A/N: I've been writing this up long before Melted aired in the UK and popped up on the internet for Yanks like me to watch in the States. I'd been getting a lot of Feels after watching the DM episode last week. And somehow, I'm still not completely over the realization on how similar Dawn is to a once Younger Me whom I thought was long forgotten. And thanks to my friend, Zarius on here, I can feel a little at ease in writing here again.
Sequel to "Carrying The White Wonder's Offspring".
A Promise To The Woman Who Bears His Child
"Uh...hhmptchh! Huhmptchh!"
A sniffling Danger Mouse was trying his best to restrain the outbursts behind his dry sinuses. The cold air of a wintery December was hammering London tonight. But he couldn't slip into a warm coffee shop right now. He was nearly at the end of his mission.
"Ahh...hihhmfshh! Ah-huhGNTchh!"
For the last 24 hours, the World's Greatest Secret Agent had been standing in queue outside of the most important event of Jayne's Jewelry store's holiday sales. Every lucky shopper around him, who had preordered this special gem in advance, had been waiting for the store to open and to receive their online purchase.
"I-I-It w-w-won't be long n-n-now," he chattered to himself under his breath. "Wish the blasted sun would rise already. But I- Huhngtchh! HihhNTshhh!"
Although he had wrapped himself in thick layers of coats, scarfs and ear mufflers, this particular cold snap refused to let up. And poor DM's snout was too large to bury itself into his scarf. His nose was running like a faucet, and he swore that he might have felt the translucent fluid around his nostrils turning solid against his furry lips.
"Huh ihhNTshhh! Haahh...huhihhntschh! Hurr huhhngtSHH!"
A couple of the people in queue nearby blessed him from time to time and offered him packets of tissues during the long camp out near the shopping district. Some of them knew why the British secret agent mouse was here with the rest of them. Fortunately, they were polite enough to keep their friendly teasing to themselves and out of earshot.
The only hint DM had seen from the last person who handed him another packet of tissues was a smirking wink. Without another word, DM weakly smiled back at the yellow bird person and reached for the fresh tissues, his breath stuttering quietly.
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"Huh. Hhi-hii huhNtschh! Aah-ha hihTSHHew! Iiehh huhSSHHew!" Danger Mouse sneezed harshly as he strode into Colonel K's office.
"Crikey, DM! You sound horrible," he said, widening his eyes and leaning over his desk. "I do hope the Professor wasn't too cross in scolding you for catching cold during your top secret mission."
"Hardly," DM mumbled before blowing his nose. "I'm more lucky to have missed bumping into Shirakage on the way to Squawk's lab. And Said chicken boffin was too preoccupied to get mad at me, since she's been monitoring Shirakage's health while I was away."
"Well, you mustn't worry too much on Prof. Shirakage's medical verdict, DM," Colonel K assured the mouse agent casually. "Her immunity is stronger now, thanks to an extra boost of vaccines ordered by Prof. Squawkencluck herself.
"Er, I forgot: why were you so worried about your pregnant girlfri-" The airheaded Colonel paused to look up at DM, then remembered the reason again. "Oh...right." He deadpanned as Danger Mouse teetered on the edge of another sneeze.
The poor white mouse's nostrils twitched and he struggled to keep his teary amber eye open as he buried his nose in a heap of tissues. "HuhihhNTshhhew! Ahhh... huhhngtSHHEEW!"
"Bless- I say, not finished?" Colonel K asked as a seemingly frozen DM slackened his jaw open again. The momentary precipice ended suddenly when DM took a huge shuddering breath and jerked forward.
"Hhrr huhntschhew! HUHngtSHHeew!"
"Bless you."
"Snf. Snf snf. 'Scuse mbe." DM sniffed tiredly as he dabbed the tissues under his nose.
"Did you get the diamond?" The chinchilla in the Christmas decorated blazer continued urgently.
Blinking back a weary glaze in his eye, DM fished out a small black velvet box from his right trouser pocket. "I picked it up early this morning, Sir," he answered with a rattled rasp in his voice. "I completed my mission at the cost of my health." He handed it to the Colonel before smothering a cough into his left forearm.
Colonel K opened the small box and peered down into its hidden contents. His eyes gleamed brightly and he smiled widely. "Good show, ol' boy. It's dazzling perfect and cut exquisitely to fit onto her finger. I know she'll love it."
"Snf. Thag you, Sir," Danger Mouse said wearily as his boss handed the box back to him. "Is Penfold still upstairs in our HQ's flat? I am hoping to see him privately before Shirakage discovers that I'm looking a bit worse for wear."
The Colonel hummed a confirmed nod with a wry smile. "Yes, the little fellow had just put Shirakage to take a nap in your bedroom. He briefed me about her condition and hunger cravings shortly before you arrived."
DM sniffed again and swiped at his nose with the wad of tissues. "Lovely. Do call me in a few days for another mission, Sir. My head still feels awfully chilled and woozy."
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Penfold heard DM's rattling coughing coming from the bathroom as he heated up a pot of tea and soup in the kitchen. When the brown hamster in specks found out that his best friend came down with a cold last night, he ordered DM to take a long hot shower and relieve his chest congestion as much as he could before dinner.
But the mouse of mishaps happened to faint in the tub as his fever spiked a degree higher than normal, leading his faithful assistant to intervene. Once DM regained consciousness, he dried himself off and got dressed into his pajamas. Then Penfold led him towards the settee; the soup and tea was already laid out on the coffee table.
And as soon as DM collapsed his bottom down on the couch, he felt that familiar twinge in his nasal cavities.
"Ah huhnktshheew! Nktsschheew!" He stifled two sneezes into his shoulder.
"Bless you, Chief," his friend said to the dazed and partially alert agent. "Do try to keep your nose under control. Any louder and you'll end up waking Ms. Shirakage."
"Snfle. Sorry, Penfold. Snnrk." DM's breath suddenly caught in his throat and he stifled a trio of silent sneezes into a mountain of tissues. "Nngcht! Nngcht! Nnnggtchoo!"
"Gesundheit." Penfold placed an ice pack on the mouse's angry flushed forehead. "I'm glad you went for a lie down before going in to see the Colonel earlier, Chief. We knew that you wouldn't return from Jayne's Jewelry store in the Royal Arcade until around breakfast hours.
"Where did you sleep for the whole afternoon, anyway?"
DM grimaced and opened his weakened right eye at his friend. "M-My mother's... huhIHHGSCHHew! Heh heh uhh RuhhAHHsssschhheew!"
A couple of nasty sounding sneezes erupted from his vocal chords.
"Shhh! Quiet, Chief," Penfold shushed him urgently. "You wouldn't know how hard it was for me to calm a scary, pregnant Shirakage Mouse down to sleep today. She's still possessed by our "Melted" musical episode."
DM groaned wearily in pure misery. "Oh, Good Grief! I thought she'd be over her Melted Sickness in 4 days tops!"
Penfold narrowed his specks towards the insensitive agent. "Chief~~~... Have you forgotten that inside your girlfriend lies the soul of an adult human from an alternative universe? My evil twin killed her original body and placed her soul into a pregnant Japanese Tailed White Mouse nearly 3 decades ago.
"We may know her as Shirakage Mouse now, but she still possesses the heart of a child from her previous life. She's suffering from nostalgia, Chief. We can't blame her if she's a bit homesick on a multiversal scale."
DM frowned skeptically to the side. "Well, I do remember her mentioning that Melted resembled a bit like her world's version of it with the name...'Frozen'...? Anyway, the point is that two of Melted's songs—from her point of view—were just as bad as two of Frozen's songs, which were called 'In Summer' and 'Fixer Upper'. And she obviously didn't like the Honky Walrus song."
Penfold deadpanned in mutual agreement. "She didn't like Brunel's song either, and then started craving for some sort of Japanese anime ending song from a series called 'Hetalia' too. She even bemoaned about her fancied song being sung by different fictional characters who represent the 8 powerful countries during the 2nd World War.
"Sounds horrid, but she insisted it was a comedy, Chief."
DM shared his concern with his best friend as he looked down upon the velvet black box in his hands. "I...wonder if it's too soon for me to ask her, Penfold. Shirakage...didn't defend my honor when everyone watched me wet the Chilly Throne as you were trying to thaw my ass from the seat."
"Maybe it was a sign that she's maturing," he suggested with a thoughtful smile. "Didn't you once tell me that, when looking through her human soul's memories from the Twistyverse villains' pensieve magic, Shirakage used to believe that violence was the only answer to restore the dignity of her many fictional suitors in her past life?"
"Yes, and I saw much more where that came from," DM added solemnly. "Underneath her rough, tsundere tomboyish personality is a woman who still hadn't completely abandoned her fancy for romance and feminine fashion. I believe that's why she felt a connection towards Pink Dawn's Melted phase and song."
Penfold's eyes watered behind his specks. "Was her real world's Earth and people really that scary to her, Chief?"
DM shut his eye as he reflected the images of Shirakage's memories during his standoff with Sinister Mouse and the pensieve liquid. Who would have thought that a four year old human version of Shirakage Mouse...would fear the adult world at such a young age...? How perceptive and self aware, she was...to see the burdens of every adult around her, who had to carry out and govern her society; he also found her early realization as uncommon and depressing.
He wondered if the humans of her old world would really destroy their Planet Earth one day, if they kept up their stubborn greed and corporate traditions.
"To her, Penfold," DM replied sadly "it may have been."
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