Behind Isabella was a large wolf. He stood quite a bit taller than the others in the room. Only Gonzi and Sandra were at eye level with him. His stone grey fur gave his muscular form the appearance that he was carved from stone. He wore a black t-shirt with a dark green bandana tied around his neck. His blue jeans were pale, with a tear over the right knee.  

“Kisa! You came!” Lily lit up and ran over to the grey wolf, giving him a big hug. 

Danniel had planned this night in his head for weeks now. The worst thing he could have foreseen was Lily saying no. Out of the multiple outcomes that had played in his head, none of them saw Kisa in front of him. He wasn’t sure if it was the natural disgust Kisa inspired in him or that voice from somewhere inside telling him the presence was an ill omen. Whatever it was, Danniel decided at that moment that the time wasn’t right. With a simple suck of his teeth, he left his usual spot to retrieve something to drink. Hopefully, there was something strong enough to wash the bitter taste that filled his mouth. 

Lily buried her face into Kisa’s chest. The spark of joy faded rather quickly when something grabbed her attention. It was the same perfume she had smelled on him the weeks before being kicked from her former band. 

“So, how’s Phoebe?” Lily asked while pulling away from the hug.

“I wish I knew,” Kisa said with a shrug. She blew up on me again last week. Now, she refuses to even talk to me.”

“Oh?” Lily said while tilting her head slightly, “Why what happened?” 

“She was being controlling and doesn’t like me hanging out with friends. You know how she is,” Kisa responded. 

 Lily nodded while forcing a smile. She almost immediately recognized his tone of voice. Kisa lied as easily as he drew breath. It felt like everything out of his mouth was never a hundred percent true. There were some days when Lily wasn’t sure that his name was actually Kisa or that her own name was, in fact, Lily.  It was clear Kisa still thought she wasn’t up on his ways—the fact he could still lie to her face without a hint of hesitation. The sensation was both familiar and intensely annoying.   As she listened to her, Lily fought the urge to ask how he smelled so freshly of her if they hadn’t seen each other in a week.

“Right. Well, she has nothing to worry about with me. We are just friends, right?” Lily said. Her tone made it clear that she wasn’t asking and was looking for simple and direct clarification.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,”

“Good. I’m kinda looking at someone, and I don’t want Pheobe…” The rabbit paused for a few seconds and stared at Kisa, unblinking, “to mess things up. Now, come on, I want to introduce you to my friends.”  

As Lily led Kisa into the Cafe, Isabella strolled up to Danny. He was sipping on a cup of wine while scrolling on his phone. She strode up and stood there in silence beside him. As she pulled her own phone out, Isabella could feel the wolf staring holes into the top of her head. When she heard a soft huff from the wolf, Isabella rolled her eyes and looked up at him.

“Like, do you have a problem?” Isabella asked. 

“Did you know he was coming?” Danniel whispered back. 

“Did I know he was invited? Yeah, of course. Did I think he would show?” Isabella paused as she looked up and saw Lily and Kisa departing from Sandra and Bastion. The two were on their way to Danny and herself. She looked back at Danny and gave him a shrug, “Sometimes, you call it wrong.” 

“So,” Lily dragged Kisa up to her two co-workers. Isabella turned her attention to her phone as the two wolves locked eyes, “This is Isabella. I think you met her at the door. And this,” Lily started as she turned her attention to Danniel but was interrupted by her guest.

“Oh, I know who this is,” Kisa said as he stepped around Lily. He loomed over Danniel and glared down at him. “This is the guy who broke my nose.” 

Lily’s gasp was loud enough to draw the attention of the other attendants. The sight of the hulking Kisa staring daggers down at Danniel drew concern from the store owners. However, Danniel did not share this feeling. Instead, his expression was unimpressed, his exposed eye half-lidded and aimed back at Kisa. 

“I feel like Danniel might be easier to say,” Danniel spoke with a tone as disinterested as his expression.

Lily forced her way between the two wolves and moved them apart to a more manageable distance. “Okay, when did this happen?” 

“Six months ago. After you left the studio.” Danniel answered. 

“What is wrong with you?!” Lily snapped at him

“Wait, what?” Danniel stuttered. “Why are you mad at me? He dumped you and kicked you out of your own band? How am I the bad guy?” 

“I don’t need you to punch people when something bad happens to me!” Lily said with a stomp of her foot. 

Kisa leaned closer, trying to close the distance Lily created. His eyes narrowed with a smug grin stretching across his maw. “Good because he and I have something to discuss.”

Danniel had the same thought and moved closer, his hands balled tight into fists, “About how to break your nose again?”  

 Before the two could go any further, a large hand came to rest on each of the wolves’ chests. Gonzi forced the two apart with ease and turned his attention to Lily. Kisa stumbled back while Danny found himself pinned to the wall.

“You.” Gonzi pointed at Lily before pointing out the cafe’s entrance. “Get him out of here. You.” The horse turned his attention to Danniel, whose eye stayed locked on the chuckling Kisa, “Get your ass in my office.  Thorne. Giant. Move.” 

Lily did as she was told, dragging Kisa out of the store by the wrist. Once the door was closed, Gonzi dropped his arm and let Danniel lift himself off the wall before he left without speaking another word. As soon as he heard the door of his office close, Gonzi slumped his shoulders with a sigh of relief. He limped over to the cake to grab one of the remaining pieces of Sandra’s cake and one of the boxes containing the meatballs before he flopped down in a nearby chair. 

“Sandra, are these your sister’s recipe?” Gonzi asked before popping a meatball into his mouth. 

“Aye. What are you going to do about that little scene?” Sandra asked 

Gonzi laughed before gobbling down the other two meatballs. After stifling a burp, he cleared his throat and answered, “Nothing. Lily will get rid of her friend, and Twelve will cool off in the office. Now, I’m going to eat this cake before they clean up and get out. Blessed spread, by the way, Sandra.” The horse punctuated his statement by scoping a forkful of cake into his mouth and washing it down with a swig of juice. 

*******

The cleanup was quiet and quick, with most of the leftovers going home with the Starlight employees. Any scraps, including paper plates and bamboo utensils, were thrown into Sandra’s compost. Bastion and Sandra were the first out, followed by Gonzi and Isabella. That left only Danniel and Lily. Lily had seen Isabella off with most of the leftovers and now waiting for Danniel. 

When he finally stepped through the doorway, Danniel was met with a furious rabbit with her new guitar strapped to her back. The wolf wordlessly turned and locked the door. Danniel could see Lily’s reflection in the store window. Unfortunately, her expression had remained unchanged. Her brow was furrowed, and her eyes were shining with rage. Her arms were crossed, and her foot rapidly tapped the cobblestone street. 

“For what it’s worth, I’m not sorry,” Danniel confessed. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?!” Lily snapped again.  Danniel turned to face Lily, his expression matching her own. It was bad enough that Kisa showed up and ruined the evening. Now, he was being yelled at for something absolutely earned in Danniel’s mind. 

“Again, how am I the bad guy? He’s a jackass anyway,” Danniel answered.

“You are unbelievable,” Lily growled. 

Lily turned on her heel in a huff and started toward the train station. Danniel followed her down the path in tense silence. She kept staring forward but eventually started glancing over her shoulder back at him. From what Lily could see, he was lost in thought while looking to the side. When Danniel turned back forward as they rounded a corner, Lily did the same. “What…happened exactly? With Kisa and the nose thing?”

“It happened when you left the studio. I was mad. You never painted the best picture of him, but I mean, him breaking up with you and kicking you out of the band at the same time,” Danniel paused to suck his teeth. Clearly, what came next wasn’t something he was completely proud of. “I just lost my head. I asked him the name of the new girl in the band. In my head, if he told me that name you mentioned-” 

“Phoebe?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, her. If he said Phoebe, I was going do… Well, I was going to do something.” Danniel said with a shrug. 

Lily shook her head as she figured out where Danniel was going next with his retelling. Punching out someone in the name of a hurt friend wasn’t uncommon for Lily. Growing up, she was a scrapper, which was still true as an adult. Now, with a chance to digest what was said, Lily felt a little hypocritical for giving Danny grief about socking Kisa. There was no shortage of moments during their relationship that inspired similar thoughts in her. 

“And you decided to punch him in the nose?” Lily looked back at Danniel.

“I actually missed. My punch was a little high, hence the broken nose. The aim was to screw up his singing by swelling his jaw.  Though honestly, the whole moment was kind of a blur now. There’s a chance he may remember more than I would. 

The two reached the platform as the train to Dustburrow was announced over the intercom.  Stopping near a set of benches under the train schedule board, Lily grabbed Danniel’s hands and looked up at him slightly pleadingly. 

“Alright, I know you don’t like Kisa, and you were just being a good friend. That being said, I want to see if Kisa and I can still be friends. That means, for now, you have to be nice to him. That means no fighting. Promise me you are going to be on your best behavior.”

Danniel let out a frustrated groan as Lily’s train pulled in. He rolled his eyes and felt Lily grip his hands tighter. When he looked back to her, the rabbit’s pleading gaze had gained a furrowed brow and a slight pout. 

“Lily…” Danniel groaned.

“Promise!” Lily demanded. 

“Fine…” said the wolf as he cast his eyes away. 

"Thank you! You're the best!" Lily hugged him tight before dashing between the closing train doors. 

As Danniel watched Lily disappear into the distance, a sense of relief began to settle onto the wolf. Though the night's end was rocky, a simple conversation had brought things to a somewhat positive ending. The relief was short-lived as the feeling of a heavy arm draping across his shoulders pulled him back into reality. His eyes darted to the side and spotted a familiar shade of stone gray. On his other side, the head of Kisa came close to his own, his maw curled up into a smile.” 

“You really are,” Kisa said mockingly. He was quickly removed from Danniel’s shoulder when the wolf’ swatted Kisa away. 

“By the elders; how many times am I going to see you tonight?!” Danniel snapped. 

Kisa laughed at Danniel’s outburst while holding his hands up in a sign of non-aggression. “Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, kin. I’m not here to start a fight. I wasn’t even here for you. I was here for the rabbit.” He dropped his hands and stepped closer, never breaking eye contact, “yet once again, you’re in the way.” 

“Listen, kin, it's been a long night. If you have something you need to say, make it quick,” Danniel said while gesturing Kisa to hurry up. 

“Oh, I do. She’s told me a lot about you and I do appreciate you being a good friend and everything. Great look and all but I need you to keep your distance. The rabbit is mine.” Kisa ordered while looming over Danniel once again. 

“Not that I know what you’re talking about, but that’s not going to happen. Plus, you dumped her. I was there.” 

“Changed my mind. Back off, or I will gladly make you back off.” 

Danniel let out a quick dismissive laugh as the ringed gauntlet on his hand began to glow with its soft purple light. “I swear I will do far worse than just break your nose.” 

"But I thought you promised Lily you would play nice?" Kisa growled back in wolven. Both Danniel's jaw and hand relaxed at the remark. A fit of mocking laughter erupted from Kisa while Danny took a step back. Kisa wiped away a tear before letting out a heavy sigh. 

"You heard that?" Asked Danny.

"Yeah, I did, and, again,  I absolutely dig the good guy schtick you got going on. Lily needs a friend like you. I, on the other hand, would rather you back off and stop hovering around my rabbit." 

"Get bent.”

“I don’t think you understand, but you will. Don’t worry.”  Kisa chuckled while glancing around, "Oh, and I just thought of something. Lily said you couldn't put your hands on me. She never said anything about-" Kisa, without warning, swung and landed a hook to the stomach. The force knocked the wind out of the wolf, leaving Danny doubled over. Grasping his victim by the hair, Kisa threw the other wolf to the floor. "Putting my hands on you!" Taking a long step, Kisa drilled the end of his boot directly into the already wounded gut. An accompanying gasp escaped from Danny's muzzle as his boot made contact. Standing over Danny, Kisa looked around again to ensure they were still alone. The smile returned as the wolf put his heel against Danniel’s face. 

"Asshole," Danniel growled from under Kisa's heel. 

"Hmm, fair." Kisa nodded, dragging his heel across Danny's face and focusing on the schedule board. "Oh, and this doesn't make up for the nose thing." 

“Pulling into platform A: Express line to Harvestvale.”  was called over the intercom. 

“Lucky me, I can still get home. Thanks for a fun night. Hands off Lily.” Kisa called back as he boarded the mostly empty train car. 

As Kisa’s train disappeared into the night, Danniel rolled onto his back while catching his breath. After a few deep breaths, he sat up and collected himself. Another train pulled into the station, and he finally reached his feet as he was joined by the last trainload coming in from Nightgarden. Wordless, the defeated wolf mixed with the crowd, leaving the station with his ego bruised and his tail between his legs. 

End of StarLight: Opening act