FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

City bus left with a loud sigh of air brakes and lined back into the traffic, leaving me alone at the bus stop. Saturday afternoon was rather slow in the southern part of town, as pubs, cafes and sweet-shops populating local plaza are yet to be hit with the main wave of customers returning from their trips and visits. I waited for a cutely looking white street-sweeper to pass and took a right turn, slowly walking in the shades of alders, planted in white stones, to the spacious plaza, dominated by a large statue of a dragon, protruding from the middle of the fountain.

I looked at my watches and realized I still have some time left before our scheduled meeting, and used the shopping window of one boutique as a mirror for final adjustments. I fixed my skirt and top, checked my brown fur for any flaws, any hair sticking out and body for any size irregularities. I wanted to resemble myself exactly as my profile photos, worried some noticeable differences might throw off the guy I am supposed to meet - until I get to know him a bit better, of course. One of my friends, to which I have shown his dating profile, actually said she is acquainted with him in a way and shared some details she knew. She especially mentioned one certain interest she overheard, but could not confirm if it was really the truth - that would be a bit too much of a coincidence, would it not. Better to carefully tread the water first, rather than jumping a headfirst into the unknown lake. Previous dates were rather disastrous and I have started losing hope in this online dating world, but Ravings was cute. He seemed a little bit as a closed person, but maybe he was just shy or not used to this way of getting to know someone.

Either way, I intended to take things slow, really slow, not wrecking my chances right away. Just like a curious fish, nibbling on the bait thrown into the lake.

Satisfied with my looks in an improvised mirror, I turned around and walked to the fountain, our agreed meeting spot. I leaned on the cool stone and nervously clutched the strap on my purse - always a bit on the edge meeting somebody new, but I was gladly looking forward to it. Today, it was a somewhat difficult task to find somebody to bond with, there was always some obstacle, some flaw too big to accept and look over. Sharing the same interests was not enough, without a real emotional connection, delving deeper into a relationship was somewhat pointless.

I let out a slight sigh, letting myself down with a vision of another failure and looked around, observing couples of all ages happily strolling around, as if they all suddenly decided to flock here with a reason to mock me, trying to swallow that bitter pill of envy. I looked down with another small sigh, noticing a smudge on my left black flat, just sticking out there, like a single person on a plaza full of couples.

I lifted my leg a little and reached down to torture the spot of dust on my shoe's upper with my finger in a form of venting my anger towards the world, and got so carried away I did not even notice somebody approaching me, stopping two steps away and quietly waiting for me to finish my cleaning.

I quickly straightened up, and staggered a little in the process, preparing myself for a proper greeting, expecting this to be my date partner.

“Um- Hello!" the white rabbit boy started. He had a slight smile, ears straightened up with an interest, did not seem nervous, but rather confused and unsure of what to do, holding a small complimentary bouquet of flowers - not too small to seem cheap, but also not too big to be uncomfortable to carry around. Two timeless roses were accompanied by a contrasting white chrysanthemum and subtle dark orange carnation, finished with one piece of eucalyptus for a bit of diversity. I wondered if this was his idea, as a combination like that was rather unseen in the flower shops.

“Yeah, hi!" I blurted out and quickly extended my arm for a proper greeting. “You must be Ravings, yes?"

“Yep, that's me. You are Mani, right?"

We shook hands, his were just slightly larger than mine, and he was overall only a little bit taller with just a few inches, half a foot tops.

“Yes! Nice to meet you!"

“Nice to meet you, too. Please, accept this little present."

He made a little bow and offered me the bouquet he was holding. I smelled the sweet scent of flowers mixed with the freshness of an eucalyptus, rewarding the bunny boy with a happy smile, as if any preceding nervousness I had was now gone.

“Thank you, they are very lovely," I expressed my gratitude, feeling warmed by this token of courtesy.

“You are welcome," he replied, still holding that little smile, with one corner of the mouth slightly raised and nodded towards my feet, hinting at the scrubbing I just did. “Your shoes are okay?"

“Yeah, they are fine, just had a small spot there," I giggled a little to cover the embarrassment. I did not plan on making my first impression by polishing my shoes.

We quickly got over this little incident and I let him lead me to a nearby cafe, where we agreed to sit down for our date. It was a little cozy place, nothing extravagant with over the top decorations and exaggerated stylistics, like you see in the city center. Establishment was divided into two parts, with a bar counter and high stools in front of a window offering view on the plaza, and more secluded little round tables and chairs in the farther part, where walls carried shelves with bushy ferns.

A waitress at the counter, who was just cutting up a cake for one of the customers, smiled at us as we entered and gave us a quick greeting. A slow chill music was playing from the hidden speakers and visitors were either entertained by their mobile devices or delved into quiet conversations. Ravings led me to the back part, where most of the tables were still free. Two couples and one single deer, reading a book, were too busy with themselves to put any interest in us.

He chose a table in the corner and helped me sit down, before taking a seat himself, showing off a certain degree of gentlemanship, but after that was just a lot of smiling and awkward silence, as we studied the local menu, waiting for the other one to initiate a conversation. Ravings ultimately started with a question on how I like the establishment he chose, stating he would rather start with something neutral, but that was not exactly an interesting topic to discuss.

“You do this a lot? Online dating, I mean," I asked, taking the initiative, after politely complimenting his choice of establishment.

“Eh, sorta. I try," he shrugged his shoulders indecisively. “It's not that I'm actively looking for a partner, it's somewhat difficult to find somebody like minded in a way I would like the relationship to be."

“What do you mean by that?" I pressed him into sharing more details, as this remark caught my interest.

“Well, it's just that I'm not looking for, nor do I actually even need, to, like, get physical with somebody, if you get what I mean," he explained, his ears split apart, and gesticulated with his hands on the table as if he was using it to add himself a courage, fearing he might be mocked. “It's not that I can't, I just don't really need to or have a desire to do so."

“Oh!" I exclaimed in surprise and my ears noticeably straightened. “I mean, that's all right, not every relationship needs to be about that, right."

“Wish more people thought that, but these days, it's more the opposite side of the spectrum," he said and leaned back into the chair, his ears bending with disappointment.

“I agree. I think people are way too fixated on that thing and completely overlook the other aspects that create the basis of a healthy relationship. I mean, you can definitely be a healthy couple even without getting intimate."

I may have panicked a bit, seeing Ravings so down, and changed my opinions maybe too quickly. I frankly believed it could work, just was not sure I wanted to be a part of it. I definitely was not some sex possessed maniac, but a bit of intimacy could not hurt.

“You really think so? To be honest I wasn't sure if that's something you'd be fine with - not many girls these days are."

“Well, let's not jump to any conclusions, I mean, we just met," I let out a nervous giggle, as this was not where I intended to direct our conversation.

“Yeah, right, right, that was a bit too hasty," Ravings let out a nervous giggle, as well.

“But is there, like, anything else you have in place of that? Something that would attract you, just not in that close way?"

Bunny boy took a while to respond and I realized too late this might not be the most appropriate place to ask something like that, so I quickly added: “Sorry, that was a weird thing to ask."

“No, no, it's absolutely fine," he smiled at me in an encouraging way. “I mean, there definitely is this, like, itch to scratch, but I'd rather not disclose that until we get to know each other better."

This statement of his has caught my attention and my ears straightened with interest. I wondered whether that was the thing my friend mentioned? I actually had a certain small ploy ready how I could find out, but I wanted to give it a bit more time, first.

“That's fine, I wouldn't be comfortable talking about something like that right away, either," I assured him.

Waitress, a rather tall mouse with almost a scrawny figure and hair pulled back, held with a large colorful clip, took our order and returned fairly quickly with two white cups, deliciously smelling with freshly brewed coffee.

We spoke a little, in the meantime, somewhat aimless chattering, but with Ravings, it did not seem forced or uncomfortable. Even small talk was enjoyable, despite him being on the “man of a few words" side, what little he said expressed interest in whatever random topic currently in discussion.

“And that work of yours, you said it has something to do with animals? But you are not, like, a vet or anything like that?" I managed to turn my line of questioning towards his occupation.

“No, I'm not exactly a vet, I don't have that extensive education, but I help vets at our center. I'm more like a nurse to a doctor, I do all the preparations, paperwork, checking, cleaning, all those little tidbits."

“How's work with animals, then? Is it better than with humans?" I asked jokingly.

“Well, I cannot really be a judge of that, since I didn't work with people," Ravings laughed a little and rested his elbows on the table. “It's fine most of the time, I really love that job. It gets a bit tedious sometimes, you know, it's not like a factory, you can't just clock out before everyone is taken care of, but it is worth it. It tends to get on my nerves, occasionally, because even if you want to do some routine check ups, or shots or cleaning, not everybody is always comfortable with it, so you have to scheme how to prevent that one animal from constantly running away or trying to scratch you."

Ravings kept talking and I just let him. He radiated this passion when talking about his job and I just enjoyed listening to him describing his daily tasks.

“So, I see it's a rather time demanding job, more like a lifestyle-?" I chuckled a little and bopped Raving's foot under the table. “Oh, sorry."

“No, that's fine," he assured me, slowly, as a thought process went through his head and I could see a small spark light up in his eyes. “Yeah, it almost is. Like, some days it takes way too much time to finish up all the work."

“Do you get to do some other stuff besides that or is that too exhausting?" I continued and hesitated with my flats in the air, wondering if it was too soon to bop him again.

“I do get days off, yes, though I mostly spend them just resting and recharging," Ravings explained, his eyes stranded away nowhere particular, as if he was expecting something to happen. “I mean, standing on your feet for thirteen, fourteen hours straight sometimes does get exhausting."

“Oh, yeah. Your feet really need some rest after that," I smiled and reached for my mug as I channeled my energy, forcing my feet to grow a little larger, as I bopped Ravings under the table again with my flats, only this time let them in contact a little longer, so he could notice the difference. “Sorry, I'm a bit clumsy today."

“That's fine," he smiled. “I don't mind you being clumsy at all. We all got clumsy days."

I pushed fingers through the cup's ear and raised the container in the air, letting it float for a while in front of my face, then focused on my paws, slowly increasing their size with my thoughts - just slightly, not to make it obvious right away. I secretly watched Raving's face and did not take a sip of my coffee, until I noticed I had caught his attention with this. A positive sort of attention, bit surprised, but curious. Maybe there was some truth to the little info I got from our mutual friend.

I put the mug back on the table and returned the shape of my hands into the original size, just to toy with the rabbit boy a little.

“But when I do have some spare time, I just hang out with my sis and pals, or game to relax and unwind a little," Ravings continued with the previous topic describing his interests. “I can also summon a hamaxe, so I like to take it out for some training and exercise, sometime." Rabbit boy demonstrated by letting his weapon briefly materialize in his hand and then quickly disappear.

“Oh, that's cool," I remarked and my ears straightened with interest, but I noticed something else. From where I was sitting and looking at my partner, his head was covering the shelf with a flowerpot behind him when we sat down, but now it seemed like his chair must have gotten shorter or he had to shrink a little, because the shelf was now visible over his head. Did it really happen or I was just not paying attention before?

“Yeah, but I don't really, like, do anything real with it. I just use it to exercise, so my powers don't go to waste."

“Is that your primary power?" I asked after a while, as his words woke me up from the transe.

“Actually, not. That's just my secondary power, my primary is something a whole lot different," Ravings explained and ended it all with a little chuckle.

“I wonder what your primary is, then," I leaned forward and rested my cheek in my palm. I let my feet grow a little, until they touched Ravingses, wondering if he was going to take notice.

“It's nothing too interesting, really," he humbly shook his head.

“You can tell me, don't worry. I won't make fun of you," I tried to encourage him, but it seemed my effort hit a hard wall.

“I don't like being pushed like that," he suddenly snapped and his face frowned.

I was taken aback by this sudden swing in his mood and leaned back defensively.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to get this obtrusive."

“No, no, I'm sorry," Ravings tried to put on a smile and scratched a spot behind his ear in an ashamed manner. “That was totally uncalled for. I shouldn't have overreacted like that."

“No, that's fine, don't worry about it," I tried to comfort him. “We all sometimes just snap for no reason, that's perfectly normal."

“I'm just a bit nervous, still, I have sort of a hard time with socializing," he tried to explain. “Sometimes it's all good, and then suddenly something bites me and I just snap. My sis is a lot better at this."

“We can't all be perfect at everything, can we?" I gave him an encouraging smile. “I'm not perfect at interacting with people, either. I tend to get a brain freeze, sometimes, and then do something utterly random and illogical, like somebody else took control of me. I forget names or how to walk and it just gets all awkward."

I shared some of my own social shortcomings to ease the atmosphere for Ravings and it seemed to work. We both laughed, exchanged short stories and anecdotes from our dating experiences and I felt we overall got a lot closer with this.

Time went on, coffees were finished and conversations became a lot more fruitful. Ravings told me a lot about his sister and appeared to be really fond of her, and was invested a lot in my job and family. At one point, he leaned his foot on mine and I just let him rest there, making them grow noticeably larger, as if they were pillows. None of us mentioned it, but I felt a connection on a level that did not make this seem awkward at all.

We both ordered a slice of cake and I suggested we could visit a festival nearby, noting I craved some street food for dinner today. Ravings did not object and seemed happy to accompany me. I felt like it could be a nice finishing act for today's date.

A waiter took our empty plates and left with a paid bill. As we packed our belongings and headed outside, I concentrated my power and discreetly made myself grow somewhat larger, and as we went on, kept increasing my size. I was not a little taller than my partner, and I just waited, wondering when is he going to notice the change. I even had to bend over at the entrance, because my ears were hitting the doorframe.

Ravings did not mention any of this, but I could tell from his expression he is happy. Is he the one toying with me? Is he quietly enjoying all my transformation and is just too shy to talk about it? He would have to be blind to not notice the differences, now.

“You know, I'm really enjoying my time with you," I admitted along the way, as we were walking towards the festival.

Sun started taking more of an orange hue, as it was preparing itself to set over the hill, and sidewalks became more crowded with people heading to their evening activities. We traversed the granite paved plaza, took a shortcut through narrow side alleyways between old tall residential buildings and stopped at the crosswalk. I caught a glimpse of my date looking down, comparing the sizes of our feet, as we stood next to each other..

“I'm glad!" he blurted out. “Honestly, I really wasn't expecting we would understand each other this much in the beginning."

“Me too," I smiled at him. “Most of my previous dates were rather tragic, so I'm glad this one is actually going this good."

“Why was that?"

“I don't know…" I gruntled a little bit, as memories of embarrassment stung me in the back. “I don't suppose I attract the same minded people as I'm. Sometimes, I'm naive, I overlook a lot of the flaws and think we are on the same wavelength, but after a while, all that sobering and realization starts. Maybe… Maybe I just need to take things really slow, instead of surrendering to my emotions."

“Maybe you don't need a partner, now, just somebody close."

“Yeah, maybe that's the case," I shrugged my shoulders. “I don't really know, to be honest… But don't bother yourself with my ranting. I just want us to have a nice evening, not to strain you with my relationship dilemmas."

“That's fine, if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to, but if you would want to, I can listen."

“I appreciate that, thanks," I replied sincerely and followed the tall hedge, separating park from the road. Noise of festival celebrating the beginning of summer was getting more noticeable, with music and merriment dispersing through the treetops. Small pond inside the park was now besieged with stalls offering food, souvenirs and entertainment. People in costumes of dragons and mythical creatures paraded around, dancing and playing instruments, leaving behind flower petals and blades of grass. Small handmade boats from leaves and twigs, with the deepest wishes written on a small piece of paper tucked inside, were set afire and released onto the water. Belief was when the boat burns down and remains sink into the water, wish will get released and maybe some friendly spirit will decide to help make it come through.

We passed a group of kids struggling to set a paper note in their boat on fire and one fox boy slipped, sliding from the bank into the pond all the way up to his knees. Poor fellow was trying to frantically climb back up, splashing water everywhere with his tail, probably scared of the scolding he will get from his parents. One fox girl from the group helped him climb back up and tried to calm him down, but the boy started running around, leaving behind muddy footprints.

Space around the pond was crowded and noisy, as it was the center of the festival, and I grabbed Ravingses hand, hiding it in my big palm, gently pulling him to a calmer spot.

“You okay?" I asked, as we stopped at the last few food stalls, where the presence of visitors became a lot sparser. “Sorry, didn't want to lose you in the crowd."

“No, no, I'm fine," the rabbit smiled, apparently delighted by the connection of our hands. “Good thing we didn't get separated, would be a hard time finding each other here."

“Yeah, there's a lot more people than I expected here," I smiled and nodded towards the stall. “Would you mind waiting a bit? I'll get myself some snack."

Ravings gestured that it was fine by him and I stood by a counter, ordering myself a large cup of fried potato coins, topped with cheese and a tartar sauce. Elderly permanently smiling racoon with a painted apron quickly prepared my dish and handed it over to me.

“Wanna go for a stroll through the park? I feel there are too many people at the pond," Ravings suggested and I deemed his observation correct. Despite getting a bit late, the festival was still going strong and it seemed like even more people were joining in.

“Sure, we can watch it from the hill," I agreed and offered him my snack, which he gladly accepted.

Evening was warm, a slight breeze was gently shaking the leaves and filled the air with the smell of delicious food. Kids were running around the park grounds playing games or chasing each other, and several couples were walking around just as we did. We got caught up in a conversation about life: I talked about my parents and how they were traveling a lot before I was born, how our apartment once caught fire when I was seven and we had to live with my grandparents for a while. That one time when I got embarrassingly drunk for the first time at sixteen, knocked over a TV, threw up on it and tried to blame it on somebody else. I went deeper into my previous relationships and how our opinions always conflicted, which led to breakups.

“In the end, I wonder if I even know what I want or should want," I shrugged my shoulders and dropped myself on an empty bench overlooking the pond and festival. “Everybody else always look like they have it figured out, while I'm just sitting here, wondering which turn on the crossroad I should take."

“You don't need to concern yourself with this," said Ravings supportively and sat next to me.“ There's no point in rushing on stuff like this. If you have your relationship figured out at eighteen or twenty five, what does it matter?"

“Maybe you are right…" I exhaled and looked at the sky, which was starting to turn darker as the sun descended behind the hills.

“Believe me, just take it easy. It's better to spend five years thinking rather than five years in a bad spot."

“Taking it easy…" I repeated quietly and turned my head to Ravings. “Yeah, that's probably what I should do, now."

He was just sitting there, feet not even reaching the ground happily kicking them in the air. He got a lot smaller, he must have been about a half a size when I first met him.

“Hey, wanna see my primary power?" he asked with a wide smile. I felt a sudden shift in my emotions - any weight that was laying on me, was just moved away. Any overthinking and anxiety about the future was gone. I felt light and content, and seemingly could sit here forever listening to his life advices.

“Sure," I smiled back.

“Okay, watch this!"

Ravings shrunk, now sitting on the edge of a bench, standing about as tall as a soda can. I rested my head into my palm and looked down to him, like he was a stuffed animal.

“You are looking so cute this way," I commented.

“You think so?" he shouted and stood up. “Always thought it's pretty lame - I mean, what use can this have?"

“I'm sure there are opportunities this will prove to be an advantage," I encouraged him and watched, as he climbed the backrest and stood on a top edge to be closer to me.

“I like to think that, but there wasn't really an occasion so far."

“I like it," I admitted.

Ravings looked up at me with awe: “Wow! You are really big."

“And I can be even bigger," I said and proved my words by growing even larger, now taking almost a half of the sitting space on the bench.

“Would you mind if I… If I sat on your shoulder, so I don't have to scream that much?" he asked rather nervously.

“Of course not. Wanna climb there?"

“I'd love to-! I mean, if you don't mind."

“I don't mind at all, just don't fall off."

I straightened my arm and let him grab my fur to start his ascent. It was not uncomfortable at all, a little ticklish, but Ravings climbed ably and soon sat down, holding onto a shoulder strap of my top.

“You good there?" I asked quietly.

“Yeah, it's fine here," he replied contentedly. “I'm surprised you don't mind. I mean, most girls wouldn't let me climb over them like this right on a first date… Isn't it weird?"

“I see nothing wrong with that," I assured him. “I really like you this way."

“Remember how I told you there is an itch to scratch?" he gazed on a festival in full swing below us, as our surroundings were slowly starting to drown in the night.

“Yeah?"

“Well, this is it. I like big ladies!"

His explanation made me laugh out loud. The way he blurted it with his arms stretched out was a hilarious scene and I put my hand close to him, worried my shaking shoulders might throw him off.

“Well, not entirely big ladies…" he added and I felt his hand running over my finger. “But some big parts on ladies."

“You like big hands, don't you?" I explained his desires for him and offered him a palm to step into. He slid down and sat inside, looking at me.

“Big hands, big feet, big everything. I really dunno why, I just like it," he giggled and laid down, resting his head on my beans.

“If that's all to make you happy, I'm glad to provide it to you," I laughed back.

I rested my hands on my lap and Ravings hopped out of my palm, sat on the bench and returned back to his original size.

“Yeah, it was really nice - it wasn't weird, was it? I mean, look at me: We barely know each other and I'm already crawling all over you," he let out a nervous giggle, as if he really wasn't sure what he did was acceptable. He probably got carried a bit away, others would probably consider it a somewhat hasty action, but I really saw nothing wrong with it. I had such a good feeling about Ravings I liked him sitting on my shoulder and resting in my palm like a warm small plushie.

“No, it wasn't weird at all," I encouraged him again. “I- I actually really enjoyed it. If anything, this has to be weird."

“You really think so? That you enjoyed it, I mean," Ravings looked at me, ears straightened up with excitement and he bursted out in a giggle again.

“Yeah. If I could, I would just put you in a pocket and carry you around like a little talisman or something," I admitted and started giggling along. We were like a pair of dumb adolescents.

“I wouldn't say no to that."

“I know you wouldn't."

We giggled at each other for a while and then turned silent, looking at the growing night sky and listening to music coming from the festival. There weren't any visible stars in the city with all the artificial lighting, but the moment orange in the skies started turning dark, it allowed some constellations to appear for a brief moment.

“Would you mind if we sat here for a while?" Ravings asked.

“Not at all," I answered and wrapped my arm around his shoulders, squeezing him closer to me. I let my paw grow a bit and took his hand, ending in a comfortable embrace. He leaned against me, enjoying my sizable presence, pushing his tiny fingers through spacings between mine.

“I noticed, you know…" Ravings suddenly spoke.

“Noticed what?" I asked, confused.

“You know, your little hints. Your big hands, your big feet poking me under the table."

“Oh, that." I said with obviously fake surprise. “Actually, I've been told by a mutual friend of ours about your… Preferences... And I wondered if it was true or not - and noticed you enjoyed it, didn't you?"

“I did, it was fun."

“Glad it worked out in the end."

“You know, if you wanted, we could go grab a coffee again, sometime - and maybe you could bop my feet under the table, again."

I giggled with amusement.

“Of course, I wouldn't mind that."

I was feeling a small flame inside me, warming up my heart. I had a really good feeling about Ravings, something about his openness was making me comfortable and safe with him. Despite knowing each other basically only for a few hours, we grew rather close and I felt a bond growing between us. It was not something deep, of course, not something that would penetrate into my heart and cause all sorts of unstable emotions, he was the embodiment of: 'Taking it slowly.'

This all was enough, this was all I needed. Somebody I could just cuddle, listen to and talk with, not having to worry about him trying to make a move. This was a good start.

“We don't have to wait until that, though," I said.

“What do you mean by that?"

“There is a whole festival going on down there," I nodded towards the source of the entertainment. “Do you wanna hit the town big style?"

Ravings agreed and we rushed down the trail back into the heat of the festival, engulfed in a sudden wave of euphoria, almost dancing along the way. Visitors grew in numbers and action spread into a wider area, but we both got a lot more relaxed. We held hands to not lose each other in the crowd, although this was definitely not my date's primary concern, judging by his tiny fingers clutching my big hand, strolling through the parade, checking out stands and slowly heading towards the attractions. Slightly down the hill by the river was a large spacing covered with asphalt and stone paving, currently holding a small display of funfair attractions. Connecting path was regularly frequented by dancers and festive parades, as well as people heading either for some stomach shaking fun or having enough uncomfortable movement for today.

There were no grand rollercoasters here, but still selection was sufficient. A ferris wheel, swinging boat, haunted house, bump rides, merry-go-round… I was not worried we will not have fun, starting lightly with bumper cars. As soon as I slipped inside, the bunny boy shrunk and hopped on my lap, advising me on other drivers, as I was swerving around. We laughed as we got bumped around and did not shy away from making some snarky comments when I skillfully managed to avoid collisions with Ravingses help. We giggled as the ride ended and we jumped out, running away from the arena.

Ravings grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the merry-go-round, noticing the last empty cup, painted with drawings of leviathans. He sat down, gripping on the handlebar in the middle and I put my big paws over his. I could tell from his looks he was enjoying it, as the cup started spinning, but I was safely holding him in place.

The ride made us a bit dizzy and when it was done, we were stumbling around a bit and had to rest on the bench for a while, but we were still laughing nonetheless. My date was kind enough to bring us a soda cup while I was arguing with my brain that we are not spinning around anymore and my greasy dinner is supposed to stay inside.

I calmed down for a while and we headed for something more adventurous in the form of a large warehouse with scary decorations. Whole place had crafted scenes reminiscent of classical scenes from horror flicks, all situated within one large haunted house, with ambient sounds and even a few actors, serving the roles of antagonists, scaring the visitors. We probably had the most fun here, even though we got separated rather quickly. Ravings shrunk and ran through the small opening in the wall, while I grew and gave chase to him, pretending to be a monster, while uncontrollably giggling as my big feet stomped on the ground. I always only saw a glimpse of him or got taunted by his calls from unreachable spaces.

We actually managed to scare a few people who were not aware we are not part of the show. I accidentally gave fright to a small wolf boy who bumped into me in the dark and then ran away screaming with a piece of pink candy floss stuck to his tail. A much older wolf girl, who I suspected was his sister, then appeared and ran after him, trying to calm him down.

It took about half an hour until we reached the end and got reunited. Ravings taunted me again and wanted to make a run for it, but ended up in the scary operating room with no way out and when I managed to corner him, nothing prevented me from grabbing him in my large paws and carrying him outside like a trophy. Needless to say he was not mad he got caught.

Running away from the crew who probably wanted to have a word with us about ruining the attraction for others we escaped onto the ferris wheel, gasping for breath as the basket lifted us from the ground. We sat, holding our different sized hands, leaning onto each other, looking over the shining lights below us. Ravings was the one to break the silence first.

“Thank you, I really enjoyed it today," he said with a wide smile supporting his statement.

“No problem, I had a blast, too," I admitted and mischievously scratched his head behind ears. “Although I was not expecting to pick a fight with the amusement park staff."

“Things got a bit out of hand, didn't they?"

“Yeah, but our hands still stayed together."

“Do you have that feeling, too?"

“Something like that, yes. Remember how you advised me to take things slow?"

“Yeah?"

“I know what you meant by it, now, and I think I just found that in you."

“Glad I could be of help," Ravings smirked and looked at me.

“Think we could take it slow again next time?" I suggested.

“I would definitely love that," he nodded with a warm smile. “Although I would rather avoid meeting authorities on our next date."

I looked over the railing and noticed a group from Haunted house running through the crowd, searching for us.

“Think they will be waiting for us down there?"

“If so, we better vacate the premises, then. I've had enough of festival for today, anyway,"

“If you plan on something, you can count on me."

“Good, then be prepared. If they discover us, just grab on me and I will try to make a run for it, once we get close to the ground."