curiously_cora | Grounded... G-R-O-U-N-D-E-D

Coraline sighed as if the whole entire world was on her shoulders. She was Grounded. G-R-O-U-N-D-E-D. One of the few words she could spell. She was allowed to go to school, eat her dinner at the compound, have a bath, do her homework and chores and that was it. Today she had a list of words to spell and learn.

Coraline stared at the list of words she had to learn the spelling and meaning of and frowned. The words were: Responsibility, Maturity, Consequence, Dangerous, Irresponsible, Justification, Anxiety, Worry, Heartache and Furious. Adam was as subtle as a very unsubtle thing. She hadn't even got to see Cain yet and tell him about her adventure. It wasn't fair.

"Re-spon-sib-ill-it-tee, Responsibility. A sense of trustworthiness, a social force or duty and the extent of our actions." Coraline said, reading the bits of definition she understood from the dictionary. Closing her eyes, Coraline tried to imagine the word and began to spell it outloud. "R-E-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-LL-I-T-Y. Responsibility."

Coraline frowned as she checked it. She hated spelling. She hated being Grounded. She wanted to go out and play.

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Cain had come by to check on Coraline and give her a slight taste of his own reaction to her disappearing. He'd spoken quietly with Adam about it and looked at the note offered before wandering in to find her with a book.

He didn't have a single expression on his face, but he quickly looked her up and down to make sure she was okay. "Coraline," was all he said, the word icy and even.

"Furious. F-I don't know that one," Coraline said, looking at the sheet of paper intently. Coraline looked up at Cain and winced. "Are you mad? Are you...furious? Are you going to tell me off? Can I hug you first and then you can tell me off."

He didn't react much at all, just gave her a very long look that said he wasn't pleased. He was good at denying himself emotions, seeing as he'd spent so long denying himself grief and anger while in the Suit. "Doing homework?" he asked, instead of giving her permission for a hug.

Coraline swallowed heavily. He was really mad. At least Adam told her off, this was worse.

"Adam set me some additional spelling. I hate it, it gets all confused in my head and they're never right. I don't need to know how to spell, it's stupid." Coraline said frustratedly, abandoning the pencil on the table. "I already finished my homework from last week and this week. I missed out on a collage in art class."

Cain was terrible at most spelling. He made a go of it and was read, but mistakes tended to creep in, nonetheless. They didn't exactly give gold stars for spelling when training to become a Tin Man. "Ah," was all he said, seeing as missing out on it was her own prerogative. "Why did you do it?" he asked, simply.

"Caspian wouldn't let me go on his ship! He said under sixteens weren't allowed to go but he took under sixteens, he said that people with no experience weren't allowed to go but he took loads of them. It isn't fair, I know it's his ship but if he makes rules then he should stick to them otherwise he's not a very good captain at all." Coraline said exploding with the anger that was still there even though she had gone off on her adventure. It took a lot to upset her but Caspian had really, really upset her. "And Lucy just forgot about me. Went off and had her adventure and didn't care how that would make me feel."

Cain remained completely unmoved during her speech and he crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a long look. "You ran away," was all he said, simply. "Coraline, how would you feel if suddenly Adam just left you, just like that, and only gave you a note? Ran away for days in a place with monsters and strange occurrences and where people die," he very calmly said, voice not faltering once and not being mixed with emotion once, either.

"People always forget about me, I'm used to it." Coraline said quietly. Lucy had forgotten about her, how she hated being left behind and had gone off just like her parents had. Just like the Other Mother had shown her. That small piece of fear that upset her deeply; that they'd all be much happier without her, that they'd forget about her and not care. "I was fine, I had Bonspiel, Joe's dog, with me and then I met some people with guns and weapons."

"That's another thing. Joe's been looking for his dog for some time, he didn't know where she'd gone," he said, words getting a bit more clipped though with no emotion to them. "I agree with Adam's punishment, but I came here to tell you myself that I'm disappointed," he said, very calmly. "And I don't have much else to say to you, Coraline. I'm sorry. Because Lucy might have forgotten about you, but do you think that means Adam or I did?"

"You're not the only one with feelings, Miss Jones," he said, very evenly.

"I didn't take her, she just turned up." Coraline said unhappily. Everyone was angry with her and she'd done nothing wrong. She hadn't taken the dog, she'd been half scared at the time but then Bonnie had come running out at her and not something dangerous. She'd left a note, she'd done everything she was supposed to do. "You've been busy with Glitch and building and Adam- I just wanted to prove I could look after myself."

"Just because we're busy doesn't mean we stop caring," Cain promised as he looked her up and down. "And I don't care if you can look out for yourself. You shouldn't have to, not at your age."

"I'm proposing to Glitch in a couple weeks, so I'm always going to be busy with him," he pointed out, the anger not boiling away. "So if you think you just want to run away every time you get upset, I don't think me or Adam will tolerate it very long. I know I won't."

"But if I could look after myself then I'm better prepared in case she comes, in case something happens to one of you and also Caspian would know that I'm not some silly, little girl." Coraline said trying to explain properly. He was so upset with her. She just wanted her parents back, to tell her it would all be okay.

"You're proposing?" Coraline asked curiously, the sullen look on her face lifting for a moment. Glitch would be a beautiful bride, she could make him flowers for his hair and decorate his zipper with sequins and beads. "I'm sorry Cain, I didn't mean to worry anyone."

"You've never been a silly, little girl," Cain heavily said, giving her a sharp look. "And neither was Jeb, but that doesn't mean I don't want to protect the both of you. It's what a father does," he finished, words thick. "And yes, I'll be proposing soon enough, which means you're going to have to get used to me being busy with him, Cora."

Coraline looked at her work seriously, her head hung dejectedly down and refusing to look at him.

"Do you think I can come to the homestead more, if you're going to be busy. I could sleep outside." Coraline said, feeling very rotten. "I like Glitch, he's really nice to me. And I like Angie too."

"You don't have to sleep outside," Cain assured, giving her something of a torn, disappointed look. He was still angry, but the fact she would even suggest that really got at him. "There's spare beds around and if not, you can take the bed with Glitch and I'll spend the night on a cot."

Grounded... G-R-O-U-N-D-E-D

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