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A Day Out For Taiko by Draconicon

One of the benefits of being bonded with a machine was that hangovers were never that much of a problem. The last time that Denith - or Nor, as most of the city knew him and whose shape he currently had - had woken up with a headache from a night out drinking was too far back to remember.

Memory loss, however, was still a thing. His memory banks were about as secure as anything could get, but they could only store things, not...defrag them, and drinking tended to fragment his memories pretty badly. It left the mule with a great deal of questions, like why he had gone to bed naked, or why he'd spent the night getting drunk in the first place...

Or why a very familiar polar bear was spooning with him instead of the panda he normally shared his bed with.

The two-toned mule didn't move, pretending to still be asleep while his mind raced a hundred miles a minute. How did this happen? When did Olag get here? Did this mean that there was something going on, or was the bear doing something on his own this time? Did that crazy tigress want to get her hands on him again, or was -

"Grrrr..."

The soft growl in his ear didn't help, either. The mule was more than aware of how...dominant...Olag could get, and at the same time, he knew that there was no way of knowing if they actually did anything last night. His body restored itself too quickly after any sort of intimacy to use that as a measure, and the bear was always a bit on the musky, sweaty side. And he was NOT going to be reaching down to the polar bear's dick to test to see if it was wet or something.

The mule was about to try moving when one big arm wrapped tighter around him, pulling him flush with the bear's chest. He internally facepalmed, feeling the strength in the limb keeping him pinned, and knew that wriggling free wasn't really an option at this point.

_This would be a really good time to remember to install a backup, Denith.

Right, Nor, why don't we do that the next time we get a big enough payment to actually justify the expense?_

Sighing, he leaned back as much as he could. At least Olag was warm...

And no, he wasn't enjoying it. He was just being practical.

#

Another hour passed before the bear finally stirred, and Denith hadn't slept a wink through it. He just kept waiting for something bad to happen, as if the bear's comrades would come kicking down his door or something. He couldn't bring himself to believe nothing bad would happen, even if his visitor was the only member of that crew he trusted even a little bit.

As the bear rolled off to the other side of the bed, the mule took advantage of the moment to slip out of bed himself, landing on the ground with a soft thunk from both hooves. The movement was accompanied by a rapid shift in shape, losing some size and taking on a more normal mule color. He had managed three steps towards his wardrobe when the bear rolled back towards him, grumbling.

"Nnngh...Feels like I drank six kegs last night."

"Um, well, you might have. I don't quite remember how many I went through."

"Hmmmph...Sounds like you..."

He blinked, turning around.

"What do you mean?"

"Sounds like a mule I know, but don't look like him."

Denith chuckled before he could stop himself, shaking his head a few times.

"Maybe with some two-toned patterns and three-toed hoof feet?"

"That'd do it. Ugh..."

The bear rolled out of bed as well, something that the mule wished he hadn't actually done. It was hard enough for his hyper-observant brain to ignore the morning wood that Olag was pitching through the bed sheets, but with it out in the open, there was no getting around it. He turned his head, clearing his throat pointedly, but the bear only laughed.

"Oh, fuck it, it's not like you ain't seen it before."

"Quite a few times, actually."

"And it's been in ya more. So why the prissy act now?"

"Well, um, it's the first time...you've shown it off in my house."

"Your house, huh?"

The bear looked around, and he did the sensible thing of going back to the wardrobe...backwards. Considering their history, that bear wasn't going to get a look at his ass so early in the morning. Hungover or not, he was pretty sure that Olag would still take a chance to go after it.

As he fumbled for some clothes of his own, the mule debated whether to ask the big bear what he was doing here. Chubby as the white-furred lug was, he knew from experience that his guest had a crap-ton of muscle buried underneath the layers of fat he had. The 'training' sessions that they'd shared as 'buddies' had been some of the hardest workouts that he'd had in a long time, and that included dealing with the villains of Novus Ager. If he had to deal with that now...

Finding a pair of pants, Denith gave up the idea of wearing underwear for the day and stepped into them. It might be a little bit revealing, but it was better than dealing with the bear looking at him for much longer. As he did, he made his decision.

"So...why are you here?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here?"

"Novus Ager, or your apartment?"

"Uh...either. Both. Something."

"Heh...I thought I was the hungover one."

Denith shrugged as the bear leveraged himself out of bed, groaning as he leaned against the footboard of it. That swaying cock wasn't helping things; it was hard enough to meet the intimidating bear's eyes when that dick was swaying around.

"Ain't too sure about why I'm here; drank too much to remember. Lost my clothes somewhere, too; ain't sure where they're at now."

I'll have to find something. Even here, there's no way that he can keep walking around naked.

"As for Novus Ager...Well, was looking for ya, little buddy."

"You know that phrase doesn't work anymore."

"...Yeah. I know."

The bear looked almost...sad, though that wasn't something he was used to seeing on Olag's face. Not that the phrase didn't work. More like -

Having a computer in his head was both a gift and a curse, and this time it was more of a curse as it returned the memory at lightning speed, showing how fast and defensively he'd thrown that back at the bear. Denith winced a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry."

"Nah, I deserved that. Part of the reason I came out here, really."

"What do you mean?"

"All that shit back on the boat...I thought I'd come out here, and see what it was like without all that going on. So...what do you say? Start fresh?"

It was strange, being able to see the strain on the bear's face. It must have cost Olag a lot to say something like that, if it made the polar bear look like he was in physical pain to admit that things had gone wrong that way. Even though they had...and hadn't. It was weird, when one got right down to it.

Denith sighed. This was going to be one of those days.

"I...Look. I don't know how I feel about what happened back there. I mean, you kept zonking me out again and again -"

"I know. It...was kinda stupid."

He had been in the middle of reaching for a shirt when he got the admission, and almost stumbled. He whipped around to look at the bear, his eyes wide.

"Who are you and what did you do with Olag?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You're apologizing. When do you EVER do that?"

"When it fucking matters, Nor! I just -"

"Denith!"

He shouted it as loud as he could, and for once, it seemed to make his guest shut up. Shirt in hand, he ran over to the bear, poking him in the chest a few times.

"When I'm not all colorful, I'm Denith."

"You're Nor," the bear...grunted. It wasn't a whisper, but it'd do. "That's you."

"No, that's who I walk around, patrolling as. I'm Denith. That's my real name. That's who I really am."

"Uh-huh. The real you was the one pushing me around the ship and making me kick your ass just to keep on top of things."

"...Not the point. I mean, you can't go around calling me that. Not here, and definitely not in public."

Olag smirked, and Denith had a split second to realize just what he'd done. He groaned, turning around as he put the shirt on. He knew what was coming.

"So we are -"

"Yes, yes, fine. We'll go out for a day. See...see how it goes."

"Heh, that's all I wanted."

No, you want a chance at my ass again, the mule thought to himself, buttoning up his shirt as he got himself a bit more comfortable. He didn't want to admit that the thought had its own sort of appeal, either, and he shook his head repeatedly, trying to keep it on business, on the things that he would have to remember with the polar bear in tow.

He could already see a number of phone calls that he'd have to make, different people he'd have to get in touch with to cover some of the patrols that'd be going on. Nor was usually an evening hero, but he'd offered to take the day shift a few weeks ago. That'd have to be scrapped now, and he'd owe a number of people different favors for it.

Already, the day was looking a bit less happy than he'd been hoping for.

He'd just about compiled the list when he felt his guest looming over him from behind. Nor slowly looked up, almost nose to nose with the bear.

"Ain't trying to push, but...you got some clothes or something?"

"...Maybe. Give me a minute."

It required raiding a certain panda's closet to get something that was wide enough for Olag's shoulders and belly, but eventually he got something put together for the bear. It wasn't a great look, admittedly - the bigger belly and thicker arms did not lend itself well to the style of Hawaiian shirts that his boyfriend liked - but it was the pants that were the real problem.

I should have just run out and gotten some new ones, he thought as he walked down the sidewalk, uncomfortably aware of the leather shorts that they'd had to make work. It just about looked sprayed onto the bear, and he was all too aware of the bulge throbbing nearly at waist-height next to him. He was half-surprised that Olag hadn't pushed it against him yet.

At the same time, he was just glad that they'd got out of the apartment without any real incident. The problems that could have come from being stuck there when his boyfriend got home, the various explanations of what was going on, the fact that Olag could have gotten pissed off at a neighbor and wrecked the whole building; he was just glad that the day was incident free, so far.

"So, uh...what do you think of the city?"

"It's fucking weird."

"...There's more polite ways to put that, you know."'

"Oh, okay. It's freaking weird. Better?"

It was hard to know what to expect from the bear. On the ship, he'd been bulging with confidence - and other things - but here in the city, away from that ship, he seemed almost...uncomfortable. Like he was at a loss all the time, and was playing catch-up. Several times, Denith noticed a shift in the city that left the bear jumping, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there before he caught himself. Every time that the city shifted, it was like Olag took it as a personal attack that he had to respond to.

He felt a bit of sympathy, beyond what he normally felt for people responding to Novus Ager's weirdness.

Wonder why he's like that, the mule thought to himself. It's weird, yes, but it's not like the city is trying to hurt him. And it's not like the ship didn't do that...

Hoping to find a distraction for himself and for the bear, he steered them towards a bus heading down to the waterfront. Olag was good enough to pay his own fare - in Novus Ager coinage, no less - and they settled down in the back of the bus.

The mule hesitated, then patted the bear on the arm.

"You okay?"

"Dunno."

"It's not like you have to -"

"You ever get hit hard enough to forget things, N-Denith?"

"Yeah, sometimes."

"It's feeling like that. Like...like the city's shifting around so fast. I'm used to seeing things as they happen. When it goes from one to the other, it's like I've forgotten something. Like I should have seen something. I don't like it."

"It's not going to hurt you."

"Nah, but the people in it might..."

"Just, try to relax, okay?"

"I'm trying, little buddy. I'm trying."

He shook his head, trying to ignore that phrase. Over the last few weeks, he'd completely expunged his code of all of Olag's amateur programming. He'd done everything possible to make sure that it would never bite him in the ass if someone else said it, and he'd even - much as it shamed him - gotten a little outside help to make sure that nothing was left. There was nothing for Olag to gain by saying it.

So why did he keep mentioning it? He couldn't actually think that it would be doing anything.

Denith left one part of his brain puzzling through it as the bus rounded the corner, leaving behind the skyscrapers of the - currently - downtown city center and putting them out into the shorter, squat buildings that lined the coastline. Well, for now. He imagined that by next week, the city would have a smaller one and they'd be looking down on cliffs instead.

But for today, it was a nice coast, and he could see himself enjoying it. He pressed the button near them, and gestured for Olag to follow him. The bus driver gave them both a look - probably from the bear's persistent bulge, the back of Denith's mind prompted him - before they stepped out.

Spread out before them was a cluster of small tents and stands, all gathered together for a weekly market. Or, was it daily? It was hard to be sure, when it never showed up in the exact same place and seemed to change names by the hour.

That said, it was a place that he liked to check out on his days off. Even when he wasn't looking for information on some happenings in the city - which, admittedly, he often came here for - he was able to find so many different things. The markets were always filled with random crafts, different foods, and just fun people that would let him talk away. It was a nice way to kill time, and it kept reminding him of the more biological side of himself, rather than letting him slip too far towards the machine blended into him.

He led the polar bear along, ignoring some of the costume leather that was on sale - and dragging Olag well away from the bracelets and anklets with d-rings on them - towards the more colorful clothing area in the middle of the market.

"Maybe we can find you something that fits better."

"You ain't gotta sell me on that idea."

"Yeah...the buttons cutting into your skin yet?"

"They've been doing that since we left the apartment. I swear, one good puff of air and this shirt'd rip apart like a tissue."

Trying to ignore the mental image and completely failing to suppress the blush that came with it, Denith put his attention towards getting the different pieces of clothing sorted. There were stalls with tourist t-shirts, some with a bit more craft put into them, woolen sweaters, and more. He could see a number of places selling longer pants, as well, ranging from being home-made denim clothes to something more tight fitting...

He already knew which ones Olag would want, but at least it would be better than the shorts that barely fit around his ass and bulge.

"Alright, let's see what we can find for you."

It took them a good twenty minutes to find a stall that actually carried something in the massive bear's size, though that wasn't particularly surprising. After all, these stalls were meant to capture as many people as possible, so they focused on the more mainstream sizes. He'd run into that problem before for himself, though it wasn't nearly as bad as it was for Olag.

Still, by the end of it, the polar bear was in a t-shirt that actually fit him and had a nice image of the city on it, with the slogan 'Where Are We Now?' printed under it, as well as a pair of pants. A pair of tight pants that squeezed the bear's ass almost as much as the shorts had, but which at least didn't run the risk of his dick running out into the open with one wrong step.

Olag patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, little buddy. That's...that's better."

He's not the most comfortable, still, but - Why does he keep saying that?! And why does it...

Trying to ignore how he felt every time that the bear said it, the mule turned away, leading the way further down the tents towards the food huts. It was easy to find them; just had to follow his nose.

The variety, as usual with street food, was pretty vast. There were taco trucks, falafel stands, bread bowl sellers, shaved ice on display, and many other things. Several stores carried seafood on a stick, which Olag seemed rather impressed by, while he went for something a bit more vegetarian, getting a roll of falafel. The slight zing of the garlic in the hummus was always nice.

The pair of them walked down to the edge of the tents, sitting down on a bench that overlooked the coast further down. The mule was quiet as he ate, and so was the bear. He wasn't sure what was going through Olag's mind, but for himself...

Little buddy.

The phrase was both endearing and infuriating at the same time. It kept reminding him of the way that the big bear had controlled him in the past, yet at the same time, it reminded him of how...how good Olag could be, when he was given the chance. How the polar bear actually could care about people, and give a fair bit to them.

He hated mixed messages. He really did.

Munching down to the bottom quarter of his food, the mule tried to think of how to bring it up. There was no getting around that it was weird, but he should be able to at least talk about it. Tell Olag to stop, or something...

Yet...

Ugh. This shouldn't be so complicated.

He sighed, digging into his meal a little further, shaking his head a little more at the constant confusion. He almost wished that a villain would just make his day a bit simpler.

"Quiver in fear, citizens! Quail in terror before the might of the Threadmaster!"

"Oh, come on..."

Denith looked over his shoulder and immediately groaned at the sight of the rather large - and flamboyant - giraffe that was waving his hands about above the tents. The synthetic materials started undoing themselves, coming out in threads, and a great deal of the clothing started doing the same. Many of the shoppers and merchants started screaming as their clothing started disappearing, too.

As the mule spun around, Olag grumbled.

"What the hell is he?"

"Some new super-villain. He must be new."

"How the hell is he flying?"

"He isn't. He's just hanging by all the threads he's controlling."

He barely paid attention to the answers he was giving, more concerned with looking for a place to change. If there was a villain out, there was no point in waiting for another hero to come by and deal with it. His day out would just have to get canceled.

While he looked for some tent that wasn't filled with screaming, half-nude customers, he didn't realize that Olag had left the bench before the bear was halfway towards the giraffe suspended over the marketplace. The mule's eyes went wide, and he darted forward.

"Olag, wait!"

"Just one second, little buddy."

Oh geez, what is he gonna do?

The giraffe, suspended in the middle of the market, ignored everyone around him that wasn't an immediate target. As a result, Denith was pretty sure that the 'Threadmaster' didn't even see Olag until the bear was about twenty feet away. The giraffe even laughed as he spun around.

"Fools! You dare to match yourself against the master of threads? Feel my wrath!"

Corny as it was, Denith winced as hundreds, perhaps thousands of threads came shooting down from the sky, wrapping around the bear's arms and legs. They quickly bound his arms out to the side, wrapping them in slick, white cocoons that looked surprisingly strong. It even spread down Olag's chest and over his waist, destroying his shirt -

And the bear was glaring. Oh dear.

Denith smacked a hand over his face just in time to miss his guest pulling on the threads, hard. The giraffe yelped, broken off in mid-monologue as the very threads he controlled yanked him right out of the sky. He landed on the pavement, just in time for Olag's foot to come down on his head, pushing him into the ground.

"You know what you're interrupting, you fuck?"

"What...the...hell..."

"I'll fucking tell ya. A day out with my little buddy."

It was quite a sight, and the mule actually...blushed a bit. Admittedly, Olag wasn't fighting to keep the peace here - and it was arguable that he was creating even more of a disturbance - but at the same time, he was fighting for a good reason. Denith felt rather flattered.

And rather flattened, as he ducked at the last second to avoid the giraffe getting thrown his way. The villain collided with the base of a statue, getting flattened against it as well as the bear stomped out of the public area.

Maybe I should -

Whatever thoughts he had on interfering faded as the bear glanced his way. A look...asking permission? At least, that's what he thought that questioning glance was about.

Normally, he'd actually shut this down. The giraffe obviously didn't have any real super strength to him, nor any real dangerous powers beyond mischief, and Olag would be a danger if he went too all-out about it. Yet, there was something nice about that. He nodded; better to go along with it for now, giving the bear permission to go about this for a little while. Who knew, maybe the positive encouragement would get Olag to do this more often?

The bear nodded back and grabbed the giraffe by the long neck, pulling him off of the ground. Even with threads going wild, there was nothing stopping Olag.

He wasn't surprised. He'd yet to find the thing that would stop that bear in his tracks, and it certainly wouldn't be a clothes stripping giraffe.

"You...what...this isn't..."

"You think you can just come here, and mess up my fucking day? Do you know how many fucking days off I get in a year, you asshole? Four! I get four fucking days off, and this is my last fucking one, and you aren't going to mess it up."

"Who..."

"Doesn't fucking matter who I am. I might be a dick, sometimes -"

All the time, Denith thought.

"But at least I don't fuck things up like this. Now, get OUTTA HERE!"

It was quite the sight to see a giraffe fly. Denith watched the Threadmaster go shooting through the air after the polar bear threw him away, flying a few city blocks off and only just catching himself in a web of the various threads that he'd managed to collect. He was almost disappointed; he kind of wanted to see the giraffe land in the city fountain out there.

Then again, better not to have a serious injury. Olag wasn't a registered hero, after all, and the city might -

Whee-whoo, whee-whoo, whee-whoo.

A trio of cop cars pulled up to the market, and soon, they were surrounded by wolves, bulls, and other cops that had come along. No guns were pulled, yet, but they were armed and ready, forming a circle around the polar bear...and him.

What did I -

A sudden blast of wind told him what he'd 'done.' Denith's eyes went wide and he blushed as he rapidly covered himself, realizing that his clothes had fed the string frenzy around the place as well. The polar bear - bare chested, but still wearing the leather pants - shrugged.

"Okay, what the fuck's wrong, cops?"

"Were you the one that threw the new super down the street?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

Denith sighed under his breath. There was that particular problem. Olag wasn't one of the law enforcement officials in the city, and while it wasn't 'illegal' for him to have stepped in, it wasn't encouraged, either. There was a tenuous balance to what the supers did in the city, and when someone else with powers leaped in without knowing the code of conduct, it risked a lot of injury, not to mention sheer property damage.

The mule took a step forward, letting his own control lapse for a moment. As the two-toned blue and red colors of Nor swept over him, giving him at least a semblance of clothing, several cops immediately relaxed. Not all of them, but enough.

Good thing there's no cameras out here for facial recognition, he thought as he looked for the man in charge. The bull still by the car looked like he had the most uniform decorations, and Nor cleared his throat a few times.

"Sorry, officers. Olag's with me."

"Olag, huh? And why's he with you, Nor?"

The bear jumped in.

"I'm visiting my little buddy, that's all."

"Visiting? Look, bear, if you think you can just -"

He had to leap between the bear and the bull before Olag could flip the police officer's car. Holding one hand on the bear's chest, hoping that his visitor would actually let him talk, Nor turned back to the bull.

"He's new, and he was just trying to help. Where he comes from, that's just how it works."

"Hmmph. He should learn how it works here."

"And we should be thankful that he's as good as he is. The giraffe's not hurt that bad, is he?"

"...No, he's got a measure of superhuman endurance."

"And he's already captured?"

"Yeah, but -"

"Let's let it be a warning then, hmm? I think he's earned that much."

And you have no idea how hard he's pushing at my arm right now. If I step out of the way, he's going to flip your car and you right into the nearest building...

The bull was silent for a moment, but finally grumbled in agreement. The cops stood down, and slowly drove off. As soon as there was no longer any worry about Olag destroying city property, the mule put his arm down, groaning at the sudden drop in pressure on his wrist. The bear shook his head.

"...Thanks."

"...Olag, tell me something."

"What?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"All this. The little buddy stuff. The apologizing. The...being nice. It's not...you."

"..."

"No offense."

"No, you're right. It ain't. But..."

The bear groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

"Look. I know that I didn't treat you right on the ship. I know that it wasn't a fucking vacation there, not for you. You got zonked out right from the start, and -"

"Yes?"

"Look. I did a bunch of...Grrr. I fucked up."

If it was possible for his jaw to drop without looking undignified, Nor would have done it. He stared at the polar bear as he kept talking.

"I fucked up. I got something I didn't even know I fucking wanted, and then stomped all over it and almost crushed it. You were a great...great thing, and I just...

"I came here, because I wanted to find you again. I didn't know what I wanted to get out of it. I didn't know if I could really apologize for it, or get it back, or whatever. I didn't know if you'd even let me come around to see you. Hell, I don't even know if I'm making sense right now.

"But I got something that mattered to me, and I just...couldn't let it go."

"And...what did you get?"

"A little buddy. The only little buddy I've ever had."

He wasn't sure how to take that. The only other time he'd seen Olag this vulnerable was when he had finally broken out of the programming the first time, when he'd realized what had gone on and had managed to make it stop. The bear hadn't tried to put him back under then, and here and now, it didn't sound like he was trying to do it again.

It just sounded like he was confused, lost...

Nor slowly reached out and put a hand on the bear's shoulder.

"I...don't really know what to say, Olag."

"Yeah? Welcome to the fucking club."

Chuckling slightly, he walked the bear over to the coastline again, sitting down on the bench where they'd been enjoying their lunch. As he looked out at the water, he almost thought he saw something moving out there, a large ship, but dismissed it.

"Look. I..."

Nor sighed.

"There were things I liked when we were back on the ship. You have some good sides to you, Olag. Some really good sides."

"...But?"

"But you're really scary, too."

"Heh...yeah. I hear that a lot."

"I don't think you need to change that."

"What do you mean?"

"You being scary is just part of who you are. You can't really stop being that. You just...well, maybe be more than just a scary fighter."

"...I'll try, for -"

"Heh. For your little buddy?"

"Heh. For my little buddy."

This time, when Olag wrapped an arm around him, Nor was happy enough to lean under it. It was a bit cheesy, a bit silly...but that was life.

"I'm surprised you're not going for a grope, considering what the Threadmaster did."

"Eh, I'll get that later."

"Olaaaag."

"Alright, alright. Maybe after your boyfriend -"

"Olag."

"Fine."

The End