Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus series, RR does.
Reyna Dances For...
[Suggested listening: Weekend - She Dances For Me (Polish disco in English version XD)]
"I can't let her go / She's all I see / She dances for me" Reyna groaned, hearing her recent most hated song for the fifth time that morning. Why had every public place in New Rome decided to play it all day long? Certainly not wanting to, she'd even remembered the lyrics by then! And it was a stupid song, with no catchy tune at all and the lyrics?! Let's just say she'd expect even Octavian's prophecies to be more poetic. She went to her office and slammed the door loudly to finally get away from the annoying melody.
Unfortunately, he decided to come along...
"She dances for me! Morning, reina!" Leo Valdez grinned, showing his head in the door. She checked if she had enough patience to deal with him, approved and half-smiled to him.
"Good morning, Leo" she answered in tired voice.
"Woah, what happened?" he asked, approaching her cheerfully. She shrugged.
"Nothing, I've simply been molested by the stupidest song ever. By you too, by the way" she smiled bitterly. He took some time to let the words sink in, then whined and leant on the desk, making a mess from her neatly placed official papers. She raised an eyebrow but he didn't notice (or ignored) that.
"Mi reinaaa, whyyy?!" Her eyebrow travelled even higher.
"What why?" she asked blankly.
"How can you not like it?!" he almost cried with a broken-hearted look on his face. She shrugged again.
"Oh, I don't know" she said nonchalantly "Maybe because it sucks?" Leo scowled.
"No, it doesn't?!" he was staring at her expectantly, but not a single word was heard from her as she stared back at him.
"Why do you think so?" he asked desperately.
"Well, first of all, it has no content at all" she said gravely. He opened his mouth to counter but she interrupted him "I don't see any kind of message, even the most simple one, it's supposed to carry. You wanted to say something..?" Leo took a look around as if something there could help him. After a moment of visible effort, his gaze changed and he hit his opened hand with the other, fisted one.
"I know!" he said triumphantly, looking at her with crazy sparks in his eyes (which meant TROUBLE for her). He went to the door and gripped the knob.
"You'll see!" he pointed at her with his index finger, a grin reappearing on his face "I'll make you see how much sense it has!" She didn't even have time to blink (not talking about protesting) as he left her office with the speed of a storm. Reyna exhaled. Maybe she could finally get some rest then?
Fortunately, the Bacchus' Garden still was one of the places free from the damn song curse. She sipped on her hot chocolate, looking at New Rome's buildings standing proudly in the distance. Well, the ones that hadn't been rebuilt at that time. She remembered why that was even needed and smiled to herself. Who would have thought she'd get that close to the one she'd been furious at for firing at her home? On the other hand, it was an eidolon, after all. And Leo himself had been toiling like a madman to help the town rise again. The Roman praetor certainly appreciated hard work. Besides, he had his elfish charm she couldn't resist. (Even though she would never admit it out loud.) Also, being so different, they were surprisingly similar to each other and got along unbelievably well. No pompous emotions or drama, just feeling good in each other's company. That was what she needed, for a change. She threw the plastic cup to the trash bin and slowly walked back to her office to resume her work.
She definitely hadn't expected what she found there.
Ego sui cedēre non posse
Ea universa ego viděo est
Ea pro me tripudiat
Ea universa ego desidero est
Ea in meo somnio est
Metodum ea mověo tam bellum
She stared at the piece of paper in her hands, speechless. She eyed the rest of the lyrics translated there (barely visible because of the amount of crosses made) and finally put it down on the desk.
He was crazy, she was sure of that.
X X X
[Suggested listening: Blue October - Sway (mentioned in the storyline itself)]
When she walked into the Vulcan kids' forges, he was there. She knew he would be. She observed him for a while as he swayed to the music played (it wasn't until his come that the tradition of listening to music there actually started). She approached him and patted on his shoulder.
"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked as he turned around, a bright smile appearing on his face. He took the paper she was holding in front of his face and chuckled.
"Yeah, I thought that maybe Latin would speak to you better" he looked at her, his eyes shining and forcing her to smile too "Just tell me, how many mistakes did I make?" he handed the paper back to her. She put it in her jeans' pocket and shrugged.
"Dunno, I haven't checked" His eyes widened.
"Who are you and what have you done with the pedant Reyna I know?!" he pretended to be terrified.
She rolled her eyes. "Even I can take it easy for a while, you know?"
He leant on the table and asked "So? Did it work?" he grinned "Have you finally seen the almightiness of Weekend?" She snorted with laughter.
"Nope" she answered. He whined.
"Oh come on! All this research on Latin for nothing?!" He lowered his head and she patted on it playfully.
"Oh, don't be so depressed. At least it doesn't get on my nerves so much now..." Leo straightened suddenly and threw a finger in the air.
"So a success, huh?" He froze, listening to the song that was just playing - Sway by Blue October.
A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he pointed on her and said with the singer "Come on, dance with me..!" Her eyes widened and she laughed at his lifted eyebrows but gave up after a moment and took his hand. He pulled her to himself and closed her in a warm embrace as they made steps that would look like a strange walk to anybody else but, for them, were the summit of their dancer abilities.
"You do realize you've just made me dance with one of the most creepy-sounding song lines in the history of music?" she asked, unconsciously cuddling up even more to him. He chuckled from somewhere a bit above her ear.
"Extraordinary methods for an extraordinary girl, I guess" She smirked.
"Leo Valdez, are you complimenting me or should I feel offended?" He laughed, holding her closer than she'd ever been to any boy.
"I don't know, you choose" he teased. She punched his chest lightly which made him laugh even more and, this time, she followed. They swayed for a few moments, no words said, just appreciating the intimacy of the other one's closeness. The song ended and she wanted to pull away but he kept her close with, she noticed, a suddenly serious look on his face.
"Thank you for being here" he mumbled and she immediately understood. She returned the hug once again.
"No problem" she said quietly, running her fingers across his nape "Don't give up, Leo. You'll find her someday, I'm sure of that"
He caressed her hair as he put his nose in the crook of her neck and murmured, his voice breaking "Gracias, reina..." She rubbed his back, trying to comfort him.
"Shh... Todo estará bien, Leo..." And they stood there, not hearing the music playing, not seeing the fire of the forge, not even feeling air go up and down from and to their lungs. They were there for themselves and it was the only thing that mattered and the only thing they could think of. Why not try if one feels something could finally fix them..?
ZJeM, 19.12.13
From author:
Mi reina - my queen; Gracias, reina - thank you, queen; Todo estará bien - everything will be fine.
This is the chorus of the first song (I hope my less-than-basic Latin knowledge didn't make too many mistakes XD):
Ego sui cedēre non posse
Ea universa ego viděo est
Ea pro me tripudiat
Ea universa ego desidero est
Ea in meo somnio est
Metodum ea mověo tam bellum
I can't let her go
She's all I see
She dances for me
She's all I want
She's in my dreams
The way she moves so beautiful
Great thanks to my mom, who just happened to tell me about the English version of this song when I was struggling to fit Polish lyrics into an English fic. :D
The fic is kinda my feelings towards Leyna right now. I love them together, I'd love them to actually get together, but Caleo breakes my heart. End of story.