"Hey Tori, I just wrapped up with the café, do you need any help locking up down here?" Janet, the older woman asked as she gathered up her jacket and keys.

"No thank you," Tori said with a kind smile as she logged off of the computer and enabled the locks from the security console. "You can go home Janet; I just need to grab my things and I'll be right behind you."

She gave Tori a small nod and waved before saying, "I'll see you in a couple of days for my next shift then!"

Tori said goodbye and waved her off before grabbing her belongings and went out through the back to her car where she tossed her purse into the passenger seat and quickly ran over to the driver's side and hopped in as she scrambled to pull her phone out. The text from Jade had shaken her and put Tori in a funk all day but luck seemed to be on her side as she got the chance to distract herself with work and a message from her friend and bandmate, Harper.

Harper: We got a gig tonight! Meet me at Swindler's at 9!

Since there were no customers, Tori was able to lock up a little early but that still took longer than it should have so she was running late as she hastily texted back, she was on her way while pulling out of the lot and down the road. Harper was one of the few people Tori actually considered to be a true friend and was a fellow graduate from HA and came with her to CalArts to study music. She was another one of the students that was overshadowed by the popular kids at Hollywood Arts yet was always expected to help when a production was put on for her skills on the drums. She was a pudgy girl with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes but since graduating has worked hard to change her image. She now was slim and fit with a confident smile on her face and was usually wearing her signature jean jacket, adorned with various patches of things she liked. On the drive over, she called Tori who picked up quickly and said, "Hey! I'm so sorry! Locking up took longer than expected, I'm on my way though!"
"Tori, chill out," Harper said with a laugh, "You're good! We aren't even going on yet, they were having some issues with the amps so we're just hanging out."

"Oh, thank god," Tori said as she took a breath and let herself relax a little. "I'll thank Tim for being lazy with repairs when I get there."

Harper laughed and said, "How long are you going to be? I've got your clothes and stuff all ready to go. Everyone else is practicing or hanging out in the back room."
"Probably fifteen minutes, get a drink for me too if you can," Tori said.

"Already have a cosmo sitting right here for when you get here!"

"Harper you're the best!" Tori said, "So why the sudden gig? I thought Swindler's had some other bands lined up this month."

On the other end, Harper laid down on one of the old worn-out couches and kicked her feet up over an empty guitar case and said, "They did but one band got sick and the other canceled so Tim gave us a call and offered to pay extra since he's expecting it to be packed tonight."

"What's the lineup?" Tori asked as she pulled through a couple of lanes to reach her exit.

"We're doing a couple of originals and the rest are covers," Harper said, "We're using that crowd app for those ones."

"Oh great," Tori said with an annoyed groan.

"Hey now, it's alright. We got Ally and Simon on the floor for security to break up any fights," Harper said as she took a sip of her water.

"Oh my god, I love Ally, how is she?" Tori said as she drove past several busy streets lined with people walking through downtown to hit up the various bars.

"Ask her yourself when you get here!" Harper said with a giggle, "She's been asking about you! Maybe if you play your cards right you can get some action—"

"And goodbye Harper!" Tori said as her face turned bright red as she hung up the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. Harper loved to tease her and push her to get out and date since she was one of the few people who knew she was bisexual but it still made Tori extremely uncomfortable whenever the topic came up. Being in a band only made it worse but Tori went along with it since it came with the lifestyle.

The band's name was Echoed Imperfections and although the six members considered themselves to be an alternative rock band, they specialized in such a wide variety that they realized calling themselves one was pointless. Most of their original songs had a heavy emphasis on piano and guitar but they loved covering songs so much that one of the band members who managed their online presence developed an app to use at shows so people could vote on songs for them to perform.

The one thing that Tori truly loved about the band, aside from it being made up of her closest friends, was that she never had to show her face. When Harper originally pitched the idea back in their senior year of Hollywood Arts, Tori thought the idea was good but needed work and as the summer progressed and they met their new friends from CALARTS, everything seemed to fall into place. The gang of misfits clicked together like pieces of a puzzle in terms of personality and musical styles and their band was formed. Their wardrobe was uniform overall but individualized so that each member could be distinguished on stage. They each wore a black cloak with holes at the base of their sleeves for their thumbs and had a large hood that covered the top portion of their face while the bottom portion was decorated in makeup or paint to complete the style each band member wanted to go for.

Soon enough, Tori pulled into the back alleyway to the employee parking lot of Swindler's Respite and got out of her car where she spotted two of her bandmates sitting outside the door, chatting and sharing a drink. "Are you two going to sit around all night, or can you give me a hand?" Tori said as she waved to them.

Both of them looked up and smiled and Tori immediately regretted opening her mouth as the twins stood to their full height of six feet and eleven inches and charged towards her at full speed, causing Tori to scream with laughter as she said, "No! NO! Bad! Both of you—don't you dare-AH!"

The twins laughed as one scooped up Tori and spun her around in a hug while the other squeezed her from the other side as she joined in the embrace. Their names were Lila and Sage, obviously given their taller stature they drew the eye of everyone around them but combined with their stunning features, these twins were gorgeous and quite popular with the fans. They both had brown hair that they kept tied back in a bun and very light brown eyes and a rounded jaw with jovial smiles. Their band outfits were similar as well with their opposite sleeves torn off and a chained armband adorning their large biceps matched with black jeans and white tank tops underneath. Their face makeup was very simple as it looked more like classic war paint smeared across their lips in opposing red and blue colors. Lila released Tori from the bear hug and said, "Well that's what you get for not coming out with us the last few weekends! We missed you!"

Sage ruffled Tori's hair and said, "Yeah Tori! You promised we'd hang out after finals!"

"Guys I'm sorry I just got really busy with work and I've been trying to save up money," Tori said as she popped her trunk, revealing a guitar case and her violin case while the twins reached in and grabbed them for her. "How about I get you both a drink after the show? Deal?"

The giant siblings looked between one another and smiled before looking back at Tori and said, "Deal!"

"Guys please don't break her bank account," a voice said from the doorway, "and can you hurry it up! She still needs to get her makeup on and you two are holding her up!"

In the doorway, adorned in their band cloak with swirling colors adorning the sleeves and an electronic facemask that displayed audio levels was their resident keyboard player and the smartest person Tori knew, Taliesin, or Tal for short. He wore a smirk and had tanned skin from working as a lifeguard and had dark black hair that he kept shaved. "Get in here and let's get you set up. Jamie has all your makeup and your outfit ready to go."

"Thanks, Tal!" Tori said as she quickly rushed inside with the twins following close behind and stopping to ask Tal about the setup for the equipment. Going down a couple of dimly lit halls, she reached the room usually reserved for them when they played and opened it up to see Harper and her boyfriend Jamie making out on the couch. Tori rolled her eyes as she quietly closed the door and snuck around to the side of the room where Sage's electric guitar was plugged in and grabbed it and strummed a chord with the amp turned up. The lovebirds screamed in surprise as they fell over, knocking over a couple of empty beer bottles on the table, and stumbled to their feet as Tori said, "Sorry, did that startle you two?"

Jamie stood up and looked at Tori with a glare and said, "You are so gonna pay for that one!"

Tori took a seat at the small station they set up for makeup and said, "That's what you always say but it never happens, you love me too much! Now, are you gonna help me with my makeup, or do I have to do it myself?"

Jamie himself was a rather plain-looking man with tan skin and a standard build with green eyes and reddish hair and his band outfit consisted of the cloak much like everyone else but at the shoulders, the sleeves were torn off and he wore fingerless gloves that reached his elbows and torn jeans with several chains adorning his waist and a pair of ankle boots. His face makeup constantly changed due to his degree being in costume and makeup and tonight it resembled that of an Oni mask as he came forward and said, "Maybe I should let you do it your—Ow! Babe!"

Harper giggled as she pinched his arm again and said, "Be good and help her out, we're already running behind schedule."

"Fine," Jamie grumbled as he came over and hugged Tori from behind and said, "Missed you girl. How's work?"

"Interesting but we'll talk about it later," Tori said as she handed him some of the brushes after hugging him, "I just really need to play something right now."

He nodded and flipped on a flashlight they tapped to the wall to add some more light for him to work with as he painted a skeletal jaw like you'd see someone have as the Day of the Dead but the colors were all shades of green and at the tip of Tori's nose, he painted three dots and then three lines that stretch downwards at slight angles to create the Awen, a Celtic symbol typically representing balance. Tori loved the symbol and used it as a good luck charm and as a way to honor both sides of her heritage since she mainly played second guitar or the violin for their songs.

In their band, Jamie played bass and sang vocals with Lila, but everyone else was trained and able to sing so they often did backup vocals for most songs. Sage was the lead guitar player but would often offer Tori the position since she was more skilled than him but she declined and stuck to secondary melodies.

"Here's your drink," Harper said as she placed the Cosmopolitan on the table next to Tori and held up the cloak for her to put on. Tori's band outfit was more elegant than the others as she wore a fiery red top that hugged her curves and a pair of jeans that went with them. Her coat was kept in one piece compared to some of her bandmates but along the sleeves, she embroidered swirling sequin patterns that only showed up under the stage lights. Tori nodded and took a sip from the straw so she wouldn't ruin her makeup and said, "Thank you. When do we go on?"

Harper opened her mouth to talk but was cut off as Jamie said, "Right about…now," he finished dabbing that last bit of makeup onto Tori and stood up and walked to the door and said, "I'll see you two out there!"

"Alright, alright, one sec," Harper said as she rolled her eyes and said, "So are you okay?"

Tori looked at Harper, her cloak was covered in dashes of paint as if she had gone through a color run for charity and her face makeup and clothes matched the style as well, as she stood and said, "Yeah, just really stupid things came up at work. I just want to play and get it out of my system."

"Alright," Harper said as she took Tori's hand and squeezed it as they walked to the door, "just don't rock out too hard. We don't need you snapping another string like last time."

The two of them shared a laugh as they walked together down the hall towards the main hub of the bar. Swindler's Respite was modeled in the same fashion as a speakeasy from the '20s and was modernized in a way that felt classic but current. Newspaper clippings were framed and lined the walls with old and new headlines while various booths and tables were dimly lit with antique light fixtures. There was still a surround sound and televisions placed around to give it that modern touch but the place was mainly meant as a social hang out to chat and dance more so than sit and watch sports or shows with friends in a public setting. Tim the owner was an older gentleman with a bald head and a pair of thick glasses and wore a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and suspenders holding up his suit pants and was currently on stage at the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, our evening entertainment, unfortunately, was not able to join us tonight!"

The crowd booed jokingly, knowing what was coming up, as Tim said, "But! But my dear friends, I managed to swing a special treat for you! Welcome back to the stage, Echoed Imperfections!"

The crowd in the packed bar clapped and cheered as the band came out and took their positions. Tim made a point of going up to each one of them and hugging them as thanks and just because he was one of their friends before exiting the stage. Jamie took the mic and waved to the people and said, "Hey everyone! Glad to see so many familiar faces and some new ones! You know the drill, if you have the app, you can vote on songs for parts of the show, if you don't know, have a friend show you! Anyway, let's go!"

He swung his bass around and pointed to Harper who gave a count and before they knew it, they were off into their first song with Tori on guitar in the back of the small stage, looking over the people as she always did. This band was her second family and she loved every second of it, with their hoods up and their makeup on, she could be someone completely different and she often took advantage of that as the 'silent killer' as some of her bandmates like to call her. She was often forgotten about on stage but her presence was always felt but when she made herself known, she'd kill it!

The crowd loved their performance as usual but at the start of the fourth song, Tori started to walk forward to the edge of the stage as she noticed towards the back of the bar, the bartender who was named Theo was holding up a red card and pointing at a gruff looking older man who was getting very close with a clearly uncomfortable girl. Jamie and the others followed her gaze and then pointed it out to the security people off to the sides of the stage but when he looked back, Tori had already hopped off the stage and was marching through the crowd. Most of the locals knew what was about to happen and started to slowly tap their glasses to the tables or stomp their feet. At Swindler's Respite, there were rules of conduct to follow, but Tim and everyone else who came there knew one rule was absolute: Respect is absolute.

It was part of the reason the place was so popular and well respected, they had a zero-tolerance rule for people who tried to get their way, and Echoed Imperfections were very loud advocates of that rule, with Tori taking the reigns on it on more than one occasion. Tori tapped the man's shoulder who glanced back and saw her standing there with the security guards and turned and said, "What? The fuck you want?"

From his breath and his speech pattern, they could all tell he was drunk, most likely having come from a different bar that had kicked him out earlier. Theo led the young woman away to a different area where some female bartenders spoke with her to make sure she was alright while Tori grabbed the man's shirt and pulled him off the stool and into Ally's and Simon's arms who then promptly started to escort him out the door while the crowd cheered and yelled at the guy to not come back.

Tori made her way back through the crowd and leaned over to the microphone and said in a lower voice, "No creeps at our shows! You treat each other with respect so we can all have a fun night!"

With that they went back to playing their usual lineup, Tal got on the microphone and announced some of the covers they would be playing as he looked through his phone and the night continued on with a jovial and fun atmosphere for everyone. In some of the later songs, Tori was towards the front of the stage on her violin having a mock duel with Sage on his guitar during a solo. But towards the front of the bar came a familiar goth woman with a pissed-off expression, she yelled over the music for a drink as the rest of her friend group came in behind her all-sporting smiles and chatting about their night and the afternoon's audition.

Amongst them were Cat Valentine, Robbie Shapiro, minus his puppet sidekick, Andre Harris, Sile, and Jade's on and off again boyfriend Beck Oliver. Tori was too busy enjoying the high she was experiencing from performing to notice that Sile was watching this cloaked fiddle player with a very keen eye. She slinked back with Jade and the others once they got their drinks to one of the tables in the back, away from the stage and the music but not before taking a picture of Tori on stage performing with a bright smile adorning her obscured face.

With two more songs under their belt, the band decided to call for a small break and told the crowd they'd be back in a bit and that was when Sile sprung into action. She excused herself from her table and walked towards the bathroom and sent a text to Tori with the image attached.

Sile: I was gonna ask if you'd want to get a round with me tonight, think we can have one after you finish your next set? I'll buy!

Author's Notes:

Here we go with another installment and a new dynamic in Tori's life! I'll admit I had a lot of fun designing the members of the band and imagining their outfits, same with Swindler's Respite.

The Awen symbol that Tori incorporates into her stage makeup is a real Celtic symbol that is from the 18th century and is also known as the Three Rays of Light. It usually represents harmony of opposites in the universe. For example, a popular interpretation of the balance is that one outer line is masculine energy while the other one is feminine energy and the middle one represents the balance between them, but there are a lot of interpretations out there.

It appears though, that this newcomer in Tori's life immediately can see through her ruse and is now even more intrigued! Hope you all enjoy and are eager to see where this goes next! Reviews are always appreciated and I hope you have a good night!

Songs Used for Inspiration:

1. ?

2. ?

3. "Happier" by Marshmello ft. Bastille