Mine...Yours Pt. 06

"Then she would die." Lucretia said with a small nod. I shook my head.

"You know, you are kind of a grim roommate to have. Things are always death, dying and such. We need to get you started on Disney movies or something!"

"What's a Disney movie?" Lucretia asked.

"Something for another time. We are talking about accidently stepping on Mrs., I mean Ms. Rat."

I took a deep breath causing Lucretia to rise and fall on my chest as my lungs expanded then deflated. It made her giggle.

Gosh she sure was cute! In a razor-toothsome kind of way.

"So Ms. Rat is hurt...whose fault is it? Who takes responsibility?" I continued. Lucretia seemed to think it over and then...

"No one's at fault." I nodded and then waited expectantly. She saw I was waiting for something else, then shrugged.

"You are right, no one's at fault...what about responsibility?"

"I don't understand."

"An accident means no one's at fault but..." I reached out and lightly rubbed my thumb around the base of her horns and she leaned into my hand with equal pressure. "...since it was my foot that harmed her, I bear the responsibility of helping her."

"What would you have to do, Master?" Lucretia asked sleepily. I almost got mad at her for using that title then saw her face. My rubbing of her head seemed to be lulling her to sleep! I just grinned and kept rubbing letting her comment slide.

"I would first tell her I was sorry and then do my best to help heal her. I would take care of her responsibilities that she could no longer do...within reason of course. Like feeding her family if she had any, that sort of thing."

"I see...I...ooh." Lucretia said, right before she passed out. I could hear her soft breathing as she finally succumbed to my soft touches. I gave her a minute or two to make sure she was soundly asleep, then moved her over to my bed and gently laid my blanket over her. I can't imagine what that must have been like for her, waking up to me swinging around and all. I still felt really bad for that. I quietly went down stairs, and took a quick birdbath rinse in the kitchen sink. I saw the sun wasn't up yet, but there was no way I could sleep right now.

My legs were feeling better, still a little wobbly but not useless. I went out to my back porch, took out a can of wintergreen chew and put in a dip, spitting over the side into the grass. I sat down on the steps leading to the backyard and laid back on the wood deck of the porch, looking up at the sky. Then I allowed myself to think about it. The dream, or whatever the hell that was. Some people would call it a "vision" or some such. I choose to call it a dream. Whatever it was, my other aspects had been trapped with it down there for a while, and that mysterious power I had was in there as well.

"What was that thing?" I said aloud.

I heard a light squeak by my head.

I almost...almost slapped my hand down hard in the direction of the noise! As it was I turned to see Mrs....I mean, uh...Ms. Rat looking at me.

Now rats aren't all that big, I've seen them as pets before. To have one easily within arms reach, and looking right at my face? Kind of, not scary, but definitely disconcerting.

"Are you...?" I heard amongst a soft squeak. I blinked, and the rat shuffled a little closer. Its beady eyes were watching me closely, as if it were unsure of something. Its whiskers were twitching and finally it stood up on its hind legs looking down at my face. I just realized...this is a big rat! It was comparable in size to my forearm!

"Are you well?" I heard this time with no squeak. It was a soft voice more suited for a nanny. Not the twenty-year old babysitter, but the older nanny type. The one that takes your kids to school, cooks a balanced nutritional meal, washes them and puts them to bed with a short story like Aesop's fables.

"I...uh...probably not." I responded slowly.

Ms. Rat put her little paw on my forehead.

"You don't..." The last part of what she said dissipated into squeaks and she sounded just like a rat again. I pulled my head away and sat up. She almost recoiled from me, but stood her ground.

"Let's get something straight here..." I began, only to be cut off by a flurry of squeaks and chirps and then she rolled over on her back! Good going Greg, you are such a bad ass, you are an absolute terror to every rodent you meet! Without thinking too much about it I picked up Ms. Rat and cradled her in my arms. I gently stroked her fur and I felt the tremors die away. Every now and again I would hear a soft squeak and then I felt her nestle her nose into the crook of my elbow. I continued to stroke her and began to talk.

"Funny, Ms. Rat, I could have sworn I heard you speak. Not sure if you can understand what I am saying, but...yeah. I have had a tough couple of days and am not really at my best. Actually, in a way...I kind of feel like I am at my best! This past week, my life has been shaken and pulled in so many different directions I don't know which way to turn. I got a werewolf, a vampire and a witch as neighbors. I got a succubus as a roommate, and now I have a talking rat living in my back yard. My life, well...my head is kinda full right now."

I looked down at the rodent, and I could see her eyes were closed, and I was feeling kind of peaceful in a way, holding this animal. Weird that she relaxed like that, I know I couldn't have done it if I was being held by something that was so much bigger than me. I felt a little tenderness in my belly for the critter. That's when I heard it, the soft squeaks changed.

"It's indecent! I shouldn't be doing this, but it's been so long since someone held me, and petted me! He smells so nice and he's so warm. I'll just pretend I am his, for a little while..." That nice voice began to fade and soon she was still.

I must be going crazy! I heard it! Distinct as day! This rat just TALKED! I sighed and gently rubbed her fur at the base of her neck.

"No can do, I heard you. We don't have to talk about it now, but we will later." I said softly. One of her ears twitched, and the rat turned its head to peer up at me with one button eye. "You don't have to say anything now...but if this is a trick someone's playing on me heads are going to roll, understood?" The rat squeaked once, and turned its head into the crook of my arm. It was shortly after that I fell asleep.

I awoke to a snarl and a rat cowering in my arms! Lucretia was in full battle mode towering over us both!

"Thief! Now you try to steal MY master?" she barked. One long fingered hand reached for the rat who was squeaking frantically, and I crossed my arms over the animal so Lucretia couldn't reach it without hurting me.

"Hang on! Hold it!" I yelled, turning my body from side to side as Lucretia tried to grab my arms.

"Greg...that creature is trying to lure you into becoming its Master!" She declared, finally getting a grip on Ms. Rat's tail and trying to pull her out of my arms. I quickly snatched the poor rat in my left hand and gripped Lucretia's wrist with my right.

I finally had some breathing room and said, "Nothing happened! Ms. Rat came up to me to see how I was doing, I thought I heard her speak; actually I did hear her speak. Then I picked her up and held her because she looked, I don't know...Just stop and let's talk this out okay?"

Why did I feel like my girlfriend caught me hugging another woman she didn't like?

Lucretia held still. Then stared hard at the rat, and slowly let go of her tail. I moved Ms. Rat back to the crook of my arm and I stood there, waiting on Lucretia to make the next move. Strangely, Ms. Rat was the one who started talking.

"I didn't mean it, Lady. I saw him lying on his porch and became concerned. People don't normally do that. I came up and asked him if he was well, and then tried to check his temperature. Then he sat up, and I don't think he understood me..." If a rat could blush, Ms. Rat sure looked like she wanted to. Lucretia gave her no slack. My succubus bent closer to Ms. Rat and said in a low voice, "And then...?"

With a nervous twitch of her whiskers Ms. Rat said quaveringly, "He picked me up, and began to stroke...my fur. He was petting me!" She scrubbed her little paws over her face. "It has been years since anyone held me. I didn't think there would be any harm to just imagine that I had a wizard again. I know he is yours, but I just wanted..."

"Excuse me..." I interrupted then used both hands to hold the rat up to my face. "Did you just say you wished to have a wizard again?"

"Yes milord." Came the reply.

"Call me milord again, and I will feed you to a python! My name is Gregory, Greg to my friends. You can call me Gregory, because now I feel like an idiot for trusting a talking rat." I paused.

Well, there is a sentence I never thought I would say in my life.

"Yes, Gregory!" Ms. Rat squeaked in fright. There I go again, scaring poor defenseless creatures!

"So what's this about a wizard? And years? Rats only live like two or three years." I asked.

"I once was a wizard's familiar. I was bound to him. With all the magic we cast together I came to have a long life, with long lives comes knowledge." Ms. Rat responded.

I thought about it, made sense in a fashion. I know from reading fantasy novels and such it...but this isn't fantasy. I am holding in my hands a talking rat! I glanced at Lucretia who seemed rather contemplative. Well, I had a make out session with one figment of myth last night, so a talking rat shouldn't be too hard to swallow. Which made me think of the python reference I made earlier. I'm a jerk!

"I apologize for threatening you with, well...feeding you to a python. That was rude of me and I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me?" Lucretia stared at me in surprise, so did Ms. Rat. Though I am not very good at telling anything from a rat's facial expressions.

"Nothing to forgive mil...Gregory." Ms. Rat said faintly.

"So where is your wizard?" I asked. I did a quick check around the yard with my Sight, but didn't see anyone in robes and a pointy hat waiting to ambush me.

"He cast me out. He wanted a new familiar, one that was more "socially acceptable" so he sent me away after he successfully gained a new companion." Her ears drooped; it was like watching one of those 3D animated movies. She was so cute doing that! "For fifteen years I served him faithfully, then that cat came into the house and I was gone!" Ms. Rat said fiercely. I blinked.

"He got a cat?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, an evil tiger-striped cat! Threatened to have me eaten if I didn't leave! I was out and in the street and didn't know where to go. I was smarter than the other rats but they were all horrid! I had no one to turn to and until I was in your house and your friend grabbed me I didn't have a place to live!"

I then found out that a rat could cry and it was heart breaking!

"Then I saw you had a succubus, I thought you must have magic, maybe I could talk to you. Then this morning you held me, and it felt so good to be touched again, I missed it so! I know it was wrong, but I just wanted to dream a little! To believe I was wanted again!"

Oh stars and little fishes...I was going to cry! I looked over at Lucretia whose eyes were on Ms. Rat, she was doing her blank face routine, but I could feel it in her scar where her fists were clenched. For some reason this story struck a nerve with her. A really big, deep nerve!

"What is your name?" I asked softly while smoothing back Ms. Rat's whiskers.

"Nancy." Nancy replied. I tried not to laugh. Nancy did not seem like a rat name at all! Then again, what would be a good name for a talking rat? All the usual ones didn't seem to work. Crackers? Peanut? An old high school buddy had a rat named Wilfred, but he was a weird dude. Nancy is as good a name as any other. Actually the more I looked at her, the more like a Nancy she looked.

I glanced back at Lucretia and her fingers were laced together, and she had put on her human form. Probably because we were in our backyard, and it was close to the middle of the day, hard to explain her appearance with Halloween come and gone with Thanksgiving on the way. She stared hard at Nancy who turned in my arms to return Lucretia's stare, but her eyes were much softer.

"Thank you for being civil..." Nancy said, "...I would never come between a familiar and their Master." Lucretia nodded, but her lips were still in a firm line. I thought of the lesson of responsibility I tried to explain to Lucretia up in my room. I had an idea!

"Well. Lucretia, Nancy. Let's get something to eat." With that, I turned and walked towards the backdoor of the house, Nancy still in my arms.

"Greg!" Lucretia shouted. I looked over my shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Nancy stays outside in her shed!"

"Did you nearly kill her?"

"Well...I wanted to..." She replied.

"You had a misunderstanding with her?" I asked pointedly.

"I...yes. But she wasn't hurt and she's fine!"

"True, but you almost killed her and scared her half to death."

I began to subtly move my arms to make Nancy shake. She seemed to get what I was doing and started trembling on her own.

"Look at her..." I chided Lucretia. "She is still shaking, least you can do is give her a good meal?"

My succubus started to open her mouth with an angry retort, and stopped. She appeared to mull it over and with a grimace nodded her head in assent.

"Fine, we will feed the thief, then she goes back out to the shed!"

I heard Lucretia muttering to herself in another language as she stalked past me into the house. Nancy chittered happily then looked up into my face. "You are a good teacher Gregory!" I shrugged, almost making the rat lose balance.

"I try."

Chapter 20: Royalty

Lucretia was making toasted cheese on Dave's Killer Bread. Yes that is the name of the brand of bread; it's real, it's in Oregon, and it is tasty. I grabbed a towel and set it on one side of the table for Nancy to sit on and started cooking up a quick skillet for myself to share with Lucretia. I watched her from the corner of my eye, she had her arms crossed and was staring at the toaster. It was like she was purposefully avoiding looking at anyone else.

I cut up some potatoes and ham, cracked a couple eggs into the mess and set the skillet on low heat. Lucretia still hadn't said anything or tried to get close to me.

I freely admit I am clueless about women, but I know enough to tell when they are upset. I stepped closer so I was standing next to my succubus, and gently bumped my arm against hers. She ignored me...but I saw her ears twitch. Ah HA! If she was in her human form, her lower lip might even be sticking out in a pout. I looked over my shoulder at the table and saw Nancy fastidiously cleaning her whiskers and face.

I guess rat's care about being well groomed as much as the next...uh...person?

"Thank you." I said quietly to Lucretia. She was still staring at the toaster oven.

"For what Greg?" She answered without looking at me.

I put my hand on her shoulder and leaned in a little closer.

"For taking responsibility for your actions. Sure, you had a misunderstanding and nearly hurt someone. You are trying to make up for it, and now you might have made a new friend. I am proud of you." I said that last sentence almost as an afterthought, but my gut was telling me it was important I let her know that. In all honesty, I was proud of her. I knew she was vicious, possessive and calculating. Yet she was trying to follow my guidance. The Lucretia at the Halloween party would NEVER have thought about, let alone make a piece of cheese toast for a talking rat.

Its statements like that one, that let me know how strange my life is really becoming!

It must have been the right thing to say to her because her arm went around my waist and she leaned on my side, her horns rubbing against my shoulder. "I want you to be proud of me, Master."

"Greg." I reminded her. She was starting to slip, needed to stop that before it became too much of a habit. She sighed and then looked up into my eyes, a faint smile on her lips.

"Know what I just realized Greg?"

"What's that?"

"Doesn't matter what I call you. Greg...Master...any of it. You are what you are to me, what I call you doesn't change that." Then she rubbed her horns on my shoulder again. The toaster finished and she served the food on a small plate for Nancy at the table. I watched her and thought about what she said. I knew there was something important there for me to come to grips with, but it eluded me for the time being. Oh well. If it's important, it will come to me.

I stirred the skillet a couple of times, then sat down to eat, putting half of the mix on Lucretia's plate for her to enjoy. Though, enjoy, might be too strong of a word. I am an okay cook, more of a survivalist cook to tell the truth. I can sear meat, and burn potatoes and such, flavor I am not all that good at. I can bake like a superhero though! My cookies are proof of that. Lucretia used both her knife and fork this time, and with a few gestures and watching me, she mimicked my movements. Though I know deep down inside she wanted to use her hands. Maybe I will take her sometime to that one Indian restaurant where you sit on cushions and use your hands to eat food? Have to remember that.

"Nancy?"

"Yes?" said the rat, looking up from her meal. I never knew rats could eat so much. That piece of cheese toast looked like it was half as big as she was.

"I can't have you living in my shed anymore. I'm sorry."

I watched Nancy slowly stop chewing, then make a deep gulp to swallow. I went over and got a small bowl, which I filled with milk from the fridge. I set it down so she could have something to drink. She lapped up some and did a quick dry wash of her face with her paws. She sighed softly. It was strange to hear an animal sound so human.

"I thank you for your generosity to me. May I ask what is to become of me?" she said formally.

"Obviously, a thinking and reasoning being such as yourself cannot live in a shed. So we must find a home for you."

Lucretia did not appear to be very happy with the direction this conversation was going, I felt her foot grab mine, and it almost made me jump out of my seat! I hadn't spent too much time thinking about it before, but she has bird-like feet! It was the oddest sensation to feel her toes wrap around my ankle, with the cold hardness of her claws almost pricking my skin. I reached over to pat her hand in, I hoped, a reassuring way.

Nancy saw this exchange and must have come to her own conclusions.

"You have been generous with me, Greg. If you are to offer me a place in your home I cannot accept it. You have a familiar, though the connection is very odd between you two. I know what it is like to get pushed out when someone new comes along and I don't want to have that on my conscience." This last part was said with a little nod of her head to Lucretia.

"I wasn't thinking of you staying here." I told Nancy. "I wanted to find you a home...how do you feel about witches?"

She shook her head. "I was a wizard's familiar, so I am too different. It is like asking an apple to become an orange. The process...well, I don't know how familiar you are with the ritual to acquire a familiar but it is different based on the Master. A mage, and a wizard would bind a familiar along different paths."

I scratched my head, "You know, you are the third person to call me a mage. How can you tell? Do you smell it, do I need a different type of aftershave or something to cover it up?"

Nancy giggled. Man it was weird to see a rat giggle! "No Greg, I can just feel it, like a vibration in the ground. If I had to guess I would say you're telekinetic."

I shook my head and rubbed the back of my neck. "I am not seeing any signs of that." Nancy looked puzzled and scampered across the table to get a closer look at me. I felt Lucretia's foot tighten on my ankle and it made me hiss a bit in discomfort. I glared at her and she meaningfully looked at the rat. I gave her my best, "Trust me" look and she slowly let go of my ankle.