Who wants to go on a road trip } OTA

[beautifullies]

Who: Claire Fraser + you
Where: Various places indicated in prompts!
When: 3-5-2019
Rating: PGish? Will change if it goes higher for some reason
Summary: Claire has lived through a few more years. She's 53 now.
The Story:

INITIAL RE-ARRIVAL

[ Returning to Wonderland this time has slightly improved over the last return trip: she hasn't drowned, which is nice. That doesn't stop the sinking feeling in her gut. The only plus side, she realizes as she looks down at the box in her arms, is that she was carrying her medical kit. In the time she's been gone so much has happened, as she thinks of Brianna and Jamie (hopefully) waiting for her inside, Claire raises her head to the sky, trying to understand how to know what to tell them both. Christ, she can't tell Brianna. But she has to tell Jamie.

There's hope, as she trudges from the garden to the mansion, that she'll come up with something between here and her room. ]

CLINIC

[ Claire, bathed for the first time in, well, too long, finally makes her way to the clinic. She's seen both Jamie and Brianna and she needs to not only take a moment for herself to breathe, but she'd like to be sure everything is still in order at the clinic. She's lived a few years and it's hard to believe only a week has passed in Wonderland. It leaves her feeling off, needing to check to be sure things truly are as she left them.

Turning on the overhead lights, she blinks a bit; it always takes time to re-adjust to how bright the lighting is in the future. She begins to busily go through cabinets, needing to remind herself of what's there because it's jumbling with three years worth of other things. ]

5th floor bar

[ It isn't often that she goes to a bar to have a drink. But she finds herself bypassing the stop on the fourth floor and going up one more flight. She sits in a booth facing the door, nursing a glass of whiskey. She couldn't keep anything from Jamie. He knows everything in her own time now, and she wouldn't keep it from him here. But Bree.

Christ, she'd avoided everything other than a confirmation that yes, she'd made it to North Carolina and warned them. She can't stomach saying anything more right now, though she worries Wonderland will send her home and then Bree will return with knowledge of it herself, upset that her mother never said anything.

God, she needs at least two more drinks before going back to the room. ]

Goddamned Wonderland.

[ She mutters it under her breath. ]

Comments

clinic

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta rarely leaves her workroom in the basement, but today she's decided it's time to explore a bit more of Wonderland. Or at least the first floor of the Mansion.

Which is how she came upon the clinic. She'd been using her hair to walk along, her body hanging between her massive pigtails, but she sets her own feet down on the floor when she enters. She's much shorter in person than she probably seemed over video.

Her hair floats around her as she readies herself to go through everything she can lay it on, but she spots Claire before she gets a chance to start making a mess.]

Grilled cheese lady!

[A beat. She coils her hair up and props her elbow on it, resting her cheek on her hand.]

You look different.

[beautifullies]

[ She's never been referred to as such before, and she only knows of one person she's had a lengthy conversation about said food over. ]

Entrapta.

[ Said with a soft smile as she looks up, fascinated by her hair for a moment before speaking. ]

Do I? I did leave Wonderland for...well, for nearly three years in my own world.

[tinyfoods]

That must be it!

[She at least has enough tact not to say that Claire looks older (though not that much older, really.]

I didn't notice you were gone.

[beautifullies]

I wouldn't expect many people would, save for my husband and daughter. With events, with enough brand new arrivals to distract everyone, that doesn't surprise me.

[ She smiles a little, leaning back against the counter. ]

How have you been adjusting to Wonderland since we first spoke?

[tinyfoods]

It's been going well! I've got a couple of promising experiments lined up, but I'm finalizing the details on them.

[Now she shifts her hair again, making a seat for herself a couple of feet off the ground, getting comfortable.]

[beautifullies]

Experiments? You're quite interested in science, then?

[ Now, she has to ask, unable to take her eyes off of the hair. ]

Is that magic at work?

[tinyfoods]

Oh yes! Understanding the techno-organic devices left behind by the First Ones is my main goal at home.

[It takes her a second to realize what Claire is referring to, and she just gets a blank stare while Entrapta figures it out.]

Oh! No. Well, maybe. I guess? It just does this and it's normal for me.

[beautifullies]

I have to tell you that I have no idea what you just said.

[ None of it made sense, but she gets it: experiments. Important goals. ]

I've never in my life seen hair that can quite do....that. It's incredible, really.

[tinyfoods]

I get that a lot.

[She's completely used to people having no idea what she's talking about. And typically not caring all that much.

She raises a tendril of hair to look at it curiously, then pets it like she might an animal.]

Well thank you, I guess! It's just like this.

[beautifullies]

Did you come to the clinic for any particular reason?

[ Because wow, look at her going on about hair when someone sought out the medical facility. Priorities, Claire. ]

[tinyfoods]

Oh, no! Not really. I was just exploring and I hadn't been in here before.

[She pokes at some things with a bit of her hair, but thinks better of really messing with anything. Who knows what she might disrupt.]

[beautifullies]

[ Well, as long as she hasn't been hurt and doesn't need immediate medical attention. ]

I'm afraid it's all rather boring here. I have my surgery in the back with the things I need to make medicine and salves should the magic ever stop working here, but other than that it's all very routine. For a medical clinic in Wonderland, anyway.

[tinyfoods]

Ooh, you know how to make medicine? Is it hard? I bet I could build something to help!

[beautifullies]

It can be difficult.

[ But she's intrigued and tilts her head to the side. ]

I bet you probably could as well. It's just that I wouldn't even know what that might be. Would you like to see where I make everything? Maybe something will come to mind.

[tinyfoods]

Yes!

[She hops down from her seat and hurries over to Claire, her hair dragging a bit behind her. She's a tiny thing up close.]

[beautifullies]

[ At her enthusiasm Claire smiles, then leads the way down the hall int he clinic and turns to the right and into a small room. It's definitely not as modern as the rest of the clinic and smells of herbs. A glance up and Entrapta will see bunches of it hanging from the ceiling to dry out. ]

This is close to my space at home, only here this is a backup in case all magic fails. At home, this is all I have.

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta follows closely and peers around.]

Oh wow! That's a lot of dead plants! You make medicine with them?

[She comes closer, picking things up with her hair and examining them. She's careful, at least, even if she's being intrusive.]

How?

[beautifullies]

I do. [ Claire smiles, then gestures up, not minding the picking up and setting down of things. ]

Some things are dried and ground to be steeped in hot water for tea. Other things are picked fresh and mixed with other ingredients to make salves and ointments. And others are even boiled down to extract a pure oil. It all depends on what I'm trying to make a medicine for.

[tinyfoods]

Oh, I could definitely create machines that will make those things easier.

[She reaches up and touches some of the herbs above her head with her hair.]

[beautifullies]

You could?

[ That's intriguing to Claire for a few different reasons, and she gives Entrapta her full attention. ]

What do you envision?

[tinyfoods]

Take the ones you have to dry, for example. I could make something that would dry them out in a minute or two.

[beautifullies]

That would cut my time in...well. Sometimes it can take days for these to dry out completely.

[ Claire looks over at her, something like a mix of awe and appreciation on her face. ]

If that's something you would truly want to do, I'd be grateful for it. But of course, don't burden yourself.

[tinyfoods]

It's not a burden at all. Things are moving a bit slowly with my main experiment right now, so there's plenty of time to work on side projects. I could make it for you in a few days!

[beautifullies]

I would be incredibly grateful for that.

[ Claire can't believe her luck, really. ]

I make all of this because I don't quite trust Wonderland's magic.

[tinyfoods]

Has it failed before? I personally prefer science over magic myself, but both are an undeniable part of reality where I'm from.