FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"This is ridiculous. Do they have to discontinue every product I like?" Will shook his head and glared over the shelves one more time. No more broccoli coleslaw, it seemed. He'd have to find a different vegetable for his stir fry.

He turned and smiled as he caught sight of Jeff, over by the tomatoes, exactly where he left him. As he got closer, he could see the wolf holding an empty produce bag in one hand and a tomato in the other. His expression was one of vague uncertainty.

"Problem, hun?"

Jeff blushed. "I, uh, don't really know what makes a good tomato."

Will chuckled and took the bag from his boyfriend, picking out a couple tomatoes. "What do you normally buy for dinner?"

Jeff rubbed the back of his head and averted his eyes. "Uh, a lot of frozen stuff, generally. Rice. Maybe a casserole once in a while."

Will chuckled again. "Not much of a chef?"

"Not really."

Will thought it was kind of cute the way Jeff ducked his head, but he would have liked to see more confidence in his wolf. "You'll have to make that casserole for me sometime."

Jeff's smile wasn't very wide, but it was genuine. "Sure."

Will grabbed a few more items. He was surprised when Jeff put some romaine lettuce in the cart. "I can do a caesar salad tonight," Jeff offered.

"You're a chef after all!"

"Oh, shut up," Jeff said with a dismissive wave. He kept his face turned away from Will, but Will could see his tail trying not to wag.

"So who did the cooking in your house growing up?" Will asked curiously, selecting a carton of eggs.

"My mom, usually. My sisters. Actually, my brother would whip something up with whatever we had once in a while. Guess it just missed me." Jeff shrugged and smiled crookedly. Will gave a gentle smile in response to the embarrassment he could see. "My mom probably would have insisted I learn something, but..." He trailed off, shrugging again.

Will put a hand on Jeff's shoulder, giving it a rub. Jeff gave a smile in return.

"I'm alright."

Will knew he wasn't, not entirely, but he knew he wasn't letting it get him down either. He added milk to the cart and kept his journey up and down the aisles going.

"Hun, could you get that for me?" Will pointed to a can on the top shelf.

Jeff pulled the can down down and presented it gravely. "M'lord."

"You're too much." Will took the can and the opportunity to give Jeff a peck on the cheek.

It was a couple aisles later when the fur raised on the back Will's neck. He glanced around. There was a middle-aged couple in the same aisle, but no one else. They seemed to be checking out the deals on pop. Will gave a shrug and turned his attention back to Jeff, who was putting bags of chips into the cart. "Really, babe? How much do you need?"

"I'm not going to eat it all tonight. There's a sale, I'm just stocking up."

Will snorted at the childish tone and kept walking. He knew he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Hey, can you throw a case of Coke on?" Will slowed as the thought occured.

"Really, babe? How much do you need?" Jeff's imitation was remarkably on point.

"Ha, ha, ha," Will said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

As Jeff finished putting the pack of twenty-four on the bottom of the cart, Will gave him a hug from behind and rested his muzzle on the wolf's shoulder. "Thanks, hun."

"Should have known it was dangerous to bend over in front of you." Jeff's voice was too low to carry further than Will's ears, a fact the fox was grateful for. Still, he laughed as he let go.

A cough a little further down the aisle made Will's ears flick. "Disgusting."

Will felt his ears droop of their own accord as he turned. He could see the couple not too far away looking at them with what could only be described as contempt. The woman's face was cold, and she smiled in response to Will's shame, something that made his ears and tail droop further. He suddenly wanted to be anywhere other than there.

"Bad enough in the privacy of a home, but flaunting it in public," she shook her head.

Will wanted to melt right through the floor.

"Babe." Jeff's voice was insistent in his ear. "Babe, look at me."

Will turned back to Jeff, but he only had a moment to meet Jeff's eyes before the wolf had his arms wrapped around him and tipped him off balance. Will scarcely had time to realize he was being dipped before Jeff locked muzzles with him. Will was too shocked to respond at first, but after a moment, he kissed back, forgetting to feel ashamed from the passion of the kiss.

Jeff held him like that for a long moment before pulling him back to his feet, though Will still had to lean on him for support. His legs were wobbly, but his ears were perked up again, and his face was flushed. He saw Jeff grinning widely over his shoulder, and he turned to see the couple utterly scandalized. The woman even had a hand over her heart, a look so stereotypical that Will had to fight the urge to laugh.

The couple walked by haughtily, refusing to look at either of them. Jeff had no such compunction, and cheerily called, "Have a nice night!" at their retreating backs.

Will found his sense of balance again and disengaged from Jeff. He could feel his face burning with a blush. "Why did you do that?" There was no anger or resentment in his voice, just confusion and embarrassment.

"Did you not enjoy it?" Jeff tilted his head with comical inquisitiveness.

"Well, I just--Answer the question!"

"They were making you sad. And ashamed. It seemed like a good way to cheer you up and tell them to fuck off at the same time. And look," Jeff said with exaggerated cheeriness, tilting Will's muzzle up, "it worked!"

Will turned his face away from Jeff, but he was smiling. "First time you've ever kissed me like that, and you did it in the middle of a grocery store."

"Yeah, well," Jeff rubbed the back of his head, "y'know. Seemed like a good time for it."

Will snorted with amusement. "Let's finish shopping and get home. And then you can do it again."

Jeff blushed. Will shook his head. He couldn't believe that Jeff would do that in the middle of a grocery store without blinking an eye, but he still got embarrassed when asked to repeat it in private. Oh, well, Will thought, stealing a glance at the wolf now avoiding his gaze. He's still very cute when he's embarrassed.

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AN: Thanks to Silver the 1 Wolf for suggesting the premise of a shopping trip. Turned out to be an excellent prompt. Hope you, and everyone else who reads this, finds this enjoyable. Hopefully see you all soon again.