#✦event: waltfest | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

toridarling · 7 years ago

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the night sky is changing overhead → kartori

TAGGING → Karmen Inca & Tori Darling

TIMELINE → Friday, September 8

SETTING → Walt Fest

SUMMARY → Tori helps Karmen find her ‘fun side’ during Walt Fest.

Karmen had been to a Waltfest before, once or twice. She usually never stayed very long, or tried very hard if she was being honest. The whole scene just felt like someone else's idea of fun, but things and feelings change the closer you get to the end of something - that was something Karmen knew to be true. She was branching out, talking to more people, and even being asked out on a date; she had done more in this last summer socially than it felt like she had at Walt since she moved there, and so she danced as the Zetta Bytes jammed like a true fangirl, though the truth was she was enjoying her company for the afternoon far more than the music. Tori had let her cling onto her earlier and as Karmen bounced up and down to the music, she found herself casting a grateful look at her roommate. The music hit a high note and she found herself overcome with the urge to yell "Thank you!" over the music, except it came out as a hand extended towards Tori and a "Dance with me!" instead.

Tori liked Walt Fest well enough; she was chill with most things, although she liked the camping and chilling part better than being packed into a crowd to see the actual musical artists. Still, this year was better than usual; the crowd was just as big, she was being stepped on and bumped into, but the smile on Karmen's face as the Zeta Bytes killed their set made it more than worthwhile. "Somebody looks like she's practically a regular here," Tori laughed, swaying to the music as best as she could in the close space. "Are you sure you don't do this on the regular? You definitely had me fooled." Tori grinned even wider when Karmen took the initiative to ask her to dance, holding her hands out in front of her to take Karmen's. "Let's do this!" She giggled, proud of her roommate for getting outside of her comfort zone and actually seeming like she was enjoying herself.

Karmen beamed at the praise; looking like she fit into the crowd was exactly what she'd needed to hear. There was something wonderful about feeling her age for once, something freeing about it that she usually ran from. "Oh yes, I'm a musical festival fanatic in secret," she shot back with a giggle. "You've discovered my secret life, Tori Darling. You officially know too much!" She whirled around in a tight circle with a loud woop before grabbing Tori's hands, the familiar urge to santize barely a ping admist the noise and chaos and festivities. Dancing with someone else at a festival seemed to be as easy and jumping up and down by yourself, but holding their hands, and so that's what Karmen did, laughing all the while. "I promise I'm usually a better dancer than this," she apologized, "but you can't exactly do the Marinera to this kind of music."

Tori arched her eyebrows at Karmen's promise that she was usually a better dancer than this. It seemed she was learning something new about her roommate all the time, and Tori lamented the fact that it had taken her this long to start to get Karmen to show off another side to her. Now their time in Walt was limited, and her friend would go off to Peru and take over her kingdom and never really get to leave again. And Tori... as much as she wanted to go off and have her adventures after graduation, she would miss a lot about Walt too, and Karmen was certainly rising to the top of that list. At least they had almost a full year to savor every minute of, and Tori laughed as she jumped in sync with Karmen, calling over the noise, "And I promise I usually AM as bad of a dancer as all this! You'll have to show me this Marinera sometime, though, because until you do it's just going to make me crave mozzarella sticks to hear it!" Clutching onto Karmen's hands, she took a break from jumping to twirl her roommate around, giggling, "Besides, I have to keep uncovering secret Karmen Inca identities, and it sounds like Dancer Karmen is just another on the list!"

Karmen felt giddy that she seemed to surprise Tori with that news. Her roommate was far more adventurous than she was, and Karmen knew she herself didn't qualify as much of an adventure, but if she got to cause the occasional eyebrow raise or gasp, it felt like maybe just maybe she was interesting enough to spend time with someone so interesting after all. She giggled at Tori's request and nodded excitedly. "Now I'm craving mozzarella sticks," she shouted back, letting out a surprised laugh as she was spun in a circle. She was used to following a taller lead's moves in a dance, but she hadn't been expecting it just now and she knew she should be able to stop giggling but it kept happening, like she was a kid or something ridiculous. "Dancer Karmen is just Empress Karmen," she promised with a smile, bopping along again. "You have to know your kingdom's national dance, after all! Thank God it's easier than a tango! I think a tango might kill me. But you know, the other Secret Karmens might pop up more often if they got to meet some Secret Toris!"

Tori thought on it for a moment, clearly intrigued by the prospect. "Secret Toris? Hmm.... I mean, one Secret Tori might be willing to try to make mozzarella sticks over an open flame at out camp site, although I think I'd rather just wow you with my s'mores skills instead, I came prepared for those." Had Tori ever seen Karmen laugh this much? She couldn't recall, but it was a good look on her. She seemed freer and happier than she'd ever seen her, an amazing feat considering they were entering into senior year and their whole future loomed before them, Karmen's seeming more like a weight on her shoulders than anything. "Or we could be Secret Tango Tori and Secret Tango Karmen together and take lessons at the Charming Dance Hall this year! Wouldn't you love to see the looks on your subjects faces if you came home and were suddenly a tango pro?"

Karmen scrunched up her nose and laughed. "Not-So-Secret Karmen thinks trying to make anything that's supposed to be fried over an open flame seems unsafe. S'mores are good though, very good," she shrugged with a grin. The idea of food made her a little more grounded - she hadn't realized she was hungry until just about then - but just because she was winding down didn't mean she was ready to call it a night. In fact, the idea of learning to tango just made her bounce more, imagining the look on everyone's face, including her father's, when they saw that Karmen could do more than keep things clean. "That would be amazing! You'd have to take them with me, you'd have to, I'm not going to a dance class where I don't have a partner! It'd be like getting picked last to play kickball all over again," she giggled. "And you'd have to lead. Since you're like an Amazon." Karmen knew it was more her own fault for being five feet tall than Tori's for being a perfectly reasonable height of 5'6, but still, six inches was six inches!

Tori glanced down at Karmen, clearly surprised. "Kids really picked the future Empress last for kickball? Wow, kids in Peru have balls," Tori said admiringly, then shot Karmen an apologetic glance. "I mean, I'm just used to the idea of people sucking up to royalty, at least they were treating you just like any other kid, that's good, right?" Remembering the main point of Karmen's statement, though, she quickly added, "Of course I'd take classes with you - dancing's it's own kind of adventure, right? Plus, it would make my mom so mad that I learned the tango before I ever figured out how to waltz in circles, I can only go in my little box staring in one direction the whole time." Tori chuckled; it was kind of adorable to her, how highly Karmen thought of her, even though she was pretty sure she hadn't done anything to deserve this kind of reverence. "It's like I'm a regular Wonder Woman, huh? Well, then, roomie, just let me know if there's anything you need me to do to save the day."

Karmen felt her jaw drop at Tori's statement, even though she found it more amusing than anything. "Hey," she laughed, swatting Tori's arm playfully and shaking her head. "No, no, it's fine. You're right, and honestly, I can't really blame them. I was really bad at kickball. I thought the ball could give you diseases," she admitted, chuckling at her younger self who had actually probably been more paranoid than she was now. Karmen quirked her head to the side curiously when Tori mentioned making her mother mad and made it sound like a positive - sometimes she thought that way about her own father and it made her feel like she understood Tori a little better than she thought. A weird rush of nostalgia flooded her, except it felt more like preemtpive-nostalgia, like she was living a moment that she knew she'd think back on and miss. "You can start with the s'mores," Karmen teased. "In fact, those sound pretty good now? My feet need a dancing break anyway."

Tori was glad for the fact that she and Karmen were still holding hands and dancing, because if they weren't, she was sure that she would have clutched her stomach and doubled over laughing. "What diseases did you think you were getting from a kickball?" she cackled, endlessly amused by Karmen's stories. "The S'More Savior... no, Wonder Woman is still catchier, I don't care if it's taken, I want to keep it." Tori glanced down at her watch to check the time, realizing that the set was nearly over anyway, and she grinned at Karmen. "Has she already played your favorite songs? If she has, we can head out before we get stuck in the rush and get settled back at camp."

Karmen shrugged her shoulders, glad that blush didn't really show up on her face much. "I don't know! All of them? Especially bird flu though, I think. Or somekind of flu." Her phobias were all a lot more rational now, she liked to think, but it was nice getting to a place where she could laugh at them with someone and feel like, maybe, she was changing for the better. "I think in the event of wanting to steal an existing hero's name, you must defeat said hero in hand to hand combat first? Personally, I like your odds - a lasso doesn't stand a chance against a heated marshmallow. It'd get suck!" Karmen shook her head happily, glad that they had the chance to get out of there before a stampede happened. "Follow me, Wonder Woman," she joked, getting on her toes to look and make sure she knew the way to the camp grounds before starting through the crowd and closer to a more spacious area.

Tori pursed her lips together thoughtfully, asking, "Did you actually know what bird flu was? Because I was that kid that thought it was actually a disease that would turn me into a bird, so I kind of wanted to catch it so I could end up flying away one day." Tori shrugged innocently; she liked hearing about what Karmen had been like when she was younger, and most of all seeing how far Karmen had come -- it seemed only fair to share a glimpse of what her past had been like, too. "That would have to be one big marshmallow to stop the lasso of truth, how big do you think they make these things?" Tori laughed again -- another surprise, that someone who had such a reputation for being uptight was so funny, but it was the rest of Walt's loss that they hadn't bothered to get past Karmen's hand sanitizer and first aid kits and neuroses to see what more there was to her. "I'm sure you have a way more direct path back to camp than I do, anyway; I'm a little bit of a wanderer, not sure you noticed," Tori joked as their camp site came into view. As fun as the concerts had been, she found she was almost more excited to just be back out here, to chill in the great outdoors with her roomie instead.

Karmen laughed at Tori's confession, imagining her roommate flapping her arms and disappearing into the sky. "Actually, I thought it was a disease that would turn me into a bird too," she confessed, "but that had the opposite effect on me. I kept picturing falling out of the sky." She marinated briefly on how the way they viewed flying probably said more about the kind of people they were than she wanted it to, but it was easier not to think about, not right now. She was having fun, real real fun, and she didn't intend to stop any time soon. "Fine! Maybe a lot of marshmallows stuck together then! They get sticky when they're hot," she insisted, smiling proudly as Tori laughed. It was a pride that stuck with her as they weaved their way through people and made their way back to tents and space, glorius space. "You? Really?" she gasped. "As long as we're being honest, I'm kind of a neat freak. Not sure you noticed," she giggled, hurrying over to sit by the fire, letting out a sigh of relief that her feet could now rest. "Speaking of, please tell me you have something other than sticks for us to warm our marshmallows on."

Tori countered, "Were you afraid of falling over when you learned to walk, too? Or when you learned to ride a bike? Because if you were a bird, flying would come just as naturally to you." With a sheepish grin, she added, "I also hope you know that I'm trying so hard to resist the urge to ask you to go skydiving or something with me right about now, I know that's probably too much, too soon -- or too much ever, that's okay, too!" Tori nearly snorted at Karmen's comment, asking innocently, "You? Neat freak? No way, I never would have guessed." She crept down to where her pack was, pulling out a couple of silver items that almost resembled antennas from old school TVs. "These pull out into marshmallow sticks, and I even brought you a glove so it doesn't accidentally get too hot or anything like that. I personally still like sticks better, but oh well -- solidarity, sister," Tori promised.

Karmen couldn't argue with that logic, even if she might've brought up the fact that she couldn't remember if she had fear when learning to walk due to being a year and a half old. It was quickly forgotten anyway with the mention of skydiving. "Keep resisting," Karmen suggested with a laugh. "Pigs will fly before I do, how about that?" She was quick to turn down requests that were too much usually, but shutting down Tori's completely felt mean and so she added, "But I also said I'd never do Waltfest right, so who knows?" Karmen rubbed her hands together in anticipation for the smores and found herself letting out a sigh of relief that there were actual marshmallow holders. She brought a hand to her heart at the glove gesture, touched by the thought. "You're too much," she laughed. "Thank you." She smiled and held the silver stick out, clinking it against Tori's. "Cheers, Tori Darling."

Tori grinned mischievously, asking, "So what you're saying if I need to steal that pig from those high schoolers and take it sky diving with me first, then I can get you to go, right?" She was joking, though; she'd never actually push Karmen to do something that she thought might be too much for her, and skydiving was high on the list of crazy bucket list things for even more adventurous people like herself. "Hey, being a Waltfest pro is no small accomplishment, that's more than good enough," Tori promised her as their marshmallow sticks clinked together in a toast. "You know how to cook one without burning it, right? I'm sure the risk of like, melted gelatins or whatever the ingredients are wouldn't be worth how delicious it might be, so we'll be sure to keep yours a nice golden brown, if you need the help."

Karmen 's eyes widened and she laughed in surprise. "I forgot there was actually a pig in Walt!" she explained, imagining the high schooler's little pig going for a sky dive and not being able to help herself from smiling. "Weirder things have happened, though. Weirder things have definitely happened." She was glad, though, that Tori gave her credit for Waltfest - she knew it was probably small potatoes to other people, but having it validated as more than that was exactly what she'd needed. "I think so?" Karmen laughed. "Honestly, though, I've never made s'mores on a campfire before. I made one over a Bunsen burner in science class once. Maybe just show me how to do it on one and I'll learn from there," she suggested, scooting over closer to Tori to hand her her stick. "Please and thank you!"

Tori looked incredulous. "Really? You live somewhere where it seems like it would be so nice outdoors, I would have imagined bonfires and campouts all the time," Tori said with envy. "I mean, some people had fire pits in their backyards in London, but I definitely didn't get to do it as often as I would have liked. Guess we have now to make up for lost time." Smiling, Tori placed a couple of marshmallows on at one time, then held her stick forward towards the flame, hovering about four inches over the tendrils of fire. "It's going to take a while, but you're patient, you just have to check on it every once in a while, and rotate it so that you don't overcook one side." Getting comfortable as the long wait until the marshmallows were ready began, she turned to smile at Karmen across the firelight. "So what was your favorite dessert as a kid, then, if you weren't big on S'Mores?"

Karmen laughed. "I do, but I also lived in a giant castle. There wasn't much reason to go outside on the average day," she explained. "A fire pit in the backyard sounds nice though. As long as it meets the clean air regulations, anyway," she added with a smile. "A place in the kitchen meant solely for making s'mores doesn't really have the same effect, does it?" Karmen watched Tori's technique, not wanting to have to force her roommate to do it for her time and time again, determined to win on the first try. "Patience," she repeated like it was a mantra, nodding along as she observed. "Tres leches, mainly! It's like a sponge cake, or a pudding, or both," she tried, realizing she wasn't really that great at explaining foods, "but it's drenched in three different kinds of milks. That's what tres leches means, three milks, and it's heavy and sweet and addictive. Have you ever tried it? I bet it compares to the desserts in London, whatever those are."

Tori gasped. "There's always a reason to go outside, even if it's just to get your daily dose of Vitamin T," she protested, trying to appeal to Karmen's rationalities rather than focusing on her own personal reasons for enjoying it. "I feel like I'd go stir crazy so quickly if I didn't leave the house for at least like a couple of hours everyday, although I'm sure you've probably noticed," Tori chuckled, wondering if there had ever been a weekend when they'd lived together that Karmen could have caught her at home doing truly and absolutely nothing. "I'm pretty sure it's less bad for the air than grilling on a propane tank, right? Or charcoal? And people do that all the time." Tori just knew how to start fires for when she was camping, she'd never stopped to think it was hurting the environment at all to have a fire for an hour or two to cook. "Oh, I've had Tres Leches before - London has a little bit of everything, really, it's a melting pot of a lot of different cultures. The stuff that's kind of native to us is disappointing, like bread pudding and clotted cream and mince pie. I'd way rather eat the stuff that originated in other countries," she confessed as she twirled her marshmallow, squinting and noticing that the white was now slightly gold on the part that she'd just been roasting, and then she nodded her head towards Karmen to indicate that she should try the same.

Karmen wondered if Tori had meant Vitamin D or if there was another vitamin she didn't know about, but either way she had a point. "I take supplements. I've heard they aren't the same," she admitted, chuckling to herself at how hypocritical it must seem that Karmen-the-health-chick knew something better for herself and refused to do it. "I used to take walks around my grounds but then we upgraded and got a treadmill and that made staying home just so much easier. I don't know how you go in and out so often. It feels like you always have something else you can do." She wondered if she sounded as envious as she felt that Tori could seemingly endlessly entertain herself, but she liked to think she sounded admiring instead. "Oh, definitely. Much much better than propane and charcoal. There's probably more risk of a forest fire than much air contamination, and even then that's easily remedied by keeping a close eye on the flame." She clapped when she heard that Tori had tried Tres Leches. "It's good everywhere, but I haven't found any that compares to the food from my kitchen back home. I'd ask Dad to mail some but I can't imagine that keeping well." Her eyes opened wider as she listened to the foods from London, glad for the cue to twirl her marshmallow as she otherwise might have missed it. "Clotted cream. My, how unappetizing sounding. I can't say I blame you for having adventurous taste buds, goodness. Food is at least pretty easy to take chances with. Like, in Spanish cuisine, there's a dish that's basically roasted octopus and paprika. If a visiting dignitary requests it, it's rude not to eat it. Have you ever eaten octopus? Very chewy," she giggled, practically feeling her jaw get sore just from remembering. "How are you with spicy foods, I don't think I've ever asked that."

Tori felt stupid when she realized she'd actually said Vitamin T instead of Vitamin D; it was a total slip of the tongue, but Karmen seemed to ignore her mistake and proceeded as if nothing had happened. "Nope, there's nothing like getting Vitamin D firsthand, the sun does wonders for a person. Plus, being outdoors is just fun -- even if all you want to do out there is like, read or sunbathe inside of a mosquito net," Tori teased, resisting the urge to tut disapproval at the treadmill and all the things she wouldn't see by just staying inside of her house. She kept her eyes trained on the glowing fire, hoping Karmen knew that she took safety precautions to make sure fires wouldn't be starting and that this would be a perfectly safe, Karmen-approved kind of night. "No, I don't think fresh desserts would be quite so fresh when they got to Walt. Does anywhere in town serve it? Or do you know the recipe?" Tori nodded her head; she'd eaten it in Italy, maybe, or was it Korea? She couldn't remember exactly but she knew it had been somewhere on her trips with her father. "I like spicy stuff, too; I'm like, always the first person to sign up for chicken wing challenges when we're in America, and most of the time I can get the free t-shirt or whatever it is that you get for completing the heat challenge. You like them too, right? I swear I've smelled spicy foods wafting into my room before and somehow I doubt they were Ro."

Karmen smiled at the image of reading within the safety of a mosquito net - it seemed more fun than reading inside, that was for sure. She hummed in consideration at the idea of making the tres leches cake herself and nodded. "I do know the recipe but I've never tried making it myself before," she admitted. "If you and our roommates wouldn't mind me taking over the kitchen for a day I swear I'll make enough for everyone." She felt her eyes widen at the mention of spicy food contests and laughed, leaning in. "There are contests for that? No way, that's almost too easy. I love spice. I try not to go overboard as it can lead to its own array of stomach problems but spicy flavors are unmatched! Are the contests based on who can eat the spiciest or who can eat the most? Or the fastest?" She wondered. "Because I would probably lose a speed eating challenge, that sounds horribly messy."

Tori shrugged. "I definitely wouldn't mind, I probably eat way more takeout than I should so it's not like I would miss the kitchen," she laughed, sure that Karmen had picked up on most of her habits by this point. "I'd be more than happy to give it a try when you cooked it, I'll even buy like Chinese or something to bring it to eat for dinner beforehand, as a thank you for all your effort." Tori nodded her head, surprised Karmen had never seen something like that... but also, she supposed, not surprised at the exact same time. "Yeah, usually it's like, if you can eat 12 chicken wings in this super spicy flavor without needing ice cream or blue cheese in 30 minutes you get a shirt, so it's sort of timed but it's not like, a race or a crazy speed or anything."

Karmen nodded and shrugged a shoulder. "It's not exactly the busiest room in the cottage, no, but I always find it polite to ask," she smiled. "And fruitful if it means getting free Chinese food! That sounds so lovely, thank you. I can practically taste that hot and sour soup now," she sighed longingly, looking forward to cooking a tres leches even more now. The idea of people trying to eat so much spicy food to win a contest had Karmen tickled. "That's how my dad eats spicy chicken just for fun," she giggled. "Half an hour for twelve wings? It sounds super doable. I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but if we went to a wing place, we'd have matching trophy shirts, I'm sure."

Tori nodded, making a mental note that that was Karmen's order. The three of them - and now Julie, too - were all so independent that they didn't usually order in together, and Tori wondered why it had took them so long to make this kind of plan. "Doesn't it, though? I feel like I should have t-shirts from all over the country, there's got to be some kind of catch to it - I must be spoiled by all the water and french fries available or something." Tori glanced back towards the marshmallows, exclaiming, "Oh, hey, I think these are pretty much done! Unless you want yours to be even toastier," she laughed as she pulled her own back from the fire, blowing on it a little bit before starting the s'more assembly.

Karmen looked at the marshmallow and it's golden brown color and shook her head no. "It's wonderful," she laughed, taking the finished s'more with a grateful head nod. It was delicious, as anyone with taste buds would know, and she felt a little silly asking for more afterwards, but it was too good to resist. It was the perfect food to eat before bed, the sugar and the adrenaline high of the day finally catching up with her and making her tired, and thankfully when she said something about being exhausted, Tori understood. Karmen had set up their tent earlier, neatly of course, and it felt like a great ending to a great day to crawl onto comfortable sheets, feeling full of food and fun and fatigue. "Thank you for today," she said quietly, looking at her roommate with a smile as she made herself comfortable. "It was awesome."

Tori didn't know why the fact that she'd helped Karmen have a good Waltfest experience for the first time made her feel so great, but the smile on her roommate's face as they climbed into their tent and got ready for bed warmed her heart. Karmen was a good person, no matter what impression people got of her and all her rules she wanted people to live by, and she'd become one of Tori's favorite in all of Walt at this point. "You calling something awesome? Wow, must have really been great," she chuckled as she got settled in her sleeping bag, turning off her flashlight and whispering, "Night, Karmen," before letting her eyes flutter shut into what she'd assumed would be a deep sleep after such a long day. And it was - Tori didn't even stir when she rolled over in her sleep and somehow found her arms tangling around the girl next to her; she wouldn't realize that she'd even moved at all until she woke up the next morning to find herself nuzzled against Karmen, a place that she'd find herself reluctant to leave because of how comfortable it turned out to be.

#karmeninca #para #para:karmen #karmen #✦event: waltfest #para:thenightskyischangingoverhead

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darcyweselton · 7 years ago

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He Could Be The One → Victarcy

TAGGING → Darcy Weselton & Victory Westergaard

TIMELINE → Sunday, September 10

SETTING → Walt Fest

SUMMARY → Darcy and Victory check off one of life’s major milestones during Hannah Montana’s set at Walt Fest.

Darcy couldn't believe the weekend was over so soon and that school was just around the corner. Junior year... everyone kept saying it was a big one, but as long as she had Victory with her, she doubted that she'd feel any different than she had every other year. Life was just better with a best friend to be with you through everything, and she turned to him with a big grin on her face as they waited in line for the final act of Walt Fest: Hannah Montana. "I'm bored," Darcy whined as she reached out to take both his hands in hers, raising them up to waist level and leaving them hanging here. "Play the hand slap game with me while we wait for this line to move," she insisted, not even giving him time to react as she placed her hands underneath his, using lightning fast reflexes to them flip hers over to lightly slap the top of his, indicating that the game had begun.

Victory was pretty good at being alone with his thoughts for one simple reason - it never actually felt like he was alone. He'd always been afraid of the quiet until he met Darcy Weselton, and since then it was like she was always in his head, even if they were both quiet and standing in line, for example, like they were right now. Victory got pretty impatient in lines, but like most other things, it was okay as long as he was with Darcy. He could almost feel the thought "I'm bored" move from her head out of her mouth in real time. "I'm not," he smiled back, his hands in the slap game position almost without his even noticing it. "But fiiiiiine." He drew the word out, mocking her whining, though he stopped flat when she landed the first strike. "Damn it," he muttered, looking up and into her eyes and trying to find the exact right moment to flip and slap - and missing entirely. "There's got to be something you aren't amazing at," he sighed, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile as he tried again.

Darcy quirked an eyebrow at Victory's comment; she loved being showered in attention, but praise from someone who knew her better than anyone was always her favorite because she knew it was real. "Well, sounds like we need to try something new tonight, then, and continue our search for something I'm bad at... but I mean, it's Walt Fest, we're probably just going to find something else we're awesome at." Using his moment of distraction to her advantage, tickling the palms of his hands from underneath for a second, then, like a flash she slapped his hands again. "Hopefully this line won't move until you get one in on me, you're not allowed to be grumpy during Hannah Montana!"

Victory shook his head at Darcy, amused. "Please. We could do everything in the world tonight and I'm pretty sure we'd just find more things you kick ass at." He felt the need to add something sarcastic or cutting after the compliment burst forth, to keep from sounding like he was just blowing smoke up her ass, but he was distracted again by the game and by another point against him. "You kidding? We're not gonna stop playing till I win, Hannah or no Hannah." He focused again on their hands, taking his time, trying to build the suspense. The idea to do something to distract her and win a point crossed his mind - for a brief second, he imagined leaning in as though he was going to kiss her and taking the moment to seize victory, but in the same instant he imagined it, he discredited the idea. Darcy wasn't going to be distracted by that, and besides, it was way too close to what his dad had done to Anna of Arendelle, as far as the stories went. More glad than ever that she couldn't actually read his mind, Victory took a breath and tried the hand thing again, managing to hit one of her hands while the other escaped, and at that second he thought he felt the line move. "Damn it, one more time."

Darcy pretended to gasp at his statement. "You'd skip Hannah Montana for a game that we play almost everytime I'm bored? Unless you're planning on deleting boredom from my life from this moment on, you better check that plan again!" Darcy giggled as her hands managed to outpace his through the air, though; he slapped one gently but the other eluded him, and she stuck her tongue out triumphantly, enjoying the rush of victory even against her best friend. "Okay, fine, you just keep going, though, I don't need any more turns, I already know I'm awesome, you're the one who needs extra," she taunted, holding her hands out and leaving them limp instead of alert, ready to let him hit them on purpose so that once he'd gotten his half a second of triumph, she could just grab his hands and start pulling him into the concert instead.

Victory rolled his eyes. "I'd skip Hannah for free. Beating you would just be a perk." He was mainly joking, Hannah Montana was one of the acts he was actually kind of excited to see tonight, not that he'd go blabbing about it to anyone but his best friend. His tongue stuck out almost immediately on reflex, and he vaugely wondered in the back of his mind how many times they'd taunted each other like this before. It was one of the few things in the world he'd never get tired of, that much he knew; every time felt just as fun as the first time, and the only way it got better was when he won. In his mind, his hands flashed at the speed of light to come down lightly on hers, and he was ready to claim ultimate victor rights for life, but then her hands closed around his and he knew she'd let him as she dragged him forward. "This isn't over, Weselton," he insisted, though he was completely fine letting her take control as they moved to settle in for a musical set of one of their faves. "In fact, rematch - Predictions. Which song do you think she'll sing first? Right answer gets bragging rights for life."

Darcy narrowed her eyes at Victory in a stink eye that she was sure he was well-versed in, then quickly burst into a fit of giggles. "Whatever you say, Fanboy," she called him out on his bluff, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation as it drew closer to time for Hannah's set to start. "It's never over with us, Westergaard," Darcy reminded him as he let her take his hands, weaving her fingers between his to make sure that she didn't lose him in the crowd. He was a bigger target, easier to get caught up in a crowd anyway, and he wasn't nearly as quick and sneaky as she could be, but that was okay; Darcy always kept Victory right beside her and would never let him get lost. "In fact, if you ever try to end our friendship, I'll kick your ass, just warning you," Darcy pointed out as they finally made it into the performance area and she dropped his hands to stand by his side instead. She bumped his hip with hers, saying, "That's stupid, you shouldn't have let me pick first, you and I both know it's going to be 'Best of Both Worlds' but I got to claim it as my answer, sucks to be you."

Victory held her hands tighter as the crowd got thicker, not wanting to be separated. Hannah Montana might be one of the best acts he could imagine watching, but watching it without Darcy would be pointless. Who would he laugh with or make comb his hand with her fingers while he pretended not to mouth the words to 'If We Were a Movie'? He actually lost sight of her small blonde head a few times in the crowd, but as long as his hands were in hers, he was fine, they were fine. They got to the performance area and he shoved his hands in his pockets as soon as they were empty again. "You can't kick what you can't reach," he fired back, getting on his tip toes to make her look extra short besides him. He returned her hip bump and reached his hands up to his hair, pulling out his man bun and letting the hair flow. He ran a hand through it and laughed. "I know no such thing. I'm, like, a billion percent sure she's gonna start with Nobody's Perfect and you're going to look like a total Wesel-loser." He reached over for a moment and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze so that she knew he was kidding in case she didn't pick up on that, their little bets easy to put on the backburner as Hannah's band started warming up.

Darcy huffed indignantly, asking, "What do you think all my hurdles training has been leading to? I don't actually care about winning ribbons on the track team, I care about being able to jump-kick your butt at the perfect angle on the perfect occasion." Darcy jumped up into the air just enough to ruffle his hair affectionately; even though he'd known her long enough to know her insults were all in good fun, she still liked to remind him that her 'harsh' words were never serious, not where he was concerned. "Pffft, Nobody's Perfect? That's way more likely to be an encore song! Although come to think of it, if she's going to go with anything unexpected, I'm pretty sure she's done Rock Star as an opener before... damn, that's a good one, now I want that to be first, I've heard Best of Both Worlds enough." Losing her cool at the sound of the band starting, she reached out and squeezed Victory's wrist to keep from flailing. "We're really seeing Hannah Montana, oh my God, I can't believe this, this is so awesome! And we're so close to the stage, if you lift me up and start me body surfing, I could even end up there with her -- how long do you think it would take her to kick me off?" she asked, her voice dropping as the lights started to, and the concert neared its beginning.

Victory burst out laughing at the idea of Darcy run-hurdle-jumping at him. He didn't burst out laughing often but when he did, it was always because of Darcy. Damn Darcy. "Have I told you lately that you're crazy?" was all he could laugh in reply to her, his smile growing at the feel of her hand on his hair. He felt the urge to sit down besides her so she could play with it as the music went on, but he had to stay on his feet, had to rock out to Hannah the way that Hannah deserved. They could do that any day, but there was only going to be one Hannah Montana show, and it was right here, right now. He let out a breath as he remembered that Rock Star existed, nodding along with Darcy. "It's one of the best ones, she's gotta," he hoped, looking down to see Darcy's fingers close around his wrist. He was just as excited as she was, his insides feeling like a soda bottle that'd be shaken like crazy. "Well, that's one way to make tonight a night you'll never forget. Hannah seems like she'd be a good kicker, though. Try to keep her from getting rid of you for like fifteen seconds at least, that'll gimme time to get up to the stage and catch you," he joked, though he kinda hoped Darcy did it. The drums kicked in, though, and he forgot what he was saying as "It's All Right Here" began, and by the time the guitar kicked in he was already bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Darcy rolled her eyes fondly at him. "Only every other day, thanks," Darcy told him, her mind whirling as she evaluated the pros and cons or trying to end up on Hannah's stage... but in the end, she shook her head, admitting a rare defeat. "I've been waiting too long to get to see her live, I don't want to kick out," Darcy admitted seriously, although any worries about things she could do wrong or winning bets flew out the window as the opening chords to "It's All Right Here" played and Darcy let out a shriek of excitement, already waving her hands in the air and belting the lyrics that she knew by heart. With every song, her excitement only rose: as she turned to Victory and winked during 'If We Were a Movie', knowing how often they did the karaoke version at home together; as she jumped on Victory's back to get a better look at the stage when she slowed things down for more emotional ballads like 'Don't Wanna Be Torn' and 'Ordinary Girl', as she shook and shimmied and followed every single command Hannah chanted out during the Ice Cream Freeze. It was one of the most exciting things that had happened in her whole life, seeing one of her idols live, and beside her, she could tell Victory was having nearly as much fun. "She must be getting close to the encore," Darcy pouted, leaning into Victory and wrapping her arms around his middle for support. "I don't ever want this night to end, though."

Victory had known Darcy since he was a kid, and though they often got hype about random things just for fun, he didn't think he'd ever seen her this excited. It was effervescent and high energy and still totally Darcy, and totally endearing. He nodded along to the song as it went on, changing his tempo as the setlist flew by, and even singing along to "If We Were a Movie" which was even more fun along with Hannah than it was karaoke style, though if anyone but Darcy asked he'd swear up and down it was just lip-synching. It was dorky to fall into the waving a phone in the air while slow songs played, he knew, but it didn't matter, not really, not today. In fact, it was hard not to smile. Really hard. If Hannah killing it in the same space as them wasn't enough, seeing Darcy like this definitely was. He hugged his best friend around her shoulders leaned into him, letting out a sigh. "I think this might be the best night ever," he admitted in a low voice as the opening chords to "He Could Be the One" kicked in. Knowing they were getting towards the end, he decided to sing along for the last few songs, turning to Darcy after the first lines and winking.

Darcy was always energetic, but tonight was something truly extraordinary for her. Almost all of her favorite songs had played already, though, and Darcy could feel the night slipping away from her without anything else truly epic happening on top of the concert. This was a night Darcy wanted to remember forever - the way Hannah sounded live, the way Victory kept smiling at her like he was having almost as fun as she was, the way she felt like she could dance all night long without her body aching even just a little bit thanks to the adrenaline. She wanted to soak it all in, and as she shouted 'He Could Be The One' at the top of her lungs and saw Victory winking from beside her, an impulsive thought grabbed hold of her brain and told Darcy what she should do. "Hey, you know how we said we need to find something new to try tonight? Something I'll obviously be more awesome at than you?" Darcy asked, feeling surprisingly calm about what she wanted to do next even though most girls would be freaking out, overthinking, worrying about the future of their friendship afterwards... She didn't wait for Victory to answer her question, though; she let the words of the song flow through her as she stopped her singalong and instead pushed herself up onto tiptoes, confidently pressing her lips to Victory's for the first time in her life.

Victory found that, with the mix of his heart pounding in his ears and one of his favorite Hannah songs building in the background, he could barely hear Darcy as she spoke this time around. He leaned down just a little bit to try to make her out better, and once he caught the end, he understood the sentiment, but before he could answer the question or even acknowledge it, Darcy's lips were on his, and he swore the entire rest of the festival went dead quiet. He kissed back without hesitation, without questions, bringing his hands up to cup the sides of her face. It probably should've been weird, introducing kissing to their friendship when it wasn't something they'd ever done before, but it wasn't, not even a little bit. In fact, it kind of made everything make sense. He could feel his entire life coming together, and it felt like Darcy, all Darcy, right there in front of him taking up his air and his heart. He pulled back to catch his breath and wondered if he should say something but decided to go back in for seconds, hearing the music again now as it hit a crescendo.

Darcy had heard that first kisses could be awkward, or weird, or uncomfortable -- or even slobbery! But it turned out that hers wasn't any of those things. Darcy's was her just deciding that she was old enough now to turn to the boy she'd declared was going to marry her someday way back when they were five and kiss him, and then feeling an impossible surge of adrenaline, even when she'd thought she was already riding the highest of highs from the concert. She smiled against Victory's lips, amused by how eagerly he kissed back, like he'd just been waiting for the day that Darcy decided to go for it, and she was glad she had -- they'd always just fit, and she, at least, had always been sure this was a step they'd get to someday. "Now this is really the best night ever," Darcy laughed, letting Victory lean in for another kiss, but stopping it much shorter than the first had been. If she kept kissing him now, they'd get bored with it, or worse, they'd miss the rest of the concert, so instead she pressed one finger to his chest, teasing, "Trying it again isn't going to make you more awesome at it than I am, sorry, you like, predicted a self-fulfilling prophecy right at the start of the night, who are we to mess with fate?" she asked, sticking her tongue out at him to avoid the stupid smile that threatened to spread across her face when she realized there was more than one meaning to her words.

Victory could feel her smile against his mouth, and that was the best part, wasn't it? Darcy's smile. She smiled when she was being sweet, when she was being tough, and it had always kind of felt like her smile was enough for the both of them. He found her little ten-years-ago prophecy ringing in his ears, that he was going to marry her someday, and let the thought wash over him. It'd be cool with him. He let out a dopey smile at her teasing, sticking a tongue back out at her before his wits came back about him. "Finally," he gasped, acting like he was about to make a declaration of love. "Finally... I found something I'm better at than you. You can try to deny it but we both know it's true. It's written." His ears felt warm at the mention of the word fate but he didn't feel like being mushy right now. That wasn't really them. What was them, though, was rocking out to Hannah Montana, and so he grabbed Darcy's hand and spun her in a circle as Hannah reached the chorus.

Darcy wasn't hanging onto Victory's every word or waiting nervously for him to tell her that she was a good kisser, or that he liked her, or any of those things. She just knew, she'd just always known with Victory, even if she'd never been in a hurry to do anything about it before. Everything with them just fell into place when it was supposed to, it always had been that way, ever since they were little kids spending summers running around terrorizing the Southern Isles on her dad's trading trips. "Uh huh, keep dreaming, you can brag all you want, it doesn't mean I'm going to kiss you again now," Darcy laughed, seeing right through Victory's ploy. It may have been their first kiss, and it may have been electric and exciting and perfectly comfortable and right all at the same time, and it certainly wouldn't be their last, of that Darcy was sure... but right now, Hannah Montana only had her encore left, and Darcy spun with Victory, shrieking at the top of her lungs all over again when the music to 'Best of Both Worlds' started playing. "Wow, we totally guessed this one wrong, guess Hannah's just going to have to come back for a repeat next year! We'll do better then," she told him with a wink before she was singing at the top of her lungs again, dancing happily beside her best friend as if nothing had changed between them at all.

#✦event: waltfest #para #para:victory #victory #victorywestergaard

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