Victor Nilsson

Counselor | Sound Tecnician

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

“Thanks so much!” he beamed before clapping in front of his face. “Okay, so the move itself is really simple, but it’s the speed I’m a little worried about. So, it’s just a chene step clap chene step clap, but it’s pretty fast. Watch.” He walked up to his phone, went to the appropriate part of “The Nicest Kids in Town”, then stepped back and waited for the appropriate time in the music, then spun quickly to the left, then to the right, clapping on the appropriate beat. He paused the music and looked at Victor, fixing his bangs out of his face. “What do you think? Possible?”

Victor tried to follow along with the verbal instructions. Well, he knew how to step. And he knew how to clap. That was a start, at least.

Yet again, he found himself thinking about how good Mark look when he danced. Focus, Victor. Cute guy is here to work. You are too.

It was partly because he had been momentarily distracted, and partly because the moves would’ve been hard for him to follow at that speed anyway, but Mark had lost him.

“Uh, maybe if it was about half as fast,” he replied dryly “Maybe not full-speed at first? For the sake of the non-dancer over here. Wouldn’t want it to seem like you were showing off, now.”

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

“Perfect!” he exclaimed, taking Victor’s hand and leading him closer to the mirrors. “I’m going to try to teach you this move so I can see if even the least experienced kids can learn it and do it up to speed.”

“Hold on. What? Like...me, dancing?”

Trying to stay composed after Mark grabbed his hand was one thing. When Mark said ‘teach you this move’, what Victor heard was ‘guaranteed to end in embarrassment’.

There was a part of him that wondered if he should’ve lied and said he wasn’t free when Mark had initially asked him to come. But he dismissed the thought. There was no point in trying to kid himself. It wasn’t as if he would’ve said no. Besides, it was for work.

“Um...I guess I could try.”

Shit! Why did I say that? I don’t know how to dance!

“...But if I end up walking all over your toes, remember this was your idea.”

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Viclie

Allie: Naaaaah! I'm going to make you laugh over text someday and Then you will realize! 🥳

Victor: Right. Sure you will. I'm sure I'll be bowing in awe to your comedic genius in no time.

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

“Hey! Mark greeted, then sighed. “Thank god you’re here, I need your help with a dance thing.” He got up from his splits on the floor and walked over to him. “How much dance experience do you have?”

“...a dance thing?” Victor echoed. Even without specifics, it already sounded like something that was going to be out of his element.

“Uh, not much,” he answered, rubbing the back of his head. “...I’m not really a performer. Why?”

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: VAJAY

Ajay: It's these Gen Zs, man.

Ajay: I know technically we are them, but I've never felt more like a milennial (which I thought I was for most of my life) than I do when I'm around their weird random nihilistic humor.

Victor: Oh no, fuck that, if this is what Gen Z kids are like, I'm definitely a millennial.

Victor: Then again, I've known people my age who act just as bad, or worse.

[victor-the-grouch]

@mark-marking

Victor wasn’t sure why he was being summoned to the dance room. He could only assume it had something to do with the sound system, but he had to wonder what problem was confusing enough to actually need his expertise.

He stepped into the room and gave his roommate a wave. “Hey.” He cleared his throat. “What did you need me for, exactly?”

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Viclie

Allie: Scuse you, the joke was definitely good. Perhaps... it's you and not me that made it not translate well?

Victor: Agree to disagree.

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Viclie

Allie: I know whyyyyy they didn't have forks, bro. There's brains under the blonde, tyvm! Should I have said "at least they didn't have pool noodles" instead to make the joke clear 🤔

Victor: Even if the joke had been good, humor doesn't always translate well over text.

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Open

Allie: Ikr! Bummer, I was totally hoping there was some forbidden camp kidnapping tea.

Allie: You know what theater kids are like, don't you? Just assume the worst and be prepared lol. Also at least it was just spoons and not forks, those are pointy!

Victor: I know all too well.

Victor: I'm pretty sure they couldn't use forks. I think the point was to learn the choreography/motions with an object that isn't actually going to hurt someone.

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Open

Alpha: You applied for this job, right? Riley isn't secretly blackmailing you or holding you hostage, correct? Then I think this became your life when you got into sound tech and then applied to work at a summer camp for teens 😊

Victor: Hilarious. No, I did, in fact, apply. I have no one to blame but myself for ending up in this situation.

Victor: In my defense, the brochure mentioned nothing about spoon fighting.

[victor-the-grouch]

Text: Open

Victor: Who thought it was a good idea to let the kids keep the spoons after the fight choreography workshop??

Victor: I was just bombarded by a group of teenagers yelling "SPOONS" and pretending to stab me with plasticware. How did this become my life?

[victor-the-grouch]

TEXT | HSM CAST & CREW

Calvin: hmmmm plead your case! Why not?

Victor: The music is already going to be inescapable this summer. Frankly, I don't see the point in subjecting myself to it more than is necessary.

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

“Yes!” Mark celebrated before laughing. “I stayed silent longer than the introvert! I should get a trophy!” He shook his head, unplugging his laptop to bring it over to Victor. “Good thing, too ,because I found you in a post.” He sat at the edge of the bed, handing the other man the laptop with the meme Mark had wanted to laugh at in the silence.

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s weird and unnatural when you’re quiet,” Victor said in an attempt to defend himself. His arms were crossed.

Even so, he appeared a bit less defensive when he read the meme. He couldn’t even be angry with the comparison because of just how true it was.. “Yeah, that’s pretty fucking accurate,” he said before handing Mark his laptop back.

[victor-the-grouch]

TEXT | HSM CAST & CREW

Calvin: Hey, cast! Hope your weekend was awesome. Can't wait to see you all for blocking tomorrow! This Friday camp is having a movie night, and I'm pushing for a High School Musical triple feature. What do you guys say? :D

Victor: Please no.

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

Mark definitely smirked a bit every time he caught Victor looking at him expectantly. He was really hoping Victor would be the first to speak, since Mark had just logged into his instagram and there was a funny theatre meme that he wanted to share, but he was too stubborn to say anything until he felt like he was going to explode.

More time passed, and Victor still hadn’t heard a single word from his roommate. It was unusual. Silence was one thing, but this was unnatural, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take. He kept waiting, until he couldn’t handle it anymore. He had no choice but to resign himself to defeat.

“Okay, for the love of God, please say something. This is getting creepy.”

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

Mark had to admit he was tempted to hum along to the song that came on, but he kept control of himself. He did find himself nodding his head to the beat, but that didn’t count; he was still making no noise.

He responded to an email from his mom before trying to subtly peek over at how Victor was doing, interacting (or more accurately not interacting) with a silent Mark.

Victor had absolutely no problem spending time in silence. He practically thrived on it. This was no problem for him. 

He noticed Mark nodding his head, and he half expected it to turn into full-on dancing. He supposed that would still count as “doing our own thing,” and dancing was technically silent.

He kept waiting for his roommate to say something. Probably enthusiastically, maybe some comment about whatever he was looking at. But he found himself yet to have his expectations met.

[victor-the-grouch]

mark-marking‌:

Mark arched an eyebrow, tilting his head at the challenge. He slowly got up from Victor’s bed and walked to his own, getting out his laptop and plugging his earbuds into it. He only put one in, though, wanting to be sure he could hear when Victor inevitably admitted Mark could be silent for as long as he wanted. He pressed play on his playlist and started checking his email.

Victor raised his eyebrows. He was expecting at least some resistance to the challenge. He’d be surprised if Mark actually succeeded. Either way, he was interested to see how it would play out. 

A smirk pulled at his lips while he started his playlist on his ipod. He made sure his headphones were tilted so an ear was still free to listen. He wasn’t going to miss it if Mark blew it.