FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Even for a mid-Spring Wednesday evening, the Blue Dog Tavern was full of patrons. The energy was light and jovial with the underlying background noise of folks enjoying friendly conversations occasionally broken by bouts of laughter.

Terri's keen eyes scanned the crowd, looking for the shorter woman that had called her here.

"Terri!"

The sound of her name drew her attention to the girl sitting at the bar, waving her phone in the fox's direction. Slinking through crowded walkways, Terri took up a spot leaning on the bar next to the feline, the fox's eyes moving from her to the crowd again.

"Weird place for a business meeting, Faith." She commented, drawing a chuckle from the feline. "I suppose it is, isn't it?" She agreed, drawing a swig from the bottle in front of her on the bar. Terri fixed her gaze back on the other woman, raising an eyebrow. "So?"

"Just wait." The feline replied, rolling her eyes. "So impatient. You've waited all this time, what's a few more minutes?"

"I don't even know what I'm waiting for," Terri sighed, turning her back to the bar, propping her elbows up on the ledge. "You didn't tell me why we had to meet here. Just that you had an update for me. Look, if this is about the money, I told you from the start I didn't have a lot--" Terri was cut off by an envelope being shoved in her face.

"It was never about the money." Faith replied, motioning for the fox to take it. "I haven't told Fox this yet, but I'm not taking your money."

"So... you couldn't find him then?" Terri asked, her eyes falling to the floor. "I knew it was a long shot. Didn't really give you much to go on did I? At least let me pay you for your time; I know your partner wasn't crazy about you doing this."

"I'll deal with Fox. At the end of the day we're co-owners. He's taken his fair share of under the table jobs, he can deal with me handling my own. Besides, I didn't say I didn't find anything. I just said I'm not taking your money. Call it... I don't know, Christmas Spirit?"

"It's April." Terri deadpanned, the shorter feline shrugging off her reply.

"So I'm not catholic, sue me." She snorted, rolling her eyes. Terri let a grin come across her face. She knew from the first meeting that she'd end up liking the feline. "So you did find something then?" She asked, her voice a bit more excited and hopeful that she had intended for it to sound.

"I don't know yet." Came the reply from the feline placing her bottle back on the bar. "I was actually hoping you could tell me-- fuck, where's that barkeep?" Faith let out a sigh. "Yo!" She called out, hoping to get the attention of the guy who should've been behind the bar.

When no one answered, the feline reached over the bar to the ice chest just out of sight, plucking a bottle from it and lifting it up to her eyes to see the label. "So that's where you're hiding the good stuff." She grinned, hooking the cap of the bottle on the bar and bringing her fist down on it to open the brew.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" A male voice suddenly boomed. Terri closed her eyes and shook her head with a grin. The feline really was just like her in some ways.

"Tending_your_ bar." Faith shot back with a bit of a huff.

"Well the next time you "tend my bar" by stealing drinks and putting chips in my wood I'm gonna pick you up by those teeth of yours and swing you in circles until all your money falls out."

Faith laughed at the threat. "Look, if you want to put your fingers in my mouth that bad..."

Terri barked a laugh at that, finally turning around to face the employee and apologize for her friend. The fox's voice caught in her throat when her eyes landed on the man. He was a canine about her height, the dark fur of his face accented by the white of the bridge of his nose and the three blue lines under each eye. He tilted his head at her slightly when she froze, blue eyes going between the fox and the feline.

"Can I get you something, miss...?" His voice trailed off.

"Well there's my answer." Faith chuckled, taking a large swig from her stolen bottle.

"I'm adding that to your tab." The man scolded her before nodding back towards the fox. "What's up with your friend? Do I need to call her an ambulance or something?"

Faith let out another laugh, waving her hand in front of Terri's face to bring the girl back to reality. It took a moment before Terri found her voice again. "Faith, how did you...?"

"Honestly? Dumb luck. This place opened up near my house and I've been meaning to give it a try."

"Care to fill me in, ladies?" The canine asked, eyebrow raised.

"Where are my manners?" Faith began, ignoring the quip from the wolf about them being long gone, "Gabriel, this is Terri. Terri, this is the man you were looking for."

"Looking for?" Gabriel echoed, looking the fox up and down for a moment before a light went on behind his eyes. "Wait, wait, wait. You're the girl from the wreck years ago! The one I pulled out of that car! Holy shit... I honestly didn't think you'd survived. I'm really sorry about your friend..."

Faith stood up from her seat, elbowing the fox in the ribs before walking around to the other side of the bar. "She's been looking for you for a long time, Gabe. Hired me to help a few months ago. Just funny how these things work out." Comically, the smaller feline put her hands on the shoulders of the larger wolf, shoving him out from behind his own bar. "Why don't you two go talk, catch up. I can watch the bar."

"Watch, not drink." Gabriel was quick to remind her, finally relenting after a moment of more shoving. When he came around the bar Terri was finally able to get a good look at him. He was a little taller than her, well built, with kind eyes. He regarded her for a moment, extending his hand out to her. "Gabriel Lansdowne."

He barely had a moment to reach when the fox suddenly leaped on him and wrapped him tightly in her arms. His shirt becoming damp in what he assumed was tears. He was startled for a moment, looking over the shoulder of the fox to the grinning feline behind his bar, choosing to wrap his own arms around her in a comforting grip. The embrace lasted for a moment before he guided her to a quiet booth so they could sit and catch up.

Faith couldn't help but let a grin cross her face. It wasn't often in her line of work she was able to bring happiness to a client, much less someone who she'd actually grown to see as a friend.

She was pulled from her thoughts by movement to her left, a wolf taking a seat at the bar. He was tall, with dark fur covering his face accented with deep blue and silver markings; pale blue eyes that, while bright, had a hint of something darker behind them. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt that matched his fur colors quite well and Faith couldn't help but take notice of the white butterfly logo on the chest.

Realizing she was starring at him, Faith shook her head and walked over to him. "What can I get you?" She asked, sliding a cocktail napkin in front of him. "I wouldn't ask for anything super fancy, though. I'm just a fill in. So if you're looking for some kind of mixed drink you might want to wait a little bit. I can uncap a mean bottle of beer though."

He laughed at her joke. His voice was deep but far from booming.

"I'll take your meanest bottle of beer." He grinned, leaning forward onto the counter. "Was wonder if you'd seen a friend of mine? Big gryphon dude? Blue feathers, yellow beak? Looks like he works out too much?"

Faith shook her head, using the bottle opener on the selected brew. "Can't say I have. Honestly don't see many gryphons around here." She went to place the bottle down on the napkin, his hand brushing against hers when she went to pull away. For the briefest of moments Faith lost herself. The room plunging in sudden darkness - almost like when you blink before your brain has a chance to register the motion.

The exchange had lasted for a millionth of a second. Faith wasn't even sure they'd even touched.

"A shame, been looking all over for the dude." The wolf answered, taking a swig from the bottle. It took a brief moment for Faith's mind to catch up fully, remembering he had asked about a friend. "Yeah, uh... sorry about that. Wish I could help."

"Oh trust me," he replied, tugging cash from his pocket before laying a few bills on the bar. "You've given me all I need." He tripped the bottle towards her in thanks. Something about his demeanor interaction left a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She picked up the cash from the bar when a voice behind her startled her.

"You can't use the money from the tip jar to pay your tab." Gabriel was laughing as he walked up behind her, nodding towards the wad of bills her in clutches. Faith pushed the feeling of unease aside, plastering a grin on her face. "See? I can be a good barkeep! I made a sale and even made a frie--" The words hung from her lips when she looked over her shoulder only to find an empty bottle of beer and no trace of the canine.

"I see," Gabriel chuckled, brushing past her to lean on the bar, holding his hand out to the empty chair. "Nice to meet you, my good sir. Welcome to my Inn!"

"Well he was there," Faith protested, putting the collected funds on top of the register.

"I didn't see anyone approach the bar the whole time you were back here, Faith." Gabriel turned to face her, head tilted slightly to the side.

"How could you miss him? He was tall and..." Faith trailed off, realizing she couldn't even remotely picture the canine she'd been speaking with. She couldn't remember his colors, markings, clothing, not even what he sounded like.

Seeing the feline freeze, Gabriel grew further concerned and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, you alright?" He asked, his voice adopting a serious tone. He watched her carefully for a moment before she answered him. "Yeah, I'm good. Just probably drifted off in a daydream or something."

He wasn't convinced, but didn't press it further.

"We're coming up on last call anyway. If you don't mind hanging out a bit I can take you home."

Faith was about to protest that she was fine when her phone signaled an incoming text. She quickly glanced at it before looking back up at the wolf, forcing one of her trademark grins on her face.

"I'm fine, really! I gotta go anyway. Fox just found out one of our targets is back in town for the first time in ages. I'm gonna head to the office and grab my gear so we can get the bounty." She nodded towards Terri who had just walked back up to the bar. "I'm sure you could drive the lovely lady home, though." Faith added, grabbing her jacket and turning for the doorway. "I'll catch up with you two later! I'm sure we'll have lots to chat about!" She called over her shoulder.

Pushing past the door she glanced up at the sky. "What an interesting night." She commented to herself before heading for her car.

She had no idea just how right she truly was, nor how far from over the night was for her.