Kevin's Kitty Rescue: The Novel

"You got that right," the man chuckled.

"Lilly," Baxter sighed. "Mistress, her name is Lilly."

"Lilly," Kevin repeated, making the woman flinch. The vet didn't respond, but she knew she hadn't introduced herself. "So why aren't you talking to Lilly?"

"She doesn't want me."

Kevin frowned, then reached down. Grabbing the bed, he ignored the vet who protested as Kevin hauled the bed around so Baxter was forced to face his mistress. Baxter was frowning from being sore and jostled around, but he froze seeing Lilly's face. She was crying silently as she watched.

"Why's she sad?"

"Because there's something wrong with you, and she's worried sick."

Bax huffed, "I heard her. She was complaining about how expensive my surgery was and when she came in, I could smell another dog. I've been here, hurt, scared and alone while she's been off with some other dog!"

Kevin blinked for a moment, before chuckling and shaking my head. He looked up at Lilly, "He's worried you got a replacement dog. He heard you talking about how expensive this all is, then when you came in he could smell another dog."

Lilly's eyes went wide, "Bax? No, baby, no!"

Bax chuffed as Lilly stepped into the cage. It was tight with the three of them inside and the vet mumbled something about protocol. But he was ignored as Lilly bent down over Baxter. "Baby no. Mommy would never get rid of you. I just had to sell a few things to pay for the surgery."

Baxter frowned and let out a small chuff.

"Bax," Kevin tried again. "If she didn't care, she wouldn't be here."

The dalmatian let out a whine, before lifting a paw. Lilly leaned in and hugged him firmly and Kevin noted that his tail began to thump on the side of the bed.

"Alright, so with that out of the way, is there anything wrong?" Kevin asked.

"Wrong?" Baxter frowned as Lilly pulled away, stroking his side and stomach.

"Anything hurt, feel uncomfortable, anything that doesn't feel normal?"

"No... No, I'm fine. If mistress still wants me, then I'm okay."

"Really?"

Bax nodded, looking guilty again.

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Right. He's fine, he's been pouting for the most part."

"Seriously?" The vet frowned.

Kevin shrugged and stepped out from behind Lilly, "Yup. I'm... Gonna go."

He made it out the front door when a feminine, "WAIT!" came from behind him.

Turning, Lilly smacked into him with a firm hug. Kevin froze. Actual contact with a human, despite his interactions with his kitties was rare to the extreme. Being hugged, well...

"I... Um..."

"Thank you so much!" Lilly beamed, stepping back. "He's always been a bit sensitive, but I didn't realise he understood so much of what was going on."

Kevin shrugged, "Neither did I. Glad I could help."

"How do you do it?" Lilly pressed.

"Do what?"

"Talk to them, is... Is it something you can teach?"

Kevin thought about Bast and shook his head. "I don't think so. Consider it a gift."

The woman nodded, looking disappointed. "It's an amazing gift. Do... Do you have a card or something?"

Kevin nodded and took out one of the many cards he carried at all times, before handing it to her.

"Oh, I have this one, do you have one for your other services?"

"I'm not a behavioural therapist," Kevin frowned.

"Maybe not," Lilly agreed. "But if you can talk to animals like you just spoke with Baxter, imagine the good you could accomplish."

Kevin nodded slowly, "You may be right."

Lilly smiled, "Either way. Thank you for sorting out Baxter's issue. Do you think, maybe getting him a companion would be a good idea?"

Kevin thought for a moment and slowly shook his head, "No. He's quite attached to you already. Adding another dog, especially when he thinks you're going to replace him might have the opposite effect."

Lilly sighed and agreed, "Good point."

Kevin started to turn away, "Right, glad I could help."

"Thanks again Kevin!"

Kevin waved over his shoulder and climbed back into his car. The drive home took longer than it did the night before. There was a bit of traffic and that gave Kevin time to think. As he drove, he paid attention to his surroundings. The world was much the same as he remembered. In fact, it was almost a mirror. The same stores, the same vehicles, the same people. But where he expected to see pigeons and other city birds, he found they were sorely lacking. That was until he spotted a figure tumble off the roof of a tall building. Kevin slammed in the brakes as his heart leaped into his chest.

BEEEP!

Kevin flinched as the car behind him hit the horn, but Kevin froze as the figure opened up a large pair of wings. They swooped low, before flying off in some random direction.

"MOVE IT ASSHOLE!"

Kevin flinched and started driving. The irate man behind him in the small truck glared at him the entire time. Kevin drove steadily and wondered at the figures he could see walking around. Some were people, others were not. Sure, they walked on two legs, but they were mostly nude, with small coverings that covered the naughty bits. Though the quality, colour and specifics of the coverings varied widely.

Kevin spotted a pet store where he bought cat toys and with a final glimpse of the angry driver behind him, he pulled into the parking lot. Pulling up, Kevin climbed out and headed for the door. As it opened, there was an older man, walking what Kevin immediately assumed was a child, on a leash. Said child was skipping happily while biting down on a squeaky toy. He was covered in a layer of black fur with a white mark around one eye. His tail was going crazy and he wore a cute pink top with matching waistband. Kevin blinked and stepped aside.

"Thank you," the old man smiled.

The puppy boy skipped alongside his master, chewing the toy to death even before they got to the car. Kevin shook his head slowly and went inside. The store was much the same as it always was. Only now. The toys were a little different, as well as a lot of the equipment. Most of it was simply a change in size. There were still collars and leashes, but the harnesses were massive. But what caught Kevin's eye was the massive aquarium on the back wall. It wasn't like the one that used to be here. This was like an award winning show aquarium with three... merpeople? Two females and a male. One of the females was brightly coloured, covered in scales and was otherwise nude. She swam around slowly, seeming to make a game of twisting in the light to reflect prettily off her scales.

The second female was some kind of sucker species. She was pressed right up against the glass and used what looked like her lower jaw, to scrape a thin patch of algae off the glass. Her body was rather dark in comparison to the other female, but she was no less beautiful. The male on the other hand, lacked arms entirely. His body was long and slender like an eel and he was curled up in the corner at the back under some plants. He sat still, gulping at the water as he watched the female swimming above with a small smile.

"She's just in," a man said. Kevin flinched and turned to see a salesman approaching. "Are you looking to buy, or?"

"No, just browsing," Kevin replied softly.

The man nodded, "Right, if you need anything, give me a holler."

"Thanks."

Kevin sighed as the man left. This is why he preferred doing his shopping at night or online. Less chance someone would want to talk to him. Taking a trip around the store, Kevin paused at the sight of some clothing options. They all seemed unisex and as he picked one up and turned it over, he could see instructions for how they went on cats, dogs AND birds. It also had a warning that public indecency laws included all domestic animals.

"Wonder if that means undomesticated animals are still animals?"

"What?"

Kevin turned and saw the salesman from earlier. "Nothing, just thinking aloud."

The man nodded, still confused, "Right. Those are mostly one size fits all. What breed were you looking for?"

"Domestic short-haired cats," Kevin said slightly cryptically.

The man nodded, "Yeah, those will fit fine."

Kevin nodded and grabbed one for each of his kitties, before grabbing two extras for Flower and Bast. "What about kittens?"

The man stepped past and went to the end, where there was the equivalent of human onesies, but with holes for tales and flaps for... Waste.

"Thanks."

"No problem," the man nodded as Kevin grabbed four of them. Then grabbed another four that were a little larger.

Turning, Kevin made his way to the counter and paid for his items. Carrying them quickly to the car, he climbed in and made the rest of the drive home. Climbing out of his car, he once again ignored the old car parked in the driveway. What he wasn't expecting was for the front door to open. Immediately thinking something was wrong, Kevin darted up and collided with Bast, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"I'm flattered, but I'd rather be somewhere soft," she purred.

"Sorry," Kevin grimaced, climbing off the dark furred catgirl. Offering his hand, she took it with a smile and Kevin helped her stand.

"Master?" Sable chirped.

Kevin turned and saw her slight frown, opening his arms, she pressed herself against him, rubbing her face across his chest how she always did. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect the door to open. I'm not used to anyone being able to other than me."

"Ah," Bast nodded. "My apologies then."

"It's fine," Kevin nodded as Sable nuzzled into him again. "I get it. You're capable of a lot more than you used to be. I need to get used to it."

Bast smirked and nodded, "I think I got very lucky that you found me."

Kevin shrugged, "I'm just me. You were a kitty, you needed help. I'd have done the same whether you were a goddess or not."

"Exactly," Bast nodded. "You wanted nothing more than to help. There's no reward in this for you. Other than the knowledge that what you are doing is right."

"That's why we love him," Sue said, stepping over to join us.

"He made us safe," Grace and Harriet said in unison.

"He's the best," Gemma agreed.

"Kitties," Kevin sighed. "I love you all. But you don't owe me anything."

The house was filled with catlike giggles, including one particularly loud, "HA!" from the other room. Kevin rolled his eyes as Bast stared right into him.

"Alright, alright, I need to give some things out."

Opening the bag he got from the pet store, Kevin handed all the kitties an outfit. They frowned and turned it over to look at the pictures on the back.

"You want us to wear this?" Bast asked, eyeing the fabric.

"I'm not going to make you do anything. But it turns out there's indecency laws, so if you're going to be coming outside, you need to be covered."

Bast nodded as Kevin took the rest into the lounge. Marla was sitting beside Flower. Marla had two sleeping kittens in her arms, while Flower smiled nervously as she fed two more.

"Hello Master," Marla smiled.

"I got you all something," Kevin nodded, handing Marla the two adult sets. "For you and Flower. If you need to go outside you need to wear those."

"I heard," Marla smiled. "Thank you for thinking of my daughter."

"She's family," Kevin shrugged as he took out the four onesies. "And these are for the babies."

"What?" Flower squeaked.

"For the babies. I don't know if they're cold, you could dress them now or save them for later. I'm..."

"Mum," Flower grabbed at Marla.

"It's okay, I told you," Marla smiled back.

Kevin frowned, "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?"

Flower blinked and trembled as she shook her head. "Thank you... Master."

Kevin nodded slowly and started unwrapping the onesies. Marla offered him the first kitten, a furred little female. Kevin quickly slipped her into a onesie, before handing a second onesie to Marla to practice with. Kevin smiled, realising that there were two little males and two little females. Nice even numbers. With the first two dressed, Kevin waited for the second two to finish feeding before he helped Flower dress the last two.

"Thank you Master," Flower smiled shyly.

"I told you he would look after you," Marla smiled.

Flower nodded and leaned against her mother. Kevin smiled at the sight of the small family and thought about what he needed to do. There weren't any rescues he knew of, he'd check his emails later for anything non-urgent. So that left some household chores. Starting in the kitchen, Kevin picked up all the bowls and loaded them into the dishwasher. He smiled at the knowledge that there were more dishes for his kitties than there was for even him. Sable hovered around behind, watching what he was doing, asking small questions. Kevin smiled and felt a little domestic as he chatted with Sable. Her idle curiosity amused him.

After turning on the machine, Kevin brought her upstairs where he collected his dirty laundry and set them in a basket. After stripping the sheets from the bed, he explained that after their nightly activities, they were likely to be soiled. Sable blushed, but agreed readily. Those sheets went on top of the clothes and Kevin brought them downstairs into the laundry. He had a newer machine that worked efficiently and loaded it all up in one go. His mother would be appalled to know he washed his clothes with his sheets, but Kevin didn't care. Clean was clean.

Then all hell broke loose.

"... Master..." Sable trembled from her spot on top of the kitchen bench beside Gemma who was clinging to her with the same terrified look.

Kevin sighed, "The floors are dirty my kitties. I need to vacuum."

He should have seen it coming. Marla spotted him open the closet and practically hauled Flower and the kittens upstairs. Grace and Harriet followed after, while Gemma and Sable climbed onto the kitchen bench to cower. The only one of his kitties not disturbed by the vacuum was Sue, who was currently licking between her toes on the couch.

"Look, go upstairs and wait."

"Put it away first," Gemma trembled.

"Kitties," Kevin sighed.

Only after moving the vacuum to the other room and unplugging it, did Sable and Gemma scamper away, leaving Kevin alone with Sue, who was now licking down the inside of her leg.

"This really doesn't bother you?" Kevin asked.

Sue shrugged mid lick. "It's not all that scary. It's annoying and loud, which is why they don't like it. But... Well it's not all that."

Kevin frowned, before stepping over to the couch. Sue looked distant. Despite the fact most of her fur had grown back, it still wasn't perfect over her burn scars. Kevin reached down and gently stroked her head. Sue blinked and smiled, before going back to her licking.

"You can talk now," Kevin said softly. "So if you ever want to. I'll always listen."

Sue paused, before looking up at Kevin and gestured for him to come closer. Kevin leaned in, thinking she was going to tell him something. But she kissed him instead.

"Thank you master."

Kevin smiled and nodded, "You're welcome Sue."

Kevin turned away as Sue started licking lower and lower. Grabbing the vacuum, he switched it on and got to work. He spent a few minutes going over the carpet in the living room, before quickly going through the kitchen and entryway. Then he started at the bottom of the stairs and worked half way up. At the halfway point, he switched everything off, unplugged it and carried it up into the spare room. Then after shooing his irrationally terrified kitties back downstairs, Kevin did upstairs as well. Only when he put the vacuum away did they all seem to start acting normal again. By the time Kevin was cleaning his bathroom, Sable was watching again.

"Is there something you want?" Kevin asked, flushing the toilet.

Sable frowned, "You do your... Stuff, in there, right?"

Kevin blushed and nodded, "Yeah."

Sable nodded, then stepped around him and squatted over the bowl. Kevin blushed and left quickly when he heard the sound of running water. When the sound of the water stopped, Kevin cleared his throat.

"The roll of paper on the side. Tear off a few pieces and wipe." He paused. "Wipe from the front to the back!"

"Okay!" Sable chirped from inside the bathroom.

Kevin sighed, thinking about what fresh hell must be in the kitty litters. When Sable was done she came back out and Kevin took her back in to show her how to wash her hands. That she wasn't a fan of, but understood the importance when Kevin explained it. With Sable clean and comfortable, Kevin bit the bullet and checked on the kitty litter trays. It wasn't as bad as Kevin feared. But he felt a certain level of relief when he heard whispers from Sable about using the toilet. With a fresh kitty litter tray set out, Kevin had just enough time to take off the rubber gloves before Gemma pushed in. He caught a glimpse of her relieved face as she squatted over the tray. And that was enough for him to grab the supplies and go. Rushing them out, he set the cleaning supplies back, before taking the bag of unmentionables out to the bin.

Looking around as he walked through the yard, he decided it needed to be mowed in the next day or two. But he had other things to do first. Heading back inside, Gemma was looking guilty as Sable had a stern expression as they talked quietly. Kevin thought about intervening, but Gemma nodded and they hugged quickly. Shaking his head, Kevin made sure to wash his hands again, before taking his clean and wet clothing out of the machine and took them outside. The day was nice and there was a breeze coming through the yard.

"What about him?" A voice asked.

"I dunno, I like my men a big chunkier."

Kevin stood and turned around. Several heifers had broken from the herd and were standing by the fence, watching him while eating handfuls of grass. They were huge in human proportions. Easily seven or eight feet tall, they were impossibly curvy with four massive breasts. Each of those breasts had a single, thumb sized nipple sticking out of it.

"He's watching us," one of them, with more brown patches, giggled.

A more white one swatted her on the arm with her long tail. "He's just a human. He won't take any notice."

"I dunno," a cream cow giggled. "If my hoof wasn't so sore, I might give this fence a try."

Kevin frowned and headed over to them, hearing those words.

"Oh, you might get your chance after all," the brown one giggled.

Kevin swallowed, "What's wrong with your hoof?"

The cows blinked, "Did he just ask about my hoof?" The cream cow stared in shock.

"Ask if he wants to fuck you!" The brown one smirked.

"Look, I just want to help," Kevin tried.

"You can help her out," the white one nudged the cream. "All night long by her likings."

"Stop it. The human's just being nice."

Kevin sighed, "I can understand everything you're saying."

"Pfft," The white one made a noise. "If you can understand me, stand on one leg and do a hop."

Kevin stood on one leg and hopped in place for a few moments.

"That's just creepy," the brown one frowned.

"What if he really can understand us?" The cream one whimpered softly.

Kevin groaned, "I CAN understand you. Look, I have other things to do today. But if you have a sore hoof, I can take a look and let the farmer know you need help."

"I think he can understand me," the cream one whispered.

"I'm also not deaf, so... Hoof, or no hoof?"

"Ummm..."

Kevin was about to turn away, when the cream one shifted and leaned against the fence. She lifted one hoof and offered it to him. Kevin smiled and came closer. He had never gotten so close to a cow before, but this was just bizarre. Getting on his knees, he reached out and gently swiped away the dirt and grass with his thumb. A cow's hoof was in two parts. Basically like two toes side by side with horn caps on them. And wedged between them, was a rather large rock.

"Hold on," Kevin said, looking around for something. Locating a stick, Kevin tested it to make sure it was sturdy.