FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The frames are all askew and covered with dust, so she straightens them and dusts them off so she can get a better look. There are photographs of Shadow shaking hands with world-leaders, newspaper clippings with headlines celebrating revolutionary new treatments for deadly diseases he helped discover, as well as more casual photos of him relaxing in exotic locales. There are two in particular that catch her attention, the first being an article about a team of researchers led by Shadow making radical progress on medication to prevent violent mood swings in people.

That was something that really helped us out, Whisper recalls, yet I'm not sure it was worth the drawbacks.

She looks away to the other picture of interest, Shadow lounging nude on a sunny beach. She peers closely at the picture: unfortunately for her, Shadow was posing in such a way that his leg is raised to hide his most private regions, but the exposed muscles of his chest and confident expression are still enough to nearly make her drool. She'd always had a fascination with him and his work since she'd first heard of him, when she was just a pup, so he had actually been her first crush. She had nearly forgotten about that fact until the opportunity to work for him had come up, but she's certainly recalling those old feelings now.

She steps back to get a view of all those snapshots of his life and sighs. He had such an impact on so many lives, but for some reason it was like he had just disappeared from the world.

She continues her work, putting away his clothes and vacuuming his floor. She begins to change the sheet of his bed and hears footsteps behind her, louder and heavier than Rouge's as well as catching faint whiffs of some peculiar, intoxicating scent. It's hard to really explain. Many beings have scents with a signature smell--something that marks them as individuals, like a fingerprint. However, there's a sort of absence to this smell, but despite that there's something invigorating about it. Perhaps it's like water: there's not much flavor to it, but nothing's more refreshing when you're truly thirsty. She'd picked up this smell elsewhere in Shadow's home, and would linger around trying to understand how such a clean scent could stimulate her senses so much. She turns around and finds her face to face with her elusive employer. She tries to utter a greeting, but finds herself too nervous to speak.

“Ah, you must be the new employee." Shadow says. Whisper nods in response, and the hedgehog continues: “A reticent one, yet a reliable worker. That's good, actually: I need some silence right now, so if you go about your business keeping your head down as usual then you can finish up here."

“Oh, Whisper mutters, finally speaking up, “thank you, sir." She tries to keep her face expressionless but she can't stop her ears from drooping and tail from hanging limply. However, Shadows doesn't notice, merely taking a quick glance at her face as he walks past to sit at his desk.

“No problem," he replies without looking at her. “I like it when the workers don't cause a disturbance. You should get along well here."

Whisper thanks him again, and gets back to making his bed. However, she is not as focused on her work as her boss imagines, frequently stealing glances at the hedgehog, deep in thought with his eyes shut. Despite being in his prime before she was born, he still looks so young and virile, a stark contrast to that sad gaze he had as he sat down, like a lonely old man. As she finishes making his bed, she wonders whether he spends all his nights alone these days.

With all her work finished, she stands awkwardly beside his bed, unsure of what to do. She feels a need to say something to him, let him know that she sees more to him than just a relic of past glory, or perhaps just wish him a happy birthday, but even if she could find the words she would probably be too afraid to disturb him to speak up. She simply clears her throat, and flatly states, “Done."

Shadow looks over and remarks, “Ah, good. Nice work, you may leave now."

“Yes, sir." Whisper responds softly, and her employer looks away. Whisper hesitates a second, then walks out slowly, hoping to hear Shadow calling for her to hang back a moment. However, as she exits his room and shuts the door silently, neither speak another word before she departs sullenly.

“Welcome home!" A gray lemur runs up to Whisper and embraces her before the wolf even has time to close the door of their apartment behind her.

Whisper squeezes the lemur in return for a few seconds, then says, “Alright Tangle, that's enough."

Soon, the two are sitting together on a couch watching old sit-coms and eating pizza. “So," Tangle asks, “did you finally meet him?"

Whisper nods.

“Really?" Tangle exclaims. “What was he like?"

“He… wasn't interested in me. Was just lost in thought, seemed kind of down," The wolf explains.

“Well, you should have cheered him up." Tangle says.

Whisper sighs and shrugs. “He wanted to be left alone. I don't think there's anything I could do anyway."

“Oh, there's plenty you've done to make me happy, if you know what I mean." Tangle teases, wrapping her arms around Whisper.

Whisper smiles in spite of herself. “Yeah, back when we were together. He's my boss, not my girlfriend."

“I've hooked up with some of my bosses, you know." Tangle says, ginning.

The wolf shakes her head and remarks, “I don't think Shadow is that kind of guy."

“But are you that kind of girl?" Tangle asks, looking directly into Whisper's eyes.

“Tangle, this is serious. This isn't the time for your fantasies," Whisper protests.

“But I'm serious too! And it's always a good time for my fantasies; don't act like you don't love them." Tangle insists.