FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Seven!

Cheers,

Carlo AKA Faukx

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Seven: 'Dinner Time'

Malcom and Jake were walking towards the Officers dining hall, they were already running late and still had to take the elevator to the right floor. Jake was fumbling with the buttons of his officer coat, "Remind me again why I'm wearing this stupid monkey suit!" Malcom shook his head. "I don't like it either, but we have to. These officials are probably expecting us to wear these things day in day out." Jake grimaced, "You're not helping one bit, I'm not going to wear this thing every day!" They arrived at the elevator and Jake began to push the buttons nervously. "Calm down Jake, afraid someone might catch us before we get in the elevator?" Malcom chuckled. Jake looked at him with a forced smile. "Ha ha ha... no, of course not. But I don't like waiting when I'm in a hurry." The elevator arrived and they stepped into the elevator, Jake quickly pushed the right button and began fumbling with his coat-buttons again. Malcom stepped in front of Jake, "Here, let me help you." Jake sighted and let Malcom try to button his coat. "Bugger, how hard can it be to button-up a coat?" Jake said to himself. Malcom smiled at Jake, "your just nervous, you need to relax. We're not going to get grounded or something. And besides, what's to worst thing that could happen?" Jake nodded, "you're probably right, I just don't like all of this official stuff. Thanks dear." Malcom had finished buttoning Jake's coat, Jake tried to inspect himself. "How do I look?" Malcom looked at Jake with a sly smile, "Do I sense obsession?" "Malcom!" Jake returned irritably. "You look great Jake, don't fuss about it." Malcom laughed.

The elevator stopped, Malcom and Jake stepped out and quickly made their way to the dining hall. When they entered the dining hall some furs looked their way, but no one seemed to look upset for their delay. "Ah great! We were just waiting for you two, sit down and get something to drink!" Faukx said with a smile. The room was filled with a few long tables, Faukx was sitting at the end of one of them. On his right hand were Andrews and Adkins, on his left Misha and an empty seat. There was also a empty seat between Adkins and Tachis, Tachis waved at Jake and motioned him to come over. Jake quickly made his way over to Tachis and sat next to him, Malcom took his place next to Misha and he noticed someone starring at him. Adkins smiled at him, Malcom smiled back. "Sorry were late Sirs, I'm afraid our shifts were running late." Jake said apologetic to Andrews and Adkins. The lion and fox nodded respectfully. "No problem Jake, we know how busy you two are" Faukx said with a smile, "Lieutenant Andrews, Corporal Adkins. This is SergeantGoodworthy. You already met Lieutenant Grandforth." Faukx said introducing Jake to the officials. Andrews and Adkins nodded to Jake who nodded back. "A pleasure to meet you both." "Likewise" Said Andrews, Adkins just looked stern. Jake looked to Tachis and raised an eyebrow, Tachis chuckled softly.

Faukx signaled the waiters who came and asked what the officers wanted to drink, everyone ordered theirs and resumed talking with each other. After the waiters came back with the drinks they brought everyone a plate filled with food, when everyone had their drinks and food Faukx arose from his chair. The room went silent and everyone looked in his direction. "Thank you everyone for joining us this evening, I would like to officially welcome Lieutenant Andrews and Corporal Adkins to our ship. We wish you both a pleasant stay at our ship and we wish you luck in your duty's!" Faukx raised his glass and the rest followed his example, they toasted to the two and took a polite sip from their drinks. Faukx sat down, furs started to talk with each other again and ate. Faukx and Misha quickly got involved in a conversation with Andrews about the ships crew. Tachis, Jake and another officer next to Malcom started to talk about the 'junior' troops. Adkins was silently eating his food, Malcom took a big swing from his beer and started to eat. He was absolutely starved because he hadn't eaten a thing since lunch, he occasionally glanced at Adkins who occasionally glanced back at him with a smile. After some time Adkins finished his drink, Malcom had already finished his drink minutes ago. Adkins motioned for a waiter to come, "Two more beers please." Malcom, who heard Adkins talk, looked at him confused. "I thought you might like another one." Said Adkins smiling, Malcom didn't really know what so say. Adkins presented his paw, Malcom took it in his own paw and shook it. Adkins paw was small but had a strong grip to it. "William Adkins, but you can call me Will." Williams said with a smile, "Malcom Grandforth, or just Malcom." Malcom smiled back, the waiter brought them their beers and the two of them toasted. "So Will, how did you got placed on this ship at such a short notice?" Malcom asked with interest, "Well, I saw your file with a picture, and I just had to meet you, so here I am" William said with a grin. "That... is the worst hook-up line I ever heard." Malcom said laughing. "I had some problems with the High Council, some privet stuff. So they send me to this ship to inspect it, but in reality they just put me some place where I can't make things any worse." William said in hushed tones, Malcom raised an eyebrow. "And he knows?" Indicating Andrews who was loudly talking with Faukx now, with Misha looking mesmerized at Andrews. William shook his head and continued in hushed tones, "No, he thinks he's getting help. Well, he does, but not for the reason he thinks he gets it...ego brain..." Malcom chuckled, "And what was the problem if I may ask?" he dared to ask. William smiled, "Oh you can ask, but you will see soon enough I guess." He said teasingly. Malcom showed a toothy grin, "So what did you have in mind?" William took a swing from his beer. "Just come to the club this Saturday, you'll see."

"So tell me, I saw you have a very diverse crew, I guess you did this for a reason?" Andrews asked, Faukx swallowed his food. "We take furs from all over the world, we take them for who they are and what they can, not for where they come from, what race they are or what gender they are. Every fur on this ship respects each other for who and what they are." Andrews nodded with smile, "I'm deeply respect this choice, there certainly seems to be a good mood on this ship. I already start to think that I made the right choice coming here." "I'm glad you think so, we are glad they finally send someone to see how well this ships is run." Misha said with a smile. Andrews felt flattered and looked at her with a proud smile. Faukx looked at Misha and raised one of his eyebrows a little bit. Misha knew what that meant, you are such a lying bastard, it said. Misha just gave Faukx a little smile, I know what I'm doing, it said. "So when are you going to begin with inspections?" She asked flatteringly. "Well, as soon as possible. I need to set up a workspace for me and Adkins, after that we immediately begin with inspection. Ill set up a plan and present it to you two, would that be okay with you?" Andrews explained loudly. Misha and Faukx looked at each other and nodded, "That would be satisfactory, I'll have orders for a workspace to be readied send for tomorrow morning" Faukx said, he was hoping he wouldn't have to talk about orders and work on his free evening, but what else did he expect from this man. He caught a glimpse from Tachis en Jake who looked at him and snickered, they knew he was not amused by this official. Faukx just smiled at them and continued listening to Andrew rambling on about his work, Misha wanted to know what he did before he came to this ship and after a while she seemed quite impressed with him. This just irritated Faukx.

"What is your thought on our new junior teams?" Tachis asked Jake. Jake pondered on this for a few seconds, "There okay I guess, their second holo-battle went much better than their first. And they seem to have found a good 'leader', this girl sure knows how to plan things. And DAMN she can shoot, she got one of the rifles and she sure knows how to use it." "And you Kenji? How's your small group of nerds doing?" Tachis asked smiling. Sergeant Kenji Yamashita was the Chief of Military Science, he was a Japanese white leopard. "My new nerds are doing great! This one young one, Sam Jungmann, is really showing promise! I already lend to him my book about Plasma-Physics, he will be placed at weapons development with me!" Kenji said enthusiastic. Tachis and Jake both laughed, Kenji always looked funny when he was in a very good mood. "And yours?" Kenji asked Tachis, "Oh they do a wonderful job, they really learned well on earth. They know much about the newer systems, we can use that knowledge because the rest of my team is still trying to get familiar with it. I think we might be getting rusty, but nothing we can't fix of course."

Jake and Kenji nodded, "I overheard Affra say to some of the other juniors that they were having a game night with your junior team Kenji, it seems like those two groups seem to get along well with each other." "So I noticed, I heard two of the girls talk about that Husky from your junior's. He must be quite popular, yes?" "Yeah, that would be Ivan Yevdokia. He's also popular with the girls from my junior group." "We could put them in a holo-training with my junior's, I would like to know what they can do in a more controlled situation. And we could put the medics in to, they sure could do with field experience." They all nodded in agreement, Tachis emptied his beer glass and ordered more. Jake was cutting his beef and ate, Kenji was enjoying his beef as well.

After dinner most officers left. Tachis, Jake and Kenji stood up from their seats. "Say Malcom, were going to play cards, you coming?" Jake asked him, "Nah, I'm staying here for a few more minutes and then I might come, your room?" "Yes, well see you in a couple of minutes then." The trio left the dining hall. Malcom looked at William, "So what are you going to do the rest of the evening?" "Hmm, I guess I'm going to bed early tonight. Andrews here might want to start early and I haven't had a good night's rest this week." William said bored and tired. "I'll be very busy tomorrow so I guess I'll see you at the club this Saturday." "Okay, I'll see you then." Malcom said with a grin and shook William's paw, William answered with a smile. Malcom left the dining hall and left William with Faukx, Misha and Andrews.

Malcom made his way to Jake's cabin, at the door he punched in the code Jake gave him and went inside. The smell of Sandalwood incense immediately penetrated his sensitive wolf nose, he quickly closed the door before the smell would spread in the hallway. He walked into the 'living-room' where Tachis, Jake and Kenji were already drinking beer and hustling cards. "Ah right in time Hun, we were just getting ready for a new round." Malcom quickly took a beer from the fridge and sat down at the table. Cards got dealt and the four of them started to play. "I saw you talking with that Adkins guy, what was that all about?" Tachis asked Malcom while they were playing. "Oh nothing," Jake looked at him with a suspicious eye. "I heard you whisper to each other, was there something that we shouldn't be hearing?" Tachis and Kenji were looking at him expectantly. "Ach, to hell with it. I asked him why he was placed at this ship at such a short notice, because that was only decided this very morning." He waited for some response, the rest was looking at each other and looked back waiting for more info. "He told me he had some problems with the High Council because of some privet stuff so they wanted to get rid of him, so they placed him on a soon to depart ship. I guess they think he can't cause much troubles here, and when I asked what it was he told me I would see soon enough." Again the rest looked at each other and chuckled, "I'm curious at what it would be, did he tell you?" Jake asked. "He told me I would see soon enough. 'Just come to the club this Saturday, you'll see', he said" Malcom looked at Jake who had a sly smile on his face, "He also had the worst hook-up line ever" He told them, the rest laughed. "When I asked him how he got placed here in such a short notice he told me he saw my picture in my profile and just had to meet me" Malcom laughed, the rest of them laughed harder than before and tears sprang into their eyes. Tachis tumbled backward off his chair, he was holding his belly from the pain the laughing caused. Jake rubbed away the tears from his eyes, "Wow, that must have been totally random!" "That...ha-ha...is SO gay!" Tachis said, still laughing and picking himself up from the ground and sat back at the table. "Yeah, I guess we already know what he thinks of you!" Kenji said, Malcom was rubbing his eyes. "I guess so, but what would he have to show in the club?" Tachis raised his shoulders, "Maybe he just likes to party with you, or he might be an attention whore." Jake laughed, "As long as he stays away from the dancing poles, that is my territory!" Again everyone laughed. "Well, I guess we'll see what's to see on Saturday." Malcom said chuckling, the rest nodded in agreement. They re-dealt the cards and started playing again, but they quickly stopped playing because no one could concentrate on the game. Frequent fits of laughter's and stupid one-liners didn't really help during the game, they sat on the couch and put up a movie. After the movie Tachis and Kenji left for their own cabins, this left Malcom and Jake alone.

"So what do think about this Adkins guy?" Jake asked curiously. Malcom looked at the ceiling, "Oh he looks nice, and I think he might be a nice guy to hang out with. And yes he looks quite good actually." Jake smiled, but Malcom didn't see. "So how's it like to have a boyfriend?" Jake was had took of his officer coat and was playing with his fingerless gloves, "Well, it's just like it would when you have a girlfriend. Only you have a male by your side, and a great deal of furs just don't accept that. So in a way it's much more difficult, but it has its fun sides to." Malcom was thinking about what Jake said, "Did you have any girlfriends before you find out you were gay?" Jake nodded, "A few, but that was mostly to keep my dad happy. When I first told him I was gay he said that he didn't want to see a boyfriend in his house and that I'd better come home with a girl, but after a few failed attempts to like females I brought home a boyfriend." "And what was your dad's reaction?" "Well, I was nineteen and I was already in the military. We were both privates and we had met during our training, so my dad sort of knew I would see lots of guy's there. He didn't like it one bit, when I brought him home with me my dad told us exactly what he thought about homosexuality." "So, what did you do? I know you ran away from house, was that after that happened?" Jake sighted, "Yes, I just broke. Years I had denied who I was so now I told HIM what I was thinking about the subject. Years of cropped up anger just spilled out and I said the most horrible things about him, the next day I came back with some friends and we took all my stuff. I went to live with an aunt, she was rejected be my family because she was lesbian." Malcom looked surprised, "Aunt Marry? The one that I know?" Jake smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's her."

Jake stood up and put up some new-age music, Malcom also took of his officer coat and threw it in a corner. "So why did I never met your boyfriend?" Jake sat down and took a deep breath, "We two met when I was twenty-two, you were twenty-three. That was a year after he was transferred to another division, he was a private and I was getting more training. There I met you, we were officer material and had to be trained different and harder. I lost contact with him, last time I heard something of him he was at the front. Somewhere in the Antalos system fighting the Syllisyn, that was five years ago." Malcom rubbed his chin, "Man, that is something alright. Five years in this stupid war is a long time, he could be back on earth by now... if he still lives." Jake nodded. A lot of furs died in that time, it was the beginning of the war and a lot had happened since then. "Well, you know the story after we met." Malcom nodded. They now knew each other thirteen years, together with most other officers on the ship and veteran troops they had all been together for seven years. "I don't think he is still alive, or else I would have heard something about him in these five years." They were both staring to the ceiling now, both of them had seen a lot of good furs die, and with them a lot of friends. "You ever saw your dad again?" Malcom asked after a few silent minutes. Jake shook his head and rubbed a paw in his eyes, "No" he sighted. "You plan to meet him again?" Jake shook his head again, "If you don't mind I would like to be alone right now." Tears started to form in his eyes, Malcom nodded and gave his friend a hug. He picked up his coat and walked to the door. "Malcom." Malcom turned around. "Thanks for talking to me." Jake smiled, Malcom nodded and left Jake's cabin.