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Ep 20. Feed

3/24/23

A shot of Spool walking forward, metal pipe in hand, dominates the left side of the page. On the right, there are three panels of Citrus and Spool luring in and knocking out a Bottle object, Citrus devouring their soul, and Spool sorting through collected supplies. Citrus looks up at Spool as he finishes eating, un-transforming as he walks over to his side. He wipes soul residue from his mouth, as if it were a liquid. They both look down at a deck of cards in Spool's hand, then at each other.
Citrus, annoyed, asks, What? Don't want to play cards with me? They both stare each other down for another moment, then, Spool says, You're vile. Citrus, beginning to transform again, asks, Huh? Then, fur bristling, Citrus continues, You think I like doing this? It's all I can eat. If I didn't- suddenly Spool interrupts to shout, Then you're better off dead, aren't you?
That night, Spool watches out of the corner of their eye as Citrus tries to saw his half of the broken handcuff off his ankle. Looking unsure, Spool thinks, Bad person. He's a bad person, right? It's impossible to ethically source object souls, though. He's had to live his whole life like this.
The next page features more scenes of Citrus and Spool hunting together, night after night. In the first, Spool stands watching Citrus feed on a Cup object beneath the full moon. In the next, they're in a parking lot under a waning moon, with Spool sitting and facing away as Citrus feeds from a jar object. In the next, they're both bloodied and running away from a Vase object and a Paper Plate object that they couldn't beat, under a crescent moon. In each panel, the sky grows more and more starry, and more and more vividly colored. At the end of it all, Citrus peels a bandage off of a healed spot on his face, exhausted, and says, Spool. Spool lowers their arm from wiping their fore head, looking at Citrus.
Citrus says, You failed. Spool steps forward to stand in front of him, nervous, and asks, Have you ever tried doing this without killing someone? Citrus answers, Not in a long time. The sky is more vivid than ever, covered with Starsheet.
Spool asks, Does it hurt? Citrus seems surprised for a moment, then answers, Well, I've never asked. It probably feels like falling asleep, or having low blood sugar. As he reaches out to touch Spool's face, Spool smacks his claw away, saying, Don't touch me.
Citrus says, Then get closer. Close your eyes if you have to. As he speaks, the following panels slowly go dark, as if Spool were closing their eyes. Citrus continues, Pretend like we're still in the bar, and that I'm not a monster. The last thing Spool sees before all goes dark is Citrus looking away, regretful.
Spool slumps over into Citrus's arms, remnants of their soul still connecting both objects' mouths. Citrus, uncertain, asks, Spool?
Spool wakes up with a gasp, sitting up straight. They were lying on the rooftop with a blanket tucked around them, while Citrus, a little further away, continues to sleep hanging upside down in a furry ball. Spool looks over at him, in a cold sweat, and thinks to themself, I survived.
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CITRUS and SPOOL have been afflicted with STARSHEET.

The survivor's mind has been gripped with a signal and afflicted with  STARSHEET. Survivor will hallucinate more stars in the sky at night.

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