The Vought American Hero Mansion | Tuesday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

So, that hadn't gone half-bad at all, if you asked Annie. The very first episode of American Hero had just wrapped. She had spent roughly an hour watching contestants try to curry favor and demonstrate their value to a bunch of people who probably didn't really care, she'd sincerely wished them all luck -- they all actually seemed pretty decent, to her? -- and then at the end, she had told one hopeful fellow superhero to hang up her cape and go.

Still such a dumb line. But it could have gone worse.

She'd gotten out from under the lights as soon as they'd called cut, resisting the urge to pull off her cape just yet and instead taking the bottle of water a PA immediately thrust into her hand. She needed to find Diego, who she knew was around here backstage somewhere, and hopefully they could just scurry off to her trailer sooner than later. For all that it had only been an hour of standing around and smiling, mostly, Annie was pretty ready to be out of the spotlight -- literally and figuratively.

"You did great," she told Moonshadow and Supersonic as they wandered by, smiling as the latter stopped to take another proffered water bottle from that PA and waving at the former as she kept going to her own room. "I mean, I'm not supposed to show favoritism or whatever, but just to say."

"So we're just objectively great," Supersonic contributed, grinning at her. "Good to know. You also did great, just to say."

"It's such a cheesy line," Annie offered, checking that her mic was turned off before dropping her voice to an undertone and rolling her eyes. "Like, what a way to tell someone they've lost out on a life-changing opportunity. Ugh."

"And it's discriminatory," Supersonic pointed out. "Some of us don't even have capes."

"That," Annie decided, "is a good point." Maybe enough to get a rewrite? (No.)

[for the fiancé who is around here backstage somewhere, and nfb for distance!]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, really, it's irresponsible to sell several feet of margarita to a twenty-one year-old," Annie wheedled. "That's the lesson we should all learn here. Check ID and limit drinks."

Said the bartender who regularly overpoured everything.

[knife_bender]

"Any other teenage transgressions I should know about before we get married?" he joked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"None that I feel like telling you about at this juncture," Annie teased, leaning in to kiss him. "Gotta retain some mystery."

In a way, it was kind of nice to be on the receiving end of this for once. Annie didn't have a whole lot of people in her life who could tell embarrassing stories about her past. (Not that she, like, wanted to make a habit of that part.)

[knife_bender]

Meanwhile, Diego had waaaaaaaaaaay too many people in his life that could spill embarrassing secrets.

"Mystery is one thing we never had," he murmured before kissing her again. "That's not a complaint, by the way."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Kind of part of the appeal, your lack of mysteriousness," Annie teased, shoving more Starlight paraphernalia so she could move a little closer. "Still doesn't mean you get to hear about my sordid teenage past all in one go. I only have so many stories."

She had like maybe two more, max. Sordid was not really the word.

[knife_bender]

"Oh yeah, better pace yourself," he said, looking down at the stuff she shoved. "This is a lot of Starlight paraphernalia."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I don't really know why it's all in here," Annie admitted, and you know what was even better than moving Starlight bullshit out of the way to sit closer? Just sitting in Diego's lap, that's what, so she was going to move over to do that. "Like, I don't really have a lot of uses for my own merch."

Don't speak too soon, there, Annie.

[knife_bender]

It was a tiny trailer, it just made sense for her to get onto his lap. He had absolutely nothing negative to say about it, and slipped his hands under the tulle to rest them on her thighs. It was just the natural position for his hands to be, of course.

"I think the little yarn Starlight is pretty cute," he admitted. "Though, yes, I don't get the purpose of it being in here. You know what you look like."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You can have her," Annie replied, reaching around him (oh no, it meant she had to snuggle a little closer in his lap, so sad, what a tragedy of their circumstances) to retrieve the little yarn Starlight and walk her over to Diego. "In addition to, you know, actual real-life Starlight."

Lucky Diego was the only Starlight fan in the whole world to have any kind of claim on that particular collectible.

[knife_bender]

"You're the best," he said before tilting his head up to kiss her. Mostly for the real-life Starlight thing, but the yarn Starlight was cute too!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I really am the best," Annie agreed between kisses, pulling away just enough to lean a bit and crane her neck to check -- "'cause I even remembered to lock the door when we came in."

Fuck yes, score one for privacy in the face of Vought.

[knife_bender]

"You're so smart," he said, giving her a dopey grin. "How long until someone comes to find you, do you think?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Anywhere from five minutes to an hour," Annie replied thoughtfully, leaning her forehead against his. "But they'll have to knock when they do."

And she might get really lucky and they'd actually call or text her. (Not that she was likely to be looking at her phone in the immediate future.)

[knife_bender]

"Five minutes might be pushing it," Diego joked. "But I'm up for the challenge."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie laughed softly, dipping her head to kiss along his neck. "You always are," she noted quietly, punctuating that observation with a gentle bite. "We probably have more than that. But these are also kinda thin walls."

Challenges all around, really.

[knife_bender]

"Hmm, that's the real challenge," he said, voice going up slightly at the bite. "What are we gonna do about that?"

Probably just deal with the consequences since they have proven time and time again they can't be quiet.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"We probably should stop," Annie murmured, just before biting a little harder because she loved that reaction so much. "Or else be really quiet."

It would also be a great look if Starlight's newly-public fiancé left her trailer sporting a hickey later, but just because there had been foresight involved in locking the door did not mean that it would necessarily be applied anywhere else, here.

[knife_bender]

They were engaged, they were allowed to leave hickeys. It was encouraged, even. Surely by someone out there.

"You're the loud one," he teased, moving his hands even further up her thighs so he could cup her ass under all that tulle.

[defenderofdesmoines]

A hickey would at least be covered very favorably by the press if it was noticed.

"We have a mutual loudness problem," Annie countered, shifting a bit in Diego's lap and sliding her arms up around his neck in response.

[knife_bender]

"Fair," he said, tilting his head up to bump his nose against hers. "So which is it gonna be--stopping or trying to be quiet?"

He had the feeling he already knew the answer.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Hmm." Annie reached up to give one of those thin trailer walls a push, just to see if she could send it rocking that easily. "I mean, the responsible thing would be to stop."

And yet here she was, peeling off one of her bracers anyway.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah, but we're not really known for being responsible, are we?" Diego asked, reaching up to tug down the zipper on Annie's uniform. Gently. Probably best if they didn't rip this one, just in case some more filming is needed today.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Another amazing instance of foresight, right there. Miraculous.

"I think we're very responsible," Annie countered, moving to slip her hands under Diego's shirt so she could help undress him in kind. "We're just also...very into each other."

Probably the politest way to put it. Also, Annie had been thinking of doing this in her trailer pretty much since the instant she found out she'd be getting her own trailer for this show, which spoke volumes about her responsibility.

[knife_bender]

"Good thing we're getting married then, huh?" he said, lifting up his arms so she could take his shirt off.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That does work out pretty well," Annie teased, leaning in to kiss him again once his shirt had cleared his face. She did crack an eye before tossing Diego's shirt gently off within reach, just because it would really, really suck to lose it among the many Starlight dolls and hats and banners and beer koozies. And once that was out of the way, she was eagerly shimmying the top half of her uniform down.