FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thunder rolls outside the establishment and Michael and Oliver are the last two on duty. As Michael puts the last glass back on the shelf, he can't help but watch his co-worker frantically patting at his pockets, spinning around like a puppy, yipping out quick “no no no"'s.

“You having some trouble there?" Michael says, stepping out from behind the counter.

Oliver presses his hands and his face against the door, whimpering as he stares outside at the sheet of water pounding against the glass “I locked my keys in the car."

Michael stands beside him, one hand on his hip and hissing, “Ooh, tough break. Guess you'll have to call daddy to have you pick it up."

“I can't do that!" he whines. “If dad found out, then I'll lose it for sure, and if I don't have my car, then I can't drive to work, and if I can't drive to work, I can't pay the bills, and if I can't pay the bills, I ca-"!"

Michael holds his hand up to stop him and asks, “Got any way to get home for tonight?"

With a sniff, Oliver ponders, and eventually says. “Not until tomorrow. I could take the bus and stuff, but they're all closed down now."

“And you can't even call an Uber?"

Oliver blinks at that and pats his pockets once more, slumping in defeat as he realizes his predicament. “Aaaand, my phone's in my car, too. That's what I get for trying to be a good employee. Can you call one up for me?"

“Are you kidding me?" Michael responds. “Of course not. I'm not getting into some stranger's car just to drive down three blocks.."

“You… you live that close?" Oliver asks, clasping his hands together.

“O… oooh no," Michael says, waving his hands in front of himself. Oliver stands on his tiptoes, his bottom lip rolling out in the largest pout Michael had ever seen. “Please… can't I just come over, just for tonight?

The brunette slaps his forehead and sighs. “Alright, alright, fine… We're going to get soaked. Just follow my lead, and don't get anything in my place wet."

“Don't you worry about that. I'm ready!" Oliver says, giving him a faux salute.

Rolling his eyes, Michael walks past him and presses his hand against the door. “Alright, it's down to the left. The apartment building on the edge of fifth, got it? We run in and get to the third floor. Ready…?"

“Ready!"

Michael takes a deep breath and then pushes the door open. The torrent of wind and rain already splashes all over the two, but Michael soldiers past it, taking off in a sprint down to his place. Oliver follows him, flailing around in the cold and the soaking air. Michael cuts across the lawn leading to his apartment, but Oliver catches his foot on a rock and falls head-first into the mud, bubbles rising up from the pool a moment before he pulls himself up with a loud gasp.

Michael turns on his heel and grumbles, running back and squatting down to get Oliver up, but the confused redhead grabs a hold of his arm and yanks him down, so that both of them splash into the muddy muck.

Michael is the first to emerge with another loud gasp, his glasses caked to his face. He swears, but soon hoists Oliver up. “You okay?" he shouts through the roar of the wind.

“Yeah, I think so!" Oliver shouts back. “But I'm a mess!"

“What else is new?" Michael retorts. “Let's just get inside!" His warning is punctuated by a bright flash of lightning and the terrible roar of thunder.

Oliver yelps and buries himself against Michael's muddy chest a moment before he pulls away, his blush hidden by the mud. “Y-yeah, let's get out of here! Or in there! I mean, let's go!"

The door to the apartment opens up with a muddy Michael stepping in. He peels off his glasses, placing them aside on his side table. There, he slips his wallet and keys free of his pocket and pulls his shoes off with a loud and sloppy “schlorp".

“It's no use," he says, tilting his shoe to watch as water spills out onto the tile floor of the entryway. “These clothes are no good. We're totally soaked. Just… get undressed and I'll find you something to put on. For now, you can just dump the rest off here in the entryway. I'll have to mop it up later." With that, he starts to unbutton his own top. Oliver feels the blood rush to his face as he watches his coworker undress like that, and he shakes his head, saying. “Uh… no, I think I'm good for now."

“The whole point of crashing here is so your dad won't find out you don't have your car, right? What do you think he's going to say when he finds your clothes are a mess?"

Oliver bites his lip at that and looks down. “You're right…"

“You need to know the consequences of your actions, man. I can't figure everything out for you." He lets his shirt fall down on a wet pile and he walks off to the kitchen in his bare feet.

Oliver watches Michael's back, seeing how his smooth skin moved as he walked. For some reason, he cannot turn his eyes away, even when Michael comes back holding two wet paper towels and handing him one.

“Hey. You listening? Wipe your face off!" Michael says, getting to work on his own. Once he cleans it off, he sighs, blinking his eyes open to look at the other male standing there, whose pale face had gone a bright red that even he can see with his glasses off. “Feeling alright, bud?"

“What? No, I mean Yes!" Oliver says, rubbing his face off vigorously, trying to get the image out of his mind, yet even with the paper towel over his face, he can feel the heat in his cheeks.