FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thank you all so much for reading. I'm really enjoying writing this and I'm glad to hear you are too. This chapter felt a little short, but I hope you enjoy!

WARNING: FURRIES, HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS, DID I MENTION FURRIES?

ARE YOU OVER 18? NO? THEN WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE SHOO! SHOO!

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Quality Bonding Time

by pawsroloc

"How are the roommates?" His mother asked, scanning the menu. Danny did the same. He always liked to find the cheapest thing on the menu.

"Good." Danny stated, keeping his relations with the flat mates as simple as possible.

"Are any of them bothering you?" She asked.

"We had a few issues but we sorted them out." Danny said, eyeing the fettuccini alfredo as he spoke.

Danny's mom lowered the menu, squinting at her child with gleaming emerald eyes. "A few issues? Is there a problem with the rent?"

"N-no!" Danny stammered, trying his best to avoid his mother's scrutinizing gaze. Eventually her eyes returned to her own menu. Danny couldn't help but feel relieved that he had avoided the subject.

"How is Mark? Not that I don't trust Barry's judgment, but I haven't had the chance to meet him myself." She questioned, turning the page of the expansive menu.

"He's... really outgoing. He showed me around campus and everything, which was nice." Danny said, circumventing the truth.

"And the others?" She continued, adjusting her glasses as she spoke.

"Seamus is really kind. He's the husky. Julius... that's the dragon's name... he's an artist." Danny began, going through the list. "Philly is the other dog. He's a doberman."

"Philly?" She asked, rather confused.

"He works at a cheesesteak shop so they call him Philly." He clarified, opting not to tell her the complete story.

She chuckled at that. "And what of the final two? You told me they were much older."

"Oh, well... they're both almost thirty. Terry, the horse? He's mute. But Mitch interprets for him."

"I see." She muttered, putting the menu down on the table. The fox's full attention turned to Danny. "You aren't telling me something."

Danny's body stiffened in response to her words. He had never been good at hiding the truth from his mom.

"Is one of them homophobic?" She asked sternly, eyes narrowing.

"Not at all!" Danny shouted. "In fact... Terry and Mitch are a... are partners."

She leaned back in her chair, a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Oh! I hadn't known."

"Yeah. Me either. They live in the room across from Mitch and I, but they are never really around." Danny stated, glad that he had dodged the bullet.

"Well it's... I think it's a good thing that you're living there. Hopefully they'll set a good example for when you decide to..." She paused, noticing the waiter was drawing near.

The conversation was lost after they had ordered their food. The two fox's sat in silence for some time, each staring at their own phones.

"Barry says hi." The older fox said, typing back a response to her husband.

"Tell him thanks... for helping move me in." Danny clarified, busy reading his last conversation with Terry over again.

>>I think you should tell her everything you told me

>>But in person, obviously

"Aaaaand... sent. So where were we?" The older fox asked, setting down her phone.

"I don't really remember." Danny lied, trying to change the subject. "How was the conference?"

She groaned, watching as the waiter set down their drinks. "It was a full house. Barry and I were swamped the entire time. It was one thing after another..." She paused to thank the waiter before sipping her expensive alcoholic beverage. "But it was exhausting. But it's over now, which is why I could come up to see you." She said, smiling warmly at her son.

"Er, thanks." Danny said, shifting in his seat.

"Are you nervous about your first day?" She asked, crossing her arms on the table.

"I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't." Danny admitted.

She chuckled, tilting her head as she leaned in. "Oh, Danny. It's only natural. I remember my first week of college. It was stressful, but I had... Richard... to help me through it."

The name seemed to sour the air around them. Danny looked down at his lap as if he was physically trying to avoid the subject. His mother looked at him from across the table, ears tilted backward in regret.

"Honey, it's been four years." She said, as if trying to reassure herself as well.

"I know it's just... I wanted to... I wanted to tell you that I... About that day I-" Danny's voice cut off as he looked back up at his mother.

"I told him afterwards that... that it should have been us.... that it should have been him that died in the crash." He admitted.

"And then... there was this cop who reported on the scene... he had been reporting at that crash, too... and I heard him whisper... 'good riddance' when he was checking Dad's vitals... and... a-and I swear... for just a second I... I agreed with him." Danny looked up at his mom, tears welling in his eyes. "I never should've... raised my voice o-o-or said any of that to him. Not to his face. But he just kept... pushing me." He lowered his head again, letting his tears fall onto his lap. He hoped no one around them saw him crying, but he couldn't stop. Not now.

He felt his mother's paw rest atop his. Danny tried his best to stem the tide of emotions welling inside him, but he couldn't.

"Danny I..." His mother began, her gentle voice wavering slightly. "I know what you're feeling. And I... I said the same thing. Right to his face... I...."

Danny looked up at her. The older fox had tears as well. She squeezed his hand tightly as she spoke. "I said it right to his face, not even a day after the crash. With all the hell he put us through I never... I never even once thought to think of the hell he was going through. Oh, Danny. I thought you'd hate me."

Danny shook his head. "I thought you'd hate me, too."

They did their best to conceal their emotions as a waitress strolled past. Danny wiped his tears away with a sleeve while his mother dabbed her cheeks with a napkin.

"Sorry I didn't mean to-" Danny began, sniffling.

"No, Danny. This needed to be said." She said, clearing her throat. "Thank you for... for sharing."

"Yeah. You too." Danny said, smiling at his mom.

---

"Goodnight, Mrs. Solovitz!" Mark shouted, waving from the doorstep.

She waved back, coat blowing in the breeze as a cold wind passed. She waited for the wolf to close the door before turning back to her son.

"They seem nice." She stated.

"Yeah..." Danny said, watching her as she pulled out the keys to her car.

"And how many of them are gay?" The fox's emerald eyes glinted as she spoke.

Shit.

"All... of them." Danny said, tail hiding between his legs.

"So I'll assume..." She began, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Danny whimpered.

"With how many of them?"

"All the ones you met." He confessed, blushing madly.

She stared for a long time at him, as if stuck trying to process this information.

"And you are using protection, right?" She finally said, pulling open the door to her car.

Danny looked up at his mom, shocked at how smoothly she had handled it. "What?"

"Condoms, Danny." She clarified.

"Y-yeah. I mean yes. But... what?" He asked again.

"Oh, Danny... you can't hide those kind of things from your mother." She tutted, pulling him into a hug.

"And you're... okay with this?" Danny asked, smothered by his mother's tight hug.

"Of course I'm not!" She barked. "But that doesn't mean you're not an adult. I know you, Danny. I can't control your actions, but I trust you enough to protect yourself." She squeezed even tighter before releasing him from her grip.

He watched as she climbed into the car, pulled out of the driveway, and disappeared down the road. The cool breeze returned as he stood there, gently pushing against him.

A loud slam from behind him made Danny spin around. Mark held the front door open, a hand cupped to his mouth. "What did I tell ya, Danny? Your mom had no clue about the whole..." The wolf gestured wildly, thrusting his hips into the outside air.

"The party doesn't start until tomorrow, Mark. Leave some alcohol for Saturday." Danny shouted back, walking towards the open door.

---

"Man, why the hell do we gotta clean the place if we're just gonna have to do it all over again on Sunday?" Mark complained, tying the trash bag as he whined.

"Because Matthew is going to be here tomorrow and I am NOT going to blow it." Philly huffed. The doberman was busily mopping the kitchen floor.

"But I thought the whole point was to blow it." Danny corrected, rewrapping the vacuum's cord around its base.

The whole house let out a sustained "ooooh!" at Danny's joke. Julius' heavy hand landed on his back. "Good one, fox." The clothed dragon grinned. The large man had fully dressed for Danny's mother, and now stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room.

"So are you joining us for the party Danny?" Seamus asked, tiptoeing around Mark as he hoisted two bottles of wine onto the counter.

"He'd better." Mark grumbled.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Julius offered.

"Actually I'm not really... into big parties. I might just come downstairs for a bit." Danny said, hoisting the vacuum over to the closet.

"We promise to behave, Danny." Seamus chimed in. "Right guys?"

The dragon and dobie both nodded. Seamus glared at Mark. "I said... Right? Guys?"

Mark's ears perked up. He turned around to look at the others. "Hm? What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Bullshit." Seamus grinned, swatting the wolf on the ass.

Mark let out a fake yelp as he shied away from the hand. "Hey! Do that again and I'll be forced to reimburse you later, ten-fold."

"Is that a threat?" Seamus cooed, brushing up against the wolf.

"Hey! I just mopped these floors!" Philly growled. "If you're gonna do something I'd prefer it if Drippy wasn't in the kitchen."

"What did I say about using that name!" The husky shouted, ears folding forward. "I can't help that I get a little worked up!"

"Knock it off you guys." Julius commanded. Immediately the three stopped their bickering and got back to work. Seamus went to fetch more alcohol from the fridge in the garage while Mark took the garbage out back.

"That was impressive." Danny stated, looking up at the large dragon.

"Like I told you before, you can't let them start talking or else all hell breaks loose." Julius said, tugging against his shirt. "You mind if I take these off now that your mom's gone?"

"Go ahead." Danny said.

---

The five found themselves sitting around the living room. They had been talking for over an hour now, and it was getting pretty late.

"How the hell did she know?!" Mark barked as the rest of the room laughed it up.

"I don't know! She's just... really good at telling these things!" Danny said, equally as confused as the wolf. "The woman practically outed me to myself."

"What?" Seamus said, cocking his head. "How does that work?"

"Oh boy, coming out stories." Philly groaned, leaning in closer.

"Well... I was really young, and I had just hit puberty. I had asked her why I didn't like girls and she told me what being gay was." Danny stated.

"Seems a little presumptuous to assume that about your kid." Mark muttered.

"No it wasn't like that! I told her that I didn't like girls yet, and she said there might not be a 'yet'. And then she explained what being gay was and I kind of just... got it." Danny said.

Philly huffed. "Man you had it easy. Didn't know what I was missing until I drank one too many. I'll never forget the morning after. Haven't told my brothers yet but I thought my dad was gonna have a heart attack after I told him."

"My parents caught me making out with a guy back in High School. I think the real shock to them was learning that the boy next door was gay, not me." Seamus blushed.

"My father and I don't see each other much anymore. Mostly because of my coming here for a fine arts degree... but I don't think the gay thing helped either." Julius stated. The lack of emotion in the dragon's voice worried Danny.

"And you're okay with that?" Danny pressed.

"I still go to my farm in the countryside, but he is always finding excuses to avoid me. But it is fine. My mother and siblings all support me. And I know deep down that my father will always care for me." Julius said.

They all sat there for a moment, a still silence occupying the room.

"Weeeeelp. I'm tired. Sorry about not keeping a tight enough lid on the whole 'sex-with-all-of-your-roommates' thing Danny." Mark said, stretching as he got on his feet.

The doberman got to his feet. "You coming too, Shay?" Julius said, turning to the husky.

"Y-yeaaaah." Seamus said, hand covering his mouth as he yawned.

When the dogs departed, Danny was left alone on the couch with Julius. The fox would have left with Mark if he hadn't felt like the dragon had wanted him to stay.

"What's wrong?" Danny eventually said, peering up at the large dragon.

"Nothing. It's just..." Julius let out a deep sigh. "I'm not sure I believe what I just told you. About my family. It does bother me, but... why can't he see me as his son, and not as some screw-up?"

"Well... my dad and I... never really met eye to eye on a lot of things either."

"The cat?"

"No, the fox. My real dad... he was an alcoholic and we... we said a lot of things we can't take back now. I would always fight and bicker with him about the stupidest of things. Like this one time we argued for two hours about my mom and Barry. Looking back, I blamed him for the divorce, the car crash, and... his suicide. But that was just me running away from my own blame. Yes, he carried a lot of hate in his heart, but that doesn't mean I didn't carry the same hate as well."

"I'm... I'm sorry." Julius said, squeezing the fox's knee. The dragon's thumb slowly stroked his fur as they sat there in silence.

"You don't have to be sorry. It's taken me a long time to realize this, but... I don't want to see your relationship ruined over something so trivial. If he truly loves you, then the two of you can find a way to work things out." He placed his hand on top of Julius'. The dragon's large hand-made Danny's look like a child's in comparison.

"You really think so?" The large dragon asked, leaning down towards Danny.

"Yeah, I really do." Danny said, looking up into Julius' eyes. "I'm... gonna kiss you now, if you don't-"

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Two more remaining!! How will this story end for our little fox? Where the hell is the porn? And why do I use so many ellipses?! Because I think it's an important tool to create realistic dialogue. It separates the characters words more than a period ever would, but keeps the dialogue flowing.

Comments and critiques are always welcome!

pawsroloc