FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Her head moved slightly as she spoke. Inside her skull, I could see the soup sloshing from side to side, noodles and beef appearing and disappearing under the surface. A bit of lettuce - or cabbage, or something else green - rose and fell.

The hostess placed a pair of chopsticks, and a couple of spoons. I picked up the chopsticks, not wanting to look foolish. I hovered above the open skull before me. My fingers trembled a little.

"No need to be nervous!" said the squirrel. "Dig in, before it gets cold!"

"Uh," I said. I poked a noodle. It moved a little, like a noodle would. Nothing like I imagined a brain would. "Is that... hot in there?"

"Not uncomfortably," she said, conversationally. "They coat the inside if my skull with this stuff to seal it and stop all the soup draining out of the holes, and it stops the heat going through too!"

"Oh!" I said. I caught a noodle with the chopsticks and pulled it out. My - Server? Plate? - shivered, sending ripples through the soup in her head. "Oh! Ah! S-Sorry! I didn't think you'd feel it!"

"Oh, I can't, not like it's a part of me. But I can feel stuff sloshing about, and moving when you get a noodle. Or is it beef?"

"No, this is a noodle." I held it up for examination. "Uh." Suddenly I felt self conscious. "Would you like some?"

Opposite me, Claire laughed. "You're supposed to take the food out of them, not put it in!"

The squirrel was chuckling as well. "Yeah, Don't worry about feeing your bowls!"

I gave a little laugh myself. "Okay, I get the point."

Claire was pulling more noodles out of the cheetah's skull. I felt less skittish about eating mine, seeing her actually eating hers. The squirrel gave occasional comments as I swallowed the contents of her skull. She was enjoying it, as far as I could tell, eyes closed most of the time but sometimes looking up at me with content in her eyes. Claire was right: some people just liked this.

Soon enough, the soup was gone, gleaming bone left behind. Obviously these two had placed their brains somewhere safe, but I thought it rude to ask where. The rabbit hostess came back with the bull to wheel them away, and I asked, "What's with the trolleys?"

"We've found that getting fluid taken out of your head can make you very dizzy," replied the hostess. "Something to do with the inner ear absorbing or releasing water. Having a few trolleys sorts out that problem."

"Yeah," added the squirrel. "Things are a bit spinney right now..."

She giggled, and gave a wave as she was wheeled away.

"So." Claire had her arms crossed. "Did you enjoy that?"

"More than I thought I would. It's really weird, but... it's not like some hostile thing, if you know what I mean."

She smiled. "Something you'd choose to do, now?"

I hesitated. "...I don't think I would, no without someone who actively wanted to."

"Well. I suppose that's good enough - ah!"

The hostess was back. "May I offer you some dessert?"

"What's on the menu?"

"A dark chocolate heart, filled with a berry compote, served in a young innocent girl."

"An innocent? Where did you find one of those around here?"

The rabbit laughed. I noticed her eyes were back in, and she seemed to be looking around as if seeing with them. "Shall I put you down for one?" she asked.

"Yes, that sounds like a rather nice end to the meal," Claire said.

As the hostess bustled away, I asked, "So... those, uh, servers, they were... naked. Topless, anyway."

"Does that make you nervous?"

"Well, yes. I guess you knew that would happen, though. And what my reaction would be."

"I had some inkling, yes. Staring would be out of character for you. By the way, I think our next service will be topless as well."

"A chocolate heart... will we be eating it out of her chest?"

"Probably-"

She was interrupted by the sound of wheels. This time the trolley pished by the bull waiter was a table - and our hostess lay on it, wearing only her skirt. He guided the trolley between us, and I had to move my legs out of the way. Now in place, I could see her chest was scored with deep red lines, one running down the centre between her breasts that rolled to the sides, joining the others that ran below her collarbones and above the waistband of her skirt. I gulped, and looked up at Claire. "Do we... have to open..."

"Yep!" said the rabbit. "Here, you'll probably need these too."

She held up both hands, one for me, one for Claire. There was a spoon, and a strange spatula like implement. "When you're ready, peel me open and you'll find dessert inside."

"Peel..." I said faintly, but Claire was already starting, her thin fingers inserted into the large cut. She pulled it up and a large flap of flesh came away neatly, exposing the ribs and moving lungs beneath.

"Blood..." I said, because there wasn't any.

"One of the benefits of being modular," the hostess said. I could see her lung deflating as she spoke. "Most of my bloods not in my body right now, so we don't have nearly as much clean up at the end of the night. Boy, those first couple of nights were a mess!"

My eyes must have gone wide, because Claire said, "She's joking. I was here on opening night, and it was perfectly sanitary. Open your side."

Her flesh was warm to the touch, soft and spongy. It was damp but not slick, and although my fingers slipped a little, it wasn't hard to grip. As I pulled, it came up smoothly, her breast deforming in ways I've never seen as it squashed towards me and I gulped.

"You'll need to use the spreaders to pull my ribs apart."

I felt a chill as I realised what the spatula was. Was it strong enough to crack bone? "Won't that hurt? Or, I don't know, break bone?"

"These aren't my bones." The rabbit's hands were by her sides so she couldn't gesture, but she nodded at her chest. "These are rubber - I've been prepared for this kind of service, and you're not going to hurt me!"

Claire placed her spreader on the sternum, and gestured for me to do the same. Beneath, I couldn't see a beating heart like I expected, but something dark instead. "Ready?" she asked.

The hostess made an 'Mm-hm!' sound, and I nodded. "Okay, pull on three. One... two... three!"

I gave a strong pull, trying to keep it steady. Claire pulled harder than I did and the body rocked in her direction before I tugged it back. With a squelching sound the rubs opened up, revealing the dark heart resting between the lungs. A little gasp can from the rabbit.

"Are you alright?" I asked, and I became aware of the panic in my voice.

"Fine," she gasped. "Just - hard - to - breath - "

"No ribs means no way to breathe in," explained Claire. "I suppose she's kind of swallowing air?"

"y-" said the bunny softly. Then she fell quiet, her body still.

"It's not a problem to stop breathing?" I ask, incredulous.

"Blood - in back - in bubbler - 's fine - just - enjoy"

"Let the girl rest. We have to something to eat."

Still holding the rib cage open, the fox leaned in and looked at the heart. The chocolate had a shine to it, dark and inviting between the soft empty lungs. With a sudden motion, she brought the flat of her spoon down on the heart with a loud crack. I flinched a little. A spiderweb of little cracks spread from the impact point, but it didn't break - yet. "harder," gasped the rabbit.

Claire was happy to. This time she used the edge, and the chocolate cracked, something a thick and vital red oozing up. She gave a happy little gasp and dug her spoon into the wound, widening the fracture until she got a good-sized shard of chocolate out. A string of red trailed behind it. She moaned as she tasted it. "Oh, that's good. Have some!"

Hesitantly, I reached into the rabbit's chest cavity and touched my spoon to the chocolate. It was difficult to angle it, but I dug out a few chunks. A string of red berry stuff dripped onto the flesh and fur of the rabbit. I wondered if it would stain. "Oh!" I said. It was better than I expected. I had been expecting raspberry for some reason, but the syrupy stuff was strawberry flavoured, sweet and offsetting the bitterness of the dark chocolate.

I think Claire got most of it. I had a few spoonfuls, but when the shell mostly cracked and poured the syrup onto the surrounding organs, I couldn't keep at it. It didn't disturb the fox at all, and she ran her spoon over the internal flesh to scrape up the last of it. Sh noticed my look.

"Oh. Is this disturbing you?"

"A little. I don't like flesh."

She laughed. "Okay. I'm pretty much done, anyway."

She sat back, and from nowhere the bull appeared and started to wheel the rabbit away. "I'll be back in a minute with the bill," he rumbled.

The rabbit's body was still and spattered with the red drops of our dessert, and a sudden fear shook me. "Is she alright?" I asked.

Though her head didn't move, the rabbit' hand curled into a thumbs up. A wave of relief passed over me.

***

Once we'd paid, we were led back down and outside by the bull. It had got colder, and it zipped my coat up. Claire seemed to enjoy it, striding confidently along the street back to where I'd parked. "Mmm, that was satisfying," she said. So. What's your opinion, overall?"

I hesitated. What impression did I want to giver her? "You're right, I would never have done this if you hadn't talked me into it. But... I'm glad you did. It's an experience, even if it's not exactly what I'd choose to do every night."

"Heh. Well, at least you didn't hate it. So..." She pressed herself up against me. "Let's see what else I can talk you into."