"Good morning, my little Kohgrash."
"Stop talking."
"You are so cute and grumpy in the morning, aren't you, Kohgrash? Aren't you?"
"Stop."
"Aww, look at your little nose all scrunched up - ouch! Kohgrash! That was not very nice."
"Your face isn't nice. Put your hands in front of my face and get bit, that's how it works."
"That is not how it works."
There was silence for a long moment, broken only by Viktor's shuffling as he snuggled deeper into his blankets and bed. Vok'Rul poked at his sides a couple of times before Viktor let out an angry, annoyed noise of protest, shaking his hand off. He was tired, damn it! Let him sleep!
Vok'Rul sighed, long and annoying. Viktor squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he had taken out the translator the night before. He had fallen asleep somewhere on the floor in the living room before making it to the bedroom. Vok'Rul must have also been pretty exhausted not to remember taking it out for him. The headache he had because of it was thick and slow and filled him with regret.
"Head hurts," he complained after it became clear Vok'Rul was not going to leave him alone.
"What?" Vok'Rul's voice immediately became concerned and a light hand settled on the top of his head, warm and heavy. "Why? Did you eat something bad? Did you hit it against something? Are you sick? Spirits, hold on, Kohgrash, I'm going to call the veterinarian."
"No," Viktor groaned. "Just give me some of that smoking medicine, and I'll be fine."
"It is not really made for mammals," Vok'Rul said reluctantly. "The only reason I gave it to you the last time was that it was the middle of the night, and you were in great pain."
"I am in great pain now!" Viktor yelled, which immediately made his headache worse. He gave a little groan before saying in a quieter voice, "Just... Can you get me some water? Please?"
Vok'Rul departed and returned a little later with a small glass of water - which surprised him; he had thought he would just go into the other room to get his dish - and a sliced starfruit. Which was really thoughtful of him.
"Thanks," he said. It came out grumpier than he had intended. He gave the alien a small smile to soften it. He wasn't sure if it worked.
"Do you need anything else?" the alien asked in a whisper. "It is not the wounds you received by that - that traitor that is causing you this pain, is it?"
Viktor had practically forgotten about that, even though Vok'Rul was still messing about with those papers he had managed to take off the alien. "No," he sighed. "I just have a headache from the translator. I'm gonna take it out for a while."
"Alright, little one," Vok'Rul said, pushing back his hair soothingly. His tone was still worried. "Just rest for a while." Viktor really needed to get up and wash his face, though. He was getting itchy from the paint yesterday. But he'd just lay here for a little while.
After taking out the buzzing translator and watching Vok'Rul leave the room with it as quietly as a 12-foot-tall alien could, Viktor buried his face deeper in his blankets. He really should've taken the translator out earlier. Blacksmith had told them that constant use of the thing probably wasn't for the best, and now Viktor had to agree with her, much to his displeasure. It was hard, though, taking it out and knowing that he'd be able to understand what everyone was talking about if he had it on, instead.
Viktor had gotten used to listening to conversations. He had gotten used to having conversations. Being able to understand had given him an edge in some things, like not freaking out over something an alien did or intercepting Korrashkka's blow to Vok'Rul's head. Having that taken away, even temporarily, sit sourly in his stomach.
It was the fourth day of the festival, something to do with crafts. Viktor remembered that Vok'Rul had been excited about some wood carvings. Hopefully, by the time they got to the park, his headache had cleared and he'd be able to put the translator back in. The sheer number of aliens milling about did make his headache worsen, but usually, he'd be having enough fun to ignore the pain.
Faintly, he heard Vok'Rul go down the stairs. There were surprised exclamations that worried Viktor until he heard Thruul's voice mixed in with Vok'Rul's. He forced himself to relax and enjoy the quiet darkness of the room, willing his throbbing headache to go away. Vok'Rul could take care of himself. Maybe not well, but he could.
He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes again, weak sunlight was coming from the window and the noise from the downstairs kitchen had increased. His head felt a little better, but it still felt like it was filled with cotton. Every time he moved his head, he could feel his brain lag behind just a second later. It was nauseating.
Still, he got up, heading over to the office. Splashing water on his face and scrubbing the itchy paint off made him feel a little better. Viktor made a mental note to remind Vok'Rul to get him some new water before tomorrow. Otherwise, he'd probably end up drinking it by accident. It was pretty murky that the alien might notice by himself, but it wouldn't help to be safe.
Heading downstairs might've been a bad idea. The lights were bright and the noise was even louder. He pulled the blanket he had dragged with him over his head sullenly. It didn't help that it took him a little while to actually get down the stairs. Why were these stairs so big again?
"Kohgrash! Prosh jok," Thruul exclaimed loudly upon seeing him. Ugh, he forgot how annoying it was to guess what was being said with context clues. He sulkily glared at Thruul for being so loud. "Mor ta lyr, Kohgrash, tash norish!"
The alien turned around with a bowl of thick, brothy soup. It was steaming and probably would've smelled good on any other day, but Viktor was fighting back nausea just looking at it. He turned away from it with a grimace, ignoring the concerned noise Thruul made.
"Where's Vok'Rul?" he asked instead.
"Ro, vokkra'mrr! Kohgrash ka por lyr'n!" Thruul called. His voice was only slightly louder than it had been upon seeing him, but Viktor's patience and tolerance for the alien plummeted as if it had risen decibels.
"Jesus," Viktor growled, gritting his teeth. "You never get taught your inside voice?" Thruul just beamed at him, tilting his head as he always did when Viktor spoke to him directly.
Vok'Rul came into the kitchen, tagged along by Nohkka, who seemed pretty upbeat today. The taller alien looked worried, immediately crouching to peer at Viktor closely. The alien's hand pulled at his blanket, and the teenager grumbled his displeasure, pushing his hands away. "Leave me be, I'm fine. My headache'll be gone by the time we get to the festival."
Vok'Rul said something then, which must have been horrific based on Nohkka's reaction. She immediately started yelling protests. Viktor slapped his hands over his ears.
Vok'Rul quickly quelled her, saying something that soothed her tantrum. Thank God. That little kid had lungs on her.
"Kohgrash ka comf, Nohkka," he chided quietly, gesturing to Viktor. Viktor squinted suspiciously.
"Don't bring me into this, man," he grumbled, shuffling toward the alien. He lifted his arms. "Carry me."
Vok'Rul obliged. Viktor was smug.
The alien was warm - like his own personal heater. It was always too cold on this planet, but today seemed especially frigid, even if he hadn't been outside yet. Wrapped up in a blanket and being carried wherever he wanted was a dream come true. If it weren't for this godforsaken headache.
Vok'Rul's heartbeat was steady and calming, even if it had an extra beat compared to his. The warmth and comfort the alien offered made him drowsy, but he managed to keep himself awake until they got back to the dining table. Kac and Rukka said something, to which Vok'Rul answered. At least tuning them out was easier when he had no idea what was being talked about. Their conversations quickly became background noise, and apart from the occasional intrusive clink of dinnerware against each other, Viktor soon found himself falling back into a light sleep.
A sharp slam brought him out of it with a jerk and a startled yell. The sudden movement caused his attention to shift to his headache, but adrenaline shot through him quickly, diminishing the pain.
"Tas tih, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul's soothing voice said. He said something else, likely explaining what the noise had been. Viktor could figure it out well enough. They were in the car. The door must have woken him up.
Viktor forced himself to relax. Vok'Rul still held him close to his chest. Didn't his arms get tired? Sure, Viktor was scrawny, but he had certainly put on a few pounds since Vok'Rul had picked him up from the pet store. Though, he thought of him lifting the alien who had given him a concussion with ease and figured that he probably weighed as much as a feather.
His heart thumped harshly and uncomfortably in his chest. He squirmed his way out of Vok'Rul's hold, despite the hushed protests that followed him all the way to the ground where he settled himself. He leaned against his tail, breathing through his nose in an attempt to calm his headache. Getting some more sleep, even if it was just twenty minutes, without the translator had done him some good.
By the time they had pulled up the festival, it was mostly gone. At least, it was much more manageable than it had been this morning. He wasn't feeling like he'd lose last night's dinner. He didn't know what would happen if he threw up anywhere. He had never expected his spit to be venomous for the Ghhorrah, but biting the aliens had shown no adverse effects. Both the ringmaster and Vok'Rul had gotten bit by him and lived, unfortunately in the former's case and fortunately for the latter. If his spit had such terrible effects on certain creatures, what would his stomach acid do? Probably nothing good.
Blanket abandoned on the floor of the car, Viktor carefully got out of the car, taking care not to trip and fall flat on his face. That was the last thing he needed.
He didn't have his harness on him - Vok'Rul must not have wanted to wake him up while they were getting ready to leave - but a quick, confused look at him had the alien pulling it out from the back of the car. He didn't attach any leash to the back of it, though, reasons for which became clear when he picked him up to carry him. A look out to the crowd of aliens in the park told him why. Viktor didn't want to get lost any more than Vok'Rul wanted him to.
It was crowded, like always, but it seemed to be even more today. These aliens must like crafts day. Most booths were double the normal size to accommodate the massive number of wares these aliens were selling. Viktor saw more aliens with floating carts than he had yesterday. It was loud and lively, the noise an almost overwhelming cacophony of words he didn't understand.
That reminded him. "Translator?" he asked the alien, reaching up to tap his cheek to catch his attention. The alien looked down at him, yellow eyes brimming with concern. He asked him something, probably an "are you sure?" by the tone of his voice. Viktor nodded, holding out his hand imperiously. He wouldn't be able to stand going through this day without his translator. He liked asking questions. He liked getting answers to his questions even more.
The buzzing of his device seemed louder than it had been the day before, but it was probably just his headache making it seem that way. Well, it didn't matter much to Viktor. He could filter out the noise easily, especially when he had something else to listen to.
"Are you sure you're alright, my little Kohgrash? I know that we have had a few busy days and that you're bound to be tired, but you haven't slept that much in a while. Is your head still bothering you? Oh! Look, Kohgrash, there's some water available. Let's go get you some. Do you need food? I have some jerky and treats in my pockets, of course. Like always! Thruul was quite put out when you declined his food; he made it especially for you, you know. Oh, not to guilt you or anything -"
Yeah, maybe it wasn't such a good thing that his alien was a chatterbox. Oh, well.
After some water, he reluctantly nibbled on some jerky. "Where're we gonna go first?"
Vok'Rul petted him - he hadn't stopped since handing him the jerky. It was a little annoying but it felt kinda nice, so Viktor didn't push his hand away - and slowly said, "Well, Rukka and Kac are going to browse the -" Viktor hid the pain that shot through his skull as the translator crackled. "- section. It has things like blankets and pillows. Though, most of it is likely for Vokkrus use."
Viktor shrugged. "Your pillows and blankets are comfortable to me," he said. They were a little scratchy, yes, and they would never be his soft, plush comforter that was likely gathering dust in his room, but they were good.
"We will go there, then!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Hey, eat some more of your food, Kohgrash."
Like the first and third days of the festival, the booths were sectioned off into themes. Viktor was having a hard time piecing together what exactly the theme was for some of the booths they passed, but overall, it was pretty self-explanatory. Art, hand-made goods, household items... the list was expansive. They passed at least seven booths selling blankets.
"Hey, there!" someone called to catch their attention. Viktor scrutinized the alien. They were a dark red, much darker than Vok'Rul, and standing behind a rather full booth. They had pieces of fabric draped off of every available surface. They had fanciful and elaborate designs - some were of trees and flowers Viktor had seen while others were geometric shapes and colors intermingling. As they got closer, Viktor realized that they were hanging tapestries. "How are you doing today, O Vokkra?" He added as an afterthought, "And company."
"We are well. What is it you are selling? I have never seen such a thing," Vok'Rul asked. Viktor gave him a weird look.
"Tapestries. You hang 'em," Viktor said, leaning over Vok'Rul's arms to get a better look. "They're like rugs for your walls."
"Well, Your Majesty, I like to call them fabric paintings. I have made every single one of these paintings with my own claw. I got the idea when my mammal, a cute little thing like yours, started to put its blankets on the wall. At first, I was irritated. Trying to explain why they can't do certain things - like putting holes in my wall, by the Spirits! - never goes well. But after the fifth time my mammal had plastered a blanket on the wall, I realized that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. First of all, it covered the holes it had made and second of all, it brought some color into the room.
"As you know, Your Majesty, most of our buildings lack wall decor. Why bother putting something on the wall, when you can simply have it on a table, instead? But that reasoning is obsolete, now, Your Majesty. My mammal has made me realize that all sorts of things can go on walls! So I learned how to create blankets and modified them only slightly to make them lighter, brighter, and prettier! Now, these can hang on your walls anywhere -"
Viktor pressed his face into Vok'Rul's shoulder, hoping the pressure was enough to quell the dull throbbing behind his eyes. It really wasn't. Why did every alien they met have to tell them their life story?
While Vok'Rul spoke with the other alien, something touched the top of Viktor's head. He snapped his eyes upward, mouth already opening in a snarl of surprise before he realized it was just Thruul. He dropped his head back onto Vok'Rul's shoulder, half-glaring at the shorter alien. "What do you want?" he asked grumpily.
"Poor little Kohgrash," Thruul cooed to him in a whisper, petting his hair gently. "Still feeling sick, huh?"
"Don't patronize me," he hissed in return, sliding down in Vok'Rul's arms to get away from the irritating alien. His plans were foiled when Thruul just stepped up beside Vok'Rul. "Ugh."
Vok'Rul seemed aware that Viktor was probably three seconds away from attacking Thruul and excused himself politely from the alien's booth. Understandably, the alien was a little dejected not having sold his wares to the Vokkra, but it bounced back when it snagged another pair of willing customers, curious to see what had caught Vok'Rul's attention.
"Thruul," he chided gently, fondly. His voice just made Viktor even grumpier. "I do not think Kohgrash would appreciate any undue stress at the moment."
"Of course not, my lord," Thruul said cheerfully. "I got him this, though." The alien pulled out one of the sugar-water apples, handing it to Viktor. "They had a food stand for mammals by the carts, and I picked one up before returning." It was only then that Viktor noticed the floating cart trailing after Thruul. Maybe that was for the better. Yesterday, the poor alien had been nearly overwhelmed with bags.
Viktor tried to maintain his scowl, but when he bit into the fruit, it disappeared. He didn't want to thank the alien, though. Couldn't he just give him the food without being annoying? Still, he was polite. And Thruul was just trying to help.
"Thank you," he grumbled in their language. Thruul grinned. It was getting less and less creepy. But still creepy.
Rukka, Kac, and Nohkka soon found their way over to the trio. None of them had any bags, yet, but he was sure that was about to change.
"I wanna see the toys," Nohkka complained somewhere behind Vok'Rul. Viktor tilted his head, a little curious about what sort of toys she could be talking about. He knew what human toys were, but he hadn't seen any alien toys. Were they more or less the same?
They were not.
They easily found a booth that advertised children's toys. There were a lot more small children hanging around than he expected, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Whatever this alien was selling seemed to be a hot commodity. Nohkka ran up to the stall without hesitation, briefly getting lost in the horde of children, which gave Viktor a mini heart attack before he located her again. Why wasn't Nohkka on the leash? She ran off more than he did!
She plucked a toy off of its display and eagerly showed her parents. Viktor, relishing the height advantage that was Vok'Rul, peered at the toy with interest. It was a cube, which disappointed Viktor. He expected something more... exotic. It fit in the palm of her hand easily, like a Rubik's Cube. But at least Rubik's Cubes were fun. This one was plain white.
"What?" Viktor said, dismayed. "Where's the fancy lights? Hovering parts? Things that are beyond a mortal's comprehension?"
"What are you talking about?" Vok'Rul asked him, amused.
"Alien toys," Viktor clarified. "I thought they'd be more... alien."
"Kohgrash, you're the alien here. And just watch."
Viktor did so, skeptically. Nohkka offered it up to Rukka after fiddling with it without success. The stone-faced alien gave her a small, fond look before twisting the cube and breaking it in half.
"Well, way to go, Rukka," Viktor laughed. "You broke -"
The cube erupted into light. Viktor slapped his hands over his eyes with a cry of shock. Once he couldn't see the blood vessels in both his eyelids and his hands, he pulled it away cautiously.
The cube spun in place, but it had splintered off into multiple pieces. They each glowed with an otherworldly light, soft and pulsating. they spun around Rukka's hand like a dance, and when the alien handed the pieces to her daughter, they hovered around hers, too.
Viktor was too far away to hear it, but Vok'Rul assured him that it played different music depending on how fast you spun it around. Now Viktor was burning with curiosity. He hasn't heard music since he left Earth! What did alien music sound like?
Vok'Rul brought him closer, and he found out that their music was kinda similar. Sure, there were instruments he'd never heard before, like this synthetic buzzing that sounded like a cross between bees and mosquitoes or this odd thrumming noise that seemed to vibrate his skull. But otherwise, there were melodies he could pick out and hum along to if he wanted.
Nohkka picked out another toy. Surprisingly, this one was made out of simple wood. It was a human figurine, crouched low with its arms splayed out. When she pressed down on its head, the whole thing bounced forward an inch when it sprung up. Nice to know the cheap, jumping toys were a thing on every planet.
"Look, Kohgrash, it's you! Jump! Jump!" she demanded excitedly, giving him the human figurine. He peered at it closely. Whoever made this definitely didn't know what a human looked like. It wasn't a small toy either, they just skimped out on all the details. The arms and legs were lumpy, and its back was arched in an impossible arc that resembled an animal more than anything.
"That's not me. My posture is way better." He handed it back to her.
"He said that's very lovely, Nohkka," Vok'Rul assured her. Nohkka smiled.
"You're so silly, Uncle Rul," she said with an air of certainty. Viktor saw Thruul nodding out of the corner of his eye. He grinned.
They lingered around the toy section for a while longer; Nohkka was drawn to every noisy, spinning, and buzzing object she could find. There was a booth that sold toys for humans, though, and while most were balls or ropes or noisemakers, there were a couple of interesting finds.
"Hello! I see you got yourself a mammal - Oh! Vokkra! I am honored to meet you," the alien stuttered, bowing low. It was a murky yellow. Slimmer and shorter than most, this alien looked quite embarrassed to have mistaken Vok'Rul for someone else. "And is that Kohgrash in your arms? Quite the remarkable specimen!"
"I am very remarkable," Viktor preened, leaning forward to peer into the alien's booth. The alien shifted, and his eyes flickered to its face quickly, staring at it shrewdly. It seemed more awed than wary of him, which was a nice change of pace.
"My," the alien whispered. "O Vokkra, you are rather incredible. Taming such a beast to lie docile in your arms."
Viktor bared his teeth in disgust. This fucking guy. He wasn't some animal! He leaned out of Vok'Rul's arms and swung his arm back, fists curled, and growled, "I'll show you docile, you banana-looking idiot-!"
Vok'Rul's claws curled around his wrist to prevent him from throwing a punch. The yellow alien didn't even seem to realize that it was being shouted at, too enraptured by Viktor to notice - or care - about the obvious signs of aggression he was giving it. Vok'Rul spoke loudly over Viktor, saying, "Yes, my Kohgrash is remarkable, indeed. I could not imagine life without him. What is it that you are selling? It is catered toward mammals?"
That was nice of Vok'Rul to say. At least there was one alien who didn't see him as an animal.
The alien's wares were toys, again. Which was a no-brainer since they were still in the toy section of the festival. But, as the alien explained, these toys were geared toward humans instead of Vokkrus.
Viktor, skeptical, eyed the booth. While some of the stuff he had back at Vok'Rul's and his were cool - the glowing ball and Rubik's sphere were things he enjoyed a lot - most of what was offered was stuff he'd buy for a dog. Nothing that would entertain him.
"A bored mammal is a deadly mammal," the yellow alien explained. "They are a danger to themselves and others. Have you heard of that story in New Kardha? Those mammals managed to create -" Loud crackling in his ear. "- madzta! Amazing! It's never been done before by such primitive animals!"
"Fuck this guy," Viktor grumbled. "What's mad...tza?" he struggled to mimic all the complexities of their language, especially when the translator added extra buzzing and popping sounds. Sure, it wasn't perfect. Viktor had noticed that it didn't translate names very well. But it was the best they could do for now. He wondered if Blacksmith was working on another version.
"Wow, O Splendid Vokkra!" the alien was awestruck, looking at Viktor like he was a shiny gold bar put on display. "I did not know they could mimic words that well! Kohgrash, can you say madtza?"
Viktor stared at him, mouth slightly open in a half-formed sneer. Vok'Rul's hand settled on the top of his head.
"My Kohgrash can speak many words. He also knows their meanings. Mammals are extremely intelligent. Much more than we give them credit for," Vok'Rul interrupted before Viktor could tell the alien to fuck himself. "Your wares?"
"Oh yes! The mammals at New Kardha were bored, extremely so. The toys they were given had lost their charm in less than a day. So, I decided to make them challenging toys, just to prevent another flame incident."
Flame. Madtza must mean fire. Why wasn't it translating, then? Maybe his translator was on its last legs. That slightly worried him. Viktor didn't know if he could go back to playing charades with Vok'Rul.
The alien pulled out a wooden box. The lid had some funky, swirly design on it, wrapping around the edges and falling off onto the sides. When the lid was pulled back, different shapes of wood were slotted together in a pattern. There were about twelve pieces in total.
"A puzzle?" Viktor asked no one in particular, leaning down to look at it.
"I call it a fit-together!" the alien said proudly. It lifted the box toward Viktor, shaking it loudly. Viktor recoiled with a flinch and a glare. He glanced at the box, noting that the pieces were disorganized now. "Mammals like to see patterns, Your Majesty, and they'll know intrinsically how to solve this. I'm sure yours, of course, will solve it rather quickly."
Vok'Rul set Viktor gently on the top of the booth, which was higher than he would've liked. His back was also toward the yellow alien, which he quickly rectified. He got his feet underneath him, kneeling on the hard wood instead of sitting cross-legged.
"Here, Kohgrash, would you like to try it?" Vok'Rul asked him, taking the small box from the yellow alien's hands (who looked like they were internally freaking out) and giving it to Viktor.
Viktor hummed skeptically at the box, eyeing the yellow alien cautiously. When it didn't make a move to stop him as his hands moved toward the scattered pieces, his gaze flickered back to Vok'Rul. His alien gave him an encouraging nod.
The puzzle itself was pretty easy. There were only a handful of blocks to keep track of and the patterns were literally half-visible at the bottom of the box. Matching them together was a piece of cake. He shoved them all together in probably thirty seconds. "Do you got any other ones? With more pieces?" he asked the yellow alien, whose expression was shocked.
Vok'Rul bought him some puzzles. Turns out, the alien did have more complicated ones, much to Viktor's delight. It would certainly stave off some boredom. Plus, Viktor could dump out the pieces somewhere so he couldn't cheat, making it that much more of a challenge.
Another puzzle the alien had were disentanglement puzzles. At first, Viktor had no idea what those even were - it didn't help that the alien called them 'freedom puzzles' - but when the alien demonstrated that all he had to do was get a small ring free from the puzzle, he realized what they were. Viktor had one at home; two horseshoes linked with a chain. Getting the ring out of that one simply required the horseshoes to line up and slide it off. Easy.
These were a little more complicated.
The yellow alien handed him (cautiously) one of the puzzles. It was made of seven metal bars that shot straight up out of a wooden platform, each shorter than the last. The ring was at the top of the tallest rod, and shockingly, it hovered. Viktor yanked on it, not too surprised when it wouldn't move an inch. That'd be too easy.
Poking and prodding revealed that it only went down the rods. Viktor picked up the contraption and set it on his lap to get a closer look. He finally managed to get the ring to the next hook when his finger slipped through the rod. Bewildered, Viktor pushed the ring through in the same spot.
"What's going on?" he asked, looking up at Vok'Rul. As far as he knew, physics was definitely a universal thing. Objects shouldn't pass together like that.
"It's a hologram?" Vok'Rul asked the alien, who nodded gleefully.
"Yes! Mammals have trouble with figuring out what's real and what's not," the alien said. Viktor snorted. Now that he knew it was a hologram, it was easy to see the other spots where the rods weren't solid. Though, it didn't explain how the top part of the rod was floating. Maybe it was similar to their floating cars. "And after a round has been completed, the location of each hologram changes on every rod!" That made it a little more interesting. And Viktor liked how the ring was floating, too.
He was given another, trickier puzzle. This one was made out of fabric and wood. The idea for this one was to get all of the wood pieces lined up without twisting the piece of fabric that ran through all of them. The trouble was that the wood pieces were on metal tracks, only able to move in certain directions. Viktor gave up after five minutes of trying, but Vok'Rul bought it for him anyway. He bought a lot of things from the stall, actually.
"I can pay you back when we get back to Earth," Viktor tried, feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the things Vok'Rul was purchasing for him. "Well, we'd have to figure out a currency conversion rate, but -"
"Nonsense," Vok'Rul cut him off with a harsh whisper. "Just think of it as an apology for abducting your species." Well, okay then. Viktor supposed he could let it slide. The moment they stepped foot on Earth, though, he'd buy the alien a real puzzle.
They split off from Rukka, Kac, and Nohkka. The latter wanted to look at more of the toys, completely enraptured by them. Rukka and Kac, unfortunately for them, were enraptured by her, so they succumbed to her wishes easily. Viktor waved them goodbye, not jealous of them in the slightest.
Thruul, Vok'Rul, and he made their way back to the first section they had found themselves in; the fabric/blanket/tapestry section. They were about to simply pass through to an adjacent section before Viktor stopped their progress with a yell of "Oh my god, that pillow's huge!"
"What, what'd he say?" Thruul asked in a startled voice when Vok'Rul stopped dead in his tracks. The poor alien had to steady the small pile of things piled on the cart as they wobbled precariously. He wasn't very good at stacking things.
"He wants to look at this pillow," Vok'Rul explained distractedly as he picked his way over to the stall. Viktor was a little embarrassed that the alien stopped going where he wanted to on his account, but, to be fair, the pillow was huge. It was probably six feet long and three feet wide.
It looked soft and fluffy, too. Viktor didn't know what they were stuffed with, but the ones in Vok'Rul's bed were decadent. The pillow was on display beside the stall, taking up most of the space. Viktor leaned out to brush his fingers against it. It was really soft.
"Ah, I must ask you to refrain from allowing your mammal to touch my goods. We are a strict no-mammal stall, here -" The alien speaking, a reddish-brown one, paused in his request upon seeing Vok'Rul. "Vokkra. It is an honor to have you at my stall," it bowed respectfully. "But I must insist that you follow my wishes." Its voice was wary as if half-expecting Vok'Rul to start attacking him.
"My apologies," Vok'Rul said, stepping away. Viktor frowned, rolling his eyes. It wasn't as if he were dirty, for God's sake. He was just touching it! "You have lovely wares."
Viktor had to admit that that was true. The pillows this alien was selling looked very comfortable. Of course, Viktor couldn't touch them (which was stupid), but they looked squishy. He enjoyed squishy pillows. There were so many in different shapes and sizes; some were long and skinny, circular, square, or spherical.
The alien, pleased that Viktor was not touching his stuff and that the Vokkra was at its stall, explained to him how they were made - in depth. Viktor was about to jump out of Vok'Rul's arms and hope that the fall knocks him unconscious. At least he found out what they were stuffed with.
"The finest of wool from Prrakam, Your Highness, off the finest moras that harvesters can find."
Well, that didn't explain anything. At least he knew it was wool.
Vok'Rul ended up buying a few pillows from the vendor, including the really large one. Viktor couldn't wait to shove that around his bed. It would make everything one hundred times more comfortable.
"Kohgrash, Thruul, let's go to the wood section," Vok'Rul said, barely able to hide his glee and excitement at the mere prospect. "I am hoping to find Korat'ska there."
"He'll be there," Thruul assured him, adopting the tone of someone who's had this exact conversation several years in a row.
Vok'Rul's excitement was infectious, though, and while they pushed their way to the wood section, Viktor couldn't help but burn with curiosity about the things they could make from wood. These aliens had floating cars, floating statues, and holograms. If their woodwork was anything like their technology, Viktor couldn't wait to see it.
***
Vocabulary:
jok: morning
ka comf: is ill, or is sick
Kohgrash ka por lyr'n: Kohgrash (wants) you to come in here
mor ta lyr: here you go
norish: food
prosh: good
ro: an exclamation to get someone's attention, translated literally to hey!
tas: you're
tash: your
tih: okay, alright