The budget solution

Not all these ideas are my own. Credit goes to the Touch Fluffy Tail Discord chat. A big shout out to Breakaway Republic for starting this idea and JadedWidower for helping with characters and location information.

The governor sighed heavily as he looked at the paperwork on his desk, proposing the rental of Babcock state park in West Virginia. He ignored the fact that "Cock" was italicized in the name.
"So if I agree to this, all the budget problems will be taken care of?"

The slender blonde woman standing across from him smiled softly. She stood about six feet tall, not including the pointy cat like ears.  "But of course sir!" She exclaimed. "There would also be enough left over for the various debts the men who attend."

He sat silent for a few minutes before her voice startled him out of thoughts of what could possibly happen. "There are of course other states in just as bad financial straits as yours if it makes you too uncomfortable."

The chair that he had been sitting in rocketed backwards as he quickly stood up, stammering to reassure her. "N-No! That w-won't be necessary! We will b-be more than welcoming."

The sweat that had suddenly beaded on his forehead made her smile. "I'm sure our benefactor will be very happy to hear so. It would be wonderful if you would be there to show the population that there's nothing to be worried about. As long as they behave..."
She trails off quietly, her mouth drooling slightly at the thought.

Her tail twitched back and forth in an excited manor, showing that she knew the governor had no other choice but to accept. A minute later and the quiet scratching of a pen on paper made her gold cat like eyes gleam. "Thank you sir, you won't regret it. May I extend a personal invitation for you to come see the festivities?"

With a faint blush the governor nodded meekly. He got the distinct feeling it would be seen as rude of him to not accept the invitation. As he nervously cracked his knuckles he couldn't help but notice the neko's gaze lingering on his empty ring finger. Her smooth features made her very easy to look at, and also made her look younger than she really was. His attention kept getting caught by her very large paws, which looked very warm and inviting to be held.

After a few moments of silence the Neko notices the governors nameplate on his desk, the afternoon sunlight glinting off it and reflecting in her gold colored eyes. "Oh? Your name is Richard?" A devilish smile crosses her features, telling the governor he knows what's coming next. "I'll just call you.... Rich."

Rich smiled, chuckling softly in relief at the narrowly dodged joke that he had dealt with for his entire life. He could still hear the kids in school calling him- A pair of fuzzy digits snapping infront of him brought his mind back from the trip down memory lane. How did she snap with that much fur anyway.... Rich shook his head then smiled again.

"It would be my pleasure to attend this... field day." He paused and looked down in thought for a moment before continuing. "Is there anything I should bring or be aware of?"

Her soft giggle filled the room and made him swoon for a moment before regaining his composure. "Just bring yourself in whatever you feel comfortable wearing. Oh~" She hands him a box that had been hidden somewhere on her person. "Wear that so nobody jumps you. It marks you as mine Hun!" With a smile and a wave she skipped out of his office with her twin tails flicking back and forth. The sound of her humming becoming purring as she made her way out of the building.

Curiosity quickly turned to shock and confusion as he opened the box, finding a gold band sitting on a red velvet interior inside. Strangely enough he found that it fit perfectly on his ring finger when he slipped it on. "A deal with the devil." he muttered.

Later that evening as Richard sat back in his opulent leather chair, he couldn't get his mind off the box sitting on the side table next to him. Swirling his aged whiskey slowly he took a sip, savoring the bite as it slid smoothly down his throat. Setting the glass down he picked up the box again, opening it to look over the gold band once more. It slid onto his ring finger and fit perfectly, the metal feeling warm despite only having just been put on.

"Strange. It feels like it's hardly even there..." His musing was interrupted by a soft knock on his front door. Glancing at the clock and seeing that it was nearly ten at night he wondered just who could be coming to see him so late in the night. Pushing himself out of the chair reluctantly, he strode over to the door while wrapping his bathrobe a bit tighter around him. As he opened the door he looked around outside but saw nobody. "Hmm. Must have run off." Closing the door he turned around an nearly fell as he tripped over a cat now standing in front of him. Gathering his balance and recomposing himself he looked at the cat for a minute, noting that there was a collar around its neck. As he reached down to look at the collar the cat rubbed up against his hand, purring happily before pulling back and sniffing the ring still around his finger.

After petting the cat for awhile he managed to catch the collar and look at the tag on it. "Callista. That's a very pretty name." The cat rubbed against his leg and purred in response. "I haven't seen you around this area before, you must have come in with a new family?" The cat backed away, staring at the ring the entire time. Noticing the look Rich chuckled. Oh I'm not married, I just had a... Charming lady give it to me today for my protection apparently."

Unbeknownst to Richard, Callista the cat was actually the charming lady from earlier in the day. Inside her head there was a war raging, a war she was rapidly losing. Her primal instinct was to stay in her cat form and learn more about her potential husband, but seeing him already wearing the ring was just too much for her. In a sudden explosion of smoke she transformed into her more human form, coughing and waving her hand in front of her to dissipate the smoke. As it cleared she could see Rich sitting upright from where he had thrown himself backwards at the sudden apparition. He looked so cute and helpless down on the floor before her like that... With a shake of her head she cleared those thoughts away and put on her best smile. "Nyaa! Hello again!"

Richard, for his part, managed to stare in disbelief with his jaw only half open. He looked behind her to see if the cat was still there, a part of his mind telling him this must be a magic trick. Looking back up at her he was able to visually confirm that no, this was indeed real. A pinch on his leg quickly told him he wasn't dreaming either. His brain scrambled for words, and as his mouth moved up and down he found that nothing would come forth; so he decided to try and save whatever dignity he had and stood up, smoothing his bathrobe as he went.

"I don't know how you did that, and it was impressive to be certain. But what was the purpose? Furthermore, why are you here at my house. We concluded our business earlier at my office and the paperwork has been taken care of."

His cool demeanor and almost dismissive statements made Callista's ears pull back in surprise and slight rejection. Her mind raced, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. By all accounts he should've been shocked and happy to see her! Not so quickly composed and dismissive... There was almost an audible ding as an idea formed quickly in her head, her body quickly following the ideas actions. She leaped forwards, wrapping her paws and arms around his neck while planting a kiss on his lips. That did it for Rich. His already over taxed brain short circuited, and he slumped into her embrace; out cold.

"Mmph!" Was all that could escape her lips as she caught his weight easily, holding him upright while still balancing on one leg thanks to her tails; which worked together to keep her steady while the weight shifted. She cursed silently, this wasn't going at all how she had hoped. Carrying him proved to be no problem as she made her way over to a comfortable looking brown leather couch. Laying him down she settled with his head in her lap, stroking his head with her paws comfortingly while he slept.

Richard's dream felt like he was laying on a wonderful bed, with his head on a warm... furry... pillow... He tried to sit bolt upright as his brain screamed at him that it wasn't a dream, but a strong pair of warm paws held him down by his chest. "Shhh, it's okay. I've got you now..." Despite the potentially alarming words, the soft purring voice calmed him and he opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he noticed was the deep gold eyes looking straight into his, concern clearly visible on her face. Next was the modest bust partially obscuring his view of her supple lips; such inviting and kissable looking lips... which he noticed were moving almost as if talking. He thought that to be most strange because he didn't register her saying anything. That is until she removed her paws from either side of his head. "-Sorry for startling you!" was all he caught as she finished her apology.

A week later finds Rich standing at the entrance of the park, watching the line of single men registering to participate and have their debts absolved all at the same time. Next to him stands the Neko, who had introduced herself as Callista, the head assistant to the Lilim who was bankrolling the event. As he twisted the solid gold band on his finger, Callista wrapped one of her tails around his waist comfortingly.

The line wound through a building where the paperwork was processed, along with a big one way mirror inside. Unbeknownst to the men in line, the room on the other side of it was packed with monstergirls who had paid a fee to preview the selection of potential mates. A few were paying fellow monsters off to chase their picks into a trap for them, or to just leave them alone.

"Don't you worry, everything is going fine. And if anything does happen, we hired the police force to work overtime for security." Sure enough, as Rich looked around he saw the uniforms dotting the crowds and edges of the park. His head started swimming as he thought more about just how much money was being put into the event. The budget alone had been over a million dollars, not to mention the hundreds of men with who knows how much debt being taken care of.

After an hour of men coming in and registering it was finally time for the event to start. Callista said it was a joke, but the organizers had all the men stand on a white starting line and told them to sprint into the park as fast as they could when the starters gun fired. Rich cleared his throat before stepping up to the podium, tilting the microphone so he could speak clearly into it.

"My fellow Mountaineers, you have all come to participate in what has been called, a field day. All of you are single, unarmed, and willing participants. There's no need for any violence today-" A chorus of giggles and snickers could be heard from the Mamono present, as well as coming from the treeline at those last words. He cleared his throat again to get the crowd's attention. "As I was saying, let this be a peaceful and fun day. Some of you may go home with partners after this weekend." At a nudge from Callista he reworded the statement. "Almost all of you will go home with partners. There is a chance for you to leave once you have entered. You must reach cabin 13, take a slip of paper and then cross the park's boundary. Once you have you are free to go, and your debts will still be forgiven." After looking across the assembled men dramatically, Rich and Callista said at the same time, "Let the Husband games, begin!"

As soon as Rich finished speaking, a cry was heard from a park worker standing near the woods. Everyone turned and watched the poor man get pulled up into the trees by a few spider web strands. The screaming quickly gave way to moaning and halfhearted protestations of "No...please! I'm ticklish there!" A hush fell over the crowd as everyone realized just how vulnerable they were while standing there.