FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Was one night really all it took for a life to change? It happened in the books, the movies, the fairy tales. Could it actually happen in the real world?

Struggling with such thoughts, Bella, the ochre-and-cream otter, rose out of bed and padded over to her second-story window, still in her golden silk nightgown. She nearly fell back in shock when she saw a figure pass under a nearby streetlamp and pause to look around warily. The curious Bella brushed a strand of her shoulder-length rose-pink hair out of her face and took in every detail that she could, from the curve of the figure's breasts underneath a hoodie as dark as the night itself, to the unusual black-and-gray tail peeking out from the back of a pair of dark jeans. Bella opened her window and poked her head out to get a better look, the chill of the night air sending a shiver through her body. Whoever it was beneath the streetlamp looked up at her with a curious expression, pointed vulpine ears twitching through the slots in her hood.

Bella recoiled from the shock of being seen and lost track of the mysterious girl. A few moments later, as she tried to calm her racing heart, an orange and gray face appeared in her window. It looked like a coon, but also looked like a fox. Bella startled and nearly screamed, but the stranger held a finger up to the end of her muzzle. "Shh..." she warned, "it's okay, Princess." Princess? Wait a minute, there was only one person she let call her Princess... "Holy shit, Ziya?" she prompted, eliciting a nod from the not-so-mysterious stranger.

"Nice panties."

"What...? Oh!" Bella realized that her legs were open and quickly snapped them shut, thudding her knees together.

"Shh! Come on!"

"Out there? But I'm supposed to-"

"C'mon Princess, it wasn't easy to track you down. The least you can do is spend a night with me. You said you would if I ever came 'round."

"I did promise...uhh...you're really gonna make me sneak out?"

"Yep."

"You're despicable."

"We both know that you aren't the perfect little angel you pretend to be. And I know that you also happen to have a bag packed in case you ever decide to wise up and make a run for it. So you can't say anything."

Ziya was Bella's online friend and had been for years though they had never met in person before. The girls had told each other everything. They perhaps knew a bit too much about each other. Bella sighed, "okay, but can I change first?" Ziya stepped into the room through the window and sat on Bella's bed and tried to fix the black mess of floof on her head. The otter was still confused about the appearance of her friend as she hadn't even seen pictures of her, though her friend had seen plenty of the otter. Ziya had the face and body of a coon, but her vulpine ears and tail, as well as her fiery orange 'mask', gave away her mixed heritage. It was definitely a strange combination, but the foxcoon pulled it off quite well. Bella turned her back to the bed and untied her nightgown, letting it fall to the floor. She dug in her drawer for her latest secret purchase, a black lace bra that she had bought in hopes to save for a very special occasion. And if this didn't count, then what did? She went to hook it behind her, but her arms couldn't reach.

"Umm...Ziya?" she asked. "I...uh...need some help." The foxcoon hopped off the bed and padded over to the blushing topless otter, not looking down as she grabbed the bra from her friend's hands. "No problem, Princess."

Soon after Ziya had the bra hooked securely, Bella heard loud footsteps echo from the stairs. "Shit! My uncle's coming up! Hide!" she warned. Her friend glanced around the room frantically for a hiding spot, golden eyes landing on the bed. In a flash, the foxcoon disappeared beneath the sheets. Bella, thinking equally quickly, closed the still-open window then moved her pillows over Ziya and used it as a headrest, appearing to put more weight on it than she actually was. She pulled out her phone and opened the messaging app that Ziya and her had been using for years, giving herself an excuse for staying up, even though it would lead to a harsher scolding as her uncle did not like her hybrid friend in the slightest.

Mere moments after she had calmed her nerves enough to be convincing, Bella's uncle burst in the room without so much as a knock. "Why the fuck are you still up?" he slurred, clearly drunk off his ass. When she didn't respond immediately, the larger oak-brown otter grabbed her not-so-gently by the scruff of her neck and yanked her off the bed, forcing her to stand up. He saw her phone lying on her bed and picked it up with his free hand. "You've been talking to that mongrel again, haven't you?" he spat. That was the last straw. "Excuse me?" Bella retaliated, reaching to take back her phone. "My friend is no...mongrel!" she could barely say the word, and the derogatory term left a bad taste in her maw.

"I'll call her whatever the fuck I want! And what the fuck are you wearing?"

Shit, she'd forgotten about the bra! "What does it matter? Nobody's gonna see me."

"You shouldn't be wearing shit like that!"

"I'm 19! You don't fucking own me! You're-you're not my father!" Her last words echoed through the room.

Ziya tried her hardest to tune out what came next, but the bone-chilling smack pierced through both the silence and the sheets. Though her cheek stung, Bella stood her ground as her uncle carelessly tossed her phone onto the bed then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him so hard that it caused a picture hanging on the wall nearby to fall to the floor. Once she was sure he was gone, she uncovered Ziya and walked over to the framed picture on her floor. "You told me it was bad," Ziya began as the otter bent down to pick up the picture, "but I didn't know that he was-" Bella shook her head. "He never has before. Lemme get dressed then we'll get outta here."

Dressed in denim jeans and a black v-neck under a grey coat, Bella nodded to her friend. Ziya unlatched and opened the window then hopped out of it with incredible grace, landing on a narrow ledge below the window before leaping the rest of the way to the soft grass. Before following, Bella cast a glance at the cherry red backpack leaning against the wall by her closet. She made her choice and grabbed it. The otter poked her head out of the window to assess her options for joining her friend on the ground. There was a small ledge a few feet under the window, low enough so that the rest of the descent wouldn't hurt, but high enough to require a jump to get down. She steeled her nerves and stepped through the window, grabbing onto its base and lowering herself down. She let go of the window's base and dropped a short distance to the narrow ledge. As her paws landed on it, the backpack threw off her balance and she fell backwards off the ledge. She closed her eyes and braced herself for an impact that never came. When she opened them again, she saw her friend smiling down at her with a semi-pained smirk. Ziya had caught her.

The foxcoon set her down on her paws and glanced curiously at the red backpack but said nothing. "Well then, where to now?" she asked. Ziya thought for a moment before replying "the night is young! Where do you want to go?"

"I really don't care, just as long as I never have to come back here."

"In that case, I know just the place! But we're gonna have to make a few stops along the way, pick up some things." Her friend winked mischievously.

"Okay, lead the way."

"First stop, the salon!"

"Wait, what? But I-"

She didn't get a chance to finish before Ziya grabbed her wrist and pulled her along. She didn't even look back as she followed her friend away from her home.

. . .

Thankfully, the salon wasn't too far away as Ziya had refused to take the bus. "You're too recognizable," she had explained, pulling the hood of Bella's coat over the otter's head. When they reached their first stop, Ziya held the door open and ushered her inside and called "makeover for two, please!" A brown and tan coyote stepped out of a back room and examined the girls like a doctor looking over his patient. When he was done, he gestured to an empty reclining chair in front of a sink with a neck slot. "Who's first?" he asked calmly. Ziya pushed Bella forward. "Okay. What am I working with here? What do you want done?" To answer him, Ziya whipped out her phone and typed something in then showed him the screen. He once more examined the otter's hair then nodded eagerly. The foxcoon slid her phone back into the pocket of her hoodie and went off to another room.

The stylist had done quite a bit to Bella's hair before he stepped back with a satisfied gleam in his hazel eyes. "It is done," he declared with flair, spinning her around to look in the mirror. She gasped when she saw her reflection. Her hair was way shorter, confined to the top of her head in an edgy, tomboyish cut. But the changes didn't stop there. The natural rose-pink color of her hair was mixed with forest green highlights scattered about. She was also rocking sapphire mascara and matching eyeliner that sparkled in the light. She looked at her reflection in amazement, taken away by how beautiful she looked. "I love it!" she giggled. Wait 'till Ziya saw her like this.

As if the thought had summoned her, the foxcoon waltzed into the room. Bella's maw went slack. The floof on Ziya's head was a vibrant shade of blue, as was the tip of her black-ringed gray tail. It wasn't much of a difference, but holy shit she looked hot! Her friend noticed her and not-at-all discreetly looked her up and down. Bella blushed shyly under her gaze. "Damn, Princess," she complimented, her voice sweet and suggestive. Ziya winked at her before padding over to pay for their makeovers.

"What's next?" Bella asked with wonder once they were outside of the salon. "First," Ziya said quietly with a voice like honey. Instead of continuing, she got close to the otter, who looked up at the taller foxcoon with nervous anticipation. But Ziya just smiled down at her. She slowly realized that Ziya wanted her to make the first move. All she'd have to do is raise the tip of her muzzle ever-so-slightly... So why was she so nervous? It's not like her feelings for Ziya were a secret. In fact, Ziya was the one who helped her accept herself when Bella discovered that she wasn't into guys. She knew that her friend would always be there for her, and this was her chance to make it as more than just friends. The frantic beating of her heart drowned out the world around them until Bella slowly picked up on a second sound: another heartbeat--Ziya's. Its equally frantic pace gave away that she was just as nervous as the otter, contradicting the confidence in her smile. Reassured by the fact that the foxcoon felt just as nervous as her, Bella tilted her muzzle upwards. Their lips met, and the world faded away.

It was by no means Bella's first kiss. It was, however, her first time kissing a girl. Ziya's lips were soft and supple, moving with her instead of against her like guys more often did. And unlike most guys she had kissed, it wasn't a race to anything. It was simply an intimate gesture that tied two people together. And when it broke, her heart ached for the physical emptiness left behind to be filled. But the void was filled by something else: a hand on her cheek, thumb affectionately stroking away a tear. She leaned into the touch and looked up into Ziya's golden eyes. "C'mon, Princess, let's get outta this shithole town." Instead of grabbing her wrist like earlier, Ziya stepped back and held out her hand dramatically, saying "come with me if you want to live." Bella laughed and took her hand as she started walking.

"Really, Terminator?"

"How'd you know?"

"It's only like your favorite movie."

"You know me too well."

"So, where to next?"

"Here, you got a choice. We could either leave now and go to my shithole town, or we can do something crazy while we're still in this one. It's up to you."

"I think if I'm gonna be with you, I need to get used to crazy."

"Crazy it is. Let's go get markings!"

"Fuck it. Why not?"

"I'll let you pick mine if you let me pick yours!"

"Deal. Also, no gag markings, they're permanent."

"Bella, I would never."

"You called me Bella...y'know, I think I like it better when you call me Princess."

Ziya smiled and stopped in front of the local Cosmos Cosmetics, a high-end alteration clinic chain specializing in everything from permanent markings to functional implants. A very colorful and fluffy-looking Angel Dragon greeted them at the door and led them inside.

. . .

A while later, Bella and Ziya walked out of the clinic. Both were sporting new permanent markings. They were like tattoos, but changed the natural color of the fur itself in a pattern picked by the person wanting it. Bella had picked a small and simple golden heart for her companion, but didn't actually know where on the foxcoon's body it actually was, and she was kind of hesitant to ask. Ziya had picked something quite special for the otter. On the back of Bella's left shoulder was a good-sized sapphire 'P' with a silver feminine crown circling the upper left corner of the capital letter. "Hey," Bella prompted, "where is your marking?" Ziya replied teasingly with "I'll show you later."

"I was wondering, what are we? Like, are we girlfriends or..."

"What do you want us to be, Princess?"

"It doesn't feel right to say that we're just friends..."

"We don't have to put a label on it if you don't want to."

"I know it sounds silly, but I do want to. I guess I just want us to be something."

"Us, huh? But yeah, I get it. We have definitely passed the point of friends."

As they were talking, Ziya stopped at the entrance to their way out: the train station. She opened the door for Bella and then followed her inside. Bella looked around once they were in the nearly-abandoned station while Ziya walked up to the counter. "No, wait," she called. The foxcoon stopped to listen. "I'm paying for this one," Bella said, pulling off her pack and pulling out a stack of stashed cash."

Thirty minutes later, the girls were climbing on the above-ground passenger train and headed towards Ziya's hometown.

. . .

It was getting into the dark hours of early morning by the time they made it to Ziya's...house? Bella had not been expecting the twenty-year-old foxcoon to have an actual house. "Birthday present from my globe-trotting millionaire parents," Ziya explained with a hearty yawn, "bathroom's down the hall, first door on the right, my bedroom's right across the hall, guestroom's the last door at the end." Bella was too tired to explore, so she asked where she should toss her stuff. "Wherever you're gonna sleep. I'll give you a tour in the morning, but I just wanna jump into my bed and never get up right now."

Once again, Bella had to make a move herself. "Can I-"

"Can you what?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course, Princess. C'mon."

Bella followed Ziya to her room, setting her backpack down beside the bed and pulling off her coat. She turned to talk to the foxcoon, but her words failed when she saw that Ziya was undressing. She had her back turned to Bella, and her hoodie, along with whatever shirt she had been wearing underneath it, lay on the floor next to her. She reached back and undid a button above the base of her tail before pushing her jeans down her long legs to the floor as well, leaving her in a matching set of blue underwear that matched her floof. That's when Bella finally saw where her marking was: on the left side of her back and just above her waist, where it could be easily concealed. "Are you embarrassed of it?" she asked, a little hurt. Ziya looked back and shook her head. "Not at all. I just wanted it somewhere where only the girl I wanted to see it could. Speaking of this marking, why did you pick it? And c'mon, Princess, you can't possibly be comfortable with sleeping in those jeans."

She blushed, but Ziya was right. She started to take them off as she explained. "Because you're the thief that stole my heart."

"I was thinking about what you were saying earlier, about what we are, and I realized that I didn't feel comfortable with calling you my girlfriend."

"Why not? Am-"

"Shh, I'm not done. I'm not comfortable with it because that label's meant to be temporary. I don't want anything about us to be temporary. And there's only one term for that."

"You mean..."

"Yep. I mean...I know it's a big thing and we don't have to-"

Bella interrupted her with a kiss. They sat together on the bed, lips still locked together. She pulled back to continue. "Ziya, I would be honored to be your mate. And I would be honored to call you mine." She sealed it with another kiss. "Princess," Ziya spoke after pulling back, "together we're like fire and gasoline. We're gonna burn the whole damn world to the ground! But not tonight. Tonight, we sleep."

They fell asleep in each other's arms, Bella's last thought drifting back to what she had been thinking earlier. "I guess a life really can change in a single day," she whispered to herself, pushing closer against Ziya's sleeping body behind her before drifting off to sleep herself.