FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The mid-day sun shined a comforting ray of light through the apartment window. Reggae could be heard from a set of studio speakers, adding to the easygoing scene. John sat at his desk, his chin propped up in his palm as he flipped through the web pages on his PC. He sat around in just a pair of boxer-briefs, which was normal for him on a lazy summer day.

He gave a small curse as he scrolled through an eBay page with an item that had been bought by, literally, a last minute bidder. It annoyed him that people could be that obsessed.

The white furred feline twitched his ears a bit and swished his tail as he checked the time.

12:30

The realization of what time it was made his stomach grumble. He hadn't even had breakfast that morning so obviously he was hungry. He didn't really feel like making anything so he grabbed his phone and scrolled through his contacts list. He selected one in particular and waited for the recipient to answer.

After a few seconds of ringing he heard, "Hey John!"

"Hey James, 'sup man?"

"Not much, messin' around on my bass some."

"Jesus dude do you ever take a break from that thing!?" John exclaimed sarcastically, "I swear you're always practicing whenever I call you!"

"Not always, I give myself some downtime," James replied in his defense.

"Yeah, but you're pretty much always cooped up in your apartment," said John with a mixture of exasperation and sarcasm in his voice, "which brings me to the reason why I called you in the first place."

"Wudja have in mind this time?" James asked in a sort of mock amusement. While he didn't mind going out with friends every once in a while, John would often times drag him out to random parties or bars. James wasn't much of a partygoer; especially when there was hardly anyone else he knew attending them.

"Just wanted to see if you wanted to go out to lunch or somethin', nothin' big," John answered nonchalantly, as if he gave these kinds of invitations on a regular basis.

There was a slight pause before James said, "Oh damn, it's that time already!? Jeez I've really been getting into it this time!"

"God James I'll never understand you," John said with a chuckle, "Seriously though, you up for some lunch?"

"Yeah sure, why not? Sushi sound good to you? I haven't had any in ages!"

"Works for me, I'll meetcha at Jubei's in a few minutes then. Later man!"

"Later!"

Plopping the phone on his desk he got up and sifted through his closet until he selected a navy blue t-shirt. He threw on a pair of khaki shorts, snagged his phone and keys, and headed out.

About twenty minutes later he found himself at the front entrance of Uncle Jubei's Sushi Bar. It may not have been the biggest or most extravagant of restaurants, but they definitely served the best sushi in the city- in John's opinion at least. And Jubei was an awesome guy to know as well, so eating there for John or his friends was an extra pleasure. As soon as he walked in an older looking akita bounded up to him with more grace than you would expect from a man his age. "Johnathan!" he called out ecstatically in a heavily Americanized Japanese accent. He shook John's hand vigorously, "Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too Jubei," John said back as he returned the handshake. The old man always seemed to be in a good mood, and it spread easily. John couldn't help but have a big smile on his face whenever he saw him. "How's business been treatin' ya lately?"

"Oh it has had its ups and downs," he said as he gave a 'so-so' gesture, "But I have never had a single customer leave unsatisfied," he added with a big, comical smile on his muzzle and giving two thumbs up.

John couldn't help but laugh at the old man's cheesy humor. "Great to hear," he said, giving Jubei a light pat on the shoulder. "By the way, you wouldn't've seen James come in have you?"

"Why does my timing always seem so perfectly in synch to you mentioning my name?" said a voice filled with sarcasm.

John nearly had a heart attack when he realized that James was standing right next to him; where no one had been a moment before. "Jeeezuz! How the fuck do you keep doing that?! You're like a damn ninja or something!" Jubei was laughing his ass off at John's spastic manner, and John was doing everything he could to keep himself from scowling as he tried to smooth his tail out.

James just looked at the other feline quizzically as he answered with completely sincerity, "I don't even do anything and yet people still get surprised... am I that hard to notice?" It was even surprising to himself sometimes.

James had some of the same features as John: tall, skinny, long black hair, and blue eyes for instance; except James' fur was light grey and his hair was thicker and always tied back when in public. He was also wearing khaki shorts today and had a white t-shirt with an amplifier brand logo on the front. Another thing he and John had in common was that they both had an affinity for necklaces. His were often the cheaper homemade accessories that one would often find from vendors at a festival or market while John's were more expensive and made of some sort of metallic substance. People often thought that they were brothers because of their similarities, but there was no family relation whatsoever; just good friends who happened to have similar traits.

Once John had finally settled down Jubei led them to their favorite table, which was seated under an elaborate portrait of a Japanese cherry tree. James never tired of looking at it whenever he was there.

They made their orders rather quickly; having most of the menu memorized they knew exactly what they wanted when they first stepped in. They sat in silence for a moment after their water glasses were filled, then John decided to break the ice.

"So other than practicing for a million hours on your axe, what else has been going on with you?"

"Mmh, just regular day job work at the record store really. Not much else after last Saturday night's gig."

"Didja finally fuck that Russian chick that's been hangin' all over you these past few months after said gig? I know she was there!"

Rolling his eyes in exasperation James answered, "Will you shut up about that already!? I've told you, she's just very friendly, she treats everyone like that."

"Oh she was being especially friendly to you that night. She looked like she was gonna rip your clothes off and have you fuck her right there on the stage man!"

"She was just overly excited is all, she's not like that," James said in a defensive manner. "It was just her first time seeing us play and she thought we were amazing."

"She thought you were amazing you mean!"

"Fuck off," spat the grey feline, fed up with John's persistence on the matter. John couldn't help but chuckle.

The girl in question was an Arctic vixen by the name of Vera. She was an international student from Russia that they met at the college they both attended. She was only a music minor when they first met her but then switched to a music major at the end of her first spring semester. John had always interpreted her behavior around James as her hitting on him, whereas James would deny that theory and say that she was just really nice. He had seen her act similarly to other people before. John never stopped pestering him about it ever since.

"The signs keep getting more obvious every time we see her! She's even a music major now dude; she's trying to get even closer to you!"

"She's a talented pianist, and has gotten even better over the past year thanks to Dr. Jordan; of course she would want to switch to being a music major!"

"I think she's trying to get her fingers on more than just piano keys by this time."

"Dude shut up already! I told you she isn't like that!" James' voice was almost at a yell by this point, and he started glancing around to make sure people weren't staring.

Their conversation was interrupted for a moment as a waitress came by with their rolls. James didn't hesitate in starting, partly because he was starving and also because he was hoping the silence would give him a moment to think of something to change the subject. John didn't give him the chance.

"Look, the only reason I keep bugging you about this is because she's hot as hell and really nice... and yet you haven't even made a move on her yourself. I know you like her."

"As a friend yes, I just don't think she'd be right for me is all."

"What the fuck! It's not like you have to marry her or anything. Why do you have to act so celibate all the time?"

"I'm not celibate, I'm a prude. There is a difference. Plus I don't like to brag about my 'conquests' like you do."

"Whatever! Prude or not, I'm just confused why you haven't tapped that fine ass of hers yet. She looks more than willing."

Heaving a deep sigh that was full of irritation at his vulgarity James looked straight at John's face with a look that seemed just as irritated. "Okay look, if it'll make you shut up I'll try and ask her out or something the next time I see her. Just don't bug me anymore about it right now alright?" He stuffed a piece of spider roll in his mouth as if emphasizing the fact that the current topic should end.

John raised his hands in defense and nodded his head, "Fine, fine. But don't think I won't wonder about it later." He left it at that, then picked up his own chopsticks and started on his own meal.

After a few minutes of silence James had cooled down to his regular laid back self again. He could hardly ever stay irritated for very long, especially with John; they were the best of friends after all.

He looked back up at the white feline with a more calm expression this time as he asked, "So what have Darius and Max been up to since Saturday?"

John took a minute to swallow before answering. At least he was well mannered enough not to talk with his mouth full. "Max has pretty much been partying every night and sleeping for most of the day when he isn't at the auto parts store. Bastard's been gettin' more tail than I do in a month," he added with a sarcastic sneer. "Darius has been in his studio working on what could be a new song for us."

"Cool, I'll have to stop by his place later this afternoon and check it out."

"You wouldn't've happened to talk to Jesse lately have you? I haven't really seen him since Saturday, and he kinda disappeared right after he helped us pack."

"I talked to him yesterday. He told me he had started his new job on Monday but he wouldn't tell me what it was; only that he would be working evenings and some nights. He did reassure me that it wouldn't interfere with band stuff though."

John raised an eyebrow, "Job? He has a full-ride scholarship and his family is loaded! What's he need a job for?"

"He says he wanted to try earning a little money himself, and the job he got was something that he had wanted to try doing for a while now."

"Kinda sketchy though, dontcha think? Not telling us what he's doing part time?"

James just waved a hand with a "pft". "He sounded pretty embarrassed about it from what I could tell, but I doubt it's anything that bad. Although the only thing I could think of that he'd be that embarrassed about is working fast-food or something."

John just shrugged. "I dunno, while it would fit I doubt it would've been an interest of his. He is kinda a health nut, and not much of a people person off stage. I can see how he'd feel ashamed of working somewhere like that, if that was all that was available I mean. He'd at least have a choice in the matter though, unlike us po-mutha-fuckas that still have to pay our own bills."

James raised his water glass, "And here's to hoping I won't have to rely on fast-food for income ever again!"

"Amen," the white feline responded merrily as he raised his own glass and clinked it with James'.

Their meal continued with a little small talk for a while until their plates were practically licked clean. As they let the contents settle in their bellies they discussed plans for hopeful future gigs for the band and a couple jazz trio dates they had set up for one club that they started playing at regularly for a few months now. Feeling more than content they paid for their meal, tipped their waitress, then headed to the front door in a leisurely pace; saying a quick goodbye to Jubei as they walked out.

"So what about that sort-of Irish pub we visited a couple weeks ago? I heard they might have been interested." James asked as they stepped outside.

"Dublin Square? I got ahold of the manager last Friday and he said to send him any footage or recordings we've made before he makes a decision. I have a video in mind but I'd rather wait until Marty's finished editing those originals so I can show him something that's more 'us', ya know?"

"Speaking of originals I think I'm gonna head down to Darius' to check out what he's got. You want to come along?"

"I'm gonna swing over to the music store down the street here to pick up some new strings first. I'm sure I'll forget later otherwise. I'll meet you there."

"Cool, see you in a bit then."

"Later!"

A few paces later James turned his attention to the sultry summer weather. Even in the buzz of city activity it gave a feeling of calm for him, and he felt he could take his time getting to Darius' apartment. Snippets of the previous conversation with John came back to mind to disrupt his peace and led to thoughts of Vera.

He couldn't deny his attraction to her, but he couldn't see what John thought he saw her display. It was true he was much more reserved as far as even talking about physical attraction, but that didn't mean he didn't ever think about it. He was still a typical male in some ways at least. What bothered him was the thought of performing such acts on someone as beautiful as her, even if she begged him to do so.

It was also true (or at least he thought so) that he felt she wasn't right for him; or, rather, he didn't deserve her. Plus there were other confusing factors that held him back from wanting to delve too deep into pursuing a relationship just yet- things that didn't relate to being a working musician.

He forced the subject out of his mind. He quickened his pace, slightly annoyed that he had let such thought's ruin a gorgeous summer afternoon. He feigned contentment however, hardly one to bring his emotions to light in front of other people if he could help it. He tried instead to wonder what style Darius might have chosen for the new tune.