FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Hey, Tirra," Shade greeted the white-furred lup?n girl as she appeared in his bedroom, a bouncy and very lifelike hologram.

She was wearing sleek aran-style clothing, the blue color matching her eyes, and the patterns in her fur were multicolored this time, some more angular than others, to draw the eye.

"Hi, Shade!" she said, beaming.

"Listen, I could use some advice. You anywhere near Thresa?" he asked.

"The market planet where I do all my shopping? Of course!" she said. "You wanna meet up?"

He chuckled at the slyness in her tone and the smirk she gave him.

"No, I uh... I just want to talk about something," he said.

She caught the seriousness in his tone and blinked, straightening, dropping her casual flirty demeanor.

"What's up?" she asked, pressing her pawpads together in that concerned way she always did when she was worried about a friend.

"Just... just get here," he said. "I can't explain through netlink."

"It's pretty late for an urgent, last minute meeting,~" she said, smirking. "You suuuure this isn't a booty call?"

"No, but there's no guarantee it won't lead there anyway," Shade said, returning the smirk.

"That's never a guarantee with you," Ama laughed. Then she froze, eyes wide.

"Wait, wait, I know that look!" she said excitedly. "Are you... did you...?!"

Oh, gods. She was onto him. He let out a deep sigh.

"Tirra--"

"I knew it!" she cheered. "You're in looove again! Who is it?? Oh, please tell me you got back with--"

"It's not--! ... They're new," Shade interrupted. "I knew you'd want to talk about it in person, so get here when you--"

"I'm on my way!" she blurted. "Fast as I can!"

***

"You know exactly who he's into, don't you?" Tirra was saying to Ami as Shade went to greet her.

"I know everything about him. I know who he's into before he knows," Ami replied. Tirra giggled.

"You haven't changed."

"Actually, I got some new upgrades yesterday."

"Oh?" Tirra said curiously.

"Mm, wait 'til you see what I can do with my--"

Ami was interrupted by Tirra's happy shriek as she spotted Shade and ran up the cargo ramp at him, throwing her arms around him. He'd expected this, though, and made sure to get a firm footing so she couldn't knock both of them over. It had happened before. He greeted her back with a chuckle and a firm embrace. He'd almost forgotten how good her body felt against his, and how good she smelled.

"Oh, it's so good to see you," she laughed.

"You too, as always," he said.

"You really just can't turn it off, can you?" she giggled.

"Like you want me to," he replied.

"So, c'mon! Tell me who it is!" she said.

Immediately, his suaveness left him, left him standing there awkwardly with a look of dumb embarrassment and a stupid blush.

"Look, we uh... we should go up to my room to talk about this," he said.

"Normally, you'd make some crack about inviting me to your room," she said. "Whoever this is must really have you flustered!"

He stammered and she broke into a grin.

"THAT'S SO CUTE!!" she shrieked.

"Gods, would you please just--" he hissed, grabbing her and pulling her all the way onboard the ship.

***

"I know you're probably already thinking about this," he sighed as he shut the door to his bedroom behind her.

"I have my suspicions," she said, smirking. "Mostly because when I asked about it you said, 'They're someone new' and not 'She's new', so you're either dating someone who's slightly off the spectrum from female like me, or--"

She stopped when she saw his face and he didn't meet her gaze.

"Shade!" she gasped, grabbing his shoulders with elation. "Are you... is it a GUY??"

He let out a long sigh, fully aware of the blush coloring his whole face.

"Yeah..." he said finally.

Almost before he'd even gotten the word out, she yelped and threw her arms around him, holding him tightly.

"Oh, stars, that's fantastic, Shade!" she said, pulling back. "And I'm so glad you came to me about it, really. It means so much to me that you would trust me with this."

"Yeah, of course," he said, smiling at her. "You're... I mean... yeah."

He sighed in exasperation at his own nerves and put a hand over his face.

"Awww," she cooed, putting her arms around him again.

When she pulled back again after a moment, he added, "And I'm still into girls, you know. Or, er... you know, your type. That hasn't changed."

She smiled.

"No, of course," she giggled. "I noticed how happy you were to see me when I showed up. And I've seen guys try to fake pheromones before--this wasn't that."

"What? When did you--?"

"Oh, it's a very messy story involving a thief and twenty pounds of stolen jirrk meat. I won't get into it now," she said dismissively.

"Right..." he said. "We should probably swap stories some time."

"Hey," she said with a pointed yet gentle tone. "Don't try to distract me, you know it won't work. You know I'll find out who this guy is eventually."

"Right," Shade said. "The guy."

"Okay, stupid question, but does Ami know?"

Shade scoffed.

"Right, okay," Tirra giggled. "What about that bartender on Earth?"

He looked at her with a small smirk.

"'That bartender on--'"

"You know who I mean!"

"No, V?r has no idea," Shade laughed. "I don't know, he might, but I'd be surprised."

"Okay, does Rayne know?" Tirra asked. Shade flinched.

When he looked back up at her, her eyes were bulging and her grin was wider than ever. This time, instead of a hug, she just shoved him back and pinned him to the bed.

"It's RAYNE??" she squealed.

He looked at her and smiled, then sighed. "Yeah."

She wrapped herself around him and broke into a fit of joyous giggles, then rolled the two of them right off the bed. They hit the floor with a thud and she kept rolling and giggling and pretty soon he joined in.

They ended up over by his dresser somehow by the time she rolled off of him, both of them panting. He looked at her with a grin and she giggled again. They sat up and this time he hugged her, a warm embrace.

"How do I tell him?" he whispered in her ear. She pulled away and looked at him, eyes full of a deep and caring love, an almost motherly affection.

"Just be you," she said, brushing the fur on the top of his snout.