FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"The brilliant glow of pearl moonlight trickled through splits in the midnight clouds. A landscape previously masked in darkness warped as it bathed in the monochromatic beams: wicked shadows came alive under the grasping tree branches, every bump bulged obscenely into a hill whilst crevices sank into the black contrast, becoming valleys. All the while, he watched with trepidation. He feared the moment those silver rays would extend their pale creeping light through the cloak of darkness he huddled within. He feared its presence, fleeting but inevitable. He feared its touch. But above all, he feared the unknown."

With a yawn, Marco stumbled out of bed and into his bathroom, feeling more than a little groggy. He rubbed at his eyes, staring at the mirror, and put his glasses on. Then took them off. Then put them back on. His sight worsened with the addition of the corrective device. Incredulous, he slowly removed the glasses that distorted his vision, mouth agape, eyes wide and brow furrowed.

"My eyesight must be getting worse," Marco thought to himself. He tried the glasses on once more to confirm his suspicions. "Yep. I'll need to go to the optometrist soon to get my prescription reissued for a new pair of glasses." Marco rubbed his chin in thought, and felt the faintest hint of stubble, which was a bit of an oddity. He had scarcely any body hair, so a spontaneous growth of facial hair from what had been clean shaven just the day before glared out.

Then, as if by some divine revelation, Marco recalled the liquor he had the night before. Evidently, this had to be some hallucinogenic symptom, some beginner's hangover. For all he knew he would wake up all of a sudden or vomit until all the poison had done its work and left his system. It all made sense again, yet, as a second ticked into a minute, and then to ten minutes, Marco's finger tapped against the counter anxiously. Antsy and confused, Marco quickly washed up and wandered out of the bathroom, feeling numb until he spotted the new book on his nightstand.

Of course - he began reading yesterday. Between the alcohol and the exhilaration of the story, he was clearly imagining things, his mind stuck in the story, and getting worked up over nothing. He must have always had the stubble that was adorning his chin, since there would be no other explanation otherwise. In fact, he just barely remembered thinking about shaving the night before, but figured he could stand to leave it for a few more days.

Marco took a breath and ran a hand through his hair. As he calmed down, he abruptly recalled his appointment with Lucas. In an instant, he jumped, shoving the peculiar morning out of his mind. He didn't want to be late. He quickly dressed in a light blue shirt sporting the text "sqrt(-1) 23 'Sigma' 'pi'" across the front and a pair of khaki shorts. Marco instinctively grabbed his glasses, stared at them for a split second, and then tossed them onto his bed. With one hand, he grabbed his swim gear, laid out nicely next to his waterproof bag, and, once everything was stuffed hastily inside, he headed downstairs. Stopping briefly in the kitchen to grab a banana to eat, he headed out the door, locking it behind him, and made his way over to Lucas' house at a jog.

Marco knocked on the front door of Lucas' house and who answered it himself a few seconds later with a bag similar to Marco's in his hand. Lucas called back into the house to tell his parents he was leaving and shut the front door.

"Hey, Marco! Ready to head to the pool?"

"Yeah!" Marco replied as the two headed down the driveway and turned down the street in the direction of the pool. "Let's hope the pool is not too crowded today. It probably won't be as packed as yesterday, since it's a Sunday, but it is the weekend, so there'll probably still be a ton of people there."

"That's true," Lucas said. He gave Marco a funny look before continuing. "Hey! Where are your glasses?"

"Oh, right. When I put them on this morning, they actually made my eyesight worse. Looks like I'll have to get my prescription checked again to make sure I'm not going blind."

"Well, I think you look great!" he replied earnestly. "You don't have all that metal and glass obscuring your face anymore." There was a pause as Lucas angled his head in attempt to evaluate his friend's face. "Is that the only thing that's different?"

Marco hesitated for a second, wondering why Lucas was so interested in his appearance, but shook his head at the ground in response to Lucas' question.

"Hmm... alright," Lucas said, sounding somewhat curious, and, maybe a bit disappointed. "Anyway, let's get to the pool."

The two walked on towards the city's aquatic center. The building was a large complex with large, prominent glass walls facing towards the east, slanted slightly so as to connect at the top of the structure. In the morning light, the entire pool area was obscured by the blinding white reflection. There were separate designs in each of the cardinal directions, with the entrance located at the northern side. Two triangular panes of glass extended outward, framing the entrance into the center, and as the two passed under, Marco couldn't tolerate the awkward silence.

"Doesn't look like there are terribly many others here." He accentuated the normal conversation by looking over to the left, through the viewing glass walls, and attempted to count the silhouettes that splashed about in the water.

"Not at all. Looks like the fast lane is open; that means I win and we're doing races," Lucas said triumphantly.

"Don't speak so soon. The slow lane is open, too, and more than one, actually. So, therefore, we're doing endurance swims," Marco retorted, relieved as the tension eased. The clerk at the desk was more interested in catching a few more seconds of sleep than glancing as Lucas and then Marco flashed their membership cards to pass through.

The two quickly walked into the dressing room, which wasn't too crowded, with only a few other men showering and changing. Marco and Lucas found some empty lockers to place their bags in and proceeded to change out of their street clothes and into their swim trunks. As Marco removed his shirt to place in his bag, Lucas turned to look at him and seemed to pause.

"Lucas?" Marco waved his hand a bit.

"Sorry, zoned out for a sec." Lucas smirked.

"You had the funniest look." Marco smiled as well.

"What are we waiting for anyway?" Lucas said, punctuating his sentence by slamming his locker closed. "Let's shower up and get into the pool!"

Sunlight danced on the walls and glimmered off the tiles as the two entered the pool area, nearly blinded. Lucas turned to face Marco, becoming a silhouette against the morning sun. Marco had to shield his eyes.

"I'm heading to the fast lanes; we can race later," Lucas said, and walked off. Marco nodded, and slipped into the cool water, shivering slightly, but launching off at a quickened pace to warm up.

Every so often, when he turned around, he saw what he guessed was Lucas watching him, but Marco attempted not to stare too much into light. At one point, he caught his eyes and Lucas waved. As Marco completed another lap, Lucas suddenly slipped in next to him, grinning.

"All warmed up?" he asked.

"I was just going to get a drink of water, since you're here, we can go together."

"But I just got in," Lucas complained sarcastically.

When the two rose up, Marco crossed his arms against the chill, but the radiant beams of light that set the droplets of water sliding down his abdomen glistening was sufficient in keeping him warm. Or at least the side of him facing the sun. He felt Lucas' eyes lingering on him for a moment.

"I knew something seemed a bit off. You didn't tell me you've been working out!" Lucas said, grabbing Marco's shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Yeeaahhh..." Marco dragged out the word as he tried to think up another fib to tell Lucas. "Actually, I haven't been working out. It's probably from all the times we've come swimming during the summer, and it's finally starting to show." Marco hesitated for a second, then added, "Is that why you were looking at me?"

"Yeah, well, you look good, dude. Maybe you should accompany me to the gym sometime, 'cause it looks like you're hiding a beast within that scrawny shell."

"Nah," Marco quickly replied and uncrossed his arms to refuse the idea, "Er, not at all. The gym is just not my scene. Swimming, though, I could get used to that. It's the only form of exercise that I find at all enjoyable."

Marco bent down to drink from the fountain and Lucas tapped his foot.

"How about that race now?"

Marco wiped stray droplets of the fountain water off his already wet face and then, after a second, nodded.

"You're on." It wasn't everyday that Lucas complimented Marco's physical appearance.

The two walked to the open fast lane, hopped in, and after Lucas' countdown, launched off. Marco was so caught up in the water gliding over his skin, the little spheres of water that splashed up like jewels every time he took a breath and the rhythmic pounding of his heart, that when he finally breached the water at the end, he didn't care who won. Upon reaching the end, Lucas gave two slow claps, having already finished.

"Looks like someone had fun, but better luck next time," Lucas slapped his friend on the back, flaunting his ego. "It was clear from the start who would win anyway," Lucas added. Marco simply shrugged, and spent the rest of the morning racing Lucas - to no avail, of course.

After the last race, Marco flopped out of the pool, his heart beating rapidly as he tried to catch his breath, the exertion taking a toll on him. Lucas continued swimming for a few more laps, until he, too, exited the water and saw Marco laying on the tiled floor.

"Well, look who's tuckered out," Lucas chuckled, before extending his arm out to help Marco up. Still exhausted, Marco grabbed Lucas' hand and was hoisted up onto his feet.

"I think.. that's enough swimming for today," Marco wheezed. Lucas nodded in agreement, and the two walked back towards the showers.

They each gathered their soap and shampoo from their bags and claimed a shower stall. Marco pulled the curtain closed and tugged off his wet swim trunks, letting them drop to the floor. He squeezed a glob of shampoo into his palms and proceeded to try to get the feel and smell of the chlorine out of his hair. He rinsed the suds out of his hair and face and then grabbed his body wash to continue his shower. He had just finished a few minutes later and was letting the warm water fall into his head, when he heard the curtain behind him sway. He turned around to keep it closed when it was suddenly yanked open, causing Marco to reel back in alarmed surprise.

"HA! Gotcha!" Lucas said loudly, holding the curtain open and revealing Marco's body to anyone who might pass by.

"Could you not?!" Marco demanded sternly, grabbing the curtain out from Lucas' hand and hiding behind it. He looked at Lucas who had finished his shower and was already wearing his jeans, but nothing else.

"Dude! You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" Lucas cackled.

"Typical of you to be so immature," Marco grumbled, but at the same time, he couldn't remain mad at Lucas, it wasn't as if anyone did see him. "Well, quit standing there and at least get my towel for me, would you?"

Lucas looked back up, with lips drawn in a tight smirk. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go get your towel. We're late for lunch by the way." For a moment, Lucas stood there, crossing his arms while Marco clung to shower curtain like a drowning man to a life ring. Lucas stared snarkily, and Marco glared angrily. Once Lucas seemed to deem the staring contest fit, as neither party was breaking away, he spun on his heel, leaving Marco to close the shower curtain hastily and attempt to salvage whatever was left of his warm shower.

A few moments later, Lucas tapped on the shower curtain and extended his arm through with Marco's towel in his hand. Marco grabbed the towel from Lucas as he turned the shower off, and dried himself a bit before placing it around his waist and stepping out of the shower with the rest of his belongings in hand.

He walked over to the lockers where he and Lucas had left their bags. Lucas was already back in his street clothes and was sitting by the lockers looking down at his phone. Marco opened up his locker and quickly put his underwear and shorts back on before his stomach let out an audible grumble, which made Lucas look up with a sly look on his face.

"Sorry," Marco said quickly, clearly embarrassed.

"Sounds like someone's hungry," Lucas said as he turned back down to look at his phone. "Woah! It's already past one. No wonder your stomach's growling."

As Marco put his shirt back on, he found it slightly difficult, and grunting, turned it around, thinking that he had it on backward. After an embarrassing few moments, he succeeded in getting it on, despite finding it unnaturally tight. He thought he heard Lucas snickering, but a quick glance found him still looking at his phone. With the belief that Lucas wasn't watching, Marco flexed a bit, rotating his shoulders in an attempt to get the shirt to feel right, but all that did was stretch the fabric more.

The brief and seemingly menial ordeal left Marco a bit more perplexed, as he scratched his cheek, which seemed to be a bit rougher under his nails. In the end, he did his best to ignore everything as he grabbed his bag and closed the locker.

* * *

"So, wanna go eat at The Square?" Lucas asked as they walked out the doors of the pool.

"I didn't even think you needed to ask," Marco replied, as the two made their way down the sidewalk.

The Square was a modern restaurant in the heart of downtown with a diner-esque menu, which meant there was something for both of the boys, even factoring in Marco's picky palate, making it their favorite place to go and eat.

The interior of the establishment used little artificial lighting during the day, relying on sunlight streaming in from the patio, resulting in the back of the restaurant being dimmed, complementing the muted tones that reflected the simple modern aesthetics.

The two ordered their usual meals: a hamburger and fries for Lucas, and a garden salad for Marco. It took a few minutes for the food to get to their table, and, once it did, they each took an eager bite of their respective entrees.

"BLEH!" Marco exclaimed, spitting his mouthful of food into a napkin.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, his mouth still filled with hamburger.

"I think they messed something up with the salad; it tastes terrible." Marco winced as he wiped his mouth.

"It does?" Lucas looked at his friend, dubious. Marco shrugged, watching as Lucas continued on, biting into and consuming his burger.

"Well, perhaps," Marco began, eying Lucas eating, "I could try one of those." Lucas stifled a laugh between chews.

"That bad, huh?"

Marco nodded in literal affirmative, gaze drifting off of Lucas' lunch to a conveniently distracted waiter.

By the time Lucas had finished the food on his plate, the next order of burgers was just arriving. A second having been added on account of Lucas deciding he was too hungry to be sated by his meager first meal.

"If you keep up all that racing and actually giving me a run for my money, it's gonna cost us a lot more at this joint," Lucas joked, "It's not everyday you actually get my blood pumping."

Marco absently watched Lucas quickly reach under the table, but his eyes were drawn back up to his friend's face as he took a generous bite out of his second burger, moaning as he did so. Although a bit perturbed by Lucas' exaggerated, if not visceral, reaction to the bite of food, Marco looked down at his own burger in front of him and picked it up, steam rising from the bun. He brought the burger up to his mouth, tore off a large chunk of it, and began to chew.

Normally, he despised the texture of meat. He despised knowing where it came from and how unhealthy it was, but the juices that poured out of the meat like some salty fruit nectar proved to make those things irrelevant. The hearty flavor left him a little flushed, strangely. Not realizing how famished he was, Marco dug through the burger, enjoying it like it was his last meal, barely slowing down to chew or even breathe.

"Liked it more than you thought?" Lucas said, still holding half of his second burger while Marco's was just about gone. Marco didn't stop to answer until the last crumb had been wiped off his plate. Uncomfortable, he shifted to readjust his pants.

"It seems so," Marco gasped, out of breath. It was a shame that the burger had been a bit charred at the sides, he thought idly while watching Lucas give him a weird smile as he finished off his second burger. He wouldn't have minded if it was bit juicier, with a tad more of the meat's natural taste, maybe lessen up on the seasoning - more raw.

As Lucas flagged down the waiter coincidentally looking in the complete opposite direction, Marco thought about perhaps trying a big, juicy steak next time. Luckily, Marco, as usual, had carried enough extra cash on hand to cover the larger than usual cost of their custom lunch.

Stunted shadows followed the two as they made their way between the baked streets back towards Marco's house, idly chatting to fill the time.

"So, Angelina said she wanted to go out with me as well, but of course, she's prettier than Jessica."

"But Jessica asked first," Marco pointed out blandly.

"No, man, this isn't some first come first serve giveaway!"

"Well, who are you going to go with then, Mr. 'not a giveaway'?"

"Well, I haven't decided," Lucas hesitated, hands mid-gesture as he turned to look a Marco. "Hey, you wanna play some soccer at my place? You look up for it."

"Soccer with you? You surely meant humiliation fest with you. I'd be as fun to play with as a noble gas," Marco chuckled, but Lucas screwed up his face in response to the terrible joke. "Because noble gases aren't-"

"Yes. Yes, I get it, Marco, but hear me out. I got a feeling. You seemed to got something going for you this morning at the pool, why not just come on over? You got nothin' better to do, right?"

Marco stopped walking, letting Lucas take a few steps before turning back, arms crossed expectantly. "Hmm. I think I'll give it a shot." Marco snickered to Lucas' groaning chagrin.

"Come on, I'll race you as a warm up, or to get away from your terrible sense of humor," Lucas said, dashing away with a roll of his eyes, followed quickly in pursuit by Marco.

The two kept in pace with each other, and they reached their neighborhood in only a few minutes. They jogged the rest of the way to Lucas's house, even though neither of the boys had even broken a sweat.

Lucas opened the gate to his backyard and, as soon as both boys were through, they heard a bark followed by a jingle of dog tags.

"Sounds like Star knows that we're here," Lucas said, as Star came into view.

Star was Lucas' family husky, adopted two years ago. She had been only a few months old when they had adopted her. Already, the big, ecstatic dog had wiggled her way between the two, tail flailing behind her, sniffing without prejudice.

"Calm down, girl," Lucas laughed, trying to grab at the dog's collar. After bringing Star back into the house and coming back with a soccer ball, Lucas took up position at one of the nets that was set up in his yard. With Star present from behind the window as their enthralled audience, the two began the game with Lucas tossing the ball for Marco to start. Immediately, the two were upon the ball, Marco covering up his unskilled dribble with desperate sprints, while Lucas easily manoeuvred about, keeping his friend on his toes.

As Marco approached Lucas, Star barked excitedly. With the intent of knocking the ball away from Marco, Lucas charged in, but to his sudden surprise, Marco swept to the right, dodging his intercept.

"Now this should be interesting!" Lucas remarked as he went in to defend his goal. Though caught by surprise initially, Lucas wrestled the ball away before Marco could score a goal.

The rest of the game followed in similar fashion as, to his chagrin, Lucas continued to underestimate Marco's random bouts of speed, but in no time at all, the two were sweating and panting.

"Well, Marco... that was... pretty impressive," Lucas said between deep breaths.

Marco chuckled, as he, too, tried to catch his breath. "Thanks. I thought you were a lot better than that. I mean, you are on the Varsity team at school," he chided with a nudge of his elbow.

Lucas shrugged and reluctantly relented to his beaming friend. "I guess no one's perfect; except maybe you," he said with a wink and a lingering gaze before laughing aloud and slapping Marco on the back. "Come on man, I bet you're hungry. Wanna stay for some grub?"

"Sure!" Marco said, already feeling the ache for food grumbling awake at the offer.

Star, who at some point had laid down by the door, sprung up as they approached, elated that she didn't have to simply watch, and pressed up against the two as they entered, sniffing gleefully and sucking up for pets while she could. When Marco crashed down onto Lucas' couch, Star leapt to him, seeing as Lucas was preoccupied.

"You know, maybe I should get a dog, too," Marco quipped as he rubbed the spot between Star's ears.

Lucas, who was already in the kitchen, replied, "She's certainly a handful, but I love having her around." Star looked over at Lucas, then back at Marco, and then opened her mouth into a grinning pant, which Marco couldn't help but smile back at. A clatter over the stove and some sizzles drew Star's attention and she wandered over to Lucas, who promptly shooed her back. "Mind keepin' her outta my way? These steaks are for us, not her."

Before Marco could respond, Star came back with a rope tug toy and dropped it at his feet. "Seems like she agrees," Marco said, grabbing it and dangling it for her to catch, which she proceeded to do immediately. Despite the fervent soccer match preceding, Marco still found the energy to fight for the toy, eventually reveling in the back and forth yanks just as much as Star was. Somehow, Star managed to pull Marco up and off the couch, though her advantage slipped as Marco gave a particularly strong pull in return.

Overjoyed from the game, she flopped onto the ground, supine, wriggling around. "Who's a good puppy?" Marco cooed, ruffling her belly fluff with both his hands. She whimpered in jubilation, egging Marco to hasten her tummy massage, though he couldn't help but slow his rubbing slightly as he passed the little bumps lined up on her chest.

By the time Lucas set the plates down, Marco and Star had settled on a game of fetch, if it could even be called that.

"Where'd all the energy go?" Lucas joked, hand on his hip and eyes on the tired pair. Marco kicked the ball languidly to which Star replied by bumping it back with her nose.

"It's in that food I'm waiting for. Should I expect it sometime this century or should we declare a new epoch upon its arrival?"

"Alright, shut your mouth and get over here," Lucas said with a laugh.

At the sight of the juice riddled steaks, steaming away on the plates, Marco's thoughts drifted back to the burger he had for lunch and felt amiss for not asking Lucas to prepare his rare. Lucas, somehow sensing the disappointment on his friend's face, quickly chimed in. "Hey, sorry I'm no master chef, but what did you expect?"

"Huh? No, Lucas it's fine!" Marco said as they sat down in front of the steaks. "It looks delicious!" A simple prod of knife and fork resulted in a gush of oak tinged ruby liquid. "Myoglobin," Marco murmured, and quickly finished slicing a piece off the soft meat so he could pop it in his mouth. The almost too hot bite was much to Marco's delight, not at all tough but seemed to melt into a hearty flow of juices. "Wow, this is perfect, Lucas!"

"So, I guess I've avoided the wrath of Gordon Ramsay?" Lucas replied, equally pleased with himself. Marco, however, didn't reply, and instead scarfed down the rest of the steak, savouring its tender, meaty flavour. Star on the other hand, seemed a bit distraught that the two were enjoying the yummy smells by themselves, and no amount of pitiful whimpering and looking between the two seemed to do anything to change that.

* * *

Marco's bag hit the ground promptly upon his arrival at home. Normally, he would have properly stowed it and its contents away, but his day had left him visibly beat. With one goal in mind, Marco marched directly to the washroom in preparation for sleep.

After the day's activities, he definitely needed a nice hot shower. As he strode through the doorway, he popped his shirt off, but midway through removing his pants, Marco grew aware of a peculiar scent in the air. Unsure why it had grabbed at his attention, Marco sniffed again, finding the odor inexplicably comforting. Determined to scavenge out the source, Marco continued poking around. It wasn't something fragrant, or like a cooked meal, but simply pleasant, in a similar fashion to the smells that evoked a favourable memory. It wasn't as strong outside the washroom, but no matter where he smelled, the scent was neither stronger nor weaker inside.

Confused, he rubbed at an itch on his cheek with his knuckle and there it was, the nice odor became more prominent. Marco gazed speculatively at his balled hand holding his shirt. Hesitantly lifting it back up, his nose was greeted by the wafting scent. Connecting the dots, Marco curiously leaned his head down to sniff at his chest and then his armpits. As he had surmised, the smell came from him, and the fact made him feel oddly pleased. A small confident grin appeared on his face. He wasn't feeling sore, so there wasn't especially a reason he needed to shower and wash the scent off his body. Skipping the shower, Marco went straight to brushing his teeth before tossing his pants and hopping into bed in his boxers.

To top off the wonderful day, Marco pulled out his new book, avidly reading a couple chapters, joining the protagonist's harrowing adventure through the rising tides of evil. Eventually, gravity overcame his eyelid muscles, signalling that he needed to sleep. With a flick, the lights were off, and Marco rapidly drifted off to sleep, blissfully forgetting the initially disturbing events of the morning.