75 Godiva St | Afternoon

[defenderofdesmoines]

You know that stage of moving where your major furniture is all set up, and you can technically live in your home, and you're considering maybe just that your life is cardboard boxes forever, and maybe they're actually sort of cute? Cardboardcore. Start a new trend.

Anyway.

"What should we actually do with all of these boxes when we're done?" Annie wondered, opening up yet another box of books. For such card-carrying members of Team Himbo, they had, like, way too many of these. Kindles for everyone before the next move. "Make a fort in the backyard?"

Aww. They had a backyard now.

[for the husband!]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"You're insane for taking her to that," Diego said with a laugh. "I love you, but that was insanity."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Some of us thought it was hilarious," Annie pointed out, stepping around a box and leaning over it to give him a kiss, adorably. "But she was mostly into their manicures -- I think you'd benefit from, like, the massages and soaks and stuff, because they're awesome."

And it had been long enough now that Annie both felt comfortable asking Summer for potential use of her portal gun without worrying she was poking an emotional bruised spot, and she herself felt assured she could portal about pretty freely for at least a few more months.

[knife_bender]

"She was mostly into their manicures?" Diego repeated. "Didn't she just have the one arm?"

Aw, her and Five would have been perfect together now.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, it's not like they could do her hair, Diego," Annie pointed out, logically. "It probably wasn't even the weirdest thing that staff had seen that day. Space spa's kind of wild."

Really, Diego needed to be taken to space, period, was what she was realizing.

[knife_bender]

It really was kind of weird that Luther was still the only Hargreeves sibling that had been to space.

"Clearly a trip is in order," Diego decided, sighing at the mess in the bedroom. "I hope the plants aren't in any of these boxes."

Because it might be awhile before they'd get to them.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Unless I missed something, the plants didn't get packed and were all carried over on their own," Annie said, more confidently than she felt because oh God, what if one of the plants had been packed up? So much dirt, in addition to the poor plant being in plant distress! "How can we make this fun? Can we make it a game? Ooh, can we race?"

First one to unpack a box gets...something?

[knife_bender]

"Race to unpack boxes?" he asked, thinking on that for a moment. "Does stuff need to be put away in order for it to count?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I think that kind of has to be the point," Annie said, making a little bit of a face because of course that part sucked. "But maybe not put away perfectly."

[knife_bender]

"Okay, I'm game," he said with a nod. "What's the prize? Other than less boxes to unpack, obviously."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And the thrill of victory," Annie added, since they were fooling no one here, and both of them were competitive as hell. "And I don't know. What do you think is worth racing for? Whoever gets more done faster gets first backrub?"

That almost seemed worth it, except that Annie suspected she did not really need to compete for that particular honor, and that Diego would also probably refuse if he won.

[knife_bender]

He would absolutely refuse if he won. But still bask in the feeling of victory.

"Well I can't resist a prize like that," he joked. "Just so you know, I'm not the type to go easy on pregnant ladies."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Better not be," Annie replied, raising an eyebrow challengingly. "I'd throw the results out and demand a rematch if I thought you were taking it easy on me."

Which would result in more boxes getting unpacked, in turn!

[knife_bender]

"As you should if anyone tries to do that." Not that he imagined Annie would be getting in too many physical contests over the next couple months. "I take the left side, you take the right?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Maybe not physical contests per se, but Annie's practice of challenging dudes to arm-wrestling was only going to get funnier when she was also hugely pregnant.

"That seems fair," Annie decided, counting the boxes quickly and confirming with a nod. "And like, if we don't know where something goes right away, we just guess and figure it out later so it has a home for now, at least?"

This was a great plan. Definitely wouldn't lead to weeks of finding objects in strange places.

[knife_bender]

Diego nodded. "That's fair. Just as long as everything is out of the way."

So the newly-clumsy Diego didn't fall and kill himself.

"Ready?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie adopted a wider-legged stance, bending her knees slightly, and rolled her shoulders -- you know, to get ready and in position for all this unpacking. "Ready. On three?"

She totally already had her first box picked out, too.

"One, two --"

[knife_bender]

Diego was off as soon as "three" was uttered, going for a box that he was fairly sure was full of his vast collection of black shirts. Nothing that had to be on a hanger, just shove it in drawers.

See, he was already thinking like a winner.

[defenderofdesmoines]

That was a solid strategy. Annie thought she had a pretty good idea here with starting with this box of her own shoes, since they could just be chucked neatly in vague pairs on the floor of the closet.

"Do we break down the boxes as we go?" she wondered, calling it loudly to be heard over the noise of her own thrown shoes.

[knife_bender]

“Later,” Diego said, grunting a little as he shoved all his shirts into one drawer. Seriously, did he need that many?

“But, yes, we don’t want to be the neighbors who are jerks about recycling.” He had a house for like a day and a half and already he was worried about impressing the neighbors.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"No, we have to be really awesome about recycling," Annie agreed, totally on that same we-have-a-house-now page. Plus it would help not clog up their basement with whatever cardboard they kept for these ambitious future children's art projects!

But in that case, she was just going to neatly pitch her newly-emptied box out into the hallway to clear the way to the next one, which held a lamp right on top.

Cool, this lamp went on the dresser now. Executive decision! And Annie was half-tempted to just keep going and not plug it in, but that actually did not feel like 'putting it away,' and she was all about keeping things fair.

[knife_bender]

They couldn't disappoint the hot firefighters next door!

Diego grabbed another box and opened it up. "Aw, man."

It was a bunch of Annie's lady stuff, like, accessories and shit. He didn't know where that went!

[defenderofdesmoines]

That was the beauty of the game! And at least Annie was still wearing her most important accessory -- her wedding band -- as her hands were not yet too swollen to wear it! Something fun to look forward to this summer!

But Annie had a fun box, since the lamp had actually come from a nightstand originally, and now she was pulling out other things from that same nightstand.

"Probably don't want to lose these," Annie teased, dangling a pair of handcuffs off a finger before dropping them on top of that same dresser.

Someone was totally cheating by just cluttering things on top of the dresser, now, yes. And also by being distractingly cute, or so she was angling for.

[knife_bender]

Diego looked over and laughed. "I mean, honey, I work at a police station."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And I can break them without thinking about it, but that's not the point," Annie retorted, making sure those handcuffs were very safe and secure so he wouldn't have to bring more home to replace these. (Annie was also clinging to the idea that their days of mildly kinky sex weren't actually behind them, now that there were kids on the way, but that was a separate issue.) "Plus wouldn't you get questions from, like, Calvin if handcuffs started going missing around there?"

[knife_bender]

"Calvin can suck it," Diego said oh-so-maturely. He looked down at the box that was giving him trouble. "I have no idea what to do with this stuff."

It wasn't fair all he had was black clothing and knives, easy stuff!