FSE

Furry search engine

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"Long day, hm?"

Bangers looked up from his half-empty glass and smiled gently at the bartender.

"How could you tell?" he asked.

The gator at the other side of the counter, who'd been silently cleaning other glasses with a piece of cloth up to that point, chuckled softly.

"You walked in dragging your feet, barely looking around. It wasn't hard to spot."

"Huh." Bangers blinked heavily twice. Had it really been like that? "Heh, heh. Yeah. I suppose I don't do much of a good job trying to hide it, right?"

"Hey, don't worry. It's Monday. I get it."

The gator turned around and began placing the empty, clean glasses on their shelf. Bangers caught his reflection on the crystalline surface - he was definitely looking much sleepier than he'd expected. There were bags under his eyes, which remained half-lidded most of the time as he stared into his reflection. He had that look in his eyes, like he was about to drift off.

The image felt slightly alien to him, like he wasn't supposed to look like that. Had he been feeling this tired before walking into the bar? Perhaps he hadn't caught enough sleep last night?

"It happens a lot, you know," the bartender reassured him. "People walk in and realize only then how hard the day has been. I'm used to seeing dopey faces around, no judging. A bar is a place to relax, after all."

Bangers nodded, his eyes briefly keeping track of the gator's swaying, scaly tail. He agreed with the idea. He was about to speak when a yawn overpowered him and forced him to wait a bit longer.

"Hm, sorry," he apologized, rubbing his eyes. "I don't..."

"Didn't you hear me?" the gator said, turning to him and staring right into his eyes. "I said 'no judging', so don't apologize. Yawn all you want, bear. It's okay if you feel sleepy."

Bangers felt his cheeks getting warmer, but tried not to let it show too much. He nodded again, his body relaxing on the stool. Then, the bear leaned on the counter, resting most of the weight of his big, tired body on his elbows. When the gator chuckled again, Bangers thought he liked him a little.

"I don't think the drink is helping," the bear muttered, letting his eyelids close all the way down for just one second. "... Probably not the best idea to drink alcohol when you're like this. I'm usually more resistant, though."

"Don't worry, bear. I assure you the drink has nothing to do with it."

How can he know?, Bangers asked himself absent-mindedly. It was then when he realized his eyelids had been closed for a second too long and opened them, feeling slightly disoriented. The bar was still around him, but everything felt sort of blurry, hazy.

He noticed the gator was leaning on the counter as well, close to him. He'd placed an empty glass right in front of the bear's eyes. Just like those in the shelf, it was so clean and transparent that Bangers could see his reflection on it, looking back at him with a heavy, vacant gaze.

He looked as if he was about to fall asleep.

"Look at yourself," the gator murmured. "Take a good look, okay?"

"Hmkay..."

One of those scaly hands found a spot between Banger's ears and gently petted his head.

"Heh, good boy. Don't look away. Can you see how sleepy you are?"

Bangers felt the words coming slowly to his lips. His mental processes were definitely slower than they should have been. He was only now noticing there was something weird going on, something that didn't have to do with missing a few hours of sleep or drinking too much.

"Y-yus...?" he asked, one eyelid practically closed while the other remained half-open so that he could keep looking at his reflection.

As the gator's paw caressed his head, the bear let out a deep sigh and sank even more onto the counter. His body felt so heavy now, like he'd been lifting weights all day. His reflection kept staring back at him and it was so, so tired.

"Do you want to come to the back, bear?" the gator asked in a whisper. "I've got a bed there. You can sleep if you want. Or you can do other things, if that's what you feel like. As I said... no judging."

Bangers struggled to think. Something was definitely wrong there, but it felt so good that he wasn't even sure he wanted to find out. For the time being, he decided he'd just let go and follow along. The bartender was being so nice to him that it would be such a shame not to return the favor.

He'd be nice to the gator as well, especially if that meant allowing somebody else to think for him. Thinking was so tiring Bangers didn't think he could keep doing that for much longer.

"You're going to follow me and allow your mind to rest for a bit, aren't you?" came the gator's question.

Bangers nodded slowly. Yes. Rest. That sounded alright. Whether it meant sleeping or stopping his thoughts altogether, Bangers was craving it. The sweet, sweet chance to just allow his mind to shut down.

As the bear stood up to follow the gator, he caught a last glimpse of his exhausted, glassy-eyed reflection.

And Bangers was certain it'd have done just what he was about to do.