Rat didn't think of himself as admirable or extraordinarily strong. Life had winnowed him down to the bones. His options had been to die or to survive and he'd chosen survival. He'd become cruel and hateful, willing to eat foul things to survive, to fight and stab someone for a scrap of safety.

He was a rat, a determined survivor. He was not admirable.

Turning a corner, he found his building and led Marius up the steps to his ground floor apartment. "Here we are." From the other side of the door, they could both hear a plaintive meowing.