The song that played was common at parties and didn't diverge much from pop. A slow version of Earned It by The Weeknd came on, as it did Josh gestured to someone behind one of the silk curtains. Quickly, they came out with two chairs and placed them in front of the poles.
Josh and the woman grabbed the pole, then twisted around them, falling onto the chair with a 'thump', matching the timing of the song.
Joshua had a smile plastered on the whole time, while the woman seemed more.. professional. Her face was lit by the stage lights, but Matthew couldn't determine the color of her eyes. She glanced at the crowd with only a faint glint in her eyes.
The performance began, but Matthew didn't look for long. Comparing the two as they started by dancing on the chair, spreading their legs in wide splits, twisting smoothly to transition from running their hands down their chests to running their hands down the rest of their mostly unclothed bodies, the woman was definitely who Matthew paid the most attention to.
She was beautiful, and so was her dancing. However, her eyes eventually met his.. causing Matthew to feel embarrassed.
He quickly avoided her gaze, exhaling a bit of smoke. Griffin saw his action and chuckled. He grasped Matthew's shoulder and commented over the crowd, "Looking away makes you seem guilty of something."
Matthew groaned and pushed his hands off. That was probably true, but it wouldn't make him look back. He placed the cigarette back to his lips, ignoring Griffin.
Griffin turned to the stage and spoke again, "she's still looking." He grinned. His baggy eyes looked a tad less tired, having found a moment of interest in Matthew acting less mature than himself. "Look back, Matt. I think you'd love the way she's dancing now."
Matthew scowled, "My name's Matthew, and shut it." It was embarrassing enough to be seen staring, he didn't want to be teased for it too.
Although Griffin and Matthew hardly knew each other, they worked in the same neighborhood and dealt with the same customers. Both are close in age, with Griffin being around 4 years younger.
Matthew knew Griffin as the guy who owns a rundown diner, while Griffin knew Matthew as the guy who owns a popular bar. It's surface-level knowledge, but Griffin also heard rumors.
Matthew has always had a mean face and an aggressive tone. There's a rumor that's been circulating for years, saying he used to work with a co-owner. When the bar was the most popular downtown, most uptowners also knew about it.
However, they say Matthew's attitude annoyed his co-owner to no end. They always complained or tried to help him fix it, which annoyed Matthew just as much. They were always heard arguing no matter what time of day or how busy it got. Then, the bar closed before reopening. When it did, it was just Matthew, and the co-owner was never seen again.
The rumor was why Griffin never sought out Matthew. He didn't doubt Matthew killed whoever that person was, he looked more than experienced in that area. So, seeing him act like a young adult with zero club experience, was both peculiar and hilarious.
Matthew did have zero club experience, he has zero experience in general. As Nel said, he was always holed up at the bar. He never put himself out there... Another reason Josh made fun of him.
"Alright, Matt." Griffin didn't continue but still used the nickname.
Nel was whispering about their brother's performance as he and the woman, who had lowered to the floor, were rising. They set aside the chairs and grabbed the poles.
Immediately, they lift their bodies and spin around once, then they start doing various things.
Nel seemed surprised, "Josh hasn't done this in a while, but look at her go!" Giving in to his curiosity, Matthew looked up. He was surprised as well, at both of them.
Josh chose to lift a foot above the floor, hooking his leg and loosening his arms. He adjusted himself around the pole, then held himself upside down. His arms had clear, strong muscles, and his legs seemed to flex under the stage lighting as he spread them in a full, upsidedown split.
The woman had done similar feats while climbing up the pole, nearly to the top when she hung upside down. As she brought herself upright again, she spun herself around the pole with one leg and hand holding on. She switched to spinning down with the pole between her thighs, stretching her arms until they met with her legs, flexibly bending backward.
Her decision not to tie up her hair like Josh caused it to flutter and fall with her every movement. In addition to her lean muscles which were less obvious than Josh's, it made her performance better.
They both landed on the floor again with a 'thud", somewhat matching the song's beat.
They danced on the pole again, their feet only lifting a few inches when spinning. The song was coming to an end, and both kicked their legs up and brought them down on the stage. The woman's shoes caused another thump.
Around the last verses, Josh and the woman switched sides. She was at the pole further away from the group earlier, closer to the sub-basement door. As she lightly walked over, her steps drowned out by consistent talking all around, her eyes met Matthew's again.
She smiled at him, then turned away to finish the performance.
They climbed up the poles and started doing the same moves. When they came down, they dropped down in a floor split. They closed their legs in the back, then turned over to lay on their backs.
Matthew looked away again, trying not to contemplate the look he was given. She noticed he was staring.. so why did she smile? He expected her to be creeped out.
He blew another puff of smoke, fogging the stage in front of his eyes.
The song slowed further, the last words booming off of the basement's walls, nearly overwhelmed by the crowd both watching and doing other things.
Felise was among the people watching avidly, cheering like an audience at a live performance. She was overdoing it if you asked Matthew.
Their performance was over and the next song played. For something just thrown together, with absolutely no choreography, they coordinated fairly well.
Some moves were offbeat or didn't sync with each other, but it's not like anyone here would notice or care. They cheered and clapped while Josh and the woman walked behind the curtain to get changed.
"See? Josh is rusty, but damn did he do well!" Nel stated to Felise, feeling proud their brother wasn't complete crap after this time without practice.
"Yeaaa, but who was his partner? I need her flexibility." Felise practically had stars in her eyes remembering the woman's backbend. Nel frowned, "you don't know her? I was hoping you did." They shrugged, "I'll ask Teddy later."
Matthew wanted to find out too.. for curiosity's sake. It was his job to know everything about everyone, but it was an exaggeration to say that he did. He knew gossip, he knew what he observed, and he knew what he was most interested in. Nevertheless, the city is... gigantic, and there aren't enough files in his bar office to document everything.y one. It made Matthew feel a bit useless, honestly.
Griffin cleared his throat to get the attention of all three, blowing the cigarette smoke out. "Shouldn't you walk over and ask the young lady yourself?" He suggested.
"Well..." Nel looked at Matthew. They weren't too sure Matthew would come along. It was too early to assume their brother-in-spirit wouldn't run off like usual.
Griffin put an arm around Matthew and spoke reassuringly. "Don't worry about this guy, I'll be dragging him around."
Nel looked at Felise this time. They weren't familiar with Griffin, but any partner of a friend was a friend to them. With Felise blowing a firm kiss to Griffin, and Griffin pretending to catch it in his palm, then send his own back, Nel was
In that case, Felise should hurry up." They readily agreed. Felise accepted that as well, blew a kiss to Griffin, then allowed herself to be pulled away.
"Hey-" Matthew stopped himself as he watched them leave. Damn it. He turned his full attention to Griffin, who knew exactly why.
"Did you want to go?" Griffin pulled his arm back and pushed his cigarette from his mouth. "You should have said so." He said cheekily.
One thing no one ever called Matthew was 'completely levelheaded'. He was quiet, unsocial, and often more mature than his older peers, but that didn't make him unaggressive.
If people noticed his face was frightening but his personality was peaceful over all these years, he would have had plenty more people willing to befriend him. As downtown is the home of thugs, a face was the least of many concerns.
The issue was, coupled with your average rumors, that Matthew was nearly as temperamental and aggressive as he looked. Especially in his younger days.
In recent years, he's overcome his record of physical violence. But, people remember.
Another reason why Griffin didn't doubt Matthew may have killed his co-owner. There wasn't any real proof, but the downtown cops weren't hired to do their jobs anyways. If they arrested someone guilty, all downtowners would be surprised.
Griffin was an annoyance. He talked, smiled, and hung off Matthew like a friend. When Matthew first saw him, he didn't mind acting closer and even offered him a cigarette. Even so, that doesn't mean they're friends, but he's happy to tolerate him.
Matthew allowed very, very few people to call him a friend. Nel, Josh, Rufus, and occasionally Logan, were those people. No one else, not Felise, not Lilith, and certainly not a fucking stranger–Aka, Griffin.
Matthew crushed the cigarette in his palm and grabbed Griffin's collar with the other. He stood a few inches taller, glaring as he clenched his fist tightly. He muttered in a dry tone, "Why are you bothering me?"
With the cigarette falling and his handballing into another fist, there was an obvious threat. Matthew had deep, forest green eyes. Despite their darkness, they stood out in contrast to his rough ebony skin.
Griffin raised his hands hesitantly, his cheeky smile turning nervous. "I wanna talk to you... About Felise," he hesitated.