FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ryan had spent most of his life hiding from the outside world. Making every attempt to keep himself inside of his tiny pond but all of his efforts came crashing down on him when a single letter came into his possession. It was from an old childhood friend, someone he hadn't talked to or even thought of in almost a decade. Memories of his ex best friend rushed into his head as he remembered their stupid jokes and all of the dumb shit they had done as kids.

They had lost contact after he'd been forced to move to another town, Ryan's parents had gone through a rough patch and made the decision in the hope that it would keep their family together. Yet it only drove them apart as new problems arose and Ryan lost his friends. After that he kept to himself and never did more than the bare minimum. How had his lost friend gotten his address? The 24 year-old kept reading the letter, he found it more uplifting the longer he kept reading. It spoke of everything they had done and how they all missed him but more importantly it had the name of a cafe written down at the bottom. One that his friends had opened in his absence, the one that they had wanted to start together. A new determination filled his eyes and for the first time in many years he made an effort. It took him little more than a week to get himself ready before he made the trip back to Fall City.

It was a month-long trip by sea and he spent most of it thinking of all the things he wanted to say. It was all overwhelming and Ryan wasn't sure if he could handle seeing his friends after so long but he had to. If not to reconnect then to find closure. Something he needed after years of hiding and self-loathing.

When the ship arrived at the docks, Ryan unboarded and made his way to the return address that had been written on his letter. He hadn't told anyone he was coming. It was a spur of the moment idea and now that he was thinking about it, had been very very dumb. Something about the way he'd been trapped in his own home made him desperate to find anything that would make him feel wanted and the letter had done just that. It drove him to the very brink of loneliness.

He walked up a set of stairs, each one creaking beneath his weight, and stopped at the brown door that held long-lost people from his past. His hand shook as he failed to knock. Ryan felt his body grow heavy and his breaths become ragged, the anxiety finally kicking in. What was he going to do if they didn't welcome him? The thought tore through his mind leaving only fear wherever it went, tainting every memory, every word from the message that had sent him across the sea to meet his friends. He steeled himself for what came next and his hand landed against the wooden door.

Such a small action almost had him crying. A simple knock. But he had done it. He stood straight and stared the man who opened the door in the eyes. His mouth open to utter a greeting that would never come and his hand extended for a handshake that was promptly tossed aside. Shock spread through Ryan as he felt two arms wrap around him in a tight embrace. Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized just how much he had needed to come back.

"Welcome home, man," spoke the large man hugging him.

"Don't suppose you wanna let me in, huh, Huxley," Ryan joked several minutes later.

"Still got that gift of sarcasm don't you?" Huxley retorted while holding the door open for him.

The two men walked inside and took to getting drunk as the best way to catch up.

---

When he woke up, Ryan felt like he had been hit by a rhydon and had a headache that could rival a psyducks. He felt it was worth it, however, when he saw his passed out friend with his face against the table. He gently woke Huxley up and the two spent the next few hours complaining about their hangovers.

It was only then that Huxley grabbed Ryan and almost forced him down to the cafe he had mentioned in his letter. They made their way through the familiar streets, dodging pokemon and people alike as they rushed their way to the locale.

Nearly bursting through the front door, Huxley loudly exclaimed, "DADDY'S HERE!"

"Arceus fucking damn it Huxley!" screamed an irritated voice from the kitchen, "I told you I'd fucking kill you if you did that again!"

An angry woman stomped out of the back and froze when she saw Ryan, her hands swiftly covering her mouth as she took a surprised inhale.

"HOLY SHIT, RYAN!" she yelled before running straight at him and nearly tackling him to the ground.

"Woah, Selah!" he cried out, losing his balance, "Don't kill me just yet."

"Shut up," she sniffled.

"It almost brings tears to my eyes," teased Huxley before Selah kicked his shin, "Fuck!"

"Why the hell haven't you called," lectured Selah while glaring at Ryan, "You could have at least sent a damn letter, you asshole."

"Sorry," Ryan muttered apologetically, his gaze locked onto the floor.

An ursaring came out of the kitchen with three servings of oran berry salad and placed the plates on a nearby table for the trio of friends to enjoy. It's face shining with pride at the amazing timing and the perfectly prepared food.

"Thanks BearBear," Selah said with a smile towards the ursine.

"BearBear?" asked Ryan.

"It's a nickname," she explained, "Now sit down and eat."

The three spent hours talking and joking around while the ursaring took care of other customers with the help of a chespin. Selah occasionally left to handle any problems but seemed confident in her pokemon's ability to keep the place in order.

"So this is what you guys have been up to, huh," Ryan stated with another look around the cafe.

"Me and Selah were in a good place monetarily so we both put in some money and made our dream place a thing," Huxley told him with a sad look, "We just wish that you had been here to see its beginnings."

"Yeah," agreed Selah, "Definitely was a heartbreaker knowing you weren't gonna be here."

"Man, wish I'd gotten the courage to come visit sooner," Ryan chuckled as he regretted his life thus far.

"Guess it's a bit late for that now, though," he added wistfully.

"Dude, there's something else we have to show you," Huxley exclaimed excitedly.

"No, we do not. You aren't showing him that," Selah told him.

"Hell yeah we are!" he said, taking Ryan's hand before she pushed him down into his seat.

"IT'S A SPEAKEASY!" he blurted out as Selah opened her mouth to speak.

"That's… cool?" Ryan responded, confused with why it was such a big deal.

"It isn't a speakeasy, Huxley," she corrected while holding her head in her hands, "It's an underground bar that we own in secret."

"And that is what a speakeasy is, my dear associate," he laughed.

"Now I have to show you since you know about it," he continued, "But we have some strict rules in place to keep things going smoothly. You'll want to know those before we go."

"How bad could it be?" Ryan questioned as the mood turned serious.

"For one you need a special badge to even get in," explained Selah.

"And those badges are custom made and can only be handed out by our VIP clientele," added Huxley.

"So if you want to check it out-" she began.

"You need to keep an open mind and be respectful of everyone else," interrupted Huxley.

"Sure, when can we go," asked their slightly confused guest.

"Tomorrow," they answered in unison.

Huxley and Ryan made their way back to his place after saying their goodbyes. Many thoughts went through Ryan's head and none of them could be answered without going to the "speakeasy" first. Regardless, he was in for one hell of a day tomorrow.

---

Ryan rubbed his eyes and let out a terrified yell as he spotted Huxley staring at him from the corner of his room. His friend promptly fell to the floor laughing while Ryan recovered from his near heart attack.

"What the fuck man!" shouted Ryan.

"Dude! You shoulda seen your face!" Huxley said between breaths, "Fucking priceless!"

---

Nearly an hour later, the two made their way to the cafe. Huxley explained some of the more important rules and customs that Ryan would need to know, starting with the badge system. From what he could gather, there were five types that meant something depending on their color. Black meant to leave the person alone, blue meant that they were there to talk and socialize, green meant that you should ask before doing anything, pink meant you could just go to town, and red meant that they were rough. Given the different meanings, Ryan began to understand what kind of establishment the underground bar was and why it was such a well-hidden place. Every other rule was pretty much a given. Don't talk about the bar with anyone you can't trust, no violence, yada yada. He knew the basics.

His interest was piqued when Huxley mentioned that there were fifteen founders in total, each one with their own unique design that was part of any badge they gave out to new members. It was supposedly to let each other know who was in charge of which guest since they agreed to take responsibility for the people they invited. Huxley usually had several spares with him and handed Ryan a green on to begin with.

"I do have to warn you," he began, "Some of our guests don't know the meaning of 'boundaries' and that green badge might as well be pink."

"Guess they don't like rules," Ryan joked.

"Not kidding, they'll jump ya if you aren't paying attention," Huxley warned.

When they entered the cafe, Ryan was surprised to see how busy it was. Each table was taken and Selah was practically teleporting as she brought out orders from the kitchen. The pair took a good look before walking out slowly and heading directly to the bar.

"It's better that we don't go in there," Ryan thought out loud.

"Absolutely, it looks like giratina was let loose in the cafe," Huxley agreed, "Let's just get to the bar."

They made haste to the hidden establishment, doing their best to put as much space between them and the assuredly furious Selah theh had left behind. A slow and painful death was almost guaranteed should she find them. Hope flashed in their eyes as they made it to the backstreet entrance that led to the secret bar. An ursaring opened the door and let the pair in, Ryan was greeted to a sign engraved with the word "Peccatum" and the diverse sounds of pokemon and humans intermingling. The further in they went the more he could make out.

It was surprisingly large. There were stairs leading up to higher floors and down to what was probably some form of storage room but the thing that caught his eye were the staff that manned every part of the bar. A sylveon and gardevoir prepared drinks with ruthless efficiency, handing out beverages and making conversation while keeping their workstation clean. It was almost terrifying to behold the machine like behavior.

"Pretty impressive," Huxley stated with a proud look.

"Pretty scary, actually," Ryan said, focusing his attention elsewhere.

"We should say hi," he declared as he grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled him towards the cyclone of movement that was the two bartenders.

"We'll take-" Huxley was cut off by a telepathic voice.

"No. We told you we weren't going to serve you anything until you promised to stop getting blackout drunk," the sylveon's sweet voice spoke in their heads.

"Your friend, on the other hand, can get something," added the gardevoir.

"Can I have a... a beer?" he asked, getting a smile from both pokemon.

"So new guy, what's your name?" prompted the sylveon, "Mine's Grecia."

"I'm Ryan, it's a pleasure to meet you," he answered with a polite nod.

"I'm Dawn and the pleasure is all ours," the gardvoir replied, handing him his drink, "Also, you should keep away from Huxley."

"Makes you look bad," stated Grecia as she finished Dawn's sentence.

"Why? What did he do?" asked Ryan, his cup already half empty.

"We don't need to talk about my past actions," Huxley replied trying to steer the conversation somewhere else.

"He invited an asshole who ended up getting arrested," Dawn said, shooting a glare at Huxley.

"So, having his badge associated with me is going to cause problems," Ryan sighed as he finished his drink.

"It isn't my fault he was trying to peddle drugs," Huxley muttered defensively.

"I dunno. Seems like it is entirely your fault," Grecia retorted, one of her ribbons sneaking Ryan a refill. "Don't worry about paying. Your tabs on the ever so generous Huxley."

A threatening look from the females made Huxley wish he could disappear. "And he is going to pay, right Huxley?" Dawn queried.

"Y-yeah," the defenseless patron spoke.

"I think we should come back tomorrow," Huxley whispered in Ryan's ear, completely aware that the bartenders could hear him.

"Well, you heard my wallet, time to leave," Ryan joked at his friend's expense.

"If you come back tomorrow, make sure you pay us a visit," the duo said in unison.

With a quick wave goodbye, Ryan was practically carried back outside as Huxley ran away from his reputation and sprinted back home, leaving Ryan to contemplate what had just happened.