{ Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Prompt: Tarrant has never seen snow, and Alice shows it to him. Written for my Mad Hatter 3 }
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~ SNOW ~
She had hoped it would be cold. She had hoped the wind would be blowing small flakes of snow into her hair and she would be able to carry them all the way down the rabbit hole to show them to him. But they did not. They refused to stay solid, their soft materialistic state, and turned into droplets of water instead.
As she brought her hand up to ruffle her blonde curls she found that the snowflakes had turned into liquid that now stuck to her hands before trailing down to the ground. Within an instant the water had dried and she sighed.
Up above, in her own world, it was almost Christmas. "Nearly Christmas," Alice muttered to herself, "but not entirely." And the weather had been ghastly. Margaret had complained about needing a new shawl, Lowell had bickered about giving her one, Helen had been worried about aunt Imogene turning into a puppet of snow.
Alice smiled as she remembered telling her mother how 'Imogene always likes to sit outside and wait for her prince.' Her mother had given her a glare, especially when she had continued. 'For she expects him to arrive on a white horse, and so far she has only encountered some on brown, speckled and black horses. The snow will enhance her chance to find one. If the horse be covered in snow he would be white.'
Her mother had raised her arms and gave a soft squealing sound that should have been a yelp.
'You're right,' Alice had continued, 'The prince would be covered in snow as well. And I think aunt is more the type for a black stallion.'
She had not meant the horse.
With a pleased smile on her face she exited the room and followed McTwisp who did not seem to be in a hurry.
Her mother had been very cross at her, and she had left to the garden to find the trees covered in a small layer of snow. With her hands at her sides, then tugging the layers of her skirts, and smoothing her dress, she came to a clearing and watched how the March Hare threw an empty cup of tea at her. She didn't duck and watched as the cup flew by. 'Poor Thackery needs glasses,' She thought and clasped her hands in front of her while wiggling from one foot to another.
It was Tarrant who caught eyes with her and smiled, showing the charming little gap between his front teeth, as he poured her some tea.
"My, Alice, you didn't even as much as duck."
She smiled at him. "I had no reason to. Thackery is getting slow."
He grinned. "Good reasoning there."
Thackery stood up on his stool and pledged to sing another of his halcyon songs. Alice turned away from him to sit beside the hatter. Her smile was warm and matched his. "I don't think I could fly as a duck. I might end up as someone's meal." She finally concluded and Tarrant clapped his hands happily while laughing fervently.
"Hatter?" She at length dared to ask while folding her hands in her lap. He cocked his head and hummed as a reply. She knew she could continue.
"Will you pass me my cup of tea?"
He leaned forward, the cup slipped across the table, he tried to reach for it and landed with his chest on the table, the cup caught against his fingers then shove into the opposite direction of his hand and he groaned. Alice watched him amused. "Yes, naturally. How could I forget? Such a simpleton. Silly me." He was rambling incessantly.
Alice tittered and slumped back in her chair when her eye noticed a small object between the trays and cups. It was like a sphere containing a small world and it got her interest straightaway.
"What's this?" She asked him.
"A gift from Mirana. She says it's based on Overlandish weather conditions."
Alice had to laugh. The globe wasn't half as interesting as it could be. The house inside of the crystal ball was white, the floor the same colour, the snow ditto. "You say this type of weather hardly occurs around here?"
Tarrant rasped a laugh. "Hardly? My poor, dear Alice. Such weather has never occurred here. That's why we have these globes. To show it to us."
Alice bit her lip and grasped the skirts of her dress tightly in her hands. "You mean you've never seen snow?" She ventured to ask in her sweetest of all voices.
"I call it Ramp'id. Is it called Snow? I don't know, I always considered it to belong to the letter R type of words. Snow, you say? How peculiar. How incredibly irregular, uncharacteristic, atypical of the name to be starting without a R."
Alice sighed and her eyes drifted back to the miniature snow globe again. Tarrant caught her reaction and followed her gaze. He quickly licked his lips and tried to find a way to apologize for his rambling. "Snow does sound quite nice. Yes, snow it is then."
Alice humphed. "Why is everything white? How can you see any detail?"
Tarrant gestured with his hands. "It's from Marmoreal." And it explained all. "Or should snow not be white?" Tarrant dared to inquire but heard no reply straightaway. Alice was still pouting and complaining.
"The buildings should have had more colours. Such as your home, Hatter. Bright colours. And no, yes, no, snow is supposed to be white unless it's old and dirty."
Tarrant came to stand next to her and admired the snow globe as well. "It's a tiny world in there." Alice laughed softly. "It does reflect reality, don't you think?"
After humming for a few seconds she found a conclusion to her snow globe rant.
"It's a small world after all."
The Hatter was reminded of the land where he was born at this. "Witzend." He murmured and Alice cocked her head at that.
"What did you just say?"
But he shook his head, laughing, and tried to shake it off. "Nay, n'thing Alice." She gave him one of her small charming smiles.
"I can show you real snow, Hatter." Alice smiled at him. Tarrant could feel his heart flutter. "Would you like that?" He did not hesitate to follow her all the way back to the rabbit hole. He even encouraged for her to climb all the way up, but kept down himself in fright of falling. Alice thought he might be scared of what he could find upwards.
With a bit of snow in her hands she returned. He gazed down at it as it melted away at a rapid pace. A sigh escaped Alice's lips. He had hardly had a glimpse of snow. "There's more up there." She said with a pert smile.
With no other words exchanged she offered him his hand and he took it and followed her up. Higher and higher until the skies under which they had wished each other Fairfarren had disappeared and a new sky emerged.
Fluffy white clouds thwarted the sun as greyness and whiteness surrounded the milliner and the champion. A loud hoarse laugh rumbled from within the Hatter's throat when a snowflake touched his nose and he spread his arms wide to swirl a few circles before falling onto a bed of snow. With a grin larger than that of a cat originating from Cheshire he lay there, arms spread, watching the flakes fall down and melt at touching his skin. It was cold. Very cold so. The snow was a temperature far below his own body's.
He watched as Alice joined his side and laughed, and tickled his sides, and caught snowflakes on her tongue.
He did the same.
He watched as Alice took the snow in her hands and created a small globe like he'd had at home.
He did the same.
He watched as Alice scooped snow in her hands and threw it down his back, knocked his hat of, tried to cover him all in the white powder of magic. He tired the same and laughed. After building two perfect, at least in the Hatter's opinion, statues of themselves, and a tiny one which Alice claimed to be Mallymkun, they fell down in the snow again and smiled at each other. Their eyes locked, their hands met, and Alice shivered. It was indeed colder than anything Tarrant had ever experienced before.
"Alice," He said in a shaky voice, "Why am I shivering? Why are your teeth chattering? Why are my fingers feeling numb while my heart is oozing with joy?"
Now Alice noticed how his lips were a deeper purple than they ever had been and how the cold was affecting him as well as her. To Tarrant Alice looked more the same now. She looked like a proper Hightopp lady with her skin all pale and lips purple of ice. "It's the snow, it can only fall when weather's cold and unkind."
She brought her hand up to her mouth and a small cough could be heard. They had not been dressed for this type of weather. Tarrant's eyes grew wide. "I see," he lisped worriedly as realisation finally hit him and he scooped Alice in his arms, "we ought to go back before we go ill. Alice, come with me, back there, Alice?" She was already nodding and pushing herself up from the ground. He followed her lead and soon after they found themselves in the warm home of the March Hare.
As they both sat with blankets wrapped around them, their feet in buckets of warm water, Mallymkun tending their every need as Bayard was taking their temperature, the two laughed. Alice coughed, Tarrant sneezed, they both looked miserable.
"But", Tarrant said, "At least I now have seen real snow."