The rich , dark liquid swirled into the cup, creating a satisfying splashing as it filled, the teapot being lifted a fraction before the cup was full with enough room for it to be filled with milk without overflowing.
"Two lumps, please," a goofy voice asked politely, muffled by the bright orange mask.
A pair of silver tongs delicately picked up two cubes of sugar and dropped them into the cup. "Is that all Tobi?" a vacant man with long blonde hair and a beautiful, stitched face asked as the tea was stirred.
At first, he did not answer. Sliding his swirled mask to the left side of his face so that his scarred face was revealed, his crumpled top hat, decorated with a black and red ace card, sliding down his head a little. The cup was lifted gracefully from the saucer, stopping just before his lips. Tobi's eyes closed for a moment, as if savouring the warmth and smell.
Suddenly he slammed the cup onto the table in anger, spilling half of its contents. "Mad Dei-Hare," He shouted, rising from his seat aggressively, "You forgot the milk! Tea without milk is SO uncivilised!"
The Mad Dei-Hare took a cautious step back, a slightly worry coming into his glazed blue eyes, his long, stitched together ears twitching at the loud noises. "Sorry Tobi," He muttered without any real emotion, immediately dropping the tongs so that they clattered to the ground. Dei-Hare then rushed to the opposite end of the table to grab the milk jug like a child would in his horrid stitched hands. When the milk was poured into the tea, Tobi took a long drink from the cup and giving a little satisfied sigh as he finished. He smiled broadly, setting the cup down gently, seeming like a different person entirely. "Nothing is more enjoyable than a mid-morning drink of tea," He sighed, letting his gaze roam over the tea garden which was mostly dominated by a long table cover with a white table cloth and many numerous chairs as if he was expecting a hundred guests.
It had once held sculptures of various things, birds, buildings, people (Tobi recalled one of the Queen being placed in the corner, bearing his usual scowl) all carefully and perfectly sculpted by the Mad Dei-Hare's hands. Often, Dei-Hare would host art galleries for all of the residents of Wonderland to come and see and buy any sculpture they desired. The Mock Turtle, who Tobi had dubbed Sasori due to his hidden, venomous tail, would always visit the Mad Dei-Hare's displays and the two would end up arguing about their views on art.
Several months after a particularly bitter argument, Dei-Hare and Sasori decided to hold a competition between each other, to prove who's art is the best. It was a daring and stupid idea. They both decided to create a piece of art as a gift for the Queen of Hearts. The Mad Dei-Hare sculpted an exact replica of the Queen of Heart which would mimic the Queen's expressions and show what mood he was in; shouting at anyone to go away if the Queen was in a bad mood and casting a flirtatious glance if he was in a good mood. Mostly the former showed.
The Mock Turtle carved an entire table and banquet set, decorated with intricate patterns showing the Queen's power whilst also incorporating the residents of Wonderland hidden in the patterns as well, from the marble of the cliffs where he lived as well as several working marble puppets of carriages horses and their driver.
When they both presented their fine work to the Queen, he first turned to Dei-Hare, and asked what he had made the sculpture from. Dei-Hare told the Queen that he had sculpted it from clay that was only found deep in the Creighton Woods. It could not be smelt out by a keen nose nor seen with the eyes. Only a pair of highly sensitive ears like Dei-Hare's could find it since the clay made a soft humming noise when it was underground and again, only Dei-Hare could dig it out safely and mix it with moon owl feathers in the right way. The Queen then asked to see the clay. Proudly, Dei-Hare presented his clay bag to the Queen.
After looking over the bag, the Queen pulled out some of the clay which was a soft grey colour. Seeing this, the Dei-Hare warned the Queen of the clay's volatility, especially when mixed with moisture. With a look of interest, the Queen of Hearts eyed the clay-before he forced it into the Dei-Hare's mouth.
It promptly exploded him all over Wonderland.
In fear, Sasori fled, scared of what would happen to him if the Queen disliked his gift too (which more than likely would happen). The Mock Turtle has yet to return from his hiding place under the sea.
Following Dei-Hare's explosion, Tobi found himself growing rather bored and restless, Even his imaginary friends provided little entertainment at tea parties as they never enjoyed the tea he served! The Dormouse was as useless as a wet tea bag at tea parties too. She always hid away in her tea pot, preferring to watch everything with her special eyes that could see through any substance, only leaving her little sanctuary to run errands for Tobi or to gather information.
It was only when she returned one day with news about the Queen wanting to evict him from the garden that he decided to find the pieces of Dei-Hare. If he got Dei-Hare back together, the law said he could remain in the garden.
So, Tobi took the Dormouse with him on a journey to find the pieces of Dei-Hare.
With some help from the Hungry Caterpillar (money-hungry, that is), Tobi was able to sew the Mad Dei-Hare back together. So long as Tobi paid good money from using the Caterpillar's special black silk. After bartering over a price, they agreed upon a thousand Grimms. The Hungry Caterpillar 'forgot' to mention to Tobi that there was another two hundred Grimms on top of that for his services.
Now Dei-Hare is back to his old self (well, almost) and is noticeably more agreeable and content to take part in Tobi's tea parties. Perhaps it is something to do with his vacant expression-they never did find his fagiggly gland after all.
Abesently, Tobi took another drink of his tea, lost in his own memories. Dei-Hare was now sat down on a chair opposite to him, staring blankly at how the tea in his cup reflected his image yet distorted it at the same time. A nervous rattle of the tea pot lid brought Tobi back to the present. "M-M-Mat Hatter, S-Sir," came the quiet, scared voice of the Dormouse.
"Oh, what have you seen, Hinata?" Tobi asked, swirling the remaining dregs around his cup.
"Th-Th-The Queen of H-Hearts is coming," Hinata squeaked in fright at the name alone and immediately went back to cower in her tea pot.
Tobi immediately leapt up as if he'd been given an electric shock and moved his mask back to its usual place, shouting at the Mad Dei-Hare to tidy the pots away and get out the best china for when the Queen arrived.
As he rushed around, not even focusing on any task in particular, Tobi suddenly stopped at a chair.
"And Silly don't just sit there and not drink your tea," he rounded on the empty chair where a third cup had been placed, "If you keep making me waste tea I'll not invite you or your big black dog anymore!"