Disclaimer: Coraline and its characters and plot belong to Neil Gaiman, and some bits to Henry Selick... I haven't written a normal-ish disclaimer in a while. Feels weird.
A/N: So far, what I would rate to be the worst chapter. It's more of a filler, really. Be a while before things start to actually move. Sorry.
Thank you to Death Eaters Rule, elderwolves, talking black kitty of night, partialprincess and Blind Magdalene for your encouraging reviews of the last chapter! I was feeling so down last week, and I really didn't feel like doing anytihing but all your reviews just made me feel all fuzzy. Thank you so much!
Warning: Less explicit lime, due to editing (October 2012)
Chapter 10: Realisation
Coraline woke up groaning, her body ached like a female dog.
Maybe I shouldn't have spent the night on the floor... She thought idly, before realising she had been clothed. She looked at the yellow dress he'd put on her in wonder, and slight disgust. She'd never gotten used to wearing dresses. Not as an everyday outfit anyway. Kate was the one who always dressed up. Coraline never bothered, not seeing the point.
And why is it see-through? She wondered in shock, stretching the material over her thigh, only to find she could see her usual pale skin through the flimsy material.
Pulling her attention from the sheer dress she was wearing reluctantly she scanned her surroundings, surprised to find that she was in her own room, on her own bed.
Instead of making her feel flattered or grateful that he'd bothered to carry her to her room, she cursed the effort. She knew there was no way in hell he'd done it because he loved her.
You know I love you.
No. No I don't! Coraline threw the nearest pillow she could find against the door in frustration. It hit the wooden slab with a mellow thud. Why did he do it then? She knew if she asked him that question he'd avoid it, give her an excuse like 'I wanted to keep you warm, for our baby,'
She dropped her head back down against the mattress, surrendering. Why did she even care so much about what the Beldam thought of her? Whether he cared for her?
She didn't want to know the answer.
The Beldam didn't want to know the answer.
Jealous? Him? The magically superior creature who'd killed more than Coraline would ever know? She thought he stopped at only three children?
He smirked, making a soft sound of amusement. Those last three were his leftovers, the smallest trace of souls that he had yet to consume. Even now he grieved over the fact that he had not been given the opportunity to finish them off. Especially that Lovat girl.
It was just a bonus that she was related to Wybie.
The egg he'd been holding shattered in his hand, the egg shells falling into the pan with whatever viscous liquid could escape his enraged grip.
The more he thought of the young man, the more intense his anger seemed to become. He wished he had left Wybie out of their deal, then he'd be free to destroy the boy.
He cleaned his hand off as he heard Coraline descend down the stairs.
"Good morning Coraline dearest," he said lovingly, unable to help the approving look on his face when he saw her in the dress he had created. He knew she would look good in the floaty material. And he couldn't wait to tear it off her. Not to mention, of course, the fact that the low collar of the dress completely exposed her relatively fresh love bites, displaying the marks he'd put on her.
She sat down, staring at him halfway suspicious, halfway weary. She was tired of his strange mood-swings, and weird actions.
"Is that your method of dealing with issues? Sweeping them under the rug?" she asked.
"Of course not," he removed the apron and sat opposite her. "Sometimes I eat them too,"
She rolled her eyes.
"You know, for someone who talks about eating things so often I don't see you eating very often,"
"Oh, Coraline." he chuckled, as if she'd cracked some hilarious joke. "I can wait nine months. I wouldn't want you to run back to your little hunchbacked friend while I was hunting,"
She stiffened, instantly on guard. "No. Of course we wouldn't," She sighed, pushing food around her plate. The eggs he'd fried for her, she cut into small little pieces, making them seem like scrambled eggs.
"Not hungry, love?"
She sighed, placed a spoonful of the scrambled eggs on a piece of toast, then bit into the bread and eggs, chewed for a moment before swallowing with much difficulty. She reached for her glass of water, washing down the food.
The Beldam watched her silently, smiling proudly at her effort to eat. It was patronising, and slightly degrading to Coraline. She wasn't that stupid that eating would be such a huge achievement.
"So," she said, trying to distract him from her lack of appetite. "Why the dress? You got something against shorts?"
"After our little... tryst, I've begun to understand the inconvenience of removing shorts from a woman," he simply said.
"...Does this mean you're not going to give me any more shorts?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean, Coraline,"
Coraline fell silent as she took another bite of her food. Something gnawed at her as she watched the Beldam tapped his fingers, one by one, against the table.
He stared at her, and she stared at back.
"Yes, Coraline?" he prompted, correctly interpreting her curious stare.
"Why do you want to love something so badly?"
He was taken aback - he did not expect her bluntness and curiosity. Then again, she was Coraline. Tact was not her strong point. He quickly summoned back his patronising smile, trying not to let her see the effect her question had on him.
"Coraline, do you know what love is?"
"Of course," What a weird question. Of course she did. She grew up in a nuclear family. Her parents might not have been the freest of people, but they were always around. And they did make an effort to make her feel loved. And in return, she couldn't help but love them back. Then, of course, there was Wybie. And Kate. Definitely Kate. "Don't you?"
"Not quite," he replied simply.
"Oh..." she said, frowning. What was with all the 'You know I love you's if the Beldam didn't even understand love?
"The closest I've come to is you, dearest," he said, reading her thoughts from the expression on her face. "But is that love? I don't know,"
For a long moment, Coraline remained silent, staring out the window at the fake blue sky and fake white clouds, lose in thought. The Beldam copied her, looking out the window, admiring his handiwork. "Love, huh?" she said finally. He gazed at her curiously. "Love... is really weird. I mean, it can mean comfort and security," She thought of Charlie and Mel and the warmness they could emit when they bothered. Her mind then automatically conjured up a picture of Wybie's warm smile, as it often did when she heard the word love. "And yet it can make you feel insecure and self-conscious. And hurt you like crazy,"
He said nothing but his expression darkened. He didn't need a triple digit IQ to know that she was talking about her dark-skinned best friend.
"Hmm," he agreed. "That's why we should just stick with lust, shouldn't we?"
She whipped her head around quickly to look back at him, eyes wide and mouth agape at what he had just implied. "What?"
Before she knew what was happening she was seated on the kitchen counter, as he pressed his mouth roughly against hers.
All the Beldam could think of was how badly he'd wanted to touch her since he'd clothed her in that dress. He moved his hand and touched her, and coaxed her to return the favour. They used their hands to help each other climax, and it didn't take that long for them to do so.
"Guess that's it, huh?" she stared at her chest with distaste, where the Beldam had sprayed his seed.
"I don't quite think so," he said as he took a look at her and her state, swallowing when he felt his equivalent of a heart burst into a sprint.
It was the last straw for him when Coraline innocently swiped a finger over her chest, then bringing it to her nose and sniffing it. She made a face of disgust, before her pink tongue darted out and licked it gingerly. Her face screwed up. "Gross," she commented.
That was too much for him, and the next they knew, he was joined with her again, sliding to gain more pleasure for both of them.
When it was over, Coraline pressed her cheek against his chest. The aches from the day before that she'd forgotten temporarily - lost in her desperate need to relive the tension in her lower body - returned slowly but surely. Something occurred to her as she relaxed against him. "You know, lust is a type of love too," she said.
He took a moment to reply as what she said swirled around his brain. "Yes, it is, isn't it?"