MCA #9 | Sunday Afternoon

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had returned from Iowa fairly early this morning, and had had Diego at her apartment within a few minutes of texting him that she was back. The rest of the morning had been spent reacquainting themselves with one another, since it had been an incredibly long five days. (Five days was an eternity when you'd been dating two months, and it was especially long when your mother was a pain and you could barely even talk about your relationship, much less gush the way Annie had wanted to.) 

Now, though - having gotten that out of their systems for the moment, napped, and rehydrated - they were set up on her couch for a lazy, cozy Sunday afternoon. What's more, they had taken a very, very big step: Annie was introducing Diego to his very first VCU movie. She had decided on Black Noir: Insurrection, figuring she'd start with one she thought he'd like and they could work their way through the catalog from there.

"So like, this guy is kind of like if you were a hero in my world. He kind of has your vibe," Annie told Diego as she started the movie, cuddling right up against him. (And really, if you asked her, Diego's vibe was more Tek-Knight, but his movies were so hit or miss.) "Except he doesn't talk."

Which meant that they weren't going to miss a lot if they talked through it, either. (Or not talked. Please, this was like, textbook 'Voughtflix and chill,' here.)

[for the guy! eta: and now it is not to be read at work.]

Comments

[knife_bender]

It had been a pretty great morning and Diego was more than happy to watch superhero movies. Black Noir was probably the best one to start with since he and Queen Maeve were probably the only members of The Seven that he'd be able to take seriously at first.

"I mean, he does look pretty badass." Diego was kind of jealous of his outfit.

He put his arm around Annie to encourage all of the cuddling. He hadn't bothered to put his shirt and pants back on and was now just wearing his shorts. He figured it'd just waste time when the inevitable happened later on.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie appreciated him thinking ahead, especially since it had enabled her to steal his shirt for her own wearing. She'd thrown it over a pair of soft little shorts of her own, similarly feeling like it was probably just a matter of time before it all probably came off again.

She did, however, grab a throw blanket to add to the cuddling mix here. "He's like a ninja or something. But he's super-strong." It was all very mysterious! "Like, way stronger than me, I think."

Oh, Annie.

[knife_bender]

"So you all have like the diamond skin but there's varying levels of strength for everybody?" He was kind of fascinated by how all this worked since it was just so different where he was from.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Yeah, we're all stronger than an average human for the most part, but for like, Black Noir and Queen Maeve, their strength is their power," Annie said with a nod. "And sometimes the diamond skin isn't applicable because of the power in question, too - I know a guy who can cut off and regrow his limbs."

Poor Matthew. That had always seemed really rough, even if he'd made a great Jesus on the cross when they'd done Capes for Christ.

[knife_bender]

"...that is a power I would definitely not want." Just for the gross factor alone.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"He also doesn't seem to feel pain and that's kind of appealing." Even if it was also really, really gross. "I don't know if having the diamond skin but still feeling it when you get a knife thrown at you is better or worse than getting stabbed but not feeling it, and then being okay a few minutes later."

It was definitely better.

[knife_bender]

"Did I ever apologize for that knife throwing thing?" he joked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Yes, but you could always apologize more," Annie teased, tilting her head to press a kiss to his jaw. "It's okay, we have, like, the cutest story. They should make a movie about us."

She would totally watch a romantic comedy about two superheroes who accidentally beat each other up but then ended up together. Um, adorable much?

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled. "Somebody else would have to stand in for me, I don't think I'd be a good actor."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's not acting if it's really what happened," Annie assured him, indicating the screen where Black Noir had dropped from the ceiling and begun beating up some nondescript agents with earpieces. Obviously this was a true story. "It's just a reenactment."

Which, you know, was still kind of acting.

[knife_bender]

"I'm still not sure if it would be for me." He would be perfectly content with saving people without the fame attached to it. Diego would also be a PR nightmare.

"At some point I have to show you my sister's movies." Though Allison had purposely stayed away from the superhero genre for good reason.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Even Annie could admit that he'd be a PR nightmare, so that was fair.

"I would love to watch Allison's movies," Annie agreed, cuddling closer to him with a happy sigh. "Though it's super interesting how you ended up in such different places." Considering how Diego seemed to purposely fly under the radar, it was quite the contrast for his sister to be an actual movie star. (Not just a superhero who made movies on the side, like Annie wanted to be - like a real actress!)

[knife_bender]

"We were always very different people," he said, absently running his fingers down Annie's arm. "We were just held together by dad telling us we were a team and eventually that stopped working."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Mmm." While Diego's childhood generally gave Annie a bad case of the I-want-to-punch-somethings, she was secretly very grateful that he'd had his siblings to share it with him. Different people or not, they'd endured something unique and terrible together, and Annie could at least find the silver lining in that as an outsider. "I mean, it really seems like it, yeah. Have you kept up with her career?"

[knife_bender]

"I don't, like, see her movies opening day or anything," he said. "But if I see her on a magazine I'll read the article. That's how I found out she was getting divorced."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Yikes," Annie winced, and did mention of a breakup make her snuggle closer unconsciously? Maybe a little. "I don't know how well I'd deal with, like, having that much of my life out there." At least she had a secret identity to fall back on, even if the heroes in The Seven seemed to have fairly public private lives, too.

[knife_bender]

"She must find some appeal in it," Diego said with a shrug. "It seems like the the superheroes where you're from are kind of like movie stars."

Especially considering they were watching a movie about one of them right now. The Umbrella Academy had been, like, C-list at best.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Kind of, but we're allowed to have private lives." Sort of. "Like, Queen Maeve and Homelander have been off-and-on for years, and everyone knows that, but it's not like I know their real names or any details or anything."

That was because they both barely used their given names anymore and they didn't really have private lives anyway, but Annie didn't know that.

"It's more like, so people know we're out there and what we can do, and how we can help." Like how Black Noir could help by kicking someone in the head, as demonstrated.

[knife_bender]

"I like this guy," Diego said, impressed by the head kick. "He gets shit done."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I thought you'd be into him." Annie was pleased that she'd been right, and also grateful that she had not started things off with the PG-rated, incredibly cheesy Homelander series. She stretched a little beside Diego, carefully draping one leg and then the other across his lap. "Black Noir doesn't really screw around."

[knife_bender]

Well Diego just had to put his hands on her legs. Just to rest them there for now and enjoying the fact she was wearing shorts.

"Are there any movies we're going to avoid?" he asked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Why, surely that wasn't why Annie had put her legs there, of course. It was just because this was clearly the most comfortable way to sit. "Probably the Homelander ones, 'cause I don't think you'll like them, but he's kind of the biggest deal back home so you should know about him. He shows up in the second Queen Maeve one, though, so we can probably get away with giving 'em a miss."

Because Homelander talking about the importance of the nuclear family and the American way after bloodlessly lasering some mutants was a far cry from watching Black Noir kick guys in the head, in terms of actual entertainment.

[knife_bender]

"We have to watch a Queen Maeve one," Diego said. "If only because I want to see who tiny you was obsessing about."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"No worries there," Annie assured him with a grin. "She's actually kind of great. She's super-strong, and she can jump like, miles, and she doesn't take crap from anyone."

That's the thing: it wasn't just tiny Annie who was obsessed with Queen Maeve. Older Annie just had a touch more chill about it, most days.

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled because, yeah, he could tell the fangirling hadn't really stopped.

"She does sound pretty cool," he said. "But, I mean, I already knew that 'cause I trust your opinions on stuff."

Except for candy.