Waiting a month - well, less than a month, now - was torturous. First of all, he had no idea how long this planet's month was. Earth's was simple: a month was as long as the Moon's orbit. Viktor was no scientist, but he was pretty sure a moon that flew across the sky a couple of times a night probably wasn't a good thing to measure time with.

Viktor decided to count the days, instead.

It was surprisingly difficult to keep track of them. He often forgot to keep track of them, too busy trying to find something to entertain himself. Nikolas had been the designated timekeeper back in the arena for a reason.

The day after they had gone to the park, Nohkka was taken home by Rukka and Kac (who actually spoke to him, this time). Unfortunately, with Nohkka's departure, Viktor's entertainment also left. He may not have liked her rambunctious nature at first, which was sometimes still a bit overwhelming, but Nohkka wasn't afraid of looking like an idiot when playing with all the toys Viktor had scattered around. It certainly bolstered his own enthusiasm for using them.

He had actually managed to teach her how to play catch before she left. After tossing the color-changing ball back and forth a couple of times, they had managed to rope Vok'Rul into playing, as well.

(Viktor may or may not have just kept throwing the ball at his head, forcing the alien to catch it or get smacked right in the face until he relented.)

Now, though, he was sprawled out hopelessly on the floor, waiting impatiently for the month to crawl by. There were only a couple of days left, but it was easier said than done. At least, Vok'Rul wasn't acting all weird anymore, which meant that his days were simply filled with normalcy.

Vok'Rul, as usual, was sighing and growling over the papers. He looked particularly frustrated today, however. His mouth was twisted into half a snarl, teeth slightly visible. It didn't make Viktor feel on edge, though, like it would have maybe a month ago. He was just concerned about his friend.

"Hey," he called, looking at the upside-down alien. The Rubik's sphere lay uselessly on his chest. He had fucked around with it enough to make various X's scattered along it in different colors. "We should do something. To pass the time. It doesn't look like you're having any fun, either," he wheedled, eyes beseeching.

Of course, the alien did nothing other than glance up at him briefly. Ugh, he was a tough nut to crack, sometimes.

Vok'Rul's phone decided it was a good time to go off and Viktor groaned, slapping his hands over his ears.

"Can this be classified as abuse?" Viktor complained after Vok'Rul answered it. He pulled his fingers out of his ears, but he could still hear them ringing. Sheesh.

"What abuse?" Pedro's scratchy voice from the phone called. Viktor froze in excitement before leaping into action, nearly taking Vok'Rul down with the force he used to clamber onto the alien to see his friend.

"Pedro!" he cheered, grinning widely. It had been weeks since he had seen him last! "Oh fuck, you look like shit."

Pedro snorted. In between the waving lines of the holographic image (Viktor was convinced that Vok'Rul just had a shitty phone considering Rukka's was much clearer), Viktor could see that his hair was mussed as if he had fallen asleep wherever he possibly could. His clothes were rumpled, tiredly drooping off the man's body. His eyes were the complete opposite of the man's tired appearance. They were lit with excitement, unable to conceal Pedro's happiness.

"I could say the same to you, kid. The bags under your eyes are huge. Not sleeping well?"

Viktor waved him off with a dismissive grunt. He opened his mouth to ask him what was going on but was rudely interrupted when Vok'Rul clapped his hands over the human's jaws, muffling his words. Vok'Rul spoke eagerly to Blacksmith, both of who were ignoring Pedro's hysterical giggling and Viktor's irritated but muffled cursing.

Whatever Blacksmith said had Vok'Rul up and out of his seat, Viktor held in a vice against his chest, in the blink of an eye. Vok'Rul chattered rapidly at Blacksmith, and Viktor heard him shout a zhesh! before the call ended, his phone forgotten on his desk, and the alien was on the move again.

Viktor twisted out of the alien's grip easily, almost getting trampled by him as they both stumbled over each other.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul tsked at him, though he grinned through it. Viktor grinned back, feeling his stomach flipping nervously.

"We going to Blacksmith's, now?" he asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. There was no need to hide it, after all. He was finally going to be able to communicate with Vok'Rul!

That is, something rational in his mind said imperiously, if the damn device worked this time.

Viktor had a good feeling about it, though. It had certainly made some headway the last time. He could actually hear the translations in his ear, so surely, after an entire month of work, this device would be even better.

Vok'Rul ran out of the office then (well, it was more like him taking two giant steps), talking loudly to Viktor even as his voice got a bit fainter while he went into a different room. Viktor rolled his eyes, quickly shoving some of his leftover jerky into his pockets. He had a feeling they'd be there for a while.

Vok'Rul came back into the room a few moments later, looking frazzled. He looked around almost frantically. Viktor scrunched his face up in confusion. "Looking for your phone?" he asked, pointing toward the desk.

"Ah! Tokka, Kohgrash'mrr," the maroon alien said in a rush, quickly tapping something into the phone. His claws clicked loudly against the material. Soon enough, an image of Rukka flickered into place above the phone.

"Welcome," Viktor said, looking at the Rubik's sphere he had abandoned on the floor. He wondered if Pedro would enjoy something like that. He'd take it along, just in case. It couldn't quite fit in his pocket, but that was alright. The drive over to Blacksmith's was pretty long.

Vok'Rul was talking to Rukka imploringly, using a tone of voice that Viktor usually only heard in Nohkka when she was begging her parents for something. Rukka snapped something back in an exasperatedly fond sort of way. Vok'Rul grinned, wide and sharp, and quickly hung up.

"Pora, Kohgrash!" he chittered at Viktor, rushing out of the office again. Bemused, Viktor obediently followed, taking one step down the stairs before predictably getting lifted into Vok'Rul's arms.

Before they could leave the kitchen, Viktor had a sudden thought. He stopped them with a "wait!" and a frantic flailing of limbs. Vok'Rul struggled to keep hold of him.

"Kohgrash drsh," he said, pointing at the fridge. He had no idea what the word for please was, but he pulled out his puppy dog eyes and it had the same effect. Vok'Rul huffed good-naturedly and turned. Viktor distantly heard the muffled thump of his tail smacking into the wall, and he winced. It never seemed to cause the alien any great pain to whip his tail everywhere. Surely, it had nerves, didn't it?

Unfortunately, Vok'Rul dropped the spiky apple fruit into his hands instead of the starfruit. Oh well. It was still fruit that Pedro could enjoy. And if he were honest with himself, the starfruit might not have lasted the trip. It was just too damn good. Viktor had very little willpower when it came to food. If he saw it, he ate it.

"Tokka," he thanked the alien cheerfully, resisting the urge to start pulling apart the fruit with his teeth to get at its insides. Vok'Rul rumbled in response, swiftly moving to the exit. He dropped Viktor onto the ground as they waited around the entryway of the mansion.

Eventually, the rumbling of a car made itself known and Vok'Rul hastily stepped out of the mansion, greeting it with a "rohsh!" Viktor hurried after the alien, slightly surprised to see Rukka in the car.

"Rohsh, Rukka," he said as he struggled to climb into the car with his arms full. Vok'Rul helpfully grabbed the back of his sweater and hoisted him in. Viktor pretended that he almost hadn't lost his balance and almost smacked his face into the floor. He grinned up at the pair of aliens, who were looking at him with varying degrees of concern and amusement written on their faces.

Rukka, predictably, didn't respond, but she did brush her claws lightly over Viktor's head, so he supposed that would have to do. She and Vok'Rul immediately launched into conversation as the car started and pulled out of the mansion's grounds. Viktor sat back with a sigh, tossing the spiky fruit from hand to hand with care.

After one too many times of poking himself with it and one long trip later, the car eventually rolled to a stop. Excitement came back to him in a rush, and he barreled out of the car before Vok'Rul could even get the door halfway open.

"Corfa," Vok'Rul chided, stumbling out of the car a bit more gracefully than Viktor. He didn't have two things to carry, though, so Viktor was in the lead.

"Yeah, yeah, you great big bastard," Viktor said, waving his hand a bit awkwardly with his Rubik's sphere in it. "Hurry up!"

Pedro and Blacksmith greeted them with equal amounts of excitement (less so on Rukka's behalf). Viktor tossed the fruit to Pedro with a shout of "heads up!" and the man caught it easily. He dropped it on the floor in shock as the fruit's spikes punctured his skin.

"Ow! What the hell, kid?" Pedro exclaimed, crouching down to pick up the fruit - much more carefully this time. "What is this?"

After he finished giggling, Viktor quickly explained that this was one of the fruits he had spoken about earlier. Intrigued, it didn't take long for Pedro to split the fruit in half. Viktor gratefully took the other slice, biting into it happily.

"Yum," Pedro said dryly, voice void of any of the delight one would associate with actually enjoying something. Viktor scoffed.

"Well, not my fault you can't take pleasure in some sugar water-tasting fruit. The starfruits are much, much better."

"I'm not sure if I can take your word for it, anymore, kid."

Viktor snorted derisively. "Your taste buds have just burned off 'cause of all the jerky."

Pedro rolled his eyes and made to respond, but an increase in excited chattering from Vok'Rul and Blacksmith caught both their attention. The humans shared grins. Viktor thought his face would fall off with all the smiling he was doing. His cheeks hurt so much.

"You think this is it?" Viktor's voice was hushed, fervent. He tried to crane his neck to see the device, but Vok'Rul and Blacksmith were taking up all of the space around the workbench. Rukka hung back, arms crossed with a skeptical look on her face.

"I sure hope so," Pedro yawned. "Me and Blacksmith have been working on it nonstop for weeks."

"You?" Viktor asked with a laugh, squinting at Pedro quizzically. The man nodded, looking a bit smug.

"Yeah, me, kid. Granted, I didn't touch all of the electronic junk, but Blacksmith kept telling me to speak at it. We've made a lot of them. They kept smoking as soon as I spoke, just like the older ones, but eventually, they stopped, and actually started working," he explained.

Viktor hummed, looking back at the workbench after Pedro finished his explanation. "What're you gonna do when you get home?" he asked, hesitating only for a moment.

The question had been asked countless times in the arena, back when the humans still had hope for the future. Hushed conversations of hopes, dreams, and sometimes cold-hearted revenge had all cropped up in the dwindling hours of dusk and dawn. It had gotten harder to speak about as the days turned into weeks turned into months. Eventually, they stopped talking about their homes, about Earth.

It was easier, now. Now that they had the possibility of speaking with the aliens, Viktor felt as though he could start imagining what his life would be like in the future. He knew, deep down, that not everything would be back to normal when he went back to Earth. He tried not to think about how much he would miss Vok'Rul. It was easier to think about other things.

Like school. Viktor didn't dislike school, necessarily. He enjoyed seeing his friends, and now that he had been nearly isolated for a year, he would enjoy seeing people his age even more. But how would he be able to just go back and pretend like everything was normal? Had his entire town been kidnapped by the aliens or were there still some who had managed to get away?

The state of Earth had plagued his mind in moments when he had nothing other to think about. First of all, he had no clue how many humans had been taken from their planet when the aliens had come by, but surely, it had to be a pretty large number. Maybe not in the billions, but certainly in the millions. There had been a lot of people in that corral that they had been shoved into the moment they had arrived on this planet.

How had the Earth carried on from something like that? Viktor vaguely remembered his phone dying mysteriously in his hands right before the aliens had descended. The only reason they had all been outside was that the school's power had gone out. Had every electronic, all across the world, gone out? That probably wasn't easy to recover from.

He had a million questions that he could, hopefully, get answers to soon. The thought excited him.

"Well," Pedro said slowly. Viktor tilted his head in silent question when the man hesitated. "It's hard to believe that I'll be going home, kid," he finally admitted after a long moment of silence.

Viktor nodded, slowly, a bit lost in his own thoughts. "Yeah. Do you like it here?"

He would have never thought he'd ask that question of Pedro before, but as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, he knew what his answer would be.

Pedro was lighter, happier, in this noisy, slightly stuffy warehouse of a home. Maybe it wasn't a five-star hotel with luxurious beds and plush carpets, maybe the food wasn't a good old-fashioned American burger, and maybe it was extremely loud at all times, but Viktor had never seen Pedro more cheerful.

Though, compared to their living situation before, he supposed that anything would be better than that place.

"I do," the man said, voice certain and without a hint of hesitance. His eyes were lingering on Blacksmith, who was gesturing wildly to Vok'Rul as she explained the device on the workbench. "I... I'm not sure if I have a place back on Earth."

Viktor frowned uneasily. His eyes strayed to Vok'Rul before he could help himself.

"What about you, kid?" Pedro nearly whispered. His eyes were knowing, sympathetic, and Viktor felt vulnerable under his gaze. Flashes of the ringmaster went through his mind. How he was tortured almost every week for things he didn't know he had done. Fighting too quickly, fighting too slowly, not making the fight entertaining, not listening to some subtle cue he missed in the heat of battle. It had been agonizing, mentally, emotionally, and physically. He would never miss it. He was indescribably happy that he would never, ever, have to go through that shit again.

Still. Viktor's gaze was stuck on Vok'Rul.

He shrugged, feelings too complicated to voice. Thankfully, he was saved from answering the man when Vok'Rul whipped around. The alien nearly took out Rukka with his tail, which was uncharacteristically dragging along the floor. She muttered something, snappish and annoyed. Vok'Rul apologized quickly, sounding like he didn't really mean it.

"Kohgrash!" he said after, excitedly picking his way over to the pair of humans and crouching down to Viktor's level.

Saved by the bell, Viktor thought with relief, eagerly turning his attention to Vok'Rul. He heard Pedro give a sigh and a little, rueful chuckle. "That's me," Viktor responded dryly, reaching out to take Vok'Rul's hand when the alien offered it to him. The alien's claws dwarfed his much smaller hand. They curled around his fingers gently.

Vok'Rul whispered something to him, smiling slightly. He shook his arm slightly before standing up with a flourish. "Pora, Kohgrash'mrr'k," he said, tacking on a few other words before ushering Viktor over.

"Ready, Pedro?" Viktor's voice was tremulous with excitement. He felt as though he could barely get enough air in his lungs, too exuberant to even breathe.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Vik," came the reply.

As soon as Viktor stepped up to the workbench, he was lifted upwards and the familiar press of the translator was pressing into his ear. It was barely noticeable this time. Almost weightless, the device fit snugly in his ear. There was no hard press of metal against his skin. He couldn't hear the electronics within at all.

Vok'Rul's claws pressed against his cheek briefly, trailing down the scar for just a moment before he switched the device on. Faintly, Viktor could hear beeping, but only if he concentrated and knew what he was listening for.

Viktor watched as Vok'Rul slotted his own device into his ear. Other than the size, of which Vok'Rul's was much larger, the two devices were similar in build and color. Carefully, the alien switched his device on. There was no sign of discomfort written on his face.

Everyone in the warehouse was quiet for a second before Blacksmith started speaking. This prompted Vok'Rul to chatter back at her. The whirring in Viktor's ear grew slightly, but it was hardly noticeable.

"Ta it work-iing?" Blacksmith asked, a worried yet hopeful expression creasing her face. Viktor heard Rukka huff and glanced over. Her face was curious, but she was trying to cover it up with her uninterested posture.

"Nnnot certttain-" Vok'Rul replied, keeping his eyes on Viktor. "Ch-Ohgrash, cn ta hear?"

"Is it workin', kid?" Pedro asked. Vok'Rul's head whipped around. Viktor couldn't see the expression on his face from behind, but he had the feeling it was probably surprised.

"Shrrsk! I knoww wha-t you're sayi-ng!" Vok'Rul exclaimed. His tail was whipping back and forth in excitement, and Viktor laughed loudly. Vok'Rul really could wag his tail!

"Kohgrash!" the word was having difficulty translating. Viktor could hear his name, plus a few other words garbled and mixed up in his ears. Maybe it didn't have a direct translation. As Vok'Rul spoke, the words kept getting clearer and clearer. "I knew you were smart!"

Viktor was struck speechless, merely staring at Vok'Rul with the biggest grin on his face. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally blurted out, "You need to change that fucking ringtone!"

Vok'Rul smiled, wide and sharp, and said, "I do not know what a ring tone is."

Blacksmith invaded their space, and Viktor shrank back slightly, eyes wide. "Hello, Kohgrash!"

"Can you actually understand him?" came Rukka's skeptical voice. Viktor looked at her in awe.

"Yes, Rukka. I told you, he is very intelligent. Aren't you, Kohgrash? Aren't you so intelligent?" Vok'Rul cooed at him, large hands coming up to dwarf Viktor's face. His cheeks started to burn.

"I am not actually an animal, you know," he grouched, hands coming up to frame Vok'Rul's.

"Is he saying what a cutie you are?" Pedro teased, peering up at him from the floor. Vok'Rul made a delighted noise when he understood what the man said.

"I will punch you in the throat," Viktor snapped, embarrassed. Pedro giggled, like the dickhead he was.

"Kohgrash!" Vok'Rul scolded, pulling his hands away. "You will do no such thing!"

"What? What did he say?" Blacksmith asked, looking between Viktor and Vok'Rul.

Viktor's head started to hurt. He wasn't sure if it was because of the sudden new influx of words swapping places between the aliens' banter or if it was because of the translator. He rubbed his forehead soothingly, though it did little to stop the slowly growing pain.

"So, he really is talking? They are an intelligent species?" Rukka asked, stepping closer to peer at Viktor like he was a weird science experiment. "I thought that old age had come for you early, brother."

"Yes," Viktor grumbled, though his ire at Pedro's embarrassing comments had subsided in the face of communication with Vok'Rul. "I've been trying to tell you! Humans are intelligent!"

"Humans!" Vok'Rul said delightedly. "We have been calling your species 'mammals!' How nice to know what you are called."

Viktor spluttered, a bit confused. "Do you not have other mammals on this planet? What about those dog things?"

"Rul, my question?" the exasperated voice of Rukka interrupted their conversation. Vok'Rul looked sheepish, but then his expression turned smug, and Viktor bit back a groan.

"Yes," he preened, self-righteously. "And you thought I was crazy. My little Kohgrash and I are speaking and understanding one another! I was correct!"

Rukka made a small, frustrated noise in the back of her throat, shooting a glance at Blacksmith. Wisely, Blacksmith decided to take a few steps back from the workbench. "Do you understand, brother, what this means for us?" she hissed lowly, her gaze pinning Viktor to the cold, hard metal of the workbench.

"Of course, I do," Vok'Rul sniffed, bringing his hand up to caress Viktor's hair. "It means Thruul owes me a meal." Viktor couldn't help but grin at the alien at his response.

"No, you idiot," she sighed. "It means that we abducted millions of members of an intelligent species from their home planet and broke multiple intergalactic laws!"

"Intergalactic laws?" Viktor repeated, looking between them with confusion.

Vok'Rul, who looked like someone had just slapped him across the face, glanced at Viktor. He said, slowly and haltingly, "I suppose that you mammals were likely not aware of other life in different galaxies. It makes sense since the reports I was given told of very little technological advancement on your planet."

"Other life... in different galaxies," Viktor repeated again, swaying slightly.

"What?" Pedro shouted, voicing the shock that Viktor was unable to articulate. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, Kohgrash. Are you broken? You keep repeating everything we say."

"Oh, no. I am completely fine. Yeah, totally not reeling over the fact that you just said there are not only other intelligent species in the universe but enough that they banded together to make laws. Yeah, I'm fine," Viktor said, voice small but sarcastic.

"Excellent!" Vok'Rul said cheerfully, patting him on the head once more. He completely missed the sarcasm.

"You did not just say that out loud and mean it," Pedro said after getting over his own shock. Viktor, despite having lived on another alien planet for a year, was having some trouble wrapping his head around multiple alien species. It seemed inconceivable.

"I did," Viktor moaned, bringing his hand up to wipe down his face. "Oh my God, I literally did. Aliens. More aliens. I can't believe it."

"Who headed the mission to their planet?" Rukka was asking. Vok'Rul gave a little sigh. It seemed that the last thing he wanted to talk about was business.

"The report is in my office. I will send you a copy when we go home. Rukka, be happy! We have just proven their sentience! This will surely help with your campaign," Vok'Rul wheedled.

"That's when I thought they were animals!" Rukka sighed, glancing toward a shell-shocked Viktor once more. "I cannot believe you were correct."

"There are many things that make much more sense, now, aren't there?" Vok'Rul mused, waving Blacksmith back over with a crook of one of his fingers. "Trosk, is it normal for there to be pain? There are some uncomfortable sensations in my skull."

"Me, too," Viktor chimed in, trying to hold back a hysterical little giggle as the reality of finally speaking with Vok'Rul started to really sink in. "Your alien's name is Trosk, Pedro."

"I think Blacksmith is more appropriate," Pedro sniffed with the stubbornness of someone who would never change their views, no matter how many facts were placed in front of them. Viktor rolled his eyes.

"Pedro!" the man in question made a surprised noise to hear his name coming out of Vok'Rul's mouth, even though it was slightly butchered due to the alien's vocal cords not being able to make the correct sounds. "You have names? Of course! What is your name, little one?"

Blacksmith said, "Your Majesty, if I may..."

Vok'Rul held up a hand, eagerly awaiting Viktor's answer. "Um," he said, glancing at Blacksmith for a second. "Well, my name is Viktor."

"Victor? You are called winner? I suppose that makes sense!" Vok'Rul said with a smile.

"No," Viktor said in exasperation. He looked skyward for a second before dropping his gaze back to the alien's eager face. "Ah, whatever. Call me whatever you like."

"Your Majesty," Blacksmith interrupted, much more firmly this time. "If you are feeling pain, then I believe the best course of action would be to turn off the devices for a while until I can make better ones. After the pain recedes, you can turn them back on. It is not perfect, of course. Frankly, I am still surprised these even work."

Both Viktor and Vok'Rul were reluctant to turn them off. If they had their way, Viktor was sure that they'd be talking forever. Vok'Rul was nearly vibrating with all the questions he had, and Viktor was in the same boat. He wanted to know where they were in the universe. Which galaxy were they in? How big was their Solar System? How long would it take to get from here to Earth? He could only imagine the questions Vok'Rul had for him.

Vok'Rul sighed long-sufferingly. Now that Viktor was really looking, though, he could see that Vok'Rul face was slightly pinched with pain, just as it had been when he was lying still in the hospital. His own headache was starting to become too prominent to ignore, now.

"Fine," Vok'Rul said, tone unhappy. His mouth twisted slightly at the corners. He smiled slightly at Viktor, cupping the side of his face with a hand. Viktor leaned into the touch, returning his smile. "We will speak again, my little Kohgrash."

"Okay," Viktor reluctantly agreed. The device was switched off, and already, he could feel his headache diminishing. He hopped off the workbench and went over to Pedro. The man nearly squeezed all of his organs out with how tight the resulting hug was.

"I knew it," he whispered into Viktor's ear, hugging him even tighter. "I knew it would work."

Viktor hugged him back. He didn't think the smile would ever leave his face. They had done it. They had really spoken with each other. "We did!"

Pedro pulled back, grinning at him. His hands were on the teenager's shoulders, gripping him tightly. "Things are only going uphill from here, kid."

Viktor looked up at Vok'Rul, who couldn't stop glancing at him with wonder in his eyes and a smile on his face. "Yeah," he looked back at Pedro. They shared smiles. "I think so, too."

***

Vocabulary:

corfa: careful

drsh: fruit

'k: little, usually added onto the end of a name or object

'mrr: my/mine, usually added onto the end of someone's name (Kohgrash'mrr)

pora: come

rohsh: a friendly greeting, such as hello or hey

tokka: thank you, thanks

zhesh: goodbye