FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Seven-o-clock the next morning, Rye woke up with Cloud still on him hugging him tighter than ever. Rye's heart beat slowly but strongly, and he was sure Cloud could hear it beating as he slept. Rye didn't wake up Cloud, but instead he kept his arms tight around the white otter and waited for him to wake up. After a few minutes, Rye started to gently stroke Cloud's fur being very careful not to wake him.

Only fifteen minutes went by before Cloud awoke, which Rye could only tell because his tight hug around him grew even tighter, making it slightly difficult to breathe.

Rye didn't say anything. He waited for Cloud to open his eyes and for him to say something, which Cloud didn't do for a long, yet pleasant minute.

"Good morning," Cloud greeted Rye looking up into his eyes.

"Morning," Rye smiled. Cloud returned the smile. Rye was relieved that Cloud was smiling again. "We should get ready; the party starts in an hour."

"I don't think I want to go," Cloud admitted. "I want to stay here with you."

"Cloud," Rye said with his smiling disappearing. "We still need to go out of the apartment. We'll spend the entire day together. No distractions, okay?"

Cloud looked down at Rye's chest before he answered. "Okay." Cloud got up off of Rye, unwillingly, and started to head for the shower.

Rye caught Cloud by the paw as he stood up himself. Cloud turned to look at him and Rye kissed him lightly on the lips. "We'll have fun, don't worry."

Cloud's smile returned and he travelled toward the shower again. Rye let him go this time.

Differing from the others, this party didn't involve the Beach Lagoon, because of the colder temperatures. Also making it different, this party wasn't funded by Ariel's parents but instead by the city itself. It was more of a festival than a party. Booths and rides were set up at the largest park in the city. Rye was excited, yet determined to make sure Cloud had a good time there.

Before nine-o-clock that morning, Rye and Cloud were dressed in their best clothes, well-groomed and in Rye's car heading toward the park. By nine-thirty, Rye and Cloud had already parked the car and were entering the fair that was just opening, already being flooded with the citizens of the city. Cloud and Rye's mood lit up when they saw the fair and they allowed themselves to have fun.

The two of them went through the shops first. They tried on sunglasses, and laughed at each other sometimes, tried on bracelets and necklaces, browsed through the hand-made plush animals commenting on how cute some looked, and of course they passed by some of the more unique shops that had things from crystal rocks to a specially made juice that was ridiculously overpriced. They weren't a big fan of the rides so they generally avoided that area of the park.

=Cloud, arm around Rye's waist, was walking down another aisle of shops when the sun reflected off of something and shined in his eye. Cloud was drawn towards it and dragged Rye with him. "Come on, I like some of these necklaces hung up over here."

"Alright, alright," Rye laughed as he tried not to trip over his feet when Cloud dragged him toward the stand.

Cloud observed what reflected the sunlight into his eyes, a flat metal paw print pendant hanging off of a leather strap near the back of the shop. Not concerned with how the sun reached the necklace through the tent, Cloud asked to see it while Rye was looking at the other necklaces and accessories hanging up.

"Can I see that one?" Cloud asked the kangaroo sitting behind the counter, pointing to the paw print necklace.

"Sure," the kangaroo said and got the necklace down. "This necklace has a colorful history." Cloud looked up at the salesperson with interest, but Rye also took an interest with less enthusiasm. "This necklace was found on Pawxer by Tong MacPaw himself, after he defeated General Anderson there. The local dinosaurs told him that it was a piece of a lost treasure that's been missing for thousands of years but they were so grateful that he found the lost treasure, they let him keep this necklace."

"Wow," Cloud muttered quietly to himself.

"Some say that they saw Tong MacPaw wear this necklace when he battled at the Reanimate's home world, and that it brought him good luck. Of course, any magic that would be in this necklace is passive and it's difficult to see what magic it really has. It seems like such an ordinary necklace but this necklace brings good luck to anyone who wears it. I wore it and my sales went up right away, and they've been high ever since."

While listening to the history, Cloud turned to Rye. "Let me put it on you." Before Cloud waited for an answer, he put his paws around Rye's neck and tied the necklace on him. The metal paw print rested just above Rye's heart and lay gently on Rye's chest. "It looks great on you."

"That it does," the female kangaroo agreed. Rye simply smiled and held the paw print charm up so he could see it. "After the Reanimated War, Tong MacPaw gifted this necklace to Canidera as thanks for the help we offered him during the War and now it has come into my possession."

"Do you like it?" Cloud asked with an unusual grin on his face.

Rye looked in a mirror that was hung on one of the poles that kept the tent up. "Yes," Rye said with a smile. "It sure does have a colorful history. But I'm sure it's worth a lot of money."

"How much is it?" Cloud asked the kangaroo without hesitation.

"Oh," she realized the relationship between the two otters. "How cute. For you, I'll give you ten percent off."

"How much?" Rye asked more firmly.

"Four hundred dollars," the kangaroo answered. "For you, I'll sell it for three hundred and fifty dollars."

Rye lost his breath as he gasped, not expecting such a high number. He started to take it off.

Before he could though, Cloud spoke up again. "I'll take it."

"Cloud, no!"

"Rye," Cloud said, grabbing Rye's paws to stop him from taking the necklace off and then he put his paws around Rye's waist with them resting just above Rye's tail. "I want to get you this and you can't stop me. Besides I want you to have something to remind you of me when you're off fighting. If this salesperson's story is true, it'll keep you safe. If I didn't buy this for you and something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself knowing I didn't do all I can to keep you safe."

"Cloud we're not even sure if this does have magic," Rye reasoned. "If you paid that price, it'd be your entire savings from working this entire season. And your savings from before we met."

"It's my money and you can't tell me how to spend it."

"I just don't want you to spend so much on me. And how will you pay for this. Surely you didn't bring six thousand dollars of cash with you."

"I wanted to find an artifact for you so I brought my money with me today, all of it."

Before Rye could say another word, Cloud turned away from him and pulled out his wallet. He started to pull out large bills and give them to the salesperson, while trying to block Rye's view of him paying for the necklace.

"That's enough," the kangaroo said as Cloud laid three hundred dollars in her paw. "I can't accept anymore from you. You two deserve this necklace."

"Thanks," Cloud said with a grin and turned back toward Rye who was examining the paw print pendant again. Rye's expression didn't match Cloud's.

"I wish you didn't do that," Rye said as Cloud took Rye by the waist again. "I'm not worth--"

"Stop right there Rye," Cloud said with some anger in his voice and his grin vanishing. "You're worth everything to me so don't you ever say that you're not worth it. I'd give all my money, all my assets, everything I ever owned, I'd steal anything and even give my life for you in a heartbeat."

Rye smiled as they walked away from the shop. "Whether I'm worth it or not, I'm lucky to have you. I wouldn't give my heart to anyone else but you."

"You are worth it," Cloud muttered with stubbornness but his anger was gone instantly. Rye's smile grew and he again looked at the charm while they travelled down the aisles.

Cloud wasn't the only one who came to the fair prepared. As soon as the couple reached the fair games, Rye paid for a dart game for Cloud.

"You play a couple rounds," Rye said. "I'll be right back."

"You said we'd spend the whole day together," Cloud said ignoring the darts that the skunk behind the counter laid out for them.

"I know," Rye responded. "It'll only take a minute. I'll be back before you finish the game, and then I promise we won't spend a moment apart for the rest of the day."

"You better get back here quick," Cloud said, stubbornly.

"I will." After Cloud turned his attention to the balloons on the wall with the darts, Rye turned and left. He went around the corner to find a photo booth, and he walked into the tent. It wasn't all that dark but computers were lined up against the wall to upload images.

Carefully watched by the Dalmatian in the booth, Rye went to one of the computers and plugged in a small chip. On the computer screen came up every picture Rye had of Cloud or of both of them together. He shrunk all the pictures to wallet-sized and printed them off but Rye hesitated at the last picture of the few dozen. Cloud didn't know he had this picture, since it was difficult for him to get. It showed their first kiss, in the pool that night so long ago. Rye retrieved it by going through the security cameras at the pool. The color was brighter and the water didn't distort the image but the clarity of the picture wasn't what kept Rye's eyes trained on it.

Cloud's eyes were closed perfectly and his perfect white fur moved with the water with his lips attached to Rye's lips. Rye's eyes were also closed the same perfect way with his fur also dancing with the water also. Only above their shoulders were visible in the photo, but the light that shined down through the water made the picture scream "secret love." It was almost as if they posed for this picture and Rye could sense the intense love that illuminated from this picture. Anyone who saw it would know how deeply the two otters care for each other.

Rye printed two wallet-sized copies of that picture then printed a larger copy on poster paper. He printed one more copy of the picture for a normal frame size. After taking the chip back out and closing his photos, Rye went to the Dalmatian to gather his pictures. The dog professionally gathered the pictures into an envelope, excluding the two large pictures and set them on the counter. Then he carefully rolled up the poster size picture and put it in a poster tube but the dog stopped to look at the frame-sized picture.

"Very cute picture," he commented. "Some people would kill to have something like this in their own life."

"Thanks," Rye said. "Can I get a frame to go with that?"

"Sure, which one would you like?" The dog asked and turned around to view the frames hanging up on the wall.

Rye considered how the frame would match his furniture so Cloud could always view it, and he eventually chose a black and silver frame with gold lining.

"Nice choice," the dog said pleased that he sold one of his most expensive frames. "That'll be $438.78."

Rye pulled out four hundred and forty dollars and gave it to the dog. "Keep the change."

The Dalmatian put the picture in the frame and put it in a bag with the

wallet-sized envelope. He then gave Rye the bag and the poster and Rye left after thanking him, heading back to Cloud.

Rye found Cloud throwing more darts at the balloons, each dart that he threw was followed by a loud pop! Cloud turned to look at Rye as he threw his last dart, and Cloud grinned.

"That necklace couldn't look any better on anyone else," Cloud commented then eyed the bag in Rye's hands. "What's that?"

"A secret," Rye smiled mischievously. "I want to put this in the car; you want to come along with me?"

"Of course," Cloud said grinning. "Oh and I won this for you." Cloud held up a good-sized plush fox that was built and sat like a teddy bear.

"Thanks Hun," Rye said with his smile turning into a grin. Rye grabbed the plush fox and held it under his arm.

Cloud kissed Rye gently on the lips. "No problem sweety. I can carry that bag for you."

"Thanks," Rye handed the bag over to Cloud. "No peeking though."

"Oh come on," Cloud laughed. "Fine, I won't peek."

They walked back to Rye's car together, only being stopped a few times by some of their friends but Rye and Cloud never let go of each other.

The rest of the day and party went on as usual but Rye and Cloud stayed closer together more than they did at the other parties. That night Rye pulled into the apartment complex and they grabbed their gifts out of the car and went into the apartment.

"So when do I get to see what's in the bag?" Cloud asked exhausted as he lied on the couch.

"You can go through it now if you want," Rye said lying on the couch in front of Cloud, still holding onto the plush fox Cloud won him this morning.

Reaching over Rye, Cloud grabbed the bag off the coffee table and set it on the floor in front of the couch. Cloud leaned over Rye, half-lying on him, and pulled out the poster tube. Cloud looked in it but didn't see the picture but realized it was a poster. Not thinking much about it, Cloud pulled out the picture frame next.

"Oh," Cloud exclaimed looking at it over Rye. "I don't remember getting a picture of us like that."

Rye looked at the picture. "That's our first kiss. It was hard to get from the security cameras at the pool, and I carefully enhanced the image and made the color shine out more. It took me nearly three hours to get it clear and the color full."

"Aw," Cloud said sympathetically. "It looks great, I love it. You shouldn't have spent so much time on it."

"I wanted to," Rye responded innocently. "That poster is the same picture; I thought we could hang it in our room while this picture stays out here."

"It's a great idea. What are these?" Cloud pulled out the envelope of smaller pictures.

"Every picture I have of you and us," Rye explained. "I'm going to go through them tomorrow and put my favorites in my wallet so I always have you with me."

"You'll always have me with you. I'll always be in your heart and you'll always be in mine."

"I know," Rye smiled. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Cloud yawned and smiled. "Aren't you going to take the necklace off so you don't strangle yourself?"

"I won't strangle myself," Rye laughed and he held up the charm again to look at it. "I'm never going to take this off."

Cloud giggled. They both fell silent and quickly fell asleep, with Rye in Cloud's arms and Rye's plush fox in his arms.