Tawney bounced down the lane, swishing, swaying, and bobbing to the music in her head. She turned and, for the 20th time, checked herself out in a shop window. She straightened her new jacket and smiled. ‘That's right. Today is going to be my day; we're going to make it to the show tonight, and it is going to be glorious.’

While her new job had been going fairly well, Tawney was disappointed that the last two nights she had tried to go to a show, there had been a long line of adventures, and she wasn't able to make it to the show in time. ‘Tonight's gonna be different, though,’ she thought to herself. ‘We are making it no matter what! I'm dressed for the show. Nothing can stop me from getting there.’

An old gray-furred Knoll sat at the street corner with an upturned hat put out in front of him, "a kindness, my dear, a kindness. Could you just spare copper for an old fool?"

Tawney looked into her purse and smiled. Adventurers may be difficult to deal with, but at least they pay well. A few more nights like this, And she would have made back most of the money that she came to town with. "Here you go, sir." Tawney said with a smile. "I can do more than a copper," a silver coin clinked into his hat.

"Thank you, darling. Thank you. You're too kind."

Tawney smiled at the man. "I am kind," she thought to herself.

Mossy gingerly. Took his frail guitar out of its ancient case. ‘Now remember, you've got to be gentle.’ He slowly and methodically plucked at the strings, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't swamp rock, but it was music. If he could just slow down, take his time, and focus on the melody and not the power chords. He still had music, though, and that was something.

He looked at the tiny pile of coins on his dresser. His last shift had not gone well. After spending all of his coin on this museum piece, he knew it would be a long time before he would have a proper guitar in his hands again. ‘Take it slow, mossy man, you got this,’ he told himself as he plucked out a slow folksy tune.

"Hey there, Bloodwyn," said Tawney as she stepped into the magic mug.

"Hey Tawney. You're looking good today."

"Thank you"

"New jacket."

"It is a new jacket. I went all the way to the central marketplace. Just to pick up this jacket, it's brand new and one of the nicest newest things I ever owned."

" Wow. What's the occasion?" Asked Bloodwyn.

"The show tonight it’s Banshee in the Whalers." I'm going as soon as the shift is over. They're a pretty big deal."

"I hear the show's gonna be at twice the normal price."

"It's okay. We had good tips the past couple nights. I can afford it. Hey, maybe you should come along."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm trying to save up at the moment," said Bloodwyn.

"Come on, it's Banshee and the Whalers; how often do you get to see them?

"Banshee in the Whalers," said Mossy, bouncing on to the counter. They've got the best illusionist and their drummer, man, but that guitarist, oh man, he really makes that thing scream."

"Well, then you should come too," said Tawney. "Come on. I know the past couple shifts. I've gotten out of hand here because of the adventures coming in, but I have a good feeling about tonight. We'll make it to the show. Come on, folks. You need to come with me."

"I suppose," said Bloodwyn.

"No can do." Said Mossy. "If I want to get a better guitar than that one you fixed for me, Then I'm really going to have to save. I hate to say it, but I'm actually kind of hoping for adventures tonight. I'm going to need a lot more of those tips, so I can get something before Battle of the Bands,"

"Oh, come on," said Tawney. "It will be my treat. Come on. It'd be the three of us. Day shift's gotta stick together after all."

"Well, if you're paying, I'm there," said Mossy. "It's been way too long since I've been able to get out to a show. I've gotta scope out the competition."

"Oh, I thought Banshee in the Whailers was too big to play Battle of the Bands."

"No, I'm talking about the opening band, Smash Bang Clan."

"Some of them went to my school, so I have seen them play before, but you know this is their first time playing at a real venue."

"Tawney, a word," said Mr. Beanhammer.

"Yes sir." She said, stepping into the back office.

"Now, lad, did I just hear you offering to pay for your friends to go to tonight's concert?"

"Well yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Nothing wrong per se," said the dwarf, stroking his beard. "I know you're a young man new to the city, and you might not know just how quickly money can disappear. I know Radacast pretty well. He's a devil of a businessman and tends to raise the price of drinks on big nights like this. And well, there's an old dwarf saying, A man is never as thirsty as he is at another man's cask."

"Oh, I’m sure it won’t be that bad." She slipped on her smock with the iconic misspelled sign printed across the front. magic mug coffee. She smiled, but for some reason the smile didn't stay long on her face. Mr. Beanhammer’s words had gotten to her maybe he's right. ‘Maybe I shouldn't have offered to pay for everyone. And maybe,’ she looked at her folded jacket. ‘It was too soon to spend all that money; after all, if I hadn't gotten this job, I never would have made rent this week. Maybe... for just a moment Tawney thought about calling off the evening, apologizing to her friends, and just going to the show on her own.

"No," she thought to herself, "that's silly I've got everything I need for tonight, and next week, There will be more at Adventures I'm sure of it." she wouldn't let the old dwarfs words get her down she was going to the show. And that was the end of it.

Bloodwyn frowned as she counted out the tips. Well, friends, I have got bad news." She handed a pittance of coins to Mossy. "You've seen the busy days, and now you've seen the slow days."

"Why so little?" said Mossy. "It's like that sometimes. At least the good news is that the night crew has let us off a little early. Mossy, we should even have an opportunity to check out that opening act you talked about."

"Oh, yeah!" Said Mossy. "It's going to be massome." As he leaped up and threw a fist into the air.

Almost as soon as he had landed, though, his face fell, and he looked at Tawney "That is, if you're still, like, if you still want to go, I know you're counting on a bit more of a tip than this. So…"

"No, it's all right," said Tawney. "I still have tips from the last couple days. Come on, I invited you out, Let's go out."

"All right." Said Bloodwyn, Tawney, and Mossy in unison.

No sooner had they stepped out into the plaza than they saw the line. The line stretched. From the front door of Radacast, the soundstage passed the door of the magic mug. It stretched Down East Lower West Main Street and around the block. The three smiled at each other.

"Wow, this is going to be an amazing show," said Mossy. "Just look at everyone lined up already."

"Are you sure they're still selling tickets? This looks like a big crowd." said Bloodwyn

"Well, I'm sure they'll still have some tickets for us," said Tawney. "We've missed the last few shows. But this time I'm determined; I've set my mind to it. The show has got to happen, and it's going to happen! Come on. Let's get some tickets."

Mossy and Bloodwyn fell in behind Tawney as she made her way across the plaza to the ticket counter. A slight red-furred girl with Fox ears sat behind the ticket counter and smiled up at them. "I’m sorry. No more tickets tonight. Sold out five minutes ago."

"Oh no," said Mossy. "Sorry Tawney. Looks like it's not happening."

"Oh no," said Tawney. "This is going to happen." She grabbed each of her friends by the wrist. And pulled them out into the plaza. Fawns are tall people, and Tawney was tall for a fawn. She could see over the heads of the assembled crowd, so it didn't take her long to find out what she was looking for. A wide-brimmed tan hat with large brown ears poking through it and a khaki trench coat almost but not quite hid a long nose with whiskers. At the end.

"Scabbers," smiled Tawney.

"You're buying from him?" said Bloodwyn. "You know, he charges like four times the actual price."

"Five times tonight." Said the Ratkin. "So what can I do for the two most gorgeous coffee goddesses in town? Oh, and Mossy."

"Hi Scabbers"

"Hi Mossy."

"We want, no, we need tickets for tonight's show." Tawney said with a bit more force then she intended.

"Well, you're in luck I got three more. I won't come cheap. Last ones of the night"

"That's amazing, Scabbers; we will take them."

"Mosssome," said Mossy.

"Wait," said Bloodwyn. "How much are these?"

"Not too much, not too much. Just two gold."

"Two peaces of gold!" sputtered Bloodwyn.

"That's a lot," said Tawney, mentally counting how much she had in her purse.

"Yeah, that's a lot; the price of the door is only four silvers, and even that's twice as much as your average show."

"My dear Bloodwyn It's simple: first there's markups. There's business fees and overhead, and these are the last three tickets after all. Look, do the three of you want to go see one of the best shows of the year tonight? Or do you want to haggle?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"One sec," said Tawney as she counted her coins. "Six gold I've got 13 Gold. Okay, rent's due tomorrow, so I should keep a gold for that. So 12 Gold it's a lot more than I meant to spend, but I'll still have enough for the tickets. And a round of drinks. Maybe two, and still have money for rent tomorrow. This show's gonna be amazing." She looked up from her coineperse, "okay, Scabbers, we'll take those tickets."

With a quick clink of coins, the tickets were in her hand.

"I love that money just jingle jingles" said Mossy. "It’s so musical."

"I hear other places have paper money," said Bloodwyn. "How convenient would it be to have money that folds?"

"You can't make a song with money that folds." Said Mossy "That would just be ridiculous."

Tawney knew this was going to be the night of her and her friends lives. This was the reason she had moved to the big city. It was going to be amazing. The three baristas found their way to the end of the long line and smiled. "This is so Mosssome," said Mossy. "Thank you, Tawney. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Tawney smiled. And just then, her stomach gurgled loudly. Oh, I guess I forgot to eat since before the shift.

The early evening air was full of the smells of street vendors selling their wares," meat pies, meat pies. Sausage in a bun. Real sausage, in a real bun."

"Elven Lembas bread, keep you full for a week!"

" Stew! in a sack! Get yourself a sack. of stew!"

"Oh my," said Tawney, "we never had so many different kinds of food back in Clearwater Glade. Come on, let's try some of that sausage in a bun." She waved over a street vendor.

"You sure?" said Mossy. "I mean, you go ahead. I don't think I will be anything; I still have to save up."

"Nonsense. I said it was my treat. So everything is my treat."

"Mosssome," said Mossy, bouncing up and down. "In that case, can I have two?"

"Sure, sure, Bloodwyn?"

"I must admit I've never had a sausage in a bun before. One for me."

More coins. changed hands. It was worth it. "Food always tastes better with friends," said Tawney, smiling.

"It does," said Mossy, shoving a whole sausage into his mouth. "Speaking of friends, look at my band." Mossy pointed half a block up the line. "Hey, guys, Chaz! Chaz!" Mossy jumped up and down. "Yo, guys, swamp rock!" He yelled. As he struck a pose and pretended to strum a guitar in the air. After a few minutes of jumping and yelling, Mossy paused. "Well, I guess they must not have seen me weird."

"Maybe they're too far away to hear you." Said Tawney "I’m sure that... I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to say hello when we're inside."

"Yeah, you're right," said Mossy. Getting to work on his second sausage.

"That's right," said Bloodwyn. "No point in making a..." she trailed off for a moment, staring into the crowd. "Hide me!" she said, ducking behind Tawney and unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the much shorter Mossy.

"Whoa, Bloodwyn, what's going on? You remember that guy who I almost went on a date with last week?"

Yeah, that Baphomark guy, the one with the fire Rose."

"Yeah, that Baphomark guy. Well, he's right over there."

"Baphomark is here," said Tawney. Standing up straight and straightening out her jacket, before pausing and looking at Bloodwyn. "Oh, I mean, I didn't mean to. Oh, this is awkward."

"No," said Bloodwyn with a sigh. "It doesn't have to be awkward. I saw he was flirting with you after we had to cancel our date. It's fine if you want to talk to him. I just don't want him to talk. To me."

"Well, that's gonna be a little hard," said Mossy. "He looks like he's coming this way."

"Oh, hi Baphomark," Said Bloodwyn with a cringe.

"Oh, hi, Baphomark," said Tawney, in a voice that had suddenly become significantly deeper and more sultry.

"Well, hello, Bloodwyn, Tawney. I am pleased to see the two of you here this evening. Am I correct in assuming that I shall be seeing you inside?"

"Yes, Baphomark. We're going to the show," said Bloodwyn, still trying to disappear.

"Excellent. Excellent. Do look for me."

"She'll be around, but not as around as I'll be," said Tawney.

"I’m not quite sure what that means. But I look forward to seeing you," said Baphomark. As he gently grabbed Tawney's hand and gave her a kiss, "I should hope to see more of you." He said with a smile that seemed to promise playful wickedness, "do have a lovely evening."

While the line was long, thankfully, the friends didn't have to wait long before the doors opened and the crowd pressed forward into Radacast the soundstage. Tawney had now been to 11 shows since coming to the city, and even though this was the first venue that she had seen, it was still by far her favorite. Radacast the soundstage was large and open. Even though it had started its life as a warehouse, it was now the biggest and best soundstage in the entire city. This was by far the busiest night Tawney had yet seen. All three levels were overflowing. Five bars, serving a seemingly unfathomable number of fruity drinks and exotic ales, framed a wide open central dance floor and a stage perfectly situated to be seen from every point in the entire room. The space was truly magnificent. Organ pipes created by THE Radacast, the sound mage himself, framed the stage.

"I propose a toast," said Tawney. Waving over a server with a tray of drinks. "To Friendship,"

"To friendship," echoed her friends. As they clinked glasses, within moments, the brightly colored cocktail in their glasses had disappeared.

"Let's get another round!" said Mossy excitedly

"Oh no, we shouldn't impose on Tawny too much," said Bloodwyn.

"Impose away," said Tawney, flagging down a waitress.

"I think it'll be a minute or two before the opening act starts up," said Mossy, gesturing at the stage as a band of six green-skinned orcs tuned to their instruments.

"What's this band called?" Asks Bloodwyn.

"These guys—I think their name is Smash Bang Clan, but I'm not sure." Another round of drinks appeared on the table. This time, the gang sipped slowly. "Woah, Bloodwyn, what are you doing there?" Asked Mossy.

Tawny looked over to Bloodwyn's drink, where she was twirling her straw in a way that caused orange and pink vapor to dance above the cocktail. "Oh, nothing," said Bloodwyn. "Just practicing something for my internship. You know you've got to practice constantly. If you want to get good at anything, Watch this." She gestured above the smoke, and it condensed into three snakelike figures above her glass. She whistled a tune, and they began to dance, swaying along with the music.

The sound of a drum beat and a guitar chord cut through the conversation. This was followed by a loud, sustained war cry and an aggressive baseline. An arc of lightning cut across the stage with a thunderclap. started the band playing for real

"Whoa!" said Mossy. "Nice opener. Do you think that lightning is real or an illusion?"

"Probably real," said Bloodwyn. "Orc shamans tend to be better Elementalists than illusionists."

"That makes it even better," said Mossy.

A swirl of flame danced on stage. To the beat of war drum and bass guitar, and the crowd went wild. A mosh pit formed in front of the stage. ogres and half giants bashing against each other with force, as gnomes and half-lings skipped across their heads and danced across their shoulders. On the second level, a group of Dark Elves flail their arms madly to the rhythm.

"Tonight is going to be epic. Just mosssome." Said Mossy.

‘ Just awesome.’ Thought Tawney. Now how could she really make tonight special? How could she show her friends just how much she cared about them and appreciated how they had helped her get adjusted to the new city?

"Another round?" asked Tawney.

"Sure," said Mossy.

Tawney looked into her purse and realized her coins were running low. "Just start a tab for me," she said as she collected the drinks from the waitress.

A tab. Yeah, that would do. She could come back and settle the tab tomorrow. There wouldn't be too much of a problem. Tomorrow's shift will hopefully go well. No need to think about money here and now. The only thing on Tawney's mind was just being here. And enjoying spending time with her new friends. At least that’s what she told herself.

Tawny sat back and cast her gaze up towards the stage, where the drummer seemed to be attacking his instruments with a war hammer. Two of his bandmates seem to have given up on playing music altogether. Instead, they were throwing each other across the stage as they danced and duct around brightly colored plumes of smoke and bursts of flame.

Mossy downed his drink, hopped up on the table, and started jumping up and down with a fist in the air. "Hey, wait, mossy lookout," said Bloodwyn as he absentmindedly kicked over her drink. "Well, it's a good thing I have scales because this would be so much harder to get out of clothes," said Bloodwyn, as she shook off the sticky remains of her drink.

"Oh dear," said Tawney "Are you sure it's okay."

"Yeah," said Bloodwyn. "I’ll be fine. Do you want me to at least get you another drink?" said Tawney.

"Are you sure? You've been so generous already."

"Well, what are friends for? Of course I'll get another round," said Tawney, feeling a pit open up in her stomach. "Tomorrow had better be a really big day for tips."

"Okay. If you insist," said Bloodwyn. "I don't think I've had a buzz this good in months."

Another round of drinks went on Tawney's tab. ‘Oh, what a lovely evening. If only the drinks here weren't so darn expensive, whatever.’

Mossy's antics seemed to be getting a bit of attention. Tawney could see a few people in the crowd pointing and gesturing at Mossy. "Oh, hey," said Bloodwyn. "Mossy isn't? Aren't those your band buddies?"

Mossy looked over to see his former friends. "Chaz!. Guys, come on over here. Come on. Join us for a drink. It'll be mosssome."

With a shrug, the musicians started pushing through the crowd. Yet another round of drinks found their way to the table.

"I would like to make a toast," said Mossy, holding his drink up high While standing on the table. "To swamp rock!"

The whole group raised their glasses, "to swamp rock!" and clinked.

"Yeah. To swamp rock," said Chaz.

Tawney smiled just to watch how elated Mossy became. It really seemed like this whole situation with his band might smooth itself over. Then, no sooner were their glasses empty, the members of Swamp Rock seemed to disappear into the crowd. "Hey, Wait, where'd you guys go?" Said Mossy, looking around, "bummer. Well, I'm sure I'll run into them later on the dance floor. Thanks again. For being so generous tonight, Tawney."

"Yeah," said Tawney with a forced smile, "generous. You're welcome." She was trying, she really was. She wanted to be present and enjoy the music and her friends. But she was starting to realize that she was putting a lot of drinks on her tab. A lot of drinks she might not have the money for after her next shift.

"Oh dear," thought Tawney. "What will I do? My coin purse is almost empty, and now it seems like I don't have what I'll need to settle my tab." She looked at Mossy and Bloodwyn, happily bobbing. To the music. Well, at least they're having a good time. she thought She looked up at the stage to see two performers bashing a slow-moving ball of lightning back and forth with their guitars as they played. Somehow, the sinking pit in her stomach wouldn't let her sit back and enjoy the music.

‘Maybe mom and dad were right. Maybe I am irresponsible with money. Maybe I do need to learn how to handle situations like this. Oh God, what am I going to do? I don't have the money to cover these things.’ Thought, Tawney. "Hey, guys. I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I don't think that last round is sitting too. Well, I'll be right back."

"Do you need me to go with you?" Asked bloodwyn.

"No, no need."

"Okay, hurry back. This band’s set is almost over and I hear the next one's going to be killer."

Tawny mumbled something indistinct as she ran for the bathroom; no sooner had the bathroom stall door locked behind her. Then she started to cry.

"I am just a silly girl. My brother was right. How am I ever going to make it in the big city?" Tawney thought with a massive sob, "Why can't I just be normal?"

"Because normal is boring," came a voice from the next stall over. "Though I’m betting it's not you being weird that really has you bothered today." Set a sweet voice. A hand holding a wad of paper appeared underneath the wall of the bathroom stall. "Here You go, dear. You can wipe your eyes with these."

"Thank you," Tawney said with a sniffle.

"Now What's got you so upset? You're at the biggest show of the month. Probably the biggest show between now and the Battle of the Bands, and here you are in the bathroom crying."

"Oh, it's nothing." said Tawney.

"It's clearly something," said the voice

"It's just I really, really wanted this to be a special night to hang out with my friends, and I've gone and ruined it. I spent all my money, and now I just can't enjoy the show. And my friends are probably going to expect me to pay for like a dozen more rounds, and my rent is due. My tour guide hates me because I won't pay him any more. And my landlady will kick me out if I can't pay rent, and everything is just falling apart. I just can't seem to wrap my head around how to hold on to money. It never seemed like it was this hard back home. There's nothing to spend money on. So you know, whenever there was something fun, you just went and did it. But here I have to think about everything. There are so many things to do and see that if I tried to do and see them all, I would not have anything left. My money just seems to disappear."

"That seems like quite a complex predicament." Said the voice from the next stall. "Have you ever thought that maybe there are fun things you could do without spending money, or maybe only setting aside a certain amount of money when you go out and not spending more?"

"But I don't want to miss out," said Tawney.

"Well, young lady. It sounds like you're going to be missing out for the next few weeks. And you may even be missing out on a place to stay if you can't make your rent. I don't mean to give you a lecture, but it seems like your fear of missing out is setting yourself up to miss out in a different way and ruining your happiness when you do show up."

Tawney nodded her head and dabbed at her eyes. The stranger had a point; if she didn't get a handle on her spending, she would be missing out a lot. "But what do I do tonight?" said Tawney. "I’ve already spent more than I have."

"Well, that is quite the problem. It's kind of hard to make money while you're already in a show."

"Yeah," said Tawney, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her new jacket. ‘If only I had some way of making money here tonight. I could cover the bill for tonight and well, tomorrow. Tomorrow I could start saving money.’ Drying her eyes one last time. She stepped out of the bathroom stall she took a long look at herself in the mirror. ‘I look terrible.’ She thought ‘I look like I've been crying for days. long deep breath in can long deep breath out okay, I can do this. I can at least get out there and try my best. Maybe I'll come up with something.’

Just then. The door to the bathroom burst open, and two young elves stumbled in, giggling and laughing. "Oh my god," said the first elf. "That set was amazing. Did you see when they lit the war pipes on fire, and blew purple and green flames over the audience? Oh my god, so amazing. Oof! Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Sorry," said Tawney. "This bathroom is really small."

"Oh my god. I love your jacket." Said the elf.

"Thank you," said Tawney. "It's brand new; I just got it today."

"Oh my God. Where did you get it?"

"There is a shop, Uptown."

"This was the last one in stock and,"

"No! Not last one. But that would go perfectly with my ensemble." The elf said twirly.

"She has a point." Tawney thought the jacket would match the color of her dress. It'd be perfect for a night like this.

"Do you want it?" said Tawney. "I’ll sell it to you."

"Just like that?" said the elf.

"Yep, just like that. four no five gold"

"Okay, said the elf, passing over the coins as if it was nothing."

It was less than what Tawney had paid for it. But given how quickly and easily it had happened, she was happy to get the deal at all. "Few," she thought, "at least now I have enough to cover tonight's tab and still make rent." She trotted back to the table with her friends and settled back into her seat.

"Everything okay?" asked Bloodwyn.

"Much better now," said Tawney, "but maybe we should call it on the drinks ."

"Yeah, maybe we should," said Bloodwyn. "Thank you, though. It's been an awesome evening."

"I agree," said Mossy. "It's not the same as being here Without my band, but you guys are pretty mossum."

"Honestly, I don't need any more drinks," said Bloodwyn. "I’m just happy to be out and present in the moment with some friends."

"Yeah, just being here is the whole point," said Tawney with a sigh, just happy to be out with friends.