FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Raia managed to slip in and out quick and undetected, but I knew this wasn't going to be a repeat incident. I had her grab a week and a half worth's clothes, plus clothes to sleep in, and a few other things. I kept the one hoodie, though. All I need is one.

We returned home, just before noon, an hour or so left before we had to show up. I spent a few minutes putting the clothes away and using a few of the hygiene products I got. That left a solid hour still. Great. Now I'm bored.

I sat down and flicked on the TV, knowing full well I wouldn't watch it. Raia came by a few seconds later and sat down next to me. She had an entire couch, enough room to put a full cushion between us, but she sat right next to me. I was really starting to wonder about her…

“Hey Rai." I said, using a short form of her already short name.

“Hi." She said, very plainly. Way too plainly. Alright. I might not have that much experience with women, but I know this act.

“Is something wrong?" I asked, fully knowing she had something on her mind.

“Nope." She chirped happily, staring blankly at the TV. This was going to get on my nerves real quick.

“So… about earlier. What did you mean?" I figured this was a good place to start. I had an intent behind it, but the generalness of the question made it so I could catch what she was thinking about.

“What? What I said about how you look?" I nodded, not sure if she saw. “Just what I said. I didn't hate it. You keep talking about looking overweight, but you look slim enough to me." I gave her an odd look, then looked myself over for the first time since I'd gotten here. I had slimmed down. A ton. I shook my head. Didn't matter, I had other concerns.

I decided to express my frustration the best I could. I grunted. “You and I both know that means something." I said, flat as a blacktop. “Don't play games with me, we're supposed to talk to each other, we're a team. This is something that's been on my mind, and yours too, judging by how you act."

She blushed. “I guess you caught me in a lie." She said. That was it, she said that, then silence. I grunted again. More silence.

“I swear to God."

“Alright, alright." She said, caving into finally telling me. “I have to say: true, it wasn't what most would call the best, but I like how you look. I don't know why this has been bugging either of us, we're friends after all. How we look shouldn't matter."

I was about ready to snap. Friends? I thought, Friends, and nothing more. As I should have expected. Such was the story of my life, eternally “friend-zoned". Fuck, I sound pathetic. I sat for a few more seconds, then stood.

“Yeah, you're right." I said as I walked away, my voice dripping with petty angst. “It shouldn't matter." I walked to the bedroom, shut the door behind me and fell face first into the bed. I laid there for just a couple minutes before I felt a presence.

“You should use the door." I said. I felt the bed sink and a paw land on my back.

“What's wrong?"

“Most people use the door." I said, cold as stone.

“Luke, tell me."

“Friends use the door." My words froze as they hit the air.

“Luke, please…" It sounded like her voice was cracking.

“You know who doesn't?" The air felt like it was chilling around me.

“Please look at me."

“People who love each other." All I heard as response was the sound of a word catching in her throat. “People who care about each other. Boundaries shrink, sometimes cease to exist, because trust blooms."

Silence filled the room, the air stagnated instantly, her hand felt limp on my back. “Luke, I…"

“Don't have to say anything." I said, standing. “It's time for us to go. Come on." I walked out the door, and I knew she would follow.

=====

We arrived in the park and I heard Takato talking. I signaled to Raia that we should move, get behind something, so we hid behind a tree. A few moments later, I saw Rika and Renamon walking along. Rika made a hand motion and Renamon was instantly airborne. Half a second later, Guilmon became one with his inner fence.

“Hey!" Takato yelled in protest.

“What a lousy fighter. But a fight's a fight." Rika said flatly.

“Hardly a fight." I said, stepping out from behind the tree. “State-side, we call that assault."

“Who are you?" Rika said looking me up and down, apparently not caring that I had no digimon to be seen, or so I thought. A paw brushed my side, signaling Raia had followed me. I looked at her briefly, she seemed… limp_._ I sighed internally. Shit. Guess we'll have to talk this out at home.

“Just a guy." I said, really at a loss for words. My elegant plan stopped after my entrance and one-liner.

“A guy with a Renamon?" She asked, eyebrow raised, question in her voice.

“Yeah, suppose that's a bit more accurate." I said, running my hand through my hair, a nervous habit of mine. “Except I don't use mine to randomly assault unknowing tamers."

“Whatever." She said, her attitude only slightly showing. “I started a fight, and I'm gonna finish it." She signaled again, and Renamon, who had since returned to Rika's side, leaped again. The hell you are. I thought. I quickly looked at Raia, realized she wasn't going to do anything and decided to act very stupidly. While Renamon was mid-attack, I rushed Rika from her blindside, knowing I would severely regret what I was going to do. From behind, I swept my left arm under hers, then my right, and wove my fingers behind her head, putting her in a full nelson. It was hardly a challenge, given I was a full-grown man, and she was a somewhat frail girl of 12.

“Hey, fuzzball!" I said, taunting Renamon and proving myself an asshole. “Look what I got!" Renamon's head snapped straight to me and she did the last thing I expected. She fucking bum rushed me. I loosed Rika, throwing her to the side and brought my arms up to take the impact. Funny how I never felt it. After a moment, I looked past my arms to see Raia in front of me. She was locked in a grapple with Renamon. I stepped back a bit, reaching down to Rika, who was on the ground, but she blew me off and stood. I knew she wasn't hurt, a full nelson never killed anyone and she hardly fell when I dropped her.

“What the hell is wrong with you?" Rika asked, getting up in my face. Well, she tried, given how I had a good foot and a half of height on her.

“You were really going to have her attack a helpless digimon? One who didn't want to fight? I could ask you the same question."

“You grabbed me!"

“You wouldn't call off Renamon!"

“You threw me to the ground!"

“Your Renamon would have killed you if I hadn't and she hit us!"

In the midst of this, I heard a series of smacks. One of the Renamon, at this point I couldn't tell one from another, had gotten the other on the ground and was really laying into her.

“Raia!" I tried experimentally, not sure if I was addressing the right one. Seems I did as the Renamon on top stood and walked to me. I thought I was at least somewhat in the clear, until she smacked me, then phased away. “Damn it."

Renamon stood and clutched her side as she walked to Rika. “You're a monster."

I was surprised to hear that Renamon said that. “You're one to talk. I had no intention of injuring her, but you could have killed us both." Both Rika and Renamon looked away from me, refusing to accept that I wasn't the only one at fault. I opened my mouth to say something, thought better of it, and walked to Takato.

“You okay, kid?" I asked as Takato doted on Guilmon. He nodded.

“Yeah, thanks for helping us."

“You seem to be the only one thanking me." I said, glaring over my shoulder. “Listen, your friend Henry will be here in a few seconds, so he can help you out." I started to walk away.

“Wait!" Takato called out. “Who are you?"

“My name's Luke. You'll be seeing more of me, don't worry." I continued to walk and called over my shoulder. “And make sure Rika and her Renamon are alright!"

=====

After a long, long walk, I finally reached home. I assumed Raia came back here, because… well, where else would she go?

I entered the house to find her curled up on the couch, eyes red and tears staining her fur. Shit. Me and my dramatic bullshit at work once again. I knew that I should have just explained my feelings before, but I was too upset at the time.

I sat down next to her curled form and received a harsh push in the side from her foot for my efforts. I decided persistence would aid me best here. I pulled myself closer to her, only to be pushed again. We repeated this cycle a couple more times before I got an idea. I walked around behind the couch, hooked a leg over, and lifted myself onto it from behind, wedging myself down between Raia and the back of the couch. She refused to go off the couch, as I hoped she would, leaving me pinned between her furry mass and the couch. I slid one arm beneath her, and threw my other over her and brought her into an embrace.

“I'm sorry." I said softly. “I just… I was afraid to tell you."

“What?" I heard the cracks in her voice, it was obvious she'd been crying heavily. “Tell me what?"

“That I care about you."

She grunted in reply. Try again.

“I mean that I really care about you. Raia, I like you in a different way than a friend. As something more. I got mad before because… I was afraid I was left out to dry again. Being just friends" I sneered on the word, “when I really wanted to be more than that. It hurts to be suppressed like that. I just… I just wanted you to understand." I closed my eyes, feeling them begin to mist up. I'd done it again. I'd fucked up again. Another friendship gone because I couldn't keep my feelings down. Another time I'd broken my own heart.

All these thoughts were plaguing my mind, slowly killing me with the knowledge I'd fucked up again, huge this time, but then two words shattered them.

“Prove it."

I couldn't believe my ears. Goddamn it, not again.

“How?" I asked, feeling myself retrace painful footsteps, following a path that leads to my own sadness.

She rolled, facing me now. “Kiss me." Her words echoed in my mind, panging off of sharp, jagged memories. The duality stops here, I told myself. I won't make the same mistake.

Drawing my arms in on her, I pulled her ever closer and dipped my head down to meet hers. Our lips connected and I saw a flash of silver. Just a faint touch, but it left us hungry. Seeing the pleading in her reddened eyes, I dove back in, pressing into her and tightening my pull. Silver flooded my mind as it overflowed with joy and ecstasy. This feeling was unlike any other I'd felt. The more I pressed, the more silver occupied all the space in my mind not being filled by the sensory overload caused by the beautiful beast pressed into me. I never wondered why silver, but later I would know.

=====

We'd fallen asleep, huddled together on the couch, so I was unsurprised when I could not move when I woke up. I didn't move though, didn't wake her, and just nuzzled in a bit closer and lay watching her face, peaceful as she slept. After some time she woke as well, but something caught my eye. When she first opened her eyes, I could swear I caught a hint of crimson, yet her eyes were the usual beautiful ice blue when she blinked them. I decided that I was just still tired and I was seeing things.

She held my gaze for a moment, then closed her eyes again. I sighed inside myself. As much as I wanted to just leave her to her peace and watch her sleep, I couldn't very well survive in the world with a lazy digimon. I had to have the resolve to force her to have resolve, I was her tamer after all.

“Rai?" I said gently, noting a nose twitch and a light flutter of the eyelids. She was awake, we both knew that. “Come on, we have to get up. Something important is gonna happen, and we have to be there." She groaned a bit, but relinquished her grip on me and allowed me to stand.

I stroked the side of her face for a moment before turning to the bathroom, grabbing a second set of clothes along the way. I stripped down, got in the shower, and quickly washed myself. I tried to relax under the hot water while still being quick, but I couldn't shake a paranoia of being watched. It dissipated quickly though, when I saw a golden-yellow flash out of the corner of my eye.

Damn it. I thought as I rinsed my hair. As much as I'm flattered, boundaries gotta be set. I left the shower and pulled on my clean clothes before brushing my teeth and leaving.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Raia was ever so casually sitting outside of it. I gestured for her to follow me.

“Alright there, Miss Curious, let's go." She blushed, I'm sure of it, but I never looked to be certain. “We need to have a talk on the way to where we're going.

=====

We walked outside and Raia took my hand, as usual, but I shook my head. She dropped my hand.

“We're in no hurry." I said. “We have plenty of time, plus it's a nice enough day to have a walk and talk about things." In actuality, the sky was grey and full of clouds, the wind was cooler than comfort for most, and it seemed the heavens were ready to burst into a torrent of tears. Maybe a dreary day for some, but perfect for me.

Raia sighed, knowing where this was going. I took her hand and we began to walk.

“Raia, I know that you feel more comfortable now that our feelings are out on the table, but we still need some boundaries." I said as we strode through the cool air. “We aren't to that point yet. I'll open myself slowly, naturally, and I hope you do the same. It's hard not to, but you have to remember, only fools rush in." Mentally, I slapped myself, even though she wouldn't know who I was referencing.

She sighed and blushed. “I-uh, I'm sorry about that."

I stroked down her back, making sure to keep my hand from going too far, lest I make a hypocrite out of myself. “It's fine, really it is. I take it as a compliment, but I don't want to have you wanting that when it won't come for a while."

She stopped walking and turned to me. The air swept around us, holding me in a cool embrace. Her face stood out clearly against the dark gunmetal skies. “How long will I wait?" She cocked her head sideways, the longing in her eyes breaking my heart. I tried to resist, fearing I'd lose my point, but I couldn't hold the line.

“Not long." I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers and even angels seemed to cry over us as the first drips of a heavy cleansing rain fell upon us.

I broke from her and looked to find a gleam of happiness in her eyes. “Come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

=====

After some searching, we found that parking structure where Terriermon would digivolve. My problem was that I knew I'd be involved, and I had to make sure he did digivolve, or the continuity would start to break on me.

“Alright Rai, we have to be careful, Rika and Renamon are probably in here too." I whispered. We were hiding behind pillars, and I was hoping to God I didn't start a fight before it was needed.

Raia nodded, positioning herself so as to not be seen.

“Guilmon stop! Right now! I need to stop cutting out of gym class." I motioned toward Raia, signaling to be ready.

“It's you again!" Which meant Rika was here.

“Can't get anything past you can I, boy? Are you ready to fight this time? Is your little dinosaur- huh?" My heart skipped a beat. “What is it?"

Very faintly, I heard someone say “I smell something."

“What?"

“That crazy man and his Renamon are here. I can smell her."

“How do you smell data, Renamon?"

“I don't. I smell pheromones."

“Like the kind animals make when they…" That was Takato, and I assumed he made a hand gesture.

I heard an audible slap, probably Rika facepalming. “Yes, gogglehead."

“What kind of whore is she?" Renamon said that. My eyes narrowed, my fists clenched, my blood boiled. I was beyond pissed.

I swung out from behind the pillar. “The fuck did you just say?!" Everyone was looking at me now. I started to rush forward, carrying my momentum from the pillar. I was moving pretty quick for a guy my size, so it was no surprise when I managed to take Renamon to the floor when I tackled her.

I started laying into her, not caring where my blows lay, only that they hit. I swung, full force, harder than I'd ever had, filling every violent fantasy I'd ever had. She wasn't just the thing that had offended me, she was every thing that had ever offended me, all the anger I had was coming out. I couldn't tell you how long I was beating her down, but eventually, she managed to roll me off of her.

I scrambled to my feet, staying low in my stance, ready to charge again. She took the initiative, though, quickly plodding, heavy-footed, straight at me. I resisted my urge to meet her charge, opting instead to sidestep her and come from behind. As I passed her and twisted, I saw another target, Terriermon; my blood ran cold and my rage left me. Henry had just happened to walk in, probably hearing the commotion, and he had Renamon charging him. Before anyone could react, even Renamon, Terriermon launched from Henry's shoulder to meet Renamon, to protect his tamer. Physics told me the little guy never had a chance.

Momentum is mass times the change in velocity. The equation buzzed in my mind. Terriermon was less than a quarter of Renamon's mass, and he sure as hell wasn't going four times faster than her. He took the hit, flying back over Henry's shoulder into the wall.

Everything froze. The dust settled and it happened. Terriermon started digivolving. I watched carefully, noticing the details the series left out. Terriermon was stripped of his skin and raw code was exposed. The code, triggers, hooks, loops, and variables all expanded and morphed to fit his new form, then the skin rematerialized. As I watched, one thought crossed my mind. I can do that. That would have to wait. I twisted back, looking and finding Raia across the garage. She did the responsible thing and ran to protect Takato and keep Guilmon back. I gestured for her to come to me.

“We have to get him down!" I shouted to… well, everyone. “He's not in control!" As if on cue, the newly formed Gargomon started going nuts with his gats. Bullets were whizzing everywhere, a couple right by my head. My head snapped back to Gargomon and I hit the floor so I wouldn't get hit.

I saw Renamon dashing Henry to safety and I started to crawl to Gargomon. “Christ, man!" I screamed over the blazing machine guns. “Learn to fucking aim!"

Raia ran at me, slid to the floor and pulled me along the floor with her, a feeling I was honestly getting too familiar with. We collided with Gargomon, taking out his legs. Thinking quick, I flipped on top of him, pinning his arms down.

“Stop FREAKING shooting!" I yelled, earning a sheepish grin from Gargomon.

=====

Gargomon had gotten a hold of himself, so the chaos died off. Rika was still shooting me dirty looks, but I hardly cared. Takato, and to a lesser extent Guilmon, seemed happy that everything stopped being crazy, and Henry was trying to get Gargomon to de-digivolve. Raia was standing beside me, seeming pretty relieved, probably wanting to head home. Soon, I thought to myself. Just need to finish up here.

Please hurry, then. OK, what the hell? Mental link. I heard pang in my head.

We'll talk about this later. I saw her smile a bit. Smug little… damn mental link, can't even think freely anymore.

Henry left with Takato, who was trying to help him with Gargomon, but I was preoccupied. Renamon was looking at me rather strangely, and I needed to know why.

“Rika, can you give us a moment?" Renamon asked her tamer. Rika simply obliged her, showing no protest at being ordered by her partner, a sign of just how shaken she was.

“Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, crossing my arms with a bit of irritation.

“You," She said, seeming to act as if were alone, like Raia wasn't there, “Have impressed me."

“Oh, really?" I said, the words wrapped in causticity. “I am so honored."

She ignored this. “You are a fighter. I misjudged you. Despite what Rika may think, your defense of your partner and your bravery, though perhaps foolish, has impressed me. Not many humans would stand up to, let alone attempt to match, a digimon, especially one of my caliber." Well, no one ever said she wasn't confident.

“Well, thanks." I said, somewhat genuine. “I respect your ability to make peace with me. Most wouldn't swallow their pride."

“The feeling is mutual, then." She looked over to Rika, who obviously was badly shaken up at the chaos from earlier and needed to get home. “I have to go. I look forward to fighting alongside you and your partner in the future." I was surprised that she included Raia. Maybe she noticed how strong Raia really was.

“Same to you." I said, turning and leading Raia out.

We walked for a bit and started to talk.

“I think she might be afraid of you." I said.

“She should be. You can kick her ass, and I can definitely kick yours." She said with a smirk.

“Oh, really?" I said with a laugh. “First off, I hardly kicked her ass. I scraped by, but that's good enough for me. Second, we'll see about who can kick whose ass later. Thirdly, when did you open a mental link with me?"

“After we got home last time." She said flatly.

“Before or after the kissing?"

“After." She said with a smile.

Noticing her smile, I said. “Glad to see you enjoyed it."

“Almost as much as I enjoyed watching you do something very stupid to defend me."

“Hey," I said, “No one insults my friends, and you're a very special friend."

“Special how?" She said, stopping and smiling.

“I don't do this with any of my other friends." I said, and I brushed my mouth against hers. “Seems pretty special to me."

I couldn't see it, but her expression told me she was blushing.

“Come on," I said, starting to walk again, “We have one more stop before home."

=====

We stopped by a card store and I picked up several packs of cards so that I could modify Raia if necessary. I looked through the cards briefly as we walked the rest of the way home.

We walked inside and I set the cards in a stack on the counter.

“Raia," I said, questioningly. “Do we have a computer?" She nodded and led me to the one room out of the 6 or 7 in the house that I hadn't been in. I opened the door and saw a welcome sight. First, I saw my desk chair from home, then my desk, my monitor, and finally, my PC tower.

“No freaking way." I said. “Can't be." I walked over, sat down and saw that even my headset was there. I turned the computer on and turned to Raia while it booted.

“What?" She asked, very confused by the look of it.

“This is my computer." Her expression didn't change. “This is my computer, from my home. My world."

“Is that good?"

“Yes," I said, returning to the computer. “Very, very good." Everything was the same, from my desktop setup to my wallpaper cycle. I slid open one of the drawers and found my USB flash drive and opened a fresh Notepad++ file. I turned back to Raia, confused as ever.

I looked at the flash drive and back at her. “Here, touch this." I said, holding the drive out to her, prong first. She touched her paw to the metal prong and spark jumped from her to it. I grinned and turned back to the computer, plugging the drive in and bringing it up onscreen. Sure enough, there was a notepad file and I dragged it onto the open window, which quickly filled with lines upon lines of code.

“Is that…" she started.

“Yep." I said. “That's you. That's your source code. And fuck is it big." She shot me a look and I smirked. “No offense."

She shrugged it off, looking interested. “What does this mean?"

“It means I can reprogram you. I can add functions, powers, abilities, hell, even full-on digivolutions. This gives us an insane edge… but…" I turned to her. “I have to know, are you okay with that? I mean, it would benefit you, but I'd be changing you at the core. You'll still be you, just different in form. I can't access your personality or anything of that sort through this code. This is just the Renamon source code; basically, I can't overwrite you."

She paused for a moment, seeming nervous before reassuring herself. “Yeah. I'm okay with it, especially if it will help us fight."

“Trust me, it will." I stood, closing the window and flicking off the monitor. “But I'm too tired to tackle that right now. Why don't we just go relax on the couch?" She nodded and followed me out of the room.