Irhaboggle Pride (2019) Spectrum

Pink

AN: Halfway through! We're back to the colors!

"Well, don't you just look absolutely spiffing," Mallory teased as Quincy strutted out of his dressing room in full drag. He wore a massive pink dress that was covered in pearls and pink feathers, and the hips of the dress were almost as wide as the door.

"I'm not even a Drag Queen at this point, I'm a Drag Empress!" Quincy agreed, tossing his thick, luscious curls with a haughty smile. They, like his outfit, were a bright, blinding, bubblegum pink. And all of the makeup and glitter he'd so carefully applied to his face and hair were also pink.

The reason he was going so hard on the pink was because tonight's drag show was themed after the original Pride flag, and one of the colors on that version was pink. He'd even gone so far as to purchase bright pink contacts to cover up his orange eyes. He had originally been asked to represent the color orange in this drag show, but he'd expressed distaste for the idea as soon as it was proposed to him.

"Too cliché!" he had said. "I am well aware of what color my eyes are, but I think pink would be more fun!"

"Well, are you ready to go on?" Princeton asked. He also wore a bit of pink, to support Quincy. Even though there was no competition in tonight's show, people still wore specific colors to either support a performer they knew, or to display what their favorite stripe on the flag was. Mallory had also worn pink, but it wasn't just to support Quincy. It was because the pink stripe on the original flag represented sex/sexuality, and Mallory was definitely all about both.

"Honey, I was born ready!" Quincy replied with a massive grin.

"Then allow me to escort you, my lady," Princeton laughed in return, giving Quincy a slight bow before offering him his arm. They made quite the comical duo, Quincy so much taller and wider than Princeton, but they made it work, nonetheless. Mallory followed after them, giggling madly.

After leaving the line of dressing rooms behind, the pink-clad trio ascended a staircase that took them to the backstage area of the theater at which they were performing. Already, a rainbow of people were waiting for them, both in front of, and behind, the curtain. Peeking through a gap in the curtains, Quincy could see every color in the spectrum. People of every flag and color were present. Most of his family was wearing pink, in support of him, but two of his siblings had intentionally worn orange to make fun of him (because that's what siblings were for).

"Are you guys ready?!" a breathless voice asked excitedly. It was Emma Embry, the fourth in their little circle of friends. She, unlike the rest of them, wore a blindingly yellow suit (in honor of her very, very sunny disposition). She was going to be the announcer for the show, and she was eagerly waiting for the last few drag queens (and kings) to arrive so that she could start!

"Honey, I was born ready!" Quincy repeated and Emma gave him a big smile and a huge thumbs up.

A few minutes later, the show finally began.

"Ladies, gents and everyone outside, in between, or some variation thereof!" Emma cleared her throat, and the entire assembly went quiet. "In honor of our wonderful Gilbert Baker 1978 Pride Flag, tonight's drag show themes will cover every color and meaning. But we aren't just going to go down the line in order, because where's the fun in that?! Instead, it'll be up to fate who gets to go first..."

As Emma said this, the curtain lifted. Princeton and Mallory gave Quincy one last thumbs up before darting away. He raised his chin proudly as he and his fellow performers quickly fell in line. There were several other kings and queens in pink, and there was a wide variety of other performers donning other colors. Quincy gave them all an excited smile, which they each returned in earnest.

Once the curtain was completely up, a roar filled the hall as the audience got a first glimpse of its kings and queens. Once everyone settled back down, Emma continued with her explanation. Hanging over all of their heads was a giant color wheel with an arrow (its tip shaped like a heart). She was going to choose an audience member who would spin then wheel, and whatever color it landed on, that would determine who would go first. The kings and queens in each color would choose their performance order at their own discretion.

"So, any volunteers?" Emma sing-songed. Several hands shot up in the air excitedly. Emma gave them all a teasing smile, pretending to mull over the many options provided to her. After several seconds of pondering, she finally chose a young girl near the front left of the audience. She ran up to the stage excitedly and gave the wheel a very enthusiastic spin.

"Wow! Look at her go!" Emma smiled at the little girl. "She spun it with such power!" And the audience played along, clapping for the child as she gave them all a very pleased, very proud curtsey. She was met with warm laughter, both from the audience and the performer. All the while, the wheel spun madly. For several seconds, it continued to fly, but then little by little, it began to slow down. Before long, the wheel was only... just... marginally... turning... and... then... GREEN!

"Nuts!" the drag queen beside Quincy pretended to snap her fingers in dismay and Quincy laughed in agreement. At the same time, two performers both in very skimpy and sexual outfits pranced in front of the group while all the other performers took a step further back into the shadows.

When the wheel was spun for the fourth time, it finally landed on pink.

"YES!" the drag queen beside Quincy looked like she was about to faint from excitement.

"Don't die before you even get to perform!" one of the kings joked.

"Oh, honey, I've already died like 20 times!" the queen replied dramatically. "These heels are killer!" And Quincy and the others had to agree. Although it was clear that this queen was well-practiced in the art of walking in high heels, the ones she wore now looked impossibly tall...

"Alright, so who's up first?" Quincy asked. But he didn't even need to bother, the excited drag queen began strutting forward before any of the rest of them even had time to open their mouths. But as soon as she was done, the others agreed to let Quincy go next.

"We'll do our set last and close for you in case you royally screw up, your majesty!" one of the performers teased.

"Gee, thanks," Quincy gave the performer a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry, man, you'll be fine," one of the kings took pity on Quincy and shot him a reassuring smile. He was able to lift Quincy's spirits and the young drag queen strutted forward proudly. A hush settled over the crowd and Quincy felt his stomach drop, but just a second later, so did the beat, and suddenly, he felt his smile and his spirits soar once again.

"Looks like I'm in the pink!" he murmured, and then he said no more as the main melody began to play.