#para:karmen

[margovasilovich]

TOTALLY SPIES → KARGO

TAGGING → Margo Vasilovich & Karmen Inka (@karmeninka)

TIMELINE → Mid-January 2020

SETTING → A bookstore in Auradon City

SUMMARY → Margo and Karmen let curiosity get the best of them and decide to spy on Carter and Hadie’s first date.

This was maybe the dumbest thing they'd ever done, but Margo didn't care. She'd dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, black boots, a black scarf, and dark sunglasses nearly an hour before she was supposed to meet Karmen, and she'd camped out in the back corner of the bookstore, in a spot with as much visibility as it had cover. By the time Karmen arrived, there was still thirty minutes or so until Carter and Hadie were supposed to get here on their stupid date, and she couldn't take the waiting anymore. It was driving her completely mad! She wouldn't second guess herself, though, or leave. She'd put too much thought and planning into this, and she had to see it through. It was going to kill her, seeing Hadie enjoying himself with someone else, but she just... had to see it for herself.  

"They might end up having an awful time, right?" Margo whispered to Karmen quietly as the seconds ticked closer to date time. It was selfish to hope it, but a part of her still did, more than anything. She had just turned towards her best friend to see if her face would tell a different story than her words when the bell at the front of the store chimed open, and her head snapped to attention. "Crap, they're here!" she hissed, ducking her head down behind a shelf so that they wouldn't blow their cover the second the boys walked in.

[djcygnet]

new year, new betrothal 💍 karj

The countdown to midnight would begin shortly, and DJ should have known better than to think that a new year would ring in without any unforeseen complications happening. It had been naive of him to think this ball was just a ball, just something Uberta organized for fun or even out of some small shred of goodness in her heart. As she walked to center stage with just minutes until midnight, Emperor Kuzco of all people by her side and champagne flutes in toast, he felt a pit form in his stomach, and DJ was almost certain he could guess what came next.

He’d been in this situation before, after all, only it had been Cinderella and her King at Uberta’s side, and DJ squeezed his eyes together tightly, wishing for just a second that he was seeing things and that this wasn’t really happening. That was selfish, though; he’d known the expectations for him since he was a kid and his grandmother had harped on and on about how successful his parents’ betrothal had turned out. He’d known that he could never really follow his heart, because he had a duty to uphold and some princess somewhere to eventually marry ‘for the good of the kingdom.’

DJ wondered, though, if Karmen could tell exactly what was about to happen, too, or if the poor girl was in for a nasty shock. As Uberta clinked her glass and drew all the attention in the room to her, he started pushing through the crowd, in search of the younger girl who he liked well enough, but whose biggest flaw was that she just wasn’t Aimee.

No one was Aimee.

He sidled up to her just as Uberta’s announcement began. “The Emperor and I are so pleased to announce to you all the betrothal of my grandson, Derek Cygnet Jr., and...” Words went fuzzy as Uberta continued talking, rattling off Karmen’s many middle names before letting Kuzco say a few words about his daughter and the union between their two fiefdoms. He wished he’d gotten some damn warning. He wished he didn’t have to make himself numb and force a smile because they’d caught him off guard.

And worse, he wished they hadn’t dragged poor Karmen into all of this without talking to her about it first. Gods only knew how she must be feeling right now. 

“So uh... congratulations, I guess you’re stuck with me,” he muttered under his breath to Karmen, keeping a smile on his face as all eyes turned towards them. He leaned towards the girl to hug her briefly, whispering into her ear, “I’m really sorry they did this,” as applause overtook the room. 

@karmeninka​

[toridarling]

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.