FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I recognized the name immediately. Several of the people on my list of victims had made sizeable donations to this school, without knowing it of course. Since it's founding three years ago I had funnelled millions of dollars in anonymous contributions towards buildings, staff and student services. One of the buildings was even dedicated to the memory of my nephew. Looking back I realized associating his name with one of the donations was a stupid risk to take but at the time my thoughts weren't the clearest. I kept my distance, never visiting the school. I didn't want there to be any trouble for them in case my activities became known.

The lioness was talking but I hadn't been paying attention, I looked up and perked my ears towards her as she spoke. "...need you to stay in this department for another 24 hours."

_No way, there's not even a TV in here!_I tipped my head and rolled my eyes.

The Wolverine took my side, saying "Come on Doc, even if he had a broken leg there'd be no reason to keep him here. The dorms aren't that far if there's a problem."

She chewed her lip a moment before saying "Alright, BUT you have to show me you can swallow food. I don't want you choking to death in the cafeteria. I'll have someone bring a tray down."

Unaccustomed to being patronized, my frustration must have been evident. The Wolverine began to talk but she cut him off. "Jack..." she said as she turned to face him, her tail thrashing.

He held up his hands and glanced my way "Sorry kid, I tried."

They both left and a half hour passed before the door was opened by a Ferret. She looked to be around sixteen and was a wearing a black skirt with a bright red short-sleeved shirt. She wore tiny earrings, a thin gold necklace and a smile that would make a game-show model envious. "Hi I'm Jenna! Dr. Tamner asked me to bring this down."

Apparently no one bothered to tell her I couldn't talk and she paused expectantly before finding a place to set the tray down. I didn't want to leave her thinking I was a jerk for not responding, so I tried whispering. "Thank..." Fail. The "you" caught me up and I gave her a splendid display of my coughing abilities.

Her smile disappeared as she exclaimed, "Oh, I'm soooo sorry!"

I waved it off, tilting my head and flashing a grin, to show her it was no big deal.

Her smile reappeared as she stammered out another apology before backing out of the room. The door popped open a few seconds later and her head appeared around the edge. "Oh and don't eat anything! Dr. Tamner said to wait till she got back!" She followed the outburst with another flash of those brighter-than-life teeth and disappeared again.

Dr. Tamner showed up shortly and I eyed the tray Jenna delivered. The food was a bizarre combination of cream of wheat, chicken broth, rice, pinto beans, green jello, canned peaches and pickled herring all in separate containers. Laura commented, "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I sent Jenna to the cafeteria. Well, it'll have to do. Eat the beans and rice last and drink lots of water."

I spent several humiliating minutes eating while she made polite conversation. The herring was vile but I was so starved I didn't care and devoured everything. Getting some food in my system did wonders. The tremor in my hands dissipated and my mood brightened.

Satisfied I wasn't going to drop dead upon release into the wild she declared me safe to leave. However, she insisted I return to take meds twice a day. I pinched the hospital gown between my fingers and gestured towards it while I mouthed the word "Clothes?"

She inclined her head and responded "Oh right, I'll have Jenna round up something and bring your orientation packet too. It will have your dorm assignment and other information in it."

_Oh god, not the ferret again! If she chooses clothes like she chooses food I'm screwed!_Horrible images of ascots, red deck shoes, bright purple skinny jeans and t-shirts with pictures of cartoon characters on them filled my head.

Dr. Tamner finally released me and I was in the hall coming back from the bathroom when Jenna rounded the corner. She was walking briskly with a backpack over one shoulder and had a male Red Fox in tow. Where his fur would normally be orange it was neon ORANGE. I wasn't sure if the coloring was really intense or if he actually radiated light. He had on hunter green cargo shorts and a black t-shirt bearing the logo of a surf shop. The burdened Canine was carrying an overstuffed duffle bag with both hands and doing an admirable job of it considering his slightly built, fifteen year old frame. Jenna waved frantically on her way up the hall towards me, as if I were a long lost relative meeting her at the airport.

"HI!" she chirped.

She HAS to be a cheerleader. I thought.

"This is Jimmy!" she said and gestured towards the fox.

His ears flattened slightly as he responded "Jim, actually. Hey Roger."

"You guys are roommates!" declared Ms. Perky.

Roommates?! Crap, I never thought of that! F#ck _I just want a shower and some nice, quiet down time._I glanced at Jim and had a random image of him with his shirt off. Suddenly the prospect didn't seem so bad._You know he's almost definitely not gay, the odds are way against it. So? I can still enjoy the view._Realizing I was attracted to him made me suddenly remember I looked like I had been through hell and received a hospital gown as the trophy. That and I couldn't talk, so much for first impressions. I offered up a closed-mouth smile and a nod in response.

The ferret jumped in, talking a mile a minute. "Oh, Roger, I read your chart. I know about the whole no talking thing. I'm SO sorry about earlier! I mean I wasn't prying or anything, it's part of our physiology credit to rotate through here. I told Jim and he's cool with it and hey you guys'll get along great what with the glowing fur and all that. We picked out a bunch of clothes from the donation pile, they're in the duffle. Everything else you might need like brushes, toothpaste, shampoo and stuff you'll find in this backpack."

Where do mustelids get all that energy?!_I thought as I grabbed a strap and swung the pack over my left shoulder._And glowing fur, my fur isn't glowing. I couldn't resist the urge to glance down at myself to check though.Nope, there's gray, some brown here and there, a bit of black, white... all of the normal wolf palette... none of it glowing. What is she talking about?

"Ok, so I gotta get back to the office, I have SO much work to do. I'm way behind after running around campus. Not that it's your fault Roger, I mean I was getting it for you but it's for credit so it's not really for you. Ok bye!" She spun lithely around and quick-stepped down the hall to disappear through a door.

Jim had turned to watch her go and then looked back at me with an exasperated smile.

I offered one in return and set down the backpack to start rummaging through the duffle bag for something better to wear.

"You don't know the half of it, she's been going on like that since she pulled me out of class. She's got a sweet little body, I wouldn't mind tappin' that someday. But that voice, she never stops."

There goes my fantasy, ah well, still nice to look at._I grabbed a blue t-shirt emblazoned with the logo of a basketball team and some work-out pants and boxers._Good enough until I get a shower. I stood and tipped my head towards the bathroom while holding up the clothes.

"Sure, I'm getting out of class for this so take your time." he said and whipped out his phone. He started tapping at the screen as I went in to get dressed.

I pulled off the gown and slipped on the boxers. As I was pulling my tail through the hole and securing the velcro flap above it I finally realized what Jenna was talking about. The back, dorsal side, of my tail was vivid electric blue where it would normally be gray. I spun around and tried to look in the mirror. It was small and too high to give me a full body view. I could only see my back from the bottom of my shoulder blades up but everything looked normal there. I flipped off the light and twisted around._Damn, it does glow! I wonder if I could dye it? Wait, why hide it? It's not like I'll get fired and lose my cover job. Screw it!_I slipped on the pants and put on the shirt, which turned out to be a size too small. Actually it looked alright, it was just snugger than I was used to in my old body, here it looked good._I might not look half bad once I've had a shower._I thought as I glanced a last time in the mirror before stepping into the hall.

Jim was still playing with his phone as I tossed the gown on the bed in the exam room and re-emerged to grab the backpack and swing it over my left shoulder again. I started to pick up the duffle with my right hand and was quickly reminded of my injuries. Jim finished with his phone and glanced up. "Oh I got that, half the clothes in it are stuff no sane person would wear. You can guess who picked it out. Don't worry, I threw in some normal stuff. The donation room is near the admin offices, you can go by there later and exchange things. I told her to just bring down one change of clothes and let you pick out your own gear later, but what do I know?" He smirked and grabbed the bag.

We walked a ways in silence before he started up. "How long till you can talk?"

I held up two fingers, shrugged, then three.

"Two or three days? That's not too bad. It'll kinda be a relief after Jenna. I mean I like her, she's pretty cool actually, but she can TALK."

I nodded and listened as we continued up a set of stairs. "So you and me share a bathroom with 2 other guys. The way the dorms are set up is two main rooms with a bathroom in the middle. David, he's a Brown Bear, he's ok. He's really into computers and stuff, he spent all last night working on your tablet. Something about rooting and custom ROMs and some sh#t. He did up my phone too, have to admit it works WAY better now. His roommate is Nick, he looks kinda different but hey, who am I to talk? I mean he's not that weird but... you'll see. I saw him going to a G.L.A. meeting once so be careful in the shower." He smirked and gave me a sidelong glance.

I wasn't sure what the G.L.A. reference was about but I could guess from the context of what he said. I set my jaw and resisted the urge to pop him in the muzzle.

He must have picked up on my mood as his tone changed and he back-pedalled furiously. "I mean, it's cool and all that. Live and let live, as long as they keep their hands off me I'm ok with it."

I realized I was gripping the backpack strap over my shoulder so tightly that my hand ached. I made a conscious effort to relax and contained my response to an eye roll.Damn, I wish I could talk.

He nervously changed the subject, "So, uh, you into any sports?"

Sports? What next, the weather? I considered trying to convey that I was seriously into Aikido, which is pretty far from a sport, but I was sure I couldn't get it across short of pinning him to the ground with his arm twisted up behind his back. Still, I did a lot of conditioning to keep in form so I gestured running, push ups and the like.

He responded, "Yeah, I kinda figured. Not that I notice how guys are built or anything."

_Oh god, is he still going on about that?!_Speaking of god, I was thankful to whatever powers there may be that we finally reached our dorm room.