FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"You were amazing," Cloud again complimented Rye on his save. "That pool, Beach Lagoon, is lucky to have you as their lifeguard."

"Thanks," Rye again said, blushing beneath his fur. "I had a fun time today, thanks for coming along. Otherwise it's so boring there." Rye realized that he may have enjoyed himself too much, which would eventually lead to him being hurt, but he didn't want to think about it at the moment.

"I'll have to go with you more often," said Cloud. "I may learn a thing or two from you."

"I thought we were pretty even in our sports," Rye replied, with a smirk.

Cloud only laughed, while they resumed their walk along the sidewalk. For several minutes they walked in silence until again Cloud asked for the hundredth time, "So you're sure I can keep these shorts?"

"Yes," answered Rye with an amused smirk. "I have many more pairs. Besides I can always afford to go out and buy another pair. So stop asking."

"Alright," Cloud said in a playful disbelieving voice. "My fur is beginning to puff out."

"Mine too," Rye agreed looking at his own fur. "I'll have to brush it when I get home." Rye stood more rigid as he thought of his second brilliant idea of the day. "Hey, do you want to come over? It doesn't seem like you're quite settled in your apartment yet."

"Thanks, but I don't like my fur getting so puffy."

"I have an extra brush," Rye said with confidence that Cloud wouldn't have any more excuses.

"You seem to have a lot of extra everything," Cloud smiled. "Well, why not. I don't have any homework and being in that apartment all day does get rather boring."

"Okay then," Rye said grinning, excited about having Cloud over. He wasn't sure what they would do in his apartment since it wasn't often a place that hosted get-togethers. "We better cross the street. People on this side of the street are allergic to giant cotton balls."

"Cotton ball?" Cloud repeated, failing to hold back his laughter. "At least I don't look like a big blue sponge walking down the street."

"Sponge? Is that the best you can come up with, Cotton?" Rye playfully argued.

"I'd rather be cotton than a sponge," Cloud said, giggling then he stuck his tongue out at Rye.

The rest of the trip was spent mostly making fun of how fluffy the other was. With the sun completely drying out their fur, it only puffed out more and in correlation, they laughed harder.

Soon they walked into Rye's apartment and Cloud's eyes were wide open with awe. "You have a really nice place."

"It must just be my mom's arrangement of the furniture," replied Rye modestly. "You can use the shower first."

"Okay, thanks," Cloud said and followed Rye as he showed him the master bedroom and the bathroom. The bathroom door shut, but Rye didn't hear the door lock. Why didn't he lock it? The shower could be heard turning on and Rye's obvious answer came to him then. He's been living alone all this time so he never had a need to lock the door.

Since Rye would have to shower before he could brush his fur back into the lean and smooth coat, he went to the kitchen and grabbed the phone.

"Ariel?" Rye spoke into the phone after dialing a number. "Yeah. . . No. I was just wondering if you were still planning on having the party at the pool this weekend. . . Yeah, that's what I meant. . . Well, if you really want it to be the second half of the party, then I could probably make it work. . . 'Nighttime underwater laser tag,' why didn't I think of that?" Rye heard the bathroom door open. "Okay, I got to go. . . Okay, see you tomorrow. Bye."

After hanging the phone up, Rye went back into the master bedroom. Cloud was sitting on the bed, wearing a towel around his waist, brushing the white fur on top his head which wasn't much longer than the rest of his fur. "All yours," Cloud said continuing to brush his fur.

"Thanks," said Rye, ignoring the flutter he felt his heart performed. The otter went through the bathroom door and shut it behind him.

Out of habit, Rye locked the door behind him before he took off his swimwear, and he turned on the shower. Quickly, he rinsed all his fur out and got it wet again to make it easier to brush his fur the way he liked it. He turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist before he went out into the bedroom.

Cloud was still sitting on the bed but with one leg over the edge of the bed, and the other tucked up to his chest, bent at the knee. The white otter's towel was no longer around his waist.

Staring for less than a second, Rye was able to see the top of Cloud's sheath, which made Rye's head swim with excited and embarrassed feelings.

"Oh, sorry," Rye quickly apologized and ripped his eyes away from Cloud, who stopped brushing the fur on his upper thigh.

"Sorry," Cloud draped the towel back over his waist. "I didn't think you'd mind--"

"I don't care," Rye said quickly and a bit more defensively than he meant to. "No different than gym class, right?" He allowed himself to look back at Cloud, but he stared straight into Cloud's eyes.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed and gave a weak smile, although his eyes didn't suggest smiling was on his mind. Clearly something else was. Disappointment? Embarrassment? Regret?

Before Rye could regain control from his shock, Cloud finished with the fur on his legs, and then he laid his tail against his lap and started to brush it smooth.

Rye went out into the living room as he brushed his fur back to the way he liked it.

What an idiot I was, Rye thought to himself. Why did I have to stare at him? Why couldn't I just act like anyone else would? It's no big deal that I saw . . . him naked. The stallions always shower in gym, and I don't stare at them like an idiot. Please, please, don't let him be scared away. Please.

Cloud came out of the bedroom with his swimming shorts back on and his fur perfectly smooth. Rye looked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't need to wear that again. I have more comfortable clothes if you want." Rye walked by Cloud, going back into the bedroom. "Help yourself to the fridge."

"Thanks," said Cloud as cheerful as always, obviously not thinking about the incident that just occurred anymore. Rye gained hope that the whole thing would be soon forgotten.

Rye finished brushing his own fur quickly and dressed in a light shirt and shorts before he got out a shirt, shorts and even a pair of boxers out for Cloud. Leaving the bedroom, he found Cloud leaning over the counter eating an apple, and looking straight at Rye.

"You know, I'm perfectly fine in these shorts already."

"But I doubt you want to wear them all day," Rye said with a smile and he set the clothes down in front of Cloud.

"Do you mind if I change here?"

"No," Rye answered too quickly. Rye went back toward the living room, which was only separated from the kitchen by the bar, and turned on the television set. Damn it, stop trying to scare him off. "What do you want to do? I have video games, movies or even if you're desperate we can watch the local news." Rye made sure he didn't turn toward the sounds of Cloud changing in his kitchen. But soon enough Cloud was finished and already standing behind Rye.

"What games do you have?" Cloud asked.

"They're all in here," Rye answered and opened a small door on the entertainment center to reveal his large collection of video games. "You pick which you want to play, I'm going to grab a bite to eat."

"Okay. Wow. You have quite the library."

Rye went to the kitchen and pulled out a slice of fish that he cooked the day before. He warmed it up, a little extra just in case Cloud wanted some, and put the plate on the counter that separated the room from the kitchen. He leaned over the counter the way Cloud was earlier when he was eating the apple, and watched Cloud sift through the games. I really do like him, but I don't know if he'd like me in the same way. If I made a move and he doesn't . . . I don't even want to think about it. I'm leaving this winter anyway.

"What about this one?" Cloud asked, turning to face Rye and holding up a video game so that Rye could see it.

"Assassin's Creed," Rye read the title. "Sure, you can play that. It's only one-player."

"Oh," Cloud laughed. "Then no thanks. It feels too odd to play someone else's games when they're not playing."

"Good point," Rye whispered to himself while Cloud went back to sifting through the games. Only a few seconds went by of picking at the fish before Cloud attempted to make conversation.

"Have you been going to that school your whole life?" Cloud asked after a noticeable pause of hesitation, while pulling out a few games to view them better, only to put them back where he found them.

"No, I went there in the middle of my freshman year and been here since," Rye answered near emotionless.

"That's still a long time," Cloud said. Pulling another game from the cabinet, he asked "This one?"

"That one doesn't work anymore," Rye said after he read the title. "It fell out of the case once and someone stepped on it; scratched it all the way to Hell."

"That sucks," Cloud said still smiling. After he put the game back he continued the conversation. "You're a senior, right?"

"Yeah, first day of my last year of high school," Rye smiled to himself.

"I'm just a junior," Cloud said almost sounding disappointed. "I'm still waiting just to get out of high school. But really, a senior as popular as you are usually has a girlfriend by now."

"Yeah," Rye agreed, his voice sounding too miserable. I don't want a girlfriend. I'd rather have you in my arms . . . Stop thinking about it Rye! Rye didn't intend on saying anything else about the subject.

"We can play this one," Cloud said holding another video game.

"Army of Two," Rye read. "Okay, that one will work." Bringing the fish to the coffee table, Rye took the game from Cloud and inserted it into his Xbox 360. "You can have some fish if you want. I won't be able to finish all of that."

"Maybe just a bite or two," Cloud said and sat at the couch taking Rye's fork and picking some of the fish off the plate.

After turning the Xbox 360 and television on, Rye sat at the couch next Cloud and handed him one controller while keeping the other for himself. Rye skipped through the beginning credits quickly but even the gameplay itself couldn't stop Cloud from bringing the conversation back up again.

"Is there anyone you want to go out with?" Cloud asked as they played the video game. "Go around, I'll keep them distracted." Cloud's character on the game fired blindly at dark figures in the distance.

"Not really," Rye said, trying to stay focused on the video game.

Not really as in simply 'no or not really as in 'kind of?'

"Why are you so interested?" Rye asked. "Die, damn it." Rye's character on the video game shot a rocket launcher at a turret.

"I kind of prize myself with knowing the norms of people," Cloud explained. "I just thought you'd have a mate, but since you don't, I'm just curious why not."

A "mate," Rye thought. Why did he choose "mate" instead of "girlfriend?"

"I guess it's just not one of my priorities," Rye said. "Besides I'm going into the military after high school so I don't have time for something like that."

"Oh," Cloud's replied, sounding almost disappointed. "I'll get the guys in the towers." Cloud's character on the screen held a sniper rifle.

A couple minutes went by of pointless slaughter on the video game, before Rye was satisfied with the results on the screen.

"One more mission?" Cloud asked with his optimism forcefully restored.

"Sure," Rye said. "But that was too easy, let's put it on a harder mode."

"That's fine with me, if you're up to it," Cloud grinned evilly at Rye.

"We'll see who's up to it," Rye answered with a similar smirk and put the game on the hardest difficulty.

They both laughed as they were brutally slaughtered in the first tasks of the mission they were assigned to on the video game. Slowly they made progress on the video game and no more conversations out of the usual were started, which allowed Rye's thoughts to stop torturing him.

After another hour of gameplay, Cloud set down the controller and stood up. "I better get back home and get some sleep. It's late."

"Okay, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Rye said and got up to turn off the television and video game console.

"Thanks for spending time with me today. I had a lot of fun."

"Me too."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

Rye saw Cloud to the door. He wanted to offer to walk him home but he thought that that'd be too weird if he was going to try to keep things normal between the two of them. After an exchange of smiles and waves, Cloud left and Rye shut the door.

Trying to ignore his thoughts, Rye quickly picked up the living room, washed the dishes they used to eat the fish, and went into his room without turning any lights on. After stripping, Rye lied down on his bed with only a thin sheet to cover him, hugged and pillow and willed himself to go to sleep. But his mind wouldn't allow it.

Damn, Rye thought. I shouldn't be feeling this way toward him. I'm not going to be here long enough for any type of relationship, and I just met him today for crying out loud! But he is so nice, and cute! No. Stop thinking like that. I'm going to boot camp soon and I can't be distracted.

Rye rolled into a different position, trying anything to help him sleep. He kept smiling at me today. No, he's just a friendly person. Into the late hours of the night, Rye struggled to sleep.