Backstage at a Concert Arena | Los Angeles, CA | Thursday Evening Fandom Time

[its_theclimb]

As Miley knew well by now after four years of pop stardom, doing concerts every night -- even with the occasional break for dinner with the boyfriend or having friends come backstage -- was exhausting, especially during a time that was supposedly her winter break.

But it was pretty fun anyway. And without having just done a full week of concerts, Miley wouldn't've had the leeway (or the pouting practice) necessary to encourage her makeup artist, Fermaine, to give her friend a makeover.

So. With an hour to go until tonight's showtime, Miley-as-Hannah lay on her back on a couch backstage and texted Lilly, wondering when she would just get here already, then prodded the dressing room door with her shoe.

"Jooooono," she called. "Are you done yet?" 

[[For he who isn't blue right now, and NFB for distance!]]

Comments

[furnaceface]

"... Twelve?"

Technically twenty now, Jono. Be nice.

Even so, he was taking the phone and watching the video. Even if he was holding it out at arm's length as if he was afraid it was going to bite him or something.

[its-theclimb.livejournal.com]

"Don't be silly," Miley dismissed. "He was, like, 18 when we made this video."

Duh, Jono. Duh.

She waited for the song to play through twice before asking brightly, "So, think you've got it?"

[furnaceface]

"If I said no, would you believe me?"

Yeah. He had it. It was seared into his brain.

[its-theclimb.livejournal.com]

Miley paused. Glanced at Lilly.

Then both girls shook their heads in unison.

Sorry, Jono.

[furnaceface]

Jonothon sighed, hanging his head and doing his level best to keep from working up a pout.

"... Do I have to?"

He knew the answer to that question, too.

[its-theclimb.livejournal.com]

Miley didn't even have to glance at Lilly before the two of them nodded in unison.

"We probably have time to re--"

"Hannah!" yelled a stagehand. "We need you for the meet-and-greet and then you're on in fifteen!"

Miley sighed. "I have to do everything around here," she huffed. Holding up a hand, she instructed, "Lola. Play nice."

And then she left for the meet-and-greet. Fear it, Jono.

"So... wanna rehearse?" Lilly offered.

[furnaceface]

Jono was sulking, now. There was no way to worm out of it, if Miley wasn't even here to worm out of it with.

"I suppose it's either that, or I wind up looking like an utter idiot onstage," he sighed. "Fine. Rehearsing."

Leaving Miley standing onstage waiting for a guy that was hell-bent on escaping the building wasn't exactly an option, either.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

Lilly leaned back in her seat.

"Go on," she encouraged him, waving a hand. "You should stand up."

[furnaceface]

Standing up would be terrible. It would be that much more temptation for him to try to make a flying leap for the nearest doorway.

Still, Jono pulled himself to his feet. Standing. See? Fine.

"Right, then. I'm standing. Let's get this over with."

He hated everything.

Everything.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

"And, you know, get loose," Lilly suggested, standing up herself to attempt to correct his posture slightly. "Shake out those arms, maybe. Do a little hokey-pokey, whatever gets you there."

Naturally, she had to demonstrate.

[furnaceface]

"Erm... No, I'm fine."

He was about as there as he was going to get. Jonothon was strictly anti hokey-pokey. Very strictly.

"I'd just as soon just attempt to sing this to be certain I have it down, if it's all the same."

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

"Okay!" Lilly agreed, awkwardly cutting back on the hokey pokey-ing. "That's cool too! Go with that."

She flopped back down on the couch and leaned forward with one elbow on the table, watching him intently.

[furnaceface]

"No pressure," Jonothon grumbled, shaking his head a little.

And then took a deep breath and attempted to do the ridiculous song some justice, at least.

"Girl I guess that you're the kind,
To say what's on your mind,
But you listen when I have
Something to show you..."

Deeper than David what's-his-name, without a doubt. And sounding a bit grudging, even if the tune came easily enough, and the delivery was otherwise perfect.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

"Oooh!" Lilly said approvingly, swaying along a little bit. "Your voice is all, like, deep and stuff. Like my boyfriend's!" Except that she couldn't say who that was without accidentally exposing two secret identities, so. "That was really good! You know what you could do, is you could, like, dance around a little bit, and sort of be all cute with her when you're on stage, you know?"

[furnaceface]

"... What?"

JONO DID NOT DO 'CUTE," LILLY.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

"...you know. Like... it's a duet!"

She held up her phone again. DID YOU NEED TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE VIDEO, JONO?

[furnaceface]

STOP THAT. HE COULD SEE IT. IT WOULD NOT BE UNSEEN.

"... I know it's a duet. We're both singing it." Which was more or less the dictionary definition, after all. "But I'm probably about eight years her senior as it is, and I've got a girlfriend back home."

HE WAS NOT GOING TO GET CUTE ONSTAGE WITH MILEY.

IN FRONT OF LITTLE KIDS.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

"She has a boyfriend!" Lilly hastened to share with him. "And this one time, she had to fake-date Austin Rain so that her record would go double-platinum. It'd just be pretending! You know. Like, for the fans!"

[furnaceface]

Jono's mouth opened. Jono's mouth snapped shut again.

There was a statement in there that was way too much like Sugar Kane using Jono so that she could better promote her product. After all, being seen quite often with a man on fire did have a funny way of making someone look edgy and controversial because they were dating a mutant. Even when they weren't.

"Right. Acting. On the stage."

He was less thrilled, now.

[idkherbfflola.livejournal.com]

Lilly's lip quivered dramatically.

"Like theater," she said in the sort of voice that, yes, was meant to sound tiny and pitiable.

Lilly was excellent at getting her way.

[furnaceface]

WHO TAUGHT THESE GIRLS THAT FACE??

"Like theatre," Jono sighed, giving in. "Right. I'll see what I can do."

He hated you allllll.

[its-theclimb.livejournal.com]

Which would be when Miley bounced back over, accompanied by two stagehands. "Okay!" she chirped. "I have to get up on the come-up-from-the-ground platform thingy in, like, five minutes. Jono, these guys'll tell you when to come on, okay? Mic up."

He was handed a (slightly sparkly) mic. Fear it, Jono.

[furnaceface]

The mic was twinkling in the backstage light with the power of a thousand poorly-written vampires. Jonothon, meanwhile, was re-learning just what the phrase 'throw up in my mouth a little' meant.

"Lovely. Wonderful. Thank you."

If anybody here loved him, they'd kill him now.

[its-theclimb.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Jono. No murder today. Miley did, however, adjust his collar slightly before flouncing off to her 'come-up-from-the-floor platform thingy' to start the show.

After a few songs -- all of which were met with shrieking from the audience, of course -- the unthinkable happened.

"You're up," one of the stagehands told Jono, looking just the faintest bit sorry for him.

Of course, that stagehand was also wearing a Hannah Montana t-shirt, so the effect was somewhat dampened.

[furnaceface]

"You're too kind," Jonothon intoned, dryly. "Thank you."

He was going to just kind of edge his way toward the wings now. If they really needed him onstage, they'd pick him up and throw him or something, right?

Bloody hell, when he'd dreamed of performing for huge screaming crowds when he was younger, this was absolutely not what he had in mind. Deep breaths, Starsmore. You can do this. Even if you didn't particularly want to.