Bryan, just six inches tall and without a stitch of clothing, shivered as he sat on the table. Across the room, his giant captor stood in front of a building-sized stove.
Bryan's stomach rumbled hungrily as his nose caught a whiff of the aroma of cooking food. He was still uncertain how to best negotiate with Martin, the giant who had discovered him in the alley behind Big Burger, captured him and brought him here to his small apartment.
Well, small for Martin. For shrunken Bryan, even the cramped and drab apartment looked enormous.
He stared across the room at Martin. He marveled at how gracefully the giant moved, despite such massive size.
He heard the sound of eating utensils clattered together as Martin plated his dinner. Then, grabbing a beer from the fridge, the giant sat down at the table. His plate was only about a foot from Bryan.
Bryan stared hungrily at the pan-fried hamburger patty. He watched as Martin poured a red flood of ketchup onto the patty.
Martin used a knife and fork bigger than Bryan's entire body to slice the burger into manageable bites. He was chewing leisurely when he noticed Bryan rise to his feet and approach timidly.
"I'm hungry," Bryan squeaked.
Martin grinned, but he used his knife to cut off a small piece of the medium-rare burger. He speared the piece of greasy meat on his fork and transported it toward Bryan.
"Here you go, little guy."
Bryan wanted to reject this embarrassing handout, but he didn't know when he might get another chance to eat. He grabbed the greasy morsel and wrestled it off the fork. He managed to tear off a chunk of the meat. As he chewed, he saw Martin staring at him. Bryan watched the giant raise the huge bottle and swallow what looked like gallons of beer. He saw the cascade of the liquid down the giant's throat, rippling beneath the skin.
"It's not much," Martin said.
Bryan swallowed another bite of the tidbit of hamburger. After he swallowed, he spoke in his strangely shrill voice. "Would you call my dad?"
Martin pushed his polished plate back. "I've not decided yet."
Bryan could not believe the giant's lazy comment. "Look, if you haven't noticed, I am only six inches tall! I need help!"
"I just fed you," Martin pointed out in a maddeningly reasonable tone. "Don't I get any thanks for that?"
Bryan tossed a "thank you" at the giant. "So, how about calling my family?"
Martin shook his head. Bryan balled his hands into fists and rushed across the table toward the seated giant. "Who do you think you are?"
"I am glad you asked." Martin stretched his huge hand toward the tiny teen.
Bryan, seeing that hand rushing toward him, yelped and tried to evade Martin's grasp. His effort was futile.
Once he had the little teen athlete in his fist, Martin provided the answer. "I own you," he said.
A shock of giddy laughter followed his proclamation, but then Martin continued. "I've always wanted to have a relationship with a hot high school jock."
"A relationship?" Bryan's voice strained from both outrage and creeping fear.
"Yeah, like owner and pet, get it?" Martin's voice sounded friendly enough, but his eyes betrayed his serious intent.
"You can't keep me as some damn pet!"
"I know jocks have a reputation for not being so smart, but I think that you are about to learn exactly what I can do."
Helpless, Bryan squirmed in the giant's grasp as Martin moved from the kitchen and lowered his bulk onto the bed in the studio apartment. With his head propped on a pillow, he opened his fist and dropped Bryan on his dress shirt.
Bryan tried to stand on the giant's chest. One of his tiny feet stood next to one of the shirt's plastic buttons.
"Why don't you unbutton my shirt and help me get comfortable," Martin said.
"What?"
"It wasn't a suggestion," Martin informed the tiny man. "Do it!"