FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was a day like every other, and yet it was special. The sun shone bright in a cloudless sky, light filtering through the leaves into a mix of shadow and gentle green tint. To each side of this long, winding trail, there was only the vast expanse of forest: Trees as far as the eye could see, countless little dwellers hiding between them, from chirping birds to the smallest of rabbits, and the fluttering butterfly occasionally getting in the way, looking for yet another flower to feed on. It was nothing but greenery and nature wherever you turned, with air so clean that all it took was one breath to fill your lungs and ease your worries.

One young otter thought about it like that, at least, as he rode down the trail as fast as his bicycle allowed him. The whooshing and the crunch of his wheels against the soil were the only thing reaching his ears, broken only by a dry leaf or branch breaking somewhere amongst the trees. Likely a small critter of sorts, but he wasn't interested in knowing; he was laser focused on the training, the burn going up his legs and chest the only thing in his mind. Every few feet he rode through, he kept telling himself five more, ten more, until his body could no longer take it. The forest around him was merely background for his efforts.

Soon enough his legs started giving in, the telltale that it was time to slow down, let gravity do most of the job before his foot landed on the ground, a soft thud as he came to a full stop. With no effort pushing his body forward, the exhaustion hit him like a wall of bricks, his breathing heavy as he leaned on the handlebars. Head resting on top of his forearms, he looked down, seeing the red tank hanging loosely from his torso, and the slight pump that made his chest look bigger whenever he breathed in. He allowed himself a moment of vain pride as he saw the immediate results of his training, and a chuckle left his mouth.

"Shit..." Kramer tiredly let out as he stretched, his muscles and joints popping in all the right places. First his back arched, before he spread his legs, one at a time, feeling the burn settle and his limbs growing heavier; at least his thighs felt a bit tighter against the white shorts, although he have been imagining that.

With practiced movements, he reached for the bottle of water to the side of his bike, taking a quick sip that felt like ambrosia going down his throat. Some ancestral otter gene told him to soak himself up from head to toe with whatever was left in the bottle, but he knew from experience that it was best to ignore it; he had a slender, nicely defined build, with just enough muscle underneath, but that just didn't look good with wet clothes hanging from him. Instead, he looked over his wrist, at the smartwatch's screen, checking from his heart rate to the calories...

"Sweet, broke my record. Not bad, me," he said with another sip, getting off the bike and taking it with him to the side of the road. After leaning it against a tree he pretty much followed the example and slid down another one, sitting on the ground with one last swig of water. A sigh left him and he stretched again, already feeling both, the soreness in his legs and the regret about his latest workout. He knew both things would fade away, but that didn't make right now an easier time to live in. "I should take it easier on the way down. After five minutes of resting, oh god, the pain. And I should stop talking to myself."

Another chuckle escaped him, and he ended his stretching with a bit of a flex, just to see it himself a bit. His legs were still screaming at him for using them too much, and he leaned to rub it out of them. The muscle was hard underneath his brown fur, but his fingers expertly kneaded every inch, and the sighing moved from agony to pleasure; almost enough to make him pass out right in the middle of the forest for a not so quick nap.

It was oddly soothing, reminding himself that he was in the middle of nowhere right now, in a mountain trail off his home on the far outskirts of the city. It was a nice break from the stress of his job, people texting every day, the walls of coding, the conference calls- Damn, if only he could leave a cutout during the conference calls! That's why moments like this, when he could just let go of it all for a few hours and enjoy some fresh air and silence, were something to appreciate.

And yet, that silence was cut by... by something. His ears twitched when that weird sound reached them; something he wasn't familiar with, and there it was again. An audible swing first, he figured from something heavy falling at top speed, followed by a loud knock? It was the best way he had to describe it.

Now, Kramer was a curious fella; aware enough that a branch breaking in the forest wasn't worth the hike to find the deer that did it, but still prone to wanting to understand the unusual. That was the perfect category for these sounds, and they kept stirring something in him. It was unnatural from how perfectly synchronized and timed they were. It was a sound of the forest, but somehow, it didn't belong. It sparked a certain sense of adventure in him; one that made him forget the bike and the water bottle, and make his way between the trees with a glint in his eyes.

Of course, it wasn't the first time he ever entered the forest during one of his runs; he had gone in his own little excursions from time to time, just to stretch his legs in a different, colorful way, and he had come across everything, from animals to joggers and campers; even one time, he found... Well, it was better to just blush when he remembered that one time. Those were thoughts he didn't need while following a mysterious sound that guided him deeper and deeper into the forest, past a few clearings that it almost felt like it was actively avoiding. The sound led him towards the furthest trees, the ones that stood closer to one another, blocking more of the sunlight. The deeper he went, the darker it got, to the point that it felt like not even the forest dwellers dared trespass this place.

Kramer had to admit he was nervous, looking all over the place, the sound getting louder with every step, until he felt it was coming from every direction at the same time. He didn't realize when he started, but he was taking soft steps to keep the crunching leaves from alerting whatever made those sounds of his presence. The shadows from the tree branches made peculiar patterns on the ground, and his eyes followed them towards the trunks that seemed to stand together just for the explicit purpose of making archways that led into darkness. A silent gulp went down his throat.

And there it was again, that sound, now clearer than ever. The thumping, that was the word he was looking for; it had a certain beat to it, a rhythm that his ears tried to follow, and that the rest of his body went along with. Out of instinct, he hid behind a tree while something flashed in his eyes for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure of what he had seen right there, in the middle of the forest, hiding among the shadows and between the trees. He just knew he saw something that didn't make much sense. And then the thumping reached his ears again...

With a single breath, he braced himself for the first peek out of the tree. Incredible to think that a simple ride down the mountain trail had devolved into this, but here he was now, head poking from behind the trunk, scanning the darkness for that mysterious silhouette...

He found it right away: Whoever they were, they were tall, simply massive; he wasn't sure what he was watching, but his mind immediately registered as a broad back, most likely defined if the deep creases between those muscles were anything to go by. Enormous logs to each side, which he took a moment to realize were arms, drew his eyes downwards, to the strong legs that ended in a pair of hooves; multiple species and ideas went on in Kramer's mind at the sight, and perhaps as if to confirm them all, he looked back up, finding a pair of long horns jutting to the sides of this creature's head. A bull of some sort was the first thing that came to mind, but there was something in the air around them that kept him from stepping up and introducing himself. To begin with, just walking up to a stranger for no reason was odd, especially in the middle of the forest. But there was something else...

What went on next all happened in a flash. He still didn't know where that mystery sound came from, that's what was keeping him on edge. And just as that thought crossed his mind, the odd silhouette reached for something cleaved on the ground; a shape that Kramer recognized instantly. They rose it well above their horns, and he saw the long, slick wooden handle ending up on a bladed piece of metal that reflected what little light made its way through the leaves. The moment he saw the axe, all reason escaped Kramer's head and he simply gasped in shock, audible enough for him to hear, and no doubt for the mysterious silhouette.

That's when they turned around, the axe still held up high, and through the thick blackness of their shadowy body, a pair of shining white orbs cut through, staring directly at the otter. Kramer returned the gaze for only a second, before his base instincts took over and he turned around faster than he had ever moved before. He didn't waste time looking back or trying to talk with whatever that was; all he wanted was to leave, to escape from this thing as fast as possible, and his tired legs obeyed his orders, ignoring the soreness and rushing across the trees at top speed.

For maybe three feet, before he tripped with a root and came crashing down.

"Agh! Ow, my leg," he winced, curling on the ground his ear pressed against the soil. That's when he heard the soft clopping, the leaves crunching under some massive weight, and the sound just kept getting closer and closer. He didn't dare look up, fully aware of what was coming up next. By the time it stopped, he covered his head with both arms and simply begged. "Please, don't kill me. I'm not tasty at all, I'm all fiber."

"What?" the deep baritone instantly made Kramer's worries vanish, but they were instead replaced by constantly growing confusion. "No, I'm not- I'm vegan. Wait, no, even if I wasn't, I'm not going to kill someone. Just... Are you ok?"

With the initial horror gone, Kramer finally found it in himself to stop cowering and look up. Standing at a safe distance, and leaning forward over him, was the tallest bull he had ever seen in his life. Just as he thought so, the sun started coming through the leaves, giving him a clearer view of the man: Tall, as already stated, his body covered in short, muted black fur, with his hands ending in a milky white instead; thicker hair sprouted from his head into a luscious golden mane, crossing over to his chops and framing his face into a gorgeously trimmed beard, ending on white closer to his jaw. And that face, now that Kramer had a better look at it, was an attractive one, with thick eyebrows in the same bright gold color, and his eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses; but what drew his gaze the most was the bushy moustache that flickered with every breath he took. The way it shook was both, adorable and tempting, and Kramer was hypnotized by it.

"Hello? Is everything ok?" he asked again, and the blush that settled on Kramer's face was priceless, making him wish the ground would swallow him whole right there. The bull didn't seem to notice, walking closer to him instead while holding his arm up. "That was a hard fall, I just hope you didn't hit your head or anything. How many fingers am I showing?"

"What? Uh... T-Two," he shakily replied, seeing the thick fingers presented to him. He noted that other than those two, he only had the thumb left to the side. Three fingers on each hand. And looking up his arms, he started to detail a lot of other things, such as the violet mantle hanging from his shoulders and completely covering his torso, adorned with several black and gold details. Was it a poncho?

"Alright, doesn't seem to be anything serious," he sighed, making his mustache shake yet again. It took every ounce of willpower Kramer had to tear his eyes away from those precious tufts of golden hair. "But I'm no doctor; you might want to see one when you get back home. Ah... That does look bad."

His eyes went down, and Kramer's own gaze followed instinctively. His bare knee, right below the edge of his shorts, was a sticky mess of blood and matted fur that made him instantly look away. A soundless swallow before he turned over again, feeling the slight flare coming off from the wound, yet no actual pain; he bent his leg a few times to test, and other than mild discomfort and a wince, nothing felt out of the ordinary.

"Does it hurt?" the bull's question came around at the same time that his large hands fell to each side of the otter's knee, neither of them actually touching, yet making it look like he wanted to keep Kramer's leg from falling off.

"It stings a bit, but nothing bad. There's more blood than anything; just a scrape, I'm sure."

"It could still get infected, though," this mysterious bull couldn't look away from his knee, despite his tone remaining relatively calm. Kramer noticed his fingers twitching at first, before taking his leg in his grasp with a surprisingly tender touch. His thumb edged around the blood, as if wanting to touch and check deeper, but it stayed still. "Let me clean it up at my place. It's the least I can do; I scared you, so this is my fault."

"You're not... scary," he blushed when the bull looked up at him in the middle of his words, and he was face to face with those handsome features again. He had said it without thinking, but it brought a small smile to him that made his mustache move again; dammit, why was he paying so much attention to that!? "Anyway, this was really my fault. More me being clumsy than anything, you don't have to worry about it. It's..."

He had to stop when the bull's smile vanished, replaced by a surprisingly stern look behind the glasses. His touch was still as soft as before, and he was actually leaning back to give him enough breathing space, but his gaze was firm and left no room for discussion. A bit of a frown made it look almost like he was pouting as well, and Kramer felt both, endeared and guilty over rejecting his good will.

"Alright. I mean, you're right, it could get infected, so I should get it cleaned as fast as I can, right?" his words got a sigh out of the bull and hints of his smile returned. Kramer almost joined him in that sigh, but held back. He leaned forward, getting his leg back from the bull's grasp and slowly standing up, somewhat wobbly at first and with another wince on his way. "It stings a bit, but I can hand-

He got cut off when the bull stepped up and swept him off the ground in a swift motion. No sound came out of the otter in his shock, until he realized that, in a matter of seconds, he had gone from standing on the ground to being carried bridal style by this mystery bull's enormous arms. Only then he understood just how really big this man was, with his chest and broad shoulders alone as wide as half of the otter's body was tall. And now that he was pressed against them it wasn't just the width that he was feeling.

"I don't want your injury to get worse by making you walk. It's a lot faster to my place if we go like this," he insisted, and yet again, his tone left no room for discussion; he made that clear when he started walking without expecting any answer from the otter.

"I-I can walk on my own!"

"It's fine, really. You weigh maybe 50 pounds?" as he said that, his biceps visibly flexed. It was surely involuntary, but Kramer didn't fail to notice and his eyes widened. It was one thing to see the guy from a distance, he was huge already then; but feeling his muscles up close, that really put things on perspective.

"I... I weigh more than that," he ended up pouting instead, trying to look away from this much larger body. And perhaps trying to get some bragging points in. "There's plenty of muscle under this fur, just so you know."

"Oh, it shows," and just like that, Kramer was blushing again. "I didn't mean to offend you, I just meant that you're light enough for me to carry. I don't really feel that much difference," and his biceps flexed again; Kramer was convinced that this time, he did it on purpose. "My name's Baum, by the way."

"Oh! Kramer."

"That's a nice name. Sounds strong," he looked over the otter with a quick smile, making Kramer blush again. He had to fight the instinct to hide himself behind the closest thing, because the closest thing was the chest hidden behind his poncho. "I take it you were jogging down the nearby trail. We get a lot of joggers, but usually on the weekend."

"I had a day off, wanted to get a good pump going," he thought about flexing and showing what he had, but the constant brush of Baum's tree trunk arms quickly shot that idea down. "And I was biking, actua- Shit, my bike!"

The moment he remembered, Kramer lived up to his mustelid nature by slipping off Baum's fingers, hands landing on the bull's massive back as he tried to snake his way over his shoulder and back to the ground. Baum's reflexes were quick and he held the otter down, but that didn't stop him from trying to break free.

"Hey- Hey, settle down."

"I left my bike on the side of the trail!" shocking how trying to slip away didn't cost him any breath. "What if someone steals it!? That shit was expensive!"

"Really, calm down," unlike the otter, Baum's voice stayed in the same volume as before; his serene tone didn't falter in the least, no matter what. Finally, he managed to pull Kramer all the way back, until he was safely resting on his arms again, and their eyes met. "Your bike will be fine. No one comes here during the week; you're literally the first person I see in this mountain on a Thursday. Cleaning your wound right now is more important."

"Well... If you say so," he reluctantly agreed; Baum sounded sure enough, at least. But that confidence in his words only made Kramer wonder more and more. The forest around them started to recede slightly, less trees visible as the terrain started getting rocky; he figured they were getting closer to the edge of the mountain, and that only made him more curious about where this bull was taking him. He couldn't hold back the questions any longer. "How do you know this much about the mountain? How long have you been living here?"

"A bit... over a decade, I think," that was enough to make Kramer's eyes widen again. "Yeah, I know. City life just wasn't for me, I tried. I prefer the quiet solitude of nature. And I get everything I need right here, on my own."

"Everything?" his head tilted slightly at the word, but he got no further answer from Baum. Perhaps he would've, had he not climbed over him again and peeked over his shoulder. The forest behind them was already unknown, yet he couldn't shake the picture of the massive bull in the dark swinging an axe with the strength that his muscles so easily showed off. "Oh, were you getting wood back there? Shouldn't you go pick that up? Or your axe? And why were you cutting it in the dark?"

"If there's no one around to steal your bike, there won't be anyone to steal a pile of wood," a bit of a chuckle came out of him after that, and there was an almost musical hint to it that made Kramer feel warm inside. "And my eyes get used to the darkness pretty easy, so I didn't even notice. Anyway, we're here now."

Kramer turned around and his jaw dropped. An enormously tall wall spread in front of him, rising so high into the sky, he had a hard time finding the top. It was all rock, naturally pushing from the ground, almost entirely of a whitish gray save for those few spots where moss managed to grow, littering it with green spots that seemed to shine with the sunlight. It was such a simple thing, and yet, his breath was taken away the moment he laid eyes on it.

"This is... amazing."

"Is it?" another look of disbelief from the otter, which got yet another chuckle from the bull in return. "I know it is, but I see this every day and I've gotten used to it. There's an elevated plateau on the other side, though. Great view at night."

Kramer looked up at the sky, trying to picture the amazing view that Baum spoke of. The thought of watching the stars from below, the millions of lights he was aware of, and that yet he was never capable of seeing through the lights of the city... And just as he was thinking as much, the sky turned a completely black color that made him panic for a moment, thinking that it had gone dark at his command. Was he that powerful all of a sudden or what?

He looked back to the front and realized it wasn't dark sky what surrounded him, but rock, illuminated by a few bulbs hanging from the walls and ceiling of the massive alcove he was now in. Again, he looked over Baum's shoulder, seeing the entrance the bull had crossed and the forest on the other side, still bright from the sunlight; an image that got smaller by the second, as the bull kept walking further inside.

Turning around again, he came face to face with an even larger area as the two left behind what he could only describe as a hallway. It was just as bright, with a few lightbulbs hanging from above; a small couch sat on the middle of the room, a very old and worn down green, with a wooden table in front of it that seemed sculpted by hand out of a stump, and what looked like a desk to the side, full of small plants and rocks neatly arranged.

"Wait, is this your place? You live in a cave!?" he whipped back to the bull, barely aware of the strain on his neck as his excitement and interest grew. Baum was looking straight up ahead, not giving even so much as a glance to the otter, but he had stopped as if waiting... "That's so freaking cool..."

"Oh!" he finally looked down, his bushy eyebrows jumping along with his mustache, eyes wide in shock at the small otter. Almost immediately after, another tiny smile formed on his lips, and for the first time Kramer saw a hint of a blush behind the dark fur on his cheeks. "Thanks."

He started walking again right after, but true to his enormous size, it only took him a few steps to cross the modest living room and reach the couch, where he carefully let Kramer off, his leg raised against the armrest. The otter already missed the touch of that hulking body, and a bit of a pout appeared on his lips that he was no longer pressed against that enormous torso, but the sting on his knee got his attention back and only then he remembered he was injured in the first place. A wince came out, despite how much he tried to keep it down.

"Has it gotten worse?" Baum asked instantly, surprising Kramer. For a second, he wasn't sure how to react, but ended up simply shaking his head and watching the bull nod lightly. "I'll get back in a minute, don't move your leg too much," that was all he said before walking behind the couch, sliding down a small opening that Kramer hadn't noticed until now, and sinking into the darkness of it all; no wonder his eyes were accustomed to it in the forest.

Kramer ended up lying back on the couch, staring at the rock ceiling and playing the recent events in his head over and over. He was starting to realize that his reaction to an injury was willingly letting himself be guided by a stranger to their home, and that he was now defenseless in the bull's living room. It was the beginning of practically every horror movie out there, and yet he felt perfectly calm. Baum simply didn't set any alarms in his head; if anything, the somewhat fatherly air around him was easing the otter down. Had it not been for the slight burn in his knee, he might as well be taking a nap.

He took this momentary privacy as his chance to look around, at least as much as his prone position allowed him. But there wasn't much of notice beyond the desk and table he had already seen. An austere man, this bull. Maybe that's why he focused on the room instead, slowly realizing the few oddities in the walls, the occasional jagged edge or a small protrusion here and there. They stood out precisely because the rest of the cave was so perfectly curved, despite the grainy look to it. It was all most likely man-made, and that led the otter to the rather gratuitous image of Baum in nothing but a tight pair of pants, carving the rock all on his own, sweat covering those bulging muscles-

In perfect otter fashion, he smacked his cheeks to keep the impure thoughts away. This was a guy he just met, for Christ's sake! An admittedly handsome, gentle guy, but still. His head fell back on the couch with a sigh somewhere between dreamy and exasperated, and he stared at the ceiling again, eyes slowly rolling back, back arching to give him an upside-down look of the rest of the small living room. He ended up on the desk again, looking over the different rocks, the many plants to the sides and on top, from cacti to succulents, all of them surprisingly lush despite the apparent lack of sunlight.

Soft thuds got his attention again before any more questions could start to form in his head and he pulled himself up from the top of the couch to greet his generous host. But his words stuck in his throat when his eyes landed on the imposing figure once again.

Baum greeted him with a soft smile, his hands holding a bottle of clear liquid, a towel and a bag full of small cotton balls, but Kramer barely noticed either of those. He focused on the bull's torso, no longer covered by the poncho but instead by a white vest that hugged to his body just tight enough to let him see how really broad his chest and shoulders were, along with his comparably slender waist. But as delectable as all that was, his eyes were just as easily drawn to the now exposed arms, detailing them clearly this time around; his biceps were each at least as big as his head, and he had no way to describe his shoulders other than perfectly sculpted. Most of his chest was covered by his clothes as well, but there was plenty of cleavage for him to see not the cleft he was half expecting to separate his strong pecs, but a thick carpet of the same golden hair puffing out of the edges, gently brushing against the fabric with each breath he took.

Of course, the only reason Kramer managed to detail all of him so much was because he was staring; by the time he noticed what he was doing, the blush had been settled for too long, and the best he could do was fall back on the couch and pretend he didn't see anything. All while silently begging that he would be able to leave soon, yet wanting to see more of the bull.

"Alright, let me see your leg," Baum ignored his obvious embarrassment; whether it was out of politeness or he really didn't notice, he didn't care as long as there were no awkward talks about it. When he opened his eyes back up, the bull was leaning in front of his legs, from the other side of the couch. He left the things on the side and with the same careful touch as before, grabbed the otter's leg and slowly straightened it up, pulling him closer. Kramer grimaced a bit at the strange sensation of his wounded knee no longer bent, but at least there was no pain.

The next thing he felt was the wet towel gently pressing against his skin, his fur already going damp while the bits of blood notably started coming off. Just thinking about it made him a bit dizzy, and he tried to focus on anything else: On the ceiling, on the small tree stump table, on Baum and his handsome face, and his mustache shaking as he thought only on the injury he was treating; Kramer couldn't get enough of those little tufts!

"You were right, it's just a few tiny cuts. Nothing worrying," his reassuring voice got a smile out of Kramer, a quick little grin to return the sentiment, before he felt ridiculous about it. Again, the bull didn't seem to notice as he took a cotton ball and soaked it with the clear liquid. "This is going to sting a bit."

The moment the cotton pressed against his knee, Kramer winced for a second. As the burn traveled through his body at amazing speed, his hand squeezed the couch. It was over in a second, but it was a surprisingly tiring one. A few more dabs and light brushes, each one making his leg less and less sensitive, until the bull was satisfied and pressed a square band-aid against it. Kramer didn't wait for him to say anything before testing the motion, feeling no discomfort as he bent his knee.

"All good to go," the bull announced just as he sat back up on the couch, his feet resting on the chilly soil of the cave. A quick shiver crawled up Kramer's spine, but it was revitalizing, making him stand up with a spring to his step that his host didn't miss. "Ah, if you're leaving already, I can go with you. To make sure you don't get lost on the way. And that nothing else happens with your leg and all."

Kramer looked up at him with wide eyes, but for the first time, Baum didn't return his gaze. The bull was looking towards the dark entrance, his eyes slowly roaming the walls until landing on the desk, inspecting each one of the plants. Despite how much he tried to avoid it, the otter clearly saw those light violet eyes behind his glasses, the slightly saddened glint in them, along with the lack of movement on those tufts of hair next to his curved lips. It didn't take a genius to realize the bull wasn't looking forward to being alone again.

If Kramer was being honest, he didn't really want to leave just yet either. Looking around the cave, all the way back to Baum, his curiosity started peaking again. Despite not being the huge and scary monster he pinned him for at first, Baum was still mysterious enough to make the otter feel the craving to know more. After all, how was he supposed to say no to a handsome and polite man when life presented him on a silver platter? Besides, the more professional parts of his mind were thrilled with the prospect of figuring out how he managed to carve this cave out of the rock, or what else he did to live in this place. It wasn't just thirst, he was honestly fascinated with everything he had seen of the man so far.

"Actually..." he more or less left the word hanging for a while, getting Baum's attention right away. The moment he did, he slowly sat back on the couch, his eyes roaming all over the place as if to look for the right words to follow up. "I think I'd like to rest for a while, just to be on the safe side. I mean, if you don't mind."

"No! I mean, I don't mind at all, yes! You can stay," the sudden excitement in his words was so out of character for what he knew so far; and yet, it was endearing. It took a second for Baum to figure out what to do next, before he sat on the opposite end of the couch, putting the cotton and bottle on the table. He just stared at them awkwardly for a second, making Kramer wonder if he was avoiding looking his way again. "Ah! I should offer you a drink or something to eat."

"I'm fine, don't worry," the otter chuckled, and this time it was the bull that blushed. It was a lovely look on him. But Baum looked away again and his expression pulled at his heartstrings just a bit, making him check his watch for the time just to look anywhere else.

"What's that?" he asked out of nowhere, making Kramer jump. The bull was looking down at his wrist, eyes shining curiously behind the thick frame of his glasses. "The watch, it looks weird."

"This? This is just a... smartwatch," his words came to a stop when he saw the bull raising an eyebrow, leaning forward only enough to get a better look at the small machine in his arm. While he did that, Kramer was busy with the quick math in his head. "If you've been here for a decade, that means you don't know what a smartwatch is- Actually, that means you don't know a lot of things."

"I go to the city sometimes," he was quick to reply, with a frown already forming on his forehead. But the way his lips pouted was too adorable to take his annoyance seriously. "I know what a smartphone is. In theory... I've just never actually used one. Or seen one... I didn't know they made them in watch size now."

Ok, that was cute as well. And Kramer reached around his pocket and pulled out his phone, unlocking it before showing it to the bull and enjoying the wide-eyed shock that got him after. He wordlessly offered the phone to a shy Baum, who held it with both hands almost as if afraid it would snap in half from his touch. With arms that big, however, he didn't blame him.

"They really work by touch, that's so weird..." he said as he gently poked, eyes widening even more when he swiped for the first time. Just seeing his reactions made it hard for Kramer to hold back his smile. "So many little squares. I don't get it, why do you have two?"

"The smartwatch isn't really much of a phone, I mainly use it for working out," his words only made Baum tilt his head. Another chuckle left Kramer and he tapped at the watch a few times until his usual apps popped up, and he showed the screen to the bull. "See, here you can keep track of your heartbeat, how many steps you take, how long you run, calories, a bunch of stuff. I was using it to keep track of my cycling time today."

"Crazy..." he whispered in awe, unable to tear his eyes away from the watch.

"What do you go to the city for usually, if you don't know any of these things?"

"Hmm? Oh, mainly for my glasses," and he adjusted them out of habit, something the otter tried to do as well, before remembering he left his own back at his place. He moved his hand down just in time to make it look like he intended to cover his mouth all along, or at least he hoped that's how it seemed to the talking bull. "And to get some of the commodities I can't give up, like cotton and alcohol," he pointed at the bottle on the stump and Kramer decided not to admit he hadn't noticed what it was. "I can make a lot of balms and ointments out of medicinal herbs, but some things are too important to try doing them on your own."

"Did you seriously just say medicinal herbs?" Kramer asked him with a smile, waiting for the bull to wink at him and admit the nature of his joke. But when he tilted his head at him again, the smile slowly started vanishing from the otter's face, replaced by an agape expression of pure shock. "Shit, for real? How does that work? How do you do that?"

"I'm a graduated botanist, it would be worrying if I couldn't do that much," he admitted with, as Kramer heard it, a hint of slightly arrogant pride in his voice. "It's all about recognizing what plants are the right ones, and I grow most of what I use myself anyway, so it's not really hard," at that, Kramer's first reaction was to look back at the plants by his desk, getting a quick laugh from Baum in return. "No, not those. I have a greenhouse on the other side of the cave where I grow all my plants. Sometimes I bring a few potted ones in here to lighten up the room, but just for a day or they won't get enough sunlight."

"You mean you move your plants around daily?" but Baum didn't say anything. He simply looked away, his mustache hiding the grin on his lips, and his arms once again flexing for the otter to see. It might have been because of so much time secluded, but he really liked being praised like that. "No wonder you could carry me so easy. Guess all that beef isn't just for show."

He said it practically without thinking, and every word reached his ears a mere second after leaving his mouth, but he couldn't stop any of them. And yet, his own blush was nothing compared to the pure crimson Baum's entire head had become. He swore even his horns turned red from that! To think this was the same guy that had been flexing as if to bait him...

"I mean... T-Thanks," he managed to get out, his glasses suddenly clouded from the steam his body seemed to be producing. A huff escaped his nostrils, and Kramer swore he saw a smile under his mustache, not like he was staring or anything! "Well, most of the pots are pretty small anyway, so it's not that hard work, but I guess it's a bit of a workout. Most of that, however, I get when I go out to look for new specimens and stuff."

"So, you collect plants?" he was quick to ask, thankful for anything that made the air less awkward.

"I suppose you can call it that. And rocks; I'm also a geologist," he pushed his glasses up again, this time with the same air he had whenever he flexed. "Most of my free time goes to that, exploring the forest for whatever plant or mineral I haven't seen here yet; it's a very wide area, so there's always some to discover. There's a lot of climbing, trekking, tumbling and taking my clothes off to wash them. And because of the heat! I sweat a lot," his eyes sparkled so much as he rambled, Kramer didn't have it in him to make him stop. The way his mustache shook with every word- he kept looking at that bush! But it was so cute! And Baum noticed him staring, getting another blush as his eyes widened. "Ah! Sorry, I shouldn't talk about my, uh... s-sweat..."

"What? No, don't worry about it! You're fine!" his words didn't seem to have much of an effect on his embarrassed host, but even when uncomfortably trying to look away, he looked simply too cute. "You're just passionate about what you do, that's great. I'd love to see the plants in your greenhouse, actually."

"Oh! Well, no, it's a bit too deep into the cave, and it's a complete mess right now, I should trim some of the plants soon," he was talking fast all of a sudden, still looking away from the otter. At first, he just figured he had a hard time with people in general after spending so much time alone in this forest, but perhaps he just had a problem with him, specifically. "And you know, it's kind of... a me thing..."

"Oh!" that one took him by surprise. He didn't want to admit his heart sank down a bit from it, but now keeping his gaze up on the bull was just a bit harder. And thus came an uncomfortable silence.

"Hey, what about you? What do you do for a living?" it was the bull's turn to try and change the subject, apparently. Kramer suppressed the need to sigh in response.

"I'm a maintenance engineer. I do..." he trailed off at the thought, head tilting as he tried to put his finger on something specific. Yet, so many things came to mind, listing them would prove a futile attempt. "I do a bit of everything, now that I think about it. From system programming to field work. Guess I'm a jack of all trades!" he declared so with a smile, getting a similar reaction from the bull. "And I guess I handle a lot of heavy machinery, you know. That's how I got these big boys!" and he struck a pose, arms flexing and showing the definition and the muscle under his fur.

Baum snorted. That was enough to make Kramer's eyes widen so much, they almost bulged out of his face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the bull was quick to cover his face in shame, head shaking and his fingers separating just enough for his eyes to peak through them. "I'm really sorry, that was too mean and I'm usually not like this. Y-You do have muscle! I told you already, it shows that you work out. You look really nice-

He froze right there. Perhaps, if he had stopped anywhere else, or if he had just kept going with his nervous tirade, it wouldn't have been even half as awkward. But because he stopped right at that word, all he got was to make both of them turn red again and look away from each other. A single second of sheer discomfort...

And then Kramer burst out laughing. A hearty, loud sound, almost like a squeal, that made the bull look at him wide-eyed before his own chuckles escaped him, rumbling from the depths of his chest. The bounced off the walls in the cave, echoing and mixing with one another surprisingly well, until it felt like they were surrounded by it, just for the two of them.

"Oh my god... I'm sorry," Baum said again, without letting the smile leave his lips. This was perhaps the longest he had held the otter's gaze. "A little bit of everything... Maybe I'll ask you to do some quick jobs here and there."

"Sure thing!" he was quick to answer, his head almost snapping around from how fast he whipped it up. Baum's mouth opened for a second, but Kramer cut him off in before he could even think of what to say. "I'd love to do it! Seriously, anything you want here, I'll make it happen. I just need to bring my tools, plan some things, move heavy things with my muscles!"

"Really, it's fine, I was joking..." the bull was starting to sweat out of nervousness for his guest's sudden excitement, and it was precisely due to that excitement that Kramer didn't notice his reaction. His head was already turning left and right, as if taking mental notes. "Kramer, you don't have to do anything, seriously. I appreciate it, but I couldn't-

"Nonsense! I have to do something to thank you for fixing my leg," and he stretched it to show the bull just how much a simple bandage had accomplished. Baum remained unconvinced. "Listen! I like helping people out. And fixing stuff. It's kinda my thing. And to be completely honest, you seem like a really nice guy. I... I would love having an excuse to come over and visit you, get to know each other better," that got another blush out of them both, but at least this time they didn't look away. "But if it makes you feel any better, you can do some stuff for me as well."

"Wha... What kind of stuff?" the blush was turning hotter, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going through his head. Kramer weighed the idea of just leaving him like that for a second, but even his teasing had a limit.

"I'm intrigued about all of this! How you can live here on your own, with no tech to help you out. And then you said that about collecting plants and rocks, and that sounds so interesting as well! Not just the climbing part, the whole thing. I don't know, I just want to try and learn about all of it. And seeing you sweat is an added bonus," ok, maybe one more tease, but it was so worth it to hear the bull huff and see his glasses steam again. "I mean it. Anything you want here, you can let me know and I'll make it happen."

"I got used to this lifestyle already, I don't know if I can just jump back into regular comforts that easily," he was nibbling on his upper lip as he said that, the lower brushing against his mustache as he stared at the table in front of him, deep in thought. "I miss having a microwave, though."

"A microwave it is!" the otter declared rather loudly, standing up with a finger held up high, until the bull gently grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the couch.

"No. No microwaves, it's all about being green out here," he insisted. "Look... You seem like a nice guy, and I want to get to know you a bit more as well, but you're still some random dude I just met in the mountains, and it took me a while to get this place set up the way I wanted."

"So, you don't... want my help?"

"I'm saying... you can visit, and we can get to be friends before I let you remodel my house," he had such a warm smile saying it was hard to say no. "That will also give me some time to think if I want you to do anything, as long as it's safely sustainable. Besides, it's been a while and you should probably leave already. You don't want to go down this mountain when it gets too late."

"It can't really be that lat- Holy shit!" he practically jumped off the couch when he saw the time on his watch, and the bull followed up by standing in a much slower fashion, taking a moment to stretch while he stared at the otter's disbelief. "I guess... Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well, I should leave then."

"Right. Follow me close by so you don't get lost, the forest can be pretty confusing the first few times," Baum made his way towards the door, his enormous frame and longer legs letting him take longer steps that quickly cut the distance between him and Kramer. The smaller otter had to run in his direction to catch up. It brought another smile to Baum's face. "Or if you would like, I can carry you again."

"You know what? That sounds great! I'm in!"

"That-! Y-You weren't supposed to take that seriously," Baum blushed yet again; each one was somehow redder than the last. "I was joking, it was just a joke. Ah, I forgot how to make jokes too..."

"Trust me, you're fine," Kramer talked just as they were leaving the cave, sunlight hitting his face right away, almost blinding him. The sun had long left its zenith, but there was still enough light to keep the sky a bright blue. Expanding in front of them were several trees, far into the horizon and turning into the thick forest they came from in the first place. It looked strangely different from this height, making Kramer realize that the massive bull next to him really did see things in a completely alien way-

Or rather, the bull a few feet in front of him, who he had to rush over to again. Soon, they were once again amongst the trees, the shadows from their leaves making the world seem much darker than it truly was; if you told Kramer right then that it was already night, he would probably believe it, no matter how illogical such a thing was. The bull's claims that he would easily get lost in this place started to make a lot more sense.

"So..." Baum's deep voice coming out of nowhere almost made him jump back, but the powerful baritone instantly calmed him down. "I guess you'd have a hard time finding your way back to my cave. If you do visit, we should meet back in the road and then I can walk you on the way. We need to set a date, though..."

"I'm free next Saturday," he got a nod out of the bull, and the two returned to a strangely comfortable silence. Kramer dug through his pocket for his phone out of instinct, to do little more than take a single look at the screen- "Ah! I should've saved your cave in the GPS, it would've saved us a lot of trouble."

"GPS?" the bull looked at him with an inquisitive shake of his mustache- It was so odd that he could more or less read how he felt from those little tufts.

"Global Positioning System," Kramer started explaining once again, each word coming out with a surprising amount of cheerfulness. "Your phone has a map of the are taken by satellite, and it connects to the internet to show you your position in real time. You use it to guide yourself and find the shortest route to another point."

"Right! Right, I kind of remembered that! Wait, they put that in phones now? Or... is that supposed to make more sense? I'm really behind on these things," he said so with a coy smile and his hand rubbing the back of his neck, sinking into the soft, golden hair in the process. Kramer didn't realize until a few minutes later that he was staring again, but it was hard not to when all he could think of was how soft that mane would feel against his fingers. "Hey..." Baum talking made him look back at his face, hoping he wasn't being too obvious. "I know you said you wanted to add stuff to my place to make it easier to live in, but I'm really out of touch with a lot of things and... Well, meeting you got me curious."

"Hmm? About what?"

"Everything! Just like you got curious about my plants, I have a lot of questions popping up in my head just from seeing your phone. I mean, you think you get over your need for technology until a cute guy falls on your lap," he heard his own words a second later and looked up towards the trees. His smile remained as he tried to play it off casually, but it was shaking at the corners. "So... How about you tell me about all the stuff I've missed on over the past decade I've been living here, and in return, I teach you all I can about plants, rocks and just living with nature in general. That way you can still come seem me, and then, down the road, I may let you bring in new things to my place. Maybe."

"You're surprisingly adverse to big changes for a guy that went Amish right after college," the otter once again teased him, a few good pokes on the side to get that cheerful laugh out of him. Baum looked away, his smile evident. "Alright, fine. I'll take it. I can't just start putting random stuff in your place, I need to check what you actually need; I'm just so excited! New projects get me fired up!"

"I can tell," there was just something about that smile... But he didn't figure out what it was before the light hit him on the face again, no longer hindered by the shadows and the thick branches above their heads. Only then did Kramer realize he had been staring at the bull, as he looked back to the front for the first time and realized they had once again reached the same trail he had started at. The few trees left around them were much smaller, and the clearer path in front of him waved down in familiar curves that had him looking around.

"Ah! There it is!" he rushed over to one of the nearby trees, where his bike was in the exact same position as he had left it. Baum walked over with a much slower pace, his hooves making soft clops on the ground. "You were right, no one stole it or anything. I had completely forgotten about it until now, but if someone did, I would be stranded here. I would have to stay at your place!"

"I like being right," he whispered, conveniently ignoring the last bit the otter said. He would have to push just a bit more to get a reaction out of him, it seemed. But the bull beat him to it. "So... I guess this is it, huh?"

It was such a weird thing. Only now, with his bicycle in his hands, was he aware that he was actually leaving. A frown formed on his face as something gripped on his chest, tightly. Something he was familiar with... With pursed lips, he looked over his shoulder, and there he was still: That giant of a bull, looking back with a smile of his own. Those gloriously thick, bare arms, that carpet of fuzz that promised a powerful chest, those tender eyes that seemed to gaze right into your soul, and that tuft of hair under his nose that moved along with what he felt, so perfect-

"I'm coming back on Saturday!" he said it to the bull's shock, but that didn't matter. It was more for his own sake. "Don't forget that, ok? Don't forget to come pick me up. And when I said next Saturday, I meant the one next week, not this one; I'm busy this one, but next Saturday remember to be here! And I'll bring stuff and we're gonna have fun!"

"Yeah," a hand landed on his shoulder, and for the first time, the otter was out of words. The way Baum looked at him made the thing gripping his chest... He couldn't even tell if it was looser or tighter now; it felt like both. "I'm looking forward to it. But you should really leave before it gets dark for real."

What was he supposed to answer to that? The bull was right, but there was no way Kramer could just leave with such a handsome face in his mind. The glorious hair, the polished horns, the soft curves of his cheeks and that lovely snout, quietly huffing as he looked down at him. Those lips had been tempting him for a long while now. He didn't realize he was standing on his toes until the distance between them was a mere inch; it happened in a single second and he couldn't stop any longer. He didn't want to...

In the last second, he turned to the side, and his kiss landed on Baum's cheek instead. The bull grew clearly tense for a moment, and Kramer noticed his wide eyes once his feet were flat on the ground. It was so hard not to giggle like a schoolgirl that he climbed on his bicycle and pushed his legs to their limit; the faster he managed to go, the better.

"See you next week!" he screamed over his shoulder the one time he dared look back at the bull. And in the distance, he saw Baum red all the way to the tip of his horns, and he wasn't sure if the steam coming out of his nose was real, or if he was just hallucinating from the elation. It only took a few more seconds for him to vanish from sight, and Kramer no longer managed to hold back his laughter. The only thing he could think about was the coming visit, and how time wasn't running any faster. Next time he wasn't chickening out on that kiss, dammit!