Chapter Text
To say Leo is confused when he wakes up to a picture of himself from groupchat is an understatment. It's an older picture, of him winking, with hair still down around his ears. He puts it down the first time, too grumpy from his nap, before picking it back up and peering at it again.
The picture is from Dani and the only comment after it is 20 laughing emojis from Geri. He wonders if they're making fun of him and tries to muster up annoyance but he's too lethargic from sleeping and the painkillers he's on for his knee. He's feels sick when he starts to think about it again, so he focuses on the bright light of the screen.
'??' he sends back, propping himself up on the pillows to prepare himself for the following shitstorm. He sighs when Geri sends a link back, face scrunching up when he sees that it navigates to Ronaldo's site. 'And?' he asks again, already ready to put his phone back down and go to bed.
'Just watch it ffs' Masche texts back and Leo grumbles to himself but does as he says because it's Masche. He watches curiously as the video starts, playing clips from Ronaldo's youth and sighs when he sees the bit about the ballon d'or and the "made to be the best quote".
It jars him to see himself, shaking his finger and winking. Leo usually tries to avoid footage of himself, still a bit insecure in a way that had haunted him for years. He laughs though, during the interaction between Ronaldo and his son before the screen goes blank, glaring back at him.
It takes him several minutes to compose a text, deleting and rewriting until he settles on 'so? mathieu is in it too'. It feels weak but he doesn't know what else to say. He winches when he sees that they're all typing back and locks his phone. He doesn't need this right now. It's just a clip, right?
He can already imagine the media's reaction, the fans too. "Messi vs CR7" plastering every magazine and newsite again, postulating as to why Leo is featuring in Ronaldo's new movie. He hopes the other doesn't say anything in the movie about him to fan the flames, Leo has enough on his plate already.
A vibration under his pillow jars him out of his contemplation and Leo yanks his phone out to find that Geri is ringing him. He answers, reluctantly, but only because he knows the other won't stop until he does. "What?", he asks brusquely, wincing at how harsh his voice comes out. He pulls the phone away from his ear when several loud voices flood over it at once.
He glances at the time and realises they're probably all in the locker room after training. He tries to distinguish who's hollering at him over the phone before deciding to wait until they calm down. "Well, did you see it, did you see it??", Neymar asks, voice breaking as he reaches a decibel Leo doesn't recognise.
"Yes, and??", Leo asks, running a hand over his face in resignation. "And?? Ronaldo using a clip of you winking in his trailer? What's that about?", Masche asks, the voices on the other end of the phone hushing as they wait to hear his answer. Leo wonders too though, pinching the bridge of his noise as he tries to think of a suitable reply.
"Hmm, it's probably just a marketing thing, I'm sure he didn't pick it", Leo says, contemplating actually getting out of bed and doing something. His bed seems so comfortable though. He also throws a quick glare at the crutches propped up against the wall, forced on him by the team's medics earlier on that day
"But Leeoo, it's such a sexy shot of you!", Geri whines, breaking off into a giggle that threatened to replace Ney's decibel height as the most annoying thing he'd ever heard. When they start hollering again, Leo hangs up, throwing the phone down onto the bed and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
He grits his teeth at the pain that sparks in his leg as he grabs the crutches and makes his way out to the shower. It's time to make himself look human again and also take his mind off the Portugese diva. If he happens to turn his shower on a bit too hot well there's no one around to see it.