curiously_cora | (no subject)

Entry tags:

helen,
ig

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There was one puppy, sprawled out on the floor kicking his feet back and forth as he dreamed of puppy dreams. There was one haughty, black cat running around and through a set of long legs. And there was one teenage girl, smiling happily at the woman who owned the legs. Some things changed as Coraline got older but one thing that would never change was how much she loved having tea with Helen every week.

"Cat get out from underneath Miss Helen's feet," Coraline said, rolling her eyes at her cats behaviour. Cat was only very friendly with certain people, Coraline being one of them and Helen being one of the others. "Hi Miss Helen, ignore Cat. He's being silly today. And very affectionate. Don't let him sit on your lap, he sheds everywhere."

Coraline straightened her dress, brushing it down smartly as she brought over the pot of tea.

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"Cat is just fine, I promise. Austen is much, much worse," Helen said, laughing lightly. She'd baked things for their tea, as she often did, and wondered what would happen if she showed up with a cake or a pudding or something elaborate like that. Ashley never liked her to make a big deal of such productions but Coraline, at least, seemed to appreciate it.

"Thank you for tea, Coraline."

Cat wound himself around Helen's legs some more before padding over and leaping onto Coraline's lap as she sat down. Waiting for him to run around in a circle before curling up comfortably on her lap.

"Fusspuss," Coraline muttered, scratching Cat's ears before pouring Helen a cup. "That's okay, I really like having tea with you. My dad... my real dad always said when I got older he'd take me to the Ritz with mum and we'd have tea. This is sort of like that except with less fancy cakes."

"If we were at home, I would let you have tea in my office with me. It's got a stained glass window," Helen explained, smiling fondly as she thought of it. "It's quite lovely. My butler is also a sasquatch. I think he'd adore you immensely."

Coraline did look a fair bit like Ashley had at that age.

"A sasquatch? Really? What's his name?" Coraline asked curiously with a bright smile. She'd never met a sasquatch before, she'd quite like to or any of Helen's other friends from home. They all sounded so wonderful. "I'd like to see your office especially the stained glass window. Do you live in a really, really old building or a new, modern one?"

"Ah, it's not pronounceable. At least not by me, anyway. My throat doesn't make the proper sounds," Helen said, grinning a bit. "So I just call him my dear friend. Will and Kate call him the Big Guy, though, and he answers to it happily. I think he would adore you, Coraline."

He would, actually, and it sort of pricked Helen's heart to think about that and remember him, remember her life back home.

"Is he Welsh?" Coraline asked. Sometimes she thought the words she learned in class were pretty unpronounceable. Especially that really, really long train station name. "What's it like... your home? Ours was nice, apart from Her but the rest of the house was nice."

"It's a castle, actually," Helen said quietly. She missed her house, her sanctuary, but talking about it helped to keep it alive in her memory.

"More or less, anyway. There's plenty of places for Abnormals, of course. Did you know we have a mermaid? She's very beautiful. She can talk to you without ever speaking a word."

"A castle? Really? Like a fairytale princess castle or like the Queen's castle?" Coraline asked curiously, putting milk in her tea and stirring it before taking a mouthful. "No, was she like Ariel or was she like in the other stories that I'm not supposed to read because I'm not old enough? I always wanted to meet a mermaid, when I go out in my kayak thing I always think I might meet one but I never do."

"Quite a lot of questions," Helen said with a laugh, stirring sugar into her tea. "More of a Queen's castle, not very princess like. She is not like a Disney mermaid and kayak? You have a kayak?"

That stopped Helen short for a moment. She had wanted to explore the other island but had no way of getting there...until now, it seemed.

Coraline was always asking questions, it was a very rare day indeed when she didn't have at least one to ask. And well, Helen always had interesting answers and answered her honestly even on the tough kind of questions.

"Ahuh, it was Sarah's. My adopted mum I guess, Harriet's mum." Coraline said. It didn't hurt as much, thinking about them now. Some days it really did but it felt like it got a little bit easier day by day. "I like going out in it but everyone would get really annoyed with me if I went off. They always get so cranky if I do anything remotely fun."

"I think you're old enough to have a touch of responsibility," Helen said, giving her a gentle smile. She was older than Ashley when Ashley had first started going on retrievals, for a start, and while Helen couldn't profess to be an expert at parenting, she thought Ashley had turned out well.

"I certainly don't see an issue with you kayaking so long as you've told someone you're going out so you're not just missing. That's really all I'd expected out of Ashley at your age."

"Well, I always leave a note. I got grounded for ever last time I didn't, Adam was really cross with me." Coraline said, sipping her tea and smiling happily at the taste. Coraline looked at Helen curiously, brow creasing as she scrunched up her face. "Why did you want to know anyway? About the kayak I mean."

"Ah, I would like to borrow it. I want to go to the second island with Nikola," Helen explained, "But I didn't have access to a boat. If you'd graciously let me borrow the kayak, I would appreciate it. I might even offer something in exchange, hmm? Is there something you'd like that I can give you?"

"That's the funny man in the lab right? The one who looks like he's up to no good?" Coraline asked curiously. Coraline thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I don't know, not really unless you're any good with a gun. I got... I got a paintball gun."

"Oh, I'm quite excellent with firearms," Helen said, laughing a bit. It was hard to remember sometimes that those on the island simply didn't have reference for many of the things she'd seen and done back in Old City.

"You should be careful with such a thing but I can teach you how to use it properly if you'll lend me your boat? Fair trade, I should think."

"Really?" Coraline said looking at Helen with a brighter smile. She had teachers for knives and swords and martial arts but finding someone who who didn't mind teaching her about guns was pretty hard to come by. And she couldn't ask Aidan, he was far too... shirtless all the time. "I know. I mean, I had a lesson with Aidan when I was um, grown up but it's not the same and everyone gets quite funny when they think I want to learn about guns. But I don't mind you lending my boat at all especially if I get to have lessons."

"I shall expect you to be serious about it."

Helen expected Coraline to be clever about it, she was very good with the animals at the vet's office, but it needed to be said again because guns were a whole different beast.

"Guns can hurt someone if used improperly. If you want to learn from me, you'll be learning the proper way to handle them in order to keep yourself and others safe, all right? And if you horse around about it, I will stop teaching you."

"Of course!" Coraline said seriously even though she smiled happily at Helen. Coraline nodded as she listened to Helen. Coraline was quite aware of the danger of guns but didn't say that, she wanted someone- Helen to teach her. "I won't. I know paintball guns are supposed to be fun sort of ones but I don't think of it like that, it's something a tool I can use for when I'm older and can fire a proper gun and you should never joke about that or any weapons really."

"Exactly the proper attitude," Helen said, nodding in agreement. "I always want to hear that sort of good judgment from a girl like you, especially if I'm going to teach you things that might end up being dangerous. This is exactly the sort of gravity I need you to apply to anything I teach you, not just guns."

Coraline, someday, might be very good at a very many things but it required having faith in her.

Coraline smiled at Helen happily. Helen always made her feel supported, she could be strict but she was always there. It was kind of like having Sarah back again except with more tea if that was even possible.

"I know, I will I promise." Coraline said before looking at Helen curiously. "Are we going to eat them now? Only I'm a growing girl and I'm practically wasting away. It's terrible."

"Eat as much as you like," Helen said warmly, laughing a little. "You never have to worry about eating in front of me, Coraline, I assure you of that. Take seconds and thirds, if you want. Call me progressive, but I simply hated being told it wasn't ladylike to eat my fill and enjoy my food."

That had changed, as she'd grown older, and she did restrict her intake but young girls didn't need that sort of discouragement.

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