This one-page VotSS comic is actually the first one I ever completed. I created this as a one-page backup story for the Fearful Hunter graphic novel, wherein several different artists offered their takes on human/monster romance. [Fearful Hunter is 18+ and not at all asexual, and VotSS is 13+ and a lot asexual, so there was a bit of a line to walk on how to present this in a way that was appropriate to both comics.]

This was originally published in black & white. A few months ago I went back to the original line art and colored it, and then forgot I had done so, ha ha. So anyway, here it is.

The chronology of all the VotSS stories to date is thus:

• The Long Run
• Medicine; Run
• Extraction
• Abrade Groom

As you might imagine, being the first completed but last chronologically (so far) means there's a lot about this that maybe isn't canon. I had a big burst of ideas for stories when I first started writing VotSS, but not all of those ideas are things I'll ever actually use. And some have already been lowered into the trash. So when I did this comic, I was sort of guessing at where Hali and Razi would be at this point in their lives.

I still don't know for sure how much of this is canon or not, because I haven't given a lot of thought to what happens between Extraction and this (mostly because my thoughts have been focused on trying to get The long Run finished). All I can tell you is that, early on, I had a big thing planned for how Razi gets that scar. Whether or not that particular storyline is still worth pursuing is a matter for another day!