FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hi,

welcme to the continuation of the rather short first part, but let me begin with a small introduction to the overall structure. Seeming references to actual events, people etc. are purely coincidental throughout my stories and will be edited accordingly on request in resonable cases. In this particular story, I've split this part into three pieces, although it's actually one fluent story, to place tags, age rating etc. a little more precisely and I really recommend paying attention to the sections of content individually as they vary somewhat. While the original part is a little more... unique, it's not actually mandatory to read it first to understand this one. So whatever you decide to do, have fun and hopefully see you around.

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Sarah hit the ground. She tried to open her eyes, but a buzzing in the back of her head made it hard to concentrate. Slowly her vision cleared and the brown blotch turned out to be her bedside table she had knocked over on her way down. Though the dull pain advised her otherwise, the sleepy wolf finally managed to sit up. "Not again..." she groaned and started shaking her head to get rid of the noise. It didn't really help the nausea, even worsened the headache, but at least the swarm of bees scarpered. Crawling back up on the bed, she reached out for her smartphone and switched it on while trying to get her head straight again.

It was probably the third remake of this particular nightmare and it always went the same: All started with a relaxing evening in her favourite local bar, slowly confusion would set in, everything would collapse into chaos and when she opened her eyes again, there he was. Miles. Paralysed, her view would shift to an outside perspective, forced to watch as he beat her up, on and on until even watching brought back the fear, the agony, the despair. She could hear herself crying and begging for mercy, for him to stop, but he kept going, always mumbling how sorry he was. He was sorry about it! Whatever it was, that kept drawing her subconsciousness back to this moment, this warped memory, it became a serious issue.

Though a quick look in the calendar was enough to cast away these dark thoughts. Under piles of appointments and textbook examples of bureaucracy for today laid one spark of hope: 9pm, Sam. She had found him by lucky accident on her journeys through countless profiles on just another overpriced dating app. They hadn't exchanged much personal information so far, yet his vivid responses bespoke a certain sense of humour, may it be a little unusual, and something about his profile picture felt just right, the terrier rascally smiling into the camera with a beach in the distant background and the afterglow giving him a fiery halo. The chat was running for quite a while now and at some point they had decided to take it a step further.

With a certain new energy, Sarah managed to get out of bed and headed for the kitchen, straight for the coffee maker. All anticipation couldn't help against a terrible sleeping habit, but her daily dose of caffeine would. 'I might be an addict after all,' she thought with a sheepish grin while watching the curling stream of coffee, 'but awareness is the first step forward as they say.' Turning towards the less delightful, nonetheless important part of preparing an actual breakfast, reality slowly returned, bringing all of the deadlines and inconveniences with it. As a secretary and personal assistant, she was expected to know every business partner, every important customer, everyone who might be significant enough to contact her boss directly and about half of them seemed to demand some of her time today. At least it paid off and she had learned to trust the reticent lizard over time. He had always been a fair and honest employer, but his stern kind made it hard to read his expression from time to time. With a sigh she collapsed on her usual chair and crammed her laptop somewhere in the perfectly arranged space between mug and plate to at least deal with the really urgent manners that couldn't wait until office. About an hour later, she was done, cleaned up the kitchen as far as necessary and prepared herself to leave. A last look behind into the empty flat gave her the hope, but also uncertainty, that this state wouldn't last for much longer. Suddenly she felt unprepared and although whatever might start today, if anything at all, would most certainly take months to develop, it already felt like a huge step to take. She chuckled at her line of thought and locked the door.

The following hours went as expected. Calls and paperwork let her basically no room for free time and when the lunch break came at 2pm, her desk was flooded with unfinished tasks, pending reports and documents to sign by people from at least ten different departments who seemed to have magically disappeared because of spontaneous appointments or probably pretended sickness. But Sarah couldn't blame them. Fridays usually were the living hell around here and everyone did their best to survive. The break ended way too soon and when she returned to her chair, Sarah didn't feel relaxed at all, resting her head on the desk, while her colleague gave her an encouraging look.

A sudden noise caught her attention. The approaching steps and the meaningful stare from Amber brought her back. When she looked up, the stranger had already reached her desk and left her in slight embarrassment over her inattention. At first glance he seemed like a common business man with his cheap suit, haphazardly arranged tie and an overly serious, slightly condescending demeanour, until...

"Hi Sarah, what a pleasant surprise." Her blood ran cold at the voice as she froze in place. A nervous look up was enough to confirm her fear. "Miles, what are you doing here? Why-" she started before being interrupted. "Mr. Hilburne expects me. So would you please inform him of my presence? And while you're at it," he bent a little down to the startled wolf and lowered his voice, "also add a personal date in your calendar, ok? It's been a while now and you will most certainly agree, that it's overdue." "For you it's Ms. Whitaker and I give you exactly ten seconds to leave this office before I call security," she demanded with a sudden harshness as soon as she had regained control over her voice. For some reason, the initial fear had turned into a burning rage about the sheer bluntness he treated her with, even overwhelming the paralysis. The Finnish Spitz actually mix did a surprised step backwards and it took him a second to recover his sly, impish grin. "Come on, Sarah, let's not be childish. You-" "Fuck off!" Sarah yelled at him and jumped up. She could feel everyone turn towards her as she fought hard against the tears and for balance. Nervously looking up again, she alarmingly noticed, that her attempt didn't quite have the intended effect, earning nothing more than a spiteful smile.

Suddenly the boss' voice cut through the silence, "What's going on here, Miss Whitaker?". He sounded calm, but the tense undertone, as subtle as it was, posed a clear warning not to further strain his patience. His gaze fell on his visitor. "You can explain yourself later. Mr. Kessler. Good to see you. I'm sorry for the inconveniences, so if you would follow me..." Miles nodded friendly and entered her boss' office while latter one gave her a warning look, then closed the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" Amber hissed as she signalled her friend and colleague to sit down again. Sarah didn't really need the reminder as her trembling legs refused to hold her for much longer. To make matters worse, the world started went dark as she collapsed on her chair. She had to close her eyes for a moment and when her sight had returned, she noticed Amber kneeling next to her. "Hey, you alright?" she asked when carefully taking the wolf's hand. "It's alright. I just need a second." Sarah did her best to put up a grateful smile and it surprisingly worked, so Amber stood up and gave her a last worried look, before heading back to her desk. "I don't know, what was going on between you two there, but you better get over it quickly. You're in deep enough trouble already. Have you seen his tail twitch? The big boss is not happy." And indeed, he wasn't. Once Miles had left, not without a meaningful nod at Sarah, she was called inside. "Take a seat please," Mr. Hilburne ordered her quietly. After a moment to look at her until she felt uncomfortable, he started his address. "Let's start with the official part, as obvious as it might be. I suspect, that you are well aware of your actions, and that you have a very good explanation for what happened out there." "Mr. Hilburne, I-" "It's not my right and most certainly not my interest to know your personal life, but when you sit behind this desk, you represent the company as a whole up to some degree and I absolutely can not tolerate this inappropriate airs of yours in such a vital position. So whatever personal grudge you might hold against my business partners, even if Lucifer himself walked through that door, you'll be kind, accommodating and deal with them as far as your responsibilities reach. Are we clear about that?" Sarah nodded and wanted to defend herself, but he stopped her in her tracks once again.

After a second he continued with a slightly warmer tone, "Now to the unofficial part, Sarah. You are doing a very good job, I know what it takes at times, and the fact, that everything around here runs as smoothly, is probably partially an accomplishment of you and your colleague. So show me, that you can get this managed, ok?" "I understand," Sarah replied. He signalled her to leave, but Miles presence still bothered her and so she did the mistake to continue, "but he can't be trusted. You need to-" Mr. Hilburne stood up, hissing threateningly while his look froze her in place. Rarely had she seen him as furious, though there was a slight touch in there she wasn't able to make sense of. If she didn't know better, he almost seemed afraid. But this didn't matter a lot at the moment as he leaned over her, barely able to contain himself. "Enough, Ms. Whitaker! It's one thing to harass my visitors, but this audacity takes it a step too far. At the next infringement, even the slightest, you're done here. No second chances, no reasoning, the next time I have to waste my time with your incompetence, I'll be more than happy to find a replacement for you. Now leave before you get yourself into even more trouble."

Back at her desk, Sarah took her time to think about what had just happened. Her boss was a skilled and feared negotiator, usually calm and focussed no matter the situation, and even he was afraid of Miles. What skeletons might Mr. Hilburne have in the closed and why on earth would this bastard know? These thoughts kept bugging her even after her shift ended a few hours later. Strangely, the pending issue of an insecure employment status was the least of her concerns. Back home, Sarah frustratedly threw her stuff in the wardrobe, equal whether it belonged there or not, and took a seat on the couch. Finally it was over. Finally, there was nothing between her and a good nap. The last few steps towards her bed felt like an eternity, but eventually it was done. Within minutes her head cleared and the soothing warmth of the blanket pulled her deeper and deeper down to the dark realm of slumber.

Samuel arrived at the restaurant. A look on his wristwatch told him, that he was ten minutes early. The terrier took a last glance at himself in the rear view mirror of the car, before stepping onto the parking lot. To his displeasure, a short gust ruined the minimal amount of styling he had felt comfortable with. It always was a pain in the ass to get the shaggy fur handled and he usually wouldn't care, but this wasn't just any occasion. The rest felt as unfitting, unusually overdressed for his taste with a white flannel shirt and black dress pants from some random suit in his wardrobe. He could not quite tell, whether it was the clothing or the nerves talking, but his whole body itched horribly. When he started walking up and down instead to get rid of the sensation, his steps felt unnaturally loud on the gravel below his shoes, not exactly helpful either.

9pm. He unsurely looked around, but failed to find Sarah. Five minutes passed without her emergence, all while his nerves slowly turned into a wreck. After ten minutes, he had stopped walking around and blankly stared on his phone for a life sign. A call at the twenty-minutes-mark remained unanswered and when he finally gave up after forty minutes he was properly freezing from the increasing wind, but for some reason, he wasn't mad at her. Maybe a bit disappointed, that Sarah had left him waiting for so long, but on the other hand he felt a strange understanding. He had somewhat seen it coming. Back behind the drivers wheel, he started the engine and drove the first metre as he heard a startled yelp from the bonnet. Luckily he was still alert enough to hit the break in time and panic dealt with the remaining exasperation as he rushed to the pedestrian. They didn't seem hurt, but Samuel still chided himself for his inattention. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" he mumbled as he helped her up again, "I just-".

He faltered as he recognised, who he had nearly run over. Sarah seemed to experience the same as she paused rubbing dust of her dress for a moment. As he kept his silent, bewildered look, Sarah smiled, "Sorry I'm late." "No problem, I... You're here now, I... Wow, you look amazing. I mean... before I ran you over. You're ok, right?". One touch was enough to stop his flood of words. "I'm fine. This all wouldn't have happened anyway If I hadn't been late. Do you think, they kept the reservation?" "Probably, I guess... I'm just gonna park my car again and... You're really alright?" "I am. Now go ahead. It's cold out here."

Only minutes later, when they sat at the table, a smaller one in a more quiet part of the restaurant, and his heart rate had returned to somewhat normal levels, he finally took a proper look at his date partner. She had looked stunning enough in the parking lot's twilight, but now in the mild warm glow, her light grey fur had an almost mystical glow to it, even emphasized by the dark blue dress. Her silver necklace sparkled a duel against her eyes, while Sam lost himself in the deep turquoise, unable to make a sound. Sarah returned his stare for a moment, examining his heterochromatic eyes herself, before nudging him lightly. "Hey, It's just me," she giggled while Samuel's heart rate skyrocketed again. "Sorry," he muttered and averted his look, "it's just too much at once. I assumed you ditched me, then I almost ran you over, and to make matters worse, the damned photos don't serve you justice, cause you look gorgeous, and my nerves were and continue to be a total mess for the last hour. Wait... Did I just say that out loud?" "Yep." "I'm sorry, again." "For what? A little lie in there?" He smiled weakly when her friendly grin eased the shame a little. After a deep breath he continued, "Definitely not. Never mind. Hungry?" "More tired than anything else, but yeah." "Had a bad day at work?" he asked concerned while he reached her the second menu. "Never mind," she giggled and started looking through the pages.

The order arrived soon after, but the more Sam relaxed, the more Sarah seemed to vanish. Conversations got shorter and eventually failed completely and about two hours later, when they finally gave up, they had barely exchanged anything meaningful besides the superficial details. When Samuel and Sarah eventually stood outside to say goodbye, he tried an encouraging smile, "Thanks for the evening. It was nice to meet you and-" "Stop right there. I really appreciate your effort, but it was terrible. You know it, I know it, so let's just forget about tonight," Sarah interfered before continuing with a grunt, "this date was a bad idea." "Oh. I... I'm sorry to hear. You could've told me earlier. No need to spare me." "No. It's not that. I really enjoyed the evening, but I ruined yours in turn. You were right, when you asked me about my day. It was exhausting, but I underestimated how much it would impact me. I forgot about our date, acted like a sleeping pill for the short time being and I was too proud to ask for another time in advance. In short: I like you I would like to see you again, under better circumstances obviously."

Sam considered her words for a second, before his eyes brightened up and he nervously reached her a small item out of his pocket. "A little something for you. Planned it as an introduction, but you know how that worked out." "Come on. Not for how this went." She tried to push it back, but he insisted, "Of course. Especially for how it went. A little reminder of where we started, cause things can only get better." With an exaggerated sigh, she finally took the tiny box and peeked inside, only to find an oversized glass marble draped in red velvet. She was just about to play grateful as Samuel flipped a small, hidden switch on the case in her hands. He smirked over her twitching ears as the ball lit up. A moment later, Sarah gasped when she recognised the ghostly figure engraved inside the glass. The small milky way glinted in all its detail and looked surprisingly lively. Glad to see her quiet gratitude, he vividly remembered the hours of work, that had gone into it. "Do you always spend so much effort on the first date?" she slowly asked as she put away the little box. "Hard to tell without any further reference," the terrier admitted insecurely, "besides, I almost had two weeks of preparation so it's not that much over all. But you said you always had a fascination for the stars, so why not bring them into a handy format?"

She replied with a warm smile, that suddenly turned into a wide yawn, almost costing her balance. "As much as I would like to stay, I'm absolutely done for today," she commented and embraced him tightly, "Thank you for everything. Would it be too much to bring me home? I'm not sure I can trust my legs any longer." "No problem. I still need you 'under better circumstances' after all." "Speaking of. I have an idea for next time." "Care to tell me?" "No. It's a surprise and the more I tell you now, the more questions you might ask." He gave her a bewildered look, cocking his head slightly, but kept his curiosity to himself. Not until minutes later when they had reached their destination and Sarah left the car, clenching his present tightly to her chest, she dropped the next hint, "Sunday, 5pm, Esten Street eight. Be punctual and... promise not to look it up, ok?" "Sure thing. Do I need a passphrase or something? A spell to open the door and disarm the deadly trap?" "No," she chuckled as she leaned through the window, "Sturdy clothes will do and something to change. Old preferably, nothing expensive." She ruffled his ear for a moment, before whispering, "something you are more comfortable with." Sam winced. His issue with formal clothing must have been more obvious than he had imagined and it was astonishingly painful to hear it as straightforward. But Sarah just gave him a last, beautiful smile, then retreated and strolled to her home. If she had looked back, she would have seen a very confused terrier, absently staring after her.

The following day passed somewhat quickly. Samuel spent almost the entirety of it in the workshop like most Saturdays, working overtime on a robotic prototype, that still had a ton of open side projects. Being severely behind schedule brought a lot of stress and challenges, but at least it left him little to no time wondering about the upcoming date. His colleagues sure noticed a change in his demeanour, but they simply labelled it as another level of his usual passion for the little wonders they created here on a daily basis. The uneventful day was followed by a deep, dreamless sleep and the next cloudy morning, or rather noon by his waking time, only worsened his anticipation. Nothing left to do, no proper distraction left his creativity roam freely of what might expect him a few hours. But finally it was time to leave his apartment. In his usual routine he got dressed, a pyjama probably was a little too causal, packed his backpack and made his way to the car. When he entered the address she had given him, it proved to be oddly far off the centre in a minor industrial area. He had been there from time to time, mostly to install their designs or for consulting services, but it was hard to imagine anything date-appropriate there. "If that's a trap, it's at least well enough designed to deserve me running into it," he chuckled and started the engine. Upon arrival, the given address turned out to be a common multi-purpose warehouse, not unexpected, but not very helpful either.

He was just about to call Sarah, whether she actually had given him the right location, when she suddenly came walking out of the mysterious building and waved him over. As Sam came closer, he noticed her clothing. He didn't know what he had expected, but the worn jeans and simple black t-shirt almost looked too usual, too glamourless on her. "I'm glad you found it," Sarah greeted with a hug, unable to hide her uncertainty. Why on earth would she be nervous about her own idea? "Care to tell me now, what this is all about?" "You'll see." Sarah gave him a playful wink and guided him back to the entrance she had emerged from. With pounding heart he entered.

The hall was surprisingly well lit with large acrylic glass windows in the roof and a few scattered spotlights covering the darker areas. Like a dramatic reveal, the sky cleared up the moment he entered, bathing the place in bright rays, while Sam gasped at the sight. Roof high nets stretched across the room like giant walls, that separated the place into two large sections and a smaller region at the entrance. In the first compartment stood a set of inflatable obstacles bolted to the ground and the other one looked like a junk yard, a very tidy one at least. Tires were piled up to walls in varying heights, An old car chassis stood lonely in one corner and in-between someone had constructed small sheds, bridges, shields and other wooden defences. "Paintball!" Sarah cheered, keeping a close watch to his reaction and suddenly the terrier noticed the obvious, colourful dots on almost every surface where a shot has missed its target. Luckily he didn't find any outside of the arena, meaning at least the nets offered the necessary protection. "This is... unexpected," he commented slowly, still processing the situation. "In a good way?" "Time will tell. It's just that... You..." "Cause I am a woman or a secretary?" she asked without the least hint of offence, she still seemed to fear his judgement. "Neither of both actually. You just seemed too... friendly? Pacific? Could we please skip this part? I'm afraid I can only make it worse at this point."

Thankfully a deep voice cut through their conversation, "that's the one Sarah? Looks a bit wimpy if you ask me." The joking undertone posed a deep contrast to the tall, muscular stallion approaching. He wore a similar combination to Sarah, but his was already marked with the same imprints found throughout the arena, an also stained, mostly black head mask dangling from his belt. "Leave the new one alone, Stan!" came a shout from the opposite direction, "We still need a voluntary target!" The second voice belonged to a lion with a blue coloured strip running down his mane, luckily a bit smaller, but still towering a head over Sarah. "He's too friendly to leave, trust me. And even if so, he wouldn't get very far," his friend responded and Sam had the impression he might actually stand by his words. "Oh shut up, you two. Sam, these are Stanley and Ronnie, crazy but harmless. I would almost call them the brothers I never had, but that would mean to admit I like 'em." "Easy there, puppy. You are aware, that this still is our empire? We just tolerate you as long as you bring fresh meat to grind," Ronnie countered, returning her look of reproach with a surprising confidence. At some point he broke into laughter when she tried very hard to look insulted. "So," he eventually continued, "Sam, have you played already?" "Nope, never." "Ok. So here are the basics," the feline reached for a shelf and took out a gun-like contraption, "This is a marker. In the top go the paints, it shoots once you pull the trigger. Never point at others outside the playing field, never aim for the head, unless it's the only part visible, then you're of course free to shoot it, and if it makes funny noises and doesn't work anymore, we'll show you how to refill the gas tank." A few more instructions followed, before Stanley joined in, but chose a way more serious tone, "To be clear about this. Against common believe, paintball as we play it here is no war game. It's a serious sport about tactic and team play." "Like chess. But with friends and fun," his friend took over again, before they went over to the preparation table and gathered the various equipment, giving the other two a moment of privacy.

"Are you alright so far?" Sarah asked with a good amount of nerviness, "I know, it's a bit much for a second date, you've probably hoped for something more private and you don't have to do this for me, I just thought-" "Hey, I'm fine. They seem friendly and I'm about to get my revenge for you sabotaging my perfectly planned evening." Sarah responded with a relieved smile, right when the other two waved them over again. Sam was equipped with a fitting mask and weapon and they entered the arena. "Let's start with the inflatables. Less chaotic for the start," Ronnie offered and lead the way through a gap in the separation to the other side. "Does it hurt to get hit?" Sam eventually asked as he had witnessed quite a few accidents with their pneumatic tools in the workshop. They definitely operated at way higher pressures than the guys here, but voluntarily launching high-velocity projectiles at each other, with the same method that shot bolts through steel, and limbs in sad cases, seemed rather dangerous anyway. The lion walking next to him, his partner in the upcoming duel, had a good chuckle about it and called over to Stanley, now on the other side of the compartment, "Hey Stan, does this hurt?" With an amazing precision he fired a shot through the arena.

As soon as the neon blue explosion hit the other ones back, the giant audibly collapsed on the floor, his agonising scream echoing through the hall. Sarah simply gave him a reproachful kick, "Come on, you pity creature. Wanna leave me alone against the others?" His screaming suddenly stopped, immediately replaced with a wide grin, "too much?" "But only a little bit." Sam watched the act with a certain bemusement. "All in all," his partner finally commented, "it leaves a bruise in the worst case." After this first shock, they had a short planning phase, sketching out a tactic, until Sam actually felt confident, that his first round wouldn't be a total disaster at least. "Ready?" Sarah eventually called from the other side of the field, "Take cover. Three, two, one, go!" To say, that Samuel got hit in the next hour would be an understatement. Within minutes his clothes almost had the same colour pallet as the ground underneath him. Every unwatched angle was a risk, every open field became a nightmare, but it was fun. After the first failed attempts, the hit counts started to level at least a little bit, while the group chased each other through the maze-like compartments in varying arrangements. It was still hard for him to play against Sarah, wincing every time his paints hit her, but she didn't mind and paid him back even worse the next round.

Yet during an intermediate break, Stanley once came over to him and asked, "How many dates so far?" "Huh? "How many dates did you two have so far?" "Only one, if you don't count the chatting, why?" Stan looked genuinely surprised. Seeing the canine's puzzled look, he sighed and started to explain. "You see, usually we only get to meet the guys she's been dating for way longer. After the first few months or so. They're often very surprised to see that part of her life and so this usually is some sort of test, regardless whether Sarah calls it that way or if she's even aware of what she's doing here. Last two didn't pass, couldn't handle her independence and her first boyfriend didn't even show up. Ugly ending every time. She would probably straight up kill me for having this conversation with you, but I have the impression, that you're different. It's none of my business how your relationship develops, call me overcautious, but I warn you. Be honest with her. The fact, that you're here that early shows how much she cares for you." Without further ado, he gave Sam a friendly pat on the back, turned around and headed for his friend, leaving a very confused terrier behind.

With a respective amount of breaks, time was approaching 11pm when Sarah and Sam left, while the other two had insisted to take care of the equipment. Stan just had sneaked a friendly, yet intense look past Sarah towards the smaller male before the usual words of goodbye. "You liked it?" Sarah asked while she put an arm around him, earning a happy smile. "Definitely. At one point I'll have to talk to them about their poor mechanical design on the markers though." "Don't. Ronnie loves his markers and would never hurt them, let alone make major changes. Half of the design was his idea, the other half came off-the-shelf. I still have no idea, how they got the certificate for them." "Was I as terrible as it felt?" "... I prefer not to answer that question, but they're experienced players. You'll get your revenge eventually." He laughed as he looked down his body and arms, "Hopefully not in the neat future. It'll probably take ages to get the stains out of my clothes and fur, but thank you for this evening anyway. You were truly amazing. Should I bring you home again?" Sarah considered his offer for a moment. "Would you stay for a while afterwards? Have a drink maybe?" "As much as I would like to, it's already a lot later than I had anticipated. I can take you home, but sadly I have a life to live tomorrow. Job 's a little tough at the moment. But what about Wednesday afternoon?" Sarah nodded her agreement, though It was obvious, that she disfavoured his decision, just like his own heart. But there was nothing to do about it, so he guided her to his car and drove her home. The continuous silence was uncomfortable and when she eventually left without a word of goodbye, it all felt like a terrible mistake.