FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Can you see me?" Sal's mom asked. The large, silver dragon lady peeking into her webcam and adjusting her shirt.

"Yeah, Mom, I see you." Sal replied, scooting his laptop and smiling as she waved.

"Ooh, did you guys decorate the place a little?" She asked, leaning around as if that would somehow enable her to see around Sal through his webcam. He got the hint, and picked up his laptop to give her a better view. "Ooh, it's so cute! I love your little Christmas tree! And the lights on the walls!" She praised, as Sal scratched his neck and set her back down.

"Yeah, my roommate loves Christmas. He really got me into the spirit this year." He said, sheepishly. "Normally we have a little radio playing music too, but I turned it out for this call."

"Oh that's great, Sal!" She said. "Is this the really cute roommate?" She asked.

"Mom!" Sal blurted out, blushing slightly and hiding his face in his hands a little.

"What? Is it?" She asked again, pushing up her round glasses and grinning at her son.

Coincidentally, you returned home, the brightness of the outside framing your silhouette on the webcam as Sal seriously considered slamming his laptop shut.

"Hey dude, you're not gonna believe this. They were completely out of whipped cream AND whipping cream. So I had to go to like, four other stores." You said, carrying the gingerbread stuff in under your arm and then realizing he was in a video call.

Before you could apologize and duck out of sight, the silver dragon lady spoke up. "Hi Sal's roommate!" She said excitedly, waving at you. Sal realized with dread that it was too late as you smiled and nervously waved back.

"This is my mom." He explained, and you lit up a little.

"Oh wow! Hi!" You said, quickly setting your stuff down so you could step into view a little more. "Oh wow, I see where Sal got his horns from." You said, and she grinned and struck a pose, running some perfectly-manicured claws up the length of one of her horns, which was decorated with rings and piercings.

"Oh, thank you~" She growled, as Sal squirmed in discomfort. You followed her look over to the clearly embarrassed Sal on the chair beside you, and you gave him an awkward little pat on his shoulder.

"So, you guys set up Christmas decoration together?" She asked, drawing your attention once more.

"Yeah! Did Sal show you?" You asked, as Sal nodded.

"I love them!" She said, adjusting her shirt again. It was a little too small for her. Distractingly so, really. "Your whole little bachelor pad is so cute!"

"Thank you!" You replied, happy to receive the praise. "Couldn't have done it with Sal. He really has an eye for interior decoration." You said, and Sal got a little bit red around the cheeks.

"Anyway, uhm. I'm gonna get the gingerbread in the oven." You said, trying not to interrupt his talk any further. "Nice meeting you, Sal's mom!" You said.

"Likewise~" She said, as Sal picked up his laptop and carried it off to your shared room, which made you a little anxious that you'd done something wrong. You didn't go too far, did you?

"Aw, c'mon, sweetums, don't be embarrassed." She said as Sal tried to wipe the blush off his face (to no avail, unsurprisingly), sitting down on his bed and then laying down so he could comfortably look into the webcam. "I like him! And yes, he's definitely the cute roommate."

"Mom! I don't..."

"Aww, okay, okay. I'm just teasing." She said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Well I just wanted to check in with you, honey~ Seems like you're doing well! Sorry we can't have you home for the holidays this year." She said.

"It's okay." Sal quickly said, which brought that smug smirk right back to her face. "Not- Not because-"

He gave up as his mom's smile only got wider and more knowing.

"Well, I think you should help him bake gingerbread." She said. "You used to love to help me bake!" She immediately added, catching his look of hesitation.

"Yeah, okay." Sal said. "Nice to see you, mom."

"Bye, Sal! Love you!!!"

"Love you too." He said, tapping the key to hang up and sighing.

It couldn't be that obvious to everyone, could it? She picked up on it from just a few seconds. Less than a minute of seeing you both together. Something in Sal's body language made his feelings so obvious to her that she had him figured out in a second.

But Sal's mom was really smart! And more importantly, she knew her son. Surely... it wasn't that obvious. Surely you didn't know! If you did... could you really just be leading him on all the time? Acting like you didn't know his real feelings?

No. Sal didn't believe it. He got up and stomped determinedly to the kitchen, where you had your back turned, wiggling your butt to the very quiet music as you mixed everything together in a bowl.

You turned, smiling at Sal, a little worried at his aggressive stomping and the look on his face. Hopefully everything between him and his mom was okay. You'd hate to have embarrassed him for real. Maybe you should say something?

Sal spoke first. "You wanna watch some game shows tonight?" He asked, turning up the Christmas radio a little now that his call was over, only to turn it right back down as he started talking.

"Oh, heck yeah, dude. What was that one we were talking about? The really dumb one." You replied, trying to remember the title.

"Underwater Wolves?" He asked, and your burst out into sharp laughter. Sal smiled at you. He liked watching you laugh.

"That's the one about like, a bunch of canines trying to do stuff underwater, right?" You asked, between unsuppressed giggles. "And - the host is like, an orca guy, right? With an Aussie accent?"

"Yeah." Sal said, plopping on the couch. "Shahks ah the wolves the ocean." He imitated, which sent you back up into hysteric laughter.

"I don't get it, if shawks are the wolves of the ocean, why's the host an orca?" You asked, which got Sal laughing too.

"Hey, uh." Sal said, as your laughter settled, and you were both left quietly listening to some generic peppy Christmas song, which, of course, you knew all the lyrics to, and were humming on and off. At least during the chorus.

"Mhm?" You asked, pouring the gingerbread batter into a greased pan and popping it into the oven.

"C'mere." Sal said.

"Lemme set a timer real quick." You said, setting one on your phone and leaving it on the counter before coming to the couch with Sal and sitting down next to him. "What's up?"

Sal bit his lip, watching you nervously. Now you were really worried. "Everything okay?" You asked.

He huffed, as if in frustration, and lifted a clawed hand up in front of your face. Before you could say anything more, he snapped his fingers.

"Drop." He said.

It washed over you in a wave. Your head drooped, and your eyes unfocused and quickly focused again on Sal.

"W-wha?" You mumbled, before he snapped again.

"Drop."

You shivered, slumping forwardly slightly, your hands dropping to the couch to keep you from collapsing. It was as if your entire body had become heavier than it was supposed to be. Heavier than you could support. You were trembling in effort, trying not to just collapse completely into this feeling. Relax into it. Succumb to it.

Snap.

"Drop."

You were drooling. You weren't sure why, or for how long. But you were drooling. Your eyelids felt heavy, and it was hard to focus on the blurry orange dragon in front of you. You were so lost, now. This feeling was like a heavy blanket being draped over you. It smothered your thoughts and left you feeling like you were sliding slowly across ice, or drifting along the current of a stream.

Snap.

"Drop."

You were gone. There was no part of you left, now. You'd dropped into a deep trance that left every part of you out of reach. You could see them, distantly. Even reach for them. But your memories and thoughts were slipping through your fingers like sand, and you-

Snap.

"Drop."

Drop.

Snap.

"Drop."

Drop.

"Dropping deeper and deeper each time." Sal said, firmly. "Deeper and deeper. More and more relaxed, more and more heavy."

Snap.

"Drop."

Drop. Deeper and deeper.

"Deeper and deeper." Sal repeated. "Down and down. Just like that. Not fighting that feeling. Letting yourself..."

Snap.

"Drop."

Drop.

Sal gently took your hands and pulled you onto his lap, and you relaxed comfortably onto his warm thighs, looking dimly up at him, drooling slightly.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"...deep." You mumbled.

"Good. That's very good. Exactly how you should feel." Sal confirmed, and you smiled up at him a little.

"I like it when you smile." He said, though there was hesitation in your voice that didn't register in the part of your mind that was still awake.

"Okay." You replied, and smiled more. He smiled too.

"Did you know that?" He asked.

"No." You replied, and he perked up a little.

"Really?"

"I think so." You mumbled.

"That's good. You don't know it now." He said. "You've already forgotten. Maybe, deep down, you do remember, and you'll find yourself smiling around me more. But the part of you that's still awake has already forgotten." Sal explained.

"Okay." You said.

"Good." He said, and stroked your chest a little.

"I'm going to ask you something a little confusing, okay?" He said. "I want you to try to think about it, and try your best, but if you can't figure it out, that's okay." Sal explained, very slowly. "Do you understand what I want you to do?"

"Mhm."

"Tell me what I want you to do." He said.

"You want me to answer a confusion... a confusing question. If I can." You said.

"Good. Very good. Okay. Here is the confusing question." Sal said. "How do I feel about you?"

"I don't know." You quickly answered.

"Think a little harder. How do you think I feel about you?" Sal pressed. "No matter how obvious."

"You like me." You mumbled, and Sal anxiously scratched at his horn.

"L-Like you how?" He asked.

"We're buddies." You said happily, closing your eyes. "It's really nice."

"Oh. Okay." Sal said, taking a few relieved breaths. "And I like you as a friend?"

"Mhm." You hummed contentedly, a little puddle of drool forming on his lap.

"And that's all, right?" He asked, just to make sure.

"I think so." You said.

"Good. Very good. Thank you so much for answering that question." Sal said, relieved, before becoming very quiet.

You opened your eyes and looked up at him, blankly, quietly. He was gazing off into the distance, thinking about something. You weren't thinking about anything. You considered yourself lucky. He looked conflicted or something.

He noticed you looking, and looked down on you. You smiled. He smiled too, and quickly looked away.

"Hey, uhm." He started. "I think I have something I wanna tell you." He said. You smiled blissfully up at him.

He took a deep breath. "I..."

A sharp beeping came from the kitchen counter, and you jolted awake, not even recognizing that you were on Sal's laps by the time that you got up. The memory instantly evaporated as you bounded over to the oven, eager to pull that tasty gingerbread out and get it cooling.

"Gingerbread's done!" You called, glancing over a very distant-looking Sal. You first instinct was to be concerned, but looking at him, you couldn't help but smile. It was just... nice to see him. "Sal?"

His eyes snapped up to yours, and as soon as he saw your smile, he smiled back. "Cut me a big slice and put lots of whipped cream on it." He set. "I'll get the show loaded up."

"Nice! The Shahks of the Ocean." You repeated. "Er, wait. The Wolves of the Ocean!" You said, breaking down into laughter at your stupid mistake. Sal started laughing too, as soon as he realized what you'd said.

You spent the rest of the night watching a bunch of canines diving for food and making really dumb drama about each other on their submarine bunks or whatever. It was all so forced and corny, you couldn't get enough of it.

Sal was in a good mood today, it seemed like. At the very least, he was returning every smile you gave him.