FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

1

It was dark and cold and rain was slogging down in fat plops against the sidewalk. Nomac hated the rain, and it wasn't just because he was a cat...well, part cat. Cougar and coyote, he was, but more coyote than anything. A joke, really. He hated it. He hated how the rain left him sticky and moist even through his heavy clothes; he hated how his pants legs got soaked; he hated the squelch of hot water between his toes. He hated life. His face had been pinched into a grimace ever since he'd left the apartment, and it was honestly starting to hurt. He didn't care, though. It hurt too much to care.

He tugged his baggy hood down lower over his eyes then stuffed his paws back into the pockets of his ratty, black jeans. His tail was drenched, the honey-yellow fur heavy and downcast like a drape. He flicked it in a flash of fury, and water streaked off and across a leopard chick's tight skirt. She had big tits. They jiggled and frowned along with her face as she glared at him, but he just glared harder right back and she kept her mouth shut, hugging her bosom as she scurried away. He almost smiled.

The rain grew more intense and spat into his face. His cheeks ached. His toes curled soggy in his shoes. He passed under a flickering neon sign and ducked beneath another fur's umbrella as they came out of the bar. The red light was uncomfortably bright even through the downpour. It made him think of sick mornings and headaches, hangovers and pains in his ass, scratches, bruises...

He flattened himself beneath the building's overhang as a lanky hyena came out, bringing with them the sharp scent of tobacco and shitty beer. The guy ran his fingers through his short, greasy, black hair and took a long drag on a cigarette he pulled from nowhere, blowing twin trails of smoke from his nostrils and into Nomac's face. The coyote scowled as the hyena smirked, and then he clicked his pierced tongue and knocked the ashes from the end of the cigarette, flipping it between his fingers and holding it out toward Nomac. His dark eyes flicked to the sky, the neon sign reflecting like a bloody constellation in his pupils.

"To Mother Nature," he said jubilantly. "The insufferable cunt."

Nomac grinned and leaned forward, grasping the cig between his lips. The hyena let it go as the coyote returned to propping himself against the wall. He sucked on the moist end. It tasted like gin and spit. He liked it. Nicotine and smoke stung pleasantly in his mouth and nostrils and lungs. He liked that, too.

"Here, here," he muttered, blowing smoke and flicking his sopping tail.

The hyena winked and tugged on his own hood. "Be careful, Mac." He stepped out into the rain and strode off down the street. "One can find so many pains when the rain is falling!" he called over his shoulder.

Nomac chuckled dryly. He knew that quote. He knew he knew that quote. He took another long drag on the cigarette then flicked it off into the puddle-strewn road. A car drifted lazily by, the tires squelching against the moist blacktop, and he watched it go. He then watched the hyena drifting off through the murk, the rain blurring his dark outline.

Regis Lindsey: the cryptic asshole. A good friend. He and Nomac had a mutual love for one another although they'd never admit it. It was just an accepted part of who they were, something they didn't try to explain or complicate, like a birthmark or the urge to fuck because it felt good.

"Oh," Nomac grunted in realization. "John Steinbeck." He stepped out into the rain and cupped his paws around his mouth. "STEINBECK," he bellowed after Regis. He could hardly see him anymore, but his ears perked as the hyena's voice carried the distance through the slog.

"'BOUT...TIME...DUMB...FUCKER!"

"Heh," Nomac sighed. "Asshole." He cupped his hands to his mouth again. "ASSHOOOOLE!"

But Regis was gone. There was no one else on the street. Nomac shivered and scowled, and then he turned and went into the bar, pocketing his paws and doing his best to hide his want for a warm body. It was hard.

But he was good at it.