Oh girly girly come and dance with me. *torie*

With small headphones stuffed in his ears and two empty bottles in both of his hands, Jared practically skipped through the forest. It was moments like this that people often questioned his sexuality, mainly because he had this bad habit of acting slightly girly sometimes. One moment he was skipping/power walking, the next Jared stopped in a split second and then stumbled a few feet forward.

He lifted his nose to the air as a dog would, and his eyes immediatly went to the ground. There it was! That's what he had been looking for! White leaves! It was hard how to explain that they were white and not green, but Jared needed them for a new potion he was making. He had spent pretty much the whole morning wandering aimlessly for something that he had no idea would even be in this forest. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, Jared knew that they would be in this forest mainly because... hey, it was freaking magical forest for goodness sake!

Putting about a dozen white leaves in both of his bottles, Jared then stuffed the bottles into his belt and started to walk normally this time. It was when the song changed in his ears that Jared started to quicken his pace. Jared had been so concentrated on his pace and the music, he barely paid attention to anything infront of him. One second he was almost jogging and the next he was falling off a cliff.

The cliff itself wasn't that high though, so the only thing Jared ended up suffering from was some cuts and bruises... and realization of stupidity. "That must be it...," he said with a large sigh as the shock from falling wore off. For quite some time, Jared just laid there on the ground helplessly staring up at the sky... while his face, arms, and legs bled.

Being outside had always calmed Clara, even when she was a little girl and could barely control herself. Their old house had come with acres of land she could explore, places she could hide, things she could destroy, everything she had to be completely happy. It was quiet out here, save for the birds and insects, but they rarely ever bothered her. Even now, rarely did any bugs come near her and, if they did, she would gently moved them away from her path.

All she was doing was walking. Where was she going? Even she didn't know. She was just walking, to clear her head from the hassle of moving to this odd school. At least Amy was here. Amy was the one person who had ever tried to help her as a kid, and who had been very successful at it. Her own parents hadn't tried to help her; the best they had done was send her here, away from them and closer to Amy.

As she walked, she heard something loud. It almost sounded like something-falling? Clara jogged towards the sound, ending up on the edge of a cliff. Looking down, she saw somebody laying on the ground below her. "Hey!"she called, sitting on the edge and looking down at them. "Are you okay?" She wasn't worried about getting her jeans dirty; they were already ripped at the knees, her black high-top sneakers beat from years of wear, her large, grey high-school hoodie a size big enough for comfort. "Are you okay down there?!"

As Clara called down to him, Jared blinked a few minutes to clear his vision. Was that who he thought it was? With a puzzled look he sat upright, but immediately regretting that as he felt extremely dizzy. Laying back down he stared up at Clara then gave her the thumbs up.

"Ierck mokaiy! Gust feel of daj cuff."
(I'm okay! I just fell off that cliff.)

Jared blinked a few seconds before realizing he had just said complete gibberish. Had one of his potions gotten onto him? Looking down at his belt he frowned looking at one of the empty open pockets. No wonder he felt so dizzy... besides just falling off a cliff.

"I jes forry, had uck a nin yut! Co z... on uv he posions...,"
(I'm sorry, hold ona minute! You see... one of my potions...)

Why was he still even talking? She probably couldn't understand a word he was even saying.

She could only really hear some odd mumbles that she couldn't make out in the slightest. Something about the voice struck a chord in the back of her mind, but she shook it off. Nah, it couldn't be somebody she knew. Clara barely knew anyone, inside or outside of this school. It definitely wasn't who she thought it was. They'd hadn't talked or seen each other in forever; Clara didn't have very many friends anymore...

"Do you need help getting up?"she called down, holding her thumb up and then down. It would take a little out of her to haul up a person, but she knew she could do it. The challenge would be in keeping him safe. Many times she had accidently thrown something instead of placing it down somewhere gently. Clara thought she heard something about poisons? Hopefully he wasn't allergic to anything down there, at the bottom of the cliff, looking up at her.

Taking a deep cleansing breath, Jared took a few minutes before responding to Clara's question. What was the trick with this potion? He had only just created it a few weeks ago and hadn't gotten the antidote. Damn his luck. Searching his memory desperately, he nodded to Clara when he finally couldn't think of anything and did a thumbs up again. The potion that had affected him was quite simple really. It could be poured onto you, or you could drink it... either which way it'd mess up your speech and make you drowsy.

Damn, damn, damn. Why couldn't anything ever go right in his life for once? Pausing himself before his thoughts got worse, Jared lightly patted his cheek a few times. No way in hell was he going to start thinking like that right now.

She wished his fingers were broken. Moving a person would be extremely hard to do, especially one who might be in pain. "Just don't move!"she called down, followed by a large sigh. Clara had to clear her mind of everything, every doubt she had, every compulsion her body wanted. Calm, confident, and slow, she let her eyes focus on the body below and, as her body stiffened, she eased the body from the ground and up, up, up towards her. The closer his body came, the easier it was for her to hold him, and she began to close her eyes, feeling the pull of his body lighten until it was barely there.

Clara opened her eyes, placing him beside her. "Anything broken?"she asked, not looking at him yet. She had to make sure there were no more connections from her brain to his body. If she snapped her head a certain way, or if her body gave a jerk and they were still connected, he would be shot across the forest. Her vibrant eyes stared at the ground in front of her, visualizing the lines connected them and breaking each one individually until they were all broken.

Turning to him, she waited for an answer, her eyes running over him. Something about this guy made Clara feel an odd shiver of familiarity. It couldn't be... She hadn't talked to anyone other than family for years now. Was it simply coincidence that this guy looked like her old friend? She hoped so.

Jared laid still as she brought him up and at her question he shook his head and moved his limbs around to prove it. As she examined him though, he did the exact thing until he finally realized who it was.


(Ah! Clara!)
"AHA KACHA!" he said in surprise and happiness as he threw his arms around her. A second passed though and then Jared moved away from her just as quickly.

(You won't believe what happened!)
"Jew want bliff whack huped!" he then said to her anxiously, but then caught himself before he continued to ramble. He was still under the potions control. Anxiously he pointed to his belt then pointed to his head, hoping she'd get the idea.

His odd scream made her jump, and her body went rigid in the hug. It could only be... "Jared. When are you ever going to learn how to control them?"she asked, relaxing when she was released. It was still extremely hard to understand him, even if she did know who it was now. "Just try thinking it to me. It'd be a lot easier to understand you." Clara gave him an odd smile; she hadn't actually smiled in a while, since she had been with Amy.

Secretly, a part of her wished she hadn't come for this little walk. Finding her old friend meant remembering old times, times she had forgotten and did not wish to remember. True, she had learned to control her power much more than she had those years ago, but the thought of loosing control still frighten her to an extreme.

Jared mouth practically dropped as she scolded him, he could control them perfectly well! One of the bottles had just fallen out...

Staring at her intently inside his mind he practically started to ramble. 'I was walking and I didn't see the cliff, and I think one of my pockets were open and... and... and... one of the bottle fell out and the liquid obviously got on my skin and.. and... and... it now screwed up the speech pattern in my brain and... and... I haven't made an antidote yet! I just know it usually only lasts a day,' he stared at her helplessly as if she could somehow magically cure his speech pattern.

Jared had been totally thankful that it was Clara, for that if it were anyone else then he'd just be brushed off as a blubbering idiot. Hell, Clara already knew he was a blubbering idiot... he was still happy to see a face that he hadn't seen in almost years.

"So you're still as clumsy as always, hmm? Well at least you haven't changed that much." Clara smiled down at him, her blue eyes finding his. It had been so long, she had almost completely forgotten about him. "How has life been for you?" Now that she thought about it, she had missed him terribly at first. People really did need friends to be with them at least for a short while, every now and then. When she had left, she had left behind all her old friends.

Jared's face turned into a dramatic horrified expression at her mention of clumsiness. Taking out a small bottle, he quickly took a sip of it which resulted in his hair turning from blue to brown and his eyes going from green to golden. 'I'd like to think I havent,' Jared thought sounding a little confused. At her kind inquiry he almost got a little teary-eyed, Clara! Asking how his day was! Smiling at her like an idiot he shrugged a little bit 'Erin said she wasn't coming to this school so you're supposed to protect me from bad luck now that I know you're here,' he then nodded as if he was finalizing a contract or something.

Clara laughed, ruffling his hair like a mother would her child. Her emotions poured out, making a rock smash, which made Clara jump. "Oh really? Says who? I could easily break you like that rock." Her threat was half-hearted; she could never fully threaten him. Jared had been one of her better friends, one of the few people she had really become close to (other than Amy). "What were you doing at here anyway? And why do you always change?"

Jared's face dropped dramatically at what she had thought/said. The next moment though he took her again in a tight bear hug, 'I know YOU wouldn't break me because you love me after all,' Jared thought/said happily. It was easy to tell she was happy afterall, For Jared it was extremely easy to tell what Clara was thinking or feeling even if he didn't have the power to do either of that. It was almost as if he were intune with her feeling, in this weird sort of way. Finally letting go her he stood up, but quickly regretted that action and sat back down since his limbs were still a little sore. 'I was looking for these,' Jared pulled out the white leaves he had collected and held the bottle infront of Clara's eyes.

She smiled at the hug and actually returned it. "I don't love you that much,"she teased, letting her head rest in the crook of his neck. It was so nice to actually feel that warmth of companionship, the love towards somebody she had been best friends with so long ago. Clara tried her best to catch him, and he ended up half on her lap, half on the ground. "What'd I say? Clumsy." Clara laughed and looked at the flowers, the bottle dangling in front of her eyes, so close to her face...

She squeeked at the bottle shattered and gathered the petals together with her mind, holding them tightly but gently in her hands. "I'm sorry,"she said, sighing. "Still have some trouble when I get too happy or excited or just emotional in general."

As the glass broke Jared jumped at the same time Clara squeaked. Shrugging nonchalantly he took the leaves from her with a big grin 'Accidents happen,' he said being very familiar with that saying. Taking out another empty bottle he was placing the leaves in the bottle when suddenly an idea struck him. Taking out a small book that he'd scribble various information in, he flipped through the book until he finally found what he was looking for. Taking out one of the white leaves, he put the rest in the bottle and in his belt along with his small journal.

Then, taking a big chomp out of the leaf like someone would eat beef jerky. He chewed on it for awhile with a rotten look on his face, and then suddenly spoke. "Can I talk now...?" Jared blinked a few time when he realized he could. "I can! YEAH," he suddenly sat up and coughed loudly patting his chest roughly for a few minute he looked back at Clara with a twisted look on his face. "That was so disgusting," he said sticking his tounge out to prove his point.