FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The rain had finally died down, having lasted long enough to wait for the sun to disappear below the undulating horizon before scudding away and leaving everyone without any real day. The twilight was made of fire, though. It looked like the clouds were burning. As Emeral thought: it looked like Atum-Ra travelling across the sky in Ma'at. Though their legs were a little stiff and sore, the group of teens, kids and two moms went back to the beach, and attended one of the parties that they had spent the last few nights only hearing. It was hosted nearby the same restaurant the moms and their kids ate at the first day they came. Out on the beach, cooks wearing the restaurant's logo were standing at various grills, cooking all manner of hot dog, hamburger, bratwurst, bacon, and chicken. Some were roasting corn and grilling onions, pickles, red-peppers and squash as well. Spread about the sand were copses of benches or even some rock formations, surrounded by tiki torches or encircling an open fire. The kids--well, most of them--were extremely enthused with the whole setup; so exotic and fantastic. The smell of coal and burning wood, diesel and the heavily salted air, and the sound of the waves drowned out by the sounds of talking, laughter, music and shouting made the place both energetic and tranquil depending on what spot you stood in. The kids ordered their meals and sat nearby a grill, in one of the rock formations that did not have a fire to go along with it. A triangle of tiki torches lit their area. Not far away, the teens and the moms sat about in a circle. While they waited for their food, the girls talked. They exchanged stories and talked about themselves while the boys listened quietly. Felicity revealed that she was actually adopted, and that Haley was not her biological sister. Of course it should have been a little obvious considering she was a vixen and Haley was a lioness, but they were such naturally-acting siblings it didn't cross Emeral's mind at all. "I'm starting to understand how tough it is growing up with a different kind of family," Emeral stated after the explanation, thinking of Ket and Lyza. "My mom says my Aunt Stephanie is really crazy and nutso, but the last time I saw her I was real little and don't remember her at all." They ate heartily when their food arrived. Having spent all day exerting all their energy and sustained only by a couple Slushees, the kids ate a surprising amount of food. Emeral had a burger piled high, so big that her mouth barely fit around it and she ended up with some of it on her snout each bite. Ket had three hot-dogs, regretting he ate the last one; he shoved them down the fastest, little on them other than ketchup and mustard. James had two chicken drumsticks and a hot dog. On top of that, he kept eating pickles while Ket squeamishly digested and Emeral tried to eat, more than wear, the last few bites of her burger. Felicity surprised the tigers the most. She had two brat's with pickles sitting beside them in the buns. She wolfed them down almost as fast as Ket did his three hot-dogs, and afterwards she stood up and followed her sister in doing a bit of a dance in the crowd. "Hmf cnf fee mo fnf?" Emeral asked with a laugh, her mouth full from the last bite of burger. She leaned back and rested on her palms, putting her left hand behind Ket whom she sat beside. She looked at him, and he glanced to her. She chewed a bit more and made a big show of gulping down the wad of food in her mouth, followed by slouching her shoulders with a big, satisfied, tongue-dangling sigh; "Hah. . ." She looked back at Ket with a giggle, and then noticed he was looking at something else about her. She followed his gaze and noticed that there was a very pronounced bulge above the left side of her gut. She sat back up and hunched forward, covering herself with a self-conscious whimper. "Don't look at my big belly," she pouted. His face winced. "I'm sorry," he said softly. She laughed, but noticed his response. "I was just kidding," she assured him. "But I better watch it. Otherwise I will get fat," she played with the pudge, jiggling it a little. "You're not fat." He stated sharply. "I know," she said, and then reached to poke his tummy. "You gotta watch it too," she teased. He shrank a little, and for a second he looked a little ill with his jaw hanging ajar. Then there came a gurgle from deep within him, that rose up. He quickly shut his jaw like a bear-trap, and his cheeks puffed up. He couldn't contain it; he let loose one of the most intense belches of his life. "Impressive," James stated with approval. "Whoa," Emeral gave a mock look of amazement, "Is that what that button does?" "Don't do that again," Ket grumbled, holding a hand over his gut. "I won't," she replied softly, leaning back on her palms. "Hey guys," Cassie said, coming over from the spot where she sat with the other boys. "Sounds like you're having a good time," she sneered, glancing at Ket. Emeral saw the way his neck disappeared as he lowered his head a bit, and his jaw muscles tensed as he gritted his teeth. "Holy canoly, Emmy. Are you smuggling a watermelon in there or what?" Emmy giggled. "Cassie don't be mean," Ket snapped. "Oh, I didn't mean anything by it," the doe said gently. "I'm glad you guys are havi--" "Well I didn't like what you said," he replied, standing up assertively. The doe, caught a bit by surprise, closed her mouth slowly. "I'm really sorry, Emmy," she apologized to the tigress. "It's okay, really," she replied, more to Ket than to the doe. The moment was interrupted when Felicity returned. "Hey, guys, my sis is getting us a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee. You all wanna toss it around for a bit?" "Sure," James said, hopping up. "It'll be fun to do Frisbee at night out here." "Yeah," Cassie agreed, "We haven't done that in a long time." "Ooo," Emeral became excited, "That sounds like fun. Doesn't it?" She turned to her friend. He remained dim. "You can play," he said somberly. She dimmed as well. "You're not gonna play with us?" "Aww, c'mon Ketto," Cassie said, using the name Momma B. had called him. "I'm just...a little full," he said, throwing out an excuse. "That's okay, you don't gotta run to play Frisbee," Felicity said. "Yeah but not all of us can get up and dance after snarfing," James sneered. Amidst the huff of the vixen and chuckle of the buck, Emeral placed her hand at the base of Ket's neck. "Does your head still hurt?" He shrugged her off harshly. "I'm fine," he stated. Cassie knelt down. "You sure you're feeling okay? If you're dizzy at all we should let your mo--" "I'm fine." The people around him were silent for a little while. Until Emeral calmly whisked it away. "I'll stay here with him," she volunteered. "No way," Ket grumbled. "You wanna go play." She smiled. "We promised our moms we'd stay together. That still holds." The other teens arrived, Luke flipping the blinking Frisbee in his fingers. "You guys ready t'play?" "Ket and I are--" "Yeah," one tiger interrupted the other, as Ket stood up, grasping his girlfriend's hand. She looked at him confusedly. The group that had arrived beckoned the other group to follow, and as they did the two tigers followed a few steps behind, hand-in-hand. Emeral and Cassie met a glance, the tigress smiling at the doe. A message to state that everything was okay; that she would handle this. The doe smiled back, satisfied. As they looked for a good spot, Ket suddenly realized his hand was in hers. He didn't know when exactly the dominant hold had changed, but she noticed that he noticed and when he glanced to her, she smiled. There were tiki torches spread all across the beach for quite a ways. Where they came from the visitors had no idea, but at night they appeared and during the day they either disappeared or went unnoticed. The group found a spot that wasn't actually more than a few yards away from the eating area. But the torches were so sparse and the lighting so dim, it may as well have been a sandbar in the middle of the ocean. With a squeeze, Emeral let go of Ket's hand and took several paces away. They stood in a large ellipse, with quite a bit of space between everyone. As soon as everyone was in place, the game began. "Haley!" The collie shouted, announcing the recipient of the Frisbee. It sailed through the dark air, rapidly blinking red, blue, yellow and green so that it could be followed easily. It travelled perfectly into the teen lioness's hands. "Cassie!" "Emmy!" The tigress hopped into the air to catch the disk, which was a little too high above her head. "Nice one!" Billy cheered. Emeral looked at Ket. For a second she waited, and then finally called out the name; "Felicity!" "Eep!" The vixen almost didn't see it coming, Emmy whipped her wrist so fast and the Frisbee went flying. It wobbled through the air, and after a few seconds of flight began to initiate crash-landing maneuvers. But Felicity managed to snag it with her fingers just before it touched the ground. "Sorry!" Emeral apologized for her not-so-perfect throw. "It's okay, I got it," Felicity stepped back into her position. She looked about, and decided, "Ket!" The Frisbee could not have been thrown any more perfectly. The boy didn't even have to move; it sailed through the air at a casual speed, and then landed right in his grasp. He looked about the group, their figures colored orange from the torches lighting their area of play, but meekly. "James," he said, just barely above a normal voice, and tossed it. The Frisbee wobbled as it travelled, the dissonant spin worsening as it went, until at last it took a dive and fell short of the buck. "Got it," James stated as he returned to his position. "Bill!" They played for quite a while as the amber light on the horizon faded and the moon sat upon its cumulus throne. By then it came time for everyone to return home. They said their goodbyes and several hugs were exchanged, for there were some that would probably never meet again. Both Haley and Cassie hugged the goose-egg-head tiger, as well as the vixen of his age and yet older. As the girl leaned over a bit, for she was taller than her peers, and the tiger met the embrace, the tigress did not feel a pang of any sort. In fact, she felt sort of bad that the vixen would not get to feel the tiger's real embrace, for he was too dismayed by the events of the day to put much of any feeling into his actions. As they parted, they felt like they had lost good friends they had known almost all their lives.

Emeral sighed with satisfaction as she made her way back to the tent. She felt more clean than she had the past couple days, probably because she didn't spend any of it in fish poop. She had taken the extra time to wash her hair, to make sure it was nice and soft and would easily allow fingers to pass through. But all would be for naught if he'd fallen asleep. She quietly zipped open the doorway, and met his eyes. "You're still up?" He was sitting upright, hunched forward just a little. His legs were crossed Indian-style and his right hand was propped between his knee and his cheek. He nodded in answer. "Waitin' for me?" She asked sweetly, tossing her stuff aside and crawling along with a bit of a slither, dropping her shoulders dramatically. She arched her back, and her tail flicked up into the air as she did a little stretch. He shrugged. She giggled. "You still feeling okay?" She rested a hand on his shoulder. She was glad that he made no effort to brush it off like before. "I'm fine," he muttered. "Is that all you can say?" She cooed, scootching to sit close beside him. He shrugged. "What else am I supposed to say?" "Well...does it still hurt?" She peeked around, but there was little she could see of the bump on his noggin in the dark. "Yeah." She emitted a bit of a whimper. "Does it hurt real bad?" "I dunno." He admitted. "It just kind of gives me a headache." Another whimper. "How long has it been doing that?" She began gently kneading his shoulder. "Pretty much since I got it," he replied dryly. Another whimper. "What the heck is that?" "What's what?" He tried to imitate the whimper. "That." "Oh...I just...don't like that you've been feeling that way all day." He rolled his eyes against the darkness. "I guess it's what I get for not listening to you. You said exactly what would happen." She looked down at his toes. "I guess...it's my fault, then." "I didn't say that," he growled. "You didn't cause it; you tried to warn me and I didn't listen." "Well...either way... Oh! I almost forgot." Ket questioned her as she started to move. She went behind him and he was going to ask what she was doing but she gave a gentle shush and placed her hands on his shoulders. After a moment, he felt something touch the throbbing lump on the back of his skull. It was the lightest touch he'd ever felt; so light that it tickled a nerve somewhere that caused his head to jerk back. Emeral was caught in the face, and Ket groaned as pain shot through his skull. She clasped a hand over her mouth and moved away back to beside him, while he gently held a hand over the spot, trying to soothe it with a stream of hisses. "What was that for?" He questioned through a growl. "I--I was--I was t-trying to kiss it," she admitted; "I told you I would have to before you got it...remember?" "You coulda warned me," he said through a rush of air, signifying that he finally was able to manage the pain. "Please, just... Don't touch it." She reached for his thigh. "I'm...I'm really really sorry," she said. "It's fine," he said, his voice sincere. "Just be careful." She thought for a minute, before deciding to flip her hand off his thigh and raise it up to cup under his chin. She leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek. "There," she said softly. "Maybe it'll find its way to where it needs to be." His yellow eyes blinked a couple times. "Maybe," he agreed. "If your head hurts, try to sleep." She suggested. "Maybe it'll go away when you wake up." "I'm not ti--hoooooaaaaaa," he yawned in mid-sentence, "I'm not tired." He finished. She giggled. "How are you not tired? You were up like an hour before I was this morning." He shrugged. "I'm just...not--hooooaaaaa--not sleepy yet." She traced her finger in a circle over her own sleeping bag. "Well...you could at least lie down." There was a moment's silence as the tiger breathed a little more heavily. But finally his eyes dipped and raised in a couple nods and he made to slowly lie down. But it was a motion that he paused every few seconds, like he wasn't sure if it was what he wanted to do. But finally he was down and facing away from her. She wished he hadn't done that... she wanted to see his face. Did he lie that way because he was mad at her? Certainly wouldn't be a surprise... She curled her fingers with thought. Reaching the decision, she rested her hand upon his arm and started stroking him up and down. The motion was rhythmic, gentle and light. She varied the motion from slow to slower, to slow again. She brushed over the sleeve of his shirt without disturbing it in the least, and occasionally when she reached his shoulder she drew her hand down his back. Back and forth her hand travelled, back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and-- Suddenly he took in a big gulp of air and sat up, hunching forward again. "What?" She asked with concern. "Nothing," he replied, scratching his forehead. "Just...not sleepy." He wasn't about to tell her what she already knew. Sure, maybe he wasn't sleepy, but if he couldn't lie down for more than a few minutes before the pitching and rolling became too much, he wouldn't be able to sleep no matter how sleepy he might get. "Wher're you going?" Emeral looked back as she crawled on hands and knees to the door. "I'll just be right back, okay?" He wanted to question her more but his tongue didn't move. She slipped on her sandals and stepped outside, closing the door only partly, a sign that she wouldn't be gone long or far. His mind immediately went to focusing on himself as she disappeared. He tried hard to combat the ache in his skull and the swaying he felt right beneath him. It was so silly. So stupid. So childish. What was he afraid of? Nothing. He was perfectly fine; there was no way he'd be out in the ocean. What, was he going to somehow roll all the way there? Would the world flood and he'd be taken away in the tent? Not likely; it had rained for hours and aside from the ground beneath feeling soft and squishy it was totally impossible for a flood to make the tent up and go like that without him noticing. "What, honey?" "Ket can't sleep." At the sound of his name, his ears twitched. "What's wrong?" "I think it's his head. It hurts. Is there anything we can do?" Barefooted, Ket fumbled out of the tent. This was ridiculous, he didn't want to bother their moms! "I'm sure we can think of something, is he still--" Momma B. stopped as her daughter's friend appeared in the doorway. "Hey," Momma R. spoke up. "Emmy says you're not feeling well?" "I'm fine," he stated and turned to the girl beside him. "Why did you bother them?" "She's not bothering us," Momma B. reassured, slipping on her shoes and sliding out of the tent, feet-first. "We're just concerned about you, that's all." She stretched a little and then beckoned them to follow her to the table, Momma R. joining them less than a moment later. "You still feeling normal?" The nurse questioned, getting a flashlight. She looked at his eyes as he responded the typical responses. "Bad headache? Sharp pain or dull? Dizzy at all?" "No," the tiger said. "Well," Emeral began, kicking her feet as she watched the inspection. "Not since the accident, but... He's been 'feeling' the waves, like he's in the ocean." "Oh, really?" Ket glared at the tigress. "It's not..." he started, "I just feel it. It's not bad." "But you sit up real fast," Emeral revealed, "I'm afraid you'll sit up too fast and it'll hurt your head." "You don't have to be embarrassed, hun," his mom said gently, reaching across the table to pat his shoulder. "Everyone gets motion-sick sometimes," the nurse informed. "It's nothing to be ashamed about." She smiled reassuringly, and then turned to her daughter. "But still, you shouldn't blab on people, kay kid?" "I didn't blab," she said defensively, hitting her fists on her lap. "Now can you help him?" Momma B. felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "He's a little warm. Probably inflammation." She turned to his mom. "I can give him some Benadryl; it won't help the swelling so much, but it might soothe his headache and it'll help his motion-sickness." "Benadryl?" Ket questioned. "What is that?" "It makes you sleepy, right mom?" The mother smiled, proud of her daughter. "That's right. It'll make you feel sleepy," she explained, "you use it when you have a stuffy nose and allergies, or if you can't sleep. You don't have to take it," she said poking the tiger in the belly. "But it might make you feel better tomorrow." Unsure, Ket looked at his mother for advice. She shrugged. "It's up to you, kiddo." He sighed. "...I guess," he decided. If anything, he could sleep and this trip would be over that much faster. "Kay, be right back." As Emeral's mom left to get the medicine from the tent, the daughter herself scooted closer to the boy and placed the back of her hand against his forehead. "Oh my gosh, you are hot," she observed. "I don't feel hot," he replied, genuinely unsure what version of the word hot she was using. "What if he has a fever?" Emeral asked her mother as the tigress arrived with an easy-packaged dose of the medication. "He doesn't feel that hot," she said assuredly, and twisted the plastic cap off. "Open up." The boy complied and she squeezed the dosage in. His face scrunched as the liquid hit his tongue. But he was a good sport and after he swallowed it she gave him a bit of water to sip and wash the taste away. "There we go. Don't worry about a fever," she said, feeling either side of his neck this time. "As long as you take it easy you'll be just fine." Moms and kids departed for their tents. When the kids got settled, it was like they had never left. Ket still sat hunched over and Emeral sat beside him. "...So, I'll wait with you while the stuff kicks in," Emmy offered. "You don't have to." "But I want to." She replied, as if it was something that could not be helped. She began to knead her legs, a substitute for massaging her forehead. She realized she'd been doing that quite a while ago and thought it was a silly habit, but right now she desperately wanted to do it. The quiet that fell between the two was unsettling, at least for her. This was going to be trickier than she thought. But she half-expected this. Cassie couldn't have been completely right about everything she said, nothing ever worked out that way. And the advice was so general it could have come from a fortune-cookie. But trying to be genuine, thinking twice about what she was going to say and paying extra-close attention to his attitude was somehow forgotten to her until the doe refreshed her memory. "Hey," she said, patting his thigh for his attention. "What?" He asked, his voice pleasantly neutral. "Why haven't you been telling me that the waves are bothering you?" His face pinched a little tighter. "Cuz." "Cuz.." She repeated, trying to pry the reason without being an annoyance. "Just cuz." "You don't have to feel embarrassed with m--" "I am not. Embarrassed." The glow of his eyes was almost menacing. "Then tell me; cuz that's the only reason I can think of, and it's weird that you aren't telling me stuff like that." She put her hand over his. "I'm your girlfriend," she reasoned. He took in a deep breath, facing back forward as he closed his eyes. "I thought you wanted me to fall asleep." Her hand still on his, she watched his lidded face for a full five moments, waiting to see if he would change his attitude. But after that time passed, she didn't want to press him anymore. He had a lot of problems he was dealing with right now and she didn't want to be one of them. Reluctantly she detached from him and fell back onto her pillow. Her lower back ached from the motion, but it quieted down soon enough. Again she recessed to her thoughts. She fantasized about how differently the day could have gone. Moments where she could have said things differently; could have done things differently. She could have been less of a jerk in the morning. She didn't have to be jealous of Cassie or Felicity. She didn't have to feel insecure about her appearance or lack of assets. She could have been less terse with Ket. She shouldn't have assumed that he would oggle the girls on purpose. She could have scolded him less, if not at all. In fact, she probably brought about some of the bad mood he was feeling this very moment. Most of all, she could have caught him instead of ramming him in the dark. The deepest feeling of guilt was that it was her fault he had fallen. She had jolted forward, accidentally caught her skate against his, and it sent him crashing backward. Meanwhile she had been able to keep her balance. But it wasn't entirely guilt that made her listen to what Cassie told her while they waited for their Slushees. She wasn't worried or concerned or being protective or smothering--at least, that's what she didn't want to seem to be to him. She just wanted to let him know she cared. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes. There was only one way to do that. "I know I was a jerk, today. Well... today, and yesterday too. I just... Well, I'll tell you why when you're not dealing with your own... ...problems isn't the right word, but it's the best one I can think of. I don't want to sound like you're doing something wrong--you're not--we're not. It's just... We're not fighting. We're just not telling each other things. Or at least...I'm not. And I think because of that we're not having fun--not all the time. So...tomorrow, I'm gonna try to do things differently. And...I hope you can tell. I hope it works--I mean, I hope you notice and that it makes you feel better. That I'm trying to...pay attention to stuff between us a little more." She opened her eyes and took a couple recouping breaths. "I hope that made sense," she said. "If it didn't...I'll just try again later. I'll just keep trying until I get it right and we're happy again--not that we're unhappy. I mean..." She exhaled, finally doing the deed she so desperately wanted to earlier. "I said all that better to myself in my head," she admitted, feeling kind of silly for stumbling over herself. "Did any of that make sense? Be honest." She looked to the tiger, waiting for his answer. He gave none. "Hey--" She was about to shake him, but some part of her that was actually thinking properly made her stop. He had fallen asleep. While she thought that gobbledigook up in her head the medicine had begun to work its magic, and he succumbed to it sitting up. Gently, she maneuvered him so that he was lying down on his side, facing her. She put the arm that was underneath behind his back to keep it from getting pins and needles, and then pulled his sleeping bag up to his waist. She didn't want him to get too hot, but she was afraid he would get too cold. Hand still on the lip of the bag, she decided to pull it up just a bit further, and he would hopefully be able to adjust it in his sleep. A little over a week ago he had fallen asleep with his head in her lap. She was tempted to kiss him, but decided against it. This time, however, she could not resist. If anything, maybe she would be able to tell him how she felt in his dreams, if she started him off with a kiss in the real world. And so she brought a hand to his chin, and drew her lips against his. She kissed, and she kissed, and she kissed, and she kissed. A single kiss, unreturned, that lasted far longer than intended. As she felt it time to part, her lips disobeyed and kept their purchase, as if to cease would be a fatal act. And then she would concede to them again and again, tears beading from the corners of her eyes.