In Search of Home

Chapter 67

Their conversation was interrupted when Ezekiel got brained with one of the balls from the field. Exclamations of 'oh shit! sorry!' and 'holy fuck!' rang out. Ezekiel quickly got up, snatching the ball and running out into the field with revenge on his mind. Aiko, reluctantly, got up as well and walked after him. 

"To make sure he won't actually die," she claimed. Viktor, Pedro, and Nikolas exchanged looks. 

"C'mon, kid, you need exercise," Pedro claimed, getting up and ruffling Viktor's hair (again). "What have they been feeding you?" he joked, poking at his stomach. 

Viktor smacked his hand away. Out of the five out of them, Viktor was still the scrawniest. Most of his energy reserves from the arena had been used for injuries, which he had gotten more frequently than the other four. Even when they had been rescued, he hadn't put on much weight until Vok'Rul (and consequently, Thruul's good cooking) came along. 

"I wish there were a lake or pool," Nikolas said as they wandered closer to the football game. "I enjoy swimming." 

While the weather was mild, it definitely wasn't warm enough to strip bare and go swimming. Viktor gave him an odd look, "It's way too cold for that, dude." 

Nikolas shrugged, picking up a small, spherical ball and tossing it up in the air, catching it on its return. "I like swimming," he repeated as if that explained everything. "Go long, Viktor." 

Viktor rolled his eyes but obeyed. Nikolas threw the ball as hard as he could, and Viktor had to break into a sprint to get under it quickly enough. He didn't quite catch it; the ball brushed his fingertips before landing on the ground and rolling. "I wasn't ready, man!" he shouted to Nikolas, picking up the ball and tossing it back. 

"Always be prepared!" the distant shout came back. 

They tossed the ball back and forth, sometimes tossing it to Pedro, who ended up standing somewhere in the middle to form a lopsided triangle before someone came up and asked if they were interested in playing hide-and-seek. 

"Seriously?" Viktor asked with a grin. "There's like, nowhere to hide." 

The woman shrugged, an equally wide grin on her face. "Grass is tall, though." 

The game of hide-and-seek was the largest game Viktor had ever participated in. About half of the humans, those who weren't otherwise occupied in a game of football, wanted to play. It was kinda funny, considering all, from what Viktor could see at least, of the humans were adults. It was also, surprisingly, really well organized. 

"Okay!" The woman who approached him shouted from Dave's rock. "Hide-and-seek! I'm assuming everyone knows how to play! Since this is a big group, we'll have two seekers. They're Alex and Jane," she pointed to the two women, who jumped in place and waved to catch everyone's attention. "House rules are: No leaving the fence! No climbing trees -" 

"Fuck," Viktor mumbled, causing Pedro to let out a giggle. 

"- and no being a sore loser! We're playing a kids' game, for God's sake! Alex and Jane will count down from one hundred! And don't try hiding near the football players; that's an accident waiting to happen!" The woman shouted over the boos and jeers from those who must have had the same thought. "Last one to be found gets this cool fruit I found in the buffet!" She held up a purple starfruit. 

"Holy fuck!" Viktor shouted, voice nearly lost with others who recognized the fruit. "Those are so fucking good!" 

"Better get prepared to lose then, kid. You're goin' down!" Ezekiel challenged. Viktor bared his teeth in an animalistic grin. 

"No way, old man, I fucking love those fruits-" 

"OLD?! You little punk-" 

"You're gonna eat dirt, you fu-"