MHA #2 | Wednesday

[knife_bender]

Diego and Annie had gotten back pretty late last night and immediately flopped into bed. They were both covered in bruises, Diego had a concussion and Annie had emotionally been put through the wringer. They were due for some actual sleep. 

It was later than usual when Diego managed to get out of bed, and shuffle out to get coffee from the kitchen, still limping slightly from being thrown around by Stormfront. He had gotten a mug out of the cabinet and was half-turned towards the coffee machine when he noticed a bald lady mannequin sitting at his kitchen table.

"Oh, Jesus!" And now there was a broken mug on the floor. Thanks, Dolores.

[Creepy mannequin girlfriend modded with permission. Post is open for people wanting to check in on Diego and/or Annie]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie felt her heart do a little flip-flop, though thankfully it was the good kind of nerves, now.

"Really?" she asked softly, breaking into a wide smile. "You want me to -- really?"

He was right -- it really did make sense. But it was also a really big step, commitment-wise.

But then, so was cutting off someone's hand, probably.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah," Diego said, smiling. "It makes sense. And I want you around, obviously."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"But like, you want my stuff around, too?" Annie checked, just in case she'd misunderstood. "All my candles and Almond Joys and cute little jars with nothing in them?"

She kind of couldn't stop smiling.

[knife_bender]

"Well we discovered that Almond Joys have their uses," he joked. "I want all of it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Me too," Annie said softly, trying really hard to tell herself this wasn't a big deal.

(It was a huge deal.)

"I've never lived with a boyfriend before," she added a little shyly. "I hope you don't get sick of me."

Seriously, all that was going to change was that more of her stuff would be over here. They were already fairly inseparable.

[knife_bender]

It was a big step!

"That's never going to happen," he said. "So that's a yes then?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's a yes. I love you," Annie said with a soft smile, biting her lip a little before shifting so she could kiss him.

Carefully. They could celebrate this a little more vigorously when everyone was feeling better.

[knife_bender]

They had a lot of things to celebrate after they were healed up. Defeating a Nazi and moving in together was at the very top of the list. The kiss would suffice for now.

"I love you too," he said, pulling back slightly. "Might be a bit until we're physically up for moving stuff, unfortunately."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"There's no rush. We can take our time," Annie decided, trailing her hand along his arm and smiling. "Oh my God, can I get more plants?"

A whole terrace garden for Five to neglect next time they were out of town.

[knife_bender]

He let out a dramatic sigh. "Oh I suppose."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie couldn't help but grin at that sigh, and leaned in to kiss him again. "This is kind of big?" she noted softly, because as much as she wanted to play it down, it was. "I mean, I'll be in New York sometimes, but -- you're sure?"

They'd never really had a, like, 'where is this going?' conversation, but Annie had also never felt like she needed to ask. Diego was so easy to read, and they weren't exactly shy about their feelings for each other. Like, moving in together honestly seemed like a really logical next step. Especially in light of the...everything, recently.

[knife_bender]

"Are you kidding? I'm absolutely sure," he said with a grin. "I should be asking you if you're sure. I've got the whole brother and his weird girlfriend thing going on."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Psh." Annie waved a hand. "Please. I just put you through so much craziness. I can deal with Five and Dolores. What's a little spooky mannequin action after, you know, prehensile penises and being electrocuted, you know?"

Which was why she was really glad he was sure, and it was kind of all over her face how ridiculously, stupidly happy she was about this.

[knife_bender]

He laughed. "Yeah, that is a good point. I'm going to have to work really hard to get weirder than that."

Spoiler alert: He wouldn't actually have to work that hard.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And I would still be all in on this, even if you somehow managed to top all of that," Annie replied affectionately.

Annie, with talk like that, you are just asking to be accidentally time-traveled against your will or something.

[knife_bender]

"Wow, you're really in love with me," he teased.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Yeah," Annie agreed, fond and not really teasing, herself. "Yeah, I really am. Maybe I'll get to cut off someone's hand for you, someday."

Because nothing quite said, 'I love you' like a hand did, you know?

[knife_bender]

"You don't need to go that far," he assured her. "Moving in with me is more than enough."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Do you mind if your vibe isn't going to be all cave-like anymore?" Annie asked with a small smile, leaning her head against his shoulder again. "I know you were pretty excited about getting it back to normal after the party. And like, I'm not going to bring a bunch of sparkles...but, like, there might be some."

She just had a lot of sparkly things in general. Also a lot of pastel-colored things. Lots of generally cheerful objects, overall.

[knife_bender]

"As long as the cross stitch Mom made me stays where it is you can do whatever you want to the place," Diego assured her. "Go nuts."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, no, I think the cross stitch is darling. That's staying no matter what," Annie assured him. "But you might regret saying I can go nuts."

This was how you were going to end up owning a really cute kiddie pool and a lot of little plants in macramé holders, Diego.

[knife_bender]

"Oh, I'm fully aware of that," Diego said. "I think it's worth it."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Where are we gonna put your Teen Beat poster?" Annie asked, setting her coffee down so she could square up her fingers like she was trying to decide. "Somewhere prominent, right?"

Annie was, of course, totally kidding. There would be no Kraken -- nor Starlight -- memorabilia in this apartment, save for those two precious action figures.

[knife_bender]

"You say that like you're really confident you'll get the poster," he joked. "They could all be lost to time."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I bet I could eBay one," she noted. "Or whatever you guys have in your universe. There's got to be some kind of Umbrella Academy collector who's got one. It's not like I don't have the money."

Seriously, Annie needed to find an investment opportunity or something or she was just going to keep blowing all her money on her friends' brothers ransoms and hypothetical bidding wars.