FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Would you like to see the menu, sir?"

"What?" the dragon looked up, the septum bouncing from the sudden movement. Lost in his own little world, the waiter had slipped next to his table without him noticing. It was a tad embarrassing. "S-Sorry! No, uh, I'm... waiting for someone."

"Oh! A date?" he tried to pretend he didn't hear him, but no normal person would buy that. Thankfully, the waiter seemed to pick up on his restraint. "I'll just come back later then, no worries. But if you want my advice, a buff guy like you could use a couple buttons off."

Maurice couldn't catch what direction the waiter went afterwards because he was too busy blushing and trying to sink down on his chair. As if he needed _that_to feel even more nervous. Deep breaths... A white-scaled hand went through his hair, rubbing his horns, making sure to draw all eyes up while the other undid a couple buttons on his dark blue shirt, showing off the thin patch of black hair between his chest and the line where his scales turned from milk into chocolate brown. The blush turned brighter, but at least that was a conversation starter; enough reason to not cover it back up, he thought to himself.

It was unlike him, going out with an online friend, but what was he supposed to do when he was asked? It felt nice being asked! And Xek was a cool, handsome guy, even if he had only seen a couple of twitter selfies and stuff. And while he was somewhat easy on the eyes, why a sexy guy like Xek would be interested in him was a question he found himself unable to answer.

Another blush set on his face when he realized he was thinking about him like that, and he shook to clear his head. It was too soon for that! Maybe down the road...

"Ah! There you are!" the voice came from somewhere close to the entrance, and considering how packed the restaurant was, it could've been meant for anyone, but he still looked up. And there he was, already walking up to his table, the wide, strong fire dragon, pulling back the chair and sitting in front of him. "Sorry I'm late, I had to rush out of work, take a quick shower at home, and ended up just grabbing the first half decent thing I could find in my closet, haha!"

The worst part was how he said that as if he didn't look amazing, but Maurice's now cherry red cheeks differed. Living up to his element, Xek was freaking hot! The broad shoulders and thick arms, the bit of tummy tightly hidden by a crimson shirt, just urging him to rub it, and the way he so confidently left said shirt almost half open, showing off the bush of fire bursting from it like body hair, putting his own little scruff to shame. But worst of all was his dorky face, always with a silly smile, framed with a beard and a mane, all of orange flames, and a pair of fire horns jutting upward from his temples.

"Man, you're even cuter in person."

Believe it or not, it was Xek who said that after the few seconds Maurice spent checking him out. And just like you, the coffee and milk dragon was taken aback and looked away out of instinct.

"So that's where the brown and white mix?" he asked, and Maurice's attention went to his chest. It was that common an occurrence, but he fought the urge to cover himself up. "I thought it was a gradual thing, but no, it just goes from one to another in one go."

"Y-Yeah, a lot of people think it's like that," it wasn't a lie, but he just said whatever; his mind was too focused thinking about how he must have been looking at his chest to notice that. Meaning it wasn't weird if he went up and did the same. "Yours is pretty, um," he rubbed his own chest as a gesture, "big."

"It really is!" Xek copied the gesture, giving his own chest a good rub under the flames, brushing just enough of his shirt out of the way for little bits of the gray scales underneath to show. "Actually, you think I'm showing too much?"

"Nah, you're perfect," the very flustered Maurice blurted out.

"Good night, gentlemen! A basket of garlic bread, on the house," the same waiter as before arrived and Maurice silently thanked him for saving him from further embarrassment. "Here are your menus, but I suggest you the salmon tonight. It's fresh and a good choice for couples."

"We're not-

"I'll have the salmon," the fire dragon didn't give a single look to the menu, handing it back to the waiter. His attention quickly returned to his date. "I've eaten here before; their fish is great."

"Ah... Then I'll have some too, if you don't mind," he handed his own menu back as well and with a single nod, the waiter left, leaving Maurice to think about how they were about to have a 'couple's meal'. Despite the blush, the thought made him smile.

"What's with you grinning like that? You look even cuter," Xek took a big bite off his own bread and just kept staring at the dragon.

"Stop that," he answered with a widening grin, unable to take his eyes off the fire around the other dragon's body. His eyes kept dragging up and down between the exposed chest and the beard, watching a couple crumbles fall on his skin, thinking how it must feel around those flames. "Is that fire even real? How do you wear clothes?"

"Oh, it's pretty warm, but it's mostly for show. It doesn't burn or anything, I mean, can you imagine that? I couldn't even wear underwear!" he laughed.

"Pfft, that's a relief," what the hell did he mean with underwear? It reaches all the way down there!? And why was it a relief!? Because he wasn't going to be burned? Was he thinking about that again!?

...All of that rushed through Maurice's mind as he started sweating like crazy, reaching for a piece of bread in auto-pilot. He just chewed and kept an awkward smile up as the fire dragon continued to eat and just look precious.

"Gentlemen! How about some water?" the waiter popped up again, standing between the two dragons while filling up their glasses. "You know, there's so much fire in the table, I figured you could cool down a bit."

"Hah! That one never gets old," but Xek failed to notice he wasn't the one the waiter referred to, as he gave a knowing look to the chocolate dragon on the other side. One more time, Maurice silently thanked him, and thought to himself he had to leave a big tip.

"Your meals are almost ready! We appreciate your patience. Anything you find unpleasant, please let me know; we wouldn't want anything ruining your date," and as suddenly as he had appeared, he left. He was thinking about giving them privacy, of course, but to Maurice it felt like being left adrift, with no choice but to take a long sip of his glass to divert his attention.

"Is it that obvious we're on a date?" Xek chuckled.

"Um... I mean, sort of?" his date put his drink down and looked away, trying to come up with a proper answer. That is, one that didn't sound as weird as the many things he had already come up with. "A pair of hot guys with open shirts casually ogling one another, that's obviously a date," yep, not weird!

"You noticed me ogling you?" for the first time in the night, Xek blushed and looked away, much like his date had been doing, and the white dragon choked for a moment. "Man, I'm sorry! It's just, you know, you're pretty hot. There, I said it. So, it's nice to show off I'm dating you. Does that even make sense?"

"It makes a lot of sense!" and without thinking too much, Maurice reached forward and grabbed the fire dragon's hand. It was so warm that he squeezed it tight as if he could suck the heat out of it. His mind wandered towards how it would feel to have that heat all around him and lie next to it... and he pulled back out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry..."

"Um..." the two looked up at their waiter, who had once again showed up without warning, neatly putting their plates on the table. "Here's your food. Usually, these come with steamed potatoes each, but we figured it was the same to give you a shared plate of those, so... Have a nice meal!" the young man put the third plate down and left in awkward silence, making Maurice feel even weirder himself.

And right then, while he stared at his food pondering whether he deserved to eat it after making such a fool out of himself, the sweet noise of his date's laughter reached his ears. And indeed, when he looked up, he saw Xek tearing up while giving him the cutest look he could imagine on the dragon's face.

"God, you're adorable," he said between his laughter and, as if that wasn't enough, reached forward and brushed Maurice's hand with his own. The dragon's heart almost burst out at that. And right after, he was taking his first bite of salmon, squirming from the shivering on his cheeks. "Pretty good, huh?"

"So good," and he eagerly took the potatoes on his plate. Soon enough, Xek followed and the two were eating in comfortable silence.

---

"You know, it's weird," said silence was broken by the fire dragon mid-bite. "I can talk to you about anything online but having you in front of me leaves me without ideas. I think I'm being taken aback by your cuteness."

"Stoooop," Maurice kept blushing, but looked at him in the eyes with a mouthful of food that he quickly swallowed out of shame. "You've been saying that all night. I'm going to think you want to get me in bed."

"Maybe I do," and the look he gave him was enough to make the chocolate dragon shoot steam out of his ears. "But you know, we covered all the first date subjects in chat. I think it's just the restaurant, you know? There's not much here, I need inspiration to talk! We should take a stroll down the park or something."

"That sounds great," and with one last swallow, he left his fork on the now empty plate, his hands resting on his full stomach. A quick look up and he saw Xek leaning back on his chair, one of his hands lazily rubbing his own belly, and damn, how he wanted to do the same too!

"Anything else I can help you with, gentlemen?" the waiter said when he, again, appeared out of nowhere. "Dessert or anything you fancy?"

"I can't eat anything else, haha," Xek remarked with a hearty pat on his belly. "How about you?"

"I'm good. I guess the check is fine," Maurice reached for his wallet, but his date's words stopped him in his tracks.

"Wowowow, what are you doing? I asked you out. I'm paying."

"I don't mind, I want to pay, actually. Think of it as a thank you for taking me out," the white dragon insisted, his wallet coming out despite the many, many complaints thrown his way. "If it makes you feel any better, you can pay next time, when I take you out."

"I..." this time it was Xek who was rendered speechless, with nothing but a blush to defend himself. "I'm gonna wait outside because you're amping the cute way too much! Oh my god!" and he left with a silly smile on his face, leaving a flustered Maurice alone with the waiter.

"He's cute. You guys make a cute couple."

"T-Thanks..." Maurice mumbled, taking out his money and the (indeed) big tip he promised himself to give to the waiter. The young man's eyebrows jumped at the sight and he quickly pocketed his earned cash.

"Hey, for what is worth, it's clear that he likes you. Get all over that, man. Don't be afraid!"

That was a bit too forward for a waiter! But as he left with a cautious handwave, Maurice figured he might not be too far off the mark. Once outside he spotted the fire dragon fast, all thanks to the bright flames covering his body, and he couldn't help but take the chance to check him out a bit more, wondering how all the flesh and muscle beneath them felt. Maybe that waiter was right...

"All done?" Xek asked when the dragon stepped up next to him, and his silly smile made him that weird type of happy.

"Yeah, um... Say... We've known each other for a while, so do you mind if I try something?"

"Sure? What is it?"

A leap of faith. What the hell, right? Let's listen to a complete stranger's advice.

With that mindset, Maurice pulled the fire dragon by the shirt and planted his lips around that hot, flaming beard, sinking into an awkward kiss that shocked him probably as much as it did for his date. The moment he did it, he was already regretting it, and his mind flooded with a bunch of little voices telling him he was a terrible kisser, that he ruined his chance, that he should just pull out and apologize-

And just as he was about to do it, the fire dragon reached and pulled him closer until their chests rubbed together, and with a proper lean and a few pushes from his tongue, got him locked into a soft, tender kiss. Everything was crazy, powerful- his hands slowly reaching up and dawn Maurice's back, feeling up his body, while his tongue invaded his lips and started wrestling with his own, turned his knees into jelly and he let his weight fall back on the muscular arms holding him.

But by far, the best part was the fire. The way it rubbed against his own modest chest hair, heating his body up, making the warmth travel up his spine, while the beard rubbed against his face, teasing him, keeping him safe from the cold of the night, pulling him further into the kiss...

And then Xek pulled back, still holding him.

"Hey now, buddy. Save some for later."

"L-Later?" he said, flustered, wondering if it was over Xek's heat or his own.

And with only a wink for an answer, the fire dragon held his hand and gently pushed him down the road, with promises of a very warm night ahead.