sun, sun, come out and p l a y ! {clary}

[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/b][/color] she asked, a little miffed. Clary was waiting for her. "Why does Corey have to use my car?" her sister asked, her hands on her hips. "because I'm gonna go get Clary and we're gonna head down to the beach. Sayonara!" she replied quickly, stepping around the older girl and darting down the stairs. A boy's head snapped up when she opened the door, and he glanced down at the keys in her hand. "Leave it open, we're leaving in a sec," he called. Ellie simply nodded, yelled a quick goodbye to her mom, and slid into her warm and toasty Honda Accord.

Her step-brothers were obsessed with the car, though she couldn't see why. Not that it really mattered, since she hardly ever let anyone drive it. She waited for her steps to get in Kate's car and back out of the driveway, letting them go first. She wanted to let the car warm up a little first; it was chilly, even Ellie could feel it. The boys had rounded the corner before she put the car in reverse and backed down the driveway, speeding off toward her friend's house. She completely ignored her speedometer - who cared how fast she was going? No one was going to see. She bit her lip, trying to remember how to get to Clary's. It had been forever since she'd last come over, really. She hadn't had a car.

Still, she managed to turn onto the right street and pull up in Clary's driveway, noting the absence of Conner's truck. Well, Clary had said he'd left, but whatever. She hadn't seen him in forever, either. She honked once, leaning over the passenger seat to push the door open. There wasn't much to do but wait, so Ellie kept her eyes trained on the door. Maybe it was weird, but it wasn't really like she cared. She headed for the beach with a friend, and she was in a good mood. So, who cared?[/ul][/ul][/size]

[Clarissa Hale]

While Ellie was going through getting out of her house, Clary was sitting at her desk reading a book. Or well, not exactly reading in the normal sense, but reading her way. Her fingertips trailed lightly over the raised bumps on the page, moving over them at a rather rapid speed despite the fact that they were quite clearly starting to become smoothed down. The corners of the book also showed just how well loved it was, with creases here and there to show that she'd folded a page to hold her place, its tattered cover looking just as care worn as the rest of it. Not that its oldness detracted from her enjoying it, even if she'd read it enough to know every page by heart. It had more sentimental value than anything.

As the seconds ticked by her fingertips eventually slowed to a stop on the page as she cocked her head, as if listening to something. She and Conner lived at the end of such a long drive in a mildly deserted area, so she was generally able to tell when visitors were driving up to the house. She waited for a little while but there was no sign of a car coming up the drive, making her almost deflate a little with disappointment. She did not pick the book back up again and simply left it laying open on her desk as she stood and stretched, deciding she might as well pick up her room, for lack of anything else to do. She carefully sweep her toe in broad arcs across the floor, plucking up the clothes strewn there when she felt them, moving over to the clothes hamper and stuffing them in there. Her room was one of the few places where Clary could move around with confidence and not have to stumble around feeling for stuff. So long as no one moved anything, anyway.

The moment the horn honked outside Clary immediately stopped her little cleaning spree and sprang for the door, practically running down the hall and hopping down the stairs two at a time in her eagerness to leave. She grabbed her cane as an afterthought, picking it up from where she had left it next to the door before she opened the front door with a bang. A broad grin spread across her face when she heard the idling, waiting car and she shut the door quickly before she hopped off the porch and walked toward the noise, not even bothering to use her cane. It didn't take long before she practically walked into it, and she rather clumsily made her way to the open door and slid into the waiting seat. She grinned wickedly at Ellie as she pulled the door shut behind her, holding her cane between her knees. "Shall we?"

[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/b][/color] Ellie replied, grinning as she backed out of the drive. It seemed like she always smiled around Clary, ever since she'd sort of exploded about Serge. Not that it was a bad thing, but Ellie was positive only two other people made her do that: Serge himself, and Cassie. Then again, most of Ellie's breakdowns tended to happen near one of them, so maybe that played a part. She glanced over at her friend as she drove along the reservation, sighing. "Here I was expecting some twenty questions more," she teased. "And someone's quiet as a mouse instead." She giggled, shaking her head, still smiling. She turned a sharp corner and squinted; the beaches sandy drive was just barely visible. "Almost there!" she announced.

She knew she'd been driving faster than she should have been, but she was eager to head to the beach. She hadn't been there in a while, and plus she'd get some alone time with Clary. But then again, driving around the reservation didn't take much time anyway. Her car bumped up as she started up the drive; she turned and parked the car some way along the side, not caring if it was in the sun or not. "C'mon, Clary, we're hereeeee!" she giggled, dragging on the last word as she ducked out of the car, waiting for her friend.

[ooc: ew. sucky. i sowweee.][/ul][/ul][/size]

[Clarissa Hale]

{ ooc| Nonsense! Its fine! (: }

A grin to mirror Ellie's was plastered across Clary's face, although she couldn't exactly see her friends face so it wasn't like she could tell. As an after thought she grabbed her seatbelt and buckled herself in just as Ellie went tearing out of the drive. She snuggled into the seat, curling her bare toes in contentment as she settled back to enjoy the ride. She was too eager to get to the beach to start the twenty questions just yet. Besides, Ellie needed to concentrate on her driving and all that good stuff. Clary didn't fancy having to shift to save her own neck, seeing as doing so would ruin the outfit she was wearing and it was an outfit the werewolf was rather fond of. That, and new clothes would cost money, and seeing as Conner was trying to save every penny he could to pay for not only his own college tuition but his Mel's as well, Clary had become much more frugal when it came to money matters. When Ellie commented on her silence Clary just grinned wickedly in her direction. "Oh don't worry, thats coming as soon as we hit the beach."

[/color] she teased back, leaning to one side when Ellie pulled the sharp corner, and perking up when Ellie said they were almost there. "Of course we're almost there, seeing as you drive like a mad woman!"[/color] she said with a laugh.

Still, even if she was speeding she knew Ellie could handle it. A bonus of being a werewolf was the heightened senses, meaning that Ellie was still a perfectly safe driver even if she was bombing down the road like she was in a drag race. As soon as the car bumped up Clary sat up a bit straighter, sampling the taste and the smell of the air, her eyes glittering with anticipation when she detected salt. She hadn't been here for a while now, with Ellie or anyone else. She'd been looking forward to having some alone time with her friend anyway, seeing as her life hadn't exactly been calm lately. That, and Clary had quite a bit she would like to get off her chest, and Ellie was one of the few people Clary trusted with matters of the heart. The moment she felt the car stop Clary unbuckled her seat belt and hoped out of the cat, stretching her hands to the sky and breathing in deeply, giggling as she turned over her shoulder and grinned. "Well what are we waiting for then? Come on!"[/color] she said with a laugh as she turned and started to head off, her can tapping methodically in front of her, following her nose. She seemed to forget that you had to go down some steps toward the beach, and given her current pathway she was more or less guaranteed to miss it completely and tumble down the short drop. It wouldn't hurt her (it was only a few feet to the sand below) but it would most definitely hurt her pride.
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[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/color][/b] she laughed, catching her friend's arm. Her eyes were bright and her grin seemed to have gotten wider, but no one could really blame her. The last time she'd been here - with Clary, anyway - was a while ago, and she missed it. Clary was definitely her best friend. She could spill anything to her, ever since she'd pretty much exploded about Serge. She winced mentally, remembering that. Not that Clary'd been mad, and it wasn't like anyone really could be. Ellie just couldn't keep hiding it from everyone, and as her sisters already knew, and so did Kalli, she'd sort of blown up. She couldn't really remember why it was Clary, or why she'd even blown up in the first place, but she was glad it had been Clary. They'd been so close ever since, although maybe part of that was Clary also spilling her guts about Dakota. She glanced over, her little trip down memory lane reminding her of what she'd said in the car, and sighed.

"And I do not drive like a madwoman. I was - am - just excited, missy," she teased. "And I know you are, too. I see that grin. Which reminds me. Twenty questions first? Or do you have something else in mind?" she asked, looking over her friend, and then up and down the beach. There was a very little amount of people out - supposedly the weather was chilly but being what she was Ellie couldn't really feel it, and neither could Clary, as she very well knew. But that didn't disappoint Ellie, not in the slightest. This way she and Clary could be somewhat alone, and have fun in the sand all the same. She glanced up at the clouds and smiled a bit more. The sun was peeking out from behind the white puff balls, so the weather couldn't be that bad - not yet, at least. "At least the weather's nice, for now. And there's not that many people here," she said, shrugging reflexively, reminding herself Clary couldn't see it.

Ellie did that a lot, speaking and acting like Clarissa wasn't blind, but maybe that was because it was easy to forget around her or when they talked. Clary was just so easygoing and fun around Ellie that she just forgot. Not that it was a bad thing, but she always felt insensitive when she did something like that. Like earlier, on the computer, when she'd mentioned her car and Clary had reminded her - as happened often - that she couldn't see anyway. She'd once again felt like a complete idiot, an insensitive idiot. How many times would Clary have to remind her before she stopped? Stop that, Ellie, she doesn't care. It makes you who you are. And Clary loves you for you, silly, she reminded herself, shaking her head. "Hey, how's Conner been?" she asked, glancing over at Clary again. "I haven't seen him in forever," she fake-pouted, her voice mockingly whiny. She giggled after, but sighed. "Seriously, though."[/ul][/ul][/size]

[Clarissa Hale]

Clary was at least smart enough to take heed when someone gave her a warning and she dutifully stopped her wild advance for the smell of salt water, an abashed smile playing on her lips. "Sorry Ellie. I.. uhm.. forgot."

[/color] she said rather sheepishly. What she said was true. She had suffered temporarily from a lapse in judgement and memory, forgetting that there was a small drop to the beach instead of just a flat surface in every direction. Being this forgetful was not how Clary had been in the past. Certainly not. To have forgotten something so basic and so important would have, in earlier times, caused the werewolf to wallow in shame and become defensive at the same time. And yet while her temperament was hardly less volatile than it had been then, being around Ellie was oddly soothing. She was rather like Conner, in the sense that they were both people who she knew she could put her guard down completely. That, and she knew they wouldn't judge her poorly for the little mistakes she made due to her condition. Besides, she had a right to be a bit forgetful today. She was excited for goodness sakes.

"Do too!"[/color] she insisted. "Excitement is no excuse missy. You could have pretzeled us around a tree, and if we survived that Conner would have come after you with a hatchet."[/color] she paused for a moment, looking as if she was contemplating something. "Dakota might join him, but he's not exactly as violent as my brother when it comes to me."[/color] she said with a shrug. They say ignorance is bliss, and in Clarissa's case this seemed to be extraordinarily applicable, seeing as even she didn't seem to quite understand just what her imprint had done, and would do, for her sake. Still, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and Dakota had never been too overprotective towards her so she hadn't minded it all that much. "I was hoping you could take me out into the water for a little bit. Not too deep, but I'd like to at least wiggle my toes in some surf. The questions can wait til we've done that."[/color] she said with a little smile. Clary couldn't exactly take herself out into the water (not that she'd ever want to, the thought of being fully submerged in anything other than a bathtub terrified her) and even if she was wading she needed someone to keep an eye on the surf for her. If a wave was coming right for her she wouldn't be any the wiser unless someone told her there was one. Which was why she could never, ever, come to the beach by herself. It was one of the many "thou shalt not do" 's passed down from her dear old brother, and she wasn't about to break them. Well.. she'd break some of them, like the "don't walk in the woods alone one" (honestly, she wasn't that accident prone) but the ocean one she agreed with completely. Her phobia of water helped a bit with that one.

Reaching out and stretching her palms skyward to try and sample the heat of the sun, Clary managed to deduce that it was in fact sunnier than usual. She turned a little to flash Ellie a smile after she spoke. "Yeah, I noticed that. I couldn't smell anyone really when we were driving up, and I don't hear much but the waves. Lucky, huh? We pretty much get the place to ourselves!"[/color] If Clary was any bit offended by Ellie's lapse, she didn't show it. She had noticed it, but while with other people it would have caused her to snap into aggressive and overly defensive Clary mode, in Ellie's case she let it slide off. It was an honest mistake really, and in a way it pleased her that it would slip her friend's mind. According to Clary's logic this meant that Ellie did not consider her to be some kind of cripple and instead viewed her like she'd view any other ordinary girl. Well, ordinary wolf-girl, anyway. The unexpected change in topic, however, didn't fail to make Clary look the tiniest bit taken aback. She shrugged in response, a little frown suddenly appearing on his features. "Okay I guess. He gave up on the whole studying at the library thing cause Mel got mopey. He's always studying with her, just being with her, or working while calling her about every ten minutes while he's on the job."[/color] she said, sounding oddly annoyed. She was silent for a moment or two, just standing there and frowning, before the lid on what she wanted to say finally burst. "Honestly. Those two get so annoying sometimes!"[/color] she fumed. "They're so perfect and lovey-dovey it makes me want to puke. I mean I'm happy to see Conner happy but they act like two seconds apart is like getting a limb amputated! And they both think they're suffering sooo much when they're really so very lucky. I mean, they get to live together and sleep in the same room and I only get to see Dakota when he has time or when Conner lets me out of the house. But if I break my curfew to spend more time with Dakota then Conner gets up in my face asking me twenty questions and.. and.. ugh."[/color]

{ ooc| I think Clary needs to tell us how she REALLY feels! xD

Sorry about the random tirade. But I just think this is how Clary would react to Conner and Mel given her own situation. xD }
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[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/color][/b] She sighed, though she knew as well as Clary did that it was true. Although in Ellie's case, it was trivial things like turning on the washing machine or hanging up her clothes or locking the front door. Heck, half the time she forgot to lock her own car and Kate had to remind her the minute she walked in the door. But everyone forgot things, it was part of being, well, human. So maybe Ellie and Clary weren't completely human, or the average human. They were still people. And people forget things all the time. She nodded to herself, staring at the ground before rolling her eyes as Clary insisted that she drove like a mad woman.

"Yes, Clary, because I've gotten in so many accidents before. I totaled a car once, and my buggy wasn't that hard to destroy. And even if I had pretzeled us around a tree, we would've been fine, being...what we are." She wasn't even remotely serious; her voice was light and teasing as she paused. "And even if Conner and/or Dakota did come after me, you know exactly who'd come to my rescue. Kate, Cassie, and...Serge," she finished, biting her lip after. She hadn't really said his name in a while, and it sort of relieved her. Odd, yes, but Ellie wasn't average, not even for a wolf-girl. "And by the way, excitement is an awesome excuse," she added, giggling. She contemplated what she'd just said as Clary spoke again, nodding her head mainly to herself - well, completely to herself, as Clary couldn't see it anyway. "So I get time to think about what you might ask and what I'm gonna say?" she asked teasingly. She didn't mind helping her friend out in the water; if anything, it helped them connect, since more often than not Ellie would splash her. It was one of those things she couldn't resist doing around water, and it pissed off her sisters to no end.


She smiled, shaking her head. "Yep, lucky us!" she agreed. So long as no one hears us complaining about wolves and vampires, anyway. Ellie frowned at Clary's tone; was something up with her brother? She knew Conner could be protective of her, but she hadn't really expected it to cause anything. And then Clary's last sentence..."Mel?" she asked quietly. Had she heard that name before? She couldn't remember. She jumped a little when Clary started her tirade, and sighed, staring at the ground, waiting for her to finish. "Clary...I know how you feel, but I also know how they feel. You know how much I hate being away from Serge. I know you do. But Kate and Cassie and my mom and my step-dad aren't going to let me scot off to Italy all the time. I haven't seen him in forever, and it hurts. I never even know if he's really okay or just saying that so I won't worry. And when I had all that time with him, I just didn't know what to do with it. And even when he's here, it's hard for me to get time with him. I work. I drive half of my family around every day, and I never know when I'll be home at night or how much sleep I ever really get. I just know I have to start the whole thing over again. And I have to do that without even seeing Serge once. I get it. I get your pain, and I get their behavior, Clary. But I just...I don't know what you want me to say this time. I can't do anything except let you complain."

Her voice cracked on the last sentence, and she wiped away the tears that had appeared without her knowing why. She didn't like where this conversation was headed, not even slightly. She wished she hadn't asked about Conner, wished she hadn't said what she just had. Her body trembled as she fought back her emotions. Her problems always seemed to melt away with Clary, and she'd completely forgotten how unstable she was, emotionally. She closed her eyes and tried to get her breathing even. "I'm sorry," she muttered, her voice shaking anyway. She hadn't meant to say all of that; it had just sort of come out. Like the stuff about Serge had just come out.[/ul]
[/ul][/size]

[Clarissa Hale]

{ ooc| uh oh! xD }

"You know I do."

[/color] she teased, grinning broadly. Even if they were.. well, not human, that didn't mean they weren't people. And people, for better or for worse, had a habit of forgetting things they were supposed to be remembering. Whether it was something simple, mundane and perfectly normal, or whether it was something that was.. well, not so easy to forget, people managed to let it slip through their fingers. And given their rather extraordinary selves, they could forget things that weren't supposed to really be forgotten. Such as, in Clary's the case, the details of her surroundings or the fact that, given enough emotional stress, she could explode into a giant furry beast. But it really wasn't all her fault right? It could be said that it was a good thing, because it meant Ellie made her feel normal which, given everything about Clary that was decidedly not normal, had to be some kind of a miracle.

A little giggle escaped her when Ellie kept teasing her. "See! I told you! You're a danger on the road, what with your crazy insane driving."[/color] she teased, putting a look of mock seriousness on her face as she waggled a finger admonishingly. "I know you wanted the insurance, but really, have some class! You could have just lit the car up instead. Much classier."[/color] she said with a sage nod, as if this was oh so obvious and so safe. Although she couldn't keep the straight face for long and quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles, a big, stupid grin lighting up her features. She was lucky to have a friend like Ellie, a friend who'd been able to make her laugh and smile when she would have otherwise been content to curl up in a fetal position in her room. Their bond was strong, and it didn't need to be explained. Perhaps they felt a bond due to the fact that they both had imprints who were missing in action (or well, they used to both have missing imprints) but they just clicked, and that was that. "Oooh, plotting against me already?"[/color] she teased when Ellie listed the people who would come to her aid, although concern flickered in her gaze when she mentioned him. Thankfully the anxious moment passed when Ellie laughed and moved on. "Maaybe. Maybe not. I may just spring something on you when you least expect it. I'm oh so sneaky after all."[/color]

The tiniest bit of guilt shot through Clary's veins when Ellie started on her own little monologue, but she didn't but in. And for some reason, the frown she had just got more pronounced than before. And instead of feeling perhaps the tiniest bit ashamed for complaining about her brother and his girlfriend, Clary just switched to the new topic without skipping a beat. "If that idiot doesn't understand what he's missing out on, then so help me I'll run all the way to Italy to knock some sense into him if I have to."[/color] she fumed. "You're a wonderful person Ellie, and you don't deserve this. You deserve what Conner and Mel have, and more. You deserve to have him right here, telling you it'll be okay. You deserve it. And I don't care what I have to do, but I'm going to help you with whatever you need. I'll get a job. I'll make Conner drive your family around. I'll buy you the tickets to Italy and put you on a plane myself. I can't stand seeing you like this. I don't like it. It isn't right."[/color] Clary ignored the fact that she couldn't quite "see" Ellie in the first place, and she glossed over that quite easily. Perhaps she was a bit.. well, quick to anger, or perhaps a little too prone to losing her temper, but that was what happened when she cared. Being protective had to run in the family or something (although it had obviously skipped her parents) because she simply could not stand seeing (well, hearing) Ellie so depressed. It was, in her words, just not right.

She moved forward, reaching blindly until one of her hands closed on Ellie's arm. She quickly latched onto it as a point of reference before she took another step and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. Her anger deflated just as quickly as a popped balloon as concern for her friend quickly replaced it. "Don't you dare be sorry Ellie. It's not your fault, its all mine. I'm sorry I lost my temper, and I'm sorry I said what I said. I don't... think, when I lose my temper. I'm just grumpy and jealous, and it is entirely my problem. Not yours, okay?"[/color] she said gently. "And don't you try and hold it in if you want to cry Ellie. I'm here, it's okay. If you need to cry, cry. You were the shoulder I used during my.. darker days, so it's only fair for me to return the favor. If you want to rant, rant. If there's one thing I'm good at, its listening."[/color] She squeezed her a little, although not hard enough to hurt her in any way. Being a werewolf had its advantages, one of them being the extraordinary ability to survive things that would kill a normal person. Clary's tight hug, which would be normal for a pack member, might very well just break some bones in the body of a frail little human. Good thing Ellie wasn't human.
[/blockquote][/size]

[melody rochelle buckner.]

Ellie shook her head and pretended to look offended when Clary suggested - for the umpteenth time - that she could have just lit up the car. "Clary! I could never do that. There's a reason it's still sitting in my garage, remember?" she replied. She was clinging to the car, actually, and she knew it, she just didn't know why. It was part of her past, the not so wonderful past. Part of a past where Cassie was gone and her life had been a lot harder, and somewhat part of a past where she had no Serge. But it was also part of a past that hadn't been all that bad, that was, well, normal. She'd had the buggy since she could drive, and she just couldn't let go of it now. She was surprised as anyone that it had lasted this long, but she'd taken very good care of it, a feat that always shocked her stepbrothers. The boys, after all, seemed to think girls didn't know a thing about cars, and Ellie really didn't - she just knew when her car needed a tune up or an oil change. She had no clue about anything when it came to the Honda, and she honestly missed the buggy - but her new car was growing on her and slowly becoming more and more familiar and less alien (which was how it felt to her now.) But it didn't matter now, really.

Ellie blinked rapidly, pulling herself out of her rambling thoughts, and grinned. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," she replied, her eyes sparkling. Plotting against Clary...The idea almost made Ellie laugh. She'd never do anything to Clary, but maybe because she clung to her, too. Thye kept each other from being depressed, fights were extremely rare, and they were good listeners when the other needed it. The idea of either of them doing anything to other was definitely laughable, at least to Ellie, and probably to Clary. Maybe not to other people, but Ellie was ignorant of that fact. Ignorant, or she didn't care what people thought of her and Clary. But when Clary spoke again, Ellie did laugh. "You, sneaky? I never would have guessed," she teased. Sneaky didn't exactly fit when someone was talking about Clary, and they both knew it. Not that it really mattered; again, the idea of either of them doing anything to the other was laughable to Ellie.

As Clary launched into her tirade, Ellie listened. Idiot? She knew who Clary was talking about, of course, but it wasn't a word Ellie liked hearing when referring to him. Well, actually, she didn't like hearing the word at all, but she knew why Clary had sia dit and why she was saying what she was saying. "I don't quite think Conner would be able to deal with my family, Clary," she joked, trying to lighten the mood again. "And I've been to Italy twice, it's not a palce I'd like to return to again. Put Serge on a plane here instead." The first time she'd been to Italy was when she'd met Serge; the second was her reason for not wanting to go back. She didn't like...them or the idea of them at all. Cry...Dammit, she didn't want to cry! All she'd done in the past year was cry, pretty much. And it wasn't Clary's fault. It was her fault, and she knew it. She let Clary hug her for a minute and then pulled away, something sparking inside of her.

"But it is my fault, Clary! I brought up Conner, I brought up Serge, and I brought up Italy. And god dammit, all I do is cry! I don't want to, I just do. All I've done is cry and get mad. I don't have any control over my emotions anymore, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I thought having Cassie around would help, and it is, but it's not helping enough, that's what the problem is! I can't get a hold on myself long enough to think clearly and I just..." Ellie trailed off, panting from speaking so loudly and so quickly, and sank to the ground, tears in her eyes. "Look at us," she whispered, not caring that technically Clary couldn't. Sh eknew Clary would know what she meant.

[Clarissa Hale]

Clary wasn't too surprised by Ellie's answer and in response she just rolled her eyes before she grinned a little. She knew perfectly well why it was still rotting in Ellie's garage, seeing as they'd gone over this time and time again. Not that she understood the sentimental attachment to it really. Sure, it had been Ellie's first car and all that but what made it so special? It was just a thing, just an object. It was nothing permanent, especially now that it was broken and utterly useless. The whole obsession with things had never appealed much to Clarissa, but that was just how her brain was wired. Still, even she couldn't call herself completely un-materialistic. For all her lofty principals even she was attached to things that were utterly useless. That being her extensive collection of shells, especially the ones that she kept in a small box on her dresser. She knew each and every one of them by touch, the contours and the divots, the blemishes and the places that were polished smooth. While her entire collection was dear to her, it was the ones in the box that she clung to and refused to let go. They were a part of her, a part of her past, and she wasn't about to give them up too easy. After all, they had been given to her by her father.

The smell of salt water that had a different sort of tang to it than sea water reached Clary's nose. It was the smell of tears, and she knew it all too well. She couldn't see the tears of course, but add on heightened werewolf senses to her already heightened sense of smell and it would be a given that Clary would be able to smell things normal people couldn't. She was like a dog in that respect. "That so?"

[/color] she said, keeping her voice light as she tried to avoid a topic that seemed to be putting Ellie on the verge of tears. Not that she knew what she was going to cry about anyway. No matter how much she wished she could, Clary couldn't read minds. Then again, she got enough of being able to do that when she was shifted, although everyone else could read her mind as well. Which she didn't want them doing most of the time, given the sensitive nature of some of her thoughts. Especially the ones concerning her opinion of herself, although for the most part she'd been able to hide that dirty little secret from them. "Of course I'm sneaky! I am the sneakiest person you'll ever meet!"[/color] she replied with mock indignation, although a little smile managed to spoil the effect.

The joke Ellie did was obviously an attempt to lighten the mood, but Clary had a feeling that the mood was still headed downhill, and that just made her feel even worse. The anxiety in her gaze was quite obvious (she wasn't exactly attempting to hide it) but she did the smart thing and let the matter drop. Or at least she didn't try and pursue it. She just went along with Ellie's jokes, acting like nothing was wrong when there definitely was something that wasn't right. "You'd be surprised what Conner could deal with if he set his mind to it. He's a big boy."[/color] Clary tentatively joked in return, all the while listening and paying attention to everything she could detect about Ellie. It was hard to read emotion and reactions when all you had to go on was sound and scent. "Well of course. If that is what you want I'd drag him here by the ear, forget the plane."[/color] she said firmly, her expression becoming worried again when Ellie pulled away, although she didn't try and force a hug on her.

Ellie's little explosion didn't come as much of a surprise but it did make Clary the tiniest bit more anxious. She just stood back and stayed silent, letting Ellie get it all out rather than try and interrupt and make things worse. Besides, it wasn't her place to talk. She just stood there mutely, her gut twisting itself to pieces while her friend tore herself down and in doing so tore at the seams that kept her together. Her hands twisted together now that she had nothing to occupy them, her furious resolution dying away to be replaced by worry and guilt. She longed to be able to comfort her friend, to somehow be able to make it better and stop the deterioration from happening, because she could see that Ellie was falling apart. Just like she had. Just like she still was. And she refused to let it happen to anyone else, especially not Ellie. When Ellie sank down Clary followed, reaching forward to take Ellie's hands and give them a reassuring squeeze. "... Birds of a feather flock together?"[/color] she said weakly in response to Ellie's comment, doing her best to try and lighten up the situation, and failing. "I know the feeling Ellie. Its cause Serge isn't here for you. When Dakota wasn't here it got me all out of sorts. I didn't know which way was up for a while."[/color] she paused briefly. ".. Come on, let's go down to the water. We came here to have fun didn't we? Lets have some fun."[/color][/size][/blockquote]

[melody rochelle buckner.]

Nothing, absolutely nothing that Clary had said before Ellie's complete little breakdown had registered - just zipped through her mind without leaving a trace, so she didn't respond to any of it. She didn't if that would any Clary or not, right now she just wanted her tears to mingle with the ocean's water. Anything would be better than crying out in the open. She'd done that too many times already, and she was sick of it. It almost like her brain had reqired itself when she'd figured out what Serge was - rewired itself so that it hurt her more than it should inside. Her eyelids pressed down firmly, almost as if Ellie was trying yet again to put herself in Clary's shoes, and a tear oozed from the corner of her eye as she did so. That single tear spilled off Ellie's cheek, hitting Ellie's hand - and probably Clary's, too - and causing her to start shaking, as she did every time she cried. "Clary..." she whispered, unable to say any more in fear of her voice breaking again. But as another tear hit her hand, something became clear.

She had cried far too much for someone her age. Yes, circumstances were different than for a normal human, but damn it all, she was really sick of crying. She'd cried for too long, and why? Because she wasn't even trying to pick herself back up. Because she always let her mind wander to Serge. Not today, Ellie. Clary's right, you came here to have fun. Not today... "Not today." She let the words slip from between her lip, shaking her head feircely to clear it and blinking back the remaining tears. She was stronger than this. She'd put on a show for everyone when Cassie had disappeared - Cassie, her best friend, her favorite sister - and Serge had torn that down. But she was a strong girl, and maybe that was what everyone had been trying to help her see. He wasn't the only thing in her life that kept her together.

It was almost like the seams that kept her together had strengthened in those few seconds, when Ellie had finally come to realize that she was strong enough to deal with this. Not just him not being around, but her entire life. Maybe they had always been sitting there, the complications that had seemed to rule her life, but it was high time Ellie took control. She stood up slowly, her eyes lit with determination, the only traces of her few tears the streaks on her cheek, and pulled Clary to her feet as well. "Is that what you've always been trying to tell me, Clary? That I'm strong enough for this? That I can deal with everything?" she asked softly, her voice lined with curiosity and something she hadn't heard from herself in a long time - confidence. She hadn't been confident in anything she did for how long now, a year? Her voice had always seemed to shake and she was always so quiet. But not anymore. And maybe, just maybe, she would have figured that out sooner if she'd actually listened to her head once in a while - and not just her heart.

[Clarissa Hale]

A feeling of helplessness was consuming Clary in waves, the anxiety apparent on her face when she felt the touch of a tear on her hand. The anxiety was starting to swell like a tsunami in her heart along with a feeling of terror, due to the fact that nothing she was doing seemed to be helping her friend in anyway. And that was what scared her out of her wits. That she was utterly incapable of helping a friend in need, especially when that friend was Ellie. Ellie was her closest, no.. her only friend, and she wanted to be able to be there for her whenever Ellie needed a helping hand. And yet here she was, being a complete and total failure when Ellie had always managed to calm her down in the past. What sort of friend was she, anyway? Clearly a bad one, or one not worthy of Ellie's kind and consistent comfort. "Ellie?"

[/color] she whispered nervously, at a loss as to what to say now. She honestly did not know what to do. She never had been good at this.

The words that slipped between Ellie's lips made Clary feel the tiniest bit hopeful. Her expression got the tiniest bit of hope in it alongside the concern, and her blind gaze stared searchingly for something she could not discern. Still, by the tone of her voice and the way she shook her head that had to be at least some evidence that she was pulling herself together without Clary's assistance. Although part of Clary, albeit a tiny little part, felt anxious about the way her friend was picking up the pieces. Weren't you supposed to cry every now and then, rather than just bottle it all up until you exploded? At least.. thats what Clary had been told, time and time again. And she knew what it was like to hold back tears, how the emotions slowly ate you up until you exploded into one big mess. That was never good, which was why it was good to express ones emotions and all that jazz. And yet, at the same time, Clary wasn't too keen on telling Ellie that and possibly prompting a fresh stream of waterworks.

Still, whatever it was that Clary had been expecting it hadn't been for Ellie to practically leap to her feet and pull Clary along with her. The surprise was quickly mixed with confusion, although she could tell that something about Ellie had changed. It had been a smooth, quick change, rather like flipping a switch. Whatever it was that she had decided on it was clearly causing a big change, and Clary could only hope that it was a change for the better. And then Ellie started speaking, and the question of whether or not this was a good change got banished to goodness knows where. "Yes, you can. You're so much stronger than me Ellie, you really are."[/color] she said quickly in response to Ellie's statement, praying that she was saying the correct thing. Clary never knew whether what she said would make a situation worse or improve it. She never had been good at this whole comforting people thing. In fact, she was pretty hopeless. But at least she gave an effort, right?
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