FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Repeat Customer

By Horatio Husky

Commissioned by ShibbyEmi

Cover artwork by Tato

Chapter 1

Cafe

Emi tugged on her apron, readjusting the nametag on its front as she prepared her best customer service smile instinctively upon hearing the front door bell ring.

The cafe the shiba inu worked at was a cute little establishment, complete with a work culture which included very friendly, almost familiar-like relations with the local staff team.

Emi had been working there only a few months now after moving into the new town, but the doge had already grown quite close to several of her fellow coworkers.

Humming quietly to herself to the chill music that always pervaded the cafe's atmosphere, she turned around to greet the customer but found herself pleasantly surprised to see one of the regulars standing in front of her.

Dalton, a towering but quite personable looking wolf was grinning at her and holding out a well worn punch card.

"Hey Emi, could you hit me up with the usual?"

Recovering quickly, Emi brightened and nodded sweetly. Deftly she punched another hold into the extended card and set to work preparing the wolf's drink of choice, a strong but simple coffee with two shots of creme and a dash of cinnamon for the extra kick.

Emi could not help but think about just how attractive the wolf was, his 'wolfish' grin and sense of ease always seemed to set a flight for the butterflies in her stomach.

A few minutes later, the shiba proudly presented the cup of steaming coffee to the wolf, complete with a little cursive heart on its front.

"Order for Dalton, here's your 10th free coffee a little early."

Dalton looked down at the card, frowning, and glanced up with a teasing glint in his eye.

"But I'm only on my 9th punch."

"Consider it a treat on me."

Emi winked, feeling elated as the wolf graciously accepted the coffee and took a sip to taste.

He smacked his lips, glancing down appreciatively at Emi as he commented.

"Delicious as always, thanks Em."

Reaching into his pocket, he deposited several crumpled dollar bills into the tip jar, before waving a cheery farewell.

Emi sighed, looking fondly after the wolf as he departed their cafe, his elegant tail swishing behind him as he merged into the foot traffic outside.

"Stare much?"

Emi felt a gentle push in her side and she looked to see her coworker, Gabriel, gently push past her to reach for the canister of sugar next to the Shiba.

Emi gave the brown rabbit a good old fashioned roll of the eyes, which did little to hide the blush forming in her cheeks.

"Why don't you just ask him out already? He's obviously single with the amount of time he spends every day coming to get his coffee here."

Gabriel's buck teeth flashed as he continued to tease, expertly pouring the coffee into a plastic cup before heading over to their drive through window.

Emi shook her head, moving over to the sink to rinse a pitcher as she responded back.

"But you don't know that for sure! What if he's just a generally flirtatious guy and already has a girlfriend? Then I'll look like a fool for asking..."

"Oh hogwash you will, nobody's going to make you feel bad for shooting your shot! Plus it's getting boring seeing you two constantly show those goo-goo eyes at each other without any action. Get over yourselves already."

Emi looked around, and several of her coworkers nodded, smiling conspiratorially as they continued at their own tasks.

Emi huffed, crossing her arms in mock indignance as she responded dryly.

"Oh please, all of you just get to gawk at us while this inexperienced Shiba Inu has to actually do all the heavy lifting and flirt. Sit back and eat your popcorn already."

A chorus of laughter came out through the cafe, and Emi realized to her embarrassment that the whole cafe was listening to this exchange at this point.

She smiled, brushing some hair away from her face as she shook her head while her cheeks burned.

She had forgotten that the cafe essentially knew everything about everyone who worked or frequented the establishment more than once a week.

There was almost nothing that one could hide from them. Almost, nothing. Emi did have one little secret that she had managed to keep confined solely to the studio apartment that she lived in.

Emi had a little secret that she rarely shared with anyone. Ever since she could remember, she had greatly enjoyed fantasizing and even recently wearing diapers.

The taboo hobby had caused a fair amount of stress, as she had gone to great lengths to keep it hidden from the people that she knew. Still, she had managed to create a pretty close relationship with the people at her workplace and local neighborhood.

It helped that she lived alone.

However, that was all going to change this week as she could feel her heart fall down into the pits of her stomach.

As she worked away that day, she could not help but have her thoughts drift to the convention she was planning on attending that weekend.

She had been saving up for a ticket for several months now, determined to meet others who enjoyed engaging in her interest of wearing crinkly underwear and acting the part.

Even now as she smiled at the customers who came in and out of the cafe her mind could not help but focus on the thick, crinkly padding that adorned her waist even as she worked.

It had taken a fair amount of courage, but after scrutinizing her rear end in the mirror for quite some time she had finally decided that it was almost impossible for anyone to tell she was padded from any angle, especially with the apron covering her front.

Stil... She had noticed that Dalton had been eyeing her up on several occasions.

Does my butt look a little thick? Do I even mind him noticing that? Heck... I hope if this goes anywhere he won't be disappointed if he ever sees it unpadded... Heck, now I'm thinking about that, aren't I?

Emi shook herself out of her reverie, returning to her work as she pointedly decided against fantasizing for the rest of the work day until she got home.

~ ~ ~

Emi shouldered the duffle bag she had packed and repacked at least fourteen times the previous evening.

She wanted to make sure everything was perfect and that she included all her favorite, various infantile paraphernalia.

She had included her pacifier, which was red and had the work 'bork!' written across the front guard, vibrating wand, plenty of diapers, a handful of onesies, a sleeper, her favorite bottle, a few stuffed animals, and handful of hypnotic tapes she had been putting together from mp3s she had found on the internet.

She checked her bag once more, feeling the excitement beginning to build as she walked towards the convention center.

Conveniently, it was only a few minutes walk away from her apartment. Although, she had to take a slightly longer route as the cafe at which she worked was along the way.

She had a feeling if any of her coworkers saw her walking by on her day off there might be a few questions she would have difficulty answering.

Emi's heart was pounding as she opened the door to the convention center, seeing a few people on the inside milling about in infantile clothing she had only seen on the internet up until now.

Species ranging from dragons to rabbits walked about, wearing various amounts of onesies, sleepers, t-shirts, rompers, and bare diapers socialized with each other.

Emi's knuckles turned white as she gripped the strap to her shoulder bag tightly, feeling an impending sense of doom as she realized she had absolutely no idea how to connect with the people around her.

She had been so excited and nervous about showing up that she had only now realized she had now idea how to start connecting with the furs around her.

Do I just... leave? I don't know how... what do I...

Her nervousness began to grow as her indecision bloomed. Just as she turned around to flee the establishment she found herself face to face with a familiar looking wolf.

"Emi?"

"D...Dalton?"

Emi couldn't believe her eyes, standing in front of her wearing a very handsome flannel and a pair of rugged jeans was none other than the most recent frequent customer of her very own cafe.

"Emi, what a pleasant surprise! I wouldn't have guessed you would be here. Who are you here with?"

"I'm... I'm uh... I was just..."

Dalton looked her up and down, noting her body language as the gears seemed to click in his mind.

"Do you want to join me? I've got a little group here that meets frequently but two of them called in sick. I wouldn't mind some company today."

Emi's heart raced, she still could not get over the fact that her work crush was not only standing in front of her, but a member of the community she had been trying to connect with for the past few months.

Dalton grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Sorry, is this your first time attending such a convention?"

Emi nodded meekly, her legs twisting beneath as she continued to work the strap in her hands nervously, glancing down shyly.

Dalton smiled reassuringly, and offered his hand out to her.

"Well then, would you like me to help guide you? I'm usually the Daddy caretaker type here but I'm comfortable performing as a switch as well. Let me guess... You're a little?"

Emi nodded, looking up and smiling nervously as she managed to put together enough courage to speak up.

"Yeah... I'm sorry, I'm just a little flustered. I've been really looking forward to this and seeing you here is a bit... overwhelming... Especially since I uh..."

She took in a deep breath, wracking up the courage as she continued to talk.

"Especially since... I wanted to... just say that... I uh... reallyreallylikeyou...."

The last part of the sentence came out in a rush as she pushed the words out of her mouth, feeling her cheeks grow red inadvertently and feeling as if she wanted a hole in the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Dalton let loose a soft chuckle, her own cheeks filling with red as he responded with a sudden strain in his voice.

"Well, Emi... I uh... Also, I was thinking about asking you out myself... To be honest, Emi, I don't really even like coffee..."

Emi looked up, an expression of shock plastered across her face as she stared at him pointedly.

Dalton laughed out loud, wiping tears from his eyes as he commented on just how ridiculously shocked she looked.

Emi shook her head, a smile grew on her face as she accepted the extended hand the wolf offered to her.

The two continued to walk and get to know each other for the rest of the afternoon, stopping at the restaurant to grab a snack. Emi found herself becoming more and more comfortable explaining to the wolf her exact feelings towards infantilism.

She found that the wolf's understanding demeanor and good listening skills allowed her to relax more than she had expected.

The Shiba explained to him exactly what kind of roleplay she was into and her ideal caretaker experience.

Dalton chimed in occasionally, causing her heart to flutter as he concurred on her preferences, saying that they were remarkably similar to his own big/little relationship dynamic.

At one point the two looked at each, silently confirming what the two wanted to do.

Dalton offered his paw once more, mentioning to her that he had a room upstairs conveniently to himself.

Emi could hardly believe what was happening, that morning she had come with the idea that she would change in the bathroom and mill around attempting to socialize and now she was headed for some private time with the most attractive wolf she had had the pleasure to meet.

Emi's cheeks burned, and once more she accepted the extended paw. The two walked over to the elevators, tails swishing in happy synchrony as Emi's heart raced.