FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Prologue:

The sounds that came from that man's saxophone had always soothed Jace. He'd loved this CD since he was a cub when his mother used to play it while she did the ironing at home. He remembered when he would sit on the floor, with his blanket and watch the cartoons, his favourite was called "Harry the Hamster" and was just a silly show about a Hamster that ended up in all kinds of strange places. The television was always muted though so Mother could listen to the Jazz stylings of Herbert Brown. Jace didn't know his name, he just knew that raspy brass sound that played in his head all night afterwards and that catchy little ditty.

Now Jace was Twenty years old and that CD was the way he remembered his Mother and his past. He was Fifteen when she passed, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Monty in Cambridge. It was an okay life for a while but his Uncle was old and didn't really have the energy to do anything with Jace. He grew bored of him, desperate for some kind of change. He soon discovered the wonders of the internet and hoped to find some friends who shared his love for Jazz music, instilled in him by his Mother.

What he found on the internet though was very different to what he had expected. Instead of just friends with like minds, he discovered himself along the way, stumbling upon a website called "Pride Teens", Jace met some new friends and a chance encounter with a fox named Dylan stirred up a feeling he didn't know he could feel. It was on that day, Jace realised he was gay.

Dylan lived about an hour away in a nearby town and though that was close to the logical mind, for kids who were at school all day, it seemed like a continent away. They chatted after school about everything from Pokémon to Transformers to his love of Jazz music. They really hit it off and after a year of talk, they agreed to meet.

One thing led to another and a few sneaked kisses became a rather clumsy session of paws and muzzles behind a local café nearby Dylan's home. It certainly wasn't romantic or even very sexy, but they both felt like little deviants. It wasn't to last though. Dylan's parents found out everything and took away his computer, leaving Jace abandoned and alone once more. It wasn't until he started University that Jace found that familiar feeling once more. That feeling of love...

Chapter One: Welcome to Kent.

"Welcome to the University of Kent, my name is Jemima and I'll be holding your orientation!" chimed the obnoxiously perky vixen who held her clipboard as if it were her very lease on life. Jace pulled up the hood of his dark green hoody, hiding the earbud he had in one ear, that familiar saxophone calming him in what was the craziest social situation he'd been forced into.

The University seemed nice, he thought. Not too big, not too scary but he was the only Red Panda he had seen so far and people did seem to give him the 'look'. You know, the 'Exotic' look. His Hoodie had often become a place to hide away from the looks and just society as a whole. His tail however, was unusually large and hard to hide.

The crowd were hustled forwards through corridors and atriums, being shown departmental offices, food halls and something to do with paper. Jace wasn't really listening. "You'll find your dorm room allocations in the lobby. Once you have your dorm number, please go to the office and pick up your keycard, then you'll have full access to your rooms" chirped Jemima before dismissing the group.

Jace let the group disperse, hanging back and pulling out his iPhone to play a little Pokémon go for a while. The hobby hadn't died, but Pokémon always reminded him of his after-school chats with Dylan. With a nostalgic sigh, he put his phone away and walked over to the notice that was no longer crowded. "Room 32, Raven Court" he said to himself as he turned to head for the office, in no real hurry.

A little later and Jace was heading up the stairs of Raven Court, looking for his room. Sliding the key card through the door's card reader twice, the first time he'd had the card upside down, and the door opened with a soft click. Pushing the door open, he had to shove as the door was a bit heavier than he had anticipated but then it felt weightless. He looked up. "Whoa..."

Up...up...up...Jace had to look up really high to make eye contact with the behemoth of a man holding open the door. "You must be my room-mate" said Jace with a keen blush of crimson beneath his eyes, making his masked face look even more red than usual. "Yup", came the reply. A simple "Yup" in a hazy cloud of hormonal confusion. It had been a few years since Dylan and Jace hadn't even kissed a guy since, but now...now he was a grown man and had grown man feelings.

"I'm Kent" he said in his deep gruff voice. He was around 6'8" without horns, a further few inches with. The bull towered over the 5'4" Red Panda who he would be rooming with. "Heh...your name is Kent and you go to the University of Kent? Was that...intentional?" he asked nervously with a chuckle before mentally cursing himself for making such an inane joke.

The bull snorted. "Heh, no...just a happy coincidence" he replied closing the door. "You can choose a bed, I don't mind." He offered, brushing down the black vest that he wore over his incredibly well defined torso. "I don't mind sleeping in your bed" said Jace before realising what he said. "I mean...I don't mind sleeping in either bed..." his eyes widened in a moment that felt like days before the silence was broken. "I'll take this one then" Kent replied, laying down on it, arms behind his head which just showed off his thick armpit fur, making Jace a little weak at the knees.

"So..." Jace began, sitting on his new bed and looking aimlessly around the new dorm room. "What are you here to study?" he asked the strong, handsome bull. "Sports Psychology" he said with a snort. "I bet you were expecting something dumb for a big dumb jock?" he accused with a grunt and a cheeky wink that let Jace know he was kidding. "Oh...no...I was just interested. You seem very athletic..." he said, honestly.

The bull's vest clung to him like it wasn't even needed and his camouflage combat pants just screamed of masculinity. Jace felt something stir within him and quickly made an excuse. "I...I'm gonna head to the computer lab. I'll see you later?" he said, before shuffling out of the room without waiting for an answer. As the door closed behind him, he leant back against It, breathing heavily, trying to relax. "It's okay Jace...he's just a guy...a normal, buff...guy.... who smells like...damnit!"

His instincts were simple. It was the traditional 'Fight or Flight' response. He had chosen flight and had run as far away from those feelings as he could get, rushing down the stairs, out of the dorm and over to the computer lab in the neighbouring building, logging on to a machine and bringing up the familiar screen of "Pride Teens" and entering the chat room.

Panderp42: Guys...Guys... I just got to University and my room-mate is like Sex Jesus....

SnapDragon: Huh? He's some weird long haired dude with sex magic?

FoxySide1: Oooh spill the details Jace, is he hung?

Panderp42: I don't know if he's bloody hung, you idiot! I turned into a blubbering mess and got out of there before I could say anything else stupid.

LightNinjaSan: Well, if he's hot, why don't you ask him out?

FoxySide1: Jace doesn't do that. He's still on that "I'm not gay, I'm alternative" kick.

Panderp42 glares at FoxySide1.

Panderp42: I am not! I just...I don't know...anyway...what do I do? I have to spend the whole year sleeping next to this musclebound sex machine!

SnapDragon: Well, you clearly jump ON that.

Panderp42 rolls his eyes.

Panderp42 logs off.

"Damnit!" said Jace, slamming his fists on the desk, waking up a sleeping rabbit from her lack of studying on the other side of the room. He didn't know what he was feeling and why it was making him angry. It was confusing. He knew he was gay; he knew this Kent guy was hot. So what was the problem? If he couldn't get over the sexuality mess, how was he ever going to be with someone?

He logged off the computer and padded towards the nearby coffee shop, ordering something hot and creamy, he took the mug and sat alone at a table, tapping the wooden surface with his spoon to the familiar beat of Herbert Brown's Jazz Extravaganza. A sip of his drink and his mind drifted away, he pushed an earbud into his large ear and pressed play on his phone, letting the saxophone solo calm him down.

Before he knew it, he was being nudged in the side of the arm by a punkish looking mohawked otter. "Hey dude, we're closing..." he said in the most stoner voice he'd ever heard. Shaking himself awake slowly, he got to his feet, brushing himself down and looking at his watch. "Holy Fuck" he exclaimed a little too loudly for public spaces, seeing that it was already 9pm. With a sigh, he decided it was probably time to head back to the dorm. With the Fresher's fair starting properly the next morning, a good night's sleep wasn't to be sniffed at and if he got there early, he could be fast asleep before the bull got back from wherever the bull socialised at night.

"Click" went the door and Jace pushed hard, slipping in and giving the room a scan for signs of life. There was nobody there. "Score" he exclaimed, unzipping his hoodie and hanging it on his hanger by the door. He plodded into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He was a handsome guy really. A messy red Mohawk looked good between his round ears and his eyes were a bright blue. He brushed his teeth quickly and headed out to the room, tossing his T-shirt towards his cases, which were yet to be unpacked, and looked around shyly before stripping off his jeans and doing the same with them.

He wasn't fat but he wasn't skinny either. His chat room friends had referred to him as a "cub" which was apparently a gay word for cute but chubby. He shrugged and looked down over his round tum at his baggy black boxer shorts. They covered everything just fine so he figured they'd be fine for sleepwear and so he climbed under the covers, putting his phone on the bedside table and resting his head on the pillow before snoozing silently into slumber...