FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

so yeah, two chapters in two days. im finally finding my editorial groove now that the smesters over! feels good :D

Chapter 9

Calper and the rest of them at the table seemed like nice enough guys for the few brief hands Ricky played. Ricky had a psychologist's mindset, and unlike most people, took mental notes on what most people just see and not think about; like a character bio for a movie or book...a profile.

Felix was the big wall, quiet and impossible to read, formidable and somehow comforting. He spoke his mind in a big deep voice fitting his size, daring anyone to challenge what he said, but still he gave you that sense he wouldn't hurt a fly, at least not unprovoked. He had short brown fur all over, except the tan on his stomach, visible on his shirtless form, displaying muscles Ricky knew were worthy of any gym Earth or otherwise.

Griffin had been the joker, lightening the mood with his quips and wit, somehow filling the roll of the little brother with his size, even though he was the oldest. Compared to the others at the table he was little, smaller than Ricky even, the orange fur atop his ears meeting Ricky's forehead at the most. The only other thing noticeable about him were his clothes, he seemed to be wearing something like a mechanics outfit, goggles on his head, bluish pants and an open denim vest. Ricky wasn't a fashionista but he knew through experience the Varius had an interesting sense of style.

Miki was still Miki. The cocky leader like one with the can do attitude. Credit where credit was due though, he seemed like a kind leader, laughing with the group, and at the same time, willing to let Pence just assume control in the moment, at least when they didn't have conflicting interests. He was much loved it seemed, and deserving of it. Ricky was not soon going to forget their little issue earlier and how quick he was to act when Maxie was seemingly in trouble.

Klain...freaked Ricky out. He was jittery, spastic, and unpredictable, his eyes seeming to note EVERY little detail. The Dobie wore jean shorts and had his pointed ears pierced to hell, sporting a variety of rings, bars and on the left a spike for a potential gauge. On his right arm there was even a Varius tattoo on his fur; the black fur met a white symbol that to Ricky meant nothing. It wasn't as clear as a skin tattoo, but it appeared to be more than dye, and probably equally as permanent. How that worked Ricky hadn't a clue, but either way he was still un-easy around the guy, not exactly trusting that looks.

Namy was the cool collected one in the group. He laughed and joked with the other guys, but also seemed just as happy watching and observing them. Ricky got the distinct feeling that while he himself was trying to 'read' Namy, the husky had been trying to do the same, so all Ricky really got was equally sketchy physical attributes. The husky was very fluffy, white and brown with the same heterochromia as an earth husky, one brown eye, and one blue; but his fluff blocked any other particular features of his body. His personality was more than enough to establish that he was the quiet type; smart, and collected, not a total social pariah, but not willing to just dive into anything either.

And that's what Ricky got out of them in three minutes, and they were pretty accurate notes.

Calper held the door open for his guest and Ricky stepped in immediately so he could say he didn't pause before entering a home like, five times in a single day. "Let's get to talking about you, okay? I'm very curious to see what type of person you are, and your background and what not," the pig went on, running off to what Ricky by now could assume was the kitchen, and returned with two cans and a papery bag of snacks. "Ever have Wicks? A bit spicy but so good."

It felt like an interrogation, a rousing game of 20 questions. Ricky still remembered Namy pulling him aside for a moment at the poker table telling him Calper might need to be cheered up. In fact the husky unintentionally made it Ricky's mission to help the pig out. He had been nothing but a burden that day and he wanted to at least do a little good for his new...friends? The group? He was unsure how to lable the positive first day experiences.

The two were seated in the living room, well, Calper dragged Ricky to a seat in the living room, taking the opposite side of the long couch he put Ricky on, popping the top on his beverage and placing it on a glass table before handing Ricky his own set. The glass on the table was reflecting the lighting like diamonds. Another thing Ricky noticed, the room did not smell. Though pigs lived here it was as clean and fresh as any of the other rooms, Calper being the sole exception, a slight musk about him like he had just gone for a run. It wasn't bad, but noticeable among the other fresh scents.

"Well," Ricky started, placing the two foodstuffs down and turning to Calper, "For starters I wanted to be a psychologist." He let that hang there to gauge Calper's reaction, and with either skill or true indifference, his face remained steady, an excited grin just managing to form on his lips. Most likely from Ricky sharing at all and not from the particular bit of information.

"That's cool, what do you mean 'did?' What do you want to be now? That seems more important doesn't it?" He noted, opening the bag of apparently spicy little orange snacks that looked just like thick cut potato chips.

"Umm, well this big move happened," Ricky stated, gesturing around and grinning a bit. 'Big move' sounded cross-country and that was a major understatement, this was a move of previously impossible lengths.

"So? Is that it?" The pig asked, crunching on his 'chips' for all intense and purpose. "Ricky you can still be a psychologist, you think Varius are one hundred percent sane in all cases?" He laughed a bit, "Klain is on two different drugs for shit," he noted, "Miki was on something for depression, " he continued, "It doesn't matter where you are in the universe. If you have a society of any sort someone has problems to think about and issues to deal with. The more complex the social system, the more the issues, and not to brag," he said, shinning a hoof on his chest, "But uhh, we Varius are pretty complex."

Ricky laughed a bit; Calper snorted making the giggles extend just a bit longer than intended, Ricky just now reaching for his drink can, popping the top. He kinda wished it wasn't his 'job' to make Calper feel better, "Even you Calper?" Ricky breathed loud enough to be heard, taking a drink of the sweet liquid, letting relief trickle down his throat, quenching his thirst.

Calper looked at the human boy with a confused stare. "I told you I'm okay. That was one moment of weakness," he assured, "I'm fine now. I mean KOCHI said it, I don't really care...So come on then, I want to know more about you." He said, trying to divert the subject.

"You're avoiding the question, that's all the proof I need," Ricky stated flatly. "They told me to come in here and..."

"Cheer me up," Calper responded with a harsher tone than before, returning to his fake giddy ignorance and excitability. "I'm already cheered up so you're done, your mission was unneeded."

"Well I changed my mission," The human said, popping open the papery bag and taking a whiff of the peppery contents. "I want to make sure you're never like that again, for a...friend, and other friends. I don't want to see any of you guys distressed okay?" Ricky wished he was talking louder, giving himself more of a vocal presence but at least he was talking. "Literally in this one day I think I've had more actual quality friends than the rest of my life combined." he looked down shocked he said it. Sad, but true. "I dont want- I dont want any of it to go away."

They both sat there in silence at Ricky's random passion. Hell, Ricky was more wide eyed than Calper, who took this energy as normal. Ricky could feel himself flush a bit in embarrassment, taking another drink from the unknown beverage. The human wondered to himself, when did he start to care so much? It made SENSE, but one doesn't always go with the flow of logic. He WAS going to be here with them for a while, and was incredibly relieved and happy with how patient Pence had been, how open everyone else was, all caring and mellow... Still, when exactly did he start to think of them as more than what he thought of any similar human? He felt selfish thinking about it. He was doing this more for himself than the pig.

"I-I'm sorry about that. Please don't think these outbursts are me, I'm just really out of whack at the moment," Ricky waved his hand around and took another sip, "Alien...spaceship and...such."

Despite what Ricky felt, Calper smiled a bit. It was just a little grin, almost sad, but still happy...relieved? "Kindness and loyalty," he said absently, circling the top of the can with a single digit, "Admirable traits. Some things people never fail to undervalue unfortunately. You're the psychologist, do you know where you got it?" he asked calmly, reclining a bit, "I'm curious, most traits develop from life. So what happened in yours that made you so nice?"

Ricky sighed, thinking back to the very cause of his problems, hand going to the necklace at his chest. He knew the cause, the effects being much vaster than two simple reflections on his character, and not many of the other effects being anywhere near as positive. It didn't pain him anymore to think about it, but it had been quite a while since he spoke of them at length. "It's a bit, personal," he started, getting a light sigh of disappointment from the pig, "But...I'll share a little if you do. Figure each other out a."

"Two birds with one stone," Calper grinned finally looking back at the human with a renewed fire in his eyes, this reverting back to a game of discovery. Then he said something that counded like 'Crepe orange sew' "You have a deal," he said, putting out a hoof, "And once you shake you can't go back."

Ricky stared at the extended arm, it was still a bit surreal to be shaking a hoof or paw, but at last he clasped it much to the pigs delight who smiled more, snot hanging from his wet, wet nose, eyes a bit droopy and smile the most contagious thing in the world right now, making Ricky laugh a bit.

"Fine," the human agreed, "But what was that you just said? Im not joining some blood brotherhood am I?"

Calper laughed again "Creit. Oran. So. Multiple tasks. One motion. Two birds with one stone. It all means the same thing." he shook his head "My uncle was a linguist, he'd have a hey day if he knew two totally different cultures shared similar phrases."

Ricky just nodded "Creit Orange So."

"No 'G' sound in Oran."

"Creit Oran so." he tried again with a nod. "Ok, and you double promise you'll actually share if I go first?" he asked again, already shaking the hoof.

Calper chuckled, retracting the hoof and going for another drink from the can, chugging the rest of it and standing, probably to get more. "Ricky, if you can't trust a Mante's word, he truly has nothing. If you can't trust him, everything he has is a lie."

The human pondered this a bit, shooing rust coloured hair from his eyes, "What if he only lied once?"

Calper shrugged, "Who's to know it was only once?"

****

Miki poked his head out of the supply storage area, taking one look down the hall either way. "Clear," he said in a hushed voice taking a step out and guiding the others from the door with a wave of the paws. The others walked out, instinct telling them to take a look both ways anyway despite the assurances of the Rott who took notice and quietly huffed "No point in sending me out to say clear if-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you feel useless," Klain countered in a whispered annoyance, "Let's just get out of here without getting caught. Okay princess?"

"Geez what's got your stub in a twist?" Griffin asked, stuffing a few mini blocks of chocolate in his jacket pocket, and opening one for a bite.

The Dobie swiped the sweet deliciousness from is hand and stuffed it in the cats pocket, "Don't be stupid, we get caught you get in more trouble if you can't return the goods."

"You're worried about getting caught?" Namy asked, putting the two litres of pop back in his bag unopened.

The Dobie stuttered a bit, "would you...urrrgghh...yeah sure, it's that. Now let's go, we have to get back to a room before we are caught with this stuff," he grumbled, not in the least bit convincing. "And give me back my dad's key yah thief!" He elbowed Griffin lightly, the Tabby snickering and handing over the cardkey.

Pence managed a grin, the dye in his own satchel at his side along with assorted other procured foodstuffs for him and Felix who had opted to stay behind since he was not sneaky. Pence couldn't help but feel Klain's foul mood was his way of cooping with not being around Ricky. He had only been huffy when they left the poker game, his offer of taking Ricky home shot down. The lion shrugged it off, not wanting to go to drastic ideas in his head; though he still decided to keep an eye on his.

The little group walked quickly but quietly down the halls, sure most of the crew were on duty, but one stray guard meant a whoooole lot of trouble for the group, and it was only day one on the trip. They all knew the ship like the back of their paw, every major corridor, which direction they needed to go, hell, they even knew who lived in most of the rooms. That's the kind of details that start to stick when you've been on the same ship most of your lives, following the family, keeping it close.

Then they heard it. A steady, heavy set of footsteps from ahead of them that were not their own. They all froze, not even Klain made a noise to tell them to 'shut up', everyone knew. Everyone had a respect for the punishment for being found with stolen property.

'Sooo close, they were sooo close to being in permitted areas...' Pence thought to himself, three more turns and they would be in the southern most point of the living quarters... three more freaking turns.

Then Felix popped his head around the corner, "There you are, come on this ways clear."

Everyone released their held breath, Klain making a quiet little run for the bull and hitting him on the arm without holding back, "You fucktard! What are you doing here!? You scared the shit out of us!" He said hushed, storming off in the deemed safe direction grumbling. "Stay where you said you would...fucking iggit..."

Everyone else wore a little grin, there previous aggressions satiated with the Dobie's little scene, all offering a less effective punch, and a thanks as they passed by, all except Pence.

"Seriously dude a little warning; you gave us quite the scare," Pence chided with a grin, reaching into his bag, "I got you..." he started pulling out the boxes up to the labels to show, "Hot chocolate packets, potato chips, soda pop, and dip for the chips," he finished, holding up the jar.

"Any none-foods?" Felix asked. It wasn't rude, just curious.

"It was a food pantry," Pence stated, looking up, eyes now fixated on the room behind the bull, a smile on his face.

"What?" Felix asked, stopping in his tracks and following the lions gaze, "What's so special in there?"

"Klain!" Pence whisper shouted, stopping the group, Pence waving them back, "We need one more thing."

****

"So," Ricky started, lying back on the couch a bit more, "Where do you want to begin?"

"Nowhere," Calper sighed, reclining equally, looking up at the ceiling. "But you won't share if I won't right?" Ricky shook his head, making the pig shrug, "Worth a shot. Umm, well let's start with I haven't been on this ship as long as the others have. Normally how these ships work is a tight crew so even the kids know each other for the long period of time, often from age six until twenty when they are adults, or if they leave for school of something. Even at 'The Heart' we live on a compound together, nice than this and with actual houses, but still we don't get out as much as we would like.

"Now I just came to the Imirahu four short years ago, but before then I was on another ship," He paused, "Transfers don't happen that often." He clarified for emphasis. "My mom and I left because of this one kid there who'd tormented me for years."

Ricky was a bit shocked, for someone who didn't want to talk about his past Calper was extremely open and willing to get into all of the details. Unfortunately Ricky saw his game, if Calper shared a lot, Ricky would be asked too...Crafty pig.

"The wolf's name was Arthur in English, Artistil if you keep his real name, but Arthur was...well, the Kochi of the Quincey, my old ship, except so much worse." Calper let that hang there, closing his eyes. "Well saying he teased me and pranked me would be an understatement, but in short what Kochi does with words to get away with it he did with action and didn't care if he was caught." The pig unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it to the side to show a small round scar, "The ass punched me so hard my rib did that...Poked right through."

Ricky went wide eyes, trying to get a better look, "Why the hell did he do that?"

"Not important, the point is that is the reason I switched ships, and just before I left he decided to do one more thing. He threatened anyone who spoke to me by any means for the last three days I was there. I was isolated. I couldn't say goodbye to my friends, they couldn't even get near me, and just before I left with my things he approached me and do you know what he said? He said I was an unlovable chicken shit, who in the nine years I was on the ship never had a guy or girl because they couldn't stand the stink of me, because I was so naturally offensive I would be alone forever. Now at the time I didn't know why everyone was ignoring me so it stuck."

The pig started to tear up a bit, his nose running more than usual. "Do you know what it's like to feel so defeated Ricky? And do you know what happened then?" he rolled his eyes and layed his head back on the couch.

Ricky shook his head, too engrossed in the tale to try for a drink, though very happy he was helping the guy vent. Everyone needs to yell sometimes, just get it off their chest.

"Two years ago I was finally told the reason everyone refused to talk," he stopped. "I thought for a moment there that it would help, that I wouldn't feel so repugnant. It didn't. I have friends Ricky, tons and tons of friends, but I would kill to have one that..." he sniffed, wiping it off on his coat, "that would do this...that would, well not exactly this but, one that would listen...hold me and tell me it's okay. That I'm not disgusting."

The room went quite aside from Calper's now loud breathing. It was taking a lot out of him to voice these things. "I-I take it Kochi knew all this and told you just what Arthur did right?" Ricky guessed, getting a little nod.

To Ricky, it didn't matter that this was Calper. He was a living being in distress, and to see anyone this broken up was heart-breaking. Ricky took Calper's hand. "Calper, I would love to say those things and make you feel better, but listen to me," Calper looked up, tears making his eyes glassy, "You aren't beautiful." The pig started convulsing a bit, the breathing getting harder, "You aren't perfect, no one is, listen to me okay? You are you. You are Calper. You are a pig who everyone loves. You are amazing to everyone okay? But somewhere out there is a guy waiting just for you. You Varius have a concept for the word soul-mate right? He will see past the imperfections, he will look past the stink and he will love you regardless." it was so cheesy he almost stopped talking. "I would kill to be as popular and kind and smart as you and i've only known you a day you know?"

The pig was still a wreck, but Ricky pressed on, he honestly wasn't even sure what he was saying anymore,. Words just fell out of his mouth. "That's what real love is okay? Listen shh, shh, please don't cry anymore." The human took a breath, pushing past all of his own disbelief for Calper's sake, "Love does exist Calper, and it's not perfect either. Real love, it is beautiful and ugly and will get you through anything, but if it wants too it will keep you exactly where you are without trying. You just need to see that no matter your faults there is someone, and they need you too." he stopped, trying to lighten the mood somehow. "It's a..a big needy mess."

And that was it for a while. Ricky sat there holding Calper's hoof while he sorted through everything in his head. After a while Ricky realized that this moment right here, this silence meant that Calper had been listening and was trying to decide what to do with the new ideas in his head.

"Yo...Your turn..." Calper choked out weakly, trying hard to re-establish control of himself.

Ricky smiled a bit, standing, "I'll save it for another time, I promise. You need to sleep, it's late and you kinda went through a crappy end of the day."

The pig snorted a laugh, "That's an understatement." Then he looked up at Ricky, "And thanks. I'm curious to see where you acquired your kindness and patience. You remind me of Namy."

The human laughed a little, "He reminds me of me. Get some sleep."

****

After about twenty minutes of trying to remember where his room was Ricky was stopped by a crewman, and escorted out of a restricted area and too his room. The hawk was very stern and told him to get a map, but Ricky didn't get in any real trouble thankfully.

Ricky was drained. It had been a loooong day. It wasn't until he got to his door did he realize how tired his legs were and how far his eyes drooped. Typing in 'The Hearts' equivalent to 0-0-0-0-0-0 the door slid open and Ricky walked in, pulling out his phone to message Pence about whatever, and tell him he was off to bed. Ricky absently turned on the lights which were dimmed for the night thankfully. Ricky's living room was covered in sleeping, snoring Varius. Felix was on the floor, three pillows keeping his head flat, a thin blanket draped over him, Namy and Miki sat on the couch, Miki drooling a bit, head lolling back over the back of the couch. Griffin sat in one chair and Pence was in the recliner, nice and comfy.

Ricky closed his phone, not really sure what to do. Bags of stuff lay around the room he could barely call his own, but still Ricky poked through it, taking a few to the kitchen to put in the fridge to keep it good and edible, the electric cords in one bag just resting in the corner...all of his movements done by tip-toe.

Deciding they didn't need to be woken, Ricky lurked off to his room and flipped on the lights to change, only to find Klain was sleeping happily in a ball at the foot of the bed. Quickly the human grabbed clothes and changed, slinking off to the other bedroom and slipping under those covers. Finally, and thankfully, Ricky managed to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was exhausted physically and mentally.

It had been one hell of a day!