MHA #2 | Friday Morning

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had been barely able to concentrate on class -- she was lucky she could tap dance pretty much in her sleep if she needed to, and hadn't attempted to make today, like, interpretive dance day -- after the email she'd gotten from Vought on her way to the school this morning. 

They wouldn't have even emailed her if she didn't have a shot, right? Unless they just sent one of those out to every heroine on their roster, and that was certainly possible. But. Annie also knew that...well, frankly, Starlight outshone a lot of those women (so to speak.) She didn't win all those awards for nothing, after all.

Annie could barely think straight with the adrenaline she was feeling thanks to the sheer possibility that this opportunity might pan out, even as she was trying so, so hard not to get her hopes up. Though, if it did work out, what would that mean for her life here -- nope, not getting that far ahead of herself. She probably wouldn't get it, and there was no reason to start raising questions like that. (But she would have to move to New York, so -- there was that to consider.)

She had texted Diego while she grabbed coffee for the both of them, letting him know she was on her way over, but she still called out a, "Hey," as she let herself into his apartment, balancing the coffees and her tap shoes as she bumped the door shut with her hip.

[for the boyfriend! edit: and now non-worksafe.]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"Hey," Diego said, getting up from the couch. "Need help?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You're sweet; I'm fine," Annie assured him, neatly dropping her shoes on the floor and going to give Diego his coffee and a kiss. "Good morning so far?"

She had no idea how to even start on what she needed to talk to him about, but it'd be easier if everyone was having a good day, at least.

[knife_bender]

"Uneventful," he said, happily accepting the coffee and the kiss. "How was class?"

He knew Annie well enough to know that something was up, but she seemed to be in a good mood so he wasn't all that concerned.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It was good -- muscle memory is an interesting thing," Annie admitted, reaching for Diego's hand and heading back over to the couch. "I haven't done that in forever. Like riding a bike, I guess."

She was so nervous, but it was also the good kind of nerves? But also, like, as soon as she sat down, Annie was anxiously bouncing a foot without even thinking about it. "I have to talk to you about something." Obviously.

[knife_bender]

Diego laughed lightly. "Yeah, I can tell. What's up?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie considered where to start for a moment before quietly offering, "Lamplighter's retiring. From The Seven, I mean."

Thanks for specifying, Annie. How many guys named Lamplighter do you know?

[knife_bender]

Even Diego had watched enough movies from The Seven by this point to know who Lamplighter was. "You're allowed to retire?"

Diego had always assumed this superhero deal was to the death. At least that's how his father made it seem.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Once your contract's up," Annie said with a little nod. "I mean, there's always the option to not renew, I guess. He'll probably still work for Vought as a consultant or something."

Or something.

[knife_bender]

He would never understand this corporate superhero thing. Never. "So what does that mean?"

Obviously it was big news for a reason, but he wasn't quite getting it.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"They need to replace him, and they're looking for a heroine, specifically," Annie said quietly, looking both more excited and a little more uncertain, simultaneously. "Vought emailed me this morning with an invitation to audition."

Annie was trying so hard to downplay it, but -- lifelong dream coming true, potentially, here. No big deal.

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled. "Hey, that's great! You're going to do it, right?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I already emailed back to confirm," Annie told him a little shyly, nodding. She'd replied so quickly that she was kind of worried she'd come across as too eager, or the kind of person who was always looking at her email or something. "I mean, I probably won't get it." That was one hundred percent just an effort to not get her hopes up, yes.

[knife_bender]

"Of course you will." Diego didn't even think he was getting her hopes up, he was just that confident. "You train all the time, your powers are awesome and you're an amazing person in general."

One might call him biased, but he thought it was the truth.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie kind of visibly melted there, just a little, because he clearly really did believe in her. And maybe she let herself have just a tiny bit more hope, too.

"If I got it," she said slowly, "and it's a big if...a lot of stuff would change." She bit her lower lip. "Like, Diego, I'd have to move."

[knife_bender]

"Oh." He hadn't thought of that, but his happiness at the situation only took a little hit from it. "I mean, that makes sense.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"We don't have to figure anything out, like, right this second," Annie said softly, reaching for his hand. Especially since she probably wasn't going to get it and this was, thus, very silly to worry about at all. "But, like...yeah, I'd have to move to New York, if it happened. And I'd probably be a lot busier than I am here." Given that she'd actually be an official superhero, rather than someone on Vought's payroll who went out on vigilante date nights in a neighboring city.

[knife_bender]

Diego nodded, taking her hand. "It's a good thing. I mean, this is your dream. You should go all in on it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie nodded. "I'm probably not getting it," she had to say. "Like, I know a lot of the girls they're probably gonna tap, and -- I have some competition." Really, she was just worried about Countess. And Stormfront, over in Portland (or Seattle?), if she was up for the spot, too.

She blew out a breath, giving Diego's hand a squeeze, and admitted, "I'm trying not to get too excited, you know?"

[knife_bender]

"You should though," Diego said. "Be confident that you're going to kick everybody else's ass."

Take it from someone who was overconfident in almost every situation.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"But I'll be so disappointed if I don't," Annie replied, quirking a little half-smile at him in spite of herself. "It's like...running for president, or getting into Harvard, but harder."

She still thought she had a pretty good shot, though. Even if she was trying so hard to temper that hope.

"If I get it," she added, haltingly. "If, if, if -- what about us?" Because it would be so different. Moving was just the beginning of it.

[knife_bender]

"What about us?" He may have been playing deliberately dense here. He really didn't want to think too hard on it.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie sighed, lightly tracing her thumb along his knuckles. "Things would really change," she said slowly. "Like, would you be...up for the long-distance thing? If I got it." If.

Portals made it easier, but it still wasn't something she'd ever attempted before. But the idea of breaking up because she was moving (maybe) was unfathomable, so she was going to call this Plan A.

[knife_bender]

"Well, yeah," he said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, that got a real smile, along with some obvious relief. "I was a little worried," Annie admitted. "I mean, it'd be a huge adjustment."

So much less sex. So much less touching in general, thanks to a lack of proximity.

"I would miss you so much," she added, probably totally unncessarily. Though again this was all probably for nothing, and she would feel really silly when Countess got the spot on the team.

[knife_bender]

"I mean, I would miss the hell out of you too," Diego said, lifting up her hand so he could press a kiss against her knuckles. "But I'm not going to end this thing because of some long distance."

He could spend three months in 1963 without her and it still wouldn't change anything.