In Search of Home

Chapter 70

Thankfully, Vok'Rul had no interest in browsing any of the stalls that hosted clothing. Viktor didn't know if he could handle giving advice on clothing articles any more than he did with jewelry; he was terrible at both. At least he and Thruul were still on the same team of giving vague compliments until Vok'Rul decided if he wanted an item or not. Even if he was a jerk that threw Viktor under the bus more than a few times.

But the way that Vok'Rul nervously scanned the stalls as he walked away from any clothing stall made Viktor wonder if he really was uninterested in clothing or simply avoiding something else. Or someone else.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising considering how much these aliens seemed to capitalize on them, there was a human section of the festival, dedicated entirely to clothing items that would fit them. Vok'Rul, despite having told Rukka that he had read the plans for the festival and what it all entailed, was just as delighted as Viktor and Thruul to stumble upon it.

There were many humans running the booths along with the aliens, calling out to others and waving hello. This section wasn't as crowded as the alien section - the stalls were spaced out and given ample room for both Vokkrus and humans to wander about.

Eager to stretch his legs, Viktor thumped onto the ground. These stalls seemed to be made for human use more than the others had been, thankfully. The stalls came up to his chest instead of making him stand on his toes to peer over. It was a change that Viktor delighted in.

And it made Vok'Rul, the friendly giant, look like an absolute fool. That increased Viktor's enjoyment considerably.

"Hey there!" someone shouted. Viktor turned to see someone he recognized. It was a human that he had gone against in yesterday's bean bag toss game. "Axe guy!"

Viktor grinned, waving and walking over cheerfully. The man - who introduced himself as Knox and his alien as Pepper (she was bright red) - stood behind a stall that had buckets of color. It reminded Viktor of the drawing booth Nohkka and he had taken part in on the first day of the festival. "How are you?"

"I'm great!" Knox responded. He put his hands on his hips, grinning. "Hey, you interested in some face paint? Pepper brought me here and gave me a bunch of this paint," here, he gestured to the buckets with one hand, "Pretty sure they're safe, but hey. What's life without a little risk?" Knox joked.

"Are you an artist?" Viktor asked.

"No," Knox confided, pulling out a stool that looked like it was sawed in half to accommodate a human's height, and dragging some buckets onto the ground beside it, "but I can draw a mean stick figure."

Knox didn't need to say anything more. Viktor was sold.

He ended up getting some red spikes painted on his eyelids/eyebrows and cheeks to match Vok'Rul, much to the alien's sheer, unfettered delight. Knox told him they were wobbly at best, but Vok'Rul reassured him that they were the best spikes he's ever seen. Thruul also praised his appearance, claiming that he had a hard time telling them apart. If Viktor had anything on hand, he would've thrown it at the alien for patronizing him.

"Painting yourself! What a concept!" Vok'Rul gushed, having hardly taken his eyes off Viktor. He kept reaching out to touch the paint, but Viktor knew that it wasn't quite dry yet. Keeping the alien's fingers away from his face proved to be a full-time job.

"Yeah," Viktor said, bemused. "It's pretty common. Especially at sports games. I saw a guy paint himself green all over. Also, people use make-up to look prettier. There's artists that paint people so well you can't even see them anymore. They're like illusions."

Vok'Rul voiced his interest in rumbles and hums. "The Vokkrus have art, but we have never taken it to our skin."

Viktor looked at him shrewdly, then, jogging slightly to keep up with the alien's pace as he dragged them to the next stall. "You don't like... breathe from your skin, do you?"