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[not_the_s]

Kon wasn't sure what to think. He'd woken up from a dream where he'd been able to fly again, where he'd found Krypto, and now he didn't have those powers anymore, but Krypto was here again. It'd been almost funny, the first time Krypto had tried to fly and Kon'd had to explain to him how it didn't work like that here. He'd never seen a more

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[curiously_cora]

Coraline sat quietly, alone on the beach. The island had been quiet again, people had slept and Coraline had been left alone. Coraline knew it wasn't their fault but at the same time she hated it and hated them for leaving her again.

Wiping her eyes stubbornly Coraline stared into the distance watching a familiar shape approach with a beautiful looking dog. Coraline scrambled to her feet yelling his name surprised and happy all at once. Coraline ran barefoot across the beach and launched herself at him, hugging him tight. Coraline might have thought Kon was a jerk sometimes and annoying but that was because he was her big brother and she loved him.

"You're home," Coraline said happily wrapping her arms around his neck. Coraline hugged him tight, burying her face against his shoulder just in case she started to cry.

[not_the_s]

Kon wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm fine, I promise." He wasn't sure whether he was. Not really. He was beginning to have a life here for a minute and then he got back here and found out that everything was as much a dream as his time back home had been.

He felt a cold nose touch his leg and he yelped a little.

"Hey, munchkin. I'd like to introduce you to someone."

[curiously_cora]

Coraline squeezed Kon tightly. It didn't matter if she'd slept through an entire weekend herself, the point was Coraline had been left behind by Bill and by Kon and by people she loved. She'd been alone again. It had been awful. Coraline looked at Kon fondly before she took a step back and punched him in the arm. It wasn't like hitting a wall or anything but it was fairly close. Coraline scowled at him.

"That's for leaving and for calling me a munchkin." Coraline said. Coraline was five foot seven, she was hardly small no matter how everyone else treated her. "Introduce me to who?"

Coraline looked confused for a moment before she looked down and smiled brightly. "You've got a dog!"

[not_the_s]

"Owww." Kon rubbed at his arm. "Have you been taking lessons from Tim or something?" He shook his head. That was the last thing they needed. He looked down. "This is Krypto. He's...smarter than your average dog. Or dumber, depending on the circumstance."

For that, he got nipped and he hopped away.

"Again...owww. Hey, who's the one who got yelled at when you went rampaging through Kory's garden?"

[curiously_cora]

"No, don't be silly. I've been taking lessons with Miss Buffy," Coraline said simply. Coraline had also been learning other things from other sources but Kon didn't need to know that. Not about the knives and certainly not about the swords. "Cool! Hi Krypto-oh, did you really name your dog that? Seriously?"

Coraline rolled her eyes. It would be like her naming a pet Walesy or Englan or something like that.

"You stay away from my garden Krypto or we'll be having words." Coraline said making a face at the dog. "Why are you out by yourself anyway?"

[not_the_s]

"Don't look at me. Clark was the one who named him. I'm just the one who got dog-sitting duty." It was easier to talk to Coraline. Easier, at least, until she asked why he was out by himself. "I just got back and wasn't able to fly anymore. I miss it, I guess. And no," he said, before she could add something. "This doesn't mean that I'm going to take you up on the hang gliders."

[curiously_cora]

Coraline stared at Kon for a moment letting what he said sink in. Coraline bit her lip and looked at him curiously.

"Do you- do you want to go back home? You could fly all the time then," Coraline said quietly. "If you weren't here. I didn't get to go home and I wouldn't want to go back. This is my home."

[not_the_s]

"Sometimes I do?" Kon said with a shrug. "I...a friend of mine was gone when I got back." There was no way that he was telling Coraline about Wallace. There were some things about his life that she didn't know, especially not when there wasn't anything to know anymore.

[curiously_cora]

He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave her. Coraline took a step away from Kon and hid beneath her hair as much as she could. Coraline knew what it was like to lose people, she had lost her whole family in one night but she never wanted to go back. She missed her parents but she couldn't go back, she was too changed. And this was her home.

"You want to leave?" Coraline asked even quieter.

[not_the_s]

Kon pulled her back in and wrapped his arms around her. He was taller than she was again and he tucked her head under his chin. "Not you," he promised. He didn't want to leave people. "I just...I want to be able to fly again. I want to be out making some kind of difference. I was created to be a hero and here I can't do anything when someone I care about vanishes."

That was what hurt the most, he thought. His best friends, the people he considered family, and the person he was growing to really like, and he couldn't do anything when they left. He just felt helpless and he hated that feeling.

[curiously_cora]

Coraline let him hug her, wrapping her arms around him back stiffly. Coraline wondered if they ever thought what it was like to be her. She didn't think they did, she didn't think any of them actually cared.

"You think it's easier for me? Because I could never fly?" Coraline asked pulling away from Kon. "It's not. I was... I was locked in a small room and I had the life drained out of me and I still beat her. I saved dead children and I helped them move on to the next place. I stopped her, I defeated her and do you know how people treat me here? Like I'm just some stupid kid who needs babysitting."

Coraline looked up at Kon frowning before poking him in the chest. Coraline pulled her hair in frustration, groaning a little in annoyance.

"You don't need superpowers to make a difference. You get to have a vote so use it. You have legs and arms and a brain, use them. Join the task force, join the police, train to be a doctor, join the council- just do something! You don't know how lucky you are to have a choice." Coraline said annoyed

[not_the_s]

"Then do something about it," Kon told her, a frustrated edge to his voice. "If you want the choice, make them give it to you." He took a step back and shook his head. He couldn't do this right now. He couldn't play the supportive older brother when his own heart was currently torn to shreds.

He whistled sharply and started pulling away. "I've...got to go for a little while, Coraline."

[curiously_cora]

"You don't think I've asked? That I've tried?" Coraline asked annoyed rather than curious for once. Coraline stared at him, confused for a moment and then cold realisation settled in. He said one thing and did another. Just like all the other grown ups. She'd thought he was different. She thought she could trust him. She couldn't trust any of them. They were all liars even Adam. Especially Adam. Especially Kon!

"A little while, sure." Coraline said staring off into the distance. Coraline pressed her lips together before she started to cry. She was brave. She was strong. She didn't need him. She didn't need anyone. "Fine. I knew you were just like everyone else."

[not_the_s]

"Cora," Kon snapped, "I'm sorry home for you doesn't hold any special memories, but home for me was pretty good most days. I liked it. I really liked having my powers and being able to help people. It's who I was. What I was made for, very literally. And then I came back from that and not only are the powers and the saving people gone, so is the person I'd just started dating."

He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "This is just the worst time for you to pull the 'I'm older than I look' act."

Krypto padded back over, gave him an annoyed look, and butted his head against Coraline's hand.