FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

17.

"The problem must be on your computer," I insisted to the matronly doe behind the library's checkout desk. "Why else would I even be here if I wasn't cleared to rent a book?"

She sighed. "We both know why you're here."

I tried not to let my frustration get to me. Me and Jake just finished having our mouths abused by an unpleasant bear with a teacher/student kink. We'd staggered out from a classroom in the back and both spent a good five minutes rinsing our maws in the library's drinking fountain. I think that's what soured her, I may have splashed some water onto the carpeted floor in my haste to cleanse my aching jaw of the bear flavoring. I might have been a bit sloppy, and may have slurred something about minding her own fucking business. Who knows why she's making this difficult, females can be unpredictable.

"Ma'am, you should encourage me to take out a book. You must value education, being a librarian and all. If I can't rent a book, who knows what mind numbing entertainment I could turn too. Like television, or gambling, or... or," I arched my eyebrows in the most sincere look I could summon, "drugs," I whispered conspiratorially. "You wouldn't want a young fox like myself to head down the wrong path, would you?"

The doe's look of incredulity said it all.

Time for a new approach. "Pleeeease," I whined.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"The computer says you're still in you probationary period."

"It could be wrong," I said.

"No." She wasn't budging.

It was my turn to sigh. "Look, all I've had to read since I got here was the orientation book."

"Then you should know about the probationary period."

This was ridiculous. She just let a guard drop off two whores to use the classrooms in the back of the library, but I wasn't going to get to rent a fucking book because of the rules. I threw up my arms in frustration. I tried talking her into it, I tried begging, the only things I had left in my negotiation-arsonal were offering sex and crying. I wasn't about to sink that low for her.

I started to turn around and nearly jumped out of my skin at the glimpse of a fur standing next to me. For one horrifying moment I thought the bear had recovered and was looking for a quickie before the guard came for us. My shrill yelp earned a shushing from the doe.

It turned out it was only Jake. I wish he wouldn't be so quiet.

"Can I rent a book for him?" he asked the doe.

The permanent look of disapproval didn't waver, but she thought for a moment. "You'll be held responsible for the book. If it's lost, it's billed to your account."

Jake nodded.

The doe looked at me. "Ok. Go pick out a book."

I grabbed hold of Jake, planting an affectionate peck below his ear. As grateful as I was, I knew where his mouth had been and was in no way grateful enough to overlook that. But I was really grateful.

I practically skipped to the shelves, only to be met with a new problem. The selection sucked. I looked for something close to what I had enjoyed on the outside, exploitation films that had been banned in no less than three countries. Unfortunately, my fears that obscure movies from thirty years ago were not often novelized, turned out to be accurate. My search for anything violent or pornographic also turned up nothing. Dejected, I trudged back to the checkout desk carrying a thick book about a wizard or something.

While Jake signed it out, I attempted to enlighten the doe, asking if she knew how many of her library's fiction collection was comprised of books written before television was invented and inoffensive Young Adult titles.

"The board of Prisons have to approve any books we get in. They obviously frown on anything deemed too extreme."

My sense of righteous indignation kicked in. "That is censorship, ma'am! Incarcerated or not, we have the same inalienable rights as all furs have. One right being the freedom of thought and expression. I, for one, will not stand for-" Jake tugged my arm. "What?" I asked him a little meaner than I should have, but I was getting into it.

Jake pointed to the library's double doors. The llama guard that dropped us off was back.

I smiled at the librarian. "Well, you get my point."

"Let's go, girls," the llama called to us.

Jake pushed the book into my arms and we let the guard take us away.

***

The buzzing klaxon announced our arrival back in Cellblock-H. I think Jake was worried about the same thing I was. We both focused our eyes on Piter and his pack, and made directly for the stairs. Thankfully the husky was more interested in his card game than he was in us. Given Piter's threats, I couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.

As we reached the top of the stairs, Dimitri was exiting his cell. My mood lifted at the thought of the tiger caring enough to pull himself away from his sitcoms to check on us. I let my tail wag freely to let him know I appreciated it.

"Hi, sir," I chirped, reaching the end of the walkway.

Dimitri nodded. "Everything go alright?"

"Yes, sir. Jake rented a book for me. If I keep it in my box, could I please keep it in the cell with me?" I gave him my puppy dog eyes. I was getting pretty good at it, but I don't think I needed to pull out that bit of performance after the guilt Dimitri had felt over scaring the shit out of me earlier.

"Sure," he said, eyeing the thick book. "Do you think it'll fit?"

The small cardboard box I got with my legal papers was already stuffed and concealing a candy bar and pack of mints. I chewed my lip, thinking about how tattered it was looking. If I tried cramming in a book, the box would fall apart. "Sorry. I guess it probably won't." I probably should have considered my suggestion before speaking.

Dimitri's hand came into view and lifted my lowered head. "I was just thinking, because you've been such a good boy, I could let you keep it on the shelf."

"Really?" my tail wagged in genuine joy. First a pillow, now I could keep a book on his shelf? By the time my six years are up, maybe he'll even stop thinking of me as his pet. My excitement over that thought suddenly depressed me. I hide it well, throwing my arms around the colossus and nuzzling into his rock hard chest.

Dimitri stroked my hair. "Go put your stuff away and wash up. Then you can tell me what happened."

I had to admit that life with Dimitri was becoming almost bearable, but there were still things I hated. One of those things was when he would make me tell him what I did when I was on one of my dates. Not just because I usually didn't risk lying, I mean, being honest about what I had to do was humiliating enough, but because Dimitri would usually get horny. Especially if he could tell I didn't enjoy whatever the client put me through. Horny Dimitri had poor impulse control.

It could be worse, I told myself. Dimitri sometimes wanted to try out the things the clients had me perform on them, but given Dimitri's history, I doubted he would want to roleplay anything that had to do with a teacher.

***

Friday morning. Me, Dimitri and Jake were on our way to the cafeteria for some breakfast. I was going to warn Jake that Dimitri wasn't a morning fur so he should keep the talking to a minimum, but then I remembered who I was speaking to. I was up half the night reading in the dim light that filtered through the bars, so my mind was still a little fuzzy.

I yawned loud enough for Dimitri to glance over his shoulder. "Tired, pup?"

I smiled sheepishly. "A little, sir."

"Go sit. I'll get the food."

He probably didn't know it, but I was doubly grateful for his kindness. The food line ended in Pack territory, and Piter seemed to still be under the impression I needed to pay him in sex for letting me live in Cellblock-H. Just thinking about him put me on edge. "Thank you, sir." I wanted to tell him how generous it was of him, but couldn't think of a way to say it without making it obvious that most of the other times I was thanking him were only done in the interest of self preservation.

I sat at our usual place, intending to put my head down and shut my eyes until Dimitri and Jake came back. As soon as my head hit my folded arms, a half a muffin hit the back of my head. I jumped up, ready to make threats I could in no way back up only to spot a wolf sitting at a neutral table. His fur was an off white, maybe eggshell, and eyes bluer than mine. I looked for Dimitri, afraid it was someone sent by Piter.

"Regal," he called sharply, then motioned me toward him with quick flicks of his hand. His eyes darted around, looking for something too.

I didn't move.

The white wolf pointed to the open spot across from him.

I mouth the word "what." Call me cautious, but I fully intended not to let Piter rape yet again.

The wolf puffed in exasperation and pointed to his ears.

It clicked. I dashed over to his table. "You've got the headphones?" I asked.

"Yeah. You are Regal, right? Hash said you'd be sitting with the cats, but I thought he was fuckin' with me."

I heard a scraping under the table and something hit my foot. I looked down to see the box. It was bigger than I'd thought. I looked up to ask how I was expected to hide that until I was back in a cell, but the wolf was already up and making his way back to the hectic embrace of the Pack's tables.

I looked around on the off chance one of the slacker guards was doing his job, then ducked down, snatching the box and in one smooth motion stuffing into the ample room of my oversized shirt. It looked like I swallowed a car battery, but I doubted anyone would notice.

Back at my seat, I found that someone did notice. A paw clamped on the scruff of my neck. "What was that?" Dimitri asked, traces of his quick temper giving his words bite.

"Nothing!" I said with a start. "I, mean, i-it's for you-" The paw tightened, cutting off my words.

"I told you to sit."

"Headphones," I yelped. "I- I- I thought if I carried them back to the cell, you wouldn't get in trouble if a guard saw them." I tensed in preparation for another squeeze. "Sir," I remembered to add.

His other hand reached around me and carelessly stitched the collar of my shirt. I could feel the tiger's hot breath as he looked down and saw the box containing his new wireless headphones. His hand relaxed and I felt what might have been a tender kiss planted on the top of my head, but for some reason, my mind refused to believe that.

"Give it to Jake to carry," Dimitri said.

The red fox sat down next to me, doing a remarkable job of holding onto three trays without letting the oranges roll to the floor. His face betrayed his displeasure for no more than a second before going back to its well rehearsed look of resigned submission. He tucked in his shirt with the box under it. His uniform was better fitting and he wasn't as skinny as me to begin with. It would have been safer for me to be the one doing the smuggling, but if Dimitri wanted to show me that I meant something to him by making someone else take the risk, there was no way I was going to say anything. Sorry, Jake.

From across the table, Dimitri tossed a note at me. One of Vince's little lists of the day's appointments. I read it. "It says, me and Jake have to give a group of rodents handjobs behind the shed out on the Yard, if we get your permission, sir."

"That it?" Dimitri asked as he chewed a forkful of slightly burnt waffle.

"It doesn't give any names. And he underlined handjobs, sir."

Dimitri grunted and stuffed the rest of the waffle in his mouth. The three of us ate in a little bubble of silence surrounded by the noise of other furs laughing, arguing and complaining.

***

Back at the cell, I was given the honor of hooking up Dimitri's new wireless headphones. It was taking me over half an hour as, in an effort to hang onto the last shreds of my maleness, I refused to look at the instructions. But Dimitri didn't seem to be in a hurry. In fact, he seemed pretty amused watching me struggle with finding what gets plugged in where.

"Anything?" I asked after trying another combination. Why would the prison take out the private television's internal speakers, yet leave all those damn connections?

"No." He let me work a while longer. "Would my pet like the instructions?"

"I've almost got it, sir."

"You said that ten minutes ago." Dimitri laughed as I fumbled the wires in my haste to make the thing work before he could start to annoyed.

"Fuck!" I snatched them as they dangled.

"My pet seems tense," Dimitri observed.

"Sorry, sir. I guess I am." I pushed a button on the box I was trying to connect. "Piter. I'm kinda worried he's going to mess with me again."

Dimitri was quiet and I started to worry I shouldn't have said anything.

"He didn't learn anything from what I did to Jake."

I wanted so badly to tell him I told you so. Jake was never more than a chew toy to the husky, yet Dimitri thought the fox was partly responsible. "Can you ask Vince to ask the Alphas to do something?"

Dimitri shook his head sadly. "It would be much easier just to snap that fucker's neck." My eyes went wide and I dropped another cord. "Relax." He knew it scared me when he talked like that. "I won't do anything that'll leave you on your own."

"Thank you, sir." My relief was real. As bad as Dimitri was, I could have gotten a cellmate like Piter. I'd almost hate to lose the tiger after all the work I've put in. "Is it working now?" I asked, pushing in the last plug.

Seeing the tiger's smile when he heard the crisp, high definition audio made me feel like I'd really accomplished something. "Good boy!" I took a bow.

The rest of the morning was probably the nicest time I've spent since winding up in this nightmare. Dimitri was too absorbed in messing around with his headphones to fuck me or banish me to my corner while he worked out. I sat cross-legged on his bunk, reading a dumb book about a wizard, while Dimitri sat next to me and propped his feet up on the cell's table and laughed at the morning talk shows. I couldn't have been happier.

***

Instead of the endless stretch of minutes that felt like hours and hours that felt like days that came with the boredom of being locked away, slowly rotting in a miasma of your own fear and hopelessness, time passed much too quick. My morning with Dimitri blew past faster than the last day of a vacation. The PA system's announcement of lunch ripped me out of my idyllic little world.

I would have been happy to skip lunch if it meant anything, but it was up to Dimitri to decide what we do, and apparently he was hungry. I put the book back on the shelf, noticing I was half way through. I didn't know if Jake would rent me another book anytime soon, so I began wondering how many times I could reread it before it became as unbearable as the damn orientation booklet I was stuck with for so long.

I waved to Jake as we silently followed Dimitri to the cafeteria again. Jake didn't wave back. He was still mad about having to sneak the headphones back this morning. It wasn't fair. Fair would be the red fox directing his anger at Dimitri, but when you were in our position, you had to take what you could get. If he needed to vent himself on me, I was ok with it. Maybe I could apologize to him and try to smooth things over if I got some time with him out on the Yard.

As I slid my tray along the counter, I found myself alternately praying that Piter wouldn't notice me at the end of the line, and wishing I really believed in a benevolent higher power that would grant my prayer. Naturally, the universe flipped me the bird.

"Hey, Dimitri," one of Piter's pack called out. A few more obscene taunts were directed at me and Jake but they came to an abrupt halt when Dimitri didn't keep walking past the canine tables.

The tiger faced them, looking right at Piter. "Control your bitches, or I'll do it for you."

Surrounded by wolves, Piter was feeling mighty brave. "Watch yourself, Dimitri. My furs are getting fed up with you not sharing that fox harem you're hoarding. If they don't get some release, I might have to let them work out some aggression on you, kitty-cat."

Dimitri smirked and I held my breath, waiting for the tiger to decide if he was going to kill Piter right there in the cafeteria. "I hear neutering can put an end to your sexual frustration. Care to find out?"

Piter bolted up, followed by half a table of canines.

The next thing I knew, a guard was shouting, "move the fuck along!" his hand on his radio, fear radiating off him, his bravado not nearly as convincing as I'm sure he wished. A few more moments and the cafeteria would have erupted in a full-scale riot.

Dimitri stared, smirking at Piter for a few more seconds before slowly walking away, letting the situation de-escalate. I stopped holding my breath and followed him. He didn't even flinch, I thought to myself, if he'd been in a foul mood he wouldn't have hesitated to take on the all of Piter's gang at once. I shivered at one of the most brave and suicidal scenes I'd ever witnessed.

"Wow," I kept thinking. Dimitri was daring the husky to try something. I wondered if that was how he avoided more serious repercussions from the aftermath of his volatile temper. Hash told me the tiger had killed while locked in here and managed to get it called acts of self defense.

More worryingly, Piter seemed to be ignoring most of what the Alphas had decreed. He was setting up his own fiefdom, having more control over the cellblocks in this wing than the Alphas. Those distant ineffectual wolves who spent their time lining their pockets with protection money, profits from every illegal vice they could think of, and residuals from whatever criminal activities they were still part of on the outside, didn't have the influence they thought they did. Piter was more real to the furs in our part of the prison. And he'd used the phrase "my furs," not threatening Pack retaliation, but threats backed up by canines who were personally loyal to him. Piter was fracturing the Pack, and with it, my dreams of a relatively safe, stable incarceration.

***

Dimitri didn't bother with a coat. It was warming up, but still too chilly for my tastes. Vince and his comrades were waiting for us.

"I'm going to hit the weights," Dimitri announced. "I started something with Piter, so keep an eye on my two."

"Wait!" Vince called to Dimitri's back. "What do you mean, ' __started something'?"

Annoyed, Dimitri turned around. "What do you think I mean?"

"Fuck. Dimitri, I said I need time. I already know a few wolves are willing to join me, but I need some more time. They don't want to work under a tiger yet, no offense." Vince's ear twitched in agitation.

Dimitri looked at me and Jake, jerking his head to dismiss us. I knew that it must have bothered Vince that in my eyes Dimitri outranked him, and that made it feel extra satisfying to leave without asking his permission too. I put my hand on Jake's shoulder to take him with me, but he shrugged me off, following of his own accord.

When we were far enough from the furs playing politics, I turned to Jake. "Look, I'm sorry about Dimitri making you sneak the headphones this morning."

The red fox shrugged and nodded without really looking at me.

"And thank you for renting me the book. You're an awesome fur," I didn't know what else to say. It wasn't my fault he was having a bad time in prison. My life wasn't much fucking better. Before my guilt turned to anger, I jumped at a surprise greeting.

"Hi guys."

It was Hash. I guess Vince let him leave the pointless argument he was having with Dimitri.

A smile spread across my face. "The headphones worked great," I said.

"Glad to hear. Do they really sound 'high-def,' because I'm thinking that's just a marketing gimmick."

"Heh," I gave a short embarrassed laugh. "He didn't let me listen to them, but he let me hook it up for him and It put him in a great mood."

Hash displayed his honest empathy, making me feel all warm from his shared joy at my good fortune. Then he turned to Jake and I tensed back up.

"Everything alright with you, Jake?"

My eyes narrowed in on Jake. He might have saw that before I could pretend I wasn't getting territorial over my friend.

"Couldn't be better, Hash. I got promoted from fuckable furniture, to sex slave," his self depreciating laugh was joined by Hash. I was too surprised to hear him string together two sentences to figure out whether I should chuckle along or sink deeper into my jealousy. But by his next clever quip that made Hash laugh, I decided to be jealous.

The three of us talked. Me and Jake passed passive aggressive barbs while competing over who could seem wittier in front of Hash. By the end I felt like a complete fucking idiot. The only thing more embarrassing I could have done was latch onto Hash's arm and stick my tongue out at Jake, saying "my coyote," like an adolescent vixen with a crush.

Vince came up to us, finished with his meeting. "Jake, Ellie, time for work," his obnoxious enthusiasm was back. "Greg's gonna keep an eye on you," he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the tiger was gone, "just a precaution, but Dimitri started some shit with Piter." Greg grinned lewdly at the prospect of watching us.

I swallowed a whimper.

"Can I help Greg?" Hash asked.

Vince shook his head. "No. We gotta talk to the Alphas." He motioned for Greg to get us going.

When I made to follow the big wolf and Jake, someone grabbed my arm. It was Hash. He leaned in close, "stay safe, ok? Don't worry about whatever you have to do, just keep close to Dimitri until Piter's taken care of."

I said something unintelligible, too wrapped up in thinking how much he meant to me. I wished I could tell him.

Vince whistled for Hash, like he was calling a feral dog. Me and Hash growled in unison, too quiet for anyone else to hear. The synchronicity brought a smile to both our faces before we headed off.