In the chaos of the crowded bar, the tiny fly flew through the wrong door and found itself in a confusing maze of dressing tables and mirrors.
The little fly hovered near one of the tables, letting its eyes take in the astounding sight of a muscularly masculine body, as well as a painted face and immaculately coiffed hair.
Still trapped as a tiny fly, Brad had stumbled onto the drag queen in mid transition.
He needed to find Karam, but he paused long enough to soak in the sight of the massive man’s hairy, muscular body. The drag queen hadn’t done anything about the abundant hair that spread over their torso and even covered their shoulders. The drag queen applied some more lipstick, perfecting the striking, severe mien.
Brad even recognized the performer. He had seen their shows several times during other visits to the bar.
Even in all their elaborate preparation for an imminent show, the drag queen noticed as a tiny fly landed near the makeup kit that had helped with the facial transformation.
The drag queen was always nervous prior to a show and they certainly didn’t want any pesky insect in the dressing room. With a bottle of heavy-duty hair spray already held in one hand, a solution was already at hand and they squirted the little insect.
Brad’s felt his body instantly freeze up the instant the fog of hairspray enveloped his tiny form. His wings stiffened and refused to work.
Somewhat more slowly, he found he couldn’t breathe. He was a scientist and realized with a queasy clarity what had happened. The polymers in the spray had coated his body and made his wings sticky. But the same residue had also sealed off the spiracles along its body that allowed it to pass oxygen.
He had to get away…to find Karam...
When the insect managed some feeble twitches, the drag queen directed the aerosol can and sprayed the fly again with another dense cloud of hairspray.
His crawl across the tabletop stopped instantly. He might as well have been stuck in amber.
“Help me!” Brad screamed wordlessly, unable to move his wings to create so much as a faint buzz.
He would have eventually suffocated anyway, but there was a show to do. The drag queen’s lips pulled into a sneer as their manicured nails plucked a tissue from a huge box on the table.
Brad screamed wordlessly as a dark shadow fell over him. Enveloped in a fold of thin tissue, he felt a sudden and brutal squeeze.
The drag queen used a tissue to tidily squish the offensive bug, which did away with any mess or fuss. A quick squash between two fingertips and the bug and the smeared tissue were dropped into a trash can beneath their dressing table just in time for the performer to do apply some final cosmetic touches before taking to the stage.
They gave a good show, never knowing how badly they had treated a former fan.