FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

GRADUATION

Raksi missed the big mirror his family apartment had when he was growing up. It’d been a multi room apartment on mid decks, but a lowly cadet living on his own only got an apartment the size of a storage closet. Everything except the bathroom was crammed into the main living area. Right now he was making do with a half-size mirror and some amount of repositioning to see the rest of himself. He adjusted his tail ring, looking over his reflection with a critical eye, the red furred figure staring right back at him, equally judgmental.

His reflection scorned his conventionality, and how could he blame it? When most people only wore their bead necklace and a metal ring around their tail, fashion was barely a thing. He also had a dark green sash over his shoulder to accessorize, but there was only so much he could do with that. Maybe blue today? He wore blue, yesterday. His eyes paused on the blue sash, ears flat, then he grabbed it and tossed it in the laundry hamper across the room.

Well, there was also the strap securing his strand device to his left biceps, but higher ups frowned on customizing those, something about standard issue.

He wished he’d been born a ringel. Sure, he would be trading in a tall, curvy figure with broad hips and a thick tail. A body very popular with the ladies. Instead he would have a shorter, scrawnier and shaggy body with a long, fluffy tail, but at least then he could accessorize! In some of the art he’d seen of them they were covered head to tail in rings and piercings. Some even dyed their fur!

After first seeing that he got all excited about dying his head fur. That had lasted until he showed his friend Chenni, who almost passed out from yarping. Feelings and dreams bruised, he spent the rest of the week wearing his sash around his ears. So instead of a ringel, he was stuck as a geroo, where fashion trends revolved mostly around what metal you could afford to wear around your tail.

He sighed inwardly. Might as well wish he were the captain of a pirate cruiser for all the good that did him today, free to fly where he wished. He felt his mood dropping and forced his ears up. No. Today was for celebration. With one last, unnecessary stroke of his palms he smoothed back the scruffier fur and long ears on the top of his head and headed outside. The corridor felt strangely quiet. He knew where everyone was--and that he himself was late--but not seeing cubs running around and neighbors chatting on the sides felt alien. All that was left was the cubs’ drawings on the walls. The cleaning crew had long given up on scrubbing them clean.

The door slid shut behind him. The only sound was a catchy tune that’d been stuck in his head, and he realized he was the one humming it. Please, no more ”ringel tingles as he mingles.” He shook his head to banish that damned earworm and headed down the corridor towards the main gravity well. Some graduation day this was turning out to be.

He stepped over some debris on the floor and winced at a red stripe on the wall. He hoped it was crayon. Its texture suggested it was not.

A couple of warnings signs told him he’d arrived at the gravity well. Pictograms of a distressed geroo cub floating in the void untethered from the ground. He stepped into a broad cylinder of air that made his stomach flip. He found himself floating. The silence hit him even harder here. Even at the quietest of times, the public thoroughfare was never this abandoned. The long space was infamous for carrying noise between levels, much to the chagrin of those on the higher decks.

With skills practiced and perfected through years of play (and more than one close call with security who had their own ideas about loud, inebriated teens) he kicked off one wall to the opposite, then again. He leapfrogged up the decks until he reached the very top deck of the ship.

He floated out of the well, landing on his feet with an unnecessary flip as gravity took hold once more. Normally, showboating would earn him looks from passers by, but even here there was no one. He eyed the normally plain walls. The cleaning crew had clearly tried their best to scrub them clean, but he could still see faded dark red paint marks on the plastic surface all around the entrance. The only one still clearly legible was the captain’s name. Even though he couldn’t read the surrounding words, they didn’t look pleasant. Raksi stopped to stare at it, then hurried past, ears flat to his head.

He heard the crowd before he saw it, a low murmuring muffled by the corridor he followed that opened up into the large, open space that was Top Side, crowded with geroo as expected. He bet every single person on the ship was here, standing practically shoulder to shoulder under the huge glass dome. The span of starry space above them looked like it was going to swallow them whole, only kept at bay by glass and a crisscross of thin looking girders. A low ambient murmur of a nervous crowd filled the space.

Two security officers positioned at the entrance waved him over for a quick once-over. One he recognized, a stocky geroo with a sense of humor normally assigned to monitor cadets. He spread his arms wide and waggled his hips, “Just where exactly do you expect me to hide things?” The joke landed flat but they waved him through regardless, and as he passed by them he could see they looked exhausted.

“Excuse me... pardon me...” The tall geroo made his way through them with apologetic ears but few even spared him a look, their attention on the holographic projection of the Commissioner’s huge lizard form floating above them, speaking in angry krakunese. Though, that language always sounded angry to him. Raksi didn’t care, he knew what was being said and he wasn’t here for that.

He pushed through the mass of crew around him as if he was swimming, careful not to step on any cubs that might be hidden below. It was slow going, but the lizard was taking his time and was still yammering by the time he arrived at his destination. The crowd parted to reveal his friends lounging against the abandoned refreshments bar His ears spread in a grin.

Special occasions like this aside, Top Side was usually considered a place of relaxation. Its outer perimeter was dotted with small bars dispensing over-priced, over-sugared drinks and snacks. And alcohol, if you knew to ask and didn’t make a big deal about it. His group had a favorite one since they’d been cubs, a bar-with-roof structure with a colorful sign with a cartoon geroo declaring itself “Lassi’s Shakes.”

Chenni sat on the one remaining bar stool and watching the projection above them with feigned disinterest. Tawny with dark markings over her shoulders, she was almost as tall as Raksi himself, though carried extra roundness he envied. She held her strand in one paw, not even looking at it and subconsciously flipping a mechanical switch she had attached to its back. Click-click, click-click. Standing next to her and fidgeting with his own strand was Lim, a short geroo with a dark coat that looked much more nervous. He barely acknowledged Raksi’s arrival.

“There you are. Are you excited for our graduation? I see even the Commissioner has come to congratulate our passage into adulthood!” Chenni looked at him with relieved ears and shook her head, both of them ignoring someone’s annoyed shushing, “Late as always, Rak. You know, I still can’t believe they let -you- pass”.

Their short friend looked over, clearly trying to mask his jitters, ”Did you have to...” He made a lewd gesture with his paw, “Give the examiner some favors?”

Chenni rolled her eyes at him, taking a wide stance, paws on her hips, “Hey, I’d be careful about spreading such slander, mister junior nurse, or I might have to file a complaint!”

Raksi broke their act with a yarp and sidled up to them. He gave Chenni a warm nuzzle, then ruffled Lim’s head fur. The latter went unremarked, as his attention was back on the enormous, see-through lizard pacing above them. The little geroo had always been sensitive to the moods of those around him, and right now his ears and faint musk mirrored the barely contained anxiety of the crowd.

As if on cue the Commissioner’s image vanished. Everyone looked to his shuttle docked just outside Top Side, visible through the thick, domed glass around them. With a muffled thunk, more felt than heard, the connection between the two ships severed. The smaller shuttle began its slow, unhurried crawl towards the open gate behind them, an alien sky visible through its ring.

The voice of the krakun was replaced by that of commander Ran’ho. Raksi supposed she was captain, now. She launched into a speech of her own over the rising bustle of the mass of geroo, but Raksi was not listening. His attention was on Lim, who was in turn straining to hear what was being said with ears flat against his head.

He hated seeing his friend like this. Selfishly, because it pierced through the wall he’d erected to protect himself from what was coming. He knew how Lim felt, because he felt it himself. But more than that, because he thought he could handle it and was afraid his friend could not.

The small geroo always pulled the social short whisker. While Rak had always been popular, the other geroo’s short stature and unassertive nature usually left him as last pick at best. He had hoped moving into adulthood with everyone calming down would mean someone finally saw in him what his friends saw, but...

Raksi had never taken to introspection. He’d never needed to if he was honest with himself. But the past few days had him thinking. About his friends, about how much time they’ve had together, what they had done, what they wanted to do and what they took for granted. Or rather, who he took for granted.

Chenni boxed his shoulder and broke him out of the uncharacteristically somber mood, sighing wistfully, “Man, I wish the seller were here. I could go for a shake. With some alcohol. Keep the shake. Come on, don’t you go all gloomy on me, too. I’m barely balancing out Lim as is!” She pulled the small geroo into a hug and he nuzzled against her shoulder, murmuring a thanks.

“Sorry ma’am! One alcoholic shake, coming right up.” Raksi quickly put a smile back on his ears, He knew where the seller kept his stock, and was correct in assuming that he wouldn’t bother locking it up, “Keep an eye out, would you? Last time he almost broke my tail, I don’t want to know what he does to second offenders.”

Chenni looked around in panic, “Get back from there, you’re going to get us intro trouble! Again!” She stood up and reached over the bar to swipe at him, caught his eye, then sighed and sat back down.

“Just hurry it up, will you?”

He prepared three shakes, flavored with the green, yellow and purple juices. He had no idea what they were supposed to be. Their primary flavor was sugar. He put in a shot of alcohol in each, thought about it, then added two more. And a last one for good measure. Why not?

He raised the yellow one, “I have a shake here for...” He made a show of reading the cup, “...Te-henny? Shake for Te-henny? Ow!” The geroo hopped away to narrowly avoid the second punch to his shoulder and grabbed the remaining drinks in each paw. He walked around to the front of the bar and stuck the purple one out to Lim as he took a sip of his own. Mmmm, alcoholic sugar.

He leaned against the bar and sipped his drink in silent camaraderie with his friends. The new captain was trying to keep the crowd calm with limited success. Midway through, there was a slurping sound from below. Lim had finally realized he had alcohol in his paws, though he remained otherwise silent.

A flick of ice hit Raksi’s cheek, “Did you watch last night’s episode of Derelict Love? Leandra confessed her love to Rezzi, but it turned out he was actually his twin brother Mezzi, who everyone thought had died two seasons ago, but it was actually Rezzi who had died and his brother took his place.”

Raksi blinked, then slowly looked at her, “You know, I can’t tell if you’re pulling my tail or not.”

She answered him with a grin on her ears and a wink, “You’ll just have to catch the re-run to find out!”

“I’d rather feed my head to the recycler. At least then the pain would be over soon. I don’t know how you can stand that garbage. Even Lim didn’t last more than half a season, right?”

Their friend stood with an empty cup in his paws, chewing on the straw with his eyes fixed on the large geroo addressing the crowd. He was practically radiating distress. Raksi deflated and reached to gently touch the other’s shoulder. Lim didn’t react. Right. He hadn’t come here for the speeches, or to graduate, or to listen to krakun posturing, or even the shakes.

Well, maybe the shakes.

He looked up to Chenni with inquisitive ears and found her watching him with a thoughtful expression, looking at their anxious friend, then back at him. She pushed the concern from her ears and replaced them with determination as she nodded her head away from the crowd. Warmth washed over him, knowing he had friends so close they knew him without speaking. He wrapped an arm around Lim, giving him a gentle, yet insistent, pull, “Come on, junior nurse, you have a checkup scheduled.”

The movement finally snapped the smaller male from his trance and he stuttered a word, but his large friend silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Shh. Later.” Lim blinked, but nodded and followed, ears folded in confusion.

The sound of Ran’ho’s speech washed over the milling crowd as the trio made their way to one of the side corridors leaving the dome. Chenni lead the way. She looked back at Raksi with a conflicted expression, then shook her head and put up her ears once more, “There are some meeting rooms here that I doubt anyone will need right now. Very comfy couches, I speak from experience.”

Rak gave an amused yarp and gently pushed the protesting Lim in front, “Don’t worry about it, we can say we’re really, truly sorry if we’re caught.”

The door whooshed closed behind them and the room’s lights turned on, revealing a sizable meeting room. Indeed, it had a comfy couch. Two, in fact. There was even a thick rug on the floor. The tawny geroo spread her toes through its fibers, “Bet this would work, too! Give your ringel a tingle.”

Raksi groaned and shook his head, “Thanks. I only just got that out of my head!”

He punched her shoulder and, with an over dramatic sigh, collapsed onto the couch. He pulled the smaller geroo down to sit between himself and Chenni. She wasn’t wrong, this couch was comfy. He could feel the tension draining out of his body. He looked at Lim, but he was still spacing out and the scent of his anxiety was much clearer without the crowd around to mask it.

There was a chirp from all their strands and he almost leaped off the couch, but Chenni quickly pulled it from his paws and held it out of reach. “Enough of that, Lim. Dear. Look at me.”

The little geroo was practically buzzing with worry, looking into her eyes, “I just...”

She nuzzled him, “It’s too big. Focus on right now. It’s just the three of us here.”

She pulled him into a hug. Raksi joined them, his arms encircling them both from the other side. As they held the smaller geroo, his heartbeat slowed.

Lim sighed and nodded, “Thanks. That feels... better.”

A smile on her ears she nuzzled him again, “I’m glad. Are you ready for your present?”

“My pres...”

His sentence was cut short by her kiss, eyes going wide in confused surprise. It was a soft, exploratory kiss, her tongue just gently brushing his. It finally elicited a soft, quiet moan from the little geroo. Then another that sounded closer to a protest when she broke the kiss, still wearing a smile.

A mix of confusion and excitement on his ears, Lim turned to his other friend, only to get caught in another kiss. This time the sound he made was louder, -needier-, and he reciprocated the tongue.

Same sex relationships, while not taboo, were considered a social faux pas aboard the ship. Raksi never really had much interest in pursuing that direction, not with all the females that were more than happy to oblige him. But Lim was special. He felt a deep love for both of them, and showing that today was more important than his personal comfort zone. When the kiss broke Lim was panting, his excitement obvious to all three, the scent of anxiety replaced by a much more pleasant one.

Before their friend had time to fall back into his funk Chenni slid off the couch, sprawling on her back on the thick carpet, “Mmmm. Let’s try this.” She pulled her tail ring off with a playful wiggle and a wink, waiting for them.

The larger geroo chuckled at Lim’s visible excitement, running a paw down his neck and back before finally patting his rear. “Go on now, don’t keep her waiting.” He watched the other hop to his feet, pull his tail ring off with a blush, then kneel down besides her. He was clearly still feeling awkward about this, but not so awkward that he didn’t touch her stomach. He ran fingers up to caress the short fur on her chest as he leaned forward to return the kiss.

Seeing his two friends like this was starting to have an effect on Raksi, too. Sure, he loved them both dearly, but right now his body felt a related, but very different emotion much more strongly. By the time his tail ring and sash came off he was fully hard as he joined them on the carpet.

Lim was now lying on top of his tawny friend, his comparatively short stature leaving him grinding against her stomach. He held one of his paws on her cheek as they kissed, both of hers stroking down his back and giving his rear a squeeze. Raksi couldn’t help but smile at the resulting squeak.

Slipping behind them, the red furred geroo knelt. Chenni’s legs eagerly pulled up and aside, now giving him a look at both her sex and his friend’s upturned tail. Before he let himself get too into his own head about it, he pushed inside her. She moaned in delight into her kiss with Lim. Hearing this and feeling the bump behind him, Lim turned his head inquisitively. Then he let out a suppressed whine as he felt teeth on his nape.

Raksi didn’t really have any expectations about how this would all go, but what he hadn’t predicted was that the sound of his childhood friend moaning under him would get him this excited. With Lim sandwiched between them and his nape between his teeth, he began riding Chenni. The three of them rocked back and forth as he picked up the pace. The sounds from all three soon echoed around the empty room.

Feeling himself growing close he wrapped an arm around the dark furred geroo between them, slipping the paw down Lim’s belly until it closed around his very slick member. He tightened his grip on his friend’s nape and resumed thrusting, stroking the other in sync, feeling their joined excitement grow until...

There was a familiar whoosh and the room door opened. The light outside outlined the shape of a large geroo while clearly illuminating the trio in the middle of the carpet. They turned their heads to stare at their captain, who in turn stared back at them.

“Captain, is something the matter?”

She stepped back, “Let’s use conference room two. I think this one needs cleaning.” She hit the door switch outside with her elbow, closing the door.

Chenni whispered, “...just recycle me now.”

Another second passed in silence, then Lim whimpered and shook, spraying both his and Chenni’s front with his excitement.

Her voice was a mix of surprise and playful indignation, “Really Lim? -This- is how we find out what you’re into?”

Despite being behind him, Raksi could recognize the genuine embarrassment on those ears and yarped, bodily laying down across them both, “You kinky thing, no wonder you always hide your strand screen from me.”

As his friend made protesting noises the large geroo resumed his thrusting. His own pleasured grunts joined Chenni’s until they were both shuddering and shaking. With their muzzles buried in their mutual fiend’s neck, they enjoyed the scent of his pelt and, increasingly, the scent of sex soaking into that pelt.

With a happy sigh Raksi rolled off the top to sprawl on his back on the carpet, panting. Lim soon joined him so all three were staring up at the ceiling. He felt his friend roll to his side, a chin on his chest.

“Um...”

“Yes, Lim?”

“Aren’t you... worried?”

Raksi sighed, petting his friend’s cheek, Chenni scooting up to sandwich him between them, “Yes. And -many- other things. But...”

He pushed up onto his elbows, leaning his head forward to nuzzle the dark geroo resting against his chest, “I would rather spend the time with you two than worrying about it.” He looked between them and the smile returned to his ears.

“You’re important to me, you know?”

Lim blinked away a tear, mirroring his friend’s smile as he felt Chenni gently nibble on his nape, “In that case... Can we do it again?”

His voice lowered in embarrassment, “With... With me and you?”

Raksi’s response was in no small part influenced by a paw now caressing his rapidly hardening member, “Mmmf... I’d love to.”

This should feel weird, he thought. Riding his best childhood friend as the other watches, touching herself. It should feel weird, right? But no. He just felt regret that they hadn’t done it sooner. He’d always felt this close to them, so why hadn’t they? He remembered when they all started their job training and moved apart. That also felt like the end at the time, but they still managed to find time together. He assumed growing up would be no different.

The smaller geroo made such delightful noises under him. And then he did the same under Lim with the novel discomfort soothed by Chenni’s exploratory fingers and lips. By the hour’s end they were all exhausted (and more than a little sticky) cuddled up on the carpet against one another. Raksi let his gaze move across the ceiling, having only just noticed someone painted a star system on it. “Hey, do you think this is the original Gerootec system? Or...”

Suddenly the lights flickered out, drowning them in darkness before returning in a dimmed, power saving mode less than a second later. The larger geroo both felt Lim shiver against them, his voice small, “Did...” The two geroo put their arms around the third, holding each other for comfort. Raksi answered, trying to keep his voice even, “The Commissioner's shuttle must’ve passed through the gate. With that down, we’re on emergency power.”

He did not state the obvious. That the krakun wasn’t coming back. That their ship could only hold out a couple of weeks before it turned into an icy tomb, awaiting the eventual replacement crew, any knowledge gathered into the tech that kept them enslaved lost with them.

There was a quiet sob, and he was surprised to realize it was his own. Chenni asked, quietly, “Do you think someone will respond to our distress calls, before...” She trailed off.

The red geroo stroked Lim’s head, feeling Chenni’s arm over them both. Her eyes reflected the emergency lighting. He responded with optimism he didn’t feel, “Of course! Until then, we just need to take care of each other, right?” He reached over to touch Chenni’s cheek and they both nuzzled into Lim’s neck, a quiet settling over the room.