<accepts staring contest>
<eventually notes is staring at a cat and not disguised Krobus>
<strategizes that if corneas dry out, that could glue eyelids in place>
<strategy successful>
<braincell eventually passes to this cat>
<cat gets annoyed>
<cat swipes face and the silence is...>
<...broken by the thunderous crunching of eyelids scraping dried tear crust from arid eyeballs>
<the thunderous crunching is more a piercing feeling than actually audible>
<eyesight is slowly restored>
<but not all the way>
<vision correction is now a lifelong necessity>
<wait, no it was beforehand, just forgot to wear glasses>
<puts glasses on>
<there is no cat>
<was there ever a cat?>