Vought Tower | Wednesday Afternoon

[knife_bender]

After one night of not sleeping, Diego had headed to New York to see if maybe a change of scenery would help with the issue. Turns out, it did. He had no reason to go back to Fandom anytime soon, so he decided to make himself comfortable. Here he had sleep and, now that people knew who he was, had free reign to use the tower's amenities.

Which mostly meant the gym. Usually when Annie was working he'd spend most of his time in there, and leave abruptly when a non-Maeve shaped person from the Seven came in. Today it was A-Train that cut his workout short. He hated that guy.

"You back yet?" Diego called out as he opened the door to Annie's apartment.

[For one!]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Your timing is amazing," Annie called from the bedroom before padding out in uniform, sans cape and boots "They just let me out of rehearsal a few minutes ago. Good workout?"

[knife_bender]

"Pretty good, until A-Train showed up," Diego said. "Should he even be working out that hard after having a heart attack?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"No, but I think it's pretty competitive to be a speedster," Annie said with more sympathy than she felt as she crossed over to give Diego a kiss hello. "Which just means if he gets in his head about it he's gonna do a number on himself again, and we're already down teammates so I wish he wouldn't."

Not because of any altruism related to worrying about A-Train's health, really. No, because Annie was already hosting a shitty reality competition show to find new members, and she didn't need anything added to her workload there.

[knife_bender]

"He should probably focus more on not being a dick," Diego said. "I probably smell gross, sorry."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I've been wearing polyblend fabric under stage lights all day," Annie replied, unfazed. "Everyone could probably use a shower. And Diego, I know this might shock you, but I think everyone in The Seven needs to focus more on that. It's kind of a team problem."

[knife_bender]

"You're not a dick," he said. "And Maeve's okay."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Maeve would be so offended you don't think she's a dick," Annie told him, shaking her head. "She tries really hard to make sure people thinks she's one. And I'm the exception that makes the rule."

Though Annie also suspected she had gotten much more dickish than her natural baseline through exposure to the others.

[knife_bender]

Diego probably hadn't helped with that either, let's be real.

"How did rehearsal go?" he asked. "Does your face hurt from smiling?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And my hands hurt from clapping," Annie supplied, making a little face. "Mostly I just hate being given a script. I've been Starlight since I was three, I know how to talk."

But there was always a chance she wouldn't remember to plug all the products she had to promote if they didn't script her, you know.

"It's just one of those things where I feel like I could be doing something more useful," she added with a shrug. "Like saving people or like...figuring out this stuff with Five, or something." Not that she'd been especially helpful the last six months of trying to figure stuff out with Five, but standing around on stage and smiling sure did make her feel useless.

[knife_bender]

"I know." This aspect of her career would never not confuse him. He had to do some promo for the Umbrella Academy, but not a reality show.

"At least it's just the one season?" How many more members could the Seven lose, really.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"One season so far," Annie pointed out darkly, arching her brows at him. "'Cause you know how when something is successful, Vought just lets it go, and it's over and they allow the thing to stand on its own instead of beating it into the goddamn ground?"

Oh wait.

[knife_bender]

Diego laughed. "Why come up with something new and innovative when you can just repeat one thing over and over? It's just smart business."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Hey, if it ain't broke," Annie sighed ruefully, tugging off a gauntlet and reaching for Diego's hand. That shower idea had sounded like it had some merit. "I'm not going to be done with these damn rehearsals until probably Friday at the earliest, but you don't have to stay with me the whole time if there's any news from Fandom."

Namely, any news from Five. Annie doubted Diego would rush back at anyone else's behest, unless the town was falling in a hole again or something.

[knife_bender]

"I somehow doubt there will be some big breakthrough before then," he said, taking her hand. "So long as I don't actually have to watch the rehearsals then I'll be around."

But he was gonna watch the actual show for suuuuuure.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, hopefully she wouldn't have to do anything humiliating on it, like sing a Britney Spears song.

"As long as it's not boring," Annie checked worriedly, as though Diego did not have full run of a skyscraper outfitted for superheroes to entertain him. Not to mention an entire city. "I love having you here, though. And it's nice not having to worry about the press as much."

It turned out that promising your manager to reveal your secret boyfriend when the time is right took a whole lot of heat off of it. (And Elena's departure and Deep and Cassandra's wedding had taken a lot of the focus off of Starlight's Mysterious Love Life, TM, in a stroke of luck.)

[knife_bender]

"This place is the opposite of boring," he assured her. "So long as I don't run into your coworkers I barely even have to leave the building to find stuff to do. And your bed is comfy."

And also Annie herself was there, but Diego figured that was a given reason.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh yeah, you like my bed here?" Annie teased, deciding he deserved another kiss for that comment. "It is pretty comfortable." And, coincidentally, one of Annie's favorite places to hang out with Diego when he was at the tower with her. "How do you feel about my shower?"

[knife_bender]

"You know, I don't think I've been in there enough to form an opinion." Which was a big ol' lie. "I think I should be in there more. For research."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, you can't just go forming opinions without a full picture," Annie replied, leading the way through her bedroom to the bathroom -- which, of course, was as sparkly and gold-and-white and over-the-top luxurious as the rest of the joint -- and reached in to turn on the water before presenting her back to Diego. "Zipper?"

She knew she didn't need to ask for help, but she liked the ritual all the same.

[knife_bender]

Diego stripped off his own shirt before moving to help Annie with her zipper. "Did I ever thank you for letting me stay here? I've been feeling like enough shit trying to time travel, but not being able to sleep was the last straw."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm just glad to help," Annie told him, peeking over her shoulder at him with a little smile. "If my comfy bed is helping you rest, then stay here as much as you need. Do you think it's, like, tied together?"

Annie's stress often manifested in an inability to sleep, so she could easily see that being the case here.

[knife_bender]

"I can't be sure if it's tied together," he said, pulling the zipper down slowly. "But I can't be a very good battery if I'm tired."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I wonder if there's a way to get him more battery power," Annie mused, shifting her hair over a shoulder and playing with it idly as she thought. "'Cause like, in my case, I can magnify the power from something small, but it sure helps to have a lot of power to draw from. Maybe he needs more some kind of...extra power injection. Like jumping a car 'cause the ignition isn't turning over on its own."

But that was hard, considering that the other obvious candidates for this job were all lost in time and all.

[knife_bender]

"Like another sibling," he said, frowning. "Yeah, I thought about that too. More power of love and friendship needed."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Or maybe just someone else with powers," Annie suggested, turning to slip her top off while frowning in thought. "Ideally someone who's pretty close to Five so it's not like, weird or invasive to ask them to help, and so there's at least friendship to work off of, since that seems important."

...or someone close to both Five and Diego with powers, Annie. If only you all knew someone like that.