Miss Kitty Mouse (Great Mouse Detective; F)

[BikermousefromMars]

(reposted with permission from sneezefurs by a member)

Summary: Miss Kitty Mouse heads for home, but is reminded of whom else she shares the neighborhood. A well-meaning but inept chap who carries the dust and soot of his job with him, much to her displeasure...

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As the carriage taking her into London's foggy, quiet and mysterious streets echoed into the night, it's passenger - a white mouse - yawned quietly. This was her first day off in a series of ongoing shows she's performed at one particular part on the bad side of the town, given not because she had particularly wanted it but rather the barroom was in dire need of repairs. An unfortunate brawl amongst hoodlums over who'd be the lucky one to toss her a bouquet of flowers didn't end as well, and left such a mess that several holes in the walls were made and numerous seating arrangements had to be replaced. Seeing as they were hurting financially, this was going to take some time to fix. She promised to return on the basis she would be paid, with safer restrictions in place. One couldn't be too careful in London's midnight hours, everyone who had been down on their luck retreated there for a moment to be spared the humility of life and all it's shortcomings. Aside from her beauty, which was a key factor in bringing in business, her songs of dance and comfort were enough to turn things around and send the crowd home happy. Alas, things got worse before they could even start, and along with her back-up singers she was forced to take the night off. Once the damage had been done, all future showings would be cancelled.

For what it was worth, she had some money leftover and opportunities to go somewhere else. She would have to go looking for the next show to abide her time until she could return; would they take her? She knew a variety of songs, the most popular being 'Let Me Be Good to You'. When she wasn't working, going out for a morning breakfast, or even late in lunch, she would hear some of the familiar people and those she hadn't recognized humming the tune in some form. If she could search for that one big number to follow-up to that one, there was no doubt maybe she could find herself doing dances for some of the more wealthier parts of the city. Feline dancers were a dime a dozen, but rodent singers were admittedly the more favored amongst all other critters.

As she had been rushed out quick for her safety, her civilian clothing was not put on and thus she still had her showclothes underneath a thin black long coat covering all over her. It was long and held together by two small buttons of light old color, with brown fluff at the cuffs and sleeves, which also extended down to her jacket's bottom. She wore a hat, of nice red glimmer much akin to a rose. For the civilian clothes they were hurriedly cramped into a luggage of which she brought over, along with a variety of other things inside.

The cold air did wonders for her health, seeing as she was around cigar smoke each time she performed. Regrettably, the drawback of being wearing very little underneath only brought her simply back to square one-- it was a dreadful chill that sent shivers through the coat and up to her backside. Next time, she figured, she'd do remember to not leave in such a hurry. If she were to hang around like this any longer the breeze could bring about a dreadful cold. And looking out, there was also the sudden signal of snowflakes; winter was rearing it's ugly head again in the side of the city of which she lived.

"Is this where you'll be getting off?" said a voice. It was the ticket-master. A stubby little mouse which a thick beard, possibly in his late-thirties. He had a pale gray fur, marked with age and wrinkles which shouldn't be there. Perhaps he'd seen better days.

She was known as Miss Kitty Mouse by her fans, and she adopted the name as her own, wanting to leave another one behind her. The white mouse looked up at him with a sparkling eye, and smiled brightly despite the shiver beneath her one and only coat. "Oh, yes, this will be alright. Not longer from here and up the road, that's where I live."

Nodding, the ticket-master whistled a stop, and soon so did the carriage. Within minutes she had exited out in a hurry-- a mistake of which she later regretted, as the winter winds suddenly crept up faster than expected, blowing at her like a hard wind, the sign of an impending storm. She quickly shut the door behind her and wished the man farewell, and hurried along the rocky sidewalks which would lead into an apartment complex for rodents further down the road, and into an alley.

Where she lived was an odd assortment of stray cats and dogs, most of whom she associated with as they weren't too threatening. Very few knew of her burlesque business and association, and she preferred to keep it that way. As far as the mice were concerned, she was friends with one pale orange-furred rodent, slim and slender, around her age: his fur matched his hair, in more ways than one. He was an easy-going fellow, but his fur was thick and he wasn't one to be clea nand kept. She had joked with him sometimes that they'd celebrate on the day he ever -did- cleanse himself, maybe she'd give him a kiss on the cheek! That bet had yet to completed. Some days he worked as a chimney sweep, other times he played babysitter with children around the neighborhood. But his dreadful lack of brushing kept all of the dust and dirt from him, it made her sneeze an awful lot.

"Oh, hey!"

It was him. Miss Kitty Mouse had just reached the front steps to her home, and out came he. Roland was his name, and with it, a trail of dust and soot that he attracted came with it. The mere sound of his voice made her nose twitch, her eyes glisten with a bit of a tear, and a hitch of her breath. She paused a bit, hoping this meeting was brief and point, for if she did sneeze now it could be one in a series of fits to come. It as a miracle he hadn't come to the shows of hers, she would've been embarrassed to the bone.

"O--Oh, Ro-Roland..." she managed to choke out, "I di-- di.... didiiii--din't...."

Roland caught up with her. The dust was all over him, the soot covering his eyes. A goofy grin spread around his face. He seemed to be enjoying it immensely, annoying Miss Kitty just a bit, but she kept her face and didn't want to turn him away. They might not've agreed on some things, but that didn't rule out the possibllity of friendship.

"Gesundheit," he teased, saying it before she had even sneezed.

"HiEEaaachTK!!" she stifled a sneeze, followed by another, this time full-swing. The force bent her over backwards some, but she collected herself. "Hhh--heh-heh-HEEITTCHKK!!" The force was strong and she kept at it, pressuring her nose with her soft finger in an attempt to keep it in line. She detested spray, so stifling helped, but it hurt. Eventually they were going to come out, with little regard or control. She could feel the winds creep up into coat now, her breasts and outfit feeling the blunt of the cold winds. She shivered.

Roland did it again. "God bless, and all that stuff. Hey, great to see you again, luv! Made it home safe?"

Miss Kitty could barely get a word in. "Ohhhit--hitthhhcch---ch--... HehehEEACCHOO!! HeeeACTHCCH--CHOO!" Stifling was beginning to make her large ears hurt. Each one spreading a bit of light spray in front of her, and bent over backwards. There was no tissue in sight, and it seemed quite unlikely Roland, that well-meaning scrap, would have any on hand. "Oh, I.... I....... I'm alright, Roland, please-- I... need to get home quickly, start the fireplace, it's awfully cold in here, it---"

In a bit of disservice, her filthy male companion went ahead and helped her with the keys to get inside her house. She had no time to react, but could only whisper a polite "Oh thank you" as she continued sneezing. Roland's large tail crept in front of her, and she got a good look at the site of his musty clothes and ruffled fur in front of her eyes. She couldn't bare it much longer, and her nose, try as it might, inhaled deep a patch of dust so deep it could make her cough.

"Gggg-Rolaa--AHHCCEEEEEW!!! AAacchhheEEEEW!! Haattcchhhh--tththhtt---CHOO! AHHCCHHIEEEWOOO!!"

At the sight of the door opening, she made an immediate rush inside before Roland could think of even joining her. Her sneezing henceforth continued, sounding more like the sounds of a zipper and spit, all at adorable feminine sounds. Roland, thankfully, was kind enough not to follow her in, but the 'damage' - if one could call it - had been set. The dust had not only followed her inside, but she found herself sneezing uncontrollably on the way inside.

"RolllAAHHCCHEEWWWWKK.. Aacchheepppsszzzzt.... acchhheebbpppzzzt..." she spit, struggling to stifle what her poor nose could not bare her the opportunity to do, she sighed, and grumbled. "Roland, please do something abbb-- ahhh--about that, for my sake, for your sake, you are completely unhealthy."

Talking through the door slit, Roland chuckled nervously, and shrugged. "O-oh, sorry about that. Well, the thing about that-- the water leak isn't coming in again. I'm gonna have to try and get that fixed, but... yeah... I'm just happy to see you, luv! I'm always seeing you run off at night and wondering where you go-- I didn't scare you, did I?"

Miss Kitty sneezed in response, and shook her head. "I aaahh---preccwssshnktt... I appreciate it, Roland, but please, this is bloody annoying."

The showgirl didn't want to tell Roland about her line of work, and where she worked. She preferred it stay within people she could trust. Roland was not one who would take secrets and keep them, well, secret. At the sight of a rumor he had to be the one to let his curiosity take him in ways he couldn't imagine. Like the great mouse detective himself and anyone else in the line of sleuth-work, Roland was destined to get answers. It hadn't crossed her mind that so curious about her late night showings that he was intrigued with the prospect of following her. if anything else, it would be kind of a gas to see her sneezing up a storm wherever she'd be as a prank. A lighthearted one in his eyes, but to her, it would just be unfathomably evil.

"Alright, will do, miss," Roland said, and waved good-bye. Miss Kitty didn't bother to answer him: she shut the door and locked it tight.

Taking off her coat she sneezed again, this time in another single fit. "AACCHCH---CHCHEEWWSEEE! CChhAh---ahhh--acchhsasnnzzzttchoo! AAChheenssKTCHOOO!" At this point, both tired and miserable from the experience, there was little choice but to immediately look for a proper way to clean. There was no chance in this earth she was going to join the ranks of her unkept and dirty friend, much less spread it in the house. While the relaxing feeling post-sneeze was humble, at best, she hated fits, and she hated how diverse her kind of sneezing would be. One might say her singing talent was as ripe of talent as her dance moves and her own sneezing, at pitches and variations sight unseen. But deep down, she wouldn't quite consider -that- a talent... would it?

"Aaah---cchheewssnkktt... aacchbbbeppfft....."

Finding a working tub and a source of warm water, she took her clothing off and immediately dove in. Roland and the cold, the dust, the sneezing... had finally gone away.

For now.

THE END?

[flowerpower]

Great witing... please do continue

[BikermousefromMars]

oh, i didn't realize this had a comment on it ^^ maybe someday