Plotted
"Hey, you guys have any extra cardboard boxes lying around here?" Freddie asked, letting himself into the Shay's apartment.
"How come?" Carly asked from the kitchen table, where her and Spencer were eating breakfast.
"I wanted to move some of my more valuable Galaxy Wars props into our storage unit," Freddie said. "Now that I have a girlfriend, it kind of kills the mood when you're making out and you knock into a Sky Naut helmet. Plus when Sam gets mad she tends to throw anything within a twenty-foot radius, so I'd like to kind of make sure my important stuff is protected."
"Hold on," Spencer frowned. "You're going to store valuable Galaxy Wars in cardboard boxes?"
"No!" Freddie exclaimed. "I have state-of-the art, temperature controlled, moisture resistant storage units for those. I want to use the boxes to just build up an extra wall of defense around them."
"Oh," Spencer said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God."
"Aw, how…pathetic," Carly chuckled, sipping her orange juice.
"Ha, ha," Freddie said, helping himself to a piece of toast. "So, is Sam up yet? She slept over here last night, right?"
"It ten-thirty in the morning," Carly said simply.
"Ah, so I've still got another hour at least," Freddie nodded. "Alright, well, you care if I go up to the studio to do a little iCarly work? I want to start setting up the lighting and stuff for the show tonight."
"Sure, go ahead," Carly nodded. "Spencer and I are just going to be watching T.V. down here anyway."
"Cool," Freddie nodded as he turned and headed up to the iCarly studio. As he was about to open the glass door, though, he almost fell over in shock.
Inside the studio was Sam, standing by his tech cart, with his precious camera in her hands!
"Sam!" Freddie cried, bursting into the room, startling her and causing her to almost drop the camera.
"Freddie!" Sam gasped, quickly returning the camera to the cart. "What-What are you doing here-"
"What am I doing?" Freddie snapped, gently picking up his camera to inspect it for possible damage. "What are you doing, Sam? Why were you playing with my camera?"
"I-I," Sam stuttered lamely.
"I mean, I thought we had limits now that we're a couple!" Freddie fumed. "I can handle you putting paprika in my gym shoes or signing me up for clown school, but my camera? You can't destroy my camera, Sam!"
"I wasn't destroying it," Sam said quickly. "Really, I-I wasn't trying to mess with it or anything."
"Oh," Freddie said, his tone softening. "You weren't? Well then what were you doing with it?"
"Um…nothing," Sam mumbled, looking down at the floor.
"Sam, come on," Freddie smiled. "Just tell me."
"No, I-On second though, I-I was trying to destroy your camera," Sam said. "So-So go back to the yelling."
"Baby, just tell me what you were doing," Freddie grinned. "You know I won't let up until you do."
"Ugh, I know…you're real annoying," Sam sighed. "Alright, fine. I-I was just trying to see if I could, um, get the thing to work."
"Why?"
"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "I just thought it'd be pretty cool to see if I could get any decent shots."
Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Um, since when are you interested in camera work?"
"Since-Never mind, it's stupid," Sam said. "Look, I couldn't even figure out how to turn the dang thing on, so…whatever, just forget about it."
"I can teach you how to use the camera," Freddie said. "Heck, the only thing hotter than having you as a girlfriend, is having a camera savvy Sam as my girlfriend. We could go to conventions and read up on the latest camera models-"
"Dude…"
"Sorry, sorry," Freddie said quickly. "But seriously, why the sudden interest?"
"Well…you know how I went to California last weekend with my mom to visit my cousins in prison down there?"
"Sure," Freddie nodded.
"Well while we were waiting until visitation started, my mom and I decided to go do some sight seeing together," Sam said. "Or we were…until she saw a Celine Dion impersonator and chased after her. So I walked around by myself and saw some pretty cool stuff. There was this guy who was wearing a hot dog costume, this breakdancing hobo, an old wall where people stick the scabs they pick off-"
"Gross!"
"Priss," Sam sneered. "Anyway, I wanted to get some pics, but of course my phone battery was dead. So I managed to find this drugstore that actually still sold those cheap disposable cameras and I got one of those. And while I was walking all around California taking pictures, I realized I-I really liked it. It was fun! So I thought maybe I'd try to do more camera stuff. Everybody keeps telling me I need to find at least one non-violent hobby."
"Wow, so-so you're into photography? Sam, that's great!" Freddie beamed.
"Calm down, like I said, it's just a hobby," Sam said. "It's not like I want to become a super nerd with it. But…yeah, it might be fun to take pictures of stuff. That's why I was trying to figure out your camera."
"Oh, well, Sam, this camera's more for high-def videos," Freddie explained. "Not for stationary pictures. No, you'd probably want to look into a Kodimax Plotter or a Nikflash. And you can totally develop your own photos, too, you know? Yeah, you just need the right chemicals. You set everything up in a darkroom and just-"
"Freddie…come on, it's-it's not that serious," Sam said. "Besides, I'm really not even that good. I mean I just got the pictures back from California and they're nothing spectacular."
"I want to see."
Sam shrugged and stepped over to her bag and pulled out an envelope. "It's just a bunch of random things I liked," she told him as he took the envelope. "Not anything really-"
"Whoa, Sam, these are really good," Freddie said, looking through the photos.
"Nah, you're just saying that," Sam chuckled.
"No, Sam, I'm serious," Freddie said earnestly. "I mean look at this one of the two squirrels fighting. The lighting is perfect, and the way you angled the shot really takes advantage of the scenery. These are impressive."
"You-You think?"
"Definitely, especially considering you used a dinky disposable camera," Freddie nodded. "I think you have a real talent here. You know…maybe if you want you can do some of the photos for the iCarly website's gallery."
"Whoa, you-you serious?"
"Yeah, the shots I usually take for it are pretty suckish next to these," Freddie said.
"We'd have to get you a better camera, of course, but I think you'd be really good at it."
"Well…okay!" Sam agreed. "Yeah, I'll do it!"
"That's great, baby," Freddie smiled, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "I am so glad you found something that you enjoy. Something that won't hurt me! This is great for both of us!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, nub," Sam smirked, playfully punching his arm. "I'll make time for torturing you."
"Of course you will."
