madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-the system is sooo 2015-

"...How are they?"

Piper rubbed her eyes and sat on the end of Teqi's bed with a soft sigh. She stared through the porthole at the afternoon sun that made everything seem like orange fairy floss. It made Leo think of the days they all spent together picking strawberry's and finishing the last adjustments to the Argo II as it sat in the forest clearing waiting for take-off.

He wished for the peaceful quiet and the birds and the snacks Jason brought from the dining pavilion and the music and the easiness of it.

For Piper to make bracelets instead of plans for the worst. For Jason to be Iris Messaging Thalia and finding out who he was before Hera's interference. For Teqi to say silly things no one understood and then rest her head in Leo's lap.

"Dunno," Piper shrugged eventually. "Trying to eat pancakes, I guess."

Leo nodded.

He started plating another little section of Teqi's hair. He was squashed next to her, mainly because he wasn't about to leave her alone, and a little because maybe he was hoping it would wake her up. "What do you think they'll do?"

"What do you mean?" Piper asked, picking grit from beneath her fingernails.

"You know what I mean," Leo said quietly, stealing a glance at Frank's sleeping form on the other side of the room. He was out. "Annabeth and Percy, they fought that Luke guy, didn't they?"

Piper looked at her fluffy socks. They had little daisies on them. She sighed. "But it's Teqi, they wouldn't..."

"What? Stop her from doing what Luke tried to do?" Leo asked, pulling his hands from Teqi before he burnt her accidentally. He wrung them together instead. "They did that pretty well the first time, and he was their friend."

Piper folded her arms. She didn't look angry though. Not that Leo could read anyone's emotions particularly well. She seemed torn. "I know."

Leo knew what was going to happen, and he knew where he stood in it, if they all made it that far through the quest and their lives.

There wasn't a lot of thought to put into it. For him at least. "She's gonna do it, Pipes, and I reckon so will most of Camp at this point. Gaea's little fit and the gods going silent... it's the last straw."

Piper glanced at him with a little smirk, "when did you get so serious?"

"Since I figured making jokes about Teqi overthrowing Olympus wouldn't go down very well right now."

"...True," Piper muttered, and began undoing the braids in her hair. She set the sparkly hair ties down and ran her scared hands through the bloody chunks dried in her hair. "Besides, there's no Kronos this time, so it's not like she's raising some super powerful crazy being from the past to help."

Leo raised an eyebrow at her.

Piper rolled her lips in. "...Yeah, I heard that one."

He tried for a smile. He probably just looked constipated instead. Piper gave him the curtesy of not saying anything. He was grateful. All of his friends had become pretty practised at looking away at the right times to save him the embarrassment. He tended to start crying a lot.

It'd get better, though, he knew. Once Teqi was awake it would be okay. He'd be okay, even if she was as lost in her body and brain as a stroke victim.

Hopefully she still remembered some things, like how to make those amazing lemon and sugar pancakes or her own name. His name, as well, would be a plus, but he knew he'd rather Teqi knew herself then how much she used to kiss him.