FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sun was slowly setting as Apollo dug through his closet. His walls were coated in a nice leafy green that was tainted crimson by the light coming from his bay window. Among the many dressers and side tables that littered the spacious room, a few bamboo plants and an assortment of flowers and vegetables of all types were carefully placed as to not accidentally tip over and fall. Luckily, the clothes that were being flung every which way seemed to just barely miss his leafy children.

Jasper sighed as another shirt smacked him in the face. He got off the bed, narrowly dodged a tennis shoe, before gripping his panicky friend by the shoulders.

"If you keep pulling clothes out, your closet is gonna be on your floor or in a pot."

"But I don't know what to wear! What will Boku like? This one or this one?!" He replied with a hitch in his breath, holding up two very ugly and tacky shirts.

Jasper held him by the forearms. "Put those away and take a deep breath..."

Apollo slowly placed the shirts back in the closet and slowly inhaled through his nose and out through his mouth. His chest rose and fell with each breath he took. Jasper let him go and sat back on the bed.

"Ok... I'm calm. Now please help me."

"Wear the black t-shirt, the red short-sleeve button-up but leave it unbuttoned, and the gray shorts." Jasper pointed to different parts of the room where the articles of clothing had been strewn about. Apollo quickly swooped them up and tried on the outfit. He looked himself over in the mirror. The Saint Bernard wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled.

"This is perfect! You're a genius!"

"No, I'm just not clouded by what Boku's gonna think of you. He IS the one who asked YOU on a date." Jasper leaned back towards the headboard of the bed.

"You're right. Watch out for Hermione!"

Jasper shot up off the bed, looking back at the offending ficus that had grown out onto the pillow. "You should really tone down the number of plants in your room."

"Why? My room has some of the cleanest air on the planet. Plus they like my room better than the atrium."

"What, did the plants tell you that?"

"Don't mock Loraine. She can predict the weather." Apollo placed his paws over the sides of a sunflower's pot.

"On a non-plant related note, where are you guys going?"

"I'm taking him to Neverworld. He says he's never been."

"Now there's a surprise. I thought you hated big rides." Jasper shot him a cheeky smirk.

"Well, no one said we'd have to go on big rides." Apollo tapped his index fingers together.

"True. Knowing the kid, he'll probably be more into just being around you."

"But I'm really nothing special." Apollo looked down at his black Converse.

"Listen to yourself. You're not making sense."

"But I-"

Jasper threw a hand over Apollo's muzzle. "Shut your filthy liar mouth and get in the shower."

Apollo smacked his hand away playfully and walked to his attached bathroom. "Don't look at my body when I get in!"

"I'll look at what I want, ya big furball!" Jasper rolled his eyes and hopped back on the bed to scroll through his phone.

Apollo looked down at his watch for the third time in 2 minutes. Boku was running 10 minutes late for their meet-up time. Maybe he'd been stood up? Maybe Boku was just pranking him. This was a bad idea. He should just go back home and- oh there he is.

"Hey, you made it!" Apollo greeted the ram as he ran up, clearly out of breath.

"Yeah. Getting here... was kind of... tricky though. I left 5 hours ago and went to Megaland on accident. Thankfully the bus also ran from there to here." Boku held his knees and took deep hearty breaths.

"I could've picked you up."

"No no, I'm an independent ram! I can get places on my own!" He stood up straight and puffed out his fluffy chest.

"But I'm your date. I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Picking you up would have been no trouble."

"Well, you can take me home I guess. I forgot which bus takes me there."

"Can do."

The two made their way towards the gates to the theme park. Apollo scratched his chin and held his paw out for Boku.

"Uh... umm... Y-you, want me to... hh-hold your hand?" Boku bleated.

"Why? Do you not like holding hands?"

"It's not that! I just..."

Apollo patted the back of Boku's hand. "We don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Boku whipped his hand around and gripped Apollo's paw tight. "We're doing it. No turning back for Boku!"

Apollo paid their way in and they entered into a huge plaza area. Swirls and circles littered the cobblestone while a huge fountain marked the center spewing water in arcs across its circular bowl. Shrubberies littered with flowers were gated off to keep anyone from trampling it. Children ran around the open area while their parents stared down at the maps provided to see where they could be taken to so their time could be well spent.

"Well, what do you wanna do first?" Apollo asked his date.

"We could just walk around a bit first and see where everything is." Boku shrugged.

"Sounds fun to me."

"And maybe later we could go on some rides?"

Apollo could swear Boku's eyes were sparkling at that moment. "Sure thing, kiddo."

"Sweet!"

The two soon took off in a random direction to see what the place had to offer. A roller coaster cart sped past them on the right while a set of teacups spun seemingly out of control on their left. The same cobblestone and gated shrubberies lined their pathway and broke off near the entrance of a ride.

"So you've never been here before?"

"I've never been to an amusement park ever actually."

"Why not?" Apollo tilted his head slightly.

"My parents were always working and I was usually alone. No one ever stopped what they were doing to take me."

"That doesn't sound like a healthy house to grow up in."

Boku shrugged, forcing a smile. "I mean they took care of me, made sure I had food, clothes, at least some of the stuff I asked for, but they never gave me their time."

Apollo's mouth was downturned at his date's reply. He'd never had such a problem in his life. He couldn't imagine not having any family outings or special days like this. Seeing Boku light up when they entered had brought him so much joy, but this ram wasn't the same one he'd entered with. He could tell it was someone Boku didn't like showing to others: someone he hid very well. Sure, he could be sad, but Boku never faked his happiness in front of him before.

Apollo lifted him up and threw him high before catching him. "Well, chin up! Ya got me now! Now let's go do something fun!" He saw the fake smile crack into a genuine one instantly.

"Yeah, Gary!"

"Umm... Boku? I told you outside the café you can call me Apollo. That's my real name." Apollo put him back on the ground.

"Then why do people call you Gary at the café?"

"It's more of a protection thing so I can stay somewhat anonymous outside the club."

"So are you Gary or Apollo?"

"Yes."

"My brain hurts..." Boku rubbed his head.

"Just call me whatever you want ok?"

"Ok, Apollo."

Boku grabbed his paw and pulled him along, the older man was completely stunned.

They finally decided on checking out the Scrambler ride that spun and tossed its passengers around unlike the teacups they'd seen prior. Boku gripped Apollo's bicep as they entered the ride's seating area. The two were locked in and the ride slowly began moving. It wasn't long until it was whipping them around to and fro. Boku's grip loosened on Apollo and he threw his hands up as the ride got faster and faster. His happy bleats spurred Apollo to mimic him and shout as they seemed to almost hit a wall before they were whipped in another direction. The ride slowly ended and the two were unlocked and exited back to the rest of the park.

"That was amazing! It was all SHWOOOM and we were all WHOOSH and you were all WHOOO and I was all BAAAH and-" Boku went on and on, waving his arms and bouncing from foot to foot.

"Don't overwork yourself so soon, kiddo. We've got a whole day of fun to go!"

Boku's mouth flew open. "There's more!? I thought we got to only choose one ride!"

"No, we can ride as many as we want."

"I love this place!" Boku was interrupted by his stomach's loud grumbling.

"Hungry?" Apollo chuckled.

"Yeah, a little. But I heard these places are really expensive when it comes to food."

"I'll cover it. It's the least I can do."

"I couldn't ask you to-"

Boku's mouth was covered by Apollo's huge paw. "I'm already doing it~" He then grabbed the ram's hand and pulled him towards the main food plaza.

"Dang it Gar- I mean Apollo!"

Boku and Apollo decided on a burger stall and both got cheeseburgers the size of their heads. Apollo spotted an empty table and the two took their seats to eat. Boku eyed the huge meal then looked to Apollo who'd already dug into his. He tentatively took a bite. His eyes widened at the taste. It was so juicy and well-cooked that he'd not noticed when he went in for his third bite or his seventh.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's pretty delicious! Still overpriced, but delicious!" Boku said, still in between bites.

"It's no big deal. I use to come here a lot when I was younger. The cost was never really a big concern for me."

"Why? Are you loaded or something?"

"Nothing big. Just sitting on about 2 or 3... million." Apollo rubbed the back of his neck.

Boku choked on his current bite, pounding his chest to push it down. "DOLLARS?!"

"I like you, so I'm gonna be upfront with you. Yes."

"H-h-h-how?! Are you a government agent or something?!"

"My parents were in old money. When they died, my brother and I split the nest egg they left behind."

"Whoa... so you have half an egg that's worth 3 million dollars?"

"N-no that's not what... never mind." Apollo shook his head and went back to eating with Boku.

The two left the food court and moved towards the carnival area. Kids and adults of all ages stood in front of wooden stalls where they shot water guns, threw rings, and shot basketballs to claim the prizes that lined the back walls of the establishments. The energy was high and the prices to attempt the games were surprisingly low.

"Step right up! Step right up! Knock over the bottles and win a prize!" One stall's pitch caught Boku's ears.

He turned towards it and saw a nice sized ram plush on the top of the other prizes. His eyes lit up and he hopped on one leg. "Ooh! I want that one!"

"Wanna try, youngin?" Apollo leaned down and asked him.

"Sure!"

The two men walked up to the stall and were greeted by the guy running the booth. Boku threw down a few bucks and got a good chunk of balls to throw. He reared back and threw a ball. It hit the top bottle and clinked to the floor. The second ball hit the bottom right bottle and fell just the same. The bottles seemed to stay completely still no matter where on the bottles Boku hit with his throws.

"Aww too bad! Maybe next time!"

"I was never really good at stuff like this." The ram turned from the stall and kicked at the ground.

Apollo looked closely at the bottles and could see a clear liquid at the base of all the bottles. He could feel his blood boil and his eyes tinted red. This was a wave of familiar anger, but not one he wanted to feel.

"I'll take a swing, kiddo. Step back." He gently placed his paw on Boku's shoulder before throwing down a dollar. Once the group of balls was placed before him, he picked one up and aimed it dead center. He reared back and flung the ball so hard the air around his paw rippled. An audible crack echoed around them as the bottles were flung off the pedestal and into the back wall.

"Wh-whoa!" Boku gasped.

"Y-you really knocked them over?! I mean congratulations! Pick your prize!" The attendant adjusted his tie and motioned to the prizes.

"The ram at the top please," Apollo said.

"Y-y-yes of course! Here you go!"

Apollo handed Boku his prize and watched his date squeeze it tight. "EEEE! Thank you, Gary!"

"You're welcome, Boku."

"Anything is PAW-sible with you around!" Boku grinned up at him, wide and enthusiastic. He held the stuffed toy up and waved it in the St. Bernard's face.

"Anytime, kid."

They left the carnival area as the sun was starting to set. The two's shoulders were starting to slump and Apollo was shifting from leg to leg frantically.

"I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back ok?"

"Ok, Apollo." Boku sat on a bench and watched Apollo dash off to the restroom. He kicked his feet and held his plush tight to his chest. He couldn't push down the goofy grin that had been on his face ever since the two had met up that day. It only grew wider as he thought of all the things they did together. He really enjoyed Apollo's company and he assumed the dad enjoyed his too.

A tap on the shoulder shook him from his happy train of thought.

"This seat taken?" The stranger inquired.

"Not right now."

Boku watched the tall Doberman sit next to him. The man placed his paws on his knees and huffed. "I just need to rest my legs for a bit. Won't be long."

"O-ok."

The ram looked over his new acquaintance and swallowed the bit of drool that had accumulated in his maw. He was a well built though chubby man: perfect dad bod. His eyes were protected by his retro pink shades, his shirt's pattern reminded him of old school arcade flooring, and his pink shorts with blue triangle print screamed 90s nostalgia.

"What's your name, kid?"

"B-B-Boku." He replied, arms trembling faintly.

"Nice name. I'm Malos. A pleasure to meetcha. Ever been here before?"

"No, it's my first time. Apollo told me I'd love it though and I have!"

Malos looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Apollo huh..."

Boku's smile returned, pushing away his nerves. "Yeah! He got us in, paid for my lunch, and got me this stuffed toy."

"Sounds like a real stand up guy."

"He prefers sitting down."

Malos's face went blank. "Th-that's not what I..."

"Well well well... Nice to see you again, Malos." Apollo approached the two wearing a full sarcastic grin.

"Just checking up on my brother, Apollo." Malos stood.

"Who's your brother?" Boku chimed in.

"How'd you know I was here?" Apollo stepped closer.

"I saw your annual pass had some activity on it so I came to see if I could spot you. Never pictured you'd be on a date with a youngin like him." Malos smirked.

"Seriously where's your brother? Shouldn't you go find him?"

Malos looked back at Boku and then turned back to Apollo. "He's not very bright is he?"

"Takes one to know one."

"Apollo, do you know his brother?" Boku stood next to Apollo and scratched his horn.

Apollo rolled his eyes. "I'm his brother, Boku."

"Your name is Boku now too?! I thought it was Gary/Apollo!"

"Hug the plushie, the adults are talking." Malos tapped Boku on the nose.

"Ok..." The ram fiddled with his stuffed toy and sat back on the nearby bench.

"What do you really want?" Apollo crossed his arms.

"Same thing I always want."

"You know I'm not going back there." Apollo's fists clenched. Nothing his brother could say would change his mind. He was done with that place.

"But it's not like you're doing anything worthwhile now! Just come back to the-"

Apollo stomped, cracking the brick under his foot. "I SAID I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE EVER AGAIN!"

The entire area around them went dead silent. You could still hear the rides in the distance and the fun and games from a good few hundred feet away, but their direct vicinity had all eyes on them, completely awestruck. Apollo could only see red until Boku pulled at his arm and held up the stuffed ram.

"Apollo, calm down. You're scaring Boku Jr."

The rage he built up seemed to all but evaporate as he received the small stuffed toy. "I'm sorry Boku Jr.. My temper got the better of me.

"We'll pick this back up later." Malos turned on his heel and walked away.

"I'm dropping it."

"But that's littering." Boku piped up.

"Let's go, Boku..."

"Bye, Malos! It was nice meeting you!" Boku waved to the retreating Doberman as they too left the area.

The drive home was quiet as Boku fell asleep as soon as his head hit the headrest. Apollo took the time to admire his sleeping form at almost every other light. He couldn't place what drew him to Boku, but he didn't want it to go away. He liked the feeling of spending time with someone who could breathe oxygen and didn't need constant sunlight to grow. He liked having that connection with Boku.

Once he reached the ram's address, he gently rocked him awake. "We're here."

"Uhh... I was having such a good dream."

"Sorry about all that." Apollo grinned sheepishly.

"No worries! I had a great time!" Boku smiled back.

"Would you... want to do this again?"

"Of course! I'm sure anything we decide to do after this is gonna be just as fun! You're amazing Apollo!"

"Now now I'm just a guy." Apollo looked down at his lap.

"A very sweet guy. Umm... can I..." Boku struggled to find the words.

"Yes?"

"I want..."

"Yes?"

"C-c-could you hold my hand one more time?"

Apollo sighed. Of course, that's what he wanted. "Sure. Boku."

He held out his hand and let Boku grab it before he was pulled into a very brief, but powerful kiss. As their lips parted, he wished he could've been prepared. He wanted more. He wanted Boku.

"Night, Apollo!" Boku hopped out of the passenger seat and up to his apartment.

Apollo rubbed his lips and smirked, "That sneaky ram..."

Discord Here!