Author's Note:
WOW! This is amazing..
I only excepted a alert here and there.. Not thirty emails waiting for me this morning when I woke up!
Though I was a little disappointed that only three were reviews…
Just remember…. Reviews make the Hatter Futterwack vigorously.
~**~
The day passed by Alice rather quickly. But then again, she supposed she had spent the majority of it falling down a hole and walking along a path.
Tea, scones, cakes and creams were the diet of both the Hare and the Hatter. Alice could only imagine how they managed to stay thin. Though after seeing the Hatter run circles around a group of trees thirty thousand times, it was less imaginable and more amazing. How the sugar seemed to keep him going for more than an hour or two was beyond Alice. She herself was feeling rather sick of the chocolate cream cakes that March kept pushing towards her. And to think she was fond of them beforehand! After asking the hare why he didn't like them so, he responded with an angry 'They eat my scones!' and that was the end of that conversation.
The quite possibly mad Hatter was currently on his way back to the table when the hare threw a scone at the unsuspecting Alice. It hit her in the shoulder. "Hey!" she turned around to face the hare with a death glare painted onto her pretty features. She threw a spoon at him and within seconds another food fight was in progress. The Hatter himself was a little upset as to not be the cause of this food fight, but gladly joined in. A scone was thrown at March and got caught in his mouth; the March Hare had a weakness for scones you see. The Hatter picked up a lemon tart and tiptoed up behind Alice, as she hadn't yet seen him approach, and tapped her on the shoulder. Alice really shouldn't have turned around as she was met with a lemon tart to the face. The Hatter couldn't help himself; he dissolved into fits of laughter on the ground in front of her.
Alice wiped as much tart as she could off of her face before picking up a chocolate cream cake and kneeling down on the ground.
"What are you doing down here?" She asked the near hysterical Hatter.
"I… hahaha…. I…." he stopped laughing all together and adopted a thoughtful expression. "I don't know."
SPLAT!
The cake was smeared all over his face and to Alice the look of shock was just too much. She sat down on the cake-covered ground next to him and laughed heartily. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard.
The Hatter himself had sat up and was now pressing a finger to Alice's cheek where a portion of tart still remained. He wiped it off and popped the finger into his mouth. "Lemon" he stated, then pushed himself up off of the ground and held a hand out to Alice so she could do the same.
Still giggling, Alice complied. "Chocolate" she smiled as she wiped some off of his nose.
The hare watched the exchange silently, arm cocked back with a cupcake in his paw; he didn't throw it though. This was far more interesting.
The night had come, and along with it a blanket of stars. It was rather beautiful to one who bothered to look up, but Alice was too occupied watching several emotions flit across the Hatter's face to even notice that night had descended. He seemed to be internally wrestling with something, though to what, Alice had no idea.
"Ahem" the hare coughed, causing the Hatter to jump and return to his 'normal' self.
"Ah March! There you are! Where have you been old friend?" The Hatter swept around the table to visit his friend, who still had a cupcake in his paw, leaving Alice to ponder what had just happened.
"Night is upon us." The hare stated matter-of-factly. Both Hatter and Alice looked skywards. "So it is." The Hatter breathed in awe. "Twinkle. Twinkle." He slowly flourished his fingers to imitate something sparkling.
"It's beautiful" Alice planted herself on a cake covered chair whilst still looking upwards; so she was none the wiser that she had just sat on the remainder of a custard pie.
"Quite…" The Hatter was looking at Alice. "…Beautiful." The hare just rolled his eyes.
They sat there and stared at the sky for a little while longer. Alice desperately trying to keep her eyes open, whilst the other two sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat' a couple of times.
"Well off to sleep now methinks!" The Hatter clapped his hands and rubbed them together. He loved his bed almost as much as he loved his tea and hats. It was quite comfortable and wasn't quite as small as March's couch. He had had to sleep on it the last time Alice had appeared. But March had thought ahead, something rare in his case, and had bought an extra bed that existed in one of the many rooms inside his humble abode.
"Come now Alice! We'd hate for you to catch a cold out here." The Hatter spun around when he realised that Alice wasn't following him like March was. He smiled to himself and shook his head when he saw that Alice had fallen asleep in her chair.
She looked so at peace with the world. It was extremely appealing to just sit there and watch her sleep, but the Hatter knew that there were a few of the Red Queen's cards still about and so decided on the safe approach.
Slowly, as if she was as breakable as a fine china teapot, the Hatter gathered the sleeping Alice into his arms. The hare had scampered off to fix her bed for her. Alice was warm and quite comfortable in the Hatter's arms and the Hatter himself couldn't help but marvel at how natural it felt to have her in his arms. He would have held her all the time if this were what it felt like. She wasn't heavy, just a natural weight, and the Hatter carried her with ease. He froze though when she murmured something in her sleep, but was soon on his way again, as she hadn't woken.
He made it indoors and up the flight of stairs, only knocking Alice's foot once on the wall, as he made his way into what was to be her 'bedroom'.
The Hatter entered the room with a Cheshire grin plastered onto his face, but that quickly disappeared as he saw what lay before him; The March Hare with a hammer and bits of bed lying everywhere!
"What did you do?!" The Hatter whispered furiously. The bed had been in good nick beforehand.
"Wore it in for her?" The hare grinned and swung the hammer about dangerously. There were springs sticking out at hazardous angles, which you would skewer yourself on if you slept on the mattress, wood strewn everywhere and a crazed March Hare in the middle of it all.
"It didn't need wearing in!" The Hatter cried exasperatedly, then realised he carried a sleeping Alice and quickly clamped his mouth shut.
The hare looked around him confused, then realised his mistake, "Oops" he gave a sheepish grin. At least, he gave the hare equivalent of a sheepish grin.
The Hatter sighed and backed out of the doorway and headed down the hall. "Where are you going?" March bellowed, then realised Alice was asleep and clamped a paw over his mouth.
"To the room of myself!" The Hatter yelled. Though it didn't come out any louder than a whisper. He entered his room and laid a blanket across his bed as best he could with a sleeping woman in his arms. Whilst carrying Alice up, he had found out that she had custard pie stuck to her dress. Custard pie, which he would not tolerate in his bed!
March came in and quickly fixed up the blanket for him, for which March received a grateful nod.
Alice was then laid down on the blanket, and the Hatter then went about looking for his sleepwear. After locating them, he gathered them into a ball and began to trek downstairs.
"Aren't you sleeping in your bed?" The hare was confused. That's where the Hatter always slept. Why had it changed?
"I may be mad, but I'm still a gentleman!" was all the hare heard before a thud and the scraping of the couch could be heard.
The hare, not really understanding any of what the Hatter had just said, shrugged his shoulders and continued on to his room.
Whereas the Hatter had dragged the couch away from the window and bought a chair over in order to 'extend' his bed for the night.
Changed into his sleepwear, which consisted of a striped green and purple shirt and black pants, the Hatter secured a blanket around his long frame and tipped his hat to cover his eyes, grumbling all the while.
Oh how he missed his bed!