so." He responded to the mention of the food again. he'd failed to bow, not out of an intentional disrespect, but more simply not having to do so too often. Most situations he'd fallen into were either very formal or very not, the first was relatively easy for him to know what to do, and the second wouldn't matter as much.

He watched and listened as she spoke, and then she got to the last of the issues mentioned. Kedron frowned and shook his head looking down for a moment, "That's not why I came over here." he said simply.

Looking back up her continued "I'm not exactly fond of the way most Faunus are treated. I can understand a sort of distrust about me coming over here for any legitimate reasons. But that's what they were." His face was relatively maintained, but it showed that either he was good at acting or he was genuine about it, in his case, it was the latter, "Of course, I can't exactly go protesting through the streets about it. That wouldn't fix anything. But I'll do what I'm able."

He paused for a moment, "I can leave if I'm bothering you, it was not intentional."

"You're not bothering me it's just... quaint. Not you yourself but the actions you've taken. You come over here to hand out apologies that aren't yours to dispense, don't ask questions or attempt casual conversation but rather start to talk about politics with a stranger?" Charlotte would fill the flask lid with tea from within, "You're not bothering me no, but I would tread lightly... and besides, from my point of view; for non-faunus peaceful protest, signing petitions and showing public support is probably the best thing they can do. Humans could absolutely stage sit ins or boycotts and that would help."

Charlotte would take a sip of tea and sigh, "I apologise to; I'm in a strongly biased position, I am a Medical Major, I treat the wounded and deal in peace. I have taken my oaths against harming life. Beneficence is key in both my profession and moral philosophy, the best way to achieve peace is through legislation and active governing. Show those running that the mass stand for more equal treatment then their legislation will change; better treatment will come. Until then though all I'll hear is people apologising for actions that are not their own."

Charlotte Monochrome wrote:"For non-faunus peaceful protest, signing petitions and showing public support is probably the best thing they can do. Humans could absolutely stage sit ins or boycotts and that would help."[/color]

Those words were repeated in his mind as he spoke next, stroking his chin a little bit and looking down, "Yes I suppose politics really isn't usually how most conversations get started."

He looked back up at her, she had explicitly said 'For non-faunus' and that was what truly made him wonder if she applied the same ideas to the Faunus as she did to humans. She said she had made oaths against harming life, but that didn't necessarily apply to her views on others. He decided to test the waters just a bit.

"Ah well, even so I will have to disagree with you about something, I don't think mere protests or boycotts will truly get the job done. People are far too hard headed for that." He said shaking his head and smiling, "Could get someone in an office or something that agreed, that might work. But you know there are other ways of getting people to pay attention."

He knew what he was implying, it was just obvious enough to probably get her to get the concept perhaps of what he was saying. But it was just vague enough at present to where he could get away with it.

He didn't appear apologetic for his rudeness, he only appeared to consider it. Charlotte was much to focused on the man's poor manners to truly take in what he was implying, instead frowning deeply into her tea and taking it as an insult. "If you had statistics on your side to back you up then I might agree but alas, humans stepping out of the shadows to protest alongside faunus is quite rare. I've not seen it in all my years, the idea of escalation before attempting such things is foolishness at best. It has been the faunus fighting for their rights far more often than the humans fighting with the faunus for them, should the former become more commonplace I assume the rise of extremism would be halted before it would recede."

Her brow was quite crumpled, "I am a medic, as I stated, my path to peace would never be through violence yet you continue to press points of disagreement as though you expect this to change. Your words cast a shade as though you, who thought yourself an ambassador with the power to apologise for others, think diplomacy is a lesser route. There are other ways to get attention, as you called it, but not to improve the situation; implying faunus should raise fist rather than hand to achieve equality through government is foolishness. And yes, it has been attempted in the past, but with our position much greater than prior we can now actively close that gap. The idea that we must fight and die for our rights goes back to the old stereotype of a savage the humans put upon us, the very idea of it being a them rather than part of the collective us in the first place. And if a human really thinks they can lecture me on what the best route to equality is then they're arguing with the most devastating of handicaps, I want to be able to walk where I want without judgement, through doors and buy filling meals that won't bankrupt me. That is a step toward equality. Not the whole track, but a step."

Kedron could have seen where this was heading at this rate, he was unfortunate enough to apparently not be able to express regret as well as other emotions. Making it much more difficult to actually appear sorry for something whether or not he was. He cocked his head as he listened to her, wondering about her statements but not changing expression by much.

It was also too obvious to him she'd misinterpreted a few things, even though not all of it. But that coming back from that at this point was likely far out of the realm of possibilities in any sort of short time span.
"Diplomacy is just one of many tools is what I'm stating, but you could hardly talk most criminals out of their action with it now could you? I've never seen a bully back down because of a few choice words." He pointed out shrugging, then frowned"I know this, when humans killed my best friend, no diplomacy would have stopped them. And no one else stepped into stop them."

Kedron stood up immediately after and bowed his head towards her, "Quite clearly this didn't go how I'd hoped. I'm fairly certain I offended you, and I'm very sorry for that. I'm just not as good as visually expressing it, so if there's a more solid way of proving that I'm liable to try it. If not, I suppose you'll have to excuse me. I don't mean to waste any more of your time.

If nothing more was to be said that might need a response or action of some sort from him, then Kedron would bow once more and simply walk away. Even as disappointed at how badly the situation had gone, he'd keep that to himself as far as the other students would get to see.

"It may be one of a handful, but it is the primary tool. It should always be the primary tool of any group looking to make change. To have any other primary driver is foolish and dangerous, you lost one friend in a situation I know not of and that is indeed sad; but I have operated on countless faunus who thought the best course of action was that brash one. To act out and fight rather than seek diplomacy, in cases I can understand and accept it but far too often have I seen brash young faunus cut down with foolhardy belief they were strong enough to change minds with fists. You cannot change minds with fists." Charlotte would drink once more, "Using violence is as using torture, those who break will break immediately. Those who do not will never break, they will lie of their position and use fists themselves when able. Diplomacy will wear down what torture cannot, kindness can shift mines far easier than force."

Now, this was not to say that Charlotte did not believe violence could be used; far from it. But as a faunus of her size, of her blatancy, she could not freely nor openly state this. Her position as a medic was imperative to the more diplomatic aspects of faunus-human relations, she could through operating save lives and help others. But if she was known to be openly for active violence this reputation would be soured. None of what she had said had been a lie, but there was certainly more to it than she had spoke. Violence could be used on those who could not be convinced of this equality and those who actively hurt faunus deserved to be hurt themselves, these views she held deeply, however neither were indicated in her speech or expression, this was a viewpoint she had learned to weave around her whole life. "Your apology is accepted but yes, I believe we are done. I must eat quickly and make to class, do excuse me."