Victarius slept lightly and little in the presence of what he would have considered horrible monsters as a child. Things had quickly gone awry since he had left the Sky Lattuce, and he had been forced to make concessions he otherwise normally wouldn't. The first and most major being his fraternizing with mutants and other abominations. He had long since made peace with this inevitability, and he suspected that all other such 'chosen ones' of the Lattuce sent down on one assignment or another had either made a similar choice or simply perished. This land was far too dangerous and cruel to reject a helping hand, even a mutants.  

He had slowly warmed up to the man-camel, but had interacted little with the raccoon who seemed to be in charge. He did not remember their names and had tried to fly under their radar. Attracting unnecessary attention was often a bad idea. Instead, he had mirrored many of the others, observing and simply sizing one another up. He had been educated about a variety of different creatures that lived below, such as the Great Saltbacks, but the sheer breadth of diversity was astounding. He couldn't help but ponder what wondrous abilities even his fellow travelers had concealed. And don’t even get him started on the times of day and the way light mingled down here, altogether alien compared to an upbringing above the clouds. 

Even if he had wanted to socialize more, he struggled. He did not know many of the customs and phrases they used. Live and drink was one he had learned early on but was still hesitant as he was unsure of just how much he didn't know and didn't wish to make a fool of himself. He considered the fungal type creature that had been a fellow traveler, and though he wouldn't say it aloud, he was very glad for his P.A.S. Not only did it help protect him from the radiation or diseases that any or all of them may carry, but it also allowed him to shyly hide his face behind the visor. He shook his head, as grim and intrusive thoughts came to him on if the slightest puncture in his suit would spell certain death.

He was stirred from his thoughts by the sound of the secret whistle all members of their group knew. He stood as he often did, staring straight up into the open sky, wondering where the Lattuce was or how its inhabitants were doing. He had already packed up his lynx leather bedroll and slung it over his shoulder, a possession he had been given by a sympathetic mutant that was the first sentient being he had met upon landfall. Boy had that been an uncomfortable interaction. He hadn’t seen his mechanical companion Kuro all morning, and was only mildly concerned. He began walking before pausing briefly to look back at his own footsteps. Reading about it or hearing about it was one thing, but it was still all too surreal to him, the sheer size of this salt desert. 

One unfortunate downside to the PAS and its helmet was that it automatically filtered smells, both pleasant and not. Because of this, it was only when he was within eyesight of the feast did he realize both what it was and how hungry he felt. His stomach rumbled loudly, and saliva already was forming in his mouth. While on the Lattuce, he had been a relatively picky child. He had eaten the lower castes foods, primarily nutri-paste-like synthetic foods, and actual organic grown foods from the hydroponics facility. Out here he had been forced to eat things he wouldn't even have considered before, and he wasn't sure if the attractiveness of the feast was genuine or due to his seeming unending hunger. 

He undid the pressurized neck clasps and took his helmet off, the sun seeming to intensify tenfold, temporarily blinding him. As he squinted and blinked away the light, he focused on the smell of the cooking flesh, and a smile crept upon his lips. He took what look similar to a shish kebab with a desert rat he had seen many times as they crossed the Moghra’Yi. It was fairly small, perhaps the size of a squirrel, and rather quick and agile. Without hesitation, he bit a large piece of its greasy flesh from it and began chewing. It was succulent. 

[color=00aeef]“Live and drink!”[/color] he blurted out happily as he chewed, before nodding sheepishly towards the man-camel and racoon. He hadn’t even noticed that he was the first here, and hadn’t waited for any of the others. He hoped he hadn’t acted disrespectfully, and swallowed hard. Looking around and waiting for a few seconds, he saw none coming and looked back to the shish kebab. His stomach grumbled again, having been teased with food now.

Shrugging, he took another semi-guilty bite.