FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Author's Note: This is my first story EVAH and I'm really excitied. I had been debating starting a story series for awhile, after much insperation from some of my favorte writers, I decided to go ahead and go for it. I use a freewriting style, and I think I pulled it off okay. Then again I'm bias so yea...

I based the story on a couple things. The dalmatian is obviously me lol. The other characters are all based on real people, with names changed of course. (All except for Jose, he's my fantasy man lol) If you want to be in a story PM me and I'll see what I can do. Also for Jose he's like every thing I love in a man. Latino, Bear, and Chubby. (My three favorite things lol.)

I apologize in advance for any errors. I spent over two hours editing it, because I made the mistake of writing most of the story in word, so when I posted it to FA, all the apostrophes and quotation marks were not in ASCII, so they showed up as little unknown boxes (Note to self - Never use another character name with an apostrophe). If you find any major mistakes, please PM me and I'll make the change.Again, thanks for reading and enjoy!

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With a look in the mirror, Jare'l smoothed out a stray hair falling between his eyes.

"Let's goooo Jare'l!" his mother called from upstairs.

"Coming!

"Scooping up his wallet and phone, the dalmatian threw his messenger bag over his shoulder and started up the stairs to face his impatient mom.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I was making sure I looked okay."

"You look fine, now come on, you're going to be late for school."

Jare'l rolled his eyes and walked past his mom, taking a few steps toward the front door.

"Got everything?" she asked, gently closing the basement door.

"Yep, all set."

"Okay, you go ahead. I have to set the alarm."

Stepping out onto the patio, he closed the front door behind him and looked out into the bright sky. He took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of nature surrounding him. The night before, there had been a light shower and as a result, all the plants in the neighborhood emitted a light, earthy scent that Jare'l loved. After his brief love affair with nature, he made for the car, opening the passenger door, and slinking inside. He lowered the sun visor mirror and looked at his reflection. He was proud of his dalmatian heritage and swelled a bit with pride. His creamy white fur contrasted perfectly with the light spots on the back parts of his head and face and the large black spot over his right eye. He always admired that spot, it looked as if someone took a giant drop of ink and let it plop right over his eye, not too irregular that it look weird, but just enough curves and waves to make the spot look unique. His floppy ears hung down flat against the top of his head, the short black fur on them mixing well with his jet black, slight spiky hair. He flipped the sun visor back up and leaned back in his chair, throwing his bag into the back of the car in the process. Leaning over, he pressed a paw to the car horn, the loud blaring sound awaking the sleepy stillness of their street. His mom came from the house, sporting a pink jumpsuit and a scowl to match. Jare'l loved his mom, but sometimes she did stuff that annoyed him, like right now. Finally, she walked to the car, pulled open the car door, and slid into the driver's seat.

"Sorry Mr. Impatient, I was checking my makeup."She pursued her lips, showing off her dark red lipstick. Jare'l just rolled his eyes and looked out the window, leaning on a paw.

"Can we go anywhere without you putting on makeup? You're just dropping me off at school."

"I know, but it's your last day. Can't I look good for my son's big day?"

He grinned and looked back at his mom.

"Yeah, I suppose you may."

"Thank you. I'm happy I have your permission."

She smiled and put the car in reverse, backing out of the driveway, before easing onto and down the street. Jare'l took a look at his mom and smiled inwardly. Unlike her son, she had spots all over her face and instead of black floppy ears, she sported perky, white furred ears. She had surprised Jare'l a couple months ago when she declared that she felt fat and was going on a diet. At first, he didn't believe her, but now as he looked at his mom's 140 lbs figure, he almost laughed out loud. She'd lost all that weight, she'd been 180 before, right after she'd met one of Jare'l friends'-recently divorced-father. Jare'l knew he'd be at the graduation tomorrow and that mom had a beautiful summer dress she planned to wear.

After a short drive, Jare'l's mom pulled into the high school parking lot and leaned over to kiss her son's forehead.

"Have a wonderful day, and remember to do ALL of your school work. I know it's the last day of school, but that doesn't mean you can slack off."

He rolled his eyes and lightly wiped at his forehead.

"All right mom, I'll see you later." He said, climbing out of the car.

"Okay, love you."

"Love you too, bye mom."

He waved goodbye, grabbing his bag out of the back of the car and slamming the door closed, then turned around and started toward the front door, crowds of other kids already walking inside. Strolling up to the doors, he waved and said little hellos to numerous furs, many of which had names he had no recollection of, not that he cared much. Jare'l was one of the most popular furs at the high school, but always took it in stride. He had his close group of friends and that was enough for him, regardless of who else idolized or knew "of" him.

"Jare'l! Jaaarreee'l!" he heard from behind him, right after he took his first few steps into the school. The moment he turned around, his friend Bethany jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Oh my gosh, Jare'l! It's the last day of high school! I'm going to miss you soooo much!"

He grinned when he saw some of the dirty looks the other furs around them were giving him. And no wonder, Bethany was the captain of the cheerleading squad, head of student council, and the most popular girl in school. The bunny had a crush on Jare'l when he transferred to the school two years ago, but it quickly became just a very close friendship, and fake girlfriend/boyfriend relationship, after she had learned he was gay.

"Oh be quiet girl, we'll keep in touch. Plus, I don't go off to New York until the fall." He chuckled and petted her between her long ears.

"Ah! How could you Jare'l! You know I just got my hair done!" she squealed, groping for a comb in her pocket. Jare'l just laughed and started back toward the commons. Bethany followed after him, combing out her purple hair to fall just right over one of her large, blue eyes. He'd always admired Bethany, beauty came so easy to her. She didn't have the perkiest breasts or the firmest ass, but she had a different style and a cute personality that attracted men to her. A bit shorter than Jare'l without her five inch long ears, he had a slim figure, with slender paws, similar to himself. However, she was a digitgrade, and as such had to have specialized shoes built for her. Also, she loved to dye her hair all kinds of colors, so much so that Jare'l no longer remember what her natural hair color was. The light purple it was now though, went well with her brown fur. They walked together to their group of friends and both began the morning ritual of hugging and squealing with all their peers, about twenty in all, while waiting for the bell to ring.

The day went by fast, to the dalmatian's enjoyment. In his opinion, high school was a waste of time and he could care less. But, due to his parent's high success in white collar jobs, they always pushed him to do his best. He never did, but still churned out the A's and the occasional B. At the moment he was sitting in his last period, watch the clock as the seconds ticked by. No one in the classroom was paying attention to the jackal at the front of the room teaching. Jare'l and his friends called him Mr. Oblivious, because no matter how loud or disruptive the class became, he just kept on droning on and on, reading straight from the social-studies book without so much as a glance at the children in the room. In his two year here, Jare'l had never seen or heard him once stumble or stop reading until the bell rang to mark the end of the class. He tapped his foot paw against the side of his desk and a lion behind him leaned forward to tap his shoulder.

"What's up Hustin?" he asked, turning his head slightly so he could look at the lion.

"Hey man, we were going to go hang out in the Short North for a bit after class, wanna come?" the lion asked.

Jare'l had to think for a second, to be honest, he was looking forward to a quiet afternoon at home with nothing but a book for company.

"What the hell, sure I'll go."

Hustin lightly punched the dalmatian in his arm

"Atta boy. We're going to meet up in front of that gallery with all the blown glass art." Hustin chuckled lightly on the word "blown" and Jare'l just shook his head.The large lion was one of his best friends, but he could be such a dumb jock sometimes.

"Ha. Ha. I'll see you then."

The bell rang and Mr. Oblivious promptly closed the book and said his usual goodbye to the class, this time adding a "have a good life" on the end. Jare'l sometimes wondered if the jackal ever did anything fun. Before he could ponder the thought any further, he found himself grabbing his bag and heading for the door along with the herd of other furs.

"WAHOO! SCHOOL'S FINALLY OVER!" a random fur shouted as Jare'l stepped into the hallway. He laughed and started to run out the school along with the rest of the senior's, screaming and shaking his fist in the air. Bethany ran up to him and leaned on his arm, standing on the tips of his footpaws to yell in his ear.

"We're finally free! No more hiding! Go tackle to world!"

The dalmatian smiled down at his friend, and scooped her up, balancing her on his shoulders.

"That's right! FREEDOM!" he started off sprinting around the school grounds, other furs cheering and clapping and Bethany whooped and hollered from atop his shoulders. She was right. He was finally free and could do whatever, or whoever, he added with a chuckle, he wanted.

Later the day, the slender dalmatian found himself walking down High Street with his closest friends. Bethany was almost attached to his hip and Hustin was walking closely behind. In front of him and Bethany was his best friend in the world, Mikal and his boyfriend Johnny. Mikal was a greyhound and Johnny was rottweiler, the ladder's arm tightly round the greyhound's waist. Jare'l looked at the pair with envy, jeoulus they were so open with their relationship. He wasn't ashamed of being homosexual, but was scared to death of society's outlook. So he and Bethany kept their fake relationship going for the rest of the world's sake, even though, as his lion pal so bluntly put it one day,

"If anyone looking at you can't figure out you're gay, they must be deaf, dumb, and blind."

Now as they walked down the street, Jare'l sporting slim jean shorts, also as short as Bethany's skirt, and a tight short sleeve shirt that stopped right below his belly button, he found it very hard to argue.

The small group soon found themselves inside another gallery, gazing intently at the different photographs lining the white walls. He looked over at Hustin, who was making weird faces at one of the pictures. Chuckling softly, he pulled away from Bethany and inched over toward his friend. While he was on the football team, and got less than average grades, he was in fact quite intelligent, but at times his jock genes won out.

"It's a still pond that has been disturibed by a drop into the water. That's what those waves are. And the photographer must have shook the camera to give it that blurly appearance." He said, pointing here and there to point out the areas he was talking about.

"Oh! Thanks man, I was totally lost. That's really cool. He shook it just the right way. It looks unique and creative, not like just a blurry picture."

"You're right. I think what he was trying to say is that, no matter how hard one my try, true tranquility can't be reached without shaking things up a little bit and going outside of the norm." the dalmatian observed, continuing to gaze at the picture long after Hustin had moved on.

"You're right, that exactly what I was trying to convery with this piece."

Startled, Jare'l jumped slightly at the deep, baritone voice. He looked around to find the source, and felt and very large presence over his right shoulder. He turned around and jumped again, finding a large bear standing over him. Almost a foot taller than the dalmatian's 5' 10" frame, he was looking over Jare'l's head, at the photograph hanging on the wall. His wore small glasses and had a slightly loose dress shirt buttoned over his large chest with matching dark blue jeans. Light brown fur covered the bear and his brown head fur was trimmed closely, making his short brown beard stand out from the rest of his facial features. He had the same color hair, which was also cut short, his short ears popping out from each side of his head. Finally finding his words, he looked back at the picture.

"Are you the photographer?" he asked, immediately feeling stupid after he'd clearly implied he was.

"Yes, I am, although I'm thinking about giving it up."

A look of shock came over his creamy white face, and Jare'l turned around to face the bear again. Before he could verbalize his concerns though, he realized his face only came to the bear's chest and he had to look up to start his rant.

"What, you can't do that! These pictures are amazing. Every one has a story behind it, I think it's very interesting. Why would you ever want to stop?" he asked lifting an ear and tilting his head to the side, in classic puppy fashion. The bear looked down and peered at the dalmatian with bright, sky blue eyes. Then he, Jare'l wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the bear grin, before it quickly faded and turned into a sigh.

"Well, this exhibit has been here for over a week and I've only sold three pieces. Also, it seems no one gets my art. You're the first person who saw the message behind one of my pieces." The bear sighed again and looked sadly at the photo.

"Are you sure no one understands the pieces? Like this one here,"

Jare'l walked over to the picture hanging next to the one of the pond. It depicted a male anthro-wolf reaching for a lit bulb, but being just a bit too high to reach. Behind his was a step ladder hidden behind a pane of dark glass. The whole scene was taking place on a paved road out in the country, with the sun shining brightly in the background.

"I think here you were showing how you can't reach new heights without first looking behind you to see where you've been."

The bear walked up next to Jare'l and gently slid a paw down the picture's frame.

"Exactly, how is it that you got that?" he asked, looking down at the dalmatian quizzically.

"Well, I mean you're pictures are complex in conveying a simple message. If you don't think about it so hard, the answer immediately becomes clear. Think about it to hard and you're mind won't wrap around such a simple concept."

A small smile worked across the bear's muzzle.

"That's it. That's all I wanted to show." he said, still running a paw over the frame.

"So why would you ever stop making art like this?"

Jare'l swept a paw around the room.

"Art is my livelihood, I've heard of the starving artist, but I have no intention of becoming one. This gallery is very expensive when you aren't making any money."

The bear turned slightly toward the dalmatian with a sad smile.

"Is that all?"

He crossed his arms and tapped his foot looking up at the bear irritated.

"Look, you may be a little young to understand how money works but-" Jare'l put up a hand and shook his head.

"I'm 18 thank you, I understand completely."

The bear laughed in a deep rolling tone that made Jare'l grow more irritated.

"What?"

Wiping a tear form his eye, the bear exhaled and looked down again before answering.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that you were making an argument for being an adult in such a child like way."

Jare'l just scoffed and rolled his eyes. Before he could begin his protest, Bethany stolled up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hey there doggie. We were going to go head to the Gateway to see a movie. Ready to go?" she asked glancing at the bear and then back to the dalmatian.

"You guys go ahead, I wanted to finishing look at some of the other galleries."

Bethany pouted and hugged him tightly before sauntering off, Hustin following closely behind.

"Okay, whatever you say, you know were to find us! And, don't worry, Hustin isn't getting any of this-" she shook her hips intacingly, and Jare'l giggled at the lion's buldging eyes "tonight."

"Okay hun, catch you later." He waved to his friends as Mikel and Johnny walked out behind the other two. Taking a quick look around, he realized that he and the bear were the only ones left in the gallery, which was starting to grow dim as the sun started to recede outside.

"So anyways, as I was saying, I'm not that young!" he said again, empazing the point by standing up straight and puffing out his chest a bit.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." The bear said turning again to the photo.

"But, I still think it's the best course of action. I can take up a job down at Lifestyle, I heard they need a soccer instructor."

Jare'l's ears perked a bit and the floppy appendages flew up and back down with a small thwack.

"Soccer? You play soccer?"

The bear chuckled again and turned to face him.

"Oh no, I stopped playing awhie ago," he said patting his pudgy belly, "But I still teach it to furs down at the gym."

"Oh, I love it. I plan to play for New York University starting in the fall." He said with a large grin of satisfaction on his face."Most Valuable Defender for the state of Ohio at your service!" he gave a salute and stuck his tounge out."Overrated title if you ask me." He added chuckling.

"It's not overrated, I think it's a good title." The bear responded looking closely at the dalmatian. A small lull in the conversaion insued and Jare'l scratched the back of his neck nerciously as the silent seconds ticked by.

"So, um, I never asked what your name is." He said walking over to another piece, trying to break the silence.

"Oh, I'm Jose. Jose Hermandez."The black ears atop Jare'l's head twacked again as a looked at Jose with curiosity.

"A latino bear? Now that's a first."

Jose let out a small laugh and scratched his head.

"Yeah, I know. My mom is Mexican, chihuahua to be exact, but may dad is full bear. Werid couple huh?"

Jare'l laughed with Jose as they both pictured a bear going at it with a chihuahua.

"Okay, that's quite...interesting. Well, Jose, I'm Jare'l. Pleased to meet you." He walked up and shook the bear's paw, noticing the power behind it.

"Wow, some one works out." He said shaking his paw a bit, causing Jose to gasp slightly.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you did I? Sometimes I forget how firm of a grip I have. I'm sorry."

Jare'l just waved a paw.

"Oh, it's no big deal, don't sweat it."

Another lull in the conversion ensued, this time a tad longer than the first. Every entagaizing second making Jare'l grow more and more uncomfortable. As if sensing what the dalmatian was experecing, Jose walked a bit closer to him.

"Hey, wanna go grab something to eat?" he asked and Jare'l could have sworn he saw a twinge of red underneath his brown fur. But he ignored it when his stomach growled with a vengeance, causing his creamy white fur to redden.

"Um, sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I know this great restaurant, but it's a little out of the ways. We'd have to take my or your car."

"Car? Um...yeah, I don't have a car yet." His small voice barely audiable. He was still deeply embarrassed about the fact that he was already 18 and didn't have a car.

"Well we can take mine. Would you like to go?"

Jare'l thought for a second. He was hungry and some food couldn't hurt. On the other hand, he barely knew the bear and shouldn't be alone with him, let alone going out to dinner. But what did he have to lose?

"Okay, sure, let's go."

The bear smiled wide, a set of pearly whites brightening up his face and he turned, leading the dalmatian to his car.

When they stepped out of the car, Jare'l had to suppress a squeal. The whole drive up, Jare'l kept badgering about where they were going to eat, but all Jose would say is that I'd like it. And like it he did. They were at Easton, the biggest mall in Central Ohio, and standing in front of the Ocean Club, on of his favorite restaurants.

"Jose, you must be a mind reader, I absoultly love this place!"

The bear looked at him with a mixture of satisfaction, shock, and curiosity.

"Really? I just love seafood, I am a bear after all. I just thought this would be a good way to celebrate my leaving the art world." He said with a slightly sad laugh. Jare'l looked over as the walked up the steps to the resterant and couldn't help but rub his arm, a very powerful, thick arm, he noted. Before it became akward, he withdrew his paw.

"It's all right man, at least you get to eat good." He said smiling. "But, If you're broke, how are you going to afford this place?"

"Oh, I'm not worried, I'll just use the cash from the pieces I did sell. I can start that job next week so I'm not really worried about money. I live a pretty furgal lifestyle."

Jare'l just shrugged and as they entered the resturnant. Instantly, the scent of fresh fish, boiled crab, and fried shrimp swam through his nostroils, tantalizing his taste buds. His mouth started to water as he closed his eyes and pictured the meats he was about to devour.

Throughout the meal, the two furs got to know each other better, Jare'l asking plently of questions about where Jose came from, how he got to where he is, and other random facts of information, all of which the bear was more than willing to answer. The dalmatian ending up finding out that Jose was born in Miami, and moved here with his father when he was 9. When asked exactly how old the beat was, Jose looked away a bit and coughed.

"Ahem. Older than you is all you need to know."

Jare'l looked at him, not satisfied.

"Come on, you can tell me. I won't say anything, I swear." He said, crossing his heart with his cocktail sauce covered fork. Jose sighed and leaned closer to him, talking in barely above a whisper.

"I'm 34."

Jare'l rolled his eyes and looked at Jose with a smirk.

"You were embarrassed about that? Come on now, if you said like 43 or something I could understand, but you're barely out of your twenties." He said stuffing another piece of crab meat into his waiting maw. Jose shook his head and went on about how he'd grew up, eventually getting to his father's death, prompting Jare'l to gently pat the bear's shoulder Eventually, they fell into a conformable silence for awhile, and Jare'l quietly finshed his meal before looking up at the bear, who he found starting back at the dalmatian, quickly drawing the red to Jare'l's face. Jose noticed and looked down a bit.

"So, uh-, was is that rabbit your girlfriend?"

Jare'l choked on his shrimp and gulped down some water to ease the pain.

"Oh, you mean Bethany?"

Jose nodded.

"Yeah, she's more like a real close friend. Everyone assumes we're together, and we don't say really say anything to tell them otherwise."

"And you're okay with that?"

Jare'l scratched one of his ears, slowly growing uncomfortable with the direction of the conversaion.

"Well, I guess. I mean, we know we're not together, so who cares what everyone else thinks?"

"And why aren't you guys togther. She's a very pretty girl and seems very into you."

The dalmatian's face grew slightly redder and he sat his head in a paw.

"I don't know. I guess I just never saw her that way."

He twirled a finger around the table, suddenly not so hungry.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" Jose asked, looking intently at the dalmatian's face.

"Sure, what do you wanna do? Spent all of your art money?"

Jose chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm officaly the broke artist. I was thinking we could just go walk around down near the waterfront. It's really cool when the moon hits it just right."

Jare'l's ears perked up for a second and fell with their usual twack. Getting up, Jose paid the bill, then lead the dalmatian out of the reasteurant and to the car. They climbed inside and started off towards downtown.

Jose parked near Veteran's memorial and they climbed out, stretching their limbs. Jare'l slammed the door shut and patted the top of the small Mini.

"Why is it that big people get small cars?" he asked look at Jose smugly. The bear just grinned.

"I don't know, I guess it's just one of those things we do."

They walked down the street, passing COSI and Verteran's Memorial.

"I love that place, have you ever been inside?" Jose asked, pointing at the COSI building.

"No, but I've always wanted to go. I heard from a friend that it's really great."

"Oh it is, you have to visit there. How have you lived in Columbus you're whole life and never been inside?" Jose asked, looking down the deserted street.

"I don't know. I guess it was just never on my list of things to do."

The two walked further down the street, passing by the deserted parking lots of the two large complexes. Night had already settled over the large city, the lights of downtown visibile further down Broad Street. High skyscrapers stood out against the dark sky, lighting the way with small squares of pink, making dots along their dark looming figures. Jare'l always loved this part of the city during the night. Even though the middle of downtown was only a mile or so down away from them, the was a peace in this part of the city. It was a stillness that wasn't silent, but was content, just a peaceful existance that the dalmatian was happy to enjoy.

Before he realized it, they had reached the middle of the bridge that strechted over the Olentangy river. Jose stopped and lightly put a paw on Jare'l's shoulder.

"Hey, stop here and you'll see what I was talking about."

Turning to the side, he faced the river, looking down into the dark waters then back up in the direction Jose was pointing. Jare'l took in a deep breath and mumbled.

"It-it's beautiful."

He put his paws on the railing of the bridge and stood on the lower, concreate part of the wall supporting the rail. The river, whose waters where a murky brown during the day, were instead an almost deep navy, waving and flowing down beaneath their feet towards them. The moon shone brightly, a full moon, luminous and white, sitting directly in the middle of sky, aiming it's white gaze down onto the river, it's refelection strech across the exapanse of water, creating a wavering line of white directly down the middle of the water. In the distance, the dark woods of Ohio stood, completing the serene picture, almost as if it was pulled right out of a magaizine. He felt Jose's large presence close behind him and tilted his head back looking up at his face. The bear had removed his small glasses and was gazing intently back, his sky blue eyes bright as stars, almost peering directly into the smaller male's heart. Jare'l turned around and pulled himself up until he was slightly sitting on the railing, but still in a standing postion. Jose brought his paws up to the dalmatian's face and pulled his muzzle up to looked him in the eye.

"How-how did-" Jare'l stuttered before Jose brought his muzzle down to meet his lips. Anyone passing would have had to do a double take, or call the science department, because the dog started to purr deeply, as he pushed back against the bear's muzzle. Putting his paws on the dalmatian's back, Jose lifted him up, putting his legs around his large hips. Jare'l could barely breathe as his lips parted and Jose's soft, wide tongue entered, exploring the new territory. Nothing compared to this, and Jare'l's thoughts swam, trying to figure out why he had denied himself something like this for so long. Every sweep of Jose's tongue was like sending an electrical pulse down the dalmatian's spine and he shuddered, leaning deeper into the kiss. He brought his paws up and around Jose's shoulders, murring quietly, enjoying every second. Finally, Jose pulled back and immeditatly, Jare'l felt as if someone had removed a part of him. His face felt cold without Jose's warm muzzle close and he leaned foward resting his muzzle against Jose's shoulder.

"I knew because you're too nice. You're sweet, funny, cute as hell-" Jare'l smiled and nuzzled Jose's neck."And make me feel like I've never felt before."

The dalmatian looked back up and put a paw against the side of the large ursine's muzzle.

"Thank you." was all he could say as he leaned in to kiss the bear again. Everything around the canine melted into blackness. There was nothing but himself and Jose, that was all he needed.