MHA #2 | Tuesday Evening

[knife_bender]

Diego felt good about him and Annie having a date night. It gave them both something to look forward to, which was something they both needed these days. He wasn't exactly sure what they were going to be doing tonight, so he hadn't bothered to get out of his t-shirt and sweatpants yet. It took him like five minutes to get dressed if he wasn't wearing a lot of knives, it was fine.

[For one! Edit: NWS]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was running behind, which super sucked for a bunch of reasons.

Number one, with a bullet -- she didn't have time to change. There hadn't really been a place at the racetrack, given the fans and the Ashley of it all. She'd managed to pull on the dark hoodie she'd stashed in her bag, just to get out of there to catch her portal, but it's not as though this thing was a trenchcoat, and Annie was feeling fairly exposed.

But there was also the issue of, okay, if she did slow down to change, maybe that would help because these shoes were certainly not helping her travel faster?

And then that just seemed dumb because she could just change when she got there, and Diego had said he wanted to see the new uniform....

So, as she was carefully picking her way along the stairs (and avoiding anyone else she knew, like so studiously avoiding), she sent a text ahead:

running late, didn't have time to change. brace yourself.

[knife_bender]

He would never admit it, but he was kind of glad Annie didn't have time to change. He had been dying to see this thing since she told him about it. At least the warning gave him enough time to prepare so he wouldn't laugh or anything when he saw her.

Okay I'm ready for the worst

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was a few minutes longer -- seriously, these goddamn stairs -- before she was carefully hobbling up and letting herself in Diego's door with no small amount of trepidation.

"Hey," she called hesitantly, pulling her hood of her little sweatshirt down because with the wig, it like, barely stayed put, anyway. Not that this hoodie was doing much of anything, and Annie was already considering asking Vought for some kind of...coat. Robe. Something to wear in the winter, even.

(She felt like she'd, like, done some kind of Olympic event to get here in this damn thing. How in the hell was she supposed to fight crime?)

(She wasn't. Annie knew that now.)

[knife_bender]

...

You know, Diego had been expecting something skimpy, yes, but he wasn't expecting this. Like, she looked good, whoever designed the thing had an eye for accentuating Annie's, uh, assets but how was someone supposed to fight crime in that?

"Is that your real hair?" Good first question, Diego.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Nope," Annie replied with a sigh, leaning back against the door now that she could lean against something. She resisted the urge to pull her zipper up -- for one thing, she had already zipped herself up pretty high before leaving the stadium, but for another, if there was anyone on the planet she was okay with seeing this thing unzipped, it was Diego. (Even if her hair wasn't all that wasn't real, here. Ugh.) "My real hair's all pinned up under here."

As far as first reactions go, honestly, this wasn't too bad.

[knife_bender]

"I'm not going to pretend to understand the point of a wig," Diego said, walking towards her. The closer he got, the more he realized that, yes, she was taller than him right now. Not necessarily a bad thing, but those boots really were not sensible.

"I can see why you hate it." He wasn't going to comment on the fact that she looked really hot as well just yet, since he didn't think that would make her feel any better at the moment.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"They wanted it longer and blonder," Annie said with a sigh, sharing the explanation Ashley had given her for the wig. She shifted her weight slightly, resisting the urge to pull on the fabric anywhere -- she was trying to train herself to just stand comfortably in it, since if she looked uncomfortable, that would just draw more attention. "Oh, shit, I am taller than you in these. I thought I might be."

These boots. For God's sake.

[knife_bender]

"They are really not practical," he said, smiling at the fact he had to tilt his head up slightly to meet her eyes. "At least you get to enjoy being taller than me for a bit."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's worth the sacrifice," Annie said lightly, rolling her eyes a little as she crossed her legs at the ankle just to take the pressure off one of her feet. "I mean, sure, I can barely walk in these, but I'm finally tall. I'm taller than Maeve, even."

Almost as tall as Homelander. Probably about as tall as Deep and A-Train, honestly.

[knife_bender]

"I'm sorry," he said, laughing lightly. She really did look miserable right now. "I'm only being a little bit of a pervert when I ask this--but do you want me to help you get out of that uniform?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I love you," Annie told him, smiling as her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit, "and honestly, you're the only person welcome to perv on me in this thing."

She didn't really feel like telling him about the guys who'd catcalled her at the stadium. That didn't seem like it would accomplish much other than confirming the obvious.

"But yes, I would love help," she added, reaching out to steady a hand on his shoulder. "These things are like fucking stilts."

[knife_bender]

"Well now that you've given me permission, I'm going to do it at a lot," he joked, placing a hand on her waist to keep her steady. "Did they give you reasoning for the boots being that tall?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"No, but I would imagine it's probably similar to the reason this is cut as high as it is," Annie noted, unable to keep from blushing. "Because I have nice legs."

Plus walking in heels accentuated her ass even more. It was all sort of...of a piece.

[knife_bender]

"You do have nice legs," Diego agreed, looking down at them now that they had been mentioned.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie smiled, carefully shifting so she could pose with one leg out a little for him (and keeping that hand on his shoulder for steadiness.) "At least those are real."

The hair was fake, her eyelashes were fake, her breasts were a whole thing, and this bodysuit had somehow produced a tiny waist out of Annie's straight up-and-down figure. But at least her legs were all her own, yes.

[knife_bender]

Diego took the chance to slide one of his hands over her thigh, really appreciating this aspect of the new uniform at least. "Just double checking to be sure."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie's smile widened just slightly. "I know I made you promise to hate it, but it's okay if you don't," she offered, shifting her thigh under his touch. "I just -- I would wear this for you, you know?"

She just sort of objected to wearing it for the whole world.

[knife_bender]

"I mean, it's tacky as hell," Diego said, having to get up on this toes slightly to give her a kiss. "But you look very good in it."

He wasn't exactly thrilled with her having to wear it in public either, though.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Oh, God, that was so cute that it almost made it worth it.

"Thank you," Annie said, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and trying not to feel weird about being so, so tall. "It's at least kind of comfortable, too, aside from the boots."

And the, you know, crippling self-consciousness that she was doing her best to ignore.

[knife_bender]

"Wow, you mean you're capable of taking a deep breath in it?" he asked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie went so far as to demonstrate, even. "Look at that. All the deep breaths I want."

She paused, slanting a look at him, and then carefully reached up and pulled the zipper on her uniform down several inches. "'Course, Vought wants me taking deep breaths like this."

Again with the trying not to think about how this whole thing made her look. It was one thing to tell that Diego liked it, and to find things she liked (like the gloves, and full lung capacity.) It was another to actually consider all the reasons Vought was making her dress like this, and the message Annie herself was sort of...endorsing, by going along with it all.

[knife_bender]

Yeah, he could see why Vought would want that. He did know that there was some sort of super bra or something under there because, look, he was pretty much an expert on Annie's breasts by now and knew how she usually filled a shirt.

Still, it was very nice to look at.

"That zipper goes very far down," he said. "I mean, I'm not complaining right now, but I'd rather be the only person who gets to see it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That's kind of how I feel about the whole thing," Annie sighed, leaning into Diego a bit as she carefully peeled off one boot.

And then dropped a solid six inches in height once she could stand on her bare foot, wincing as she tugged off the other boot to throw it near its mate. "Like, don't get me wrong -- I'm glad you appreciate me in this thing." And honestly, his attention might help her feel a little better about it. "I just don't love...people who aren't you seeing me like this."

Like. Normally she barely even showed her collarbones.

[knife_bender]

"I know," he said, this time getting to lean down to kiss her. "I'll get some clothes from your place for you to wear back to New York later."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I love you," Annie told him again, slipping her arms around his waist and already feeling more comfortable in bare (or, well, stockinged if not bare -- she was actually pretty grateful for the tights in this uniform) feet. "I'm stealing one of your shirts for now, though."

Oh no, anything but that.