"Evening," it began, because Zoe didn't want him putting pressure on people to have a good anything. "If you're a regular, no introduction's necessary, but for the forgetful and the new folks: I'm Ariel Shay, I'm a guitarist and vocalist living here in Queen City-“ He was not from Queen City, but in his linen pants and tie dye shirt he looked the part. “-and I'm one of two acts you can see here at Starsong on Friday nights. First and third Fridays, as a matter of fact. I don't do CDs or anything, but if you think I'm good enough at what I do to show you a thing or two you can pick up info about lessons I offer from the community board in the entryway." He thumped the body of his guitar and the hollow drum sound came reached through the amp to wake up anyone who'd tuned out. "Well, that's enough about me. Feel free to sing along if you just can't help yourselves, but this isn't a tavern so try and keep it down."

Ari took a step back and breathed in to open up the center of his body and let the gears and gaskets in his machine drop and lock into place. As usual, in that moment, some uninvited voice that lived in the hole where his spinal column plugged into his skull asked if he still knew how to do this.

"Gonna plant my sword in golden sand, down by the riverside!”  

Down By the Riverside was an easy one, and he could use that ease to convince himself that he'd always known how to do this. Nobody had anything against that song. Most everyone who came to Starsong hated the war, and anybody who didn't could get into the song through the Bible allusions even if Ari never sang about the Prince of Peace specifically.

It was a money maker song, too. When people are singing along with you, when you're directing them - I pause, you clap, we all shout 'Down by the riverside,' even if I just said to keep it down - you're in control. Trick people into having a good time, and they’ll tip.

Ari couldn't reach this space with his own words anymore. At some point between dropping out of college and landing in Queen City, his mouth and throat had changed shape. The words he managed to choke up sat in his mouth in lumpy shapes that could only fall out into the world.

He hadn't touched his songwriting notebook with any serious thought in months. It was easier this way, just disappearing into someone else’s words. It made the performance pass quickly, before he got sick of feeling eyes on him.

Ari got right off the stage once he'd given his closing prattle thanking everyone for making it a good show and reminding them about the community board. He caught sight of Zoe waving to him from behind the counter just as he was stooping to heft the amp and spirit it back to its hiding place. He pointed to himself, curiously. She waved harder and showed her crowded teeth in a sunny grin that stretched to her ears. ‘Come on,’ her hands said, ‘Come on!’ So he did, to where Zoe had become a bouncing clown just barely restraining herself from tittering in delight. Her blonde hair seemed brighter, her green eyes dancing.

"Uh, what's up? Did somebody leave a big tip?"

The shine in Zoe’s eyes intensified. "It's even better," she said. She beckoned Ari behind the counter, and he obeyed. "Somebody bought you a drink."

"Oh. Cool." Since Ari's arrangement with Zoe ensured he got a free meal and a drink anyway, this didn't excite him. His eyes started to wander, seeking the takeaway cup Zoe had surely set aside for him to claim later. When Zoe leaned into his field of vision with her giant grin turned to full brightness, something like dread bloomed in his brain. “Hang on-”

"He's in that booth you were hiding in with Blake earlier," she said, touching his shoulders with a lightness that controlled without strength. It was the same lightness that his mother used to direct him, the strangling delicacy of someone with what they believe is your best interest in mind. "Go chat. Who knows?"

Ari resisted, but not with his body. “I said hang on. Who even is this? He?”

Zoe shrugged under her shawl and herded him back out into the dining area. "He's got one of those names you don't hear too often, but I already forgot. Sorry! He says he knows you from school. College, maybe?”

That narrowed the list of possibilities to the single digits. Ari hadn’t fled from Washington to the extreme northeast to ‘keep in touch.’ He grunted.

"Just go on.” Zoe touch-pushed him through the crowds of guests scrambling in to get their coffee before closing time and gestured to the corner booth that got the least light. "Go on."

She'd extracted herself from the situation by the time Ari allowed himself to realize and accept that he'd never seen the man in the booth in his life.

The stranger, on the other hand, wasn't living in that same reality. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Ariel!"

Thanks for reading! This is one of two chapters (Well, two halves and one whole, for a total of three posts. Thanks, character limit.) that will post today. From tomorrow until Friday, April the 10^th, this series will update once daily. After that, starting on April the 14^th, it will update every Tuesday and Thursday.