FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

When Janice saw her friend, she hurried from the door to her bed, “Oh bear, I'm so sorry. They wouldn't let us visit until now. You shouldn't have been alone here. This is terrible, what they did to you; they're terrible. Oh, I'm so sorry, bear. Your moms tried to come down, but their emergency visas weren't approved, not sure why, but when you're ready, we can call them.” She held up Eletta's tablet with a weak smile, then finally looked at her battered friend. “Oh bear, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have done something to prevent this. Why did you go out there? Was it something I did? Oh. If there's anything I can do, just let me know. Anything.”

Eletta lifted her bandaged paw and swirled it in the air slowly, then glanced beside her. The brace holding her broken jaw in place wouldn't let her talk.

Janice followed her friend's gaze and found a notepad and pen on the table beside the bed. She quickly grabbed them, but was unsure how she could use them.

Eletta raised the fingers of her other paw from her belly, but the brace on her shoulder wouldn't let her lift her arm.

Janice gently put the notepad in her friend's paw and slipped the pen between the bandaged fingers of her other, then watched her slowly write.

I'm sorry.

“Oh, bear. You don't need to be sorry. You did nothing wrong. It was all those FUX fucks' fault. And don't worry, the Guard'll get them. They got plenty of DNA and Jake and Mr. Griffin offered dedicated service of the G-Mall's servers. All my professors want to help in any way they can and lots of students, too. And the school put all of your classes on hold, so nothing will count against you. You just need to let them know when you're ready. And I'll help you with anything you need; you don't even have to ask.”

Eletta stared at the man standing behind the talkative rabbit.

“I think she wants to talk about something else.” Jake put his hand on Janice's shoulder.

“Oh, right. You probably hear too much serious stuff around here. Well, your pad has the cartoons and shows you like. If you want your classwork, that's on here, too. I don't really know what else you like to do … that you could do here. I feel like such a bad friend; I don't know enough about you. I know your moms are still in Sweden and you're studying neurobiology; you like the animated shows from before morphs” she lowered her voice, “you like to masturbate and hate clothes. I know your birthday and favorite foods, but not what you care most about in life. I'm so sorry. I really should have paid more attention. I would trust you with my life, but you couldn't trust me with yours. I'm so sorry.” She fell on the bed and hugged her friend.

Eletta grunted.

Janice jumped back up, “I'm sorry. I forgot about your ribs. Are you okay? Of course you're not okay, but did I hurt you? I'm so sorry.”

Eletta raised the notepad. I'm sorry.

Janice pushed the notepad back down, “You have nothing to be sorry about. You just relax and get better and don't worry about anything.”

“Janice, she has probably heard 'sorry’ too much.” Jake held her shoulders and leaned against her back.

“You're right. I'm…” she caught herself, then smiled at Eletta and put her paws on her friend's. “I'm glad you're alive.”

Jake patted the bear's thigh in agreement and left his hand there.

Eletta felt herself blush as thoughts raced through her head. Even after all she had been through, she couldn't help thinking about him; wishing his hand was a little higher and a little… Her pen clattered on the floor. Janice retrieved it with a smile, but in that moment, she gave the bear an unobstructed view of the man behind her. A view that fed awakened desires. She didn't want to want what she wanted, but she could feel the twitch begging for more than just his fingers. She couldn't help watching him, but he was watching the bent over rabbit. She wondered what he was thinking and imagined him thrusting into his bunny love with her fluffy little tail against his furless belly, until she stood up again and put the pen back into her fingers.

“Is there anything else you need?”

The friendly smile only made Eletta feel more guilty for her thoughts. Despite the disgust, horror, and hatred she had for the penis wielding members of FUX that attacked her; despite the disgust, horror, and hatred she had for herself for giving in to the unwelcome thoughts that put her there; despite the pain and suffering they already had and would cause, the images lingered, mocking her. She had to make sure that there was never a chance that she could follow through on them. She put her pen to the paper and wrote. Are you together again?

Janice smiled at Jake, then put her arm around his shoulders. He put his arm around her waist, but she brushed him off. “Of course we are. Everything is just fine. Don't you worry about anything but getting better.”

She knew her roommate well enough not to fall for that. Everything was not fine and she worried that her thoughts were already ruining things for her friends. She had to get them back together. She needed to remind them how much they wanted each other. She turned the page and wrote. Kiss him.

Janice let go of Jake to lean forward. “Oh, bear. You don't need to get yourself worked up. Just rest. Everything is fine and we can talk about that when they let you out of here.”

Eletta shrugged the rabbit off to scratch out him and write a new message for Jake. Kiss him her.

The man smiled, then looked to his rabbit. “I can't deny the request of an injured bear.” He caught Janice's hips and kissed her lips. She resisted for a moment, then wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss.

This was just what she needed; they were made for each other and not for her. Their passion seemed to have been saved up for a while, released all at once as they continued their long kiss. It was perfect. Then Eletta gasped as an image forced its way into her mind. She was between them, passionately kissing her sexy rabbit while Jake thrust his human penis into her bear vagina. A violation of their perfect relationship and who she thought she was. She didn't want it, but it was too late. Some part of her did want it and she felt the surge of her body's response, then the wetness pooling under her.

Janice was enjoying feeling Jake this close again, despite their difficulties, but broke the kiss when she heard her friend moan. “Eletta, after what you've been through, I can't believe you’re doing…” She noticed the bear’s paws were still on her belly, holding the pen and paper; they couldn't go lower if she wanted them to. She saw the embarrassed look in her friend’s eyes and pushed Jake aside. “What's wrong?”

Eletta looked away from her rabbit friend. She couldn't answer that; and didn't want to, if she could. How do you tell your best friend and crush that you're also lusting after their soul mate?

Janice leaned over and put her paw carefully on the bear’s belly, trying to be comforting as she spoke softly. “You know you and I were never going to be together. It wasn't fair to you that I let us do the things we did and I feel so guilty that it led to what happened to you. We’ll always be friends and I'll do anything for you. I just wish I could go back and stop you from leaving that night. If I knew it would save you from this, I’d…”

Eletta tried to hold back her tears as she listened to her blissfully ignorant friend. If only it was as simple as that, she could handle just losing a crush. She never expected Janice to fall for her; she was even rooting for Jake to win the rabbit’s heart. She just wanted to play with her and enjoyed the times they did. The darker truth was that she kept thinking about Jake. She didn't care about him for herself; she wanted him to make her rabbit love happy, but the thought of him inside her kept returning and her body betrayed her mind. It was against everything she thought she was; her whole life spent enjoying the female form, never entertaining a single interest in males. Suddenly, the worst option became her only choice. Why did it have to be him? Her tears broke through in sobs that shook her battered body. Her broken jaw tensed as every injury ached, sending her into concatenating convulsions of frustration and pain.

“Eletta!”

“I'll get a nurse.” Jake hurried to the door and caught two nurses in the hall. They rushed in at his urgency and shooed Janice out of the room with him as they tended to their writhing patient. He held Janice comfortingly as the nurses sedated Eletta.

“She needs to rest now.”

Janice nodded in acquiescence. She wanted to hold her friend and do anything she needed to do to make her feel better, but instead, she walked quietly out of the hospital with Jake.

“She'll get better. The doctors and nurses are taking good care of her.”

She knew her friend was in good hands and there was nothing that she could do; that's what bothered her the most. She was afraid that she had led Eletta on and was somehow responsible for her going out there. She knew that those monsters were the ones that actually did it, but she felt just as guilty. “I know.”

“Why don't we get something to eat and take it to the circle?”

She didn't feel like eating, but she didn't feel like talking, either. She wanted to either help Eletta or destroy the monsters that hurt her, but other people were doing both for her. She felt so impotent, with nothing she could do when it mattered. Guard and detectives and lawyers and doctors and nurses and even Jake were all doing their jobs that she wanted to do for her friend, but she was just a student and felt useless. She couldn't even give them any useful information, because she didn’t understand why Eletta had gotten up in the middle of the night to walk out there or why she kept saying she was sorry. She looked at the sandwich in her hands and noticed the warmth of the bench beneath her. It was asparagus and mushroom, her favorite, but she wasn't interested in eating it. She looked up at Jake and he was smiling at her as he finished his sandwich. How could he be so clueless? Her best friend was suffering and there was nothing she could do and he was trying to make her feel better with sandwiches and sunsets. “How are things going at the G-Mall?”

“Oh, Mr. Griffin put out an ad for an assistant. He thinks we’re almost ready to reopen to the public. Though, he is worried there might be an initial rush. He wants to keep up the tradition and hire a fox. I don't really care, as long as we find somebody as smart as he is. I'm not sure I can run it without him. I've learned how to do everything, but nothing has really gone wrong.”

“What about Eletta?”

Jake paused a moment as he shifted his thoughts. “We ran everything the Guard gave us. It was … disturbing how many different results we got and still had a few that it didn't find anything, yet. There were even three humans and two females. I just can't imagine what really happened. We had plenty to identify that cougar and a horse named Cory. The Guard say nobody remembers anything from that night, but it'll be pretty impossible to explain their urine and semen in her fur. … You probably don't want to hear those details.”

“What can I do to help?”

Jake paused again, “There's … not really anything left to do. The Guard processed the samples and sent the profiles to us. The computer is doing all the work and there's only a few left that it hasn't identified. There have been a bunch of people volunteering to be added to the database, but that's what the assistant would be helping with.”

“I want the job.”

Jake was taken by surprise, after all her insistence that he learn to do things on his own so she could focus on her classwork. “What about school?”

“I'll do both. They've already offered exceptions for me, because I’m Eletta's roommate, but I don't want a vacation; I want to keep busy. I want to help.”

Jake smiled, “I'd love to have you there. I'm sure Mr. Griffin will agree, though you're not a fox.”

“He can still have his fox. I'll work for free, volunteer, pro bono.”

“Are you sure? You were worried about me taking on extra with my classes and you have heavier coursework.”

“I need to do something. I'm feeling sick just standing by while her attackers think they got away with it.”

“They closed down Phi Omicron Xi and arrested most of them and a few others. The machine is working through the database to find ancestral connections for the last few. There's nothing we can do to make it work faster.”

“We can give it more information. If we can get everyone to register, maybe someone related to the ones that are missing will give the guard the connection they need to get all of them.”

“They will.” He put his hand on her paw. “Why don’t you come with me tomorrow and we’ll talk it over with Mr. Griffin. I still can't get used to calling him Crandall and I'm not going to call him cranberry.” He chuckled, hoping she would follow him to a lighter mood.

“Let's go right now.”

“Now? It's late. Mr. Griffin will have gone home by now and the buses will stop soon. There's nothing we can do tonight.”

“You can show me everything that he has taught you, so I can be ready.” She put down the sandwich to grab his hand and stared into his eyes. “Please. I need to do something.”

Jake sighed and held her paws as he looked into her pleading eyes. He always wanted to make her happy and this was the closest he could do in this situation. “Alright. Let's go.” He wrapped up her sandwich and she clung to his arm as they walked out of the circle. He could almost let himself think they were okay again. She was quiet for the whole bus ride, but he didn't mind, because she was close to him.

She didn't say a word until he unlocked the door and she noticed the subtle differences inside. “Oh, you moved that bench that was in the middle of the room.”

“Yeah, Mr. Griffin took it home. We ordered a table that we’re going to fill with information, some of the most common questions and other services around the area. It should get here next week.”

She walked to the desk and looked at the things sitting on top. “Where do we start?”

Jake fidgeted with the ring on his middle finger as he noticed her small tail was drooped, even though her ears were up. She wasn't as okay as she was pretending to be, but she didn't want him to comfort her. All he could do was try to keep her busy. “Let's start with the heart.” He stepped to the office door and opened it as the soft beep acknowledged him. She followed him to the server closet, where another soft beep let him open the door. “Mr Griffin was telling the truth when he said he didn't understand. I had to look up a lot, but we replaced most of what had failed. We should have a pair of four zettabyte drives arriving any day, but all six data servers are up and running. There are two incoming lines connected to separate relays to the local trunk, but the redundant line had been disconnected because it wasn't labeled properly in the account; that's working again. We replaced all the backup batteries just to be safe and a couple of the panels on the roof. That was a struggle because they're owned by the building, not the G…” He finally noticed her glazed look. “I'm sorry.”

“No, it's okay. You really have learned a lot. I think I got the general idea and I'm proud of you.” She put a paw on his shoulder as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Let's talk about my part.”

“Right.” He didn't want to give up her touch, but he turned around to sit at the desk as he woke up the computer. “So, this is pretty much the same as the one out there. This one has a connection to the DNA processor; which we’re planning to replace in a few months. Those are a lot harder to get than server equipment.” He caught her disinterested glare and got back on track. “The main search program does most of what you'll need. It can search by name, species, DNA, partial DNA, origin, location, ancestry combination, and any other bit of data listed. We can put two people in and see if they have a child registered or any relatives in common. Don't worry, I checked us and we're not related.”

Janice sat on the end of the desk and kept looking at the screen.

He knew what she was waiting for. “This machine can also monitor external requests, like from the Guard. After all the time we had to spend catching up on those, we’re looking into getting that automated somehow.”

“Where are the ones that attacked Eletta?”

He looked at her and knew she didn't want to see the ones it was still working on. “Janice, the Guard have them. They're not going to get away with it.”

“I know. I still want to see.”

He could see her shaking as she focused on the screen. There was nothing else he could do to distract or comfort her, so he brought up the recent history. “These … These started coming in the day after … it happened. They submitted almost a hundred samples with the same block number. Some came back as Eletta, so this is it.”

“How many?”

“It's still processing a few.”

“How many attacked her?”

“We identified fourteen unique samples.”

“You said there were a hundred.”

“Most of them were duplicates, but we ran them all through to be thorough.”

“You said they caught the cougar?”

“Yes, a few came back as a cougar.”

“And it's the same one?”

“I don't know who attacked her in the hall.”

“His name is Thanatos or Thane.”

“That's not the name that…”

“What is it?”

“Janice.”

“Just tell me.”

Jake gave in and opened a request from the history. “Chance… Kyter.”

The rabbit stared at the screen for a moment, then spoke softly, “Kyter. That's him.” She sighed and closed her eyes, then looked at Jake. “You said there was a horse named Cory?”

“Yes, Cory…” He went back to the list and looked for one.

“That's Thor. Who else?”

“Janice…”

“You said there were humans.”

“Yes, but Janice, you don't need to do this.”

“Who were they?”

He wanted to object, but knew it was futile. “Only one has been identified so far.”

“Who is it?”

He opened the appropriate record, “Mikal Perrin.”

“Perrin? As in…?”

“Yes, he's a direct descendant.”

Janice closed her eyes and looked like she was in pain.

“It doesn't matter. He can't get away with this.”

“He’s gotten away with other things.”

He put his hand on her leg, “This is worse.”

She stared at his hand and tried to compose herself. “You said… there were… females.”

Jake took his hand back to bring up the records. “Yes. One is human and hasn't been identified, yet. The other is a hyena named…”

“Corina.”

“Yes. How did you…?”

“How could she? Just a few weeks ago, she told our sociology class how her mother was raped before she got out of America, so she didn't know her father; and now she did this? She knew Eletta. How could she?” Janice teetered on the frustration between rage and grief.

“How could any of them?” Jake turned to put his hands on her knees, then stood up and put them on her shoulders. “It’s not right. Nobody should ever do anything like that to anybody.”

“You did!”

Jake stared into her eyes and he could see the anguish mixed with the anger. “I know… and I regret it every day. From the moment I did it, I knew it was wrong and I wish I could undo it. It tears at me. I wish I could do something to make sure it never happens, but all I can do is help clean up after.” He dropped his hands and sighed.

Janice shook her head as she cried, “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”

“No. You’re right. I'm as bad as any of them.”

“No you're not. You're wonderful and my hero and you’re doing so much to help people. You’re nothing like them!”

“I don't know them.”

“I know you!” She pulled him against her and sobbed into his shoulder.

Jake put his arms around her and held her, still unsure what separated what he did from what they did.

As her emotions settled, Janice realized she was holding Jake and relaxed her grip. “Do you think any of them regret it?”

“The news said none of them remember doing it, or even being there. It mentioned lots of beer and other things there. I bet a lot of them did feel bad when they heard about it.”

“But if they don't remember, they don't know why they did it.”

“Does that matter?”

She pushed him back to look into his eyes. “You know that you did it because Ed forced you. You're not that kind of person. What about some of them, like Corina?”

“Well, that would be hard to prove, especially if nobody remembers it.”

“We know that Thane was mad at Eletta and he's the type to push people around. He could have threatened them.”

“It's possible, but why do you want to help the people that did this to her?”

“Because I don't want you to go to jail.”

Jake was confused, “But I wasn’t there.”

Janice huffed and took his hands, “You did something terrible and you regretted it. You didn't need jail. If some of these people were forced, they don't need jail, either. Thane needs to be punished because he doesn’t care who he hurts. If he can hide in this mob, he won't get enough.”

“But what can we do about it?”

“We can talk to the Guard. Eletta can't talk yet, but we can tell them about what happened and suggest that Thane planned it.”

“None of the attackers names have been released, yet.”

“But you saw them here and as future Director of the Generic Morph Ancestry Library you're a credible source.”

“But I didn't see anything. I just heard about it from Eletta.”

“And she can confirm it, but right now they don't even know to ask her.”

Jake thought about it, slowly catching up with the legal minded rabbit. “Okay, if you'll come with me.”

“Absolutely.” She smiled, then hugged him. It finally felt like she was doing something. It may be Jake's connection, but she figured it out and got him there.

“You really still think I'm worth saving?”

She pulled back enough to look at him, “Of course I do. You are my hero and you always will be, even when I don't need saving.”

“Do you need saving now?”

“You just did.” Being so close to him, feeling his breath on her whiskers, it seemed as if he was inhaling her, drawing her closer and she didn't want to resist. She kissed his lips, but she wanted more. She pulled him closer and he wrapped his arms around her, but she wanted more. She leaned back and he leaned with her, but she wanted more.

“Excuse me.” A soft knock accompanied a quoll clearing her throat.

Jake jumped back and Janice fell to the desk before she sat up quickly and turned to see who was there.

“I'm sorry to bother you, but I work next door and I just got out and I've been hearing that you're reopening the G-Mall, but you're always gone before I can stop by, so I was wondering if it's true and if so, I'd like to register, because I heard about what happened at the school and how they're using the registry, but it's out of date, so they're still looking for some and I just wanted to make sure they don't think I did it, because I wasn’t there and I would never do something like that.”

Jake tried to collect his thoughts quickly, “Well, we’re not officially open, yet and I don't think you have anything to worry about.”

Janice hoped off the desk and welcomed the morph, “But we would be happy to get you registered. Just have a seat and we will get started.”

Jake caught on, but wasn’t prepared. He started searching through the cabinets. “Um, okay, so, we got the server up to speed, but we're waiting on a new DNA processor and haven't updated the, AHA!, intake packet.” He pulled out a folder and turned back to the desk, then pulled a device that looked like a staple gun out of a drawer. “Um, I'm not quite sure how that works yet, so we’ll skip it. There are some forms for information about you and your family. It’s all optional, so if you don't know or don't feel comfortable, don't worry about it, but the more you give, the more useful the database can be for you. Here is a small container for your hair, get the root, if possible, and a swab for your cheek.” He spread the contents of the folder on the desk in front of her.

Janice chuckled nervously with an annoyed glare to Jake, “Like he said, we’re still working on the intake process. Why don't we get the samples started, then we can talk about your family. Just tug out a small tuft of your fur someplace and put it in this container.” She opened the container and held it out while the quoll followed the instruction. “Great. Now just rub this inside your cheek and that's all there is to it.” She gave the quoll the swab and handed Jake the fur, then passed along the swab, as well. “Now, while Jake takes care of that, let's look at these forms. This one is just asking about you. First is your name.”

“Oh, I'm Wendy Perrinquoll. My great grandfather was created by Dr Danielle Perrin, Dr Perrin's youngest human daughter. He thought of all his morph creations as his children too, which is great, and so did his children that followed in his scientific footsteps, like Danielle. She created eight lines of western quolls and eight lines of northern quolls, but I've never met any northern quolls. She started lots of other morph lines after the first war as part of the rebuilding program, but I don't know if I've ever met any of them, either. I know all of my relatives, especially the ones that have died; family is important, which is why I was glad to see the GMAL was being restarted, not because I want to stop tracking my family myself, but because it's always good to learn more about where you come from. Does the GMAL have more information about Dr Danielle's morphs?”

Janice scrambled with the forms, trying to fill in everything she heard Wendy mention and gave Jake a prodding glare.

Jake tried to stay focused on following the steps for processing her samples in the machine, “I, uh, haven't looked, but once you're in, we can follow the DNA back as far as we can.”

“That would be great. I have my family tree.” She pulled a tablet from her bag and woke it up. “I could get DNA from my mother and father and their parents and my father's father’s mother and my son, but the others are gone.”

Janice smiled pleasantly, “Wonderful. Perhaps you could help me fill in some of the gaps on these forms.”

“Certainly.”

Jake watched as Janice and the machine processed his first real client. He felt a little useless just waiting, but it was actually happening. He couldn't believe how far he had come so quickly. Last year, he was hanging with anti-morph friends and attacking morphs. Now, he's reinitiating and running the Genetic Morph Ancestry Library; eagerly listening to a morph tell stories about her family; helping the Guard catch people that attacked a morph friend; and hopelessly in love with a beautiful rabbit. He wondered if he would have gotten here if he hadn’t hurt Christy. He wondered if Ed would have actually hurt any morphs if he hadn't suggested it. He wondered if anybody else would have been interested in the GMAL. He wondered if Janice would have found somebody else.

“Don't you think so, Jake? Jake. Jake.”

The machine behind him was beeping and he turned to check on it.

“Jake, Wendy said she will take us back to campus tonight, since the buses have stopped.”

“That's great. I'll just transmit this and enter the basics for her profile; I can finish it tomorrow from the forms.” He pressed the last button on the machine then sat down at the desk to get started with what they had written: name, species, birthdate, contact information… He felt paws on his shoulders and a warm body on his back and looked up, only to be caught in a kiss by bunny lips.

Janice stood up and smiled down at the man she loved. “Thank you for letting me be part of this.”

He smiled up at her, then glanced to the room for their guest.

“Wendy will meet us downstairs after we lock up.” She slid her paws down his chest and hugged him, then pressed her nose against his shoulder for a moment before standing up and slipping off to the other room.

Jake watched her leave and stared at the empty door. He liked that she was getting close to him again, but she also kept pulling away. He wondered what she was thinking that kept her distant and it wasn't just her classwork. He turned back to the screen and finished up, then checked that everything was as it should be before he left, leaving the intake folder on the desk as a reminder. Closing the office door, he met Janice at the front door, locked it, then tried to slip his arm around her waist.

Janice caught his arm and held onto it as they walked to the elevator. She knew he was looking at her while they waited, but she didn't want to get caught in his eyes. The door opened and they stepped inside. He pushed the button and looked back, just in time to catch her looking at him. They smiled at each other, then she slid her paw across his shoulders and down his back to lean against him.

Jake was afraid to say anything and break the moment. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her close as the elevator counted down. 3

She couldn't help enjoying feeling him against her and rubbed his back slowly as she rested her cheek against his. 2

He resisted every thought, want, and desire that flooded his mind, afraid that she would pull away again instead of brushing the fur of her cheek against his until their noses met, her breath crossing his lips. 1

The elevator chimed and Janice took a breath as she stepped away, then took Jake's arm again as the doors opened and they walked out. They spotted Wendy waving to them beside her car. She squeezed Jake's arm, then quickened their pace. Janice took the front and Jake climbed in back and they were headed home.

Wendy smiled at both of them as she drove until she couldn't bear the silence. “If you don't mind me saying so, you two make a lovely couple. I know it's kind of gray to some people, the mixed species relationships, particularly human, especially with the things that happened in America and other places, but I think it's important not to ignore love when it happens. When I was younger, I was so in love with a human guy in my civil ethics class; he was smart and charming, but it didn't work out between us; he dated a fox girl for a while, then he married a human girl, but they split up, but it's okay, because I was happy with Aido and it got me Dorian and I wouldn't give up my son for the world. It's good that you're not getting caught up in that species purity thing that so many rabbits have gotten wrapped up in; I think it's silly trying to separate everyone like one species is better than the others; we all have our flaws. I know, Aido was a quoll like me, but that's not why I loved him; I wasn’t looking for another quoll, it just worked out that way. Just because someone doesn't look like you doesn't mean you can't love them. It's great that you two aren't afraid to show the world that you love each other. Could you imagine living in America back when morphs were second class citizens or not even that, property. I couldn't imagine living my whole life with somebody else telling me what to do or who to love. Those poor morphs that were forced to breed, like livestock; I heard some were as young as ten when they had their first kid; there may have been some even younger that nobody heard about; I mean that's just terrible, don't you think? They never had a chance to find someone they love or even really understand what was happening to them; it was just how their world was and it was terrible. I hope nothing like that ever happens again; though you hear rumors about black markets for everything, where morphs are still sold as slaves; I heard some even sell humans; there was this news report that I saw talking about some groups of morphs in America selling humans as slaves as like payback, but the slaves they were selling were children that never did anything to deserve it. It's just horrible any way of it; they should be spending more time trying to make the world better and less trying to cause hurt for whatever reason, because there is no reason. There should be more people in the world like you two; doing everything you can to show love and help people. I'm glad I met you; seeing how you love each other really makes me feel good and I'm glad I could do something for you. Well, here’s the campus; where are your dorms?”

Janice took a breath and looked around, “You can just let us out here. We go in different directions.”

“Oh. It's a shame they won't let you room together, right? Well, maybe it's for the best; you might not get much studying done if you did. So, there you are; thank you for staying late for me and you know where to find me if you need to and I'll bring by the DNA samples and info for the rest of my family as soon as I get a chance. It was really great meeting you; have a good night.”

Jake and Janice got out and Wendy waved as she drove away, then they walked up to the circle, both struggling with thoughts in their heads.

Jake absently led them toward their usual bench, trying to think of something to say before they went their separate ways. “Thank you for helping with her. I wasn’t really ready, but you just stepped in like you already knew what you were doing. You were amazing.”

“I just talked to her.” This wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. “It's not hard.”

“It is for me sometimes.” He wanted to take her hand, but was afraid she would pull away. “Especially with you.” He struggled with what he could safely say. “You know what I want to tell you everyday, but you've already heard it.” Frustrated with fighting his body and mind, he just sat down on the bench.

Janice sat down beside him, but resisted grabbing his hands. “Jake, I want you to talk to me. I…” She did want to hear him say it, she just didn't want him to get too comfortable with it. “There are a lot of things we can talk about.”

“I know.” He sighed as he gathered his thoughts. “I see you almost everyday and we talk all the time, but I miss you. I miss just being comfortable and not worrying that showing my affection might make you not want to be around me; that you'll stop loving me.”

“Oh Jake,” she took his hands in her paws, then moved one to his shoulder, “I could never stop loving you and I do like hearing you say it. I just don't want that to be all we are. We both have so much to do.”

“That's not all we are. We’re both doing great things, but we also do great things together, like today, and I know that I would be able to do a lot more, if I wasn’t worrying that I might accidentally tell you that I love you or touch you when I shouldn't, because I want to touch you.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, not wanting to admit that he might be right, then put both paws on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “I want you to touch me, too. I just don't want anyone to think we're together only for sex, that we’re not serious about our careers.”

“We haven't had sex and we don't need to, but like Wendy said, we shouldn't be afraid to show our love. It's important.”

She smiled and gently caressed his cheek, holding it there as he caught her paw. He was right and not just because of Wendy. She thought about the conversation she had with her law history professor. She had told him that Jake wasn’t getting in the way, that he helped her be better. She needed to let him be himself to do that. She needed to trust him. Then, just like he said, she could stop worrying about the conflict of their life and careers and just make it happen. Instead of trying to explain it, she leaned in and kissed his lips, wrapping her arms around him in affectionate agreement.

Jake held his rabbit love as he kissed her back, finally feeling all the tension he had been carrying drain away. Maybe things were going to work out after all.

Janice savored the moment, pulling him closer, wanting to make up for all the kisses she had missed. This was what she wanted to talk about. She remembered another part of the conversation with her professor. He had told her that sex was great stress relief. At the time, she had been embarrassed, but now she hoped it was true. She had been so stressed with everything that was going on that her mind and body were begging for the solution sitting in front of her. The overwhelming desire for release was posting aside all her more rational thoughts. She didn't care that she could get pregnant. She didn't care that they were out in the circle. She didn't care what she had told him before. She just wanted to lay him down on that bench and finally feel him the way she had dreamed, finally break all those damned rules and feel right. She pushed his hand down to her tail, hoping that her understood her message and she could feel in their kiss that he did. She leaned forward, letting him pull her into his lap.

Their faces lit up and they pulled away, shielding their eyes from the light.

“Alright you two, time to head back to your dorms. The curfew is still active and it's for everybody.” The old fox have them a teasing smile.

Janice crossed her arms across her chest and stood up with her ears folded back and her tail tucked down tight as she gave Jake an embarrassed glance and hurried of to her dorm.

“I see you figured it out.”

“What?” Jake looked from the receding rabbit to the flashlight armed fox.

“She couldn't hide that love if she wanted to.”

“She was doing a pretty good job.”

“Probably just making sure you felt the same way.”

“There's no doubt about that. I definitely love her.”

The fox laughed and continued his rounds, leaving Jake to find his own way back.