In Search of Home

Chapter 32

With all the attention on him, Viktor couldn't exactly retreat into the crowd in order to get away. Thankfully, all the attention quickly brought Vok'Rul over to investigate. He was fully dressed up, with neat and pressed clothing, lined with jewelry. The crowd parted easily for him, giving him small cursory bows, almost nothing like the deep bows that other aliens seemed to give him. He looked around for the source of excitement, his yellow eyes quickly landing on Viktor. He gave the human an unimpressed look.

Viktor smiled sheepishly. "Rohsh!" he said as sweetly as possible, giving him a little wave. Vok'Rul looked like he wanted to sigh and roll his eyes but refrained.

The alien that had pointed him out, a deep maroon-colored one, said something to Vok'Rul. The taller alien listened, leaning slightly to hear the shorter one over the sound of the others slowly going back to talking amongst themselves. Whatever he said made Vok'Rul's mouth tighten, just barely. If Viktor hadn't constantly been on the lookout for facial expressions while in the arena - they had saved his life once or twice - he easily would've missed it.

Vok'Rul nodded to the alien and walked over to Viktor. "Kohgrash," he spoke quietly, and Viktor had to strain to hear him over the noise. He tutted and said some other words, like lorka, which he was pretty sure meant home. Vok'Rul looked at the damp spot on his sweater, and Viktor felt his face heat up.

"I spilled some water on it. Awkma," Viktor told him, patting the wet spot on his sweater. Vok'Rul looked mildly surprised to hear a new word coming from his mouth before he frowned. Viktor mirrored his expression. "What're you looking at me like that for?"

He didn't get an answer, but Vok'Rul crouched down slightly, grabbed him under his arms, and lifted Viktor up. "Whoa! Dude!" he yelled, holding onto Vok'Rul's neck as soon as the alien lifted him high enough. He didn't think he'd get used to that any time soon. "God, you're so lucky you're like 12 feet tall and I don't wanna fall. And that I have a broken arm, otherwise I'd smack the everloving shit out of you," he panicked, gripping the alien tighter as he started moving.

Some of his jewelry poked him in the face. The jingling was also getting annoying. He didn't know how Vok'Rul could bear it. Viktor pressed his hands against some of the jewelry hanging from Vok'Rul's head to keep it from hitting him in the face, hand against Vok'Rul's face. The horns on the alien's face poked him slightly less than the jewelry. He felt Vok'Rul rumble and whisper something to him as they walked to the back of the large room. "Not my fault you got all this fancy pantsy fuckin' jewelry in my face," he grumped at the alien.

Trying his best to ignore the alien and his jewelry, Viktor looked around the room. There was a large table as the centerpiece, piled high with all sorts of meat. Decorative bowls and plates lined the sides of the table, and he watched as aliens one by one grabbed some food. He wondered what kind of party this was. Considering all the fancy decor - the lights were rather bright, and the walls were lined with flowers and draped curtains - it certainly wasn't a casual party or one that Vok'Rul particularly wanted to be around for, if the slightly grumpy look on his face was anything to go by.

That might've been made by Viktor's presence, though. He felt a bit bad. But he wasn't going to be forced to sit in one part of the mansion all day! Not when there were more interesting things to do, anyway. 

Vok'Rul's grip was gentle. Despite all his complaining, he was sure that the alien would let him down if he struggled enough. As it was, there were way too many aliens in this room for Viktor to ever be comfortable wandering around. He felt safe in Vok'Rul's arms and wasn't that a bit ridiculous? He never would have thought that he'd be on an alien planet a year ago, and yet, here he was.

Plus, he had a wicked view from up here. It was a very big plus. He could see the entire room. Tall people were so lucky.

Vok'Rul brought him to the back of the room where a long table sat in the center of the wall. Viktor immediately noticed the alien that had tagged along with them when they had gone to the school. Vok'Rul's sister or something. She sat at the grand table, fingers drumming impatiently on the cloth. To her left was an oversized, ornate chair. It stretched to the ceiling, intricate designs that became clearer as Vok'Rul carried him over. Small carvings of flowers decorated the edges, curling around the frame with care.