Beep! Beep! Beep!

The digital alarm clock that sat on the bedside table blared like an annoying siren. A gigantic mass shifted underneath the piles of heavy blankets at the sound and a drawn out groan came out. The blankets were pushed away ever so slightly and a large hand reached out from under them. It felt around, almost knocking the clock off the table, and slapped all the buttons down in a swift motion. The beeping came to an abrupt end, cut short to its next loud beep.

The hand retracted back into the warmth and the hand's owner lifted his head off the generously used pillow. Strands of his short silver hair stuck out in odd angles on his head. Hair locks blocked his sight; he probably looked like some swamp monster with that kind of bed head. He brought a hand to his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair. It felt greasy, he hadn't had the chance to wash away the sins of last night's partying.

Mako's head throbbed as his red eyes focused on the blue numbers on the clock's screen. Six o-three AM, the clock read and Mako groaned again. He wanted to pull the blanket back over his head and go back to sleep. But he did like having food on the table. Calling in sick due to a terrible hangover was unacceptable. He was supposed to finish the bi-yearly report for his boss and promised to do overtime today. Mako began to regret falling for the temptation of an overtime paycheck. Fine, it was time to stop putting off getting ready before it was too late.

The many layers of blankets rolled off Mako's body as he sat upright, falling over to the floor. His room was dark and chilly except for the tiny ray of yellow sunlight filtering through a crack in his curtains. Mako threw his legs over the side of the bed and rested his feet on the floor when the effects of the hangover hit him hard. His stomach churned, the muscles in his lower back ached, and the headache refused to go away. God how he regretted going out for drinks with Vega last night. The previous night was lost in a drunken haze but at least he managed to get home in one piece. He had no idea what he did or said during that time. Hopefully nothing too stupid.

Mako opted to keep the curtains close to let his headache pain stay to a minimum. He gathered his work clothes and lumbered towards the bathroom. His apartment bathroom was small but it did everything he needed it to. A hot shower eased some of the hangover symptoms. With a hand, Mako wiped away the steam covering the mirror. He looked at himself and his reflection stared back at him quietly. Man, he looked like utter shit. Silver five o-clock shadow dusted his jawline and the whites of his eyes were pink from both tiredness and the hangover. His damp hair sat sadly on his head and face. Mako couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight. Same shit, brand new day.

He combed out his hair and pulled it up into its usual high ponytail. The stubble was shaved away with a clean razor and he slapped some aftershave on his face. Slowly, he was beginning to look like a normal human being again. Mako slipped his arms into a clean, white collar shirt, buttoned it closed, and wrapped a red necktie just below the collar. Freshly pressed beige dress pants and shined dress shoes brought together his work attire. Some would mistake him for a lawyer but always get disappointed when he told them he was only in accounting. Mako was supposed to be in a better job instead of crunching numbers but there he was, grabbing his leather bag filled with budget and salary reports.

To chase away the headache and morning sickness, he downed a cocktail of over-the-counter painkillers and stomach medicine in one gulp. He slammed the little plastic bottle down on the dining room table, snagged his jacket off the wall rack, and headed for the front door. Yawning and clearing the mental cobwebs from his head, Mako took the door handle in hand and opened the door inward. The man closed and locked the door behind him with his key. Mako flipped open his sunglasses and was about to place them over his eyes when he paused for a moment.

He stopped at the giant rat perched on the apartment's metal railing in front of him.

The sight didn't register into Mako's head immediately. He just stared at the creature in silence.

Its fur was short, blond, and very filthy. The ends of its fur were smoldering which caused smoke to rise off the rat's scrawny body. Its orange eyes, large and glowing, blinked twice and its long snout twitched in Mako' general direction. He thought it was some robot or a really strange prank played by the local kids that like to pick on him.

Until it moved its entire body.

The rat hopped off the railing, making the concrete floor to quake beneath Mako's feet. It stood up to its full height, about a staggering twenty feet tall on its hind legs. It towered over the tiny Mako. The blood in his veins froze when the gigantic rat spoke to him like a normal human being.

It opened its mouth and a loud, booming voice came out. "Yer a hard man to find, Mister Rutledge, you know that?" It didn't sound hostile at all to him. Sounded more like an old friend scolding his best buddy. "This city is completely bonkers, mate! Not a single landmark I could make out! Had to follow yer scent." A glowing orange rune appeared under the rat's fleshy feet. In an instant, the rat's entire body was engulfed in a torrent of flames but they held no heat to them. The fire died down and a young man now bounced out before Mako.

"Da-na-na-na-naaaahhhh!" The rat turned human cheered as he threw his arms up into the air. He then placed his fists on his hips as he showed off his body by giving himself a look over. "I clean up good, don't I?"

The man was tall but Mako was still about a foot taller than him. His face was sharp and angular. His body was thin, stick thin compared to Mako's roundness. What he was wearing was certainly peculiar. He wore a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his biceps and an orange bow tie around under his collar. A while apron was tied around his slim waist, right above the band of his pants. His black dress pants were clean and ironed with a crease in both legs. Black shoes made out of high quality leather and shined to perfection dressed his feet. He looked like he hopped right out of the front cover of a male café magazine Mako liked to read from time to time.

The man's ragged rat ears twitched where normal ears should have been and his rat tail swished from left to right. He smile brightly at the bigger man, showing off pearl white teeth. "Are ya gonna let me inside yer house or are we gonna stand here, lookin' pretty?" He asked him with a tilt of his head.

Mako blinked several times. Rat ears, rat tail, magic…He chalked it up quickly to what he was seeing to a mere dream. He had strange dreams all the time, especially ones that started with him getting ready for work. He decided to let this dream run its course.

"Uh, sure. Why the hell not." Mako replied. He turned his back to the man and fished out his keys from his pocket. "Let me just unlock the door." It was the most adult response he could give to a dream.

The man slipped pass Mako, giving him another smile as he entered the residence. Mako closed the door behind him when he reentered his home.

"So you're saying we met last night and I said you could stay here with me? Are you sure about that?" asked Mako.

The two men sat at the dining room table across from each other. The strange rat man, Jamison was his name, kept his posture straight and at attention while Mako had his back curved and his shoulders slouched.

"I'm positive!" Jamison said. "I never lie unless yer tryin' to kill me or steal from me."

Mako shook his head at himself. All of this was too real. Why wasn't he waking up from this dream? His eyes watched Jamison's tail move back and forth against the hardwood floor. His eyes returned to Jamison's face and he shook his head once more. Unless this wasn't a dream at all. It was difficult to wrap his head around all this.

"Remind me again where we met." Mako said, trying to sound the least demanding as he possibly could.

Jamison's arm shot into the air as he pointed upwards. "We met in that muddy ravine in the mountains!" he declared. "I wasn't expectin' to meet a human in a place like that, if you ask me. I thought I would die out there!"

"The muddy ravine in the mountains…" Mako parroted the man's words. The memory was fuzzy but it was coming back to him in pieces. He remembered wandering through a dark forest, laughing at his own jokes with the company of his favorite bottle of whiskey. Then he took a rather hard tumble down a hill; no wonder his back hurt and ached so much. A giant rat in the mountains, trapped against the muddy earth with golden chains. Mako remembered the sight a little more clearly now. He recalled in his drunken stupor that he thought the rat guy was funny as hell, even sharing a drink with the creature.

"Wanna come stay over at my place, rat?" His own slurred speech echoed in Mako's head. He groaned as he put his face in his hands and rubbed his temples in circular motions.

Jamison stared at him with intense eyes. "I'll never forget what you did fer me, mate! I can start with being yer personal servant right this second. I'm itchin' to get to work fer ya!"

"I'm not interested." Mako said.

The smile of Jamison's face fell away and transformed into a frown. "W-what?" his voice cracked when he spoke.

"I'm not interested in hiring a servant right now." He explained flatly.

"But you wouldn't have to pay me a single cent!" Jamison retorted, slapping his hands down on the table. "I'll do the work free of charge, just fer you!"

"Look, that's not what –" Mako began to say before he was interrupted.

"A god like me can be super useful to a round mortal such as yerself, Mister Rutledge!" Jamison blurted out. "I could take the whole city down in a fiery explosion or I could curse all the drongos you hate to very painful and drawn out deaths!"

Mako responsed quickly, "You're not going to do any of that." And leaned back in his chair. "But I have to ask, why a servant? Why not just be a god or whatever it is you are?"

"'Cause you said something about my body frame would look great in a servant's outfit. Plus, you said it worked better for you."

Goddammit drunk Mako. Curse him for his big mouth and for not keeping his little passion as secret. No he had a literal magical rat god seated just a few feet from him. What kind of mess he gotten himself into? "Sorry, Jamison," Mako got up from his chair and reached for his bag from off the floor. "I can't let you stay here. I already have enough on my plate as it is. I'm fine by myself."

It was quiet. Jamison held his head down low and stood to his feet. "Yeah, I get it." He mumbled. "Sorry fer droppin' in and wastin' yer time, I guess."

Mako watched as Jamison shuffled pass him, keeping his head down. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. His stomach twisted in knots when he saw the tears in the corners of the younger man's eyes. This guilt he was feeling at the sight; why was all he could ask himself. Mako squeezed his fists tight and looked away. He couldn't, he wouldn't. The click of the door opening caused his heart to beat harder in his chest. He made a promise, didn't he? Even if he made that said promise drunk, it was still a promise nonetheless. Man, how he hated himself sometimes.

"Hey Jamison," Mako started to then the clock on the wall rang several times. Eight-fifty AM, it said. His fast beating heart soon fell to his stomach in realization. Fuck, he was going to be late for his shift. It would take him forty-five minutes to get to the office by train. No way he would make it in time to not get chewed out by his boss. He rushed to Jamison and slapped his massive hand on the man's wide shoulder before he left out the door. "Jamison, can you get me to work as fast as you can?!" Mako asked, exasperated.

Jamison looked at the taller man. His orange eyes grew wide with excitement, sparkling in the morning sun, and the smile returned to his face. "Sure I can!"