FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The bright sunlight nearly blinds the fox boy as he steps out of the hotel. He has to squint in order to get his bearings. Robert turns his attention to the broken-down taxi next to him. It is no longer billowing smoke from the engine, though the short otter is still working on it. Robert cautiously moves over to him and asks, "Do you need help with that?"

"Nah, but could you hand me the monkey wrench?" The otter holds out his left paw and Robert picks up the tool from the box on the ground next to him. After handing over the oddly-shaped wrench, the otter continues, "And could you put these pliers in the green compartment?" The otter hands him the needle-nose pliers, and Robert places them in the small, green bucket in the toolbox labeled: "Pliers."

"Thanks." The otter still does not remove his head from under the hood.

"Sure thing, man. I'm always willing to help out a brother in need," Robert replies in a cheerful voice.

"Well..." He stops fixing the old car for a moment to make a point to the fox boy. He sighs, "I'm most likely not supposed to mention it, but when you see me, you'll have questions, and it'll be a big ol' mess. I just want to prevent that from screwin' with your mind, so..." The otter finally stands upright, and Robert's eyes widen when he notices the size of his breasts. Or rather, HER breasts. The fox boy notices that he must appear dumbfounded to the she-otter, so he fakes an I-knew-it expression and sighs heavily. The woman continues, "The name's Lynn. Short Lynn-Anne VanDiesel. Still, most people call me by my stage name, Lala. How 'bout you, cutie?"

Lynn holds up a greasy and ash-covered paw to her face, which she spits on. She then reaches it out to Robert for him to do the same to his own. "Er, Robert. That's kind of..."

"Gross? Too much for ANY city folk, I guess..."

"Yeah... But I'll take the other hand." Robert folds his ears back in both disgust and embarrassment as he smiles, showing his teeth; slightly yellow from not having brushed them since the morning before. Lynn puts the monkey wrench in the hand she had spat on and holds out the one that was previously holding the tool. Robert shakes it before continuing, "So, Lynn, er... is there anything else I can do to help you? I mean BESIDES something that requires using a monkey wrench?"

"Actually I just have to tighten this last bolt, give it a kick, and it'll be working again. But since I'm a cab driver, I can give you a ride, if you want." Not willing to pass up the chance to shave hours off his trip, he accepts the offer without a second thought. "Now, if you'll just give me one sec, I'll get this working." After Lynn finishes tightening the last large piece of metal under the hood of the old taxi cab, she climbs into the driver seat and slides the key into the ignition.

After coming back around to the front of the car, Lynn harshly, but carefully, taps the bumper of the old taxi cab with her foot, bringing the clunker to life. The sudden loud sputters of the engine sluggishly turning on startles Robert a bit, making him jump. After clicking the hood closed, Lynn invites Robert into the back of her taxi, and Robert (still nervous from getting in a car with a near stranger) cautiously makes his way into the back seat.

As soon as the fox boy and the slightly older otter woman (by about seven years or so) are buckled in, Lynn breaks the awkward silence. "So, where you headed, cutie?"

Robert gives Lynn the address of his diner before he asks her, "Do you have a cell phone on you?"

"Yeah, who do you need to call?" Lynn fishes out an old flip-phone from the giant pocket sewn into the front of her overalls.

"Myself," Robert mumbles as he dials his own phone number.

Just then, Robert feels a very slight vibration coming from his pocket as the taxi speeds down the main road toward the outskirts of the city. He reaches into it, and pulls out his old KIN phone. The tiny green, circular slide-out phone could easily fit in his paw when it was open, and even though it wasn't a very good phone, it made him look a little better off. Robert hates his phone since it often freezes, but he has never been as relieved to see it as he is now.

"I take it you found it?" Lynn glances in the rear-view mirror and sees Robert's smile of relief while cradling his cell phone like it was his own infant child.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then can I have mine back?"

"Sure, here," Robert replies as he hands Lynn's phone back to her. Faking a nonchalant tone as he tries to break the tension and lighten the mood, Robert speaks without thinking, "So, I'm sorry for mistaking you for a guy back there. I just thought, with the overalls, and your upper body being hidden, and me not being able to start a legitimate conversation without reminiscing about my recent faults and errors, you know?"

"Oh, it's fine, cutie. In fact I take it as a compliment. I intend for people to think I'm a guy. That's why I dress like one. I never wear a skirt or dress unless I'm trying to impress someone I don't know very well." Lynn replies, giving an indication to Robert that it is okay to laugh, but Robert does not feel the need to. She continues, "You're not saying anything."

"Well, I've just never MET a transvestite before, despite having done it once myself."

Robert_had_ once gone out in public in a skirt and a spaghetti-strap tank-top that read "Free Hugs" on it. He also carried a leather tote bag on his shoulder, which had a gold buckle on it to keep the flap closed. Unfortunately, he ended up going bar-hopping like he was in Chicago. In the sixth and final bar on his route, he was very unaware of the fact that he was attracted to a chestnut horse named Geoff Sonnie, one of the other guys that was there.

Geoff had bought vodka martinis for the two of them (Robert assumed the horse was trying to imitate James Bond). He started flirting with the drunken fox boy, but as soon as the equine said he would "Take the boy home for the night of his life," Robert understood that Geoff knew he wasn't a girl. Geoff didn't seem to care, so it can be assumed that he's bisexual. Robert immediately leapt from his stool and sprinted towards the exit of the bar, but he only made it halfway there before he tripped. He was too drunk to get back to his feet after he had landed on the hard wood floor. Robert didn't remember what happened next, but he assumed that Geoff or someone else that was in the bar had picked him up, brought him up to the second floor, and rested him on the bed in the living area of the building, because that was where he awoke the following morning.

He had made his way down to the bar area with an enormous hangover from the night before. Slowly and carefully, he walked down the stairs, and almost fell as he was going down, but he caught himself on the railing immediately before he landed. He'd noticed that a grizzly bear was behind the bar, who Robert figured to be the bar tender, and he was making a break for the cute fox, rushing to help him to his feet. The old bear draped the boy over his shoulders, carrying him to a booth table in the corner of the bar.

He rested Robert down in a position so that he was sitting upright. The old bear finally spoke, "Kid, do yourself a favor and don't go bar-hopping at 15, y'hear?"

"How did you know I was 15? I never..." Robert groggily replied, hiccupping violently. He stopped, speechless, because the bar tender pulled out a wallet from a pocket in his apron, and Robert recognized it as his own. "How did you...?"

"As a bar tender, I probably shouldn't have, but when you gave me your fake ID when I gave you your drink, I had to give you some credit. I really was fooled at first, but when I held it up to the light, I saw its lack of validity. I knew I couldn't let a kid lose all his money, so immediately when you blacked out, I jumped over the counter, and grabbed it when it fell out of your bag so nobody else could get to it. And I probably said that way too fast for you to understand, so here's what happened: you fall..."

"Okay?"

"You black out..."

"Yeah?"

"And I pick up your wallet so nobody takes it."

"I see. Can I have it back now?" Robert was then letting his head tilt limply to the side as his face appeared to be turning green.

"If you're gonna blow, I just mopped, so do it in this. THEN you can have it back."

After forcing himself to vomit into the trash can the bar tender had given him, the fox boy reached out his paw and took the wallet the bear had left on the table. He put the wallet in the small pocket of the tote bag he was wearing. Robert finally asked, "You've been very kind to me. Is there a way I can thank you?"

"No need. It's the least I can do for a confused kid stuck in New Olive. Just don't do any heavy drinking until you're 18, alright? That's how you can thank me. By the way, the name's Gus. Your name's Robert, right?"

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you."

The two of them shook paws before Gus spoke, "So do you want toast with your eggs? I have a griddle behind the counter if you're up for a hot breakfast. I was gonna make some for myself anyway."

"Oh no, I can't..."

"You, my friend, are not feeling well, and I insist on you eating. Now, what would you like?" Gus raised his eyebrow and smirked as Robert thought it over.

"I guess toast is okay," Robert replied before trudging over to the bar stool and sitting upon it. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

"Do I really need a reason? Just be glad I'm not someone else. If I weren't me, I probably would've said, 'there ain't no way he's sleepin' in MY bed.'" Gus widened his eyes jokingly, quoting as if he were someone else, moving his arm around like he was drawing a Z in the air.

Robert giggled quietly to himself and smiled, blushing, thankfully as he whispered, "Thank you."

"Anytime, kid. Now eat up. You'd regret not doing so." Gus set a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and fried potatoes in front of Robert and the cute fox immediately picked up the fork he was also given, and took a bite of the beautifully prepared potatoes.

Robert is brought back to reality from the flashback of his first and only time out in public dressed as a member of the opposite sex by Lynn's voice saying, "Hey, cutie! We're here. Wake up and smell the roses."

"What? What happened?" Robert looks outside the paw-smudged window of the old taxi cab to see his tiny truck-stop diner standing right in front of him.

"Are you sure you want to stop here? I'll take you home, it's no trouble. I saw the hours on the window, and it said it's closed on Saturdays. Besides, winter's just around the corner and the weather is definitely showing it. The thermometer on my dash says it's a little under 50°."

"It's Saturday? Are you serious?" Robert now realizes that the previous day was when he got his weekly paycheck, which he gets on Fridays. "Hmm, then I guess you can take me home. Here's the address." Robert quickly pulls out the tiny notepad and pen he always keeps with him, scribbles his home address on it, and gives it to Lynn. "It's the gray one at the end of the cul-de-sac."

"You live there?" The otter points to the near side of the mountain on the left side of the cab. It isn't that far, but Lynn knows that Robert would have to go up an incline if he walked, causing him to be outside in the cold, early afternoon longer. She doesn't have the guts to make the poor fox boy suffer like that.

"That's correct. Why, is that a problem or something?"

"No, no. I just figured you wouldn't live somewhere as... well... rich. Just based on the hotel you stayed at, I mean." Lynn begins to drive the taxi towards the mountain and continues. "I'm sorry, cutie. That came out REALLY wrong. I didn't think..."

"Lynn, it's okay. Most people who come over to my house think like that. They're always like, 'How the crap are you able to even AFFORD this!?' Though they don't say it, I know they're thinking it when I see their faces." Robert chuckles loudly and blushes. "My secret, you ask? When both my parents were in the picture, they had enough money to pay the loan off in full, and they still had enough left over that we could still afford the basic necessities, like food, bills and what was left of the loan; just nothing big like a car. That's why I'm working two jobs."

"That's good and bad, then, I guess."

"I guess you could say that. I really do want a Genesis, though," Robert sighs as he slumps down, looking into his lap. Lynn does not respond with anything other than a glance in the mirror and a friendly smile. She doesn't keep up-to-date with new cars, so she doesn't understand the topic well enough to participate. Robert sees the confusion in the otter's sparkling eyes, and discontinues the conversation.

Neither the fox nor the otter exchange any more conversational chatter throughout the rest of the car ride, since they have nothing else on their minds. They're both utterly silent until the taxi comes to a stop in front of Robert's house. "Okay, we're here. Now scram, cutie!" The otter woman smiles showing teeth as she squints playfully at the fox boy.

"How much do you want?"

"What are you talking about? It's on me."

"Seriously?" The otter nods. "Well, then it was nice meeting you." The fox boy holds his paw in front of his muzzle, spits on it, and reaches out for Lynn to shake, which she does so after spitting on her own paw with a smirk on her face. "Also, what's the name of your band? You said your stage name was Lala, correct?"

"Yeah, but you wouldn't want to see me perform..." Lynn is now blushing violently and Robert can see it, so he decides not to pursue the topic any further.

"Then maybe I'll see you again sometime? Maybe I might flag you down in the city?" The fox boy asks jokingly and hopefully.

"Heh. Maybe. Bye, Little Fox."

"Bye!" Robert clambers out of the old car before shutting the door to the taxi and waving as Lynn drives away. Little Fox? Okay...?