Tore Him Up
[[Context: Derelict isn't keen on everyone and their mother knowing that the hard-ass crime boss is a quite talented pianist, but he had a song he wanted to get off his chest. So he donned a mask and took the stage at the Phoenix Parlor under the name Penn Umbra. It was very much my first time trying to do something like this. "Tearing Me Up" by Bob Moses. https://youtu.be/NAS5Z1GvxrQ]]
/y A man saunters onto the stage - the soft soles of his dress shoes make no noise as he passes. His hands are stuffed casually into his trouser pockets, and he wears an easy smile below a black masquerade mask. Wordlessly, he approaches the bench, flips the tails of his coat out from under him, and takes a seat at the grand piano. Long, pale fingers hover, arched, over the keys, primed for some unheard cue. After a contemplative moment, he shatters the silence with a heavy minor chord.
/y As the intro builds up on itself, the man drawing out more parts from the single piano than seems possible, a thick, black smoke begins to pool beneath him and spread into a low, roiling layer across the stage. Truly, it looks like shadows made manifest and given life, as not even the bright spotlights can seem to penetrate it.
/y Ushering in a new section, the shadow smoke begins to percolate and pulse in time with the hard notes of the song.
/y The hard beat relents, and the notes walk gently up and down the keys. The softer tone has its own visible effect on the smoke, as two masses are drawn up and begin to take shape, like clay on a potter’s wheel. In the time until the first verse, they slowly resolve into the form of a tall, thin man, and a lithe woman with long, billowing hair. They’re both featureless and made wholly of the opaque, black smoke.
/y “♪ Let me tell you about a little situation: It's been testing my patience - man, she was keeping me up all night. 'Cause you only get so far reading faces. We were off to the races and I thought to myself ‘hold tight’.♪” His fingers are sharp dagger points to the vitals of the tune, taking simple chord progressions and dancing them off in either direction with mellow flourishes - his voice, a baritone croon.
/y The man and the woman regard one another and take a few, hesitant steps forward. The man reaches out to cup her cheek in one hand, and she in turn motions to place her own hands atop his to hold it in place. But, the instant before they finally touch, the woman quickly turns her head, as if trying to find the source of a disturbance. His hand slowly falls back to his side.
/y “♪ You see there was just this one complication: she was already taken and what was so wrong felt so right. She said ‘no need to be looking over your shoulder when you could just come over and we can work this out just fine.♪ ”
/y Another shadow figure rises from the smoke, though it lacks the definition of the first two. The newcomer approaches and spirits the woman away, beginning an elegant, sweeping dance. The first man is left by the side, pacing restlessly.
/y “♪ I don't know what you want from me - so careless in my company. Oh, if all that you say is true, there'll be no getting over you. So beat down playing by your rules - if you're a joker then I'm a fool. I guess there's no catching up to you...♪”
y/ The other figure’s attention wavers for a moment, and in that instant, the woman seamlessly spins into a dance with the first man. They press much too close together, and their dance is far more spectacular - they cross, dip, and spin in obvious elation.
y/ “♪If you don't want my affection - don't lie, you're tearing me up. 'Cause you've got all my attention. I won't lie, you're tearing me up.♪”
/y As they dance together, pieces begin to come off the man - his form dissolving in places like water on a sugar cube, but the woman does not appear to notice.
/y “♪I'm trying to tell your intention. When you lie, you're tearing me up. If you don't want my affection, you won't mind, you're tearing me up.♪”
/y An arm falls away, then a leg, though he tries his best to continue the dance. Soon enough, though, he slips through the woman’s fingers and dissolves into the shadowstuff at the floor of the stage again.
/y “♪It all started with a simple conversation, It was on the weekend and she was talking me up all night. Kept asking if I was only faking - she was there for taking showing me that she was all mine.♪”
/y By the time the man reforms from the smoke, the woman is already dancing with the other figure. Though, as she spins, she appears to notice the man. She releases her partner immediately, and takes the man into her arms to resume their dance.
/y “♪She told me she lived just around the corner. I wanted to know her - yeah, she was making me lose my mind. I didn't know quite what I was chasing, she left my heart racing and all between it was just one night.♪”
/y The other figure disappears completely now, leaving the man and the woman alone on the dance floor.
/y “♪ I don't know what you want from me - so careless in my company. Oh, if all that you say is true, there'll be no getting over you. So beat down playing by your rules - if you're a joker then I'm a fool. I guess there's no catching up to you...♪”
/y “♪If you don't want my affection - don't lie, you're tearing me up. 'Cause you've got all my attention. I won't lie, you're tearing me up. I'm trying to tell your intention. When you lie, you're tearing me up. If you don't want my affection, you won't mind, you're tearing me up.♪”
/y In the midst of their dance, the man starts to fall to pieces again - crumbling at the edges and threatening to dissolve completely again, but every time a piece of him begins to fall away, the woman catches it and holds it in place until it sticks.
/y The masked man at the piano pulls on the reins of the song, the softness of the notes bringing the shadow figures’ energetic dance down to a simmer. They draw close, rotating in place, and slowly descend into the pool of smoke together.
/y The pianist strikes a final chord that scatters the tangible shadows into nothingness. He stands, takes his bow, smiling confidently at the audience, and walks off the stage without another word.
