FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Mug felt a clawed hand lay onto his shoulder, a slight grip as he wheeled around to be met with dark, beady, yet comforting eyes. “Simon, is everything alright?" Peck said, her gaze softening ever so slightly.

“Yeah, just…thinking…" he muttered.

“Worried, or just thinking?" she said bluntly, cocking her head slightly.

“I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Mug smirked, taking a second to breathe before nodding. “Yes, I am worrying once again, but I promise it's not as bad as last time."

Peck took her hand away from his shoulder, and began to scratch at his ears. If anyone else did this he would be furious, he had lived his whole life being treated like some sort of child or pet. His small stature and cute disposition had done nothing but cause him to be either babied or shrugged off as nothing more than a momentary problem. It had caused many an embarrassing moment, as well as provided him with ample opportunity to take advantage of it.

But with Peck it was always different, when she touched him or talked to him, calling him cute or small or anything it never felt…belittling. It's always said with a warmth and care about it, and it was never overbearing. She knew when to turn it off, and when to pour it on to smarmily aggravate him.

“Scratches always help you, let them." She whispered, the noises echoing through his skull, soft, repetitive, relaxing.

He let go of the breath he didn't realize he was holding, melting into her touches as his body relaxed. “Okay, you got me, I think I am okay now." He said, gently grabbing her hand, as much as he wanted her to continue, he knew it would only escalate from this point if it wasn't stopped now. As much as she enjoyed him, he didn't want to be a purring mess every 5 minutes.

“I just, I know you guys said you would help me but I don't understand why? Like, I get you, but why the rest? I mean, Grug is cool and we get along well…Uther acts like a twat sometimes but- “A single finger pressed to his lips mid-sentence.

“Has it ever occurred to you that we are your friends? All of us, “She said, opening her arms and gesturing with her hands. “We work together for so long, we become friends, like family…or closer." She said, using her beak to gesture at him. “Natural progression, bonds strengthen and deepen the more time you spend with people you care about. Even your abrasive nature can grow on people, it did on me." She cooed, running a hand over the top of his head.

“Or you are just crazy, and haven't realized it yet." He retorted, and her hand stopped.

“Call me crazy again and no more scratches for a week." Her voice cold, and abrupt.

Mug took a second, and sighed before locking with her gaze. “It was a joke?" he said, smiling awkwardly.

She scratched the underside of his chin for a half second before stopping. “It better have been, or you will be in big trouble Simon." She said sternly, as Mug opened his mouth to respond, a noise at the edge of the clearing they sat in, a small and diminutive green creature stood, hands outstretched in a submissive ploy.

As both Mug and Peck took hands from their respective weapons, the creature stepped closer and a nervous smile spread from cheek to cheek. “You know, you two always sneaking off into clearings to be all lovey dovey usually ends with me having to find you guys." Grug's hands dropped down slightly as he walked over to the pair, their ministrations to each other muted but still there.

“And somehow I always get threatened by you two, even though you two are the most perceptive scouts in our entire company." Grug sat down next to the pair and pulled out his canteen to take a sip.

Peck looked Grug up and down before going back to resting her head on top of Mug's. “You know, maybe you lie about being tasked and you really just enjoying catching us." She chuckled slightly as Grug winced for a moment. “Some sort of fetish? It's okay, this is a place of openness among friends."

Grug patted his hands against his legs and stood back up. “Alright, I understand. Listen, Captain Steel was calling for you two, so I got the short stick-“

Mug interrupted. “Isn't that all three of us?"

Grug gave a mocking laugh. “Very funny Mug, you know not all of us short people hate being short. I enjoy not being the most looked at person in the room every day of your life. Sure it sucks to be looked down on but it comes in handy."

Mug gave a snort and moved slightly, both him and Peck stood as the three made their way back to the camp where the rest of the platoon was setup.

After a few moments of silence as they walked, Mug piped in again. “So it's a shame kink then?" Peck began to laugh as Grug sighed loudly “Sure Mug. That's what it is."

The three walking down the wooded path as it turned into tents and carriages setup in neat bisected lines of military uniformity that was immediately recognizable.

A young looking half-elf stood against a tent as the three approached. “Well there you all are, glad you could find them Grug!" Julie smiled at him and gave him a small pat on the head. Grug smiled back and bashfully walked alongside her.

“I wish him luck I guess…" Mug muttered under his breath, Peck gave him a smack on the back of the head. “Alright alright." He said as Grug and Julie walked ahead of them slightly.

Mug gave a small sigh and glanced over at Peck, she returned his gaze and cocked her head. “I really am rooting for him you know. Julie seems oblivious." Peck was quiet, looking back at the pair as they talked, Julie laughed, as Grug made some inane gesture and began laughing with her.

“You say that as if you are Expert. Just a year ago you finally caught onto me, and became smitten quite quickly." She preened at her feathers for a moment before looking back down at him. “One passionate night, a few exchanged words, the look on your face thinking you had made some massive mistake. It was all quite amateur, but endearing."

Mug was wincing internally now, feeling that same wave of shame from that morning after their first night together. He hurriedly threw his clothes on and tried to leave camp when she had grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. After Mug had calmed down they talked about it and found that she had been pining after him for a while, of which he was completely oblivious.

“Yeah, you are right. I would've never been able to guess that you also liked me." His hand was enveloped by hers, as she inched closer to him.

“Silly Kitty, I knew, your obliviousness was never able to betray your body and your actions. As cold as you were, you were always a little less cold to me. Though warming up to everyone over time, it became much more obvious to my eyes at least." She said matter of factly, and she wasn't wrong. Maybe something similar would happen to Julie and Grug, who knows.

“You know, speculating on the relationships of others tends to be…juvenile at best Mug." A voice from behind, familiar and firm, but quiet all the same.

“Uther, do you ever stop being creepy?" Mug said, as Uther matched pace with both of them.

“I mean, when I am not around you? Yeah. But I make sure to get extra silent and creepy next to you. Want to see some heads again?" He said, wiggling his fingers in front of him. Mug waved him away, as they approached the command tent for their squad. The three walked into the tent and saw Steel standing over a table, covered in a map of the area, made by the combined efforts of himself and Peck as they scouted the surrounding area yesterday.

“Good, glad you three could also make it." Steel said sternly, but obviously happy to see the other members of his Squad.

Together the five of them made up a pretty successful scouting team, sent ahead in many an encounter to help secure and recon areas before fights. The intel they can get can make or break an entire campaign against an enemy, and they were paid well for it, and worked well because of that.

“Command wants us to head out in two days, this area is fine and they will be making an outpost here. We however will be scouting out the next area in preparation for the next engagement. 17 Klicks from the edge of this area we have scouted, to the northeast, there is an area where the Blackstone Clans are setting up a similar area but because of our intel and speed on getting setup, we have the upper hand for sure." As Steel talked, he began to further explain the plan as everyone gathered around the edges of the table and maps. They all listened with rapt attention as the plan was explained in detail and roles were given to all.

Nearing the end of the briefing, Steel pointed at Mug and Peck. “I want you two to be split up for this one, I know you both work well together for obvious reasons." Mug felt his face grow a little hotter as Julie and Uther both snickered lightly. “But this time, I feel like you are ready Mug, and it will take us less time with you two working separately than in tandem."

Mug was quiet for a second, as Peck nodded at him and everyone gave similar signs of approval. Mug smirked at Steel, and locked eyes with him. “Alright, I want you to spill about the eye." Steel was taken aback for a moment, and his good eye blinked twice.

“What?" he said, incredulous. “You know that this is an order right?"

“I mean yeah, but I still want to know what's the story about the eye."

“But why?" Steel said, his voice still confused and amused all at the same time.

“The bet." Mug said flatly, as Grug and Uther both stiffened up.

“Bet?" Steel said, his gaze cast on the rest of the group, as all but Peck and Mug began to shuffle nervously.

“Yeah, a bet between everyone, 200 gold and Dessert Rations for a week for whoever can get the story about your eye." Uther shuffled a bit more now, and Grug and Julie glanced at each other nervously, mentally preparing for getting chewed out.

Steel stood quiet for a moment, before laughing out loud, his laugh getting more boisterous and unhinged. After wiping a tear away he took a moment to breathe and looked at everyone. He lifted his eyepatch, showing a nasty set of claw marks normally covered by his eyepatch. “It was a couple bears I was tracking around 15 years ago, when I was still training to be a ranger." He put it back down and looked around again, as everyone began to breathe a little bit easier.

“Now, pay the man all of you, and get your effects in order for our rollout in a couple days. Dismissed." He said, a smirked placed on his face as he walked over to the exit to the tent.

As Uther and Grug began to chastise Mug he looked over to his left with a cheeky smile, looking up at Peck.

His gaze was met by a pair of glowing red eyes, and hulking metal as gears ground inside of the golem next to him, a sword covered in blood and insides covered in gore. He turned away in an instant, as the outside of the tent began to glow orange and screams echoed through his thoughts.

“Where were you." A voice from across the table, a green body, covered in blood and missing a head. The voice coming from the direction of it.

“Where did you go?" Mug looked next to the dead Goblin, and saw a charred corpse carrying a mace.

“Why did you abandon us?" He turned to see Steel turning to face him, his other eye gone and his body missing an arm, arrows and scorch marks covering his chest armor.

“Why did you live?" The Golem from behind him emitted the noise, coming from it's midsection as the gore and viscera moved and undulated inside of it.

As he glanced over to look at Uther, he was silent, and disappeared entirely. The figures all moved closer to him, as the table turned to ash and he was kept in place, completely still as they all repeated their questions. The cacophony of questions grew louder and louder, the sound of fire and explosions filling in the white noise in between the questions, now repeating at a rapid rate. Mug covered his ears, and shook his head violently, hoping and praying it would all stop.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up, face hot with tears as he saw Peck looking down at him.

“It's okay, It's a dream…It's okay." She said, her voice soothing and calming.

--

His eyes shot open, laying in one of the beds on The Watcher he felt sweat covering his body and tears streaming from his eyes. He rolled off the bed and braced himself against the floor, feeling the thrum of the Magic crystal keeping the ship afloat, and the acceleration that was now commonplace to him. He threw on his cloak and made his way to the deck, feeling the cool night air hit his face, as Wilfred snored atop the upper deck where the wheel was. Mug made his way down the ship and sat on the bow, staring out at the night sky, high above the clouds. He saw the stars twinkling in the night sky, and stared up for a long while, listening to the wind gently brushing against his fur and feeling the warm tears continue to stream down his face, slower now, but still steady.

“I'm so sorry guys…" He said to himself quietly. “I hope you all have been able to rest…I'll visit you soon." He said, reaching into a pocket in his cloak, it carried one of the only things he had left from those days, a single pin from one of the excursions they went on as a group. It was the one from the dream, where between Mug and Peck the team was able to take care of the entire advanced party they had been tasked with just scouting and gathering intel. It was one of the first times he was able to do things on his own and it went so well, it meant a lot to him…to them.

He would make it all up to them, save the world and make sure their sacrifice wasn't in vain.