Finally!!! The Furry Convention is here! Now for a very fun few chapters to read over. A lot will be happening.
After spending a few days back in Sacramento it was clear to see that Tay was getting antsy over the upcoming convention. He kept sending me information on what all was going on, what events to visit and where the booths are. Michael managed to get to stay a little longer, skirting the issue of why he was staying, but none the less I was happy he could come as well.
Come the 11th Tay had had enough waiting, him already packed and ready to go. He had informed Michael and me that he wanted to leave the day prior, allowing us to stay at his place so we don't have to travel as far or wake up super early. The drive to San Francisco was a blast; we all packed into Michael's car. Tay got to sit up in the front seat, mostly because he tended to get car sick on long rides. I didn't mind, knowing that he and Michael could use the time to get to talk with each other.
I on the other hand took the time to sleep, the constant traveling starting to wear down on me. By the time we had passed West Sacramento I was out, even though it was mid day. I always tended to fall asleep on long drives, especially when I had seen all the surroundings multiple times. Tay and I had often times headed down to San Francisco, us taking many trips when we first got our licenses and then again he got into San Francisco State.
When I woke we were pulling into the dorm parking lot. Tay had gone into the reception while I was shaking off the cobwebs to get a parking pass and when he returned we parked. The dorms here looked a little nicer than Long Beach, a more modern feel to them. Michael and I could not help but be a little jealous of Tay as he led us to his dorm, showing us the awesomeness of his complex. Unlike Long Beach, which was flat and brick, the dorms here were grey multi story buildings, standing higher than any of the halls down south.
As it was, when we entered into Tay's hall, we had to ride the elevator up to the 7th floor, his one step short of the top. Even though they were not new, they still gave off that feeling, everything being clean and well maintained. Entering into his room was even more awe-inspiring, a one bed room; while smaller than ours, it still had enough room for the three of us to move around easily. His dorm was connected to 5 others, almost apartment style, though he shared a bathroom and mini kitchen with his roommates. We didn't know if any of them were here and from the amount of noise we made, we took it that they were gone; no one peaking out to see who the guests were.
His room was very nice, easy and quaint if I had to describe it. He had a few pictures of his family (and myself, I took note of) scattered around his room; some on the desk and some on his nightstand. His bed was a dark brown, the sheets wanting to clash with the olive walls but working together enough with the snowboarding and miscellaneous movie posters to complete it all together. Overall there was not much in his room, it actually appearing very empty to me. Maybe it was because I had been with Bryan and Zach for so long; I forgot how big a dorm room could be.
Michael and I set down our bags near the desk, and stood there as Tay moved around, shuffling things together to clean up his "mess" that was on his floor. It was actually school papers that had not been organized and, with the sudden arrival of Michael and I, were getting a rough treatment.
After cleaning up, Tay looked around on his desk and found what he was looking for; two badges. Handing one to me and holding the other, he explained what they were. "I got two badges made for us, mine being my fursona and yours... well yours is a wolf body because I don't really know what your fursona looks like yet. I know it's very generic but it's the best I could do under the circumstances." Waving his finger at me, he cracks a smile, "you need to get a fursona together sometime... I might have to strap you down so I can make out a reference sheet for you."
Michael just stood there, trying his best not to giggle at Tay and I, but when he saw the badges, as low end as they were, he was still impressed. Tay's bunny face was blue, with huge white eyes peering out at him. You could see the fursona's short ears perking out behind the head, jets of pink streaking down the fur. The iris was a deep golden auburn, the glint done to level of a setting sun. It was a great picture, even for its small postcard style size.
The rest of the day was spent around San Francisco State University, Tay showing us his classes for next semester and Michael and me comparing and contrasting Long Beach to this campus. It was nice but different. More spread out and a whole lot more hilly, but the buildings they were more modern and aesthetically pleasing.
That night, while Tay was showering in the communal hall, Michael and I laid together, his body pressed against mine. With all seriousness in his voice, Michael looked deep at me, "He really is into this furry thing isn't he?"
Rolling over, I stared up at the ceiling and sighed. "More than you know. I mean it's cute how we would text each other and I have fun with it but he loves it. I mean it's a hobby, no different from the way you and I enjoy sports. He enjoys the fandom for its artwork and community involvement."
Continuing on, I explain my reasoning for joining him. "Tay had wanted to go to a con for the longest time and while I didn't know too much about it, I had always been there to support him, which meant that I would go along as well. I am not going to lie, from what he has told me at times, there can be and will be some VERY interesting things to see. Some things that you probably won't want to see." I let my voice trail off at that part, memories flooding in on some of the images Tay had sent me over the years. Some of it was very nice and erotic, others he had done to play around with me.
Michael pressed into me, wanting to know what these `things' were. "Well? You can't just leave me hanging there. Come on Chris, what things?"
Looking back at him with a very gentle gaze; "You will see tomorrow, trust me. I will do my best to explain it all but there are some things that I won't even be able to comprehend. The best thing to do is go with an open mind and remember not to judge them all by the actions of a few. Overall it is a great hobby to partake in."
Leaving it there, Tay walks in, skimpy white shorts hugging his waist in a fashionable manner. He really didn't need to say much, though I wouldn't have been surprised if he heard much of what I was saying. I love Michael but Tay was my best friend and this was his trip.
Heading out at 8, Tay had wanted to be there at 9 when it opened. Sadly though, even with Tay driving, we got stuck in traffic and couldn't move too much. What normally should have taken us an hour's drive turned into almost a two hour drive, us not arriving until around 9:45. Tay was a little erratic, moving around the San Jose Convention Center's parking garage, almost knocking over a few fans and furs in the process.
Michael and I didn't get a chance to grab a good look at the fur suit costumes but from what we were able to see, they were nice get setups. They almost reminded me of sports mascot costumes, the faces being more detailed though.
Finding parking in one of the more remote areas, Tay rushed us all to the corridor to enter the complex, his ushering starting to get on my nerves. Around us there were a few fans dressed in normal attire, common street clothes and shoes. As we looked down the line, things got more interesting; there were fans wearing fur tails (of ALL sorts; lion tail, dog tails, wolf tails, those seemed to be the most common).
When we finally entered the convention hall, it was not really different from any other convention. There were tables set up with people manning them, products being sold, information being spread. But then again this was not a normal convention; there were people in animal suits all over the place. But these suits were amazingly made; Michael and I could not help but notice the amount of detail put into the fur, the eyes, and the paws.
Many of the suits had costumes that went with them, so shirts that fit them, the cargo shorts that they wore, heck some of them sported around some very sexy underwear that could not normally have been worn in public. While yes some of the suits were, I guess, `nude' but even still if you look at them as pets, then I guess they were not nude, because they wore collars and had guides helping them around. It was very cute watching them walk around, and not on all fours but as normal two legged people.
Tay walked out in front of us, weaving us through the crowds to a place where we could talk. Michael, completely out of his element, stuck by my side like a lost puppy, his wide eyes absorbing everything he saw. Tay, having finally gotten us to a corner, spoke, "Do you just mind if I go find HuskRy?"
Looking around us, I didn't know who HuskRy was or what he, or she for that fact, looked like. "Umm... sure. Look Tay, this is your convention. Go, have fun, Michael and I will wander around and see what the fandom has to offer. There is A LOT for Michael to take in, so I am going to do my best to show him."
Tay rubbed his hands together, looking around at the numerous rows of tables and crowds. "Ok, but be careful. If you guys need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, please call." With a simple nod from me, Tay turned and disappeared into the crowds, leaving Michael and I to our quest.
Turning to him, I, with a slightly goofy grin, comment, "Ready to have your eyes burned?" Michael could only stand there, the though processors of his brain comprehending the golden lion suit to his right, the intense care of the owner's fur suit showing Michael how far the fandom goes.
Moving out from the corner, I start to work the two of us down the rows, taking note of the artwork and trying to find a good one to start Michael out on. Moving over to one of the stalls, I find an adequate picture. It was one done by a well known artist called Onta, his artwork, while not for sale, being displayed as name recognition.
The picture was simple, a bad boy picture of a cat sitting in a car stroking one off. It was subtle but erotic. The cat, my guess drifting more towards lion as I remember other pictures that he had been in, had his jeans undone, giving a great shot towards his cock, a condom resting in his right hand seductively.
While the lion was not directly looking at the viewer, his intentions were clear; at least to me and Michael the stroking of the cock giving the intent for sex. The dark shirt hung tight to his chest, outlining his pecs and drawing a line down his chest, equally dividing his abs up in a muscle manner.
Somehow I felt this picture fit perfectly for Michael, because while he doesn't always have that bad boy look to him, his signature brand clothing makes him for a hot piece of meat, something that other guys want. As it was, while I was explaining this picture to him, I couldn't help but notice a few furs move around us, the scent of our first time radiating off us.
Flipping through the little booklet, I glanced up to the owner, the fur almost wanting to protect us from the growing crowd. It was a chick under the suit, her voice mewing out from the tight black cat's muzzle. "Don't worry about them. They just smell your first time and are amusing themselves with it."
I chuckled lightly, "And you aren't?" Looking around, I saw some of the furs move on, others moving towards us. Maybe it was my being paranoid but it was almost as if they knew we were not part of the fandom.
Michael had grown his interest in the pictures, flipping through the booklet to see some of the other pictures. "Who makes this art? Cause it is really... good..." You could tell he wanted to say erotic but he was a bit too embarrassed to blurt it out. His full rugby body looked so out of place here, his discomfort shifting back and forth.
The cat purred out to us, leaning over the table to look at us, her deep dark eyes peering into our souls. Her costume, while still a dress, was so well done that had anthropomorphic beasts started to roam the planet she could have fit in perfectly with them. Taking the booklet from us, her paw etched an outline for Onta's website, some place called HardBlush. "This isn't really an official booklet but I respect Onta enough to not sell any of his work."
Looking at her, I made a questioned face, "If you don't mind me asking, why do you collect Onta's work? Doesn't he mostly devil into gay artwork?"
The black cat set down the booklet, opening it up to a particular page. My boyfriend is bisexual so I look at his artwork as ideas to play with him. For example, this picture." The cat lets us look down at the picture while she moves to talk with another fan real fast.
The picture is of is of a cheerleader on the grass, his blue uniform stuck so tightly to his body that everything is visible. Onta had formatted the portrait to have the fur's penis to be hanging out, a rear shot showing the tight underwear hugging its ass firm. The main picture, the one that was not of ass, was just as seductive, the fur spread out on hands and knees, legs spread wide, front paws close together. Had this been a female, her breasts would have most likely been more pronounced.
"What would you do with this picture?" I play around with the cat, her moving back to us after helping out the couple that had came up behind us.
If her suit could blink, I am sure she would, but instead she moved her paw to my hand, stroking it playfully. "Sweetheart, that is for the me and my boyfriend to know..." I did manage to get a slight chuckle from her as we thanked her for her time and moved on.
"Those were very erotic pictures Chris. I mean damn they were good but man erotic." Michael looked around us, eyeing some of the comics that we passed, noting some bound books here and there.
As we passed towards the end of the hall, I make it very clear to Michael that there is more to the con than just porn artwork. "As you saw, yea some of it is erotic but a lot of it also deals with comics and stories. It is very anthropomorphic," That got a raised eyebrow from him "personifying human traits to animals. Picture being able to express your emotions a whole lot more than just what you normally show." Holding his hands, I emphasize my point, "This isn't about porn or the want for sex; it's about emotion."
While I hold his hands, a fur approaches us, the huge grey husky standing there for a second before I actually take notice of him. Thinking he was just another fur wanting to help us out, I look at him, "May I help you?"
The husky, his clear cut eyes, moves closer, an obvious stance telling me he doesn't know what to say. It is almost cute how the pup approaches me, his tail dragging along the ground slightly; his paws flicking their thumbs around each other. "Umm... Hi Chris..." His voice is slightly muffled, understandable but still muffled.
Completely baffled that this random guy knows my name, I instinctively think its Tay. "Tay is that you? You didn't tell me you were getting a suit?!" I move towards the husky but right as I am about to hug it, he steps back.
"Tay? Who is Tay? I'm not Tay." The dog looks around, his eyes scouting out for something. Right as he is about to say something, his muzzle releasing a slight sound; Tay returns.
"Chris, Michael, what's going on? You guys know HuskRy?" Tay sounded kind of annoyed, a disappointment in his voice. His hands are already full of flyers and brochures, a bag hanging off from his wrist.
Stumbling back, I gape in awe that HuskRy stood before me. It was not so much that I knew who he was (because I didn't) but it was because he knew who I was. Who was this guy? My eyes fly wide as I stutter for my words, "Who... who are... you?"
The husky shifted uneasily, unsure of what he wanted to do. Taking his paws to his head, he starts to lift off the mask, the owner's slightly wavy hair matted down over his eyes. It had been a while since I had seen him but his smile was still the same. His grass green eyes instantly catch my attention, the fire of an old friend returning to me.
Rushing up to hug him, I grip the suit tight, happy to see the guy again. His suit is really well made, the fur not patchy at all. While it was still early in the morning, there was already a slight sweat to him. "What are you doing here Ryan?!" I step back to stand with Michael and Tay, both of them baffled that I knew who HuskRy was.
If you are interested in the furry community and what it has to offer, stay tuned as more will be revealed. All the artists referenced are real. I want to thank Onta for allowing me to reference him in this chapter as it has been fun looking over HardBlush for some on the good pictures to talk about.