[GTS] To devour is to survive, that is the way of life for all those who transcend the confines of the Insignificant things called planets, who break the laws of mortality and go beyond the sanity of reason, that is the way of a Devourer of worlds...
Conrad sat cross-legged on his bed, a half-packed duffel bag beside him. Clothes were folded in tight stacks—two shirts, a pair of jeans, some socks. He doubted they'd be useful where he was going, but packing them made everything feel just a bit more normal.
In his hands, he held a photo. The frame was chipped at the edges, the plastic screen a little foggy with age. His thumb brushed over the smiling face of his mother—her hair tied in a messy bun, freckles dusting her cheeks, one arm wrapped around a much younger Conrad who was grinning with missing front teeth.
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It felt like another life. One where his dad actually laughed. One where family dinners weren't silent and heavy. One where this old house didn't feel so full of ghosts.
He exhaled slowly, set the picture on his nightstand, and zipped up his bag.
"He'll be alright," Conrad muttered under his breath, slinging the strap over his shoulder. "It's just a few days."
Still, he lingered for a moment. His eyes moved across the room—the posters on the wall, the scuffed floors, the baseball cap hanging from the door handle. Then he turned away and walked out into the hall.
The devourer was waiting for him in the living room, seated casually on the couch like she wasn't a godlike force of planetary destruction wearing borrowed clothes and pretending to fit in. Her long legs were crossed, and she was flipping through a book—holding it upside down.
"You ready?" she asked without looking up.
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"Almost." Conrad set his duffel on the ground and scratched the back of his head. "You know, I never really gave you a name."
She blinked, looking up with her otherworldly eyes. "I have a name."
"Yeah, I know," Conrad said with a small grin. "But the last time you said it, it nearly gave me a nosebleed. I mean a real name. Something I can say without losing brain cells."
The devourer tilted her head, amused. "Very well. You may name me."
"Oh, I may?" he said, pretending to be honored. "Well, thank you, Your Planet-Eating Highness."
