FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Anon, the exhausted office worker, found himself in an unexpected situation one night. Deciding to break away from his monotonous routine, he pulled into a local bar's parking lot on his way home from work, hoping to change things up a bit. It had been another late night, dawn to dusk; it's been ending up lately, and from how the sun had set before he even left work today, the pattern held up. Judging from the other cars resting in the vicinity of the business, he took a guess that the place was at least a little full, not that he could tell from the obsidian glass that faced him on the walls of the brick construction in large panels from the ceiling to nearly the floor. Still not entirely sold on this spur-of-the moment decision, he parked a ways out and soaked in the brisk night air on his way to commit to variety. Upon entering, Anon quickly realized it was an anthro dive. He hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings since the company's most recent transfer for him to this location, and now it seemed the lack of local diligence might get him into trouble if any of its current clientele was having an exceptionally bad night, given recent issues.

The man's entrance wasn't particularly dramatic, he even noticed a few other humans in the bar, all naturally accompanied by furred dates. Their partners, for some reason, appeared pleased by his attendance, even gesturing towards others across the room, even those he couldn't see, as if welcoming Anon into their midst. Despite the warm reception, he didn't know any of them, and they certainly didn't know him.

A seat was taken at the counter while waiting until an older male canine bartender, whose breed he couldn't quite identify, came to service. He'd never had the opportunity to get close enough to any anthros to bother learning about their specific breeds. The only thing the human could identify with certainty was the outrageous coat the server had. Unused to the experience, he ordered a Jack and Coke, hoping internally to sound casual enough to mask his inexperience with ordering booze. The drink arrived quickly, and the newest face in the bar realized too late that he had forgotten to ask for ice. Resigning himself to the presumed oversight, he swirled the drink around a bit before discreetly checking for any stray fur in the glass, and after being a little shocked it was clean, took a drink.

The bar's atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant, for the nil reference he had. The patrons were engaged in lively conversations, creating a vibrant energy that permeated the room. Even though he was alone and unfamiliar with anyone there, the buzz of activity made it feel like it didn't matter. With a loosened tie, he perused the various televisions that played different channels, from news and sports to even a hit anthro live action even he'd heard of called Bluey, but none of them held interest for long.

Focused now on the glass in his hand as he leaned against the bar, he reflected on the day. It was surprising how normal things could still be outside. Work was a mess, and he had to clean it up. Ironic, considering the only reason he pursued a higher position was for the sake of ease. It was better than explaining with a smile why the angry customer was an idiot, now it seems that's all he did anymore, again, with higher stakes to match. He tapped for another and was deftly indulged. An amber refraction in his newly ordered drink caught his attention to bring him back out of his head, only to see the now poorly associated newscaster on one of the televisions covering what he was already too familiar with from work.

With a tired, frustrated sigh, Anon took his next drink quickly, then turned around in his seat to take in the crowd more thoroughly and forget about the news as his most recent drink settled within him. He couldn't help but notice that the locals added a lot of color to the scene, and if things were different, he might have even tried to mingle. With his nearly fuzzy vision, he may have been staring a bit more than was appropriate, but it was hard to control his gaze as the alcohol did as promised with each sip. Between the exhaustion from work and the effects of the drinks, he realized he was nearly dozing off at the counter. "Well, that's enough socializing for me today," Anon whispered under a breath. Tapping to pay the bill, plus tip, of course, and he could only sigh to realize he had spent nearly $30 on a night out for nothing. '[i]Whatever[/i],' he tried to tell himself, [i]'it was nice to get out without a boss on my back[/i].'

As he attempted to get up the barkeep grunted, "I don't think you're ready to go, human." The large dog commented as he retrieved the empty glass from Anon, "Especially not after throwing that last one back. Stay awhile, you'll be okay here, just don't let it get to your head." The polite commentary on how well he could hold his drink was a little aggravating, but the sitting man took that feeling as an early sign of exactly what the large, coated male meant.

[i]'What else did he say though[/i],' Something nagged at him, [i]'I'll be okay here?'[/i] He took another appraisal of his surroundings. Anon had written it off as paranoia after he'd first sat down, but just from the bit of news he had turned away from, clearly the issues outside were serious to enough people, anthro or otherwise. Everyone seemed happy here, and the way other humans were sprinkled in amongst furred, scaled, and feathered groups, this place might be uniquely adaptive. It still wasn't a human joint, but he didn't feel unwelcome either. Looking at his watch, he decided there was enough time to kill to allow his consequences to leave his system.

A cold feeling shot through his gut, and hunger kicked in all at once. He would probably be eating around this time if he were home, so this detour officially broke his schedule, just not as expected. What did he expect here? He considered that more than the menu he'd hailed for authentic bar furfood, hoping to help soak up the liquor in his system. After he'd faced the counter once more to rest his arms on, he was mildly surprised to feel like he was watching someone else hold the menu up for him, rather than them being his own arms and hands. [i]'I'm outside now, way drunker than I meant to be; what am I going to do with it?'[/i] With the answerless question in mind, he chose to focus on the present concern, food. Opting for a steak burger that Anon thought looked simply too incredible to be bar food, the parasitic, 80-proof worm in his mind had him order a third serving of drink, to pair with the food, of course.

"Weren't you just trying to leave?" A new voice asked, her tone suggesting only the minimum concern required to give a customer. He could have sworn it was the same dog from before that stood before him now, but while they sported similarities, it ended with her being smaller, darker-furred, and less patient. "Whatever, I'm sure you've got money to spend like every other skin who comes here." She looked over the room before her with an eye roll and said, "We'll be right back with your order, but we only cook a steak [i]one[/i] way here."

He was concerned to hear the underlying menace in her tone, but considered that if half the ways to do it tasted good, he liked a coin flip's chance. He didn't think they'd like burning anything either. Reassured in the fate of his order, Anon went to take another look around behind him, only to stop midway in surprise at the addition seated beside him, looking at him with not a seat between as a buffer. "Er, hey, how you doing?" He tried to ask in a way that broke the ice. The felid made a show to sniff loudly a few times in his direction, seeming to consider the results of her wordless inquiry.

After a few moments of this strange cultural exchange, Anon nearly spoke again. It felt like she was waiting for this to cut him off so she could say, "You smell like paper and work under all that alcohol. And I don't smell a partner either." Her tone ended a little lighter at that assessment.

He felt exposed and, in his current state, wondered if she read his mind until her smelling came back to him, [i]'Did I just get read?'[/i] He wondered before trying to sniff his own armpit to understand why his life story was under it, but found nothing through his dress shirt.

She smirked at that, and his fish-out-of water feeling grew at the shine of her fangs, "I don't believe you'd smell anything. I was just checking because a lot of humans seem to think 'anthros' are worth trying to cheat with, without even trying to hide it." The many spots that decorated her form creased into a sneering look on her face, "They think just because we're new to your world, we don't know what games the living play." Her gleaming yellow eyes were still on him as she rapped on the counter in thought, ears at ease and tail swaying with all the time in the world. The only thing that betrayed what must have been a serious thought within her was the look in her eyes as she stared into his, as if she were weighing the pros and cons of letting him live.

Feeling as though the lights overhead were a spotlight on him at this point, Anon tugged on his collar as he looked around. It was still any other night for everyone else; only he had the good fortune of this sudden interrogation. He didn't try to reply this time and felt only gratitude that his order arrived, delivered in a huff by the female dog, steaming and fragrant, combined with an actual iced glass of his prior order. He couldn't feel uncomfortable when presented with this dish; it was even larger than he expected, [i]'Anthros gotta eat, I guess.'[/i] He shrugged at his good fortune and lifted it to devour as she continued observing.

The big cat exhaled sharply with a smile, "That's a good choice; they even gave you some lettuce; they don't usually with carnivore orders. They must be picking up on you, types." At this point, the man wanted to end on a good note rather than a clawed one, so he tried to ignore her as long as she would let him. The burger was amazing and the drink paired perfectly, if only he could be rid of the one detractors of his this night, "Why are you here?" She eventually intruded with.

He was enjoying the meal and drinking too much to offer manners for the mannerless and muffled out an "I don't know." As he ate, she watched, and he really wondered what his deal was, but he was willing to accept that he was kind of in their zone, if they got territorial like that, and so he just wanted to end things peacefully, "Did you need something?" Anon finally asked, finishing his latest bite.

She finally looked like something else besides comfortably at ease, curious for a moment before her eyes took on a more lidded appearance while her body shifted to an expression that even he could read through his drinks and their differences, "If you don't have a mate, why don't we go out back and become more familiar?"

Now he was flushed for a reason besides the alcohol and stopped chewing, looking to her askance, eyes roaming over her amazing figure stuffed into her tight shirt and compression shorts just right. After finishing the last of his food, he answered her, "Have we met before? Because I definitely think I'd remember you." He washed down the last of the savoriness with the last of the whiskey and crossed his arms on the counter to turn his head and look at her, trying to comprehend her intentions.

"Oh no, of course not," she responded with a ringing giggle that made him feel like a professional comic, "I'd remember you too, anywhere." She finished in a whisper that said everything about her intent, her paw crawling closer to his arms, "Why don't we make some unforgettable memories tonight at my place?" She rested the soft, seeking paw on his forearm and gave him a light squeeze, what he assumed were her claws giving him the smallest sense of pressure points. Rising out of her seat while still holding him, she stood to get close enough to breathe into his ear, even over the din and the blood now rushing in his ears, "We could learn so much about each other—everything we have in common," her paw not on his arm went to his back and began rubbing him, "and everything we don't." She finished with a husky exhale, again leaving no room for misinterpretation.

His mouth had been watering for the steak; now it was as dry as the paper she smelled on him from how his mouth had been gaping the entire time she spoke. After working some moisture back into it, he stammered out, "I'm sure you're a very nice lady, but..." He looked around for an excuse and found an honest one pretty easily, "It's late, and I have to work tomorrow; I don't have time to, uh, talk more tonight." His top buttons came undone; he couldn't even tell which one of them had done it while he was looking everywhere but at her, leaning away from her nearing bust, "It's not because you're Wainati either!" He held up his hands defensively, nearly out of his seat as far leaned away he was from her, "I think you're gorgeous! I just," He looked around for the words again as she withdrew in silence. Her disposition changed, but without his notice, as she sat back down with all her appendages back to herself, legs crossed and paws stacked atop her lap, ears and tail neutral, eyes focused as ever, "I just don't really know you that well, sorry." He weakly finished, hoping to not get dogpiled for any perceived prejudice, "Could we talk more later, though?"

With how flustered and drunk he was, Anon had caused quite the commotion, many conversations stopped to spectate, and the larger, male dog had come back to investigate while his female associate did the rounds to check on their customers, "What's this guy saying about Wainate?" The tone he asked with was neutral, but Anon could sense he was on thin ice.

"He knows what our home is called, which is surprising." The solidly spotted cat cooly provided, seemingly impressed by that.

"Yeah, I heard as much; now why's he putting on a play at my bar? We don't offer live entertainment here unless Tulip's tossing out a guy who had too many drinks and can't take a hint. Is that what's happening here?" He looked down at the very nervous man who sat before him, his large arms folded with the faintest shine of bared, sharp teeth, his silhouette growing as he bristled, "I told you not to let it get to your head, human. You guys never listen, do you?"

Anon could hardly believe how things were going as he faintly gestured incoherently, pointing everywhere between the now impassive cat beside him, himself, and his now empty plate as he stammered a reply, "She was just, and I was, and then her [i]paws[/i]!" He finished with an explosive gesture upwards, desperate that the dog big enough to crush him believed the earnest story of the life and hardships of a man trying to find some peace. A little wild eyed as he looked between them, he put his hands on the counter before standing up from his stool to finish the plea with, "I HAVE WORK TOMORROW!" His tie flew up and over his shoulder with the speed at which he stood, but he didn't notice it at all as he looked up at what was, in his mind, a near death sentence should he be found guilty of whatever crime he was being charged with.

Unmoved except for an arched eyebrow, the bartender turned his focus to the leopard and asked, "What are you doing hanging around this guy, Marsha? Aren't you here with your friends?" He looked around as his ears each checked for something only he knew before finding what he was looking for, though Anon didn't dare turn away, "You've all got a nice window booth by the front; what do you want with this human?"

She put an easy-going smile on and waved a paw without a care, "Oh, you know, Garth, this and that. Anyway, I think I got what I came for." She slipped off the seat and walked away, headed to wherever it was this guy said she should be. "Have a good night, you two." She left them with, not bothering to turn around to say it, tail floating in a very satisfied way.

Still waiting for the final verdict, Anon sweated from the combined effects of tonight and asked, "Could I please have the check for this?" He pushed the plate away from himself and said, "I'm ready to go now."

Garth sighed, shook his head, and collected the empty dishes. He didn't leave before noting how Anon had finished it all, "Usually I have to bring a box for this when anything smaller than my daughter orders; I guess you are a little tall, maybe even with her." That was some faint praise coming from the biggest guy in the whole room, and it had been hard to tell at the time from where he was sitting, but Garth was at least a head over him; a little more than that wouldn't be shocking either.

Feeling more secure in things, he turned around to look for where that cat had disappeared to, but he couldn't pick anything out from the crowd of wildly unfamiliar faces, some of which still looked over to him occasionally. He wasn't thinking earlier, but Garth had said he made a scene, in front of everyone here, dead front and center. Wow. Most conversation had returned by now, but he felt certain he was a common topic, great.

He still had to wait for the check, so he bore it with disheveled dignity until Tulip arrived with it, a smug look on her muzzle, "She got you good," Tulip dropped the check and held in a paw a card scanner between them. "And don't call me Tulip; don't call me at all, actually, but if you come back while I'm on shift, 'Tullie' is what you'll say unless you want to see the bad end of claws, not some little games like Marsha was doing." After the payment was settled, she left. Anon had noticed he was actually an inch or two over her, which by no means diminished her presence, that coat adding a layer of width where he didn't know began or ended.

Never had he been done with a night more than now, so without any parting glances at the surely amused crowd, he left the bar the way he came in. The only barely tilting man leaned against his car to consider whether he was sober enough to drive. It almost didn't feel worth considering after this experience, he wished he had just gone home at this point. As he mulled over this life-or-death decision with only the leniency of a numbed, embarrassed mind, the bar door suddenly flew open right as he'd pulled out his keys. Anon watched in mild surprise as the door clanged on its hinge. For a moment, he wondered if someone had been kicked out right behind him. However, it quickly became apparent that the figure had thrown themselves out, if anything. As his eyes focused and she stepped more into the light, he realized it was a girl—an anthro feline at that—and a bit on the smaller side. Clearly not the one who had harassed him, this one wore torn leggings and a crop top, her spotted coat peeking out intriguingly from her attire.

As he observed her more closely, Anon noticed the anxiety on her face. The way she nervously held a paw out behind her to rest her fingers on the wall struck him as sweet while her eyes scanned over the lot, ears and tail straight out as if they meant to hear a signal and catch the door if it were a bad one. It looked like she was worried about drifting away into space if she let go. Eventually she noticed him standing behind his car and, after a sigh of relief, gave a shy wave and speed-walked toward him, looking everywhere but at the man as she did, her body language a muted cacophony.

Anon looked behind himself, wondering if she really waved at him. He was at the edge of the parking lot, with no one else for her attentions. Groaning softly, he patted his pockets to ensure he had everything. With everything where it should be, he walked around to the passenger side of his vehicle, trying to be a bit accommodating for her despite his internal misgivings.

Once she was within speaking distance, the feline anthro said, "Hey, uh, I saw you at the bar."

"I'm pretty sure everyone did, actually. What's up?" With her approach, Anon could make out the small golden earrings she wore and the faintly punk graphic on her top as those unmistakably feline eyes glowed green in the parking lights. He worried that he was glaring more than he meant to, as she seemed to wither under his attention.

"Oh, that, it wasn't... that bad?" She didn't sound sure of it. "Um, I just was wondering if... you had expected a date tonight?" She asked, her voice tinged with hesitancy.

This night kept getting weirder. "Nnno," Anon replied, not daring to believe his ears, wouldn't these cats leave him alone already? "I don't know why I came here, actually. Just to do something new, I guess. You?"

Noticeably emboldened by his response, she looked back at the bar happily before turning back to face him. "Oh! Sorta the same. My friends wanted to take me out to mee—," she coughed, "get me out."

She was hiding something, but Anon didn't mind. It wasn't a crime to keep one's deepest secrets from a complete stranger in a parking lot. He tried to see what she had been looking at, but the bar windows were blacked out. He settled for the mystery before him and asked, "I see. So, what did you want?"

Anon winced internally, realizing how rude his words had sounded. Before he could apologize, she took his tone as a prompt to explain herself. "I didn't come here with anyone either! I mean, I came with my friends, but, uh, not with a date..."

The disbelief within Anon turned to embers, but he wasn't ready to let them be extinguished just yet. "That's surprising," he managed to say with unexpected sobriety. "Was your boyfriend busy tonight?"

She stammered at this, and Anon began to see the full picture. She confirmed his suspicions by saying, "I don't have a boyfriend. The big reason my friends took me out tonight is to meet someone." She shuffled a bit more under his buzzed scrutiny. "I work from home, and it's nice, but meeting people is tough that way."

And she thought following a three-drink bar clown into a midnight parking lot was her chance? Anon almost talked himself out of a connection by suggesting internet dating, but he was buzzed enough to at least try. "Well, I don't have a boyfriend either, or a girlfriend, come to think of it." He laughed and took a small step toward her, reaching out a hand. "Maybe we could both help each other get out a little more?"

She looked immensely disappointed for the moment he mentioned not having a boyfriend, but then pulled a full 180 in expression once he finished. Placing her paw in his hand, her tail whipped uncertainly, but her focus was entirely on him.

A thought cracked his smooth exterior, and he sighed. "I actually do work tomorrow, though. Would the day after be okay?"

She hopped in place, shaking her figure in a way Anon knew he wouldn't soon forget, and beamed, "Absolutely!"

Anon had never felt cooler in his life than having this perfect moment fall into his lap; was it perhaps instant karma in his favor? "It's a date, then," he smiled back, holding onto her paw a little snugger. "Should we meet here again, or are you comfortable taking my number?"

She seemed caught off guard and asked, "You don't want to trade handles?"

Anon almost asked what she meant until he remembered that real, actual people use social media. He winced at himself. This had actually cost him a few dates before; he had tried making some social media accounts to keep up with the dating scene, but they never stuck. "I actually, heh, don't have any media like that," he admitted with a nervous smile and shrug. If not being a web slave cost him this girl, he might just hire a media manager to fabricate a nice account.

She cocked her head, looking very intense for a moment before smiling. "Like, at all? That's probably for the best. I always try to do a media cleanse every now and then, but with nothing else to do..." She shrugged back at him. "I recover my account and doomscroll some more. I can't believe some of the things happening in the world, just in the next states over even!"

Ah, she must be talking about the secessions. The topic he had been hiding from inside. So far, everything seemed okay, but Anon knew from his job that once new tariffs and citizenships were officialized, there would be more than a few unhappy customers, possibly lost contracts, which meant lost money, lost jobs—lost him. It was probably nothing, though.

"I actually see that in the trending of my search bars. I do usually hear about the big stuff," Anon said, taking a chance and lifting his other hand for hers, after putting his keys away. She placed her other paw on top of his again. She was so soft, the chill of night was nothing against her warmth, and the drinks that he figured had to be passing their apex by now.

It was unnerving how welcome the contact was, and why was she so unbelievably attractive? He never thought he would get with an anthro; there were never any in his department, and they typically didn't make it to any corporate roles not within an anthro company. Anon told himself that liquid courage was still there in his head, ready and willing to lead him on, but so were the feelings. Integration since first contact all those decades ago had gone, well, without open combat. But it didn't feel like there was any other way to see her than as an open heart who took a big risk tonight.

Anon's watch caught the streetlight as he turned their grasp over, revealing he had precious few hours left to sleep before work if he slept right there in the parking lot, but he very much didn't feel like taking that chance. They had both been standing in silence for a bit—he looking unhappily at the ground, she glancing between him and the floor. She noticed him checking the time and spoke up. "I'm sorry if that's a sore subject for you. I just worry about it a lot. I have family in one of those places."

'[i]Poor thing[/i]', Anon thought. If she wasn't living with them, she must not share their sentiments, or maybe they were just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The secessions were a divisive topic. While they didn't seem racially motivated on the surface, there was a common theme. Although secessionists were often mixed company, it was often emphasized how they got along in certain ways more than others. Human and anthro senses clashed in shocking ways throughout long-term cohabitation—often enough to be culturally significant, even if not the majority of the time. Federal rulings on handling these issues rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, so it came down to the people deciding their own fate. All very American, yet brash—perhaps that was also American.

Regardless, Anon had to work the next morning, and she should probably get back inside. Clearing his throat, he voiced his thoughts. "I should get going now, and your friends are probably worrying at this point."

She shook her head and smiled. "No way. They're crazy about setting me up and have probably been watching the whole time." She glanced over her shoulder as if she could see through the effectively one-way windows.

Anon frowned in consternation. "That's... nice of them, but I'm sure you heard I need to work tomorrow, pretty early too." Recovering some more confidence from the smoothness of this interaction, he ran his thumbs over the top of her small paws.

He really didn't want to leave, but negotiations at work had been taking quite literally all day with no resolution in sight. "I really need to get some rest, but maybe we can continue this later?"

Smirking now, she commented on his earlier behavior inside. "As much as I want to, I saw how you threw those back sitting at the bar; you really shouldn't drive like this." She watched him rub her paws, and her ears did a funny dance. "I actually wanted to try to sit next to you, but I was worried you were waiting for someone."

Anon scoffed, "I can't just call in this time of night, and I would have preferred you infinitely over that crazy lady who sat by me; did you see her before I... made such a mess?" It was difficult to gloss over these fresh events so soon with a straight face, but she didn't take any digs at him.

This new spotted girl looked curiously guilty at the question, "Erm, I did; we're actually friends."

Anon imagined this is probably what he looked like when he was appealing to Garth, just less adorable. But now he had a reason to be worried, "Why did your friend bother me so much? She smelled me! What did she want?" He tried to mind his tone but couldn't keep all the accusation out.

Her ears flattened back, and she looked wholly remorseful. In his opinion, however, it would have looked better on Marsha, who actually deserved it. "I- I'm sorry, I really did want to sit next to you, but I was so nervous! In fact, the only reason I came out after you was because my girls were pushing me. They said, hmm," she thought it over and looked back again to where she must think her friends were, "they said if you had been waiting for someone clearly, they didn't show." As she finished that, a few figures exited the building, not enough in the light to make out many details, but he could see the silhouette of one of them enough to feel certain it was Marsha.

That was all well and good, but that didn't answer the man's question, "What did she [i]want[/i] though. She had a plan, I just can't for the life of me understand what it was." He tried to continue making out the figures to no avail; it did, however, cause his handholder to look for herself.

She sighed with nervousness. "Yeah, that's them; this was easier when there was glass between us, to be honest." She looked to the ground and took a few breaths before exhaling to look up to Anon again. "She was seeing who you were, what kind of guy you are... if you'd be a good partner." Her voice was quivering from nerves, and it all suddenly made sense. Tullie was right; Marsha really had gotten him good.

All that was left to do was let it go at that point. It made sense; he just didn't enjoy being blindsided by being made such a sucker. "Well, what'd she say? She like me?" He sighed out all his wound-up tension and confusion. He had been on trial, just in another way.

At first, she only nodded in response; her mouth was a thin line as she held herself together, the rest of her body stock still. Anon idly wondered how fast she could bolt back inside if she got too uncomfortable. Luckily, she spoke up again, her voice marvelously even and never betraying her obvious uneasiness, "Uhh, basically. When Marsha got back, she said, I should actually take the seat she had next to you before you had to leave for, never mind." She trailed off, censoring the retelling just a bit more. The details didn't really matter too much if this was their result.

'[i]Clockisticking,[/i]' he thought, checking the time again. Needing to wrap the night up but needing to talk to her as well, he unfortunately moved to begin letting her go so he could take out his keys once more when she, a bit frantically, made an offer he didn't quite believe.

She grabbed his shoulder as he turned away and insisted, "I should drive. I really don't want you getting hurt. I know you're probably fine, and it 'wasn't that much,' but I don't like the idea."

Anon looked around, seeing a smattering of other vehicles closer to the establishment, then back to his own. How would he even get to work if she took him home? He voiced this concern, and she grew nervous. "I don't, um, actually have my own car, but I can drive well! And my friends could pick me up from your place?"

What the hell kind of car theft was this? No way was she serious. "Are you being for real right now?" Anon let her go to lean back against his ride, arms crossed, both amused and cautious. "You want to drive me back in my own car to get picked up by your friends when?"

She wrung her paws a little, visibly unsure; he had to wonder if she was aware of how strange her offer was. "Yeah, I'm serious, and right after it was all done!" She straightens up to her full height, her ears maybe to his chin. "It's a really crappy way to die," she said with some returning seriousness, crossing her arms.

Anon considered if she would actually try to stop him, then waved her off as he got back to the driver side. "That's very sweet of you, but I am actually fine, and it [i]wasn't[/i] that much. I'm not far from here anyway, and there's no one on the streets." He waved an arm over the empty roads before getting in.

It turned out she had followed behind him without his noticing. Damn, he wasn't that drunk; maybe it was just a cat's stalking trait? Marsha had snuck on him too, now that he thought about it. She didn't look happy and still had her arms crossed. "Don't do this. It's very irresponsible."

Anon looked up at her with his door wide open as he sat in the vehicle. What was going on? Was he actually getting robbed? This was getting weird. "Listen, I appreciate the concern, but really, it's getting a little much."

She sighed deeply. "If you crash, don't hit anyone else. I really don't like this."

Anon was still half worried she wanted to take his car and was trying to guilt him, but he shut the door as she glared disapprovingly at him, effectively choosing his fate. He wasn't sure what all this sudden tension was about, but he wanted to confirm some things. "I get that you don't approve, but if I live, do you still want to meet again?"

That joke put a real fire in her shockingly bright eyes, and Anon thought she was going to walk off. But she gave a stiff nod and said to meet there again, same time. He drove off with her gaze fixed on him until she turned to head back inside, her friend following in behind her, pantomiming motions he couldn't pay attention to anymore. He couldn't help but wonder what that was about. He had a lot of assumptions but didn't know anything about her—not even her name, come to think of it. Damn, what a beginner move. At least she still wanted to meet again.

Less than a mile later, driving much slower than usual, he was back home. He needed to shower but also needed to sleep. Refusing to drag the day into bed with him, the worker did a quick ten minutes, then got into bed. The whole time since he parted ways with her, he played the night over in his mind, elated by the next date but concerned with their ending for tonight. In a tricky state of unrest, it was hard to tell for Anon if he dreamt or not. He certainly thought things that he could swear he'd felt if he'd had time to consider in the morning, but his alarm did a perfect job of blaring away any hazy thoughts.