MHA #2 | Wednesday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

Twenty-four days.

Invitations were out. The alterations of Annie's wedding dress were nearly done. Their song list had been chosen and vetted and drafted and eventually turned in.

But today, they were working on making one last, incredibly important wedding-related choice, and while Annie was fairly sure which direction they were going, it still required further research -- which was why she was perched up on her kitchen counter next to the box of cake samples she and Diego had brought home with them, idly picking at a very rich, chocolate cube of cake. Had they just spent a couple hours trying cake already? Yes. Didn't mean Annie was, like, done yet.

"I feel like I'm gonna need a bib no matter what we go with," she commented.

But she was still gonna eat the hell out of this chocolate sample, even if she was kind of thinking no thanks on chocolate for the actual thing. Something lighter. Maybe layers of something lighter.

[for the fiancé! and on that note -- invitations have totally handwavily gone out, and if you think you were invited to this wedding, you totally were.]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Not about the us part," Annie replied, smiling softly in return. "Never about the us part."

But yeah -- Klaus' control of the ceremony could go on her list, actually, now that you mention it.

"And honestly, not really about the rest of it, either." Did it really matter if the wedding went awry as long as they ended up married? That was the part she really cared about.

[knife_bender]

"It's probably because we're so good at handling whatever disasters come our way," he joked. "No need to be worried about anything anymore."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Doesn't seem to be a lot of point in trying to anticipate those disasters, either," Annie pointed out. "We're super good at thinking on our feet. I just hope nothing happens during the wedding 'cause my dress is definitely not a fighting dress."

Enjoy that hint, Diego. It could mean anything, considering Annie had spent the better part of her superheroing career fighting in tulle and feeling fine about it.

[knife_bender]

"So you're saying it's tight?" he asked. "Or short?"

"Tight and short?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Annie asked, totally not answering the question. "Summer had me try on one like that. Or, well, it wasn't really short so much as cut up to like...."

She indicated a spot on her upper, upper thigh. "Here. But that wasn't the one I went with, ultimately."

Actually, that dress might have been a great one to fight in, thinking about it.

[knife_bender]

"You're teasing me," Diego said, putting his arms around her waist. "You're teasing your future husband."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm gonna tease you when it's official and I'm actually your wife, too," Annie pointed out, sliding an arm around his neck (and privately delighting in hearing husband and saying wife, as she had been since May and would continue doing for a little while longer.) "You signed up for this."

[knife_bender]

"I did. No regrets," Diego said, leaning in for another kiss. "I love you that much."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie smiled into the kiss, lightly threading her hand up into his hair with a happy little sigh. "And I love you so much that I might be convinced to share a picture of the rejected sexy dress at some point, since you're so nice about my teasing."

Especially considering she had set an appointment to take other photos in a couple weeks, for her new husband to enjoy.

[knife_bender]

"At some point?" Diego repeated, amused. "You saving them to cheer me up after a bad day or something?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, now I feel like I should save it," Annie said, lifting a brow. Though hopefully there wouldn't be many of those in the next few weeks, between bachelor/ette parties and birthdays and a wedding and a honeymoon. (And again, she had other sexy, day-cheering-up photos forthcoming soon.) "But if you're curious, you can see them any time. I don't think it's going to give you any hints as to what my actual dress looks like or anything."

Though they might a little bit, given that the rejected dresses -- aside from that slitted one -- were on the A-line, poofy side, and the one she'd actually gone with was not.

[knife_bender]

"I've already guessed it's white," he joked. "Even before you told me."

He knew Annie well enough she'd keep with tradition there.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's mostly white," Annie countered, waggling her brows at him.

Though that was actually fairly generous as hints went, considering that -- well. A lot of Annie's stuff (less than a month or so ago, but still a lot) was mostly white.

"But," she continued, reaching over to where she'd left her phone on the counter and quickly swiping though it, "it's also not this."

(Annie, for the record, had not looked quite as amazing as the model, since the dress was pinned in around her rather than tailored, but she still stood by what she'd thought almost two months ago: maybe a different dress with a slit, for a different occasion, because damn.)

[knife_bender]

"...that's a lot of leg," Diego said after a couple moments of staring. "And a lot of chest, for that matter."

It was pretty obvious he approved, but Annie's mother probably would have keeled over.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's a lot all the way around," Annie noted, flushing slightly. "More of me than I'd rather have on display for, like, literally every person we know."

But his reaction was also kind of exactly what she'd wanted to see and why she'd shown him, and thus she was leaning up for another kiss over her phone. "Maybe I'll get a non-wedding dress like that to wear for when you actually have a bad day."

Much better than a picture, anyway.

[knife_bender]

"That would definitely make my day better," Diego said, leaning in for a kiss. "And even if we didn't go anywhere--it'd be fun to dress up and just hang in the apartment."

Wearing a gown and a suit to settle down and watch American Ninja Warrior would be fun!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, I want to do that," Annie decided before sealing that declaration with a kiss. "All the fun of a dress-up date but I can be barefoot and sit in your lap when I want."

She had also purchased a pair of actual dancing shoes for the reception, on that note.

[knife_bender]

"Less chance of guys with guns barging in on us..." Though not a zero chance.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Don't jinx us," Annie scolded, biting his lower lip in faux admonishment. "Though I still say anyone who barges in on us deserves whatever happens to them."

Blindness. Blood loss. Burns and stabbings. Et cetera.

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled at the bite, running his tongue over the spot for a moment to enjoy the sting. "You're right, they do. Be a shame for them to ruin a fancy date at home though."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Ruin, or enhance?" Annie countered, moving to give his neck a bit of attention. "Don't pretend that fighting people isn't like...a thing with us."

A thing. Great command of language, Annie.

[knife_bender]

"But in our home?" Diego asked, smiling at the bite. "Unless you want a really interesting excuse to buy new furniture."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That's a fair point." Though seriously, it wasn't like Annie hadn't already broken down the door to this very apartment before. A story like that would fit right in with their overall repertoire of adorable tales. "I see other advantages," namely: any aphrodisiac effects resulting from combat would not be played out in a car or a dirty bathroom or whatever, "but I'm willing to concede to a glamorous night of not actually punching guys in our home while wearing a fancy dress."

[knife_bender]

"Look at us, planning dates," he teased, slipping one of his hands under her shirt. "We're totally going to keep the romance alive during this marriage."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie shifted very slightly in response to his touch, reaching out with one leg to lightly loop it around one of Diego's. "Ooh, are we gonna become people who put sex on the calendar?" she wondered, teasing. "I've read so many magazine articles about how that's supposed to help keep romance alive in a long relationship."

To her, it sounded like a great way for her to embarrass herself by accidentally showing someone her calendar.