FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The dog--a black dog, an average height, brown-eyed dog--stood in the middle of the room--a large room, circular--, backed into a corner. In the midst of the crowd, he stood by himself, alone. He exchanged pleasantries, hellos, greetings with the people rushing by as he stood in silence. He watched across the open space as the doors and windows slammed shut. He--

"Kevin! Pizza's here!"

--dropped his pen on top of the odd jumble of freewriting he had been working on for the past few minutes. The dog's concentration was broken by the call and, now that he was paying attention, the smell of food. He scooped some money off his desk before heading out of his room to the kitchen where Ralph was already devouring his second piece of pizza.

"Jesus, don't eat so fast," Kevin said as the wolf put another piece on his plate. "I don't know the Heimlich."

"Save the lecture, Mom." Kevin marveled that Ralph could manage coherent words at the rate he was eating. "I know how to eat."

"Inhale, more like." Kevin piled four pieces onto a plate at once. He knew if he didn't take them all at once, his roommate would scarf the whole thing down and leave none for him. "Here's the money for the pizza," the dog said, placing a collection of bills and coins on the table in front of the pizza vacuum his friend had become.

Ralph spared only enough time for a nod as he took another bite. Kevin shook his head, moving to the couch to eat. He preferred not to watch Ralph eat.

As Kevin finished his second piece, Ralph hopped over the back of the couch to sit beside him. After a glance around and a quick feel between the couch cushions, Ralph had the television turned on and flicking through channels. "So, how was work?"

Kevin had just taken a large bite of his third piece. He struggled to get it down, not having the same eating prowess as his friend. "You know," he swallowed, "same old, same old."

"Bob's not still giving you trouble, is he? I still say you should just punch him."

Kevin's laugh came as a cough around his pizza. "Careful," said Ralph, looking all too serious. "Wouldn't want you to choke. I don't know the Heimlich."

Kevin punched him playfully in the arm. "No," he said as soon as he could breathe again, "that isn't necessary. He doesn't bother me anymore."

"That's good. Still, he would have stopped bothering you sooner if you had just punched him."

"Generally speaking, Ralph, punching your coworkers isn't the soundest business policy."

"Oh, come on, Kev, it would have been fine. Adrienne would have defended you, right? Isn't she always making eyes at you?"

Kevin looked very determinedly away from the wolf beside him, focusing on his fourth slice of pizza. Ralph only laughed at Kevin's apparent discomfort. The wolf turned off the TV, apparently finding nothing of interest on, and turned to observe his roommate more closely. "Anyway, me and some of the guys were thinking about--"

"No thanks, Ralph."

"Oh, come on, Kev. You never want to go out anymore. I mean, what do you do shut up in your room all the time?"

"Read, write, listen to music. Stuff."

Ralph snorted. "Stuff. Come on, man, don't just stay here alone again."

"Look, you can go. It's fine." Kevin got off the couch, going to set his plate on the counter. "It's not like I'll die just 'cause you're out."

"Come on, take some advice from me. You need some time out, away from all the day to day stuff."

"No, Ralph, I really don't. I'm fine."

Ralph stared at Kevin for a long moment. Kevin quickly became uncomfortable with the wolf's stare and looked away. "Fine," Ralph said. "What do you want to do here?"

Kevin quickly refocused on Ralph. "No, you can go out with the guys, Ralph."

"No, Kev, it's gotten to the point where I see them more than I see my roommate. They can survive a night without me."

"So can I."

"Oh, drop it, Kev, it's not like you ever win an argument with me anyway."

Kevin glowered at Ralph, who was quite unperturbed by the evil eye the dog was giving him. "So? What do you want to do? Cards, backgammon?"

"Ralph, it's fine. You can head out."

"Chess?"

Kevin moved towards his room. "Ralph, just go ahead with your plans. Really, I can survive a night alone."

Ralph frowned. Kevin rarely passed up a game of chess. He always trounced the wolf at it. "Kev--"

"Have fun, Ralph." Kevin entered his room, closing the door behind him.