Houston had the best food in Texas, as Stevie had once proclaimed, so The Kings and their entourage tried to enjoy as much as they could with what little time they had in the city. Well, Moxie certainly tried her best. Her brother, on the other hand, had other plans.

"Do you think Beyoncé is here?"

Moxie sighed. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Let me check Twitter..."

Instead of researching where to stop tomorrow morning before they made their way over to New Orleans for the next show, Mick took to attempted stalking of the queen herself while Moxie worked on her makeup. She liked to change it up for every show, and she found it a relaxing change of pace from the rest of the tour duties. Since they didn't have any friends stopping by for this show, it was much quieter than Austin had been.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he answered without looking up from his phone.

She debated not saying anything after all, but that would have looked more suspicious, and her brother would have made it his life's mission to figure out what was on her mind. Given their closeness, it wouldn't take long for him to figure it out as well.

"What do you think about Cruella?"

He shrugged. "I like her. She's sweet and funny and hot in that sort of intimidating way."

"You get me." Moxie sighed in relief. "It's almost unfair how someone can be that hot, you know? Hell, she needs like... smelly feet something."

"Smelly feet?" Mick questioned. Mildly concerned.

"Even the playing field."

"Ah, yeah. True." Mick continued scrolling through Instagram. His search for Beyoncé's whereabouts had been derailed by his ADHD brain becoming distracted by all the pretty pictures. "Her friend followed me."

"Which one?" As if she didn't know exactly who he was talking about. Cruella's queen best friend. The friend who visited and watched their show in Austin. (Talented in his own right and probably more deserving of his own identity outside of being Cruella's friend, even under their small talk circumstances.)

"Bronx Harlow." Mick leaned closer to her with his phone angled enough that she could see the singer's page. "He was kind of quiet the other night."

"Yeah," Moxie agreed, "but he seems like the quiet type. Bet he was just tired too."

Bronx Harlow was a child star who grew up to ditch the silver screen in favor of the stage, much like Cruella. With his veteran festival status keeping him busy, Moxie assumed, especially given the recent release of his newest album, that he was a busy (and tired) man.

His most pinned post was a carousel of photos from the release party of his newest EP, Vacancy At World's End, which took place a couple of months ago in January. (God, Moxie regularly lost track of the time, all the months buzzing by in a blur. How the hell was it the end of March already?).

The first photo was of Bronx alone on a stage. The next was with a couple of people who looked like they were either his agent or producer. The following highlighted Bronx with his arms wrapped around Cruella who held onto one of those party sparklers they used at every fancy restaurant in a party-heavy city. The final included Cruella, her sister Ursula, and the infamous Ritchie Mendoza.

"He's hot too," Mick said.

"They're all hot." Moxie shoved his phone back toward him. "This whole industry is just... full of hot people. It's a little uncanny valley."

Mick agreed, lingering a little too long on Bronx Harlow's Instagram

"Rocky," Moxie called out. "Want a carrot?"

Moxie's Jack Russell, Rocky Terrier, who had finally joined them on the road after a few vaccines, hopped up from his doggy bed next to the sofa. He was probably the most energetic dog she had ever met, which made her a little skeptical about even bringing him along with them given their busy schedules for the next few months, but Roxanne offered to take care of him when she needed help. Their last walk around the Houston venue had wiped him out.

Rocky took the baby carrot dangling from Moxie's fingers and trotted back into place. For someone who was still a puppy, he took well to his first tour stop. He had even lapped up a little too much attention earlier, earning a small and modest trending tag on Twitter. Multiple accounts were also already asking when the next playdate with Dewey, Maverick's and Leigh's dog, would take place.

"So, why the sudden interest in my opinion of Miss Cruella?" Mick asked. "Did someone say something?"

"What makes you think someone said something?"

Mick stretched out along the sofa and petted the top of Rocky's head. The pink, orange, and white bow on his collar slid to the side as Rocky melted under his uncle's touch.

"'Cause I know you. You obviously like her. I won't speculate to what extent, but it's enough that I caught you falling asleep to her music last night." Wow, that was fucking embarrassing. Moxie really was Miss Cellophane when it came to girls. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna grill you about her. But if someone else said something to make you get all... weird and in your feelings—"

"It was nothing really." Moxie shrugged. "Roxanne kind of mentioned that Cruella is, well, bad news blondie." Moxie aimed a baby carrot at her brother. "Batter up."

He caught the flying carrot with ease. "Roxanne is thinking from a PR perspective. I don't think you need to take her warning to heart if you don't want to."

"Shouldn't I?"

"You've hung out with her twice. I love Roxanne but I don't think, even as our manager, that she has any real grounds for what she said. And she doesn't know Cruella enough to pass judgment on who she is as a person."

Moxie turned back toward the mirror and resumed her makeup routine, even though it would do nothing to deter Mick from seeing straight through her to the truth. Deep down, regardless of her opinion of the media, Moxie knew there was something more to her interest in Cruella Queen than just being attracted to her. She saw someone who looked like there was a whole lot of something else going on there, but no clarity to figure herself out.

Moxie was intrigued. And Roxanne's throwaway comment about Cruella being bad news confirmed what she didn't want to admit herself.

"Oh, I forgot to mention earlier but Uncle Pat is stopping by tonight. He wanted to say hello after the show."

Moxie nodded and crossed her legs. "Alright."

"Seriously, though, don't worry about what Roxanne said," he continued. "Just...  have fun. See where it all takes you. You deserve to have some fun."

Mick was so much better at handling relationships, in Moxie's not-so-expert opinion. While he didn't allow anyone to take advantage of him, he was also better at not getting too in his head and overthinking his feelings. He had fun. He always knew how to have fun, even when the circumstances should have made it impossible to. There was a lot Moxie learned from her younger brother, but that was one lesson she had yet to absorb.

"You deserve some fun too," Moxie replied. "Bronx is single, as far as I'm aware."

"Yes," Mick smiled, "he is."

...

Houston was a success. The crowd was even louder than Austin. The Kings were on top of the world, putting on the performance of their life, as they aimed to each and every time they walked onto that stage. And Mick didn't rip his pants on stage so by all accounts, Houston ended on an even better note than Austin.

(Somewhat.)

Moxie was winding down backstage with Lana when Mick pulled up with a guest in tow.

Women from all walks of life, regardless of their living experiences, understood a universal language—holding their keys in their hands when they walked to their car, locking the door after immediately entering the vehicle, as well as checking the floor of the backseat, not listening to music when walking alone, and avoiding the dimly lit path. Moxie knew all too well the feeling of realizing someone else was walking behind her when she was alone, and how quickly she went on high alert when she noticed it was a man.

That sense of being locked into a nerve-wracking defensive mode existed in many different scenarios in life.

"Look what the cat dragged in."

Uncle Pat was one of her father's childhood friends. They grew up together, close enough to see each other as brothers, and ended up working in the same industry. Although they eventually grew too busy to spend as much time together as they used to when they were kids, their lives were so intertwined that it was impossible to imagine them not being there for each other.

He was Patrick Callaghan to the rest of the world. But to Mick and Moxie, he was Uncle Pat.

It had been a long time since Moxie saw Uncle Pat. A very long time.

"You kids were great out there." Moxie always thought Patrick's smile stretched too wide. "Hi, I'm Patrick Callaghan."

"Right, this is Lana." Mick took the honors of introducing their friend and opening act. "Were you here early enough to see her?"

Patrick returned his hand to his pocket after shaking Lana's. "Only the end of it, unfortunately. Just barely got off that plane right before the set started, but your voice is beautiful. You have a sister, right? Writer?"

Lana nodded with a bright, sunny smile. No sign of her in high alert mode. "Yeah! Harper. She taught me everything I know. And she's the only reason I was able to finish Elizabeth."

"Well, if the rest of the album is as good as what I heard—"

He didn't finish his sentence, only leaving them with a sickly sweet smile. Patrick liked leaving things to the imagination. Whatever opinions were formed about him or the things he said, they were mere interpretations, and someone as innocent as Lana lapped it up. The vague, paper-thin suggestion that someone like him, someone with power and reach, could give her some as well.

"Moxie? You alright?"

For the second time in less than a week, she hadn't realized she wasn't paying attention. Moxie shook her head and continued the night's performance, smiling up at them. Lana had returned to her seat next to Moxie, so she wasn't sure how long she had been out of it.

"Yeah, sorry," Moxie answered. "I'm just tired."

Patrick looked mildly sympathetic to her lie, her brother saw right through her but didn't voice any concern in front of anyone else, and Lana was none the wiser.

"Can't believe I beat your dad to a show," Patrick joked. "Someone is slacking."

"He's busy doing his job," Moxie said. "Dad supports us in any way that he can and we love him for it."

"I didn't mean—"

"Have you met Rocky yet?" Mick picked him up from his spot on the ground and put him on display for Patrick to meet. "Moxie got him a year or so ago. He's cute but all of my socks have holes in them now so we are on probation right now."

Rocky cautiously allowed Patrick to pet him, but only briefly and after he sniffed him first. After barely a few seconds, he pulled himself back into Mick's chest, and then his tiny eyes darted over in her direction. Moxie smiled at him and reached for the bag of baby carrots that were on the table next to her. Rocky wiggled himself in Mick's arms and, after being placed back onto the ground, ran over to her, sitting between Moxie and Lana.

"Energetic like his mom," Patrick commented.

Moxie pulled Rocky closer to her as he chomped on the carrot.

By some saving grace, a call came through on her phone. She didn't even need to look at who it was, thankful for the distraction and excuse to hide in some other room. Within seconds, she announced her departure, hoping Lana wouldn't mind being left with Mick, though she had no reason to think she should be worried.

"Hello?"

"According to the internet, your next stop is in... New Orleans, right?"

Moxie was surprised to hear her voice. While they had exchanged phone numbers after karaoke in Austin, neither of them had initiated contact until that phone call.

"Indeed," Moxie confirmed.

"How long are you going to be in town?"

New Orleans was a popular stop amongst the crew and they had a couple of more days between that show and the one after, so it was a unanimous vote to stay overnight for an extra day in the city.

"Are you in the area?" Moxie asked. "This sounds like a plan waiting to be carried out."

"She's beautiful and she's smart." Cruella Queen had a way with words, and even from miles away, Moxie was putty in her hands. "I have tickets for this thing if you want to get away for the night. Take a break."

"I don't know if two shows are deserving of a break already." Moxie looked down at Rocky lying by her feet, a small bit of carrot stuck on his snout. "Is this... thing something Mick will want to do?"

"Maybe," Cruella answered quickly. "But unfortunately, I only have two tickets so Mick will have to join us on the next one. I can ask Bronx if he's busy if we need to keep him distracted" She paused. "If you even want to go. Every girl deserves a break. Even if it's only been two shows, almost three."

Cruella whispered the last part like it was some little secret between the two of them. It wasn't like Moxie needed convincing to join a spontaneous trip in a new city. She loved that aspect of traveling—not planning, just enjoying. And when she was being invited for a night out with one of the most beautiful women the world has ever known, Moxie knew there was no chance she was going to turn down the offer.

It felt a little like playing with fire, but Moxie didn't mind. Roxanne's voice played in the background, warning her that Cruella Queen was bad news. Scathing headlines splashed across her mind. Moxie ignored them all.

"Yes and yes."

"Yes and yes?"

"Yes to the Bronx distraction," Moxie said. If she was going to ditch him for the night, the least she could do was give him a toy to play with. "And yes to the... thing."

"Lovely." Moxie could imagine Cruella's smile perfectly. "See you then."