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

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You get to do the popping thing," Annie said, faux-enviously, as she pulled out her phone to send an order down to the dining room for chocolate-covered strawberries. (It was things like this -- not to mention the elevator ride -- that made her really grateful that Diego had become a very much open secret around the tower, even if she still kept her answers regarding her relationship status evasive in interviews.) "I've never actually opened my own champagne before."

She knew better than to, like, stare down the neck of the bottle while it was being popped, though.

[knife_bender]

Diego went over to the fridge to pull out the bottle in question. "Sure you don't want the honors? Though I could probably make this cork go where I wanted it to..."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Really?" Annie asked, eyes lighting up (not literally) as she trailed after him and grabbed glasses out of the cupboard. "I mean, now you kind of have to, 'cause I wanna see."

Annie got to use her powers all the time in mundane, cute ways! It was so his turn!

[knife_bender]

"Okay," he said, peeling off the foil from the outside of the bottle. "Where do you want me to try to aim for?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Something you can't see from here," Annie suggested, thinking about it. "Maybe have it hit the headboard in the bedroom? It can take it."

Just because the bedroom was out of sight from this angle and thus the cork would have to go around a couple corners, impressively, and not at all because Annie was subconsciously fixated on it. Hush. Valentine's Day.

[knife_bender]

"Good idea." If only because it'd get them into the bedroom not that they needed an excuse to end up there. He put his thumb against the top of the cork. "Get ready."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie grinned, making sure she was out of the way of the cork's trajectory -- not that it would have really mattered, since he could just make it go around her -- and made a little show of setting the glasses down and bracing herself. "Okay. I'm ready."

[knife_bender]

"This is gonna be really embarrassing if I can't do it." He and Five had figured out that they got more powerful the more they were around each other, but Diego didn't really have the opportunity to practice often.

But lo and behold, he would not be embarrassing himself today. The cork popped with a loud (and kind of startling) noise, and then Diego managed to get a hold of it to guide it to the bedroom, where it hit the headboard with a smack.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, clearly Annie needed to find more opportunities to help him practice. Maybe he could throw her bra out into the living room around a corner later.

But, for now, she actually let out a little eep of delight when the cork popped and flew off, watching its path for as long as she could until it went out of sight. "Fucking so cool," she sighed admiringly, moving to hold out a glass so he could pour. "I knew you could."

[knife_bender]

"Thanks," he said, carefully pouring champagne into the glass, hoping none of it ended up on the floor. "The new stuff is coming along slowly. It would help if I already knew what I could do."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"We can totally practice pushing you and seeing what...works?" Annie offered, actually meaning it despite her narrative's prior flirtiness. "'Cause like, I'm a safer audience than Five, I feel like?"

Or at least far, far more likely to be encouraging rather than critical.

[knife_bender]

"You're less of a jerk too," Diego said, pouring champange into the second glass. "That's a big plus as well."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, high praise," Annie teased, leaning up to press a kiss to his jaw as she selected a glass. "And we know we train well together, even if I can admit I might also be a little more of a distraction than Five, too."

Case in point.

[knife_bender]

"But distractions are good," he insisted. "If I get really used to you distracting me I won't be so distracted out in the field."

That made sense, sure.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I feel like that would be more effective if I tried to fight you," Annie pointed out, considering it. "I mean. I'd be gentle, if you wanted to try that."

Because as they both knew, she could pretty much take whatever he threw at her, literally or figuratively.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she added, lifting her glass in a little toast.

[knife_bender]

"Happy Valentine's Day," Diego said, clinking his glass against hers. "I'm glad we figured out how to celebrate without anyone shooting us."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I could probably still arrange that," Annie replied, lifting her brows. "We have the cutest stories. But it's nice to be able to tell you I love you without having to flee the scene, too."

Not that she didn't say it several times a day, regularly, but it was kind of special today for a couple reasons.

[knife_bender]

"And as fun as car sex is, the bed is probably more comfortable." Not as cold either!

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie didn't blush! Which was, like, a feat!

"We should do that again, though," she decided with a sly little smile, taking a sip of her champagne. "Maybe in the summer, though. And I'll keep track of my clothes better."

As fun as that ride home had been, there had been humiliating consequences.

[knife_bender]

Diego grinned. "Come on, it was a little bit funny. Just a little."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Kind of," Annie admitted, rolling her eyes affectionately. "Not exactly how I wanted to bond with my future in-laws."

[knife_bender]

Ugh, way to make Diego get a dopey grin on his face at the mention of the word 'in-laws'. "But it's a unique icebreaker! More good stories for us to tell."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to tell our grandkids about how your brother found my Valentine's panties in the back seat," Annie teased, leaning up to kiss that dopey grin (and now she had a matching, if slightly-shyer one, what with 'grandkids' and all.)

[knife_bender]

Oh so they could be exceedingly sappy, even on Valentine's Day. The limit did not exist, apparently.

At least Diego focused on deepening the kiss rather than say something even more disgustingly sweet?

[defenderofdesmoines]

And look how Annie was more than willing to just wind her arms around his neck rather than use her mouth to talk (though they were almost certainly not done being disgustingly sweet with each other. Not on Valentine's Day.)

Of course, that's when a knock came at the door.

"Strawberries," Annie murmured, pulling back just enough to bump her nose against his. "I should probably get that?" Only probably.