FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Nyeh, where's all the fish?" I rhetorically ask my feline boyfriend while occasionally tugging on our only fishing pole. "Feels like it's been fur-ever..." While I appreciate getting to chill with my love, it doesn't help that it's way too hot and sunny for what's supposed to be the start of spring. "There should be plenty of sushi victims in this lake... Maybe we should move to a different pier?" Looking over toward Glass, the blue-haired and identically striped furball is scratching itches somewhere along his grayish arms, poking out his tongue while remaining focused. "...You're not dealing with fleas," I calmly ask, noticing his skinny tail wiggle around, "are you?" I'm not sure how exactly he'd have them; sturdy hiking attire spreads beyond his light-blue and white front fur.

He doesn't hear me, so I meow for attention, which seems to work: "I'm fine, floof, just sweaty." While blinking his pretty, orange-colored eyes, Glass licks the fur that was scratched by his black claws; I become more aware of the sweat across my own brown fur, especially the lower halves of my limbs that absorb more heat with their charcoal-gray color. "Just think of all the yummy appetizers I'll be able to cook," he optimistically states with a committed look on his face. I nod and agree to stick with this location, although save an occasional misty breeze, the water hasn't really moved at all; I reel in the line, see that the wormy bait remains untouched, then cast it further. In a pathetic effort to reduce my dripping sweat, I awkwardly bend forward to brush my charcoal-gray mask against my occupied arms; when that fails, I clumsily use my forest-green T-shirt, realizing how stupid it was for me to not wait more between casts. Mroww, the fish are too smart.

Our nearby cooler doesn't have much in it besides bait and ice, which was kinda careless of me; we already went through our two bottles of seltzer water, and I didn't think to pack other drinks. Admittedly bored from the lack of action, I consciously perk my triangular ears toward a bike path behind us, but there's nobody; I'd expect to see some neighbors doing some weekend jogs at least. I think about clawing my phone out of my matching gym shorts to look at social media... but what if I get a bite with only one hand on the fishing rod? Can't risk it. "Glass, can mew take over again? You were doing bet-" Seeing him playing with some pocketed yarn, I pause and stare at the striped dork with my green-colored eyes. "Love you, cutie," I tell him with a fanged smile; he hears that part and says the same with a wink. There's uncontrollable purring from us as I face forward again.

A cloud finally appears as I meow in relief, my bushy tail relaxing downward. The line's still ten or so meters away as I make wider movements with my arms, hoping that the fish are simply sleeping in a wider area and that this wakes them up- That doesn't make sense; what am I saying? Glass sees some bubbles a foot below us, drops his red yarn, and instinctively swats at the water. Figuratively facepalming, I just... "That's not..." I'm not sure what else to say. The gray and blue cat hisses some at the water, before I add "I mean, if it gets them moving, I guess-" I feel a sudden weight on the line, yelping to Glass! The sky starts brightening up again, but that doesn't stop me! First doing another tug, I hurriedly reel in tonight's dinner while Glass shouts encouragement, yay!

Indescribable noises are made as I keep pulling the line; it's a heavy catch! Rising above the water-

...Submerged cattail plants. "This isn't..." I look to my right and see Glass giggle a bit, which I have a neutral reaction toward, although I softly hiss after noticing that the stupid corndog things knocked the bait off. I disappointedly hand the fishing pole to my boyfriend, who still looks determined to catch a tasty entrée. As I walk over to the cooler, I release a frustrated sigh from my fanged mouth, feeling my soft ears droop as well. "Reh, let's see what we have," I calmly utter despite knowing that it's just ice and bagged worms at this point. Mow, I hate touching these slimy things even if they're already dead, and no amount of money could convince me to eat one either.

The sky darkens again, new clouds helping block the oppressive sunshine, although I wish I wore sandals since the hardwood isn't exactly comfy for standing; should've waited for some rain. With the blue and white cooler awkwardly creaking at the slightest movements, I fetch the bait and move the ice around with my four right claws, but there aren't any snacks, not even a sardine can... I need to write some better notes next time. Only had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch too, heck. "The water's warm right meow," my ears rise to hear from Glass. "Wish we could swim here." Not many park signs in the area, but that's probably not allowed; we didn't bring any towels either.

Bag of dead bloodworms held by my left paw and the cooler's lid loudly closed with my right, I turn to see my fluffy lover's gray peets and light-blue toes swishing around in the lake water; taking in this ridiculous sight, I chuckle and jokingly threaten to boop his whiskered snoot later, which is responded to with jokes about tickling me back at our apartment. Hee hee, he's so cute. After seeing him adorably yawn with his eyes closed, Glass gets up and stretches, graciously takes the bag from me, then sets up another cast. "Alright, no more plants please," I amusingly request. "I can only have so much salad." Okay, let's try to be more paws-itive; at least my newer job pays enough for more restaurant visits, and my anxiety meds help me push away negative thoughts too.

A minute into the cast, the sounds of shaking bells play from my pocketed phone, and I head back to the cooler to sit down and look. It's after four in the afternoon, but the notification is some automated tweet about suggested stories for the day; mroww, thought I had this spam turned off. Looking around, there's still nobody on the sidewalk near us, and Glass is heavy in concentration, so I roll my eyes and load social media to see what everyone's up to: casual statuses from some graduate friends getting ready for midterms, random memes, someone retweeted my latest blog... Ooh, advertisements for catnip; isn't recreational use being challenged in court right now though?

Despite the furballs I follow posting a healthy balance of jokes and inclusivity takes, Tweeter's unregulated algorithm nonsense has been getting worse lately; some reactionary losers on MewTube keep having their linked videos more readily pop up, usually conspiracy nonsense about how canines are responsible for supposedly missing mail that isn't corroborated by local news, complaints about increased species diversity in games, just lots of outright speciesism that they'll never outright admit to. Thankfully, people are getting better at ignoring this, but I wish these websites would stop changing up my feed options, or better yet, stop recommendations altogether.

I continue to face the lake while still staring downward, my brown tail ready to figuratively swipe at anyone who tries messing with the cooler. "Hey bean," I hear Glass calmly say, "how's it going over there?" Lost in thought from earlier, I physically process his words but don't say anything until he makes a mouse-like noise that instinctively grabs my attention; I look toward the pier's end and apologetically ask him to repeat, then respond that I'm fine. "We can try this again tomorrow if you're getting bored," he adds, "but there's more bubbles further away now, so I'm feeling better about our odds. Mind coming over here in case?" He's right; there's not much to find online this minute, and I'm not expecting any family or work calls this weekend either, so I put my phone away and adjust my casual- well, everyday clothes really, since my remote job lets me dress more comfortably too, even sporting a cute bell collar if I want! Temporary relief from the sun vanishes as the clouds move away, but it's at least getting less hot with the passage of time.

Prancing toward the edge of the pier, I also stop thinking about the cooler and instead contemplate how to best give Glass an extra fluffy hug, but I don't wanna surprise him into accidentally dropping the line; instead, I slowly walk to his left and start more casual conversation: "So, anything exciting happening at work?" Wait, work's probably a stupid topic... "I mean, uh, or is there anything with your art projects you want me to look at?" A breeze of wind happens. "Sorry, I'm a floof." He addresses my first question with a reply about mostly the status quo, but he does note that one of the startup companies he works at is moving up and might be increasing its shares, so that's exciting; Glass also gives an update on his part-time job regarding a science and technology program at a nearby school that he helps with, and he seems to enjoy it. "I'm really proud of you, you know!" I add as a smiling Glass starts pulling in the fishing line for another cast.

"Thanks cutie!" Glass replies with, shaking his blue hair a bit. He's super smart and inspirational, and I like seeing all his incredibly cool tech projects. "Happy that you're writing again too," he kindly notes about my blog projects; there were some motivation problems for a while, but I am starting to get back into game reviews and some creative writing at least. We also talk about my newer coding position that I'm actually somewhat happy with; working remotely is different than my past company, but the schedule is more flexible, our health benefits are way better, and I'm actually appreciated and trusted more often, as opposed to my last place that had toxic environment problems like misrepresentation, tolerated harassment, and more... Haven't mentally moved on from that, to be honest. "Your projects are paw-some," Glass says. "I know you can do the things."

There's surprisingly a nibble on his line shortly after this, but it's only for like half a second before Glass reels in another failed cast; at least the bait stayed on this time. After carefully placing the lengthy fishing rod down next to the now lighter bag of worms, we stare into each other's eyes, my forest-green ones into his purr-ty orange ones, then we share a super strong and lengthy hug, our tails gradually moving to the same side and wrapping together. Purr... I love this goof so much! My phone makes another chirp noise, but I ignore it and continue hugging. Some eventual rays of sunshine soon reflect off the lake and onto us, so we let go then get back into our earlier positions.

My striped boyfriend makes another cast that swooshes loudly through the still air, the rays of sunshine more noticeable yet not stopping his determination, before the hook plops into a new spot on the lake; it's technically connected to a stream that loosely connects with a river, but I don't expect fresh fish victims from there. "Hey, can you check the weather?" Glass asks me, adding that I check an app on my phone. "We may have better luck when it's raining." I do just that, but report that there's unfortunately none expected this weekend; would've expected more in April. He states that it's no problem and that we'll give it a few more goes, which I'm fine with, although the thought of a tasty trout being fished up and becoming rice-surrounded sushi does make me both excited and a little impatient... Nyeh, Mello wants food; why won't the fish let me eat them?

I don't even want to think about how long it's been now, but I'm feeling sore, so I individually stretch each of my multicolored arms and legs. Looking around the lake doesn't have much changing in the way of nature besides the occasional brushing of fresh grass and growing trees, and it's still going to be bright for a while. My whiskers twitch; some stupid gnat or something, so I hiss and swipe around like a fool. Freaking bugs... Hope they're not here because of the worms. "Ugh... I'm gonna walk around some if that's fine," I declare. "Just really need to move more, but shout my way if something happens, okay?" Glass silently nods but remains focused on the water.

Leaving the pier to walk around the fresh grass, the area is thankfully clean, and its random plants like occasional daffodils and dandelions seem pretty vibrant; I wonder whether to save the flowers from their wish-granting neighbors, but can I do that successfully? My gaze shifts toward the path, which only now starts to have more people actually using it, not counting the annoying bugs; it's mostly families until I see a cute couple walk by holding hands: a fully suited red tiger and dress-wearing yellow lioness who might be heading to some restaurant. Later, my fluffy ears aim leftward, picking up some unknown noise; I can't tell what of. I take breaths and adjust my bangs.

Not really paying attention to my phone, it's still hot and sunny- An athletically dressed cheetah suddenly dashes through! Aah, good lord, what're they in a rush for?! That scared me... They left so quickly that I couldn't even get an idea of where they were going. I mentally shake away the stress and instead listen to gentle hums coming from Glass; I'm tempted to sprint back and scritch behind his ears, but the grass feels soft between my eight toes, so I instead shimmy around more. A familiar cat walks through: a blue hoodie-wearing and long-tailed guy texting on his phone. Trying to remember his name... He's a really cool blogger and artist. His handsome appearance consists of green fur intermixed with darker stripes and circular yellow markings, with more diamond-like markings around his back as he walks by... in sneakers? Hope his claws are trimmed.

"Mello, I got something! Bring the cooler!" Glass suddenly requests; I immediately turn around! "Something's moving the line fast!" You gotta be kitten me; we finally have a fish?! My whiskers shake as I excitedly run back to the pier, move the cooler, then place it down, my ears flinching when I open the creaky box. The lake water ripples as Glass firmly pulls in the line; he struggles and hisses, so I shout encouragement as the bubbles increase until a wiggly fellow finally emerges!

That's a pink salmon! "Great job, cutie!" I tell Glass, who thanks me and asks that I move them off the hook, which I manage to do very carefully. "They sure put up a fight," I express, which is surprising considering how surprisingly small the slippery fool is; should be enough for a large appetizer though. Both hands around them, my mouth salivates before I questionably lick a scale, but it's firm and slimy... bleh. "Well, off to the cooler for you," I taunt as Glass puts the rod down.

The open cooler still has plenty of room, enough to keep the little fish chilled until we get home; my grasp is firm as I kneel down and place them on top of the ice, but the salmon keeps shaking... Hmm... "Um... Glass?" Glass tilts his head and wonders what's up. "I'm sure they'll taste great, but there's not much here, and..." The salmon starts wiggling less... "I dunno. Maybe we should-"

"Wanna let them go?" Glass sincerely asks. "We can get groceries or do takeout instead." Nodding, I gently pick up the fish, walk to the edge, then release them. "There they go," and a splash happens as the little dude thankfully dives away unharmed. I face Glass, who shares a strong hug with me.