FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Thanks for coming, Robin," I tell my wolverine friend as I push a plate of fresh banana bread to the center of our square-shaped table. We're seated further down the café, near some windows, the pleasant weather incredibly sunny, with plenty of warm light pouring indoors. "I know this was pretty short notice, what with it being lunch hour and all," I calmly say, "but I thought it'd be nice to just hang out for a bit." I briefly turn my fur-covered head to my left and look through the recently washed windows, not noticing a cloud in the sky. Walking here felt relaxing, that's for sure, and I personally would like it to remain this way; after this short thought, I return my focus.

"It's fine!" Robin happily replies to me. "I'm actually not busy until later this afternoon." Robin's not wearing a sweater this time, although he has on navy-blue shorts and his cross necklace. Most of his body is covered with darkly grayish fur; both said fur and his lighter undercoat fur look recently brushed. He takes a sip from a glass of water, and he seems pretty calm today. "Still looking for work, but I'm seeing a few people later, so we'll see how that goes." While he has been exercising a lot lately, my athletic companion also jumps between multiple temp positions.

I nod my fuzzy ferret head to acknowledge what Robin said, pick up my own glass of ice-filled water, and take a long drink; having not taken any breaks at work until now, I'm glad to be taking some time off, even despite the café's limited activities, but I'm not really looking forward to finishing my shift... I'll try worrying about that later. Looking around the café, April has her full-time shift again and seems exceptionally busy today, with hot coffee and various pastries being delivered by the optimistic rabbit on a constant basis. I think to ask Robin about what he's done recently, but we end up only talking about video games that we're currently playing, with me starting a new medieval hack 'n slash adventure and Robin sometimes trying out new shooters.

Robin and I look around for April some more, and she makes a wave at Robin to signal her being busy; it's honestly not a big deal, since I only wanted to hang out for a bit. "I'm surprised they're not hiring," Robin suddenly says out loud, "especially with all the stuff April has to manage by herself. I know it's a small place, but it's seriously not fair to her..." I'm not sure if they're seeing each other or not, but either way, Robin sounded really concerned there, especially with how many fluffy businessmen frequently come through the wooden entrance to sit down at metallic tables.

Our conversations remain pretty casual, and Robin sometimes eats some of my banana bread, seeming to enjoy the taste as he later unsubtly licks yellow crumbs off his otherwise clean face. "This is actually pretty delicious," Robin cheerfully says while staring in my general direction, "They've nailed down the cooking, so that's nice. Thanks for the food, Mello!" I nod back at him while reaching a paw out and drinking some more ice-water, my glass now being almost empty.

"No problem!" I pleasantly reply back. "I'm not too hungry myself, so have away." I remain seated with my black claws laying across the center of my forest-green gym shorts, my whitish front fur remaining surprisingly clean, although I haven't exactly eaten much. While waiting for April to show up again, I look at my latest e-mails through my black phone, but there's unfortunately nothing but marketing spam in the unread ones. Humorously, I make a tweet and tag Robin in it, additionally noticing the current time: ten minutes past twelve. April still seems to be busy handling some incident with other mammalian customers, but she notices us, so it shouldn't be too much longer; there's a huge gathering of people down the café... Maybe their orders are mixed up?

Robin finishes another bite of banana bread that he broke off, before asking me "What's Leo been up to lately? I haven't seen him in a while." Leo works retail, but from his earlier Telegram group messages, he probably had a really long night shift that he got called in for. The hyperactive skunk and I have been casual and outgoing friends for months, but he only recently joined our gathering group. He did seem to have a lovely time at his dinner with another skunk he was seeing, and I remember him telling me about their common sports interest and plans to see a museum sometime.

"Leo's been working a lot this week," I simply reply, "probably trying to have enough time to see somebody during the day, or his job could be low on employees today." I could inquire at some point, but since he didn't respond to lunch today, Leo's probably sleeping in if I had to guess. "It's pretty great to see him so happy though, and we should definitely invite him to the film hangout."

"He's got a new mate now, I hear?" Robin! They only had a single date! Surprised by this, I'm not sure what to say in response. I quickly straighten a napkin that's in my lap before sipping more water, noticing lots of sunlight coming through nearby windows and slightly reflecting off our mostly clean table. "Heh, I'm just kidding. I saw he's started going out again, and that's great! I hope those boys have a relaxing time together." Well, okay then... "So, whatcha been up to lately," Robin suddenly shifts the conversation toward, "besides games and working, I mean? I got my exercise going with all the nice weather lately, but I can't do that too much cause of job-hunting."

I unlock my fairly new cell phone with my right claw to look at the time again before placing the device down onto my fuzzy right knee... Not sure why I keep checking it so frequently; nobody's sending me text messages during the middle of a weekday. Remembering that I'm in the middle of a conversation, I awkwardly turn my attention back to Robin, my tail holding still and in place. "Oh, I'm sorry, what were you asking? Got... distracted a bit." I hear mutters of higher-pitched birds and conversationally engaged canines across the room, and I even notice April finally being able to go behind the front counter to talk with her purple-furred manager. It's also warm in here.

Robin doesn't say anything for a second, but then repeats what he asked. "Ah!" I answer, now having my sights focused on him, "I've just been planning random ideas for my blog." I'm actually pretty interested in developing my writing more, so I get strangely enthusiastic about this topic. "I'm not much of a creative writer yet, so I wanna write a few more reviews, maybe of a film or two we see this weekend. Might also write about a game..." This sounds kind of nerdy, but yeah, I should try and get better at making analytical pieces, see if I can develop myself more over time.

"Hey, that's cool with me," Robin politely replies. "You should work on whatever you want. Never know where side projects will lead to." I appreciate the support, as cheesy as I sound while talking about it. "We play all sorts of things, so that could be interesting to read. Never been a writer myself; I'm more of a physical person, although being creative is something I could improve at, I guess." Now I'm wondering if I was focusing on that topic for too long, but it's probably fine... I check my phone again, noticing that it's now fifteen minutes after twelve. I stretch my half-brown, half-black arms out to get myself to move around some, also reaching for our now-empty plate.

Finally being done with whatever happened across the café, April walks over to our table with a tired sigh visible on her tannish, brown face. She looks at me and manages to speak with an asserted expression: "I'm so sorry I couldn't check on you. There was an incident with mixed-up orders, and some customers were making a scene..." Her crimson apron and dark-blue, jean-like shorts are slightly splashed with what looks like water, and I can hear the purplish-furred manager sternly speaking to two canines near the entrance. April then asks: "Did you want something else, Mello?"

"Just more water please," I politely reply, "I mean Robin might want something, but I'm not too hungry anymore." Truthfully, some more banana bread would be pretty delicious, and I haven't exactly had a full lunch, but I'm not sure how to ask for it and instead manage to force a cheesy smile. I look over to Robin, expecting to see some kind of disapproval with the limited number of employees, but he instead forms a cheerful grin while he and April stare into each other's eyes. Now that I think about it, I probably should've waited until Robin got here before getting food...

Robin politely says to April: "Hey April, hope today's been alright for ya. Sorry if you have to deal with some rude people." April bows her head slightly and places some new napkins on our table. She thanks Robin for coming and then lists some possible snack choices, looking genuinely happy while doing so. My wolverine friend asks "Can I try the pound cake? Sounds refreshing." as his tail moves a tiny bit. His very fluffy and gray ears, the color complementing his dark fur except for his lighter undercoat, move back and forth, although Robin doesn't seem to notice that.

April straightens down her apron, before pleasantly responding: "Sure thing! And don't worry about earlier, some guys just got in a fight and were making a mess." She points to the distance where some other canines started cleaning up lots of cake crumbs and split coffee from the floor, likely as some kind of apology. "We really should hire some other critters," April softly expresses before returning to a more optimistic tone, "but I don't mind cleaning up the place. It's my job and all." I glance to my right and see the manager reluctantly walk back to the counter, fresh sunlight still pouring in through the nearby windows. Instinctually, I pull out my smartphone again and think to unlock it in order to see the time, actively wondering about when I'll eventually have to head back to work, but I put it away before anybody notices; Robin and April share several casual sentences, something about hanging out, but I don't hear most of it while being mentally distracted.

April finishes taking some notes and begins to walk off, while Robin turns and looks at me again; the two of us talk about current sports events for the next ten or so minutes, although I only have particularly strong interests in tennis and college football, the latter only being when schools of more athletic friends of mine become involved. From earlier exchanges, I secretly wonder if Robin and April have an interest in each other, but since it's still too early to tell and I don't want to seem awkward, I keep it to myself; Robin asks once if there's something fun on my mind when I chuckle some to myself, but I avoid responding before changing the conversation. In retrospect, that was kind of creepy of me, and I feel weird about that, so I'll ask about it later even though I probably shouldn't. Pound cake and tap water soon arrive; Robin offers me a slice, but I respectfully decline.

More time has passed. The tables are warm, and a nice summer breeze starts to pass through the entrance as new guests come and go; it's generally relaxing, and I line down my forest-green gym shorts with my surprisingly calm paws. "I really like the hot more than the cold," I express to Robin through my lips as he takes another bite of pound cake, "you know? Like humidity's gross and stuff, but at least you don't have to worry about clothes." Am I even thinking properly before random words pass through my mouth? "Uh, I mean..." I blink my eyes and drink some more water as Robin makes a brief yet clearly hearable laugh. "Okay, okay. I meant, like, hot can be uncomfortable at worst, but cold makes you physically painful, like it strips your defenses down and causes all this sadness, and it's not fun to me. I'll take gross over miserable almost any day."

With Robin still chewing his dessert, he nods slightly before muttering in response: "I'm indifferent to it all. Worst comes to worse, there's indoor sports too, and it's not like gaming's going anywhere." I meant like being outside, not finding ways to avoid weather altogether, but I guess he makes a good point. A text-tone goes off on my cell phone, but I leave it alone so as to not ignore my energetic friend, although I do want an excuse to check the time... Stupid work is really busy today, and I just want it to end so I can go home and have fun. Can't I stay here longer?

I try to think of a topic, but nothing particularly comes to mind as I finish another glass of cold water, instead looking around the café to find others and see what they're up to. It's now a little cloudy outside, so flashing sunlight only comes through the windows in individual rays instead of huge scatters, but the other customers seems to be calm compared to earlier: partially clothed foxes are writing their spoken ideas onto paper, two lightly colored tigers are excitedly eating sugary pastries, and I can even see a shy blue jay in the distance working on her laptop. Some others are on their phones, most of them seeming to be occupied in thought, with one muscular deer laughing as his eyes stare down, and a professionally dressed badger seeming to have some visible stress on her face. I only begin to make out conversations from the energetic foxes; I hear mentions of a social calendar for a football or rugby club, which I guess must be what their writing is based on.

"So, anyway, about that film idea," I randomly throw into the conversation, trying to think about the future weekend that should be more interesting than my day job, "everyone else was fine with going except a few who're out of town." I pull out my phone again to quickly search through recent _Telegram_messages, at one point quickly hiding a few risqué messages that a friend sent me last night... I thought I did before leaving my apartment; hopefully nobody noticed. "Leo isn't sure if he can make it yet, depending on what his family needs from him that weekend, and someone on _Telegram_named Karen keeps offering to bring snacks. Heard about her at all? I think she's new."

With his slices of rich pound cake finished, Robin responds: "Nope, name doesn't ring a bell." Hmm, guess I'll say hello when I'm not busy. "Course there're lots of people in the chat now," Robin casually continues to say, "and I haven't met enough at meets yet. Surprised our group's getting bigger honestly; I didn't think we were that interesting, but I'm down for new faces." We don't do too much outside of energetic online chats; the only recent exceptions that come to mind are a PlayStation gaming group which is rarely in person, some movies we enjoyably attend, and occasional local festivals like a colorful carnival from months ago that was halfway across town. I did randomly meet Robin on a local chat group though, so who knows who else we'll be introduced to? Hopefully I don't seem too awkward, but I hope events grow with new members.

"I mean, yeah, that'd be nice..." I reply back, suddenly thinking about what I need to plan for: work that's starting again soon, what to bring to our next meetup, how Leo's doing and maybe if he wants to play tennis later, April being busy... Oh, I didn't even notice April for a while; is she doing okay? My forest-green eyes, surrounded by my charcoal-colored fur-mask, look around, but I don't notice our friendly rabbit server anywhere; I guess she's doing dishes in the back of the café... My attention returns to Robin, him staring straight at me. "Is April in the Telegram group?"

Robin has a surprised look on his face, the wolverine giving a soft laugh before having a long gulp of his own glass of water. I immediately feel embarrassed and worried, my tail moving downward and my head shaking slightly. What the heck, Mello? You don't just ask that! I try to chuckle it off myself to make the moment less awkward, but that proves to be an even stupider idea... Ugh.

I try to look away and pull out my phone yet again, noticing the time to now be five minutes until twelve-thirty in the afternoon... I mean, yeah, it's the afternoon; we're having lunch, of course... Robin takes a breath and my ears perk up some as I leave my phone between my legs and listen: "No, she's not in the group. I can invite her sometime; she's fun to hang out with." Wait, so they have seen each other outside of here? Maybe it's not so weird then, but I thought... "Hey, Mello," Robin follows up with. "You okay? Look kinda worried there." I blink my eyes several times, drink more water, and then nod my head. Maybe I'm worrying too much; they're friends and all.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I hesitantly respond to Robin with. "I mean, I didn't know if... Sorry, lots on my mind lately and all. What time is it, again?" I actively try to change the conversation; I mean if Robin did like April, that would be kind of strange, wouldn't it? I should be more subtle when it comes to stuff like this. Suddenly, I know what to ask: "Wanna know what movie we're seeing?"

Robin quietly laughs to himself but then happily says to me: "Look, I saw others talking about it on Telegram earlier; don't worry so much." Um... okay? I'm not sure what he means though. "April and I are just friends right now. I mean, she is pretty, yeah, and maybe something could happen at some point, but I'd still like to get to know her more first." Why did I overreact again? It's not like I was being that rude, I guess. "But yeah, we met like two weeks ago while jogging," Robin follows up with, "Well, she was walking outside, but I'd seen her on sidewalks before and we've talked a lot before." I apologize for being kind of weird, but Robin tells me I don't need to.

After breathing a sigh of relief, retrospectively realizing that I probably worry too much about small things, Robin positively asks what new movie everybody wants to see. "We debated for a little bit," I manage to calmly answer with, "cause I thought it might be funny in like a cheesy way to watch Sheep & Wolves even though it looks pretty ridiculous and maybe not that good." I kind of like watching bad films on occasion, but they can't be terrible, or if they are, then it's more fun when I have lots of wine first with friends. "One person agreed, but everyone else was interested in something fun and better-reviewed, so we're gonna check out the new Kung Fu Panda instead."

"Alright!" Robin replies in response, with me not being sure if he's particularly excited or not, "that could be fun, like you said. Not doing anything this Saturday, so let's all go!" I guess it could also give me something to write about for my blog, since I wanted to practice my review skills and make more relevant writing pieces. Maybe we'll have a pretty good time; what should I bring though? After a brief pause, Robin follows up with "We could get drinks after too." Sign me up!

We just kind of sit around for the next few minutes, and we end up looking up funny jokes and topical stories on our phones, which I guess is what people do this century now during lunch; it is what we're doing anyway, so I'm not really one to talk. When it's half past twelve, which I notice by seeing a constantly visible clock on the top of my glass screen, I start to get pretty nervous about having to return to my job soon, preferring to instead stay here. I think about what might happen if I mess up on projects, or if I get too involved at a weekly meeting this afternoon and get called out on it, or mainly not having much interest in what I do and wanting to be more creative... These thoughts circle in my head for another five minutes while I gradually tune out background noise; that is, until the main entrance opens again and my attention immediately goes to the door.

An eagle with a somewhat gothic appearance walks inside, her wings being blackened but the rest of her body having a white coloring. Her hair also being dyed black, it's neatly lined up and complements her rectangular and dark-framed glasses. She isn't wearing any other accessories, but she has on a blue coat covered with stripes, said stripes having small yet varying zebra-like shades of color. Looking at her bold and ocean-blue eyes, she looks like she's had a fun yet busy day, and as she walks to the counter to presumably ask the purplish café owner where to sit, I look back to Robin's red eyes and mention that she looks familiar; Robin silently shrugs in response.

The eagle optimistically looks around for a table, and she notices us after only a few seconds, waving her hand with a smile on her face. Wait a second... Oh, right! She was here a few days ago, although I don't think I ever got her name, but where else have I known her from? I actually can't remember, so I just stare back and politely raise my four-fingered right paw without saying anything. "Hey there!" I almost instinctually decide to say to her. "There's room for more here if you wanna sit with us. The table's still shiny and pretty clean." Shiny? Do I think before I speak?

Although her facial expressions seem peppy and generally positive, her walking seems pretty focused, like something she actively thinks about, or maybe I'm just overanalyzing things again. She stands on an unoccupied side of our four-sided table, and with a mature and moderately pitched tone, I hear her say: "Hey Mello!" I'm surprised at her knowing my name, but I don't say anything as she sits down and rolls up her jacket sleeves some. "Didn't get to talk to you earlier! How's it going?" The composed avian also says hello to Robin, but I wait several seconds before answering.

"Oh, it's... fine and all," I eventually reply with a neutral expression formed despite two fangs naturally showing, "but I don't think I said who I was?" I immediately wonder if that came out as rude, but I guess it's probably fine. My pink nose twitches a little, and I smell a strawberry perfume, forming a closed smile in response to the exotic smell. "Your perfume smells great, by the way!"

She blushes slightly, and her bright yellow beak opens up to respond to me: "Aw, thanks! A friend let me borrow it since they had lots, although I like never wear perfume usually." The friendly bird pushes her bangs down more; they seem to be naturally colored and without hairspray, although I don't think to ask about it so as to not seem weird. "Oh, and my bad! I'm from the Telegram group, but I joined like a week ago and haven't talked much." I should have instead asked something like that really, but I keep silent as she continues: "My name's Karen! Nice to see you both in person!"

So she's one of the people going to the film event! It makes me a little happy to be talking to more people in the meetup group, and I don't even think about my phone or the current time. "You too!" I happily reply as my arms lay down across the metallic table. "I think I've seen you before that though," I continue with, "but I can't remember where...? Sorry! Names take me several tries, but I'm usually good with faces." I can actually recall very specific facial appearances, at least in a mood-related way, although that's only something that I've gotten good at in the last few years. Names take me longer to match, especially when our chatting online is limited to text and avatars.

"Yeah, I think..." Karen curiously says to me, "Wait, we went to high school together, right? We talked a bunch of times after classes were done, but I don't think we hung out much." I'm not really sure how to react to this, especially considering I was significantly shyer and less active in high school, but there were a few friendly animals who I spoke with that weren't bad to be around. Robin watches the conversation with interest, and he makes a slight laugh to himself but doesn't say anything; I'm going to assume that was in good fun. "I mean, well, that was years ago though! My family's been moving around for the most part, but it's nice to talk again. What about you?"

Despite feeling slightly embarrassed, I easily start to recall memories of better parts of high school, the parts that didn't involve refusing to talk back in fights or being too antisocial to ever hang out much... I mean, I wasn't like against having friends, because I actually did have several, but I didn't start really being more social until after high school when I lived on my own for a long time. Classes went smoothly and I went to a college across the state, studying and doing decently despite it being very stressful... but I did go to many clubs and had some awesome roommates, and I even got to explore myself more over time. But yeah, high school... gee, that was kind of not at all super.

Snapping back to focus and remembering what Karen said, I respond: "Yeah, I remember you. We were in a card game club and in some classes together, mainly photography. Sorry I haven't kept in contact much! I've been..." Actually, what is my excuse? I mean, to be fair, I haven't stayed in touch with almost anybody from my pre-college years, and she wasn't exactly nearby... "I don't really know actual- Well, I-I mean, I'm glad you're in the group. I'm a lot better lately in my life." I look over at Robin, but he seems to be answering some texts; at least, that's what it looks like.

"Hey, it's fine!" Karen replies, now having a more mature presentation to her words, "That was a different time. I just brought that up cause I recognized ya when I saw you chatting online earlier." I don't know other social media she currently uses, and I'm also not sure where she went after high school, but that's slightly relieving to hear... at least a little bit. Karen quickly claps her wings together and changes the conversation: "Anyway, everyone's been super friendly and that's really inviting! Heard we're going to a film this weekend, which is cool! I'd like to see more people."

For the next five minutes, Robin and I catch her up on what we've been up to, with us talking about casual events and her talking about some graduate courses at a nearby college, although it sounds like most of them are being done online. Karen tells us about another meetup group that she's a part of, one themed around literature, although it seems to meet pretty infrequently and doesn't have many members. During this time, April is behind the counter cleaning dishes with some occasional assistance from her manager; Robin curiously looks over a few times, but for the most part, we listen to Karen enthusiastically tell us about her passion for classic books and hopes of being a part-time author in her spare time. She apparently submitted a lot of poetry for magazines in the past few years, but only a few were featured, and in ones that didn't pay very much; but still, that's inspiring to hear, and I even get to talk about my own blogging, contrasting my analytical stuff with her more fictional writing. During one brief moment, she asks me if I want to casually hang out to compare our projects sometime, but I decline due to not feeling experienced enough; she doesn't demand that I do, yet she mentions that she's open for chatting online at night.

With Karen only having water and no food, I only just now think to ask: "Did you want a snack or something? I can help chip in some." My eyes generally wander around her direction. What is Karen doing here anyway? I never thought to ask her, although I guess she's casually walking around. Wasn't she also with someone else last time I stopped by, like a boyfriend or something? Or wait, what am I even saying? I don't know that for sure; maybe they're just pretty close friends.

Karen somewhat awkwardly forms a smile, although her lightly brown-colored eyes behind her straightened frames remain focused during conversation. "Thanks," she casually responds with, "but I'm actually fine! I'm on a break between classes, and I kind of wanted to sit for a while." I glance by her chair and don't see a backpack or anything, so it doesn't seem like she has work to do here; then again, I don't think to ask what courses she's taking. During this, Robin is in the middle of what I guess is a text-based conversation; he's distracted and has a neutral expression.

Although I don't want to be too intrusive, even if I'm probably not really being that, or maybe I'm overly worrying again for no real reason, I'm not sure, I decide to curiously ask Karen about what she does during her main weekdays. "What are you working on a degree for?" I casually, at least in terms of sound and external appearance, inquire about. "Going anywhere nearby?" I'm not currently taking any courses, although I did attend that fairly distant college in the past; it was an interesting experience that helped me improve socially, but some classes were extremely stressful.

Karen seems enthusiastic to respond: "Yeah! There's a nearby community college I'm at, and I'm working on another bachelor's for medicinal study." I can't stand biology personally, even though I wouldn't mind an occupation where I could physically help others, but, well, great for her! "It's a little late, I know," Karen continues to tell me, "but after kind of transferring from a general engineering program, this is something that I have much more interest in finishing." For some reason, I glance over to Robin again, who still seems to be distracted; is he going to jump in soon?

I start to reach for my own phone but mentally snap myself out of finishing the arm movement... I just want to know if I have any texts, and check the time and whatnot. With my vocal presentation still being casual and partly collected, I respond: "Well, hey, there's no rush to it, and I'm glad you have something to be passionate for." It's a habit of mine to be optimistic in social gatherings, even if I tend to be more pessimistic when I'm by myself. "My job's kind of all over the place... But I mean, well, do something you like. It'll pay off financially, and you have side projects too."

The friendly eagle thanks me for my words, and it's around this time that Robin puts his phone away to return to the conversation. "Sorry about that," Robin easily says to both of us as our attention is immediately directed back to him, "I got caught up in some work-related e-mails; wanted to see if I got responses, plus another place didn't get my resume for some reason... I'm not sure why." There's some sweat on Robin's forehead, but not from running around. Hopefully he finds something soon; he's a really friendly and outgoing guy, yet he has financial needs too. But if anything, I don't want to see him stressed out, so I offer him some words of encouragement.

All three of us chat with each other about the movie plans this weekend; aside from multiple questions being asked about location, hangout details are pretty straightforward and the conversation manages to be brief. I look around, noticing a shining and clean floor; April must have been busy with that, but I can't see her manager anywhere nearby, wondering if he's caught up in stock-related problems. My fur feels pretty hot despite the warm indoor temperature, so I make a brief trip to the counter to leave a moderate tip; Robin and Karen follow my lead, and April notices Robin leaving some dollar bills, which leads to the two having a happy conversation together. Soon after, once we're all seated again, April comes by to leave bills for the earlier food.

The chair cushion under me remains comfortable, and I stretch my claws out several times as I glance around. I check my phone again, now noticing that there are only about thirteen minutes until one o'clock. After neatly lining up some dollar bills onto the table, Robin addresses us: "It's great to see you both, and sorry I couldn't talk to you much, Karen, but I need to get going. I'll see you both this weekend!" Karen also mentions having to leave in order to catch her next class; I guess she was only planning a brief rest here, but I understand her reasoning. Personally, I need to get back to work, and I should leave right about now, yet I decide to stay some. Both the adventurous wolverine and the energetic eagle head out the front entrance, waving goodbye as they step onto a stone-marked path. Sunlight doesn't come inside, as there's now instead overcast.

I hear some wind come through as the main entrance slowly shuts on its own, said wind sounding like a breeze that only lasts for a second. With me now by myself, I straighten my gym shorts before pulling my phone out again; the time is still forty-seven past twelve. Feeling slightly sore from sitting at a mostly straight angle, I fall back into my cushioned chair some, my rough and white front fur coat facing up around my belly region. Despite having eaten lots of snacks lately, I'm slightly underweight and don't have any particularly visible fat; I don't exercise a lot, but I also walk between my home and work, and I additionally don't finish probably half my meals. I rub that fur around with my left paw as if I was brushing crumbs off it, but I don't see any noticeable stains on it; I did spill some water earlier, but it was clean and evaporated a while ago.

Mammalian chatter fills the room as a group of fully clothed cattle start to laugh at presumed jokes being tossed across the café on seats facing a window, although I can't make out any noises. Looking far ahead, being able to clearly see the summer-dressed animals despite limited brightness due to dim light bulbs, I can make out a calmly sitting wolf, a handkerchief-wearing polar bear, and an overly caffeinated fox; the trio seems to be behaving well per café rules, but I can't see what's being looked at on their table since their backs are turned to me. Their table is part of a long rectangular piece of wood that stretches to maybe six or so meters, but I'm not enough of a math expert to know an exact length. I turn back to face my own table, and... I only see an empty glass.

Many thoughts of having to be back at work immediately start racing to my mind, and lots of questions go through my head as I begin to pull out my phone and look at the clock again; only a few more minutes have passed. What am I still doing here? Am I planning on having something else to eat even though I should be leaving? Why did Robin and Karen leave? Oh, right, they have daily chores of their own to take care of, right; why was I even wondering that? But even despite these questions, I just really don't want to go, and worries about how I'll perform at work play through my head, even though those are only some of my thoughts, but I honestly can't explain some right now. I only want to stay here and have some more water... It's just... I'm actually not really sure what I'm doing. I shake in place a little at seemingly almost nothing, wondering how long I have until the weekend, repeatedly thinking about Leo having more to do, hoping that I was polite enough to Karen considering how new she was to the group, wondering if I was awkward when I walked here and didn't say hi to a few people who I passed by. I seem pretty social though.

I take some deep breaths, and then I sit still for a few minutes, sighing in silent frustration at not really knowing what I want right now, logically knowing that I should get out of my seat but emotionally wanting to stay still and not move. My phone has a few notifications of _Telegram_messages every minute or so, but these are just casual group conversations involving quick jokes or discussions on current events... nothing serious. A very slight ray of light comes from my left but goes away within seconds, and I'm hardly able to notice it in my peripheral vision before I ultimately decide to ignore it. I look behind the dish and cup-covered counter and see a notably distracted April, her rabbit ears and misaligned apron angled downward as she seems to organize some lower shelves. Near her is the occupied manager who thankfully seems to be helping with dishes; I'm observant that April has assistance, but Robin was right about the lack of employees.

It still feels warm, but there isn't much light and the overcast is still present outside; the one or two times the main entrance is opened, whether somebody is entering or leaving, I'm not paying attention, the indoor amount of light doesn't change. I put my brown forehead onto the table in front of me, my eyes staring downward. My phone is sitting on my right leg, on a brown area of fur below my shorts that isn't quite at my thighs where my fur changes from a darkened brown to a charcoal. I've tuned out background noise except for what's near me, and I guess I'm relaxing in place, but I briefly think I probably don't feel particularly great. I let out soft breaths afterward.

Not sure of the exact time, I suddenly see my screen light up and my leg shake very slightly due to a rhythmic and external vibration, not hearing a ringtone because of my phone being on silent. On the screen, I see a text message from Robin: "Hey dude, you okay? Get back to work fine?" I look at it for a few seconds and blink when the message disappears as the monitor darkens. Concentrating on that, I pull myself upward, stretch my long arms around, and then unlock my phone with my right claws to read the message again. I also notice that it's about four until one.

Robin was really considerate to text me something like that, even if it doesn't mean much... Using both my claws, I quickly type up and send a response: "Yeah, I'm fine. Heading back now." Reaching into my wallet, I leave a partly lined up bundle of dollar bills to pay for my food. I move around my four-toed feet to energize them some, get out of my seat, and then firmly push it inward. The other chairs at my table are pushed in, although Karen's was a little crooked so I walk up to it and manage to line that one up more accurately. I feel more focused now and am ready to leave.

Taking necessary steps to the main entrance, I hear some soft wind outside, but it doesn't feel cold and I'm not worried for my safety. I open the old-fashioned entrance by its right door and step outdoors, feeling humid yet quick air hit fur on my sides. Still holding the door, I can't see any sunshine through all the shadowing clouds. Letting go of the handle, I gaze indoors and don't see anyone in my line of sight. I turn around and begin to silently walk away; nobody notices me leave.