Late for Tea? Naughty.
Tea. Hats. They are the two greatest things in life thought Tarrant as he sipped his warm tea and spun a hat around with his ring finger. Thackery, Mallymkun,Alice and everyone else was late for tea, Naughty.
Tarrant supposed that they all forgot. Alice especially had a hard time remembering the simplest things like, tea time or Tarrant himself. Tarrant was perfectly happy to continue sipping tea and spinning the hat, killing time, though, he would have liked it if at least one of his friends remembered that they were late for tea!
With that thought Tarrant threw the cup of tea he had been sipping at his usual target. His target when he was the only one with the decency to remember tea time. Tarrant's target was a tree with a large rock embedded in it. By now, the tree had only bad things to say about the Mad Hatter and many many peaces of porcelain sticking out from its bark. The rock was starting to get warn away from constantly getting hit by tea cups. Sadly lately Tarrants friends had not been showing up for tea lately so the tree and rock got a lot more abuse.
Quickly Tarrant filled a new cup with tea and happily went back to sipping tea while spinning the hat. The hat was one he made in a mad burst of inspiration. He would have to have been mad at the time to have made a hat for Cheshire. It was a nice hat all the same, though, Tarrant did not think he would ever give the hat to Cheshire let alone tell the pesky cat that he had made the cat a hat.
As if sensing someone thinking about him Cheshire faded into existence a chair away from the Hatter.
"Cheshire you are late for tea, naughty little kitty." Tarrant said teasingly, not wanting any of Cheshire's focus to be on the hat in his hads.
"My, my, Tarrant your hat is looking extra lovely today, can I have it?" Cheshire said as a greeting.
"No kitty, this hat of mine will stay mine." Tarrant replied use to this conversation, he had it every time he crossed paths with Cheshire now a days. While talking, Tarrant put the hat he had been spinning on his lap protectively, he did not know what Cheshire would do with his babys, so he did not want the cat to have any of his hats, even one created specifically for the cat.
"You know Tarrant having a lovely hat will only get you so far, one day you may call someone the wrong name, like kitty for instance, and and things may start disappearing just like this" While saying his last word Cheshire made Tarrants tea cup disappear. After seeing the tea splash down onto the table - for the tea had no cup - Cheshire disappeared just as the cup had moments before.
Happy that he got out of that meeting with all of his hats, Tarrant decided not to risk Cheshire coming back and finding out about the hat Tarrant made for him. Tarrant poured himself a new cup of tea and wandered off with the cup of tea in one had and hat in the other. Tarrant did not see the eyes or the smile following him.
Placing the hat in a secure location, his hat room, Tarrant went back to the tea table. He had to be there to great any of his naughty friends who were terribly late for tea.
Cheshire watched as Tarrant played with a hat that was almost as great as the one on the Hatters head. Cheshire knew that Tarrant did not want him to have the hat, or even know about it so he stuck around to see if Tarrant would do any thing interesting. Seeing the Hatter leave the nice hat unattained was like he was asking for Cheshire to take it. Grabbing the hat Cheshire's smile grew as he realized that the hat was a perfect fit. Tarrant made such lovely hats! Cheshire hoped that Tarrant would not realize who took the hat, or Tarrant would resort to the Squirt Gun, the most horrible weapon in all of Underland.