The tapping of the pencil on the wooden table was methodical. It stopped occasionally when its user needed to scribble down an answer to the test he was taking, but otherwise, its purpose was clear. Hitting the side of the table. Perhaps for eternity.

"Alright, that's time," the university professor spoke up, the first words spoken in the small room since the tests were passed out.

Viktor groaned, pushing away the paper and packing up his things. Calculus was a bitch.

"How'd you do?" his friend, Kasey, asked him, pushing herself off the wall from where she had been waiting for him. He gave her a long-suffering look, and she giggled.

"Physically, I am heading to the registration office and already signing the withdrawal papers," he groaned. "Mentally, I am dead." Kasey bumped shoulders with him.

"Can't be that bad!" she cajoled. "At least that was your last final." Viktor grimaced. That was true.

"Let's get something to eat," Viktor said, stomach growling in displeasure. Running on three hours of sleep and some Pop-Tarts were not what his body needed, but they were what his body got.

Kasey chatted his ear off the entire way to the dining hall, speaking of nothing and everything at the same time. She switched topics with no apparent pattern, immediately telling him what came to mind. They passed by hundreds of students on the way, all in various states of dread or relief as they went to or came from finals. Viktor imagined he looked no different.

"-and the Vokkra. I mean, can you blame him?"

"Huh?" Viktor asked, snapping out of the daze he'd been in and turning his attention to Kasey. She rolled her eyes.

"I knew that'd catch your attention. Are you gonna take that class next sem?"

Viktor idly swiped his card through the register before stepping into the cafeteria. "The... Vokkrus one? Yeah, I've been enrolled since they released classes. You?"

"Hell yeah, I am! You will not catch me missing a chance to learn more about those aliens. Especially Mr. Tall, Hot, and Sexy," sighed Kasey. Viktor didn't even have to fake the gag that came out of him in response to that.

It had been five years since Vok'Rul had left Earth. During that time, multiple emissaries from his planet had visited Earth to keep tabs on each other, and sometimes, emissaries from Earth would go to A1-308. That was rare and only happened when the Council was too busy to expend a representative to go to Earth. It wasn't all that practical, either; they had to send a spaceship out to Earth to pick them up, as they were lagging behind on the spaceship-making department, even with the Vokkrus' help.

Viktor hadn't gone back to high school; he struggled with walking and mental health issues that first year of Vok'Rul's absence so poorly that both he and his dad elected for him to complete his GED and SATs at home instead. It was a bit of a learning curve; he had missed out on school for two years before he got back into the swing of things, but he managed to get it all sorted out before heading into college.

He had been reluctant at first. Being away from his dad, the only person who sort of understood what he had gone through, had been daunting.

He went, though. He wouldn't let his fears hold him back - he had never been one to do that - and going to university by himself, doing something for himself, had been kinda cathartic. It had helped that he had met Kasey early on, who made for an excellent friend. Three years of double majoring in Astronomy and Political Science later - really, of course, Viktor was going to major in that - Viktor was almost finished. He had one semester to go. And then...

His phone beeped, loud and screechy.

He glanced at it when they settled at a table, plates full of greasy, cardboard pizza and some chips.

0:07:12 > How did your 'final' go? Why is it called a final, again? There is nothing final about learning.

Viktor rolled his eyes, smiling at the phone.

While Viktor hadn't seen his friend in a few years - Vok'Rul had a planet to run, after all - they had been communicating since the year he had left. Pedro and Blacksmith had quickly cooked up an intergalactic communication device, much to Viktor's relief. Despite a long time in between responses, they chatted as often as they could. It would never be the real deal, but Viktor wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Is that Mr. Sexy?" Kasey asked around a bite of pizza.

"Stop calling him that, my god," Viktor muttered, looking up to glare at her and tapping at his phone.

0:08:50 > I think it went okay. Definitely didn't fail, at least. Winter break, here I come.

0:08:55 > Will you visit this quarter? And it's called a final 'cause it's the end of the class and you test yourself on what you've learned.

Often, whoever visited Earth had little time to spare outside of their duties that pertained to upholding the Alliance. The rules of their pact had changed drastically over the course of four years, which left Viktor scrambling to keep up. It didn't help that, until he had mentioned it, he only had access to what the rest of the public was seeing. A heavily edited version that had hardly been helpful in trying to wrap his head around what was being discussed. Now, he got the forwarded treaty from Rukka, along with a lengthy lecture about keeping planetary secrets to himself. He appreciated it, though; it'd be a lot easier to integrate himself into the political minefield that was intergalactic treaties and visits when he knew what was going on.

Regardless, the delegate of A1-308 made time to visit Viktor on behalf of Vok'Rul. Whether it be a package left for him in his dormitory room - which was always locked; Viktor had no clue how they got in - or a surprise visitor in the middle of the street on his way to the grocery store with words of greeting, they always managed to speak with him, some way or another.

Thruul liked to send him packages stuffed to the brim with food. He's been working on all sorts of food with the help of human chefs. His creations - aside from the meat department - had gone from questionably toxic to downright delicious. He cooked with grains, fruits, plants, and animal products like he had been born doing it. The alien had only perfected his methods of creating the tastiest, most fulfilling dishes in the universe over the last five years.

The hardest thing, Thruul wrote on the neatly folded sheet of paper residing in one of the packages of food, is stopping anyone from taste-testing it. Which is an important part of cooking, little beast! The horror!

Most of his food was delicious when reheated in the microwave he had in his dorm room, but he couldn't help his longing for a fresh meal from the alien.

His phone shrieked at him as he was walking back to his dorm - he and Kasey had parted ways at the cafeteria, saying their goodbyes and wishing each other a happy break - and he glanced down at it, a smile already on his lips.

0:43:26 > You'll see.

***

Winter break came and went in a flurry of blizzards, hot chocolate, and Christmas gifts. The delegate from A1-308 had visited a few days after finals, new to Earth and ecstatic upon meeting the fabled 'Lord Kohgrash.' While the Vokkrus were strictly on business during their visits, Viktor had been using them as a glorified post office. They never turned him down or said they couldn't, and Vok'Rul was always pleased when he sent him some letter or gift instead of rebuking him, so Viktor figured it was alright to keep up with his habit.

He got Vok'Rul the same thing he did every year: a book.

Books about the planet Earth, sometimes the Solar System as a whole. Once, he had gotten the alien a book about flowers and made sure to tab every page that contained orange flowers that looked similar to the ones planted in front of the mansion. Other times, he'd get Vok'Rul short novels, stories about aliens that he'd find funny. When the first books had been published about the Vokkrus' visit to Earth, he sent them to him, too.

Viktor would send the others gifts as well. There was no shortage of cookbooks for Thruul to flip through. Coloring books for Nohkka were in high demand, especially after the first one he had sent her. The colored drawings he'd received in return were charming and rather good for Nohkka's age.

Rest assured, he didn't get everyone books all the time. He once gave Rukka and Kac an assortment of family games, things like board games and cards, just to see what they'd do with them. A disgruntled but fond Vok'Rul had written to him the next day the ship had been due back, asking what sort of evil contraption 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' was.

"Can you bring this to Vokkra?" Viktor asked Nhorki, the new delegate of A1-308. She was young, much younger than some of the usual Council members. Apparently, there were a lot of trading seats on the Council, lately (and by lately, Viktor meant the past five years; time went very slowly for beings who lived to be up to 1000). She told him in hushed whispers that the last delegate complained of the cramped meeting rooms and wished that the humans were still animals - if only to spare his back the pain - all within earshot of Vok'Rul.

Suffice it to say, the leader didn't like that comment.

Nhorki took the package - a few presents, all wrapped up in cheesy snowman wrapping paper, labeled for all his Vokkrus friends across the universe - and said, cheerfully. "Of course, Lord Kohgrash!"

Viktor had long since given up trying to convince the Vokkrus to stop calling him that. If it wasn't Lord Kohgrash, it was little lord instead, and Viktor found that he hated that even more.

Nhorki continued, an expression of confusion and questioning coming over her face, "But, forgive me if this is too forward," it never would be; Viktor had none of the regal upbringings that all these aliens seemed to have, "wouldn't you prefer to deliver these yourself?"

He had to bite back a sigh at the question. While he was certain he could go back to A1-308 with no issues - he no longer had to use a cane to get around, and his mental health, while far from perfect, was well enough that his daily life didn't suffer too much - he would like to finish college and get his degrees before traversing across the universe.

Vok'Rul's offer of ambassador was still on the table, but Viktor knew the clock was ticking. They had yet to be introduced to the Local Group Galactic Alliance. There were many factors to this; lack of space travel technology for humans, lack of people educated enough to act as intergalactic delegates, the sheer terror of leaving the planet again, etc. The fact was that Vok'Rul didn't want to bring just anyone to the Alliance who he didn't know. Rukka had told him that much.

"Truth is, Kohgrash, that he does not want to put his trust in random humans - greedy humans, I know the type who rise to politics - to look after your planet in a way that benefits your species," she had told him somewhere in the third year of visiting Earth.

"I would love to, Nhorki," Viktor said gently, giving her a warm smile. Nhorki smiled back, making a choked cooing noise. Most Vokkrus he knew thought their smiles were rather adorable. At least, most of them had the decency to hold back their verbal exclamations. It had been nearly insufferable during the first few years - as many still viewed them as animals - but as time went by, most Vokkrus viewed them as people first. "But I'm afraid I'll be stuck here until I'm finished with school."

Nhorki looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. At the time, Viktor hadn't given it much thought. After five years of suffering many different Vokkrus' attempts of gaining his favor for the chance to gain Vok'Rul's favor, he had decided that playing into their whims would benefit no one. Asking the delegate what she wanted to say would likely end up with them trading thinly veiled insults if anything.

But, as Viktor sat down in the first class of his last spring semester and peered at the syllabus in his hands, he had to wonder if she wasn't aware of something he didn't know.

"Surprise visitor?" Kasey asked through a yawn - Viktor was right there with her; the class was at eight in the morning. She perked up a bit more as she gave it some thought. "Oooh, what if it's Dr. Krait?"

Viktor made a grumpy noise, as he always did when Dr. Krait was mentioned. "Dude doesn't know shit," he harrumphed, causing Kasey to chortle.

Dr. Krait was one of the humans the Vokkrus had abducted. Unfortunately, he was one of the most unpleasant people Viktor has ever met. A year after they had returned to Earth, a 'reunion' of sorts had been hosted in the US, and Viktor had gotten to see his friends again. He hadn't seen them since the last reunion, but they kept in touch over text and phone calls. Regardless, he had met Dr. Krait at the reunion, too.

He was a scientist of some sort - Viktor hadn't cared to dive much further into his research after meeting him - and claimed that he knew everything there was about Vokkrus. The book - the one he had jokingly sent Vok'Rul one Christmas, ironically enough - was drivel, if Viktor was one to critique.

Which he would. Loudly.

The book had been full of lies: the Vokkrus had live birth, not eggs, and their gestation period was so long and nearly invisible to the outsider that Vokkrus children were rather rare. The Vokkrus without tails were physically inferior to the ones with tails. The size of their tails was congruent with their strength. The colors of their skin indicated different subspecies. Awful, unfounded lies about them.

Thankfully, the book was quickly retracted and made obsolete when Rukka published her own, renouncing these facts as bald-faced lies. She didn't go into too much detail about her species, but it was enough to label Krait as an idiot, which was all Viktor would've ever dreamed of. The time between his book and Rukka's had been nearly intolerable; everyone had lauded him as some sort of all-knowing genius about the Vokkrus.

"Probably some other person who's been to that planet," Kasey said with a sigh. She had always told Viktor how lucky he was to live on the planet. She had been extremely jealous of it, in fact, until the one time they had gotten rather drunk together and he had explained, between laughter and the tired, heavy haze that alcohol brought, what had really happened to him there. Her jealousy hadn't vanished - he had visited another planet, after all - but it had diminished enough that it didn't grate on his nerves anymore.

Publically, he had renounced drinking; too many secrets could've been easily spilled under the influence. Privately, though, he liked the relief that came with telling someone else his story without having to worry about his fears curbing his tongue.

Viktor made a noncommittal noise, flipping through the syllabus idly. Office hours, plagiarism, grading scales... the only interesting bit was the schedule and assignment list. He frowned at the presentation assignment. He hated presentations.

His phone buzzed on the table, a text from his dad.

[DAD!]: Good luck on your first day :-) Love you!!

Viktor smiled. He grabbed it to tap out a reply when the professor teaching the class stepped back to the front of the room, having finished handing out the syllabi. He wore a mic clipped to his shirt, hooked up to the speakers in the room. The lecture hall was one of the biggest ones his university had; they had assumed - and guessed correctly - that this class would be popular and made sure to put it in the largest room possible. It was rather packed.

As far as Viktor knew, this class was one of the first ones offered. He was lucky he'd manage to get in. Even if he ended up knowing all that they had to offer.

Oh well, he thought, flipping the page to look at the schedule. It'll be an easy class if anything.

"Hello, welcome to the first of its kind, ASTR 2000. Introduction to Vokkrus Life and History. I'm Dr. Lawrence, but you can call me Peter, if you like," the professor started. "I am very excited to be teaching this class, and I hope you are all, too, despite its early hour."

Some grumbles of agreement sounded, then. He wondered how many people would be left in the class by the end of the semester, especially since this was an elective.

"Let's go over the syllabus," Dr. Lawrence started, picking up his own copy. Behind him, a large screen displayed the document, scrolling down as the man spoke. His teaching assistant - a woman named Jane - looked just as tired as the rest of them, which was some sort of consolation.

They'd start the year out with the facts, what the Vokkrus were, where they lived, what their planet was like, etc. Then, they'd move on to what they knew about their lifecycles. The professor often got off track as he spoke about the topics more in-depth than appropriate during syllabus week, but that was fine with Viktor. It made things more interesting. The professor claimed the alien race was a secretive one, and what they knew came from human sources that had lived on the planet during the Abduction, as people had come to call it.

Which prompted the man to ask the question that Viktor hadn't known he had been dreading.

"Were any of you abducted?" A pointy elbow dug into his side, and he glared at Kasey. There was excited murmuring rippling across the classroom, eager to see who had actually gone to another planet. Unfortunately, no one else was raising their hand.

Kasey had the look in her eyes that promised Viktor would regret not raising his for years to come, so, with great reluctance, he put his hand in the air.

The murmurs rose from those behind him, and soon enough, the professor noticed his hand, pointing at him and saying, "Well! Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself?"

"I'm going to put fire ants in your fuckin' bed," Viktor hissed at Kasey, getting to his feet. He stood stiffly. The entire lecture hall's attention was on him. Loudly, he said, "I'm Viktor-"

"Oh!" Dr. Lawrence said, enthused. "Kohgrash, right?"

Viktor inwardly winced as he always did when another human said his name. He nodded, though, and tried to look less annoyed than he was at being interrupted. "Yeah, that's my... Vokkrus name."

"What's it stand for, again?"

"'The prodigious murderer of champions!'" someone shouted from across the hall. Viktor felt his cheeks start to burn, but they weren't laughing. Whispers broke out, but Viktor didn't think they were malicious.

"That's right," Viktor said slowly. He wondered when he could sit down.

"You were abducted, correct? Pawned off as a pet when you got there?" Dr. Lawrence asked brightly.

"Not quite," Viktor said slowly. He didn't really want to talk about the arena at eight in the morning. It was all public knowledge - more or less - anyway. If people were curious, they could look up the interview he did years ago and satiate their curiosity there. "But pretty much, I guess."

"Well, when we get to that part in our schedule, I'll have to ask if you won't give us any inside information you can. The Vokkrus are rather secretive, after all," Dr. Lawrence said kindly. He gestured to him, and Viktor sat down gratefully.

"You were as red as a tomato!" Kasey whispered to him gleefully.

"Shut the hell up," Viktor grumbled. Maybe this class wasn't going to be as great as he had thought.

***

While it wasn't rare for Viktor to be proven wrong, it was rare that he actually took pleasure in it.

The class started shaping up to be something enjoyable, especially as they started off, after the brief introduction to what Vokkrus were, learning their written language.

Nothing to be fluent in, of course, but enough to know the basics. Vok'Rul, despite his previous efforts to teach him when they had been nothing more than owner and pet, had actually managed to teach him to read their language. It took Viktor a long time, and he still wasn't fluent, but he managed to get by. It helped that Rukka often sent him documents pertaining to Earth and A1-308, which was probably a million times illegal, now that he thought about it, all written in the Vokkrus language. The first few times, she had sent him a copy in English, but eventually, her help had tapered off as she got busier, and Viktor was forced to learn the language or be left unaware of the political climate regarding his friend's planet.

It had definitely been the motivator he needed.

Compared to the legal documents, filled to the brim with technical language and words he's never seen before, these worksheets the professor handed out were laughably easy.

"It's not fair," Kasey complained after looking at her graded homework - a solid B minus - and throwing his a glare - a shiny A. "You have an advantage."

Viktor shrugged. "Maybe you aren't smart," he teased in the Vokkrus language. Kasey punched him in the shoulder, ranting about insulting people in a language they couldn't understand.

When the first test rolled around, about a month into the semester, Viktor aced it with shining colors. He told Vok'Rul, who was - probably a bit too much - pleased with his 'academic cleverness,' as the alien put it.

0:23:57 > As I suspected, Kohgrash, the extent of your intelligence is beyond my silly, mortal comprehension.

Viktor rolled his eyes at his friend's dramatics. He started typing out a reply.

0:45:40 > You're ridiculous. The test was stupidly easy. 'Sides, it's all about /your/ race, so you'd ace it, too.

01:03:21 > Maybe. Or maybe, you're just too smart for your own good. Take the compliment, Kohgrash!

01:35:41 > Fine. The next delegation comes in a month, right?

01:53:59 > Yes. Didn't Rukka send you the schedule for this year?

02:35:31 > Yeah, but it's blank for this quarter for some reason. No timeframe, no list of passengers, nothing. Did the file get corrupted or something?

03:01:12 > Rukka is threatening me bodily harm if I say any more on the matter. I will say that it is blank for a reason.

03:24:45 > Tell Rukka I said hi. Why can't you tell me? Is it like, super important?

03:51:47 > I would love to tell you. Rukka says it will be better to not, though.

04:13:23 > Rukka's no fun. Don't tell her I said that, though.

04:46:26 > I won't. Frankly, I am glad you are as scared of her as I am.

***

The semester went by faster, and when Viktor walked to the last class before spring break let out, bleary-eyed and running on three hours of sleep, he certainly wasn't expecting anything special from their guest speaker.

Mostly, when classes did have a guest speaker, it was the most boring hour of his life. Viktor didn't mean to offend anyone who did take the time out of their day to go talk to a bunch of college kids, but more often than not, these people didn't quite know how to talk to them. They'd overexplain - or not explain enough - and would leave the class struggling to keep up either way.

Unless the topic was interesting, Viktor would mostly daydream. While he knew this speaker would probably - hopefully - be interesting, he wasn't going to get his hopes up.

His first clue should've been the pair of Vokkrus guards posted outside the door to the lecture hall. Oh, there were plenty of guards during the quarterly visits - they had bumped the visits from biannually to quarterly after it became quite clear that the terms of their alliance were starting to become more favorable toward the Vokkrus' visits - but they usually stayed near the delegate and whoever else tagged along on the trip.

His second clue should've been the fact that the hallways were rather packed for seven in the morning. While Viktor was no early bird, he tried to make a point to get to class early, simply for the fact that seats were a hot commodity if you came in late. Saving a seat for himself and Kasey, who always managed to come in three seconds before the professor started class, was harder than it looked. So the fact that the hallways were rather full did not bode well for Viktor. It seemed that everyone wanted to see today's speaker.

His third clue, really, should've been the fact that everyone sported the temporary translators in their ears. He always had his on; it had been impossible for him to take it off after Vok'Rul had left, something to do with the trauma from the facility, his therapist had told him, and it soon become a habit to simply stick it in his ear every morning. While translators were becoming more common and less expensive to make, there wasn't that much use for them, right now. The aliens didn't visit enough for people to buy them. Any news broadcasts would be swiftly translated, and the chances of speaking with a Vokkrus when they were on the planet were slim to none. But, since this university boasted its inclusion of Vokkrus courses, a supply of translators had been ordered, swiftly put in storage to use when the occasion arose.

Viktor guessed that occasion was now.

A Vokkrus was their guest speaker, and Viktor had to wonder what strings his university had to pull for that.

"Are you excited?!" Kasey nearly shouted in his ear. Viktor didn't jump, but it was a near thing.

"Where'd you come from?" he grumbled.

Kasey looked a little confused. "Didn't you get the email? Everyone needed to get a translator from the Culture Office. I had to get up sooo early just to get a good one, because I heard someone else tell their friend that they had a brother who-"

Viktor glanced at his phone, and sure enough, there was an email from Professor Lawrence recommending that students get a translator from the Office. While it wasn't uncommon for the class to watch videos and listen to recordings, especially when they were learning the basics of their language, most of the time they were already translated for simplicity's sake. He really should've read the email last night. Maybe he could've avoided the crowd.

"-once their ear stopped bleeding, they had to go to-"

Crowds didn't make Viktor that nervous anymore. True, he'd much rather stay out of them, but when he was forced into one, such as trying to step foot in his classroom, he wasn't going to dissolve into tears right away.

"-and yeah, that's why I had to get a fresh one. Hey, I didn't see you there, though. Don't you have one?" Kasey asked. Viktor vaguely gestured to his ear, motion flippant. She made a noise of understanding.

"I don't think we're getting our usual spots," Viktor sighed as they moved forward a foot or so. What was the hold up?

"Maybe we can sit in the front," Kasey said cheerfully, ever the optimist. Viktor wrinkled his nose at her. He hated sitting in the front.

They made idle chatter until they finally got to the door. There were two guards standing at the door, and it took until getting right in front of them that Viktor realized they were the reason for the wait. They were inspecting everyone who came in. And he realized with a start, that he recognized one of them.

"Shul?" he asked, surprised. The alien merely blinked at him for a second, a look of recognition fluttering across his face. He bowed lowly, which made Viktor's face heat up in embarrassment.

"Hello, little lord," the Vokkrus simply said, motioning him inside without checking his bag. He looked to the other Vokkrus, who Viktor hadn't seen before. "We no longer have to check these."

"Why not?" the other Vokkrus demanded. Regardless, she handed Kasey's bag back to her. "We have a duty to uphold."

Shul lifted one shoulder in the approximation of a shrug, gesturing to Viktor. "Lord Kohgrash is here. There is no longer an opportunity for danger in his presence."

Confused but a little glad no one was going to root through his bag, Viktor lifted his hand in a wave - they waved back - and stepped through to the lecture hall. There were more people on the floor than usual. Sometimes, there were a couple of people who would linger to speak with the professor before class started, but more often than not, they'd usually sit in their seats, half-asleep and on their phones.

The reason for their presence on the floor quickly became apparent.

Viktor couldn't see the alien from where he stood - while he had gained some inches after recovering from malnutrition, he was still on the short side - but the questions and the chatter gave him a pretty good idea that it was a Vokkrus in his classroom. He supposed that this was why the schedule for this quarter was blank - Rukka hadn't wanted him to see who was coming to visit. He wondered if it was anyone he knew.

Then, the alien stood up, and he struggled to get any air in his lungs. It came back to him in a rush when the people who hadn't been able to see their guest speaker before exclaimed in shock and awe.

"Wow, a real-life alien, can you believe it?"

"Man, he's tall!"

Kasey frantically shook his arm, nattering on in his ear something that he couldn't pay too much attention to. His focus was somewhere else. On someone else.

"Okay, let's get seated, people!" Dr. Lawrence called over the excited murmuring. "Let everyone come in, so we can get started. His Majesty will be able to answer questions later!"

Viktor's grin felt like it was going to split his face in half. Kasey's hold slipped off him. He pushed his way through the crowd of eager, excited students, uncaring of where his elbows landed. "Vok'Rul!"

His friend's attention immediately zeroed in on him, and his grin was feral - wide - and toothy. "Kohgrash!"

He didn't quite know when he had flung his arms out to grab hold of Vok'Rul, but one second he was on the ground, and the next, the alien had swung him up into the air with a happy rumble sounding in his chest. Viktor felt his horns pressing against the top of his head as Vok'Rul squeezed him almost painfully. His arms wrapped around the alien's neck, and he tried to squeeze back just as hard.

"You are so tall, now," Vok'Rul said into his hair. The last time they had seen each other in person felt like lifetimes ago. "And look! You've grown fur on your face!"

Viktor laughed, pushing the alien's face away as he tried to inspect his rather abysmal attempt at a beard. It was more like peach fuzz if anything. "Stop. And it's not fur, moron."

He heard the other bodyguard make a noise of dismay at the door, Shul shushing them with a hissed retort. He grinned at the familiarity of it all.

Vok'Rul simply smiled at him, nose crinkling slightly. "Your new not-fur is nice," he said cheekily.

Vok'Rul hadn't changed a single bit in the time that they had been apart. There were no differences in his face - he still had the same number of horns, the same yellow eyes, and the same overbearing grin. Perhaps he looked a bit tired, but traveling always took the energy out of people, and it was pretty early, even if the alien had always risen earlier than Viktor ever would've naturally. Though, now he was a sleep-deprived college student instead of a healing sixteen-year-old.

He wore the clothing and the jewelry he would normally wear when meeting with the Council or Earth; extravagant and expensive. It was cold against Viktor's skin.

"I didn't know you'd be here," Viktor gleefully told him. "Was that why the quarter statement was blank?"

"Yes, Rukka thought it'd be a nice surprise. Surprise!" Vok'Rul shouted suddenly. He made a few students who weren't paying attention jump, but Viktor just rolled his eyes.

"You aren't supposed to do that after you explain the surprise," he said, jumping out from Vok'Rul's grip. The landing was a little shaky - he hadn't done it in a few years, after all - but he didn't land on his face and look like an idiot in front of his entire class.

The class. Viktor tried to ignore the way his face flamed.

The alien crouched slightly, holding out his hand. Viktor took it absently as he started speaking. "How are your legs? I know you told me you've no need of the cane any longer, and Rukka and the delegates assure me of your health every time they see you, but are you well? You look well. Are you sleeping? Have the delegates caused you trouble? Most often, I can wring it out of them - gleefully; they tell me in detail (which I don't mind! I love hearing about you after all) - but I never know if they lie to me all the time. I'm not omnipotent, you know. But you'd tell me if they were causing issues, though, I suppose you can certainly take care of yourself. Oh! Thruul says hello, as does Nohkka, as does -"

"Vok'Rul," Viktor said loudly, patting the alien's hand. "How 'bout we catch up after class?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "Yes. You're correct." The alien straightened, clearing his throat. He glanced at Dr. Lawrence, who looked a little bemused. "I suppose you better go sit down, my little Kohgrash."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Viktor said sarcastically, hopping out of the alien's reach when he made a face. Thankfully, most of the students had already taken their seats - all up at the front; his and Kasey's seats were untouched - so he didn't have to fight through a bunch of people to get to it. He collapsed gratefully next to Kasey, who immediately started interrogating him.

"I know you said you knew him, and I mean, obviously, I've watched the videos of when he landed and you were right next to him, but still! It's kinda hard to believe! My best friend, the buddy of an alien king? How cool is that?" Kasey said, watching as he pulled out his notes and pencil.

"Aw, I'm your best friend?" he teased, flipping open his notebook to scribble down the date and a 'Vok'Rul is the speaker :O' at the top of the paper. He knew that it was likely there would be something he said on the next test, so he'd better write some things down, even if he knew it all. He wondered what the alien would talk about.

"Okay, everyone! Welcome back to class. I'm glad so many of you made it," Dr. Lawrence's tone was dry. He probably knew that the only reason some people were here was because of Vok'Rul, not because of any real desire to learn about the alien race. They all wanted to see a real-life alien. "Our guest speaker today, as you may have already guessed, is the one and only, Vokkra Rulshkka." The professor motioned to the alien behind him and surprised Viktor by turning around to bow a bit at the waist. Most humans often forgot that Vok'Rul was a leader of an entire planet. They were too enamored with the 'alien' bit.

"Greetings, Vokkra!" a few people said, albeit sloppily, in the Vokkrus tongue. The formal rohsh'a was a bit tricky to pronounce, especially when there were a few other words in the sentence.

"Hello!" Vok'Rul looked entirely too enthused to be greeted by a room full of humans than should be normal. "I'm rather pleased you have all learned some of my language! Not many humans do that, I've learned. Your teacher has told me that you've been learning it all semester.

"I am the Vokkra of my planet. My name is Rulshkka of Knrash. You can simply call me Vokkra. I believe that the current topic your class is covering is the social hierarchy of my planet, if I am correct?" Dr. Lawrence nodded.

"If you alright with sharing some details, of course," he clarified. "There isn't much published on your planet, and we would be very happy if you shared some insight into your planet. Many people who were abducted are reluctant to share the details." Unbidden, his eyes met Viktor's, who simply smiled. Perhaps a bit more mean than necessary.

"That is their business," Vok'Rul said. He started speaking more about his planet's people. As far as Viktor knew, there weren't 'classes' or ranks that put Vokkrus above others, other than being on the Council or Vokkra. Anyone could climb the ranks. Anyone could fall down. Before Vok'Rul had become Vok'Rul, there had been a stark divide in wealth, but that had been one of the first things he had sought to recover. It was all stuff he knew. So, when Kasey tapped his arm, he only looked at her with a mild glare.

"What?" he whispered to her.

"How come you call him Vok'Rul?" she asked him, stumbling a bit over the word, "If his real name is Rule..ska?"

Viktor paused for a second. "When I first saw him, they called him Ovokkra'rulshkka. I hadn't heard many aliens talking, so we picked out the easiest syllables we could."

It was a little funny to think about. What kind of words had he missed when he hadn't been able to speak the language? Could he have done some things differently if he had known what the ringmaster was planning? He supposed that hindsight was 20/20, but he couldn't help but wonder what might have been.

It probably wouldn't have changed much. He still would've suffered under the ringmaster's claws and flourished under Vok'Rul's. Maybe their proof of sentience would've come along a little quicker, but Viktor couldn't bring himself to regret the time he spent with Vok'Rul. Where his time with the ringmaster had been brutal and cruel, time had dulled the pain he felt every time he thought about it. He had lost some part of himself in the arena's dusty warehouse, but he had gained a friend in Vok'Rul, a family in his friends. Pedro, Nikolas, Rukka... all of them. They were his family.

Kasey's laughter brought him out of his thoughts. "That's fair. To be honest, I don't think I would've been able to come up with anything better."

"I usually just called him 'hey, you!' to get his attention."

"You definitely have it, now," Kasey whispered before drawing back into her seat suddenly.

"If we could keep any comments and questions to ourselves until our guest has finished speaking," Dr. Lawrence said pointedly in-between Vok'Rul's explanations on Sirs and Lords. "That would be very appreciated."

Viktor smiled sheepishly. Vok'Rul grinned back, winking at him. Viktor hadn't known they were able to wink. He wondered if he had copied a human doing that. His expression grew serious rather quickly, and Viktor figured out why soon enough.

"Lords are less common than Sirs. My sister is a Sir, a member of the Council, and seen in high regard. Lords are the only rank given by Vokkra. Currently, there is only one Lord of my planet," Vok'Rul continued.

"That's you, right?" Kasey whispered to him, voice low and reverent. "I heard that one alien call you 'lord'." She was looking at Dr. Lawrence, but the man was paying attention to Vok'Rul instead of watching the class, to Viktor's great relief. Viktor felt his face twisting in a confused scowl.

"I don't really deserve the title," he whispered back. All he did was get knocked out for a month. When he came to, his species was declared sentient. It wasn't like he had anything to do with it.

"Aw, shuddup, man," her elbow once again found his side, somehow. "If that alien man hadn't met you, he probably wouldn't have even thought to free people from the evil clutches of domestication."

Viktor snorted, leaning back in his chair. His eyes were glued to his friend. He was animated, waving his arms as he spoke. His tail slithered behind him as he walked across the floor in two quick, easy steps before pivoting and returning from where he came. The jewelry scraped against the floor, and if Viktor were someone else, he would've found it grating. Instead, it made him kind of homesick.

His 'new' place with his dad - it wasn't new, necessarily; they had been living in it for a few years by now - wasn't really home, he supposed. Oh, he was glad that when he stepped outside, he saw people, humans, and a blue sky, with white clouds, and normal, boring green grass, and green leaves on trees. It was nice, Earth. But he missed A1-308.

Class went by too quickly and too slowly, all at once. Viktor wanted to listen to Vok'Rul speak for hours, but he also wanted to get out of the stuffy lecture hall and chatter his ear off with all the stuff he hadn't been able to tell him over text. Unfortunately, by the time Vok'Rul ended his lecture, people were nagging him with incessant questions. Things that weren't even covered in the topic!

"How do you become Vokkra?"

"Are there really no benefits to having a tail? How do you get it? Is it random or genetics?"

"What are some of your favorite Earth foods?"

Vok'Rul tried to answer them the best he could, of course. He had always been eager to ask Viktor some obscure things about Earth he never had an answer to and even more eager to answer any questions that Viktor had. But by the time class had ended twenty minutes ago, he was looking a little worn out. After a helpless glance in Viktor's direction, he decided to help out.

He stood up. He wasn't the only one standing; there were a few people who had wandered closer to the floor, backpack in hand, and ready to make their leave. A few people glanced at him but otherwise turned their gaze back to more exciting things.

"What're you doing?" Kasey tugged on his sleeve. The downside about the seasons changing meant that it was getting a little too warm for long sleeves. It was unfortunate; that was what Viktor liked to wear most of the time.

Viktor gestured vaguely to Vok'Rul. "It looks like someone pissed in his cereal and he's trying really hard to be polite about it."

Kasey looked at Vok'Rul skeptically. "If you say so."

"I do," he said firmly. "Help me out here." Ignoring Kasey's 'with what? I have no idea what we're doing's, Viktor got to work.

"Oh my god!" he shouted, loud enough to be heard over the din of questions pelting Vok'Rul. "I just saw a black widow!"

"Really?" Dr. Lawrence called, standing up and starting to walk over. His face was skeptical. "They're usually outside."

"Isn't it too cold for spiders, yet?" he heard someone ask. As subtly as possible, he kicked Kasey. She got the hint.

"I saw it, too!" she said, her voice edging toward hysteria. If there was anything great about Kasey, it was her acting skills. She sounded really distraught. She started hastily packing up her things, making it look as panicked as she could. "It crawled under the chairs," she pointed to the row in front of her. The students there stood up in a flash, exiting the row and peering onto the floor.

Viktor quickly grabbed his bag, pushing his way to the front as students scrambled to get away from the area. Dr. Lawrence looked like the last thing he wanted to do was look for a dangerous spider, but he went to look regardless. Vok'Rul looked a bit confused, and Viktor knew he'd probably have to explain what a black widow was.

"Lord? I heard you shout," Shul stepped inside, eliciting a short, panicked shout from one of the students standing in front of the door. Shul barely looked at her.

"I saw a venomous creature," Viktor lied. Shul's eyes flickered from the scar on his face to Vok'Rul's arm before they shuttered into a cool mask of indifference.

"Come quickly, O Vokkra," Shul demanded, scowling fiercely at the people blocking his path to Vok'Rul. They quickly got out of the way under the sheer force of his glare.

"Oh, really, there's no need to evacuate for a spider -" Dr. Lawrence began, standing up from his inspection of the chairs. Shul and Viktor leveled him with looks, and he quickly relented, spluttering out, "Well, we are past time. Vokkra, you aren't willing to meet in my office, are you?"

Vok'Rul managed to plaster a look of regret on his face - which Viktor wasn't sure if it was genuine or not - and said, "I'm afraid I am rather busy. Thank you for the offer. It was wonderful to speak with you all."

"Your Majesty," Shul implored, holding out a hand and gesturing for the door. The three of them got out of there rather quickly.

"Ingenious, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul crowed as soon as they got to a semi-private part of the university (there really wasn't one; wherever they went, the four of them attracted everyone's attention). "Thank you for that, my little friend."

"There was no creature?" Shul said, just a little annoyed. He had looked a bit panicked, after all. Likely, the uproar that would've come with Vok'Rul getting attacked by a creature on Earth wasn't worth the trouble.

"Sorry, Shul. Vok'Rul wanted to get out of there," Viktor said in explanation. Shul huffed under his breath but said nothing else on the matter.

"Found you!" Kasey shouted as she ran around a corner. Shul and the other Vokkrus, who Viktor thought he heard called Tyor, quickly stepped in front of Vok'Rul and Viktor, holding themselves stiffly. "Oh man, I thought we'd never get out of there." She put her hands on her knees, bending at the waist to catch her breath. He waved a hand at Vok'Rul's bodyguards, wheezing, "Don't worry about me, guys; I couldn't hurt a fly."

"Then, why do you run so quickly and startle us?" Viktor heard Tyor mutter under her breath. He huffed out a little laugh.

"Vok'Rul," he smiled up at the alien, grabbing onto his hand. "Come meet my friend."

"Gladly," he said, amused. "But perhaps we can meet on my ship? I really am on a busy schedule."

"Sure," Viktor shrugged, trying for nonchalance. He'd take all the time he could with Vok'Rul, but he was saddened that he'd have to get going so soon. Just for now, he told himself. In a few months, he could go back to A1-308. Splitting his time between Earth - his dad - and his duties as ambassador for A1-308 may prove a little tricky, but he was anything but a quitter.

Still, it ached, just a little, to spend time with Vok'Rul when he knew it wouldn't last. He supposed it made it all the better, though. Cherishing what he has when he has it, or some other junk. His therapist has said to live in the moment rather than focus on the worries of the future.

So, he did. He watched Vok'Rul laugh and joke with Kasey, told Vok'Rul all of the things that had happened between his last visit, and tried not to count the seconds in which he would leave. But the alien had places to be and important people to chat with. His parting gift was a slice of purple starfruit.

***

Graduation crept up on him and walking across the stage to receive his diploma was almost as scary as stepping into the arena for the first time. The ceremony was long, and Viktor was practically boiling underneath his too-heavy robes, but after a few hours, he was a fresh graduate from his university. Kasey had wrung out multiple promises from him to keep in touch, with which he fully intended to comply.

"Woohoo! Let's go out to celebrate!" Ezekiel crowed, just as jovial as the last time Viktor had seen him, some months ago at the annual abduction reunion. The shiny wedding band on his finger had mellowed him out some, but he was sure that victory went to Aiko, who had a matching one on hers.

Nikolas congratulated him in quiet words, ruffling his hair just to be annoying. Oskar had nearly squeezed the life out of him as soon as he had walked over, tearfully telling him how proud he was of Viktor. It had nearly wrought some tears out of him, too.

Not everyone was here. Pedro was still on A1-308 with Blacksmith, and there was a glaringly obvious 12-foot-tall-sized hole in the group.

Vok'Rul hadn't been able to stay on Earth - something to do with the Galactic Alliance, ensuring the upcoming Competition went smoothly, and attending to a few small affairs on A1-308 - but surprisingly, Rukka was here to cheer him on instead.

When asked why, she simply looked at him and said, "You are coming back to us, aren't you?"

Viktor supposed that he was. That was how, a few months later, he found himself aboard The Vindicator, a much smaller ship than The Conquest but still large enough to carry a few hundred humans.

His dad knew it would be pointless to get him to reconsider, but he still tried. "Are you sure you want to go back there?" he had asked one night when they had been curled up on the couch, watching some action movie. Oskar had never gotten over what he had been through on the planet; if he was stuck inside for more than a day, he went stir-crazy. He changed the furniture around quite a bit. Every time Viktor would come home from college, the apartment would be a completely different place. But he couldn't hold it against his dad - everyone coped in different ways, and if moving furniture around made his dad feel better, then damn it, Viktor would help him move furniture.

"It's my home as much as Earth is," he had said in return, and while he knew Oskar didn't like it, would never like it, they didn't say anything else on the matter. For that, he was grateful.

His dad's hug was tight, nearly bone-breaking tight, and Viktor hugged him just as hard. Ezekiel and Aiko had said their goodbyes at his graduation a few months ago, but Nikolas was tagging along.

"Sonja invited me to live with her, as a sort of caretaker," he had explained when Viktor had questioned why now, after five years. "I have nothing else tethering me on Earth, except my family. But we sort of..."

Viktor had understood, though, and simply smiled at him. "Glad to have a traveling buddy," he said, slinging his arm around the man. Nikolas squeezed him gratefully.

Watching the Earth shrink from sight was just as exhilarating as it was bittersweet.

"My lord," Rukka said, a small smile curling her lips. Viktor rolled his eyes but turned his attention to her nonetheless. He knew it scalded some aliens that he was a lord, but Rukka wasn't one of them. She found it funny, he thought. "We're here."

A sharp, overwhelming presence pushed at the front of his skull, and it was only because he was sitting down that he did not stagger.

YOU HAVE RETURNED

The Mirror - or was it the Spirits? - were delighted to see him back, as was obvious by the swirl of affection burning in his chest. They rifled through his head to see what he had been up to in his absence, which felt as weird as it sounded, and drew back after he felt like he was close to passing out.

FORGOT YOU ARE SMALL they told him with some regret. It was probably as close to an apology as he was going to get.

"I'm jetlagged," he complained, getting a confused look from Rukka. "Let me rest a little."

The ship was parked in a new port, designed to mimic human airports. It was weird, stepping out of an alien spaceship to step foot in an airport terminal. Of course, everything was scaled up to accommodate the average 10-foot-tall alien. There were smaller furniture and food stands for humans, and they looked comical next to their larger counterparts. It looked like home.

"Kohgrash!" a shout from his left and a sudden weight barreling into his side. If it weren't for Rukka steadying him with a hand on his shoulder, he would've fallen over.

"Hey, Nohkka, you got bigger!" he greeted her in the Vokkrus language, unable to see any translation device in her ear. He wrapped his arms around her a squeezed, eliciting a joyful squeal from her. In the five years that had passed since last seeing her, she had only gotten a little bigger. They were still the same height, but Viktor was done growing. Nohkka would only get bigger.

"I did," she said proudly. She hung off him like a limpet, smiling brightly. "You're staying, now?"

"That's the plan," he said cheerfully. Nohkka did a little dance for joy. Kac said her hellos and they all piled into a car, eager to get away from the crowded airport.

Nohkka chattered his ear off the entire ride, telling Viktor all about her schooling - which was only for a few months out of the year, considering their lifespan - and what she got up to during the time since they saw each other. "The festivals have been booorrr-ing without you!

"Cheer up, hatchling-" there was no word for kiddo in the Vokkrus language, much to his dismay, "I'll be here for the next one."

Nohkka perked up, then, and started telling him what the festivals were like, now that they had to include an entirely different demographic to their rota. Rukka was still in charge of planning them, and she gave her input a few times here and there, but otherwise, Nohkka did all of the talking. The rest of the journey was spent in silence on his end as he happily listened to her chatter.

The rumbling of the car, the soft feeling of the seats, and Nohkka's constant chattering relaxed him, and he soon found himself fighting sleep. It helped that Nohkka would shake him awake occasionally, but the kid was more content talking to air than talking to Viktor, even if she asked for his opinions, sometimes.

"Momma said you went to university," she said, patting his arm and tugging on his bracelet - he hadn't taken it off since. "And that's why you were gone away for so long. Are you really done, now? And you're gonna stay?"

"For as long as Vok'Rul will have me," Viktor joked. Nohkka looked stricken, turning in her seat to face Rukka.

"Momma! You gotta make Uncle Rul not let Kohgrash leave again!"

Rukka ran her hand over Nohkka's head soothingly, "Rulshkka will not let him leave so easily, don't worry."

Viktor grinned, nudging her with his shoulders, "Besides, I will not want to leave for a long, long time."

Mollified, Nohkka went back to telling Viktor about the festivals, which soon dissolved into the play they put on near the end of it, and how Nohkka was going to be in it soon. Maybe not next year, but soon. Delighted for her, Viktor promised he'd be right in front to cheer her on.

The scenery flitting by through the windows soon became familiar, and Viktor couldn't help the fissure of nervous excitement racing up his spine. They pulled into the mansion grounds, and Viktor drank in the familiar sights. It hadn't changed one bit.

It was spring - or whatever passed for such on A1-308 - so the flowers and trees were teeming with life. Vok'Rul had told him once that the flora in his mansion hadn't always been there; it had been rather empty and barren when he had moved in. As soon as he had started exploring planets outside of their solar system, though, he brought back as many samples of flora as he could before moving onto fauna, onto humans.

Viktor stepped out of the car as soon as it stopped moving, followed closely by Nohkka, who insisted on tugging on his arm to pull him inside. He was rooted to the spot, just for a few seconds. He was really here. He was really back.

But Nohkka's insistence was far greater than his will, and he was dragged inside, leaving Rukka and Kac to handle his bags. He looked over his shoulder regretfully, but the two didn't seem to mind. Plus, some of the mansion staff were already heading in their direction.

The doors opened for the two of them as soon as they reached the entrance, and Vok'Rul exploded out of the door with a flurry of claws, tails, and excitement.

"I am so glad you're here!" he shouted swinging both Nohkka and Viktor into his arms and twirling them around in a gleeful dance. Nohkka shrieked with laughter. Viktor grinned at the alien.

"Aw, lemme down! I'll get sick!" he said good-naturedly, but he was relieved when his feet met solid ground a second later. The long journey to the planet had taken its toll on him. He wanted to sleep for an entire day straight.

"Come in!" Vok'Rul said delightedly, already inside. He had a permanent grin on his face, his expression joyful. "I've made some changes!"

Said changes were a few additional rooms to Vok'Rul's wing. Viktor had no idea how they did it; it looked to be in the same style as the rest of the building, simply added onto the ground floor of his wing.

It branched off the dining room on the ground floor. When Viktor asked how they had done it, Vok'Rul simply shrugged and told him that it was best not to ask the architects how it worked, lest they lecture his ears off for about three centuries. So, he chalked it up to alien magic. Maybe there had been some dead space in the wall or something, but Viktor decided he was better off not knowing.

He was grateful that Vok'Rul had decided to invite him into his personal wing instead of offering him a room somewhere else in the mansion. While he wasn't the same traumatized Viktor who had left this planet five years ago, he was certain he wouldn't be comfortable in another wing, even if it was close by.

"Well, of course, you're residing here," Vok'Rul said after Viktor expressed his gratitude, looking a bit confused but happy nonetheless. "You're part of my family."

Warmth had blossomed in his chest, and he had hugged Vok'Rul for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

Dinner was an exuberant affair. Thruul cooked up a feast to rival some of the more extravagant banquets Vok'Rul held, and everyone Viktor adored was in attendance. The dinner had started out politely enough; everyone kept to their own plates and began digging in, but it had soon dissolved into chaos.

His plate was full of the more human-friendly foods Thruul cooked up - it reminded Viktor of a cross between a burger and wrap; half the thing was covered with bread-like grain stuffed with meat and something that Viktor figured should mimic lettuce - along with some of the honeyed meat he so enjoyed. It was fresh and hot and didn't even have a hint of the spaceship taste he had grown accustomed to during his five-year absence.

"I've missed your food," Viktor said mournfully, mouth full of food. Vok'Rul looked like he was torn between disgusted and fond. Thruul simply beamed at him, as if he had hung the moon and stars for him.

"Have you not been getting my packages, lately?" he asked. Viktor quickly assured him that he had. Nothing beat home cooking, though. Thruul seemed very touched by the compliment.

"I wanna try Kohgrash's food!" Nohkka whined, pointing over the table at Viktor's plate. Viktor grinned at her, pulling his plate close. She looked like she was close to crawling across the table and taking his plate right from his hands.

"It would kill you," Viktor told her regretfully. It really was too bad they couldn't try the food that Thruul made for him, but he supposed that not tasting something was better than potentially dying.

"No fair," she pouted. Viktor couldn't help himself from smiling, which just made her pout deepen. He had missed her.

In hopes of cheering her up, Viktor had asked her if she'd like to play a game. He ended up catching the attention of Rukka and Vok'Rul, who had, up until this point, been talking about the upcoming Competition, when he asked Nohkka to open her mouth and keep it open. He balled up a little slice of honeyed meat and chucked it across the table. It landed right in her mouth.

She had found it hilarious and insisted on practicing her own throwing skills. Half the time she missed his mouth, and he had to lunge to grab the offending piece of food before it fell onto the ground.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said reproachfully, though it sounded like he was trying to subdue laughter.

"Nohkka," Rukka scolded. Nohkka turned pleading eyes on her.

"But Kohgrash is finally hooome," she whined. Rukka looked like she just barely refrained from rolling her eyes, but he saw Kac do it. He hid his smile behind the burger-burrito he was eating.

"We can play after," Viktor promised her. It was enough to mollify for the rest of dinner, and they didn't accidentally start any more food fights.

It was long into the night before Viktor retired to his new room. They had spent most of the night upstairs in Vok'Rul's living room, which hadn't changed much aside from a few pictures and books Viktor had sent from Earth. Viktor's portrait had moved from his bedroom out into his office. Vok'Rul's office was still very much his office, sans food and water bowls. His bedroom looked a little more lived in, and when Thruul didn't leave for the night, he suspected he knew the answer to why.

It was funny, seeing all of the board games he had sent over the years huddled up in a corner of the living room. Nohkka had pulled out her favorite - Jenga - and they had spent the night arguing over the rules of every game they played. Viktor claimed his rules were superior and the ones they should all follow since he was from Earth, but Vok'Rul had argued that since he was the ruler of the planet, they should follow his instead. It led to Viktor jumping on Vok'Rul with the intent to wrestle him into submission. He had some help from Nohkka, but Thruul decided to come to his lover's aid and messed up Viktor's chances of winning.

At the end of it all, they ended up following Rukka's rules, instead.

His room was small, just as he liked them, and stuffed with all his belongings. The bed was human-sized and comfortable. Viktor had hardly any energy left, but he knew he needed to do a few things before crawling into bed and sleeping away the intergalactic jetlag.

He pulled out his photo album, the one Rukka had gifted him years ago. It was a little worn down, now, from years of flipping through the holographic pages and adding more photos as he pleased. The device itself was a little rough around the edges - Rukka had offered to replace it once when they had figured out how to sort of mesh human and Vokkrus technologies (which was still very much in its newborn stages, thank you), but he had declined. He liked what this one represented.

He grabbed the camera Rukka had given to him earlier in the night. The family photo - Viktor still smiled when he thought about it - they had taken just a few hours earlier would go nicely in his album.

While it was uploading, he heard a shuffling at his door.

"Knock, knock," Vok'Rul called, tapping on the door frame. He had to duck a little to get in; they had made it to be more human-sized.

"Who's there?" Viktor asked, looking at the alien as he leaned over his shoulder.

"It's me, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul tilted his head, bringing up his claws to poke the side of his face. "The journey over did not muddle you, did it?"

"Nah," he replied, tapping the hologram to confirm the photo's upload. He dragged it to the page he wanted it to rest. "It's just a joke we say on Earth."

Vok'Rul hummed, turning his attention to what Viktor was doing. "I like that."

Viktor did too. The picture was by no means professional. This was the only one that came out halfway decent. Everyone was looking into the camera, but Nohkka's eyes were shut, and Rukka's mouth was open, halfway through berating everyone to stay still. Kac was the only one who looked like she had been prepared for the picture. Thruul was a little blurry since he had to rush into place in the group after hitting the button on the little orb. Vok'Rul's expression was slightly pinched because Viktor had accidentally taken a step back and stepped right on his foot.

It was an awful picture, but it was his picture. He loved it. It was his family.

"Welcome home," Vok'Rul told him, running his claws through his hair. Viktor smiled softly.

Home. He was home.

***

A/N: And that's it.

It's a little surreal - it took me almost a year to write this and just a little over two months to post it to completion. I never expected it to get so long - if you've made it to the end here, you've read over 350,000 words, which is just monstrous - but I loved writing it. I fell in love with these characters and this world so completely, and I am glad that you guys have enjoyed it, too.

Thank you, truly, for reading this. It makes me so happy that my first attempt at a story has been so well-received <3 I can't say it enough. I enjoyed reading all of your comments, reading your theories, your thoughts. It's been a ride.

This isn't the end for Viktor and Vok'Rul, though. I have a sequel in the works. It's not fully completed yet, so any posting schedule would be haphazard at best, but I plan on releasing the first chapter sometime in March! If you're interested, I'd encourage you guys to keep a lookout.

Thank you :)

Edit: we now have a discord! Come and check it out if you'd like! https://discord.com/invite/UcAe9769dY