Twice Two

Plane felt the warm rays of the morning sun on her face. She grunted in annoyance and covered her eyes with her hand. But it was too late: the sleep was gone in an instant. She opened her eyes and felt a terrible headache. They had only drunk one bottle between the three of them, yet it felt the same as when her Russian relative brought a whole crate of moonshine for New Year’s and made everyone drink. Yesterday evening came back to Plane with warmth, and she couldn’t help but smile. Well, she’d thought she wouldn’t be able to talk normally with anyone there and that she’d have to spend the whole month alone in the hotel at night and bickering with her rivals on set during the day. And if at first Plane thought it would be right not to make friends with her competitors, now she realized it was impossible — and there was nothing wrong with it. And all because of Nymphia… Miss Banana… And why did she suddenly decide to start talking to her? On that very day when they were preparing for the talent show. Plane had stayed silent the whole time. Maybe that’s what attracted Nymphia. Or maybe she’d planned to tease her at first, but just couldn’t bring herself to do it — and instead ended up melting the Snow Queen’s heart? Yes, melted it — that’s exactly what happened. Plane was ready to admit it. And how was she supposed to keep fighting if all her thoughts were about the girl in yellow dresses and T-shirts? Well, no, yesterday she was in gray. ‘And why the hell do I even remember details like that?’ Plane asked herself. ‘Okay, get a grip! On weekends you can relax and fill your head with thoughts about your new friend, but after that you’re back to being the shady bitch and taking that crown.’ ‘Planey, hi,’ came a familiar voice. Plane lifted her head from the pillow and stared in shock at Nymphia, standing by the bed. She bent down and picked up yesterday’s T-shirt from the floor. ‘Well, look at that, and you say I’m the messy one.’ Plane kept staring at her, unable to believe her eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’ Nymphia tossed the T-shirt aside and landed on the bed next to Plane, sitting down by her feet. ‘I told you I’d come to you, remember?’ Nymphia tugged at the blanket, pulling it off Plane. ‘Time to get up, sleepyhead! How long are you gonna sleep?’ Plane stopped the blanket tug-of-war when it got down to her underwear. ‘Baby, how did you even get in here?’ Nymphia lay down beside Plane and answered, ‘Sister, yesterday you got so relaxed you didn’t even lock the door.’ Nymphia lifted her eyes to Plane, and their gazes met. Plane instantly forgot about crowns, immunities, and lipsyncs. She only wanted this moment to last as long as possible. Nymphia ran her fingers along Plane’s cheek and admitted, ‘Of course I came to see you, sister. We’ve only got two days off, and I don’t want to spend them alone. Or rather, without you,’ Nymphia corrected herself and put her palm back on Plane’s cheek. ‘Are you glad I came?’ Plane’s hand lay on top of Nymphia’s, and she replied, ‘You can’t even imagine how much.’ She intertwined their fingers and touched her lips with hers. Nymphia wrapped her free arm around Plane’s neck, pushed their joined hands to the side, and climbed on top of her. Pulling away from her lips, Nymphia declared, ‘I want to take you from behind.’

✶ ✭ ✶ ✭ ✶

Plane’s eyes snapped open. The room was half-dark, dark clouds loomed outside the window. Realizing what had just happened, Plane slapped her forehead. ‘For fuck’s sake, what’s going on in my head? What kind of stupid fantasies are these?’ Just in case, Plane looked around the room, and seeing no trace that Nymphia had actually been there, she sighed sadly. She fell back onto the pillow and began to think. Why was her brain giving her such strange dreams? And it had cut off at quite an interesting moment. Nymphia wanted to take her from behind… Usually Plane was the one who did that, and Nymphia was the last person she expected to hear that from. But she’d be ready to hear anything from her if only she were lying beside her, just like in the dream. Suddenly, a memory popped into Plane’s head, and she jumped up from the bed. Her head didn’t hurt as badly as in the dream, but the sudden movement wasn’t pleasant either. Plane grabbed yesterday’s trousers hanging on the back of the chair and slipped her hand into the pocket. At first she didn’t feel anything (she even got scared for a second — what if the whole evening had been a dream?), but then her fingers touched the earring she had found on the bathroom floor. She carefully pulled it out and placed it on her palm. ‘I need to give it back. You’re not a thief, Plane. And what’s the point of stealing someone else’s earrings anyway?’ The question puzzled Plane. Why did she even need someone else’s earring? ‘Not someone else’s. Hers,’ she corrected herself. She walked up to the mirror and looked at herself. The marks from the corset still hadn’t faded, though in her dream they hadn’t been there at all. For some reason, Plane didn’t want Nymphia to see them. ‘Maybe I think I’m too fat?’ Well, yes, there was a little belly, but it had never bothered her before — and now suddenly she was worried. What will Nymphia think when she sees it? ‘If she sees it,’ Plane corrected herself. She lifted her hand and put the earring in her ear, then gently touched it with her fingers. It seemed to her that Nymphia really had been there, and now she was standing behind her, smiling broadly… Her thoughts were interrupted by an insistent knock on the door. It couldn’t have been Nymphia: she didn’t know which room Plane was in, and she just couldn’t be banging on the door so rudely. It was an assistant. He came to ‘cheer her up’ with the news that tomorrow’s day off was canceled and filming would continue. Plane was ready to tear him apart from anger, but he only spread his hands and offered to bring her something for breakfast. Plane looked at him like he was an idiot and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, ‘Bring me bananas. Fast.’ The assistant was stunned by such a request and rushed to carry it out. Plane stomped her foot in annoyance and flopped back on the bed. ‘No, don’t lie around. We’ve only got one day off. Need to pull yourself together and go see what she’s doing now.’ When Plane came back from the shower, a mountain of bananas was piled on the table. ‘What an idiot,’ she said out loud in irritation. She sat down in a chair, grabbed a banana, and started peeling it. One bunch would’ve been enough for her, but since that fool had brought so many bananas, she could use them instead of breakfast. After finishing her meal, Plane tossed the peel into the bin from a distance and looked at herself in the mirror. Today she looked pretty good; there was no trace of tiredness in her eyes. Putting on shorts and a trendy T-shirt with a deer print, Plane grabbed a bunch of bananas and slipped out of the room. She quietly went down to the fourth floor and, quickly slipping down the hallway, stopped hesitantly in front of room 426. Something seemed to be holding her back from knocking on the door. Taking a deep breath and hiding the bananas behind her back, Plane knocked twice. There was some noise, and the door flew open. Nymphia stood there in just yellow shorts and looked at Plane without a hint of surprise, as if she’d been expecting to see her again. ‘Planey Jane, you’re here again!’ Nymphia threw her arms around Plane’s neck and clung to her. Nymphia’s gaze fell on the earring. It hadn’t been there before. Still hugging Plane, Nymphia shut the door behind them. ‘Sister, I’m glad to see you too,’ Plane finally said with a smile. ‘I’ve got something for you, Miss Banana.’ Nymphia pulled away from Plane and looked at her with curiosity. Plane took a bunch of bananas from behind her back, and Nymphia’s jaw dropped in surprise. Finally, she managed to say, ‘Planey, is that for me?’ ‘Of course it’s for you, baby,’ Plane replied. Nymphia threw her arms around Plane’s neck again and kissed her happily on the right cheek. ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen someone get this excited over bananas,’ Plane thought, wrapping her arms around Nymphia’s bare waist. ‘Baby, how many bananas do you have to eat before you finally get sick of them?’ Plane asked, still holding her tight. ‘Definitely no fewer than the burgers you could eat,’ Nymphia answered slyly, squeezing her even harder. Plane felt the warmth of Nymphia’s skin under her hands, and the heat of her breath on her neck. And even though the room was still unbearably hot, that warmth only brought her pleasure. ‘Have you heard the news yet?’ Plane asked, still hugging Nymphia. ‘What, they promised to fix the air conditioners?’ Nymphia pulled back and looked into Plane’s eyes. She seemed genuinely interested in the question. Well, of course she couldn’t stand this heat, walking around her room in just shorts. ‘And why shouldn’t she? It’s her room,’ Plane thought. Nymphia moved her hands onto Plane’s shoulders. ‘No, baby,’ Plane sighed. ‘We’re going back to filming tomorrow.’ Nymphia’s eyes widened in surprise. She froze on the spot, staring at Plane. Her hands slowly slid from Plane’s shoulders down to her chest. She covered her face with one hand and exhaled in frustration. ‘Bastards,’ Nymphia muttered quietly and rubbed her face with her hands. Plane realized it was time to let her go, though she didn’t want to. Nymphia tore a banana from the bunch and walked deeper into the room, peeling it. Plane followed and suddenly tripped over a wine bottle they’d happily emptied yesterday. ‘Sister, you should at least clear dangerous stuff out of the way,’ Plane scolded, picking up the bottle. Where was her trash can? Oh, right. The whole room was basically one big trash can. Plane went into the bathroom, and suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. ‘Are they kidding me?’ Plane snapped. ‘Planey Jane, you’ll have to sit in the bathroom again,’ Nymphia said, shutting her in and opening the door for the knocker. The assistant hadn’t even managed to greet Nymphia before she showered him with curses about the broken air conditioner, not holding back her words. That instantly brought back Plane’s memory of the earring lying on the floor yesterday, and at that moment she realized she’d been wearing Nymphia’s earring in her ear all this time. She quickly started taking it off, horrified at the thought: had Nymphia noticed it while hugging her? ‘What will she think of me now? That I’m some damn fetishist?’ But maybe she hadn’t noticed. Otherwise, she would’ve said something. This was Nymphia, after all — she always said whatever was on her mind, confusing people and often embarrassing Plane. Nymphia’s angry shout confirmed Plane’s guess: the assistant must’ve told her about the canceled day off, and Nymphia was genuinely outraged again. The door slammed shut loudly. Plane had no doubt Nymphia was the cause. ‘Planey, come out, baby,’ Nymphia called. Plane quickly looked around and set the earring down on the shelf under the mirror. ‘I hope she won’t notice the sudden appearance of the earring here,’ Plane thought, glancing at her reflection. Yes, today she looked quite good. She ran her hand over her forehead and smacked her lips. ‘Gorgeous,’ Plane said softly to herself and headed to the door. ‘Planey, what are you doing in there?’ she heard, and the next moment the door burst open, and Nymphia bumped her nose straight into Plane’s. ‘Nymphia, are you trying to kill me?’ Plane exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot. ‘I don’t want to get eliminated in episode four because of a crooked nose.’ Nymphia touched it with her fingers and carefully examined it from all sides. Seeing nothing serious, she smiled and lightly flicked the tip with her finger. ‘Your nose is fine, Planey. Stop standing around in the dark. Come on.’ She took Plane by the hand and led her deeper into the room. ‘Make yourself at home!’ she waved toward the couch, covered with clothes. Letting go of her hand and standing nearby, she grabbed a peeled banana and started eating it happily. Plane cleared a spot on the couch for herself and plopped down, tucking her legs under her. ‘Baby, it’s only been one night, and you’ve already managed to mess up the whole couch.’ ‘Well, yeah,’ Nymphia answered, smacking her lips. ‘I’ve been spending the whole morning picking out what to wear.’ ‘Do you plan your outfits this carefully every single day?’ Plane asked in surprise. ‘I’d never have guessed…’ Nymphia ignored Plane’s sarcastic remark and said, ‘No, not every day. I was waiting for you today,’ she bit off some banana and, after chewing, went on, ‘but in the end I realized that in this heat there’s nothing else to wear except my only pair of shorts.’ ‘Wait, baby,’ Plane stopped her, laying a hand on her forearm. ‘You wanted to dress up for me?’ Nymphia shrugged, ‘I was hoping I could outshine you for once. But no, you’ve got a cool T-shirt,’ she finished the banana, tossed the peel on the table, and said. ‘Bananas are great, of course, but I already ordered us pizza.’ ‘Pizza?’ Plane was surprised. ‘What about yesterday’s burgers? They should’ve been enough for the whole day.’ Plane looked around, expecting to see them lying around somewhere. ‘I threw them away,’ Nymphia answered simply, sitting right down on the pile of clothes on the couch. ‘They spoiled overnight in this heat, so I got rid of them in the morning.’ ‘But they were still on your bed! Don’t tell me you slept with them?’ ‘No,’ Nymphia shook her head. ‘I just tossed them on the floor. And by the way, speaking of ‘slept’: have you ever slept with other drag queens?’ Such a direct question shocked Plane. How did Nymphia manage to jump from one topic to another like that? Plane looked at her with interest, ‘Sister, you keep surprising me with your questions. No,’ Plane lowered her eyes and ran her palms over her knees, ‘never happened. What about you?’ Plane smirked teasingly, and Nymphia smirked back, ‘Not yet.’ ‘Not yet.’ What did she mean by that? Was it a hint or just a plain answer? Plane much preferred the first option. Suddenly, yesterday’s dream popped into her head. It had been so real, and now so desirable. ‘I want to take you from behind.’ No, Plane didn’t want to hear those words from Nymphia; that would confuse her a lot. ‘I want to take you from behind,’ Plane thought. ‘Oops.’ There was another knock at the door. ‘Baby, I’m not going back into the bathroom,’ Plane declared firmly. Grabbing Plane by the shoulders, Nymphia forced her to stand and pushed her toward the bed. ‘Quick, in the bed!’ Plane didn’t resist and flopped down onto the bed. She dropped her head onto the pillow and imagined Nymphia sleeping on it. She rolled onto her side, buried her nose in the pillow, and took a deep breath. For a moment she was back in her unforgettable dream. ‘Planey, stop sniffing my pillow and get your ass up.’ Plane opened her eyes in surprise, realizing she had zoned out for a second. She got up calmly and put her hands on her hips, ‘So where’s your pizza?’ ‘In my hands,’ Nymphia answered calmly. ‘Open your eyes.’ ‘Well, go on and open it,’ Plane demanded and went into the bathroom to wash her hands. Nymphia flicked the peel from the table onto the floor and tossed the pizza box on the table. ‘Smells good,’ she thought and started eating, sprawling on the couch. When Plane returned from the bathroom (traditionally leaving the light off), Nymphia had already almost finished a slice of pizza. ‘Wow, we’re really stuffing ourselves…’ Plane muttered and joined the feast, sitting down beside her. ‘So, what about sex?’ ‘What?’ Plane was so startled that a piece of pizza fell right out of her mouth onto the deer on her T-shirt. ‘Didn’t you say you’d never slept with your colleagues?’ Nymphia explained. ‘By the way, you got your top all dirty.’ Nymphia spat on her middle finger and started smearing pizza residue over the deer. Plane swatted her hand away and replied, ‘Baby, that never happened, but there was something more interesting.’ Nymphia tossed her piece of pizza onto the table and gave her a look that said she was ready to listen carefully. ‘I had a long relationship with a married man…’ ‘Married to, like…?’ Nymphia interrupted and stopped. ‘Yeah, to a woman. And he had a kid. Anyway, he kept meeting me, admired me, but he never saw me in drag. His wife, of course, didn’t know anything.’ Nymphia grabbed another piece of pizza and went on eating. ‘It went on for a couple of years, until he suddenly told me he was having another kid.’ Nymphia smacked herself on the forehead. ‘Of course, I told him to go to hell and forgot all about it like a bad dream.’ ‘But now you suddenly remembered,’ Nymphia added. ‘You’re the one who wanted to know the details of my personal life,’ Plane said coyly. They silently ate another slice of pizza each, and for some reason both of them felt a strange, unexplainable sadness. Nymphia sighed and lowered her head onto Plane’s shoulder. Plane laid her head on top. Nymphia stretched her arms forward and said sadly, ‘Tomorrow it’s back to filming. And I so wanted to forget about the rivalry for a while.’ Nymphia lifted her eyes to Plane and went on, ‘I don’t want to compete with you.’ ‘But, sister,’ Plane replied in her usual manner, ‘we’re here to win. And to win, you’ve got to put aside all your feelings and desires and keep going toward your goal.’ ‘What desires are you talking about?’ Nymphia kept staring at her intently. ‘Well, for example, the desire to just eat in peace without sweating buckets from this unbearable heat.’ ‘Bastards…’ Nymphia muttered. Suddenly she touched Plane’s right earlobe and asked worriedly, ‘Planey, did you already manage to lose your earring?’ Plane flinched and pulled away from Nymphia. ‘What earring?’ she asked tensely. ‘Well, earlier today you had an earring in this ear,’ Nymphia began to explain. ‘How could you lose it here?’ Nymphia looked around. ‘Though yeah, in this room you could lose anything. Maybe while you were cuddling with my pillow?’ She got up and started inspecting the bed. Plane grew nervous. ‘Nope,’ Nymphia said sadly. ‘Listen!’ A thought struck her. ‘You’ve basically moved into my bathroom. Maybe it’s in there?’ Nymphia hurried into the bathroom. Plane jumped up from the couch and held her by the shoulders. ‘No-no-no,’ Plane said quickly. ‘There’s no earring in there.’ ‘How come?’ Nymphia asked with feigned surprise, turning toward her. ‘Didn’t you put it back? By the way, where did I lose it?’ she asked casually and headed into the bathroom. Plane followed, embarrassed by the situation. So she had noticed after all… Nymphia scanned the bathroom but couldn’t find the missing earring. ‘Under the mirror,’ Plane prompted. Nymphia went to the shelf, picked up the earring, and handed it to Plane. ‘Now you’ll definitely put it back where it belongs. Put it on me.’ She held out her ear. Plane took her earlobe between her fingers and unexpectedly said, ‘You know, I dreamed about you today.’ ‘Really?’ Nymphia asked without a trace of surprise. ‘And what was I doing in your dream?’ ‘You came to my room…’ Plane slowly began sliding the earring into place. ‘You said you really missed me…’ Plane let go of Nymphia’s ear. ‘You started coming on to me…’ Nymphia turned her face toward her. ‘And you said you wanted to take me from behind.’ Nymphia froze in shock, blinking rapidly. After about five seconds she found her voice and asked, ‘Planey Jane, do you really want me, as you say, to take you from behind?’ Nymphia looked troubled. Plane laughed and put her hand on her shoulder. ‘Come on, baby. It was just a dream, and you didn’t take me anywhere.’ ‘And would you take me?’ Nymphia came closer to Plane and wrapped her arms around her neck. She’d never had dreams like that, but she didn’t need them to know how much she wanted her. Planey Jane, who at first looked down on her yet showed more interest in her than in anyone else. Planey, who pretended she couldn’t remember Nymphia’s name, who had wiped the heart off her mirror not wanting to show her feelings. Planey, who blushed every time they met off set. But now she wasn’t blushing. What had happened to her? Nymphia searched her eyes, hoping to find the answer, and realized that Plane had finally stopped closing herself off and was ready to show her true self. Nymphia kissed her, and at that moment Plane felt like the happiest person on earth. She could have spent eternity here with Nymphia, if not for the strange sensation in her pants that made her pull away. ‘What’s wrong, baby?’ Nymphia asked in surprise, lowering her eyes to follow Plane’s. ‘Uhhhhh…’ was all Plane managed to say. Her face flushed red instantly, and she had no idea what to say. Nymphia shrugged and dropped to her knees. ‘No-no-no!’ Plane cried and recoiled from her. Nymphia looked at her in confusion and spread her hands. ‘What’s the matter, Planey?’ she asked gently. ‘Come on, take your pants off already.’ Plane shook her head and backed toward the door. ‘Come on, Plane!’ Nymphia shouted after her, still on her knees. ‘Where are you going? Stop!’ But Plane had already left the room. Nymphia sat down on the floor and hugged herself. Well, sure, it was awkward, but was that really a reason to run away, especially for someone as self-confident as Plane? She could’ve easily turned it into a joke and let Nymphia finish what she’d started. Nymphia got up and glanced at herself in the mirror. She remembered dropping her earring on the floor yesterday but had been too lazy to pick it up, deciding to leave it there for now. And today it was already gone. ‘Planey, what were you doing with it before you put it on yourself?’ Nymphia wondered. ‘And when were you going to give it back?’ She was sure Plane hadn’t left the earring in her ear on purpose, because she had been genuinely scared when Nymphia noticed. Plane had told her about her erotic dream. Nymphia would never have said she wanted to take her from behind — unless Plane asked her to. But Plane hadn’t asked her for anything and had simply run away. Nymphia didn’t even know which room she lived in. Of course, she could’ve chased after her, but she didn’t want to embarrass her even more. She returned to the room and, without looking down, walked toward the bed. Suddenly she stepped on a banana peel lying on the floor and went crashing down. ‘Fuck!’ Nymphia yelled, sprawled out on the carpet like a starfish. As she fell, her temple hit the armrest of the couch. ‘Great, now I’ll have a lump,’ Nymphia thought. ‘How am I supposed to film like this?’ Nymphia got up, grabbed the damn peel, and tossed it into a trash can she suddenly discovered under some jackets. ‘Well then,’ Nymphia said out loud. ‘Guess it’s really time to clean this mess up.’ It took her an hour and a half to sort through and put away clothes she might not even need. Another half an hour went into scrubbing herself clean and blissfully lying down on the neatly made bed. And if during cleaning her head was full of complicated formulas for putting the room in order, now, lying on the bed, her thoughts returned to Plane. ‘Maybe she’ll come back after all?’ Nymphia thought — and then heard a knock at the door. She quickly jumped off the bed and ran to open it. Mirage was standing outside. Today she looked much better, her face lit up with a joyful smile. ‘Hi!’ she shouted and threw her arms around Nymphia. ‘And why are you naked?’ she asked, letting go and looking her up and down. ‘Plane’s here again?’ ‘Plane’s not here,’ Nymphia answered quickly. ‘That’s the problem. I need to find her right away. Do you know what room she’s in?’ ‘Nope,’ Mirage said thoughtfully, ‘but we can find out. Maybe one of the girls will know…’ ‘Who should we start with?’ They started going around the rooms where their sisters lived, but no one knew where Plane had been put. Finally, after two hours, they managed to find Xunami, who could tell them where Plane was staying. Nymphia and Mirage returned to Nymphia’s room and sighed from exhaustion. ‘I never thought hanging out with sisters would take so much energy,’ Mirage said. ‘Yeah,’ Nymphia answered. ‘Sorry I made you run around with me. Who thought it was a good idea to put everyone on different floors? Bastards…’ ‘Come on, Nymphia,’ Mirage smiled. ‘It was actually a pretty nice way to spend two hours of endless days off. When else will I get to chat with everyone again?’ Mirage suddenly looked around. ‘Did you have a cleaner come by?’ she asked in surprise. ‘No one’s cleaned my room all month, I think.’ Nymphia shrugged. ‘Nope. I managed on my own without outside help. I guess they don’t have cleaners or air conditioners here. Want a banana?’ Nymphia pointed to the bunch still lying on the table. ‘I’d rather have pizza,’ Mirage replied, taking a bite. ‘Mmm, cold… Just how I like it.’ Nymphia didn’t bother figuring out if it was sarcasm or if Mirage really was a fan of cold food, and said, ‘Mirage, I’ve got to go.’ Nymphia stood up. ‘To Plane, right?’ Mirage asked, still chewing. ‘Yeah,’ Nymphia answered simply. ‘Something happen?’ Mirage asked worriedly. ‘Yeah. I need to sort things out with her. I’ll tell you later. You stay here, eat whatever you want, I’ve got to go.’ Nymphia kissed Mirage on the cheek goodbye and headed to room 569. She hadn’t prepared a speech, didn’t even know if Plane would open the door, but she had to talk to her. Standing outside room 569, Nymphia felt both the urge to see her again and a touch of embarrassment. Finally, she knocked. Yes, it was Plane’s room. Plane stood there, calm, as if she’d been expecting her. ‘Sister, what are you doing here?’ Plane asked businesslike and motioned for her to come in. Nymphia, not expecting such a reaction from Plane, hesitantly took a couple of steps. Plane shut the door and headed to the table. ‘Cake? Soda? Beer?’ she asked, pointing at the table. ‘You’ve got beer?’ Nymphia asked, shocked. ‘Of course not, baby. I was just joking.’ Plane giggled into her fist and flopped onto the couch. ‘Planey, this isn’t a dream,’ Nymphia said, ‘just so you know.’ ‘Baby, I know,’ Plane said mockingly, tilting her head to the side. ‘You thought,’ Plane went on, ‘that I’d lock myself up in my room and hide from you?’ ‘I don’t know…’ Nymphia drawled. ‘You don’t know me at all, baby,’ Plane remarked. ‘Yeah, things didn’t go the way I wanted. I don’t even know what the hell that was. But anyway…’ Plane spread her hands. ‘But I’m glad you came. I’m tired of going up and down. And you’re in shorts again.’ Nymphia walked to the table, grabbed a soda can, and cracked it open. ‘Do they even have straws in this house?’ she demanded and handed the can to Plane. ‘Baby, can’t your little mouth handle it without a straw?’ Plane teased. She pulled out a straw, stuck it in the can, and passed it to Nymphia. Nymphia caught it with her lips and started drinking greedily. ‘Didn’t drink all day, poor thing?’ Plane asked tenderly, stroking her hair. Nymphia nodded, still sucking on the drink. ‘And in this heat too. So, what do you think of my room?’ ‘Not bad, tidy enough,’ Nymphia replied when she finished. ‘So this is where the dream happened… Where exactly was I hitting on you?’ Plane walked over to the bed. ‘Well, I was lying on the bed, asleep…’ Plane lay down on the bed. ‘And you suddenly appeared from somewhere… Like from below.’ Nymphia crouched next to the bed and asked from there, ‘And then I crawled out, like in those dumb horror movies?’ ‘No, baby,’ Plane replied. ‘You didn’t crawl out, you just appeared in front of me and sat on the bed by my feet.’ Nymphia got up from the floor and gracefully sat on the bed. ‘Like this?’ she asked. ‘Yeah, yeah, next to my right heel,’ Plane pointed to the exact spot and went on. ‘Then we talked about something, and you lay down beside me.’ Nymphia slowly stretched out next to her, checking with her eyes if she got the position right. Plane nodded. ‘And that’s when I said I wanted to take you from behind?’ Nymphia asked sadly, looking into Plane’s eyes. ‘Not exactly…’ Plane began, but was rudely interrupted. ‘And do you want to take me from behind right now?’ Nymphia asked seriously. ‘Ummmmm…’ Plane muttered, confused. ‘Probably not.’ Nymphia shook her head sadly. ‘Nymphia, don’t be upset,’ Plane rushed to say. ‘It’s just that I already messed up enough today… Just stay with me.’ She took Nymphia’s palm and pressed it to her cheek. ‘First you did this. And then I took your hand…’ Plane intertwined their fingers together. ‘And kissed you.’ Plane leaned toward Nymphia’s lips and kissed her gently. ‘And after that I took you from behind?’ Nymphia interrupted. ‘Oh my god, Nymphia!’ Plane exclaimed irritably. ‘How many times do I have to repeat it? You didn’t take me from behind or in any other way! You just said it, that’s all! I woke up!’ ‘And when you woke up, did you have…’ ‘Nymphia!’ Plane cut her off. ‘There was nothing! I’ve already regretted a hundred times telling you about that dream. I just didn’t know you’d turn out to be so impressionable!’ ‘Alright, Planey Jane,’ Nymphia gave in. ‘I get it. I won’t say a phrase anymore that starts with “I” and ends with “from behind.”‘ ‘Sank you wery mach,’ Plane said with a Russian accent. ‘Can we just stay here and not discuss stupid dreams?’ Plane ran her index finger over Nymphia’s lips and, without waiting for an answer, leaned in again to kiss her. They spent half an hour like that, not wanting to waste time on talking or any other useless things. Finally, Plane spoke, ‘How did you manage to find me?’ Nymphia stroked her hair. ‘Mirage dropped by at just the right time, and we started wandering all over the hotel, hiding from staff and asking the others,’ Nymphia smiled, ‘but you sure are a secretive girl. Only Xunami was able to help us.’ ‘I can’t believe you raised hell for my sake,’ Plane blinked in surprise. ‘And how much time did you spend looking for me?’ ‘About two hours,’ Nymphia answered and moved her hand from Plane’s hair to her cheek and then to her lips. Plane felt ticklish from these touches and wrapped her lips around Nymphia’s index finger. ‘Planey, I didn’t wash my hands,’ Nymphia whispered, pushing it in deeper. ‘Is no crime,’ Plane said with a Russian accent, freeing Nymphia’s finger. ‘And why did Xunami know you were here?’ Nymphia suddenly asked, wiping her finger on Plane’s T-shirt. ‘Oh, baby, I think she’s got a crush on me,’ Plane answered, pinching Nymphia. ‘She’s always checking me out from every angle, showering me with compliments, and now she’s gathering info about me too.’ ‘And do you like that attention of hers?’ Nymphia asked jealously. ‘Sister, I like attention in general, if you haven’t noticed,’ Plane replied in her usual manner. ‘If she wants to feast her eyes on me, then fine, no one’s stopping her.’ Nymphia sat up on the bed, and Plane looked up at her from where she was lying. ‘And if she showed up in your room like I did today, would you be lying with her like this too?’ she asked, pouting. ‘Baby, considering how well I know her, that’s unlikely. But I can’t completely rule it out…’ ‘Planey,’ Nymphia grabbed her chin, ‘promise me that during the whole time we’re filming you won’t share this bed with anyone else.’ Plane freed herself from her fingers and stared at the ceiling. ‘I wasn’t planning to share this bed or this room with anyone, so I hardly told anyone where I was staying. But it turned out that you appeared on my path, and everything went off plan.’ ‘Do you think it’ll affect your progress in Drag Race?’ ‘Not one bit,’ Plane answered confidently. ‘Nothing can stop me from achieving my dream. Don’t be mad, but tomorrow on set I won’t even pay attention to you. I’m not going to mix work with my relationships with people, not even with Amanda. No matter how much she annoys me, it won’t affect my results.’ ‘Your beloved Amanda again,’ Nymphia giggled. ‘So tomorrow we’re going to pretend we don’t know each other?’ Nymphia lay down beside her again and sadly looked into Plane’s eyes. Plane sighed and lightly flicked her on the tip of the nose. ‘There’s no other way. It’s work. Sorry,’ Plane said abruptly. ‘Maybe we’ll have the energy to meet tomorrow night. It’s hard to say right now.’ ‘If those bastards hadn’t canceled our day off…’ Nymphia began, clenching her fists. Plane laughed and unclenched them. ‘You’re so funny when you start calling people names,’ she said, ‘and always in a different way.’ Plane ran her hand over Nymphia’s forehead and frowned. ‘What’s this?’ she asked, stopping her fingers at her temple. Nymphia touched her head in confusion and remembered that stupid incident. ‘That’s what my messiness led to.’ Plane raised her brows in curiosity. ‘You gave me a banana today, and I, such a slob, tossed the peel on the floor…’ ‘Ew…’ Plane drawled. ‘Yeah,’ Nymphia admitted shyly with a shrug. ‘And I paid for it. I smacked my head on the couch. So, is it that serious?’ Plane kissed her on the temple and answered, ‘Now everything will be fine.’ ‘And Nymphia,’ she added, ‘don’t be upset if tomorrow I act a little off, ignore you, or say something sharp. And try not to mess up, so you can last at least a couple more days.’ ‘You little shit!’ Nymphia exclaimed and pinched Plane on the stomach. ‘I hope nothing else gets up for you tonight,’ she said slyly, ‘because there’ll be nowhere to run, and this time you won’t be able to dodge me.’ Plane pulled Nymphia close to her. ‘Everything will get up when it needs to,’ she replied, ‘and then we’ll see who’s going to be dodging whom.’ ‘Planey…’ Nymphia began and leaned toward her lips. ‘Wait,’ Plane interrupted her. ‘We can’t hang around here forever. Tomorrow we have to be up at six in the morning, fully ready for the challenges ahead, and for that we need sleep. So we’ve only got ten minutes left.’ Nymphia nodded and sadly pecked her on the cheek. ‘Alright, let’s stop being sad,’ Plane turned to her. ‘This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other.’ The last ten minutes of their meeting passed in silence.