FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ten minutes later and after driving through a semi-busy traffic, Seif's car stopped in front of a florist store. Sasuga looked through the car window and saw a big neatly written sign with colorful flowery shapes painted on it attached over the store that read 'Fiore's Flower Shop'.

"Here we are," Seif said as he parked the car. "I know the owner of this flower shop and go to him whenever I need a nice bouquet. He has the best kinds, so I'm sure we'll find something appropriate."

"Oh, alright."

"Good," Seif smiled and stepped out of the car and Sasuga followed suit, entering the flower shop with him. The moment she stepped inside, the smart aroma of the beautiful plants rushed through her nostrils and filled her lungs with a wonderful fragrance sensation. It must be heaven to work in a delicately scented atmosphere like this. The store door had one of those old fashioned ringing bells that chimed when opened, and that caught the attention a worker there, a young male cougar, that was in the middle of mending some plants with a water sprayer. He was casually dressed in a baggy shirt and loose pants, and had an apron on him with a pair of headphones hanging around his neck.

"Can I help you with anything?" the cougar blandly greeted them when he noticed the visitors coming in. Sasuga had a feeling that she saw him somewhere before, and it didn't take her long to remember. He was the one that delivered that bouquet of roses to her a while back. The one that Seif originally sent as a goodwill gesture after almost running her over with his car the fist time they met face to face. He must've brought the bouquet from this store. She wondered why he hadn't mentioned that yet, but she guessed that he was being modest about it; something she found admirable.

"Excuse me, but is Mr. Fiore available?" Seif asked the feline worker.

"Oh, the boss? Yeah, he's in the back. Boss! Hey, Boss!" the cougar called out and a few moments later the store owner came from a back room behind the counter.

"What is it, Kensun? Didn't I tell you not to bother me when I'm in my office working on the finance reports?" a male owl showed up in front of the counter and said. He was brown feathered, with a round, bulky and chubby figure, and wearing a green vest over an old-fashioned shirt that had its sleeves rolled up over his chunky forearms, with a pair of blue large-sized beltless pants covering his lower half. His short avian beak had a feathery strip over it that made it look like a moustache.

"I know, but there's someone asking for ya," the cougar replied, as the owl's big wide eyes widened when they saw who his guest was.

"Good to see you, Bruno. It's been a while," Seif said with a smile.

"Ah! Mr. Seif! Benvenuto, welcome!" the owl, named Bruno Fiore, exclaimed with much elation, walking by the counter over to them to greet them properly. "It's been a while indeed, but always a pleasure to have you in my humble store!" Bruno said with a bright smile, shaking the lion's hand with both of his feathery ones. The owl had some kind of an Italian accent to his voice, Sasuga noticed. That, and the way he was so thrilled by Seif's visit, was pretty intriguing to the kirin.

"Sorry to drop by in a busy time. I hope we're not keeping you from something important," Seif apologized.

"Bah, nonsense! This flower store wouldn't have been without your help, so you're welcome any time!" Bruno replied affably. "You want anything to drink? Kensun! Make some tea!"

"But my hands are kinda busy here!" Kensun replied crudely.

"Inutile ragazzo! Come inside my office, I'll make you some tea."

"No need, Bruno. Thanks, but we can't stay for too long. We have a funeral to attend, that's why we came to you," Seif said.

"Oh, vedo, vedo. My sincere consolidation. Is it for your lady amico here?" the plump owl wondered as he looked over to the kirin, scarping the feathery strip over his beak.

"Yes. This is Ms. Sasuga Temple, a friend of mine," Seif introduced her to the florist, and Sasuga felt herself blushing slightly when he addressed her as a friend. She was grateful that he at least considered her as friends.

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Temple!" Bruno held the kirin's hand and shook it welcomingly, as Sasuga smiled back at him.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Fiore."

"No, no, no, call me Bruno, per favore, yes? I might look big, but I haven't even hit my thirties!" the owl laughed lightly.

"Well, we better marry you to that nice lady in the next door grocery store before you get too old for her. You had your eyes on her for years now, she can't be waiting forever," Kensun teased with a sleazy grin.

"Stai zitto, idiota blaterare! Just get back to work!" Bruno snapped back at the cougar sternly, the feathers around his neck puffing out. "Sorry about that. So what can I do you for?"

"Go ahead, Sasuga. Pick anything you like," Seif said to her, but it was hard for her choose with so many beautiful flowers and roses.

"Um, well, I guess anything would do," Sasuga muttered coyly and didn't want to be picky about it.

"May I make a suggestion?" Bruno kindly said and went over to pick a couple of white and pink roses, showing them to the kirin. "It's for a funeral, yes? I recommend the Potpourri of Pastels, a soothing expression of your sympathy and support. Very nice, eh?"

"Oh yes, it's so pretty!" Sasuga expressed, taken by the attractive roses. "These will do very nicely, thanks!"

"Eccellente! I'll prepare for you the best bouquet to take with you. Kensun! Make one Potpourri of Pastels, veloce!" Bruno ordered his apprentice.

"Fine, fine, don't rush me," Kensun grumbled and went off to prepare the bouquet.

"Pigro ragazzo... Don't mind him. He's a good kid, but like all teenagers these days, he can be so lazy! He does his job well, at least, so I can't complain much," the owl remarked.

"Don't worry about it. Just put it on my tap as usual," Seif said.

"Oh, no, for the signorina, it's on the house! You already done too much good for me, Mr. Seif, it's the least I can do," Bruno offered kindly.

"That's very generous of you, Mr. Bruno. Thank you," Sasuga said to him appreciatively.

"Il mio piacere, my pleasure! Now, where's that lazy boy?"

"Here you go, boss," Kensun arrived with the bouquet and handed it to Bruno, who in turn handed it over to the kirin.

"Be careful, their thorns are sharp," Bruno said as he handed her the silky paper wrapped bouquet gently.

"Ready to go?" Seif softly rumbled to the kirin and she nodded back to him with the roses bouquet between her arms. "Thanks again, Bruno. I'll make sure to bring a bottle of Sangiovese wine next time."

"Ah, grazie, Mr. Seif! I look forward to it! Please, come again soon!" Bruno exclaimed keenly and bid them farewell as they left the flower shop.

"He sure was a sweet and kind man, and very much respectful of you, Seif," Sasuga stated when they left the store, smiling up at the lion.

"Well, he had trouble opening up his flower store after he finished college. His father was disapproval of his choice in the business, but he went against him and decided to open a florist business despite that. I admired that in help, and gave him a helping hand when he seeked it," Seif explained.

"That's very considerate of you, Seif!" Sasuga admirably said.

"It's not like I won't benefit from it, either. Bruno sometimes does publicity for our drinks and other products with flyers and banners. I figured it's money well spent, don't you agree?" Seif chuckled lightly.

"Definitely," Sasuga nodded. Seif was a hero in her eyes, both inside and outside the demons battlefield. He never ceased to impress her with stuff about him; she began to wonder if he was too good to be true. So far, he was indeed.

"Anyhow, we should be going. We don't want to be late for the funeral," Seif then pointed out and Sasuga agreed. As she was about to climb into the SUV, another speeding sports car zoomed right next to them in mad speed and it startled the kirin, making her drop the bouquet from her hands. She quickly reacted and grabbed the roses before they fell on the ground, but she ended up hurting her right palm with the sharp thorns when she did.

"Ouch! Dammit! Ow..." Sasuga yelped, looking at her hand and seeing blood dripping from the small cut. It wasn't serious, but it was unexpectedly shedding more than enough blood and it was hurting bad.

"Are you alright?" Seif rushed over to her and grabbed her hurting hand, checking it up.

"Y-Yes, I'm okay. It's not that bad," Sasuga replied with an embarrassed smile. She then wondered if she could use her healing power to fix up her wound, since she never tried that on herself before. There was always a first time for everything, so she placed her left palm over her right one and tried healing it. Her hand glowed dimly and emitted soft sparks, but to her surprise and disappointment, nothing happened. "It... it didn't work?" she blinked in confusion as her powers failed to heal the cut on her hand.

"Hrmm, it seems you can't heal your own wounds... that might be its only drawback," Seif rumbled in observation.

"Heh... I guess that would've been too perfect if it did work," Sasuga said with a weary smile, her ears drooping slightly. She was sorely disappointed, but figured there has to be a limit for every power in this world, and hers happened to be her inability to use her healing powers on herself. At least she found out about it now rather than in a much dire situation.

"In any case, we got to get your hand treated before it gets worse," Seif said, pulling out a handkerchief from his suit pocket and gently wrapping her bloodied right hand with it.

"Sorry about this, Seif. I should've been more careful..." Sasuga muttered demurely, feeling shameful for troubling the lion with this.

"Don't worry about it. Though, I'm going to need that handkerchief back. So don't lose it, hrm?" Seif smiled softly back at her and made the kirin blush again, as she nodded back at him with a bright smile. Luckily, he noticed a pharmacy store across the street and he headed over there with the kirin, hand in hand, as Sasuga did her best not to blush her head off by him holding her hand closely like this. They entered the pharmacy and Seif quickly asked for some band-aids, as the female hedgehog clerk gladly handed him a small pack of it. After wiping it clean with the handkerchief, the lion used one of the band-aids and placed it on her small wound, and all was well. "There. Better?"

"Yes, much better. Thanks, Seif," Sasuga smiled back at him in appreciation.

"Good. Wait for a bit and we'll be on our way," Seif said and returned to the clerk to pay. As Sasuga waited, her eyes caught something peculiar on one of the shelves and she reached out for it. It was the vitamins supplement pills she saw Kyle use before, as she read 'Toramintus' on the pack label. "Is something the matter?" Seif came up from behind her and asked when he saw her occupied with the pack.

"Oh, I was just thinking at the irony. I couldn't save Kyle back then, and now I can't even save myself if I wanted."

"Didn't we agree to leave that behind us? What made you think of this again anyway?"

"Well, I just saw this, and it reminded me of Kyle," Sasuga said and showed him the pills pack. "I remember seeing Kyle taking some of these before he died. He said it would help him grow up faster. Heh, he was so fixated with the idea of getting bigger and taller..." the kirin chuckled lightly as she reminiscent her lost friend, but something else caught Seif's attention when he saw the pack. He turned it around and saw the company that produced it. It was ToraPharma, just like he expected. "Seif? What is it?" Sasuga asked him when she noticed the sudden changed and grim expression on the lion's face.

"Oh, no. It's nothing. But, are you sure Kyle used these?"

"Yeah, this was the same pills. Why?"

"It might be nothing. But I'll have to do some of my own research before confirming anything. Don't think much about it, alright?" Seif said with a calm smile and took the pills pack to the counter to pay for it as well. Sasuga was puzzled by what Seif meant by that. Was he onto something? Did it have anything to do with Kyle's death? She wanted to ask him and know more, but maybe not at the moment. He was already nice enough to accompany her and help her pick up the roses, even giving her his handkerchief when she injured her hand, which was now stained with her blood. She felt bad for it, so she decided to keep it in her pocket and clean it up first before giving it back to him.

"Sorry about that. Ready to go?" Seif came back and asked her softly.

"Yes," Sasuga replied with a firm nod. Next stop, the cemetery.

To be continued...