madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-red carpet goals-

"Falling! No—not falling. Where are we?" 

That explained the situation pretty well. Teqi assumed Leo hadn't had dreams in between, and that's why both the boys were freaking out, Piper had obviously had an Aphrodite chat, as she looked pretty grumpy. Teqi glanced around, trying to figure out where they had been landed this time.

It was a sunny morning, and they were all sitting peacefully at a small glass table at a sidewalk café on the corner. The air was brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sat chatting, drinking coffee, and eating pastries. She could smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept. 

 It was a nice vibe, but it obviously wouldn't last, Teqi took a deep breath with her eyes closed, pretending they were all just friends going out for breakfast on a normal day.

Then she opened her eyes again, and looked in disbelief at all of her fashionably dressed friends.

"Piper!" Jason yelped softly, and Teqi made a noise of approval at what Aphrodite had picked out for her. She had an oversized pink hello kitty jumper, and multiple gold rings. She could see baggy white jeans and black converses through the glass table, Piper had a matching black backpack over her chair.

Piper just grinned and fiddled with her rings, and Leo laughed from next to Teqi. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudged his arm, smirking. "You might want to take that back."                                                 Leo frowned for a moment, then turned to Teqi. His eyes widened and he hoped to the gods that nobody heard the whimper he made when he saw her.

Teqi looked down at herself worriedly, after seeing her friends shocked expressions. She had leopard printed cargo pants, held up by a thick black belt that matched her chunky doc martins. What concerned her was the sports bra she was wearing. 

It was a nice one, dark red, but it showed off all of her scars.                                                                                                                                                            

There was the numerous little ones from random accidents [and dumb shit that she did], but the snake bite on her collar bone was obvious, and the scars from stitches she had tried to do herself all up one side of her torso. The burn marks on her shoulder wrapped around slightly onto her shoulder and ribcage, it probably matched the side of her face.

Teqi was blinking rapidly as she hugged herself tightly, trying to causally hide the exposed and permanently tainted skin. She was hoping the tears pricking at her eyes would leave soon, because everyone was watching her, not that she was making eye contact. Her new doc martins were suddenly the coolest things she had ever seen, I mean, they were the coolest shoes she had ever owned, but they weren't that relevant right now.

As she was looking at the ground, she noticed Coach hedges shoes. "What the holy fuck are you wearing?" She blurted, seeing his baggy canary yellow zoot suit with the two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt [red rose, not purple] a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.