It's sad when a grown man - older than Victor by a fair chunk even! - has the bearing of a teenager, but the disenfranchised youth are particularly skilled at antisocial lurking.

At the mention of ear scratches, Wikus finds himself glancing up and down between Makkachin and his owner.

"I can pet him?" he asks for confirmation, as if it's hard to believe someone would let him. Honestly, he's actually surprised that the dog isn't barking or growling at him. Subconsciously he'd been expecting it to be like a horror movie, where animals always know about the monster before anyone else.

Of course, Prawns aren't really monsters, are they? (But maybe he is.)