FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ben woke abruptly to warm darkness. Something was happening.

A key was rattling in the door. Luke! Could it be? Finally!

It had been a long wait. Five o'clock had come and gone with no sign of him. Now it was after nine.

Ben had been getting worried. Had something happened? Had Luke been hurt? Even the thought of that possibility was gut wrenching.

The door opened and the lights came on. It was! Luke! Although he did look rather tired and sad. His face lit up with a smile, though, when he saw the tiger sprawled on the bed.

"Hi, Ben. I hope your day was better than mine."

As he closed the door, Luke noticed how warm the room was. "Wow, has the heat been on all day?" Thank goodness it was included in the rent.

Luke started taking off his clothes. They quickly joined the pile in the corner.

"I'll be with you in a minute, Ben. I've _got_ to take a shower."

In his rush to leave at noon, he hadn't taken the time to brush his teeth, let alone bathe. The stress of the day afterward hadn't helped: software that didn't work and people who'd been nasty about it. A close friend ignoring him had hurt, too. The lab was a lot quieter in the evening, so he'd stayed late to try to finish the project, but it still had bugs.

Ben saw the light come on in the bathroom, then heard Luke use the toilet. Water started in the shower. From the humming and splashing noises, he could tell that Luke was enjoying getting clean. Soon the water stopped, though, and he could hear a towel being applied vigorously, and then a toothbrush. Finally the light clicked off and Luke came out.

Without clothes, the room felt comfortable rather than warm. Luke sprawled out on the bed next to Ben. It felt good to relax with someone so friendly. Luke felt a bit of surprise. The plush tiger did seem to be welcoming him. The cat certainly wasn't about to say any of the things Luke'd overheard about lazy sophmores.

Luke pulled the stuffed animal close. With its head on one shoulder, he could reach around and stroke the soft fur while holding it tightly.

"Ah, Ben, you are a friend indeed." Luke relaxed. The soft weight was soothing, almost like a hug.

Luke groaned. "Oh, well, one more thing to find out." He got up and turned on the computer. "Hey, Ben, do you want to help?" He sat down with the tiger in his lap. "Mmmpfh." It was just too big. Typing around it, with his face full of plush fur, just wasn't going to work. He let Ben slip down between his legs. That was a bit better. The body fur stroked his lower legs, and the tiger's forelegs rested gently on Luke's upper thighs.

The disk whirred a bit while the browser connected to the campus login service. A picture of the university's scowling, pot-bellied mascot appeared, waiting for Luke to type his password. Maybe it was just as well that Ben couldn't see the screen. Luke thought the mascot was rather cute, and it wouldn't do for the white tiger to get jealous. He grinned at the idea. It could be that his imagination was just a little too active.

Oh, no. The math midterm grades had been posted, but he wasn't anywhere near the top. Or even the middle. Luke turned off the computer with a slam. He certainly didn't feel like leaving it on, even to watch cable.

Ben didn't know what was wrong, but the way he was tossed on the bed told him that his boy was hurting. Luke almost dove after him, making the surface slosh wildly. He grabbed the plush tiger tightly and buried his face in the fur. Engineering physics was so hard!

Luke wrapped his legs around the soft white tiger and hugged it tightly for a long time. Eventually he loosened his grip a little and rubbed his face on the plush. The fur was damp with his tears. Nineteen was supposed to be too old for crying, but he knew Ben wouldn't mind. Ben was his friend.