A Bar, Somewhere on the East Coast, 2003.
The bar was dingy. They always were. Belle picked up the last bag out of Jou's car and walked in the back. The little room they'd given Jou as a changing room wasn't suitable, but she'd make do. Jou always did. It's part of what made her worthwhile.
The teen went to the back of the stage and started checking the equipment. It looked alright, but as she kept looking through it, the sound processor seemed to be missing. She could see where it should go, right next to the light board (which, in of itself, was a joke - they might as well just had a lightswitch, it would have worked better) but it wasn't there.
She leaned back into the hallway and spotted someone that appeared to be in charge. Damnit, she thought, I'm going to have to talk to him. Attempting what she thought was a friendly look, she flagged the guy down.
"Excuse me."
He looked oddly at the fifteen year old, clearly not expecting her in the back of a bar.
"Excuse me. Where is the processor?" Belle pointed back at the missing sound input.
He looked at her oddly again (which, in Belle's world, had already gotten old) and stepped to the side of the stage. Soon there was yelling and cussing, as several people surrounded the area. It didn't take any effort for her to know it was gone, and less to know they wouldn't be able to fix it. Sleepers.
Belle stuck her head in Jou's closet of a dressing room. Keeping her gaze adverted, she grabbed Jou's CD player with tonights score on it. Waiting for a moment so Jou could stop her if she wanted, Belle headed outside. Looking around, she could see several people leaning on the back wall. She sighed and went back in. After several attempts and great annoyance, she found a bit of space without anyone - the woman's restroom.
Tink pulled out paper and pen from her ever present backpack and started sketching. She flipped through a ratty notebook filled with notes, smiling smugly as she heard her brothers voice mocking her hobbies: 'When the fuck are you ever going to need that shit?' Tink paused in her planning to 'I told you so' her brother, even though he couldn't hear her. She was positive this should work - they were just energy waves, after all - but theory was different than practice. After several pages of diagrams and equations, she nodded and drew her knife. Tink reviewed her nascent notes before focusing on her casting, the high tongue as natural as breathing to her, her blade redrawing the diagrams into the air. Ritual, understanding, effort: they blurred together as the spell set around her.
Taking a deep breath, Tink leaned on the wall for a moment. New things were always a challange, new things she really didn't want to fail were even more so. At least the Universe hadn't smacked her around the block this time. Sighing, she walked back to the rear of the stage.
It was quite a scene. Some guy was apologizing to Jou, who seemed upset but calm, Smoke wanted to kill someone, anyone, and there was human chattel everywhere. Tink slipped through the chaos and tugged on Jou's arm. In the distraction, she got brushed away. Tink tugged again. When Jou noticed who it was, she bent down at once.
"I got this." Tink nodded reassuringly at her eyebrow. "Just, lady, tell them something. Anything."
She didn't wait to hear what Jou told them - she didn't care - but walked over to the equipment. Her brother followed, handing her a cigarette. "Whadda need?"
She took it from him and hung it off her lip. "Just keep those fucks away from me."
Smoke nodded and leaned on the door, isolating the little part of the stage. For her part, Tink sunk to the floor with the CD player on her ears. She picked up the large speaker cable and held it between her hands. Putting the cigarette out on the floor, Tink started to focus on the energy of the music. It wasn't easy - the waves were set in different channels, they needed to be converted for the speaker system, and outside noises kept intruding. She knew her magic could do this; Tink just wasn't sure she could.
Tink heard Jou's steps upon the stage. The lights went down. And Tink stopped thinking. There was no doubt, there was only the waves. There was no fear, there was only the energy. There was no failure, there was only the joy of control. The music poured into her ears, through her body, and into the speaker wire.
Later, Belle vaugely remembered Jou staring at her in amazement, scolding Smoke for letting her go for so long. She remembered her brother prying the cords from her hands before Tink fell over. But most of all, most of all, she clearly remembered a mage's whispered words:
"That's impossible."
She remembered smiling as she passed out, her thoughts answering the waiting abyss.
"No such thing."