FSE

Furry search engine

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"How do you think they got 'em in here," Rowen pondered aloud, the wolf rapping a claw on the glass of the massive terrarium that loomed high before him; the first of a pair. Charlie's Pet Emporium certainly had a habit of stocking strange and exotic creatures, but this had to take the cake. Lying within, just on the other side of the window staring back towards the curious wolf that tapped at her, was a giant snake. Not just giant in fact, colossal. At least three times his size if not more, as some of the yellow and white scales that covered her lengthy body were hidden under the resting coils.

"Got what in where," asked Flame from where he had been previously inspecting a bin of assorted chew toys. The snow leopard wore a playful smirk as he wandered over to stand beside the wolf. "The snakes I can see, but these habitats are bigger than the entire front of the store! Must've taken the roof off and air-lifted them in I'd wager."

"Or they just carried in the supplies and built after." Rimefang gave a toothy grin, the dragon sauntering his way over from in front of the other snake pen where a similarly massive brown and black male serpent lazed. Jayce trailed shortly behind, the bull terrier still eyeing the creature as he went. The four friends stood grouped, gathered in the center of the store.

"Take all the fun out of it why don't'cha." Flame gave Rimefang a wink as he shook his head sarcastically.

"Still leaves the snake question though." Jayce piped up, sneaking a glance back over his shoulder at the reptiles in question. "Enlighten us, Flame; how did they get them in here?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" The leopard paused for effect, scanning his friends confused faces while keeping his own straight. "Ol' Charlie just asked them to come. I hear he's quite the charmer!"

Even the crickets over in the live feed department held their legs silent. Rowen rubbed his temples with a pained look while Jayce shook his head dismissively. Rimefang's mouth just hung open in disbelief. Somewhere a baby began to cry; or at least, a songbird that could mimic the sound with frightening accuracy.

"You're an idiot dude." Was all the three of them could say, nearly in unison as they sighed at the poor attempt of a pun.

"Maybe, maybe. But you love me for it!" Flame gave a wink as he stuck out his tongue at them, chuckling to himself as they stared proverbial daggers into his smiling visage.

"Love's a strong word..." Rowen smirked, stroking his chin with a light wag of his tail.

"Now hate; hate is a word I can get behind!" Rimefang chuckled out, winding his tail around to give the snow a playful tickle on the tummy. Flame giggled at the contact, squirming away while batting at the appendage lightly. The dragon continued forward, hoisting his tail like a lance while advancing on his retreating friend with a predatory grin. Rowen followed suit, wriggling his paws and stalking his giggly victim.

"Uhh... Guys?" Jayce spoke up softly as the other three laughed and darted about, his eyes locked once more on the massive habitats nearby.

"Hehe, what's up dude?" Flame chuckled as he dodged a tail prod, panting and out of breath from exertion. He did not receive a response, but his eyes followed the direction that his friend pointed and locked there.

"Gotcha!" Rimefang and Rowen triumphantly leaped towards the snow leopard, poking and prodding with claw and tail alike in a chorus of giggles. When they received no response in return save for a distracted brush off of their pesky appendages, they too followed the sight-line of his wide eyes to where they were laser-focused: the snake habitat.

Staring back at the group, just the same as before, was the massive female snake from just beyond the glass. Difference being she was now uncoiled, her scaled body extending up to look on intently while intelligence shone in her soft eyes. Her tail, in a mimicry of Rowen from earlier, tapped softly against the confines of her pen, stopping now that she had all their assorted attentions to beckon them towards her with a knowing wink. Slowly but surely they obliged, inching closer until all four stood shoulder to shoulder before the glass of the habitat, mesmerized by the scaled serpent within.

"W-what do you think she wants?" Jayce managed to stutter out, keeping his eyes trained on the snake as he turned his head to address his friends shakily. He wasn't afraid of snakes by any means, but a creature so much larger than him being so close was awe inspiring to say the least.

"Maybe just some attention?" Rimefang was first to answer, shaking his head as if to break from a trance as he tore his eyes away from her. "We did tap at her glass and just kind of leave after all, and it wasn't like she was ignoring us or anything."

The serpent in question responded with a happy nod at this, giving the four outside a start at the demonstration of understanding. It wasn't unheard of for a feral to possess advanced sentience, but outside of dragons it was scarce at best. Even more rare was finding one in captivity, as most would find a way to let their captor know of their intellect in short order. That, or escape. This reality was not lost on Rowen, who made as much known.

"There's no way she's in there without wanting to be. Either of them for that matter," the wolf ensured his friends with narrowed eyes, watching the snakes with newfound suspicion.

Flame gave a simultaneous roll of his eyes and head in a loop of impatience. "Well why don't we just ask them?" Sauntering up toward the white and yellow serpent, with any fear beating in his chest known only to him, the leopard did just that. "Excuse me, miss? Hi, we were wondering if you and your friend are in these, uh... Habitats; of your own volition?"

She quirked her head to the side as if one might quirk a brow before giving an affirmative nod, maneuvering her tail towards the glass and pointing to a small sign near the base; understandably unnoticed as it was due what lay coiled beyond it. Flame motioned the trio behind to follow him and look, to which Rimefang eagerly obliged; Rowen and Jayce a bit more hesitant behind him.

"See, look here," the dragon pointed at the bold black lettering on the plaque set into the wood of the habitat. "Endangered and relocated due to reforestation. No wonder they're here willingly, poor things. Such a shame that we live in a world where the beauty of nature is tossed by the wayside for the sake of progress. I mean, doesn't it--"

Rimefang's opining was cut off by yet another round of glass tapping, though this time it was accompanied by a light jingle as well. Dangling from the tip of the lady snake's tail, shaking and glinting in the light, was a pair of keys on a ring. With a wink she lifted them up to one of the small air holes near the top of her cage, passing them through dexterously and letting them fall to the floor with a resounding *clink*. Flame snatched them up quickly with a devilish grin plastered across his face. It took Rowen and Jayce holding him back to keep him from opening the lock right then and there.

"C'mon guys, let me go," he said as he struggled. "What're you so afraid of? She's clearly inviting us to hang out with her and her friend, no biggie!"

"Yes biggie!" Jayce panted with some exertion, holding on to one of the leopard's arms. "Doesn't matter how smart they are, they're still giant snakes and we could still get in trouble for opening the glass when we're not supposed to!"

"Why would we get in trouble," Rimefang chimed in with a glint in his eye. "If they're in there because they want to be, then they have to be free to go in and out as they please, right? Keeping them in there would be illegal otherwise."

Flame could feel the grip on his arms loosening and he pulled free, dusting himself off sarcastically with a playful smirk before walking over to place the key in the first lock. "Yeah, just think of it this way dudes: we're just helping them exercise their right to vacate their current homes. Or invite us into them, as it were."

With a twist and a click, the first lock signified it's opening. Rowen gave an almost defeated sigh as his leopard friend strode over to unlock the second. "I guess... Still feels like this is a bad idea though."

"Bad idea, schmad idea!" Flame quipped back as he began the task of sliding open the heavy entrance to the first habitat. "How many times are you going to get the chance to hang out with a giant snake in your lifetime? An intelligent one no less, with no shortage in the looks department I might add!" He gave a sly wink at the serpent with this, who lifted her tail to her mouth and closed her eyes in a silent giggle.

To the right, Rimefang was doing much the same, minus the winking. After some effort, both sets of sliding glass lied open; the moist scent of the inhabitants filling the air. With an excited hop and a grin from ear to ear, Flame made his way onto the wooden ledge of the pens, flailing his arms in a circle to keep balance before transitioning the motion into a not-so-smooth bow.

"Greetings, fair serpent! I humbly request permission to enter your abode. If you'll have me that is." The snow leopard looked up with a s smile while maintaining his bow, eliciting another faux chuckle from the recipient of his ham-fisted chivalry. With a sweep of her tail and bow of her head she ushered Flame inside, flicking him with her tongue playfully as he passed. Looking out, she next locked eyes with Rowen, giving a smile and a friendly wave of her tail as she attempted to coax him in from outside. The wolf hesitated, part of him screaming that he should just turn and leave, but in spite of this his legs began moving him forward.

To the right the scene was much the same. Rimefang had already entered the darker snakes abode, with Jayce just starting to nervously crawl over the ledge as well. Soon, Rowen was the only one of his friends still outside the cages, still battling nerves as he placed a hand against the polished wood. Steeling himself he gulped hard and lifted a leg up over the side, hesitating again but in vain as Flame grabbed his shoulders to pull him in with a giggle.

Rowen scurried to the back of the enclosure, pressing his back to the wall as he shivered and huffed. "D-don't do that to me dude! I'm nervous enough as it is without you tugging me in before I'm ready!"

Flame put his hands up in mock apology, stepping in a bit from his position near the exit. "Sorry, Row, didn't mean to startle you or anything. But for real, if I let you go at your own pace we would've been here all day. Not for nothing, but she had the kindness to invite us in here and you acting so scared comes across as kind of rude, don't you think?" Rowen could only stare with mouth agape, to which Flame rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, maybe not rude per se, but you get what I'm saying, right?"

Rowen's eyes weren't locked on Flame however, but the snake beyond; who had her head outside the habitat giving a sly nod to the other serpent before ducking back in and giving the wolf a wink as she began maneuvering her coils around the leopard's ankles. He could barely even utter a warning before they constricted tight around his friend's waist, eliciting a surprised yelp as he was lifted into the air.

The wolf could only watch in horrified interest as Flame struggled mid-air towards the exit, managing to grab the ledge and hold on even as the squelching gulps began in the next unit over; Rimefang hardly even struggling as he made his way into the darker serpent's gullet, wings folded against his back. All the while the lighter of the two tickled her captive's feet with her tongue, smiling a serpentine smile as she toyed with the leopard.

The sounds of squishy gulping filled the air, occasionally accented by the grunt of Flame's struggles until all was quiet and Rimefang but a bulge under the male's scales. Taking that as her cue, she swiftly tugged the leopard free from his grip, opening her maw just enough to take the paws into her waiting mouth. Her prey could only reach in futility at his prior handhold as he began the slow slide into the slimy throat, whimpering softly as she licked his belly playfully.

Rowen's heart pounded in his chest as he looked on enraptured; eyes wide at the rapidly growing bulge inside the snake's neck. No matter how he tried, he couldn't look away as his friend was devoured at a snail's pace, sitting frozen against the interior wall as she worked her way up to his shoulders. When at last the leopards head finally disappeared between her jaws, the snake turned to face the cowering wolf with her maw still open, Flame looking out with a goofy grin etched on his face.

"Guess you were right dude," he chuckled out from within the snake, face glistening with the saliva that dripped around him. "It was a schmad idea after all!"

With that his predators mouth closed, and with a heavy gulp Flame descended down her gullet; his form clearly outlined under her scales. His paws pressed and distended out from within; not in a panic or struggle, but more of a tease as the wolf could swear he heard a faint giggle echoing inside.

Almost ironically Rowen's mouth hung open, the serpent still staring at the wolf with a twinkle in her eyes. He flinched and pressed his back harder against the wood behind him as she began to maneuver over to where he sat, closing his eyes in fear. When he did not feel the heat of her breath nor the tease of her tongue, he chanced cracking one lid open, only to see the underside of her smooth belly a few feet before him full and bulging with his friend. A poke at his leg brought his other eye open, looking down to see the tip of her tail gesturing towards the leopard shaped bulge as she gave a wink and a 'come hither' sway of the head.

Slowly getting the hint he scooted over towards her, intent on avoiding a trip into her maw by obliging what she wished. When he was close enough to hear the groans of her belly, her coils wrapped gently around to pull him against the bulge, which squirmed from the contact. Only partially mortified that it was his friend on the other side of those scaled walls, he couldn't help but notice how soft, comfortable and warm she was. Nuzzling into the wriggling mass as the snake coiled tighter around him, Rowen's eyes began to droop from the pleasant heat.

As the wolf fell asleep, pressed up against the internal mass of his leopard friend, the she-serpent slowly and quietly retrieved the keys from the ground with her tail; pulling the glass of the habitat closed soon after before laying her head over her new acquisition for a long nap of her own.