FSE

Furry search engine

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Hehhey y'all, and welcome to the Hockey Hunk!

I am so glad to see that the HOCKEY HUNK LURKER CHALLENGE was such a resounding success! A whopping 27 !! lurkers spoke up, which means that we'll get that extra Wednesday chapter! Thank you so much, everyone! I'm so glad to see so many people who never commented speaking up, and telling how you feel about the story. It really means a lot to me. Thank you!

Hope you enjoy this chapter, too, and I hope to hear many comments once again, for it's the best measure of the quality of my work.

See you guys on Wednesday!

Cheers!

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"Can we go upstairs after lunch?" I said.

Leonine eyes and ears jumped from their respective plates of French fries and barbequed ribs and settled themselves to point in my direction. Justin returned to his food almost immediately and hadn't even stopped chewing on his latest mawful of YUMMY. Mom and dad gave me longer looks.

"What do you want to do?" dad asked, watching me carefully.

I put my fork down and swallowed an offending remain of a salty piece of fried potato before I replied.

"I'd just like to go up to my room and see what it looks like," I said.

Mom frowned a little.

"Are you sure you can make it?" mom's voice sounded worried.

I snuffled and smiled a little.

"I only need someone to help me out a bit when I go up and down the stairs," I said. "Make sure I don't crash on my leg."

Dad nodded.

"Sure," he said. "Let's do it when we're done."

I smiled.

"Thank you," I said.

Dad went back to cutting his juicy rib, but mom's eyes remained thoughtful and poised on me. She even had her chin resting against her paw, as if I was an especially interesting a sight to behold and contemplate.

"You haven't been up there in a really long time," mom said.

I flicked an ear at her.

"Not since Christmas," I replied as I allowed my knife and fork to continue playing with my own delectable rib on my plate. "Not after I came here."

Mom smiled motherly.

"Must be really nice then," mom mused. "See all your old treasures."

Justin's eyes jumped between the two of us, briefly, at the word mom used, but since I didn't manage to look guilty enough, I suppose, or secretive, he soon returned back to the plateful of food he was devouring at a remarkable pace and quantity.

I chuffed a little and smiled still.

"Of course," I replied. "Got lots of old stuff up there."

Mom nodded enthusiastically.

"We've got some of your old stuff in the room behind the garage too," dad intervened after a sip of water from his glass. He still had some sauce on his chin, though. "A few boxes and some of the furniture you brought here. I think it's alright, I don't think the temperature or the moisture is any different there from the rest of the house, it's a heated room, so I think it's okay for them."

I simply nodded. It was quite typical of dad to be worried about the preservation of my stored furniture. He wasn't vocally worried about the fact that the pile of disassembled furniture might have symbolized the disassembly of my relationship. It had meant that the apartment was too big for only one fur and I certainly did not have the room for all the furniture I got from the breakup after I tried to fit them into the smaller apartment...and then, when I got fired and I needed an even smaller apartment which I could afford, even more had been hidden on the potentially funky back room behind our garage.

"Yeah, I think so too," I replied with a little nod.

No point.

There was no point in getting worked up over such a thing, and even if I did feel a twinge of unease in my belly and a mild bristling of the furs over my neck, I decided to let it pass. I shouldn't be dwelling on past things and mistakes again, which was certainly something I had a knack for, if I considered just how much time I had spent moping over the past two weeks. I wasn't about to slam my well meaning family with a grumpy moping attack by yours truly. Nobody deserved to be on the wrong end of that, least being my family.

They were things past, anyway. Graham was no longer in my life. So what if the furniture of our nice beautiful monogamous gay home now lay rotting in the back room of my parent's garage simply because Graham liked variety in the kind of dicks he gobbled down into his muzzle? It had been four years, anyway. I didn't have to dwell on that anymore.

And to be honest, I had enough of more recent things to dwell around, and for once, I wanted a distraction that wouldn't remind me of the heap of crap I had defecated for myself with my irresponsible behaviour. It'd do me good to see all the things from the time when I was just an innocent young lion with a secret crush on that cute wolf Adam from the upper grade, the lion who liked watching Friends on TV and generally had no idea about things beyond those in his immediate circle of experience.

I gave a brief look at Justin and hoped that was how he saw the world.

"Though we took that small brown cabinet and I put it into Justin's room, because he needed somewhere to keep his DVD's after I got him his own DVD player, but I suppose you don't mind," dad continued.

My good paw tightened a little around my fork, but I kept on smiling. It had been my bedside table, I thought, where I kept my read-in-bed books and perhaps some sexual aids. That's something they didn't know, or at least I hoped so.

"It's fine," I said. "I don't really need it, or have room for it back in my place."

Dad chuffed and rumbled.

"You've barely got room for your own tail in there!" dad exclaimed.

Justin chuckled, and mom looked slightly embarrassed, at least long enough to be noticed, before she spoke up.

"It's still nice though, isn't it Rory?" she said.

I shrugged.

"Well nicer than a college dorm, sure," I replied. "And it's alright. The area's not too run down and the rent's alright and it's not far away from work. It's pretty good if you think about it."

"That's right", mom nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep," I mused, glad about the fact that they hadn't once more tried to make it sound like I lived next door to a crack house.

We only got to eat our Saturday family meal in peace for a few moments before dad spoke up again.

"Justin, you could help Rory too," dad rumbled.

My brother's ears jumped curiously.

"Huh?" he stopped mid-chew.

Dad grinned.

"You could go up with Rory and help him out, if he wants to get something out of the shelves or something, since he isn't supposed to do that kind of things yet," dad explained.

Justin gave me a quick look before his eyes bore down on dad instead. I swore, for a moment he managed to look no older than something like...five, I was sure, when he stared over at dad.

"Well I would but I kinda got lots of homework..." my brother cooed.

Mom outright chuckled. Dad just sort of...dad-rumbled, and puffed out his chest, and the rumbled some more. I just watched, piqued by this interesting play unfolding in front of my very eyes.

"Now that one I haven't heard in a while," dad commented.

"It's true!" my brother smacked the floor with his tail. "Everyone's giving massive amounts even with so little school left, it's really weird."

Dad chuckled.

"You don't have to tell me, young man," dad said. "I'm the one who gives it."

Ouch. If Justin didn't often pull the homework card, equally rare was it for dad to pull the 'young man' card either. I wondered if this was a special occasion, and kept on watching.

Justin snorted.

"Why can't mom help Rory?" my brother rumbled. "She's not doing anything, is she?"

I wondered whether I should tell them that I probably didn't need any help to begin with, but still, if they wanted to give some...well...it'd be better to be nice to them and not to interfere while mom and dad showed Justin who was the boss in this house.

"Oh yes I am," mom flicked an ear in my brother's direction while she turned to look at dad. "Your dad and I are going out shopping."

Justin's eyes widened.

"But me and dad just came back from shopping!" my brother yelped.

Dad rumbled daddily and patted my brother's shoulder with that big paw of his.

"We sure did!" dad sounded conspiratorial.

Mom smirked.

"But you only went shopping for clothes for you and some groceries and the paint for dad," mom continued. "Doesn't mean there aren't other things to buy, and that's why dad and I are going out."

Justin shook his head.

"So why didn't you tell us to get them then, mom?" Justin groaned.

Dad chuckled heartily.

"Well, the same way you and I had some father-son time out there, your mom and I need some husband-and-wife time, and what's nicer than to go out shopping together?" dad explained with a lingering smirk on his muzzle.

Mom beamed and flicked her ears adoringly.

I tried to suppress my own chuckle at the sight of Justin's face there. I supposed that was one way to put the fact that mom had told me, about how she was planning to go out shopping for some potted plants for the yard with dad once we were done eating the lunch.

"Ewwwww," Justin reacted.

Dad repeated his fatherly pat on my brother's shoulder and winked.

"Just wait until you've got a girlfriend...or a boyfriend of your own, Justin, and you might have another opinion on some private time," dad rumbled.

I almost choked when the pieced of BBQ-rib I had in my muzzle practically became lodged in my windpipe from the sudden jolt of a shock that coursed through my body. I couldn't believe that dad had just said THAT, of all things.

My tail went into shock and simply flopped down to the floor. My muzzle was probably frozen into a comical grimace of surprise, my eyes bounced between the three other members of my family, and my heart felt like it was skipping every other beat in its attempt to keep up with the needs of my system.

Justin dropped his fork amidst his French fries.

"You guys are so gross," my brother declared before he stormed out of the room, tail flailing aerodynamically behind him.

I stared at mom and dad, who looked like they were almost ready to high-five each other for once again acting like the most embarrassing parents in the world.

"Pass me the water, please?" dad said instead.

Justin's steps echoed from the stairs, beyond our sight.

"Sure," mom replied.

I just kept on staring.

"Thank you," dad said.

The water flowed into the glass. Mom began to cut a piece of out her rib. Dad licked his lips after a sip of water. I couldn't do anything but look. They were acting with unnerving calmness, as if my brother hadn't just stormed out of the dining room...and as if dad hadn't just said what he did, and as if Justin hadn't reacted like he did to what was said.

"Food alright?"

That was dad's voice, and it almost made me jump. My tail certainly did, and I took a deep breath. I felt a touch of heat on my cheeks. I shouldn't have been this worked up, not here, not at this moment, when nothing really hadn't happened.

I didn't know what had happened.

I blinked and nodded.

"Yeah," my voice sounded somewhat rough.

"It's nice to take it easy sometimes and just get takeaway," dad said. "And Ricky's still delivers the best stuff in town."

"He sure does," mom concerted with a smile and a rumble.

I couldn't take any more of this sudden business, and flicked my ears sharply. I must've chuffed my next breath out of my muzzle loudly, because their ears flicked curiously, too.

"What did just happen here?" I asked in a hiss between my teeth.

Dad quirked a brow.

"What do you mean?"

I waved my splinted paw over the table.

"This business with Justin," I repeated. "What happened?"

Mom looked at me curiously.

"He decided to act up," mom said in a remarkably calm voice. "He'll come down in half an hour tops, when he remembers the ice cream cake dessert."

"He does this at least once a week, as you must've noticed," dad added. "It's all part of the phase. It's best not to react too much to it. It's only attention-seeking behavior."

My tongue felt dry as I stared at my dad and his impregnable expression of calmness that was only highlighted by the quietness of his breaths, flowing out of his nosepad.

"Oh yes," mom nodded.

My belly clenched, and I had to bite my teeth down together to not to bare them at my parents. They were still acting unnaturally....off, somehow, with this weird calmness shit right after my brother stormed out of the room once...that was mentioned, even in passing.

Dad scratched his cheek.

"Guess it comes with the age that everything about your parents' is embarrassing," dad said. "Now that he's well into his puberty and all."

I shook my head.

"Didn't have to provoke him though," I snuffled, unable to keep it back anymore. It wanted to get out, and I couldn't hold it.

It had to be said.

Both mom and dad looked at me with puzzled expressions plastered over their faces. Dad was still scratching, and mom's paw rested around her glass of water.

"What do you mean?" mom asked.

I chuffed gruffly and shook my head again.

"Like you don't know," I grunted. "Talking to him like that."

Dad snuffled.

"Like what?" his paw was down over the table now, all relaxed, obviously.

My tail snapped against the world.

"Like that," I grunted. "Girlfriend..."

I swallowed.

"Boyfriend..." I hissed.

My parents' eyes mutually widened. Dad's muzzle fell open. Mom's paw clenched around the edge of the dining table. I tried to keep my face calm and steady, even if I felt like shit and stormy under the surface.

There.

They could have it. They could snap at me now if they liked. I wouldn't still let them make fun of who I was, especially in front of my brother. It wouldn't do. To hell with the consequences for the peaceful existence we had led for the past weeks under the same roof. They could have it from me, in their faces. It wasn't a joke.

Dad's face seemed very dark to me, when he cleared his throat by coughing into a fisted paw, before he spoke and kept his eyes firmly at me.

"Well, Rory..." he started.

I wanted to hiss something at him, but held fast.

"I must say that I'm a bit disappointed with you," dad said. "For thinking so little of us, Rory, and for thinking that we were making fun of you."

I breathed out loudly, but remained quiet.

Mom sighed.

"How could you, Rory?"

Mom sounded disappointed. Dad was still staring at me.

I was quiet.

Dad snorted.

"Don't make that face, you look like Justin," dad said.

I snorted in return, and bared my teeth a little.

"And act like him, too," mom said. "Dad's right."

"What the hell do you mean?" I growled, and felt the urgent need to get up to my paws and get the hell out of the room before they could gang up on me and tell me what a terrible boy I was.

"I mean that it's pretty goddamn childish of you to think that Justin stormed out because I said that he might have a boyfriend one day," dad's voice had that dangerous timber to it, the one reserved for very particular occasions, when just shouting wouldn't do it.

"Is it?" I grunted.

"Yes it is," mom rumbled. "Really badly so."

I gave her a dark look, but concentrated my eyes on countering the glare dad was giving me over the table.

"Uhhuh," I snorted.

Dad ran his big paw over his head furs and rumbled a deep, long drawl out of his lungs.

"Yes," he said. "Your brother went berserk because of us talking about needing a break every now and then from you guys and the implication of him having a girlfriend, which, to our knowledge, he doesn't have, but since he's 13 years old and growing up fast, is probably the case in the near future."

Mom nodded quietly before she continued.

"And since he's 13 and all about hormones and big emotions, of course it's a sensitive thing for him! You should've seen how he reacted when we tried to have the talk with him."

I grimaced automatically at the memory of myself receiving the facts of life from mom and dad and wondered whether they had still used the same method of seating us all on the living room couch and showing me a sonogram of myself in mom's womb, before they explained just how did FetusRory get there. My cheeks were probably hot for a month afterwards.

"Yeah," dad rumbled. "We know he's on the edge anyway."

I still wasn't so happy about it. It sounded a bit too practiced an explanation to me.

"And the rest?" I grunted.

"What of it?" that was dad.

I shrugged.

Dad chuffed.

"That bit," he nodded.

"Oh, Rory..." mom said.

I frowned and just kept my calm, as much as I simply could.

"Yeah," dad said. "Yeah, I said that, the same thing I've told him ever since we explained to him that some boy furs love boy furs and some girl furs love girl furs and some love both and whoever he loves, he'll be loved by us always, because he's our son."

I just watched, and felt a tightness grow in my chest. I gave a quick look at mom, whose eyes seemed a bit...too bright for comfort. Dad's seemed to be full of warmth, though the corners of his muzzle were still pulled into a half-grunt.

I swallowed.

"And I do hope you understand that we both wish that we'd said the same thing to you at that same age," dad said quietly. "Just that you know."

*

Thank you for reading my story!

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See you guys soon!

G