Kaleidoscope Eyes [Clarisse la Rue]

xvii. Nightmares and Nobody Aggravates Polyphemus

"Hey, Aurora," the girl groaned and rolled over, burying herself deeper into her sleeping bag. One first curled around the fabric, and the young girl smacked her mouth sleepily. The voice persisted, "Hey, Rory. Rora," and soon Aurora had to sleepily wave her arm in the air to defend from persistent pokes.

"What," she finally managed to groan, pulling herself to rest on her elbows. She squinted her eyes in the low light, just barely able to make out Clarisse's shape in front of her. Her friend's form hesitated for a moment, and she heard the girl shuffle against the floor anxiously, "I couldn't sleep."

"I'm sorry," Aurora frowned, lifting a hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. She yawned when she checked her watch - it was the early hours of the morning, "Did you just wake up or have you not been able to sleep?"

"I had a nightmare," Clarisse said slowly and quietly, as if she was afraid someone else would overhear them in the particularly overcrowded Hermes cabin. But the rest of the campers snored and rustled in their sleep; they were certainly the only two awake. Aurora pouted, and she reached forward to lightly rub her friend's bicep, "I'm sorry. What about?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Clarisse admitted, and she shuffled closer in the dark to slide into Aurora's sleeping back; it took the daughter of Iris only a moment to realize that her best friend was shaking. She made a soft coo, enveloping her friend into a hug, "Everything's okay, Clarie," she did her best to summon a soothing voice, stroking her best friend's hair, "You're okay."

"It was scary," her friend admitted, and she shivered again just from remembering. Aurora made another soft coo, pulling her friend closer, "Everything's okay, Clarie. I'm here for you. Why don't you try to get some rest - everything's going to be okay." She sleepily continued to stroke Clarisse's hair until she heard her best friend's breaths even, deepening into a slight snore.

Aurora felt like she had been dipped in hot wax - like somehow her skin burned hotter and hotter with each fast beat of her heart. She wondered if Clarisse recognized the warmth in Aurora's rainbow, kaleidoscopic eyes with each spin of color, as they churned from blue and purple to green with flecks of yellow, spinning faster and faster as if her eyes couldn't decide what color they wanted to be. Her father had often compared her eyes to a kaleidoscope, holding the small tube up to her eyes and laughing softly as she gasped at the swirling colors. She wondered if Clarisse thought the same.

"Aurora," Clarisse choked, and she banged her head back against the wall, "Oh my gods. You're supposed to be blown up."

Aurora's eyebrows furrowed, and she tilted her head, "I'll take that in the best way possible," she approached, reaching down into her Converse and pulling out the battered handle of her paintbrush. As she spun it thrice around her finger, Grover bleated and tackled Percy in a hug.

"Stop wiggling," Aurora chided as she held her sword above Clarisse's bonds, and she lightly flicked the tip of her nose. The daughter of Ares rolled her eyes and snarked, "Stop talking and cut the stupid rope so I can hug you." Aurora didn't know how to tell her best friend that she didn't... just want a hug, but she sliced off the ropes. She spun her sword thrice and it morphed back into the well-loved paintbrush as Clarisse stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists for a moment before flinging her arms around Aurora's smaller frame, engulfing her in the most perfect way. Aurora buried her face into her chest, her lips curling into a soft, content smile.

"Was anyone else on your lifeboat," Percy asked from behind the two, and Aurora frowned when Clarisse pulled away, though she kept one arm wrapped around the smaller girl's shoulders, "No. Just me - everybody else aboard the Birmingham... well," she glanced down at Aurora, her voice thickening, "I didn't even know you guys made it out."