Alex clenched his eyes shut against the noise that was trying to violate his sleep. Normally the street he lived on was pretty quiet first thing in the morning, a few cars starting as people went to work, the coffee machine in the kitchen burbling as his parents made their morning coffee. It was like being back in the all too noisy dorms of his college again. But he graduated six months ago and moved back home until he could find himself job with his shiny new Bachelors in Creative Writing. No interviewer seemed impressed by his choice of degree.
He tossed his arm over his eyes as the sounds continued to pound at him. It was like he was asleep just above a busy street. There was the low thrum of people talking, the clanging of metal, there was a dog barking in the distance, and the wicker of a.. horse?
Alex's eyes snapped open to a room he didn't recognize. Wood floors and rough plaster walls, exposed beams crossed the ceiling. A window of glass set in iron fittings let in sunlight but offered a distorted view of the world outside. The furnishings in the room were comfortable but sparse. A chair and table in one corner, a mirrored wash stand with a basin and a pitcher in another. And he lay on a bed.. with a straw mattress if the way it felt under him was any guess. At least the sheets weren't awful. Though the way the sheets felt on him he was definitely naked underneath them. He never slept naked, especially at his parent's house. They had little respect for his privacy, still often treating him like he was thirteen. Except this obviously wasn't his parent's house.
He slowly sat up. He looked over to the wash basin, his reflection cast back at him. That was the only thing that was familiar, a messy mop of brown hair made more so by bed head, a bit of stubble along his jaw, he was on the taller side but also lanky. He had picked up a gym membership a few months ago, and was actually seeing a little progress, but the best that he could be called was lean, and that would be generous.
A quick look around the room confirmed his first fear. No clothing. Cautious of his own nudity he did creep closer to the window, cracking it open to get a look outside. It was a busy street below, but it looked like some strange medieval village. Muddy streets, some people walking, others on horses, a blacksmith down the street banged away on an anvil. There were some.. oddities though. First of all, not everyone looked completely human. Most were. But he saw a slender woman with long pointed ears, elsewhere he saw a short but heavily stocky man with a thick beard. Elves? Dwarves? It was a human village, obviously, but there were others..
Second, the clothing people wore was, well, Alex would call it skimpy. There was a lot of flesh showing on both the men and women. They nodded to at least a little modesty, but the garments they wore accentuated as much as they covered. The women's blouses would often just cover their breasts, and even long skirts were tantalizingly filmy. Some women were wearing no blouses at all. Except.. Alex had never been very interested in women, but for him they were safer to look at than the men. At least half the men walking down the street were completely shirtless, others wore small vests or sleeveless tunics that seemed more decorative than practical. Breeches were tight, hugging legs and asses, and they even seemed to be made to make bulges more obvious. Hell, the one dwarven man he could see wore a kilt and nothing more.
Alex almost swallowed his tongue when he saw to shirtless men kissing in a doorway to one of the buildings. Not just a light peck on the lips, but a deep kiss that ended with one of the men groping the other. One went back inside and another went on his way, no one blinked an eye. A look further down the street and he caught a glimpse of the blacksmith turning around, his backside completely exposed. He wasn't wearing anything other than his protective leather apron.
He ducked back into the room and went to the door instead. It opened into a hallway full of doors and every door had a number carved on it. Maybe an inn? One of the other doors started to open and he quickly shut his. No clothing, strange room, strange town that might not care if he wandered around with no clothing even if he did...
"What the fuck is going on?" He walked over to the washstand and grabbed the pitcher, pouring water into the bowl with the intention of splashing his face to clear up his thoughts but a gold necklace with a strange amulet slipped out of the pitcher and into the bowl as the water flowed. Alex carefully fished the necklace out of the bowl and blushed when he noticed the pendant looked a lot like a stylized penis. When he grabbed it between his fingers the room seemed to fall away and he was suddenly standing on nothingness.. in a void. He could see himself, the amulet in his hands, and nothing else.
A voice broke into his thoughts. "Welcome to my world, Alex of Earth. Of all mortals, you have been chosen."
"Chosen for what?" Alex asked the void in response.
"To come to this world." The void responded as if it were a very obvious answer. Alex was not quite as amused.
"Well.. can I go home?" There was silence for a while, and just when he thought the void might not answer it did.
"It is possible to return to your world, but for now, you must live in this one." Meljin kept from laughing through the telepathic link, that wouldn't be very dignified for a deity.
"So what? I'm just supposed to.." Alex floundered for the word.
"Live." The voice filled in for him. "Learn. Experience. Few mortals have the chance to see a world other than their own. And to help you on your journey I shall grant you a boon."
"Clothes might help..." Alex said hopefully.
"Yes. You will have clothes, and perhaps a weapon. But first you must choose your boon." Several rune like images suddenly floated before him. He had no clue what they might mean. "Choose carefully and with your heart. The boon you choose may affect you in ways you do not expect." As he looked them over he noticed each rune also looked like some object he could identify, mostly.
He reached out and touched the rune that looked like...