Song of the Siren Part 1 by Aros Orean Lars was, in a word, headstrong. He had a tendency to zone out when he was focused on something. Which is exactly why he didn't even notice someone stop right in front of his treadmill. The bull never had trouble blazing his own path and finding his own routine. He frequently spent hours alone, unconnected with others, even meditating. There had been many a time he declined an offer to go out with friends or crash an insane party. That wasn't Lars' ideal time. He'd rather go home and be zen to just relax. "Hello?" A smooth voice asked. The bull snapped back to reality and looked down at his inquisitor, stepping onto the sides of the treadmill and grabbing the handrail for balance. It was another bull, which made Lars instantly compare himself to the guy. He looked to be somewhere between five to ten years older than himself, a 23-year-old. A good deal more muscled too. The other bull looked like he was ready to compete in a strongman competition, thick, defined muscle underneath a thin, smooth layer of mostly white fur with some reddish-brown patterns over his hide. It almost made Lars feel like his solid gray pelt was lackluster. He even couldn't help but feel inadequate when he noticed that even the other bull's horns were longer than his. Lars was just a little shorter, a little leaner, and a little younger, his dark grey fur the only thing that really helped him differentiate between the two of them. "Sorry, did you want something?" He asked. The larger bull only chuckled. "Well, I was going to offer you help with something, but it seems like you don't need it after all." Lars grabbed his sweat towel and began to wipe himself off. "I might appreciate it anyway." The larger bull held out a small, thin flash drive. "Saw you were just goin' on without any music. Running without anything to distract me was always a pain, until I found this mix. Forty-five minutes long, really good stuff." Lars eyed the USB device with suspicion. "Yeah, not sure if I need that. I seem to be doing okay without any music or TV or anything, man." He always was headstrong. "Well I'm not giving you this thing." The larger bull held the flash drive between his fingers. "I want it back. You can just copy the file, see if you like it, and if you don't, just delete it. But hey, if you don't want the advantage, I guess I can understand." He began to pull the drive away. Lars was always headstrong. But the other bull was stronger. Lars took the flash drive between his fingers. "What kind of music is on it?" "High energy stuff, at a good pace for running. All kinds of genres, techno, rock, lots of stuff." "How long is the mix?" "A little more than half an hour, I think. Might be good to warm up a bit before you start." The younger bull slipped it in his pocket. "All right, I'll give it back to you next time I come in." The older one flashed a smile. "Great. See you around, I gotta finish lifting." He said before turning and disappearing further into the gym. At that point, with the flash drive in his pocket, Lars realized he didn't even know the other bull's name. --- Lars' gym bag fell to the ground with a mighty thud as the bull moved into the kitchen to fix himself some dinner. Tyler, his roommate, was sprawled out on the couch half-watching some trashy reality TV show with his computer on his lap, tinny pop music coming from the speakers. Their apartment always seemed like it was in the middle of recovering from a natural disaster. As soon as one of them cleaned up, the other would come in from a stressful day of work and cause a mess. It was a tolerable balance, and since they rarely had guests, there wasn't pressure to keep it sparkling. "How was running in place today?" The tiger asked as Lars pulled vegetables out of the fridge for a salad. "Same as always." Lars replied, cutting up sections of lettuce and sliding them into a bowl. "Except this guy came up to me and gave me some workout mix." Tyler snorted out a short laugh. "What, was he hitting on you? I thought you didn't swing that way." "I don't, and he wasn't. At least I don't think so." The bull said, adding carrots and tomatoes, dressing his dinner in some low-fat oil and vinegar concoction. "He just said I looked like I needed some music, gave me a thumbdrive with a mix." "I guess it's possible he wasn't hitting on you. Still my theory, though." Tyler moved his legs out of the way for Lars to sit on the couch and eat. "I know that you've heard this before, from me, but you are disgustingly healthy." The tiger said, looking over at Lars' salad from behind the computer resting on his slight paunch. Lars smirked. "Well, better than being just disgusting with what I eat." He glanced at the five orange smears of cheese puff dust on the tiger's jeans. Tyler just scoffed. "At least I don't have to worry about it showing on my fingers." He returned his attention to his laptop, or more accurately, his bellytop. "Let me know if that mix is any good, man. Could always use some new music." Lars just nodded, lost in the reality show as he munched on lettuce. --- The bull sat alone in his room as he slid the flashdrive into the appropriate port on his computer. Unlike the tiger, he preferred a desktop: More power, less capacity for laziness. There was just one folder with the one file on the drive, and the bull copied the folder to the desktop. It took a bit longer than he expected, for just one file, but he figured it was large for being one long mix. A few minutes later he added it to his music application and synched it to his portable player. Lars decided to give it a listen while he played some soundless games on his computer. The file started off with a nice heavy beat in a rock track, which lasted for a few minutes, then faded into some kind of techno-metal at the same beat. As he sat and mindlessly watched his character mine for minerals, he was amazed at how each song held the same timing and beats, even though they apparently varied by pace and genre. And the music stopped. The bull blinked a few times, realizing he'd left his avatar on the screen completely still for possibly minutes. He chuckled to himself. If he could get that same effect of being done before he could realize while running, it'd make his workouts so much smoother. He never once questioned whether it would be healthy. Mentally or physically. --- Lars looked forward to testing out that mix as he ran, getting himself warmed up before officially hitting the play button on his device. That hard-hitting intro to the first song began and he quickly began to adjust his speed to the pace of the beat, and he never once wavered off-beat. And the music stopped. Before he could even think about it, he found himself standing perfectly still on the treadmill. He checked the clock in the room. It was 35 minutes later, all right. The bull smiled, already certain that he would hold onto this mix for a good while. There was just the matter of returning the drive. Wiping his brow with a sweat towel, he ventured through the gym to find the other bull, but there wasn't anyone remotely similar to him. Befuddled, Lars went to the front desk of the gym and spoke with an all-too-perky rabbit. "I'm sorry sir," she said in a voice that didn't carry any tone of sympathy, "But we can't return an item to a member if you don't have his or her name." "Can't you look him up by species or fur color or something?" Lars asked, irritated. "Sir that's profiling. And, uh, illegal." The bull just grumbled and walked away. He felt more angry than he should have been. No good deed goes unpunished, he reasoned to himself. But he really would have liked to see the other bull again. He'd just have to come back more often. --- Tyler was in the same spot, watching the same show as usual, when Lars came in with his gym bag and a plastic bag from the grocery store. "Oh what'd you get?" The tiger asked. "Just some chicken and pork for dinner tonight." The tiger nearly fell off the couch. He set his computer aside and scrambled over to see this miracle. "You are shitting me, Lars. Since when do you eat meat?" The bull shrugged. "Since always." Tyler scoffed. "Not once in the two years we've been living here have I seen you act like a carnivore." Lars simply cut open a package of pork and warmed up a pan. "And I decided I need more protein. Why are we making a big deal out of this?" The tiger stepped back. "Yeesh, sorry I pointed it out. Just thought you were vegetarian. But, yeah, I guess you never said it. I just assumed." The bull smirked. "And that makes an ass out of you and me." Tyler groaned at that while Lars turned over the pork in the pan, enjoying the way it sizzled. --- And then the music stopped. Lars shook himself out of a daze and looked back at the clock. Another 35 minute run gone in the blink of an eye. Not that he didn't believe he ran, his body made sure he felt it. He stepped down from the treadmill and walked out toward the rest of the gym, by the yoga rooms and the weightlifting area. Still no sign of the older bull. Then he got a good look at the couple of guys lifting weights already. And he found himself jealous. Lars used to scoff at those very guys, always lifting, never running. Obsessed with how many times they could work those muscles and never with actual fitness. But for the first time, he saw their bodies, in their tank tops, pushing up those heavy bars of steel and iron, envying them. And Lars wanted to do it too. He resolved that next time he was home, he'd research beginner lifting routines. --- Tyler raised an eyebrow as the bull arrived with another bag of groceries. "What'd you get?" He asked, as innocent as possible. "Just some protein shakes." "Really? Protein shakes?" "Yeah, protein shakes." "Protein shakes." The bull crossed his arms as he set the can of shake mix on the counter. "Something wrong with that?" "Nope," the tiger said turning back to his computer, "Just think you're sounding an awful lot like those jock assholes you always belittle." "So I'm a hypocrite now? For wanting to stay healthy?" The tiger groaned. "Listen, man, you've always been healthy. You're fit and lean and all that. You probably run a freakin' marathon three times a week." He slide his arms over the edge of the couch, kneeling on the cushion as Lars cooked some chicken. "You just don't seem to be in it to be healthy anymore, dude." "Says Cheetoh-fingers." Lars grumbled. "I'm just...concerned, man. You're acting funny." Lars only grew defensive at that comment. "Well it's none of your business. If I wanna eat meat, I'll eat meat. If I want to drink protein shakes, I'll do that too. If I want to bulk up, then I'll bulk up." The tiger stared at Lars. "Who are you and what have you done with my roommate?" "Shut up, Tyler." And that was the last of the conversation. --- Lars sat down at his desk and stared at the monitor. He had every intent to search lifting routines. But the bull found his cursor drifting over the folder he copied days ago, showing its contents again. Just one file still. He was disappointed, as though he expected more to just appear. Lars was getting a little tired of that mix, or at least that opening song. And then he looked at the properties of the folder. The cursor slipped down to the unchecked box reading "Show hidden files." He checked the box. Four other files appeared in the folder, labelled mixes two through five. With a grin, he added them all to his player and synched. "Error: 'Mix #3' is not in a recognized file format." "Error: 'Mix #4' is not in a recognized file format." "Error: 'Mix #5' is not in a recognized file format." The bull scratched at the corner of his mouth, confused. Further investigation proved the files were apparently encrypted, and he just didn't have the decryption key. Like some primitive DRM. Well, he thought, at least he got one new mix out of it. Resisting the urge to listen immediately, he put himself in bed and slept soundly. --- Lars stood on the treadmill again, thumb resting over the play button. The mix this time was 45 minutes, and he didn't really have enough time to lift if we was going to run for that long. But the temptation was too much, and he decided just to go for it, pressing play. It started off like the other one, just with a different song. Like a breath of fresh air, he found a renewed energy in running right to the beat like before. And then he stopped. But the music was still going. It was a light beat, different than the rest. Some instrumental thing. The bull checked the clock. Only 25 minutes had passed. Lars stepped off the treadmill and brought himself over to the weightlifting area. He was just going to wing it this time, he thought. But he blended in easily with the other muscleheads, looking as though he'd done it for years. Biceps, triceps, thighs, chest, He was working them all out to the point of soreness. And then the music stopped. The bull was leaning forward and looking at himself in the mirror while seated on a padded bench, sweat towel in his hand. And he felt so wonderfully satisfied. He checked the clock again. 20 minutes since he last looked at it, and 45 minutes since he pressed play. He strutted to the locker room with a smirk. Soon, he thought, he'd look like those other guys out there. And then a funny thing happened while he was in the locker room, changing. One of those other muscleheads, a lion, came in and started to change near him, and the bull lingered long enough to look like he was minding his own business but secretly gazed at the lion's body. He felt strange. He didn't want to be like that lion, or be that lion at all. He wanted to touch the lion. Touch his arms, his chest. But it was just touching. Just a touch. He resisted the urge and sped up his own changing of clothes, hurrying out of the gym. It was only until he was out of the building that he realized that he was...aroused. He realized it, yes, but he felt almost nothing emotionally about it. Yet another fact of life. He moved on, physically and mentally. --- It had been a week since Lars began acting funny, as Tyler had put it. The tiger was getting suspicious. It was hard to call their relationship something like "friends" given they only spent time together at home, and had so many differences. But he was close with the bull. Even if he wasn't that close. Tyler knew that the bull valued his privacy, especially after his reaction to the tiger putting some of the bull's laundry on his bed while he was out. But he just couldn't stop himself this time. Protein shakes! That was just not Lars. He resolved to discover what was happening, whether it was aliens or an evil twin or some kind of witchcraft. He was betting on aliens. The bull was surely at the gym again, and Tyler figured it was as good a time as any The tiger crept into Lars' room, surprised to find it as dark and messy as ever. He had expected something to be different. Like an alien probe or the cage with the real Lars. Leaving the light off, he explored further, seeing nothing out of place. No secret stash under the bed, no surprising hives of alien technology, no box of love letters. Then the tiger got the bright idea of checking Lars' computer. Waking it from sleep, Tyler scanned the desktop and the recent downloads folder. Finding nothing suspicious in the latter, he checked the oddly blank desktop, save for a couple folders. Wallpapers, whatever. Recent documents, meh. Tyler facepalmed. He could just sort it all by date modified. And the only things that had been touched in the last week were the workout mixes and a couple games he recognized. He figured games weren't doing anything to Lars, so the tiger sent the workout mixes over the local network to his computer. Right when Lars came home. Mortified, the tiger dashed behind the open door just as the bull turned to walk toward his room. "Hey Ty? You home?" Lars called out. Tyler held himself tight against the wall while Lars stepped into the room and jiggled the mouse on his computer, slipping in his headphones again. Tyler, as stealthy as possible, snuck back out of the room, ruffled up his fur as much as possible and knocked on the open door again, yawning. "Sorry man, was takin' a nap. You need something?" The bull nodded. "Yeah man, I'm going to the gym pretty late tonight, so I stopped in here for a sec, but I can't find my phone charger. Can I borrow yours?" Tyler nodded and fetched the cord, tossing it at the bull. Lars caught it without looking, and nodded back. "Thanks, man." A few moments later, the bull powered his computer down and got up. "See you later, man." He said as he passed Tyler relaxing on the couch. The tiger nodded and watched Lars leave as quickly as he came. "Must be one hell of a gym." He muttered to himself before grabbing his laptop and poking around at the files he copied from the bull's computer. Might as well give it a listen, he thought, double-clicking the first mix after plugging in headphones. --- Lars stumbled through the front door of the apartment, surprised at the lack of his roommate. He set his gym bag down by the door and called out. "Hey Ty? You home?" No response. The bull just decided to go to his computer for the quick stop he had planned to begin with. He had thought of it while he was at work. A simple string of words: "StrongBull". He did a quick search and found the page he was looking for. A single text entry field and a 'submit' button. "Sorry man, was takin' a nap. You need something?" The bull panicked, he needed to come up with something, something to keep the tiger from getting any closer and seeing his secret. "Yeah man, I'm going to the gym pretty late tonight, so I stopped in here for a sec, but I can't find my phone charger. Can I borrow yours?" That got the tiger out of the way long enough for Lars to enter his name in the text field and click submit. His computer immediately downloaded some executable file. With that, he closed the window, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Tyler was back and tossing him the cable. He reached up a hand and caught it. "Thanks, man." He said. Tyler turned away and the bull ran the file. A setup screen alerted him that it had searched for and found Mix #3, decrypting it. With excitement, he synched the decrypted file to his phone and powered his computer down, stepping out of his room, eager to get to the gym. "See you later, man." The bull said, leaving without the chance for Tyler to say goodbye. --- And then the music stopped. Lars had been almost keenly aware of what he did while listening to the third mix. Just 15 minutes of cardio and then 45 of lifting. It had only been a week of doing any kind of lifting and the bull already felt stronger, bigger, proud of himself. He walked back to the locker room, knowing there was little time before the gym closed. Just enough for a quick shower, and he'd be out. The bull slipped into the private shower, sliding the curtain back and letting water pour over his face and body. It only took him a few minutes to get clean and cooled off, turning the water off. Just as he was about to emerge from behind the curtain, a pair of muscleheads, the lion he ogled once and some canine friend of his, burst into the locker room door. "You sure no one's going to catch us?" The canine, a wolf upon closer inspection, asked. The lion nodded. "Hell yeah, man. Everybody's gone now and the worker bees are closing shop. We're good." And then they started to kiss. Lars found his hand sliding down his grey-furred chest to his crotch, gently touching his sheath without even realizing. He couldn't take his eyes off of them. The lion leaned back against a bank of lockers and grinned at the wolf, splaying his hand on the wolf's chest, fingers running through fur. "Always wanted to get blown in a locker room." As if on cue, the wolf sank to his knees and pulled down the lion's waistband below his crotch, giving the lion's package a good fondling. "Every high school fantasy come true for you, yeah?" The lion laughed, quickly shifting it into a moan as the wolf gave him a few more gropes and fondles, his length growing out of his sheath. Lars couldn't stop staring, hidden perfectly behind the curtain and given the best view possible through the gap between wall and curtain. His own member was growing out of his sheath, into his waiting hand where he began slow strokes. The wolf let out a chuckle and then licked the shaft before him from base to tip. After a few more of those, causing the lion to groan lewdly, he sunk his muzzle around the lion's shaft with a moan of his own. The lion reached out and placed his hand in a tight grip on the wolf's head, eyes closed as he grunted, his length becoming slick with the wolf's saliva. "Oh fuck, man." He said between moans. Lars reached up to his chest and started to rub his pecs, even fingering his own nipple while he stroked faster watching them, doing his best to stay as silent as possible. The wolf began to fondle the lion's sac, moaning out on his length as he closed his eyes as well, a finger reaching up and sliding along the lion's taint. It must have been the lion's weakness, because he started to grip the wolf's head tighter, holding it in place as he slammed his hips forward and back, his shaft sliding in and out of the wolf's mouth. The wolf seemed more than content with this, his eyes half-closed as the lion's fist held him steady and gave his mouth a proper fucking. Lars gasped, his hand slick with pre and his chest heaving while he panted from watching them. He couldn't stop himself, it was so exciting. At last, the lion shoved himself in the wolf's mouth and let out a long groan, his seed escaping from the sides of the wolf's maw, both of them moaning, the sound echoing through the locker room. That very moment, as the lion came, Lars felt his body light aflame with pleasure, leaning on the wall of the shower and watching as he sprayed his own load outward toward the drain. He heaved a few heavy breaths, watching the other two clean up, kiss a bit more, and leave. Lars waited a good minute or two before he turned the shower back on to rinse himself off. He scrambled himself out of the shower, back in his clothes, and out the door, avoiding the gaze of the few attendants at the front desk. Flush from embarrassment, the bull seemed to be on autopilot as he drove back home. For the first time, he began to worry about everything that happened. What had he just done? Why didn't he call them out on it? Why did he enjoy it so much? And why had he ignored everything until now? He parked his car and raised his eyebrows in surprise. To his horror, the bull found himself outside a tall apartment building that must have been miles from his house. He stepped out of the car, locked it, and walked toward the front door. Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he stop? Lars reached out and pressed the intercom buzzer for Unit 304. "Come in." A familiar voice said, and the door unlocked.