Day: 5

Situation: Person A finds Person B crying in the bathroom

Fluff: Dream

Angst: Self-Harm

You're Crying Too Loud

Once Upon a Toilet, something other than crap happened in the Camp Half-Blood bathrooms and it was all because Clarisse La Rue needed me-time.

She was one of two girls in a cabin of seventeen, she spent her entire day in the kind of human proximity that hand to hand combat required, she trained newbies and manhandled their positions and grips, and in her spare time she and her siblings wrestled. Even during meals she was squashed between two giant slabs of meat that had been gifted with the bare minimal amount of brains that one needed to survive, at least one of which was usually screaming. Every now and then she needed to be alone, which was why she sometimes took her showers in the middle of suppertime after inhaling three cheeseburgers and an order of onion rings.

That being said, she was not pleased to have her me-time interrupted by the sound of crying. She stood in the middle of the showers wrapped in towels, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"Hello?" Clarisse said. She followed the sobbing to the bathroom stalls and knocked on a door at random.

"Hey," Clarisse said. "Hey, are you okay in there?"

She peeked under, but there were no shoes on the ground. Damn, this girl must be scared- curled up like that on a toilet... Clarisse knew how little those things got cleaned.

"I'm f-f-fine," a teeny tiny voice choked out.

"You don't sound fine," Clarisse said. "Are you hurt?"

"No," the voice on the other side snapped. Clarisse frowned a bit. If there weren't a wall between the two of them, stopping this random new person from seeing Clarisse's face, she would not be getting snapped at. Clarisse did not get snapped at. Still, the fight was admirable.

"Look, you're crying really loudly," Clarisse said. "And if you won't tell me why, I'm going to have to figure it out myself."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Yeah, which is why you're making a racket with the waterworks. Okay, umm.. Is this your first day?" Clarisse asked to whoever sat on the opposite side of the stall.

"No," the teeny tiny voice squeaked back. "Third."

"Okay," Clarisse said. "You homesick?"

"No," she said.

"You sick?" Clarisse said. "The harpies aren't that great cooks, and until the summer kids come along they don't really try too hard..."

"I don't have food poisoning," the teeny tiny voice said. "I can barely eat anyways."

"So are you hungry?" Clarisse asked.

"If I were hungry, I'd eat," she answered.

"Not if you're scared. What, you scared?" Clarisse asked. "I mean, I get why you would be, but you really don't have to..."

"I'm not scared," she said. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"It's hard and weird at camp," Clarisse said, going for the gentle approach since the sobbing seemed to get more and more intense. Clarisse could be gentle. But only rarely, and in emergencies. This was an emergency. "I'd understand, you know..."

"I'm not scared," she said. "I promise. I mean, I know about how the tree is magic, and I know to stay away from the forest, and since that's where all the monsters are I should be fine since I'm not stupid enough to climb that fire wall..."

Clarisse laughed. "It's a good training exercise. It gets the adrenaline going like you wouldn't believe."

"Okay, but no," the teeny tine voice said. "And Chiron's super friendly and my counselor is literally the big sister I never had."

She started crying again.

Clarisse was out of resources and mostly desperate at this point. See, now she'd engaged into a conversation with this newbie. She needed to fix her now, because children of Ares did not quit. Not even on random strangers crying in the bathrooms.

"Do you need me to beat up anyone?" Clarisse asked.

The girl on the other side of the door laughed, and it was bright and giggly and light. She must have uncurled from the toilet seat, because with two light tapping sounds, Clarisse suddenly saw Converse sneakers covered in doodles and hearts and spirals land on the floor.

"There's this kid, and he's calling me Sile-Duh because I didn't know who my own mother's parents were," she said.

"Who's your mom?" Clarisse said.

"Aphrodite," she answered quietly.

"Huh. Okay, so that'll be, like, Ouranos I guess."

"Now I know," the girl answered. "This little girl told me. She was like ten and she knew that and I had no idea, what the hell?"

"Yeah that's probably Annabeth," Clarisse said. "That kid is not built like you and I, don't take it personally."

"She's cute, though," Silena said.

"Sure," Clarisse shrugged. "Okay if Chase was there, you were probably dealing with a child of Athena, but they're all obnoxious so it's hard to tell which one... what did they look like?"

"Skinny, tall, peach fuzz, round glasses, he was wearing this red polo..."

"Theodore Walt," Clarisse said. "Yeah, that guy's an ass. Okay, well, give me a second to put some clothes on and I-"

"You're naked?" The girl asked.

"I was showering!" Clarisse shot back. "So let me put pants on, and hang in there, umm..."

"Silena," she filled in. "Not Sile-duh."

"Of course," Clarisse said. "Just hang in there, Silena. I'll sort this shit out in a sec."

"If you'd open your stall's door, you'd see better," Clarisse said as she twisted Theodore Walt's arm behind his back. "But someone's here to apologise, Silena. Isn't that right, you slimy little know-it-all?"

"Ah -AH- yes, yes, that's why I'm here, that is so why I'm here," Theodore panted. "Umm, I'm sorry for calling you... calling you... shit what did I do wrong?"

Clarisse twisted his arm, Theo clenched his teeth. "Does 'Sile-duh' ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah," Theo said. "Not my best work... AH- No, no, not my best work at all, nope, nope, I am so sorry about that, so sorry, you have no idea Silena, no i- let me go, I'm apologising."

"Yeah, you don't mean it though," Clarisse said. "What an ass you are, making a girl cry on her third day at camp cause she doesn't know some weird fact. Like, find a better reason. And if you're gonna beat the noobs around, find a real reason you moron. Now apologise like you mean it."

"Okay, fine, fine- LET GO, I've got something for- for her..."

Clarisse stopped twisted, for what it was worth, and released one arm so that Theo could fish a chain out of his shirt and rip it off his neck. He put his necklace on the tiles, nudging it towards Silena's closed door.

"This is magic," Theo said. "The first time you touch it, it figures out what you need- and then it just gives it to you over and over and over. It's always given me protection, who knows what it'll do for you but it's a good -owe- a good prize, right Clarisse? A good reason to let- let go?"

Rusty hinges creeked open and a teeny tiny girl with rich black curls and rich brown eyes and pale skin like a china doll peeked out from behind the stall door. Her shorts were still only fashionably torn and her orange shirt was still stiff and too big. Oh, yeah. She was so new.

"I don't need protection," Silena said. "Looks like I've already got someone taking care of me."

She smiled a bit at Clarisse and Clarisse let go of Theo as he stuttered about how oh no see the bracelet can do anything you need, duh- I mean, no, NO, that's not what I meant this time! Or any time, please don't break my arm... Theo scattered about as quickly as possible, which left them alone. Silena smiled at Clarisse.

"Thanks," Silena said. "For... for looking out for me, there."

"Don't cry as hard next time," Clarisse said.

"I'll... I'll pull it together and get out of your way," Silena said. Her eyes were shifty- she looked anywhere but at Clarisse. The ground, the wall, her shoes, the emergency exit sign above the bathroom doors... It drove Clarisse insane. She wanted to see those eyes herself.

"It's too late for that now," Clarisse said. "Just... pick up your necklace and I'll show you where the harpies stay."

"The harpies?"

"You know about the forest and all the dangerous crap there? Well you know nothing if nobody's warned you about the harpies. Come on, I can't let anything happen to you after that," Clarisse said. Silena smiled and took Clarisse's hand, as if they were fourth fucking graders, on their way out. Which, you know, wasn't that bad of an idea after all.