FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The door opened, footsteps echoed, then a thump as a shin collided with a mysterious box left in the dark hallway.

"Bloody thing!" Harding shouted, setting off a loud bump from the apartment up above as irritable neighbours demanded silence. Flicking on the light switch, he stared down at the offending object. His tail flicked in anger as he gave the box another kick for good measure. Muttering under his breath he knelt beside it, inspecting it. How it got here vexed him, after all he'd lent his only other key to his friend Sam, and she'd flown abroad last week, and wasn't due back before Spring.

Cranky from a bad day at work, the python was in a devil may care mood already, and so without checking for more than his name and address, -both definitely clearly labelled-, he sliced the taped box open. He was admittedly reluctant to see what had given him a minor bruise to his leg, (and a major bruise to his pride), but was still nibbled by curiosity. Hefting the container with scorn, he pulled the lid up, and blinked. A long twined length of dark brown rope.

'What the hell was this for?' He opined, eyes falling on a folded piece of paper. Picking the leaf up, he flicked it open, face darkening as he read the short message within.

Sup loser, found you a girlfriend, though given how alike you look she's probably related to you. Maybe this one you'll have the guts to talk to.

There was no doubt as to who had left this dubious 'gift'. His new supervisor, Will Jones. Scrunching the paper up, he threw it at the corner, missing the metal receptacle, that waited. Harding had already clashed with the fox at work, complaining to the manager about Jones' unprofessional demeanour.

A later attempt to smooth things over had gone even worse. When the office went out for drinks, Jones' treat, he had gone along too. Trouble had risen when he refused to cave to peer pressure, his co workers egging him on to chat up a young lady at the bar.

"What's the matter, rope, stomach all knotted up?" Jones had sneered. And whether to curry favour or because they'd taken too much alcohol, his colleagues had laughed openly. Thus, the nickname had stuck, people finding any excuse to use it in Will's hearing.

He chucked the box from the table, letting the rough material scatter as he headed to the bathroom, it was too late to even bother eating, let alone disposing of that crap. It'd wait till morning.

He slept fitfully, mind dwelling not just on the troubling day, but also on the fact that his rival had somehow managed to get a parcel into his home. Had he picked the lock, or simply duped the landlord into thinking he was a friend?

His dreams twisted to nightmares of the fox sneaking in. Of his co workers helping. Even of the woman he'd been directed to. And that itself was a confusing paradox, at once scornful and mocking, whilst also his true love in the confusing nonsense of dreamland. Though he almost thought he could feel her touch at the last vivid moments...

Harding woke with a start, he could feel something!

He twisted in his bed, trying to sit up. A feeling of two rough cables scraped around the base of his tail, cutting his attempt short. His wrists were connected to the appendage, tightly snared to either side of it. The rope formeing a trapezoid shape as it went from wrist to thigh. "What the hell?!" He barked, squirming as the taut rope-work kept him from sitting, the effort sending a strain to his legs, however the rope was secure enough that he barely shifted, his motions too muted.

He rolled onto his side, still sleep addled. Becoming increasingly concerned with his lack of motion as he tried to swing his legs out. The rope had been tied in multiple coils down his legs; across the thighs, below the knee, even around the ankles. On top of which, he soon discovered his tail had been snared in the loops too, even the tip of it linked to the knot pinning his ankles together. He thrashed desperately, rolling himself in his covers as he tried to get free.

Falling off the bed in a tangle, "Agh, fuck!" The bang sending him more into wakefulness, as he looked in the dim moonlight. "Who's there? Who the hell tied me up? Show yourself!" He shouted at the dark room. Silence greeted him but for the sound of fabric being brushed against. He looked toward the source and saw the rope's end, and it was moving on it's own accord.

He had to still be dreaming, but...he felt the strain, the bite of the tight weave. It still permitted blood flow but was pinching enough to keep him conscious of the rope's presence whenever he shifted about. The rough material slid up his torso, having got to his wrists before he woke, and it seemed it was meaning to continue onward as looser ends were crossed over his belly, pinning the vest he was wearing down as it began moving toward his elbows. He shifted clumsily across the room, bumping his feet into the wall as he reached the foot of his bed. Waiting for the rope to cross behind him before he pushed back with full force, trying to pin it down in place and stop it moving.

He felt the rope squirm against his arms as it was squashed between scale and wood, and elation began to build as he halted its progress for the moment. He bent his legs a little, but he could only get the knee a couple of inches off the ground before the strain threatened to weaken his own counter to the mysterious thing. All the while, despite his best efforts, the rope had been squeezing with subtle millimetres in it's ceaseless writhing. Thus inevitably it broke past his guard. "No! Damnit!" He had to try harder, but the bed was not a good base. He surged forward, the wall would serve better. It had to!

He didn't make it, falling instead on his side as the taut bondage fouled his lunge. The rough rasp of the fibrous cable pressing across his chest as it stole over his upper arms and then looped over his neck. It rolled against itself, creaking as it built a tight collar, and he feared it might try to choke him. Such fears were allayed though, as the length rolled down his front and away toward his legs. There was a general tightening as it latched on, drawing every knot until next to no slack remained.

It stopped then, at last, but it was tight as hell! His collar leashed to his legs, kept just solid enough that he had no recourse but to lie on his front. He shouted out for help as he tried to work at getting free. But the latticed shape just hugged to his body without shifting. A loud thud echoed from above again, the same neighbour, with a muffled "Shut the fuck up!" To which Harding simply shouted again.

More thumps, and then silence... it seemed his neighbour was wholly uninterested in stirring. The snake sighed bitterly, it was colder on the floor, but still warm enough. He could at least get more comfortable. Moving to the fallen covers, embarrassment surged as he was forced to wiggle like a worm, unable to rise thanks to the damned rope.

With the perilous snaring most definitely stopped, and his panic slowing, the adrenaline spike departed, filling him with a slumping tiredness once again. He growled softly as his eyelids felt leaden once more. He had to get out of this, but... ugh. His body overruled his mind, deciding he had to wait until morning. He spat angrily as he managed to get his head on a raised fold of blanket, and fell back into the worst night of sleep he'd had in recent memory.

---

Harding's joints cried out unhappily as he woke, stiff from hours in restraint and on the hard floor. He was still on his front, but the ground had softened? Wait, no, he was on his bed somehow. Blinking blearily, a cold fear tickled his spine as he heard a shutter sound, twisting his head to the source. It was Will!

"Haha, found my little present then, and couldn't resist trying it out, eh? Fuck man, the note was kidding. Wouldn't have thought you'd be into this pervy shit." He said, but the condescending twist in his tone professed that he very well knew it wasn't the python's doing. "Man, the office newsletter is gonna love these pics." The phone clicking again as he took shot after shot of the helpless Harding.

"What the fuck is this, you asshole? Untie me!" The snake growled through gritted teeth.

"Now now, that's no way to ask a favour. What, did your buzz get killed cos someone else saw what you get up to in private? No wonder you don't hit on chicks, you know they'd be terrified if they saw you were into this, haha!" Will laughed and thumbed the device in his hand a bit more.

"What? I'm not into this you complete shitbag! You did this!"

"Oh, sure, that's why there's a book on self bondage sitting beside all this, and I must say you did an expert job, you look just like the diagrams!" Making sure he got a good close up of the book he'd planted before dragging the snake into bed. "Well, we'll see who the office believes eh? Me, or the guy who's about to skip a day at work because he had a fucked up hobby to explore."

"Skip a day? You fucker, let me out of this right now!"

"Haha, temper temper, ropey." Will said with a laugh. "I told that pretty little thing all about you, she's gonna come by to surprise you at lunch, so I guess you better work on your manners if you don't want her to run screaming. Ta ta, I'll make sure everyone gets a copy of these delightful pictures, I even helped myself to all the contacts on your phone. Who knows, maybe you'll find out some of them are kinky bastards too!"

The fox picked up the fallen blanket and threw it over Harding's shoulders. "Now keep warm and enjoy. And you better show up for work tomorrow." He said, walking on out as the snake shouted abuse and hate at his retreating back.

---

Will hadn't sent the pictures to anyone, the disgruntled Harding found out the next day. But his new supervisor took great lengths to make sure the python knew he still had them. Extorting minor favours, seemingly getting off just from having the snake wrapped around his fingers.

Suffice to say, Harding never again opened a package he hadn't ordered himself.