Application for Emma Jean "Emmie" Silvey, Caitlin R. Kiernan's Daughter of Hounds

[emmie_silvey]

((Daughter of Hounds is the sequel to Low Red Moon, Chance Matthews Silvey's canon. This application posted with the permission of Chance-mun. WARNING: Contains spoilers for Threshold, Low Red Moon, and Daughter of Hounds.))“Shit

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[emmie_silvey]

((Eek, sorry for the delay! Lamaze classes ate my weekend!))

Emmie would like for things to make sense, but she knows that sometimes the answers to things, the answers that turn nonsense into sense and explain everything, are something of a horrible truth.

Well, she may as well ask. Anything else would be delaying the inevitable, she supposes. And could it really be worse than some of the things she had found out about the world, and herself, last year?

First, though, she does what any smart kid approached by a stranger does.

"What's your name? I think I'd like to hear about who runs this school, but I also think it's best if you tell me your name first, so that you're not a stranger anymore. Or at least less of a stranger."

God, she hopes it's not those Hound things running the school. Or the Bailiff. Not that she ever met him -- not that she can recall, at least, although there's some weird sense of déjà vu when she thinks about that, but she can't quite put her finger on it -- but from what she did hear about him, he seems like a real jerk.

[buggy_genius]

"Dr. Jack Hodgins. Call me Jack. Or Hodgins. You know, whatever."

[emmie_silvey]

"I'll call you Jack." Emmie has been on a first-name basis with most of the adults in her life, and she sees no reason to change that now, especially since the man has offered for her to call him by his first name. "It's nice to meet you, Jack."

Normally, Emmie is far more careful about strangers, but considering that she doesn't really have a choice but to get acquainted with them now, she has to bend the rules a bit. Besides, Chance has said it is safe in this place, and Emmie believes her. She figures Deacon would trust and believe her, too.

"Are you a medical doctor?"

[buggy_genius]

"Nice to meet you too, kid. Nah, I'm a lab monkey. I work with arthropods and particulates pretty much exclusively, except when I get to blow stuff up in the name of science. Fun stuff. What do you do?"

[emmie_silvey]

Emmie thinks that Hodgins's question is sort of strange, because all kids her age go to school, unless they're dropouts, and he already said she was smart, so he should know that isn't the case. But she appreciates that he's neither talking down to her nor making assumptions, and so she replies, "I'm in third grade. Unless I can't go back to Providence for a while, in which case I might have to start from where I left off, which will put me behind." This is not at all appealing to Emmie, but it seems she has no choice right now.

Her ears definitely perk up at the mention of arthropods and science. "Have you been to the Vital Variety exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in New York?"

[buggy_genius]

"Hey, maybe the credits from here will transfer over." He wasn't entirely sure of that--or even if this place had credits that could be transferred--but it was worth a shot. "Are you kidding? Of course I went to that exhibit! It was great. Dumbed down for the target audience, but if it brings up an interest I really can't complain too much. I mean, I can, but it's just petty at that point. Did you go? What'd you think?"

[emmie_silvey]

Emmie highly doubts that third grade will take the credits from a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Third grade doesn't even have credits, just classes, and she doubts that cauldron stirring (or whatever it is that counts as magic(k) here) could ever take the place of language arts or math anyway.

She is, however, very thrilled to hear that Hodgins has been to the Vital Variety exhibit. "Yeah, I mean, it was just photos and captions, but the captions were pretty interesting, and I liked how the photos were so close up. I think it would have been better if they had included real, live invertebrates, though, like at the insect zoo at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC." Emmie has never been there, but she's read about it.

[buggy_genius]

"Hey, if you ever want to go, let me know. I actually work in D.C. when I'm not at Hogwarts, so I could see about getting you some kind of discount. At the very least, I can tell you what the tour guides and display placards are screwing up."

[emmie_silvey]

Emmie's eyes light up. "I would really like that," she replies enthusiastically. "Of course, I'd have to leave here to go back to Providence first, and then Deacon would have to be able to afford for us to take the train to DC and stay in a hotel." She's holding out hope for both conditions. "But that would be great."

Meanwhile, she's stuck here. Which makes a thought occur to her. "Are there any museums at this school?"