FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Delfino Bros. Corporation... " Sasuga read the big sign in front of the gate entrance of a giant plant, belonging to a huge food trading company that Hazard supposedly worked at, so she was definitely in the right place. She stood around in front of the gate, waiting, as workers came out and in of the factory. Unfortunately, there were no sign of Hazard. She took a quick glance at her wrist watch and saw that it was exactly 2:10 PM. She wondered if she came too early, or maybe too late. Hoping it wasn't the later, Sasuga waited for a while longer.

20 minutes later and Sasuga began to get the idea. Most likely, he walked out on her, not that she didn't expect it. It wasn't like it was the first time she was ditched. "Figures... "she let out a sad sigh, pressing her suitcase she held between her arms against her chest, and then turned around and began to walk away.

"HEY! WAIT UP!"Sasuga's ears suddenly perked up as she heard a distance voice calling out.

"H-Hazard?"Her eyes widened, seeing the golden wolf hurrying over to her from the plant.

"Oh man... sorry... for being... late... "Hazard was hardly able to speak, bending forward and resting his hands on his knees, panting heavily and trying to catch his lost breath. He came. He actually came after all and didn't disappoint her like she presumed. That thrilled Sasuga more than she could say, and she felt stupid for quickly jumping to conclusion and thinking that Hazard ditched her.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you made it!"Sasuga said with a pleased smile, as Hazard stood up after regaining his breath and looked at her with a doubtful eye.

"Well, yeah, but you were about to leave, weren't you?"He asked, smirking.

Sasuga blushed embarrassingly when he found her out, "Oh... Um, heh, yes, I guess you caught me... "

Hazard chuckled, "I couldn't blame you, I'm damn late. But it wasn't my fault! Not entirely at least... A late shipment came at the last minute and I had to unload it. That's the 'not-my-fault' part. The other part is that... I got lost and it took me a wile to find my way out. This place is huge!"

Sasuga looked at him strangely, "Couldn't you ask your way out?"

Hazard blinked at her blandly, "Oh yeah... that could've come in handy... "he replied with a bashful grin, scratching his cheek coyly. Sasuga couldn't help but giggle at the clumsy wolf; he was certainly a weird fellow. Hazard chuckled with her, "Well, how about we get going? I'm gonna leave you the choice of where to eat. Just make sure it has meat, lots of it."

"OK! I think I know of nice place."Sasuga nodded, and with profound optimism, accompanied her new friend to her favorite cafe.

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Sasuga took Hazard to 'Beverage Cloud', a celebrated little cafe located at a corner of a high wall-street building. In addition to being a good place to get fresh coffee, it also served as a restaurant that prepares good local meals, and had a small book section as well with a decent library of books for those who wanted a good read while enjoying their cup of their desired beverage. The place was nicely decorated too, with a simple wooden and velvet design to most of the furniture around, giving it a comfortable feeling to it. With all that said, it was no wonder Sasuga considered this place to be one of her most favorite hangouts, and Hazard could easily see why. The cafe was bustling with activity. Some were sitting at the bartender counter eating lunch while having a daily chat, others were having drinks while sitting on a sofa and reading a book or as a couple on small round tables. Hazard didn't pay much attention to all of that though, as he was incredibly hungry and wanted to eat as fast as possible. Sasuga didn't take long to grant him his wish and found an empty table for two. They sat down and a female waitress, who was a young caramel-furred bunny in her teens, came up to them to take their orders.

"Lessee... "Hazard murmured as he held up the menu that was on the table and examined it carefully. "I want a beef jerky sandwich, a big stake; well done, with mash potatoes on the side, roasted ribs, some fried chicken legs, lamb chops, some spring rolls with spicy corn dip, a bowl of hash browns, a king sized burger with french fries and... what's today's special?"Hazard asked the dumbfounded waitress, who was barely able to keep up jogging down the wolf's large order. Sasuga too was very stunned, looking at him in disbelief.

"Uhh, it's egg salad, sir,"the young bunny answered timidly.

"Blech... spare me the agony. I guess that's all. Oh wait! Add a stack of pancakes, a brownie, a cheesecake and a blueberry pie for dessert! Thanks,"Hazard finally finished, much to the waitress relief.

"'Kay... and for the lady?"the waitress then turned to the distracted kirin.

"Huh? Oh! Umm... I'll just have a stake, medium rare please,"Sasuga ordered and the bunny waitress thankfully bowed to them before heading off to the kitchen to prepare their orders.

"Err... did I order too much?"Hazard wondered when he noticed the disturbed look on both of the ladies faces.

Sasuga giggled, "Just a tad,"she replied cynically. "Just one more order, and you could feed an army with that list."

Hazard couldn't hold back a laughter at that little joke. "Sorry, but I didn't have dinner last night, and I still didn't have breakfast yet either. So I wanna make it up for my poor tummy,"he said as he was rubbing his stomach.

"Oh, that sounds awful. I just hope you'll be able to finish it without having an indigestion, and more importantly, pay for it,"Sasuga jokingly said and made Hazard laugh again.

"Don't worry. No meal exists that hasn't been digested by my stomach."Hazard joked back and they both laughed for a bit. "So, Sasuga... how long have you been in this city?"the wolf then sought to start a conversation, to pass time till their orders arrive.

"Oh gee, I don't know... 17 years maybe? I moved to Burgstein with my family when I was 10 and have been living here ever since,"Sasuga answered casually.

"Ah, so you do have a family?"

"Um, no. Not a real one anyway. I was raised in an orphanage until I was seven, and then a family of felines adopted me. The Temples were very good to me."

"Are they still living with you?"Hazard asked and Sasuga's eyes quickly changed into a dim sad expression.

"No... they passed away years ago,"Sasuga uttered and Hazard wished he'd bitten his tongue off before he'd brought that up.

"Oh... I'm sorry,"Hazard said the only good thing he could came up with.

"No, no! It's ok!"Sasuga retorted with a headshake. "That was a long time ago and I'm doing pretty good now. I owe it all to them,"she stated gratefully, Hazard smiling back at her.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I too lost my folks ages ago, so I guess I can relate to that,"Hazard said with a smirk and caused Sasuga to blink.

"Really? I'm so sorry. Were they your real parents?"Sasuga asked curiously and Hazard simply answered with a nod. "I see... well, at least you're lucky enough to know them. I don't even know who my real parents were."

"Well, one thing for sure, they must've been good-looking,"Hazard then said with a wink and made Sasuga's cheek turn green from blushing, her smiling at him appreciatively for the pleasant comment. "Anyway, let's move on to something more cheerful, eh? What do you study in the university?"

"Oh, my major is Art. I plan to be a freelance artist,"Sasuga straightly answered him and Hazard's ears perked up in interest.

"An artist, huh? Man, I love art! You gotta show me some of your works sometimes, I'd really love that,"Hazard keenly stated and Sasuga's smile grew, happy to see that the wolf was fascinated in her one and only passion.

"Um, if you're interested, I brought my sketchbook with me... "Sasuga reached down for her suitcase and brought out her trusty sketchbook that she regularly doodle on. "They're mostly rough sketches though, so don't expect anything good,"she demurely said as she hesitantly handed the sketchbook to him. Hazard took the sketchbook and gave it a look, examining each of its pages one by one.

"Hey! These aren't even half bad! For rough sketches, they're pretty darn good, and clearly show you have great potentials! I bet your finished works look even much better!"Hazard openly praised her talent as he was looking through her sketches, making Sasuga's face brighten up in joy. She rarely got opinions outside her school, so hearing Hazard's compliments on her art really meant a lot to her.

"Why thank you, Hazard! I truly appreciate that, I really do. I'd be thrilled to show you more back at my place!"Sasuga excitedly offered.

"I'll hold you to that then."Hazard smiled agreeably, but then, his eyes suddenly flashed as he glimpsed a certain page of the sketchbook. His eyebrows narrowed as he examined the sketch closely.

"Is something wrong?"Sasuga asked anxiously when she noticed the troubled look on his face.

"Hm? Oh, nah, it's nothing. I just found this one a bit... intriguing,"Hazard replied and turned the sketchbook around to show her the page that caught his attention.

"Oh, this one? I drew that yesterday. It's from a scene I saw in one of my dreams. Well, it was more of a nightmare really,"Sasuga explained, referring to the 'Savior' picture she'd drawn.

"A dream?"

Sasuga nodded, "Yes. I was chased by some kind of a monster or demon, but then this person showed up and rescued me. So I called the picture 'Savior', although I didn't have a good look at him and... "She then paused for a second and stared at Hazard intently. "Wait a minute... "

"Uhhh... what? Something on my face?"the wolf muttered nervously as the kirin kept gazing at him.

"Oh, no, it's nothing! I just thought that you kinda looked like this swordsman in the sketch. It's almost uncanny... "Sasuga replied and a soundless gulp escaped Hazard.

"Y-You think?"

"But that couldn't be. It's just a coincidence,"Sasuga said with conviction, Hazard breathing out in comfort.

"Hehe, yeah, that must be it. A very weird coincidence... "Hazard mumbled, looking relieved for some reason. Fortunately for him, their orders came just in time for Hazard to change the subject. "Oh! Excellent! Here comes the food! I'm dying here!"he exclaimed in joy as the bunny waitress came back with a couple of more of helpers to bring in the big feast he ordered. There were so many dishes, they had to join another table to theirs so they could hold them all. "Don't be shy, Sasuga, and dig in."The golden wolf kindly offered to his kirin friend to join him.

"Umm, thanks, my dish would do just fine... "she politely declined, doubting that Hazard would be able to eat this gourmet; it was like an open buffet. Hazard shrugged and without further delay, began to enjoy his lunch.

Much to her utter amazement though, he actually did, and what was more amazing was that he finished his meals before she was done with hers, nor did he wolf the food up like a glutton pig, despite him being a wolf himself. He took his sweet time and enjoyed every bite, smacking his lips in delight as he swallowed one last piece of the pie.

"Mmmm... boy, that was good... "Hazard murmured in satisfaction, petting his full belly, before he let out a light burp that he couldn't hold in. "Oh, pardon me,"he apologized.

Sasuga shook her head, not minding it, "No problem. But I got to say, I'm very impressed! I seriously doubted that you'd be able to finish all of these dishes, let alone before I finished mine! It's like you've inhaled the food!"

"Heh... told ya so,"chuckled Hazard, picking his fangs with a toothpick. The same bunny waitress then showed up, bringing them the check.

"Here you go, sir."The waitress placed a plate that had the check on it on their table and Hazard picked it up.

"Let me handle it,"he graciously offered to pay for it all, but Sasuga couldn't accept.

"Oh, no, please allow me."Sasuga protested.

Hazard waved a finger at her, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, I won't have it."

"Well, at least let us split... "

"You didn't order much, so just let me take care of it."Hazard persistently insisted and Sasuga finally gave in.

"Alright, thank you."She smiled at him in gratitude and he nodded back with a smirk, before he took a look at the bill and his face suddenly paled. He quickly pulled out his wallet and fumble through it for a bit, looking quite anxious.

"Err... Do you have 10 bucks on you, Sasuga? I'm running kinda short, and the sweet lady here needs to be tipped... Ehehe... "Hazard chuckled nervously, as he didn't have enough money on him, much to his embarrassment. A sweatdrop hanged by the back of the kirin's head, but then she couldn't help but giggle out. 'That golden wolf sure was an unusual guy indeed,' was the thought that ran through Sasuga's mind.

To be continued...