FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is a colllaborative work in that I have taken an ongoing roleplay with a friend of mine and reworked it into more of a story form. Enjoy!

I wonder if she'll show up today? Tod mused to himself while sprawled out across his usual tree branch close to the edge of the city park. It was midmorning in early summer and the weather was simply beautiful - a perfect day for lazing about and people watching. Today however, he was looking for a particular someone. He was a long-time resident of Southhaven, a coastal town that was practically a suburb of the larger seaport city nearby, and he recognized most of the actual residents who visited the park regularly. As a popular tourist spot Southhaven offered the lazy genet a constant stream of interesting people of all kinds of species to watch. Rarely did the tourists return to the park more than once or twice, but for the past week someone had caught Tod's attention, someone he hadn't seen before and who had visited the park every single day which was unusual for either residents or tourists.

That was only the beginning of the oddities for this particular person. She was some kind of reptile that he couldn't identify, nothing really out of the ordinary really considering his limited experience with the cold-blooded types, and she wasn't excessively tall at maybe 5 and a half feet. The canine looking ears were enough to make him wonder if she had some draconic heritage, an idea further enhanced by her covering of smooth matte-black scales. Perhaps it was the clothing she wore that was the tip-off that something was different about her. A sports bra (breasts on a reptile?) and matching BDU pants printed in a digital "urban camo" design was kind of unusual attire for a female, though he'd seen similar before. "No," he decided. "It's not her clothing."

About the time that he was trying to put a finger on just what it was about her that piqued his interest, there she was. He mentally kicked himself for getting lost in thought. He had yet to see her actually approach the park so he could figure out what part of town she came from. She seemed to show up in a different part of the park every day, though her habits were the same. She would quickly look over the general area then find a place to settle out of the main flows of pedestrian traffic and then just watch people, sometimes even staring. People noticed her observing them and tended to move on or avoid where she was sitting. After the first couple of days she seemed to have caught on that people don't appreciate being openly ogled and she was more discrete about her watching, but to the genet who had been watching *her* for the past several days it was clear that she didn't really understand social graces. He couldn't help but wonder where in the world she could be from, and why she was hanging around town in the park of all places. This was too much of a mystery for him to stay away from. Cats don't have the corner on curiosity!

Today he was in luck. The bench that the reptile chose to sit on was near his tree. Normally he could stay up there and be lazy undetected except by the few residents who knew his habit of hanging out in that particular tree. It was fun sometimes to scare people by dropping down out of the leafy cover, but he decided that would be the wrong approach for this situation. Once she was settled and surveying the area he gathered up his courage and called out to her from his branch. "Hello there."

***************

Log entry: day 9 since my escape from the lab. Internal systems diagnostics confirm that all homing and tracking systems are still offline. A permanent solution to disabling those subsystems should be possible, though I have been unable to locate a source for suitable electronics. My initial assessment is that supplies available to military personnel may be difficult to obtain outside the lab. I will continue searching. Injuries sustained during my escape have healed completely and all bullets and shrapnel have been expelled.

I have established a temporary camp in the marshes north of a coastal town called Southhaven approximately 900 kilometers southeast of the lab. Game theory scenarios suggest that this is an optimal distance from the remains of the lab facility to allow me the maximum amount of time to learn how to integrate with civilians before agents determine my whereabouts. The town is small enough that surveillance is minimal but hosts a large variety of species and cultures. My presence should not seem unusual here. I have started observation in a part of the city that is intentionally reserved as semi-natural called a park. Civilians not engaged in purposeful activity visit the area which gives me the opportunity to see how they interact with one another. I must learn to blend in to bide time for me to prepare an effective assault on other facilities.

Civilian interactions are much more complex than anticipated. Most form associations with others, especially of their own species but not constrained as such. Associations form most commonly among similar age groups and what appear to be mated pairings are very frequent, even among those who are too old, too young or of the wrong genders or species to be able to reproduce. Emulating some of the emotional responses at the correct times may prove difficult without a suitable training regimen.

I have been noticed by a resident of the town, a male genet who seems to spend most of his time during the day up in a large oak tree observing people much like myself. Scans confirm that he is not carrying any electronic surveillance equipment on his person. He does not wear clothing like many of the other people here, though nudity is common enough in the town. He is 5'8" tall and weighs approximately 130 pounds. His size indicates he is not feral though he is equally at home on 2 or 4 feet and is well adapted to an arboreal existence. So far he does not appear to be a threat, merely curious. This may pose an opportunity to further my understanding of civilians. I will sit near his preferred tree today and see if he initiates contact.

*******

The reptile turned her head up in the direction of the offered greeting, not surprised by his voice. "Hello," she replied looking directly at him. The genet smiled warmly and hopped down a couple of branches in order to make conversation more comfortable.

"I've noticed you here at the park the last few days. Did you move here recently?" he asked, trying to start up conversation.

She looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes."

"Well, welcome to Southhaven then! It's a fun little town, not too busy, but lots of things to do and people to meet. Where'd you move from?" he asked her while scooting out along the branch getting closer.

She noted his slightly raised pulse, the areas where blood flow were greatest and his facial expressions against her internal database to best guess his intentions. Curiosity and friendly demeanor. 88% likelihood of benign interest. Deception recommended. "My previous domicile was on the east coast," she replied - a half truth.

"An east coast girl, huh," he said, still smiling with his tail curling around the branch he was on. "Trying to get away from the busyness of big city life I'll bet? Yeah, it's definitely more laid back here." He shifted his weight and hung upside-down from his branch by his claws, looking relaxed doing so.

After noting the amount of strength and pressure was required to hold him in that position and cross-referencing cultural references for 'laid back' against her internal database, a practically instantaneous process, she nodded her head. "It is much slower and less demanding here than my old home," she agreed, adding a slight smile at the end to test his response and her own adaptation.

Seeing her smile, he grinned back. Making some headway, he thought while giving her a quick looking over, disguising the fact by letting go with his hand claws to hang suspended by just his toe claws.

Her enhanced senses caught the fleeting glance and her constant awareness of his vitals brought a correlation with some behavior she had watched with others in the park. A pre-courtship ritual, she guessed. Finding this mildly intriguing she chose to neither encourage nor discourage his interest. It could prove useful later.

The genet raised his arms over his head and then dropped down from the branch landing gracefully on all fours much like a cat. He stood back up and padded to her brushing some stray bark and dirt from his coat. "Can I get you anything? There's vendors on the east side of the park and the coffee at the coffee stand is much better than the big chain places." He gestured in the direction of the mentioned cart and stand vendors then offered his hand. "I'm Tod by the way. It's nice to meet you." Again that smile.

She had long since compromised the most secured wireless network access points in this area of the town with her built in IROS (Interrogation and Response Operations Subsystem) chipset and now used one of those compromised nodes to cross reference 'coffee' on the Internet from multiple sources. At the same time she looked up female names that were common in the geographic area.

"I do not require a stimulant at this time, Tod," she replied as she placed her same side hand in his and laced fingers like she had seen others do who were mutually attracted to each other. "My name is Sally. It is a pleasure to meet you too."

Tod looked down at their joined hands, then back at her face and let go of her hand with a somewhat nervous smile and a half step back. "Heh, I didn't mean for the pick me up. I'm more or less immune to the stimulant effects of caffeine myself unless I have a whole lot of it. I just like the taste of coffee."

She immediately noticed the change in demeanor as well as the increase in pulse and heart rate. Miscalculation. She looked at her hand and then let it lower to her side again, looking back to the genet's face. "I understand," she said and then studied his face as she added, "Did I do or say something offensive?" She splayed her canine-looking ears slightly as she had seen with others who were admitting fault to an offense.

Tod held up his hands in front of him and shook his head. "No no, you didn't offend me," he was quick to reassure with a smile. "You just surprised me is all. I was expecting a handshake, not, you know, holding hands."

She frowned. "I do not understand. I thought you were attracted to me."

He laughed nervously again and rubbed the back of his neck, ears flushing. "Well, yeah, I do think you're pretty," he admitted. "But I'm just trying to meet you, you know? Not get into a relationship or anything." He noticed the blank look on her face and perked his ears, instantly curious. "You really don't understand, do you?" he asked.

She considered a moment, then shook her head. This experiment was turning out to be a failure and increasing her risk of discovery. "No," she said flatly, while assessing the area with her scanners to determine the path of exit least likely to attract attention and avoid passive surveillance devices.

He tilted his head looking at her. "Wow, you really are out of your element here, aren't you? Where did you say you're from?" he asked.

"I am very far from home," she answered choosing her words carefully. The genet might become a liability even if she did leave. I will have to lure him away from here and deal with him in private.

He simply grinned in response and nodded his head, an unexpected response. "Ok, I hear you. There are a lot of people here who aren't keen to talk about their past for one reason or another. I won't ask you any more about it. Wherever you're from must be very different from here. Oh! So *that's* what you've been doing! You have been coming here to the park to study people and local customs haven't you?"

She continued watching his eyes as she nodded. "Yes. I am trying to learn the customs here," she replied, her processors running at blinding speed to try to evaluate the best course of action and her current risk level. Had she really been that indiscrete that anyone could figure out what she was doing?

"Well then, you have come to the right place, Sally," he said cheerily, still smiling with his tail swishing behind him. "I watch people all day long and I've lived here all my life. I'd be happy to teach you what I can if you don't mind having a scruffy genet as a teacher."

It only took her a moment to decide. She could discretely follow the genet to monitor his activities later and determine if he was a potential informant. In the meantime she could learn some valuable information on social interactions. "I would appreciate your help," she said with a nod and then added a smile to try to match his. "How do we begin?"

Tod laughed and then held out his hand to her like before. "How about here; greeting someone new. Hold out the same hand as I am and clasp it. Right! Like that. This is a handshake. It is a common form of greeting when meeting someone new. Hi! I'm Tod. It's nice to meet you," he said.

She clasped his hand and applied the same amount of pressure as he was to her hand. "I am glad to meet you too, Tod. My name is Sally," she replied, mirroring his smile.

"There you go, Sally. You'll notice that this pretty much requires face to face contact. A handshake is a way of extending yourself past your personal space and letting the other person know that you are open to talk with them. Those kind of non-verbal postures communicate things that are important, but don't necessarily get said explicitly. Now give me your other hand like you did before."

She reached out her hand and he took it, though did not interleave fingers like before.

"Now this is holding hands. See how it makes it easier to be side by side with each other as opposed to face to face? This says to anyone looking that we 'walk together'; we like each other. There are some other subtleties too. Males don't hold hands like this for example unless they are romantically interested in each other. Females do when they are younger and it indicates that they are very good friends. When males and females hold hands like this it means that they like each other and more likely than not are dating or interested in doing so. Now when you change to this," he said and shifted his hand to twine fingers with hers. "This means, 'we are a couple'. We are in a serious, possibly exclusive, dating relationship or are mated. It is a more intimate type of hand holding."

Her eyes opened wider as the realization hit her. "I am sorry. I did not mean to imply anything like that," she said splaying her ears again.

He grinned. "No need to apologize. You didn't know and like I said, I do think you're pretty." He winked at her.

She perked her ears. "What does that mean? Blinking one eye like that?"

"Oh, that's called a wink. A wink is.. " he paused for a second to think through what a wink means. "A wink says 'I'm letting you in on a secret between just you and I' or that the words that I'm saying and what I'm actually thinking or planning to do may be different from the implied meaning. What I meant by it just now was that holding hands with you wasn't offensive. The idea is flattering. I'll have to remember to be explicit with you for a while until you learn more."

"That will be the best course of action, yes," she agreed with a nod. "What does it mean when.."

They both took a seat on the bench then, Sally asking questions and Tod explaining as best he could about behavior she had observed. It was nearly sunset by the time they decided to call it quits for the day and go to their respective homes. She followed him discretely to the local animal rescue center, where he was greeted by the volunteer who was about to lock up for the day. He went inside and was locked in. By himself, she noted and then slipped into the shadows to make her way back to her camp.