Being almost grown up means two things SHOES and K-I-S-S-I-N-G

[curiously_cora]

Wiggling her toes, Coraline sighed loudly as she pulled her feet free from her boots. The boots were bright yellow with neon orange and lime green spots on them. Coraline loved her wellington boots but she also knew she was nearly thirteen years old. That meant she was practically grown up. And grown ups didn't get to wear fun and comfortable shoes

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[vvdanicavv]

Ew, something small and child-like was making noises at Danica. Again. Twice in one year was far too frequent, even if they were different children. Her approach would have been heard a mile off, the clack of her own heels marking her entrance. Danica was short, as Asher seemed to like reminding her with his half-pint comments, and while she couldn't get around that naturally, she certainly could with the help of Manolo Blahnik.

She towered above the girl, peering down with a look of curious disdain. The curiosity was solely due to the footwear on the child's feet. "But that would involve bodily contact," she pointed out, making no move to help the girl up. Touching children was about as appealing as touching Stephen Colbert's eyeballs.

[curiously_cora]

"Yes, that's usually what's required when someone needs to be helped up." Coraline said simply, looking up at the grown up. The woman had pretty shoes on too but she was walking around in them like she owned them. This woman was obviously to be heeded- she had defeated the shoe monster. "Your shoes are pretty. How do you walk in them without falling over?"

[vvdanicavv]

"I don't do bodily contact with children. Or helping." Of any kind. Danica had people to do that for her, and she still did, it was just that none of those people happened to be on the island with her.

The compliment worked in the child's favor, of course. "It's a gift," Danica answered, circling the girl slowly, sizing her up. "You either have it or you don't."

[curiously_cora]

"I'm not a child, I'm twelve that's almost thirteen." Coraline informed the woman, swinging her legs around and beneath her so she could attempt to get up on her feet again. To Coraline being almost thirteen was the same as being almost grown up. Everyone treated teenagers differently and Coraline couldn't wait to stop being treated like a small child. She wasn't even that small, she was nearly 5 foot six without heels. "Do you think you could teach me? I mean, I could have it and not know it."

Coraline wasn't even sure what it was. Grabbing onto the couch, Coraline hauled herself onto her feet yet again. At least this time it didn't take too long to get up. Now she just had to learn how to walk.

[vat_69]

Coraline is not Lew's kid. She's got a whole bevy of people looking after her well-being, and probably doesn't need him added to the mix. However, seeing her in those shoes is possibly one of the most horrifying doses of reality he's ever had.

"You know, there's nothing wrong with tennis shoes," he points out as he takes her hand and attempts to pull her back to her feet.

[curiously_cora]

Even the thought of something as boring as tennis shoes made Coraline's nose wrinkle. At least high heels were pretty even if they weren't as bright or as exhuberant as her normal footwear of wellies.

"But older girls wear heels, not tennis shoes and I'm practically grown up now. I mean, I am twelve." Coraline said simply, holding his hands as he pulled her to her feet. Cain had told her not until she was older could she wear make up or heels but she was older now and he wasn't here anymore. Besides she wanted to look pretty. "And they make me look pretty."

Coraline staggered in them, holding onto Mister Nixon for dear life before she steadied in them. "I just have to learn how to walk proper."

[vat_69]

"You look pretty without them," Lew attempts to reassure her as she holds onto his arm like a vise. "I know plenty of very pretty women who never wear heels. Just look around. And Pepper doesn't count, she twisted her ankle walking in those things, and she's used to them."

All that said, he knows Coraline well enough to understand how stubborn she can be, and how stubborn preteen girls can be in general. "What if we found you some with a lower heel, but were still pretty?" Not that he has any idea of how they'd do that.

[curiously_cora]

"That's not- I don't think the other boys think that. You know boys my age, kind of. Well, boys around my age and not your age which is anci-which is um, older." Coraline said thinking about Edmund and Peter and Percy. Well, Peter could be forgiven because that would be like kissing a brother. Which would be really, really gross. "See, she's really pretty. And I read in a book that beauty is pain and books haven't been wrong so far."

Except for that book about her. That book was just mean.

"Do you think that would help? Like training heels?" Coraline asked curiously.

[hyperspanner]

"Of course I can," Scotty said, coming over and offering her a hand, trying not to laugh. "Ye'd better watch yourself there, lassie, before ye break an ankle." Shiny shoes were all well and good, but Scotty himself never felt happy in anything other than a nice sturdy pair of boots. Comfort was the important thing, that and making sure your toes were safe if you dropped anything heavy on them. Somehow, though, he guessed that that wasn't so much of a consideration for the average teenage girl.

"Where'd ye get a fancy pair of shoes like those?"

[curiously_cora]

"Hi, Mister Scotty." Coraline said holding her hands out to be helped up and back onto her feet. Coraline had never expected gravity to have such a hold on her but apparently it liked her a lot. Enough to make her keep falling over. "Oh, from the clothes box. Aren't they pretty? I mean, they're not wellington boots but all the older girls wear them."

And all the older girls were pretty, so clearly if Coraline wanted to be pretty that meant wearing high heels. And make up. But Coraline was still a little unsure on how to use that.

[hyperspanner]

"They're very nice, but you'll do yourself a mischief carrying on in them all day," he said. "Older girls wear pretty shoes with flat soles on 'em too, y'know."

Bless the wee lass, playing at being grown up - it reminded him of when he was young, younger than her, when his sister'd steal their mother's shoes and put on fashion shows, and he'd find his dad's welding mask and pretend to be a robot and ruin the atmosphere altogether.

"And there's nothing wrong with wearing big old boots, neither," he added, raising one foot and waggling it at Coraline.

[curiously_cora]

"Yeah but no one thinks they're pretty. The pretty girls all wear high heels," Coraline explained patiently to Scotty. He was a boy so he wouldn't understand the complexities of being a girl. Coraline looked at her own pair of boots mournfully. They were very comfortable and very reliable but she was growing up and if she wanted to be liked then she needed to stop wearing boots that boys thought were ugly. "I bet you wouldn't think a girl was pretty if she was wearing them though. Even if they are good for exploring and really cool things."

[thirdboxcar]

"'course." Walt smiles at her, holding his hand out for her to take. Over the few times he'd seen Coraline so far, Walt has taken up a fondness for this tough little girl.

[curiously_cora]

Coraline smiled happily as Walt took her hand and helped her up onto her feet. Walt was okay for a grown up. He wasn't like the other soldiers she knew. Well, the era gap was probably the reason for that but still, Walt was different. And that was cool with Coraline.

"Thanks, I keep falling over but I have to practise. It's like weaponry practise or acrobatics, you have to keep trying again and again." Coraline said balancing on her feet and making sure she didn't fall again. "Do you like them? They're my new shoes."

[thirdboxcar]

Taking a closer look at the shoes Coraline was wearing, Walt nods approvingly. "They're real nice! The clothes box give 'em to you?" He asks, one hand still on her arm to keep her from falling.

[curiously_cora]

"Ahuh, I'm trying to learn how to walk in them like all the other older girls. They make it look really easy but it's not." Coraline said, letting go of Walt and standing on her own. It was quite easy standing until she leaned or tried to move and then it was all down hill from there. Well more fall down. "The clothes box is real nice to me."

The way Coraline said that was quite distrustful. She still thought, despite everything, that the Other Mother was behind that.

[lt_blade]

Actually, some grown ups like Sonya spent most of the day in combat boots or blue and white keds.

She took Coraline's arm and helped her up, eying the shoes as she did. "If you're trying to score a sprained ankle, you're doing a fair job of it."

Especially if the minor scrapes were anything to go by.

[curiously_cora]

"No, I'm not. If I wanted to do that, I'd just ask Adam to play football with me. I'm trying to walk in heels, obviously." Coraline said, staggering a little and leaning on Sonya for support. Coraline did acrobatics and was quite good at it but learning to walk in these shoes was horrid. She wasn't sure how the other girls did it. "Do you like them?"

[lt_blade]

Oh lord..Sonya could walk in heels just fine, but these were making her feet hurt.

"They're pretty enough, but at this rate you're going to score yourself an injury whether you want to or not." She held Coraline up by her arm for her to keep her balance. "They're too high for beginners."

She sighed and went over to the bookshelf, grabbing the first thin, hard cover book she saw and went over to her again. "Keep your back straight, shoulders back, keep your weight on your toes," She placed the book on her forehead. "And try to walk to the bookshelf while keeping the book on your head."

Teaching weapons and survival skills was one thing, Sonya never thought she'd be rehashing what she learned in charm school.

[curiously_cora]

"Well, you don't learn to swim by playing in a paddling pool. Sometimes you have to jump straight in the deep end," Coraline said, trying not to fall over or flail as Sona went towards the bookshelf and brought back a book. Coraline could barely walk five metres on her own let alone with a book on her head. Still, she had to learn some day. "Back straight, shoulders back, weight on my toes... got it! Do you think if I learn to walk right the boys will think I'm pretty."

Coraline took two careful steps and watced as the book fell onto the floor.