Chloe was getting antsy, Hange could see it. It was only the second day that Hange had left them in the motel room to go to work and Chloe seemed restless. Hange had already given them some money. OK, a lot of money, but there was only so much they could do in the tiny town of Ellway. They were used to New York, where there were a myriad of things one could do all day and everything only a bus or train ride away. If they wanted to do anything outside of the small cluster of fast food restaurants and convenience stores there close to the motel, they would have to take an Uber which was expensive. Hange had no idea what they were doing with their money. Hange tried not to think about it.

They went outside and got in the rental car and looked at their phone. No one had called or texted. They wished suddenly that they could call or text Levi. Ask his opinion (which they knew) and ask him for advice (which they already knew as well.) They sighed. Perhaps they'd see him at the movie set.

At the set, Hange purposely parked right next to Mike's truck. Mike was already off with his crew and Levi slouched against the front of the truck, smoking. He glanced at the rental when they pulled in but turned his head away and ignored them after that.

Hange came slowly from in between the cars and held up a large Hardees bag. "I brought biscuits."

Levi grunted and gestured with his elbow at a similar bag but from McDonald's. "Already brought some. Everybody's eaten."

Hange put their steaming cup of coffee down on the hood of the truck and dug into the bag. They unwrapped a biscuit and bit into it, chewing silently.

Levi took another drag on his cigarette and side-eyed them. "You talked to Mobes yet?" He knew they hadn't but he was feeling a bit vindictive.

"Haven't gotten done thinking about it."

"What's there to think about? You're holed up in a fucking motel—our fucking motel, I might add, that the company paid for—with that waste of fucking space you call Chloe. Tell the man, for fuck's sake, Hans. You're being a shithead."

They rounded on him. "You have no fucking idea what it's like, Levi! Chloe is going through a really bad time right now! They're flat broke and homeless and they got nothing from their mother's estate! It all went to medical bills!"

"Yeah, and they won't get a fucking job, Hans! They never have! Broke and homeless? Yeah, I'd have no idea what that was like, would I?!"

They'd squared up with one another now, fists clenched, almost chest to chest screaming in each other's faces. Mike rounded the corner of the lodge followed by two burly construction workers. All three of them broke into a jog, coming toward them.

"Fuck you, Levi! You prick!" Hange grabbed him with their free hand.

"Don't make me hurt you, Hans." Levi said, low, threateningly. "I will beat your ass right here."

"Fucking try!"

Mike arrived and slid in between them, facing Hange, breaking their grip on Levi and holding up both his hands placatingly. "Let's just all calm down, here."

One of the construction crew gripped Levi gently by the shoulders and pulled him back a few steps. Levi waved his hand. "I'm OK, Enrique, I'm fine." He fiercely drew on his cigarette.

"Fuck all of you people!" Hange screamed. They threw their biscuit hard onto the ground and grabbed their coffee, stalking away.

"They're probably at the motel right fucking now, using!" Levi yelled after them. "You could fucking go to jail, Hans!"

Mike exhaled through pursed lips and turned to Levi. "Whew, that was intense. I thought for sure they were gonna sock you one."

Levi had gone over to the fallen biscuit, crouching and cleaning up as best he could. He straightened, balling the paper up into his hand. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Hange returned to the motel late that evening, hurt, confused, and stewing. They'd barely gotten anything done all day, their mind wandering.

When they got to the door it was cracked open about two inches. Hange stopped and stared. Had Chloe cut and run? Hange belatedly remembered that their 35mm camera was in their bag. Oh, shit.

They pushed open the door slowly.

Chloe was there, kneeling in front of the TV which was mounted over the dresser. They were snorting up long lines of white powder off of the shiny surface of the dresser. They looked blearily up as Hange walked in.

Hange looked around the room. A pall of smoke hung around the room and it smelled sickeningly of weed. Their things had been rifled through and thrown all over the floor, including their credit cards they had had stored in their bag for safekeeping. Their camera and one of their dildoes and lube were on the bedside table. Her other dildo, the strap on, was on the bed beside a very young-looking woman who was asleep face down in their bed. The young woman looked nasty. Her straw-colored hair was ratty and she still had on her bra which had, at some point in time, been white.

Hange wasn't the cleanest or tidiest person in the world but she shivered at the sight.

"Hey, Hans!" Chloe said brightly getting unsteadily up off of their knees. "Want to do a line?"

"You know I don't do that stuff, Chlo. There's none left anyway."

Chloe looked at the dresser top stupidly then licked her finger and gathered up any remaining powder and rubbed her gums with it.

They laughed. "I guess I did it allllll!"

"Who's this?"

Chloe stared at the girl on the bed who slept on, oblivious. It was clear that they had actually forgotten that she was there.

"Uh … I don't remember her name. She said that she'd be up for a three-some, though! We should get some more blow and do it!" They laughed again, a sort of high, hysterical, manic sound.

"Is she who you got the coke from?"

"Yeah. I found her at the truck stop." They gestured vaguely. "Aww, don't look at me like that, Hans. She was hungry! And tired! I bought it off of her to help her out!"

"I thought you were clean now."

"I still am! A little coke isn't gonna hurt anything!" They took a step forward and bumped into the bed and sprawled onto the floor. "Ahh, shit!"

Hange took several breaths. God, they wished Levi was there. He could solve this. All of this. They looked around the room again, sadly. "OK, one more question. Did you fuck her?"

"No!"

Hange looked at the strap on and the lube which was open and drooling all over the bedside table and back at Chloe with raised eyebrows. "Then why is she naked?"

Chloe, in their typical fashion, didn't look panicked but Hange could see their mind racing. "OK, we fooled around a little bit …" She clambered up from the floor.

"With my good strap-on? Chloe! I paid a lot of fucking money for that! Now I'll have to throw it away! I mean, look at her!"

"Well fuck you! You refuse to fuck me! What was I supposed to do?"

"Maybe keep your legs shut?! Stay clean for once?! We agreed last time we were together that we wouldn't even talk about doing it until you were tested!" Hange took a step toward them, finger pointing accusingly. "Also we are not back together yet! I told you I'm still thinking about it!"

"So you can fuck that goddamn man, but I can't get any?"

Hange sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Not with my strap-on you can't. Also, Moblit and I have never done it."

Chloe pouted.

"Look," Hange said, "I'm gonna go across the road and get a few drinks at Dreamers. When I get back I need all this cleaned up and her gone. We'll talk about it when I get back."

"You're a shitty friend," Chloe said, crocodile tears running down their twisted face. Hange just stared at them then walked out.

Hange got way drunker than they intended and stayed later as well. When they unsteadily re-crossed the road it was dicey at best.

When Hange got to the parking lot of the motel the first thing they saw was the car. It had been keyed down the side and one of the rear door windows was a constellation of cracks. Thankfully it wasn't smashed completely. That would cost Hange. A lot.

She opened the door to the room to find it in exactly the same condition as before with the addition of lipstick scrawled on the mirrors on either side of the television and on the one in the bathroom with epithets of "fuck you bitch" and "kiss my ass," etc. The girl must have written these because neither Hange nor Chloe used or owned lipstick.

Hange's camera and credit cards and both people were gone.

Hange canceled her credit cards, called the police, and began to clean up the room. When she was done (to the best of her ability) she called Moblit.