So you've had a great life so far. You rode that college ball scholarship all the way to a good school, but you knew when to not chase that dream any farther and end up a physical wreck. Found yourself a stable job, and it paid well. Then you reconnected with your high school crush. You weren't sure if you should have pushed forwards with trying to see her again. You had totally innocent intentions, of course, you just wanted to reconnect with some of your friends in the area, but the marriage she was in was still so fragile, not yet fully bloomed. Maybe if you never saw her again, it would have become something stronger. Your presence may not have meant to wilt that love, but it happened all the same. You've told yourself that you were there to pick her up after she was left. You took care of her, and that guy she was married to was a weird asshole who got jealous that she was seeing other people. She was all the better for the long run, anyways. What would she have turned out like if she had been married to that guy for longer? Dude wanted to turn into a robot, and somehow he'd convinced your wife that she wanted to be one too.

She dropped that, of course, mellowed out on that front. You didn't force her to, you told her that she could believe anything that she wanted, but she did what she wanted, and what she wanted to be was a bit less quirky. That was perfectly fine with you. You have a secure blue collar job, a bunch of friends from the workplace to watch the game with, and a marriage that gives what you put into it. You show her love, and she gives it right back. She loves life, and you love it too.

The only problem's your son. It's a cliche, but he feels almost alien to you. It's kinda like he's never gotten over the fact that you weren't supposed to be his dad. He was still a kitten when the marriage broke up, and it kinda feels like you've never transitioned out of that stepdad role for him. He doesn't hate you, and he tries to be nice, but things just seem so awkward between the two of you. You've always wanted to fix that. Recently, you found a way to.

It's simple. You make him sit down with you for an afternoon and watch some football with you. He's showing about as much interest as he usually does over it, but you got one of your friends to help you re-calibrate the screen in order to specifically catch his attention. All you need is to get him staring for at least twenty minutes. He does that, of course, with that same uncaring glazed look. He's being nice to you again. He doesn't know what he's missing.

Then, suddenly, he does. You watch as he straightens up in his chair and cracks open that drink he's been warming in his paw since you handed it to him. Ears flick, mouth opens slightly in an interested gasp, and his muscles... it's just like your friends said. You can see that little bit of tone work its way to the surface, to the point where his pullover suddenly looks tighter. He's all grins soon, and so are you.

You can see a change for the better in him over the next few weeks. He's actively engaging with you, talking about the stuff you like to talk about. Cars, sports, lifting... The more he puts his mind to what you like, the more comfortable he feels with it, and you. He's losing interest in what he used to like, just like what your friends told you would happen, but that just means you can focus him on what you know will make him happy now.

His body gains an athletic firmness to it and a pronounced v-shape before you decide to gently nudge him in the right direction. Really, it only takes a few offers to grab a six-pack for him every once in a while that gets him to naturally start bulking up instead of just lingering at that runner's build. A few months and shirt-sizes later, he's covered in body hair, with a strong core that's been padded over with cushioning and thick limbs that have been rounded out by that chub that's settled in around the muscle. Everything's still firm, there's just more of him. He's turned into a manly cat, and you're more than proud that he has. The shortened hair only seems to complete the look.

The awkwardness is gone by now, replaced with a familiarity and casualness that seems so natural that you can't remember it being there. Yes, you've had a great life, but it's even greater now that both of you are enjoying it freed of that obstacle separating him from you. From being you, maybe. You don't want to phrase it that way, do you?

Well, that is kind of nice to think about, if you look at it that way...

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I decided to color and shade up a sequence I got from  furii almost a year ago, and I have to say I'm really pleased with the result! This is a little bit out there, but I think it was money and time well-spent, and I have to thank him again for doing such an excellent job on this.

What's more, there's a story that someone else wrote that was inspired by this! Check it out here!