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The Perk- Thursday afternoon

Rey had stopped in on her way back from training and encountered a new barista. He insisted she couldn't come in here with her staff (Aka "that thing") because she might knock over someone's coffee with it.

This had literally never been a problem before and it wasn't like the place was teeming with people so she wasn't sure where this was coming from. Finally one of the other baristas told him it was fine, and he made her coffee while glaring the whole time.

Rey had intended to get her order to go, but instead she decided to sit at a table where she could prop her staff up against the wall just to show that it wasn't a casual threat to any coffee. So that's how her day was going.

[Bored. Open!]

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Annie had to be at a meeting in under an hour, so she had her uniform tucked into her bag (it was pretty easy to stash in there, given that it was about the size of a handkerchief) and her new ridiculous boots slung over one arm when she hustled into the Perk.

Please, like she was portalling back to Vought without at least getting an iced coffee for the road.

Of course she noticed Rey, though, so as soon as she'd ordered her drink (and like, what was up with that guy, wow), there was a bright little, "Heeeeeeeey!" as she all but danced over to her table.

"You're here!" Rey greeted her, gesturing for the other seat. "I thought maybe I'd missed you."

"Almost did!" Annie said, gratefully throwing herself into the other seat. "And I can't stay long, but I'm glad I caught you. How are things?"

Things with Annie were terrible, of course, though a couple days back on the island had been good for her.

"Pretty busy. What about you?" Rey asked.

That was part thinking Annie had the more exciting life right now and part wanting to check in after last time had involved hugs and tears.

"Also busy," Annie said, making a little face. "But -- better."

Better than last time, anyway. Mostly because she was doing a much better job of not thinking about things, these days.

"Kind of finally getting a little more settled in," she added, "and getting sort of used to the back-and-forth of it."

"What kind of back-and-forth?" Rey wondered.

"Like, finding space in my schedule to get here," Annie explained. "I portalled in on Tuesday right after an autograph signing thing, and I'm headed back in a little bit here to take a meeting about the reality show they want to make."

And oh, the face she was making at that.

"Diego got stuck with me last week, with all the...." She gestured vaguely to their surroundings with her coffee cup. "Stuff."

"Yeah. He may have been better off for that," Rey admitted.

Don't think she wasn't going to come back for the reality show thing.

"You did okay with it all?" she checked.

Like, she'd been with Rey during the last time stuff like that had gone down (she had kind of fought Rey the last time, actually, oops), so she was pretty confident she'd probably kicked all kinds of monster ass, but still!

"Yeah," Rey said with a nod. "A vine cut up my leg pretty good but with a couple of bacta patches it was healed within a weekend. It was more a week that played with your head more than anything."

"See, I didn't hear about any of that," Annie noted, interested. "Mostly about, like, the squid monster and how it was scary to go outside, but I assumed that was...you know, 'cause there were monsters?"

"That was part of it. Powers would also disappear when your were afraid, like it was feeding off of that," Rey told her. "In a way it was good training."

"I lost my powers for that weekend back in October," Annie recalled, "but oh my God, how awful to have it happen when you're scared. I'm glad it worked out training-wise, though! And it sounds like it all got resolved kinda quick?"

Diego had been able to get back to Fandom by Friday afternoon, so that's what she was basing that assumption on.

Edited 2021-05-06 19:03 (UTC)

"It was only a few days, really. Had to find an destroy a crystal, that was early Friday," Rey told her. "It was actually pretty new to have the whole rest of the day left after."

"Right? Like, that's sort of surreal. Knocking everything out early in the day means you can, like, go get a post-fight brunch," Annie said, only half-teasing. "Maybe squeeze in a second skirmish in the afternoon."

"That sounds more like your schedule," Rey said lightly.

"Yes, except I don't get to have brunch anymore," Annie corrected, shaking her head as her smile turned a little sarcastic. "We're already not telling anyone at Vought about the margarita and donuts I had yesterday."

"...Why would you not be able to have a margarita and donuts?"

Donuts were delicious! Margaritas were fine!

Annie just fixed her with a little look. "They're very concerned about my weight staying right where it is," she shared, rolling her eyes. "Junk food's pretty much verboten."

At least she was kind of used to this already, since she'd grown up with her mom.

"That's weird," Rey stated simply.

"They're pretty particular about my image," Annie sighed. "I just went through a uniform overhaul, too."

Which, like, probably contributed to the weird corporate focus on her body, all things considered.

"But heeeey, speaking of, like, my image and stuff," she added, because if she stayed on that too long she was going to both start feeling pretty awful and would have to neurotically ask that cranky barista about the calorie count in this drink, "wanna come to a thing in my universe next Saturday?"

"I'd love to," Rey said, smiling again. "What is the thing?

"It's called Believe Expo," Annie explained carefully, "and it's kind of a religious festival? Like, Christian, I mean. But Vought sponsors it, and I've got a question-and-answer panel with teenagers and then a speech at the end of the night. Might be kind of fun?"

And there would be rides and snacks! Focus on the rides and snacks, everyone.

For a girl who was learning all about an ancient religion she was going to have to restart, she could realistically say fun might not be it, but...

"That could actually be really interesting," Rey said, and meant it. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"I've been going since I was little," Annie shared. "It's generally pretty celebratory -- like, there'll be a lot of scripture stuff, but also music and sermons and stuff throughout the day, too."

Which, you know, weren't really the fun parts, but also might be the more interesting thing for a person who had had very little exposure to Christianity in general.

"And now you get to speak at it," Rey smiled. "I'm looking forward to seeing it."

"That part's a little surreal," Annie admitted a bit shyly. "There'll be a couple other Supes there -- Homelander, from my team, and then this guy Ezekiel who's there every year. His power is that he can stretch, like he's made of elastic."

It was pretty okay, as far as powers went. Certainly better than some she'd heard of.

That had to come in handy sometimes! Handier than talking to fish.

"And what does Homelander do?" Rey wondered.

"A lot," Annie admitted. "He's, like, kind of the strongest of all of us? He can fly, and he's really strong, and his eyes are lasers. And he has super-hearing and x-ray vision."

So it sure was a good thing that so far he had been the nicest and friendliest person on Annie's team, right?

Edited 2021-05-06 21:56 (UTC)

"That sounds like a lot," Rey said. "Is that a lot?" Maybe others had more powers and she just didn't know it?

"It's a ton," Annie assured her. "Most of us are strong and can do, you know, one or two things. He's the leader of my team 'cause of it."

"That's good, then. And you seem to think pretty highly of him, which is really the important part," Rey said.

She figured. She'd spent a lot of time bugging antagonistic people to do the thing and it hadn't worked out so maybe this was better.

"He's been really welcoming," Annie told her with a smile. "Like, a real leader."

Look, she had to believe in something, and she'd lost faith in the other five on the team. Annie had no choice but to just go ahead and believe in Homelander, like the rest of America.

That was actually the most positive Rey had heard Annie be about any of this since she'd left.

"Is that helping with the adjustment to everything there?"

"Kinda." In that it was, like, the one thing that was going exactly as expected so far, anyway. Annie drummed her fingers on the side of her cup for a moment before offering, "Time's helping more than anything."

One of these days she'd be able to talk about her first day on the team in more than cryptic little half-truths, but for right now, Rey remained the easiest person to give those half-truths to.

"That's usually the way it goes." Rey knew all about time. "The more room you get to get used to things, the easier it is."

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The Perk- Thursday afternoon

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