FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“How long until the Doctor comes," Jamie asked as she tossed her shower towel into the hamper and pulled out fresh clothes.

Nyeusi glanced at the clock that sat on the bedside table. “About ten minutes."

“TEN MINUTES? We aren't even dressed." She went into a drawer, grabbed a pair of Nyeusi's boxers and threw them at him. “Get dressed. I cannot believe I let you talk me into a quickie, in the shower."

“But it was fun, you have to admit that," Nyeusi said pulling on the boxers and grabbing a pair of jeans.

“For you, maybe," Jamie said, annoyed.

“What, it wasn't fun for you?" Nyeusi asked, before he laughed. “OH, it wasn't fun because you were against the wall and not under the water. Not so much fun when the predator becomes the prey, is it?"

“Oh, shut the fuck up, you idiot. That will never happen again until you replace that junky shower head with the one I want. I have only asked you to do that how many times now?"

“What, that full length shower head? Fine, I will have that replaced this week, if I can get someone out," Nyeusi said pulling on his jeans and then looking through his shirts. “Hell, might as well go the whole nine yards and have the side mounted jets installed."

“Oh, so I ask you to replace the shower head and you ignore it but when I threaten to not fuck you in the shower, you jump to do it? Perv." Jamie walked over and looked at the shirts Nyeusi was going through. “Which one you wearing?"

“Why, do you want to match?" Nyeusi asked, with a grin. He dodged a swat that Jamie was going to deliver to his muzzle and snorted. “Anything that will cover up these," Nyeusi said as he glanced down at his scarred up arms. He pulled out a plain black, long-sleeved polo and pulled it on. “And no, I wasn't ignoring you about the shower head. Every time I thought about it, something else came up."

“Sure, sure, something always comes up," Jamie said and then went silent. “Was that a knock?"

Nyeusi listened and heard a second knock at the door. “Fuck, that was." He yelled out, “coming," before he headed down the steps. “We will go to the basement. You mind making a pot of coffee and bringing it down?" Before Jamie had time to reply, Nyeusi said “thanks," and ran down the stairs. He glanced at his shoes, debating putting them on, but waved a paw at them. He opened the door and smiled. “Doctor Coronado?"

“You must be Mr. Rigby," David said as he came into the house. He looked up to Nyeusi and smiled. “It is a pleasure to meet you," he said, as he extended his hand.

“Good to meet you," Nyeusi said, shaking David's hand. Nyeusi's hand engulfed David's when they shook hands. “Please, call me Nyeusi. I have never been one for formalities, and besides, Mister makes me feel old."

David studied Nyeusi's paw for a moment, surprised to see a hint of claws extending from Nyeusi's paw. “All right, Nyeusi. You can call me David if you wish." David released his grip on Nyeusi's paw and glanced around. “This is a nice house. You know, I didn't even realize there were houses in Brooklyn. I thought everything was condos and apartments."

“No, you can find houses here and there. And thank you for the compliment. I will pass it along to my brothers." Nyeusi stepped back out of the entryway. “Please, take your jacket off and I will show you to the basement. We have a second family room down there, which we use in the winter. Jamie will join us down there after she makes a pot of coffee."

“Jamie is your wife, correct?" David asked, as he set the bag he had on his shoulder down, and hung up his jacket.

“Yes, Jamie is my wife of almost two years now. It will be two years in May." After David had retrieved his bag, Nyeusi led him down to the basement and waved a paw around. “Please, find a place to sit. I will turn the heat up," Nyeusi said as he adjusted the heater.

“If I can ask," David said as he looked around the downstairs family room. It was a stark contrast from the upstairs. The upstairs, that David saw, looked more homey, while the downstairs looked more modern. “Why did you build a second family room? Seems like a lot of work."

“Oh, because we can have air filtration down here easier than we could upstairs. Since both my brother, Dylan, and I smoke, we wanted to smoke inside, instead of freezing. That's the reason this room came to be." Nyeusi chuckled as he settled on the couch. “Well, that and Jamie and I are not banned from the couch down here. Long story."

David raised his eyebrows in surprise. Banned from a couch? “Well, that's a new one. Banned from a couch."

“Welcome to the Rigby household. I will be the first to admit that we are an odd little family." Nyeusi remembered that David had said he was looking at apartments, and his curiosity got the better of him. “Well, while we wait for Jamie, you mentioned you were looking at apartments. Do you mind if I ask which ones?"

David had set out a tablet on the coffee table before Nyeusi asked him about the apartments. “Oh, yes I looked at two of them, this morning. Let me see if I can find the names," David said as he pulled out his cell phone, and looked at his list of stored addresses. “One was Excelsior Terrace and the other was Fairview."

“I have seen both. Nice looking places, at least for the area. Any luck?"

David shook his head. “No, no luck. Both of them are street parking with no access to charging stations. You can rent garage space, but that is quite costly as I am sure you are aware. Also, they are out of my price range."

“Street parking without charging stations? I am surprised apartments like that still exist. Would work well if you had a hydro but then I doubt you would look at apartments in Brooklyn."

“No, if I had a hydro I would look at a nice luxury place in downtown Manhattan. There is a third apartment I will peek at today, even though my colleague says I am insane to even consider it."

Nyeusi tilted his head. “Insane to consider it? What's wrong with the apartment?"

“Well, the rent is low," David said as he scrolled through an apartment listing site. “Seven-fifty a month for a one bedroom. The pictures look nice though they could have forged them. My colleague has said I should take a gun and pesticide with me when I looked at it."

Seven-fifty a month? Nyeusi asked himself. There is only one place that low, but could David have stumbled upon it? “What is the name of that apartment?" Nyeusi asked, playing dumb.

“It's called Wintergate. It looks like it is on some island, judging by the map, but I figure that has to be a miscalculation in the mapping software. I have never heard of an island in New York other than Long Island."

“Wintergate, huh?" Nyeusi asked, grinning. “Well, I can tell you that those photos are accurate. It's a big no-no to forge photos in apartment listings. Housing department isn't too keen on that. As for pesticide, we have pest control so you wouldn't need that…" Nyeusi paused for a moment, before chuckling. “Well, to be fair we have one pest, a rat, but he pays rent so I am happy to let him stay. And a gun? Not a lot of crime occurs around there. In fact, there has been nothing more than minor infractions in…god it has been years. Oh, and yes, it is on an island."

“Wait, you run Wintergate?"

“Own and run. I used to use a management company to run it, but they ended up being more hassle than they were worth. Now, before you run over there and take a look at the apartment, I will warn you of something. The apartment is entirely hybrid. All residents are hybrids and we have only had two other human residents in the time I have owned it. The last one we had lasted only three months because she felt out of place. Now, I cannot stop you from looking at it, nor can I stop you from applying, but I want you to be aware."

“Looking at the photos," David said, as he looked at the listing he had seen. “Wintergate looks like a higher end apartment. How can you have such low rent?"

“That is a long story," Nyeusi said, his ear flicking, “and I hear Jamie coming down. Just remember what I said." Nyeusi turned to watch Jamie come down the stairs, and set both the pot of coffee, and three mugs down on the small table that sat in the corner of the room. “Hey babe, thanks for making the coffee."

“Like I had a choice," Jamie said before sticking her tongue out at Nyeusi. She then walked over to where David was sitting and smiled. “You must be Doctor Coronado. I am Jamie, Nyeusi's wife."

David nodded and smiled, shaking Jamie's paw. “Pleasure to meet you Jamie. I am Doctor Coronado, though please, call me David."

“It's a pleasure," Jamie said before she poured herself a cup of coffee. “Help yourself, David. There is creamer in the fridge over there, and sugar here on the table. Sorry we have nothing else more interesting." She settled on the couch, with Nyeusi, and smacked him in the back of the head. “That's for earlier. Now, what did I miss?"

Nyeusi glared over at Jamie before he turned back to David. The look of puzzlement on David's face, combined with how oblivious Jamie was to what she had done, caused Nyeusi to break down laughing. He finally stopped laughing and noticed both Jamie and David were staring at him. He cleared his throat and turned to Jamie. “You smacked me, in front of a psychologist who doesn't know us."

Jamie slapped her paws over her muzzle and shook her head rapidly. “Oh, god, no I didn't hit…it wasn't…we do…" she said, stumbling over her words in embarrassment.

Nyeusi chuckled and drew Jamie in against him. He looked over at David, who still looked both puzzled and surprised. “Why don't we do whatever paperwork we need to do, then I can explain a few things about us."

“Oh, um, sure," David said as he fumbled with his tablet to pull up the form he needed sign. “This is…this is a privacy policy. Just note down anyone who you…you will allow to hear personal information about you and sign it."

Nyeusi took the tablet, and after typing in three names: Kes Rigby, Dylan Rigby, and Jamie Rigby, he tapped his wrist on a small reader attached to the tablet, and the tablet back to David. “Anything else?" Nyeusi asked.

“No, that's it," David said, taking the tablet back. He pulled up another form, and passed the tablet to Jamie, who read over the form and signed it. “All right, that's everything. Go ahead Nyeusi."

“Well, first, what Jamie just did she has done more times than I can even count. I have known Jamie for forty-two years now. She forced me to meet her back when we were six and out on the playground of the living center. We have always rough-housed, and yes she has always smacked me." Nyeusi smiled at a passing memory and brought Jamie in a little tighter against his side. He rested his head on hers, keeping his attention on David. “Second, we aren't used to having anyone but the four of us in the house. You will probably see who we really are, and not some rehearsed version of ourselves that is meant for company."

David nodded and settled back in the chair he was sitting in. “It will be nice to have a patient that acts like himself, as opposed to what he thinks he should act like. It's easier to figure out what is going on when someone is who they normally are." David thought for a moment, debating where to start. He finally started with Jamie and Nyeusi's relationship. “So you two have known each other for forty-two years, yet only married less than two years ago. How long did you date before you married, or was this a childhood sweetheart situation?"

“I don't think we ever dated," Nyeusi said as he nuzzled between Jamie's ears. “Did we?"

“Depends what you would call dating, but I don't think so," Jamie replied. She looked over to David as she thought. “No, we never dated. I dated and was in a few relationships, but Nyeusi and I were nothing more than close friends, at least until a few years ago."

“So you never dated in all the time you knew one another?" David asked Nyeusi.

“I never considered dating Jamie." Nyeusi sighed and released Jamie from his hug. “Do I tell him?"

“That's what he is here for," Jamie replied as she picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip.

“Can you get us both a cup of coffee, Jamie?" Nyeusi asked, and he glanced over to David. “I think we will need it."

“Sure," Jamie said, setting her mug down and getting up. “What do you take in your coffee, David?"

“Oh, black is fine, thanks," David said and turned his attention back to Nyeusi, who had lit a cigarette. “She's right. I am here to listen to what has gone on in your life and what is going on in your life. Hiding things will not help."

“Yeah, I know," Nyeusi replied with a sigh. “Jamie and I grew up together and went to school together. I dropped out of high school at sixteen, and I lost track of Jamie. I never had been to her house and couldn't go back to the school because of potential questions. I found her again when we were twenty-four, twenty-three or twenty-four. I lost her, again, the same day I found her." Nyeusi took a cup of coffee from Jamie, “Thanks babe."

“Thanks," David said as Jamie handed him a cup of coffee. “So what caused you to lose her again?"

Nyeusi rubbed his muzzle and then took a drag off his cigarette. “When I turned eighteen, or shortly thereafter, I stumbled upon a job opportunity. I…I freelanced hit jobs…"

“Stop right there," David said as he studied Nyeusi. “Hit jobs? You were a contract killer?"

Nyeusi nodded. “Until I was thirty-two, yes. I am not proud of what I did, and I have spent years working to make up for what I did. I know I never can make up for the pain I caused, but I am doing what I can. I tried to turn myself in to the police, but they turned me away. It was almost like they thought I was making everything up."

“I'm surprised they turned you away. But, maybe they get stories like that all the time from attention seekers, and they thought you were just looking for attention. Did you enjoy what you did?"

“Did I enjoy it?" Nyeusi asked, before shrugging his shoulders. “For awhile I did. I had spent most of my life, until then, struggling and suddenly I had a lot of money, power, and respect. I started drinking a few years into my 'career' and that was the only way I could continue doing what I was doing."

“Why did you continue doing it if you had to drink?"

“I wanted more," Nyeusi admitted, taking another drag off his cigarette. “More money, more power. I could never have enough and doing the contracts was the only way I could get more."

“How much were you drinking?"

“Towards the end I was at two fifths of whiskey a day. I can't remember how much I was drinking when I started, or what I was drinking when I started, though."

David turned his attention to Jamie. “Do you ever recall Nyeusi being drunk?"

“Not that I can recall, no," Jamie said. “The night we met again I remember that he seemed normal."

“So a functioning alcoholic then," David mused. “I assume he told you what he was doing, and that's how he lost you. Am I correct in that?"

“Yea, he told me what he was doing. I was so pissed off at him, and I think he knew it because he walked away right after telling me." Jamie reached over and took Nyeusi's paw in hers, gripping it tightly. “I hated him after that. Every time I saw him at the grocery store, where I was working, I wanted him dead. I wished he never existed because I felt like I wasted so much time on a waste of flesh." Jamie wiped her eyes with her free paw, before she whispered “I'm sorry, honey."

Nyeusi squeezed Jamie's paw. “It's all right. I felt the same way, some nights."

“Why did you change your mind about him?"

Jamie chuckled at that. “It will sound stupid. I came off a bad relationship, and for the first time I felt alone. Nyeusi, well I knew him as Spots was gone and I had no other friends. One night, I was in my apartment and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to just clean the entire apartment. I came across a box that had my journals in it and I pulled out the journal from when I was sixteen. I flipped through it and found the entry from when I realized Nyeusi was gone. I had written several pages of memories of him because he was my best friend growing up. I read through that entry a few times and then remembered how he had walked away. He walked away like he had just lost a fight. I realized that there was still some of the old Spots left, and that I wanted to find the Spots I knew."

“Sometimes good people do bad things just due to circumstances," David said as he glanced down at the tablet checking if it was still recording. He noticed the time and glanced up to Nyeusi. “Well, the hour is almost up, but I want to finish this story, next time. I have one final question for you, though, before we finish. Why did you call me?"

“Wait, you will keep seeing me, despite what I was?"

“Nyeusi, if I stopped seeing every patient that had a skeleton in their closet, I would have no patients. No one is perfect, and while killing people for money is quite a big skeleton, I can see that you are trying to get rid of it. Now, if you showed no remorse, I would not see you again, but you are showing remorse."

Nyeusi nodded and then sighed. “Well, you won't like the answer but I will give it to you. I don't know why I called you. It's a feeling in the back of my mind, but I cannot explain what it is, nor where it comes from. I've tried to figure it out but even in five years I still cannot put my paw on what is wrong."

“Well, I guess we have to walk through your life until you hit a moment that tells you what's wrong. I will have a better plan the next time we meet, but I think it will involve tracing back through your life." David reached over to the tablet, and tapped a button to shut off the recording. “All right, well thank you both very much for inviting me into your home."

“You are welcome," Nyeusi said before he thought of something. “Oh, what about payment?"

“Oh, I didn't go over how payment works. I bill you once a month for any sessions up to that point. You will get an invoice. Far easier than having to calculate out what you owe me at the end of the session."

“Sounds good. I will see you out. Oh, and thanks again for taking a risk on me. I appreciate it."

David smiled, “it was my pleasure. Oh, and before I forget: when are you at the apartment for showings?"

Nyeusi raised an eyebrow. “You are serious? You want to look at Wintergate, despite my warning?"

“Hey, looking doesn't mean I have to rent, does it?" David asked, as he slid his tablet back into his bag.

“Did you drive up here?" Nyeusi asked.

David shook his head before he finished his coffee. “No, I took the train up from New Jersey, why?"

“Do you have time to look at the apartment now?"

“Well, that's why I am in New York today, to look at apartments. I have all day."

Nyeusi sighed and shook his head. “You are insane, but if you want to go look at it, let me get dressed, properly, and I will show you how to get there. There are no routes listed on the New York subway, so it is a pain to find the first time. Babe," Nyeusi said looking back over to Jamie. “I will be home for dinner."

Jamie nodded as she got up and cleared the coffee mugs off the coffee table. “All right. Oh, and honey? Thanks for understanding."

Nyeusi got up and hugged Jamie. “Don't worry about it. It's water under the bridge, and I didn't like myself much then either." Nyeusi looked over at David, “All right, I will take you upstairs, and then just give me five minutes to look presentable enough to go out."