Vought Tower | Monday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had had work today, and while her spot on Good Morning America had gone really well, honestly -- she was getting better and better at the whole press thing with every interview -- the Make-a-Wish event this afternoon had put her in a fantastic mood. Like. Not if she dwelled on the whole...why of it, of course, but just being there and meeting so many kids whose days all just seemed made when she'd gotten there -- it was the kind of thing that made Annie feel like she was actually making a difference, not just cashing checks.

And, as an added benefit, she'd had enough time to get back to the tower and change into her civilian clothes before going down to -- gasp -- actually meet Diego in the lobby! So he didn't have to ride the elevator with some fucking weirdo she worked with on Valentine's Day, at least! (And instead, Annie just had to hope that whoever viewed the elevator security footage valued their job enough not to try to sell it to tabloids or something!)

Now, she was watching on as Diego did something that they had discussed a couple weeks back, and made this apartment just a little bit more his space, too.

"How many of those do you think it can hold?" she asked, already impressed at how well he was hiding the knives he was stashing in her chandelier. They blended right in, who knew.

[for the guy putting knives in a chandelier, of course, and NFB for distance, natch.]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"Enough," Diego said. Whatever that meant. "Can't be too many otherwise it'll be too heavy and then you'll have chandelier and knives all over the floor."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And that would kind of, like, defeat the purpose," Annie agreed, hiding a little smile. "And probably kind of wreck the whole element of surprise thing."

Most people probably did not expect knives to be up in someone's chandelier! Or couch cushions. Or in plants.

[knife_bender]

"Exactly," Diego said, stepping back once he was finished. "Can you see anything sticking out?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Nope," Annie answered honestly, immediately going to wrap her arms around his midsection now that he wasn't actively working with sharp things. "Perfectly done. It's like you've hidden knives in stuff before."

[knife_bender]

"Maybe once or twice," he said with a grin. "Though, really, people would be insane to come in here looking for a fight."

And the people who would do that here were impervious to knives so they wouldn't be much use anyway.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, Vought did largely employ regular old humans in their security forces, so he'd at least be able to slow down a SWAT team or whatever if Vought ever made that kind of mistake again? But yeah, it was mostly just gonna annoy Black Noir or whoever.

Oh well. Better than nothing, right?

"Well, I've heard it's pretty hard to break into this building in the first place," Annie noted, leaning her head on his shoulder. "But I still like having them here. It'll remind me of you."

They were romantic knives.

[knife_bender]

"How romantic," Diego said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Just like how the plants at home remind me of you."

And then he was reminded to water them.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Those plants had been neglected before. They could take a little Valentine's neglect today.

"We have different standards for romance from most couples, I think," Annie decided, not sounding like she minded at all.

[knife_bender]

"Most couples probably have less shootouts on their dates," Diego agreed. "Though I think the chances of that tonight are low."

He didn't even care if he jinxed it. He'd be fine with or without bullets.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Then it's probably fine I haven't stashed any knives on me this Valentine's Day," Annie replied, tilting her head up for a real kiss.

Though he was totally welcome to check and make sure. It had been a secret surprise last year, after all.

[knife_bender]

Oh, he totally planned on a full body check. Just to make sure.

Right now though, he was focusing on the kiss. It was a holiday, after all. The kissing holiday.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Yeah, like, today was the one day of the year no one could give them any shit for being all gross about each other! (No promises on the narrative, though.)

Annie wound her arms up around his neck with a happy little sigh, smiling into the kiss. "I should've taken the whole day off to spend it with you. That's next year's plan."

To be fair, this way had forced them to at least put on clothes and have a normal day and not spend it all in bed. Probably wouldn't have been the case if she'd taken it off.

[knife_bender]

"It was a good day for you at work though," he said, putting his arms around her waist. "I don't mind waiting."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Even though it's Valentine's Day?" Annie asked, widening her eyes to show what a huge deal this obviously was. "It was a nice day, though, you're right." And Annie would take all the nice days at work she could get, while she could get them. "And your patience is appreciated and commendable."

Rewardable, even. See how he was getting more kisses for being so patient? (And also because of his cute face.)

[knife_bender]

"One of the few times someone will say that about me," he said, smiling at the barrage of kisses. "But you're done for the day, right? Ashley's not gonna come knocking?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"She'd better not. If she tries, I vote we try out the chandelier knives," Annie replied, pulling away just for the very important job of making sure the deadbolt was locked. "But unless something drastic happens, I'm all yours, all night."

And really, if something drastic happened, she'd probably bring him with, anyway.

[knife_bender]

"I like the sound of that," Diego said. "Sorry I didn't have anything, like, super special planned."

He honestly didn't know how long her work day would be and didn't want her coming back to fully melted candles and a cold dinner.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I don't need anything special. Just you," Annie assured him, crossing back over with a soft smile. "I was gonna send flowers to the apartment for you, but I figured they'd wilt before you even saw them, and I didn't want to make you portal back with anything too, like, awkward...."

She wasn't entirely without ideas, though. Instead, she would be adding a little cactus she'd already picked out to the currently-indoor garden when she was back this week, and would be referring to it as 'Diego's plant.' Just what he probably wanted!

[knife_bender]

"I'm touched just by you knowing sending me home with flowers was a bad idea," he joked. "I did bring something special for the holiday, but you'll find out about that later."

And it was something that couldn't wilt or go bad if left out too long!

[defenderofdesmoines]

See? The best kinds of Valentine's presents!

"Ooh, a surprise?" Annie asked playfully, having a pretty decent guess as to what it might be (or what she hoped it might be, anyway.) She leaned in to press another kiss near his ear and idly run a hand along his arm. "Trying to kill me with anticipation, huh?"

Please, kill her with anticipation. She clearly loved it.

[knife_bender]

"Not kill you. That'd kind of ruin the holiday," he said. "But whatever is close to it without involving a hospital, yeah."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"A little light torture, then," Annie replied, leaning in for another kiss. "Are you hungry? I could have something sent up. And I totally have champagne and beer in the fridge."

There were benefits to having a private chef and an assistant, occasionally.

[knife_bender]

"Oooh do you think they'll send us something up for the holiday?" Diego asked. "Like something heart shaped? Or chocolate covered strawberries?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I could totally get chocolate-covered strawberries," Annie decided, nodding emphatically because, like, an excuse to eat chocolate and blame it on a holiday? All over that, yes please. "Or regular food in a heart shape. And, like, I'm pretty sure someone's available all night if we want something else later."

Would Miro, the apparently world-famous chef who worked in the tower, feel insulted by these demands on him and his staff? Maybe. Annie didn't especially care. Maybe Annie would cultivate another Tiny-like relationship with someone on her support staff here!

[knife_bender]

"There are some benefits to spending the holiday here," Diego decided. "I'll get the champagne and then we have a totally traditional Valentine's Day."