In Search of Home

Chapter 43

Viktor rather liked sleeping with someone else in the room. When night had rolled around the next day, he had hesitantly ducked into Vok'Rul's room while the alien had been in the bathroom. When the alien had returned to his bedroom for the night, Viktor was innocently sitting on the bed. Vok'Rul had stopped in the doorway, staring at him for a little while, before muttering something under his breath. 

He didn't kick Viktor out, though. That was a plus. It had been the best sleep of his life. 

The third night found Viktor back in his closet. If he were honest with himself, he had been a little wary of sleeping alone again, afraid that he would end up bashing his arms and legs all over the place. No nightmares came that night, though, and he woke up peacefully to Vok'Rul pouring some jerky and fruit into his food dish in the morning. 

It seemed that the alien was taking a break from the papers today. He seemed less stressed about it, though, so maybe he was close to figuring out what they meant. It didn't concern Viktor that much, so he didn't really think about it. He was still a little curious about what was on them, especially considering he had gotten his head smashed for trying to stop the thief. But, he reasoned with himself, he couldn't even read the text. 

The only written word he knew was Kohgrash, and that was because it was written on his wrist. He hadn't managed to get his hands on any other sort of written text to compare the letters. 

After eating his fill, fingers stained purple with that starfruit and likely a tongue to go with them, Viktor started splashing water onto his face, trying to scrub away at the grime that accumulated on his skin. He'd rather have a shower, but splashing himself daily seemed like the best thing he could do. He'd be damned if he'd let Vok'Rul bathe him again - this time, sober. He shuddered. 

Viktor frowned at his water dish. The liquid was faintly purple. 

"Hey," he called out to Vok'Rul, who was sitting at his desk and yawning tiredly. The alien looked over his holographic computer to look at him, tilting his head slightly. Viktor pointed at the water dish. He wracked his brain for the word water. "Uhh, awkma. Neyk awkma." That sounded right. 

Vok'Rul, like the dickhead he was, laughed at his broken attempt of whatever their language was called. But he must've gotten his point across because the alien stood up and wandered over. "Ta ka awshk, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said, reaching down to ruffle his hair. Viktor felt like he was being insulted. 

"Okay, jerk. Replace my water. I can't reach the sink." he commanded. "Plus, your faucets are stupid," Viktor added heatedly. He followed the alien into the bathroom, watching as best as he could from the ground as Vok'Rul washed out the dish and filled it up with fresh water. 

"Mor ta lyr, cho'k. Corfa," Vok'Rul told him as he handed him back the dish. Viktor vaguely recalled Thruul telling him the same thing when he had gone to the large alien to get water. He squinted suspiciously at the taller one, wondering what it meant. 

"Thanks. Tokka," Viktor returned, sipping some of the water from the bowl. He felt Vok'Rul poke at his hair, humming curiously as he noticed it was damp. He got that complex look on his face that told the teenager he was deep in thought. Usually, though, it was reserved for those papers. 

"What are you thinking about?" Viktor asked, a little on edge. He was ushered out of the bathroom and back into the office without an answer. Typical. 

After setting down his bowl in its correct place, Viktor wandered over to the alien, who was swiping furiously at the 3D images hovering over his computer. Some of the swirly alien text was displayed, but most of it was images of humans.