MCA #9 | Tuesday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

So, Annie was doing this Christmas party next Friday. And, really, regardless of the party, she had been tasked with ensuring Diego got the whole Christmas experience, this year.

And a vital part of the Christmas experience? Wearing weird, tacky, semi-humiliating holiday-themed clothes.

So, she'd invited Diego over and had managed to make hot chocolate without burning her apartment down, and was now lounging next to him on her couch with her laptop positioned on her legs. 

"How about this one?"

Did it matter that it was still two days before Thanksgiving? No, and stop judging her.

[for Rambo's ninja cousin. ETA: don't read this at work, omg.]

Comments

[knife_bender]

You could tell Diego was treating this like a casual date night thing because he was wearing actual people clothes instead of a tactical suit. Still in all black, but no visible knives!

He still had knives but still. Totally casual.

"I am banning tinsel," Diego decided. "I do like the vaguely threatening one."

Surprising no one.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Banning tinsel is going to really limit the ugliness of your sweater options, here," Annie sighed. "And, okay, like - it's nice Santa's always watching. It's not creepy or threatening."

It was kind of creepy.

[knife_bender]

"You don't think there's something weird about a fat white guy looking at you sleep?" Diego asked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty bad," Annie agreed reluctantly. "But he also watches when you're awake?"

Not what one would call a strong argument.

[knife_bender]

"That's also not helpful," Diego said. "But growing up my house had, like, two hundred cameras in it so dad could watch us so it's not an unfamiliar concept. Except dad's a skinny British guy."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I did not know the British thing," Annie admitted, "though that explains some stuff."

Like why he had looked like he fell out of some kind of turn-of-the-century children's adventure book this past weekend.

"How do you feel about letting people throw stuff at you?" It seemed only fair to let other people throw things, since he had something of an advantage, there.

[knife_bender]

"Depends--do I get to throw stuff back?" he asked. "Like if someone misses what's the punishment?"

Ah, yes, punishment was totally in the Christmas spirit.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Punishments aren't really part of Christmas?" Annie tried, gently. "But, like, if they miss, they have to drink." Which wasn't a punishment anyway.

She shifted a little closer. "You know, we could also just get you something festive that's not a sweater. Like maybe some cute socks. Maybe some cute, knee-high socks." And yes, Annie was giving him as innocent a look as she possibly could (which was not saying much.) "Or do you have enough of those?"

Annie felt like she honestly deserved some kind of prize for her restraint in not mentioning it until now.

[knife_bender]

Diego sighed. "Here I hoped you would have forgotten about that."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I will never forget that," Annie assured him. "If it makes you feel better, though, my Starlight outfit at that age had legwarmers."

Just for about a year, until she'd graduated from Keds to the gold boots she still wore.

[knife_bender]

"I honestly don't know if legwarmers are better or worse than knee high socks," Diego said. "And you probably didn't wear yours until you were legally old enough to leave home."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It was the shorts that really made it memorable," Annie told him, softening a little because even if it was sort of hilarious, the circumstances surrounding his uniform were not. "And no, I did not, but I probably would have if someone had asked me to. Little you was kind of adorable."

Little her had not really appreciated it, of course.

[knife_bender]

"Little you was adorable too," Diego said. "But you got very defensive over Queen Maeve."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It was weird you didn't know who she was," Annie replied, smiling. No one else had, either - she just hadn't dropped a Seven reference on anyone else who had actually questioned it, was the thing. "And all I wanted at that age was to be in The Seven and I'd already read her book, like, twice."

It was also all Annie wanted at this age; she was just a little more chill about it.

[knife_bender]

"We had different superheroes where I came from," he said. "And they were fake. Well, aside from us."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You guys missed out," Annie told him with a tsk. "I mean, other than being superheroes yourselves." But seriously, the fangirling was kind of a huge part of the whole thing, for her. "You had a little attitude, though. I would've known that was you even if you hadn't mentioned your siblings or anything."

[knife_bender]

"That's impressive. You didn't even see me punch Duke." He had it coming though.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You punched Duke? He got me to buy him a latte," Annie remembered, feeling a little conned into it, in hindsight. "Were you okay? 'Cause, like, he was real tall."

Little Annie had been pretty impressed by not-as-little Duke, though adult Annie was also not especially surprised that there had been punching.

[knife_bender]

"Dude was being a complete dick," Diego said. "And he was proud after I hit him? Completely weird."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie wrinkled her nose, though she did take the opportunity to curl closer to him and reach a hand out to squeeze his arm. "I'm glad he didn't hit you back, I guess?" she tried. Though she also didn't doubt that Diego could've done some damage if they'd really gotten into it, being the smaller kid or not. "Sorry I was kind of a brat, too."

[knife_bender]

"You were a cute brat," he teased, putting his arm around her. "You're not the first person to make fun of the knee socks."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"At least you were braver than me, in all your knee-socked glory," Annie teased back. "Drinking coffee defiantly and all. I spent the whole weekend worried I was gonna get in trouble."

[knife_bender]

Diego snorted. "That is the most Annie thing I've ever heard."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I've chilled out a little." A little. "You think I wouldn't have liked you at twenty-three? Well, you probably wouldn't have liked me from, like, twelve to like, at least eighteen."

Case in point being the incredibly insecure, yet also weirdly bossy thirteen year-old she'd been over the weekend.

[knife_bender]

"Guess we met each other at the right time then," Diego said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.