FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Mani Tibbal was obsessed. He tended to be overzealous about anything he liked. But this was different. He wasn't obsessed with something, rather someone. He was obsessed with Kate Parcer.

Kate first struck Mani's heart last year at a company meeting. She was the recently promoted sales manager while Mani was a senior IT technician. Mani had heard rumors going around the office, worries about promoting a kobold to a management position, as if they would bring the company crumbling down in fiery heaps. He dismissed their rumors without too much thought. The world had a rather tough prejudice about kobolds like himself; their species' reputation tended to overshadow any better qualities. Mani was lucky enough his college friend Denny helped him land this job.

But he never expected someone like Kate. Mani had never seen her at the office before, though as Kate walked into the meeting it didn't take a second before she caught his eye. She was a stunner. Though she was shorter than everyone in the room besides himself, she had a swagger that told others who's boss. She wore clothes that hugged her body tightly, easily showing off the curves of her wide hips and small, perky breasts, yet still presenting a sleek professional look consistent with her management title. Her deep blue scales were strikingly colorful compared to Mani's dull bronze. It was a shame that her body was mostly covered by clothing.

All throughout the meeting Mani could hardly keep his eyes off her. It wasn't often that he met other kobolds, and it'd been three years since he last dated one. Since then his dating scene had been rather... nonexistent would best describe it. Mani had been on dates set up by his coworkers. Some kobolds, some humans, one even a dragoness. But they all ended soon after they began. Maybe it was Mani's fault. He wasn't the strongest, or the brightest, or the wealthiest, or many other things. But there was one thing he knew he was after seeing Kate. He was madly in love.

At the end of the meeting she approached him. "Hey, you're Mani, right?" she asked.Mani just nodded, standing straight as possible. Even then he stood slightly shorter than her. Kate smiled in return and extended her hand. "It's great to finally meet you!" Mani happily shook her hand as she continued. "I've heard how your recent updates on the inventory management application have been awesome for our sales team! I'm a bit busy right now, but I would love to get with you later and discuss some new updates that are coming to our company servers!"

Mani kept nodding, hardly listening after hearing the word 'love' from her. He and Kate both noticed they were still shaking hands, both laughing awkwardly as they let go.

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea, I look forward to hearing from you soon!" Mani replied. He quickly left after their talk, shaking with excitement the rest of that day.

Unfortunately, Mani never met with Kate after that meeting. Instead she sent another employee to speak with him about the company server updates. Mani had been disappointed, but he knew she would be busy, he wasn't defeated yet.

He began to look for any way to meet with her. He tried to schedule meetings with her. He feigned problems within his department and requested her input. But anything he tried was met with quick rejections or silence. Her management position required her upmost attention during work hours, leaving him with little hope of speaking with her. Months went on with no progress. Mani's work ethic tanked. He was passionless about his job. It didn't matter how hard he worked if it didn't get him any closer to her.

He left one day even more bummed out than usual. He'd gotten a warning he'd gotten about his recent laziness at work. He never felt inspired anymore. There was nothing he could do to change his relationship with Kate, he couldn't even talk to her! He felt like the world was mocking him, the sky gloomy and drizzling rain as he ran to his car. He opened his car door but could only extend it so far, the truck next to his parked obnoxiously close. He threw his bag into the passenger seat, squirming his way into the opening but struggling with his horns. They just wouldn't go! As he became more wet and more frustrated, he heard someone else running by.

There she was, Kate Parcer. He tilted his head awkwardly, hardly worried about the rain anymore as he watched her run to her own car, an unyielding thought creeping steadily into his mind. He shouldn't follow her, that's what a crazy person would do! But... his thoughts of her made him hardly feel sane anymore.

He pulled out on the road behind Kate. He gripped the wheel anxiously, his knuckles strained and talons digging into the leather. The two drove down the road quietly. The town was rained out of its usual business and there were few cars on the winding road besides their own. Mani warily kept his distance but never took his eyes off her. The whole time his head was screaming. Don't do this! This is insane! Stop it, stop, STOP! His body hardly listened.

He slowed down as Kate turned into a parking lot for a local gym. Mani smiled with renewed spirit and an ease to his fast beating heart. He drove away knowing he might have a chance after all.

_____________________

Mani had no further issues with work after he signed up to the gym. It was exactly what he needed. His spirits were renewed, his body was becoming stronger by the week, and most importantly got to see Kate more often. It was perfect, even if he didn't necessarily talk with her at the gym. Just watching her gorgeous body from a distance was enough.

Today, he watched her bench reps with the same awe he always had. She was impressively strong, able to bench a crazy amount for a kobold. He could watch her workout all day in those skimpy running shorts and high cut shirts showing off her toned belly. Yup. All day...

"Hey, you wanna actually focus on our workout?"

Mani snapped out of his trance. He quickly looked away from Kate, seeing that Denny was standing beside him with a smirk on his face. "Or are you too focused on your crush over there?" Denny said deviously.

"Shhh!" Mani said, quickly grabbing his dumbbells from the floor. Even though Denny had been quiet, he was still nervous Kate would somehow overhear them. "I'll focus, okay?"

"Hmph, yeah I bet." Denny replied, turning to watch Kate as Mani started his next set of bicep curls. "So, you any closer to asking her out or are you just gonna keep creeping on her at the gym?"

Mani jokingly jabbed a shoulder into Denny's leg. "I'm not creeping on her, I'm just casually observing."

"Ha, casually observing her sweet ass. So...?" Denny asked, waited patiently for Mani's answer.

"No..." Mani replied in between curls. "I don't--I don't know how to talk to her." He finished the set with a sigh. Maybe if he wasn't always so nervous around her.

Denny grabbed the dumbbell from Mani as he finished. "Come on! I'm tired of waiting for you to make of move. I didn't sign up to this gym just to see you stare at her all day. You need to man up and talk to her."

Before Mani could object, Denny continued, "I'm heading out. Don't worry about all the what-ifs. Be yourself, it's that easy!"

"Yeah... yeah, I got it," Mani said. He watched Denny leave for the locker room with a somber expression. He felt bad for dragging his friend into this, but how could he possibly talk to Kate on his own? She outclassed him in every way.

He switched over to the same bench press she'd been on. He could still smell her perfume. It was a calming scent, like freshly picked flowers. Slowly he stacked weights on the bar as he drilled through his sets. He could do it, just like Denny said. He could ask Kate Parcer out. He just needed to be himself... but what if being himself wasn't enough for her?

As he took a breather from his sets, he noticed that Kate had moved to the pull up station close by. He could easily see her back muscles straining to pull her weight up repeatedly. Mani was mesmerized. Actually, he was a little more than mesmerized; he felt himself growing stiff down low. While not-so-discreetly adjusting his gym shorts, Kate quickly stepped away from the station, startling Mani as she noticed his staring. Words rang around his mind like alarms. Oh crap, oh crap--

"Hey, could you spot me?" Mani asked. The world felt like it came to grinding halt, a moment seeming like an eternity, waiting endlessly for a response from Kate.

"Yeah, one sec," she replied, turning to clean her station first.

Mani let out the breath he'd been holding. He'd done it, he'd actually done it! He quickly set more weights on the bar and hid his erection as Kate walked over.

"How many are you doing?" she asked as she stepped behind the bench press.

"As many as possible," Mani quickly replied. As many as possible, why did I say that? I won't be able to life the bar once! His nerves were causing his hands to shake. He can't do this. That sneaky voice of doubt continued to invade his mind, cruelly echoing Mani's worst fears; He wasn't strong enough, he wasn't good looking enough, he wasn't anything enough...

No! He was everything enough! He gripped the bars, steadying body as Kate situated herself behind the bench press. He can do this.

Mani lifted the bar off the rack and steadily lowered it to his chest. The weights crushed down on him, heavier than he'd ever tried before. Mani strained to get the bar up. His body was already exhausted after the first rep, but he needed to keep going. He needed to show Kate that he was strong, he needed to show how he felt about her! With gritted teeth he pushed through another. And another. Wait, no. Nope. Not another. He strained for a few moments without success before Kate grabbed the bar.

Well, two was still pretty good.

Once the bar was back on the rack, Kate stepped around beside him. "Nice reps, but don't let your butt raise off the bench next time." She offered him a hand up. Mani accepted it, freaking out internally with excitement. Her blue scales were vibrant against his bronze and her hand was pleasantly warm to the touch.

"Cool, I--yeah, I'll look out for that," Mani said, reluctantly letting go of her hand. "Thanks again for the help."

"No problem." Kate replied with a smile. She was about to turn before she stopped herself and looked back at him curiously. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Oh, yes! Yeah, we both work at the same company," Mani said.

Kate's face lit up with surprise. "Really? No way, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, we first met at a meeting last year, it was--"

"The meeting about my new management position! I remember now, your name is... Mani, right?" Mani's heart leapt; She remembered him!

"Yup, that's me! And you're... Kate?" Mani said, feigning effort to remember her name.

"Yes, it is! Wow, to think we've been going to the same gym this whole time!" She laughed. It was a dorky laughter that Mani found irresistibly cute. "I guess I'll be seeing you around some more then?"

"Yeah, I guess so!" As she turned away and Mani went to clean the bench press, he dared a peek back at her. Her ass... holy shit. It was a work of art. Thick and round, it swayed back and forth, her tail gently following the rhythm. Her black and red running shorts hugged her cheeks so nicely. If only he could see that more often.

Maybe he could.

"Hey, Kate!" Mani said as he caught up with her, "My friend is out of town on vacation next week, so do you want to work out together?"

"Yeah, that would be great! I usually come after work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That okay for you?"

"Yeah, that'll work! I'll see you Monday!"

"See you then!" She replied, turning away with a smile.

Mani could hardly believe his luck, worried at any moment he would wake up and this would all be a dream. Talking to Kate and getting his first chance to hang out with her? It was too good to be true. For the first time in a long while, he hoped Monday would come quickly.