xp_logs | LOG: Clarice & Madelyn in teh Dungeon (Reply)

Madelyn looked up at the tap on the half-open door of her office and smiled when she saw Clarice.

"Hey, kiddo," she said, saving what she'd done of her lesson plans and gesturing for Clarice to come in. "C'mon in, I was just organising some stuff for classes. You want anything before we start? Coffee?"

"Coffee?" Clarice wrinkled her nose, "No thanks, I like my colon."

"Wise girl." Madelyn rolled her chair over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup, snagging the box of shortbread Moira had given her at some stage before rolling back. "Cookie, then? C'mon, this is me being all hospitable here. Don't give me a complex."

"There is always room for cookies," she said, taking one. Cookies were possibly her favorite food.

"Great - I'm feeling all validated now." Madelyn grinned at Clarice, taking a cookie herself and dunking it in the coffee. "I was going to say, before we got started - I was really proud of you the other week, when we had our little emergency down here. Hank said you were a lot of help to him when he was stitching up various people."

Clarice blushed magenta, something she tried hard not to do but couldn't really help. "Really? I just handed him the tools when he said to. And didn't gag at the blood."

"Which is precisely what's required of a medlab assistant. That and the ability to know when to push the donuts through the door with a broom handle and stand back." Madelyn chuckled at Clarice's expression. "Joke, really. But seriously, kiddo, you did really well. Kept your head, did as you were told, didn't get underfoot. I was very proud of you - I think with a bit more knowledge and training, you'll end up a dungeon dweller with the rest of us."

"Me? But..." she hesitated, "If Cecelia was kicked out of med school, how will I ever get in?"

"Time heals all wounds, you ever hear that saying?" Madelyn leaned back in her chair, hands wrapped around her mug. "Things might be a bit tense now, but it's not going to stay that way forever. And I have every amount of faith that not only will Cecilia go back to _a_ medical school, but you've got just as much chance as anyone else who puts in the work of going. Colour notwithstanding. Isn't that what the school's about? Giving people the chance to fulfill their potential? I know I read it somewhere on the paperwork Charles gave me when he was luring me in."

Clarice considered this, "Heh. It's about accepting yourself, not just others. Jono said that once. It's still true and funny that he would say it. Maybe it'll be okay in a few years. It seems far away though."

"Jono was right - how people see you comes a lot from how you see yourself, how you project yourself." One for the snarky Brit contingent, Madelyne thought to herself, with a touch of pleased surprise. "And you're what, fifteen? You've got a lifetime ahead of you, kiddo, and a lot can happen in that time. And there's a lot of people, yourself included, working towards making those changes happen."

"Sixteen," Clarice corrected, "I'm getting my license this term. And a lifetime is so far away! I mean, will enough changes happen in 2 years? Or six? I know they'll happen, but I don't want to wait!"

"If worst comes to worst, you can do what Cecilia's doing - med school long distance, with Hank or myself filling the gaps," Madelyn said, trying hard not to be amused at Clarice's impatience. So like Maddie's younger sister, wanting everything right now, dammit. "But I really don't think it's going to be a problem. If you want it badly enough, there will be options."

"I want it." Clarice was nothing if not ~~rabid~~ persistant once she latched onto something. "Guess I'm too old to be Doogie Howser, though."

"Just a bit," Madelyn replied with a grin. "Besides, you have much better hair."

Now Clarice laughed, "And I don't live with my parents! Wait! I can't be a dungeon dweller! I don't drink Dr. MacTaggert's swill!"

"Neither does Moira, right now," Madelyn replied. "Now, how about we get down to business? Did you review the treatments of insect bites for me?"

"Yup," she replied, opening her book.