“Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.”
“What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?''Cats don't have names,' it said.'No?' said Coraline.'No,' said the cat. 'Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.”
“Then it suddenly and theatrically began to clean itself in the way cats do when they want you to know what a big deal you aren't.”
“Okay, so I’m the dragon. Big deal. You still get to be the hero.”
“Okay. But I'm just going to be out there - having a tea party with her cats or whatever it is she has in mind. You need me? You yell. You want to leave? We go. I'll get you out of here, no matter what.”
“Are cats strange animals or do they so resemble us that we find them curious as we do monkeys?”