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]

"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."

[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.