MHA #2 | Saturday Evening

[knife_bender]

Diego's usual Tuesday evenings were nothing glamorous. He was almost always alone (Five puttering around the guest room didn't count), and he fell into a sort of routine on the days Annie was in New York working. He'd work out, come home, shower, make a sandwich for dinner and then settle down with a book or TV until he felt like going to sleep.

Tonight was no different. He was currently post-sandwich, and well on his way to picking a channel to veg out to.

[3 for 3 today. For the girl!]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"I don't want you cutting back on stuff. Your job is important." Both on a personal level to her, and the fact she was a superhero (even if a lot of the job was photoshoots).

"Would you even want me around for that sort of stuff?" he asked. "It won't throw you off your groove?"

God knows he felt like a super huge dork when he had to do shoots way back when.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Are you kidding?" Annie asked, shaking her head slightly even before he was done talking. "It takes so much to throw me off my groove. I took first place in a pageant where we lost power halfway through, once. I can, like, smile and wave and look pretty in the middle of a hurricane. You won't be a distraction. Might be kind of boring for you, though."

And if it was one of the rare non-boring events -- well, actually, that would probably be kind of frustrating for Diego, actually, since Annie would insist on not letting him help lest he get drafted as a new team member.

[knife_bender]

"I do recall it being slightly boring." Well, a lot boring. "But that's what my phone is for, right?"

Look at him, all spoiled on smartphones now.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Worst case scenario, there's your phone," Annie agreed. "But like you're also not confined to my side while I'm working. You could go run around the city, or like, ride all the Voughtland coasters while I'm promoting my stupid carousel, or whatever. But I miss you when I'm not here," which was probably obvious given how she'd launched herself at the couch and was celebrating the thrill of having a Tuesday night off, "and if being around is the best way I can help...then, like, I want to be around as much as I can."

Plus, you know. Touching. Kissing. Sex. Physical contact was a huge way they showed affection, and Annie also was willing to privately admit that it was a major way they dealt with things, too.

[knife_bender]

"If you're sure it won't mess anything up then, yeah, I'd like to be around more," he said. "It's only fair I do my share of the portal hopping in this relationship."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Probably easier for us both to spring into action if Five makes a breakthrough if we're together, too," Annie commented, leaning up to give him a kiss. "And, like, everyone else on the team gets to have a little entourage. You can be mine."

Maybe he'd get to make friends with Deep's creepy wife since he kept popping up in spite of not being one of The Seven anymore, or one of Maeve's boytoys, or even Elena if she ever came back. There were always plenty of people hanging around at these things, and with Homelander pretty much neutered, Annie's worries about keeping Diego secret for his safety (rather than just his right to privacy) were pretty much gone.

[knife_bender]

"An entourage of one," he said with a smile. "I like that idea."

And for the times she had to get into the bad Starlight uniform he could hold her stuff since it didn't have pockets!

[defenderofdesmoines]

"This'll make it so much easier to get in and out of my uniform, too," Annie teased, lifting her brows at him. "You should see me wiggling around trying to get out of it when you're not there."

Granted, she could probably call someone to help her, but she also didn't want help from anyone else. Too many people already saw too much of her regularly, anyway.

[knife_bender]

"I mean, I kind of would like to see that," he admitted. "And then I'd help you immediately after I'm done laughing."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"At one point I fastened the pull from my curtains to my zipper to try to make, like, a simple machine to help," Annie shared, gesturing to her back in a way that she hoped helped illustrate her point. "It was about as effective as you'd think."

Really, what Annie needed was a treadmill, as everyone knew that treadmills were the correct tool to zip up an unaccompanied lady's dress.

[knife_bender]

Diego laughed. "Okay, never mind, that's what I want to see before helping you."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I will do a demonstration, but only because I love you." And because she loved making him laugh. And because things generally went really well for them both when her uniform was taken off, no matter how they got there.

[knife_bender]

"I love that you love me that much," he said, leaning in for another kiss. "I'll find something embarrassing for me to do for your amusement."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'll settle for wearing a color," Annie murmured, shifting to meet him halfway. "I've been thinking you might look nice in green."

Spoiler: she thought he'd look nice in every color, up to and including white and his standard black.

[knife_bender]

That just made Diego grin again. "Oh? You've been thinking about that, have you? Any reason why?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, I'll literally pinch you on Thursday if you don't wear any green, so there's that," Annie replied, meaning it. (Where she would pinch him was a different matter.) "But also because I can't just always insist on orange and blue. I need to branch out more."

[knife_bender]

"I don't think I own any green," Diego said. "How am I supposed to protect myself against the pinching if I don't own any?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, I'm getting a bunch of stuff to wear to the bar." Diego, beware. It was going to be like the Christmas rager outfit, but green. "You can just borrow some of that if you don't find anything before then."

[knife_bender]

Diego let out a dramatic sigh. "Well I guess I don't want to be pinched. Especially by someone with super strength."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I wouldn't super-pinch you," Annie assured him, giving his leg a little pat. "I can throttle it, you know."

He definitely knew.

"But good. I think green will really bring out your hotness," she added very seriously.

[knife_bender]

"Is there a color I could wear that wouldn't bring out my hotness in your opinion?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Gosh, Diego, I don't know," Annie said, pretending to really consider the question. "I guess you'll have to try wearing all the colors individually and we'll see. Maybe I can create some kind of ranking system."

[knife_bender]

"I walked into that," he said. "That was totally on me. Which is not me agreeing to your proposal, by the way."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I don't know how we'll figure it out otherwise," Annie replied, her mouth twitching as she tried not to smile. "Though, you know what I just realized? You totally have a green shirt somewhere around here, unless you burned your first Christmas sweater."

Honestly, she would not blame him if he had. That thing had been pretty bad.

[knife_bender]

"As far as you know that's exactly what I did." Or would be doing shortly to prevent having to wear that thing in public again.