I'm Not a Cynic

Ellery shifted tactics, and Clouse knew this to mean that he'd reached a certain threshold of pitiful. It helped though, her reassurances that it was okay he'd messed up. It wasn't so easy to assuage his guilt, but at least she wasn't rubbing salt into his own self-inflicted wound. His gray eyes flickered upward, better able to catch her gaze as he felt a little more confident that the damage done wasn't as vicious and lasting as his fears would lead him to anticipate.

She then asked him why, and he shuffled his paws together, searching for the right words. Words that weren't too honest because Clouse really didn't want to hurt Ellery's feelings anymore than he already might have.

"I just... it was just so... suffocating there and... and grandma Vesna's scary!" he hated to say it, but it was true. Clouse's posture began to relax as he began slowly to slip into the familiarity and comfort of talking things out with his big sister, but he remained clearly unhappy in appearance. It wasn't a rare look for the gloomy child, however.

"I knew Scully and Av were leaving and I... I didn't want to wait any more."