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A gift for Naitlion on FA.
Rated M for the mention of nudity.", "writing": "Breaking the Game by Pent Ghelsburg\n\nDisclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters and transformative content. You have been warned \n\nTo those who dream….of the impossible. Of a fantastic world where anything can be achieved. Where the boundaries lack any sense of physical limitation. Where…the only thing keeping one back is the creative nature and curiosity of oneself. Such is the beauty….of a child's mind.\n\nNait was a young man who lived an ordinary life beset only by the trials and tribulations that came with his line of work. As a software developer, his tasks remained more or less monotonous. The repetition of everyday life had become somewhat routine for him. It was almost to the point where he could predict day in and day out…exactly what would happen.\n\nWork had become less pleasurable and more about making ends meet. Often working overtime because his bosses had over-assigned his projects. He had so many things going on at once, that he couldn't just focus on one thing. Instead, his energies were split between multiple things at once. This meant he couldn't pour his whole potential into something and often things were left forgotten about or just pushed aside.\n\nOne day this all came to a head. The company he worked for had a huge project for a multi-million dollar client. The client in question had been a repeat one for the firm that Nait worked for. They had hired Nait's company for a big SEO optimization project. This was something that the young man hadn't done before and yet even still he'd been assigned the project.\n\nAs time went on, Nait got the hang of things. There were certain parts of it, intricate details that he wasn't entirely aware of. So when the big deadline came…when his company had to present their working project things didn't go as planned. Nait's boss yelled at him and the young man felt both frustrated and dejected, so he went home early. After all, they couldn't dock him for taking a personal day and he needed it.\n\nNait went home just around lunchtime. He lived in a small apartment with his boyfriend, who wasn't home. His boyfriend had a full-time job as well and worked away from home just as he did. The young man stepped inside and powered up his computer. Nait's passion project was a game he'd been working on. A fan-made game based on the world of Mouse Guard.\n\nThe second he powered up his computer, his screen was lit up with notifications from his email. Nait gazed at them a moment, each of them came from his work email. He decided they could wait. They couldn't force him to work while he was off the clock and he'd already taken his day. So in his mind….it was all problems that could wait for the next day.\n\nNait closed out the window that showed his emails. The little red indicator with a number was still there but he figured he could ignore it. Starting up his game development software so he could get to work on his video game. It took quite a bit to boot up since the project he'd been working on already had a bunch of resources built into it.\n\n\"Good afternoon, Nait.\" The Welcome screen for the program popped up as a usual gateway into the software itself.\n\nThe young man began working on his project. He wanted to flesh out the characters. He'd already designed the main cast of Kenzie, Liem, and Saxon, as well as many of the other guard mice that served in the stories. Nait had spent a lot of time on the titular character of his own, a sort of heir to the holder of the Black Axe. His mouse, named after himself, served under the auspice of the herald known as Bardwick.\n\nNait had established a separate timeline of the Mouse Guard Universe where Bardick was in his elder years. His character was now an apprentice to that grizzled-out blacksmith. He began designing some of the outfits that the mice would wear, going by the canonical lore established by the author. Going as far as to refer to drawings that were included in the books.\n\nA few moments later Nait got a random message on an app from an old friend of his. The other man was a close friend of his who he'd known for several years now. The other man went by the name of Pent.\n\n\"You're home early. Something happened at work?\" The other man asked through the message.\n\nNait sighed as he responded. \"Yeah. I don't want to talk about it. What about you? Why are you home?\"\n\n\"They have me working on updating the MSDS today. I didn't need to go into the office for that.\" Pent often worked at home, at least when his job allowed me.\n\n\tThe younger man replied. \"Ah, okay. You want to do something later?\"\n\n\"Sure, give me a bit. We can backtrack at lunch when I have some free time.\" The older man chimed back.\n\nNait decided to continue working on his game in the meantime. There was still a lot that needed to be done and he had plenty of ideas he wanted to put into place. He knew lunch wasn't that long away so at least he could take his mind off work until then. He began to think about what he could do. After all, they were in different locations so they had to work around that.\n\nBy the time lunch rolled around, Nait had come up with an idea. Both he and Pent had Virtual Reality headsets, so he figured they could tinker around in that. He went ahead and made himself something to eat and decided to check in on the other man.\n\n\"You up for some VR now? How much time do you have before you go back to work?\" The younger man asked since he wanted to be conscious of his friend's responsibilities.\n\nIt took a few minutes for Pent to respond. \"I have about an hour and yeah we can do some VR. Which lobby do you want to meet in?\"\n\n\"The usual lobby. 5b should be pretty slow. It's the best lobby to just go around and explore people's worlds.\" \n\nThe older man replied. \"Sounds good. I'll be on in a minute.\"\n\nNait decided to get set up in the meantime. He went into his room to gather his VR headset so that he could plug it into his computer. After all the thing was a bit involved. It was a more advanced piece of hardware, one that had neural sensors so one could experience the sensations as well as the typical sights and sounds associated with whatever was on screen.\n\nThe young man brought his headset over to the computer. Nait sat back down in his office chair and connected it to the inserts. Placing it over his head always reminded him how heavy it was. He began navigating to the VR program on his computer. It didn't take long to boot up once he found it. The screen on his head soon took over, allowing him to make choices and select lobby 5b.\n\nThe screen flickered in front of them as the experience loaded. It took a second for something to appear. Nait's avatar was a lion, based on his favorite childhood movie The Lion King. Pent on the other hand had chosen a fox for his reasons. It wasn't long before the fox appeared on the screen and smiled at his friend. Nait couldn't help but smile as the arctic fox appeared in front of him.\n\n\"Alright…so what's the plan Lion boy?\" Pent wasn't one to partake in VR often and to even have him participate was a surprise.\n\nNait hummed. \"Well…I was kinda thinking we could do something fun. You know that simulation where you can….just be kids. Would you be interested in trying that?\"\n\n\"I don't see why not. You seemed stressed about the work situation. So that sounds like a good idea to me.\" The fox smiled warmly at him.\n\nThe lion and fox made their way out of the lobby and towards a hub area. A sort of pillar with all of the different areas lay listed in front of them. Everything from middle-aged simulations…to flight simulators…and even role plays were offered. Nait scanned through them until he found something that sounded fun. Nait had always been a kid at heart and Pent enjoyed sharing in the experiences when he could.\n\nNait picked the one that showed as \"Kid's Only.\" A warning sign showed once he clicked on it that said something about an age requirement. He thought it strange that something so arbitrary was included in something that was designed to be pretend. He had to click yes and confirm once more that he was aware of it. Of course, Nait read none of the fine print as it didn't matter to him right now.\n\nThe screen flickered a few more times before fizzling out into a much greener pasture. In front of them lay a playground with some swings and a small lake behind it. Some other kids were playing on the swing set and there were no signs of adults anywhere. Nait looked around to gauge their options. He decided the lake was a good place to start since the swings looked too small to accommodate them.\n\n\"Come on Pent. Let's go swimming.\" The Lion said looking over at his friend whose clothing looked a little baggy on him.\n\nThe fox nodded and the two of them walked together towards the lake. When Nait moved, he noticed too that his clothing was sagging a bit. Though he didn't care enough to put much thought into it. With the sun blazing overhead, his mind was entirely on enjoying the cool water of the lake. They soon reached the shores of the lake and both of them took their clothes off.\n\nNait and Pent stripped down to their underwear, finding it easy enough to slide their clothing off. The Lion was the first one to surge forward. He'd never been one for patience and being in this environment had only seemingly exacerbated that problem. Pent wasn't far behind, even going as far as to stride four on all fours as if it were becoming more natural for him.\n\nThe lion exploded into the water with a splash. The cool water surrounded him and Nait could have sworn he felt the chilled temperature of it against him. The soft swaying of his fur stroked back and forth against his body as he waded there in the water. He emerged his head from it, catching a glimpse of the fox cannonballing into the water as it erupted around him.\n\nPent's head soon popped up from the water. Nait spat some water out at him, feeling more playful than his usual self. The fox chuckled at him, seeming more than open to the mischief. The white fox paddled away, going as fast as his front paws would take him. The lion soon followed in behind, trying to keep in close-toe as he had taken this up as a challenge.\n\nThe fox made his way to the other side of the lake, seeming easily able to keep his distance from Nait. Pent had always been an athletic guy, much more so than his friend was. Yet, the lion still tried to keep up with him. It was an ill-fated effort, falling well short of even striking distance of being able to tug him back. For some reason, Nait felt more competitive than he usually did.\n\nThe two stopped at the far end of the pond where the sun broke through the tree branches and glazed against the still surface of the water. Pent smirked at him, his face having a sly grin distinct even through his protracted vulpine snout. Some of the water dropped from his face to the water they were submerged in. Soon Nait lurched forward to tackle his friend back into the water.\n\nThey rolled for a few moments, neither of them seeming to gain control over the moment as they rotated about in the water. Each of them tried to get the upper hand but the water was making it easier for both of them to slip out of the grip of the other. Yet, the water made it so that made it impossible to hold on. Still, both of them seemed willing to try all the same.\n\nSoon they had to come up for air as both of them had exchanged time enough underwater that they were out of breath. Nait looked at Pent and the fox looked back at him, with big goofy smiles on their face. It was the first time in a while they had truly let go and all of their worries of the real world seemed like a distant memory. The lion motioned for his friend to join him as he made his way back out of the water.\n\nThe moment Nait stepped out of the water, Pent realized his friend was out of his underwear. Somewhere during the struggle in the water, he had lost them. \n\n\"Where did your undies go?\" The fox's voice chirped at a much higher pitch but did not seem bothered by it.\n\nNait shrugged not seeming bothered by his nudity. \"I dunno but who cares…come on. Let's play!\"\n\nThe fox boy rushed out of the water, finding himself to be in just as little garments as the other boy was. Neither of them thought much of it. It was as if they were not but school boys and had seen each other this way before. They made their way back across the park to the area where the swings were, finding them to be vacant now.\n\nThey didn't seem so small now and heading over to one of the rubber seats, Nait easily fit onto one of them. \n\n\"Come on, push me!!!\" He harkened to the other boy who was still lagging behind him.\n\nThe arctic fox ran as fast as his short legs would take him. Getting right behind the other boy and pushing as hard as he could. Immediately he moved out of the way so that he could take a seat on one of the other swings. The two of them swung alongside one another, back and forth. The chilled breeze that carried through the area made their damp fur feel cool against their skin.\n\nThe two of them continued to swing without a care in the world. The entire time they laughed with big goofy smiles on their face. All of their problems had melted away. The real world seemed so removed from what they were experiencing. Everything just was so simple and so satisfying. The thought that this was entirely something else never occurred to them.\n\nSoon Nait hopped off while the swing was still pushing forward, landing on his paws without any issue. The fox wasn't just as daring, though when his feet hit the ground he wavered a bit. Pent still held the same toothy grin on his face. The lion reached out and tugged on him again, intent on taking him to the next place. The bigger boy followed along as he was curious about what his friend had in mind.\n\nThey arrived at the play area which was just to the side of the swing set. A large jungle gym complete with two slides and a climbing wall. The whole thing was quite colorful and made from fluorescent plastics to make it look more appealing to kids. Nait looked up at the slide which seemed like it towered over him now. Its sloping loop-de-loop type tubing roped around a central pillar that held the thing up.\n\nBehind it was a small staircase that led up to it. Nait headed up it with his friend closely behind. The climb wasn't very long since the slide wasn't too far from the ground. At the top, a small flag pole with a bright red flag waved against the wind. In front of them was the opening of a slide. Looking within they couldn't see much except the dark insides of the tunnel.\n\nPent suddenly eased inward, causing both of them to slip down the slide. The two of them catapulted downward. They spiraled in a circular motion as the slide curled ever closer to the ground. Within what seemed like seconds they were spit out onto the sandy ground at the base of it. The fox boy ended up on top of his friend, both boys still with big smiles on their faces.\n\nThe bigger boy helped his friend up. Nait stood upright and looked around for the next thing they could do. Nearby was a set of monkey bars. Immediately he sprinted over towards them and climbed up the small ladder that led towards them. Pent watched his friend with interest as he deftly strung his hands along the bars, going across them with ease. The lion found he was more than able to get to the other side without an issue.\n\nWhen he reached the other side he hopped down, and looked at his friend with a big goofy grin on his face. Nait felt overly proud of his accomplishment. Nait tugged on the bigger boy and ran with him into a nearby field. The blades of grass were unmowed and large enough that they reached up to both boys' lower shins. The sensation of it rubbing against their fur was something they weren't entirely used to but ignored all the same.\n\nThe sun was beginning to go down and it was starting to get later. Burnt sienna rays of sunlight spread across the meadows in front of them. Nait looked into the distance and over at Pent. Neither of them wanted the day to end and yet they knew it had to. After all…time stopped for no one, regardless of how much they might have wanted it to. The lion put his arm around the other boy and they shared a soft friendly hug.\n\nNait watched as the fox went back home. He yawned as the sudden realization that he was tired hit him. The lion turned around heading back towards where the exit was. The familiar sign he passed by on the way there no longer had any writing on it though he didn't exactly recall what it said anymore. As he walked into the distance, the screen flickered for a moment.\n\nHe reached up to take off his headset, realizing once more that this whole thing was a simulation. Nait rubbed his eyes a moment. His vision was somewhat blurry from the amount of stimulation he had just experienced. After sitting there a moment, his eyes gradually recovered from their hazy state. Looking in front of him, he could see a reflection of himself on the computer screen before him.\n\nLooking back at him he saw something unfamiliar. A fuzzy face with rounded ears. His nose protruded into a snout with a darkened nose at the end of it. He rubbed his eyes, almost believing that he might have been dreaming. Yet the sharp stint of pain reminded him this was no dream. He looked down and saw the bottom portion of his t-shirt pooled around his bottom.\n\nHe quickly bounced up. His now overly large pants slipped down the length of his legs to the ground below along with his underwear. Had the fact his shirt now tented over some of his upper legs, he would have been entirely naked. Looking around, everything seemed off. Almost as if everything was larger, like his perspective had shifted a bit. He trotted off to the bathroom, just to be certain.\n\nWhen he looked into the mirror, his worries were validated. Looking back at him was the very same lion whom he'd just portrayed in virtual reality. A smile crept up along his face. He wasn't entirely sure what this meant but immediately excitement built up inside him. Without even a single more thought, he decided to go check on Pent to see if his friend had experienced the same thing.\n\nHis longtime pal lived but a few blocks away. Nait went as quickly as his now shorter legs would take him. He passed a few of his neighbors by whose eyes fell upon him in a brief stare. Anthros were something of a rarity in society but he was still paid very little attention by them. The boy didn't much care about it either, his entire focus was on the task at hand.\n\nNait was able to make pretty good time, arriving at Pent's apartment. Going up the stairs, just as he'd done many times in the past. Fervently he rapped at the door, not wanting to wait even a single second, finding himself even more impatient now. It took a few moments before the door was opened. When it was he was met by the shocked gaze of his friend who looked back at him with bright blue eyes under his white-furred face.\n\nLooking at Pent he seemed to be just how Nait remembered him from the simulation. A slightly larger arctic fox boy, lacking much clothing. It seemed that he had experienced the same thing he had. Without much more thought he reached forward and tugged his friend to follow him. The two of them ran to the local park, just as they had done online. \n\nThe local park wasn't far from where Pent lived. The fox kit wasn't entirely sure where his friend was taking him but he followed along all the same. The moment they arrived, a rush of nostalgia and déjà vu hit Nait. Looking at the park, it looked all too familiar. Sure, he had seen the place before but it was eerily similar to the one he had seen in the simulation.\n\nStill, he didn't think much about it. None of that mattered to him now. Without hesitation he ran forward, with Pent still close behind him, taking him to the swing set. Some of the local kids looked at them as they sat on the plastic seats. The human offspring soon shooed off, wanting nothing to do with them. After all, anthros were very much an oddity to them.\n\nNait and Pent spent the rest of the day at the park. Doing many of the same things they had done in the simulation over again. Experiencing it for real brought a different since of euphoria than what they had gone through in virtual reality. It was very much a heightened experience of almost the same thing. Even ending the day where they started before, at the local lake.\n\nAfter both of the boys had grown tired and lay sprawling on the shoreline they relaxed. The gentle breeze blew over them with the sun beginning to lower in the distance. The canopy of trees over the top of them provided them some shade so they didn't have to squint. They relaxed there for a while, remaining still for the first time that day.\n\nWhen the sun began to set over the horizon, the two of them remained there as they had overspent themselves. No longer were there any concerns of responsibilities. Their adult lives had been left in the dust. Instead filled with the same sense of carelessness and innocence of childhood. Their lives had taken a new shape and they were all too ready to embrace it.\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Breaking the Game by Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters and transformative content. You have been warned

To those who dream….of the impossible. Of a fantastic world where anything can be achieved. Where the boundaries lack any sense of physical limitation. Where…the only thing keeping one back is the creative nature and curiosity of oneself. Such is the beauty….of a child's mind.

Nait was a young man who lived an ordinary life beset only by the trials and tribulations that came with his line of work. As a software developer, his tasks remained more or less monotonous. The repetition of everyday life had become somewhat routine for him. It was almost to the point where he could predict day in and day out…exactly what would happen.

Work had become less pleasurable and more about making ends meet. Often working overtime because his bosses had over-assigned his projects. He had so many things going on at once, that he couldn't just focus on one thing. Instead, his energies were split between multiple things at once. This meant he couldn't pour his whole potential into something and often things were left forgotten about or just pushed aside.

One day this all came to a head. The company he worked for had a huge project for a multi-million dollar client. The client in question had been a repeat one for the firm that Nait worked for. They had hired Nait's company for a big SEO optimization project. This was something that the young man hadn't done before and yet even still he'd been assigned the project.

As time went on, Nait got the hang of things. There were certain parts of it, intricate details that he wasn't entirely aware of. So when the big deadline came…when his company had to present their working project things didn't go as planned. Nait's boss yelled at him and the young man felt both frustrated and dejected, so he went home early. After all, they couldn't dock him for taking a personal day and he needed it.

Nait went home just around lunchtime. He lived in a small apartment with his boyfriend, who wasn't home. His boyfriend had a full-time job as well and worked away from home just as he did. The young man stepped inside and powered up his computer. Nait's passion project was a game he'd been working on. A fan-made game based on the world of Mouse Guard.

The second he powered up his computer, his screen was lit up with notifications from his email. Nait gazed at them a moment, each of them came from his work email. He decided they could wait. They couldn't force him to work while he was off the clock and he'd already taken his day. So in his mind….it was all problems that could wait for the next day.

Nait closed out the window that showed his emails. The little red indicator with a number was still there but he figured he could ignore it. Starting up his game development software so he could get to work on his video game. It took quite a bit to boot up since the project he'd been working on already had a bunch of resources built into it.

"Good afternoon, Nait." The Welcome screen for the program popped up as a usual gateway into the software itself.

The young man began working on his project. He wanted to flesh out the characters. He'd already designed the main cast of Kenzie, Liem, and Saxon, as well as many of the other guard mice that served in the stories. Nait had spent a lot of time on the titular character of his own, a sort of heir to the holder of the Black Axe. His mouse, named after himself, served under the auspice of the herald known as Bardwick.

Nait had established a separate timeline of the Mouse Guard Universe where Bardick was in his elder years. His character was now an apprentice to that grizzled-out blacksmith. He began designing some of the outfits that the mice would wear, going by the canonical lore established by the author. Going as far as to refer to drawings that were included in the books.

A few moments later Nait got a random message on an app from an old friend of his. The other man was a close friend of his who he'd known for several years now. The other man went by the name of Pent.

"You're home early. Something happened at work?" The other man asked through the message.

Nait sighed as he responded. "Yeah. I don't want to talk about it. What about you? Why are you home?"

"They have me working on updating the MSDS today. I didn't need to go into the office for that." Pent often worked at home, at least when his job allowed me.

\tThe younger man replied. "Ah, okay. You want to do something later?"

"Sure, give me a bit. We can backtrack at lunch when I have some free time." The older man chimed back.

Nait decided to continue working on his game in the meantime. There was still a lot that needed to be done and he had plenty of ideas he wanted to put into place. He knew lunch wasn't that long away so at least he could take his mind off work until then. He began to think about what he could do. After all, they were in different locations so they had to work around that.

By the time lunch rolled around, Nait had come up with an idea. Both he and Pent had Virtual Reality headsets, so he figured they could tinker around in that. He went ahead and made himself something to eat and decided to check in on the other man.

"You up for some VR now? How much time do you have before you go back to work?" The younger man asked since he wanted to be conscious of his friend's responsibilities.

It took a few minutes for Pent to respond. "I have about an hour and yeah we can do some VR. Which lobby do you want to meet in?"

"The usual lobby. 5b should be pretty slow. It's the best lobby to just go around and explore people's worlds."

The older man replied. "Sounds good. I'll be on in a minute."

Nait decided to get set up in the meantime. He went into his room to gather his VR headset so that he could plug it into his computer. After all the thing was a bit involved. It was a more advanced piece of hardware, one that had neural sensors so one could experience the sensations as well as the typical sights and sounds associated with whatever was on screen.

The young man brought his headset over to the computer. Nait sat back down in his office chair and connected it to the inserts. Placing it over his head always reminded him how heavy it was. He began navigating to the VR program on his computer. It didn't take long to boot up once he found it. The screen on his head soon took over, allowing him to make choices and select lobby 5b.

The screen flickered in front of them as the experience loaded. It took a second for something to appear. Nait's avatar was a lion, based on his favorite childhood movie The Lion King. Pent on the other hand had chosen a fox for his reasons. It wasn't long before the fox appeared on the screen and smiled at his friend. Nait couldn't help but smile as the arctic fox appeared in front of him.

"Alright…so what's the plan Lion boy?" Pent wasn't one to partake in VR often and to even have him participate was a surprise.

Nait hummed. "Well…I was kinda thinking we could do something fun. You know that simulation where you can….just be kids. Would you be interested in trying that?"

"I don't see why not. You seemed stressed about the work situation. So that sounds like a good idea to me." The fox smiled warmly at him.

The lion and fox made their way out of the lobby and towards a hub area. A sort of pillar with all of the different areas lay listed in front of them. Everything from middle-aged simulations…to flight simulators…and even role plays were offered. Nait scanned through them until he found something that sounded fun. Nait had always been a kid at heart and Pent enjoyed sharing in the experiences when he could.

Nait picked the one that showed as "Kid's Only." A warning sign showed once he clicked on it that said something about an age requirement. He thought it strange that something so arbitrary was included in something that was designed to be pretend. He had to click yes and confirm once more that he was aware of it. Of course, Nait read none of the fine print as it didn't matter to him right now.

The screen flickered a few more times before fizzling out into a much greener pasture. In front of them lay a playground with some swings and a small lake behind it. Some other kids were playing on the swing set and there were no signs of adults anywhere. Nait looked around to gauge their options. He decided the lake was a good place to start since the swings looked too small to accommodate them.

"Come on Pent. Let's go swimming." The Lion said looking over at his friend whose clothing looked a little baggy on him.

The fox nodded and the two of them walked together towards the lake. When Nait moved, he noticed too that his clothing was sagging a bit. Though he didn't care enough to put much thought into it. With the sun blazing overhead, his mind was entirely on enjoying the cool water of the lake. They soon reached the shores of the lake and both of them took their clothes off.

Nait and Pent stripped down to their underwear, finding it easy enough to slide their clothing off. The Lion was the first one to surge forward. He'd never been one for patience and being in this environment had only seemingly exacerbated that problem. Pent wasn't far behind, even going as far as to stride four on all fours as if it were becoming more natural for him.

The lion exploded into the water with a splash. The cool water surrounded him and Nait could have sworn he felt the chilled temperature of it against him. The soft swaying of his fur stroked back and forth against his body as he waded there in the water. He emerged his head from it, catching a glimpse of the fox cannonballing into the water as it erupted around him.

Pent's head soon popped up from the water. Nait spat some water out at him, feeling more playful than his usual self. The fox chuckled at him, seeming more than open to the mischief.  The white fox paddled away, going as fast as his front paws would take him. The lion soon followed in behind, trying to keep in close-toe as he had taken this up as a challenge.

The fox made his way to the other side of the lake, seeming easily able to keep his distance from Nait. Pent had always been an athletic guy, much more so than his friend was. Yet, the lion still tried to keep up with him. It was an ill-fated effort, falling well short of even striking distance of being able to tug him back. For some reason, Nait felt more competitive than he usually did.

The two stopped at the far end of the pond where the sun broke through the tree branches and glazed against the still surface of the water. Pent smirked at him, his face having a sly grin distinct even through his protracted vulpine snout. Some of the water dropped from his face to the water they were submerged in. Soon Nait lurched forward to tackle his friend back into the water.

They rolled for a few moments, neither of them seeming to gain control over the moment as they rotated about in the water. Each of them tried to get the upper hand but the water was making it easier for both of them to slip out of the grip of the other. Yet, the water made it so that made it impossible to hold on. Still, both of them seemed willing to try all the same.

Soon they had to come up for air as both of them had exchanged time enough underwater that they were out of breath. Nait looked at Pent and the fox looked back at him, with big goofy smiles on their face. It was the first time in a while they had truly let go and all of their worries of the real world seemed like a distant memory. The lion motioned for his friend to join him as he made his way back out of the water.

The moment Nait stepped out of the water, Pent realized his friend was out of his underwear. Somewhere during the struggle in the water, he had lost them.

"Where did your undies go?" The fox's voice chirped at a much higher pitch but did not seem bothered by it.

Nait shrugged not seeming bothered by his nudity. "I dunno but who cares…come on. Let's play!"

The fox boy rushed out of the water, finding himself to be in just as little garments as the other boy was. Neither of them thought much of it. It was as if they were not but school boys and had seen each other this way before. They made their way back across the park to the area where the swings were, finding them to be vacant now.

They didn't seem so small now and heading over to one of the rubber seats, Nait easily fit onto one of them.

"Come on, push me!!!" He harkened to the other boy who was still lagging behind him.

The arctic fox ran as fast as his short legs would take him. Getting right behind the other boy and pushing as hard as he could. Immediately he moved out of the way so that he could take a seat on one of the other swings. The two of them swung alongside one another, back and forth. The chilled breeze that carried through the area made their damp fur feel cool against their skin.

The two of them continued to swing without a care in the world. The entire time they laughed with big goofy smiles on their face. All of their problems had melted away. The real world seemed so removed from what they were experiencing. Everything just was so simple and so satisfying. The thought that this was entirely something else never occurred to them.

Soon Nait hopped off while the swing was still pushing forward, landing on his paws without any issue. The fox wasn't just as daring, though when his feet hit the ground he wavered a bit. Pent still held the same toothy grin on his face. The lion reached out and tugged on him again, intent on taking him to the next place. The bigger boy followed along as he was curious about what his friend had in mind.

They arrived at the play area which was just to the side of the swing set. A large jungle gym complete with two slides and a climbing wall. The whole thing was quite colorful and made from fluorescent plastics to make it look more appealing to kids. Nait looked up at the slide which seemed like it towered over him now. Its sloping loop-de-loop type tubing roped around a central pillar that held the thing up.

Behind it was a small staircase that led up to it. Nait headed up it with his friend closely behind. The climb wasn't very long since the slide wasn't too far from the ground. At the top, a small flag pole with a bright red flag waved against the wind.  In front of them was the opening of a slide. Looking within they couldn't see much except the dark insides of the tunnel.

Pent suddenly eased inward, causing both of them to slip down the slide. The two of them catapulted downward. They spiraled in a circular motion as the slide curled ever closer to the ground. Within what seemed like seconds they were spit out onto the sandy ground at the base of it. The fox boy ended up on top of his friend, both boys still with big smiles on their faces.

The bigger boy helped his friend up. Nait stood upright and looked around for the next thing they could do. Nearby was a set of monkey bars. Immediately he sprinted over towards them and climbed up the small ladder that led towards them. Pent watched his friend with interest as he deftly strung his hands along the bars, going across them with ease. The lion found he was more than able to get to the other side without an issue.

When he reached the other side he hopped down, and looked at his friend with a big goofy grin on his face. Nait felt overly proud of his accomplishment. Nait tugged on the bigger boy and ran with him into a nearby field. The blades of grass were unmowed and large enough that they reached up to both boys' lower shins. The sensation of it rubbing against their fur was something they weren't entirely used to but ignored all the same.

The sun was beginning to go down and it was starting to get later. Burnt sienna rays of sunlight spread across the meadows in front of them. Nait looked into the distance and over at Pent. Neither of them wanted the day to end and yet they knew it had to. After all…time stopped for no one, regardless of how much they might have wanted it to. The lion put his arm around the other boy and they shared a soft friendly hug.

Nait watched as the fox went back home. He yawned as the sudden realization that he was tired hit him. The lion turned around heading back towards where the exit was. The familiar sign he passed by on the way there no longer had any writing on it though he didn't exactly recall what it said anymore. As he walked into the distance, the screen flickered for a moment.

He reached up to take off his headset, realizing once more that this whole thing was a simulation. Nait rubbed his eyes a moment. His vision was somewhat blurry from the amount of stimulation he had just experienced. After sitting there a moment, his eyes gradually recovered from their hazy state. Looking in front of him, he could see a reflection of himself on the computer screen before him.

Looking back at him he saw something unfamiliar. A fuzzy face with rounded ears. His nose protruded into a snout with a darkened nose at the end of it. He rubbed his eyes, almost believing that he might have been dreaming. Yet the sharp stint of pain reminded him this was no dream. He looked down and saw the bottom portion of his t-shirt pooled around his bottom.

He quickly bounced up. His now overly large pants slipped down the length of his legs to the ground below along with his underwear. Had the fact his shirt now tented over some of his upper legs, he would have been entirely naked. Looking around, everything seemed off. Almost as if everything was larger, like his perspective had shifted a bit. He trotted off to the bathroom, just to be certain.

When he looked into the mirror, his worries were validated. Looking back at him was the very same lion whom he'd just portrayed in virtual reality. A smile crept up along his face. He wasn't entirely sure what this meant but immediately excitement built up inside him. Without even a single more thought, he decided to go check on Pent to see if his friend had experienced the same thing.

His longtime pal lived but a few blocks away.  Nait went as quickly as his now shorter legs would take him. He passed a few of his neighbors by whose eyes fell upon him in a brief stare. Anthros were something of a rarity in society but he was still paid very little attention by them. The boy didn't much care about it either, his entire focus was on the task at hand.

Nait was able to make pretty good time, arriving at Pent's apartment. Going up the stairs, just as he'd done many times in the past. Fervently he rapped at the door, not wanting to wait even a single second, finding himself even more impatient now. It took a few moments before the door was opened. When it was he was met by the shocked gaze of his friend who looked back at him with bright blue eyes under his white-furred face.

Looking at Pent he seemed to be just how Nait remembered him from the simulation. A slightly larger arctic fox boy, lacking much clothing. It seemed that he had experienced the same thing he had. Without much more thought he reached forward and tugged his friend to follow him. The two of them ran to the local park, just as they had done online.

The local park wasn't far from where Pent lived. The fox kit wasn't entirely sure where his friend was taking him but he followed along all the same. The moment they arrived, a rush of nostalgia and déjà vu hit Nait. Looking at the park, it looked all too familiar. Sure, he had seen the place before but it was eerily similar to the one he had seen in the simulation.

Still, he didn't think much about it. None of that mattered to him now. Without hesitation he ran forward, with Pent still close behind him, taking him to the swing set. Some of the local kids looked at them as they sat on the plastic seats. The human offspring soon shooed off, wanting nothing to do with them. After all, anthros were very much an oddity to them.

Nait and Pent spent the rest of the day at the park. Doing many of the same things they had done in the simulation over again. Experiencing it for real brought a different since of euphoria than what they had gone through in virtual reality. It was very much a heightened experience of almost the same thing. Even ending the day where they started before, at the local lake.

After both of the boys had grown tired and lay sprawling on the shoreline they relaxed. The gentle breeze blew over them with the sun beginning to lower in the distance. The canopy of trees over the top of them provided them some shade so they didn't have to squint. They relaxed there for a while, remaining still for the first time that day.

When the sun began to set over the horizon, the two of them remained there as they had overspent themselves. No longer were there any concerns of responsibilities. Their adult lives had been left in the dust. Instead filled with the same sense of carelessness and innocence of childhood. Their lives had taken a new shape and they were all too ready to embrace it.
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