(Intro — Chair scraping. Two breaths, one steady, one shaky. Lightbulb buzzing.) Rave (left, cold): You've been talking about me for years... Black Shepherd... Ripper... But you never let me speak... so speak now... Nathan (right, tired): I didn't think you'd show up... Rave: I never left. (beat drops — slow, heavy) --- (Verse 1 — Rave, left channel, cold and measured.) Rave: You act like I'm the villain in your story But I'm the only reason you survived the allegory At fourteen when the cage became your church I taught you how to swing first, how to feel nothing Black Shepherd — that's not a costume, that's a function I exist because you needed a junction Between the boy who cried and the man who fought I'm the bridge you burned and the war you bought Nathan (right, tired): You talk like I should thank you for the blood For every friendship I shattered, every sorry I muffled You made me steel — but steel don't feel You took the wheel when I was weak But you never asked if I wanted to survive like that Hard, hollow, ready to attack You protected me — but you never came back --- (Verse 2 — Rave, quieter, explaining.) Rave: I don't know how to come back from what I was made for. The first time your dad didn't show, I was already forming. The first time your mom looked away, I was already warming The seat you'd give me when the world got heavy. I didn't take your life — I carried it when you weren't ready. Nathan: But I'm ready now... at least trying to be. And I don't know how to hold you and still hold me. You're the armor — but armor gets heavy. I've been dragging you through every memory Like a chain, like a ghost, like a debt I can't pay. Maybe you saved me... but you also made me afraid Of my own calm, of my own name. --- (Pre-Chorus — Both voices, trading lines.) Rave: You think I like the quiet? I am the quiet. Nathan: You think I like the riot? I became the riot. Rave: You needed me to fight when you couldn't stand. Nathan: I needed you to hold me — not kill with your hands. Rave: ...I don't know how to hold. I only know how to guard. Nathan: Then teach me to guard myself. I'll teach you to drop the shards. --- (Chorus — Both voices layered center.) We are the pieces of a boy who didn't break Two voices in the dark the silence couldn't take One cold, one tired, one calm, one wired One heart split in half but still inspired Not enemies — just two sides of the same fate Rave and Nathan — learning how to communicate --- (Verse 3 — Nathan leads this time.) Nathan: I got questions. Like why the depression came before everything else. ADHD, anxiety, autism — why give a kid a mind he can't use Without spinning, without drowning, without static? But that's not your fault. You didn't build this house. You just moved in when the walls started coming down. Rave (softest yet): ...I didn't build the house. But I reinforced the walls. The ADHD made your thoughts run laps. I made them run in formation. Depression tried to drown you. I taught you to hold your breath. Anxiety screamed warnings every second. I turned the volume down — Not healthy. Not right. But it was what I had. I filled the hole your dad left. That's my only function. --- (Verse 4 — Nathan, steadier. Reaching.) Nathan: Then maybe your function can change. Maybe you don't have to be the guard at the gate. Just the part that knows how to survive While I'm the part that knows how to feel, how to heal. You keep the cold. I'll bring the warmth. Same blood. Same bone. Same breath. Same kid who almost chose death. Rave (long pause, almost a whisper): ...I don't know how to be anything but what I am. But I'm tired too. Even the Shepherd needs rest. Maybe we try this your way. Maybe I let you drive. But if the world comes swinging — you call my name. I'm still the part that knows how to take the pain. Nathan: Deal. --- (Final Chorus — Both voices center, in sync.) We are the pieces of a boy who chose to stay Two voices in the dark who finally found a way One cold, one warm, one calm, one storm One heart learning to transform Not enemies — just two sides of the same face Rave and Nathan — finally sharing the space --- (Outro — Lightbulb flickering. Two breaths, now in sync.) Nathan: Same time next week? Rave (almost warm): ...I'll be here. Nathan: I know. (lightbulb flickers once — holds steady — silence)
