FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sharp clicking noises echoed through the hall as my claws clacked against my keyboard, seeming extra loud in the two AM quiet. I could even hear the noise through my headphones. Still, the padded earbuds blocked out the noise from my room. The pull handle was adorned with a bright gold livestrong band, which meant only one thing. Only a minor inconvenience, really. I had wanted grab my xbox and dig into Dragon Age, but that wasn't an option now. Instead I did my stats homework, which was irritatingly necessary despite the facts that the prof didn't check it for credit and that it was boring as sin. Still, I couldn't deny practice made perfect, and by gawd did I need practice when it came to math.

For once, buying the textbook wholesale was worth it, because it gave me access to a site that had gigabytes of tutorials that were much more informative than the professor's bland droning. At two thirty, I jumped as the door opened. A short but attractive owl with pale feathers that were slightly ruffled stepped out of the my room. She caught a glimpse of me and hid her face under her embroidered red jacket, her haughty gold eyes looking at anything but me. That was the problem with pale feathers or fur: anyone could see you blushing underneath it.

I waited another ten minutes before letting myself in, careful to knock before opening the door. The only light was a desk lamp, and the musk of sex was stifled but not entirely covered up by the heavy scent of febreze and an open window. James was shirtless but had pulled on a pair of old black gym shorts. His normally tidy but long raven hair was bedraggled and sticking up at odd angles, making him look like he had a smaller set of ears or perhaps hell-hound horns.

"I didn't know you liked birds," I laugh, making James scowl. "Do I need to change my sheets?" By mutual agreement, if James needed extra space for his nighttime escapades, he could hook up our beds side by side for the night.

"Nah," said the wolf. "We kept it to my bed. How long did I keep you waiting?"

"An hour or so. I just worked," I shrugged. It had been longer than that but I didn't need to guilt him and tease him. "No big deal. Didn't know you were acquainted with any of the Kappas. They're the ones who calls geeks like us the Elf Patrol after all."

"I know her from mock trial," said James, his tone neutral. He always accepted my jibes as his price for sexiling me. He knew it was all in fun anyway.

"What do you do to make your bed such a hot commodity?" I ask, forcing the snark from my tone in order to avoid sounding jealous or sarcastic.

"Dunno," said James. "I mean, My guess is it's because I'm such a straightforward guy. I don't do the whole 'subtle seduction' thing. I don't do the whole pickup lines or the subliminal messaging in my speech habits. I'm not trying to be smooth or cool or sweet talk. I'm just plain me, and if I feel the conversation is going towards sex, I just bring it up and wait for an answer."

"Hmph," I mutter, scratching the bottom of my muzzle. "I wish I could observe you in action. I'd love to conduct a study on your mannerisms and speech. There must be something special you do, consciously or subconsciously."

"Not everything has to be a psyche study, Sam," said James, who was balling up his blue bed sheets for the laundry hamper.

"But you're wrong there," I say, waving a finger. "Every social interaction has a thousand things going on inside your body, especially when sex is involved. Think about it: when you talk to someone you find attractive, all sorts of chemicals are firing off in your brain, and you change how you talk, walk, and think."

"But how do you gather data besides qualitative observation?" asked James as he slipped a new pillowcase over his pillows. "Do you want me hooked up to a polygraph? Measure my vital signs before during and after? How do you get numbers without breaking eliminating other variables from the experiment? If someone KNOWS they're being monitored they act different."

"And that's the biggest question of all in psyche research," I smile. "How do you control the environment without altering the behavior of subjects? You bio guys have it easy some days. Your samples of pond water don't freak out or lie when you gather data from it." This remark earned a good laugh from James.

James paused to wrap a new fitted sheet around his mattress. "I think people would just appreciate honesty rather than coercion, I mean, guys aren't the only people who like sex, and some girls have said to me that they liked that I just asked rather than trying to seduce them."

"Fair enough." I flopped onto my bed with a heavy thump and creaking of bedsprings. I yawned wide and put my arms behind my head. "So, did you have a good time tonight?"

"She was okay. I was having a hard time maintaining immersion. This time at least."

I couldn't resist a laugh at his word choice. "Since when have you started describing sex in video game terms?"

"Well, to be honest, I was trying to well... gather data, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"I was trying to track what was going through my head before and during the sex."

I raised my eyebrows but abstained from a snarky comment. "hmm. Maybe it was because you were actively trying to observe yourself. Perhaps you were distracted because you were attempting to be keenly aware of yourself while you were having sex. It's hard to focus on too many things at once for any task."

James gave me a noncommittal nod as he searched for shampoo.

I didn't speak at all until James returned. He had used too much soap, and I could smell it from across the room as he walked in the door. I was already under my covers, and soon James was too. "So... if you were gathering data tonight, uh, what did you find?"

"I like sex," said James, bluntly. "I mean, stimulating my dick felt good. She gave me a blow job and we did lots of other positions. Missionary, feral, you know."

I could guess. "And you enjoyed that, I suppose. What else did you do? Or I should ask what you noticed during said acts. If I may ask, that is."

"I ate her out," said James with a shrug. "I think we both liked that. Well, I mean I enjoyed it and it sounded like she did too.

"So, given the data you gathered..."

"I like sex with women."

"And what are your reactions to your conclusions?"

"I'm not surprised, but that still hasn't answered whether or not I'm actually interested in guys."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'll gather data."

I remained silent,

James looked at a space above my head and between my tall ears. I was sure that if I could see through his dark fur his face would be cherry red. "Sam... uh... do you know any good visual artists who do male porn?"

"What? Is pornhub not enough for you?"

"I've never watched real time porn," said James, turning away on his bed.

"Then what's all that porn I accidentally ran into last year?"

"Did you enter any of the folders?"

"No. I just recognized porn tags on the file names"

"I don't really like beating off to pornstars. They idealize the whole sex thing, and I don't like objectifying the figures I paw off to."

I couldn't suppress a laugh. "you do realize they get paid to do it. They record the footage willingly."

"I know, but I still don't like it," said James. "So I look at visual art. Specifically art on not-real-people."

"So is hentai in there somewhere?"

"No," said James. "I don't like objectifying characters either. It discredits the stories they're in, so I go for models or imaginary pieces."

I chuckle-growled, rolling my eyes at the ceiling. "You do realize that models pose for these porny shots just like porn stars."

"I know, but it feels...different somehow. Maybe it's because porny visual art can be taken on merits other than how well it arouses you."

"Well, I do happen to know some artists who paint naked dudes. I can send you some links and let you take a look."

James didn't speak for over five minutes. "So... um... thanks for not laughing. It's a weird thing to ask."

"I won't tease you for being a scientist," I said. "I will tease you for your highbrow taste in porn. But only a little. I'm not surprised at all, actually. You have weird taste in all things, so why shouldn't your oddity extend to sex?"

James next words sounded defensive, and he crossed his arms. "Like you're any better. But what's so weird about my sex taste, huh?"

I backpedaled at lightning speed as I realized what I said could mean something entirely different to a fur who was in the middle of investigating his sexuality. "Oh damn... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"What do you mean then?"

"I was thinking more about how you like, well... bigger women. Most guys i know wouldn't touch a girl if her thighs touch. But you seem to like women of... I guess you'd call it non-traditional body types."

"Well fuck those guys," scowled James.

"I don't think they'll let me," I smirk.

James' muzzle flashed white as he attempted and failed to suppress a smile. "It's unrealistic, what most guys are looking for," said James as he too fell onto his back on top of the bed. "But, there's something nice about people who are kind of... well, you know... bigger."

"You don't need to be subtle with me," I laughed. "I know I'm a fatass."

"You're not that fat," said James, earnestly. "But big people are nice in bed."

"More cushion for the pushin, eh?"

"Not that, really," said James. "It's more... that chubby girls are softer. I'm such a boney, ugly stick, and if someone gave me a hug I'd end up bruising them with my elbows. But bigger girls are good to cuddle with after sex. One of the things I like to do is lay in bed with someone and just sort of... hold them. It feels nice. Thing is, I don't get to do that much because we share space."

"If you told me before hand I could shack up with someone else for the night. There are plenty of couches on campus I could crash on."

"I could, but it's not fair to you," said James. "You put up with my sex habits enough already. I'd feel bad to ask even more from you."

I just shrugged. "I'd care if you did it a lot, but if you felt the urge to cuddle afterwards, just send me a text. I don't mind, really."

"Thanks, I guess. Not many roommates would be so flexible."

"No probs." I pulled my covers over my body so that I could strip off my shirt and pants. "Also... don't hate on yourself. I bet most girls and even some guys you'd walk into would call you attractive."

James hit the light on his desk, plunging our room into shadows. The moon wasn't out tonight, and I found I was disappointed that I couldn't see the subtle nuances of his dark blue-black fur stand out in the darkness. I turned away with a pang of guilt. I shouldn't have ogled him, or attempted to, like that.

I winced internally as James seemed to have read my train of thought. "So, uh, were you calling me attractive there?"

"Well... uh... yes."

"Thanks, Sam."