madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-that one scene in tangled but its angst-

shout out to my new beta reader @persephonezstar <3

Teqi stared at the dim roof. The pillow underneath her had moulded to fit her head in the worst way. Her neck had a crick in it, but she didn't bother stretching it out. She couldn't really. The Cat Rule.

Except Leo wasn't a cat.

Well, technically Leo was a cat, but human Leo wasn't a cat. She had to stop thinking about Leos and cats before she got another migraine and grew literal pinecones from the forest scented tags hanging in the engine room again. The ones you were supposed to put in cars to make them smell nice.

She supposed Leo, her human Leo, had to accessorize a gigantic flying warship instead of a car. She doubted he even had a driver's licence.

She ran a hand through his fluffy brown hair and watched the shadows move around her bedroom slowly. He had fallen asleep next to her, but throughout the night she'd felt him slowly shift across the bed until he was pretty much koala-hugging her. Not that she minded. At all. His breath was warm on her neck and where his hand rested on her ribs she could see faint traces of fire, burning deep beneath his calloused skin every so often, like volcanic rocks.

Loud scuffling followed by a thud came from above.

There was always the risk of the white tank top with the little bow [that she'd borrowed from Piper, of course] catching fire under his magical fingertips, but Teqi was willing to take that chance.

Something screeched into the night. She frowned.

"Fuck," Teqi muttered, and Leo mumbled something incomprehensible into her.

Figures shuffled around and sat up all over the room, like synchronised zombies of some sort. Their silhouettes only just lit up from the places under Leo's skin where Teqi's skin brushed against his as she wiggled out of his grip, trying not to wake him.

Hazel yawned. "Monster?"

"No," Percy said. "It's definitely Santa."

He was wearing a Superman top with holes in it. Whether that was from a monster attack or a DC fucking sucks attack, Teqi couldn't be sure. Annabeth let out a loud snore from behind him on the mattress she'd hauled in after dinner [she was so buff] and rolled over. She covered her head with a pillow.

"Okay, who's gonna go kill Santa?" Piper asked, her voice as gravelly as Leo's. When he was awake, of course. She peeped over Jason and Leopards snoozing forms, both of whom let out scarily similar growls. "Coach'll be watching the match, he won't hear anything."

Frank's eyes flashed in the dim light like an animal's caught in headlights. He would be a great moose. "Aren't we s'posed to send The Husband?"

Everyone paused.

"Go on," Leo mumbled, poking Teqi in the side. "Go kill Santa."

Now he was awake. Teqi sniffed. "Are you guys seriously sacrificing me to the weird sound?"

"Teck. Teck. Teck. Teck Teck Teck Teck-" Tony nagged, shaking her awake as vigorously as he could without getting a grapevine to his still bruised nose. He wobbled on the bunkbed's ladder and yanked on her spiderman onesie. "Oi!"

Seven-year-old Teqi rolled over with a huff. "What could possibly be so important right now, that-"

She'd forgotten about that. And her Spiderman onesie. If her friends found out about it, she'd never live it down.