FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter - 7

© Jake Atkinson

_Hmm, there's the bag and the door is unlocked but where's the surly skunk?_I thought as I made my way to the back of the room.

I found a clipboard and sign out sheet. Huh, guess they figure the honor system is enough.

I took the clipboard from it's hook and started rummaging. I found the Hello Puppy towel right off and decided it was better than the floral print one still in my room. I begrudgingly had to get the new towel dirty drying my wet toes but it was worth it. I hated flip-flops with a passion and couldn't wait to try on some shoes. I made a notation on the page, "1 Hello Puppy Towel." Eventually I found and cataloged everything I needed, I even found a pair of shoes that seemed barely worn and were a perfect fit.

I guess I could just leave the bag of returns... who am I kidding.

I hated my sense of responsibility at times but I just couldn't leave it for someone else to deal with and put everything back, taking the time to fold and place the items on their proper shelves and hangers. After logging the returns on the inventory as well I grabbed my gear and entered the hallway just as the last bell rang.

You've gotta be kidding me!

In mere seconds doors burst open and people poured forth. I was so anxious to avoid everyone I probably would have leaped out a window had there been one. I self-consciously pulled my tail down without realizing the blue would be less noticeable if I held it high. At the same time, I hoisted the duffle bag up to carry it in a hug to take up less space in the crowded hall.

"Hey, check out the blue tail, that's gotta be him." I heard a male voice behind me say.

Instinct told me to pretend I didn't hear it and speed for the exit, instead I shot a look over my shoulder. A Tundra Wolf wearing a letterman jacket was leaning to his side and talking to a girl of the same species. From the looks on their faces they didn't realize I overheard them above the Raccoon and Fox between us. I flashed an exaggerated toothpaste ad grin, the kind that almost makes a -twing- sound while light gleams off a canine tooth. Four sets of ears all spun to face me. Without the ability to offer up a witty remark to accompany the display I shrugged and continued to the exit.

Why did I do that? Geez, just go hide in your room already. I thought as I walked through the cold air outside.

"I heard he yelled at Tim earlier and almost zapped him." said a different voice.

Oh god, really? What will the next rumor be, that I ate some Dingo's baby?! I thought as I turned and dropped my bag on the damp concrete before pulling out the paper and pen.

The Wolves had veered off onto a separate walkway and I was left facing, and blocking the path of, the Raccoon and Fox. The Red Fox's normally black markings were lime but non-glowing green while the Raccoon's deviance left his normally white facial markings pastel pink. My heart instantly went out to him as I imagined the endless taunting he must receive. It was clear by their tucked tails and pulled down ears they expected fiery death to reign down upon them.

Am I really that scary? I thought.

I tried to look friendly as I quickly wrote "I can't even talk, I have a throat injury. I'm a really nice guy, it was a misunderstanding." I gestured to the note on my shirt and then handed them the freshly written one.

They read the first note which I had printed for better visibility but they seemed to struggle with the second one that I, in my haste, had written in cursive. The Raccoon nudged the fourteen year old looking Fox and muttered "Can you read cursive?"

He responded "Kinda... it says he can't talk and he says he's nice."

"I'm not stupid, I can read the note on his chest!" the Raccoon said testily.

The Fox poked him in the arm. "You asked!"

While this transpired I wrote another note, this time printing. "Tell him sorry for me if you know him. ^^" I passed it over and didn't wait for a reply before grabbing my bag and setting off for the safety of my room.

I could hear a muttered debate continuing in my wake.

"Ask him."

"No way, you ask him!"

I wasn't in the mood for writing out any more notes and picked up the pace in case either of them got up the nerve to ask whatever it was they were discussing. I made it all the way to the main door of my dorm before the Fox raised his voice. "Hey can you teleport stuff, I mean is that your thing?"

Somehow my day's frustrations passed a point of critical mass and suddenly it all seemed rather amusing. I smiled and exhaled as I moved to the side of the landing at the top of the steps and set down the bag before hopping up to sit on the low brick wall that lined the staircase on either side. I placed the ever thinning pad of paper on my knee and wrote, "Don't think so, still new to the whole deviant thing though. How about you guys?"

The Fox held it as they both read the note and was the first to reply. "I dunno either, the whole green fur bit started like a year ago and so far that's it."

I nodded and rested my gaze on the Raccoon.

His hands fidgeted with a backpack strap and he responded "All my white fur turned pink when I was like 4. The other thing is kinda hard to explain. You ever play Half-Life?"

I nodded and he continued. "I'm kinda like the houndeye. I can sorta vibrate which makes a weird sound and then -pop-."

I wrote "Awesome, love to see it."

After reading it he was quick to reply, "No way! The sound and everything, it's super embarrassing, I don't even know why I told you."

I jotted on the back of the page "Sounds cool to me, maybe when no one's around you can show me someday."

He seemed to loosen up as he replied "Yeah, uhm ok."

I wrote a last note. "Writing all the time sucks. I'll be able to talk in a few days, catch up with you then, ok?"

"Yeah, that would get old. Ok." said the Fox.

We parted ways inside, they lived on the first floor while I was on the second. I got to my room and praised whatever powers there may be that it was blissfully empty. I kicked off my shoes at the entrance, pushing them into a tidy row just to the side of the door before dropping the bag at the foot of my bed. I snatched the tablet from the desk and scrambled up onto the raised mattress.

Bed how I love thee! I thought as I closed my eyes.

I had always been hyper-sensitive and being in crowded, noisy places wore me out. I never thought I'd miss my illegally made, garage conversion apartment but the one thing it had besides anonymity and low rent was solitude. Knowing that someone could walk in at any moment left me unable to really unwind so I decided to fiddle with the tablet.

I should be able to set this up for text to speech, with swiping enabled it will probably be faster than writing everything out. After the initial power up there was a note on the screen.

"I fixed up your tablet with some stuff, thought it might help. If you want to set it back to stock I can change it back. I'm sorry for your loss. -David"

Wow, this must have been some work, it even has my favorite custom ROM, Slim __Kat. I'll have to be sure and thank him later.

I had it set up in minutes thanks to the school's eerily fast internet. It took willpower but I resisted the urge to check any of my old accounts or even anything about the accidents. Watching my tracks online was second nature so I kept my activities totally innocuous and set it aside just as Jim's voice could be heard coming down the hall.

"...He gets kinda scary with the whole smoldering glow thing but I wouldn't worry about it, he seems alright."

There was a milder voice whose words I couldn't quite make out and then I heard the fox again. "Oh come on, I'll introduce you, might as well get it over with. You know better than to believe everything Brian says." I sat up and let my paws dangle over the edge of the bed.

P.O.V. - Nick

I walked into the room behind David, his larger Ursine frame offering a buffer between me and Roger. He was sitting on the edge of his bed with his tail to the side. Wow, it really does glow and look at that body! RrrRrr! ... Ahh! I think he noticed me staring. I smiled and looked away as David spoke.

"Hi Roger." he said as he raised his right hand in a slight wave.

Roger started sliding his finger around the tablet, he was really fast, and a moment later a computerized voice intoned in a British Accent "Hi David, thanks for working on the tablet, SlimKat is my favorite."

David responded, "Yeah mine too, I prefer speed over the bells and whistles of some of the other ROMs. I like the British voice for the text-to-speech function, I'll have to try that for listening to my ebooks."

I always envied David's laid-back manner, he made random conversation seem so easy. Roger's finger flashed around the screen for a moment and then it said, "Hi Nick, don't hide behind David on my account. Any rumors of my ferocity have been greatly exaggerated."

The shy smile on his downward pointing muzzle had my tail wagging like a puppy before I realized it and tried to hold still. I side-stepped self consciously out from behind David just as my talent suddenly told me that Roger was feeling pretty aroused and he was looking straight at me. He must be thinking about his girlfriend. Still, that didn't happen until I stepped out... Ahh! what do I say? "Hi Roger, welcome to the school." Welcome to the school?! Straight A's in all of my English classes, read half the books in the library and that's what I come up with?! He must think I'm a total hoser.

All of Roger's gray fur was starting to ripple gently with color, it looked like an electric blue version of the way sunlight reflects off the bottom of a swimming pool. He seemed oblivious to it as he started swiping at the tablet but Jim spoke up before Roger hit enter. "Hey do you know that you're glowing?"

Roger startled and the rippling instantly stopped. He glanced around his body and changed whatever he was originally typing to "What do you mean? You saw my tail before right?"

Jim nodded and said "Yeah, but that's not what I mean. It stopped now. You don't know you do that?"

He started swiping furiously and I could sense his tension as the tablet spoke "I'm pretty new to the whole deviant thing, what's going on?"

Jim answered, "Your gray fur was rippling blue. When you got angry earlier it kinda did that too but it was different. That time it was faster and looked more like electric blue smoke lifting off the gray areas in your fur. Seriously, you had no idea you do that?"

Roger shook his head and typed a response. "I guess that explains earlier, I was wondering why people were acting so weird."

The way his ears folded and his tail curled it looked like he wanted to hide under the covers on his bed. Knowing all to well how it felt to have one's deviance become the center of attention I tried to help him feel better. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, it looks cool."

David came into the conversation again, "I've got a PS4, wanna play Madden NFL 15?"

Roger swiped out "Yeah, I only had a PS2, been wanting to see the new version."

We all turned towards my room and I heard his paws hit the floor behind me as he jumped down from the bed to follow us. There it is again, not as strong as before but he's definitely revved up. It can't be me, can it? Now he's embarrassed... heck now I'M embarrassed! I should probably stop reading his emotions, yeah I should...

P.O.V. - Roger

I was death incarnate in fighting games but I had virtually no experience with any sports oriented ones. However, I jumped at the chance to change the subject. When we got into their room I tried to sit in such a way that I couldn't see Nick but it didn't really work, I kept thinking about him and I was terrified I'd start glowing again.

I guessed that Nick was a crossbreed deviant but exactly what breeds I wasn't sure. I pictured maybe a Coyote and Wolf but that didn't cover it. Where my fur was gray or a Coyote's was blonde his was varying shades of brown and it looked softer and longer. He kept most of it clipped short but left it longer down the back of his head and around his neck. His ears folded forward near the tips giving him a friendly, playful look. To top it off his skull was flatter and narrower, tapering into his long thin muzzle.

Whatever his lineage, I couldn't stop thinking about the end product sitting a few feet away. I felt helpless. I was being bludgeoned with an emotion that I couldn't shut off and, to top it off, I just found out I glowed if I let it run too strong. I was thankful they seemed unaware what that particular pattern meant I was feeling. I think I might have died on the spot had they known. Like most people, I tuned out the view of my own muzzle as I looked across it at the world so I hadn't noticed the changing colors of the gray fur there. Now that it had been called to my attention I was practically cross-eyed trying to watch for a telltale sign of my interest in Nick.

I had been lost in thought and when they handed me a controller I deferred, using the tablet to say I wanted to watch and learn for awhile first. I tried to distract myself by focusing on learning the game but the events of the last twenty-four hours were catching up with me.

I said via the tablet, "I'm sorry, I really want to play but I'm beat, long night last night."

I wanted to get to know everyone better but everything I had been trying not to think about and feel suddenly felt as if it wanted to crash in, right that moment. I didn't even notice what they said as I got up and went back to my room where I shut the door and buried myself under the covers.

P.O.V. - Nick

Wow, what happened? All of a sudden he just fell apart. I thought.

Jim was the first to speak after Roger left. "What was that about? He sure is moody."

I said, "His father died last night and he almost drowned, I'd be moody too."

They both looked mildly surprised as they glanced at me, I wasn't known for speaking up. I flattened my ears and looked aside but continued "I mean, it's hard enough just coming to a new school but to go through all that too? And he mentioned his deviance only just started, he didn't even know about the glowing."

David chimed in "Yeah, if that were me I'd be a total basket case. I know you didn't mean anything by it Jim, he probably just needs some space. You wanna play a different game?"

Jim looked hurt and I didn't mean to make him feel bad so I jumped in with "How about GTA Five? You're better than I am Jim and I'm stuck on a mission."

He seemed reluctant at first so I prodded "Come on, it's one of those fast driving ones that I suck at and you make those look easy."

He brightened and said "That's because they are, you're just too careful about hitting other cars and pedestrians and stuff."

We loaded the game and Jim picked up his controller as he said in a joking tone, "How can you be stuck on this one? I mean the mission name is 'Training Wheels' for f#ck's sake."

I shrugged even though he was looking at the screen and not me.

I got a sudden wave of emotion and realized Roger must be crying his eyes out. Wow, I usually don't pick up people's emotions when they aren't nearby. He must really be upset. I wish I could help but I barely know him. I wonder if I should tell a counselor or something, but what are they gonna do? I guess David's right, he probably just needs some space. I'll try to keep Jim out of the room for awhile, he's a good guy but empathy isn't one of his stronger traits.