FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ Author's notes: A bit of light reading this time. This is a short chapter, only because I wanted to split the next sequence of events into its own chapter. With any luck, Chapter 4 should be released in a reasonable span of time. Until then, enjoy this light-hearted chapter!_

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Tuesday, April 13th, 2021

For the first time since Friday, I finally got a good night's rest. Or at least, I sort of did. My attention has been so wrapped around droms lately that they infiltrated my dreams, in more of a perverse way than anything else. I woke up feeling great, albeit accompanied by a strong morning wood.

I immediately become conscience of the weight on me. I looked down and saw Sophie still asleep and using my belly as a pillow, with one hand on my side and the other on my thigh. For once I woke up before her. My white and grey feathered, deinonychus companion sure had made herself comfortable with sleeping in the bed, but I still had doubts on whether that as a good idea. Still, I admired her quietly as she slept sideways. I reached out and disabled the alarm clock before it went off so I could enjoy the peace for a few more minutes.

My sleepy stupor faded away quickly as I felt Sophie's two hands lightly squeeze me. It was then I noticed that Sophie had been stirring and was cooing quietly under her breath. Piqued by this, I looked down and studied her. "She dreaming?" I thought to myself. I know dogs and cats dreams, so I figured raptors were no different, and also the fact that dreams were more vivid right before you woke up.

Having never seen her do this before, I watched with a bemused interest. But, it dawned on me that her stirrings were not just random movements, but rather rhythmic in nature. I looked down her body and raised my eyebrows when I understood what was going on. "Oh my God, she's air humping," I thought to myself as I smiled ear to ear and put a hand to my mouth as I tried to contain my laughter. I don't know why I found it so funny, but I never would have imagined anything outside of the human kingdom of having sexual dreams like that.

In any case, I laid there quietly and didn't want to disturb her from the fantasy she was having. It was actually a huge turn on to watch, in fact. "I wonder what she's dreaming about?" I asked myself.

Over the course of a couple minutes, her cooing became louder and her movements become more pronounced. Putting forth my best effort to guess what she was dreaming about, it hit me that the humping movement she was making probably wouldn't be used in her natural mating position. "Whoa, is she dreaming about the other night, when I showed her how to be on top? She's dreaming about me?" I wondered. Of course, it was only a theory, but I entertained myself wanting to believe that. To have a member of another species fantasizing about you in their dreams only further brought down our communication barrier and reaffirmed everything we've been doing together. Traces of doubt and guilt cleared from my mind, and I smiled blissfully as I watched her.

Unfortunately it didn't last, and came back to me. The problems with having a relationship with her were paramount and were going to be very difficult to sustain. The stress of bringing her into work today washed over me. It didn't seem like a good idea, but leaving her home alone while she remained untagged seemed even worse. Bringing Sophie into work was like having a secret affair with someone, then inviting that person over to dinner with your wife. You'd have to put on a pretty good act, which is what I was going to have to do. To the rest of the world, Sophie was to be no more than a pet drom to me. You know, like what most people do. And by most, I probably meant everyone. Surely there weren't many people out there having relations with their domesticated raptor, right?

But as far as work went, I would have preferred that nobody even knew I owned a dein, but since they already do, I might as well make the most of it. As far as raptor standards go, Sophie was star material and I admittedly wanted to show her off to everyone. Hopefully it wouldn't raise any alarms.

Sophie broke my wandering thoughts with a full body jerk, squeeze and open mouth smile, and then her eyes opened up in a blinking fit as she came to. "What was that?" I asked her as I greeted her good morning. She moved about on the bed, and I saw the damp spot. "You had a wet dream?" I tried to ask over my laughter. That blew my mind, I never would have guessed that could happen.

The dream certainly put her in good spirits, as she seems especially affectionate this morning. She snuggled closer to me and rubbed the side of her head against me as I pet her soft feathers. As much as I wanted to enjoy our time together, the realities were that I had to work for a living, and it was already five minutes past the alarm clock. I sighed and gently pushed Sophie aside as I got up. She hopped out of bed too and hugged to my side as I walked about the bedroom, but we split ways as I went to shower.

The hot water gave me time to clear my mind and try to forget about my stress. The dream I had last night was certainly interesting and I was straining to remember it. I remember how the dream made me felt, but was fuzzy on the details, other than some sort of fantasy involving raptors. It was all just a blur, and I tried to move on.

Some minutes later I pulled open the shower curtains and was spooked by Sophie just standing there, waiting on me. Her head feathers stood up and her deep yellow eyes met mine, casting the expression I read as "Now we can play?" Before I could react she immediately changed her demeanor and she looked me over, as if realizing I was naked before her. My waning morning wood must have caught her attention, as she hunched down to check it out.

I nervously allowed it this time. I think I trusted Sophie, even though her head was basically a giant weapon. But, she only investigated it for a few seconds before standing back up. She looked back into my eyes, took a step forward and headbutted into my chest hard enough to knock me into the shower wall. Female deins were certainly aggressive with their passion, and by this point I had figured out that that's what she does when she wants to mess around with me. "You want to fool around a bit?" I asked her as I scratched her chin.

Sophie responded by letting out a long raptoresque moan as she looked up at me.

I took that as a yes, and I was certainly willing. The wall clock warned of the time. We'd only have a few minutes, so it would need to be a quickie. But, this was actually a very good idea. I quickly theorized that I could hopefully satisfy her sexual needs now so that she would be less likely to cause any issues at work. "Wait!" I shouted to myself, I'm not going to forget this time. I held up the heart gesture to her to see if she understood yet.

It seemed as though she did. She copied it back at me, though sloppy and only for a moment, but with alluring eyes that described her focus was on me and not the gesture. She broke off the gesture and turned around in the bathroom. Growing accustomed to her agility in tight spaces, I reached out to block her long tail from doing any harm to the surroundings. Satisfied with her position, she looked back at me and bent over and lifted her tail to the ceiling, presenting her invitation and giving the "Ready when you are!" expression to me.

I was positively ready, as my member was throbbing for her. I had only had sex with Sophie four times now since Sunday, and was hungry for more of the unique experience. I quickly came up with a little idea to make things a bit more interesting. Gripping Sophie's flanks, I directed her over to the bathroom counter, and then pushed her towards it until she rested her hands up on the counter top. From this position, we could see one another better through the giant vanity mirror. Sophie cocked her head as she looked up at me from the mirror, holding a puzzled expression that I read as "Like this?"

We didn't have more than a few minutes, so I figured I'd best get to it. I answered her question by penetrating her hot depths. I let out a moan and Sophie chirped a bit in delight. Her sex had either rapidly lubricated itself, or was still wet from her fantasy earlier. The strange bottleneck and curve along her passageway reintroduced itself to me, something I was coming to immensely enjoy about her anatomy. I briefly wondered what it would feel like to screw a dein that had a cloaca instead of the genetically modified bits she had. In fact, I wondered why they even did that in the first place, and made a mental note to look into it later.

As I made love to her with rhythmic thrusts, her body became more and more relaxed until she finally lowered her head and neck down to the counter top, and lazily gripped onto the side of the counter with one arm as she let herself be taken. I could see her face in the mirror, and she was looking up at me with slack, pleasured eyes and semi-erect crest feathers. She was acting as though she were perfectly relaxed and as if this were routine. An idea I would definitely welcome.

It usually took me awhile to reach a climax in the mornings, so as expected, Sophie was coming first. She began to grunt with each thrust, and I felt her tail pressing against my bare chest trying to whip around as she approached her orgasm. The thick steam from the shower strongly amplified the smell of sex, and I had a feeling it was affecting her keen senses more than my own. Both of her hands clenched up, followed by the rest of her body tightening up as she jerked around and stood her feathers on end. As soon as I heard her broken, soft cry, I felt my penis become washed over by a release of vaginal fluids. She released her tight clamp after she came down from her orgasmic high, allowing it all to escape, rolling down me and dripping onto the floor. Sophie didn't have a loud personality during sex, which had me wondering if that was me or just how she was. "But it's not like we did much foreplay, this is just a quickie, after all," I rationalized. "I'll get you to scream, someday, my fine feathered friend," I promised her.

She had become entirely relaxed, draped over the counter, just looking back at me with lusty eyes as I approached my own ending. I felt her raise her hips higher, as if she was trying to make sure I was comfortable. The way she would look at me with those eyes of her worked its charm on me, bringing me to my limits. I leaned over and embraced her tight as I unloaded my love into her in hot spurts. Sophie could feel it, I could tell, as she reacted with an alarmed chirp followed by lustful winking of her nethers. I embraced her for about a minute as we enjoyed the warm orgasmic afterglow, but eventually withdrew from her sex with a satisfied sigh. Sophie hopped around joyously and aggressively started rubbing her head and neck against me all over. "Someone's in a happy mood this morning," I chuckled as I responded by petting her. She looked up at me and barked a couple times with perky eyes, as if confirming my statement.

I cleaned myself up, the floor, then eventually Sophie. Her white-pink folds were sandwiching a creamy white line that was beginning to escape. Something about her unnatural anatomy and the way she stood seemed to render some rather picturesque creampies without much effort. I wagered I could probably make a splendid smutty gallery if I wanted to. "Hot, but probably not something we want there when I introduce you at the park later," I said, picturing the awkward scenario. I could only imagine trying to explain that one.

Sophie's affectionate behavior continued to burn this morning, no doubt due to her happy dreams combined with the morning treat after. She was all over me as I tried to get ready for work. "Come on, Soph, eat your breakfast, we need to leave. You have some friends to make at the park today, you know," I told her as I looked at her new food that arrived last night. This time, I had purchased the correct food suitable for deins, and it seemed to be of respectable quality from what I could tell.

Sophie finally opened up the container, as it worked the same as the other brand, and took a nibble. It seemed as though she liked it better as she ate the rest with a degree of enthusiasm for once. "Day just keeps getting better for you, doesn't it? Well, hope it stays that way," I said wearily.

The doorbell ring midway through breakfast. I smiled as I knew what it was. "Plus one more for you," I told her as I got up. At the door was the package delivery man. Sophie hopped over, eager to introduce herself, but the exchange was a mere few seconds before the door closed.

"This thing got here just in time," I said as I opened up the box. Inside was the dromaeosauridian vest I had ordered for Sophie on Saturday. "Now you'll be walking in class," I told Sophie, citing how it would be a replacement for the old belt I had wrapped around her during prior trips. Vests like these were fairly common sight. While pet apparel and adornments were not quite mainstream for other pets, the drom owning sub-culture embraced it. Personally I found dogs wearing things other than a collar was silly looking most of the time, but I felt as though raptors were able to pull it off. While I didn't much care for Kibbles next door, I thought he looked pretty civil wearing his forehead name patch and ankle bracelets.

Sophie's "vest" was not a vest as a human would know it as. It was dark grey, and employed three straps. Two of the straps were two inches tall and wrapped around her neck, one under her arms and the other over. The third was slightly higher up on her neck, and was about three inches tall. It had a large metal buckle in the middle which you could detach and get engraved at most pet stores. The three straps snapped into place onto an elliptical patch which hugged the back of her neck, and even the snap mechanism was designed so that a raptor could use it. The patch had a couple hoops to connect a leash to, if needed. Finally, an elastic pouch, about ten inches wide and connected to the center strap, hung down in the front and hooked onto the lower strap, forming somewhat of a breastplate cloth pouch.

After a bit of fidgeting about and fighting Sophie's curiosity, I finished getting the vest snapped into place. I stepped back and smiled, admiring her new look. The longer, light grey feathers along her sides and back hung over the straps a little bit, but overall it looked good. I felt as though it gave her a more civilized, trained look, which would be a welcome impression for when I show her to people. Sophie raised her feathered arms up and craned her head down to check out the apparatus she was now wearing, perhaps wondering if she liked it or not. Much like her sandals before, she didn't seem to pay it much attention and went back to finishing eating within moments.

After I finished reading the daily news on my tablet as I ate, I locked it and decided to let Sophie haul it around. "Hang onto this for me, will you?" I said to Sophie as I slid the tablet into her vest's breast pouch. I loaded it up the night before with some useful information I'd need later.

Now pushing nearly ten minutes late, I quickly rushed through the rest of the morning routine, and finally we were out the door. "Crap," I exclaimed as I looked at my car. "That's right you hate cars or something don't you?" I sighed at myself for overlooking a rather critical detail. We were just going to have to try again. Hopefully Sophie has come to trust me more by now.

I opened the backdoor on my black sedan and climbed inside, then beckoned her to follow me. "Come on, Soph," I said as I patted the seat.

The normally perky eyed raptor looked nervous as she hunched her neck down to look inside the cabin, whined a bit and took a step back.

"What's wrong with you? Had a bad car experience or something?" I asked her. I wondered for a moment if she was an escapee from some kind of car crash or something. I tried to coax her into the car to no success, and was growing a bit impatient as we were running later and later. I got back out and was about to try and force her in again, but the scratches by the door reminded me that that was a bad idea. Looking down at the scratch marks in the black paint job were obvious signs that they were from a raptor, judging by the spacing of the lines. "Maybe you don't like enclosed spaces?" I asked. I opened all four doors and the sunroof and tried again, but that didn't work either.

"You're killing me her Soph, what? What is it? You know, I'm just going to leave, let's try that," I said I threw my arms up in surrender. I pulled the car out the garage and reversed down the driveway slowly. Sophie followed the car with modest caution, looking rather uneasy. The garage door closed behind her. "Last chance," I asked her with the window down as she walked up to the car but then just stopped short. "I'm leaving!" I announced, hoping she wouldn't call my bluff. I began to slowly cruise down the suburban street.

Sophie's hunching reflection stood in my mirror behind me, back in the driveway. She didn't appear to like what was happening as illustrated by her flattened feathers, and soon she started trotting down the sidewalk and letting out an uneasy bark noise.

I sighed and pulled over, feeling pretty guilty of doing this. The distraught raptor grew larger in my side mirror as she caught up, eventually ending up outside my door. "Ready to come in now?" I asked her through the window?

She paced a couple times alongside the car, and I was about to get out to try to help her again. But much to my surprise she began to pick and prod at my door handle and managed to open the door herself within a few seconds. The door became wedged open with her pointed muzzle, and before I could react she was climbing up over me into the car. "Owch owch, hey! Not the front, the back!" I protested in alarm.

My objection was ignored as she forced her way past me and helped herself to the passenger seat next to me while I tried to protect myself from her claws. The front seat was an unsuitably small space for her. Her tail hung across my lap and out the door, her butt sat on the center console, and her neck was craned to the side against the glass. "For crying out loud, you goofball," I said, and remotely lowered her window. She stuck her head out the window and made herself more comfortable. "You were suppose to lay across the back seat," I said as I picked up her tail on my lap to curled it around so I could close the door, "but whatever works, no time to be picky. This is going to look absolutely ridiculous from other driver's perspective," I wearily said as I pulled back onto the road.

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"This is a dog park," I looked around. I haven't been here before, despite it being only a couple blocks away. I wasn't much of an outdoorsy type, so the morning walkers I saw here and there were new faces to me. Sophie's nerves were rattled from the brief car ride, but she was getting over it now. The cool morning air here in the park refreshed us both.

I aimlessly walked down the park path, Sophie walking proudly at my side. I looked around and didn't see anybody else with a drom. Just dogs. A sense of pride washed over me as I walked along with Sophie. It was perhaps the same feeling you got when you walked around in public with a gorgeous date. "I bet you'd make a good 'chick magnet' around here, too," I said to Sophie as I nudged her with my elbow.

I immediately squinted at what I just said and wondered about that as I slowly walked the trail. Could I date again? Would I? Or am I locked into an exclusive, secret relationship with my dein companion? A flood of questions and problem points hit me. Wouldn't it be impossible to keep things between me and Sophie a secret if I had a woman over, especially when things got intimate? I didn't even know how deins would react to their partners getting intimate with another being. That is, assuming Sophie even saw me as her partner. I was fairly certain she did, as she seemed extremely affectionate lately and her behavior seemed to imply she's establishing the bedroom as somewhat of a "nest".

"A nest?" the thought struck me as a delayed realization. I bit my lip at the possibility that Sophie was hoping and under the impression that she could get pregnant from all this. Up until know I hadn't considered that, and was just assuming deins understood the concept of recreational sex. I've spent so much mental energy trying to bury my cultural vices and rationalizing that there was nothing wrong with our relationship, that I've perhaps made myself blind to some things. I had no intention of wishing to take advantage of Sophie's misunderstood intent. I decided right there that I'd put some effort into research and trying to communicate with Sophie again to make sure we were at an understanding.

Sophie broke my thoughts by dashing infront of me and nearly pulling me over on the leash as she dived towards the ground and caught a misdirected frisbee. "Nice catch!" I heard someone shout. I looked over and saw a man and a golden retriever looking at us. "Throw it back, will you?" he asked.

Sophie stood up and transferred the frisbee from her mouth to her hands. My lips curled at a chance to finally show her off, hopefully better than the embarrassing hand-shaking example with Carol yesterday. "You know how to do this, go on. Like I showed you," I told her as she looked back at me. I gestured a frisbee throw and pointed back to them. She looked at where I was pointing for a moment, then back down at the object in her hands. After an awkward pause, she adjusted her stance and her grip on the frisbee, then threw it back to them. It was pretty far off to the right but the dog bolted over and managed to catch it.

The young man laughed, "Deins are so cool! Thanks!" he shouted as he waved his thanks and ran off to regroup with his dog.

I patted Sophie on the head to commend her. It looked like she wanted to go play with them, so I tugged on the leash a bit, "Nope, sorry, we're late for your date," I told her. A moment later down the path I finally saw Dan emerge from around a large patch of park foliage, a pair of light-footed velociraptors leading the way. I knew one was Domino but he didn't mention anything about a second. We exchanged distant hello waves to acknowledge each other. The velos stopped in their path once they saw Sophie and let Dan take the lead position. I watched with some interest as they switched their demeanor from a casual walk to a super alert, upright trot. Neither of them took their gaze off of Sophie, and they walked closer together, side by side. I had a vague remembrance that velos were far less trusting compared to the other droms, and these two were no exception it seemed. I turned to look at Sophie, who was staring back at them with great interest shown in her yellow eyes. I trusted Dan knew what he was doing...

"Dan?" I asked as we met up.

"Yep, Chris?" he confirmed.

"Nice to meet you, thanks for meeting up with me. This is pretty exciting," I said as we shook hands. Dressed in a red short-sleeve shirt, his arms looked though they was no stranger to the gym. He had a shaved clean head and thin-rimmed, rounded glasses that gave him somewhat of a scholarly look. "Brains, brawn...raptors, with a plural, this guy has it all," I jokingly thought to myself.

"No problem, always interested to meet a local drom owner. There's not many of us yet, after all. So this must be the lovely Sophie, I presume?" he asked, changing his attention to my new friend.

"Yes, and eager to learn, God willing," I said.

"Phew, look at her! That is one sexy dein if I've ever seen one," he said as he sidestepped around to check her out.

The comment struck an uneasiness in my gut. I knew full well he was just using the word "sexy" in a non-sexual manner, but I couldn't see it like that. I only hoped I wasn't blushing or making a face. I quickly changed the topic. "So...this is Domino?" I pointed at the raptor to the right. Standing upright, the hybridized velociraptor's eyes came up to about my belly. He had black, red lined feathers on his head, sides and back, but the rest of him was simply glossy, near-white green scales. The large, white feathered patch on his back was his namesake, no doubt.

"Yes, this is Domino, and his twin sister Dot," Dan introduced them to me. Dot stood slightly behind her brother and with her head down a bit lower, looking up at us and questioning any trust she'd afford. I assumed Domino was the one of the right, as I knew he was male, because they apparently went to the effort of feminizing Dot's adornment. Both of them had walking vests like Sophie (except they were a dual-strap version instead of a triple-strap), but Dot had a pink scarf wrapped around her's, which hung down about a foot. I had to admit it actually looked kind of cute. I guess it was to tell them apart, because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to tell the difference otherwise. "I forgot to mention her to you. She can't talk like Domino can, isn't that right Dom?" he said as he shifted his attention back to Domino and spoke as he gestured, "Question you talk?"

Domino looked up at Dan for a moment, made a brief gesture, then pointed to himself. "I talk," Dan narrated.

I was instantly fascinated. I've seen a few examples of this, but only on TV. I've never actually seen it in person. "Wow, that's amazing," I blurted out. My mind raced with question. "So, like, how many words does he know, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dan stuttered in thought for a moment. "A couple hundred. Dom has been a pretty good learner, a bit ahead of the curve so-to-speak. He's about one year into training now. Not Dot though, I haven't been able to get her to cooperate. Isn't that right? Question sister talk?" he gestured to Domino.

Domino replied back, in which Dan translated for me, "Sister talk little." I was beginning to see what they meant by "simplified" sign language. There was very little grammar structure here, and apparently you had to announce you were asking a question upfront. Domino gestured again and then pointed at us, and Dan translated "Question? Looks like they're curious about you two," Dan said. The two velos were twitching all about in place and eager for instructions on how to engage.

I chuckled and grinned. "What do I do?"

Dan gestured a sign back to him, then he turned to me and showed me the sign for "friend", a two-step gesture involving wrapping your pointer fingers together. As instructed, I gestured the friendship sign to Domino. He responded with a shifted, more relaxed demeanor illustrated by the way he held his crest. He barked a couple times at Dot and stepped up to me, his sister following.

"You can pet him now. That's what he's fishing for," Dan explained.

For a moment, I was nervous to. The hybridized velociraptors were statistically about as safe as dogs, but being bit by one wasn't unheard of either. I'm sure it hurt a lot more being bit by one of these versus a dog, too. The untrusted gazes they originally gave me must have shook my nerves, but it died away. They seemed friendly enough. I reached down and pet Domino hello. His sister hopped up as if she was jealous her brother was getting all the attention, and forcefully pushed him aside. I pet her hello as well. "Hey there guys, nice to meet you," I said.

The velos were certainly the opposite of any other reptile I could think of. I usually would think of reptiles as still, and passive, but every limb and body part was in constant movement for these two. It was a stark comparison to dein behavior, as Sophie minded her behavior and watched the interaction with a calm interest. "These guys certainly are lively," I told Dan as I pet them. They reminded me of overly affectionate dogs that just couldn't contain themselves around new people, as if they couldn't be pet fast enough to satisfy how they felt.

"Yes, in their eyes, you're one of them now. They're always excited to meet a newbie," he explained.

Sophie grew tired of being on the sidelines and stepped forth with her nose down, but the twins broke away from me and kept their distance. Domino gestured again and pointed at Sophie. "Question?", Dan explained.

"I get it, so they just say 'question' and point at things they want to know about?" I asked as I learned that the sign for "question" was just running your first digit in a diagonal slash infront of you.

"Hold that thought, don't delay responses," Dan replied as he gestured the friend sign to Domino. "See if you can get your girl to copy the friendship sign," he instructed.

"Okay. Hey Soph, look," I tried to get her attention, stepping infront of her. She reassumed her upright stance and waited for me. I made the friendship sign a couple times.

Sophie moved her head closer to inspect, and let out a long exhale as if she were sighing and thinking "More of this?". Fortunately she copied the gesture rather well.

"Deins certainly are good copiers," Dan said as he watched.

"Well, it usually hasn't been that easy," I smirked.

Domino spoke up impatiently with a bark, and gestured again, "Question friend?" then pointed at Sophie.

Sophie cocked her head curiously as she looked at the smaller drom.

Dan gestured to Domino "Repeat", in which Domino asked again, "Question friend?"

Sophie chirped in puzzlement quietly a couple times, intrigued by the gestures and attention her encounter was making towards her. I think she understood the pointing the best, as she pointed back at Domino and barked.

Domino squealed and stepped back and gestured "Question friend? Question Deinonychus talk? Question?"

Dot spoke up as well with a bark, then gestured, as Dan narrated, "Question...oranges? No idea what she meant to say," he chuckled.

Sophie whined and lowered her crest, acting confused as she looked down at her fumbling hands.

"Like this Sophie," I showed her the friendship sign a couple more times.

Domino barked and asked again, and this time Sophie responded but instead copied the entire motion, asking "Question friend?" Clearly she had no idea what she was doing.

"Oh that's going to confuse things," Dan said with a smile.

Domino responded with a bizarre string of noises and body language before finally throwing up a new gesture, "Unknown," Dan said. "Sort of their catch-all response when they don't know how to reply. Can't answer a question with a question," Dan explained. He snapped his fingers to get the raptor's attention and gestured "Deinonychus no talk. Deinonychus friend. Deinonychus family," and then he pointed at me.

The velos weren't quite as willing to take Dan's word for it. It was as if they wanted to hear Sophie say it herself, but they finally came around. Domino cautiously stepped up to Sophie and the two of them sniffed noses, and before long Dot joined in and they initiated somewhat of a "sniff down."

As they did that Dan spoke up, "Regarding your question earlier, yes the 'question' sign followed by a point is one of the first things they learn, and acts as somewhat of a gateway towards learning new words. Teaching them tangible nouns is fairly straightforward and easy this way, but non-tangible words, well, that's the majority of your training time. Many words are consolidated, so you have to judge what it translates to based on the context. Like 'question' could mean 'who', 'does', 'what', 'where', and so on. In this case, it was 'are you.'"

My attention was distracted as I watched both velos close their sniffing in on Sophie's genitals. "Uh oh," I thought. To a nose keener than a human's, our morning activities couldn't be masked.

Fortunately Dan agreed the etiquette was not acceptable and tugged their leashes to return them to his side. He went on as if he thought nothing of it, "These guys are far more accepting of humans and other velos instead of other animals."

Domino barked up at Dan for attention, and gestured a series of words slowly as if he had to stop and remember the signs. "Question white Deinonychus jumps big?" Dan translated in real time.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Velos viewpoint towards deins if that they're good jumpers, which he finds fascinating," he explained.

"An interesting concept," I thought to myself. I suppose humans are interested in other human's attributes, like how well they are at sports or their physical strength. Raptors were much the same in this respect, it would seem. "So he wants to see her jump?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Okay," I said, turned to Sophie and jumped in place. "Jump Soph! Jump!"

Sophie fed off my burst of energy and threw up her feathers excitedly as she bobbed her neck up and down to my jumping movements. She copied with a hop, then a jump, then a bounding leap in place. The bottom of her feat came up about eight feet, and I knew she could potentially double that if she had a running start. Regardless, the velos both yipped excitedly and paced around in a tight circle.

I chuckled at the display and reaction. "You know, I think your velos are sort of racist. Can you imagine if you or I asked someone of another race to demonstrate a stereotype?"

"Ah, don't ask him what he thinks about cats," Dan retorted. "Anyway," Dan shifted to a more serious tone, "you wanted to teach Sophie then? Yourself?"

"Yes. I got started yesterday but I was afraid I might have been going about it wrong, and causing more harm than good. I don't want to set a bad foundation that I'll need to clear later," I explained. "My theory was that Sophie needed to see SSL being demonstrated live, right infront of her. Perhaps then she may take up more of an interest in it."

Dan nodded slowly and paused before replying, "Have you considered enlisting her into a training program?"

That was the question I was hoping he wouldn't ask. Sophie couldn't go because she was untagged, and thereby illegal. Nor did I trust her sexual behavior in public, there was no telling what she would do. "Yeah, I have. But I'd rather just do it myself. Somewhat of a DIY type, you could say," I deflected the question.

Dot barked to interrupt us. Awaiting for us to look at her, she gestured slowly, as Dan narrated, "Question...play?" and then pointed at Sophie. "'May we play with her?' she means," Dan clarified.

"Not now, girl," Dan replied as he pat her on the head then gestured the "no" sign. "They're going to be a bit impatient, as they're used to coming to the park to play," he explained.

"I have to admit this is one of the coolest things I've seen. I'm surprised I haven't come across more SSL trained raptors before," I said.

"It is a blessing. Training is pretty expensive, probably because it's still a budding field so supply and demand is in effect. So I don't blame you for wanting to do this yourself," Dan replied. "That and only certain breeds are really cut out for it. These are Pysurshiis, and they're suppose to be pretty good at it. One of the reasons I got them," he went on in what might have been a snobby tone.

"Pie what now? I thought they were Penguin Raptors?" I asked. Their breed was common enough where I at least recognized it.

"Penguin Raptor is to Pysurshi as Weiner Dog is to Dachshund. Same thing. I don't care for it," his tone continued.

"Shows what I know..." I trailed off as I crossed my arms.

For the next five minutes, Dan went on to explain to me the basics of SSL. I already knew some words, but picked up on a few more from him. The twins continued to try and interrupt us, but Dan just spoke up and ignored them at this point. They'd occasionally creep up to Sophie and start sniffing her again, and he'd tug them lightly to signal them to return. I admired how well trained they seemed to be.

"So..." I murmured as I removed the tablet from Sophie's vest pouch and brought it to life, "I wanted Sophie to see me talking to Domino. I'm not fluent in SSL yet, but I memorized some words I wanted to use. May I?"

"Go right ahead. Just remember the consolidations and grammar syntax," he cautioned, citing his mini lecture he just gave me.

I nodded and made some noise to get the all the raptor's attention. I started basic. "Hello," I gestured.

I smiled as Domino expectedly gestured hello back. My eyes shifted to make sure Sophie was watching. She was, good.

"Question, like treats?" I asked.

Almost before I finished he responded "Question treats?", and even Dot stepped to attention with a smile.

"Oh the T-word," Dan spoke up. "I think you got them too excited to answer in the way you asked."

I smirked and went on. "Question, favorite treat?"

Domino replied "Unknown. Question?"

"Try 'selected' instead. It's this," he said as he showed me the sign.

I nodded and retried, "Question selected treat?"

Domino looked down and emitted somewhat of a purring noise unique to velos. He sat down as if he figured he was going to be here awhile. He eventually replied a string of gestures I was too slow to catch. I looked at Dan for help.

"He said 'Five food sticks good. Milk.' He's referring to Brittensticks and a bowl of milk. He'd certainly like to have five but he normally just gets one," he explained. The Brittensticks I recognized as a household name of a raptor intended treat bar.

"Adjective placement seems to be random, is that normal?" I asked.

"It can be, it depends. Some just throw words all over the sentence, others are very consistent. Comes down to personality," he said.

I looked down at my tablet as a cheat sheet and resumed my interview. "Question color?" I gestured then pointed to the sky.

Domino didn't look at where I was pointing and simply replied "Blue," as if he knew this one already.

"Color class. He did that one recently," Dan explained.

Domino correctly answered a few more color questions I pointed out to him. I was having so much fun I forgot I was doing this for Sophie, and looked over to make sure she was even watching. She was, and she perked up when I looked her way, as if craving attention. A couple more seconds of looking into her deep eyes prompted her to step over to me and rub the side of her head against my arm. Domino barked for attention, then gestured, "Question your family?" then pointed at Sophie.

"Yes," I replied.

Domino went on. "Question your what?" I translated, looking to Dan.

Dan laughed, "That last one was 'mate.'"

I felt myself blush. I figure I'd have to lie about my relation with Sophie sooner or later, but I never imagined in a million years it would be to another raptor. The velos must have an intuition about things of this nature.

I sighed and replied, "No." If Dan wasn't standing right there I probably would have just said "Yes."

Domino lowered his head and pitched a serious gaze towards me, then stood up. I felt myself wanting to step back, spooked by his sudden seriousness. He stood upright and gestured again, "White Deinonychus mate," then pointed at me.

Dan was laughing, "That's pretty wild, he doesn't believe you," he said between his laughs.

I stood there frozen. I was mentally prepared to deal with this today, but not towards a Velociraptor. I was caught off guard at the extremely unlikely circumstance. He actually saw through my lie and called me on it. I just threw down another "No," sign, but that only further fueled Domino's inquiry.

"Question Human Deinonychus?" Domino asked as he cocked his head, as if his curiosity was piqued by the notion. I guess what he meant to say was "Humans can be with a Deinonychus?"

I wondered why Domino was so curious about things of this nature considering all velos had to be fixed first and shouldn't have any sex drive. But I guess he would still know of it, regardless. Dan was no help, and was finding the whole encounter to be rather entertaining. I struggled to think of a reply. Perhaps I could turn it around to be of some use to me. I wondered if he would find the unlikely pairing to be acceptable in their point of view. I quickly referenced my tablet for the right words. "Question accepted?" I asked.

Domino craned his head down and back up for a moment before replying a long string of words I struggled to keep up with, "Question Human Deinonychus accepted? Question accepted? Question mate? Question accepted?"

"Boy you sure got his curiosity piqued," Dan spoke up from the sidelines.

I tried to make sense of his jumble of words the best I could. I think what he was trying to ask was "Are you asking me if Humans and Deinonychus as a mate is accepted?" So I replied "Yes."

Domino paused and stared at me for a still moment before replying, "Unknown. Yes. Question unknown?"

"Looks like he's thoroughly confused," Dan chimed in. "It happens," he shrugged.

I didn't take it that way. I theorized that Domino was just undecided on the idea, and wasn't sure what to make of it. I wanted to prod him further on the topic, but figured it would start looking suspicious. But luck shined upon me as Dan spoke up, "You going to be here awhile? Dot is going to be grumpy all day if she has to keep sitting around. I'm going to go walk her around if you want to stay here with Domino for another ten minutes or so."

"Perfect," I thought. "Yes that's fine, I'll look after him. I need to head off to work in about fifteen minutes anyway," I tried to play it off casually.

Dan nodded and gave me the leash to Domino, and was on his way.

I smiled and looked at the clever velo once again. "Let's just put it out there, maybe I can get a sense of what they think," I said. "White Deinonychus mate," then pointed at myself.

Domino gestured a word I wasn't familiar with, then pointed to himself. It looked similar to "Unknown". I had a hunch it was a derivative, and was correct as I pulled up the sign for "Known". He said "I know". "Question known?" I attempted asked how he knew.

Domino replied with another word I didn't know, but I had a plan for that. Fortunately for me a camera linked translation app was developed for just this reason. I gestured "Repeat" and pointed the tablet at him. He did so and the screen read "Smell Deinonychus."

"Ah, so you smelled us out, I see," I nodded, and was pleasantly surprised Domino understood what I was asking on the first try. I was at a loss for how to ask how he felt about that. I quickly pulled up the onscreen keyboard and queried "How do you ask in SSL how you feel about something?" The first page suggested it was a popular question. Domino's attention was quickly waning as I spent about a minute fishing through the results, but got what I needed. I gestured once more, "White Deinonychus mate," pointed at myself, followed by "Question response?" then pointed at him. I held up the tablet to capture any unknown words.

Domino twitched about in place for a bit, then looked up at the larger drom for awhile. His response fed up on the screen, "White Deinonychus strong. Jumps big. Mate good. Question strong?" he then pointed at me.

I scratched my chin pondering what he was saying. My guess was he was questioning if I was strong enough to be worthy of Sophie. I looked around the grassy park for a moment. With only large, grassy fields, I had no idea how to demonstrate my strength, or what I would even do. I simply responded "Yes."

The black crested Velociraptor cocked his head to the side slightly as he gazed at me seriously for another still moment. His response time on these philosophical questions were certainly far more delayed than prior, trivial questions, giving me the impression that he was raking his mind over them. He finally replied a long string of gestures that had me completely lost. The screen read, "Happy white Deinonychus. Human friend," followed by pointing at himself, "Good Human Deinonychus mate good". He paused for a moment and went on, "Question mate fun?"

"Question mate fun?" I repeated that last part to myself. "Oh God is he asking if we have fun mating?" I looked over my shoulder to make sure we were still alone, as we were getting rather deep into this taboo topic. "I sure hope you don't have a way of bringing any of this up to Dan later," I said. I answered "Yes."

I got a response out of my answer as he lifted his head crest. I swear it seemed like he was smiling. He went on, "Exclamation Human Deinonychus mate fun!"

I bit my lip at his response. "Exclamation? That's a new one," I whispered to myself. They must do that to confirm a belief. My eyes rolled along the ground as I thought about that for a moment. Now I really hoped Domino didn't have a way of relaying this to Dan. For all I knew, Domino could randomly speak about things he knows. I pictured Dan meeting up with me later and saying "So Domino tells me that Human/Deinonychus mating is fun..." I frantically pulled up some new words, and gestured to Domino "Forget that."

Domino replied "Unknown."

I cursed under my breath and tried another form, "Forget exclamation."

Domino replied "Unknown" again.

I was about to curse again but Dan came out of nowhere to rejoin us. "Unknown, eh?" he spoke up. "What were you trying to say, need some help?"

I stuttered, "Oh, no, I was just trying to ask how old he was," I lied.

Before Dan could reply Domino started hopping and barking infront of his master. I went wide eyed as I saw him gesture up at Dan excitedly "Exclamation Human Deinonychus--,"

Domino went on to say "mate fun!" but I quickly interrupted Dan's attention before he noticed, "Hey Dan, here's the leash."

"Ah, thanks," he casually said as he reached down to pet Domino in acknowledgement.

"Fuck, I've got to get out of here," I felt myself starting to become extremely awkward around them, my heart racing and starting a sweat a bit. I attempted to lay down some potential damage control before I made my escape. "Yes, still learning SSL from scratch, I think I may have accidentally confused him a bit. I wasn't 100% sure what he was asking." Looking at Sophie, it was difficult to gauge just how much she got out of that interaction. I had become so engrossed with the discussion that I didn't get to demonstrate to her as well as I had planned on. The raptor was hopping all over the place and was beaming with sensation. I'd need to arrange to talk to Domino again, if not for Sophie's sake, then at least to get his mind on other things. "Anyway, I need to go. Thanks again for meeting us. Do you think we could do it again?" I asked politely.

"We're here everyday around this time. Just come out here and track us down," he said. "Domino certainly seems to be entertained by you guys, so it's fine with me.

"Alright then, I'll probably be back again tomorrow morning," I confirmed. We parted ways and made our way back to the car.

Back at the car, I got Sophie into the backseat after a couple minutes of struggling. Her paranoia was fading away, I hoped. Within a few minutes we were back on the main road, and the lull of steady traffic had my mind wandering on what Domino said. I was still feeling awful nervous that the outspoken velo would get me into trouble, but with any luck it'll just be cast aside as a misunderstanding. I knew how to play stupid if I had to.

Sophie, in the backseat, was calm now, and enjoying herself as she watched the activities going on along the street. I certainly was enjoying her company, as well. An uneasiness washed over me again, reminding me of my epiphany earlier today. "Sure, Sophie and I may fool around once in awhile, but she is aware that it's a physical expression of mutual love as well as fun, right? The fact that Domino put 'fun' and 'mate' in the same sentence was certainly encouraging," I thought to myself. If she was only behaving this way because she wanted to be a momma raptor, I'd have to tag myself guilty as taking advantage of her misunderstanding. I could try to be abstinent with her, and just love her for what she was, but, knowing her, I had a strong feeling that she wasn't going to accept that. Plus I doubted my own willpower. I frowned as I tried to come up with some way to figure this out.

The office building I worked at emerged in the distance. It was going to be an interesting day, but what's the worst that could happen?

---

_ Post notes: Oh yeah, so I gave up on the whole "unnamed protagonist" stunt. It was getting to be too difficult with the increasing level of dialog. Not that I bet anyone is going to miss it :P

Also, inspiration for the vest comes from this._