Vok'Rul explained to him, in a hushed whisper, that his mother's unexpected appearance had shaken him up more than he thought.

Apparently, she had placed a lot of pressure on him when he had first become Vokkra and it was only after he had won it again, that he forced her out of his life. With Rukka's help, of course. He had been purposefully vague, unwilling to delve into too much detail when unintended ears could be listening. Even now, though, Viktor could see the usual ragtag team of bodyguards lingering more obviously in the area than they had been before. He had the feeling Thruul had done something about that.

His mother's visit, and subsequent berating lecture about Viktor, had gotten under his skin. He worried that somehow, someway, Viktor would be taken from him due to negligence or abuse. Despite his sister being the one to create the planet's human rights laws, Vok'Rul still wondered if he wasn't doing enough for Viktor.

Outraged, Viktor pushed up his sleeves. His arms were littered with scars, thick and thin, made by the stiff leashes that the aliens had used so harshly they had drawn blood every time. The jagged scarring of Oorah's bite mark encircled nearly his entire forearm. Miniscule pinpricks ran up and down his arms in pairs, given to him by the few Ghhorrahs he had fought.

"You didn't do any of this," he told the alien. He shook his arms a little for emphasis. "You actually gave me a chance to enjoy your planet instead of fearing it. I'm here right now because of you. We're talking right now, because of you. Don't listen to your mom, she's stupid."

"I do not know what he said, but I think that I agree," Thruul chimed in after having shooed Cassidy and Emily away. They had determined that Viktor was in safe hands and had left without issue.

Vok'Rul gave a little sigh, running his fingers gently down Viktor's scar on the side of his face. "I do not deserve you, my little Kohgrash," he said with a frown.

"Yes you do," both he and Thruul said at the same time. It managed to get a small smile from Vok'Rul.

"It is unfair of me to lay the blame on you," Vok'Rul continued after a moment. "You have done nothing wrong, Kohgrash. I am sorry that I took my temper out on you, deeply so. I will never forgive myself. It will not happen again."

"It's okay," Viktor said with a frown. He patted the alien's claws. "Everyone's got emotions. You were just scared." Vok'Rul mimicked his frown but didn't disagree. Viktor had no idea if these aliens could get panic attacks, but it seemed likely. Vok'Rul had just freaked out, and unfortunately, Viktor had been in his arms.

But Viktor trusted Vok'Rul a lot. Probably with his life. If Vok'Rul said it would never happen again, then Viktor believed him. He had never lied to him before.

Vok'Rul was bad with emotions. He liked to keep a facade in place when in front of others, especially during his time acting as Vokkra. It was difficult for the alien to come to terms with vulnerability, and Viktor couldn't blame him. He definitely had the same issues. Shame was easily found when he thought about flinching away from Vok'Rul.

Thruul and Viktor watched unhappily as Vok'Rul quickly got to his feet, carefully pushing Viktor away so that he could stand, and settle into a perfectly crafted mask of contentment. But short of yelling at the alien until he was blue in the face, Viktor could do nothing but silently support him. He just hugged his leg as hard as he could instead.

Vok'Rul seemed intent on making it up to Viktor. He had already apologized a million times about accidentally hurting him - which Viktor didn't blame him for at all; the pain had already faded, after all, and he's had way worse - and probably would have kept apologizing if Viktor hadn't shut him up by physically covering his mouth. The alien decided that the only way to make up for it was to spoil him, much to Viktor's embarrassment. It wasn't saying much, though. The alien already spoiled him a ton. He just made it much more obvious this time.

They went as far away from the stalls that had witnessed their small argument as they could, wandering around some that sold clothing for humans. They passed many clothing stalls, and while Viktor would never say no to a new pair of pants, he already had more clothing than he knew what to do with on this planet. That didn't stop Vok'Rul.

"Look at this, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said. His shoulders were still held tightly and his tail was coiled close to his body. He had refused to carry Viktor, despite Thruul and his reassurances that it would be alright. The alien was frightened, though he'd never admit it, of harming Viktor again. So, Viktor walked beside him, holding onto his clothing. Thruul held his leash.

The alien held up a white long-sleeved shirt that was decorated with images of familiar orange flowers. Viktor squinted at it. "Those are the same flowers from that book you tried to teach me to read from."

Thruul huffed a laugh, "Aren't those your favorite flower, my lord? Of course, you would find a shirt like that for Kohgrash."

Vok'Rul muttered something defensively about not needing to explain himself to them, crouching down to press the shirt against Viktor's chest. He could already tell that it was a few sizes too large, but he preferred his shirts that size anyways. "What do you think, little one?"

"I like it," he said. And he did. The pale orange flowers were kinda pretty. The shirt wasn't plastered with them, which would've made it embarrassing to wear - Viktor definitely wasn't into girly things like flowers, after all. They simply rose up from the hem of the shirt, acting as accents at the very most. The best thing about the shirt was that it was loose and flowy. He hated form-fitting shirts.

"You like anything I pick out," Vok'Rul huffed. Viktor crossed his arms, defensively.

"I came to this planet with only the clothes on my back. I'm not gonna complain about getting more."

That was the wrong thing to say. Vok'Rul got a sad, complicated look on his face before he started directing the owner of the stall to bag more items. Viktor guessed that if he wore a new outfit every day, he'd still be finding new clothes to wear with the amount that Vok'Rul was purchasing.

"Vok'Rul," Viktor pleaded after the third bag was given to Thruul. The poor alien looked like he was going to fall over the amount of bags he was holding. They needed to get a cart. "We're gonna run this guy out of stock. I have a lot of clothes back home."

Vok'Rul frowned but conceded, waving away some of his purchases. Viktor watched Thruul wilt in relief. "Fine," he said, exchanging goodbyes with a flustered stall owner. "But I want to buy you some jewelry."

"Do they sell jewelry for us?" Viktor asked curiously with a small smile on his face. Of course, Vok'Rul wanted to buy more shiny things. Vok'Rul gave him a weird look.

"Of course, they do," he said as if it were the most common of knowledge. "Your bracelet is a piece of jewelry, is it not?" Viktor rolled his eyes at the alien's teasing tone, twisting the rope of metal around his wrist.

"You're right. Guess I've gotten too used to it. Kinda forget where it came from," he said, fingers tracing the text engraved into it.

They started looking for a jewelry stall. Viktor started to doubt that there would even be a jewelry stall after they had searched for fifteen minutes with no luck. In that time, they had seen ten other clothing stalls, three more shoe stalls (which looked pretty abysmal compared to Markosh's paw protectors considering they hadn't used human inspiration for it), and interestingly, one other hair salon.

Viktor had stalled outside that one, curious about what the man running the stall alongside his alien was working on. There was a woman on the stool, chatting and laughing with the man. The man had her hair - blonde and combed - in his hands, and he was slathering something into it. He gasped with surprise as whatever it was he worked into her hair started popping and crackling before smoking slightly. The man waved away the smoke, but neither he nor the woman seemed too concerned about it or the noise.

When the smoke cleared, Viktor was surprised to see that the woman's hair had changed color. It was now a pale silver.

"What the -" he muttered. As he stopped, Thruul nearly tripped over him, still holding his leash and slightly blinded by the amount of bags he was carrying. "Whoa!" Viktor quickly got out of the way of the stumbling alien.

"Oh -" the translator crackled viciously in his ear, causing Viktor to wince and slap his hand over his ear until it faded, "Sorry, Kohgrash, I didn't see you. What's the matter?"

Vok'Rul finally noticed that no one was directly behind him and turned with a confused expression, which immediately morphed into a frown of concern as he saw Thruul's expression. He walked over swiftly, peering at Viktor. "Are you alright, Kohgrash? What are you looking at -? Oh! Another grooming station." His tone turned from curious to slightly disgusted.

Viktor scoffed at him, returning his gaze to the salon. "What's with you guys and grooming? Getting your hair brushed is just basic hygiene."

Vok'Rul hummed apologetically, "Sorry, little one. I suppose that it is just another quirk of mammals."

"Humans," Viktor correctly, twisting around to grab the leash. A harsh, unexpected pull had it flying out of Thruul's loose grasp. The alien made a startled noise. "I wanna go see if I can get my hair dyed! I've never had it dyed before. The smoke looks so cool."

Vok'Rul reluctantly plucked the leash from Viktor's hand and unattached it from his harness, as if being in his personal space would suddenly harm him. He agreed to put off jewelry hunting for now, though the gleam in his eyes told Viktor that he definitely wouldn't forget about it, even if he had to suck up his pride and ask Rukka if she knew where a jewelry stall was located.

He wandered up to the stall hesitantly, offering the man a small smile. The man returned it with a large grin. After his and the woman's business had concluded, with which she was clearly happy about, he walked up to introduce himself. The man's name was Mikey, and he was an artist. He had gotten lucky, he claimed, getting an alien artist as an owner.

Apparently, he had started experimenting with his alien's supplies, who was currently slumped over the stall's table, nearly asleep. It didn't even notice that Vok'Rul and Thruul had come up behind Viktor. Aside from Mikey's services - which it might not even be aware of, if Viktor were honest - the booth seemed to sell small handbags decorated with a variety of hand-painted designs. Mikey told him that he soon found out that most of their supplies were similar to make-up, and Viktor recalled Knox having said the same thing.

He had never been much for hair styling, but without a razor, his own hair had quickly grown out over the year. Viktor had nodded empathetically. Mikey had decided that he might as well do something with his hair, and had thus started experimenting with hair dye.

"The first time my hair dye started smokin', I was worried that I'd blow up the house," he said with a grin. "I just blew myself up instead, though." Mikey rolled up his sleeve to show a splatter of scarring across his arm, like hot liquid had sprayed on him. Viktor whistled. He heard Vok'Rul mumbling something behind him.

"Wow," he said, impressed. "How'd you manage to figure it out?"

"The neighbor had human, too. She's a chemist," Mikey said cheerfully. "She helped me mix all the stuff without dying. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

Mikey had asked him what he was looking for, and Viktor confided that he had just wandered over because it had looked cool. He had received a grin for that. After confiding that he had never had his hair dyed before, Mikey reassured him that it was perfectly safe and encouraged him to try something out. He asked Viktor his favorite color.

That was how Viktor managed to find himself sitting on a stool once again, hair in someone else's hands, and making idle conversation with someone he barely knew. The red dye going into his hair sizzled and crackled, and he had to wonder if this wasn't bad for their hair.

"Eh, I haven't seen any damage in my own," Mikey had shrugged, gently pushing on Viktor's head to angle it. He sectioned off another lock of hair before the sizzling dye was applied again. Viktor could admit that the man's hair was pretty nice looking, even if he didn't know exactly what 'healthy' hair looked like. "Plus," he added, waving away the smoke with the easy air of someone who's done this enough they could do it in their sleep, "it's not like we have to deal with beauty standards, anymore, eh, kid? Not on Earth anymore!"

That was true. While yesterday had been exciting and fun, he had certainly noticed that most people had felt pressure to fit in with the others. Fear of being mocked and ridiculed went a long way when someone decided to have some fun or not. Viktor didn't really mind, but it did help that he had his friends surrounding him the entire time. He couldn't imagine doing that alone.

He couldn't imagine doing any of this alone.

Mikey announced that he had finished after nearly a half hour of making idle chatter. "Here we are, Viktor! Hair's all done, and might I say, it looks good! Here, I've got this shiny piece of metal that works pretty well for a mirror, eh?" He shoved the piece - a rounded, flattened metal dish - in Viktor's face, who quickly grabbed it before it smacked him in the face. He peered into it.

His freshly-cut hair was now streaked with a dark red, darkened by his already black hair. The mirror warped his appearance, but Viktor could appreciate that he looked much better and well-kept with a new haircut. The red gave him a pop of color. He grinned.

"Thank you!" he said, enthused with his new appearance. He felt like a new person.

Rukka, Kac, and Nohkka had rejoined Vok'Rul and Thruul while Viktor had gotten his hair dyed. Thankfully, whatever dye Mikey had made set almost immediately (which made the man look like a multicolored mess with all the accidental spills on him) so when Nohkka immediately descended on his hair with all the eagerness she possibly could, she didn't get any on her.

"Ouch, Nohkka," he complained, pushing her claws away from his fragile skull.

"So fluffy, now, Kohgrash!!!" she exclaimed happily, ignoring his attempts to dislodge her hands and continued petting him. "Now we match colors," she told him seriously, sharp teeth shown in a poor attempt at a smile. She started squishing his face between her hands. He reached up to pull her hands away, grumbling in protest.

She had new clothing on from when he had last seen her. He still couldn't read the language written on it, but it had one of those freaky bird animals he had seen in the zoo, but stylized to be a little cuter. Still, even with slightly larger eyes and smaller beaks, they were still fucking scary. The shirt itself was black, hanging off Nohkka like a toga. The bird was open-mouthed, speaking the words, small wings flared.

"You like my shirt, Kohgrash? We got a matching one for you!" Nohkka said excitedly, releasing his hair to turn and tug on Rukka's hand. "Mama, where's Kohgrash's shirt?"

"You got him a shirt?" Vok'Rul chuckled, some of the lingering tension from before leaving his shoulders. He still wasn't smiling as freely as he did yesterday, but it was a start.

"And what have you done?" Rukka asked defensively, setting down one of the bags she was carrying and pulling out a similar black shirt. "Your mammal's fur is shorter and red. And he has red on his skin. Is he alright?"

"He is fine, Rukka," Vok'Rul huffed, looking over to Viktor with a curious tilt of his head. "I like the red."

"Thanks," Viktor smiled at him.

Nohkka grabbed the shirt out of her mother's hands, dropping it over Viktor's head, chanting, "Put it on!"

Viktor fought to get the fabric off his head before pulling it straight to look at it. The bird on his was smaller, cuter, and faced in the opposite direction as Nohkka's. It also had some words written on it. Curious, Viktor flipped it around to show Vok'Rul, asking, "What's it say?"

Vok'Rul's grin grew shit-eating. "Nohkka's Glouglossus says," he gestured to the bird on her shirt. Viktor stared. The translator whirred loudly in his ear as the alien continued speaking. "'A Glossus always needs its tweetheart.' Yours simply says 'I'm tweetheart!'"

Viktor let out a bewildered laugh. He never would have expected cheesy, matching t-shirts to transcend galaxies, but here they were. "Okay, that's cute," he muttered through a breathy giggle. He pulled the shirt over his current one. The harness sat underneath it.

"Uncle Rul, why d'you talk to Kohgrash like he knows what you say?" Nohkka asked curiously. "Mama says it makes you look crazy and you want to," she paused briefly, "'throw everyone off.' Why d'you wanna throw everyone?"

Vok'Rul shot a look at Rukka, who remained stone-faced. Viktor could hear Kac's rumbling laughter as she tried to stifle it. Thruul didn't even try to dampen his. "Kohgrash is very intelligent, Nohkka. He can understand us."

Nohkka gave him a weird look. "Duh," she said primly, throwing her arms around Viktor in a hug. He made a sharp, loud noise of protest as they swung around his neck. He fought to keep his arms at his sides. "He's very smart. But he can't know, silly. Right, Kohgrash?"

"No," he said in their tongue, voice slightly strangled. "Can you let me go?"

"Let him go, Nohkka," Kac said, pulling her daughter away. "Remember what we talked about?"

Nohkka nodded seriously, taking a few steps back from Viktor. He rubbed at his neck harshly, trying to rub away the fake feeling of cold metal. "Kohgrash sometimes gets scared for unseen reasons," she parroted. "But he won't hurt me, Ma!"

"He could, by accident," she responded. Viktor frowned. "So you need to be careful, okay?"

"I'd never hurt Nohkka," Viktor defended himself. He'd throw himself off the nearest bridge before hurting her.

"It's okay, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul reassured him, crouching down to straighten his new shirt. The alien's claws brushed against his hair in a fond gesture. "Accidents happen," he said in a whisper, and Viktor knew that they weren't talking about his mind sickness anymore. Viktor patted his hands comfortingly.

"Rul," Rukka said, after they had wandered the stalls for a little longer. Her voice was serious, and Viktor saw Vok'Rul's shoulders tense up again. "I visited Mother's stall earlier. Briefly." Rukka grimaced, though it was a slight thing. "She is asking why you have not visited her, yet. She is most displeased."

Vok'Rul let out a small sigh. "I suppose I better see her, then. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting," he said sarcastically.

The seven of them reluctantly made their way out of the human section of the stalls, slowly making their way back into the much more crowded alien section. Vok'Rul picked Viktor up, much to the teenager's relief. He had been somewhat worried that the alien would've been too out of sorts and insisted that Thruul, or even Rukka, carry him instead. At least, Vok'Rul knew that he wouldn't have been too happy with that outcome.

They were growing on him, sure, but it still didn't mean that he'd trust them not to drop him flat on his face if there was ever an incident. At least he knew that Vok'Rul wouldn't do that, even if he was taller than all the others, and looking down gave him an odd sense of vertigo.

His mother's stall was crowded, but as soon as the customers saw Vok'Rul, they slowly left, picking up on the tension coming off the alien. Korrashkka's stall was extravagant. While some aliens did bring their own stalls and booths, most had taken what was offered to them by the festival organizers. The plain, pale brown wood of the free booths was commonly seen throughout the festivals. But Korrashkka's booth was a pearly white, much larger than the other stalls. It mimicked the capitol building where Viktor had been a few times; two - stagnant - sculptures curled upwards, forming an oddly shaped heart. The roof wasn't made of fabric as most others were but instead made of the shimmering, kaleidoscope glass he had seen at the zoo. It was domed at the top, further reminding Viktor of the capitol building.

She must have had help setting it up - Viktor couldn't imagine her doing it all on her own.

"What does she sell?" Viktor asked in a whisper, wrapping his arms around Vok'Rul's neck to offer the alien some comfort. He was stiff as a board underneath him, tension oozing from him.

"Exotic clothing made from materials that are not easily accessible," Vok'Rul replied in clipped tones. Viktor nodded slowly. He wasn't even sure what the clothes were regularly made of here. Did they have an alien type of polyester? What were materials not easily accessible? He had the feeling that Vok'Rul wouldn't be willing to answer his questions, though, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Ah, Rulshkka," Korrashkka said pleasantly. She inclined her head in the shadow of a bow, eyes lingering on Viktor for a moment. "I see you still have your pet with you. Why do you not let your servant carry it?"

Vok'Rul said nothing, simply staring at her coldly. His hold on Viktor constricted fractionally. Korrashkka hmphed.

"I took the opportunity to research your mammal in the time between setting up my establishment and waiting for the masses to come in," Korrashkka continued. She looked at Viktor shrewdly, eyes gaining the same gleam that he had often seen in the ringmaster. His fingers twisted into Vok'Rul's clothing nervously. "Rukka was kind enough to share her own research on it, though it was mostly drivel."

Viktor chanced a glance at Rukka, who he had never seen quite so expressionless before. It was as if her face were etched from stone. She stood stiffly by Kac and Nohkka, not quite looking at Korrashkka or Vok'Rul, but clearly listening.

"I found it interesting," Korrashkka was saying, "how strong this thing was. By all accounts, it shouldn't even be able to throw a -" Viktor winced as the translator got louder. "- grape. Look how scrawny it is! But here it is. Killing Flyhks and Ghhorrahs. Its name makes sense, I might say. All to protect you, my dear son." She tilted her head slightly to the right. "I wonder how far it will go."

Her claws suddenly shot out, headed straight for Vok'Rul's face. Viktor intercepted it with a snarling yell, grasping her wrist and pushing it away before it could reach him. He glared at her. Korrashkka smiled back, all teeth, pleased. "Will it give up its life for its master?"

"Release her, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul finally spoke up, reaching up to pull Viktor's hand away from his mother. "What is it you really want, Mother?"

"Can't a mother ask to see her son? You have not visited me this entire day," her eyes slid back to Viktor, looking him up and down, "though, I suppose that I can guess what you were doing in the meantime."

Vok'Rul gave her a deadpan stare, which made her huff. "Fine," she conceded. "Despite my aversion to those primitive things, mammals are quite the commodity. Almost all of them have been taken, already. I could not find anything about their breeding and gestation time, either. Getting a young one would be impossible."

Viktor thought about a little kid being under Korrashkka's care and almost threw up.

"Mother," Vok'Rul sighed. "If you are implying what I think you are, the answer is no. You cannot parade Kohgrash around your home or whatever event you are going to for the sake of your ill reputation."

"What the fuck," Viktor said, glaring at Korrashkka. "Did she actually think that would work? Insulting me, attacking you, and then asking to borrow me for - for a party?"

"Of course not," Korrashkka sniffed, looking put out. Something unpleasant gleamed in her eyes, and Viktor didn't like it one bit. "Wouldn't want to go against our dear Vokkra, now would we?"

"Correct," Vok'Rul said lowly, threateningly. "It would not go well."

Rukka stepped in, then, with Nohkka in her arms. The child exclaimed in awe and wonder over the stall and clothing. Korrashkka took the distraction for what it was, leaving Vok'Rul and Viktor to themselves. The pair retreated to Kac and Thruul.

"Forgive me, my lord," Thruul began in a hushed whisper, though he did not sound all that sincere. "But your mother is worse than a raging Knarknaff." Vok'Rul let out a breathy, slightly hysterical laugh.

"Do not let her hear that, my friend," Vok'Rul advised with a little smile on his face. "She would have your hide."

"She can try," Viktor hmphed, leaning over Vok'Rul's arms to swipe at Thruul. The alien leaned closer to the pair obligingly, and Viktor patted his shoulder.

They called it a day after that. It was the earliest they have left the festival, and by the time they had returned back to the mansion, the sun was still a few hours above the horizon. Rukka, Kac, and Nohkka decided to linger instead of going to their own home right away, much to Viktor and Nohkka's delight.

Well, it was mostly Nohkka's delight. Viktor soon found out that he was going to be an unwilling victim of her desires.

Dress-up.

When Thruul had set down the bags in the living room of Vok'Rul and Viktor's wing, Nohkka had eagerly started snooping. She found Vok'Rul's jewelry, which he quickly took from her, only letting her inspect the more durable things like rings and bracelets, and immediately demanded that Viktor start trying them on. The jewelry was made for adult Vokkrus, who were three times his size. The rings and bracelets dangled off him comically.

"You're now shiny," she declared. "Wanna do necklaces?"

"No, Nohkka, nothing around his neck," Kac told her. Nohkka pouted.

"You would look sooooo pretty, Kohgrash," she whined, but another admonishment from her mother had her refraining. "Oohhkaaay," she sighed dejectedly.

Next, she started pulling out all the shirts Vok'Rul had gotten him. After he had taken off and put on the third shirt in a row in a matter of two minutes, Viktor started to worry that this would last for a long time. It didn't help that Vok'Rul and the others were cheering her on.

"He looks adorable in that pink one," Thruul said after Nohkka had demanded he wear a frilly pink shirt. He hadn't even seen Vok'Rul buy this one. He had refused to wear it at first, but Nohkka's sad expression had crumpled his resolve. So now he was wearing the damned shirt with as much dignity as he possibly could.

"I bought it as a joke," Vok'Rul confided in a loud whisper. Viktor took off the shirt and balled it up before chucking it right at the alien's face. "Ah! Kohgrash!"

Nohkka, despite her initial protests of his shirt removal, was delighted at seeing her uncle get smacked in the face. "Again, Kohgrash!" she said, handing him another shirt. Viktor took it with a grin.

"Kohgrash, don't you throw another -" Vok'Rul started before getting another faceful of shirt.

"He has good aim," Rukka commented, looking at her phone and tapping away on it.

"Unfortunately for me," Vok'Rul grumbled, pulling the shirt away from his face. He balled both of them up before tossing them back to Viktor. He had to jump up a little to catch them.

"You have a very hittable face," Viktor said snidely, a large grin on his face. "It's huge!" Vok'Rul gasped. He started getting up from the couch. Nohkka squealed and started running away. Vok'Rul charged at them. Viktor scrambled to get his feet underneath him.

"What did he say?" Thruul asked. Viktor could barely hear Vok'Rul's growled response as he ducked through the alien's legs in an attempt to get away. His heart thrummed heavily in his chest at the scary thrill of being chased. Thankfully, when Vok'Rul missed, he went for Nohkka instead of turning on his tail to catch him. Viktor scurried over to the couch where Rukka and Thruul sat. He squirmed his way between their legs, collapsing against the couch.

Thruul rumbled his amusement, reaching down to gently pet Viktor's hair. "Don't worry, Kohgrash, I'll protect you."

"Thank you," Viktor muttered dryly in their language, settling in to watch Vok'Rul chase around Nohkka. When he eventually caught her, he swung her up in the air, making her shriek. Viktor couldn't help the small smile creeping onto his face.

Even if Vok'Rul's mom was shaping out to be a terrible person, at least the alien had a good family here. He didn't need her. Viktor held onto the foolish hope that he wouldn't see her again. It was nice to believe in silly things, sometimes.