FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Didn't I tell you it would be easy?" Fangs chuckled.

"Heh. Yeah, I guess." Nick shrugged.

They were in the locker room, just coming back from the ride back. The fox's thoughts were all about what happened. Seeing the SWAT surround the place, he was the one to tell them the Hood Masks to come out with their paws up. And when they didn't, that's when Fangs and the rest made their move. The wolf was right behind the polar bear that easily kicked the door down. Nick didn't see what happened after that but from the words of the SWAT members talking on the way back the twelve raccoons were all shaking in their fur at the sight of them. And just like they were told, they all put their paws up and were finally arrested one by one.

For Nick there was a strange anticlimactic feeling within him. He expected much more, especially when he was handed a bulletproof vest. All that worry and fear he carried on the ride there felt like it was for nothing. Everything went fine, perfectly even.

Nick was sitting on the bench with Fangs sitting beside him. "I gotta admit, I was expecting it to go very differently."

"Yeah, we were lucky this time." Fangs stretched his arms and stood up. "It's weird to want something like a crazy shootout to happen, isn't it?"

Nick nodded and stood up as well. "Sounds a bit messed up, but yeah."

Fangs gave a nod as well and reached down to lift his shirt up over his head. Nick gasped and drew his eyes away from the wolf.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Fangs asked, noticing the fox's averted gaze. "We're all guys here, right? You've been in a public shower before, right?"

"N-no. I haven't," Nick shook his head and opened a locker to throw his stuff in.

Fangs placed a paw on his shoulder and gave him another smile. "Don't worry too much about it. I can help you through it if you want."

Nick just gave a nod, another gasp coming from him as in a quick motion the wolf pulled down both his pants and boxers. Nick just followed the wolf's words and pulled his own shirt up and over his head. Keeping his eyes towards the ceiling the fox grabbed at the clothes at his waistline and pulled them down. With a quick breath the fox lowered his gaze and looked at Fangs grinning at him.

"See? There's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Fangs chuckled. He grabbed two towels and gave one of them to Nick. "These will be waiting for us when we're done." The wolf continued, referring to their belongings in the lockers.

"O-okay. I'll just follow your lead," Nick crossed his arms around his chest.

Fangs nodded and stepped closer to Nick, keeping eye contact with him. "I'll be right beside you, Red. I was worried about it my first time, too. The first time is always the toughest and once you get through it you'll see it isn't that bad." The fox didn't know why he felt so awkward or self conscious about being nude. It wasn't the first time he was without clothes in front of others, far from it. But there was something different about these circumstances. Maybe it was him being in a relationship that made the idea of glancing at the wolf seem like some kind of filthy act.

The ivory furred lupine led Nick to a door on the right wall of the locker room. Fangs opened it and allowed Nick to step in first. Slowly the fox walked into what was a large bathroom. There were four sinks on the wall to the left and opposite to that on the wall across stood a row of urinals of different heights. Fangs patted Nick's back and walked past the objects mounted on the opposite walks. Nick continued to follow behind him, passing by a few stalls and entering a hallway. And finally, at the very back of it all was the showers. The left, right and wall across the one Nick came from had six showers even spaced out on them. But there were two things that really struck the fox. The first thing was that the showers lacked any stalls between them, being completely open. The second was that he and Fangs were the only ones in the showers at the moment.

Fangs came forward and placed his towel on one of the racks. Nick slowly walked up to the stall next to Fangs and did the same. "Lucky for us that we got here when it's empty. But the other guys should be here soon. I know a lot of them look pretty intimidating, but they're all great guys."

As if one cue the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard, along with them were two burly voices. Into the showers stepped two bears, one a grizzly and the other a polar.

"They were shaking out of their fur!" The grizzly gave a friendly punch to the polar's shoulder and gave a deep, hearty laugh.

"One of them passed out before he even got in the cruiser," the polar bear said, only adding to the other bear's laughter.

"Hey! Alan! Dave!" Catching Nick off guard, Fangs walked away from the showers to greet the two bears. "We were wondering where you guys were."

"It took a while to get them all in the holding cells. The poor guys wouldn't stop squirming," the polar bear known as Dave chuckled. "The other guys should be on their way."

The grizzly nodded at his friend's words but his attention shifted to the fox who turned around, watching them from a distance. "I see the new guy is here."

"Yeah, his name is Nick. Don't worry about him, turns out he's a first timer." Fangs informed the two bears.

"Oh, really?" A grin spread across the grizzly called Alan's muzzle. "Then let me handle this."

An unsure look flashed across the wolf's face. "I don't know. You can get pretty intense. You might scare the poor guy off."

"Hmm, I think you should let him try." Dave spoke, backing the other bear up.

"Alright, but just dial it back a bit, okay?" The bear just nodded but he took the wolf's words in mind as he lumbered towards Nick.

Nick noticed this and felt his heart pound upon seeing the large animal marching towards him, the whole situation was only made worse by the fact the grizzly was wearing nothing at all, his towel being draped over his shoulder. The fox gave a nervous gulp as the bear finally stopped, looming over him.

"Hey, I heard you're the new guy around here," the bear spoke in a gruff tone. He outstretched his paw and introduced himself. "The name's Alan." Nick saw the outstretched paw and saw that there was nothing outwardly threatening about the larger predator but there was still something preventing him from shaking the bear's paw.

"Is something wrong?" Alan asked, feeling a bit offended.

"N-no. I'm glad to meet you," Nick gained focus by looking up and meeting the ursid's gaze. "It's just...You're really close and I'm much shorter than you and it's pretty much...In my face."

The bear looked down, realizing what Nick met and gave another deep laugh. After catching his breath he stepped back a bit and Nick gladly shook his paw, a smile growing on the fox's muzzle. He had to admit it was a bit funny, and laughing with the bigger animal made him feel more at ease.

"You were the bears in the SWAT van, right? I heard those Hood Masks were scared to death of you guys," Nick chuckled.

The bear laughed again. "They sure were! From there, clear to here. They never stopped shaking, even those thick coats they were wearing!"

"Looks like the two of you are getting along," the polar bear stepped up to stand alongside Alan. "The name's Dave."

"Nice to meet you too, Dave." Nick said.

"Hey, are you gonna be doing that the whole time?" Alan asked Nick.

The fox was confused as to what the grizzly was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"You gonna keep staring up at us? You're gonna strain your neck like that," Alan warned him.

As much as Nick knew they were right, he couldn't just bring himself to lower his gaze. The poor fox's eye level was the same height as both bear's waists. "Yeah, but I would be looking right at it and doesn't that bother you guys."

"Oh, I get it..." he said in a low voice, almost like a growl. "You wanna know what the saying here in the showers is?"

The fox shook his head and the grizzly was almost too happy to answer his own question. "We're all men here and we let it all hang out." The polar bear beside him nodded and Alan continued. "Here in the showers we walk around wild and free. And yeah, sometimes we take a peek at one another, but both Dave and I got a wife at home. But here we know we're surrounded by other guys and instead of repelling one another we instead embrace each other's presence and our bodies."

"Hmm, I think I get it." Nick nodded. Huh, it's just like the naturalist club. And with that comparison made in his mind something in mind clicked and he found himself lowering his gaze and found himself unbothered by the ursid's sheath and balls staring back at him.

"See? We're all guys here. The more you hang out around here the more you'll see guys just going about their business and sometimes even comparing one another." Dave explained.

"Well, I don't think I can compare with you guys." Nick chuckled.

Alan laughed again and more footsteps were heard. More of the SWAT members were arriving, two wolves, another bear and a tiger stepped into the room. Thanks to Alan, Dave and Fangs Nick was quickly introduced to each and every one of them. Soon all the guys were exchanging their own point of view of the bust that happened earlier.

"I still can't believe it. After five years we finally got them!" The tiger pumped his fist in the air and gave an excited growl. "We were the ones to do it!" The other animals all joined in with their own cheers and growls.

While that was happening Fangs and Nick were standing underneath their respective running shower, finally cleaning themselves off. A small noise of comfort escaped the fox's lips as he felt the warm water running down his fur. He was more than happy to heat up after spending so much time in the freezing Tundra Town.

"It's great isn't it?" Nick looked over to see Fangs scrubbing soap in his chest fur. "Nothing's better than a hot shower after coming back from Tundra Town." He lifted his arms to let the water wash away the soap. "Hey, Red. Can you help me out? I had a little trouble reaching my back."

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Nick agreed, still enjoying the warmth swirling around him. Ge stepped closer to the wolf, grabbing the soap in his paws and scrubbing it on the wolf's back.

A deep sigh came from the wolf. "Thanks. Nick. You know, back washing is how we build bonds around here."

"Really?" Nick chuckled, raising his paws to get between the lupine's shoulders. "Maybe I should try this out on Finnick then."

"Hmm? Who's Finnick?" Fangs asked, a curious tone in his voice.

Nick gave another chuckle. "Heh. Finnick's my very small and very angry boyfriend."

The wolf's ears perked hearing those words. "Ah, so you've found yourself someone? Good for you, Red."

Nick finished up on the wolf and removed his paws. "That should do it."

Fangs turned to Nick and gave him a grin. "Thanks, I owe you one."

Soon the wolf and fox were in the locker room along with a few other animals. Nick was still drying his fur with his towel while Fangs opened the locker to get his clothes out. He wasn't entirely sure if he was right but seemed like something was bothering the wolf.

"Something wrong?" Nick asked, opening his locker.

"Uh, yeah actually. C-can I be real with you for a second?" Fangs asked after putting on his boxers. His face had a grim seriousness to it that Nick wasn't prepared for, usually seeing him smiling.

"Sure," Nick said, without even considering what the wolf would even tell him.

"Things have been kinda rough for me lately," Fangs sighed, looking down at the stone tiled flooring. "It's been months since me and my boyfriend, Sammy, broke up...I thought I was over it but he was a fox, too. You look just like him. I'm sorry if that sounds weird."

"No, it's fine. You mind if I ask what happened?" Nick asked.

"We just kinda...drifted apart," Fangs shrugged and pulled out a white shirt with a blue star in the center of it.

Nick put on his regular leaf-patterned shirt and brown pants. The only object left in the locker was his phone, the notification light blinking. He picked it up, unlocked it and read the message left for him.

Hey, Nick. How did it go?

Nick gave a small chuckle and sent a reply.

It went great, thanks :)

A small little bubble appeared and a new replay appeared on screen.

Finnick is trying to reach you. You should check up on him.

The fox checked his other notifications and found five missed calls from Finnick and text he left.

Are you alright

Nick quickly typed a reply, imagining that Finnick was worrying himself to death.

I'm fine. What's wrong

A bubble appeared and after a few seconds a new message appeared

Judy told me you were going on some kind of mission with the swat. Why didn't you tell me?

Nick typed another message

Calm down. I'm just fine.

But what if something had gone wrong? How would I have known? The message was quickly typed by the fennec.

Alright, alright. I'm not gonna do this over the phone.

Nick sighed and placed his phone in his pocket. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "My boyfriend is apparently upset with me."

"Oh boy," Fangs chuckled. "What happened?"

"I kinda forgot to tell Finnick that I went on a SWAT mission. Now he's kinda freaking out," Nick sighed.

"Hmm, maybe I should talk to him."

Nick blinked in surprise and eyed the wolf. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm an official officer of the ZPD SWAT. If he hears that I was with you and everything went fine he might calm down a bit."

"Hmm, I don't know. Why are you interested in little ol' me?" Nick questioned playfully.

"Honestly..." Thomas gave a sigh and scratched the back of his neck. "My last boyfriend was always worried about me when he heard I was on the SWAT. He couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening to me."

"One day I was shot in the shoulder and was rushed to the ER. He met me there and I was so happy to see him. But he wasn't happy to see me. He told me that I was being reckless with my life and our relationship. He couldn't stand the thought of me going out on a mission and never coming back...So once I was better, he left. He never looked back, but I could tell that it hurt him to walk away from what we had."

"Oh..." Nick gave a heavy exhale. "So you don't want to see me and Finnick fall apart like that, too."

Fangs nodded and stood up. "Police work can be dangerous, yeah. But I joined the force because I want to leave the world better than how I came into it. I knew how dangerous it could be, but sometimes you can forget that the ones who care about you can be scared that something can happen. And just like my Sammy they may want you to stop for your sake more than theirs."

"Huh. I never thought of it like that..." Nick nodded, thinking about the wolf's words and the weight they carried.

"Yeah, me and Sammy had a good run but it's over now and I'm still trying to move on. And I'd be lying if I said I still don't care about him." Fangs chuckled a bit and closed his locker.

"Come on," he gave Nick a reassuring smile. "We're gonna fix all this before it begins."

***

Once the day was over Fangs offered Nick a ride home since Finnick was still mad at him. The entire walk through the parking lot, the wolf was doing his best to convince Nick that everything was going to go fine. But the fox's mind could not help but imagine the worst situations.

Fangs' car was like his personality given physical form. The paintwork was a very dark hue of blue and the tires were, of all things, white walled. When the fox asked what was up with a combination like that Fangs just laughed and said 'It looked perfect for me, and that was all that mattered.' Stepping inside the front seats were covered by a soft fabric and a little air freshener hung from the mirror. Despite how clean the front looked, the wolf's personality once again shined through, there were many balled up wrappers and papers clearly thrown in the back without much care.

After giving the wolf directions, he and Nick rode mostly in silence. The vulpine didn't mean to be so quiet, but his thoughts were solely about Finnick. Even though he thought the fennec was overreacting he still felt bad for making him worry. As they slowly pulled in the parking lot of The Grand Pangolin Arms Nick felt himself tensing but slowly inhaled, followed by an exhale.

"I'm gonna go in there first and try to clear things up. Just hang back here for a second or two," Nick told Fangs, getting a nod in response. "We're on the second floor, door number four."

"Just do what you gotta do," Fangs encouraged as Nick stepped out of the car and into the apartments.

Nick waltzed his way through the lobby and dashed up the stairs, only stopping when he reached the second floor. Speed walking down the hall while reaching for his keys, the fox made it to door four. He pushed the key into the lock and slowly turned it, along with the knob. Once he opened the door the fox nearly jumped out of his fur. Finnick was right in front of him, standing on a step stool with a wide snarl on his muzzle.

Of course, Nick groaned to himself. He could hear me all the way from the stairs.

"Heya, Finn." Nick said with a bright tone and wide smile.

But the fennec wasn't going for it, instead he began to tap his foot against the stool, reaching eye level with the other fox. "Were you even gonna tell me? So, you were just gonna go about your life and never tell me that you were part of the SWAT."

"Finnick, no. I'm not part of the SWAT. They just needed an officer," Nick pleaded.

"You couldn't call and let me know? You couldn't text? Look, Nick...I know you got a good thing going on, working for the fuzz and all. But being an officer and being on the SWAT are two whole separate things. Hell, I never would have known if I wasn't for Miss Flopsy-Foot," Finnick, despite being angry, couldn't help but smile at his own words.

Nick closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "I know and I'm sorry, Finnick. You're right I should have told you as soon as I found out. I only kept it from you cause I didn't want you to worry about me. But that sounds stupid. I won't do something like this again."

Nick's words seemed to be enough to ease the fennec, his ears lowering a bit. "Alright, but I'm still pissed at you."

Hearing those words from Finnick only made Nick laugh. "Hey, it wasn't all bad. While I was out there I made a friend." As if on cue, the wolf came walking up the flight of stairs. Nick made a small motion for him to approach.

Finnick tilted his head in confusion and his eyes widened as the wolf strolled up and stopped right next to Nick.

"Who the hell is this?" Finnick growled.

"This is who I met out on the SWAT. His name is Thomas..or Fangs. He watched my back while I was out there and made sure nothing happened to me." Nick explained.

The wolf stepped forwards and stretched his paw out. "Hey, the name's Thomas. But you can call me Fangs...Like Nick just said," the wolf chuckled. "I was out there with Nick and I made sure no harm came his way."

Nick didn't know what exactly he was expecting from Finnick, but a sudden burst of laughter wasn't it. "You really brought one of your little cop buddies to bail your ass out?"

Nick turned away, avoiding Fangs' gaze. He hated to admit it, but Finnick was right. He was so afraid of what the fennec would say or do that he brought someone else who he just met to bail him out.

"Come on, Finn. I'm really trying here. I know you were really worried about me and I should have told you sooner. Is there any way you can forgive me?" Nick asked in a dramatic tone of voice, bending on one of his knees for extra flair.

That only made Finnick laugh again. "Alright, alright. Get the hell up, you're giving me contact shame. You made your point."

"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me," Nick smirked, standing up. "Alright, I'll be right back. I'm gonna take Fangs back down to the entrance."

"Well, hurry up. You're gone way too much," Finnick grumbled to himself, climbing down from the stool.

"So that's Finnick. He's...Something else," Fangs chuckled, shaking his head.

"Hehe. You should see him when he's really mad," Nick snickered. He led the wolf back into the lobby and walked alongside him until they reached his car. Fangs soon climbed in his car and was off.

Upon returning to their apartment Nick found Finnick trying to reach a magazine that he left on top of the kitchen counter.

"Hey, Nick. I can't reach this! Stop staring and help me out, damn!" Finnick said with a strained growl.

The red fox had no idea why Finnick couldn't just use the stool he stood on top of earlier but still walked over to the counter and handed the magazine to the smaller fox.

"Thanks, now where did you leave the bud?" Finnick asked.

"Uh, check the bedroom." Nick thought aloud. "Should be in the left bottom drawer."

Finnick went into the small room and opened the drawer Nick said and sure enough there was the small bag containing the dried plant.

"We're gonna need more soon," Finnick grumbled to himself, fishing the bag out of the drawer and returning to the living room.

Together the bag of weed and the magazine was thrown on the coffee table. There was only one item left for him to get. "Come on, fuck! I can't find shit when I need it!" Finnick yelled while peeling back the couch cushions. Nick was doing his best not to laugh as the lighter, the things Finnick was searching for, was on the table. It was clearly next to the magazine and Nick had no idea how the angry animal could have missed it. He refused to tell Finnick either, just sitting back and enjoying the show.