The Art Of War

[curiously_cora]

Since Coraline had found herself locked in that room again, she hadn't been able to sleep properly. She'd sleep but her dreams were filled with red claws and hungry button eyes and something waiting for her at the bottom of a deep well. When faced with that prospect every night you could see why a ten year old explorer would rather sit up than turn

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[beentodamascus]

Adam wasn't often letting Coraline out of his sight. He'd left the rec-room briefly, to make coffee, and stood in the doorway, sipping from the steaming mug as he listened to her talk to herself. He'd showered, and his shirt was still sticking across damp shoulders, his hair standing up in wet spikes.

"I read that when I was at Cambridge," he said. "I brought you some juice."

[curiously_cora]

"It's very interesting, the other one had pictures but I think I like this one best. Even if I don't understand all of it," Coraline said seriously, absentmindedly playing with the key around her neck. She'd worn a heavier one once made from cold black iron, this one didn't feel quite so much of a burden. Coraline moved the pile of books onto the floor so that Adam could sit down. "Thank you. Did you understand it?"

[beentodamascus]

"Most of it," he said, settling down on the cushion beside her, and handing her the juice. "Or, I pretended to, anyway." He craned his neck, to look down at the page.

"What don't you understand, sweetheart?"

[curiously_cora]

"I don't understand the bit about gratifying my spleen," Coraline said, looking at the passage about not putting troops into the field. She wasn't really sure what gratifying was to start with or why it had anything to do with her spleen. Her spleen didn't really want much of anything from Coraline. "I liked the bits about spies."

Coraline took the juice from him sipping it slowly.

[beentodamascus]

"Your spleen is your anger, where it comes from," said Adam. "It's how much you hate." His free arm was draped across the back of the sofa and he dropped a kiss on top of her fair head.

"You like anything about spies."

[curiously_cora]

Coraline didn't think she was angry at the other mother. Not really. Just very worried about what she could do to others.

"Oh, I don't think I'd do that then anyway. I don't really hate her, she's just evil." Coraline said, with the certainty of a child's moral compass. Things were Wrong or they were Right, there were very few grey areas. "That's because I know the best spy ever."

Coraline looked at Adam seriously. "His name's James, he's got all these cool gadgets."

[beentodamascus]

Adam's eyebrow twitched and he took a very measured sip of his coffee.

"Well," he said. "It's very difficult to compete with James Bond. Even if I do have to do my job without an invisible car."

[curiously_cora]

"I was only joking, you're much nicer. Although if you had gadgets it would probably make things easier and a lot cooler." Coraline said, with a small smile. Coraline drank her juice steadily and turned the page of her book. She really did like the bit about spies in it although it made her a little sad to think of someone using Adam. "I'm going to use gadgets when I'm a spy."

[beentodamascus]

"We have gadgets too," said Adam, resting his coffee against his thigh and looking down at the page. "Once, my friend Zaf gave me a tracking device disguised as a sweet."

The brooch. The brooch was in his pocket.

"Slipped it into my pocket right in front of a bad guy."

[curiously_cora]

"That's not quite as good as a car that can turn into a submarine though, is it?" Coraline said, with a proper smile on her face. "Didn't they wonder why you carried sweets around in your pockets? Or did they think it was one of those weird things Grown Ups do like that guy on the telly who has a lollipop in his mouth all the time."

[beentodamascus]

"It worked, though," he said, with a little smile, just for her. "And adults carry all sorts of funny things in their pockets."

[curiously_cora]

"I don't know why you don't just get a bag," Coraline said, her catshaped backpack was next to her. "What do you carry in yours?"

[beentodamascus]

"In my pockets?" He grinned at her. "Right now, or at home?"

[curiously_cora]

"If it's different then both. I've got my pencil case, notebook, calculator, Jeremiah and books in mine. I don't think you could fit all that in your pockets," Coraline said looking at Adam with a curious smile. "Unless you have trousers like the TARDIS. Bigger on the inside. That would be a cool gadget."

[beentodamascus]

"In my pockets at home, I have my wallet, and my mobile, my car keys, some gum. For work, I can't leave home without my phone."

He rubbed his hand down her back.

"Here, I've just got Fiona's brooch. That's all. And I bought your cat bag for you."

It's still hanging from his shoulder.

[curiously_cora]

Coraline took her bag from him, hugging it closely to her before putting it down. "That's a lot of stuff for your pockets, how do you fit them all in?" Coraline asked curiously. Maybe he did have TARDIS trousers after all and was just being very clever about it. "It was the only thing mum would agree to let me have, she wanted me to have a black leather bag. It was horrible."