Disclaimer: I don't own the copyrights to the shows iCarly and Victorious, Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon do. I just used the characters for my own enjoyment... And I really do enjoy writing about the gang and their antics.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 4

Dinner and Entertainment

Xxxxxx

"Freddie?!"

The technical producer for the web show iCarly genially smiled as he replied, "Hi Cat. Hey Tori..." One eyebrow raised slightly as he smirked and slyly joked, "...Or are you Shelby Marx?"

Tori Vega immediately shot her arms akimbo while angrily glaring at the guy and loudly retorted, "I don't look anything like her!"

"Who's Shelby Marx?" Cat begged in confusion, feeling a little left out of the conversation since the focus now seemed to be between Tori and Freddie.

Samantha 'Sam' Puckett looked between the two brunettes facing off, seemingly in a staring contest as neither of the two were going to give ground (Freddie with his question and Tori with her denial) and laughingly answered, "Shelby's the CFC champ who fought Carly a few years ago in a charity match up in Seattle. And I gotta say she and Tori look like they could be twins to me."

"I do not look anything like Shelby Marx," Tori vehemently denied again.

"I'm afraid you do," Paul chuckled, hoping to end the argument. He was relieved that Tori was focusing on the dispute and not on being naked like when she first saw Freddie. He wanted to take his cargo shorts off but was waiting until they were all comfortable with being sans clothing. "I can pull up a few pics of Shelby on my computer and we can compare them to you... later. But first why don't you and Cat show Carly, Sam and Freddie around and get them settled in upstairs while I finish getting dinner ready?"

"Sure," Cat readily agreed with a giggle and quickly grabbed Carly by the wrist to drag her further into the house. "You gotta see this place. The toilets don't have any water in 'em!"

"No water in the toilets?" Carly laughed along as she allowed the exuberant redhead to rapidly pull her down the hallway toward the downstairs bathroom. Tori and Sam followed, thoroughly enjoying the magenta-red haired girl's exuberance.

Freddie picked up the bags, turned to their host and queried, "Composting toilets?"

Paul Bowman nodded with a smile as he answered, "It was the only way to go if I didn't want to be disturbed by a septic truck every month. It's bad enough having to quickly get dressed when the propane truck delivers without any notice."

"What about the gray water?" Freddie queried, wondering about the dirty water that went down the drain in the showers and sinks and such.

Paul beamed a smile at the technically minded teen. "That's stored in a tank in the garage. When it gets full, I simply drain the tank into the irrigation canal and let the gray water seep into the ground where it's filtered back into the area's natural water table." He turned to make his way to the kitchen and said over his shoulder, "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, but take you time."

Xxxxxx

After Cat demonstrated how to use the composting toilet, Tori took over the tour and led everyone out to view the pool area before leading the four teens up the stair to choose a bedroom. Carly and Freddie opted to stay in the same room while Sam chose the one next to Cat's bedroom. The three recently arrived teens promptly stripped out of their clothes before heading downstairs with the two singers.

As the five teens made their way down the stairs, Tori questioned the iCarly trio, "How come you all got naked right away? Don't you feel the least bit freaked out about it?"

Carly spoke up for the newcomers. "I learned all about the Nudist lifestyle when I went to live with my dad in Italy almost two years ago. Europe is much more relax about nudity and I guess I kinda fell in love with it while I was there for my senior year of high school. When I graduated, I realized I really missed Sam and Freddie... Well Freddie more so, that's why we're a couple now. Anyway, I flew back home to Seattle and introduced Spencer, Sam and Freddie to my new lifestyle. Now we don't get dressed unless we leave the apartment or are doing the web show."

Sam quickly joked, "Or if Spencer is using a chainsaw or blowtorch or something wicked-bad on one of his sculptures."

Cat curiously begged, "And you're all okay with it?"

Sam chuckled as she answered, "It was kinda weird at first, but the only real obstacle was Freddie's mom."

Freddie took over the story as he continued, "Mom wasn't too thrilled about me being naked around two girls and another guy, but after I did a little research on the web and was able to show her a few scientific studies on the health benefits of being naked, she finally came around."

Cat queried the brown-eyed boy with an embarrassed giggle, "So does that mean your mom gets naked too?"

"Only when she's asleep at night in her own bedroom," Freddie said with a slow, disgusted shake of his head at the thought of his mother, Marissa Benson, naked in her bedroom. "And she insists we all wear a bath robe or at least something to cover our private parts whenever we're over at my place to prevent our teenage hormones from going out of whack."

"So we all practically live with Spenser and never go into Freddie's apartment unless it's absolutely necessary," Carly laughed before she turned to the taller of the two singers. "But you seem to be handling the nudity well enough."

Tori genially laughed and she answered as the five young adults made their way into the dining room, "Well, I did kinda freak when I found out about the house rule. But it's like when I filled in for my sister Trina in the Big Showcase. After singing a few stanzas I became comfortable with the situation, and now I'm getting comfortable without any clothes on."

Their host, Paul, was standing at the head of the table still wearing his tan cargo shorts. He spread out is arms in welcome and said, "Please sit down. Dinner is ready."

The teens all took a seat, the iCarly gang sitting on one side of the table while Cat and Tori sat opposite them. Cat noticed that there was a big bath towel folded in half and laid across the seat of her chair, so she asked, "What's with the towel?"

"It's just a precaution," Paul answered as he scooped some of the dirty rice onto his plate, then passed the serving dish on to Carly who was sitting to his right. "It was a general rule at Elysium Fields to prevent the spread of any... well... bodily fluids from the previous person sitting on a chair and I just kept up the practice. I know you're not worried about that with your friends but it also makes the chair a bit more comfortable."

"Oh, 'kay-'kay," the redhead said without a second thought as she sat down and wiggled her butt a bit to get comfortable in her seat. She looked across the table at the three iCarlys and innocently asked, "You're not gonna make us start Random Dancing while you're here? Are you?"

Carly, Freddie and Sam were confused by Cat's random question about Random Dancing, a regular segment on their show. Carly questioned, "What do you mean, Cat?"

The petite redhead giggled as she said, "Random Dancing. You do it on your show all the time so it's not very random. Plus, the music is almost always the same so it's not random. And Sam," she pointed over to the blonde girl sitting near the foot of the table opposite her, "always starts it by pushing a button on that blue remote thingy she always has in her hand during the show. Because of all that, it's not very random. It's almost like you plan to do it."

Tori spoke up from next to Cat. "I was wondering about that too. Sam ended the show when the First Lady, Mrs. Obama, was on and it looked like she was the only one who didn't know you were going to do it. So why is it called Random Dancing?"

"Cat has a point," Paul agreed from the head of the table with a sly smile. He was pleased that the five teens were chatting like nothing special was going on while they were all sitting there without any clothes on. He had overheard most of the conversation between Tori and the iCarlys as they were coming down the stairs and was pleased that there wouldn't be any problems with Carly, Freddie and Sam following his house rule. (And Cat and Tori were becoming accustomed to it, too.)

Carly smiled across the table at the redheaded girl and stated, "You're right. It is planned and not very random. But we call it Random Dancing because we don't have dance steps planned out for the music. We just randomly hop around."

Cat still looked confused as she queried, "But isn't that what people do anyway when they go out to a dance club? I mean, it's not like it's country line dancing with planned out moves or anything."

The three iCarlys thought about it for a few seconds before Sam laughed out, "You got us, Cat. I guess we're gonna have to change the name."

"Oh, 'kay-'kay," Cat casually said, satisfied with the answer.

"Now that that is out of the way," Paul said as he stood up, ladled a couple of spoonfuls of Etouffe onto his rice then carried the big pot over to Carly so she could scoop some of the Cajun style dish onto her plate, "this might be a bit spicy for some of you but that's the way I learned how to make it."

"What's it called?" Freddie asked as he spooned some of the thick stew onto his plate of rice.

Tori quickly cut in and said, "It's called Etouffe. It's a Cajun dish usually made with Andouille sausage, different colored bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, onions and shrimp."

"And a lot of different, hot spices," Paul added to the singers description as he allowed Sam access to the pot. "It's like a gumbo, only spicier."

"And we picked up the shrimp from the airport today," Cat happily added as Paul brought the pot of Etouffe over to her side of the table. "Paul has a friend in Florida ship 'em up here once a month."

"Oh, Mamma likes," Sam enthused after shoveling a forkful into her mouth and savored the flavors. "But it'd be a lot better if you added some cubed up ham to it."

Paul and Tori peered in shock at the blond teen as if she'd lost her mind. Carly noticed the aghast expression and nonchalantly said, "Don't mind Sam. She thinks a meal isn't complete unless it has some kinda ham or fried chicken in it."

"And I'm usually right," Sam swiftly shot back before quickly taking another heaping forkful into her mouth.

Paul sat down after Tori served herself and quickly said, "Now, don't be shy in asking for seconds or thirds. There's plenty to go around."

"Ummm," Tori groaned in pleasure after taking a bite. "This is soooo much better than when I had it the first time."

The other teens echoed the brunette singer's praise of the dish before the table went silent, except for the constant clatter of utensils on plates and Cat's sudden out of left field, totally random question, "If all the world's a stage and we are merely actors, where does the audience sit? On the moon?" Paul was kind enough to explain to the young redheaded singer that the Shakespeare quote was only a metaphor for the everyday drama that happens in everyone's life.

As Tori was starting on her second (smaller) helping she mentioned to the brunette girl opposite her, "I see you started doing iCarly again after returning from Italy and that you and Freddie are attending the University of Washington, now. I thought the show had permanently ended after you left for Italy a coupla years ago."

Carly finished chewing, wiped her mouth with her napkin and replied, "We weren't going to start the show back up but all our fans put up such a fuss when they heard I was back in Seattle, so we decided to start doing the show again and keep it up for as long as we could. Luckily the university is allowing us to live at home and commute to the Seattle campus, so we didn't have to move the show to one of the dorms. We were also able to start pulling in some major bucks, thanks to Freddie."

"What did you do, Freddie?" the young red velvet cupcake-hue haired girl curiously begged.

"Well," the tech producer slash college student sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment from being put in the spotlight, "because Gibby got us a ton of national exposure on the Jimmy Fallon Show a few years ago..."

Everyone at the table except Freddie and Cat loudly groaned at the lame pun, remembering when the forth iCarly member accidentally 'dropped his drawers' on the national late night talk show and wasn't wearing any underwear. Freddie didn't groan because he'd said it and Cat merely giggled in embarrassment at the thought.

"...Yeah-yeah," Freddie waived off the displeasure from his joke. "Anyway, because of the publicity, a lot of big named companies wanted to start advertising on our website; And I'm talking some major bucks; Even bigger than the settlement we received from Daka Shoes."

"Enough money," Carly continued the explanation, "that we're able to pay for all our college costs, including Sam's, and Freddie even franchised a Groovy Smoothie shop near campus."

Sam put her fork down long enough to add, "And that's pulling down enough Claude for everyone so that T-Bo could even buy a condo and move out of Freddie's apartment."

Everyone at the table enjoyed a laugh at the good fortune. As the jocularity subsided, Cat suddenly perked up and asked, "Oh! Who's T-Bo?"

Xxxxxx

When the meal was over, everyone helped clear the table and do the dishes. Well, except for Sam who was still eating directly out of the large pot of Etouffe. But she eventually had to give it up so the rest could be stored in the refrigerator and the pot washed.

Afterward, they decided to head out to the pool area for some karaoke. Paul had a great sound system set up out in the cabana and all four girls enjoyed their naked songfest while Freddie played DJ. (After a very brief tutorial from their host. Freddie, being the tech savvy person he is picked it up right away.)

What immediately struck Tori as she stepped out onto the dark patio area before the lights were turned on were the vast number of stars she could see in the night sky. There seemed to be billions of them. She stopped short as she gazed up at the sight and uttered a soft, "Whoa."

Paul stopped beside her, gently draped an arm around her shoulder, motioned up to the heavens and hushed, "Magnificent, isn't it?"

"I never realized there were so many stars in the sky at night."

Paul lightly chuckled and said, "No, you don't get to see any of the celestial stars at night in a big city. That's Orion's belt..." he pointed out the three bright stars in a slight arc before he turned her a bit and pointed out another two constellations in the sky, "...and over there is the Big Dipper and Little Dipper."

Cat had stopped next to the two and gasped, "It looks just like two pots that are facing each other; Like the little one is dumping whatever's in it into the bigger one."

"That's true," Paul whispered. "And the end star of the littler one's handle is called Polaris, the North Star. If you can find that star you'll always know which way is north."

"That's good to know if I'm ever lost," Tori laughed. For some reason, she didn't feel uncomfortable with Paul's arm around her bare shoulders. The intimacy felt natural, like it was almost meant to be.

Unfortunately she was brought out of her thoughts when Cat replied, "But if you're lost, can't you get directions from a gas station or a policeman?"

"Anyway," Paul said as he took his arm from around Tori's shoulder then turned the patio lights on, "that's another reason why I moved out here; To be able to see the stars in the sky at night."

Paul disappeared into the house while Cat was singing but reemerged a few minutes later with computer printer pics of both Shelby Marx and Tori Vega. The brunette songstress still denied the Cage Fighting Championship's fighter looked anything like her even with the photographic proof right in front of her.

Freddie glanced a few times between the pic of Shelby in his hand and Tori standing beside him before he sarcastically said, "Oh, I see the difference. Shelby parts her hair on the side while you part yours down the middle, and your hair has more volume to it; Her's is flatter and sleeker. Oh, and Shelby prefers to wear crop tops, showing off her taut abs while you normally prefer to cover up."

Tori snatched the photo from Freddie, saw what he had noticed and smiled. She gleefully said, "See! I don't look anything like her!"

That drew a laugh from everyone and the karaoke fun continued.

Finally the festivities wound down and everyone headed in to catch some well-needed sleep. Paul pulled Cat and Tori aside before they entered the house and asked, "Did you enjoy yourselves tonight?"

"That was such a blast," Cat enthused in her normal happy manner, squealing in delight.

Tori echoed with a joy filled laugh, "That was a lot of fun."

"And," Paul slyly begged with a smirk, "did you even think about the fact that you spent the last couple of hours around other teens without any clothes on?"

"Oh my Gawd!" Cat shrieked in sudden realization as she shot a quick glance down at her naked body. "I forgot all about it!"

Tori wryly chuckled, "I didn't think about it either. I guess I'm getting used to the Naturist lifestyle."

"That's good," Paul said as he opened the door to allow the two girls to enter the house. "Well, good night. I'll see you in the morning." With that said he walked down the hallway, entered his first floor bedroom and closed the door.

"Good night!" Cat hollered as the two girls watched the bedroom door close before walking to the foot of the stairway. She turned to Tori and said, "I'm really glad Paul is nice. I wonder what he'll have for us to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know," the brunette songstress lightly laughed at her friend's curiosity as she, too, thanked the heavens for meeting the slightly older, but very nice guy who was giving them an opportunity to relax and recuperate for a few weeks after the grueling tours they'd both just experienced. "But I'm tired right now so let's just get some sleep and let tomorrow be what it may."

"'Kay-'kay," the redhead happily chimed as the two girls headed off to the second floor bedrooms.

When she reached her room, Tori suddenly remembered that she hadn't brought any of her normal sleepwear along and pondered what she would wear to bed.

"What-the-hey," the brunette thought and nonchalantly shrugged before she slipped nakedly under the covers of the queen-sized bed and snuggled in to the comfortable sheets and mattress. "I haven't been wearing any clothes for the last few hours. Why should I worry about wearing anything in bed?"

Tori Vega quickly fell asleep after a day of traveling and all the excitement of meeting up with old and new friends.