A/N:
Thank you so much for the reviews!
I struggled with this chapter for a bit, not because of time reasons or writers block mind you, but because I had no idea if Hatter should take the part of Arthur or stay as Mordred—Hatter's brilliance took over last chapter and did better as Arthur than I originally planned. After much thought and deliberating, I decided to let Hatter decide for himself. Let us see what he decides.
Hatter stared at the clock, unable to sleep, Katherine's words still echoing in his mind. Hatter wasn't going to fall asleep and he knew it. Too many thoughts were swimming in his head. Had he really been that believable? That it became real? Hatter doubted it, or at least he doubted that he could put on a performance equivalent to Adam's. How could he? The guy had studied it at a school for four years, probably longer. The way Adam had truly become King Arthur had been incredible. What had he done to gain the skills that were apparently so equivalent to his? There was no way Hatter could put on a comparable performance. Or at least that was what he was telling himself. On the other hand that moment had been so incredibly real to him. So many thoughts and memories had given him emotions that he had never felt as Mordred. The part had truly been real…or at least for him. Hatter just wasn't sure anymore. Carefully, ever so carefully as to not wake the sleeping Alice beside him, he slipped out of bed. He needed a cup of tea to help him think.
Even though Alice was still asleep and back in the bedroom, Hatter shifted though the kitchen as quietly as he could. He doubted that she would wake up but he wanted to be careful. It wasn't time to explain the situation to her yet. Or moreover, he wasn't ready. One out of two things would happen, Alice would either support him becoming Arthur or discourage it and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the part.
Did he want it? Hatter wasn't sure. At least not yet. He sighed as he put the kettle on and looked out the window and watched as cars passed by on the still semi busy New York Street.
Hatter had rather enjoyed doing it, even if he didn't want to admit it. Arthur seemed to come naturally to him and the song he had sung was rather easy, like Katherine had said it would be. However, Mordred also was a good fit for him. He was more prepared for Mordred too. The lines were memorized and he had the costumes for that character. He and Alice had sacrificed too much just to throw it all away and work on another character that would take more time and more energy.
That was another negative thing about accepting the part of Arthur. No time with Alice. It was already stretched enough. They only had a month and a half to go until they were to perform, and all of his free time would be spent learning new lines and new songs. Arthur had what seemed like to Hatter a million songs. Who's to say that he would be able to learn them? He wanted time with Alice. It seemed as if his decision was made.
But that incredible feeling! Hatter just couldn't get it out of his head. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.
XXXXXXXXXX
The next morning, Hatter found himself leaving the teashop early, very early to talk to Katherine. Alice had willingly shown up early for him to do so. Hatter still had yet to tell her anything, but the look on his face seemed to speak very clearly to her and she had offered to come in the moment he brought it up. He felt bad about not saying anything to her. He wanted to, but he was afraid. Afraid that if he told her about it, she would try to encourage him to do the opposite of what he had decided.
Yes, Hatter had come to the decision late into the night-and it hadn't been easy. But he had been working too hard as Mordred to switch characters now. He and Alice had sacrificed too much and he wasn't going to give up any more of his time. His teashop needed him, as well as his customers. He and Alice hadn't seen Carol in ages and Hatter was positive that something needed to be done about the décor in the living room. The part of Arthur would have been an honor to play but there wasn't enough time for Hatter and do it well. In order for that to happen, he would have to have had to be at practices even longer to make up for the lost time. Then he'd never be at the teashop, never add a little color to the drab living room…never get any time with Alice.
This is what Hatter planned to tell Katherine when he arrived early. He had done what she asked. He thought about it. Really thought about it. This was the best decision. Wasn't it? If so, why was he suppressing that niggling feeling in the back of his head? No. Hatter shook his head quickly, as he walked up to the school. No thinking like that now. He had a decision and he was going to tell Katherine.
The school was buzzing when he stepped though. The last time he arrived early, there hadn't been a peep in the halls. Now, they were crowded with teenagers, all chatting with their friends, being loud and obnoxious. This didn't surprise Hatter in the least bit. He was much earlier than he had been before so of course the students would be more up and about. He didn't know much about Oyster Schools, only what Alice had told him. Looking at the clock, Hatter noticed that it was probably lunch period, or whatever Alice had called it once. He walked briskly to the choir room, a place he knew very well within the building. Hatter hoped that Katherine wasn't teaching a class, or eating her lunch somewhere else in the school. He really needed to talk to her.
He got to the choir room within minutes and opened the door quickly. To his relief, Katherine was there. She was sitting in her office and Hatter could see her though the window. She appeared to be talking to someone. Sitting in the exact same chair Hatter had sat in the previous day, was a man, wearing a business suit and writing down on a pad of paper. Unsure as to what it was about, Hatter hesitantly stepped into the room.
Katherine seemed tired, Hatter observed. Her mousy brown hair stood out in places, as if she had been pulling her hair in frustration. Her normally expressive eyes seemed dense and sunken in and seemed much larger due to her glasses, which made them look worse. Hatter cautiously approached her office, listening intently, but not wanting to disturb.
"Now, Ms Matthews," The man said, looking at the piece of paper as he finished scribbling on it. "How is production so far?" He asked.
"Production is going well actually." Katherine said leaning back against her seat. "Well, as good as we can do with all of the obstacles we've been running into lately. But we're doing what we can with what we've got right now."
Hatter arched his eyebrow at Katherine's answer. Obstacles? Well, yeah the fact that they couldn't use the theater was obviously and obstacle and the fact that they didn't have an Arthur. Was this causing Katherine stress? By the look of her it was.
"Despite this," the man continued. "how is the cast handling all of these—as you've put it 'obstacles' and how do they work together to overcome them? If they do that is."
"I love my cast. They've taken everything that's happened in stride and have done the best that they can. We have a number of new people, such as David Hatter, who have never been involved in the theater until now and have done everything asked of them with the best of their ability—which they have a lot of."
Hatter felt a pang in his chest. Katherine was talking about him and she was talking of him highly. What was he going to do? Go in there and let her down. Hatter could picture the look on Katherine's face when told her that he wanted to stay as Mordred. He could just picture the look in her eyes when he would tell her that he couldn't do it, because of Alice. Hatter paused for a moment, as he thought about it. Truth be told, he had felt some feelings that he never thought he could feel in Wonderland, until Alice came along. In a way, Alice had been with him when he read for Arthur. That had to account for something right? Maybe he should have thought about it a little more.
He had been so deep in thought, that he hadn't realized that both the man and Katherine had noticed his presence. They motioned him in, when Katherine explained to the man that he was a member of the Camelot Cast.
"Practice isn't until the end of the day." Katherine told him, confused as Hatter walked into the office.
"I know." Hatter said, "I needed to talk to you. About what we discussed yesterday."
Katherine nodded at him, her mouth tightening as the man stood up and shook Hatter's hand, almost as if Katherine wasn't beside him at all. "Carl T. Leglen." He told Hatter, "Reporter for the local newspaper in the Entertainment section. I'm doing an article about your production, sort of like an early edition you might say. A sneak peek into the happenings of the play. Mind if I interview you?"
So this man was a reporter! It should have been obvious to him. Hatter shrugged. The truth was he would very much rather not be interviewed, but if it would get him out of the office so he could talk to Katherine alone, he would.
"First off." The reporter said, "State your name and the character you are in the production."
"Well," Hatter began, but stopped himself. Was his decision the right one? Katherine looked like a wreak, all of this stress and things going wrong seemed to be affecting her. What kind of person would he be if he added onto that stress by telling her that she would have to look for a different Arthur? What about the rest of the cast? If a new Arthur couldn't be found in time, what would happen? Maybe, just maybe they really needed him. Alice would understand once he told her and explained the situation in a calm and rational manner. He looked over at Katherine. She looked at him wide eyed, her expression grim, fearful for his answer. Hatter sighed. He wasn't sure if it would end well, but he knew what had to be done. He knew what he had to do.
"My name is David Hatter, and I'm King Arthur."
A/N:
So, as you can plainly see...Hatter's adventure as Mordred draws to a close, and is reborn in the form of Arthur! This should be interesting!
I have to give shout out to the lovely TheChocolateHatter, who made her first video on YouTube inspired by this story! Instead of Camelot however, she uses a song from the musical Beauty and the Beast, which is just as amazing! I can't stop watching it! You can find a link to it on my profile.
So, whatcha thinkin? Do you think it was a good idea for Hatter to take the role of Arthur? Think he should have stayed Mordred? I want to hear what you have to say! Press the little review button and tell me your thoughts!