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Citrus loved his record player. He had a nearly endless vinyl collection on his wall. Whenever he wasn't… well… he didn't like to say it, he would often put on one of his records and just lay down and listen to them. His favorite was an album he didn't know the name of. He found it at a thrift store with the label ripped off for 15 dollars and decided to give it a shot. All he knew was the grassy cover with an object lying face-down on the ground, as if to give the earth a gigantic hug. He liked how it would let him escape, to feel like he was on some other planet where everything was finally calm for once in his life.
Spool, meanwhile, loved Nurture simply for its music, nothing more. It was something he liked to chuck on in the car as he Ubered people around the city. He could sing along to all of the songs, but didn't put too much thought into it. Just some fun karaoke, why not?
“Thanks, man.” Spool’s passenger said as he got out of the car and made his way towards the staircase at the apartment complex he asked for. It was also Spool’s apartment complex, which meant he also knew where his favorite bar spot was.
“Pretend that we’re still in that bar.” Citrus told him, appending, “And that I’m not a monster.” Spool had to try as hard as he could to believe he was in the bar, yet somehow, he fully believed that Citrus wasn’t a monster. He had helped him, after all, didn’t he? What was he compared to Citrus? An accomplice?
Spool kept his eyes as sealed as he could before he fell asleep.
Citrus looked down at the thread lying on the floor. He’d seen Spool asleep before, of course, but that was accompanied by the knowledge that he would again wake up. This time was different: He didn’t know. The only thing he could do was just make out a low, “Spool?” as if saying his name would bring him back to life like saying “Bloody Mary” into a mirror. Yet for now, Citrus could only sit in uncomfortable silence next to the dead body of his only ever friend—
Friend? Were they friends? Like hell if Citrus knew. He laid Spool’s body face up on the floor for if he did wake up, then went to sleep atop the lamp post on the ceiling. He continued to wonder whether he and Spool ever really did like each other. Surely not, right?
But then—why did he care if he woke up? And why did he actually care to tell Spool whether it would hurt? Or why did he care to lay his body face up twelve seconds ago? He couldn’t think of an answer, yet somehow disappointingly hoped that Spool had truly hated him. After all, even if he didn’t, he surely would when—no, if—he woke up.
Spool did, in fact, wake up, gasping for air.
He shot up, as if somehow headbanging into the floor would cure his resounding headache. He was still breathing just as heavily as before. He looked around, and noticed Citrus hanging off the lamppost like a bat. Just then he remembered.
…
I survived.
He still took a moment to register that what had happened wasn’t just another bad dream he had been having for the past few nights. But no, he was still on the ceiling, he still had bandages on both of his arms, and Citrus was still there, sound asleep. Spool took a moment to decide whether to wake Citrus up now or to wait until morning to reveal his non-dead self to him, before deciding it would be best to just do it now.
“Hey, I’m still alive, I guess,” was all Spool could manage to make out before Citrus stumbled off of the lamppost and fell face-first onto the concrete ceiling of the complex.
“WHAT! HOW ARE YOU—uh…” Citrus took a moment to take in Spool’s unexpectedly worried face. He was sure Spool would be mad, why wasn’t he?
“Uhm… I’m sorry.”
Why isn’t Spool mad? WHY ISN’T SPOOL MAD?
“Yeah, uh, it’s fine?” Spool tried to sit down, before a piercing pain shot through one of his arms. “Shit” he quietly cursed.
“You alright—” Wait, why do I care? Citrus wondered. I don’t. Citrus lied to himself.
“My arm is still in shambles, y’know.”
“Oh right, you failed.”
“Thanks for the-” Spool muttered another curse before finally being able to sit down normally, “-reminder.”
“I’ll get you another bandage.” Citrus walked over to the first aid kit he had stolen from the now-defunct hospital before bringing it next to Spool and sitting down. He carefully unwrapped Spool’s arm to get ready to put another bandage on.
“You ever noticed how there's more stars now?” Spool asked. “It's like those creatures came with free stars DLC. I kinda like it.”
Citrus instinctively looked up before smiling to himself. He hadn't thought of the song in ages. He started humming to himself.
Wait again, I will be much better then. Holding on, I said. I will be much better then.
“Hey, you know that song too?” Spool replied, much to Citrus’ shock.
“Yeah? Do you?”
“Of course! Your voice is kinda like his.” Spool replied. Citrus let out a slightly hushed laugh.
“Whose?” Citrus asked, hoping to sneakily find out his unknown favorite artist for once and for all.
Confused, Spool looked at Citrus and remarked, “Porter’s?”
“Oh, I thought you meant… uh…”
“You didn’t know the artist, did you?” Spool quickly read.
“No! I- Fine! I don’t know!” Spool now returned Citrus’s laugh before continuing.
Look at the sky, I’m still here! I’ll be alive next year. I can make something good, oh, something good.
Spool did finally look up at the sky. He liked all the new stars the parasites brought with them ever more than he thought he did. “You know we’re gonna have to name all these new constellations now, right?” He remarked.
“Shit, you’re right.” Citrus responded. “I wonder if there’s a new planet.”
“Eh, probably,” Spool concurred.
“There, your arm should be fine now. Well, as fine as it could be.” Citrus said. Obviously, just so he can help me later! Not because I care about him!
Spool stretched his arm out to a… manageable amount of pain. “Perfect,” he responded. He noticed a particularly red line of stars that stood out from the rest. “You see those? The red ones?”
“The kinda grid-like ones?” Citrus clarified
“Yeah, what should we call them?” Spool asked.
“What if we called them something like, ‘Starsheet’” Citrus replied.
“I like that.” Spool responded.