MCA #9 | Monday Morning

[defenderofdesmoines]

When Annie's alarm went off this morning, it was still dark outside, which was very normal considering how early she typically got up for training.

What was decidedly not normal was how she was in bed in her Starlight outfit, which was decidedly not comfortable, though thankfully her boots had been discarded in the middle of the floor at some point before she'd clambered into bed last night. It was also abnormal that Annie was alone in said bed, since she'd gotten kind of used to having Diego there.

That was explained pretty quickly, once she padded out to the living room and found him on the couch. "Good morning," she whispered, lightly perching on the arm of the couch and reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Hopefully he wasn't too mad about having to babysit all weekend.

[for he who took the couch]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"That'd be nice," Diego admitted. But first he was leaning in for a kiss because it had been a couple days and he was clingy.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie smiled into the kiss, leaning up into him. "Miss me?"

She was pretty sure she would have missed him, if their roles had been reversed. Having a tiny version of someone around was very much not the same.

[knife_bender]

"Yes," Diego said. "Even when you're covered in sprinkles."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I was nice enough to share," Annie pointed out. "Because even as a little kid, I thought you were pretty cool."

[knife_bender]

"Even after I almost made you cry?" he teased.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That was pretty mean," Annie admitted, "but like, also hilarious. You were definitely the most fun adult I saw all weekend. No rules, and all."

[knife_bender]

"I figured you could use some rule breaking." They both had upbringings that were way too strict. "Go de-sprinkle and I'll see what the damage is in the bedroom."

Most likely he was just gonna end up just tossing the sheets on the floor 'cause they definitely had some crushed sprinkles that needed to be washed out of them.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You're the best," Annie told him, already pulling her hair up as she leaned up for another kiss. "I owe you."

Like, seriously, she owed him a whole weekend of doing whatever the hell he wanted after all that.

[knife_bender]

Diego didn't think he really did much of anything, but he wasn't about to argue with her. He went to the bedroom to assess the damage and...yeah, that was a lot of sprinkles. Now he was even more happy to have slept on the couch.

He carefully pulled the sheet off, trying to contain the sprinkle explosion to just that one area and balled it up in a corner. That could be deal with later. Or maybe they could burn them and buy new ones. Either/or.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Honestly, probably the latter. Annie was going to be finding sprinkles in her apartment the way Rey still found glitter in hers. New sheets might be, like, psychologically necessary.

Meanwhile, Annie - who was capable of getting out of her Starlight outfit faster than she may have let on before, shh - headed to the bathroom and into the shower, where she found sprinkles stuck to her lower back.

Like, how? How was that even physically possible?

[knife_bender]

Weren't sprinkles just edible glitter, really?

Satisfied that the bed was safe enough to get back into without re-sprinkling themselves, he wandered over to the bathroom door. "How bad is it? You gonna survive?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie emerged in a towel, looking a little shell-shocked. "How in the hell did I get donuts literally all over myself?" she wondered, shaking her head at him. "I had clothes on the whole time. I'm not allowed to have anything with sprinkles ever again. I'm laying down the law. I've had enough."

This vow would last about a week, for those curious.

[knife_bender]

Yeah Diego knew that wasn't going to last.

"Well instead of holding a donut like a normal person you kind of crushed them in your hand," Diego said. "That might have something to do with it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"My motor control was not, like, great," Annie agreed, sighing. "Be glad I didn't decide to use my powers." A pause, as she wandered into the bedroom to find a shirt to throw on at least. "Or use them by accident. My little tantrums weren't cute, either."

So it was probably a good thing he'd walked that 'arrest' thing back as quickly as he had.

[knife_bender]

"I was pretty impressed you were able to knock out the power on your street," Diego teased, flopping down on the mostly sprinkle-free bed. "Our powers made for interesting tantrums as well."

And Diego didn't even know about all the nannies Vanya killed! Oatmeal was not that bad, Vanya, sheesh...

[defenderofdesmoines]

Little Annie would have had Little Vanya's back on that. Oatmeal was gross.

"We really did have to call the power company," Annie told him with a sheepish smile as she tugged on an oversized shirt and wandered over to join him. "And if you ask Mom, I blinded the doctor who delivered me. I can't even imagine what it'd be like with six little superpowered kids around."

Seriously. Plus a totally normal little kid, too!

[knife_bender]

"It was a lot of bickering behind Dad's back," he said. "Dad hated it when we complained about each other to him."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"But at least you had other kids to play with?" Annie offered, tucking herself against him on the bed. "Though, man, I bet you were an adorable little terror. Most kids throw things. Most of 'em can't aim for shit, though."

[knife_bender]

Ha, playing. That was funny.

"Depends on who I was throwing stuff at," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "It really would only work on Luther. It didn't hurt him but he'd get mad, which is the whole point. Klaus would just make a joke, Five could disappear, Ben and Vanya gave you no reason to bother them."

"And Allison...well you don't mess with Allison." Unless you wanted to be rumored into doing something truly embarrassing.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Like punching yourself in the face, maybe?

"Making Luther mad seems like a whole hobby you could get into," Annie decided thoughtfully, sighing happily and snuggling closer. "And yeah, I would not mess with Allison. I don't think there's anyone back home like her - my friend Countess is kind of similar, but her powers don't have the same kind of casual exploitation potential. I feel like I'd use that all the time."

Which, you know, Allison's siblings had probably not appreciated.

[knife_bender]

It was all fun and games exploiting your mind manipulation powers until your husband leaves you and takes custody of your daughter.

"I always wondered if that was how she got the career she has." He didn't remember her being all that talented acting growing up but, really, when did they get the chance to explore stuff like that?

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, that's sad," Annie decided, frowning a little. "I mean, I could see that, though. It's basically like having the ability to wish for whatever you want, right? And lots of people would probably want to be famous."

She would just hope that it was a coincidence, though.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah." He didn't get it, personally, but he knew most people liked the aspect of fame. "Then again, she could have gotten it through being the daughter of someone famous, like everyone else does."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Or by being a literal superhero," Annie pointed out. "If I ever make it onto a team, that might be a whole thing for me."

She honestly wasn't sure how she'd feel about being really famous, when and if the time came. Saving people was awesome, helping was great - doing skincare ads was...a part of it she'd learn to deal with. It was weird enough having people ask for the occasional autograph at Believe Expo.

[knife_bender]

"By the time Allison got her career everyone had forgotten about us, thank god. Only my dad was famous for being an eccentric billionaire," Diego said. "It's nowhere near like where you're from. How are you going to deal with that?"

He pretty much thought it would be a 'when' not an 'if' for her. And he wasn't not just being a supportive boyfriend there. Look at her powers, they were awesome!