FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Disclaimer: Well, if you're still reading at this point you must be an adult, RIGHT? And jeez. With how long it takes me to write, if you weren't before, you might be one by now!

Samantha sighed as she went through her clothes. So many great pieces that no longer fit. It was kinda depressing, and a constant reminder that she was quite different. It was simply inescapable.

She was preparing to go to the mall. Under other circumstances, a shopping spree might have been a very enjoyable experience, but she was dreading going out in public. It was one thing to enjoy furry art in private, and yet another to wear a t-shirt, or, perhaps if she were feeling adventurous, a tail, or some ears. But being an anthropomorphic jaguar of generous proportions, FOR REAL, in public... that was just a little too much.

It's why she was dragging Rick along with her. He was more comfortable in public, would make it obvious she was taken, and she wouldn't be alone.

She pulled on the baggy sweats she had borrowed from him. She looked as messy as she felt. Her front tail, or foretail as she had started to think of it, was carefully threaded through one of the legs of her pants, wrapped in toilet paper to try and keep it from rubbing as she walked. It made a rather silly bulge. The seat had been modified with a hole for her normal tail. She tried walking around and grumbled. The toilet paper wasn't doing a great job of stopping the cotton fabric from rubbing the sensitive appendage.

Samantha sighed and walked over to the dresser. She picked up her ring. That was the first thing that she would have to take care of. With retractable claws, all of her fingers were now thicker to contain the extra set of tendons that make such a thing possible. The fur didn't help either. So her engagement ring had to be made larger to fit her finger. She was just glad to have taken it off while plotting to use her toys that night. She slipped the ring into her pocket.

She still hadn't figured out what she was going to do for shoes. Rick had come home barefoot the other night, clothes ill fitting on his now larger frame. She sighed, gave her hair a final bit of adjustment, and walked out of the bedroom to join her fiancée.

Rick looked slightly comical in a windbreaker that was just a little too small for the wolf. She still felt a wave of mixed emotions every time she looked at him. He looked imposing, yet his eyes were friendly. The fur on the side of his muzzle was caked with superglue where he had sealed the gashes she had made on his face, a face that was only just starting to become familiar. He was wearing similar clothing; a pair of sweatpants, and an oversized scrub shirt that he had accidentally taken home one day.

Sammy shifted uncomfortably. "So, uh... ready to go?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah..." He knew Samantha was nervous. Much of her old body language still applied. She wasn't standing up straight, shifting her weight uneasily, but there were some new tells as well. Her tailtips, both of them, were flicking back and forth agitatedly. And, on top of that, he swore he could smell it too. In other circumstances, he would have been very excited about being able to smell someone's emotional state, but it was someone very dear to him, not just some random person.

Rick walked up to Samantha and hugged her gently. "It'll be alright. I'll be with you the whole time.

Samantha didn't respond. While she appreciated Rick trying to comfort her, she was still embarrassed and frustrated with her current form. "L-let's get it over with," she mumbled, shakily.

Rick opened the door, and they walked together across the walkway to the stairs, and down to the parking lot. Samantha's car was bigger than Rick's, so they decided on hers. They both had to adjust the seats backwards and down soon after getting into the small Toyota truck.

Rick drove, awkwardly shifting in his seat with his tail threaded around the side of his back. The drive to the mall wasn't very long, so Samantha didn't have much time to brood before they arrived.

Samantha pulled the hood on the sweatshirt up over her head before she stepped out of the car. It didn't do much to hide her changed features, but she really wanted to draw as little attention as possible.

Her normal tail was twitching agitatedly behind her as she entered the mall behind Rick. Even worse, her foretail was wiggling around in her sweatpants, rubbing and grinding in a very distracting way. Not to mention it looked extremely odd from the outside. She hunkered down, put her slightly pawlike hands into her pockets, and followed Rick nervously.

The mall was packed. Many people had found that their clothes didn't quite fit anymore, so the department stores, designer clothes stores, tailors, and so on were filled to capacity. Everyone stared at the couple. Some even stopped completely to watch them as they walked by. There wasn't any real panic at the appearance of something that looked suspiciously like a werewolf and a very large jaguar. A few furries had been on the news, yet they were uncommon enough to be a spectacle.

Samantha felt terrible. All her worries about looking like a sideshow were echoed in every pair of eyes staring at her as they continued on. She sniffed, close to crying, staying very close to her wolfish hubby.

Rick, for his part, was quite uncomfortable, but he was more concerned with Sammy than himself. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her tightly against him.

Their first destination, as Samantha had decided earlier, was to get her ring resized. They entered a jewelry store, and walked to one of the counters in front of a salesman. His suit was ill-fitting. It looked like he had lost a few inches, but gained the same amount in muscle. The salesman stared for a bit, first at Rick, then Samantha, but for his credit, he quickly regained his composure and professionalism.

"Er, Hello! What can I help you with today?" he spouted, a little too enthusiastically.

Samantha reached into her pocket and pulled the ring out, setting it on the counter. "I-I need to get this resized." Her voice was weak, with a bit of a strange accent, courtesy of her very different mouth and vocal cords. The salesman wasn't about to be impolite to a pair of stressed looking, large, humanoid predators.

"Of course! We'll just measure your finger, and we'll be done before we close." He reached under the counter and pulled out a set of sizing rings. They had to go through several before they found the right size. Some of them would actually fit on her finger, but they were too tight on her fur, and pulled at it the wrong way. The salesman seemed very interested in her fingers, with their claws, and odd shape.

Samantha handed the ring over, and they left the store. The tailor was going to be a no-go, so Samantha stopped at a craft store and bought some sewing supplies. She wasn't very practiced with it, but she thought she knew enough to manage. Next was one of the cheaper department stores. They needed clothes, lots of them, and quickly. Rick had it relatively easy. While much of his clothes didn't fit, his work clothing was simply scrubs, and those were cheap, and easy to get in any size on short notice.

Samantha, however, had virtually nothing that would fit. She started with bras, but ended up quite frustrated as it was hard to find them in her size. Giving up on that, she started looking for tops. They were also hard to fit, with her chest size, but she was slightly more productive there, buying a several blouses and a few tees.

Pants were an issue. It was very hard to try anything on with not just one, but TWO tails in the way. And the more she struggled, the more her annoyingly sensitive and belligerent foretail got rubbed. She found herself biting back moans more than once in the busy dressing room. Frustrated, she stepped out of the pants and slammed the bottom of her fist against the wall, startling the woman in the next stall over. As she lifted her hand a few pieces of the veneer came off the divider and fell to the floor. She cradled her hand with a soft moan, which sounded a little like a cat mewling. Sighing in defeat, she grabbed all the pants that she thought would fit, put her sweats back on, and left the dressing room. She would have to get them tailored for BOTH of her tails. Putting the foretail down a pants leg just wasn't going to work.

She was going to try to find Rick in the men's department, but she passed the cashiers along the way, and the lines were so long that she decided to get in line first. Rick wouldn't have trouble finding her. A mother and her kid queued up behind her. Samantha was trying to be as unnoticeable as she could, but her tail was swishing behind her, just in front of the preschool boy. He reached out and touched her tail as it swept by, making Sammy jump a little and look over her shoulder.

"Hi big kitty lady. You've got a really soft tail!"

The mom watched Samantha nervously. She smiled weakly, no teeth. "Thanks..."

"I'm sorry, he just gets into everything," the mother mumbled, still nervous.

"It's alright... uhm, you can pet it, if you like," she said kindly. The kid went to town, rubbing his small hands down the soft fur.

"You're softer than my kitty. Whose kitty are you?"

"Mine." Rick had finished and spotted Samantha, and had just walked up. Samantha's ears turned red. "And she is soft, isn't she?"

"Yeah!" The kid looked up. "Oh! And a big doggy man too! I thought cats and dogs didn't like each other very much."

If the mother was nervous before, she was even more now. "N-now T-tommy, that's not v-very nice," she stuttered.

"Oh, we like each other very much. Not every dog hates cats, after all." He hugged Samantha, taking the opportunity to lick her cheek. She blushed even harder.

"Oh. Okay!" He continued petting, smiling to himself.

Samantha leaned against Rick, exhausted. "This is so hard," she mumbled softly.

They soon reached the front of the line. The cashier rung up their clothes quickly, Rick paid with a credit card, and they left the department store, but not before the kid had a chance to shout "Bye big kitty lady!" as they walked back into the mall.

"Let's get out of here; I can't take much more of this." Rick nodded, and they headed for the exit, and back to their car. While they were inside, it had started to rain, and the instant they stepped outside, their uncovered paws were soaked. Samantha mrowled as the water seeped into her fur, and rushed out to the car, with Rick following close behind.

Samantha jumped in the car, her wet fur dripping onto the floor mats. She mewled, shivering a little. Rick entered the car seconds later, panting softly.

"I don't know if I can deal with this, Rick."

"I'm sure it'll get easier... I mean... I know there's others of us out there. People will get used to it... things will be normal again."

Samantha sagged against the door, staring out across the wet asphalt. "I really hope so." She frowned, grumbled, and pulled her foretail out of her pants with a soft moan. "This thing is a huge freaking hassle. I'm gonna have to have it out, I just can't handle the thing rubbing against my pants."

Rick glanced over at her as he pulled out of the parking spot. "We'll figure something out... Just need to make a stop at the grocery store."

Samantha didn't respond. She was busy staring at her reflection in the passenger side rear view mirror. Rick sighed, and focused on driving. The grocery store was only a few minutes away, so it wasn't long before he pulled into the lot. He parked quickly, and turned back to Sammy. "You can stay in the car, if you like. I'm just going to get some basics. Is there anything you'd like?"

Samantha shook her head. "I'll just come in with you. I guess I need to get... used to it."

Rick shrugged, nodded, and they both got out of the car, and ran to the door. Rick resisted an urge to shake like a dog to get the water out of his wet fur. Samantha grabbed a cart, and they entered the store.

Inside was an assault on their senses, specifically their noses. Their enhanced sense of smell was picking up so much more of the myriad scents in the store. Samantha blinked a few times, and turned to Rick, wide eyed. He had a similar expression. "O-okay, let's stay away from the pet isle." Samantha said weakly.

Rick nodded in agreement. "Right."

They cruised through the store, picking up some basics. Greens didn't smell too bad to them, so they decided to both give it a try, and bought some salad fixings, and fruit. The meat section was almost overwhelming, though, and they had to exercise self restraint in front of the VERY nervous looking butcher as Rick asked for two pounds of ground beef.

Inevitably, they passed the end of the pet isle. Samantha stopped dead in her tracks, her nose working overtime. "Heey... do you smell thaaat?"

Rick looked over at Samantha. "All I can smell is pet food, Sammy. Wh-" As he turned to face her, she was gone, down the pet isle. He followed after her quickly, stopping next to her. When he saw what she was standing in front of, he had to bite back a laugh.

"Catnip!?"

Samantha was purring softly, her nose in a stack of tubs of dried catnip. "Yeeeeaaaah..." She was obviously a little loopy. "Let's get some!"

Rick couldn't help but chuckle now. "Sure. Why not." He grabbed a tub off the shelf and stuck it in the cart. "Let's get you out of here before you're rolling around on the floor, okay?" Samantha nodded absently, purring and rubbing against Rick in a very distracting way.

Rick pulled her away towards the dairy section. He picked up a gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, and some cheese. Samantha continued to rub and hold Rick affectionately.

The cashier was obviously trying not to stare. He rang up their food without looking up more than twice. He did give Samantha a strange look as he grabbed the catnip, however. Rick's ears turned red. Samantha giggled, still loopy. The teen said nothing, and finished quickly. Rick paid, Samantha bagged. She became quite preoccupied with the paper bags, batting at them, growling softly. Rick sighed and took over bagging, then pulled her from the store before she could do anything else.

The rain seemed to sober her up a little as they ran to the car. A woman who was stepping out of her car clambered back in and slammed the door when she saw the couple running towards her.

Seconds later, they were back in the car, dripping wet. Samantha shivered a little, her tail uncomfortable against the seat. "Let's... erm. I'm gonna stay away from catnip in public," she mumbled, embarrassed.

Rick nodded, grinning in spite of himself. "I wonder if it'll become a controlled substance."

Samantha shook her head. "Prescription catnip would be silly."

Rick chuckled and started the car. "Well, I think that's enough adventure for one day. Why don't we go home?"

"Yes... I'm worn out already." Except for the catnip, she had been stressed and nervous the entire outing. She hadn't seen anyone else that wasn't human anymore either, and that bothered her. It made her feel even stranger. She mentioned as such to Rick.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Sammy. I'd bet a lot of them are staying home still."

She nodded, not very reassured.

**************************

They arrived at the apartment a short time later. Rick volunteered to ferry the groceries and clothes from the car as Samantha dried off a little inside. She stood in the bathroom with a towel, nude, trying to get the water out of her fur. It wasn't working very well, and with a sigh of exasperation, she lifted her arm to her mouth and tried licking it. It sort of worked, but the feel of fur sticking to her tongue wasn't particularly pleasant. She stopped and tried to pick the fur off of her tongue.

Rick popped his head into the bathroom at that moment. "Erm.. what are you doing?"

Samantha stood for a moment, tongue hanging out of her mouth. She pulled it back in, and frowned. "You perv. Gotta sneak a peek at me while I'm drying myself off," she growled, and threw the towel at the unsuspecting wolf. It covered his head, and he whined pitifully, pulling his head back through the door.

"Try a hair drier."

Samantha stared at the closed door, then rolled her eyes a few seconds later. Of course a hair drier would work. She pulled open a deep drawer on the vanity and pulled out the hair drier, and started the long process of drying off all of her fur.

Outside, Rick pulled the towel off his nose and started drying himself off, chuckling to himself. He remembered reading about fur driers in furry stories. He contemplated making one out of a bunch of hand driers.

This started him along another train of thought. He was currently using up some of his vacation time to spend time with Samantha. She definitely needed it, but when he got back to his job as a nurse, what would his employers do about him? Now that he was a walking furball, keeping sterile would be an issue. He'd have to wear a jumpsuit or something to cover up all of his fur.

Provided they didn't fire him for being a freak, of course. He shook his head, not wanting to think too much about that. He started thinking about Samantha. She had been laid off from her interim retail job about a month ago. She had recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and she was working damn hard to find a good job. But, journalists were not in high demand. Newspapers had been going out of business left and right, thanks to a combined attack from cable news and the internet.

Not for the first time since discovering Samantha on the bathroom floor, he felt guilty. Samantha's words the day before had stung. He really did feel responsible. She was only trying to share his passion for anthros, and she had gotten burned in the process; changed, maybe forever. He sighed, rubbing his ears.

It was too bad he wasn't a cat, he thought, since he could use some of that catnip. Instead, he left their bedroom and grabbed a beer from the fridge, sat on the couch, and stared out the window. He tried getting the cap off with one of his blunt claws, and after a few tries, succeeded in prying it off. He sat silently, listening to the rain and the drone of the hair drier in the background.

Being a wolf with a hot feline fiancée just wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, he decided. Not like this.