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One of them pulled out the purple flapper dress and held it against her chest. It barely covered half her ample body. Micah fought the urge to grab it from her, suddenly embarrassed by how plain his outfit was compared to the other performers’ with their feathers and sequins and faux diamonds.
“The days when I could wear something like this are so long gone, even those memories have grandchildren.” She looked at Micah. “You’ve got the body for it, though. And just so you know, I hate you.” Then she laughed so Micah knew she was joking. She looked at the dress, then back at Micah. “Liza?” When Micah nodded, she smiled. “Good choice. Liza’s always a crowd-pleaser. I’m Cherish B Love, and you are?”
“Micah R—”
“No, honey,” Cherish cut him off. “Who are you?”
He looked to Jake. They’d been so wrapped up in rehearsing his act and…other things…they’d completely forgotten about giving his stage persona a name.
“Miss T Divine,” Jake said as if he weren’t coming up with it on the spot.
Micah lost another piece of his heart to this man. His man? His boyfriend?
“Twenty minutes to showtime, ladies. And gentleman.” Missy Thang had poked her head in the door to call out the warning. She nodded to the back of the dressing room, where a performer Micah hadn’t noticed before was putting on a tux.
At first, Micah was mesmerized. He’d never seen a drag king before and couldn’t wait to see what he performed. But then he realized he only had twenty minutes to put his makeup on and didn’t even know where he was in the performance order. If he was up first, he was totally screwed. He asked Jake to go find the call sheet, then took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, tugged on the hairnet, and began to apply foundation to his face.
This part of performing was familiar and calming to him, and he loved watching the transformation of the face he knew into whichever character he’d be bringing to life. It didn’t matter if he was acting or dancing, being onstage meant putting on makeup so his face didn’t wash out under the lights. Each performance had its own requirements, too, depending on the distance between the stage and the audience, the lighting setup, the type of role, and the amount of activity and movement he needed to do. Drag, with its dramatic and exaggerated makeup, was no different, and Micah found himself settling into the role of Miss T Divine. And isn’t it just too perfect that Jake gave me my queen name? Micah shivered at the thought.
By the time Jake got back to tell him he would be fifth to perform, Micah’s nerves were largely gone. He completed his makeup, pulled on his stockings, shimmied into the dress, tugged his wig into place, and stepped into his heels, surprised when he didn’t wobble.
He turned in front of Jake. “How do I look?”
“Fantastic, Miss T. Except…” Micah bit his lip as Jake rummaged through his makeup bag and pulled out the black eyeliner. “You always forget the beauty mark.” Jake turned Micah’s head and drew the small black dot below his left eye. When he was done, he capped the eyeliner, then pressed his fingers to his lips, kissed them, and touched them to Micah’s lips. “Break a leg, Miss T. You’re gonna knock ’em dead.”
“Thank you.” Micah swallowed. “For everything.”
Jake shrugged. “You okay if I leave you here and go find a place to watch the show?”
“I’m good.”
“I know.” Jake managed to make those two words sound filthy, and Micah felt his trapped cock stir.
“Shit. Go before I injure myself.”
Jake laughed and headed for the door. “Have a fabulous show, ladies,” he said just before he stepped out of the dressing room.
There was a moment of silence, the chatter and noise of a dozen people suddenly going quiet.
“How long have the two of you been together, sweetie?” someone asked.
“We’re not… He’s not…” Micah shook his head. It was too complicated to explain to a roomful of strangers. “About a month.”
“Huh. You guys are so…together, I would have guessed a lot longer,” someone else said, and then everyone began talking and finishing their preparations.
Missy Thang came back to give them a five-minute warning and get the first three performers lined up and ready to go. The noise level in the dressing room went up by several decibels as everyone began discussing previous shows and pantomiming bits of their routines.
The drag king sidled up to Micah. Up close, Micah could see he wasn’t much older than himself. “First time?” When Micah nodded, he smiled. “Nervous?”
“I was. I’m good now. That’s kind of the way I am—once I get into the dressing room, I get focused on what I’m going to be doing and stop being nervous.”
“Thought this was your first time.”
“Oh, yeah. First time doing a drag show, but I’ve been acting and dancing all my life. I go to Julliard, and was just in a summer stock production of Godspell.” Micah paused, knowing what he’d said could come off as pompous or like he thought he was better than everyone else.
“No shit? That’s awesome! I’m at SUNY-Purchase for theater.” The drag king held out his hand. “I’m Manny Dicks.”
Micah laughed, and they shook hands. “Miss T Divine. Pleased to meet you.”
