FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Can you message me where the theater's located again?" I hear Karen say with her preppy voice through my phone, my triangular yet smoothened brown ears perked to make the eagle's words clearer; it's kind of hard to hear at times, probably from the many customers here. "Sorry, realizing I never really asked earlier, but I know we're hanging out tomorrow at noon." Sitting right outside the café, it's almost Friday night as I sit across from Leo, my hyper yet friendly skunk friend, although he's busy looking at some texts, so I don't think he's finding me rude... Not that I can even tell with his face downward, partly obstructed by his soft, red hat. "Hope that's alright," Karen continues. "I look forward to seeing everyone!" My four right fingers around a glass, I drink more water before repeating a similar statement back; the meetup group hasn't been around long.

I can hear a distracted Leo laugh to himself as I converse, so I look ahead toward the cheerful critter and see his recently washed fur slightly bend with his smiling; his light-green eyes are wide open too. Aw, I take it another date went well, or at least that's what I'm assuming anyhow; that was earlier this week, right? Leo's other clothing being dark-brown khaki shorts and charcoal fingerless gloves, nothing else hides various shades of tan across his fur, the pattern only broken by horizontally recurring black stripes around his arms, legs, and bushy tail, said tail being upward.

"It's in my Telegram log somewhere," I calmly reply, "but I'll let you know tonight." I adjust the seating on my cushioned chair, trying to get more comfortable. Thankfully, the weather's actually really warm for a midsummer day, probably due to mostly cloudy skies that have lasted all day. Still trying to find a better posture, I try flexing my legs but ultimately just stand and then sit back down; my arms and legs thankfully don't feel any raindrops on them, the fur of both limbs going from a brown to a grayish charcoal, my mask's color, right above my respective elbows and knees.

"Perfect, thanks Mello!" Karen happily responds with. "I gotta get back to this medical project; assignment's due on Monday, and I kinda waited too long to start, whoops." Yeah, I had lots of moments like that in college... Nothing's more fun than spending dozens of hours on something that couldn't be taught during class, right? "Hope I wasn't interrupting you," she continues saying.

"No, it's totally fine!" I quickly respond with, not wanting her to be worried about anything. "I'm gonna be busy with Leo for a while anyway." I focus on Leo again, but he doesn't seem to hear me. "The café was near us, so we're just chatting for a few hours. Didn't buy anything yet though." Thinking to myself, I'm not sure what to follow up with- Oh, right! "Good luck with your class!"

Still looking forward, I can make out some red marks on Leo's face, the skunk presumably blushing in response to a recent text, and not even a trio of high school-aged tigers and bobcats loudly throwing a football on the distant grass behind him can take his focus away; aw... I'm happy for him. In the background, the sun still has a while before setting, so I can easily see plenty of green on the tree; it's easy to make out plenty of active walkers on a really close sidewalk as well.

Brushing my dark-brown bangs downward, I keep my phone still to hear any last response: "Thanks- Oh yeah, I know you're still trying to organize that blog you mentioned, so I found a very useful article with like a dozen different examples; I sent it on Telegram earlier." She didn't need to do that, but that's nice... I need to figure out what I'm doing with that; I have some reviews and journal entries that aren't particularly good, and there haven't been any comments yet. I also have some silly poetry ideas, but I haven't done that in a long time. "Check it out when you can!"

Alright, I should probably let her be now. "That's really helpful of you... Thanks Karen!" I casually reply with. "I'll let you know what I hear about lunch too; the group's still deciding on that, depending on schedules." Not exactly the best planning... Regardless, we continue talking for a bit before hanging up; hope I wasn't rude. I sit still for a minute while Leo finishes his conversation.

I glance around the outdoor seating some: All the furniture out here is wooden, a teak type, and the stationary chairs that complement the slightly dark color aren't particularly large. A few green leaves are scattered across the multi-stone floor; they probably got brushed by earlier wind under the three-foot tall fencing, a single gate being present further away. To my left is a pair of orange felines also distracted by their phones, and toward my right is a table with a single tall otter, his dark claws typing onto a keyboard as the focused critter listens with large, blue headphones. A partly transparent wall lies behind me, mostly composed of rectangular panes separated by wooden dividers; rotating to look inside, pretty much all the café's indoor seats are occupied... I hope that April isn't too busy today; maybe I should only order light so that she's not stressed out too much.

"Hey Mello, able to focus now!" Leo happily replies with after shaking around, and my attention is grabbed again. "Alex still has an evening shift; just wanted to catch up while he was on break."

"That's the guy you went out with earlier," I contently respond with, "right?" I mean... I guess that's pretty obvious. "Where'd you first date, anyhow? I'd like to hear more about you two!" It's genuinely nice to see Leo dating again; Leo and I had our first few tennis matches over several months ago, and he was definitely single at the time, plus I know how much of an extrovert he is.

Leo tries to avoid blushing, but he's clearly in a very jolly mood. "Hee hee, thanks! But yeah, Alex is who I'm seeing now, and he's a skunk like me." I take another sip of water while listening, the ice having melted; we've been here a little while, and April's still busy... "He has two part-time jobs: Works the counter at a bar some nights, and helps with construction for specific projects. I know his job times differ, but it seems a lot trickier to mentally keep track of than my full-time one..." My phone vibrates and I focus my forest-green eyes down toward my identically colored shorts, but ultimately decide to not pick up. "Anyway, I was just playing cards with some friends and he showed up one night. Would've just been a simple hangout, but we sat next to each other, Alex made lots of cute jokes, we started sharing our mutual interests in art, I flirted some..." I sit my palms beneath my chin, slightly smiling. "Gonna go to some museums next week now; there's a good area about an hour from here." A small breeze of wind passes by. "We'll have fun, I hope!"

While talking to Leo, I notice that the sounds of bobcats and tigers running around has stopped, although I'm not sure what they're doing now as bikers block my view; they quickly pass, but the beagle leader recklessly drops an empty can of soda first. I sigh before looking back at the trees; they sit around one, wearing light-colored T-shirts and gym shorts, probably done with exercising. I soon respond to Leo: "That sounds nice!" I add to the conversation. "Where'd you date though?"

...I hope that didn't sound sarcastic. I pause for a second, Leo begins to answer, and I interrupt him: "No, I mean, that's really cute! Wasn't trying to seem rude." Why am I so bad at this? Somewhat nervously, I align my shorts and peek at my phone, but its earlier notification seems to be a stupid advertisement, so I quickly put it away. "But yeah," I add, "I'd like to hear about that."

He quickly chimes in with a slightly concerned look: "Hey, you're not saying anything wrong; it's fine! I'm like really glad you're interested honestly." I breathe a sigh of relief before finishing the rest of my water. "Alex and I'll be a lot freer later, but we had time to go to this really tasty sushi restaurant a few blocks away." Leo pushes his hat back, which helps his extremely fluffy, triangular ears be even more noticeable, before continuing: "Loved the food there! Found out that Alex used to go fishing too; can't say I've ever done that, but I did camp a couple times as a kid."

The conversation continues for several minutes, but while I add that I don't have any relationship experience of my own to contribute, Leo's optimistic for me, and my enthusiastic friend shares his delight at finding someone that he romantically connects to. "Still got plenty of time for friends though, of course!" Leo says, his tan face having only slight shading from the many clouds. "And I'd love to see you guys some more." We both stretch some, and I just kind of listen, trying to think of other topics to add to the conversation, when my stomach starts to grumble... Leo chuckles.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind something to eat... Just a salad should be enough. Looking around, the computing otter to my right is still heavily in concentration, but the left couple has gotten up to leave; I didn't see any food on their table, so I hope that they're only really busy and not annoyed...

Another minute passes until I eventually hear quick footsteps behind me, our server April finally returning; the crimson apron-wearing rabbit looks physically tired, presumably having worked a long shift, although she makes an effort to brush away what smells like sweat off her light-brown hair, the color matching the rest of her except for her small and generally white tail. "Ugh, I really wish my manager would hire more people..." she tells me. "Sorry Mello, what can I get you both?"

I thank her for her hard work, and it's really not cool how seriously understaffed this place is; Robin was definitely right about that. I'm definitely hungry but don't want much, so I look toward her and ask for a strawberry lemonade and... "What salads do you have again? I forgot to pick up a menu earlier." She apologizes to me, but now I feel a little bad for making her worry; she lists them, but I feel like I'm stressing her out a lot. "I'll try the peanut salad; I'm not very hungry, and thanks a lot!" I pause... "Really, thanks! I-I appreciate it..." It's been a long day... Work stunk too.

April nods her head, her tall yet thin ears perked upward as she takes out some paper and a pen to note everything down. She then turns to Leo, who's been re-reading some texts and keeps smiling to himself, and asks for his order; it takes a second time to get his focus. "A-ah, my bad!" My friend bends his four-fingered gloves and continues: "Um... can I get an iced coffee? Oh, and six blueberry pastries for us please!" ...Six? Leo, can you even eat that many? "They look so yummy!"

The busy-as-ever rabbit seems to know exactly what he means; I know this place has most of their snacks on display in the front, but I don't remember what a lot of them are... Leo confirms his order as I look outside the café grounds again, noticing an extremely brief ray of sunlight hit the grown grass. All the earlier mammals left, it looks like; I wonder where they went off to? April thanks us for our orders before heading back inside; I then tell Leo about April's business, and we're completely in agreement on not being in a rush to eat... A salad sure does sound tasty though.

Leo clasps his hands together, inches up some, and suddenly speaks to me: "I feel like I've been talking about myself a lot today; I wanna know what you've been up to! Anything cool happen?"

There's not really anything creative that I have to add, unless I count my slow-moving blog posts, so I talk about work for a bit, noting how uninspiring and repetitive it is. This continues for a while, but Leo tells me to look at the pros, mentioning not having to work on weekends and also having a decent pay; that's sort of true, I guess, so I list some stuff that I bought: "Well, I saved up for a nice coffee table earlier, and I bought lots of fruity wines if anybody ever wants to come over. What else...?" I continue with, briefly scratching my neck while thinking. "Okay, well, my laptop's a little slow, and I'm looking for a new hard drive, maybe just a processor, which should help with web research for any writing that I bother doing." Surprisingly, Leo looks interested, so I continue: "Also ordered some books to start filling my shelves: a website guide, some Guardians of the Galaxy comics since the movies were really fun- Oh, I got home versions of the two films too; those were awesome!" My friend excitedly nods his head. "...And I bought some old plays to read."

Leo perks his fluffy ears, them rubbing against his soft hat. "That's cool! Which ones did you get?"

April suddenly comes back and leaves our drinks on our table; I try to thank her, but she almost immediately heads back inside to take care of all the other customers. Looking through the windows, most of the wooden chairs are still filled up, largely by a bunch of varying mammals who look really muscular; mostly composed of tigers and other felines, some taller fellows only wear black gym shorts, with some other athletes wearing identically colored midriff tops. I can see a large helmet by the shoes of one muscular tiger, so there must be a football game at a nearby high school. In the distance, I can make out a hungry, large turtle who has a symmetrically patterned shell, as well as having what seem to be small scale patches around his arms and legs; the mostly green and happy guy grabs onto a sandwich with his blackish-gray claws, and he seems to be having a relaxing time so far. Honestly, he looks familiar, but I don't remember from where.

Aah, I'm getting distracted again... I ask Leo to clarify what he was asking, and he patiently responds. "Ah, right, my book collection, well, book collection to be anyway. The plays are all ones I remembered liking in college a lot," I reply with. "I did an engineering major, but I really wanted to have a relaxing side focus and be more creative, so I also took a theatre minor. Of all the art forms they had at my university, theatre interested me most cause of how direct it was with a live audience." My brown tail starts shaking some, and I straighten my posture. "Just really interests me a lot, although I can't act to save my life, heh... I like the script aspects more." I pause... "Sometimes I wonder if something like that or communications, probably journalism from experience, would be more interesting to work in; I actually wanted to focus on writing more in college, but I was pretty discouraged from exploring it full-time." Yeah... "Some classes did help with my analysis skills and writing essays though, so I guess they helped me outside of work too." I sit still for a while... Should I have done something else? My right leg starts shaking but I manage to grip it. Forgetting the time, I pull out my phone with my left hand, trying to get a quick distraction; it's about half an hour past five... Still early. Sigh... I'm probably worrying too much.

Frequently taking gulps of his coffee, showing lots of energy while doing so, Leo speaks back: "Hey, variety's always a nice thing to have! Keeps life from getting too overwhelming and all." He ponders in place some, trying to add more to the conversation: "My life is a bit samey, I suppose, but I try to do the same things that keep me happy, like tennis with you and others, watching films with friends... I try to keep up with social media. And then there's meeting people like Alex..." I'm not actually sure how many men Leo's been with, to be honest, although I know that he used to be a lot more active in that scene, now seeming more relaxed lately. "Whoever I end up with, I just want it to mean a lot. And Alex is really nice so far! I used to be at parties a lot, and they'd end up being pretty fun and all, but I'd rather just get to know people more personally."

I nod my head in agreement, trying to be supportive of my ever-confident friend, even if I'm not doing a particularly good job at staying positive. Staring downward, Leo stops conversing for a minute, probably enjoying his drink from the loud sounds of it, but eventually asks me what I like doing to relax. I face up again, brush my bangs downward after feeling them having gone to the side, and chime in: "Well, blogging's the main thing I wanna get better at, but it's really difficult to just start sometimes. Trying to read other examples more; maybe that'll help." At this point, I've faded out the sounds of the busy customers indoors, but I don't bother checking. "I also like playing video games like Rocket League a lot with Robin, plus story-based games." Hmm, what else do I really do? "And... sometimes I just go out for really long walks by myself... It's relaxing."

Leo's really encouraging of my blogging skills that I apparently have, telling me that I should write about whatever subjects I'm most passionate about; I've also tried articles regarding basic game analysis, but I let him know that I mainly want to try creative writing more. Not sure why I don't; maybe I just find it hard to get started, maybe the sheer amount of other works already out there are kind of intimidating- No, that's not it; everyone has their own perspective and all. It's some motivational thing for me, like I get worried about my own ability to do it or need fresh ideas; that's not abnormal, is it? Brain fog and being worried about losing my creative spark don't help...

While my comfortable-looking friend keeps watching, occasionally taking sips of his iced coffee, I try shifting the conversation toward my summer walks: "I like... I can't really-" Mello, calm down; it's fine, okay? Can I stop worrying about every single thing I say? "S-sorry, just got a lot on my mind lately." Leo chimes in, tells me to take my time, but I still feel weird for randomly worrying about things, woo... At the very least, I'm able to have some sips of my lemonade, some accidentally spilling on my purplish pink nose- "Mm, this is really good!" It's so tasty! My visible fangs get a piece of strawberry stuck on them though, but I lick it off, and Leo laughs. The fruit's really fresh, so I chug down the rest! "Aah, this is so tasty..." I continue saying as Leo grins back.

Alright, I feel a bit better, so I resume: "I can't walk around during the winter at all; hate the cold. Like I'd rather it be a hundred degrees than forty; better to sweat than freeze in pain." Even if my thick fur helps, it still makes me sad, I think to myself. "Anyway, I like... try taking at least mile walks every few days, and it helps me calm down when I'm stressed out, but it's hard finding the time for that after workdays, or at least, I can, but I feel like my time's more productive elsewhere, and I dunno," I randomly tell Leo, "am I making any sense, really?" I quickly gulp down my drink.

I feel a nervous heat run through me- I'm moving faster. Breathe... Shaking in place some, barely able to focus forward. "Mello, it's fine," I hear a relaxed and casual voice see as I look toward the ground. "It's not like there's any real deadline when it comes to creativity." Trying to hide that I'm nervous, obviously failing miserably... Tail keeps itself firmly down behind me. "And walks sound like a good idea, you know?" I keep thinking things to myself. "You know?" I'm wondering- "Mello?" Ah! I'm so rude- Stop getting distracted. Okay... I quickly look up and nod my head, apologizing. "We've had long weeks, no worries. But yeah, I'd say try to like, set some mini-target dates for planning or research for different stages of your writing." I perk my ears forward, swallow, and keep my forest-green eyes fixated toward his light-green ones. "Just don't feel bad if you don't always make them. And exercise is good, you know? Keeps your mind moving too, which I know ya'd like for thinking of ideas." Leo's right... I nod. After excitedly drinking more coffee, hands slightly wet from condensation, Leo rubs his chin and thinks to himself before he cheerfully proposes an idea: "Let's play another tennis match soon! Hasn't it been a few weeks?"

It's still warm outside, but the sun's starting to fall. Feeling a little calmer, I jokingly reply that "I don't have a doubles partner though," awkwardly forcing a smile with half my teeth showing. Leo looks confused, but eventually smirks after presumably thinking about Alex; at least, I think so. My bangs start itching, but I'm not sure why, so my black claws scratch and comb the hair down.

Leo slowly but rather loudly slurps the rest of his iced coffee, and I try hiding- Urgh, not a fan of people making loud noises like that, but whatever... "We can totally chill sometime next week! Probably sometime in the evening, depending on whatever my hours are," Leo follows up with, and I hear a slightly high-pitched sigh. I also pick up a whirring noise in the distance, but I'm not looking around much; April's still away too. "Retail can't stick to a consistent shift, and I dunno why." Leo's triangular ears droop against his hat, and there's a short silence as all I can hear is something like blades running against the air... I shift sideways and see a... mini-drone further out? Can't see anyone there- Aah, distracted again. "Makes it hard to plan events, short notice and all."

"Well, it's like you told me: The pros outweigh the cons, right?" I forcibly say, followed by me swallowing the rest of my lemonade. The rectangular table remains surprisingly clean save for water stains from our glasses; April puts a lot of work into this, that's for sure. "Sports equipment, you get to go to restaurants, and at least you get to talk to customers, right? Better than sitting in front of a computer all day doing the same boring tasks over and over without getting to move around." Uh... Awkward silence... I straighten my shorts again, my tail smoothly tucked through its hole and rubbing against the chair. "I mean, depends on what you're doing, I guess..." Trying not to accidentally be rude, even if I might be sharing myself, but Leo agrees, and he gets out his phone with his gloves again, wanting to respond to texts. I don't mind, so I just look around more.

The mini-drone flies around in all sorts of directions, but it seems to be misbalanced and keeps falling at an angle. As I'm entranced, it's not long before its operator gets a lot closer; I'm able to see a wolf who's... He's kind of cute-looking actually... I wonder how long he's been outside today. A-anyway... holding a plastic controller, the tall mammal has grayish fur around his body, save for blue-tinted ears and a smooth, bluish hairstyle. I can also make out a black-nosed snout and dark-green eyes, and he's wearing a fully open, light-gray jacket together with browner hiking shorts. Walking on the fresh grass, near a green-leaved tree, the canine keeps messing around with the device, occasionally taking out a notepad and pencil whenever the device fails to properly stay airborne. I adjust my seating; Leo keeps checking messages, so I watch the engineering wolf play around more. Leo smiles at his phone, and I almost ask what about until I hear the door creak open.

I turn to see April coming to the table with a fresh tray; I can hear Leo audibly release what sounds like yelps of happiness, presumably upon seeing the many blueberry pastries, their pleasant smells overwhelming my nostrils as I start to regret not getting one for myself. "Here's your food, you two," the tannish rabbit politely states before placing it, "and I'm happy to get you another drink if you'd like, Mello." I thank her a lot and approvingly nod, but quickly specify that I'd rather have water instead. "Have to work tomorrow too," April follows up with, "but I get Sunday off at least, so I'll be traveling down to see family that day then." I sincerely tell her that I hope she has a good time, and she walks away relieved. Looking forward, I completely forgot that I ordered a salad, so I grab my fork and start taking bites of it; hmm... dressing's a bit sharp, but it's otherwise filling!

Meanwhile, Leo is quickly going through the pastries, finishing half of them in less than a minute; he offers one to me, but I respectively decline, instead being impressed at how his hyperactive personality spreads to his eating routine. As I eat more of my healthy and fairly cold salad, I look afar to watch the distant wolf take more notes on his mini-drone; he seems really excited about his project, although I'm not sure what it's for. Maybe he's developing a test model for company work? Or he could just be having fun with it, which would also be cute. I watch as a sudden gust of wind pushes the builder's coat around some and he amusingly tries to hold it still. During this time, a feline businessman walks down the sidewalk near him, or at least I assume as such by the formal suit, but I don't pay much attention as my focus is on the wolf. Eventually, the small aircraft hits the ground again but doesn't seem to respond afterward, so the tester picks up his craft and heads inside the café; aw, I hope that knows how to fix it. I'd like to talk to him about it later too.

As Leo continues eating his really sugary pastries, also getting some white powder on his cheeks without any shame, I try to relax more, turn around, and study the café's interior: The clothed wolf's sitting at the main counter, but he's too far away from me to make out any specifics of. He picked a good time to join too, seeing as at least half the earlier customers are now either gone or packing up their food. Despite the descending sunlight reflecting off the otherwise mostly transparent windows, I can tell that the lighting is dimmer, which unfortunately doesn't hide that several tables still have used napkins and crumbs scattered around. One person I see wrapping up his food in plastic wrap is the turtle who I saw earlier; as he turns around to get out of his seat, I can make out black eyes, and his determined expression seems to imply that he's in a hurry. He does have a satisfied look though as he licks off some breadcrumbs, so he'll probably return later.

The rest of the café is filled with random guests of all sorts of species, most of them looking like college kids relaxing, but I don't recognize any of them. Outside, Leo and I are still eating, the sun now over halfway down, causing a lot more shade on just about everything than what was already there with the clouds, although the café and connected sidewalk have old-fashioned lampposts that go off later in the evening. Occasionally, I hear crickets in the background; I wouldn't mind seeing some fireflies too, which I've always found pretty charming, but I guess they're not around this part of town. Leo is now taking his time with the last two pastries, and I finish the rest of my salad.

Looking at my phone, it's less than half an hour until seven, and the only conversation that Leo and I really have is just casual chatter about current events; we occasionally but barely get into political discussions that we generally agree on, but most of the conversation is regarding movies that we've both recently watched. One that particularly stood out to me lately was an artsy horror film that I didn't find scary but mostly liked for its relaxing presentation and pretty music. Leo, by contrast, started watching more action-based films at the recommendation of his boyfriend, but mainly ones that have more surrealism to them. He talks about his interest in stories that are communicated more in mood-based imagery and symbolism, usually focusing on foreign or lesser-known indie stuff. Film seems to be a common topic in our _Telegram_group from what I've seen.

The otter to our right is still heavily focused on his laptop, and he has a studious expression on his face; I wonder if he's working on a long school assignment? Either way, he hasn't moved much in a long time, but I leave him alone, not wanting to disturb him. Another minute passes while everyone sits around until another ferret, surprisingly similar to myself in shape, walks past us on the sidewalk, visibly extremely excited to get somewhere; he has monochromatic fur-coloring, even having darkening color changes in similar areas to my own arms and legs. Looking through his black-framed, rectangular glasses, the somewhat skinny ferret pulls a phone out of a red shorts pocket to check a message. I'm honestly not sure what he has planned tonight, but the white-masked ferret can't seem to stop shaking his tail; I just kind of watch until he's no longer in sight.

My attention turns to my phone for a while, checking Twitter to see what's new in the world, although not much seems to appear apart from lots of cool art and casual conversations. I think about my own writing some more, getting slightly nervous at the possibility of losing my creative spark, but Leo's earlier advice keeps me calm, so I'm able to mostly shrug it off... but not totally. What manages to positively distract me is a continuous blueberry scent that's now blowing across the outdoors thanks to warm gusts of wind; the food's not expired at least, so they're cycling through new supplies here. Ah, that smells so good... I look up, and two pastries still remain, one having had a large bite taken by the presumably now full Leo. I offer a napkin, and he thanks me.

Noticing a neutral expression on the skunk's face as he licks some goopy jam from his face, I decide to continue an earlier conversation to cheer him up: "So, any plans tonight?" I pause for a second, thinking how unoriginal my words are. "I mean, after dinner and all; Alex is still busy, right? When's his work done?" Mello, try to be more natural, for crying out loud... Using a napkin to wipe some salad dressing off my face- Just felt that; nobody noticed, did they? Stumbling with my words some, eventually looking around to see that the grass is unoccupied... Path's empty too.

Leo pushes the plate forward, noting that he's really satisfied with his meal, along with some other words that I don't fully catch. I try to maintain eye contact, taking some breaths while thinking about random topics. "And Alex won't be free until pretty late," Leo casually states, "but he's not too occupied right now. Keeps texting sometimes, and we're just sharing jokes, so I'm glad he's not completely bored at his place." Trying to wipe his face, Leo looks like he's getting more and more tired, and he pulls off his hat for a little bit to reveal some short, brown hair. "As for plans, there's the movies tomorrow with y'all, so that should be fun." After combing his hair down with his naturally white claws, his gloves accumulating small amounts of fur, he puts his hat back on before saying some finishing thoughts: "I might just walk around town some by myself tonight, get some exercise- Well, if that counts anyway." Leo chuckles a bit. "But yeah, I've had a good time talking to you tonight, so thanks!" I nod my head in response, trying to be polite, and respond likewise to him. Before I really get a chance to continue, I hear the door open and April come outside with some water, leaving it on the table before almost immediately having to leave; I didn't get a chance to properly thank her, so I repeatedly think to myself how to best do so later tonight.

"I should get going soon," Leo states as he places his eight claws onto the table. One hand moves to grab the partially eaten blueberry treat, presumably for Leo to take with him as he pays. "You can have the last pastry though; they're really good!" Leo politely offers. That's pretty sweet of him, so I thank him. "Anything else you wanted to bring up or ask that we didn't get to talk about?"

I'm not sure how to respond in detail, not really being able to think of something specific... Although there is a sort of question that I'm curious for his thoughts on, mostly wanting to know for myself: "Yeah... Just kinda wondering..." Hands on my lap, I pause for a bit, trying to think of how to word this... "What exactly did it like, well, what did you feel when you first met Alex? Like, hmm..." Leo stares, paying close attention but not reacting negatively. I nod my head very slightly... "What kinds of feelings do you-" I feel nervous... Leo stays patient and doesn't say anything as I gulp down a bunch of only slightly ice-filled water. "I had feelings for several men and women in college, and I think occasionally before that, none ever going to a relationship, and I guess... I'm wondering how you went about taking things further with someone you start liking?"

Leo opens his mouth, but I immediately apologize, insisting that I'm just asking for my own curiosity and experience- "It's fine, really," Leo replies with... Okay... I shut up and listen. "But yeah, it's kinda hard to explain really. I mean, crushes are just kinda natural and can basically come out of nowhere; I can find the guy attractive, or I'm like really... happy around him, like in a way where I seriously enjoy being around him, and I can be shy, or laugh a lot- I mean, more than I usually do anyway." Leo giggles a bit, and I try to stop myself from doing so too. "I always find the person cute, especially in Alex's case, and I'm like really interested in getting to know more about him." Leo pauses and decides to quickly finish his pastry, being surprisingly quick while doing so, although he keeps talking during that: "I dunno, it's like, something I feel. And I seriously wanna start doing stuff with him, and we make plans to know about each other more." I let out a long breath, and let Leo continue. "Just get to know them; it never hurts to try, you know?"

Still wondering some things, I thank Leo for his answer, and I ramble about a few concerns like my own anxiousness and how I'm worried about not being fair for another person cause of how unmotivated I am, or maybe stressed, or I don't know- I'm like, I... I don't want anyone to feel worse due to me, so- Leo gets up, straightens his khaki shorts, and walks around the table toward me- I'd like to figure this out more... I feel drips from my eyes... Before I know it, I feel a warm embrace spread across my fur, through my white front fur down to the blackened ends of my legs, and I turn to see Leo hugging me. He tells me not to worry so much, which is easier said than done... "As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, and I know you aren't that sort of person, there's no good reason why you shouldn't pursue something if it makes you feel better. You're great, Mello."

The sun having finally set completely, Leo casually chats with me for a minute and asks if I'll be alright, to which I reply yes, and I think that we manage to end things on a good note. When he eventually heads inside to pay for his food, he cheerfully adds something else: "Hey, and make sure to finish that last pastry; they're delicious and you'll like it a lot! Promise?" I mean, I guess I am a little hungry, so I assure him that the untouched dessert shall not go to waste on anybody's watch! ...I'm being silly. Leo thanks me and heads inside, his chair still being pulled outward some.

With only recurring insect chirps and the occasional brush of wind through nearby trees, I sit in silence for a few minutes, looking through my phone to catch up on today's tweets. The only real lighting outside is from sidewalk lampposts; the otter to my right closed his laptop and started putting it away in a backpack, so I guess his work's done for now. Turning my chair around, I look inside, noticing that the engineering wolf is still at the counter with some tools in his right hand... I'm happy that he's still here. I'd like to learn more about him, so I grab my plate and head inside.

None of the stools near the coat-wearing and mostly gray wolf are taken, so I slowly walk toward the tall creature, hoping to get his attention... "Hey," I softly ask before the happy-looking guy switches his focus to me, "mind if I sit here? I saw you playing with that thing outside, and I think it's really cool-looking," noting the four blades and smooth aerial design. "I'd like to learn more."

With a very slightly deep but extremely inviting voice, the brushy-tailed guy politely responds: "Yeah, happy to chat with ya! Been getting kinda bored myself, to be honest." I smile, blink my eyes a few times, and take a seat, also setting my plate down and offering him the pastry. "Yay, thanks! My funds are a little low and I've been really hungry the last hour, so that's sweet of you!" Quickly devouring the blueberry treat, getting some jam across his face during the process, he gets really happy and starts having a friendly conversation with me about his project; he's working on modifying a pretty slow and ordinary quad-copter for a college technology club, increasing its speed by changing one of the motors around, but it's tricky to balance. His blue-furred ears start shaking some as he finishes the rest of the pastry. "Mm, mm my gorsh, thus is suh amazung," he incoherently says while chewing. He's a pretty silly dude... I like that. The wolf very quickly licks his lips and thanks me again. "Anyway, I hope the club helps inspire some other students," talking about interests to mechanically innovate. "I also like drawing on paper at home, if you wanna see some time." My tail shakes. He mentions cartoonish ideas, and I express that I'd love to look later!

We talk for a while, him mostly talking about aircraft, and me talking about art interests like my personal writing projects. I later help him look up a manual with my phone, and we eventually walk through a fix for his mini-drone, although it starts to lightly rain outside, so we agree to try and test it later tonight. "You're really nice... Thanks for coming over," he shares with me... Hee hee. We keep having casual discussions for a while, sitting closely together and getting to know each other, and he gives me a hug at one point... Heh, I can't help but smile a lot... I look toward his lime-green eyes, his combed blue hair, lovely fur... Honestly, he's actually really cute... I blush.

It's getting late, but I want to stay with him, so, somewhat nervously, I manage to casually ask: "Hey, um, I still gotta pay, but there's an ice cream place nearby... Wanna like, go there with me?"

He immediately closes his eyes and smiles. "I'd love to! That'd be really great." We stand up and start to get going. "By the way, I never asked your name." Whoops, and I never asked for his either, so we share details with each other. "...Mello? That sounds really nice. My name's Glass!"