hh_mirror | Application: Dr. Claire Saunders (a.k.a. "Whiskey"), "Dollhouse"

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Application: Dr. Claire Saunders (a.k.a. "Whiskey"), "Dollhouse"

((I'm taking Claire from the end of s2e1, "Vows;" obviously there are spoilers for the last couple eps of s1, where we learned a bit about her history.))

Claire Saunders was running out of excuses.

Imprinted phobias be damned. She drove, crying and shaking and white-knuckling the SUV's steering wheel, as far as a tank of gas would take her in the general direction of "away from the Dollhouse." She finally stopped for the night at a rundown motel on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Claire has no pop culture references, or she might have noticed the place's resemblance to a key set in "Psycho." Never having seen any Hitchcock, however, she opened the door of the motel, to find not Norman Bates, but the Hogwarts Sorting Room.

"What the..."

Maybe her flight from the Dollhouse was just a hallucination. She'd heard the Attic described as 'like a nightmare you can't wake up from;' surely the kind where you run and run and never get anywhere would qualify? Unconsciously Claire rubbed the scars on her forehead and cheeks, half expecting Alpha to leap out of the shadows with a blade.

She braced herself, put a hand against the writing desk to stabilize herself, and noticed the application. Curious despite herself, she picked up the quill.

State your full name.

"Currently? Dr. Saunders. Claire. Claire Saunders. Before that? I went by "Whiskey," when I wasn't busy being - number one. Before that...I don't want to know what my name was before that."

1. What is your favorite cheese? Why is it your favorite?

"Hmm. Do I have a favorite cheese? Did Topher bother with anything that detailed? Whatever. Swiss seems appropriate. Full of holes."

2. Who would you kill first, Barney or Carrottop?

"I'm a doctor. "First do no harm" and all that. Well, technically I never took the oath, but I feel deeply bound by it nonetheless."

3. What time is it where you are?

"It's "right now." Where I'm from, there's only ever "right now." Actives have no conception of the future, you see, and the past - the past can be taken away from a Doll at any time. For better or worse."

4. If you were Albus Dumbledore returned from the dead, which member of the Order of the Phoenix would you sexually harass? How would you harass them? If you are Albus Dumbledore, please answer as if you were Sirius Black.

Claire thought of her last encounter with Topher, her sick, doomed seduction scene, and laughed and laughed - a grating, slightly hysterical laugh - then took a swig from a silver flask.

"Next question."

5. If you are pushing to be in:

A. Slytherin - please state the clever, witty name of the bar in which you bartend, in the dark.

"The Infirmary. I'm not really programmed for clever or witty."

B. Gryffindor – Debate whether Harry should ultimately end up married to Fred or George. Use examples from a variety of world mythologies to bolster your argument.

"Marriage isn't exactly my department. The whole idea of permanency is not exactly my department."

C. Ravenclaw – You guys are supposed to be smart. Explain why my desk is inundated with paperwork at all times, even though I’m constantly disposing of it.

"You work for a major corporation engaged in a shadowy conspiracy to rent out the products of highly unethical bleeding-edge medical technology? Just a guess."

She pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I can give you the best bit of advice I've ever gotten. All those reports you so diligently write up every day, conscientiously including every detail of anything likely to produce problems down the line? Nobody reads those. Just let it go. Live in the now."

D. Hufflepuff – Prove you are not useless.

That laugh again.

"I'm fully qualified in a variety of medical fields, from first aid to major surgery. I've also got quite a nice line in computer skills, strangely enough. Though I've also got a whole raft of phobias designed to keep me stuck in place, but I am - I was - working on that."

6. Offer a bribe to the members of this community so that they will not squib you. Items used in bribery do not necessarily have to belong to the person offering the bribe. Do not threaten us rather than offering a bribe. A threat indicates you either don't really want to be here, or don't have enough sense to answer the question properly. The hat will automatically squib you, regardless of other votes, if you do.

"Lollipop?"

She reached into the pocket of her sensible skirt and produced a handful of colorful candies.

"Hello? Is anyone there? I filled out your little form here. Just one question: Is any of this real?"

I have read the

hogwarts_hocus faq, and understand it is a crazy, cracktastic sorting community and RPG. ___Dr._Saunders__
I have read the

hogwarts_hocus rules and agree to abide by each and every one of them. __Dr._Saunders__.
I agree to be a good sport and not get my knickers in a bunch. _Ha._No_promises._
One day, ~~marmalade~~ Rossum will rule the world. ___Dr._Saunders__

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"No. No, it isn't any fun being limited," Claire muttered darkly, then cleared her throat. "I'm just a general physician. I like to think of myself as the clean-up crew for the mad scientist types in the office. They're the ones who do the instilling and un-instilling; I help with the coping, afterward."

She nodded. "I'd be happy to help if it gets busy. I don't think I'd like to join the staff though - trying to make a change and such, y'know."

Rin was quite surprised at some of her answers, and said the first thing that popped into her mind.

"You have been other people? Do you remember what other people you have been?"

Claire shook her head. "No, I don't. When an engagement is over the active's imprinted persona is removed, and the memories of its recent experiences go with it. Like wiping a slate clean."

"That is unfortunate." She thinks about it. "...to put it mildly."

She sighs. "I have met a few people who were, on occasion, other people. My school was for... special needs students," she says, holding out a shoulder so that the dangling sleeve was clear. "But you are the first person I have met who was another person - or made so? - dilberately and with clear purpose."

She blinks, and rolls her eyes, annoyed with herself. "...I hope I am not being rude," she says, with a hint of apology.

"You're fine. I brought it up, after all. And that part of my life is behind me now," she said firmly. "Were the people you knew dissociative personalities? Multiple personalities, they're sometimes called."

She nods. "Generally they had major physical disabilities, as well..." she wrinkles her nose, and her eyes narrow: "...sometimes as another symptom of the problem that caused it."

She shrugs. "Their alters knew of each other and were all nice enough people. The teachers knew to, ah, have the alters remind each other of shared homework. Yamaku was a very good place, that way."

She looks up. "I would take a lollipop, if you are offering. And if you have no preference, I shall recommend house Ravenclaw - my house, generally reserved for the more studious... students? Boarders," she corrects.

"Oh, Ok. I should have asked whether you wanted to join the staff first." He gave a nervous laugh. "It can help to keep busy sometimes. Since I've had time off there isn't much to distract me from the sun and the music."

"Which house would you like to be in? Ravenclaw, Griffendor, Slytheryn, Hufflepuff. Maybe Ravenclaw would fit the best?"

"DPD usually stems from some kind of major trauma. Physical trauma, especially at too young an age for the main persona to process it, would be a strong contender. It's good that your teachers knew to work with them," Claire mused, and held out the lollipops.

"Sure. And studious company sounds pleasant."

Claire smiled. "That's okay. It's flattering for my skills to be wanted. I don't really know anything about the houses here - why don't you pick one?"

"Would you mind unwrapping a lemon one? I can't do that with my feet, you understand," she says. "And that will be my vote then. Into Ravenclaw, I mean. You in Ravenclaw."

Claire unwrapped a yellow lollipop and held it out.

"Here you go. And thank you."

She took in in her mouth, nodded, grinned, and left, with a muffled "thnk yh."

"Hogwarts. A school for magic, this is." He gave her the slightly self-effacing smile that suggested that he knew exactly how ridiculous that sounded, but in Yoda's experience his appearance on this planet, where some humans didn't even believe in sapient non-human life tended to knock down some of the walls and bars against believing in things like magic. "In Scotland, we are. Drive here, you say you did? Impressed am I."

"Ravenclaw- it's the house of intellect. There's a lab there, but you can use any of the other house's food libraries, or bars any time you want. Also, you might not want to go out too much- there have been rains of pudding and randomly exploding things lately." He held up one bandaged arm as evidence.
"I'm almost starting to dislike magic."

"It's very real, despite the somewhat strange nature of the place," the immortal commented, leaning against the wall as he scanned her application. "But all in all, it's not a bad place for someone who needs to get lost for a little while." His tone indicated that he understood that need very well.

He approached, extending a hand by way of introduction. "Methos. You're in Scotland in a magic school by the name of Hogwarts if no one's mentioned that just yet."

Claire grinned wryly. "Me too. Strangely enough, it didn't seem all that far. Magic, you say? Like, wizards and fairy godmothers and such?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again and raised her eyebrows at the bandaged hand.

"That's - good to know. Thanks for the warning."

"Claire." She took the offered hand. "It's been mentioned, and the words are in fact in English, but I've yet to make them make any kind of sense. As for getting lost...the original goal was for me to find something. Something more than my - my prior situation could offer me. How's the outlook for that here?"

"Never as far as we think we have gone, do we truly go." He settled himself down on the floor, for one second sorely missing the hoverchair that had once let him speak face to face with his taller compatriots. "Wizards, yes, and witches too. No fairy godmothers have I seen, but know every student here I do not."

Methos smiled easily, "Don't try and puzzle them out too long. Sometimes nonsense is still nonsense, it doesn't matter what language it's in. This place can seem a bit insane, the best thing you can do is go with it."

"Now as far as finding something.. that's always possible. I suppose it all depends on what or who you're looking for." He pointedly didn't ask what it was she was trying to find. "The school has some very unique resources."

"Well, that's something beyond even Topher's powers, if it's for real," she muttered. "They teach magic here? Like in classes and labs? How does that work?"

"It's all in your point of view, then?" she asked with a smile. "You seem very at ease with this - situation, Methos. Have you been around long?"

"Something like that," he answered. "I learned a long time ago that if the situation seems weird or doesn't make sense, just run with it. Makes things easier in the long run. Now as far as being here long.. yes and no. I had been here once, left for a time, then returned."

He decided to leave out the whole turning into popcorn for the moment. "I imagine the medical wing will be thrilled to see another doctor in the school."

Her answers troubled A deeply; not so many months ago he would have turned and fled. Almost every reply made his hair stand on end. But it was the last question that made his empathy overcome his fear.

"It, oh, oh, it, it's real. And things, they, things can be better here."

He frowned at her answers.

"What changed your mind, if I can put it that way?" he said very softly and very seriously. "And welcome to Hogwarts."

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Application: Dr. Claire Saunders (a.k.a. "Whiskey"), "Dollhouse"

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Vote: Ravenclaw

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