FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sometimes relationships can start from the most unlikely situations. Tales of how a couple met at a bar or restaurant or even online. However, this story, the story of how a stressed, empty fox met a kind, joyful puma and completely changed his life for the better. This is no ordinary story, oh no, this is the story of how Riley and Evan met. The beginning of a beautiful friendship that would blossom into something incredible, something neither of them expected, an amazing, happy relationship. It all began on a typical summer afternoon...

The sun blazed on as another hot summer afternoon carried on. An orange fox slowly made his way up a hill next to a busy street. The fox was wearing a grey cotton tank top, along with some athletic grey shorts to go with it. The fox also was wearing a red bike helmet, making sure he was safe in case of an accident. The fox huffed and pushed for a few more feet then he made a right and coasted gently down a hill. The fox's name was Evan. That's the most people knew about the fox, his name and his appearance. Evan didn't like to talk much, he was rather shy and didn't socialize well. Evan also had many secrets. Only Evan knew his secrets, and he preferred to keep it that way. One of the biggest secrets the fox had was that he was gay. He discovered that earlier this year when he fell in love with a snow white Samoyed in his photography class. Unfortunately the Samoyed was highly religious and thought negatively about gay people. Evan was sad when he found that out but he eventually let it go and moved on. However at the moment that was the least of his concern, he was focused on getting back home. Evan had to ride his bike to and from swimming practice, his mom worked and so did his dad. He liked riding his bike through the trail watching trees go by as he inhaled in the fresh morning air. It was very relaxing for the fox, and one of the few times he got to just think and relax. He was almost a little sad that swimming for the summer was over, he would miss riding his bike.

His thoughts were interrupted when he hit an unexpected rock on the sidewalk. His bike jerked up and down and Evan heard his chain shake violently. He tried to pedal but found it no use. Evan knew what happened, for this was a frequent problem, his chain had fallen off. He swore under his breath and steered his bike over to a large open area with a grass field, a small playground a few feet in front of him, and a tennis court over to his left. He dismounted his bike and took of his helmet. He sighed. He would be home later than he thought now. He flipped his bike upside down with the tires facing towards the sky. The fox set his helmet down and sat in the cool grass. He inspected the chain on the bike and saw that the chain had fallen off both gears. This would take a while to fix. The fox got to work, slowly lifting the chain and setting it on the gears. His paws and fur turned black from the old rusted and dirty chain.

After finally getting the chain back on the first gear, the fox stood up and stretched a bit. A light breeze had rolled in, cooling Evan a bit. As he stretched and walked around a bit he noticed something. A tall, tan colored puma was walking his way. Evan guessed that he was at the playground and didn't see him earlier, too focused on getting his bike fixed. He had a plain white t-shirt with some strange logo Evan has never seen before on, with some black athletic shorts to match. Evan also noticed the puma had an orange tipped tail, the same color as Evan's fur. As the puma got closer he gave a friendly wave. Evan waved back, puzzled. Strangers have never approached him like this before. The puma walked up next to him and asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just the bike chain fell off is all."

"Oh, and how did that happen?" The puma asked.

"Just hit a rock on the sidewalk." Evan explained.

The puma glances over to the sidewalk then looks back at the fox, "Oh sorry, didn't mean to be rude, my name is Riley" he sticks out his paw.

Evan takes the paw and shakes it, "My name is Evan"

"Nice to meet you Evan."

"Nice to meet you Riley." Evan continues to work on putting the chain on the gear. Riley watches intently. "Need any help?"

Evan shakes his head, "No thanks, but thank you for offering"

"Okay, so you from around here?" Riley asks.

"Yeah, I live a few minutes away from here."

"Oh nice, I live about an hour away from here, just visiting some grandparents."

Evan nodded and continued to fix put his chain on his bike gears.

After a bit of silence Riley speaks again, "So where you riding your bike to?"

"Oh, I ride my bike to the pool near here," Evan pointed to where he had come from, "every morning for swim practice, and then after it I ride home, thats what i was doing before my chain fell off."

"Oh okay, you like swimming?"

"Yeah, it's fun. You play any sports?"

Riley paused for a bit, surprised by the question. "Used to play football, had to quit because I got injured so much, I liked watching it more anyways." Riley answered. Evan nodded and continued to work on his bike.

"So what you gonna do when you get home?" Riley asked.

Evan looked at the puma oddly then said, "Just relax and eat."

"Okay." The puma said. Riley sat down next to Evan and looked at the chain. "Well, its almost back on." Evan nodded and continued to work. Some more silence filled the air then Riley spoke again. "I like the color of your fur." Evan blushed and looked away. Riley noticed and giggled. "You are so cute when you blush and shy away." That caused Evan to blush more. Evan suddenly had a thought appear in his head, was the puma... flirting with him? Evan erased that thought immediately, it sounded ridiculous. Eventually Evan had the courage to reply, "I like your fur also. Especially your tail." Evan said quietly. Evan was rewarded with a blush from Riley and a nervous laugh, "Oh yeah, I get it, because my tail tip is orange and all." The puma stammered.

"It looks nice." Evan complimented. The puma had grabbed his tail and was looking at it with a blush on his face. After another pause Evan decided to speak up again.

"So what's that logo on your shirt mean?" Riley looked down at his shirt and then replied, "Oh it's just some skating company I think. Got it from my brother, really into all that, i'm not much of a fan of it." Riley answered. Evan nodded. "How old's your brother?" Evan asked.

"17." Riley answered. "He's really nice, he works for some moving company, even has a girlfriend." Evan decided to ask Riley another question, "You seeing any girls?"

"No, not yet at least." Riley answered quickly. A little too quickly, Evan thought suspiciously, but he didn't push for any further information. He was surprised when the puma asked him the same thing. "Oh, I used to have one, but not anymore. I'll keep looking though." Riley's face seemed to sadden a little, and he replied, "Oh, okay." Evan became more suspicious. He was sure something was up with this puma, but he decided that now wasn't the time. "Why did you break up?" Riley asked.

"Didn't really feel like I loved her, if that makes any sense." Evan answered. The fox noticed Riley's ears perk up again and his face brighten.

"I understand." Riley said. Evan nodded and finally put his chain back on the bike gears. He pushed a pedal down to make sure it worked and the wheel started to turn, he had fixed it. The fox and puma rose together and Riley gave Evan a "Good job." Evan muttered a thanks and then put his helmet back on. He clicked the straps together and moved his head around a bit to get more comfortable. He picked up his bike and with a grunt of effort he put his bike up on its wheels. He made sure everything was in working order, checking the brakes, the steering, everything. After it had passed inspection he decided it was time to part ways with Riley.

"Well, I have to be going now." Evan said.

"It was fun meeting you." The puma said.

"Yes it was." The fox replied.

The puma extended his hand for another friendly handshake, Evan was about to extend his when he realized it was painted black because of the filthy chain. "Uhhh..." He stammered as he wiped his paws on his shorts. Riley just laughed, "Oh i won't mind." Evan extended his paw and shook Riley's. Evan got on his bike and was about to leave when Riley stopped him, "Hey, can I ask you something?" Evan froze as his heart started to pound. What was the puma going to ask? A million questions ran through his head, some more likely than others. After what seemed like the longest second in Evan's life Riley asked, "You on furbook?" Evan exhaled. "Yeah."

"Okay, you should add me. Maybe we can meet again." Riley said. "Yeah," Evan replied, "I will add you when I get home." Riley nodded. "Okay sounds good. See you later!"

"Goodbye!" Evan said as he took off for home.

The rest of the ride home Evan couldn't help but smile. What a pleasant day this was becoming. After replaying the conversation with Riley in his head, he couldn't help but notice something. He tried to deny it but couldn't successfully do it for long, he hadn't felt like this since he saw that Samoyed in photography. He thought about that as he walked up to his house. He opened a wooden gate on the side of his house and walked through. He shut the gate behind him and led his bike into the garage. He leaned it up against a brick wall and took off his helmet. He flattened some of his fur, making sure it was in place. He went back inside the empty house, he was home alone until 1 every day, and it was 11. About an hour later than he normally arrives at home. He set his helmet down on a table and walked up stairs. He turned in the air conditioning and then went into his room. He booted up his computer and entered his password. He opened up a web browser and typed in furbook. He rarely used it so the fox had a bunch of notifications. Some friend requests, status updates, even a few messages. He ignored all that and went to the 'search for friends' section. He typed in Riley's name and found the puma. His profile picture was him with another puma next to him in some house, Evan guessed it was his brother. He hesitated before adding him to his friends list. After a bit he finally clicked 'add'. He sat back in his chair and smiled. Maybe, just maybe, this could be,

The start of something.

---End---