Vought Tower | Thursday Afternoon

[knife_bender]

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]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"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.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"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.

[knife_bender]

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

[defenderofdesmoines]

"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.

[knife_bender]

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

[defenderofdesmoines]

"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.

[knife_bender]

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

[defenderofdesmoines]

"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?

[knife_bender]

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

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm willing to negotiate," Annie noted, tiptoeing her fingertips along his arm. She felt a faint flutter of nerves, though the claustrophobic panic from Monday wasn't looming anymore, and instead had been replaced by something much more familiar. "I'm sure there's something you might want, too."

[knife_bender]

He smiled, really appreciating the casual touching right now. It was nice to feel that without any hesitance behind it.

"We could always switch--you can wear the leather and tactical gear."

Although he would find that more adorable than anything.

[defenderofdesmoines]

The three days together, while awkward, had helped Annie regain her confidence a lot. She wasn't back to a hundred percent comfort, no -- she knew she probably wouldn't be for awhile -- but she at least felt absolutely sure right now that she and Diego were solid, and the parts of her brain that had temporarily rewired themselves to respond to touching with anxiety had seemed to find some reconciliation with six months' worth of memories of gentle physical affection.

"And you'd wear my cape?" Annie asked, waggling her brows at him playfully. "Maybe the gauntlets?"

This would possibly be even more amusing to picture in about a week.

[knife_bender]

"Those would probably be the only parts of that outfit I could fit in." Especially since Annie could barely breathe in it.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, we could get you your own gold boots and tights," Annie assured him, still light and playful. "Unless you were picturing me in your leather."

That seemed awfully...you know. Baggy-sounding.

[knife_bender]

"My leather wouldn't fit you," he said, playing lightly with the edge of her skirt. "It would be a tripping hazard."

And, you know, half the fun of someone else wearing leather was how tight it was.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie scooted a little closer, a touch hesitant but clearly, obviously far less jumpy than she'd been the other day.

"I mean, I could roll up the cuffs," she suggested, "but I feel like that kind of defeats the purpose of leather."

Because yeah, as far as Annie was concerned, the purpose of leather seemed to be looking hot in it. She wasn't entirely sure what tactical purpose it served -- durability?

[knife_bender]

It also made you look super intimidating. Especially in the summer. If you could handle the heat wearing that people knew not to mess with you.

"It kind of does," he agreed. "Be a shame to go to all the trouble of wearing leather and have it not show off your...assets."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Leather seems like it's meant to be worn skin-tight for, like, max effectiveness," Annie agreed solemnly, idly playing with the edge of his shirt. "I mean, I'm like, a leather novice, but you know. I've spent the last six months observing."

Observing.

[knife_bender]

"I've noticed you observing," he teased. "Very intently sometimes."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Kind of like how I feel like you're pretty intently observant of my skirt," Annie pointed out, feeling herself flush.

She was still a little unsure of herself, but it was a more pleasant uncertainty, in a way? Less like she felt like she was doing everything wrong, anyway.

[knife_bender]

"It's a nice skirt," he replied, slowly sliding his hand a little under her skirt to rest on her thigh. He wanted to give her the chance to pull back if she wanted to.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie actually shifted a little closer to him in response -- she wasn't quite to the point where she'd confidently drape herself across his lap the way she used to, but between getting re-used to having Diego around and the distance from the thing last week, this was...easier than it had been earlier in the week. More something she actively wanted, rather than something she was psyching herself up to doing.

Of course, there were other differences, too. "Have I mentioned I like these, too?" she asked, shifting to rest a hand on Diego's knee -- which, naturally, was covered in the gray mesh fabric of a pair of Queen Maeve-branded basketball shorts.

[knife_bender]

"You didn't," he said with a grin. "Do not get used to those."

He would never be caught in public wearing basketball shorts.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'll get you some Starlight pants instead," Annie replied, leaning in to kiss his neck. "I'm really kind of glad you got stuck with me for the week, even if the clothes situation is what it is."

It was easier to say if she wasn't looking at him. Both because she was a little shy -- in a good way -- at the moment, but also because up until when they'd actually talked about things, it kind of had felt like 'got stuck' was the right terminology to use.

[knife_bender]

"Me too," he murmured, tilting his neck towards her. This already felt much more natural than it had been the other day, but he was still hesitant to make any big moves. Right now he was content to let her do what she wanted, even if it didn't lead to anything more than this.