FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Feeling the warm light coming in from the window, my eyes slowly began to open. Sitting up a little and craning my neck to get a look at my clock, I saw that it was quarter to ten in the morning. Letting out a long sigh I flopped onto my back and muttered under my breath.

I heard a low moan and heavy voice, "What's up?"

Turning, I saw a drowsy pair of dark brown eyes looking in my direction. I let out a sigh and said: "I'm late for my Bio class, I doubt I'd be going now though..." letting out a small yawn saying, "...shouldn't you be in class or something?"

Sitting up, making the springs of the crappy dorm room bed creak he said in a hoarse voice "Didn't feel like going, it's only Calc with Brian, so it's not like it matters or anything. Why aren't you going to your Bio lecture? You're only a few minutes late."

I rolled onto my back and he placed a paw onto my chest, rubbing it gently. "Well, we're doing taxonomy, going through the kingdoms and whatnot. Shit I hate with such a passion..."

Chuckling he added pressure with his fingertips, rubbing slightly harder. "Doesn't that mean you need to know it anyways?"

Yawning and letting a grunt, my tummy bouncing slightly, I growled "You aren't going to let me win are you?"

Smiling, he gently kissed the top of my head "I won't say anything more about it, sweetie."

Scooting down the bed, I closed my eyes and nuzzled up against his side, his arm underneath my head and mine around his waist. I muttered into his armpit, "Nap time.."

He chuckled softly, gently stroking my shoulder.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After what felt like only minutes of sleep, I was woken up by Thad trying to stealthily climb from under me and out of the bed. I lifted my head up slightly and peered in his direction, "I'm awake..."

Having said this must have startled him because as I dropped my head back to my pillow I felt his body tense and fall out of the bed, landing on the linoleum floor with a dull thud. I leaned over the side of the bed and saw that he was sprawled out on the floor in a pair of plaid boxers, groaning and rubbing his elbow with a slight grimace. Chuckling, I asked if he was ok and only got another low grunt as a response.

Casting aside the blanket that was wrapped around my waist, I turned and sat on the side of my bed and rested my head in my paws. Mumbling something, he slowly climbed to his footpaws and stumbled on his way to the dresser, kicking aside the stray articles of clothing blocking his path. I started massaging my forehead and cracked my neck with gusto, a satisfied groan escaping my lips.

I yawned and asked him what time it was, halfway expecting it to still be before 10 AM. Lifting my head from my paws I could see him dig through his pants strewn on the floor and flip open his phone, "Almost eleven-thirty."

He tossed his phone on his desk and stretched, his flexible joints easily reaching beyond where mine could. "Did you want to get some lunch after a shower?"

I stood up and stretched out, my shoulders and elbows cracking along with my knees and I chuckled. "I must be falling apart this morning.. Sure, shower then lunch sounds nice." and I began to scratch my side.

Feeling an odd draft on my lower body I became aware that I was completely naked and tried to cover myself, blushing brightly. Looking over at Thad, he began to chuckle and opened a dresser drawer, producing a pair of gym shorts for me he tossed them in my direction, "I'm going to go take a shower."

Pulling on the gym shorts as quickly as I could, I managed to stutter an ok and slunk over to my desk and sat down in front of my laptop. I shook the mouse a little bit to wake up the computer and logged on, my eyes moving over to Thad in the corner as he was gathering his shower things.

My attention was immediately drawn to a blinking bar on my taskbar; I noticed that my instant messenger was still running and that I had an entire window filled with messages from Jamie. Looking at the timestamps on the messages, I saw that they ran from ten-thirty until about three in the morning; quickly scrolling through them, I saw half of the messages were saying things like: "Why are you asleep???" "You should be half as tortured by this as I am..." "I don't understand you...", and the other half were full of apologies for how she was acting.

Thad walked behind me and gave my shoulder a slight squeeze, "Ya know? I think she loves you or something."

I let out a heavy sigh and groaned, "I truly think that she's psychotic. I mean half of these are her being a bitch and the other half are of her apologizing for being a bitch. I just want to give up... she's just... mad, completely off her rocker."

Disappearing behind the half-open door, he popped his head back in and grinned, "Madly in love..."

Rolling my eyes I said "Just go take your shower..." I heard him chuckle a little as the sound of his bare pawpads smacking the faded down the hallway.

I signed out of the messenger and sat at my desk for a minute trying gathering my thoughts. Leaning forward and resting my chin on the top of my paws, I let out a long, drawn out sigh. Having seen all those messages and done what I did last night made me think about myself. Did what happened made me gay or not... I mean, just because I had a little fun with my roommate... I mean, I did like it a lot. What will everybody think about me? I let out another sigh. What will my family think?

I was already the odd one out..

Trying my best to push these thoughts aside, I decided that I should probably take a shower too. I got up and opened the closet, pulling out a towel and grabbed my shampoo. Slipping on my sandals and tossing my towel on my shoulder, I turned for the door and made my way down the long, grey door-lined hall to the showers.

I stumbled up into the section of the bathroom where the showers were having tripped over a doorjamb; I found a free stall and turned on the water so it could heat up and tossed my towel on one of the hooks. While I waited for the water, I looked around at the other towels that were hung up and began picking out the ones that I recognized: Thad's bright blue towel in the corner stood out amongst the four other dull colored ones, two of which I knew as belonging to the twins in the room across the hall from us.

After about a minute of idly looking around, I put my paw under the jet of water and pulled it back out, satisfied that the water was warm enough. I began pulling my gym shorts down, as I heard one of the showers cut out and a rustling of a vinyl curtain. Panicking slightly and almost completely naked, I tried my best to ignore whomever it was but out of the corner of my eye I saw the curtain of my roommate's stall shift. Not a second later it was pulled to the side, revealing a very wet and very naked Thad.

Blushing deeply and giving a slight sigh of relief I quickly yanked off my shorts and hung them up next to my towel. As I was pulling the curtain closed behind me, I turned and I saw Thad looking at me and smiling as he quickly dried himself and wrapped his bright blue towel around his waist.

I threw my head underneath the warm water and let it engulf my entire body. I stood completely still for a moment, bracing myself against the side of the stall with my paw, just letting the warm water create tiny streams that could meander through my fur; letting the water wash over me.

Coming out of my relaxed daze, I grabbed my shampoo bottle and squeezed a large blob into my paw and began to massage it into my headfur and my chest, scratching at the skin underneath. Again I put my head underneath the stream of warm water and let it wash away the lather, great globs of white running down my legs and down into the drain.

After standing underneath the warm cascade, I shut off the shower and shook off the excess water. Reaching out of the curtain and feeling around for my towel, I finally found it and pulled it into the stall with me and began drying off my fur, more shamefully than Thad's rip open the curtain and give everybody a show. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the stall and slipped my sandals back on.

Looking around the rather small room I saw all the curtains open and the towels were all gone. Wondering how long I had been in the shower, I leaned over and grabbed my bottle of shampoo and shorts and started on my way back to the room, the dull smacks of my sandals reverberating through the bathroom.

Walking back into the room to see that Thad had already dried off, dressed and was finishing another round of War Craft. Turning, he faced me and smirked saying "And what took you so long? You weren't playing with yourself, were you?"

Blushing a bit under my fur (which thankfully was covered rather well) I said "No... I was just really relaxed and lost track of time."

Still smirking, he rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer screen. Rummaging through my drawer, I found a pair of boxers and frowned as I saw that they were my second to last pair. Thinking of when I was going to do laundry next, I slipped them on underneath my towel and unwrapped it, using it to dry my headfur and my shoulders.

Pulling on the pair of jeans from last night and buckling my belt, I returned to my dresser and pulled out a plain t-shirt. Walking back to my bed, I saw Thad looking at me again; I grinned and pulled on my t-shirt, and as my head popped out from the top I saw him begin to frown. "What's wrong?"

Shaking his head a little, he replied "Oh, nothing. It's just that you look so good without a shirt... and without pants... or underwear..." his voice started to trail off and he rolled his eyes.

I shrugged saying "I don't think I look good at all..." I poked my stomach and frowned a little bit "- a little too much flab round the middle."

Turning off the monitor and getting out of his chair, he walked to me and pat my tummy saying "Hmm, I think you're just right" He kissed my nose lightly, causing me to blush "Besides... you can't cuddle with a skeleton. Not nearly as nice believe, you, me I know this..." he rolled his eyes again and shook his head.

Smiling, I leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. "Best be off to Patriot. I'm kinda hungry, and you look starved." I turned around and held the door open as he walked past me and out into the hallway.

Taking a minute to shut and lock our door, I met up with him at the back door to our building... "So what's with you two?"

Looking at him a little confused. He elaborated "You and Jamie...I mean, you two are always together."

Shaking my head, we crossed the road, the cafeteria already in sight across our tiny campus. I began my explanation slowly "It's nothing. She's hellbent on proving that I love her or something. She's one of the types that just... doesn't give up. And last night-" I let out a low sigh. "It kind of blew up again." Nodding, he placed a paw on my arm and gave it a light squeeze.

"You'll figure these things out. Besides, they have a tendency to sort themselves out with a little provocation." Nodding slightly, I followed him down the stairs and into the large, wood paneled room that was our cafeteria. Having a quick look around, I saw the usual lunch groups milling around picking their seats carefully like they were back in high school. A few of them I knew and smiled. A white tiger sashayed over to us whom I recognized as a friend of Thad's.

"Hey boys. Didn't see you in class this morning, Thad."

"Nah, skipped out and slept in. College-y experimenting things seemed like more fun for me" He noticed my immediate discomfort as I leaned against the wall.

She looked over at me and back at him, "Well, you wanna come over and eat with me and Jessie?"

He shook his head and put up his paws, starting to lean towards the registers, "Nah, roommate bonding lunch experience today, thanks though. Take a raincheck?"

Getting the hint, I started after him. She called over to him "Of course Thad, I'll talk to you later!" and she scampered back to her table.

I followed Thad through the causeway leading to where the food is prepared, mesmerized by his swishing tail. He stopped and turned with a sly grin on his muzzle as he grabbed a tray and handed it to me, I tuck it under my arm and walk up to the deli counter, getting my usual sandwich; Thad having snuck over to grab a bowl of soup and a burger.

Walking over to the soda fountain, I filled up a cup of ice tea and another with Mountain Dew, knowing it was Thad's favorite drink. Turning around, I almost fall over as Thad appeared to have come out of nowhere "Aww... you got me a drink. How sweet"

Smiling and shrugging I nod slowly and hand him his cup, "It's not hard seeing as how this is all you drink." Turning away, he sauntered over to the cash registers, my eyes running over his form.

Eventually catching up to him, I quickly paid for my food and walked beside him as we made our way through the maze of tables to the far wall, made almost entirely of panes of glass looking out onto the hillside.

I put my tray down onto the table and slid into the both made for two, Thad sitting across from me and taking a sip from his cup. "So, do you want to eat a little first, or be bombarded now?"

Picking up a pretzel and nibbling on it I shrugged "Um, I guess we can talk while we eat? " my appetite seemed to have disappeared suddenly.

He picked up his spoon and started stirring his chicken noodle soup, dunking a small bit of bread into it and taking a bite, "What did you think of last night?"

Looking around bewildered, counting the numerous people who could have heard us I looked back at him as he started "Don't worry about them, they're so engrossed in their lives they don't have any interest in hearing ours."

Comforted slightly, I nodded slowly and started looking at my sandwich "I don't really know what to think. I mean, it was something I wanted to do... I guess. But I don't know."

"Well, what don't you know?" his spoon clattered against the bowl as he set it down and leaned in slightly.

Looking at him with a confused expression, I shake my head some more "What happened. Where that leaves me. Where it leaves you... there's a lot about it I don't quite understand."

"Are you confused about who you are right now?" a bit of concern started creeping into his voice.

"Maybe. Possibly... I don't know. Obviously I'm confused but I don't know if it's over that as much as what to do around it." The din in the large room felt like it was getting softer and softer, until all I thought I could hear was his and mine breathing.

I didn't know I was going to be so affected by whatever happened. It seemed completely fine this morning, on the way here, even when he was chatting to his friend. Maybe it was the head-on confrontation that shook me.

Assured, he leaned back in his seat "So let's run off what we do know, ok?"

I nodded.

"First, shit happened last night between you and Jamie. Second, you were angry, shocked a slight bit ashamed. Third, we fooled around. Safe to say that much, yeah?"

Somehow he knew how to cut it all down to the basics... "Safe to say, yes."

"Did you enjoy the fooling around?"

I looked abstractly out the window "Yes."

Shaking his head matter-of-factly, he stated simply: "Then there is an interest. That's that."

I placed my paws onto the table, gripping it "I don't think it's that simple... what in the hell do I do with Jamie?"

"Well, you said yourself last night that you didn't see her in that light. You've told her this, and she seems to not get the not so subtle hint. Unfortunately, the only course of action is intervention."

His logic was impressive. I think I admire him for his ability to wrap things up into neat little packages, although it's not always as simple as he lets on. "So, what do I do?"

He picked up his burger and took a bite out of it saying between chews, "Intervene. Tell her forthright that you don't want to be with her like that. Leave no room for misguided interpretation. It's exactly what I had to do back when I was in a similar situation."

Regaining my hunger, I took a bite out of my sandwich and washed it down with a healthy swig of iced tea "You had a neurotic psychopath claim to be in love with you, stalk you and hunt you down numerous times?"

"Well, not the exact... situation, no. But I did have to fight off this girl named Tanya. That certainly was interesting. I'm just glad I'm not in the same state as she is... complete nutso."

"Another thing we have in common then."

Setting down his half-finished burger, he took up his spoon again and started slurping at the soup "Oh yeah. She was crazy. She would leave me little notes and things in my locker; I didn't know she knew where my locker was. And she even became friends with my parents. That was weird."

I knew he felt my pain. "That actually sounds a lot like her. Scary huh?"

"Terrifying." His eyes got big. "Speak of the freaking devil.. Twelve o'clock, the nutter is making a bee-line to the table."

I felt the fear overtake me. "Dear God, what do I do?"

Motioning with his spoon, he muttered "Just roll with it. Roll with it."

I heard steps coming from behind, a rustling of clothing, then: "Tristan!"

Jumping from being startled I wheeled around "Hi hi."

Placing paws on her hips, she threw her weight to the side "Where have you been? You weren't in lecture this morning and you hadn't answered any of my IM's."

Stuttering and looking around, I was relieved when Thad jumped in "Yeah, my bad. I had a huge thing going on, kept him up last night... scout's honor to never happen again." He raised three fingers.

She glared at him and looked at me quickly, "Well don't ever let him do that again. If you need a place to sleep if he's being too loud tell me. You can have my bed."

With that, she huffed and turned around on her heels storming away. I turned back to a confused looked "That's how she acts? I mean, I haven't been around her very much, but that's very dramatic. And doesn't exactly leave too much to the imagination. Don't go to her room, she'll rape you. And turn you into a lampshade or something."

Visibly distraught, I sank down into my seat, "I think you said something to annoy her." My paranoia started to kick in a little bit, "Think she caught on?"

Blowing a raspberry and pantomiming pushing the comment away he said "No way in hell. There wasn't anything to catch."

"Other than you're a dick who keeps his roommate up all night."

He kicked me under the table "Only the dickiest roommate there ever was. Are you finished?"

Still unaccustomed to having more than 10 minutes to eat a meal, my plate was already clean. "I'd say, yeah." He snatched my plate and put it onto his tray, running off before I could object to him taking it for me. I smiled and shook my head, getting up and straightening my clothes before starting towards the door back to the dorms.

On my way passed, I waved at the girl who talked with us on our way in and found Jamie sitting with her friend. She glared at me as I walked by, making me move quicker to the door where Thad was already waiting for me.

We had to push through a throng of folks just getting out of class and on their way to lunch. Finally catching up to me a few steps outside of the doorway, Thad looked up at the sky and let out a sigh, a single raindrop plodding onto the bridge of his muzzle. "We had better hurry before it starts pouring."

I shoved my paws into my pockets, "The morning started out so nicely, how could it turn to shit so quickly?"

He poked me in the side "Mountain weather, how long had you been here before you noticed?" he lit a cigarette, picking up his pace slightly.

"I didn't know you smoked."

Letting out a cloud of smoke, he spoke softly, remnants streaming from his nostrils "You're just not very observant."

"Or you're very good at hiding things."

Putting the cigarette back into his mouth and sucking on it, he said "Us gays, we're good at a few things, particularly keeping things a secret and blowing." Creeping into a corner behind the dorm building, he stopped walking and stood still long enough to blow out a series of perfect smoke rings.

"That's eerie you know..."

Smiling, he took a last drag from his smoke and tossed it into the flower bed "It's a talent, apparently I'm great with my lips."

Beeping into the backdoor of our building, several fat rain drops splattered onto my shoulder before I stepped into the stairwell. The door slammed behind us just as it started to pour with a vengeance. Peering through the small window in the door, Thad looked back at me "Told you it'll start coming down."

"Yeah, yeah, Thad's great. I get it." Trudging up the half set of stairs and into our room, I kicked my shoes off and hopped into my bed, lying on my back.

Thad sat in his computer chair and squeaked around "You know, you're awfully calm about this. I thought I was playing it cool, but you're like Miles Davis."

I let out a sigh "I'm very introspective. What can I say..."

"Well, what are you thinking about now?"

"Many, many things. Wondering if I ever really felt anything for the past girlfriends, anything for girls now. Basically, if I'm interested in the fairer sex at all."

"Well, good luck. I mean, there really isn't anything I can say or do for you now."

Crossing my leg while still on my back I said "Yeah, I dig. Thanks though, you've been pretty helpful lately."

Spinning back around and pulling out a calculus book, he said triumphantly "All in a day's work... kind of. I work at night sometimes. It really depends though."

Chuckling softly, I dozed off shortly thereafter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was woken up to a light poking on my shoulder "Wakey, wakey sweetheart."

I knew that subtle lisp.

Grabbing a pillow and turning towards the wall I grunted "Go away."

"Fine. I'm going to go grab some food and head off to the library for a bit. All play and no work make Jack a failing student." He stroked the side of my head, I figured he was thinking of something because he lingered a moment before pulling on his jacket and creeping out the door.

A moment passed before I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and hobbled towards my laptop, logging on. There was a chat box opened from Jamie, I wasn't so shocked to see it. "Tristan! I'm sorry for acting like a bitch."

The timestamp said it was from just a moment ago. I figured she would still be there so I replied "Hey"

"What's up between you and Thad?"

She was being blunt. I don't think she was really sorry for being a bitch. "What do you mean?"

"You two looked different together today. What did he do to you?"

I could feel myself starting to get a bit angry. "He didn't do anything.. why do you ask?"

The box said she was typing out a message, it stayed that way for almost a minute. There was only two words in her reply "What happened?"

She was on to something and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

I figured she was going to go on a rant so I told her I was going to log off and do some work. I didn't wait for a reply because I knew that as soon as I was gone, she was going to be on her way here.

Slamming the screen of my laptop down, I quickly pulled on my shoes and grabbed a jacket, running to a room down the hall and knocking on the door furiously. The lion who lived there answered the door, his name is Tyler, he's a sweet guy. "Hey, do you mind if I camp out here a bit?"

Looking confused he stepped aside "Sure, come on in."

I stepped in and pressed up against the wall, mouthing a 10-count to myself, hearing a door slam in the hallway and a series of knocks. "Do me a favor and see if there is a lioness hanging outside my door."

He poked his head out the doorway and peered down the hall, nodding. "Somebody's there, and they look annoyed. What happened?"

"Oh, lover's quarrel. She's the devil, I'm a saint."

"Ah, I didn't know you two were dating." He shut the door.

"Yeah, me neither. Apparently it's in her mind that we are." I figured I would stay here until I know the coast is clear, maybe having him look in a minute.

"I can understand that. This guy I used to know hassled me like that. It was a bit off-putting considering I was already seeing somebody at the time. Boy was he a trip. Hopefully she doesn't get the wrong impression."

My shoulders heaved a bit from a sudden laugh, "Yeah, doubt that. Kinda hard to get the wrong thing when I've told her over and over I'm not like that."

He turned his head to the side "Like what? Like.. like girls like that?"

"Not so hot about that about now." It seemed to come out of me without any real hesitation.

"Didn't know that about you."

"You and me both. Thad figured though. Anyways, is she still hanging around?"

He opened the door again and poked his head out "No, she's gone. Have you eaten yet? I could tag along and watch your back or something."

I came up behind him and brushed passed him, patting him on the shoulder. "I think I'm going to try to catch up with Thad at the library. Thanks for the offer though, we'll have to some time."

He chuckled and nodded, closing the door as I walked down the hall and out the front door.