FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ryan tapped on Mark's shoulder eagerly as he was mid-explaining why he had chosen to do Graphic Design. The explanation forgotten, Mark looked out of the window to their left to see the familiar sight of the small Milton Gardens bus stop. Curious, Mark wondered where Ryan lived in the area.

Milton Gardens was a large residential area just outside of the town center, the houses available were fairly modest medium sized dwellings built in the early 20th century, they reminded Mark of the Edwardian houses of San Francisco, though not nearly as expensive. None of the houses were as big or as new as Mark's house, but he found that the area had some distinct charm. The sidewalks were lined with black traditional streetlamps that looked like they had been transported directly from Victorian England and Ivy crept up the sides of a few of the older houses. The local council was even as thoughtful as to use traditional black trash cans with gold writing. The only sign that the area maybe wasn't the most expensive place to live was the small shopping plaza that served the entire area, consisting of a McDonalds, Starbucks, 7/11, some other assorted takeout places and a Liquor store. The parking lot was famed for it's late night car scene, the only reminders of which, during the day, were tyre and burnout marks as well as small chunks of tyre blowing in the wind like tumbleweeds.

Ryan walked ahead of Mark, who followed him down the aisle at a good pace. Mark noticed that Ryan's black and dark grey tail wagged gently side-to-side and chuckled, the raccoon really was excited to show him Pulp Fiction. Ryan thanked the bus driver, a sleep-deprived badger in his thirties who Mark did not know the name of. Not wanting to appear rude, Mark showed the same courtesy and thanked the driver, who responded by closing the doors as soon as Mark stepped onto the sidewalk.

"Do you live close to here?" inquired Mark, who was only familiar with the plaza and the immediate area surrounding the bus stop.

"It's not far, just 5 minutes or so away. You been here before?" Ryan responded, his head titled with curiosity.

"A few times, just to go to the gas station or to get a ride home. You like it round here?"

"Eh... Its nice enough, I like how the place looks, I just hate the car scene here."

Mark found himself raising his brows and ears in response, Ryan chuckled.

"It's hard enough trying to sleep when there are idiots with fart cannon exhausts zooming down the road next to your house like they're in a fucking Fast and Furious movie where Vin Diesel has been replaced by the dude who makes your burgers in McDonalds!" exclaimed Ryan, barely managing to finish before both boys burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay that doesn't sound like the best thing to have to deal with." Mark responded, still grinning and chuckling from Ryan's joke. "I mean where I live, the loudest noise you probably have to deal with is your 40-something year old neighbours having a house party and blasting some 80s compilation album. You know how many times I've had to hear Toto's Africa?"

Ryan turned to Mark and rolled his eyes.

"How many times?"

"Too many goddamn times, that's how many!"

"It's gonna take a lot to take me away from youuuuuu!" mocked Ryan, his impersonation not that far off from what the song sounded like.

"Oh god stop, I'm having vivid flashbacks." Mark responded, paws covering his eyes.

"Hey it's not that bad of a song, catchy at least."

Mark glared at Ryan, who subsequently shrugged his shoulders, prompting Mark to tut at him.

"Hey come on!" began Ryan, feigning a look of hurt, "I don't listen to it regularly or anything, I'm more into classical stuff and hip hop. What kinda music do you listen to?"

"First off, that's such a contrast. How can you go from the soothing sounds of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata to..." Mark paused, "Modern hip-hop?"

The raccoon nodded.

"Go from Beethoven to someone like Young Thug mumbling something about dealing drugs?" asked Mark, genuinely surprised and confused by his friend's music taste.

"I don't know." began Ryan, his palms held flat in the air, "Just whatever my brain seems to want."

"Eh, I suppose that's true." admitted Mark, his sapphire eyes staring into the sky, "I listen to almost exclusively 90s hip hop, I can't stand all that mumble rap shit. Like N.W.A, Dre, Westside Connection and Tupac." Mark returned his eyes back to Ryan, "It's all kind of... Raw, and they tell stories usually, they don't just talk about being rich or whatever, although they have to make some filler for albums."

"I've listened to some N.W.A, just the songs that were in the movie about them. Don't know the other ones." Ryan responded calmly.

Mark's face lit up slightly, "I guess it's going to be my turn to try and culture you then huh?"

"If you watch Pulp Fiction and enjoy it, you can culture me anytime..." Ryan replied teasingly, mischievous smirk on his face.

'Is he... Is he hitting... on me?' Mark thought, his heart rate beginning to quicken. He felt a fuzzy sensation around his heart, his cheeks began to light up and the tips of his ears began to feel warmer.

'Ugh, this was so wrong...'

Ryan burst out laughing, covering his mouth with his paw.

"Oh man I got you good didn't I!", he continued to giggle while they walked, his tail wagged erratically. This time, Mark felt the burning sensation of embarrassment, his ears had begun to burn with a different kind of flame.

"Fucks sake Ryan." Mark replied, half-angrily, before rolling his eyes and beginning to smile again, prompting another bout of giggles from the raccoon.

"It's not MY fault you're into me!" Ryan teased, shit-eating grin affixed to his face.

"Please stop, you are causing me pain the magnitudes of which have never been felt by a person before." Mark joked back. Both boys now in fits of giggles.

However, Mark now had serious concerns that Ryan was gay and into him, after all, it wasn't something he was just going to mention in his introduction.

'Hi my name is Ryan and I am gay and I think you are really hot, please be my friend and come to my house so we can watch a movie together.'

The thought of a friend, a male friend, being into him, gave Mark an uncomfortable mix of feelings and sensations that he couldn't quite decipher. It seemed to contain a hint of longing, some disgust and discomfort, but some kind of excitement as well. Mark chalked it up to be his mind telling him that he was uncomfortable at Ryan being gay, because it might mean he would try something with him.

But did he want that something to be tried, deep down?

He was straight, so no, that would be the opposite of what he wanted. He just wanted a normal, close friendship and then a girlfriend to do those 'somethings' with. He was working on the girlfriend part.

'Hey Mark, it's me, Mark. I'm just reminding you that he's your friend and he hasn't even said if he is gay yet, stop getting so excited.'

Mark was right. Mark didn't know if Ryan was actually gay, in all actuality it was probably just a joke. Mark started to feel some kind of relief, but he still felt conflicted. 'Whatever, back to reality now.' he thought, before exiting his thought world to return to real time events. He'd try and ask about it later.

Ryan had just finished giggling, a smile still on his face. He took a deep breath and sighed, his face undoubtedly sore from grinning for that long. He stopped walking and then turned to the house on his right.

"Well, this is it."

Mark looked to his right to see the modest Edwardian brick house that Ryan called home. There was, in true traditional Milton Gardens style, ivy growing up the side of the house. There was also a more recent addition in the form of a small garage, big enough for a single car and maybe some tools. Outside the garage and parked on the drive was the aforementioned Jeep and a 2015 model Subaru Impreza sedan. The badge excited Mark.

"Mmmm... Subaru..." Mark said jokingly, his mouth open in mock drooling. Ryan walked up the driveway while Mark followed.

"It's way overrated, it's not even the sport model. Not to mention it's my mom's lease so I can't even get insured on it." replied Ryan, slightly disappointed.

"I was just about to ask why you were learning in the Jeep. That sucks." said Mark, genuinely disappointed for Ryan.

"Hey it's fine, at least I get to learn to drive." assured Ryan, a small smile still showing.

Ryan reached into the large front pocket of his hoodie and pulled out a small set of keys, before inserting the smallest key into the black painted front door, which was numbered in gold writing as being number 37 on the street. The turning of the lock made a small thunk sound, before the door swung open to reveal a small hallway.

The hallway had wooden floors, the real kind, as well as white painted walls. Large traditional beams of chocolate brown wood lined the ceiling, appearing to support the upper floors of the house. On the right was a small doorway which led into the living room, where Mark could see both of Ryan's parents watching television together on a brown leather couch. On the left, slightly further up the hall, was another doorway that lead into the dining room, which sported a black and gold color scheme similar to the front door. Finally, there was a door straight ahead and to the right, while to the left of the door, was a carpeted set of stairs that led into an upstairs hallway.

'Well, this is exactly what I expected from Milton Gardens.' Mark thought, the brick exterior lined with creeping Ivy should have given this kind of interior styling away. It wasn't completely dark inside however, there were windows in every room to let the afternoon's sunshine in.

"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" Ryan shouted to his parents, who turned away from the television that was currently on commercial break.

"Hi son!" Ryan's father responded back, followed by his mother, "Welcome home son!"

Ryan's parents were both raccoons who looked to be in their late thirties to their early forties, although Mark wasn't going to ask. Ryan's father had a much longer patch of fur around his neck and dressed in a large navy pullover that covered a white t-shirt. He wore khaki shorts in true 'Dad' fashion, even though it wasn't even that warm outside, winter had only started to go away. Ryan's mother was also dressed in what might be typical 'Mom' style, black t-shirt, white cardigan and dark blue jeans. She wore a small pair of glasses to watch the television.

"This is Mark, me and him are going to watch Pulp Fiction, is that alright?" asked Ryan, a look of very mild anticipation appearing on his face.

"Of course!" Ryan's father began, "Anyone's welcome in this house, feel free to stay for as long as you like!" Ryan's father finished with a smile on his face, he turned to Ryan's mother and the two of them shared a knowing smile.

"Thanks Dad!" Ryan shouted back, already making his way towards the stairs.

"Thanks very much!" Mark called back as well.

"You are very welcome!" Ryan's mother shouted back as both boys made their way upstairs.

It occurred to Mark that he didn't know Ryan's last name, nor had he mentioned his to Ryan, he hoped that would come up later so that he could thank Ryan's parents as 'Mr. and Mrs... Raccoonson' or something like that. He also needed to text his parents that he was at Ryan's and an approximate time for coming back, even though he had been invited to stay for as long as he would like to. Staying over was possible, it was a Friday after all, but he didn't want to push for anything Ryan hadn't invited him to do.

The boys made their way down the narrow carpeted hallway, multiple doors lined the right wall while windows stretched down Mark's left, giving a beautiful view of a small but very well-maintained backyard.

Ryan gestured to the first door that they passed.

"Parents bedroom." The raccoon pointed into the open doorway that revealed a king size bed, large window and a dressing table.

"Bathroom." he stated, while pointing at the off-white door. The boys continued down the hall.

"My room's this one, the one at the end is just storage." He gestured to the door at the end of the hallway.

Ryan opened the door to reveal a relatively spacious room with dark gray colored walls, the one facing towards the front of the house sported a large 3 panel window, a set of wooden Venetian blinds hung in front of it. A large wooden double bed with gray sheets was placed directly in front of the door, silver laptop lying on top of the sheets.

Upon following Ryan inside, Mark could also see a large shelf organised into wooden squares, each holding a set of meticulously organised items, from books to a Blu Ray collection to a small model Nissan R34 Skyline. Mark deduced that Ryan was into cars, at least a little.

'Ooh I can tell him about my BMW!' Mark thought, before remembering that it might make him sound spoilt as hell, which he sort of was.

Some posters draped Ryan's walls, one was of a racing league that Mark had never seen before, but he recognized the cars as Chevrolet SSes, even though they didn't have the Chevrolet badge. Another poster was a large theater size promotional poster for a movie called 'L.A. Confidential', although he didn't recognize it, he faintly remembered hearing about it before.

"I swear I've heard of that movie before." Mark exclaimed, staring at the poster for 'L.A. Confidential'.

"I'm more surprised you haven't seen it, it's one of the best neo-noir films ever made!" said Ryan, a tone of what could only be described as bewilderment in his voice.

"You stick to the films and I'll stick to the music, with enough time I'll know what a neo..."

"Noir." finished Ryan.

"I'll know what a neo-noir is and you'll know what Dr. Dre means by '44 reasons come to mind, why your motherfuckin' brother is so hard to find'."

Ryan's brows raised sharply and he laughed, "Holy shit, that's a dark lyric."

"Those are the two lines that start one of his songs from The Chronic, don't know if it's 'Rat Tat Tat Tat' or what though."

"I think I'll actually have to give that album a listen." said Ryan, nodding his head slightly and smiling.

Ryan walked over to his large shelf unit and looked through his Blu Rays, reading the titles under his breath.

"Zootopia, Fast and Furious, The Godfather, City of God, Interstellar... Ah-hah!" he exclaimed, pulling Pulp Fiction out of the pile and leaving the other cases to fall onto the case below, creating a small thunk sound.

To Mark, the cover of the Blu Ray, featuring a vixen smoking a cigarette on a bed, looked more like an 80s porno that it did a classic film.

"Sure that ain't your Dad's porno?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Fuck off, it's the best film ever made." said Ryan, while he chuckled slightly.

"Is that what your Dad says?" Mark said, with a wide grin and his eyes narrowed.

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Nah, that's what you'll be saying when we get to the end of it." Ryan said confidently.

"Eugh, that's disgusting."

"Oh do shut up already." Ryan said frustratedly, before both boys started giggling.

Ryan walked over to the large TV that was mounted on the wall opposite the bed, there was a small couch that seated two people placed just in front. The Blu Ray player lay on the floor, HDMI cable snaking up the wall.

"What racing league is that?" Mark inquired, pointing to the poster that featured what he thought to be Chevrolet SSes, Nissan Altimas and some kind of Ford.

Ryan turned around from operating the Blu Ray player and glanced towards the poster.

"Oh that's V8 Supercars, well, just Supercars now. It's basically Ford vs Holden vs Nissan in Australia. V8 engines only, or at least it will be until next year." Ryan said, returning to work on getting the movie on.

"Ohhhh... I thought those were Chevrolet SSes."

"Yeah they basically are, the SS is just a rebadged Holden Commodore. That's what they use in Supercars, well, not really, they share the body shape and that's about where the similarities end."

"Good racing league?"

"Hell yeah, they use control parts mostly so it's more based on skill than car, plus it never gets old hearing the Aussie accent."

"Too right mate." added Mark, using a horrendous mock Australian accent.

Ryan turned around slowly, nose wrinkled, and stared at Mark.

"That. Was. Terrible." he said, before bursting into giggles, Mark joining in immediately.

"Ready!" Ryan exclaimed, pausing, "Or not. We didn't get anything from the kitchen." said Ryan, before sighing and standing up.

"Oh what do you have?" Mark asked, standing up to follow Ryan.

"Uhh..." Ryan paused while opening the door, "We should have popcorn and like Sprite or something."

The boys continued down the hallway that they had just walked down, descended the soft carpet of the staircase and then headed to the door to the left of them.

"Do you like cars then?" Mark asked, itching to tell Ryan about his BMW. After all, it didn't seem like he was particularly poor or anything, just that his family spent more on their house than they did their cars.

"No, I hate them." responded Ryan, keeping a perfectly straight face.

Mark rolled his eyes in response and Ryan grinned.

"Yeah but do you like tuning and... car culture and stuff?" added Mark, following Ryan through the door into a modest kitchen, fitted with, again, wooden cabinets.

Ryan opened the refrigerator.

"Yeah I'm interested in it, but its not like I can modify the fuel injection on a beaten up old Jeep now can I? It's my Dad's project car, he works as a mechanic so he fixed it up real cheap and rebuilt the engine and stuff like that." Ryan replied, he rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Diet Coke.

"Is Diet Coke okay?" Ryan asked.

Unlike most people, who demanded regular Coke, Mark not only preferred Diet Coke, but his favorite drink was Pepsi Max.

"Yeah that's great, I actually prefer Diet." Mark responded.

Ryan scoffed, "Weirdo." he said, chuckling.

"You know it baby." Mark responded, aiming his finger guns and prompting Ryan to shake his head. The raccoon closed the refrigerator and started looking in the cupboards.

Mark deliberated a moment. If Ryan was into cars, then surely he would appreciate Mark's BMW, especially all the plans he had for it.

'Why not? Worst thing that could happen is that he thinks I'm spoilt as hell.' Mark concluded his thought, ready to tell Ryan.

"Well, what if I said there is something that we can tune... together..." Mark asked, holding a smile of anticipation.

"Mark, I'm sorry, I'm not interested in tuning your Mom's old Camry." Ryan replied jokingly.

"Nah I'm serious. My car..." Mark began.

"Is a 1997 Camry?" interrupted Ryan, trademark grin on his muzzle.

"Oh my god Ryan, just let me say what it is!" Mark cried out, both laughing and visibly frustrated.

"Okay what is it?" Ryan asked, searching the cupboards for popcorn.

"1990, BMW..."

Ryan stopped rummaging and turned to Mark, clearly interested.

"...325iX Coupé. All wheel drive, puts out 168 horsies and goes 0-62 in just over 8 seconds." Mark finished, smiling, but also bracing for the possibility that his friend would make fun of him for 'reading the brochure'.

Ryan continued staring at him, hands still in the cupboard.

"You... You're joking right?" Ryan responded, his brows raised, hazel eyes staring at Mark.

"Nope, here I'll show you."

Ryan walked over to Mark, who had pulled out his iPhone and opened his gallery. He navigated to a recent picture that he had taken just after cleaning it meticulously, the red paint gleamed under the fluorescent lights of Mark's garage.

'Spotless...' Mark thought to himself while Ryan stared at the photo in disbelief.

Unprompted and uninvited, Ryan swiped right, revealing a slightly embarrassing selfie of Mark with the car, tongue hanging out of his muzzle.

"But like... how? How can you even afford to insure a 16 year old on that?" said Ryan, in both disbelief and confusion.

"Mom's company has a big insurance policy, insures the car for a flat rate with any modifications, so long as a qualified mechanic says that they are installed correctly. Plus I don't ever plan to harm that beautiful machine." Mark said, still looking in admiration at his spotlessly clean red car in the photo.

"So what, we work on that together? It's your car, I wouldn't want to damage it."

"If you're interested yeah, don't worry about damage, it's got insurance for a reason, plus your Dad is a mechanic isn't he?"

Ryan nodded, making the fur under his neck bob up and down amusingly.

"Well if he's willing to help us with it, then it won't even cost us nearly as much to modify." said Mark, now excited at the possibilities for the future.

"Really? Are you sure?" Ryan asked nervously.

"Yes Ryan, I'm sure." Mark responded, holding a confident smile.

"But are you just offering me that chance out of pity." Ryan inquired, his eyes staring at the near 30 year old car still being shown on Mark's phone.

"No Ryan, really, I'd love for you to work on it with me, it'd give me someone to talk about cars all the time with."

"Well that's... That's really generous of you Mark... Thanks." Ryan finished, flattered by Mark's generosity. His tail wagged slowly.

Ryan stood close to Mark, looking down at the photo, Mark looked into Ryan's hazel eyes, which then came to meet his, a blush on his face and small smile showing. Both boys stared into each other's eyes, the proximity and warmth of their bodies being shared.

Facing the raccoon, who Mark unconsciously acknowledged as being cute, Mark found himself resisting an urge to move forward suddenly and lock muzzles with his friend, wrapping his jet black arms around him and letting his heart's desires run free... Letting his tongue say what his words could not...

Mark felt a small amount of pressure from his crotch region, some part of his mind was clearly agreeing with the urge he was feeling. As if this wasn't the worst train of thought he ever had, on cue, Mark's ears began to burn like a disaster at a chemical plant and his muscles tensed hard.

'DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOT! STOP STARING INTO HIS EYES!' commanded a voice in his head. Mark obediently snapped his eyes to the floor.

"Uh... y-yeah, no problem, you're welcome Ryan." Mark said, aware that it had come out awkwardly. "Want to go watch the movie then?"

Ryan walked back over to the cupboards and began rummaging again, "Yeah definitely, just once I've found the bag, I swear we have one..."

Mark decided that this was probably the time to tell his parents where he was, seeing as it was getting to be an hour after he was supposed to be home. He opened the messaging app on his phone and started typing.

'Hey Mom, hey Dad. I'm just at my friend Ryan's place in Milton Gardens. Any time I need to be back for?' he typed, before sending the message. Almost immediately Mark was greeted with the words 'birth giver is typing'. Shortly afterwards appeared a message that read:

'Great to hear that, glad you are having fun with friends. Stay as long as you are welcome to -Mom', followed by a few kissy face emojis.

Mark wished his parents had never discovered emojis. But still, he was glad that he was allowed to stay.

"And finally, here it is." Ryan exclaimed with pride, just on cue, bag of sweet popcorn clutched in hand.

"How about we actually watch the movie now?" asked Mark, he was getting tired of Ryan hyping up the movie and just wanted to watch it.

"Yes, let's." Ryan said, making his way towards the door, popcorn, Diet Coke, glasses and bowl contained in a mix of his hands and his hoodie.

'What the fuck am I thinking today... I really need to get a girlfriend...' Mark thought, angry and embarrassed with himself.

'I'm not gay.' Mark told himself.