Thread: The Musician's Overture [GGentleman x Soft Strokes]

The young woman taking her order, had looked Vivian over for a few seconds, but kept her peace, taking the order with a smile. When returning to the bar, she'd put a little haste in the last few steps, leaning in over the bar, to whisper to her mother and sister, who where both immediately interested, having seen gossip was on the way. It's fucking Vivian... Vivian is back. The young girl whispered, a look of slight worry on her expression. There where little chance Vivian knew the girl, Harley, since the two had never really been friends, nor talked, being several years apart. But Harley had sat in on some of Cecilia and her mother's late night talks, and heard a few description about Vivian, mixed with the slight memory of short glances. Jenny gave her daughter a stern look, in the process of shaking a cocktail. Language, young Lady.. She started, looking towards Vivian's table as Harley put in the order with her sibling. One hell of a night, for her to show up. Hope Cecilia doesn't see her before she starts. Might just run off.. Or rush over to slap her face... God I hope not, but that girl is so unpredictable these days.. Jenny frowned lightly, a soft sigh finishing her sentence. Harley gave her mother a scowling expression. Language, old Lady... She hit back, causing Jenny to smirk slightly. Hell isn't a swear, you little smartass.. Bill is waving for you, go take his order. They both snickered and giggled in tune, as Harley went off to take another order, while Jenny turned her attention back towards Vivian, and then the stage. -- Back stage, Cecilia had started her breathing exercises. Her eyes where closed, as she hugged her Guitar close against her body, slowly swaying back and forth. Her breathing grew ecstatic, then calm as the wind, then held it. Rinse and repeat. Her eyes where flicking with anxiety, her head giving gentle ticks. Vivian was right in the assumption, that Cecilia usually didn't do crowds like these hence why her acts where so far apart. Too many eyes to judge. To hate. Dislike. So many different personalities, all judging her by her talents. A talent for music. But to her, it wasn't just that. They where judging her person. Her life. Because for her, those where synonymous with music. Her music was the raw emotions of her heart, put into tunes of a Piano, and a Guitar. So -that- is what they judged. Her heart. But now was the time. The Tavern's jukebox had quite down, and the lights guy had given her, her queue. It was time. Time, to do the walk. So, she rose from her seat, breathing in another time, as she grabbed on to the neck of her Guitar, letting the other end rest on the floor, before dragging it along with her, through the short corridor, and then into view. -- Harley had brought Vivian her order, just as the lights started dimming down, as did the chatter of the room. No. It didn't just quite down. It was silenced. Numbed. The few who still chattered, did only for a moment to avoid awkwardness, instead turning their eyes towards the stage. The stage was dark at first, before a soft, gentle white light started shining in a concentrated area, revealing a large, bleach white Piano. By the Piano's side was a Guitar stand, in the back a wheeled chair, and stretched out over it was a Microphone. The silence persisted with the Piano in view, for only a few seconds. The gentle scraping of wood against the wood of the stage started creeping out from behind the stage. Finally, someone stepped into view. The woman who stepped into view wore a bleeding red dress, tight from her torso, where it revealed a gentle amount of her cleavage, just bellow the black leather collar on her neck. From her waist down, however, the red dress went free in curly waves, swaying with the slow steps she took. The dress nearly reached her ankles, only letting the audience see a little bit of her black stockings, before it met her black heels, that clicked with resonance through the biting silence. Over most of the dress, she wore an open, white leather shirt, with a few silver adornments on it's flopped out collar. On her head, she wore an equally bloody red bandanna, hiding her blond hair entirely, only letting a singular red, curled lock of hair, reaching far down in front of her right eye. It was clear that she had plenty of hair, the bandanna showing a bulge where her hair was probably tied up. The woman drudged away, with a guitar dragged by the edge of it's neck, being the sinner of the gentle scrapping. Vivian knew this Guitar. It was an Heirloom of Cecilia's, having been passed down by her father's father, handed to her not long after the two first met. She'd been but a child back then, but she'd learned to handle it surprisingly quickly. The Guitar had a worn look, a few scratches and cuts in the lacquer, but that is how she maintained it. She kept it worn, and the over use of it didn't help that any bit. She put on new lacquer often enough for it to not wear down completely, and instead keep just the way it was. The way she liked it. The woman seemed to walk aimlessly behind the Piano's back, about to walk past it, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her feat. But at the edge of it, she stopped, looking down the keys, before looking over the audience. Her expression was one of surprise, and confusion. She took a few steps back, nearing the microphone and seat, where she started looking around, as if looking for someone. She looked uncertain for a moment, before taking a few quick step towards the guitar stand, where she left her beloved, before moving back to take a seat. She moved close to the keys, looking over them searchingly, before looking into the crowd. She wasn't scanning the room. She was avoiding eyes, but this wasn't obvious. She leaned in towards the microphone, just as she swallowed, finally filling the room with a little more sound, as the audience heard her wet lips click. Uh.. Uhm.. Hello.. She started, moving a little away from the microphone, tapping it as if to check if it worked, the speakers giving a gentle thud. She looked surprised, and sent an apologetic look towards the audience. She took a moment, before leaning in for the microphone again. Sorry.. I.. Uhm.. My.. My name is.. Is Cecilia Loom.. I. I just thought.. Thought I'd play a song. For you.. I.. I ehm. I hope. That is okay. She explained and apologized, the shyness of her voice, showing in her face as well. The act was amazing, even though anxiety and dread was more her own emotions. Instead, she just looked shy, as well as far out her comfort zone. But even through this act, Vivian would know this wasn't truly Cecilia. Cecilia suffered form slight anxiety, had her entire life, but not this severe. After clearing her throat, her fingers reached over the Piano, throwing a few glances over the bleached beauty, as if she was checking if it really was alright. There was a slight, gentle snicker in the audience, before Cecilia's fingers first met the Piano. She took the lighter tunes, as her fingers started dancing, playing the melody of a well known song . After a long intro, she looked over the crowd again, needing no eye contact with her fingers, in order to play the happy tune. And so, her voice started, a light, warm tune to her voice. She sang a song, Vivian might remember. Cecilia had adored it, since the first time she'd heard it in Toy Story two, when they where kids. But the song was more then that for Cecilia, and this showed in her face. The genuine, warm and happy smile on her face, as she sang out the lyrics, of a deeply rooted love. The love she once had with Vivian. The song even fit perfectly when the time their love had taken a short break. When Cecilia had gotten worried about her sexuality. Weather women, was truly what she was 'supposed' to love. They'd been bullied a few times by other girls, but this hadn't lasted long. People weren't as prejudice here, as in larger cities, so Cecilia had gotten over it quickly, and apologized deeply to her true love. And once the song drew to a close, Cecilia started slowly sliding further towards the middle of the Piano, one hand stringing gentle tunes together, leading her towards the next song, as her other hand moved the microphone along with her. Her fingers started strumming together a new song, this time deeper, more chaotic. An instrumental, her lips remained closed, but her expression didn't pause. There was.. Confusion, on her face. The melody of the Piano, played the rushed, chaotic beat of a search. A search for answers? A search for a person? Reason? People drew their own conclusions, but Cecilia's heart knew the answer. It had been her desperate, painful search for Vivian. The search of her own heart, looking for what she did wrong. Was it her? Was it their music? Did she make mistakes? The longer the melody played, the more depressed it turned, a deep melancholy in the tunes as she slid further towards the lighter. A lone tear had started treking down her right cheek, dragging along mascara with it, leaving a black stroke down her pale skin. Even now, as she was looking over the crowd, she still didn't focus, or lock in on any eyes, as one song, slid towards another, once again sliding, this time towards the deeper notes, her microphone coming along. The song turned towards anger. But it was a desperate anger. A melancholic, desperate attempt at being tough. This showed in her face, as her body swayed with the melody. She lived in the music at this point, another tear starting to trek down her other cheek, her eyes pinched shut in painful grimaces from time to time. This song was short, as the music turned more and more melancholic, Cecilia's expression, as well as her personal emotions, turning into deep depression. Her body started slumping, as she drifted towards the lighter side of notes, the song then turned into her personal heritage, her voice lighter, vulnerable. Even though this was her mother tongue, it wasn't any more natural than her English. This, however, was more pure. Showed where her accent came from, as she sang about how she wasn't going to fall. Wasn't going to break. The lyrics where desperate. Longing to be true. But it was clear to anyone, that it was the song of a woman hurt. Sad. Her body slowly swayed with it, but she never straightened up, staying slumped. hunched over. Curled together. Small. As the song ended, a silence fell over the room. This allowed a few sniffles to be heard form the crowd, girls hiding their faces against their men, as they tried to hide how emotionally they got with the song. Cecilia's fingers started very slowly building up a melody , while her back slowly straightened, her face still trying to hide, gaze fixed on the keys. Her fingers flew from the Piano, as she counted to four, one hand reaching up to rip off the bandanna from her head, throwing it on top of the Piano, causing it to spread out, creating a river of blood on the bleached white surface. She whipped her head first back, then forward, causing her now wild and untammed hair to cover her face, but not before revealing it's nature. At least four more streaks of black mascara and tears had stained her face, creating quite a mess of it. With this song, Cecilia's body twitched and turned around in it's seat, while her fingers hacked away at the poor keys of the Piano, desperate playing as was commanded. She sang, and displayed a broken, crazy woman, who shifted and turned in her seat, legs unable to stay still, kicking down bellow the chair, then to the side, following the hair's frantic waves and whips across her face. The crowd was surprised, enthralled and completely silent still. A few gasps had been exclaimed at first, one from Jenny the Barmaid. A few slight bounces on the chair, caused her white leather jacket to inch down from her right shoulder, revealing the goose bumped skin beneath. When the chaos finally ended, her final word being exclaimed with a gasp, as Cecilia leaped off of her seat, pushing the chair back in the process, creating quite a clatter. She was flustered. Paniced. Afraid, looking down at what she'd wrought on the Piano, holding both hands over her heart. She shortly looked over the audience, before frantically grabbing for her Guitar. She picked it up, lifting it up to hug it close against her body, a silent whimper escaping her, as she started walking around the Piano. The spot light followed her on her way, decreasing in size to only light her up, letting the Piano disappear back into the background. Instead, a second chair came into view, with a double microphone stand in front, a microphone for her acoustic guitar, as well as her lips. Cecilia quickly sat down, shooting short quick glances around the room, before moving one leg over the other. Sitting like this was quite uncomfortable for her member, but it was the best one for her to play the guitar in. This revealed a bit more of the thin black stockings bellow her dress, and she hunched over her guitar with the look of someone embarrassed. Still afraid. She pulled her guitar close, licking her lips as she cleared her throat, and let her fingers strum the strings. Here, her true talents shined through. The music she now played, was expressed with so much bleeding emotion, that even more tears welled up in her eyes. The pain within this melancholic instrumental was all too apparent, and a sound of gentle whimpers and sobs came from the microphone, even though she didn't sit close to it. Her body became one with the strings, swaying and tilting with every flick and tap of them. There was no song with this. No explanation needed. Just raw emotions. Just.. Life. The melancholic song lead into an extension, getting even darker, as her voice started chiming in as well. This, was completely original. Bleeding from her heart, straight into the mind of the audience. She sang of the pain of loss. How the unknown, is harsher and worse than the known, even when only the known is absolutely permanent. She sang of desperate attempts of lashing out for love, only to be struck right back with even more pain. Of how memories can make you smile, only to tear you further down the bottles neck. A desperate swim in liqueur, only managing to numb any regular sense of logic. Any thought of moving on. Instead just sticking to what you know. Pain. Sorrow. Frustration.