Eddie didn't really know what was going on but the green suit they gave her fit her nicely and thank god something was making her feel better. And the bonus was, if she felt like she was going to be sick again, she could blame the reflection of her outfit.

"Axel," Moxie said, "that fur really brings out the colour of your eyes."

Eddie contemplated slamming her head into the vanity she'd been seated at when she realized he was shirtless and not wearing his costume.

"I—uh—thanks." Axel groaned a little when Slaynia handed him a costume. It looked like a goat. "Thank you."

"Oh, look," Moxie said. "Extensions for your coat."

"Homegrown and everything," Axel said. "Wow."

"Hey, Slaynia," Stevie said. "Just curious but do you have more wax strips in your kit?"

"Yeah," Slaynia said, "just let me know how many you need."

"Stev," Maverick said, holding his eye open with one hand and putting in a contact lens, "you're a masochist."

"No one mourns the hairy," Stevie said.

"I would mourn the hairy, actually," Axel said.

Unfortunately, some part of Eddie would too. What a terrible thing to discover about herself.

"Don't you have baaaa sounds to practice?" Stevie asked.

Axel let out a goat noise that earned him his first extended stare from Eddie if only for her to look at him aghast that it hadn't been a soundboard.

Maverick made a face at him. "I don't like that you were good at that."

"You can't even let me have that win?"

"No." And it showed, as Maverick seemed to be having a better time poking himself in the eye to put the other lens in than give Axel any semblance of a win.

"Axel, be honest," Moxie said, working on some blue makeup. "Do you even know who your character is? And don't just say the goat."

Axel blinked. "I mean, I thought it was Mr. Tumnus, but this costume says otherwise. There's no scarf."

"Maverick," Stevie said in a chiding tone. One step away from full naming him. "I think you need to answer for your crimes of inviting this man to a Wicked-themed drag show."

"Where's the cop who wrote Axel three tickets when you need him?" Moxie asked.

"Can I use the excuse that I was sad and not thinking straight or is that not good enough?" Maverick asked.

"I think the problem is that you were thinking straight," Moxie said.

"You've overextended your sadness credit with this one," Stevie said.

"That's fair on both accounts," Maverick said, cleaning a makeup brush. "Sorry about that."

Gaylinda walked into the room, looking wonderfully fabulous. "Can I borrow Elphie and... pink Galinda? Need to test something before the show."

Calling Stevie and Maverick away from the group to test something was a one way ticket to having to forcibly remove them from a stage and Eddie hoped Gaylinda knew that. They practically pushed each other out of the way as they sprinted off to where they were needed. Combine that with their executive functions trying to help others rather than wallow in self-pity and they were the greatest and worst people alive to be asked for help.

"So," Cruella said. In the absence of Stevie and Maverick, Eddie was far more removed from the group than she probably needed to be. "How is everyone doing?"

There was a millennial pause from the group before Axel decided the silence needed to be broken. "Mostly... fine. You?"

Cruella narrowed her eyes at him. "Mostly fine as in Maika Monroe is only fine? Or actually fine?"

"I—" Axel tried to catch Eddie's eyes in the mirror again and Eddie quickly looked away. About as stealthy as being held at gunpoint. "Maika Monroe."

"Right." It was Cruella's turn to look at Eddie and Eddie fought tooth and nail against it. "Did the table arrive okay? I tried to guess based on the pictures I had."

"You had pictures of my apart—" Axel stopped himself when he clued in and Eddie contemplated slamming her head against the desk until she bled. "It's a great table. Thank you for it. You didn't have to do that."

"Respectfully, I did have to," Cruella said. "That before picture looked abysmal. No offense."

Axel looked like he wanted to gouge his eyes out with a mascara brush as he thought harder about where Cruella got pictures of his apartment. "I stand by the fact that I don't need a table because I am—because I live alone. But I do appreciate it."

"That's the most single straight man thing you could have said," Moxie said.

"I have a coffee table," Axel said, defensively, "that should be enough."

"Coffee table in lieu of a dining table is peak single straight man behaviour," Moxie said.

(Eddie didn't have it in her to ask for a change of subject.) (To say that thinking of Axel's apartment made her think of Axel and she was trying extremely hard not to think of Axel because if she thought about Axel she thought about Giovanni and if she thought about either of them too hard, she was guaranteed to cry.) (Would anyone notice if she left? The ache in her chest might land her a nasty hospital bill for faking a heart attack in the face of heartache but at least it would get her out of Axel's sight.) (The green eyeliner she applied was probably too much for the hospital.)

"Well. That's what I am," Axel said. Probably a little ruder than he intended. "So it's fine if that's the behaviour."

"Fine like you're doing just fine," Moxie said. "Maika Monroe fine."

"Did you know they're releasing a Wicked movie in November?" Cruella asked. And Eddie could've kissed her for the subject change if it wouldn't have created more headlines. "We should all go see it."

"Will that explain to me who this goat man is?" Axel asked.

"Theoretically, yes," Cruella said.

Moxie sounded angrier than she probably was—confusion loved to fuel a fire. "How have you survived being Maverick's friend for this long without knowing a thing about Wicked? That's basically his entire personality. And that's before factoring in Stevie."

Axel shrugged. "I sang Carrie Underwood at a karaoke bar and he fell in love with me. Obviously."

"That's actually very likely and on brand," Moxie said.

"That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me," Axel said. "Thank you."

He probably could've had the win if he didn't open that stupid mouth that Eddie needed to stop fucking looking at. And putting on a blazer with fur sticking out of it was simply the worst way he could've celebrated said win.

Moxie wrinkled her nose at him. "Mav's been known to have terrible taste in men."

"He flirts with Bash all the time," Cruella said.

"The exception," Moxie said, putting her eyeliner pencil down. A gorgeous sparkly blue. "Not the rule."

"To be fair," Axel said, "everyone should flirt with Brendon Ellis."

"Leigh's brother has certainly tried," Moxie said, turning in her seat.

"Judging by that picture they took after Bash's championship win, he succeeded," Cruella said.

"Last I heard they were basically married," Axel said.

"It's a very confusing family tree," Moxie said.

"It really is."

Axel was preoccupied doing up the buttons on his jacket, which left Eddie open to a stare from Moxie. Something about it was less questioning and more trying to read her mind.

"Want to split some lung cancer?" Once again, the women in Eddie's life knew exactly what she needed. Eddie was practically out the door before Moxie had said lung.

"Yes. Please." She didn't want to see the disappointment on Axel's face about her smoking.

"Cruella," Moxie said, "keep him away from the hay while we're gone, okay?"

"Of course."

Eddie leaned against the building and took several deep breaths while Moxie made her way outside. It was easier to fill her lungs when she wasn't in a room with Axel Canterbury. And she was going to be proud of herself for not immediately crying, too. Eddie pulled the box of cigarettes from her pocket and handed Moxie the pack and lighter all in one go. Moxie took it gingerly and slid a cigarette out, lighting it quickly before handing it all back to Eddie.

"God, my friend Roxanne has been trying to get me to cut back on these on the tour," Moxie said. "It's been so long."

With the cigarette clenched between her lips, Eddie rapidly clawed at her costume to untuck the shirt she was wearing. She likely looked like a caged animal growing angrier the longer it was stuck and Eddie wouldn't have blamed Moxie for running back inside where there were witnesses. Without considering the sting, Eddie ripped off the nicotine patch on her stomach and tucked it into her pocket. Lit her cigarette with embarrassing speed. She didn't like the way her hand was shaking.

"Yeah, Coach has been unsuccessfully trying to convince me to stop for years," Eddie managed through an exhale of smoke.

"You know," Moxie said. "I don't think anyone will mind if you need to get away for a bit. Take a breather. You've been... pretty quiet."

"Have I?" Eddie asked like she didn't contemplate running into the street the moment Moxie suggested she take a minute. "I didn't notice. Sorry."

"Yeah. I mean, I get it. They're all putting on a brave face but... hard to ignore everything." Moxie took a drag from her cigarette and blow the smoke out the corner of her mouth. "Did you see what Rhylan Whitlock posted? It was beautifully written."

Eddie nodded a little. Stared at the ground. "It was one of the nicest articles I think I've ever had written about me. Feel like I should take her out for dinner or something. But wouldn't want to be accused of anything." Eddie cringed at her words—she hadn't thought about them before they came flying out of her mouth. "Sorry, I shouldn't even be bringing it up. It's fucking stupid."

"Not at all," Moxie said. "And don't apologize. I was worried about you but didn't want to bother. Not that you can't take care of yourself, obviously. But I hope you've had someone to talk to."

"I... tried to. Didn't try that hard, though. To be honest." Eddie was going to set a world record for how fast she was smoking her cigarette and she couldn't do a damn thing to stop herself. "My sister checked in. It's fine. How are you?"

"Fine." Moxie laughed. "I think we need to ban this group from saying that word. But I'm doing better. Glad to be off that bus for a bit. Gets a little stuffy sometimes."

"God, I bet," Eddie said. "Tour buses suck. I hated the one they put me in when I first started boxing. Fought tooth and nail every time I had to get in it. Now we don't bother booking one."

(The real reason for that was because Eddie had been so sloppily drunk after a fight that Coach had to carry her into the tour bus and he'd tripped over her uniform that she'd tossed on the floor and nearly cracked both their heads open doing it.) (That was a good lecture when she was violently hungover the next day.)

"I probably wouldn't mind it as much if Mick didn't fart in his sleep every two minutes," Moxie said. "Someone needs to talk to him about his diet or something."

Eddie laughed. "I always wanted a brother. My sisters were never quite like me; not in an I'm a weirdo way, but they both went into arts. And I love that for them. But you and Mick always seem like you're on the same page. It's nice."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice to have someone who just... gets the same stuff you do," Moxie said. "And I love him and would never trade him for anyone in the world. But I'm always envious of people who have sisters. Something about being a girl and getting to grow up alongside other girls. It's a different experience."

"It's interesting. For sure," Eddie said. Though perhaps her vision was skewed by the fact August had raised her and grew up far too fast because of it. "Never a loss for people who want to hug you to make you feel better. Or steal your clothes. Or tell you what they think of what you say."

"Oh, Mick definitely steals my clothes all the time. I don't think a pair of sweatpants has ever lasted more than a week in my closet."

"Gotta love that."

"Your sister is the one who does all of Maverick's tattoos, right?"

"My older sister does, yeah," Eddie said. "And my twin does his red carpet outfits."

"Nice," Moxie said. "I've been thinking about getting something to commemorate our first tour. Not sure what yet."

"I'm sure she'd love to help you find something," Eddie said. "She's... fucking brilliant. So."

"Mick will be pumped. We haven't been back to the Bay Area since his favourite greasy haired boy's show—" Moxie stopped herself, dread on her face. Eddie didn't know how to say she forgave her without making the other woman feel worse. "I mean. Yeah. It's been a while."

"Can't blame Mick," Eddie said. "He has that effect on people, doesn't he?"

"Seems to." Moxie looked around for a moment and Eddie must've really looked pathetic because she was considering her words instead of cracking a joke about Axel's dumb shirt to make her feel better. "You know, despite how much I mess with him, I think Axel's kind of an... interesting character. No matter what gets through at him—and I'm sure it's a lot. I've seen that man drink hot dog tonic—he always gets right back up. Rolls with the punches. All 'cause he knows what he wants and it's to spend time with the people he cares about. Admirable, I think, in this day and age when so many people are afraid of letting the rest of the world see how they feel. And speaking as an outsider to everything that happened, I get it. Sometimes hiding yourself away from the people who see you most clearly feels like the best option. You think that space will heal all your wounds but it rarely does in the way we hope it will. As somebody who, more often than I care to admit, has had people push me away because they think they're protecting me by not allowing me to choose to be there for them... It hurts. I think that's just... human nature to want to be there for people. To show up for them. Like we're all here for Maverick and Stevie. And when you let people in to show you that, even if it's at your own pace... It's one of the greatest feelings in the world."

Eddie could feel her lip tremble but didn't have it in her to pretend it wasn't happening. Sometimes there were people who came into her life who felt like they just got it. And Eddie wasn't good at holding people close but she wished she was because they always knew exactly what she needed to hear and she didn't know how she could ever reciprocate that. Maverick was one of those people, and clearly she needed to add Moxie to that list.

"I—um. Thanks—Thank you." Eddie wasn't good with gratitude, however much she meant it. "Today is... The last couple weeks have been weird. And—I thought it would be easy. To... say what I said to him. Which wasn't great. But. Then he walked in the door and the last time I saw him was my—" Eddie choked out a laugh and tried to ignore the wetness that fell on her face. "—my birthday. Woo. What a great day. I didn't think it would hurt that much to see him again. So. Thank you. For that."

"Anytime," Moxie said. "I mean, don't ever tell him I said something nice about him. But yeah. He's... he's not bad. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you let him remind you of that. Also, happy belated birthday."

"Your secret's safe with me," Eddie said, stomping her cigarette into the ground a little earlier than she'd anticipated. "And thank you. Go 30."

"30, flirty, and... trying," Moxie said. "Something like that."

"I'm requesting that on merch when you turn 30, please."

"Anything for my favourite Aries."