The Only Comforting Cat in the Apocalypse

[Scroll down for character cards and a whole bunch of adorable cats! Please add my upcoming novel, "After a Straight Office Drone Becomes Partners with a Tentacle Creature," to your reading list. The blurb is at the very bottom.]

Good news: The first psychic mutant capable of soothing monsters has appeared.

Bad news: It's a pudding with cat ears and a tail.

In the 59th year since genetic contamination began, humanity has conducted countless experiments.

Butin is the last experimental subject born in the laboratory. He's so timid that the slightest fright makes him turn into a cat, then melt into a puddle of pudding.

The beautiful cat-eared boy can only curl up inside his glass enclosure.

For a long time, people thought he had no special abilities at all.

Then someone discovered that Butin's voice could soothe attacking monsters. Even just approaching or touching him could ease mental damage that had never responded to treatment.

Countless people begged Butin to soothe them. The mutants were no exception.

They would do anything, as long as Butin let them hold his caramel-scented tail for a moment.

But there are limits to how much soothing he can do.

The highest human commander regretfully announced that Butin needed to rest.

Wei Li, the highest human commander and an SSS-rank mutant, is always calm, always powerful, like a lighthouse that can never be shaken.

Only Butin knows.

Wei Li has long since gone mad and become a monster in human form.

In public, he's righteous and kind. In private, he holds Butin tight and repeatedly strokes his cat ears and tail, draining every last bit of the ability that lets him soothe others.

He doesn't stop even when the little cat is so dazed he can barely think.

*Sometimes I write about adorable cats versus perverted humans, with the cat as the good one and the human as the bad one.

*The cat is a mutant cat with a gland on his belly that secretes honey.

Upcoming novel: "After a Straight Office Drone Becomes Partners with a Tentacle Creature"

Kong Tong is straight, has never dated, and just graduated. He's as ordinary an office drone as they come.

One day, he receives a notice from the "Interstellar Immigration Administration." The partner preference form he'd filled out in the past has been processed, and he's been assigned a partner.

In other words, he's getting a wife.

His partner's profile arrives, with the following details in red:

[Species: Dodder vine]

[Sex: Male]

[Marital status: Widowed]

He knew it. A good thing like a wife suddenly dropping into his lap would never happen to him.

Just as he's hesitating about turning the offer down, he meets his partner for the first time. Long, straight black hair, a beautiful and delicate face, sorrow in his eyes, and a shy, timid gaze.

Apart from his sex, species, and the fact that he's been married before, he's exactly the wife of Kong Tong's dreams.

So humble and pitiful: "If I can't find someone to marry, I'll be deported..." He looks close to tears.

Kong Tong: "..." He can't bring himself to say no.

After their whirlwind wedding, Kong Tong goes to a get-together with friends. One of them asks in surprise, "You actually dared to marry him?"

Kong Tong thinks sheepishly.

But his wife's previous husband died of illness, not because he was cursed to death. His wife is so beautiful he could be a movie star, yet he's willing to stay home as a full-time... husband. He looks like he might break if touched, and he's clingy and sweet. If he wakes from a nightmare and can't find Kong Tong, he cries.

How could a wife like that live without me?

After the get-together, his wife comes to pick him up, wearing a long dress. Kong Tong is tipsy, and his wife looks upset. "They said not to become your wife's plaything."

Kong Tong panics. "Y-you're my wife. It's only right for you to... to play with me..."

He really is straight.

But his wife is so pitiful. How can he not comfort him?

He offers his first kiss, then his wife uses his tentacles to play with him until he's completely spent.

Kong Tong: "..."

His beautiful wife presses close. "You're so good to me, hubby..."

His wife says, "Hubby, don't hang out with those bad friends." His wife says, "Hubby, do your best to go seven rounds tonight." His wife says, "Hubby, hubby, where are you trying to run?"

Kong Tong feels like he's figured out how his wife's previous husband died. Before his kidneys give out, he hurries to the Immigration Administration to file the paperwork.

But by chance, he sees his wife's previous marriage application, and his own name is written plainly on it.

He stares in shock and asks his wife, who's caught up with him, "What is going on?"

His wife pants, clinging to his arm with a timid air. "Even if I fuck you to death, I'll bring you back to life and marry you again."

So that's it. That's it.

He loves me so much.

In a daze, he goes home again and sees his wife in the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron. Life is still so peaceful and happy.

They kiss and embrace, and he's pinned against the counter. In the trembling heat, he accidentally kicks open a cupboard door, and the tentacles hidden inside toss out ropes, handcuffs, and a blindfold.

His wife is shocked. "Hubby, I didn't hypnotize you!"

Kong Tong: "..."

H-help

Theme: Stay positive no matter what you face.