FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Hmm, what's this?" Kolya glanced around and took in the observation lounge - a long, curving sofa along the back wall, a row of tables across the middle, food and drink stations at the far end, a mini-bar at the near, and a huge window that would've provided a spectacular view had the lights been dimmed. Cora, Dylan, Grishnag, and Syala sat around one of the tables, each with a laptop or some sort of game console in front of them. At the table to their left sat Zilaka, with Ayastal cross-legged on the floor and Nishara and Lorkis coiled up at the remaining two sides of the table. Similar devices rested on the surface in front of each of them.

Corwin stopped beside her and grinned. "Are those antiques?"

"Replicas," Cora said. "Dylan looked up the specs to be sure they'd be accurate to the time from which he was abducted, before we all met."

"I expected to be completely turned off from video games after we were stuck in that simulation, but I figured this would be the easiest way to explain the concept of video games to someone who'd never heard of them before. I was surprised to find myself enjoying it as much as I did before."

"I've found it to be a good way to relax after a stressful event," Zilaka added with a smile. "Or an unsettling conversation."

"I had the same worries as Dylan." Syala chuckled as she nudged one of the joysticks on her controller. "Actually, coming from a technologically primitive world and having never seen anything more advanced than knives and spears until I met my darlings here, and my first experience with high-tech stuff being incredibly traumatizing at first, I didn't think I'd enjoy this at all. But it's actually quite fun."

"Part of it might be because we know going in that it's not real," Grishnag said. "Unlike the simulation we escaped."

"Probably, yes."

Kolya grinned and approached the table with Zilaka, Ayastal, and the two mekharans. She'd played video games regularly before leaving Earth, but they'd all been modern - three-dimensional images in a holofield or full five-sensory immersion.

Corwin blushed slightly and grinned. "I haven't played any games like the one you've got going there. Mostly ones that've been released in the last few years or modern remakes of older ones. And, every now and then, I use full-immersion simulations for, shall we say, naughty purposes."

Kolya laughed. "Me, too. I admit I mostly use the total-immersion ones as glorified masturbation aids." She motioned at the scars covering the left side of her face. "I figured it'd be the only way I'd ever experience anything resembling sex with anything except the dildoes I keep in my travel bag."

"Hmm, plural, eh?" Grishnag flicked a lascivious grin at her.

"I keep a couple of spares in case I forget to pack one when leaving. And a few others for ... um ... variety."

Corwin raised an eyebrow at her. "So you've never actually ... uh, you know?"

"Nope. Tried a few times, but either got turned down immediately or ended up hearing a bunch of excuses. After a while I gave up and resigned myself to being a virgin for the rest of my life."

"Well, you've still got a shot at the real thing." Corwin smiled and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Seriously?" Kolya pointed at her scars again. "This doesn't bother you at all?"

"No. Is there a reason it should?"

Huh. Maybe he's a scar fetishist. But even if he is, what the hell, at least it gets me in the door.

Grishnag laughed softly and pointed at her own face. "Come on, look at this ugly-ass mug. It didn't prevent a half-dozen wonderful and hotter-than-hell people from falling in love with me. So of course you've got a chance."

Syala beamed and leaned over to kiss her. When she returned her attention to her screen, her glowing eyes opened wide and she gasped. "Oops!"

On Cora's screen, Kolya caught a glimpse of a rocket streaking out of nowhere and blasting a helicopter into a cloud of burning debris. Ayastal sighed.

"Well ... you've killed me."

The others burst into laughter and Syala aimed an embarrassed smile at Ayastal.

"Sorry! I think I hit the fire button while I was ... momentarily distracted."

"It's okay. Being distracted is quite understandable." Ayastal stood, stretched, and walked over to nuzzle her. "I'm out for the rest of the round. Kolya, would you and Corwin like to join in?" She waved a hand at her vacant space, sat behind Syala, and put her arms around the young woman's waist.

"Looks like fun." Kolya pulled a chair over from the adjacent empty table and stared at the laptop. The crew and passengers had dispersed after they finished lunch, and Kolya had wondered how she would pass the time. This seemed as good a way as any.

To her right, Lorkis smiled.

"Back to the topic of sex for a moment, I'm definitely interested."

Hah. I didn't notice that at all when we met."I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, I have competition, all of a sudden?" Corwin chuckled and moved a few steps closer to Kolya.

"Why does it have to be a competition?" Lorkis gave him a blank stare. "There's no reason Kolya can't have both of us. Or anyone else she wants."

"Well, uh ..."

Kolya grinned at Corwin. "It's always good to know I have options."

Nishara, across from Kolya, uncoiled and stretched before sliding over to put her arms around Zilaka. "Corwin, you can take my spot if you'd like to join in."

"Thanks. I've never played this before, so I hope I don't make too big a fool of myself."

"We'll go easy on you." Cora smiled and glanced at the others. "Should we start a new mission?"

"Yeah, that way the new guys won't have to jump right into the middle of things. Hold on a moment while I reset it." Dylan tapped at his laptop keyboard.

Syala chuckled and rubbed her hands together. "I wasn't doing too well in the current game, anyway. Now maybe I'll have a chance at redeeming myself."

Kolya poised her fingers over the keyboard and mouse. "What game is this, anyway?"

"Grand Theft Auto V." Dylan grinned. "One of my favorite entries in the series, and the one I'd just started playing when I passed out and woke up surrounded by my future wives and a ton of other aliens."

"The start of a beautiful relationship, eh?" Kolya was familiar with the event in question from the multiple interviews and articles they'd done after reappearing a few months ago - enough to know the beginning had been traumatic as hell, so she didn't pry any farther.

"Pretty harrowing at first, but yeah, it turned into something wonderful." Dylan glanced around at the other females and smiled.

Cora made a kissy face at him and turned back to Kolya and Corwin. "Want to create your own characters or just use the ones Ayastal and Nishara made?"

"I'll go ahead and use Ayastal's character if that's okay. That way, I'll be able to jump right in."

"Me, too," Corwin said. "Let's rock."

"Okay." Cora glanced at Dylan. "Wanna pick a mission, honey?"

"Let's see." Dylan pondered his screen for a few seconds and made a selection. "We'll split into two teams. One team will pick up a package and try to deliver it to a drug dealer. What the package is, should be self-evident." He chuckled. "The other team has to stop them, steal the package, and deliver it to their own dealer."

"Nice. We get to play less than upstanding characters. I'm having fun already." Kolya grinned and watched Ayastal's character appear on the mission intro screen - a huge, muscular, bipedal dragon with emerald skin, tight shorts, and a tank-top.

"The original game was made before anthros existed and aliens were encountered," Dylan said. "But it's been updated to include those options in the character creation stage."

Kolya nodded. "How are we dividing into teams?"

"It's random."

On Kolya's screen, her character was joined by a pair of snake anthros, male and female, a chunky female shonari, and a human male. Nishara's character - Corwin, now - Lorkis, and Syala, Kolya guessed. Dylan and the rest of the females appeared in the background, standing near their own vehicles.

"We're on the same team." Lorkis beamed. "Just as I hoped."

Corwin cleared his throat loudly and slithered his character over to the hotrod-red Mustang stand-in parked beside Kolya's character. "You wanna drive, or shall I?"

She laughed. "Since I have no idea how to drive anything in this game, I'll do it." She walked her dragon over to the car. "Uh, how to I get in?"

"Push the E key," Dylan said. On Kolya's screen, his avatar dashed over to a vehicle that resembled one of the original Lamborghini cars.

"Okay." Kolya got into the car and nudged the mouse to rotate her view of the game environment. It appeared to be a sparsely-populated area outside a big city, with lots of hills and valleys, dirt, grass, and trees.

Corwin got into the passenger seat and tapped buttons, apparently just to find out what they did. His avatar stuck her hand out the window, holding a grenade. Corwin's eyes nearly popped out and he yanked his finger off the button. The avatar pulled her hand back inside.

Kolya chuckled and shook her head. "If you blow us up before we even get started -"

"Sorry. Just learning my way around." He blushed, but grinned at the same time.

A waypoint appeared in the mini-map at the lower-left corner of the screen and Kolya pushed the W key. The car launched across the landscape, off the edge of a short cliff, and slammed onto the gravel road below. She giggled as she fought to regain control of the car.

"Wooooo!"

"Where are the rest of you?" Corwin asked once he finished laughing.

"Right behind you," Dylan said.

Syala squeaked. "Not me. A mugger just pulled me out of my car!"

Cora snickered a split-second before a notification appeared above Kolya's mini-map: The mugger sent after Syala by Cora has been killed.

"Hah!" Syala grinned and took her hands off the controls long enough to fire a shove-it gesture at Cora.

Kolya grinned and continued accelerating toward the waypoint, ignoring the roads and driving straight over the hills and valleys. Blips on her mini-map showed the rest of her team staying close behind her. Moments later they reached a group of small shacks, trailers, and sheds, all of which appeared to be falling apart. Here and there she spotted a mixture of non-player characters dressed in overalls and biker jackets.

The "package" - a glowing briefcase - rested on top of a beer keg in one of the shacks off to the right.

"I see it," Corwin said. "I'll grab it."

His avatar threw the door open and bailed out - right into the path of Lorkis's monster truck.

"Huaaaah!" Lorkis tried to swerve, but Corwin plowed face-first into Lorkis's grill, spun like a propeller, and landed under his rear tires.

Ka-thump!

Corwin burst into laughter.

"Uh, sorry," Lorkis muttered.

Corwin managed to shrug while he continued laughing.

"I'm on it." Kolya stopped the car, jumped out, and grabbed the briefcase. On the way back to the car, Zilaka's van barreled out from the edge of Kolya's screen and plowed straight into her. She tumbled across the ground and dropped the briefcase.

Zilaka hopped out of her van, blasted Corwin with a shotgun and finished the job Lorkis's truck had started. She grabbed the briefcase, returned to her van, and roared off.

Kolya picked herself up, ran past Corwin's dead character, and jumped back into her car.

Dylan's car zipped past and she caught a glimpse of his arm sticking out the window and lobbing a C-4 charge. The explosive landed on the roof of her car and stuck there.

Kolya squeaked and bailed out of her car. She bolted straight away from it before the bomb detonated. The explosion knocked her off her feet and dropped her health level down to about sixty percent.

Kolya found her weapons menu as she scrambled for cover, and selected the rocket launcher. She found Dylan's car, locked on, and fired. Four seconds passed and then a tiny fireball and cloud of debris erupted in the distance.

"Holy shit!" Dylan yelled before collapsing in laughter.

Kolya smirked as the rest of the opposing team's vehicles passed by. "Keep going, guys. I'll catch up."

She pulled up her menu and searched through the options while everyone else roared into the distance. Let's see, mugger, mugger, mugger, mugger ... ah-hah! She selected the option and targeted Cora.Payback time.

"Well, now that I'm 'spectating,' I can see some vehicles on the road," Corwin said. "Uh, kind of southwest of your position."

"Thanks." Kolya turned until she'd pointed herself in more or less the right direction and started running. She climbed up a hill and spotted three cars driving slowly by. She ran down the slope, crossed in front of one, and waited for it to stop. She yanked the door open, pulled the driver out, and hurled him away from his car. He staggered into oncoming traffic just in time to catch a face-full of Pißwasser truck. Kolya giggled and sped off in his car.

Another notification blipped up above Kolya's mini-map: Lorkis was obliterated by Grishnag. At the same instant, Lorkis screamed and clamped his upper hands over his mouth.

"Sorry. That startled me." He sighed and flicked a sheepish grin around.

"I wasn't close enough to see it," Kolya said. "What happened?"

"Grishnag drove straight into me at maximum speed. My body launched through the windshield, flew over her car, and hit the ground head-first."

"Ouch." Kolya chuckled. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Syala."

"They're heading for a warehouse a bit north of you," Corwin said.

"Thanks." Kolya headed north and kept the W key mashed. A moment later the opposing team's vehicles came into visual range with each player's name hovering above them.

"They're almost at the drop."

Kolya plowed through the wire fence around the warehouse, stopped, jumped out, and selected her sniper rifle from the weapons menu. She zoomed in and found the three remaining females running toward the warehouse's huge open door.

A scruffy dude holding a knife bolted around the building's corner, knocked Cora's avatar off her feet, and ran toward the vehicles they'd parked nearby.

"What?" Cora stared at her screen. "I just got mugged!"

Everyone laughed.

"He stole nine thousand dollars!" Cora gaped at her screen and finally burst out laughing. "The mugger just drove off in my car!"

Kolya snickered and centered her scope on Cora's head. A quick tap on the mouse button blew the character's head off. Cora twitched.

"No need to worry about it anymore." Kolya smirked and shifted her aim to a pallet of red metal barrels directly behind Grishnag and Zilaka. Both of them turned to run the rest of the way into the warehouse, but Kolya popped a round into one of the barrels. The explosion cooked off the rest of the barrels and the resulting flames engulfed both characters.

"Uh-oh!" Grishnag staggered away from the flames, but her health dropped to zero and her avatar collapsed into a charred heap.

Zilaka began firing wildly. Syala gasped and slumped forward, bracing her arms on the table.

"Well, I'm dead." She chuckled and then made a farting sound with her lips. "Guess it's all up to you, Kolya."

"I'll see what I can do, then." Kolya lined up another shot and punched a round through Zilaka's receding back.

"Eep!" Zilaka blinked a few times, shook her head, and chuckled. "Well, it's all over."

Kolya grinned and ran toward the warehouse. Heh. Not bad, for a beginner.

#

"As first dates go, that was unique." Corwin grinned as they stepped into the hub connecting the passenger quarters.

"It sure was." Especially since it was actually her first. Before that explosion had uglified her all those years ago, she hadn't been interested enough in dating to give it a try, and afterward, no one else had been interested in her. Until now, at least.

He's got to be up to something, she told herself again. But ... what if he isn't?

She turned and reached out to open her door. In the corner of her good eye, Corwin cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"No goodnight kiss?"

She froze. Her pulse ramped up a notch as she faced him again. "Uh, well ..." She motioned at the left half of her face. "You actually want to kiss this?"

"Why not?" He shook his head, walked up to her, and slipped his arms around her waist. "Honestly, I think you're awesome, _and_you're beautiful. I'm actually hoping to go a lot farther than just a kiss, but I'll settle for that. For now, at least."

_Okay, so, maybe he's a little off. Everything else about him seems just about right._She took a step toward him and tried to keep her breathing steady.

He leaned closer, still smiling, and pulled her toward him. His breath caressed her mouth. Almost on their own, her arms slipped around him and she leaned forward - and their lips met. Her heart pounded and the whole world seemed to fade away. Full awareness returned only when they parted.

This is happening too fast. She sucked in a few deep breaths and clamped her hands onto his shoulders until she was sure she wouldn't topple over. But you may never get another chance like this, so shut your sass-hole.

"Before we go any farther," Corwin said softly, "I have to ask ... are you on birth control? I didn't think to take any suppressors before we left."

"N-never expected I'd need it." She reached over to the comm panel beside her door and fumbled with the buttons. "Uh, Cora?"

"What can I do for you?"

"I don't want to impose, but would the medical bay be able to synthesize a birth control treatment for me? And some suppressors for Corwin?"

"I was wondering if you'd need some. Sure, it shouldn't be a problem. Just go to the med-bay and get yourselves scanned, and I can synthesize anything you need."

_Yes!_Kolya took another breath. "Thanks. We're on our way."

She glanced at Corwin in time to catch him doing a fist-pump. She grinned, slipped her hand into his, and led him through the corridors.

"Hey, there's something I'm curious about," he said after they walked in silence for about thirty seconds. "Kolya's an interesting name for a woman. It sounds like a family name."

"It is. My parents named me after my mom's best friend, Anastasia Kolya, so for the first few years of my life, I was Anastasia Mason. But I thought 'Kolya' sounded much cooler, and begged them to make that my name." She shook her head and laughed softly. "Eh, I was a kid. It made sense to me at the time. But my parents actually did it."

"I'm glad they did. It does sound cooler."

"Well, thank you." She reached the end of another corridor and turned right.

Cora's voice came from one of the comm panels along the wall. "The med-bay is the second door on your right."

"Thanks." Kolya stepped through and found herself in a large room with a dozen beds lining the wall on the left and an operating table, diagnostic bed, and an assortment of other gadgets along the right. The walls had the same synthetic wood paneling as the rest of the corridors and rooms. "Hmm. I should also be scanned for STDs and whatnot, just to show that I'm clean. This'll actually be my first time, but I shouldn't expect Corwin to just take my word for it."

"It's okay, I trust you. But if you're getting scanned for STDs, then I'll do the same."

"Not a problem at all." Cora had an audible smile in her voice. "Don't worry about imposing or being a distraction, either. I'm linked wirelessly with the ship's systems and can handle numerous tasks all at once."

"Glad to know I'm not being a bother." Kolya smiled.

The consoles beside the diagnostic bed lit up.

"If you'll lay down and remain still, the scan will only take a few minutes." Cora chuckled. "It's not necessary to remove your clothes, but you can if you want to."

Corwin fired another lascivious grin at Kolya. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

She giggled. "I, uh - well, I'm ..."

"I'm hoping to see it all anyway. Why not get a head start?" His smile shifted into overdrive and he pulled his shirt off. Kolya froze and stared at him as he unbuckled and unzipped his pants slowly and let them fall to the floor.

She tried to say something witty. What came out of her mouth was, "Huhhhhh ..."

Corwin's grin broadened even more. He tugged his socks off, tossed them aside, and then pulled his briefs down.

The breath caught in Kolya's throat. Not ... not bad at all_. Whew._ She stared for a few more seconds before shaking herself out of it. Oh, right, gotta show him mine, now. She turned her back, pulled her shirt off, and fumbled with the fastening on her pants. Her hands trembled and she had to try four times before she managed to take them off. She took several ragged breaths and pointed a thumb at the clasp on her bra.

"Could you, uh ...?"

"Sure." He unhooked the bra and she paused, took another breath, and slipped it off. She let it fall to the floor, drew in a few more breaths, and stripped her panties off. Finally, she removed her socks and stood there, crossing her arms over her chest.

Oh, that's brilliant. I've taken my clothes off in front of him, and now I'm trying to hide my goods.

"Huh." Corwin brushed his fingers over her right ass cheek, and she shivered. "Interesting - this row of puncture wounds looks different from your other scars."

She laughed. "Yeah, I got those only a couple of years ago. Everything else is from farther back than that."

"So, what happened to your ass?"

"Pitchfork."

He burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"That must be a hell of a story."

She shrugged. "I'll tell you that one later. Don't want this to get derailed." She finally managed to drop her arms and turn to face him. He still had that brilliant smile.

"That's what I was hoping for. You're in really good shape. Work out a lot?"

"Not in a gym. I was a lot more slender before the accident. Once I started traveling, I found myself getting a lot of exercise - hiking, climbing, jogging, that sort of thing. I guess it's buffed me up a little."

"I like it." He nodded at the bed. "It'll take a few minutes for the contraceptives to take hold. I'm not sure I can wait much longer."

She grinned and stretched out on the bed. "Better get on with it, then."

"Scan beginning," Cora said.

Kolya kept still and the minutes dragged by. Probably only five or under, but it seemed much longer.

"Scan complete. Synthesizing contraceptives. Also, you're free of diseases and in excellent general health, though your heart rate is elevated."

"Can't imagine why," Kolya muttered with a saucy grin at Corwin. She sat up, hopped off the bed, and waved a hand at it. "It's all yours."

He took her place and waited.

"Scan beginning. Kolya, the medication will take a few more minutes to finish, and then you can find it in the dispenser at the far end of the room." In the corner beside one of the consoles, a hard-light display appeared above a slot. "It's a fast-acting nanotech compound in a skin patch. Just peel the cover off and place it over your lower abdomen. Then give it ten to fifteen minutes to take effect."

"Sounds good. Thanks."

"Then we'll have to put our clothes back on just to walk back to one of our rooms and get undressed again." Corwin heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"If you can't wait that long," Cora said with a chuckle, "feel free to do it right here. Don't worry about bodily fluids. There are mini-mech units that clean and sterilize the entire med-bay routinely. They'll handle any cleanup needed after you leave."

Kolya's pulse revved up again. Corwin beamed.

"That just made my entire night."

Kolya tried once again to reign herself in. "Mine, too." She let her gaze slide over every centimeter of his smooth skin while the scan continued.

Oh. Yeah.