FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ryan stirred slightly in his recliner chair. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot. Whatever breeze there had been had died down, and the sun was in full force. He lifted his sunglasses slightly, squinting in the blinding light. Over him was posted a large sign that read "Lifeguard on Duty". He turned slightly, getting a glance at the old looking clock that hung over the front of a restaurant across the street. Almost a quarter past noon. His mid morning nap had lasted longer than he had intended it too. He chuckled quietly to himself. He knew his nap-on-the-job was going to run more than its usual 45 minutes after a night of partying like that...

Ryan stood upright,, steadying himself as a wave of dizziness took over. He blinked quickly as his vision faded and then slowly returned. Maybe he stood a bit too fast. He looked out to the ocean. There was a handful of people camped out on the sand and playing on the surf. A surfer or two could be seen in the distance among the larger waves. His eyes wandered further down the beach until they met the more touristy parts of town - the large, 20ish story hotel parked almost directly on the sand. It had only been put up two years ago and was drawing pretty large crowds. Luckily those crowds didn't make it down to his section of beach.

Ryan turned and started to wander down the edge of the beach. A worn path of thick wooden boards snaked out in front of him. It was a good idea to use them during the midday, especially if you didn't have shoes. The sun tended to bake the sand to uncomfortable temperatures. Further off to his right was a thin line of shrubs, and then a thin two lane road that parallel to the beach all the way around the island. Across the street was a modest, three story hotel. Its pastel yellow walls and tan roof complemented the nearby beach. One of the older tourist destinations, a far cry from the newer mega resorts just a couple miles down the beach.

Ryan took a turn off down the path onto the sand. He shook his feet a little with each step trying to keep too much of the hot sand from building up in his sandals. He passed a repurposed, old school Airstream RV trailer. It's tires were buried in the sand, suggesting that it hadn't moved an inch in quite some time. Ryan could feel the heat being reflected off of its freshly polished silver surface. It was old but certainly not neglected. It was used as a surf shack, run by an older tropical bird of some sorts. He literally was a greying hippie; his colorful plumage slowly but steadily losing its hue.

As Ryan passed, he caught a quick glimpse of his reflection in the trailer's surface. He was somewhat vain when it came to appearances, and he liked what he saw. A nice, strapping leopard shark. He stood tall, six foot seven inches, or just a hair under 200cm if you were of a metric orientation. He had broad shoulders, was nicely toned, and the constant swimming kept him slim. If others had not been around he might have even flexed a little. His skin was a dark grey on his back with darker patches of almost black down his spine. There were tiny flecks of black here and there. The grey faded to white over his chest and down his stomach. On his left pectoral there was a simple, solid black tattoo of a peace symbol; hence his nickname.

After he was able to pull his eyes away from his reflection, he continued on to his original destination. The bar was a hundred meters or so down the beach from his lifeguard post. It operated on the beach almost 24/7, and was also Ryan's second source of income. If he wasn't pulling the occasional tourist out of the surf, he was getting them liquored up.

The bar looked deserted as he approached. There was one person seated at a stool, and a family a little ways off enjoying lunch together. The bartender was nowhere in sight. Ryan took a seat, glancing around for whoever was supposed to be working. He could hear some rummaging coming from beneath the bar. He peered over the counter. A petite feline rump, clad in revealing denim shorts, could be seen poking out of one of the cabinets under the counter. Its fuzzy tail flicked back and forth as sounds of rummaging and grunts of frustration emanated from the dark cabinet. A big, toothy grin spread across Ryan's face.

"Hey there sweetheart." He spoke loudly, giving a little wolf whistle at the end of the sentence. "How 'bout we get some service up here." He added a playful tug on the tail that was waving in front of his face. The patron across the bar shot him a nasty look.

"Who the hell do you think-" Miranda came flying backwards out of the cabinet, dishes and napkins spilling out in front of her. She stood slightly more than a foot shorter than him and was covered in short, soft brown hair. A grey tight fitting t-shirt and the denim shorty-shorts really didn't leave much to the imagination. Her fuzzy navel was visible above her shorts, and the t-shirt was cut to show off plenty of cleavage. She was a fine female specimen, too bad females weren't Ryan's usual type. Well, without considerable amounts of alcohol involved.

"You look so cute when you're angry." Ryan smiled again.

Miranda swept bangs out of her eyes, getting a closer look at her rude visitor.

"You jerk!" She shouted, cracking a smile. She flung a soggy dish towel at him, which he deflected with a swipe of his hand. "So, what's up? You working this morning?" She asked casually now gathering the spilled contents of the cabinet. The patron at the other side of the bar had walked off with a disgusted look on his face.

"You could say so." Ryan said with a hollow chuckle. He rested his head in his hand.

"So the usual then?" Miranda was now bouncing around the bar, gathering supplies and stacking dishes.

"Sure." Ryan shrugged.

"Virgin?"

"Me?" He flashed another toothy grin. "You'd be surprised."

"Not you, the drink." Miranda rolled her eyes. Her whiskers flicked, a sign that he was starting to actually get on her nerves. "You are working, right?"

"Oh yeah, right." Ryan spun his stool around, taking a look out to the beach. A large cruise ship floated by on its way into port for the weekend. He could see passengers as they lined the deck to get a their first look at the island. Miranda could be heard bustling about behind the bar and chatting casually with a couple of other beach goers that had wandered by.

"Here ya go, stud." She slid a frosty glass across the counter to him. He fumbled finding the straw for a moment. The little drink umbrella that Miranda always liked to include kept getting in the way. He sighed, pulled it out and tossed it on the counter.

"I don't need one of these with every one of my drinks." He muttered as he took a sip. Ice cold pineapple and mango- and the slight warmth of a dash of caribbean rum. He raised a brow. She did know him well.

"Whatever you say." She plucked the umbrella off of the countertop with a smirk on her face.

"I should get back to my post." Ryan stood, turning away from the bar as he sipped his drink. "Am I working tonight?"

Miranda rolled her eyes again. "What day is it?"

Ryan though for a moment, sipping on his drink. His back was still to the bar. "Friday?"

"Correct. What usually happens on Friday nights?" She asked as she rinsed out a glass.

"I work closing shift at the bar."

"See ya at ten." Miranda waved goodbye. Ryan stepped away from the bar, raised his glass at the bartender, and began to wander back to his post.

"Do you have a claim on him?" A bikini clad otter had wandered up to the bar, her voice seductive and her eyes dreamily staring after Ryan as he walked down the beach.

"Me? Miranda laughed. "Oh god no." She shook her head.

"Oh." The otter cocked her head, surprised at Miranda's reaction. "You were both laying the flirt on pretty thick."

"Yeah, that happens."

"Is he your adopted brother or something then?" The otter asked as she started poking through a menu.

"No.." Miranda shook her head.

"Oh. What, Is he gay then?"

Miranda snorted in response. She covered her mouth quickly and regained her composure.

"I take that as a yes..." The otter smiled. "I like what you did with the drink umbrella."

Ryan was halfway back to his post. Everything was calm, the same as usual. There was a handful of folks at the surf shack this time. Looked like they were handing out rentals. At least a beach full of newbie surfers might give him something to do this afternoon.

He could feel something tickling at the small of his back. He swiped at it absentmindedly. It soon returned. He glanced over his shoulder as he passed the surf shack, searching for the cause of the irritation in his reflection. His brow furrowed when he spotted it. Tucked into his waistband, just above the crease in his buttocks, was the pink drink umbrella he had discarded at the bar earlier. Miranda had added a big heart to the top in black marker. He spun it in between his fingers, managing a chuckle.

"Hey man!" The hoarse, stereotypically hippie voice of the surf shack owner shouted out. "I seen you lookin' at your reflection before, this is the first time I've caught you looking at your own backside!" He cackled.

Ryan managed to force a chuckle in return. If you looked close enough you might even have seen him blushing. He gave a friendly wave to the old bird and continued his walk.

"Just messin' with ya man!"

Ryan nodded again but wasn't sure the bird saw it. He quickly reached his post again. After plopping into his sun warmed chair, he twisted his mug into the sand to prevent it from falling over. He took one last survey of the beach before resting his head back and letting his eyes slide closed. He let out a long relaxed sigh. Even a curmudgeon like Ryan had a hard time complaining with a life like this.