FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Wow," Cloud commented looking at the house in front of the driveway that Rye drove into, which was already crowded with parked cars. Rye parked and looked up at the scene. Ariel's house was obviously one of the most expensive in or near the city, and the lawn surrounding the house by many acres was populated by hundreds of families and high school students.

"Well, what do you want to do first?" Rye asked eyeing the race track where a cheetah was racing a horse. The cheetah won the sprint of course.

"I don't know," Cloud said looking the other direction at a soccer game in-progress. A kangaroo was dominating the field as if he were a professional. "I'm kind of hungry actually. I didn't eat anything since lunch."

"The food is inside," Rye informed Cloud, and then stepped out of the car to lead the way.

After they both ate their share of the food, the two otters walked back toward the massive lawn together to search for an activity to participate in. Before they could choose for themselves, they were recruited by Ariel's boyfriend, Patrick, into two different teams at a football game. Cloud was a receiver, and Rye assumed the responsibility of covering him.

"Go long Cloud," Patrick screamed, after the play started. He backed away from the line, preparing to throw the football. Cloud ran toward the endzone that Rye's team was guarding, but Rye was right on his heels.

"You're so slow," Rye laughed, trying to keep his breathing at the same rhythm.

"I'll still catch this," Cloud said, looking at the sky.

Rye reached out, grabbed Cloud by the hips, spun and threw Cloud to the ground, falling to the ground himself. The football landed a few feet away.

Rye got up and laughed as Cloud glared at him. "Looks like you didn't catch it." He stuck his tongue out at the white otter who was getting up.

"Whatever," Cloud stood up and walked with Rye back to the line. "You can't catch me again."

Rye chuckled.

But whenever Rye defended Cloud, the quarterback of the opposing team knew not to throw it to Cloud so Cloud never had a chance to catch a football. Soon, the teams switched, and it was Cloud guarding Rye now as he was acting as the receiver.

The first two plays, Rye wasn't thrown the ball but the third play, the ball flew through the air towards him. Running as fast as he can to keep up with the ball, Rye was about to jump to catch it when he felt something tackle him to the ground. He crashed to the ground with a thud.

"Ouch," Rye muttered, lying on his stomach. Trying to get up, Rye found that the weight of what brought him to the ground was still on him. He turned his head to see who was on him. Of course Cloud was saddled on his back, watching the football bounce on the ground.

"Payback," Cloud explained and winked at Rye.

"You pounced on me," Rye complained, still pinned to the ground with his head pulsing. "And it hurt."

"Sorry," Cloud apologized, his smile fading into worry. Rye could hear the apologetic tone in his voice and he knew Cloud meant it. "But I didn't 'pounce' on you, I merely tackled you. Perfectly legal."

"You just like seeing me on the ground below you," Rye said almost too harshly. "You can't best me at everything you do."

"No," Cloud agreed and thought for a moment. "We're pretty much equal in everything we do. I'm still just trying to think of something that I'm better at than you."

"Can I get up now?" Rye asked ignoring Cloud's comment.

"Sure, sure," Cloud stood up and offered his paw to Rye. Taking Cloud's paw, Rye was helped back on his feet but he felt lightheaded and stumbled. Cloud grabbed Rye's shoulder and steadied him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Come on; let's get back to the game."

With the two of them so evenly matched, they stayed defending the other for the rest of the football game until they got bored and left the game. Rye quickly forgot about his grudge when the pain faded, but Cloud continued to check to make sure his tackle didn't hurt Rye too much.

"Are you still in pain?" Cloud asked with concern when they were leaving the field. "I could go get some ice."

"I'm fine Cloud," Rye tried to persuade him. "Really, don't worry about it. Come on, let's play some basketball." Rye tried his best not to show it, but he was flattered to the point where his heart beat out of tune by Cloud's concern. "If it makes you feel better, I can tackle you to the ground."

Cloud laughed. They both were heading toward the basketball hoops. "I want to be on your team this time. I'm tired of competing. Let's just relax this game."

"Suits me fine," Rye agreed. Then he arched his back and stretched his body as far as it'd go, attempting to relax cramped muscles. The stretch made his shirt lift over his beltline, and when he relaxed he thought he saw Cloud glimpse at his exposed lower stomach fur. Rye didn't think much of it and pretended not to notice.

Cloud and Rye played and competed in several of the activities that were going on around the mansion, including video game tournaments going on inside the home. The sun started to set quickly, but the games continued for many hours into the night. Rye and Cloud were actually some of the first to leave and it was near midnight. The night exhausted them both.

"You still want to watch that movie?" Rye asked parking his car in front of his apartment.

"Yeah, but I doubt I can watch it all tonight," Cloud answered sleepily.

"We can watch half of it tonight then and the rest tomorrow if you want. Do you want to stay over for the night?" Rye asked casually.

"Okay," Cloud agreed. "I'm too tired to go home anyway."

Both of them clumsily walked through Rye's door and he locked it behind him as Cloud went to sit on the couch facing toward the television. After locking the door and setting his keys down, Rye turned on the television and the DVD player, plugging in Bolt. Rye sat down next Cloud and started the movie using the remote controller.

Rye's eyelids were heavy already and they only grew heavier. He didn't pay attention to the movie at all, and before it even began, he found himself asleep. He had no idea when or how he fell asleep that night.

Groggy at first, Rye awoke to the sunlight coming through the window the next morning. He first realized that he was lying down on the couch. His eyes were still blurry and his brain not quite awoken yet but he noticed something white and furry in front of him. Rye yawned and started to sit up when he realized that Cloud was lying the same way he was in front of him, with Cloud's back pressed against Rye's front. Starting to panic, Rye also noticed his arm was around Cloud's waist and that Cloud's tail was tucked between Rye's legs, pressed up firmly against him. Oh my God!

Hurriedly, but carefully, Rye jumped off the couch. Cloud adjusted how he was lying but he didn't wake. Rye shook his head in a panic hoping that Cloud didn't know whatever Rye must have done to him in his sleep.

They were just in the spooning position on Rye's couch, and he couldn't get it out of his head. In an attempt to distract his mind, Rye went toward the bathroom to brush his teeth.

I'll just pretend nothing happened, Rye told himself. I was asleep on the floor, not touching Cloud at all.

Before Rye could finish his morning routine, he could hear Cloud getting up with a yawn.

Just play it cool, Rye thought.

Not long after he heard Cloud get up, Rye went back out to the main room to see Cloud sitting up and stretching.

"Sleep well?" Rye asked smiling. Keep it normal, keep it the same as always, Rye repeated in his head.

"Yeah, I slept great," Cloud replied with a smile but slightly confused expression. "I don't remember falling asleep on the couch though. But then again I don't remember falling asleep at all."

"I was out before the movie began. I was on the couch but I woke up on the floor," Rye lied trying to be as convincing as he can. In the middle of the sentence, he was headed toward the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"I can't keep eating your food," Cloud said modestly with a smile. He got off the couch and headed toward the shower.

Rye started to gnaw on an apple, waiting for Cloud to come back out. Finding it easier to lie than Rye thought, he started to relax a bit.

Good, Rye thought. Cloud doesn't know about anything that I probably did to him last night. Damn myself to Hell for almost ruining our friendship.

Next to Rye lay an orange which was meant for Cloud's breakfast. Rye simply thought of the day before as he waited for Cloud, who soon enough came from Rye's bedroom.

Soon after Cloud came out of the bedroom, Rye lightly tossed the orange across the room to Cloud, who easily caught it.

"You don't expect to stay here and starve?" Rye asked amused. "Do you?"

"I guess if I died in your apartment, it'd make things look bad for you," Cloud laughed and started to peel the orange. "Are we going to be doing anything today? Let's take it easier than we did yesterday."

"We can finish the movie," Rye answered finishing up his breakfast. "Or go back to the pool for our one-on-one match. Play some more video games. Go to the library. You come up with some ideas."

"The movie was pretty good," Cloud said after laughing at Rye's last comment. "But we can watch that tonight when it's a more theater setting. We can just play a game right now, and head to the library later."

"What do you want to play?"

"It's your turn to pick the game."

Rye laughed and went toward the video games, and then started to sort through them.

The majority of the day was spent hanging out together, going around town and enjoying each other's company, until later that night when Rye and Cloud were finishing the movie they started before.

It was after ten at night when the movie was finished but neither Cloud nor Rye felt like going to bed quite yet.

"You want to do anything else?" Rye asked Cloud who was lying on the couch when the credits of the movie were scrolling up.

"Well, I still want to have that laser game but we'll do that tomorrow, first thing," Cloud said smiling.

"Actually," Rye said getting an idea. "We can sneak into the pool tonight and have the place to ourselves."

"Won't you get in trouble?" Cloud asked with worry.

"Even if we do get caught, we won't get in that much trouble," Rye said with a smile. He liked the idea of swimming with Cloud with no one else around.

"I don't want to get you in trouble," Cloud argued trying not to give Rye any false leads.

"The worst that can happen is that we're asked to wrap it up," Rye explained cheerfully.

"Well, okay then," Cloud agreed without his worried tone getting any lighter but he tried not to let it show. "I'm trusting you. If we get arrested, I'm ratting you out. My shorts are still at Beach Lagoon though and they're filled with chlorine."

Rye laughed. "You can borrow one of my pairs," Rye exclaimed, heading off toward his bedroom to get out a couple pairs of his swimming shorts out.