knife_bender | Vought Tower | Thursday Afternoon

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Vought Tower | Thursday Afternoon

What was supposed to be a twenty-four hour visit had somehow turned into a "I guess I'm staying here until the portals start working again" visit. Diego was happy to have the extra time with Annie, even if there was some obvious distance between them at the moment. If anything spending more time with her was the only way to figure out what the issue was.

The bad thing was that he had only packed for a twenty-four hour visit. After much grousing, where Diego tried to convince Annie he could just spend the rest of time in sheets or towels while his one outfit was being washed, he gave in and wore The Seven merchandise that she had managed to get for him.

He refused to go out in public wearing this stuff, but he was fine hanging around Annie's apartment wearing Queen Maeve merch. The colors suited him, at least.

[Open to the gf and calls/texts. NFB due to distance! And NWS]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Holy shit." Vought really must have kept a tight grip on everyone's images if Queen Maeve was hammered all the time and no one noticed. "So everyone is an asshole and Vought wants you to stand there and look pretty?"

That was compressing it all in one sentence, but he knew it must have been a huge blow to her.

"Yup."

Annie filled that one syllable with a lot of regret.

"Homelander's okay," she added. "He might be the real deal. And who knows what's up with Black Noir, but he wouldn't even shake my hand when I introduced myself."

Which was such a silly, little thing, but it had hurt her feelings, anyway.

"I'm sorry," he said, kissing the top of her head. "You're probably handling it a lot better than I would."

He would have picked a couple fights by now.

"I'm really not," she said with a humorless little laugh, shaking her head, though she did relax a little bit. "I think Queen Maeve might actually hate me."

Annie just hadn't learned that Queen Maeve sort of hated everyone.

She hesitated, knowing that while all of this might help explain her behavior, she actually wanted to let him in a little more than that.

Not all the way. She wasn't ready. But he deserved something that was more like the real, full explanation, and so she added, "Something really -- bad happened, last week. And Maeve was there for it, and I just...."

Diego held her a little closer to him. The fact that she hadn't elaborated on what the really bad thing was told him a lot. Mostly that she didn't want him asking her for specifics. Which was frustrating, but the fact she was opening up about it at all was enough.

"You've had a shitty couple of weeks," Diego said, feeling a little useless at the moment. What could he do other than commiserate with her, really? "I appreciate you telling me about it."

At least he now had some understanding of the weird mood now.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner," Annie told him, sighing a little. "I thought I was doing better with it than I actually am, I guess?"

That was the thing -- she could put on a brave, cheerful face for most people, and could find the bright side in most things enough to get through a day, but it turned out that actually being traumatized wasn't something that you could just smile your way out of. Pretending you were fine only went so far, it seemed.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked lightly. "I know you've got a contract and everything, but we could get new identities and leave the country."

He was only kind of kidding.

Did you want to get kissed, Diego?

Because that was how you got kissed.

Things were weird, still, but that had been exactly the right response, and even if she wasn't ready to talk about all of it, something in Annie had uncoiled and relaxed a bit at talking about some of it.

Diego hadn't been looking for a kiss, but he would never complain about getting one. He did feel like a weight had been lifted off his chest, even if he knew this wasn't going to magically fix everything.

He kissed her back, suddenly even more glad that he had gotten stuck here this week. He didn't think they'd make it this far if he had gone home.

"I'm gonna stick it out for now," Annie said after a moment, pulling back a little but staying close. That claustrophobia she'd struggled with earlier this week had dissipated some, and while things weren't fixed, they felt...better. Easier. Less like she was hiding her entire life from him. "But I love you so, so much for suggesting that."

Like, bookmark that idea, Diego. Might be worth revisiting down the line.

"I'll start thinking of new names for us just in case," he said with a smile. "If you want to stick it out I'll support you. Whatever you need, just tell me."

"I will," Annie promised softly, leaning into him a little bit. "I mean --"

Okay. Let's not promise something she couldn't adhere to, yet.

"I promise not to shut you out," she amended, reaching for his hand to lightly trace her thumb along the inside of his wrist. "I know I have been, and that's -- shitty."

"A little bit shitty," he said, teasing. "I get it, though."

After all the hype and the parties and everything to have this opportunity turn out to be bust was...well, it wasn't something you wouldn't want to admit readily.

"But you don't have to go through this shit alone, okay? I'm here."

"I know you are, and I love you for it," Annie said quietly, smiling softly. "It's just...hard. All of it."

But most especially The Bad Thing that she wasn't going to talk about.

"I think I've got it handled for now," she added carefully. "I, like -- I think the worst is over."

The Deep had avoided even looking at her during that meeting, and other than him, she felt like she had a pretty good handle on her teammates, awful though they were. The bitter drunk, the cocky asshole, the greedy pervert, the strong silent one...and Homelander.

She could deal.

"If you're sure," he said, leaning in for another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you," Annie agreed, sighing softly into the kiss. "Just be...patient with me?"

Which, like, she knew Diego pretty well, and she knew that patience was not exactly his strong suit. But the reason she knew that so well had been sort of -- compromised, lately, even if she was feeling a bit better now.

"I don't want to hurt you because I'm going through some shit," she added, quirking a little half-smile at him.

"I can be patient." Kind of. Sometimes. "Just don't leave me completely in the dark next time, okay?"

If she wanted to keep things to herself, fine, she had the right to do that. But he didn't think he could deal wrestling with himself over whether or not the distance was all in his head again.

"I won't. That wasn't fair of me, and I'm really sorry, Diego," Annie said quietly, wrapping an arm across his midsection. "This is all hard on you, too."

Like, even if things had been going well with her new job, the separation wasn't easy on either of them, and in hindsight Annie regretted creating more distance, even if she hadn't meant to.

"Not compared to you, but yeah," he said. "Guess me getting stuck here was a good thing. Even with the ugly clothes."

"You could wear your cool Starlight shirt," Annie pointed out, lightly nuzzling his neck a bit. "You know what kinds of strings I had to pull to get one in black for you?"

Not that many strings, actually. But this was easy and light and not anything she felt like she had to force, right now, and she was gonna tease him a little bit.

"Must have been such an effort," he said, chuckling. "I love you, but I wear white for no one."

"I will take that as a challenge," Annie decided, shifting to press a soft kiss behind his ear. "I like you in the Maeve colors, though."

Even if Queen Maeve herself had turned out to be a massive disappointment, at least her branding remained on-point.

"You like me wearing any color not black," he teased.

"I do. Orange is still my favorite," Annie confirmed. "I'm gonna spend the rest of our lives getting you back in orange, so help me."

Go big or go home, you know?

"You can try, but it'll never happen." Lies.

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