MHA #2 | Wednesday Afternoon

[knife_bender]

You know those little cardboard disks at the bottom of frozen pizzas? Turns out you were supposed to throw away that part before putting it in the oven. As Annie and Diego discovered, it can catch on fire.

See this is what happened when they didn't just stick to protein shakes and/or Danny didn't feed them.

Diego's apartment was still in tact, luckily, it just smelled vaguely of smoke, burnt pizza and cardboard. Which was why all of the windows were open despite it being freezing out. Diego didn't mind too much though, they had a pizza delivered--which they should have done in the first place--and now were cuddled up on the couch under some blankets.

All in all making the best of a bad (or stupid) situation.

[For the girl! And now NSFW]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"Less fun than putting out fires," he joked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Also probably less dangerous," Annie mused. "But like, it's not like I haven't accidentally started a few non-kitchen-related fires, so it's probably for the best that we're both comfortable putting them out."

See, it was a training exercise, really.

[knife_bender]

"It's a good life skill." He shifted a little so he was basically cuddled up to Annie's side, wrapping an arm around her. For warmth, you see.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie slanted a look up at him before gently tossing her pizza crust onto her plate and burrowing a little into his side. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you set your kitchen on fire just to get me under these blankets."

But really, they both knew a fire was hardly necessary. It just gave them a reason beyond wanting to.

[knife_bender]

"The evil plan worked, didn't it?" he joked. "You're here with me."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I think we need to revisit the definitions of both 'evil' and 'plan,' here," Annie teased lightly, pressing her nose into his shoulder because, you know, it was kind of freezing.

[knife_bender]

"It's not much of a plan, you're right," he said. "Does it smell less like burnt cardboard in here yet or am I just getting used to it?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Think you're getting used to it," Annie decided, snuggling deeper under the blankets and curling her arm around him. "We both probably are. Maybe we should just resign ourselves to living with the smell of burned cardboard forever."

Or at least until his lease was up but that was way less dramatic.

[knife_bender]

Diego sighed. "Why couldn't we have started the fire in the smaller apartment?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It might have spread in a smaller space?" Annie offered, like a hypothetical larger fire was a real comfort, here. "Could be worse! Just think if it had happened and I hadn't been here to heroically save you with warmth. You'd be so cold right now."

And she was just going to punctuate that by nuzzling at his neck, in case he needed help seeing how useful and warm she was, right now. (Also, don't mind her just casually giving him all the blame for what was very much a team effort of a fire.)

[knife_bender]

"I might have caught hypothermia," Diego said, sliding a hand under her shirt to rest against her lower back. "And I'd be hungry too."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And that would be so sad," Annie replied, and if anyone asked, that little bite she just gave his neck had a lot to do with preventing hypothermia. "Plus all the stress of dealing with a fiery kitchen alone."

'Fiery' seemed like a stretch, but you know, so did the threat of hypothermia.

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled a little at the bite. "You're right. My hero several times over. How can I make it up to you?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You can keep calling me your hero, for a start. I love that," Annie said honestly, smiling against his neck. "But I could also suffer from hypothermia, you know."

Unlikely, considering she could literally set a fire with the palm of one hand if she wanted.

[knife_bender]

"Are you saying I should be doing a better job warming you up?" he asked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I definitely could be warmer," Annie told him, pulling back enough to offer a sly little smile. "But we're a team, Diego. We have to work together to stay warm. You freeze, I freeze."

Aww, that was sort of cute, as far as transparent excuses to keep cuddling went.

[knife_bender]

"Teamwork, huh?" he asked, leaning in to kiss her neck. "You know that's not usually my best skill..."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I would argue otherwise," Annie replied, helpfully arching her neck towards him and skimming a hand under his shirt to rest against his stomach, "but maybe I'm biased as the only other member of this little team. I think we work great together."

It probably helped that it was a very small team. More of a couple, really.

[knife_bender]

"Just a little bit biased, yes," Diego said before biting down again, a little harder.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's a fair bias," Annie decided, her breath hitching just a touch. "But I suppose we could try closing the windows, if you're opposed to the teamwork thing...."

Considering Annie was all but in his lap at this point, she was much more in favor of just staying right here under these blankets. (Closing the windows later, after it got even colder, was clearly a fine plan. Pff, foresight.)

[knife_bender]

These two couldn't read the instructions to a frozen pizza, foresight wasn't exactly their forte.

"Oh I'm not opposed," he said, moving his hand from her back to her ass oh-so-subtly. "I just need some more practice."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Diego was about as good at subtlety as Annie was at foresight.

"We're basically survivalists," Annie pointed out, sliding her other arm around him. "Having no choice but to band together for warmth, here." Oh no, no choice but this one, exactly. "Our resourcefulness is impressive."

[knife_bender]

"Now do survivalists keep their clothes on or off?" he asked. "Body heat is skin to skin, right?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You know, I've always heard that, too, but that seems so counterintuitive," Annie teased, pretending to think about it. "You'd think it would be way warmer to keep everything on. Bundle up, even. Maybe I should go get my coat?"

[knife_bender]

"Don't you dare," Diego said, tightening his arms around her just in case she had any ideas about getting up.