On the Phone
On the Phone
[Megan is pointing off-panel to the left and looking off-panel to the right.]
Megan: Why is there a teapot in the bathroom? Off-panel voice (right): Sorry. When I'm on the phone I always zone out and pick stuff up and carry it around.
[Megan is in front of an open fridge, holding a hammer.]
Megan: There's a hammer in the fridge. Off-panel voice: Another phone call. I was just fidgeting.
[Megan is walking next to four stacks of household objects: the first has a lightbulb on top of a book, the second has a blender on top of three books, the third has five books (two balanced vertically) with a smaller rectangular object on top, and the fourth has two tennis balls on top of three books.]
Megan: Did you put all our stuff in weird stacks? Off-panel voice: Long call. Sorry.
[Megan, outside, looks up at a towering straight-sided object.]
Megan: ...Why is there a giant obelisk in the backyard? Off-panel voice: Phone again. My bad. Megan: It's carved with prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul-Eater." Off-panel voice: Haha! I'm so absentminded.

Fidgeting while talking on the telephone is a very common habit and may manifest as doodling or pacing. In the case of the person speaking off-panel (presumably Cueball ), he paces while absent-mindedly moving random objects around the house.
Megan has found several items in incorrect places around her house, including a teapot in the bathroom, a hammer in the fridge, and several stacks of household items. Cueball explains that he fidgets and move things around while on the phone. Taking this behavior to the extreme, in the fourth panel, Megan finds that he has also erected an obelisk in the backyard and carved prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul Eater" on it. This may be a reference to the saying "Idle hands are the devil's playthings."
The title text suggests that the "fidgeting" is just a cover story - the off-panel speaker is actually worshipping (or possessed by) Ba'al, and is casually trying to encourage Megan to do the same.
Ba'al , or Baal , refers to one of many deities and demons which go by this name. Given its title "The Soul Eater", it probably refers to Beelzebub (one of the seven princes of hell ). Ba'al, the Soul Eater has been mentioned in 1246: Pale Blue Dot and 1638: Backslashes .
[Megan is pointing off-panel to the left and looking off-panel to the right.]
Megan: Why is there a teapot in the bathroom? Off-panel voice (right): Sorry. When I'm on the phone I always zone out and pick stuff up and carry it around.
[Megan is in front of an open fridge, holding a hammer.]
Megan: There's a hammer in the fridge. Off-panel voice: Another phone call. I was just fidgeting.
[Megan is walking next to four stacks of household objects: the first has a lightbulb on top of a book, the second has a blender on top of three books, the third has five books (two balanced vertically) with a smaller rectangular object on top, and the fourth has two tennis balls on top of three books.]
Megan: Did you put all our stuff in weird stacks? Off-panel voice: Long call. Sorry.
[Megan, outside, looks up at a towering straight-sided object.]
Megan: ...Why is there a giant obelisk in the backyard? Off-panel voice: Phone again. My bad. Megan: It's carved with prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul-Eater." Off-panel voice: Haha! I'm so absentminded.
