FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2 - Day 2

I set up bolt right in my bed, panting heavily as I slapped my paw against the wall and the lights flipped on. Putting my paw to my face I wasn't sure what was wrong. I felt saliva dripping from my tongue as I panted, obviously caused by the canine genes. Trying to calm my racing mind I slide out of the bed and padded to the bathroom and flipped on the light there. What was it that got me so flustered?

I turned the knob on the faucet and let the cool water rush into the sink. I reached my paws out and soaked them for a moment before bringing a paw full of cold water to my muzzle and instantly felt my body cool. It was kind of interesting how the tongue controlled body temperature in the canine species. I slurped another muzzle full of cold water and turned off the faucet, looking myself in the mirror. What was it that I had been dreaming of that caused the freak out? Why can't I remember?

Shaking my head and sighed a bit and walked back to the bedroom, stretching out and looking at the clock. Wow, already 8:30AM. What to do with the day trapped here in the lab? I tried to work on the code to the sealed Lab door and was getting headaches just even working on the code. I tried for a moment to figure something out and decided I would just go clean up the pool and get things working.

I grabbed my black Tripp pants and a purple t-shirt with a Flu-de-lis on the front of it, the back simply said "Saints Rule". I snickered to myself at the t-shirt and once more stretched, my curly tail stretching as well as muscles popped. Turning to the door and heading down the hall I couldn't help but shudder when my stomach growled nearly as loud as I did yesterday when Indigo attacked me. Perhaps I should wake up the feline and get her to make some breakfast. I know I couldn't possibly fry an egg much less make something elaborate. I have this "curse" as my family called it, anything I touch to cook catches on fire. I found a loop hole somehow and turned out I had a magic touch when it came to cookies and sweets but actual savory foods burn to a crisp.

I walked over to door 38 and raised my fist to knock on the heavy door and dead stopped. My mind wandered to the day before and all the arguing and fighting between the two of us. Pinning my ears back I put my paw down and wandered off to the kitchen alone, a piece of toast is something I can make myself.

Indigo slowly sat up in her bed with a shudder, the cool air of the lab sifting through her fur. She began to stretch like a cat, purring as a few popping and cracking sounds broke the silence. It had been forever since she could pop her own back, much less her hips. She looked around the room and hit the switch on the wall to light up her humble abode. She blinked at the bright lights and flicked her tail around slowly, she set up and felt her heavy breasts fall on her chest and looked down. Grabbing a sheet she quickly covered her chest, having a hard time believing she fell asleep naked. What had she been doing that could have caused her to pass out that hard?

Thinking back to the night before she blushed furiously. Right, she had indulged in some personal fantasies among other things. Sighing in a bit of embarrassment as she climbed out of the bed she instantly headed towards the bathroom. She could use another shower to make sure she didn't smell like sex when she saw the dog next. She wondered what he would be doing this morning since they were stuck in here. She should probably find a way to apologize for being such a bitch to him yesterday. After using the restroom she started a hot shower and quickly cleaned everything up.

She once more dried her fur as best she could decided to stand in front of a stand fan she brought into the lab to dry herself completely. Walking to her dresser she pulled the top drawer open and looked at her underwear, trying to decide what to wear. Well, she did have a good time last night, even if it was just her own paw and that usually meant something sexy and fun. She giggled at herself, there was only one guy to impress down here and she decided last night as she fell asleep that playing hard to get was probably the best thing to do. She didn't want to come off as an easy score for the puppy.

She plucked a pair of lacy purple boyshort panties and a matching bra and slid them on, looking at herself in the mirror. "Oh he would become a puddle of puppy goo on the floor if he saw this, I'm sure of it!" She said excitedly to herself. Heading back to her dresser she pulls out a pair of jeans and pulls them on, the jeans hugging her hips and thighs and then flaring out after the knees, finding they make her look very good with this new feline figure, if not a little tight Then pulls out a purple shirt to match her underwear, the shirt was a bit low cut but with her fur and her changed up figure she finds her cleavage quite attractive. Fluffing her hair and adjusting her round ears the feline set out down the hallway to the cafeteria.

As she walked into the cafeteria she could instantly smell something being made, toast perhaps. Following her nose into the massive industrial kitchen she found the dog with a slice of toast in his muzzle like in so many anime she had seen before.

Indigo let out a snirk. "You look like a bad anime character about to rush out to school mutt!"

Taking a bite of my toast and gulping it down I perked an ear. "What do you know about anime?"

"What don't I know about some of them?" Indigo smiled and headed into the freezer hoping to find something for breakfast back here.

"Yeah?" I couldn't help but stop and wonder if she really knew about Japanese animation.

"Sure!" She said from inside the freezer. "Ruroni Kenshin is one of my absolute favorites!"

"Oh! Kenshin is pretty good, I will admit that." I nodded and ate another bite of toast. "My personal favorites are ones like Air Gear, Madoka Magika or King of Bandits Jing."

"I've never actually heard of any of those." The feline padded out of the freezer with some frozen hash browns and some bacon. "If you don't mind waiting a bit I can thaw this bacon and throw some hash browns on the griddle and I can make some pancakes or something if I have some mix in the pantry."

"Oh..." I stopped and looked at my slices of toast I had prepared specifically to avoid being near the feline. "I was actually going to go work on the pool for a bit."

"Still going on about the pool?" She set down her cold goods and looked at the dog and got a weird reaction from him. "What's that look for?"

"I...Uhm... Well.." I stuttered, fairly certain that if I spoke my mind I was going to get slapped.

"Cmon puppy, spit it out!" Indigo huffed and then looked down at her shirt. "Oh my got my nipples!" She quickly covered her chest with her paws. "You pervert! What were you doing looking at my tits?!"

"Oh come on puss!" I barked. "It's not my fault you're wearing a thin bra! Just make breakfast and let me know when it's done so I don't get in anymore trouble." I huffed and walked off, heading for the pool to try and get it cleaned up and taken care of.

"You're so cute when your flustered puppy." She giggled as she watched the curly tailed dog walk off.

I walked into the pool and rubbed my ears looking at the dark green mess. "This is going to take me forever. I suppose I should start off by checking the extra tanks and then see about emptying the pool and getting fresh water in here once it's clean." I spoke aloud as I set to my task. I set up my laptop that was connected to the security system in the lifeguards room where there was a plug and went about checking the water supply and the systems they had. My jaw nearly hit the ground when the estimated water supply for the lab was still three or four decades from being empty and the water purification units were still working.

Now that I knew I had more than enough water to get this job done I gave the computer the commands to empty the Olympic sized pool and watched as it drained quickly. The computer chirped as the system showed the water purifiers kick on and began cleaning the nasty pool water. Once the pool was done draining I got a brush from the storage room and a hose to spray down the areas I worked. Twitching my ears I quickly realized how messy this job was going to be now that I have fur.

"Shit." I muttered as I began brushing down the walls of the shallow end of the pool. "If I didn't have fur I wouldn't have to worry about getting this crap in there." The walls were the easy part of things and I knew it, spraying down the broken up muck off the tiles I was pleased to find there wasn't any real damage. Not wanting to mess up my clothing I pulled off my Saints Row t-shirt and my Tripp pants, standing naked as I brushed down the walls.

Indigo hummed to herself as she fried up the breakfast on the industrial sized griddle. She had never gotten to work on appliances like this before and was honestly enjoying herself thoroughly. She flips a few pancakes over and made sure the hash browns and bacon were cooking well. She smiled down at the food and was putting her heart and soul into the breakfast she was making.

"Mamaw always said that love was the most important ingredient in food." Indigo spoke to herself, lost in her memories and thoughts. "As much as I miss her she gave me so many good memories and even more good advice." The leopard flipped over another pancake and giggled as she poured another splotch of batter onto the griddle, shaping it into a heart. "This one will be for Sylas."

I finished working down the walls of the shallow end of the massive pool and panted, feeling saliva once more drip from my tongue. This was going to take some time to get used to I think. Using the hose I sprayed down the walls and then my tongue to cool myself off. If I remember my canine anatomy right I now poses a "Rete mirabile", or wonderful net in Latin if my memory serves me, in my carotid sinus at the base of my neck. This new little net of arteries and veins isolated my brain from my body and allows me to physically exert myself for a long time without succumbing to heat stroke. That doesn't mean I really enjoy drooling like a madman, though it is nice to know that I could keep this up for hours without getting too hot.

I hopped down into the gross slippery mess of the shallow end of the pool. Using my claws to snag onto the tiles on the bottom of the pool I was able to stand on the slimy algae and keep my balance while I began brushing the green goo off the floor. Whistling a little tune as I scrubbed the floor I wondered to myself why I didn't put music from my laptop on.

Indigo put the two large plates together and dropped her heart shaped pancake on the top of the stack for the dog. She supplied a large meal for both of them and flicked her tail around, finding a bottle of syrup that was amazingly still good and set in on the table. She looked at everything rather happy with herself and nodded, turning to head to the pool area.

As Indigo neared the doorway to the pool she could hear the dog whistling a tune, she stopped a moment before opening the door to listen in to the song. The tune was so slow and romantic in itself and while she hadn't heard the melody before it still warmed her heart to hear it. The feline put a paw on the door to push it open and stopped dead in her tracks as Sylas smooth deep voice suddenly filled the room and filtered out to her ears.

_I never sang my songs On the stage, on my own I never said my words Wishing they would be heard I saw you smiling at me Was it real or just my fantasy You'd always be there in the corner Of this tiny little bar

My last night here for you Same old songs, just once more My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no I kind of liked it your way How you shyly placed your eyes on me And did you ever know? That I had mine on you

Darling, so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer_

At this point the canine went on to whistle the same melody as the song had followed as if that was exactly what was needed. Indigo felt her heart pounding in her chest, wondering if he knew she was there and was serenading her with this amazing song. He couldn't could he? The dog continued to sing the song in that amazing bass tone that melted the feline from the insides.

_So let me come to you Close as I want to be Close enough for me To feel your heart beating fast And stay there as I whisper How I love your peaceful eyes on me And did you ever know That I had mine on you

Darling, so share with me Your love if you have enough Your tears if you're holding back Or pain if that's what it is How can I let you know I'm more than the dress and the voice Just reach me out then You will know that you are not dreaming

Darling so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer_

I stood there for awhile and wagged my tail as I enjoyed the feelings rushing from me. It had been so long since I had sang like that, much less a song with such deep emotion to it. Indigo placed a paw over her heart as it raced in her chest, she had never felt something move her so deeply and the mutt didn't even know she was there. Wiping a tear from her eye she steeled herself and pushed the door open. I looked up at the feline as she walked through the doorway and for a moment time stood still, probably for a number of reasons.

We stood there staring at each other for a long time, both having thoughts rushing though our heads. 'Had she heard me singing? What did she want? Was she going to help me? I hope not her fur is white and this mess would stain her fur if she was naked. OH SHIT I'M NAKED!'

Indigo stood at the edge of the pool with her own thoughts. 'Goddess the pool reeked. Does he realized I heard him singing? Was he singing to me or about his feelings for me? I hope he will like breakfast. I wonder why he's naked in there. WAIT HE'S NAKED!'

We stood there in silence a moment, my paw holding the hose was spraying down my most recent cleanup efforts when suddenly a sound of metal meeting my skull rang out. I hadn't had a chance to see the bucket much less see it coming at me after Indigo hurled it at my head.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN THERE NAKED MUTT?!" Indigo hollered at me, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at me.

"Ow ow ow!" I muttered as I stood up, rubbing my head where the metal bucket at noisily slammed against my skull. "I'm cleaning the pool, but I didn't wanna mess up my clothing so I took it off. Though I think I'm making more of a mess of my fur than I would have in my clothes."

"Yeah well you're a perverted mutt is what you are!" She huffed and stomped her foot, dangerously close to the edge of the pool. "You should warn a lady before she enters the room when you're naked! I don't want to see your fuzzy balls hanging down under your sheath all the time you know!"

"Sorry, I didn't even know you were coming in..." I started, noticing how close to the edge of the pool she was and already well aware of how slick the algae coated walls were. "You might wanna be careful, that stuff is pretty slippery."

"I know what I'm doing you horny mutt." She once more stomped a foot angrily at me, though there was something in the tone of her voice that said she wasn't too angry.

"No really, I haven't cleaned down there yet and.."

"I don't care what you have had a chance to do!" She interrupted me before I had a change to warn her and her footpaw slipped out from under her and she went head over heels into the 10 foot deep end of the pool. She let out a scream as she feel and for some reason her feline grace didn't kick in, heading for bottom of the empty pool head first.

I don't know what I did to trigger the first change in myself. No, that's a lie, I know exactly what I did to trigger the first change in my body and my mind. I did exactly what I needed to do instinctually, I went to save the girl. Pushing off with my right hindpaw and lifting my left I felt my feet leave the ground, with a small spin I rushed forward at a speed faster than I know I could ever run. I slid down the algae slick slope to the deep end, only my right foot wasn't touching the ground. I was hovering over the floor of the pool at a speed I could barely believe. I plucked the feline out of the air, holding her body close to my bare chest and put another spin into my air dash to redirect myself up the slope of the pool. Since my paws never touched the ground I didn't worry about slipping until I stopped. Once I reached the shallow end where I had cleaned a good chunk of the floor I let both my feetpaws hit the floor and turned sideways to slide to a stop.

Indigo held her breath waiting for the end to come in a horrible clunk of her furry skull smashing into the tile floor of the pool, but it never came. Slowly opening her eyes which had been clenched shut she looked up and her eyes must have swelled to size of saucers. It was him, he was holding her against his chest and he was panting as if he just ran a mile. Looking back towards the deep end of the pool she could see a line in the algae where something had slid through it on a very fine point. As she traced the line in the green-black algae and it led back to the dogs feetpaws she started to put things together, he saved her.

I looked down at her wondering what was going through her head at the moment. I can only imagine that the idea of dying must scare a person to death but what I had just done was still freshly imprinted in my mind. What's more in the algae where my right footpaw had pushed off from the ground was a strange skull like marking, one I recognized from one of my favorite video games. What in the world had just happened? How in the world did I, for lack of a better word, air dash across the bottom of the pool? What's more what is this funky feeling in my head and chest? And can I do it aga...

My thought process was broken as I felt two paws grab the sides of my face and pull my head downwards. I felt my lips meet Indigos and then her rough feline tongue rush into my muzzle as she kissed me with a deep passion. My ears stood on end and it was my turn for my eyes to grow to the size of saucers. As she broke the kiss she looked up at me and I could see a pink hugh through her grey-white facial fur.

"Thanks for saving me mutt." She blushed profusely as she muttered shyly. "Now can you put me down so I don't end up kissing you again? I don't want your muzzle that's probably been busy licking your filthy bits against mine again. I only kissed you as a way to thank you for saving my life!"

"I, uh, sure?" I set her down slowly on the cleaned off portion of the shallow end and tried to catch up with my racing thoughts.

"Thanks again." She smiled at me and brushed her hair out of her face, looking at me with those purple eyes. "Breakfast is ready. That's what I came to tell you before I uh... yeah."

"Ok." I nodded stupidly. "I will be right there once I clean up." I watched her climb up the ladder than I had cleaned, tilting my head as I watched her jeans ride low and expose a pair of lacy purple panties. "Woof." Was all I could manage to work out of my brain at the moment.

Indigo scampered out of the pool room quickly and slammed the door behind her, pressing her back to the heavy steel door. She could feel her pulse in every part of her body, unsure if it was from her near death experience or the fact that she just kissed that mutt. Not only did she kiss him she shoved her tongue down his throat! UGH! What could she have been thinking? Reaching up a paw to touch her lips she blushed furiously remembering how soft his lips were and how warm his muzzle was once she got her tongue in there. After a soft shudder she shook her head and wiped the thought from her heart and mind and heading for the cafeteria post haste.

Before getting out of the pool I walked over to my 'liftoff' point and knelt down next to the skull symbol. No doubt about it, that's the stylized "Reaper Skull" from "The World Ends With You", one of my all time favorite video games. What's it doing here of all places though and why did it show up when I did my little air dash. I stopped for a moment and replayed the scene in my head and realized I had mimicked Neku, the main character of the game, and the way he dashes around the battlefield in the game.

I shook my head and then shrugged it off a bit. They said there would be some strange side effects right? Perhaps this is just a form of one and the symbol was a really strange coincidence? I growled at how many questions were rattling around in my head and then realized I wasn't the only one growling as I felt my belly rumble. She had said food was ready, maybe it was time for me to eat. I climbed out of the shallow end of the pool and headed to where I had my clothes laid out. Stopping myself for a moment I sprayed my feetpaws down with the cold water to get any gross algae off them and then began to get dressed. As I pulled my t-shirt over my head I heard something metallic fall to the floor and skip around a bit.

"What the heck was that?" I blinked and knelt down to pick it up. "I wasn't wearing any accessories like usual so what could have fallen off my shirt?" I picked up the silver dollar sized object and looked at it. "A pin? I wasn't wearing anything like this, all my Final Fantasy XI pins are in my treasure chest in the suite." I flipped the pin over, careful not to jab myself with the needle and sat there dumbstruck at what I found. The face of the pin was black with the white stylized reaper skull. "A player pin?! What...the...fuck?!"

My mind was racing as I recalled the story to the game. A person dies in the "real ground" and is brought to the "UG" or UnderGround to play the reapers game for a second chance at life. The "players" of the game are supplied with this exact pin that activated their special powers needed to survive the game. The main character, Neku, had the ability to use many pins which gave him powers called "Psyches", which were basically psychic powers based on the pins he carried. The players had 7 days to survive the rules placed on them by the reapers and if they survived they would get a second chance at life. There was no way I was dead, was there? No I'm very much alive as far as I know.

"What is going on here?" I looked around as I spoke trying to figure out where the pin could have come from. There is no way Indigo knows about this game, she doesn't strike me as the gamer type. Hearing my stomach grumble again I shook my head and stuck the pin to the collar of my Saints Row t-shirt and headed for the cafeteria.

"About time mutt." Indigo huffed as she sat in the same spot she had set the night before. "Your food is getting cold even after I warmed it up for you."

"Sorry, I had to wash off the algae from my footpaws so it didn't smell." I sat down across from her and blinked a bit noticing the first pancake on my stack looked like a heart.

"It's just a coincidence that it looks like that." She lied. "My paw slipped when I was pouring it and it came out like a heart."

"Ok." I looked at her a moment trying to figure her out, there were so many mixed signals right now I was having an even harder time than normal figuring this girl out. "Everything looks really good." I poured some warm syrup over the stack of pancakes and went to down scarfing down the meal. Everything was just as good as the stew the night before. The girl may have a real personality crisis going on but her cooking was definitely something she did well.

"So..." She started nervously. "Since we are going to be stuck here awhile we should probably get to know each other a bit better huh?"

I swallowed a muzzle full of bacon and nodded. "That would probably keep us from killing each other if you ask me."

"Well, let's start with the simple stuff hmm?" Indigo cutely put her paw to her chin to think a moment. "How about your age?"

"I'm 22." I responded matter-of-factly. "You?" I immediately began to regret my decision.

"I was 30 when the experiment began." She took small bite of bacon. "I feel a ton younger now that I'm a feline. Stronger, faster and much younger than before. Can we just call me a teenager again?" She giggled a bit.

"I'm ok with that." I nodded in agreement, glad that didn't blow up in my face. "I preferred older woman anyhow. They are a bit more mature and don't care about silly things like money as much as girls in my own age range."

"Wait, hold on." Indigo stopped me. "You LIKE older women? Like cougars?"

I made a face before responding. "No, cougars are too old for me puss. I mean women between like 25 to 35. Someone that has gotten past their party days and is trying to just settle into their life. I burned my party days away back in High school so unlike my similarly aged counterparts I have no interest of going to the club every night of the week to get wasted and shove my crotch in every girls face."

Indigo looked at me as if she was shocked, I wasn't sure if I had upset her again or if this information was just mindblowing to her. "Ok, you're saying you didn't try to get into every girls panties at the club when you went?"

"If I went." I corrected her. "And sure I would buy a girl a drink and set talking to her for awhile, maybe dance for a bit. However, sex wasn't the only thing on my mind when I went out. Friends are an important part of life too, whether they are male or female."

"Holy shit Sylas." She looked at me as she spoke. "You just blew my fucking mind."

"Uhm, Sorry?" I was taken aback slightly by her sudden use of language in normal conversation.

"No no, It's not a bad thing." She reached over and placed her paw on mine. "It's just surprising. I spent years in the club scene doing things I sometimes regret and there was never a night some handsome guy that couldn't score with the pretty girls wouldn't try his luck with me."

"And because you had a hard time being confident in yourself anyhow, you just went with it?" I looked over at her.

She withdrew her paw and pinned her ears back. "That wasn't exactly it Sylas. Sure I was kind of desperate from time to time, don't get me wrong. I've been married twice as well and those fell apart for whatever reason, that's not so important right now." She looked at me seriously for a moment. "Sylas I'm not a good girl at all. I've done some bad things in my life that I regret."

I smiled and grabbed her paw again and rubbed the top of her white furred paw with my thumb. "Everyone does stupid things when they are young. I've done plenty of things I'm not proud of. I look back and shake my head sometimes and just kind of wonder what I was thinking."

"Really?" She looked up at me, I could see the relief in her eyes.

"Sure." I nodded. "What I did isn't important anymore though. Apparently this is a chance for a new start at life with a new name and a new body. So why don't we both just forget what we've done and give ourselves a second chance at life."

I stopped when I said that, I could feel the player pin hanging from the collar of my shirt and it began to dawn on me. This is a new chance at life as a new person, just like in the game. Fuck me, talk about art imitating life.

"Yeah!" She nodded after contemplating what I had said. "A chance to start over! You're right woof. A new chance at life to do it my own way instead of the way society told me to."

"I still don't know if society even still exists outside puss." I said snapping back to reality.

"Hmm that is still kind of a scary thought." She looked down at her almost empty plate. There was a pause of silence as we stewed in that for a moment. "So did you figure anything out with the door to the outside?" She was trying to break the awkward silence.

I looked up at her as I finished my hashbrowns and shook my head as I swallowed. "No, the security on the door is stupid levels of thick. I tried to play with it before I went to bed last night and only succeeded in giving myself a migraine. It's going to take me a ton more time and probably a few more computers to start decoding that shit."

"Dammit! What the hell could have happened out there that they locked the door like that?!" She was getting frustrated again.

"I don't know to be honest with you." I tapped a claw on the table and looked over at her. Her eyes were once more filled with worry and fear, something I couldn't remediate even if I wanted to. "However, I figure it going to be awhile. So If I can begin getting things cleaned up for us we can just live here like this for awhile. I know it's not perfect but what if we had things to do? We wouldn't get bored and we wouldn't have to think about the door all the time."

"Yeah, I suppose that kind of makes sense." She nodded at me and gave me a smile. My heart skipped a beat when she smiled, when she wasn't busy yelling at me she was absolutely breathtaking. "Swimming, sports and video games aren't going to keep us occupied all the time though."

"Speak for yourself." I smirked. "I could play in the arcade all day once I hack the machines to not take money. They have all of my favorites in there. Throw in the pool and I'm one happy mutt."

"Hmm, you seem pretty easy to please." She grinned at me across the table. "I hope that the girls don't say the same thing."

I blinked a moment and quickly recovered from my shock. "No, I don't think they do. I have lasting power and I'm pretty sure I've sent every girl home with a smile on their face."

"Oh?" She giggled. "Is that all they went home with on their face?"

I licked my fangs teasingly. "Maybe."

The two of us sat there a moment and then broke out laughing, breaking the sexual tension and revealing we were obviously joking with each other. Though I think we were both secretly wishing we weren't joking.

"Well then puppy," She picked up my plate. "why don't you go keep cleaning the pool so that maybe we can go swimming."

"What happened to not wanting me to see you naked in the pool?" I blinked at her.

"I'm not an idiot mutt." She huffed a bit. "I'm not skinny dipping with you. I brought a swimsuit so that I could get into the pool and hot tub from time to time."

"Then why the hell did you yell at me yesterday?" I barked at her a bit. "I mean I didn't even say anything about getting naked in the pool with you and you just assumed I wanted to get you naked?"

"Well don't you Sylas?" She fired back quickly, maybe a bit too quickly for my brain.

"Well of course I wanna see you naked, your body is perfect!" I blinked a moment after I said that and immediately put my paw over my muzzle.

Indigo looked over me at her shoulder, I could see some sort of fire in her eyes. "Really now mutt..?"

"I, uh, mean, of course! Any guy would wanna see a rack like yours without a bra and shirt!" I quickly tried to cover my tracks.

"WHAT?!" She yelled. Oops, bad move mutt. "Get out of my kitchen and get your fluffy ass back into that pool! I don't want to see your face until I call you for lunch!"

I didn't hesitate and took my exit as quickly as possible. Heading for the pool to continue my work I shook my head. What was I thinking saying that out loud? Maybe she just asked me before I could register the trap and my brain just spit out the truth? Fuck, I really messed that one up. I walked back into the pool room and tugged off my shirt and just unzipped the leggings of my Tripp pants off at the knees. Before getting into the pool I hooked up my laptop to the sound system in the life guards office and put my Music on random and just let it play.

I began using the handled scrub brush to scrape off the algae again as a cover of "Bad Romance" by a band named Artist vs. Poet came on. Personally I like this version of the song much better than the one by Lady Gaga but whatever. I wonder if she is still around or not, she seemed crazy enough to get some fuzzy genes put into her body as a fashion statement. I smirked at my own joke once more and let the beat take over, my tail and hips moving with the song. If Indigo saw me she would probably be dying of laughter. I'm not much of a dancer though if a techno beat were to drop it would be time to tear up the dance floor, I'm a pretty good spinner with a pair of glow sticks I think.

Time went by quickly with the music playing in the background and while lost in the beat of the songs I was cleaning the pool at a decent pace. I've always believed if you have a good time things that it takes your mind off the chore and you end up being done in no time flat. Of course hours ticked away and soon I was fighting to keep my balance on the slope to the deep end of the pool and wished I could figure out how to do the hover trick again. After a few slips and plenty of grumbling I ended up cleaning up the huge slope.

I heard the door open above me and my ears pinned back as the feline spoke. "Hey mutt, your lunch is ready. Make sure to clean yourself up too, I don't want to smell wet dog!"

"Alright, I'm coming." I rolled my eyes as I scrambled up the still somewhat slippery slope and cleaned up quickly, pausing my music and headed for the kitchen. I padded down the halls and entered a mental note to myself that I would need to change the overhead hall lights since they were creepy dark sometimes.

I was welcomed into the cafeteria to the smell of something absolutely amazing, but couldn't put my finger on what. It was about to drive me crazy because it was so familiar when suddenly Indigo walked out with a pizza pan in her paw.

"I hope you appreciate how hard it is to make pizza pretty much from scratch." She set the piping hot pie down in front of me. I could feel saliva already beginning to gather in my muzzle.

"I can totally appreciate that, especially when it's delivered by a beautiful woman too." I grabbed a slice like a moron and hissed and huffed as I got the pizza to my plate, burning my pawtips the entire way.

"Enough with the 'beautiful' and 'cute' and everything else ok?" She huffed at me as she sat down and grabbed a slice. "I understand you young dogs have needs but it's not cool if you don't mean it. A girls emotions are something you shouldn't toy with."

I looked at her as I took a bite of the pizza and physically shuddered as the delicacy melted in my mouth. I savored every bite as I devoured the first slice like it was going extinct and it was the last piece of pizza on the planet. For all I know it could have been I suppose.

"Look I will be honest Indigo." I grabbed another slice of the pizza and set it on my plate. "I dunno what happened in your past relationships but I'm not them. I told you before I'm not good with women and I mean it. You caught me off guard earlier and I said exactly what was on my mind, I'd love to see you naked in the pool."

Indigo took a bite of her pizza and blushed. "Really?"

"Really." I nodded and took another bite of my second slice.

We sat there and ate in silence, once more pushed back into that awkward moment where apparently neither of us knew what to say. We ended up breaking the silence discussing things that would need to be done to our current residence to make it more livable. We also agreed we needed to explore some of the other areas my badge had access to eventually to see what we could find to salvage.

"I'm probably finished in the pool for the night. My muscles are starting to ache but I can get to work on the lights in the hallway if you wanna see if the laundry room is working." I licked the sauce from my pawtips.

"Sure but I'm not washing your underwear." She smirked and sipped a glass of water.

"Who said I wear underwear?" I wagged.

"Wait, why wouldn't you wear underwear mutt?" She looked at me like I was insane.

"Mostly because the new anatomy of this body is pretty well self contained." I finished my water and smiled at her. "I wore boxer briefs before because everything just kinda hung there. Now though, my sheath keeps everything in a nice little package and I find that I don't need them."

"That's so not even fair and wrong at the same time." She huffed. "My body became stronger and I think my breasts are a bit firmer but I still have to cover up!"

"That, my dear puss, is a restriction you have put on yourself." I collected the dishes to go clean them. " I don't care if you wander around naked."

"It's not exactly comfortable to walk around with your boobs bouncing all over the place." She glared at me.

I stopped and thought about it. "I never really thought of it that way, but I suppose you have a fair argument. I hated it when the boys were just bouncing everywhere."

"Whoa whoa!" She had an astonished look on her face. "You actually mean that you agree with me?"

"Well why wouldn't I?" I stacked the cups together and headed for the kitchen.

"You're a guy!" She scampered after me quickly. "You're all about getting girls naked and doing anything to get in their panties!"

I huffed and set the dishes in the huge industrial sink and shook my head over this. "We've gone over this before Indigo, I'm your usual guy until it comes time to understand your feelings too. You explained something in a way I understand so I can agree that wearing a bra is probably a comfort thing for you." She sat there with her jaw hanging open for a moment before turning and leaving. Apparently I won this argument, score one for the malamute!

I spent most of the evening working in the darkened hallways of the residential area. I was able to find a ladder and a storage closet full of the long incandescent lights and was busy changing them when Indigo scampered out of her room in a huff. I perked my ears and looked behind me when I heard her door shut with a thud and standing in the hallway was a dripping wet naked feline.

"Uh, you ok puss?" I looked away quickly as not to get caught staring and pretend to have just heard the door shut.

"I... Uhm... Yeah I'm fine!" While she tried to play it off I heard something in her voice that said she was rattled for some reason. "I just needed to get something from the storage closet real quick. So don't turn around I'm naked!"

"Oh there is a good reason not to turn around." I said nonchalantly. "The real reason not to turn around is to avoid a punch to the nose for seeing you naked." I continued to work on installing the light I was working on but never heard her footsteps move away from me. I could smell something in the air but had no clue what it was. I turned and peeked over my shoulder, she was still standing outside her door panting with a paw to her chest.

"Sylas..." She spoke softly, almost in a whimper.

"Yes Indigo?" I went back to my light which had long since been installed.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" I felt her eyes on my back and I worked.

"Sure." I nodded as I worked. "I believe there is definitely something after death, I just don't know what it is. Why do you ask suddenly?"

"I keep think I seeing things move in the shadows." She muttered, I barely understood what she said.

"Like what? A person or animal?" I was curious now and wanted to know more.

"No, it's more like just movement in the shadows. I was just in the shower and there's a corner of my room that's a little dark and I saw it move towards me, whatever it is." I could now hear the fear in her voice. "I started noticing it this morning. Coming down to get you for breakfast and lunch was honestly a scary experience. I'm glad you decided to change these lights so that it isn't so dark in here."

"Well I can always get a lamp or something for that corner of your room but I dunno what you're seeing." I tried running it through my head. I checked all the security cameras that still work and didn't see any signs of life in this place besides us. I suppose in the areas the cameras have died something could be alive but I had my doubts.

She stayed quiet for a bit and huffed. "Can you open my door for me please and then go get that lamp for me? I know you've been done with that light for awhile now and are just avoiding looking at me to respect my wishes."

"So it's ok if I end up seeing you naked?" I chuckled a bit as I asked.

"Yes." An edge of annoyance in her voice. "Not like you have much choice. I was the stupid pussy that ran out of my room naked and slammed the automatically locking door behind me."

"Alright." I climbed down the ladder and turned, looking her in the face instead of the chest and smiled. I slipped my card through the card reader and the door unlocked with a beep. I then turned and went to find the lamp I had found earlier, my eyes never leaving the purple pools of her eyes.

It took me a few minutes to find the small lamp I saw in the storage room and ended up taking about 10 minutes or so total to get back to her room. I knocked politely and went to slide my key through the lock again assuming she would be asleep when the door swung open.

"Hey." She stuck just her head out of the door. "Got that lamp?"

"Yeah, sorry it was pretty buried but it should work." I handed the lamp to her through the crack in the door that she had stuck her paw through.

"Thanks." She smiled at me and I turned to leave. "Hey wait."

"What's up?" I turned and looked at her. She motioned for me to come closer to the door so I stepped forward.

"Thanks for being such a nice guy during all of this." She blushed as she spoke. "I know I'm kind of moody sometimes and you get yelled at a lot so it means a lot to me that you're still trying to be nice to me... so... " She gulped and opened the door completely where she stood completely nude and smiled at me shyly and motioned me a bit closer. I stepped forward absolutely dumbfounded where I felt her lips press to mine gently and her breasts pressed against my chest. The kiss was only a second or two but I know I felt electricity between us. I returned to the world when the kiss was over. "Thank you puppy."

I was pushed back out of the doorway to her room with a pawtip and a grin as the door shut in my face. I stood there unsure what to do with myself for a bit but found my tail wagging furiously. I replaced more lights down the hallways for almost an hour in a stupor before I returned to my room for a shower of my own. I flopped back into my bed and stared at the ceiling as I went over the events of the day in my head and just shook my head.

This is only the second day of what I can only imagine might be heaven.