FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As we headed out of the parking lot of the police station I worked on getting my tablet synced to Jack's phone before collecting an app with a vocal modulator. I needed to call Melinda, and it would help if I sounded somewhat similar to the way I'd sounded prior to getting this new body. Once I was sure that I had the program working properly I pulled out a pair of earbuds that were in the bag and smiled at Jack. "I need ta make a call Jack, we need ta get Melinda an' the rest on board."

"Call away kitten," He chuckled, "Don't use up too much data on my phone." He said with a gentle smile, letting me know that he was aware that I was using his phone to do what needed to be done.

"Daddy just to let you know we have ta go to the Sunny Hill Mall, that's where I'm gonna get them ta meet me."

"Sunny Hill, that place has a less than ideal reputation." Jack replied as he drove.

"I know that Jack, but that is always where we met up if we needed to talk about something." I told him, "You really expect people who don't exactly have every advantage to frequent nice malls?"

"I guess not, now you make your call, I have to concentrate on driving." He said smoothly.

I nodded and then plugged my earbuds in, adjusting the volume down to something a bit more suitable before dialing the number that I knew was to Mel's phone.

"Hello?" Her smooth, rumbling contralto came across the line.

"Hiya Mel, guess who?" I joked, though I knew that I really should be serious.

"Daren, Where the hell have you been? We have problems."

"Yeah, I'm kind of aware of that Mel, found out the other day when I overheard Helen talking to you on her phone at Lake Ridge Mall." I told her, "And before you ask I don't think that Helen would have recognized me if she had seen me."

There was a pause at the other end before Mel gathered her thoughts, "Okay so I take it your circumstances have changed, however is there a way you can help?"

"Yes, there is, but it is going to require some degree of co-operation with local authorities Mel. I know you really don't like the police, but without them I wouldn't be able to have this conversation with you."

"How much has changed Daren?" She asked, and I could hear the concern in her voice.

I clicked the button to end the voice modulation and sighed. "A lot has changed for me, I'm not even human anymore, though this is much preferable to the other option I had."

She made a small sound of surprise at the sound of my natural voice and I waited for her to deal with the reality of what had changed. After more than a minute she finally managed to pull herself together enough to speak. "I hope the advantages are worth the price Dar,"

"Yeah, I mean I have plenty of draw-backs but the good outweigh the bad. My nightmares are fading and I am healthy again, though it is going to take a long, long time until I am an adult again, though I think that might be a good thing, considering my history."

"Wasn't one childhood enough for you?" She asked.

"It would be if facing the same circumstances Mel, but this time I think I may actually be able to enjoy it, and myself since I already have a stable home with a family that likes me the way I am." I told her, "That is a large improvement over what I had last time."

"Sounds like it Daren, but right now I don't need a cub, I need my number two... Simon can't do your job Daren and we both know that."

"I know Mel, but I don't physically have to be there to do my part. That was always the way it was, the only reason I was the one who always got in trouble with the law was because I was the one who usually was responsible for disposing of our loot." I told her, "Though to be fair I was starting to fall apart when I got picked up."

"You never listened to me Daren. I always told you that the stuff you were taking was going to kill you."

I nodded slightly even though Mel couldn't see me, "I am aware of that Mel, but I think that under the circumstances I really didn't care all that much. I was getting tired of those nightmares and the grind of living on the edge all the time." I told her honestly, "I am twenty-four and yet already there were times when I felt like I was older than you."

There was a sigh from the other end. "I think I could see that sometimes Daren," She said sadly, "I remember that even as a teen you'd sometimes get this look in your eyes that would make me recall my time in the service."

I nodded since I know of what she was talking about, "You mean I had the thousand-yard stare?"

"Precisely," She answered, "You were too young and you'd seen way too much of the ugly side of humanity."

"Yeah, I think that's it Mel, but now I have a second chance and I plan on grabbing that second chance for all it's worth." I told her before give a soft noise. "Anyways how about we meet, usual place, Sunny Hill Food Court... you know which table, look for the tiger wearing a fedora. That would be the best way to get the details sorted, and I could use something to eat... my body is rather more demanding about that sort of thing than my old body."

She laughed openly and I could tell that she understood what I was talking about. "Okay I will be there, and I think that I will be brining Simon with me."

I looked at Jack and he nodded to me, "We should be there in about half an hour, though I am guessing that we need to visit a hat shop there to get you that hat that you mentioned."

I nodded in reply before I passed the information on to Mel, "I'll see you in about an hour Mel?" I asked her since I knew that she would also need some time to get to the mall.

"About that, if the car doesn't break down on the way there." She growled softly, not at me, but at the mention of the old car that she had, it was constantly on the verge of disintegrating in a cloud of red dust and component parts.

I chuckled softly as it was a common complaint for her, though to be fair the running gear of that car just refused to die, it was relatively cheap to keep in gas and oil, so she saw no real reason to replace it quite yet. "I'll see you there Mel." I told her before ending the call and leaning back in my seat.

"Sounds like that went well." Jack commented as I pulled the earbuds from my ears and put them back into the bag for the Surface Pro.

"About as well as I would expect, she's still not really believing me about what's happened to me, I could hear that much in her voice." I replied, "Though I suspect when she sees me, and I use some of our more private memories to remind her that I am who I say I am she will start to believe me."

"Has she always been so, well, suspicious?" Jack asked, and I could tell that he truly didn't understand that for those who lived in the more poverty-stricken parts of the city that suspicion and mistrust were almost a way of life.

"Jack, for you I guess it's hard for you to wrap your head around the idea that for people who live where we come from mistrust and suspicion are a way of life. Those who are gullible or don't watch their back don't live very long in that part of the city."

He looked at me through the mirror, trying to figure out if I was telling the truth and I returned the look of his with one of my own, it wasn't an easy look for me to maintain like it had been before since I was now a cub. What Jack saw when he looked into my eyes was the hard, cynical eyes of somebody who'd never had all of the advantages afforded by a decent education, good parents, and a stable community. He shivered softly before he reached back with a hand and gently laid it on my leg. "I think I am beginning to understand, though I doubt I will every truly appreciate what you have been through."

I relaxed and sat back letting the hard look fade from my face and eyes while at the same time I tried to put the cynic in my mind back in its cage. "I will be glad when this is all over daddy, I am tired of thinking like that, always worrying about what the next day holds, never knowing who to trust, always having to keep one eye watching my back."

Jack nodded slightly, "I think I understand that much." He as he drove into the parking lot of the mall, "Okay this place looks more than a little uh..."

"Sketchy, ill kempt, unsavoury, worrying?" I supplied with a grin, since the vehicle that Jack was driving looked like it was worth three to four times more than any of the other vehicles in the parking lot. "If you want my suggestion I'd say that we should park near the south entrance, I know for a fact that the surveillance cameras there still function... kind of." I remarked, with a chuckle that I knew instantly was probably more dry and cynical than I wanted to be.

"I'll take your word for it." Jack stated before locating a parking spot relatively close to the entrance that I had mentioned. "Now I guess we go in, find a hat shop, get you your hat and then locate the food court and get your tummy something to eat." He said before climbing from the driver's seat to come around and release me from my seat.

At the hat shop the attendant was a bit of a downer, he kept trying to sell Jack some of the hats that were obviously designed for a cub like me. I took one look at those rather too colourful hats and shook my head softly. "No, those are a bit too over the top for me."

"Are you sure they will look absolutely amazing on you." The little rabbit man persisted.

I turned to him and growled, probably showing him more teeth than he was comfortable with. "Listen, I know what I like and what I don't like. Now please go bother somebody else while I find something that suits my tastes." I told him bluntly before looking back to the hats that I was interested in.

Beside me Jack chuckled as the grey bunny quickly made his way away from us at a somewhat unseemly pace. "He was getting on my nerves too kitten, but did you have to scare him so much that he probably needs new underwear?"

I looked up at Jack nodding slightly, "Sorry about that Daddy but he was really starting to annoy me, and well..." I looked down at my paws.

"I know that you can't control your emotions as well as you used to be able to as a human, but please try and remember that you can't just bully people into doing what you want them to."

I shivered as I realized what he was trying to say, I had just bullied that bunny and it made me deeply ashamed of myself. For my entire human life, I'd been the one getting picked on, bullied, and abused by those around me. That bunny had been way bigger than me, but the simple fact that I was a tiger and had so many sharp teeth made him back off and run away. I closed my eyes and shivered before I looked up at Jack, "I'm sorry Jack, maybe we should just leave..."

"Kitten you need that hat so that Mel will know its you." Jack replied softly, "Just remember this and be mindful of those around you."

I nodded and after a few more minutes I located a perfect hat, a black grey banded fedora that perfectly fit me, and had holes in the right place for my ears. When we went to the till the grey bunny was there and I could see the whites of his eyes as he scanned the bar code on the tag. After a moment I couldn't stand it any more and softly I looked up at him, "Sorry, I didn' mean ta growl at you, I've jus' been having a rough day."

He looked over the counter at me and nodded, "I just, sometimes around predators I get jumpy and perhaps a bit too insistent ta get them on their way. It's a fault I have, and I am tryin' to work on it." He admitted.

"I guess I didn' help matters much by growling at you and showing a few teeth?" I surmised, "I am still trying ta get used ta this body, only had it a couple days." I told him. "I know what it's like being bullied and Jack reminded me that I was doing that to you."

The bunny looked a bit surprised and then smiled before handing me the hat, sans tag and I smiled, more with my body language than with my mouth and purr-growled as he gently scratched the base of one of my ears.

"As much as I love this I need to go, there are some people that I need ta meet, an I really am getting hungry now." I told him and he smiled once more before Jack and I turned to leave the store.

"That was brave of you Daren, you admitted your mistake and took steps to correct it." Jack said as we made our way to the food court.

"I had to do something, seeing somebody so scared of what I was kinda disheartening, I mean I know that there are always gonna be those people but... I wanna not be something people are afraid of."

Jack nodded as we found the food court and I guided him to a table where I sat down while he went to go get something for us to eat.