FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

*Hi, don't worry i'm not dead. :D I just wrote this up today when I realized I have too keep going, I love your comments too much. Too the people who voted, faved, or commented thank you all soo much! And double thanks to those who did all three!! This chapter is almost hopelessly short but I will be posting another chapter this week. No lemons in this chapter but bear with me okay?

The sheer number of feelings that struck her in that instant was too many for her to completely acknowledge any of them individually. But she was very aware of one emotion that was standing out strongest amongst the others; A near unbearable happiness. _He heard me!.. How could he have heard me? Maybe he didn't. _She thought for a moment. Her happiness dropped in level as she realized maybe he didn't actually hear her. Maybe he misheard her crooning. She looked at her human lover closely, hoping in all her being he would hear her, as she asked again; as if she were talking to her own kind: "Can you hear me?". She asked, nervously.

The voice he had heard had spooked him quite well he realized, as the hairs on the back of his neck laid back down. He looked at his black lover as she stood under the falling water, the steam embracing her; she was still in all but her tail which was practically swishing side to side; splashing water against the walls of the shower. He took it as a sign of happiness though and he wasn't exactly sure why; days ago though he would have assumed she was stretching her tail getting ready to use it. But he trusted her now, and he hadn't been entirely sure why but he got only good vibes from her; even now, though she appeared to be doing nothing but swish swishing her tail. And now he felt now he might learn whether those vibes were telling him the truth.

He hadn't been sure at first what had been happening; All of a sudden there was a ringing, not in his ear but inside his head. The ringing was horribly loud but came and went so suddenly he barely had time to register it. And once the ringing stopped he heard her; and her confession. He did not doubt he had heard her._ "Can you hear me?"_ He heard her ask her voice clear.

Before answering he rolled her question in his head replaying her voice. It was like a beautiful woman was whispering in his ear, only louder than a regular whisper and in his head. He opened his mouth and quietly acknowledged her question with confirmation. "Yes." He said, almost whispering, like the voice. The sound of water falling seemed so loud then, and he wondered if she had heard him.

He didn't wonder long though; fast as a cat she moved to him, he barely had time to start to lift his arms in reflex before she had her arms wrapped around him and was pressing her entire body against him. He had to shift his head up and to the right so that she could press the side of her face against his heart; her long head touching the side of his turned face. It was a mildly awkward hug; more so when he noticed that she had wrapped her tail around his them. His arms were still free and the only thing he could think of doing was to return the embrace as best a human could. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed out heavily, realizing then he had been holding his breath since she had moved on him; she crooned softly in his embrace.

"I'm happy you have calmed." He heard in his head.

He wasn't sure if he should say anything; he managed a meek: "Yeah."

She did not answer and he then felt a little stupid for answering what wasn't a question but a statement. He resisted the urge to shift on his feet in their embrace, he thought about what to say now that he knew she could understand him.

He had known that she was intelligent, even enough for communication but he knew she would never be able to say anything in any human language. The time had never come in which he really needed to tell her anything as she always understood what his subtle body gestures meant. And now, he didn't even know what to say to her. When he had said he loved her, he wasn't thinking with his head, he knew now; he had been speaking to her from his heart. It had come out of his mouth so suddenly and so truthfully at the time. And now he realized that it was like his heart had taken control, it had taken itself out of him and revealed itself to the person of its obsession. Such a thing would have left him feeling utterly exposed and it did but only for a moment; because she revealed her heart to him. His heart felt safe in her newfound knowledge of it and he hoped hers felt similar.

She didn't know what to say, or if she should say anything now, right now she just felt the unbearable urge to hold her love and feel his warmth and hear his heart up close; proof to her of his existence in her life. And even though she felt at place and calm in his embrace, the shock that the biggest barrier between them had been broken down still held ground in her gut.

She thought then to what he had said to her; he had said he loved her, and she had said it back, and he heard her! The moment he had said those words she knew in her every being that he had fully and truly accepted her as his partner and his mate. Showing her feelings for him in all truthfulness had been easy to do in front of him after he said it. She nuzzled her face into him, crooning her love for him.

She felt him kind of shuffling in their embrace and she realized then that she had somewhat forced an embrace between the two of them; and even locking the embrace with a wrapping of her tail. She unwrapped her tail from around them, loosening their embrace. She let her hands slide from his back, only to have him catch her hands in his own; He held them and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

She looked at him and hesitated to answer, not because she didn't want to tell him, but because she didn't know what to tell him. She knew that humans referred to each other directly through a word. This was not the way of her kind who recognized one another with emotions and maybe a few words of description. She had always been called "small and weak one" and met with cruel feelings from her siblings.

She thought about what he would be able call her by. He was looking at her now, perhaps wondering what was taking so long.

"Xerah... My name is Xerah." (Z-air-ah-) She told him, it had been almost an on the spot name and she hopped he was okay with calling her that.

"That's a beautiful name and it fits you." He told her smiling.

"That's kind, thank you." She said shyly as she nodded her head gently.

"My name's Eric." He said kindly.

She wasn't quite sure what to say, and so just said "Your name is beautiful too." though she regretted it seconds later.

He couldn't help but to laugh lightly, he knew she meant well by it though. "Thank you." He chuckled again and saw that she had lowered her head a little bit. He could imagine her blushing right now, and he realized it was too bad she couldn't; it would be too adorable if she could. But she would need red blood for that and hers was definitely not red. He quickly pushed that train of thought of its rails though and continued talking to her.

"There is a lot of stuff I would like to ask you." He said, making her face him again, he looked at her lovingly, with a small smile on his face. "And you would probably like to ask me some things too, right?"

"_Yes." _He heard from her in his head, it was a quick answer but yet when she spoke to him he could almost feel her excitement; perhaps at being able to answer his question.

"Well, do you want to maybe go get some food from the kitchen and talk there maybe?" He asked her.

She was able to then put together that kitchen was what the place where food is stored was called.

"Okay." She said. She was glad that he had suggested getting food before they started throwing questions at each other. She was very hungry from all the "over exerting" she and her mate had been doing since last night; She even felt a little sore from it, though she would keep that to herself.

He released her hands and together they left the shower, he pressed a button close to the glass doorway and the water stopped flowing. He pressed another button and the steam and the room started to dissipate. He walked over to a towel compartment in the wall holding folded towels and grabbed one for himself and her.

He turned around with the towels in quick motion and almost fell back as she had been standing right behind him and he hadn't noticed; luckily the bathroom floor had gripped flooring. "Sorry." They both ended up saying at the same time.

"It was my fault, sorry." She said.

He smiled, letting her know it was all right. "No worries." He said. He held out the towel for her to take and she looked at it for a moment before taking it. He watched as she unfolded it and then wrapped it around her waist and began trying to make it stay wrapped. He resisted the urge to chuckle when he realized that she was mimicking what she had seen him do with a towel.

"Uh, you use it to dry yourself with." He said to her. "I'll show you." He said, beginning to unfold his towel. She held out her towel to him, and he wondered at it for a moment before taking it. He had been going to dry himself to show her but okay, he thought to himself. Taking the towel he began to dry her long head; gently rubbing it along. Working his way down her shoulders he told her to turn around. She complied silently. Her back now towards him he looked at the unique intricacy of her exoskeleton, and looked at with dismay, the scars on her back and was extra gentle drying around them. Slowly he worked his way down onto his knees to dry her buttocks which he rubbed dry almost massage like. He patted dry most of her tail and the back of her legs before standing back up, her back still to him. Letting the towel rest on his arm her reached up and gently massaged between her protruding shoulder blades, feeling her smooth skin. She nuzzled his hands softly with the side of her head humming quietly at his touch as she slowly turned around to face him again.

"Almost done" He said to her. Using the towel he rubbed along her chest, feeling her ribcage as he dried her. He got to his knees again and gently padded the towel along her legs, very gently he padded her 'special spot', making her squirm slightly at the towels touch, still sensitive after their love making. He put his hands on thighs rubbing them gently and kissed her stomach as he got back up on his feet. Looking at her again she looked very cute with her head looking down a little; she fidgeted a little, touching her arm for no apparent reason.

"Thank you...Eric" She said.

"It was my pleasure." He said smiling at her. He handed her back her towel and quickly rubbed himself dry and upon finishing realized he hadn't brought any clean clothes. Tying the towel around his waist he told her of he was grabbing some clothes and she could meet him in the kitchen.

He left the cleaning room and turned to walk towards the bedroom, the electric door sliding shut behind him. Putting her towel on rack she too walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen, hearing drawers opening and closing from her mates nest room. The kitchen was a stranger place then all the rest of her mates hive. There were many things that seemed to do many different things each time, Eric used them. "My mate is so amazing to be able to use such things." She thought to herself as she waited, looking around the kitchen. She soon heard her mate approaching even before the door slid open, and she turned to see him enter. He was wearing a black cloth that covered all his upper body but for most of his arms; his legs covered with loose fitting leggings.

He came in to see, Xerah standing in the kitchen by the table watching the door, waiting patiently for him he assumed. "So, have you thought about what you want to eat?" He asked her. For the entire time she had been staying with him he had been giving her meat. It was very lucky that he had been able to supply her with meat at all. His uncle owned a chain of butcheries and livestock farms, making his uncle a rich man. Fresh meat was a commodity mostly for the rich if you lived on any planet besides earth, but even then the prices were high. His uncle had adopted him when his father died and it was actually thanks to that money that Eric had been able to go to a good school; not that it ended up doing him any good most of his life.

"_No." _She said unsurely.

"Steak sound good?" He asked her, as he walked over to the fridge; though he was pretty sure of the answer to that question.

"_Steak?" _She said questioningly.

"Um, red meat." He told her.

"Okay." He said reaching into the fridge and pulling out two packaged steaks. "Do you want it same as usual?" He asked looking over at her. She bobbed her head at him and he slid shut the fridge compartment and set down the steaks down on the counter. Now opening the cupboard and reaching for a plate he was trying to shake the feeling of awkwardness he felt. This talking thing is going to take a little getting used to he thought to himself as he opened the steaks' packaging.

* So what do you think? Please tell me what you thought of that little bit involving hearts and lovey goodness; Was it any good? More is coming very soon and I will soon huck a metaphorical grenade or some such into this love shack to get the story really going.