In Search of Home

Epilogue

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.