Viktor had been too stiff and wired to drift off in the car as he usually did, but their trip wasn't a long one. He hoped they weren't going to the vet or anything. Nothing was wrong with him. He was just maybe a little mentally unstable. But so was everyone else! He wasn't special.

As soon as the doors opened, Nohkka jumped out. Vok'Rul shouted after her, carefully extracting himself from Viktor and stepping out. Viktor watched, holding back a laugh, as the alien almost tripped on the way out. Thankfully for him, no one was around to see it.

Vok'Rul whirled around to face Viktor, obviously a little embarrassed. He told the teenager something sternly, and Viktor just smiled at him, full of mirth. He hopped out of the car while Vok'Rul wrangled Nohkka into place at his side. The alien clipped the leash to the back of his harness. Viktor held back a sigh.

They started walking toward a large building. It was short and blocky - nothing like the grand building Viktor had been taken to a few days before. It was colorful, though. Oranges and reds splashed across the front, accented by white lines. There was a large logo of an animal he hadn't seen before, as well as some written language scribbled underneath it.

Viktor waved to the bodyguard that was trailing behind them, trying to look too casual to be anything but.

"So, what is this place?" he asked no one in particular, sticking close to Vok'Rul as Nohkka ran ahead. She was already at the door and waiting impatiently by the time both alien and human got there.

No response, but he supposed that Vok'Rul was trying to keep tabs on Nohkka, though he looked pretty at ease. He'd probably done this before. Viktor got tired just looking at her. How did she have so much energy?

As soon as they walked in, Viktor realized what sort of building this was. He was immediately put on edge, stepping even closer to Vok'Rul as his stomach did flips.

It was a pet store.

No, Viktor thought, trying to shake the tension off his shoulders, it seemed like just a supplies store. For pets. But there were no animals he could see. The stench of straw did not meet his nose, and he couldn't hear any of the familiar roars, growls, and grunts of any animal.

Vok'Rul seemed to know exactly where they going, leading the pair to the back of the store. Viktor drank in the sights as well as he could.

The store reminded him of any run-of-the-mill supermarket back on Earth. There were aisles, at least. That was where the similarities ended, though. Instead of hanging signs, large holographic symbols were hovering in midair over the shelving. The aisles themselves towered over Viktor, though they looked just shy of Vok'Rul's height. The alien really was just freakishly tall.

The store seemed to section off designated areas, just like any other store on Earth. However, instead of straight aisles lining the store, as soon as someone stepped into a section, they would find it opening up into what seemed like a maze. They didn't go into any other sections, sticking to the main pathway of the store, but whenever Viktor peered in curiously, the aisles seemed to twist and writhe. He felt like he'd get lost rather quickly in this place.

Aside from the merchandise, which was baffling and exotic, the place was packed. Aliens of all sizes were milling about. Some of them had floating carts that Viktor had seen in the marketplace; flat trays that trailed after whoever was using them. There were plenty of children, too, running up and down the hallways, pointing at things and talking.

Nohkka looked like she was seconds away from joining them, but she refrained, sticking by Vok'Rul instead. They entered a section, finally, and Viktor was pleased to note that he had been right about the maze theory. The aisles were wide - probably about ten feet across - and packed to the brim with... stuff.

Bottles, bags, and boxes of all shapes, sizes, and colors lined the aisles, and Viktor was only a little overwhelmed. This section seemed to be particularly popular, considering the massive amount of aliens milling through them. Vok'Rul told Nohkka something, likely to stick close, and they started leisurely wandering the aisles.

Occasionally, someone would recognize the taller alien, but most just offered a bow, intent on doing their shopping instead. Viktor was a little relieved; he didn't want to be swarmed again.

Nohkka stopped them a lot, pointing at things. Vok'Rul would obligingly grab them off the shelf and give them to her, who would then hand it to Viktor. Bemused, he would hold onto the item, not really sure what to do with it.

She grabbed a brush, which was oval-shaped and bright pink with soft bristles at the end, and attempted to attack Viktor's hair with it. He yelped in surprise, quickly hiding behind Vok'Rul's tail.

"I'm a lot of things," he told Nohkka, quickly, dancing around the alien as she circled around to him, "but I am not patient enough to suffer through you tearing my hair out of my skull with that thing."

Vok'Rul picked her up, grabbed the brush from her hands, and patiently explained to her why she shouldn't chase Viktor around with it. Hopefully. Once Nohkka had nodded her assent, she was dropped back onto her feet. Viktor let her pet him apologetically and watched as she went back to pointing things out. Vok'Rul had to spin in place, mindful of his tail, to untangle the leash from his legs. Whoops.

Someone stepped up behind Viktor and Vok'Rul. Having heard their footsteps, Viktor whirled around suspiciously, defensive. It was just a bodyguard, though, with a cart behind them. Shul, he recognized. He looked bored.

"Rohsh!" Viktor said up to him, waving. Shul blinked back, looking confused. Vok'Rul looked down from his own browsing, wondering who he was speaking to. He made a surprised little noise when he noticed Shul and the cart.

"Tokka, Shul," he thanked the other, asking him a few other questions. Shul merely responded with a yes or a no.

"You need more talkative bodyguards, dude," Viktor told the alien as he gave up trying to make conversation with the bodyguard. Shul stayed a respectful distance away when he was dismissed.

Nohkka skipped over, said hi to Shul, and poured all of the stuff she had in her arms into it. Vok'Rul clicked his teeth, peering at all the supplies she had dropped in. Viktor looked, too.

It was... things, alright. A myriad of junk was piled in, from hairbrushes to bottles (lotion, shampoo? Viktor had no idea) to collars to shiny toys. Viktor squinted at the stuff for a moment before looking around.

"Are we in the human section?" he questioned, turning his attention back to Vok'Rul who was (mercifully) picking out the collars and handing them back to Nohkka. Vok'Rul blinked at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair a little before speaking to Nohkka again.

"Weird," Viktor muttered to himself, looking at the shelves in a new light. There was a lot of stuff here that would be useful to him, and there was stuff that he had no idea about.

There was a slight tug on his back and he followed Vok'Rul a little reluctantly, wanting to study the things on the shelf. There were a lot more aisles to see than what he was looking at, though, so he went. Vok'Rul called for Nohkka, who was up ahead a little bit. The kid gestured for them to come over, holding up something in her hand and waving it in the air frantically. Viktor heard Vok'Rul rumble slightly, walking toward her. Viktor followed.

And almost got run over in the process.

Something bumped into his side from around the corner. He made a surprised little sound, almost falling over due to the leash growing taut. He caught his balance quickly, helped by the fact that a pair of small hands grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

Wait, small hands?

"Sorry about that!" said a cheerful voice. Viktor whipped around to stare at the human.

A woman, an apologetic smile plastered on her face, was standing in front of him. Another human! "Didn't see you there, kiddo. Well, I'll be... You were on the TV!" She grabbed his hand, shaking it. Her grip was nearly painful.

She had the slightest of southern accents to her. Her face was kind and happy, delighted to see him. Her blonde hair was shoulder length and somewhat tidy looking.

Viktor opened and closed his mouth for a moment before his senses finally came back to him. He broke out into a huge smile. "Hi!" he said enthusiastically, shaking her hand hard. "I haven't seen hardly anyone here! I'm Viktor!"

What she said finally caught up to him. She had seen him on the TV. His plan had worked! Yes!

"Tammy," she returned easily, matching his grin. Her eyes flickered over him, lingering for just a moment too long on his scarred neck. "I think you're the youngest one I've seen," she sobered up a little, eyes growing a bit sad. "Most of the young ones and elderly folk died when we got here."

Viktor's grin slowly dropped off his face. They let go of each other's hands. He hadn't known that. "I'm sorry," he said, chewing on his lip. "Did you lose anyone?" But Tammy was shaking her head.

"I certainly hope not. We got separated in all that hubbub. There's no sense worrying about it when you can't do anything," she shook her head ruefully. She looked tired, just as he did. "Eventually, this whole mess will be over."

Viktor was nodding, earnest. "Soon, I hope."

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said curiously, turning toward him. He asked something of him, but Viktor could only stare at him blankly. He shared a helpless glance with Tammy, who just shrugged.

"Mine's over there," she pointed, and it was only just then that Viktor realized she didn't have any leash attached to her. Viktor suddenly felt self-conscious wearing the harness around his chest. She did have a small line of rope around her neck, though. Viktor's hand traveled to his bracelet.

Her alien seemed to just notice Tammy's absence because it was looking around. When it spotted her, she walked over, expression a little confused and a lot fond.

"I call her Sunny," Tammy said, waving to her cheerfully. "I didn't like her too much at first. I mean, would anyone, really? We get nabbed from Earth and suddenly, you're some alien's pet! It certainly wasn't how I planned on spending my Tuesday. But she grew on me." Here she shrugged a little self-consciously. Viktor could relate. "She was nice."

Sunny was, remarkably, a little orange. Her clothes were a light pink, complimenting her skin tone. She had something strapped to her back, and it was only when it moved that Viktor realized it was a baby alien.

"Aw," he cooed, unbidden. Tammy laughed, nodding.

"I call him Button," she explained, looking up at Sunny as she came to a stop in front of them. "He's a little ball of sunshine, that one. Cute as a button!"

Sunny bowed lowly in front of Vok'Rul. Viktor quickly explained, "He's some sort of leader, here. Beats me what type, though. Everyone bows in front of him. His name's Vok'Rul."

"Well, Viktor," Tammy said as Sunny started walking away and calling for her. "Looks like I gotta get moving. Was nice meetin' you! Stay safe, you hear? And don't give up hope! We'll get out of here, one way or another."

Viktor returned her sentiments, waving goodbye. He and Vok'Rul stood still for a moment before the alien crouched down and brushed his claws against the side of his face gently. He cooed something at Viktor, before ruffling his hair again. Viktor smacked his hands away.

"I don't know what you're saying, but it better not be something insulting, you big bastard," he huffed, though he couldn't find it in him to really mean it. Meeting Tammy, even if it had been for a short time, had lifted his spirits considerably.

He hummed happily next to Vok'Rul, who was leading him in Nohkka's direction. She was in the clothes section, which seemed to be remarkably similar to the clothes the aliens themselves wore. He wondered what the difference was. He was pretty sure the clothes he was wearing were for the aliens' children, but now he wasn't so certain.

The clothes had funny-looking designs and text on them. They were probably embarrassing as all hell. Nohkka had a bright yellow sweater in her hands, proudly showing it to Vok'Rul before pressing it against Viktor's chest.

"My eyes," he complained. "Aw, you bastard. Yellow doesn't look good on me!" he told Vok'Rul as the alien gestured for the kid to throw it in the cart.

He didn't think he even needed all this other clothing, considering the small shopping spree Vok'Rul had gone on when Viktor had first come into the mansion. Hell, Viktor had only worn one outfit his entire time here. Blue sweater and some pants. He kinda missed socks and shoes, though. His socks were getting pretty holey. There was a giant hole in the heel of one of them, and the other had the entire front torn open. He supposed that's what happened when you wore one pair for ten months.

Nohkka was flitting back and forth between Viktor and the clothing. By the time she got bored and moved on to better and brighter things, Viktor had acquired about four new pairs of shirts, all varying in gaudiness. He hoped they fit.

They started to walk into the next aisle before Viktor stopped dead in his tracks. The leash on his back pulled for a second before Vok'Rul stopped, too.

"Back the hell up," he said breathlessly, eyes fixated on the items before him. He grabbed one incredulously. "These are socks!"

They were terrible looking, as if whoever made these didn't really understand how socks worked. They were just long tubes of fabric sewn together. There were no obvious indications of a heel or anything.

But Viktor loved them.

"Socks!" he told Vok'Rul, holding up the pair to him incredulously. Vok'Rul took them, squinting at them. He looked down at Viktor's feet. His face started looking guilty. "Hey, don't do that. You don't even wear socks," Viktor scoffed.

Vok'Rul tossed the socks onto the cart. Viktor grinned up at him.

The rest of the shopping trip went pretty smoothly. He saw Tammy again around a corner, and they waved to each other again. She gave him a thumbs-up, which he cheerfully returned. Nohkka kept returning with her arms full of stuff, which Vok'Rul ended up sending at least half back. There was some stuff on the cart that would probably never be used (she had brought back this iridescent harness that he knew neither he nor Vok'Rul was too much a fan of. Vok'Rul seemed to have a little trouble saying no to her, though), but there were some useful things.

There was a dish that had a little spout off the end of it, like some flattened measuring cup, that he would definitely use for water. One really soft blanket that Viktor would definitely be using as a pillow had been deposited onto the cart. The cart in question was reaching perilous height levels. Each time they turned a corner, Viktor was sure he'd hear clattering behind him. But somehow, everything stayed in place, disobeying the laws of physics. He decided that it was just some alien thing and promptly stopped thinking about it.

Eventually, Nohkka started flagging. Viktor was yawning every other step, too. Vok'Rul ended up carrying Nohkka by the time their shopping trip seemed to wrap up. They wandered the aisles for just a little longer, but nothing seemed to catch the taller alien's eye.

Viktor was a little glad he couldn't read their language. He wasn't sure how much everything cost here - or even how this economy worked if he were honest - but he was pretty certain it had cost a fair amount, considering how the alien worker had hesitated and glanced up to Vok'Rul for a second.

Their spoils were taken to another car instead of the one they had ridden in, which was a little bizarre. Nohkka was sleeping soundly on Vok'Rul's shoulder, mouth slightly open. She was pretty cute when she wasn't running around and trying to brush Viktor's hair or put clothes on him.

Viktor hopped into the car (with a little help from Vok'Rul pulling on the leash) after the alien had gotten in. It was starting to get a little darker outside; they had been in the store for longer than he thought. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, slumping against the wall of the car as it came to life. The driver in front was quiet, only piping up to answer Vok'Rul's hushed questions.

"What a day," Viktor sighed to himself quietly, peeking up through his bangs to glance at Nohkka. Still asleep.

He was getting better, he thought. He hadn't let the day's earlier panic overwhelm him. It was getting easier to calm himself down. It helped that he had Vok'Rul, too, he guessed.

The alien was looking at the window peacefully. Viktor nudged his leg, and his yellow eyes landed on him instead. He smiled at the alien. The alien smiled back, shifting Nohkka slightly to reach out and pet him briefly.

He thought of Tammy, how she had said her alien had grown on her. He thought he'd be able to say the same.

***

Vocabulary:

rohsh: a friendly greeting, such as hello or hey

tokka: thank you, thanks