He forgot how comforting it was to sleep with someone nearby.

Beeps and hissing from machinery were nothing compared to the soft snuffling and shifting of a living, breathing body. His dad had been nervous and apprehensive, wary about Vok'Rul despite his reluctant acceptance of the alien. Viktor had been determined to sleep in his own bed, though, despite the man's claims that it was demeaning and 'not fit' for him.

"I just spent a month in a coma. If I'm gonna sleep anywhere, it's gonna be in my own bed," he defended, awkwardly kneeling on the floor to pull his blankets in place. His dad stood behind him, looking at his bed with disgust.

"It's a glorified dog bed," he protested. Vok'Rul remained silent, anxiously hovering in the doorway. Viktor knew he wouldn't admit it, but he thought that the alien was desperate for a positive opinion from his dad.

"It's my glorified dog bed," Viktor huffed. He looked desperately to Vok'Rul, but the alien looked as helpless as he felt.

"Does it have to be on the floor?" Oskar complained. "In this corner?"

"Yes," he said stubbornly. After they held each other's gazes for a long, long minute, Oskar wilted in defeat. "It's comfy," Viktor defended, though he was trying to suppress a smile from forming on his lips. It would ruin the triumph he felt.

"I'll take your word for it," his dad sighed. He turned to inspect the rest of the room. There was hardly anything on the walls, except for the portrait of Viktor, which was enveloped in an elaborate, silver frame. It hung proudly over Vok'Rul's dresser, right across the bed. It would be the first thing the alien saw when he woke. It warmed Viktor.

After his dad admitted defeat, Vok'Rul showed him out of the wing. The elevator up to the stairs had finished, but Viktor hadn't wanted to go through the trouble of testing it right then. He'd do it in the morning.

If he ever made it to morning.

His bed was comfortable, don't get him wrong, but the ache in his chest and the throbbing of his arms, legs, and neck made it hard to relax. Not to mention, every breath felt like he was breathing through millions of shards of broken glass. He knew he sounded awful, especially after yet another coughing fit. He felt a little guilty for keeping Vok'Rul awake.

Sure, the alien needed less sleep than he did - and Viktor certainly needed more sleep than he used to - but they were both tossing and turning in their respective beds.

"Sorry," he rasped, too loud in the quiet room. He suddenly missed the chirring of crickets outside his apartment window. At least there'd be some sort of noise. "It's hard to breathe." The admittance was difficult; he didn't want to admit there was something wrong with him. It made him feel weak.

Shuffling, then a sharp growl of disagreement.

"If I could've ripped out his throat in that hallway, I would have, my little Kohgrash," he said in a low whisper. Viktor stared at the ceiling, feeling his stomach do flips. "I should have taken more than his disgusting hand. I should've torn his entire arm straight from its socket."

Viktor focused on breathing for a second. Then, "What did you do to Turrkn?"

Silence. Vok'Rul sat up on his bed, yellow eyes reflecting the weak moonlight. "I saw," he paused for a second, "I saw your weapon in his eye. I took it out. Along with the eye. And then I removed the other."

Viktor didn't say anything to that. He listened as Vok'Rul slid out of his bed, tail thumping onto the ground a second later. The alien paced the room; the familiar thump-thump-slide of his footsteps and tail against the carpet filled the quiet room.

"I-," he choked, the air whistling out of his throat. He coughed before starting again. "I- I, uh, killed some...one."

It was hard to say it out loud. Thinking about it was hard enough. He hadn't had enough time to process it, yet. But every time he shut his eyes at night, he'd see Zorrash's terrified face melting in front of him.

"Good," Vok'Rul simply said. He was near the dresser, and Viktor could faintly see his outline.

"Not good," he responded dully. "Humans don't... usually kill other people. In good conscience, I guess."

"You have killed plenty of things," Vok'Rul sounded confused. Viktor sat up himself, weak arms struggling to keep him upright. He shuffled against the dresser, leaning against it heavily.

"Yeah, animals," he explained. That didn't make it any easier. The guilt he had felt at the beginning of his time at the arena had been unbearable until it faded, replaced instead with the sheer desperation to survive. "Not people."

Vok'Rul didn't have anything to say to that. Viktor heard him move again, and then there was a gentle hand on the top of his hand.

"His face melted right off," he confessed in a whisper.

"I saw it," the alien responded grimly, petting him soothingly. "I did not know you could do that."

"It happens, sometimes. When you're sick." Or someone punches you right in the gut. "Usually stuff doesn't melt, though."

The alien made a small noise of interest, though his heart wasn't in it. "You had to do what you needed to do, Kohgrash. It was just... an accident."

"Turrkn hated me because Zorrash was his mate," he said. "He was gonna-" Viktor couldn't finish the sentence. His throat was clogged for an entirely different reason than medical trauma. Terror filled every fiber of his being.

Accident or not, he had still killed someone. He'd carry that with him for the rest of his life.

Vok'Rul moved his hand off Viktor's head, and he jumped in fright.

"You are safe," Vok'Rul stressed. Large claws curled over his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "We will go back to Earth, soon."

Glad to be on another subject, Viktor forced his shoulders to drop. "I'll show you all sorts of stuff," he promised the alien. He still felt shaky all over, but talking about Earth made him feel a little lighter. He didn't know the exact date, but it was probably Christmas break. He could show Vok'Rul what snow was! And get him a real snow globe. "I hope I don't have to go back to school," he grumbled.

"Ha," Vok'Rul laughed dryly. "How else will you learn?"

"I don't need to go to school," he protested, picking at the bandages on his neck. Vok'Rul slowly pulled his hands away. "It'd be a waste of time."

The questions he'd get asked terrified him. He didn't want to retell his story over and over again. He had so many questions of his own, though. How many of his classmates had been abducted? How many had died? He had no way of knowing until he got on the ship home.

"Maybe," Vok'Rul reluctantly hedged, going back to stroking his hair. "But how else would you be the ambassador of our planets if you did not finish school?"

"Ambassador? I'm not amba- wait, are you asking me to be an ambassador?" he asked, shocked. "But I don't even like politics."

Vok'Rul's hand moved in a way that told him he shrugged. "I do not, either. But it can be fun, sometimes. Will you think about it?"

Viktor blinked. What did ambassadors even do? How would an interplanetary, not to mention intergalactic, ambassador work? Viktor wasn't even that great at public speaking.

But it was Vok'Rul asking. He'd think about it. It was the least he could do. "Sure," he said faintly. Vok'Rul's claws twitched in his hair.

"Thank you," he murmured, pleased.

Going to sleep after that was a bit easier. His thoughts were crowded with ambassadors and politics, shooing out Zorrash and Turrkn like day-old trash. He fell asleep to the thought that being ambassador probably meant he could travel between both his homes. He thought that'd be nice.

***

The spaceship was larger than anything Viktor had ever seen. The top of it was so large, that it started to disappear foggily into the atmosphere. He couldn't even see the edges of it. He felt small and unimportant in the wake of it.

He wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"I'm like a little bug," Aiko murmured. Pedro hummed in agreement.

The ship looked like a huge train car – boxy and metallic. Huge cylindric thrusters were attached to the sides in pairs. Viktor couldn't see the end of the ship, but Vok'Rul had told him the engines there were larger than the capitol building. Apparently, prepping them took a lot of work, which is why it took so long to get it all ready for their trip to Earth.

It reminded Viktor of a huge cruise ship, though. Plenty of windows were lined in rows along the ship, with a few large ones in the front at the cockpit. The ship itself was maroon, lined with silver and lighter reds along the edges. Vok'Rul called it The Salvation but Rukka had scoffed at him, so he wasn't sure what its real name was.

"Do you drive it, Vok'Rul?" Viktor asked, looking up at the alien. His walker was in the other's possession with his other arm supporting Viktor. He hadn't wanted to slow the group down while walking toward the ship.

Rukka let out a large guffaw, which startled and amused Viktor to no end. "Spirits, Kohgrash," she said. "Who knew you were so funny?"

"I did," Vok'Rul snapped, squeezing Viktor possessively. "And no, I will not drive it. That honor belongs to Captain Ghhvresh."

"Who's that?" Viktor asked in a wheeze, smacking Vok'Rul's hand. The alien immediately loosened his hold.

Thruul piped up from behind them, practically oozing hero worship, "Only the best spacefarer of them all, little beast. Sir Captain Ghhvresh was the first Vokkrus to find life on a dying planet under our Majesty's orders. She brought back the Ghhorrah. I heard its planet had fire that spewed from the planet's molten core, straight into the air! How anything could live on a planet like that is astounding."

That sounded like a volcano, but Viktor wasn't going to ruin Thruul's fun. He nodded along in interest. "Thruul, are you gonna come with?"

"Oh, yes," he said excitedly, reaching over to ruffle Viktor's hair. "I am only A1-308's greatest cook, after all. Only the best for you little mammals – humans, excuse me."

"Humble," Viktor commented dryly. Thruul preened.

"Come," Vok'Rul demanded stepping forward. "We are only here to review the accommodations and make any necessary adjustments. You and your friends should be able to do that, right, Kohgrash?"

"Yup!" Ezekiel answered cheerfully, hooking his thumb into the air. "Earth's greatest tester, at your service, Your Kingliness. If there's anything that can be broken, your man Ezekiel will find it."

"The only thing broken is going to be my shoe up your-" Aiko started.

"Why didn't you break out of the arena, then, tough guy?" Pedro interrupted with a shit-eating grin. "Viktor got out, and he's all scrawny."

"I only got out 'cause of my shoes," Viktor defended Ezekiel. Vok'Rul had gotten him a new pair while he had been in his coma. "And 'cause I had klaxan."

The three aliens growled their displeasure.

"You are lucky to be alive," Rukka murmured. She had never been touchy-feely with Viktor, but she reached out to lightly brush her claws against his head nonetheless. "The last time someone had been dosed with klaxan, half the capitol building had been destroyed and they had died due to a heart complication."

Well, that was nice to know. Viktor still remembered the pleasant hum of energy under his skin. Sometimes he still itched for that feeling.

"Don't remind me," his dad grumped from behind the group. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he looked extremely awkward being surrounded by people he didn't know. Sure, he had met and spoken with all of them – save Rukka – but he wasn't friends with them, like Viktor was.

"As nice as it is talking about my," Viktor rasped, the breath catching in his throat and chest, "-imprisonment, I wanna walk through this ship."

"Of course," Vok'Rul rumbled, ever eager to change the subject. "Thruul, will you find Captain Ghhvresh-?"

"LOOK OUT!"

Whistling filled the air as something hurtled toward their direction. Vok'Rul stumbled back sharply as something – Thruul, Viktor realized in a split second – yanked them back. His arm tightened around Viktor. His other hand dropped the walker he carried, hand splayed to catch the projectile heading right at them.

The alien caught it with a loud smack. Viktor flinched despite himself, throwing his arms over his head.

"What-" he choked out, dropping his arms to look at whatever it was Vok'Rul had caught. It was a tough, leathery ball. It was about the size of Viktor's head.

"Yo-Your Majesty Vokkra!" an alien scuttled toward them, shrinking in on themselves as they sloppily bowed. They looked young – not quite adult, but certainly not a child either – and terrified. Their brown eyes were blown wide with apprehensive fear. "I-I am so sorry-!"

"Silence," Vok'Rul hissed. His voice trembled with poorly suppressed anger. "Did you throw this?" He held up the ball, tightly held in his claws.

The kid was struck silent for a moment before they nodded meekly. Vok'Rul's claws clenched, and the ball exploded with a loud, reverberating pop. He dropped it into the kid's trembling hands. "Take care where you play," Vok'Rul growled warningly. "If you had hit someone, the consequences would have been dire."

"Of- Of course, Vokkra! My apologies!" the kid stuttered, bowing again before taking off. They ran back to a small gaggle of children, who crowded around them when they arrived. They must have been the crew's children or something, Viktor figured.

"Did you have to be so mean?" Viktor asked lightly, feeling his heart return to its normal tempo in his chest.

"They should be aware of their surroundings," Vok'Rul grumbled. He held onto Viktor a little tighter than normal. "Had they hit you-"

"But they didn't," Viktor cut him off, patting his shoulder. He knew exactly what had Vok'Rul's horns in a twist. "I'm not fragile, Vok'Rul. I've seen some shit, sure, and I can't walk on my own anymore, but it won't be forever. I'm going to get better. Humans are resilient like that."

Vok'Rul stared at him, a frown marring his face.

"I will retrieve the Captain, my lord," Thruul murmured after nothing else was said for a while. He went off to search for her. Tension settled heavily over the small group.

"Phew, Vikky, you got yourself a mighty attack dog," Ezekiel said. When everyone, including Vok'Rul and Rukka, looked at him with varying degrees of amusement on their face, he sucked in a breath between his teeth. "I forgot they can hear me, now. My bad."

Nikolas chuckled, slapping the man on the back heartily. "Never change, Ezekiel."

He looked confused. "I wasn't planning on it?"

"You remember the one time Zeke cursed out the ringmaster for so long he lost his voice? I wish he would've lost it for longer," Pedro said with a laugh.

"Man, that sucked. Lilac kept forcing that nasty shit down my throat. Y'know the stuff that burned?"

"She fed me that after I killed that Ghhorrah," Viktor complained, scratching the bandages on his throat. "It tasted like-"

"-socks!" Ezekiel shouted. "I know! It was so fucking gross! You guys got so lucky you never had to deal with that."

Vok'Rul rumbled his displeasure. Viktor absentmindedly rubbed his fingers against the alien's skin.

"What else did they feed you?" his dad asked hesitantly, voice nervous. Viktor felt a little more bold talking about what had happened when he had his friends by his side.

"They had this grey food," Aiko explained. "It looks and feels like slime, but it tasted like stale bread."

"Brothmeal," Viktor and Vok'Rul supplied, the latter looking surprised that he knew what it was called. "It's nasty," Viktor added.

"They fed us that at the zoo for a week or something," his dad said, tilting his head as he rifled through his memories. "After that, though, it was this gross jerky."

Viktor sighed wistfully, remembering the ecstasy that was tasting the jerky for the first time after seven months of brothmeal. Based on the other sighs, the others felt the same.

"I was tempted to eat the straw they had us sleeping on, some days," Aiko said. Nikolas nodded.

"Once," Ezekiel said, a sardonic smile on his lips, "I bit one of those cow things. Completely by accident, let me tell you. The thing rammed straight into my head. Man, I craved a nice, juicy steak for weeks."

"A Chorsl?" Viktor asked, stuttering over the pronunciation. "I never had to fight one of those."

"They were the ones that made that weird chirping noise on the left side of the warehouse," Pedro explained. Viktor let out a silent 'oh.'

"O Vokkra, Your Excellency!" an unfamiliar voice called. Viktor immediately took his attention off his friends. The alien walked beside Thruul, just a hair shorter than the cook. She was well-dressed, decorated with jewelry similar to Vok'Rul's, but way less dramatic and fancy. The bow she gave him was stiff, but deep with respect.

She was a pale red, with horns that petered off into a darker shade. Her eyes were a piercing orange, a shade Viktor hadn't seen too often. She looked at him, grinning large and wide. It was kinda scary. Viktor offered her a feeble smile back. "And this must be Kohgrash. Greetings to you, little lord." She inclined her head respectfully. Viktor suddenly didn't know what to do with himself. Should he nod back? Say anything?

"Little lord-?" he heard his dad mutter before something heavy stomped on the floor. Oskar let out a little hiss of pain. "Ow, Pedro-!"

"Be quiet," the man hissed back under his breath.

"I wondered if we might tour your ship before we launch, Ghhvresh. With me are some of the humans that will be taking the ship back to their planet. They could offer criticism," Vok'Rul asked.

"Some?" Viktor muttered under his breath. Would only a few humans going? He looked quizzically at his friends, but he quickly turned his attention back to the new alien as she moved.

"That would be much appreciated, Your Majesty," Ghhvresh said, turning around and leading the group to the ship. Thruul looked starstruck. "We were going to ask if we might get a few volunteers to offer their thoughts on the living quarters, but we were unable to get started. All that red tape, you know."

"Yes," Rukka, who made all of the red tape, grumbled. "Quite unfortunate."

"Ah, my apologies, Sir Rukka. Of course, I think it is wonderful that the mammals are finally going home. I am honored to bring them there. Earth, you said it was called? What a funny name."

Viktor frowned at the back of her head. Earth was a perfectly fine name, thank you very much!

The ship's ramp that led into the depths of the underbelly was huge – probably about the width of a football field and twice as long as one. Viktor didn't want to test if he could walk up such a large incline, so he was perfectly content staying in Vok'Rul's arms. The rest of the humans, on the other hand, were not as happy.

"Jesus, it's like climbing a mountain," Ezekiel wheezed. "Where's the railings!"

The aliens, who had no problem with the steep slope, looked confused.

"Can you make the ramp longer?" Viktor asked Vok'Rul. "That way, it won't be as hard to walk up it. You guys have way longer legs than us." He thought about all the humans in the facility where he had been taken who were likely unable to walk. He thought about Zach.

"That would be easily manageable, little lord," Ghhvresh said cheerfully. She looked pleased that they were already offering criticism.

They were shown the rest of the ship. It took a while; the thing was massive and it probably didn't help that Viktor wanted to use his own legs for once. His pace was slow, and he had to stop a few times to catch his breath.

They went to the living quarters first, which took up more than half of the ship. Apparently, there were twelve rooms in total, and that should hold all of them. Viktor didn't know how many humans had survived until now, or how many were going to be taking the trip home, but there had to have been millions of them on their way here. Rows upon rows of beds, smaller and more compact than the one he had laid in for a month, lined one of the rooms, separated by flimsy curtains. Viktor couldn't see the end of the room. The ceiling, which loomed above him like a five-story building, was twice as tall as the grandest room in Vok'Rul's mansion, rivalling the capitol's. The beds were stacked high, barely scraping the ceiling.

"Is this safe?" his dad asked skeptically. He pushed experimentally against one of the bed stacks.

"Completely, human. These will not move even if we fly straight into a black hole," Ghhvresh reassured him.

Viktor looked up at Vok'Rul, who simply nodded. Still, he squinted at the beds.

"How would you even get up there?" Aiko asked. Her head was completely craned back to look at the highest bed.

That was a good question, Viktor thought, looking back at the captain. She looked pleased someone had asked.

"Here," she said, sliding over to the wall. There was a large panel, much like the one on Vok'Rul's fridge, with flashing buttons on display. The text was bold and thick, steadily thrumming with electricity. Viktor could pick out a few letters. "This is the first of its kind. We needed a way to get up to the top of the room. We modified maintenance technology that brings up large quantities of supplies and tools to every part of the ship in order to fit it to the needs of the room." Her claws clicked against the wall as she pressed a few buttons. Whirring noises behind the group made them all turn.

Soft, hazy blue light was scattered throughout the room. It acted as a floor on each level. Each level was four beds high, barely scraping against Vok'Rul's head. In total, there were six levels. In the middle of the room, where there was a gap in the stack of beds, was an odd-looking elevator. It reminded Viktor of one of the old-fashioned, open elevators, where you walked on and hoped for the best. This was much bigger, though. Ten people could fit shoulder to shoulder in the thing.

"Is it solid?" Nikolas asked, reaching out. He couldn't reach. Vok'Rul knocked against the light.

"Let's go to the top," Viktor suggested gleefully.

"Wait," his dad said, grabbing onto Viktor's walker and stopping his progress to the elevator. "How will it just... not turn off and send everyone falling to their deaths?"

"I'd live," Ezekiel boasted. A sharp smacking noise followed that statement. "I'm gonna call the cops on you, Aiko."

"Yeah, right," she snorted.

"It is perfectly safe, human. In order to turn off the floor, someone needs to have a certain code to activate the closing protocols, physical identification at the ready to verify them, as well as a scan of their face. It also will not turn off if there is any weight on the flooring or elevators. Everything must be on the ground floor." Ghhvresh explained perfunctorily.

They went to the top of the room, with only a few mumbled protests from his dad and surprisingly, Nikolas, who was afraid of heights. There were more beds than he could even count. Curious, he had asked how many beds were on this ship.

"Fifty million, little lord," Ghhvresh replied easily.

"Oh," Viktor said faintly. That was a lot of people.

"Reports say there are only forty-five million humans on the planet, but we overestimated, just to be sure! Rest assured, everything in our power was done to ensure that this trip will be made with maximum comfort in mind. Would you like to see the other rooms? They are all similar to this."

"What about food? And bathrooms?" Pedro asked. Viktor was still hung up on fifty million beds.

For each of the twelve rooms, there were twelve designated bathroom areas. They were huge; almost as large as the bedrooms, and certainly enough to make anyone do a double take at the sheer size of them. The only thing they lacked was showers. It was all baths.

"We gotta introduce them to the wonderful world of showerheads," Ezekiel complained. Still, the bathrooms were up to everyone's liking. Vok'Rul ensured that they'd be cleaned frequently. Viktor hoped so.

There were three large food courts. Ghhvresh pointed out which section would offer what: fruits, loaves of bread, meats, soups, and desserts. Of course, there weren't as many Vokkrus chefs to keep the human population fed throughout the simple two-day trip, but the plan Rukka and Vok'Rul had cooked up ensured that there were enough rations to feed them.

Viktor had asked where the aliens would be staying, which prompted Ghhvresh to expand the tour to the rest of the ship. It was incredible; the section of the ship they had been on had been the main level, but there were five levels on the ship in total. The second level, right underneath the first, would host the Vokkrus who joined them on their flight. Vok'Rul assured him it wouldn't be more than a thousand. The third level was for the staff of the ship. The last two were the ship's guts; engines and all.

"When do we leave?" Pedro asked curiously. His voice was tinged with reluctance. It made Viktor's stomach flip to think about, but he wondered if any of his friends were going to make the trip back with him.

He tried not to think about the trip back to A1-308. He didn't know if he was going to stay with Vok'Rul. His dad would probably want to stay on Earth.

"The ship will be ready by the end of the week," Ghhvresh answered him.

"Not soon enough," Viktor heard his dad mutter under his breath.

"Thank you, Captain Ghhvresh," Vok'Rul said kindly. "I look forward to sailing under your command, as always." He lifted his hand, closing his fingers in a fist. Ghhvresh hooked her wrist around his, closing her hand as well. They did it quickly, and Viktor twitched with the urge to rush forward. Only his walker stopped him.

Safe, he reminded himself internally. Pedro's hand crept onto his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Of course, the man had seen that. Viktor rolled his eyes.

They made their way out of the ship, then, satisfied with the interior. It wouldn't be a five-star cruise, certainly, but it would only be for two or three days. Viktor thrummed with the anticipation of going back to Earth, going back home.