FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I returned to my room hours later, only to be met by an unusually cheerful Andrew. Judging by his attitude I assumed the football team had won their first game of the season. I looked across the room and scowled again.

"I told you to text me before you invite anyone over, Andrew."

My roommate sighed softly before motioning to the other person in the room. "Axio, this is Gerrard. He's the person I was telling you about earlier before you decided to leave."

The admittedly handsome gray dragon sitting on Andrew's bed gave me an easy smile before getting off the bed and extending a clawed hand to me. "Nice to meet you, Axio. I've heard a bit about you." He was quite a bit taller than me, and built like a tank. Broad shoulders, nice arms, a pair of regal black horns extending behind his head. Wings. He wasn't hideous, and he had a resonantly deep voice. I imagined he was just under seven and a half feet tall.

I gave my best fake smile before turning venomous. "A pleasure," I spat, ignoring his extended hand. I slung my backpack off and threw it onto my bed before sitting down at my desk. The pair behind me exchanged glances.

The dragon chuckled behind me. "Wow. You weren't kidding about the prickly part."

Andrew sighed again. "Forgive him, he's... difficult."

"No need to apologize. I'm more intrigued than anything."

"Right." There was a brief pause. "Well, I'm going to head on over to the party now. You sure you'd rather stay here?"

I could feel the dragon's eyes on me, but I didn't turn around. Parties really weren't Andrew's thing, and he normally wouldn't voluntarily go to one. I took note of it and dismissed it. If he really wanted this meeting to happen, I'd let it, just to humor him. I'd demoralize the dragon and have him leave soon enough.

"Yeah, you go and have fun enough for the both of us, alright?"

Andrew huffed. "I'll try." He really was going out of his way to try and make this happen.

"Thanks a bundle." He clapped his teammate on the shoulder.

"Axio." Andrew paused again. "Please don't be rude..."

I turned around in my chair and gave my roommate a sideways glance. "Yes, mother. I won't act any differently than normal."

Andrew sighed again. "That's what I'm afraid of. See you guys later."

Gerrard smiled at him. "Enjoy yourself."

I watched as my roommate gathered up his essentials and then left. I waited for a count of five once the door had closed before I turned my gaze to the dragon who remained with me.

"So what's your deal," I asked him, flatly.

"Beg your pardon?" He tilted his head and regarded me with curiosity. "My deal?"

"Yeah. Your deal. Your reason. Why are you here, in my room, right now."

He shrugged before gazing at me once again. "I figured you'd be an interesting person. Andrew told me about you, and what he told me piqued my curiosity."

"So I'm something for you to entertain yourself with. What exactly did he tell you?"

"Well, he told me that you were gay, and that your personality would be more befitting of a porcupine than a lion."

I scowled. "Are you gay, too?"

He nodded. "Quite comfortably. He also told me that you scowl a lot."

"He's not wrong." I turned back to my desk and started up my laptop, the blue welcome screen lighting up before my facial recognition software kicked in, logging me in via webcam.

"Where are you from?"

I grunted and didn't turn back around. "California. What's it to you, anyways. I'm not going to have sex with you, if that's what all of this is about." I opened up Google Chrome and went about browsing SoFurry, looking for something to read just so I could look like I had things to do.

He ignored my comment about sex. "What part of California?"

"Redwood City. Go ahead, act like you know where that is. Then we can go on and realize that we have so much in common, fall deeply into love, and then fuck all over the place like in one of those stereotypical jock stories." My voice was dripping with sarcasm as I switched tabs over to YouTube, opening my playlist of music and selecting a song at random. 'Lightspeed' by Fox Stevenson started playing through my Klipsch sound system. I made sure it was just slightly too loud, to make talking difficult.

This got a chuckle from him. "Oh, if only it were that easy. Yes, I actually do know where Redwood City is. I'm from Menlo Park." I scowled at my computer screen again, flipping back to SoFurry.

"I don't live there anymore, though. I live with my dad most of the time, in Fair Oaks." I didn't bother mentioning where that was. The less he knew about me, the better.

I stopped then, my gaze turning inward. Why on earth was I humoring this man in the first place? Why not just ignore him until he left? I couldn't physically kick him out... me trying to move a football player who didn't want to be moved would have been like trying to move a wall, especially one of his size.

I looked down at my paws, studying my palms. I was giving him information so easily, and he wasn't even trying, like my therapist had been earlier. Granted, he wasn't asking difficult questions like my therapist had, but I recognized the potential to let things slip.

"That's a new expression. Something other than a scowl. Should I take it as a good sign?" His voice carried a smile, and I turned to him to study him once more, eyes narrowing.

I remained silent.

"You have good taste in music."

"What on earth do you fucking want from me?" I asked him.

"Honestly? A friend, maybe something more."

I scoffed. "Good luck getting anything from me. I'm not interested." I stood up and gathered my essentials. Phone, wallet, keys. "I'm going out for a walk, so you'll have to leave now."

He smiled at me. "Great! I could use some fresh air."

My eyebrow twitched once out of annoyance. "I never invited you along," I said, crossing my arms."

"Well I'm coming along anyways. Where are we going?"

I mentally seethed, closing my laptop after putting it into hibernation mode. "The graveyard." I opened the door and waited for him to exit, locking it behind me.

"Spooky. Anyone in particular that you're visiting?" God, his questions were annoying.

I began walking to the dorm's exit. "No."

"Then why are we going?"

I turned around and gave him another glare, staring him down despite being taller than me. "Because I figure you'll shut up if there are dead people all around us."

"Well now that you've said it..." He smirked.

I growled in frustration and simply kept walking. I was wearing all black, and truth be told, I had plans on using my dark coloration to my advantage. The graveyard was located in a dense copse of trees, and at night it was in near complete darkness. I'd have an easy time slipping away from the dragon there... after all, dragon noses are not known for being keen. He shouldn't be able to track me down in the dark. I'd slip away from him in the grove and then simply go behind the mausoleum, where he hopefully would not have the presence of mind to look. If everything went well, he would get bored, or maybe even scared, and then go away. Granted, I'd probably have to deal with him later on; he might even be waiting at my room when I came back, but still. Anything to get away from this insane reptile.

The walk to the graveyard was normally a pleasant one. Going from the college, through the heart of the small town of Forest Grove, beyond it and past the high school, one entered a forest with a grassy path cleared through it. The graveyard was no longer maintained, having been abandoned for a nicer one closer to town, however there was a stream that flowed through it that would freeze over in winter, and it led to a large pond where you could ice skate. The lack of a gravekeeper meant that the grounds were overgrown and unkempt. It made the place feel almost surreal.

Throughout our walk, Gerrard stayed silent, which I was grateful for. I'd had enough of his questions to last me... a while.

As we came to the entrance of the forest, though, he unexpectedly grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks.

"Uh... a-are you sure it's okay to go in there?" He asked me. I looked back at him before yanking my hand away, not caring if his claws ended up scratching me in the process.

"What, you scared? I've been here plenty of times. It's calming." I turned back around and continued walking. If he got scared and left, it would be in my favor entirely. He'd leave and understand that I don't fuck around, literally or figuratively, and not bother me again.

Gerrard followed me. "No, I'm not scared. I'm just worried about you is all..."

I gave him a cursory glance over my shoulder. "Do us both a favor and don't be." The dragon looked pale, but I assumed it was just because he was a light color.

He followed me, and it was becoming quite dark. The canopy above us had grown over the pathway along with the passage of time, blocking out the light of the moon and the stars.

Gerrard kept stumbling behind me. "Axio? Are you still there? I can barely see a thing.." I slowed down for him begrudgingly, before realizing that I had no reason to. He meant nothing to me. A nuisance.

"Yeah. I'm still right in front of you. We're going to be coming to a stream soon. Don't fall in." I continued my pace, not caring if he got left behind.

Before we even reached it, though, I heard a loud snap of a branch, and then a loud curse, followed by a scuffling, then a thud. I stopped, but stepped behind a tree first. Gerrard had fallen, and was sitting against a tombstone, clutching his leg. When he realized what it was that he was leaning against, though, he freaked out, scrambling away from it on hands and knees, as if he were afraid of offending the body that the stone named.

Gerrard called out to me tentatively. "Axio? Fuck.. I think I twisted my ankle. C-can you help me out?" His voice was shaky and unstable.

I stood out of sight, not that he would have been able to see me anyways with my current coloration and clothing choice, and waited, silent.

The dragon looked about, trying to find me. I could hear his breathing begin to pick up, smell him starting to sweat lightly as he began to realize that I was not anywhere nearby, and that he was all alone in the woods.

"Axio... please. Are you here? I don't know the way back to the campus from here. I can't even see." He was speaking quietly now, and I could sense him trembling. He curled into a ball as best as he could and began rocking back and forth.

The scent of panic was thick in the air, and, as I turned around with silent feline grace to begin my walk home, I heard him begin to sob quietly.

I walked three steps before stopping again. I looked down at my paws. My heart, something that had not spoken to me in a long time, told me that this was wrong. I scrutinized my paws more closely, regarding myself. He wouldn't make it back to campus by himself. Did I really want that on my conscience?

I told myself I shouldn't, that it would all end up biting me in the ass later, but the shaking sobs of the terrified dragon behind me tugged at my heartstrings. I wasn't a bad person, not to the point where he might actually get physically hurt because of it. My prickliness was skin-deep only.

My brain screamed at me that I shouldn't, but against its judgment, along with a muttered curse, I turned around and walked back towards the dragon.

"Gerrard? You over here? You stopped following me."

Immediately the sobbing stopped, and the dragon sniffed. He looked up, in the general direction of where my voice had come from. His pupils were dilated. "I... I tripped. I think I sprained my ankle. I can't even see. If we weren't in the woods I could simply fly, but..."

I smiled softly in the darkness, not needing to hide myself within the inky blackness. "I didn't know those wings actually worked. I just thought they were vestigial." I stooped down and slung the dragon's arm over my shoulder, standing up slowly and taking half of his actually considerable weight. I set my jaw and wondered if I could make the trek back with him.

He laughed softly, using his free hand to rub at his eyes. "No, that's just an urban legend. They're functional, and quite strong. You need to be running pretty fast or launching from high up in order to truly get anywhere though. They're not strong enough to hover with."

I began to slowly guide him forward, knowing it was the right thing to do, yet knowing I would regret it later on for letting this dragon have the opportunity to get closer to me. "You'll have to show me sometime, after this leg heals up. You sure it's not broken? Shit... I just thought of what the athletic community will do to me when I bring you back with a busted leg..." I groaned softly to myself.

This brought another soft laugh from the dragon. "I'll keep them off your case, don't worry."

As we walked, the dragon tried to concentrate on walking, but soon began to talk again.

"You know... you're not really that prickly after all. It's all talk, isn't it?" He mused.

I grunted, annoyed. "I had every intention of leaving you there and going home, trust me."

He chuckled knowingly. "I figured as much... but the fact remains that you didn't. You helped me instead. Thanks, by the way.." It sounded like he was blushing.

I growled at him threateningly. "We're not out of the graveyard yet, smartass. I still have the option of leaving you here if your mouth runs too much."

He faltered a little. "Please no.."

I sighed and hefted him up onto my shoulder again, repositioning where he had slipped down a little. "I wouldn't. Just don't tell anyone. Especially not Andrew. I don't need him getting all gushy at me."

We continued our way back to campus, and when we finally got back, I let the dragon into my room and fetched some ice for his ankle. It was swollen badly, but it was thankfully still intact.

I flopped on my bed, tired from carrying the heavy footballer back to the campus and up two flights of stairs.

Gerrard gazed at me from where he sat on Andrew's bed, and I noticed.

"What."

He smiled at me. "Nothing. Just that I was right about you. You're not an asshole, you're just like I was in the graveyard. Scared, alone, and hurt."

I glared at him. "Shut the fuck up before I start regretting not leaving you behind."

Andrew ended up not coming back that night, and while the two of us were worried for the armadillo, we figured he would be fine. Gerrard spent the night in his bed, and I resumed my earlier prickliness.

I thought about what Gerrard had said, once the lights were turned off, and the darkness had settled over me gently. I held my hand in front of me and stared at it.

Maybe he was right.

~~~~~~~

A link to Axio's playlist can be found here.