Chapter 4/6.

*Note: Absolom is now Russian (see: chapter 3) - because I had spent the afternoon preceding writing that chapter with a Russian preceptor. ;) As for the "A Birthday Magic" explanation... well, we will just have to wait and see. =)

After Rabbit announced the arrival of day four and went on his merry way, Hatter decided to go for a walk.

His project had worked wonderfully. Alice's birthday hat was ready and in a beautiful hatbox. His Jabberwocky potion from the Queen was stored in his right breast pocket. And the secret to getting to the other world he had obtained from Absolom was tucked away safely in a corner of his mind (the part that he protected from madness, for the Hatter was far from all mad). Everyone he met seemed to know of his upcoming journey, and wished him the best of luck.

But the Hatter was not feeling wonderful. In fact, as each day passed, he had been feeling more and more anxious, and today, he was feeling positively queasy. He had first tried to ignore it. Then he tried to address it by bullying that darned negative part of his mind into being excited. Finally, he began to think about it.

And Hatter really was very thorough in his examination. He knew he was scared about the Otherland – a foreign place he had never set foot upon before. He knew he was worried that Alice had forgotten about him. But he was most worried about the fact that Alice really didn't want anything to do with him and his mad world. After all, he rationed, she had said she would visit him when she was ready, and clearly that had yet to come. What if she became angry at his unexpected drop-in?

Hatter fussed about his troubles all morning, and it was with a heavy step that he set out for his walk in the beautiful fields of the White Queen's land. And there, the Cheshire cat found him. He was so deep in thought that he did not notice the Cat's approach (not that many people did, mind you).

"And why, my good friend, are you painting those poor things white?" Cheshire drawled, floating curiously towards where Hatter knelt with a fistful of flowers in one hand, paintbrush in the other, for a closer look.

"Oh. Hello Cheshire." Hatter didn't meet the Cat's eye, which meant that something was definitely wrong. "These are for Alice – daisies are her favourite. What are you doing here?"

"… I am a vanishing Cat. I have to end up somewhere when I disappear." Hatter was being evasive – Cheshire would humour him for a bit. Plus, he was here on an errand. Cheshire produced a blunt bit of glass out of thin air, and held it out to Hatter. "Here, the White Queen told me to give you this."

"What is it?" Hatter asked, very much lacking in his usual curiosity, pocketing it with his Jabberwocky venom.

"No no no." Cheshire plucked the glass from Hatter's pocket, and tucked it carefully into the brim of his hat. "It needs to be visible," he explained, "this is a bit of Looking Glass. The Queen is worried about you. In case something leaves you high and dry up there, we'll know how to find you." He did not add that the Queen – and incidentally, the rest of Underland – was bursting at the seams with curiosity. Everybody knew how distraught Hatter had become without Alice. Nobody could fathom how Hatter would react with Alice.

Hatter thanked him most courteously, and chatted at top speed about the strange wonders he expected to encounter in the Otherland. ("Animals who don't speak – can you imagine!") But Cheshire was not to be infinitely sidetracked.

He lazily circled the bouquet in Hatter's hands, trailing his tail through the paint for good measure, leaving behind a thick swatch of velvet blue. "These are lovely daisies," he remarked conversationally, "but why are you painting them white? You should be content to leave well enough alone, I should think. Blue is a very pretty colour."

"We-ell. You see… Rabbit says Otherland only has white daisies…." Hatter said finally. He would not stop looking at his hands, despite Cheshire's attempt to catch his eye.

Chershire wisely said nothing, save to peer at him with some curiosity. Hatter clearly had something he was keeping under his hat, so to speak (Cheshire was fond of idioms), and Cheshire could tell how much it was bothering him. He knew the man well enough to be sure that he would speak it after a few minutes. Sure enough, Hatter looked up, dropped his voice to a whisper, and said almost childishly, "I don't want my presents to be outcasts in her world."

The Chershire was silent for a moment, frozen still in space. Slowly, he turned his head clockwise, then counterclockwise, and then back again until he was eye level and staring straight at Hatter. "You are very worried about this?"

"It has quite put a bee in my bonnet," Hatter admitted (clearly influenced by Cheshire's idiom-loving presence).

"Ahh. And tell me, do you think Alice would be concerned if she receives blue daisies on her birthday?"

Hatter was quiet for a moment. "No-o… In fact, I think she might like them better that way. Yes, she definitely would."

"And do you think Alice would consider these an outcast?" At this, the Cat looked very closely at Hatter.

"Well. They're very different."

"… And?"

"And they're unexpected."

"… Yes?"

Hatter set down his paintbrush. His next words came slowly – he seemed almost in a trance. "And they're definitely crazy – crazy colourful, is what I mean. Yes, and I know Alice's favourite colour is blue."

Cheshire grinned encouragingly, showing all of his teeth.

"And… maybe they'll remind Alice of… here."

"Well, I think you're being very wise." Cheshire drawled brightly, startling Hatter back into the present. "Plus," he added as he slowly faded away. "you're a horrible painter."

The Hatter looked at the flowers in his hands, thick brows furrowed. Suddenly, he heard Chershire's voice an inch from his ear. "Oh, and maybe now you can take that horrible brown stuff out of your hair. It looks most unbecoming on you. Nothing suits you better than orange… but of course, that is just my opinion."

Hatter turned, but saw only a ghost of a smile. He thought he had been quite deceptively misleading – but Chershire had not been distracted at all. And then Hatter was quiet for a long time.

To be continued.

As always, feedback and comments are much appreciated! =)