The dressing room is warm with stage lights and filled with nerves. You’re buttoning up your jacket, fingers shaking slightly from the pressure. The concert hall is full tonight, a sold out crowd. You steady your hands as you open the case and begin to carefully remove your instrument. Everything has to be perfect. There was no room for mistakes tonight not with Viktor conducting.

That’s when you hear the three short taps on the door before it creaks open. Sound of a cane follows tapping against the polished floor. Viktor steps in, his suit a dark red with his baton in his hand. He gives you a small nervous smile.

“You are prepared, hm? There is nothing to fear. I have no doubt you will perform beautifully…well—we will.” He gently puts a hand on your shoulder before looking at you from the mirror