"If you're done, we should probably head back to..." Eddie waved her hands and stomped her cigarette into the ground. "Whatever the fuck this is."

Moxie opened the door. "After you."

"Thank you." Eddie stepped through and the air in the room felt less thick than it had before.

Cruella looked like she was having the time of her life watching whatever was happening between Axel and Olive Dixon. She hid her smile behind a hand but there was no denying the joy in her eyes.

"Are you sure you've never been here before?" Olive asked. "Feels like I've known you my whole life."

"This is only the second time I've been to Illinois, actually," Axel said. "And the first time I've been to Treasure Trail, but I like it here. The vibes are good."

"We've got a couple lesbians who work here who know all about good vibes." Olive laughed.

"Maybe it was a mistake leaving the cishet with only one bodyguard," Moxie said.

"Can't bring a man who looks like a lesbian anywhere," Eddie said. It was nice to actually let herself look at him.

Getting to see Cruella Queen light up when Moxie King walked into a room was a wonderful sight to behold. A child watching the first snowfall of the season in wonderment and awe. A wide smile across her baby pink lips and eyes bright with glee. "How's the lung cancer doing?"

"Wonderful," Eddie said. "Thank you."

"Leave it to lung cancer to put a smile on everyone's face." Axel frowned at what he'd said. "I don't mean that in a you should smile way, fuck me—"

"If we're asking for volunteers—" Olive said.

"Axel," Moxie said, pointedly, "as a straight man, it's very nice of you to come here and support us. Major ally points."

"Pretty cool of you." It was all Eddie could do not to laugh.

"Well then," Olive said. "Enjoy the show."

Axel grinned. "Thanks." He turned back to the mirror. "Can someone please help me with eyeliner? Maverick did it last time I wore it but I think he's just singing for fun right now—"

"Straight men have really lost the art of a winged liner," Moxie said.

"Okay," Cruella said. "But if you blink it'll hurt and go into your eye and probably smudge and then you'll look like a raccoon. So, hold still, alright?"

"Mav drew on my eyeball because he's got terrible writing skills and it was fully his fault so if you don't do that, we'll be fine."

"I don't know if I believe that," Cruella said. "Not about his awful handwriting but about you not being at fault."

Axel didn't even look offended. Whatever they'd spoken about while Moxie and Eddie were outside seemed to absolve her of any arguments from him. "I'll sit still, I promise."

And he kept that promise. Cruella did his eyeliner wonderfully, as if there was any doubt. Eddie even let herself look at him—the pair of horns that had been clipped into his hair didn't even deter her from doing so. The eyeliner was working—the eyeliner had worked since day one.

"That's... You..." Moxie looked vaguely pissed off. "Babe, you're a miracle worker."

"Thank you," Cruella and Axel said at the same time.

Moxie glared at him. "What—what did you say to me?"

Axel lost a lot of confidence from one statement to the other. "What did you say to me?"

"I wasn't talking to you—"

"You were looking in my direction—"

"Wild guess that she was looking at her—" Eddie caught herself. "Cruella, my guy."

"Oh."

"Maybe you're the brainless one," Moxie said.

"That feels like a reference to something I don't understand. So." Axel trailed off and let that sit. There was no chance he was coming out on top, so he might as well have not wasted his breath.

"What a shocker," Moxie said. "Who could've seen that coming?"

"Sorry to bother," Gaylinda said, "but would the lesbians mind grabbing the other two? The doors are about to open soon but they're still up front singing."

"Yeah, sure," Moxie said. She slapped Axel on the shoulder. "Get up, Doctor."

"Why me?"

"You heard her," Moxie said. "We gotta stop the duo who won't shut up."

"Why m—Oh," Axel said. "Sure."

If Eddie had actively been talking to him and not accepting that she was talking in the same room as him, she might've reminded him that he was fully aware the majority of people thought he was a lesbian. But watching him bumble was her own personal form of entertainment at any given time, so she let it unfold.

Moxie dragged him out of the room anyway.

"Do we think they can get them off stage by themselves—" Eddie started.

"If there's one thing I know Moxie can do, it's wrangle a pair of unruly theatre kids," Cruella said. She looked at Eddie for a moment, tilting her head back and forth. (Eddie self-consciously looked behind her only to find out the quizzical look was in fact at her and not around her.) "Let me grab some micellar water real quick so we can fix that eyeliner. Sit."

"What happened to—" Eddie reached a hand up to her eye only to be reminded of the tears. Fuck. She took a seat and refused to look at herself in the mirror—she didn't want to see what the green under her eyes looked like. "Oh my god, it was that obvious? That's so embarrassing—"

Cruella already had the micellar water in hand and gently got some on a cotton swab before she leaned in close to Eddie and gently dabbed it under her eyes. "I think you could look like the Joker and he would still be in—" She cleared her throat and Eddie nearly got a dirty cotton swab to the eyeball for how quickly she darted to look at the other woman. Cruella threw on a famous smile. "You'd still look like a million bucks. Promise."

She quickly took the green eyeliner Eddie had been using before and Eddie closed her eyes. It wasn't too long before she heard Cruella place the pencil back down on the counter.

"Thank you for fixing it."

"No worries," Cruella said. "Been doing my makeup since I was in elementary school, basically. I can do a winged liner in my sleep now."

"Remind me to call you next time I have a magazine shoot."

"I'll be on the first flight out. Not a red eye," Cruella said. "And not with Maverick. So I'll actually be on time."

Eddie laughed. "God, he's such a bonehead. Who books tickets that they're late to? Insane."

"At least he didn't accidentally book a connection to Miami or something."

"That was the first thing I checked when I checked in online," Eddie said. "I think we were the connecting flight to somewhere stupid."

"Almost ended up in Budapest, huh."

"That might've been lovely."

"Never been. Would love to go," Cruella said. She gave Eddie a look over that made her feel empowered and insecure in one glance. "How's the hair right now? Do we like it or—"

"Oh, uh, I hadn't done it yet," Eddie said, "but I was thinking just putting it in a ponytail...?"

"Oh, perfect!" Cruella clapped her hands twice. Started running around backstage and collecting things. "Let me just grab this... brush... hairspray... and where are those damn bobby pins—"

"The who pins—"

"Bobby pins," Cruella said. "So we can wrap some of your hair around the hair tie. Makes everything look seamless, you know?"

"I... trust that you do." It wasn't that Eddie was critiquing Cruella's enthusiasm. It was that Eddie literally didn't have a clue what she was talking about and it was making her feel stupid despite the other woman doing nothing to make her feel that way.

"Do you wear your hair up often?" Cruella asked. She pulled Eddie's hair away from her face and held it up at the back. Smiling into the mirror. "Like, outside of the ring? Really makes those cheekbones pop, wow."

"It depends on the state of the bruises on my face," Eddie said. Her shiner from New Orleans had disappeared but Rush got her during practice before her birthday and it hadn't quite faded. The purple was mostly gone, but the mustardy yellow still sunk into her eye socket. "If you want the honest answer."

"If anyone looks at you weird," Cruella said, "just tell 'em to wait until they see the other girl."

Eddie laughed. "I'll keep that one in mind. Thank you."

Cruella flipped her ponytail when she was finished with it. Started grabbing makeup out of her bag and Eddie tried not to look too panicked. "If there is one thing I learned before dropping out of cosmetology school, it's that colour theory is wild. The things you can hide. You can use these ones, okay?"

Cruella walked through each part of her makeup bag and showed her what each piece was for. She was gentle in her application on Eddie's bruise. And the colour correction was immaculate. To be friends with Cruella Queen was to be eternally taken care of like they'd known each other their whole lives. Even when it looked like Cruella was hurting. She was less good at hiding it when she thought nobody was paying attention to her. It broke Eddie's heart a little bit, but she wasn't sure how to begin to approach the topic.

Eddie didn't know how to colour correct the wounds that haunted Cruella Queen. And Cruella Queen was going to pretend she wasn't bleeding out.

"I—" Eddie wished she could've said something to make the other woman feel better. "That's amazing. Thank you."

"Works on hickies too," Cruella said.

"Noted." Eddie fought the urge to check her chest—it had been a hot second but the thought they were still noticeable was a little more than embarrassing. "So cosmetology school to singer...? Or—no pressure, you don't have to talk about it."

"Kind of both at the same time?" Cruella said. And there was a sparkle in her eyes that was simultaneously glowing and tragic. Like a star in the night sky begging someone on Earth to notice the light had died long ago. "Spent so much time around makeup artists and hair stylists since I was a kid. Even when I did some theatre growing up, it's all a huge part of it. Fell in love with it and thought I wanted to go in that direction. It's fun to transform yourself into another person. Or another version of you, you know. But... it got in the way of all my other work so I had to drop out. I still do most of my makeup on sets now."

"It always looks perfect, professional," Eddie said. Because she wasn't any good at this. "It's really impressive, Cruella. Do you think you'd try it again?"

"Maybe," Cruella said. "It would be fun. I don't know if I have the time for it, though."

"What a different life if we could press pause."

"Those pesky contracts and personal inability to slow down." Cruella laughed.

"But what productivity." And Eddie didn't do it often, but she jumped from her seat and gave Cruella a hug. Let the blonde woman decide when it was over. "Go capitalism and selling souls."

Cruella gave her a small smile as the rest of their group joined them. "That was quick."

"It was not for the faint of heart," Axel said.

"They interrupted us at the worst part," Stevie said.

"I can't believe this," Maverick said.

"The bouncer said it was your sixth time singing Defying Gravity," Moxie said.

"And?" Maverick looked insulted she even questioned them.

"At least learn to mix it up," Moxie said. "Could've thrown in an I'm Not That Girl or The Wizard and I in there."

"We had to swap the Elphaba and Glinda parts, though," Stevie said.

"That math still isn't mathing," Moxie said.

"I didn't get to finish my turn—" Maverick said.

"But you did," Axel said. "Twice."

"So not the point."

"Maybe you should save some of that energy for when the actual audience arrives," Moxie said. "Just a thought."

"Not if I didn't get to finish."

"Finishing is important," Eddie said.

"Fake it 'til you make it, Mav," Moxie said.

"Sorry to hear the hand's not getting the job done," Axel said.

Maverick looked at his so-called friends. "Why did we invite any of you—"

"Because you love us," Eddie said.

"That can't be it."

"You know we can't sing Defying Gravity," Moxie said. "So we won't outshine you."

"Respectfully," Cruella said, "I can sing it."

Moxie looked green at the thought she'd insulted her babe Cruella. "Of course, yes. That's why Mav has to share Glinda with you."

Maverick smiled a little. "At leastshe knows it's an honour."