"That looks gross, dude," Viktor told him, wrapping the blanket around him tighter as Vok'Rul spoke meaninglessly to him as he stepped past. The alien had taken out another brick of food that looked more unappealing than the first. He seemed to like this one better, though. "Like really, don't you have real food? You're like, President Jesus here or something-"

He was interrupted by a throat clearing in the entryway to the kitchen. Viktor jumped out of his skin. He nearly broke his neck whipping it around to see a well-dressed alien, almost the same shade as Vok'Rul. They even shared his eyes. They didn't have a tail, though. They also looked pretty mean, with hardly any expression on their face. Viktor wondered if they were related.

Vok'Rul seemed delighted to see them, exclaiming a 'rohsh!' and walking over to embrace them. Viktor watched the exchange carefully, huddled on the ground and pulling his blanket around him to draw less attention to himself. The other alien spoke briskly, patting Vok'Rul on the back with much less enthusiasm. Their voice was light, quite like Pink's and Lilac's. Maybe this alien was Vok'Rul's sister?

Vok'Rul stepped back, tilting his head a bit in question. He said some words, to which the other alien responded with a shake of her head. She brandished a piece of paper from behind her back, waving it in front of Vok'Rul's face. Viktor craned his neck to get a look. It looked like a newspaper. There were large symbols over a picture in the middle of the page. Viktor squinted, his view obscured even more as Vok'Rul hurriedly took it out of her hands hastily, loudly speaking in distaste.

Viktor stood up, drawing the other's attention. She scrutinized him shrewdly. Viktor narrowed his eyes, stepping to the left so that he was obscured by Vok'Rul's body. She said something, pointing to him in a dismissive gesture.

Vok'Rul turned, offering Viktor a strained smile. The hand holding the newspaper dropped to his side, which let Viktor get a better look from across the kitchen. It was a picture of Vok'Rul hurriedly running into the vet's clinic with a lump in his arms. Taken at night, the photo wasn't the best quality, but Viktor could tell that the lump was him. Vok'Rul was obviously upset by this revelation. Viktor wondered why.

"Rul," the alien said, dropping the first half of Vok'Rul's name. She said something else, pointing at Viktor and gesturing with her other hand. Whatever she said must have irked Vok'Rul, because his mood became frosty. He snapped at her, shaking his head and gesturing at Viktor as well.

"I am right here," he grumbled out loud, moving to cross his arms and getting stopped by the blanket around him. He struggled to get it off him. Somehow, it had wrapped around his cast in a way that made it difficult to unwind it with just one arm. "God damn it," he swore, tugging at the blanket and pulling uselessly at the edges. He heard footsteps approaching him, assuming it was Vok'Rul coming to assist him. He also heard Vok'Rul's voice, sharp and loud in the still air, pretty far from him.

Viktor looked up in alarm as the other alien reached down to help untangle him from the blanket. All Viktor could see, however, was a large unknown hand coming at his face. He scuttled back in alarm as quickly as he could, yelling out a sharp 'hey!' as he did so. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest in fright.

The alien took a step back, frowning at him. She spoke softly, crouching down and slowly extending her hand out. Viktor watched her warily, but now that she wasn't looming over him, it wasn't as terrifying. If she hadn't been so obviously related to Vok'Rul, he doubted he'd even let her near.

"I can do it myself, thank you," he said snippily, trying to calm his breathing enough to untangle himself. The alien shrugged, saw that she wouldn't be able to get any closer to him, and stood back up, turning her attention back to Vok'Rul. The taller alien looked irritated.

He heard Vok'Rul say his name as he spoke with the other alien. Viktor tuned them out, focusing on getting his blanket unwrapped from his arm. He finally got it, dropping it onto the floor in a huff. Annoying blanket. He heard the other alien laugh, and say his name in a question. Viktor frowned at them. Why did everyone laugh at his name?

Vok'Rul shrugged, shaking his head. He glanced at Viktor with concern. The taller alien seemed to never take his eyes off the human for too long. It would be more unnerving if Viktor didn't realize that he was probably a bit nervous about leaving him unattended after the fiasco yesterday.

The other alien asked something. Vok'Rul grew contemplative. He called, "Kohgrash," gesturing with his hand to point at the ground beside him.

Viktor stared. He eyed the other alien warily as he hopped over Vok'Rul's tail to stand beside him. He angled his body so that it was facing the other alien before he looked up at Vok'Rul. The taller alien looked pleased, giving him a smile and patting him on the head. Viktor scowled. He wasn't some dog to show off what tricks he knew.

The other alien said something to Vok'Rul. He nodded and walked over to the staircase at the other end of the kitchen. Suddenly without a buffer between him and the new alien, Viktor grew defensive. His eyes flickered over the alien, looking for any apparent weaknesses. She didn't move a muscle, which unnerved Viktor even more. It was one thing to fight dumb, aggressive animals in the arena but another thing to fight another sentient creature in a kitchen.

Thankfully, Vok'Rul quickly returned, holding something in his hands. He walked over to Viktor, crouching in front of him (and thankfully blocking the other alien from getting to him). He held out the item for Viktor to look at and his breath caught in his throat.

The thing he held in his claws was a fucking collar.

"No," he choked out, grabbing the collar from the alien's hands and, in one fluid motion, chucked it forcefully across the room. "No way, you stupid alien." Viktor grabbed at his throat, digging his nails into his skin to reassure himself that the shock collar was gone. He could feel zaps of electricity shocking him into movement, from a dull static shock to a full-body seizure-like current.

He felt a large hand wrap around his forearm, pulling his hand away from his throat, and he snarled, yanking his arm futilely. Another hand settled on his head, soothingly petting his hair. Viktor's breathing, uneven and choppy, slowly mellowed out. Warm, soft words that he didn't understand washed over him. Viktor felt Vok'Rul's grip on his arm loosen, and he tugged away angrily, shoving at the alien. The other didn't move an inch, while Viktor stumbled backward a few steps.

"Kohgrash." Viktor glared up at the alien as he stalked away from him, yearning to put more space between them. The teen didn't want to hear a single word the alien said. The alien didn't share his sentiments, however, and kept talking lowly to him.

Viktor whipped around as sudden movement on the edge of his vision caught his attention. The other alien was picking up the collar from where he had thrown it. He watched, suspiciously, as she walked over to one of the cabinets in the wall. She kicked it open, yanking out what could only be a trash can. She dropped the collar in, and that was that.

The scowl on his face slowly dropped away. The tension in his shoulders slipped out, and Viktor dropped them, taking in another steadying breath. With the collar out of sight, he felt as though he could actually breathe, actually think. His hand traveled up to his hair, clean for the first time since he got here.

God, what was wrong with him? Freaking out over a collar.

It hadn't even bothered him while it was on in the arena. It only started bugging him after he had gotten it removed. The pressing weight around his neck reminded him that he was nothing more than a caged animal in the arena. As soon as it had been removed, he had felt free, in a sense. As free as he could feel on this planet.

He rubbed his face with his hand, spreading his fingers to peer at Vok'Rul as the alien called his name once more. He reached out and patted Viktor once on the head before standing up. He spoke quickly to the other alien, tapping his wrist. The other shrugged in response.

Viktor was getting really sick and tired of not being able to understand what they were talking about.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul called, smiling when Viktor met his eyes. The alien held out a hand as if saying stop. He said something that sounded like a mix between a growl and a click. Viktor only made out a kor sound. The alien repeated that word, gesturing the stop signal as he did so. Viktor fought not to roll his eyes. Alright, he got it. Stay put.

The aliens left him in the kitchen, walking up the stairs in a hurry. After a beat of silence, Viktor let out a loud sigh before settling on the ground. He opted to wait for them to return instead of trying to follow them up the stairs. His arm would only slow him down.

Head propped up on his hand, Viktor dozed while waiting for them to return. He wondered what they were planning to do. He thought uncomfortably of the collar. Did they intend to bring him outside on a 'walk' of all things? He hoped not. It was freezing outside, and he didn't even have his socks on. Plus, he was still recovering from his hypothermic near-death experience.

Viktor contemplated saying fuck it and struggling his way up the stairs to see what the aliens were doing up there when they stomped down the stairs, chattering with one another. Viktor scrambled to his feet, a bit startled at the loud noises that suddenly pervaded the room. Vok'Rul made his way over to Viktor, carrying a black harness. Viktor looked at him suspiciously.

Well, he supposed, watching as Vok'Rul knelt down and reached out to put it on him, it was better than a collar. If he shut his eyes and pretended hard enough, he could imagine the harness as a backpack that clipped in the front instead of it being a pet harness, restraining him and only serving as a reminder that he was here against his will.

He didn't really want to think about that, right now. Viktor distracted himself by accepting the handful of treats Vok'Rul poured into his hands after getting the harness on him without issue. He ducked away from the hand that tried to pet him, still feeling a bit prickly and suffocated from before. He didn't want Vok'Rul to touch him any more than he had to. Popping some of the treats, this time apple-flavored, into his mouth, Viktor followed the other alien and Vok'Rul out of the kitchen and into the main entrance of the mansion.

The two bodyguard aliens were at the door, and they spoke quickly to Vok'Rul, tapping on circular devices. They looked like a hockey puck if he were honest. Must be this planet's phones. Like everything else here, though, they were holographic. Odd symbols were broadcasted in the air, which seemed to aggravate all four of the aliens. Viktor chewed on the pellets in bemusement, watching as Vok'Rul and the other alien hurried out of the entrance.

"Kohgrash," one of the bodyguards spoke, bending a bit at the knees and gesturing for him to come over.

Viktor tensed, immediately uncomfortable. He stayed where he was, giving the bodyguards a glower. The alien inched closer, gesturing again and speaking his name. Viktor threw a pellet at him, making him blink in surprise. The one not gesturing to him leaned out of the entranceway and shouted Vok'Rul's name. His stomach flipped in nervousness. Was he supposed to have done something?

Vok'Rul popped his head in, locating Viktor in an instant. The alien smiled kindly, and some of the nervousness in Viktor evaporated. At least he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Kohgrash!" he said, cheerfully if a bit urgently. He did the same gesture that meant come here and Viktor carefully stepped over, speeding up his walk when he passed the two bodyguards. He shoved the rest of the pellets in his mouth quickly, unsure if they would try and take them, especially after he had chucked some at one of them.

They did nothing, but Viktor didn't relax until he was outside with Vok'Rul. They followed but kept their distance. Shuddering in the cold air, though it was much, much nicer than it had been yesterday, Viktor followed Vok'Rul to the floating limo he had been taken in the other day. He wondered if it was starting to edge over into spring on this planet. Viktor hopped into the limo, deftly avoiding Vok'Rul's large hands that reached down to help him up.

The other alien was on the other side of the limo, legs crossed and tapping away at her phone. She glanced up as he clambered in but her attention was captured again by whatever she was looking at on her phone. Fine by him. He settled next to Vok'Rul as the other shut the door and said something to the driver. Viktor wondered where they were headed.

He looked out the window as best he could. Purple-red trees passed by at a fast pace. The trees slowly shifted into small shrubbery and small houses. Square and small, the houses all seemed to be of similar style. If Viktor could block out the yellow sky and the odd-colored vegetation, he could easily be looking at the suburbs of a city. Eventually, the limo slowed, crawling to a stop outside a large building. It was much less opulent than the mansion but about the same size.

Curious, Viktor watched as the other alien and Vok'Rul got out of the car. Vok'Rul pulled a piece of long yarn from his pockets, gesturing for Viktor to come out of the vehicle. Warily, Viktor stepped out after a moment's hesitation. Vok'Rul clipped the leash, much thinner and lighter than any leash Viktor's seen on Earth, on the back of Viktor's harness.

He wasn't too enthused about that. Vok'Rul probably guessed his discomfort, though, considering the alien didn't tug on the leash and loosely held the leash. It wasn't like Viktor was going to run off, though. He had nowhere to go.

"Kohgrash, pora," Vok'Rul called. Viktor twitched at the word, uncomfortable that it sounded a bit too much like the word the ringmaster would spit at him with disgust. "Pora," he said again, using the same gesture to come here.

The alien was a few steps in front of him, holding the end of the leash in one hand. The other alien was in front of them, foot tapping in impatience. Viktor stepped forward, earning a smile from Vok'Rul and some other words he wasn't familiar with.

Together, they walked into the building. The other alien didn't seem too happy to have him here if the glances of disdain she gave him were anything to go by. Whatever Vok'Rul had to do today, he didn't seem too happy to leave Viktor alone in the mansion. It was probably the only reason he was here, right now.

Viktor looked around curiously as they padded down the long hallways. This place seemed to be a school, with colorful paintings and crafts on the walls. Glances through open doors confirmed this, meeting the eyes of small aliens left and right. Through their journey in the building, they met stragglers in the hallway. They bowed deeply to Vok'Rul but watched Viktor curiously as if they had never seen a human before. Viktor wondered if having humans as pets weren't as common as he thought. Though, some of them didn't even give him a glance. The school must have held a wide range of ages. He saw some aliens smaller than he was, and some only slightly shorter than the other alien accompanying them.

They finally got to their destination; a small room with a chair in the front. A short and well-rounded alien was already in the room. Upon their arrival, the alien bowed low and spoke in a deep voice, "Rohsh'a."

Odd, Viktor thought, recognizing the greeting and noting the small addition to the end of it. The small alien nodded politely to the other alien, who nodded back once before turning to Vok'Rul and waving slightly. She glanced at Viktor before walking out the door.

He jumped slightly when he watched her leave, startled. The two bodyguards were at the doorway. When the hell did they get here? Was there teleportation on this planet? No, Viktor thought, thinking of last night's nearly hysterical rush to get to the vet's office. If there was teleportation, surely they would've used it then.

It did not explain the sudden bodyguards, though. They just stood there, stoic and silent. Weird.

"Kohgrash," the call of his name said with slight pride brought his attention back to the other alien in the room. He must be the head of the school here or at least a teacher of some sort. Vok'Rul was gesturing to Viktor with a smile on his face, speaking to the other. The principal seemed a bit confused about why Viktor was here, but he probably didn't dare to speak up against Vok'Rul. His eyes were flickering a bit nervously to the bodyguards at the door, and Viktor stepped a bit closer to Vok'Rul, frowning. This alien dude better not try anything. Viktor wanted to have a peaceful day for once.

Thankfully, Vok'Rul was ushered over to the chair in the front of the room. He settled on it gracefully. The tall alien unclipped the leash from Viktor's harness and gestured to the floor beside him. "Kor," he said quietly, patting Viktor on the head as the human sat down next to him, crisscrossing his legs. Viktor batted his hand away with a huff.

The principal said a few words and promptly exited the room. Viktor looked around, curiously. He hadn't been in a school since the day they were all taken from Earth, and he had to say that he sort of missed it. If getting up at six in the morning and doing math problems, dealing with annoying people, and eating terrible lunches meant not being forced to fight against his will and being treated like a pet, Viktor would go back in a heartbeat.

He glanced up at Vok'Rul, who had pulled out one of those phones and was tapping away on it. Viktor would admit that he'd sort of miss this tall, kind alien but being back on Earth was definitely the better option.

Stomping and chattering from the hallway outside got his attention out of his thoughts. It was slowly getting louder, and amid the shushing noises and giggles, Viktor slowly realized that they were here to meet with classes from this school. The reassuring glance and murmurs from Vok'Rul made it clear that Viktor probably was not supposed to be here today.

A gaggle of small children was ushered into the room. Many of them were shorter than he was, with a few outliers being slightly taller. They spoke rapidly, cooing and gasping in surprise when they saw him. There were a couple of older aliens with them, pointing to the floor in front of Vok'Rul and urging them to sit and be quiet. It reminded Viktor of kindergarten.

Well, he thought, shuffling a bit closer to Vok'Rul, who merely moved his long tail around the sitting human. This would be interesting.

***

Vocabulary:

kor: stay

pora: come

rohsh'a: a formal greeting, usually accompanied by a bow