FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The downtown area of the city was packed with restaurants, ranging from little family owned hole in the wall places to expensive upper-class bistros. Seemingly every building was playing music and even the most obscure genres could be heard from all around me. The loudest music was coming from the direction I was headed, marked by a rainbow of neon lights and blaring techno music. It almost seems like a different world from when I was here during the day for a job interview. I feel a little out of my element here.

As I walk into the bright lights, it almost feels closed off from everything else. The comparatively dark surroundings are hard to see into once my eyes adjust and the noises are distinctly different. Every so often a cheer erupts from a building, making me flinch a little. There's a constant stream of drunken pub crawlers calling taxis or getting into a car with a sober friend.

After getting lost a few times due to the disorienting nature of the lights, I find my way to a small bar nestled off to the side called The Dragon's Breath. The door seems to have been painted over since I was last here. It's now red with a purple dragon motif rather than black with a blue dragon. I didn't notice it at first, but it matched a dragon on the sign, except that one was breathing fire and would glow neon when the bar opened.

The first think you see when you open the door is a large stage in the back, again with a dragon motif on it and a bar to the left of it. However, the bar and stage weren't my focus as I walked in. Instead I hurried to a door behind the bar marked "Employees only." Inside are a few desks, cluttered with papers and various files, with a dark brown and black dog sitting behind one. When he notices me, he breaks out into a grin and stands up, accidentally knocking several papers over in the process. I move to help pick them up but he shakes my hand before I can do so. "You're here! How are you feeling about your first day?" Before he can crush it in his grip, I pull my hand back while replying "To be honest, I'm feeling slightly nervous. I've never worked as a bouncer before." He lets out a loud, bellowing laugh. "Ahh I'm sure you'll do fine kiddo! You're a bit short for it but you've got a fire in your eyes!" He claps me on the back, startling me. "Now clock in and get out there, customers should be arriving any time now."

Spurred on by his words, I head to clock in, passing by a changing room as I do. There's loud laughing and as I walk buy, a wolf with purple fur wearing a somewhat revealing shirt walks buy, winks at me and then heads through a door leading to the stage, leaving me to blush. Pushing my embarrassment aside, I head out back toward the entrance, to check the IDs of patrons. For the most part, the time passes uneventfully but I have to deal with a few belligerent drunks or once, someone trying to flirt with me.

Spurred on by his words, I head to clock in, passing by a changing room as I do. There's loud laughing and as I walk buy, a wolf with purple fur wearing a somewhat revealing shirt walks buy, winks at me and then heads through a door leading to the stage, leaving me to blush. Pushing my embarrassment aside, I head out back toward the entrance, to check the IDs of patrons. For the most part, the time passes uneventfully but I have to deal with a few belligerent drunks or once, someone trying to flirt with me.

Eventually there's a lull in customers trying to enter and I have a chance to relax. I spend the time looking around and familiarizing myself with the building. As I do so, I hear an announcer's voice rumble from above the stage. "Introducing.....the main event of the evening, burning hot as star, I give you....Midnight!" The crowd lets out a cheer and the wolf from earlier steps out on the stage, wearing even less clothing than before. My face flushes red as I realize I'm about to watch someone strip in person. As if he notices what I'm thinking, Midnight catches my eye and winks at me.

Despite my embarrassment, I can't bring myself to look away, mesmerized by his performance. By the time it's over, I'm standing there somewhat slack jawed. I've never seen someone strip in person before. Thank god no one needed me to check their ID during that. As I collect my thoughts and gather myself, I happen to look at my watch, which reads 3:53. "Almost time for my shift to be over." I mutter to myself, as a wave of drowsiness comes with that realization. I force myself to stay awake however, until the clock rolls over to 4:00.

I move to head back to the employee's room when I hear a loud yelp from behind me and the sound of glass breaking. Alarmed, I whirl around to see Midnight clutching his nose, shattered glass on the floor and a large bull standing over him, breathing heavily. I don't know what happened, but that guy looks like trouble. I march up beside and calmly but firmly grab his attention. "Hey! You need to leave. You can't pick a fight with my colleagues. And is getting in a fight while drunk at 4:00 AM really how you want to do this?" In response to my words, he looks slightly abashed and allows me to guide him outside.

As soon as he's safely out of the way, I head back inside to check on Midnight. "Hey, you okay? Need any help?" He's still clutching his nose, but he looks back at me. "Damn guy punched me in the face, but I should be fine. The boss usually lets us leave if we have to deal with a drunken brawl." He moves to head to employee room but then looks back at me, realization on his face. "Hey, you were just about to clock out and leave right? If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could see me home? I don't wanna be alone after getting punched." Surprised, I nod. "Sure, that shouldn't be too much trouble." He grins at me in response and bounds into the employee room. I follow at a more leisurely pace and arrive inside to find him just leaving. He gives me a thumbs up and then hurries outside.

After I clock out, I leave, taking in the new quiet that came from the closing of most of the bars before looking and finding Midnight standing on the corner of the sidewalk. When he sees me, he grins. "Really, thanks so much for doing this." Blushing a little, I mutter back "It's no trouble. Though you still haven't told me your real name and I don't know where you live." He rubs his head, embarrassed. "Ah right. My name's Ashton. And you're Alex right? The boss told everyone you would be starting today." He stops as if realizing he got sidetracked "Anyway, I live in the dorms of the college on the north side of the city." I pause for a moment before laughing a little. "How convenient. That's where I live too." Ashton looks a little nonplussed for a moment before grinning. "I'm assuming you take the subway than? Let's go!" He bounds off, leaving me behind.

I catch up with him about halfway through the next block. We don't say much but it's a comfortable silence and it's clear he's relieved to have someone with him. A few blocks and what feels like no time later, we arrive at the subway station, the roar of the subway breaking the silence and making us both jump. We glance at each other and in an unspoken challenge, we sprint towards the platform, both eagerly swiping our subway passes and laughing as we race the other up the steps. In the end, we both arrive at the exact same time, just as the subway is pulling up. Hurrying on, we notice that it's mostly empty except for a nervous looking dragon on the opposite side.

We take our seats and make small talk for most of the trip, until the topic of my hiring at the Dragon's breath comes up. "Really? He just hired you on the spot?!" I nod, somewhat proud of myself. "Yup. Something about a fire in my eyes that was perfect. He repeated that tonight also." Ashton sighs and shakes his head. "He's always been known for his eccentric hiring decisions. Still though, I think he was right this time. I was watching you and you did a good job. And meeting a cute fox at work was a nice surprise." Blushing, I try to respond but feel like my brain has shut down. He then laughs at me and puts an arm around my shoulder. "Don't worry, I flirt with everyone. "Though I wasn't lying about you being cute. Hit me up for a drink sometime if you want." Unsure how to reply, I merely nod and thank him. We lapse into a silence which I break when a thought occurs to me. "Hey is your nose gonna be okay? It looks pretty bad." He frowns, then laughs. "I'll be fine as long as it doesn't mess up my handsome face. And my roommate probably won't rest until I've treated it properly." Relieved, I smile. "That's good to know."

About 20 minutes pass until we arrive at our stop and we step off the train, walking to the college in a content silence. It turned out Ashton and I live in the same dorm building, so I see him off at his dorm before heading to mine. He shakes my hand and thanks me profusely before gently opening the door and calling out a greeting to someone. As I walk away and the door shuts, I hear someone fussing over him, Probably his roommate, but I'm too tired to give it much thought as I hurry back to my own dorm. Pulling open the door and finding my own roommate asleep, I crash in my bed as well, one last thought in my head before I fall asleep. "What an eventful day."