FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hey everyone,

I'm so sorry for this delay T_T It has been a full month for me, getting back to work after Christimas, beginning writing my thesis, and for all of that I neglected my series T_T Hope this will make you forgive me, I wrote it all yesterday, and it continues the long awaited date! If you like it, or if you want to scold me for the lateness, why don't leave a comment, a fave or a vote? As always, thank you Gritou for being at my side always and for loving me *hug*

... And we walked about the stands, mug in hand, watching all the drunks doing hilarious stuff!" Clara giggled a tall glass of Belgian birra rossa1 in her delicate paw. Her Licaone friend chuckled at her side, caught in the remembrance.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Ale asked, his curiosity perked up as much as his ears were, obviously drinking each word the German shepherd said, to the detriment of his own beer which stood there, lonely, waiting the solace of a furry black paw.

"There was this guy, who somehow had managed to trap himself in a-" She started the anecdote, excitement flushing her cheeks, from what Luca could see, and surely counting on the help of her friend about adding the details she forgot. The lupo simply listened to the story, relaxing in his chair and sipping his own beverage, content to stay silent and enjoy the vision of the two lovebirds chirping in front of him. It was really nice to see that, and he was happy how the evening had been perfect after the rocky start, with talks and laughs and a very good meal they all devoured with the infamous canine appetite.

The conversation had been really varied so far, jumping from subject to subject, which was quite normal since they all wanted to know each other more and explore a lot: now it had settled on the Oktoberfest2, thanks to the arrival of their beverages brought by the very cute and winky cougar waiter. The lupine had discovered that both Clara and Guido were nice company, the one he liked to have when going out, and, as far as he knew, the sheppie was a really nice girl, even more than he had thought from the many, many conversations with Ale. The Licaone was fine too, well, at least once he got to know him a bit more and took his rare bad jokes as they were, only jokes; he had a very snarky sense of humor, Luca had discovered, the one that you could handle in small dosage and only if the painted dog toned it down a bit.

Still, he liked the spotted dog, and he was wondering if he might ask him to go some place together. Not as a date, of course not, but as friends and wingmen, maybe, even if Ale wanted to accompany him in some gay clubs -and he was going to demand that after that evening- he couldn't force his straight friend through that too often! He was too hunky not to catch the attention of the ass-oriented patrons, and-

"Didn't you, Luca?" A question interrupted his reverie, forcing his mind to be aware once again of his surroundings and making him realize that he was the center of the combined stare. He looked back at the three canines watching him and at the top of his conversing skills he answered them.

"Cosa3?" The tall lupine mumbled.

"Weren't you listening?" Clara asked, puzzled by the lukewarm response she had obtained from the lupo.

"He does that all the time, going to his special place and forgetting about the world around him..." The rottie sighed, shaking his head at such hopeless habit.

"I don't!" The lupine protested vehemently, ears flicking in indignation. "I was distracted for a second and didn't hear the question!"

"This is a weak defense Luca..." The spotted wolf grinned, even more when he saw the brownish dog's cheeks coloring a bit.

"I forgive you for now." The sheppie girl graciously granted her pardon to the lupine and then continued talking, crushing any reaction from him. "Signor Testa fra le Nuvole4, I was asking you, as I did previously with Ale, if you have ever gone to the Oktoberfest."

"My head isn't- I'm not- fine, well, I never went to Munich." Luca, defeated, gave his answer, then jerked his head to his friend. "You went to the Oktoberfest without me?"

"Don't tear up, I was with my family and I was 12, well before meeting you." The rottie replied, his quick dismissal earning a growl from his friend. He just smirked at it, clearly not wanting to help his roommate out of the well he fell.

"Jealous of your rottie, eh? It's a pity you haven't gone there ever Luca, it's so much fun!" Guido jabbed him, his smile hidden with a big sip of his beer but his merriment obvious by his moving ears.

"I know, but I never found time to go there and enjoy the beer stupor. Plus I don't like beer!" He defended himself. He didn't like to be on the receiving side of such a powerful barrage of words, and he tried to show that to Ale with a look.

"Don't be a donnicciola5, booze is booze!" The hunky canine didn't take the plea, going forward to joyfully make fun of his friend.

"I'm not a sissy, and you know that." The lupine said deadpan, hoping that this time the other would take the drift.

"Uhm, yeah, you are right about that, you aren't a sissy." The Rottweiler corrected himself, and by a quick expression that passed on his muzzle Luca was sure he would apologize for that later and in more detail. Since he didn't want to blow something out of proportion, not over something so little and after having some drama previously, Luca decided to laugh that off.

"If you want to be sure, we should go to the next one and see which one of us can drink more!" He proposed, managing to paint a grin on his muzzle.

"That's a challenge! We will go and see, smartass!" The rottie boasted, extending his paw.

"Challenge accepted!" The other took the offered paw, locking their agreement to see who could stand the most amber-colored fluid circulating in his body.

"You will need someone responsible to look after you. Maybe I should come with you..." Clara inserted herself not so subtly in their plans, which was fully justified, after all; her arm locked around the beefy one of Ale was proof enough of that.

"I want to be there too, I'm curious to see who will win!" The fourth fur added himself to the company.

"Oh yeah, it should be fun!" Ale rumbled, though he said that while looking at the sheppie girl at his side, giving his sentence another light.

"Of course it will!" Luca exclaimed, happy that it would be there another fur, to keep him from feeling like the proverbial third wheel. "Dare to tell your prediction on the winner?"

"Luca." The answer was given in unison by the two canines, without hesitation, making the darkest one of the company drop a bit his triangular folds of fur on the crown of his head.

"Why are you two so sure?" He asked, trying to sound deeply offended but betrayed by the smile which curled his lips a second after uttering such words.

"Dear, you don't seem like the type of fur who can stand too much alcohol." The booby-featuring canine answered candidly, sure that the hunky male could take that revelation easily.

"I will say the contrary, since I think that the key is that Luca can stand a LOT of alcolici6!" The other gave his own stressed opinion, not forgetting to wink to the favorite.

"Oh my, thank you both for believing in my victory!" Luca beamed, even bowing his head to recognize their faith in him.

"But-but I am a grande bevitore7...." The doomed-to-be loser whined, making the rest laugh at him. He stayed bashful for a few seconds before joining them adding his thunderous bark to theirs. That didn't last long, since they all remembered they weren't the only ones in the pub, and it was in the middle of their eyes-wiping, ears-flicking, breath-recovering silent that a chime resonated among them.

"Uh-oh, I think it's yours Luca." The rottie pointed out, gesturing toward him with his free big paw, the other still occupied in keeping Clara close to his muscled frame.

"Oh yeah, let me see..." The lupo fished his phone out of its usual place and opened the message he just received.

My Wind. Sara Lavoro** 8 **** called you at 22.55.**

"Sara called me, I think there isn't enough campo9 down here and I missed her call." He announced to the others while checking to see if his statement was true. The little antenna-like icon of his phone showed him that the basement position of the pub and its thick walls were sheltering them, rendering them unconnected with the outside world.

"Sara?" Clara asked, but something lighted up in her brain since she didn't wait for an answer. "Ah, yes, your colleague, the one who is joining us tonight!"

"That's her! Maybe I should go upstairs and call her back." The lupo said, his body already carrying over his propose and rising from the chair.

"Maybe we should come with-"

"Don't worry Clara, it won't take long. Stay here!" He stopped the kind sheppie, waving a hand to make her stay and turning toward the exit. His long steps took him out of the somewhat air-conditioned to the hot, even for the evening, outside, his phone still in his paw for convenience.

He browsed the phone quickly, finding the number he needed and push the button, waiting for his call to be answered by a certain squirrel. Amazingly enough, it took something like seven rings before that happened!

"Hey Luca!" The familiar voice chimed with a shade of hurry, probably because she wasn't finding the phone and feared that he would hang up.

"Hey Sara, sorry, there is no field down there. I called you as soon as I found your missed call!" He replied with a slightly apologetic tone.

"That's alright, don't worry about that! How is the evening going?" She asked, and Luca could imagine her squirming and burning with curiosity.

"So far so good, she seems to be a really nice girl and all, I'm happy for him." He answered truthfully.

"I was sure of it! How is her friend?"

"He is nice, that's all." He said and, hearing the strange sound that he recognized as the symptom of her wanting more information, he continued. "It's really all, it's not like it was a colpo di fulmine10 or something! Geez, why do you guys want me to settle down with him?"

"I am not saying that, you are overreacting!" She answered back, proving the suspicions of the lupine.

"Okay, whatever. Are you coming here or are you still eating?"

"I was calling you for that! We are having the dessert and then we are on our way, give us twenty minutes!" She responded, though by the chatter in the background he could have guessed they were still in the restaurant.

"Okay, I will tell the others that." He said, then remembered to ask something. "Do you know where the place is?"

"Yeah, we do but don't you mind if you wait outside? Just to be sure, those places look all the same!" She asked him. He didn't mind that, at all, in fact he could give him the excuse to leave his friend with Clara, if he managed to drag Guido with him to wait outside.

"Not at all. See you in a few minutes!" He said his farewells and he was about to close the call when she stopped him.

""Oh, Lidia says hi to you, and to give her greetings to Ale too!" She managed to speak quickly, sounding like she was being pestered by the tigress.

"Okay, I will, and say ciao from me to her." He groaned, remembering the perky and cheerful feline.

"Ehhehehe, I will, see you there!" She ended the call herself this time, leaving Luca still groaning at remembering that evening at Ponte Milvio but with some tasks to run. He went down the stairs, passing through two patrons getting out for a smoke, or so it seemed by the fact they hold a cigarette between their fingers, and reached his table with his waiting friends.

"Hey, you are back! Ale was worrying over you!" Guido joked, though his humor had reached such level of familiarity that the rottie just nudged aside the remark and asked the obvious question.

"News from Sara?"

"She is coming, and she seemed confident to come here in less than half an hour." He answered while seating back, waiting to gulp the rest of his wine before ticking out the next task from the list. "Lidia says hi to you Ale."

"Who's Lidia now?" Clara asked, and the lupine didn't sense any trace of jealousy in her voice. He felt ashamed once he realized he was expecting, or at least searching for it, he shouldn't have done that, since he wasn't there to judge her!

"A tigress we met once, a friend of Sara. Party girl, goes to the disco a lot, tried to hit on Luca." The rottie summed up, scratching behind his ear, though he left out that she kind of hit on him too. Probably didn't want to tempt fate, the smart ass, plus Lidia didn't deserve to be the cause of drama.

"Oh, she did? Too bad she lacked something down there, eh?" The Licaone jabbed Luca with a chuckle.

"And she isn't even butch at all, so I couldn't fool myself and think she was a man..." The lupo shook his head sadly.

"I'm sure it was funny, though." The sheppie comforted him with a huge smile.

"Oh yeah, it was really funny, and somewhat flattering too!" He admitted, tearing off his fake façade of sadness and grinned broadly.

"Everyone needs to feel desired every now and then!" The hunkiest dog at the table asserted with the wise look of an ancient monk on his muzzle.

"I'm sure he would have preferred to be ought by a manly tiger instead." Guido added, not knowing what button he had pushed just now.

"I have a bad... history with tigers, I'm afraid." Luca said seriously, and the discomfort about the topic of male tigers he and Ale were feeling showed up in a very canine manner, that is a quick flattening of their ears. The other two, being dogs themselves, understood that and didn't press on the matter, and the spotted wolf didn't apologize either, since he didn't need to. Not his fault if he didn't know about Carlo.

Silence stretched a bit, the conversation had died out for the moment and everyone tending to their drinks, or the little left in Luca's case. Seeing Clara playing a bit with the rottie's hand reminded the lupine of his previous decision of giving them some time for themselves, so he broke the stillness and spoke to the painted dog on his side.

"Sara asked me if I could stay out of the pub, so they can find it, would you like to keep me company Guido?"

The Licaone seemed confused by the request at first, but a discrete nod in the direction of the only couple at the table made it clear to him.

"I don't see any problems with that. Can we leave you two alone?" He asked Ale tongue-in-cheek, even winking.

"Of course, don't worry, we will remain PG-13!" The black canine promised with a rumble.

"We are both sensible and honorable furs. We won't do anything that might ruin our reputation!" Clara said, adding a linguaccia11 for good measure.

The gay dogs just stood up, with the painted one not resisting leaving a final comment.

"Have fun you two!"

"It goes the same for you too!" The rottie replied almost cryptically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Guido asked, turned toward the lupine while navigating the room in their journey for the exit and managing to not crush in any of the standing furs.

"Just that, apparently, everyone is shipping us together." The other calmly stated.

"Oh. Why are they doing that?" The wild dog posed the new question.

"Not sure, maybe they just feel like doing that." He shrugged, though he knew perfectly that Ale would have liked for him to get a date of his own, and that Sara thought the same. Sweet of them, even if meddling.

"Bah, okay, so far I don't think we will meet the expectations. No offense!" The painted canine said, remembering to smooth the edges of his phrase at the last minute.

"Don't worry, I think the same." He assured the other, taking in some of the fresh air since they finally arrived outside on the curb. It was sure hot there, but still it didn't smell like there were lots of different furs.

"Good. Actually, I would prefer to be more intimate with our waiter..." His new acquaintance mused a bit.

"Are you getting signals from him?" The lupo inquired, curious. He didn't seem to him, but it was also true that his gaydar was faulty at times, and the cougar had smiled a lot at Licaone so it might be possible.

"Maybe, not sure yet. Still, I can dream about that." Guido said.

"Amen."

"I wonder how he ended up here..." The spotted wolf continued his musings, moving himself to a parked car and leaning on it.

"You know Americans: he is probably touring Europe and working here and there." He suggested, positioning himself in front of his interlocutor and with his back to the entrance of the Fairy Tale.

"Yeah, probably that. It must be nice to not have worries for a while, just traveling and such." The patched canine spoke his mind, sounding a bit envious of that.

"I agree, it must be formative too." Luca replied, but then a purring feline, American-accented voice intruded from their side.

"Scusate per l'interruzione12... "

Translation:

1) Red beer. I'm not quite sure how that could be called in English, but here beers are divided in Chiara (clear), Rossa (red) and Scura (dark) according to their colors.

2) Famous harvesting festival held in Munich, Germany, with lots of beer. I am quite sure everyone knows it, but I put the note just in case.

3) What?

4) Head among the clouds. The complete saying goes "avere la testa fra le nuvole" and means being absent-minded.

5) Sissy.

6) Alcohols, booze.

7) Big boozer.

8) Work.

9) Field; specifically here it refers to mobile phone coverage.

10) Expression that means love at first sight.

11) Showing the tongue.

12) Sorry for the interruption...