FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Teffy woke up the next morning with her warm body snuggled up to his and he started awake, not remembering for a few moments how he'd gotten there.

Now her remembered, and he relaxed against her, kissing her hair softly. She'd woken him up during the night with pitiful sobbing, the kind that only happens when one's having a terrible dream and he'd immediately padded over in concern to find she was indeed still asleep and dreaming. He stroked her cheek at first and called out her name softly, trying to waken her. Soon he realized it wasn't that easy and he ended up shaking her shoulder in concern as she cried out in pain and horror, reliving something that had happened. What he didn't know, but when she awoke she just lay there crying and much later he'd fallen asleep with his arms securely around her to help her fall back asleep.

Tired from the day and his worry, he'd fallen asleep like that before he'd had a chance to move.

Now it was late morning and he just lay there, not wanting to let go of the moment, but knowing he'd have to move before she woke up. As it turned out, by the time he tore himself away, he was only sitting up next to her when she awoke, looking around for him curiously. She found him sitting up next to her and blushed, remembering what had happened the night before. Just as Teffy was about to ask how she was feeling her eyes drifted over him and he realized he wasn't wearing much under the blanket and blushed vividly.

In his concern over her last night, he hadn't thought to put something on- he always slept in just his briefs and now he regretted it, knowing he had the usual morning hard on all males got. He looked around and spied his clothes where he'd left them, out of reach and next to his cot. He winced, and then heard her giggle.

"You don't have to be so silly about it." She poked him teasingly in the side. "I lived with a male before remember?" She winced a bit at the memory but kept a smile.

Teffy continued to blush violet, but figured now was better than later- especially since his brain didn't work as well with little blood running to it. He slipped out of the blanket and padded over to his closet, refusing to look at Kitten who he knew was watching him. He grabbed up a random set of clothes and padded into the bathroom, never once realizing that Kitten wasn't eyeing him with amusement, but admiration.

Kitten smiled. Well she knew she wasn't that bad off if she still had a healthy appetite. She suddenly realized it had been over a month and she winced. Better watch herself around Teffy. No need to make herself more of a burden by hitting on him.

She soon heard the shower and shook her head, telling her imagination to mind its own business. She won the argument... for now. She sat up in bed and rubbed her face with a sigh. She'd slept surprisingly well last night. This morning she just had the usual ache where she missed Foxy. She refused to recognize Kain even to herself yet... That hurt too though, she knew that.

She laid back and listened to the sound of the shower, peacefully not thinking about anything important as she closed her eyes and let her imagination wander.

When Teffy finally came out of the shower, he spotted Kitten lying down once more. He heard a slight purring in the silence of the apartment and smiled a bit wondering what she was thinking of and padded up to her, silent on his bare paws, he hadn't bothered with his shirt and he set it on a table nearby as he made his way over curiously.

He finally spoke softly as he came within a foot or so of the futon. "How many pennies are THAT thought worth?"

"More than..." Kitten trailed off as she opened her eyes, her very dark blue green eyes Teffy noticed, and seemed to realize who she was with. He didn't quite understand the vivid blush that filled her cheeks and he smiled his confusion before he padded absently over to the kitchen.

"What do you want for breakfast? I've got a couple boxes of cereal, plus the usual eggs, bread, bacon..." He trailed off and gave her a questioning look.

She sheepishly swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up in one motion. "Cereal's fine, I don't need you going through more trouble for me. Um, you got a toothbrush or something I can use?" She blushed slightly.

Teffy chuckled at her obvious thoughts about her breath. "Doesn't smell that bad to me, but sure, there's an extra under the sink."

Kitten muttered thank you, her ears back as she embarrassingly padded over to the bathroom and went about making herself more presentable.

Teffy grinned to himself and pondered what it would be like to wake up beside her every morning, when Kitten finally walked out of the bathroom he was humming to himself happily and digging through a bottom cupboard, his ears a bit higher than usual.

Kitten smiled a bit, not able to help herself and padded silently up behind him and asked what the song was he was humming. Teffy, too busy daydreaming, hadn't heard anything, and jumped when he heard her, hitting his ear and head on the cupboard. He fell back onto his butt, and rubbed his ear in pain.

Kitten couldn't help giggling at the picture he made, but sheepishly apologized for hurting him. "I know. I should wear a bell. Want me to kiss it and make it better?" She'd meant it jokingly but Teffy glanced up and seriously replied with "sure".

She blinked but decided he was teasing her and leaned down to kiss it anyway. She didn't spot his widened eyes as she kissed it but she did feel him shiver.

She giggled and stood up again. "Tickle?"

He gave Kitty a half smile. "Something like that." He stood up with two boxes of cereal in his paws. "These are the only two I have." One was a sugary cereal; the other was a shredded wheat variety, frosted.

Kitten laughed. "I guess I'll take the semi healthy one." She pointed at the shredded wheat. He chuckled in response and proceeded to pour them each a bowl then gave hers over with the milk, knowing everyone pours their milk different. She poured herself generous portion and handed it over, digging in with the spoon he'd provided. "Mmmm. Must be my new appetite, but this tastes good."

Teffy smiled and chuckled in response. "Probably your new appetite." He finished his off about the same time she did and considered her thoughtfully as she set her bowl in the sink.

"You want me to walk you home?"

Kitten glanced up to him, standing a few inches away at his side. "If you'd like." She looked up at him, her eyes conveying what she didn't want to say, that she could use the company. He smiled a slowly growing smile then ruffled her furr and padded over to the door to slip on some shoes.

She wrinkled her nose in confusion, and then slipped her shoes on, following him out the door. Outside the apartment building a car pulled up and two furrs, one she recognized from the club a few months ago, waved at Teffy. She smiled and waved back just as Teffy turned and walked off.

"Teffy...This isn't the way to my apartment." She looked up at him suspiciously.

His ears turned a bit purple, but he kept a straight face as he claimed they were taking the scenic route. Kitten leveled him a flat look and when he glanced her way he sighed. It was either tell her now or have her bugging him into it later.

"Did you see the hyena in the passenger seat?" He saw Kitten nod. "That was a good friend of mine, Gordon."

Kitten frowned in confusion. "So...why did you do that again? You lost me."

Teffy looked embarrassed. "I just never know what he's going to say. He's just not someone you want to meet." Well not someone I want you to meet. Teffy decided it was better to tell her the minor reason than tell her that his friend was great with women and he wasn't about to give up whatever chance he had with Kitten to his best friend. Teffy didn't care how long he'd known him, he'd let her meet him only after Teffy was absolutely sure he'd won or lost her.

They walked along, Kitten at first frowning thoughtfully, then she shrugged and started humming some light tune. Her tail was flicking at waste height behind her and the bunny next to her grinned. He loved seeing her happy, even when they were on the computer, just the knowledge she was happy made his day better. In his opinion she deserved all the happiness in the world, and not all the crap she was going through, but she seemed to be starting to get over that.

They arrived at a rather plain looking apartment building Teffy raised an eyebrow, it didn't seem at all Kitten's taste and a few minutes later when they walked into her apartment, he was sure they'd walked into the wrong room. IT was decorated in a Spartan style, meaning there was nothing on the white walls, and even her furniture seemed to have come with the room, and were rather dull pieces, even to Teffy who wasn't an expert on decorating.

He was about to comment when he noticed Kitten watching him and realized she didn't need any questions so he simply smiled at her and asked what she planned to do with her day.

"Whatever comes to mind I suppose, might need to go looking for another job though, my money's running out." She looked at him curiously "What do you do for a living, you never told me."

Teffy shrugs. "Nothing at the moment. I left the last job I had a few months ago, the new management wasn't to my liking."

Kitten frowned in confusion, that didn't sound like the Teffy she knew. She opened her mouth to say just that, but closed it. A part of her still wasn't up to arguing or serious conversations, so she kept it to herself for now.

Teffy sighed in relief, as she turned away and padded towards the bathroom, saying she'd be back after a shower. She wasn't ready for the truth, well he wasn't ready to admit that he was independently wealthy and didn't need to have a job. He heard the shower turn on and smiled. It wasn't a bad picture imagining her in the shower, her furr all slick and wet. He licked his lips, but was distracted when the phone rang.

He padded over and automatically looked to see who was calling, but he found she had only the basics here, no caller ID. He saw an answering machine and turned up the volume a bit to listen to the Furr calling her.

Teffy started when he heard a deep, rumbling male voice on the other end.

"Kitten? This is Kain, I'm not even sure if you live here..." His voice sounded weary, strained. "This is the fifth number I've tried. I called because I need to talk to you. I can't leave things the way they were at the hospital." He paused and Teffy's paw wavered over the phone. He couldn't stand the pain in his voice as he said that. "But if you don't call me back, I'll just have to think you've dropped off the face of the earth, I've tried too many places to-"

Teffy found the phone in his paw and up to his ear and he said the first thing that came to mind. "Kitten does live here."

He heard some noise on the other end, then realized he was talking to- for what he knew- was Kitten's boyfriend still. He'd be shocked to find a male voice answering her phone too.

"She's in the shower at the moment, but she needs to talk to you too."

Kain's voice was a growl this time. "Who is this?"

Teffy frowned, wanting to be stubborn at his tone of voice, but was civil for Kitten's sake. "This is a friend of hers, Teffy."

Kain sighed in relief on the other end. Teffy heard the shower stop and sighed in relief himself. "She's just getting out if you can wait a few minutes."

"Yeah...I'll wait." Teffy wished he knew what he was getting in the middle of, but he knew that whatever had happened before Kitten'd come here, Kitten thought was her fault. Teffy suspected otherwise. She tended to be harder on herself than anyone else could ever be. His gut was telling him that talking to Kain would be a step in the right direction.

Kitten walked into the room and looked at him curiously. "Who were you talking to?"

Teffy gestured the phone, which was still off the hook. "Its for you, someone needs to talk to you."

Kitten frowned in confusion and picked up the phone and said hello.

Then proceeded to turn white as a ghost when she heard the answer, her pupils dilating. Teffy hurried forward, afraid she might faint. She wavered but she stayed standing.

Her voice was soft, her tone husky as she fought with all the emotions inside of her. "What...Why are you calling?"

"We need to talk, Kitten. We have a lot of things that need to be aired out."

Kitten's eyes flitted around the apartment in panic. She couldn't talk to him, not when she knew whatever shape he was in was all her fault. Then her eyes rested on Teffy. He was watching her with quiet confidence in his eyes. She hesitated as she looked at him, her heart in her eyes. He smiled a bit in response, raising a paw to brush it along her cheek, before he drew back and softly spoke.

"You can do it." He spoke with a matter of fact tone. As if it was simply something she'd forgotten. She wondered how she'd earned that confidence in her. She couldn't seem to remember ever doing anything to deserve it.

Kain finally had to ask if she was still there before she finally answered him. "I can't do it." She had to move her eyes away from Teffy's to say it. "I- I can't." She shivered, waiting for a negative response, and tried to brace herself for it.

Instead all she heard was silence, when Kain answered, she thought she heard a smile in his voice. "Alright. Take care of yourself."

She heard a dial tone shortly after she managed to croak out an "I'll try". Her ears were pinned back when she hung up the phone, her tail almost tucked between her legs, it took her some while to get the courage to look up to Teffy for the reproof she knew she'd get for being a coward.

But she thought she saw tears in his eyes before he opened his arms and she flew into them, her body shaking as she held back tears and tried to ignore what she'd just done.

As much as a part of her knew she deserved it, Teffy never once reproached her for it. He just stood there and held her close to him, smoothing a paw over her back in a soothing motion.

He just stayed there for a long while, feeling the agony of what she was feeling and wished he could take it all away for her, while she wished it would all go back to the way it was.

Ah but wishes were never that simple... or were they?...