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[easiertohate]

Boredom, a noun. The state of being bored, tedium, ennui. It didn't matter what she called it. Whether she referred to it as dullness, doldrums or weariness. It all equaled the same thing to her. Ros Myers found herself trapped on an island and bored

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[curiously_cora]

Coraline smiled at the woman and went to the bookshelf, picking up a book on architecture, football, funfairs and a fairy tale in Welsh. Coraline dumped the books next to her own chair and sat down, crossing her legs as she picked the fairy tale up. Coraline looked across at the woman's reading choice and smiled.

"That's Arabic," Coraline said, looking at the book in the woman's lap. Coraline was wearing another one of Adam's castoffs, an overly large FBI t-shirt. The silver key tucked close to her chest. "I can write my name in Arabic but that's it."

[easiertohate]

Ros recognised the girl, Adam spent so much of his time near her it would have been hard for her not to, even if she wasn't trained in surveillance. "Can you?" Her mouth quirked upward slightly. Adam must have taught her that.

"What is your name?" Utterly as if she didn't know, for all that she asked it with terse politeness.

She did wonder why it would be that she would attract children.

[curiously_cora]

"Yes, a little bit anyway. I keep making mistakes or smudging it though," Coraline said, thinking of how Adam had kept correcting her as they traced their names in the dirt. "It's Coraline. Coraline Jones. Not Caroline, Grown-Ups always call me Caroline. I don't know why, it's not my name."

[easiertohate]

"Because grown-ups usually think they know better." Ros was trying, for Adam's sake mostly. It wasn't that she disliked children, she simply found them bothersome on the whole. Though, truthfully, she found most people bothersome, no matter what the age. "Coraline Jones. I'm Ros Myers. I'm a friend of Adam's."

[curiously_cora]

"Yes, I imagine that's what the policeman thought when I rang him. They generally don't know better though, sometimes they're a lot sillier." Coraline said, as she opened the book in her lap. Coraline smiled brightly when she heard Adam's name. "Then it's really nice to meet you Miss Myers."

[easiertohate]

"The police can be silly, can't they," Her smile grew a bit at that, her edge softening. "You can call me Ros. Miss Myers sounds rather old, doesn't it?"

[curiously_cora]

"Yes, that's why I'm going to work...on the grid." Coraline said, the last few words placed carefully as she tried to remember the proper words for it. She still thought Adam was slightly cooler than James Bond, even if he didn't have all the fancy gadgets. "Well as a spy anyway, then I won't have to deal with the police."

Coraline nodded, at the direction. "Okay, Ros." Coraline smiled. "How do you know Adam?"

[easiertohate]

"A spy? Really?" Ros wondered what stories Adam had told the girl. Not that she minded, there was something unexpected about the girl, and Ros found her smile growing. "I worked with Adam. On the grid."

It was enough of an answer for a ten year old.

[curiously_cora]

"Well, either that or an Explorer." Coraline said, looking around the room carefully. The key catching before she loosened it around her neck. Dropping her voice down low, in case Ros didn't want anyone else to know, Coraline asked her question. "You're a spy too? Were you as disappointed as I was to find out that you don't get underwater cars or really cool gadgets. Adam said he had a tracking device was a sweet but that's not really the same as an underwater car, is it?"

[easiertohate]

"Oh I don't know," She said slowly, finding herself leaning forward when the child did. "I think those sorts of things are cheating, wouldn't you? For those who can't get by on wits and realistic sorts of assistance?"

Of course, some of the things Malcolm came up with were stunning in their elegant simplicity, but she wasn't about to share the details of them with anyone.

[curiously_cora]

"I guess so, although I wouldn't tell James Bond that." Coraline said seriously, thinking of what James Bond would do if Ros were to say that. He'd probably say something very witty and Ros would give him a look or hit him and then they'd fall into bed. "And Sun Zoo did say 'Be subtle' and I guess an underwater car isn't really that subtle."

[easiertohate]

Ros likely would have laughed at Coraline's assessment, not thinking herself the type to be impressed by flash trickery.

"Sun Tsu? Doing some etra reading over summer break?"

[curiously_cora]

"I wasn't allowed to start school last term, I was too late so now I have to wait until next term." Coraline said, the hint of annoyance in her voice. Not that she didn't mind summer holidays but she'd already had two months of it at home and then she'd come here and found she couldn't go back to school. No one wanted Summer forever, if they did they were lying. "Adam took me out of a bad place, I'm getting ready in case it happens again. And I like knowing stuff, it's why I'm going to be an explorer-spy."

[easiertohate]

A bad place. Ros had noticed Adam unwilling to be away from the girl. He'd had her move into his hut even. Nodding, she glanced back down at the book in her hands. "I'm sure you'll make an excellent explorer-spy."