Chapter 13: The Live Stream

                                    

                                          
Trigger warning for a character break down towards the end.
                          
Morning light peeked through Brian's curtains and you found yourself alone in his bed. Looking to the nightstand for your phone, you realised it was not where you'd left it either. Assuming you had left it in your own room, you stretched and got up, wandering out to an also-empty kitchen. He wasn't on the balcony or in the bathroom, nor in his drag room. You still had no idea where your phone was, either. This was getting weird and an unsettling feeling lodged itself in your stomach. 
                          
"Bri?" you called to an empty apartment, knowing you'd get no reply. Chewing your lip and moving to make a coffee, you noticed a slip of paper on the counter top. Recognising his handwriting, you slid it towards yourself. 
                          
Bambi
Good morning!  Welcome to the rapture! Just kidding ~ or am I? 
Truth be told, I broke your piece of shit phone last night some time after you fell asleep so I went to get it fixed. I will not be back until later tonight, I have a show with Trixie. I sent someone to entertain you, they will be there at around 11.

                          
You glanced to the clock to see it was a little past 11 and then, as if on cue, the doorbell sounded. Padding over, equally nervous and curious, you cracked the door to see Adore and Bianca standing on the other side of it. "Hey bitch! You going to let us in?" 
                          
Grinning now, you opened the door wider, ushering the pair in. This was your first time meeting Bianca, and you knew she was practically the queen of reading people, so you were anxious to make a solid first impression. "Sorry I'm not dressed. I didn't know anyone was coming until a second ago, actually."
                          
"Oh, I assumed that was what you wore out. I figured anyone living with Katya had to be unhinged," Bianca stated nonchalantly. You grinned and seeing you take her joke well, she cackled lightly. "I'm just kidding!" She shook her head and dropped her expression upon turning back to Adore, however, setting you laughing. 
                          
"I called you all morning and you didn't pick up! I was starting to think you died or something." With a sympathetic look to Adore, you apologised and explained the whole broken-phone thing.
                          
You fell into surprisingly easy conversation with the pair of them, your interest in fashion offering you a common ground with Bianca. "So you started doing costuming for the opera, right? That must have been hectic."
                          
"Oh, it was. But you don't do something just to complain about it. It was a really fulfilling outlet, actually, part of me misses it a lot."
                          
"Her looks were fucking crazy," Adore chimed in, clearly in awe of her friend's work. "And obviously she won drag race, so."
                          
"You all made the win that much easier. Not hard to look professional next to the rest of these whores," she said with a dramatic eye roll, earning a shove from Adore, which broke her out into a perfectly dimpled grin.
                          
"Do you ever miss costuming?" you asked, genuinely curious. 
                          
Nodding emphatically, she relayed how much she missed it. "Look, I love drag. It's taken me to amazing places around the world, I get to meet some talented people. But the thing is, drag and comedy - it's a job for me. I'm lucky to be able to say that, and I enjoy it endlessly, but it is my job. I'd love to do costuming again eventually."
                          
It was enthralling seeing Bianca talk. She was entertaining of course, and the quickest wit of anyone you knew. But she was so knowledgeable, well spoken and clearly impassioned. You found yourself taking a very immediate liking to her. 
                          
"Where is Katya, anyway?" Adore asked. "She just called this morning asking me if I could hang out with you because she had stuff to do."
                          
You explained she had a show with Trixie, but the pair exchanged a look. "What?"