curiously_cora | (no subject)

Coraline was loving being a grown up. Not only could she drink and kiss boys and stay up as late as she wanted but she'd made a whole load of new friends and she was going into dino territory again unaccompanied. Well, accompanied by Aidan but that didn't count. Aidan was cool, Aidan was friends with ghosts and werewolves which was an idea that Coraline could defintely get behind. And besides it wasn't like she was going to get into trouble. Well, it wasn't like she was purposefully going to try to get into trouble.

"You're late," Coraline said as she heard someone approach her from behind. Bent over Coraline was trying to tie the laces on her boots and was scowling something fierce at them. Coraline had forgotten how irritating laces were, wearing wellies was far easier but that would led to some uncomfortable questions from certain people. Besides she didn't want people interrogating or stopping her when she was off to explore. "You know you're not supposed to keep a lady waiting."

Coraline stood up, pulling her t-shirt down from where it had ridden up and turned to face Aidan.

"I'm kidding, I haven't been waiting at all. I just wanted to make you fear my terrible wrath. Are you excited?" Coraline asked Aidan curiously with a bright, easy smile.

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"Aidan the Nurse, Co-Caroline the explorer." Coraline said only slightly slipping up on her name. Coraline coughed to mask the slip up, pretending to be thirsty and taking her bottle of water out her bag. "An invisible fence actually. Well, not invisible but it's there pylons or something. The fence and the collars keep them locked in."

Coraline slowed down as they neared the boundary and smiled at Aidan. "So, are you ready or do you just want to... hang here and see if any come close to us."

Aidan didn't think anything of Caroline's 'slip', he had no reason to suspect that she was anyone other than who she said she was.

"An invisible fence, that's going to make it hard to tell when we get to it, isn't it?" he asked. Aidan had no problem courting danger, but he wasn't under any belief that he could outrun a dinosaur.

"And I guess if nothing is around, we should probably head on in."

"Pretty much so it's a good thing that you're with someone who knows the island like the back of her hand." Coraline said, taking Aidan's arm and leaning into his side. Coraline leaned up to mock whisper in his ear. "And with someone who has a map."

Coraline laughed, tugging on Aidan's arm as they got closer. Coraline couldn't see anything but you never knew. It always paid to be prepared and vigilant.

The way her lips felt against his ear gave him goosebumps, she really was a terrible flirt. Not that Aidan really minded that much, he was definitely enjoying his time wih Caroline.

"So how close are we?" he asked, more than happy to let himself be pulled along after her.

"Um, very. We kind of entered about two steps ago." Coraline said, nodding to the trees behind them. Coraline squeezed Aidan's arm before dropping her arm away as she walked towards a tall tree. Coraline knew sometimes the best way to see the dinosaurs without getting into trouble and giving Bill a migraine was to see them from up high. Coraline reached for Aidan and smiled at him. "Give me a bunk up, will you? We can see them better up here."

Edited 2011-08-13 18:49 (UTC)

"Sure," Aidan said, cupping his fingers and placing them on his leg so that she could boost up. He figured that if any dinosaurs were nearby, they'd hear them if they started to move, at least any of the larger ones.

"Any idea what types of dinosaurs are here or from what period?"

"Wow, you're really fit." Coraline said, as she placed her hands on his shoulders. Coraline lifted her leg up, putting her foot into his hand and waiting for him to boost her up. "We had wooly mammoths ones, that was at Christmas and I've seen a couple of others but I'm not sure what ones they were."

"I try to keep in shape," Aidan said, chuckling a bit. She made it sound like it had just occurred to her despite having seen him with his shirt off the day before.

"I wouldn't think the population of the island would be able to feed a large group of dinosaurs. Too many plant eaters and their vegetation would be gone, too many carnivores and they'd eat their food supply too fast."

"I think they replenish themselves like the people on the island? You know some disappear and then new people turn up. I think it's like that but with dinosaurs." Coraline said, reaching for a branch and pulling herself up into the tree. Coraline clamboured up into the tree easily like she did it a lot which was true because she did. "I don't know about the plants though, plants are usually robust enough and adapt to their environment just like everything else. My mum was a gardener, she taught me everything she knew."

"Makes sense," Aidan said with a nod. Trying to rationalize the island and think about it logically just left him frustrated. Whenever he ran up to something that didn't make sense, it ended up just being how the island worked.

"Can't say I've ever done much gardening."

"No? What did you do much of? Apart from nursing." Coraline asked curiously, as she climbed to a sturdy thick branch and sat down. Long legs dangling over the edge, Coraline leaned over and looked down at Aidan before patting the branch beside her. "Coming? Up, I mean."

"Mostly spent time with my roommates," he said. It didn't sound very exciting, but werewolf and ghost roommates came with a lot of their own excitement. Also, he wasn't quite ready to admit what some of his other activities were.

In answer to her question, Aidan took a jump and scrambled up the tree. He was still getting used to not having his vampire abilities, but fortunately climbing up the tree was still within the realm of what he could do.

"Really? What does a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost get up to? Wait, that sounds like the start of a really, really bad joke." Coraline said, waiting as he scrambled up the tree. Coraline brushed her fingers against Aidan's as she leaned against his side and waited to see if they could see anything. Coraline could definitely hear something further away, something large and lurching.

"Lots of Scrabble, big Scrabble fans in our house," he said, leaning slightly back against her. What they all did was generally try to manage the weirdness of their lives.

"I hate scrabble, I've never really been good at spelling." Coraline said scrunching her face up at the idea of playing Scrabble. "I prefer twister. That's much more fun. I'm very good at that."

Coraline grinned at Aidan before pointing excitedly. Coraline loved the brachiosaurus even if they were giant and therefore a little scary. "See over there, that dark shape. That's its neck and you should be able to see its head in a minute."

There weren't a lot of things that surprised Aidan anymore. Even before coming to the island, he'd seen a lot in his two hundred years and had spent much of that time perfecting a stoic exterior. At the sight of the dinosaur though, his eyes went wide with surprise.

"That... is a brachiosaurus."

"That's a brachiosaurus, I think they're the best and from here we get to see them without worrying about you know those ones in Jurassic Park. The ones who figured out the doors," Coraline said smiling at Aidan, her hand covering his as she leaned against him. Coraline swung her legs back and forth, dropping her head down against his shoulder as she watched the dinosaur happily.

Dinosaurs were definitely on the list of things that Aidan never thought he would see in person. No matter how long you lived, things didn't get less extinct, despite what science fiction insisted was going to happen.

"I'm glad you suggested this," he said, leaning his head on hers as he watched the dinosaur lumber into view.