FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Leo awoke as he always did, staring at the ceiling. He rubbed his eyes just as the alarm went off seconds later. With a groan and a stretch, he stood up, then instantly froze. Last night. Did that happen? He rushed over to the door and carefully opened it, just enough for him to peep through. The couch was barely visible, and from what he could tell, no ravenous monsters were sleeping on it.

A white eye slid into view, followed by a row of teeth. “No peep shows." Leo backed away, shutting the door promptly. Not a dream. He shut his eyes. Not a goddamn dream. He hurriedly got dressed, then stepped back out into the hallway. Missy was there, brushing her hair with — what else — his own brush. She held it awkwardly between her freakish thumb and index finger. “Mornin'," she said, not shifting her attention. She was wearing a bright red shirt that hung loosely over her frame.

“Is that my shirt?" Leo asked annoyedly. “That was supposed to go into the wash today."

“Who's shirt would it be, Einstein?" She looked over at him. He could see the horribly knotted up mess that was in his brush. “Thought it would be cool if it was dirty, but—"she sighed"—guess not with you!"

Leo huffed. “You had your night, now get out." He shooed her off. “And leave the shirt." He pursed his lips. It was hard to fling her out like that, but he knew already she would be trouble.

“Look, Leo, buddy, I've got nowhere else to turn." She shrugged. “What's one more day?"

“I can't look after you—" Leo sized her up. “Whatever the hell you are."

“Wolficus Maximus."

“What?"

Missy continued casually brushing. “That's what we agreed on, remember?" There was a pang of familiarity to the name, something long lost calling out a memory in his mind. “Too cool for that stuff now, I guess."

Leo focused himself back on the situation. “Just because we were friends as kids doesn't mean we are now."

“I get it, I get it. I'm just some loser." Missy set down the brush, still looking into the mirror. “We could be friends again, though, right?"

“It's hard to do that when you've forced this on me. Plus I'd have to feed for two, clothe for two, deal with twice the garbage. Not like you can do anything in turn."

Missy walked out of the bathroom, stopping just in front of Leo. It occurred to him that she was just a hair taller. “You act like we'd be friends just so I could live here."

“That's definitely what you were getting at."

“Yeah! It was! But c'mon, you can't just assume the worst of me."

“What am I supposed to assume of you? You're a— a— thing." Leo shrugged with a frown. “Who the hell knows what you do."

“I was a thing back then too, dick."

“With a hundred other people to keep you in line." He crossed his arms.

“Good thing we're not there then, huh?" Missy shot back. The two traded glares at one another until Missy sunk lower to the ground. She had been on her tiptoes the whole time. Her size actually came up to about his chin. “Look, just one more day. I really have nowhere else to go." Missy looked up at him, clearly trying her best puppy eyes.

Leo replied with, “How can I be sure that—" Suddenly, the phone rang. He shut his eyes and calmed himself. “I'll be right back." He rushed back to his bed and picked up his cellphone. “Hello?"

“Mr. Davis, good morning. Sorry to bother you on your day off."

“Not at all, sir, good morning to you too. Is there something you needed?" Leo glanced over to Missy. She began quietly walking over to him. He gave a firm mouthed 'go away' and a frantic wave of the hand. It didn't deter her.

“I'm afraid I do."

“I'll be on my way," Leo replied instantly, already moving to his dresser.

“Hold on now, relax. You don't even know what it's for," the voice said with a chuckle.

“Oh, Leo!" Missy said, cupping her mouth and turning her head. “You gonna come back to bed, sweety?" Leo shot her a glare.

“Excuse me, Mr. Davis. I wasn't aware you had company."

Leo fervently shook his head and awkwardly laughed. “No, no, no, no, not really. What was it you needed, sir?"

“Please, don't worry about my sake. You've got a lady present, enjoy your day off." Leo glared at Missy again, which she returned with a smile. “I'll call someone else, it's not a problem."

Leo put on his best businesslike voice. “Sir, I assure you, it won't be an issue. Now what is it you require?"

“Leoooooooooo!" Missy cooed. “I'm getting cooooooooold!"

Leo loudly cleared his throat. “Is it filing work? Calling? Perhaps a technical issue?" he asked. “I'm already on my way."

“I suppose it's farewell work. We need someone to make sure an employee is properly erased from the system for his retirement."

“Got it. See you soon, sir." Before his superior could even reply, Leo hung up and pocketed his phone. “What the hell were you doing?!" he yelled at Missy.

Missy's ears flattened with a wince. “Getting you out of work, jerk. It's Saturday. No bald, fat guy should pull you in."

“What if I lost my job over that?" He put his hands on his hips.

“Well if you lost your job for something so stupid, you probably shouldn't have the damn job in the first place." Fair enough. Not that he would ever even admit that she was right.

“You've got until I get back to leave." He looked at her shirt. “And take that damn thing off. You look like a druggie."

“You would like me to take it off," Missy said, pulling on the neck of the garment.

Leo held his hands up to stop her, but quickly retracted them. “Don't rip the fabric." He turned back to his dresser and started arranging his work clothes neatly on the bed.

“You seriously going out? I did that whole charade. It's Saturday, dude."

“I got that, 'dude', but there's a job to do."

“No, it's someone else's job to do."

“Not if I get there first."

“Whatever."

Leo looked to Missy. “Do you mind?" he said, picking up a pair of work pants.

“Mind what?"

“I'm getting dressed, you barn animal."

“So?"

“So I'd like some privacy!"

Missy looked down at herself, then pulled the shirt off. The clothing dangled from her hand. “Oh no, looks like I need some privacy too," she said deadpan.

“I don't have fur, if you hadn't noticed." He set the pants down.

“Looks like you're trying your hardest though," she said with a chuckle, pointing at his arm.

Leo scoffed. “No wonder you got kicked out of your last shelter."

“I left."

“Well do me a favor and do it again."

“I already tried to do you a solid."

“One that doesn't screw with work might help better."

They lapsed into silence. Eventually Missy left the room without a word. Clearly it would take more pushing. That would have to wait. For now, Leo had a job to do, and a creature from the woods wasn't about to stop him.

_

Phone, keys, wallet, briefcase. Leo repeated the set over and over, confirming he had every item on the list and tapping them respectively as he walked to his car. He looked back to his house, almost expecting it to be torn to shreds in the few seconds he was outside. No sign of structural failure yet. He almost considered making sure the door was locked, though whoever decided to break in honestly deserved to deal with Missy. Maybe she could be a guard dog. Leo stepped inside and turned on the vehicle. She almost had the looks for it. Cuter than a guard dog, perhaps. He blinked. Perhaps.

The engine turned on. Leo was off to work. Again. He tried to keep his thoughts focused on the work ahead to no avail. Thoughts kept wandering right back to Missy walking free in his house. Tearing up the place. Making it dirty. Attracting God only knows what. He sighed. It was hard to separate her from that girl he used to play hide and seek with. He gripped the wheel tighter. Where did she go wrong?

The trip to work had been burned into his mind. His driving was entirely on autopilot while his mind took note of every familiar rock and tree along the forested path. It took some time to actually reach some sign of civilization, with the first vestiges of buildings popping up on the road. First it was the traveler's affair, gas stations and rest stops. Then came the more corporate side of the city, the fast food restaurants, the large office buildings, the large stores.

Leo tapped on the steering wheel as he approached his block of an office building. It was a glass block, but a block nonetheless. Should be a smooth process and another success to add to the list. He turned into the parking garage. Missy flashed through his head again as he came to a stop. “Just let the house be there, please, God," he mumbled to himself. He straightened his tie, stepping out of the car like an office worker should.

The interior of the building was as bland as it had always been. Sure, the ground floor had a grand, echoing reception with an array of elevators, but the meat of the building was a maze of carpet, blank white walls, and repetitive art adjacent to fake plants. Despite its repetitious nature, Leo had burned the layout into his mind. He turned left at a particularly generic painting of a forest, and knocked on his superior's door. Someday, Leo would have a varnished door of his own.

“Come in," a voice said. Leo opened the door, finding his boss stuck to his leather chair as usual, and an older man sat just across from him. “Mr. Davis, glad you could come in on such short... insistent notice." Leo nodded, then gave a wave to the older man, who he recognized as a somewhat familiar coworker. He had graying hair and a smile that would put even Leo's best asskissing grin to shame.

“Glad to be here, Mason, sir," Leo replied. He closed the door behind him, adopting an upright posture.

“Don't give me that, Leo. It's Saturday." Mr. Mason waved dismissively with a smile. “I'm sure you remember Mr. Irons." He presented the older man.

“Cesar is good for the last day, don't you think?" he replied.

“Of course, good to see you," Leo said, trying to remember exactly where it was he had seen Cesar.

“The last you'll see of me, I hope. Thanks for being a good cubicle neighbor!" Cesar said with a smile. Oh, right.

“I try," Leo said, turning back to Mr. Mason. “And what is it you'll need today?"

“Computer stuff. You know the drill. Regular guy is out today, ill." Yeah, I'll bet. “We just need you to remove Mr. Irons from the system."

“Gently, I hope!" Cesar chimed in.

Leo gave him a faux smile. “Sure, I'll get right on it. If you'll follow me, Mr. Irons."

Cesar stood up. “You guys have top notch service here," he said jokingly. The two retreated into the hall, where Leo was already planning the route out in his head and walking forward. “Thanks for the help, Leo. I thought about doing this Monday, but I thought it would be a nice surprise for the missus, you know?"

“I can only imagine." Time to rot away then. “What have you got planned for retirement?" Leo said automatically.

“I'm gonna go home and lay down. Just never get up."

“What's the wife going to say about that?" Leo asked with a chuckle.

“Well she'll be right by my side. Gonna need it for winter!" Cesar replied. “So how's life going with your girlfriend?"

“Girlfriend?"

“Oh, sorry, was that a secret? Mr. Mason was telling me how you practically tore yourself free from her. Sounded bad. Work that much better?"

“One, I do not have a girlfriend, and two, I'm happy to work whenever it comes my way." Leo refrained from turning around. He opened a door that led into a sea of empty cubicles. “If I had a girlfriend it wouldn't be her," he mumbled under his breath.

“Probably wouldn't be working so much if you did have a gal." Leo looked back at him incredulously. “Just saying."

“If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that you lose more with a woman," Leo said. A part of him couldn't believe he actually said that out loud. Another part of him nodded along in agreement. It was true with Missy, at least. What could she bring to the table in a relationship? Even in a roommate scenario, she couldn't offer up anything aside from hunting rats.

Cesar shook his head. “You'll find the right one eventually. Give it time." Time was the last thing Leo had, but he decided not to push the topic further. They turned into Cesar's cubicle and Leo sat down as he turned on the computer in front of him. It quickly booted up, bringing him to the desktop.

“You should really get into the habit of locking your computer."

“On my last day?"

“Never mind." He started clicking through the system, removing every bit of personal data from over the years, then moving onto the work website proper. “You mind giving me your employee ID?" Cesar handed over the little card. “Thank you."

“So what's she like?"

“Excuse me?"

“The girl you ran from, what's she like?"

“She's... hardly a girl. I don't really want to talk about it."

“Most you've spoken to me and you don't want to talk about it? Come onnnnn—" a finger prodded at Leo's back “—let me have this one thing. I want to know what kind of girl is attracted to the workhorse."

“She's a friend, if you really have to know. Mooching off me and everything I've earned. Last person kicked her out, I guess." Leo's work slowed down ever so slightly as Missy returned to his thoughts.

“Have to make a living somehow."

“That's not how you make a living. You get a job for that," Leo replied, looking back at the older man.

Cesar shrugged. “Hmph, I'd say putting up with you is a good enough job. Not like you spend it on anything else."

“How would you know?"

“Leo, I've seen you come into the office for the past four years with the same shirt, the same pants, the same phone, the same suitcase, and the same smile. You don't buy a thing." Cesar nodded. “See, told you I was your neighbor."

Leo offered no reply, turning his attention back to the computer. Leo stewed his thoughts, keeping himself from yelling back. “Almost done here, then you'll be off." He tapped away at the keyboard a little harder.

“Give her a chance," Cesar said calmly.

“Don't even give me that," Leo said, trying to steady his voice. “She disappears on me and I'm just supposed to—" He sighed. “Forget it." He hit the enter key, blanking the screen. “You're out. Enjoy your freedom." Leo handed the card back to Cesar.

“Sometimes being a friend is all the work in the world, Leo," Cesar replied. Leo didn't shift from the spot. Being a friend is all Missy can do. Did she follow through? Is she currently following through? Who the hell knew what she was doing right this moment.

“Have a good retirement, Cesar."

“Good luck, Leo." There was a firm pat on his shoulder. “Have a good one." There were muffled footsteps, then silence. Another job well done. Leo blinked, then stood up, heading right back to his boss's office. A firm knock on the varnished wood, and he was allowed back in.

“Mr. Davis, that was surprisingly quick," Mr. Mason said, thumbing through documents.

“Will that be all today, sir?" Leo asked.

“Unless you can point out any other retirees, yes. Thank you again. Go on home and enjoy your day."

“Thank you." If he could at all. “See you tom— Well, after tomorrow."

“Likewise, Leo. Relax for once." Mr. Mason waved him off.