AN: Look, I'm back! XD Anywayz, this is a continuation of my other one-shot, Unusually Usual. Which is a tongue-twister of a title... It starts the morning directly after. I really hope y'all enjoy it. My apologies for the lame-o title. I couldn't think of anything better. Also, it's a bit shorter than its predecessor...sorry.
And of course, all credit for the amazing characters and whatnot goes to Bri-chan and Rain and their WONDERFULLY AWESOME webcomic, When Curiosity Met Insanity. Go read it. Right now.
It was a beautiful morning in every sense of the word.
The early day's sun peeked through the budding branches of spring trees, casting soft light over the pleasant neighborhood. Happy songbirds chirped as they went about their business, and the other animals followed the calm example. There were the faintest hints of puffy white clouds (perfect for finding interesting shapes) in an otherwise-unmarred blue sky. Reginald Leopold Theophilus (the Third) strolled merrily up the street to his darling Teacup's house, whistling as he went.
In summation, all was well that morning in Wonderland.
Until the peace was shattered by the slamming of a door.
Alice dashed down the stairs, off her porch and onto the path. She was breathing in gasps, blonde locks only barely restrained by her hair band, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she went.
Poor Miss. Liddell had woken up far later than usual (having spent a sleepless night pondering the reasoning behind a certain incident the previous evening), and was now running behind schedule. She knew that if she didn't rush, she would be late for work.
'Curse that ridiculous Hatter! It's his fault.'
If she could bring herself to admit her own faults, Alice would know to place some of the blame upon herself and her preoccupation with Reginald. However, she could acknowledge neither her shortcomings nor her possible feelings for the mad man. She was content to carry on blaming everything on him.
The whole situation stemmed from the events of the day prior. After Alice spent the better part of the evening wondering if the Mad Hatter had finally given up on her, Reginald had turned up out of the blue to walk her home from work. (A sweet gesture to most, but Reginald's current victim- or rather, crush- was determined not to be impressed.)
Then- most confusing to poor addled Alice- he had bestowed upon her hand a gentle, tender kiss and left her to stand, blushing on her porch, alone.
Deep in her thoughts, and hurrying besides, Alice completely failed to take notice of Reginald, plowing right into him at full speed. They both would have gone crashing to the ground had Reginald not seen her coming and braced for impact. As it was, he caught her by the arms with a delighted smile and a (unnecessarily) shouted greeting of "Cricket!"
Alice reeled back in surprise, trying to catch her breath. "O-oh! Mr. Theophilus. Umm…good morning." Her cheeks flushed in memory of the night before, but she strove to hide all signs of discomfort. Drawing herself up to her full (yet still about a foot short than him) height, Alice tried to sound firm, un-flustered and apathetic.
She did a reasonably good job controlling her voice, but Reginald still saw right through her. Perhaps because she hadn't been able to make her blush fade away just yet. His smile grew fond as she demanded, "What are you doing outside of my home?" and he relished his ability to unsettle her.
Still holding her arms (as he planned to do until she made him stop) he began to explain, eager to share his plans. "Well, you see Peppermint-"
"Alice," she cut him off shortly, determined to break him of this habit for nicknames. Even if that meant conceding to a first name basis. Alice chose not to think about why she rather wanted him to call her by her first name. It's not as if it meant anything, after all.
Reginald huffed briefly, but let it go. He was aware the nicknames made her uncomfortable. He just couldn't seem to resist calling her by all of the wonderful names he could think of. "Alice then. You see, lovely Alice-"
Something about listening to her name roll off his tongue nearly made her face blush pink again- at least, she hoped it hadn't. His blatant adulation didn't fail to escape her notice either. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, but unsure of the reason why, Alice told him, "No, never mind. You must call me 'Miss. Liddell'. It's only proper, you know."
The Mad Hatter raised an eyebrow and smirked. He thought he knew why her cheeks were that appealing shade of red. Arrogant when it comes to women (although knocked down a few pegs when it comes to Alice), Reginald had no doubt in his addled mind that she secretly loved all of his pet names and flattery.
'She just can't resist me. It's the coat. I know it.' He told himself such encouragements mostly because he believed them, but also to keep his hopes up. Alice quite frequently rejected him, after all.
With a sly glance at Alice, he murmured, "Make up your mind, Pudding."
Alice glowered, not at all amused by his teasing. "Miss! Liddell!" She managed to hold herself back from shouting, fearing an embarrassing overreaction.
"Alright, alright," he said easily, as if he had given in. Alice let herself relax, thinking she was getting her way. "Now as I was saying, my darling Miss. Liddell-" It took all of Alice's restraint to keep herself from slapping her palm against her forehead. With an internal sigh of long-suffering, she gave up.
"I'm here to take you to breakfast! Splendid idea, no?"
Alice frowned at him, as per the usual, confused by his lack of rational thinking. 'Just what time does he think it is?' "No indeed," she answered somewhat smugly. "I can't, Mr. Theophilus. Impossible. I'm late for work." This reminded her, as she had quite lost track of her original goal- Reginald was adept at being distracting. She started walking again, and her companion followed along, resembling an eager puppy.
"You're going to work this early?" He sounded and looked genuinely perplexed.
'So he does know the time. Why wouldn't I be going to work, you ridiculous, tea-crazed, mercury junkie?'
After a split second's consideration, Alice toned down her reply. "Umm…yes?" It was much less articulate, but also not insulting. Unless he managed to read into the incredulousness and somehow inferred that she thought him lacking in brain cells. Luckily, this veiled insult went over his head (though it had some difficulty finding a way around his hat).
Reginald brushed off her response as unimportant, determined to have his way. "Well, never mind the preposterous ways you choose to spend your morning hours. You can't go to work today because you'll be with me!" He was completely confident, and began chattering away about his breakfast plans.
"We'll have a small, but lovely picnic in a charming meadow filled with flowers, and bunnies, and everything else you expect in a Disney meadow. Not that I'm aiming for a cliché...well, actually I am. Cliché's became cliché for a reason, after all. But I've gotten horrendously off track here. There will be tea with honey and bread with jam, butter, fruit spreads and every other topping that you can think of. Unless you can think of one that I can't think of. Then it probably won't be there... Whole fruits, chopped fruits, diced fruits, sliced fruits-"
Alice cut him off, having stared at him in disbelief as he ranted up to that point. "I can't just not go to work!"
Reginald paused, as it was his turn to stare in surprise. "Why not, honeybunch? I do it all the time." Here he gave her a smile so cocky that she was immediately reminded of Peter Pan.
Alice sighed, not for a moment doubting his statement. He didn't seem like the type to care much about punctuality. "I have to open the store today. Besides, Belle trusts me to show up for my shifts. Mr. March Hare simply can't approve of your absence." Her tone was clearly critical.
By this point, the two had turned into town and were walking up the street of the bookshop. 'Almost home free…'
"Well, no," he admitted reluctantly. He hated when she looked at him with disapproval in her pretty blue eyes. "Ears usually gives me…well, an earful." He paused to snicker at his bad pun, while Alice rolled her eyes. "But he gets over it. It is my store after all."
Alice shook her head. "That's not how business is supposed to work, Reginald!" He beamed as she slipped and called him by his first name. She resolutely pretended that it hadn't happened. "The only reason I can't go is if I'm sick or something."
Reginald stared at her. 'Well, there's a simple solution that she could have mentioned 5 minutes ago.' "Then call in sick, Buttercup!"
They were standing outside of the store now- which should have marked Alice as the clear winner- but both were too deep in conversation to notice that they had arrived.
"You want me to lie," she asked, incredulous and angry. 'As if I would ever! And to Belle!'
Reginald winced, seeming to take note of his faux pas. "It sounds so much worse when you put it like that…" He muttered sullenly, knowing that he was pouting but unwilling to stop. Perhaps such a show of depression would pull at Alice's heartstrings.
It didn't.
With an indignant "hmph", Alice whirled on her heel and marched inside the store. After a glum moment's consideration, Reginald didn't follow her. Instead, he walked to his own hat shop, thinking that he might score some points if he went to work on time. Also, he'd had a fantastic idea about maybe doing lunch…