Disclaimer: Syfy owns Alice, Lewis Carroll owns the books, and I just own my brain, at least for the time being.
---
Alice's Mistake
The music was loud and pulsing, not at all what he was used to. The beat vibrated in his skull and his chest seemed to ache in time to the music. There were people everywhere, sitting, standing, but most of all, dancing. Nothing was familiar here, except the overly large pair of headphones that he saw a man wearing in a booth near the front of the room.
Everywhere people held glasses of bright liquids or dark draughts. He knew they couldn't be teas, but the Oysters gulped them down with the same single-mindedness that Wonderlanders reserved for their fixes. Even Alice had one, a strange dark amber drink that smelled unlike anything he had ever had.
---
Alice downed her beer, hoping that it would give her the courage to do what she wanted. Getting into the club without I.D.s had been nerve-wracking. It wasn't the type of thing she normally did but thankfully no one had asked to see Hatter's card. She tried to gather her courage.
Ordinarily, she didn't really dance. Fighting was more her thing. But the pulse of the bass and the motion of the crowd drew her in. She grabbed Hatter's hand and dragged him, still looking around in wonder and confusion, to the middle of the dance floor.
---
Dancing surrounded by people was a new experience for Hatter. It was sweaty, smelly and a bit uncomfortable to be caged in on all sides by human bodies. He almost couldn't breathe. The Tea Shoppe had never been this crowded, and never so loud.
He wanted to cover his ears with his hands and block out some of the noise. But that wouldn't work.
Then Alice started dancing.
His eyes widened, trying to catch every detail of her. Her dancing wasn't graceful, the music didn't call for grace. The music was primal, calling on the basest impulses of human nature. And the motions of the dance were as primitive as the beat.
He had to focus on something, anything than the fact that she had moved closer to him. Hatter snatched a drink from the nearest person, gulping it down and hoping that it might impart something like Innocence.
He felt lightheaded and dizzy. Too many stimuli were trying to grab his attention. But all thought kept turning back to Alice.
---
She opened her eyes, conscious of the fact that he had stopped moving. He had swayed a little to the beat of the music from the moment they had heard the first strains drifting through the air outside. But now he was completely motionless.
He looked almost vulnerable there, surrounded by the thrashing mob of people.
As much as Alice hated to admit it, she had messed up. A movie would have been a better idea. Anything would have been a better idea. She had wanted to show Hatter that her world could be interesting in its own right. She led him off the dance floor and over to the bar.
---
The music mercifully faded a bit as he followed Alice. People bumped into him, brushing past him and towards their friends. It almost felt as if he was in the Library with all the refugees again.
"Are you ok?" Alice's voice was muted compared to rhythmic pounding of the speakers. How was he supposed to tell her that this music was not at all what he liked, and that he hated crowds? There was a reason he had his own office to retreat to at the Tea Shoppe.
"Me ears are ringin'." He shouted, trying to be heard over the noise.
He watched as Alice ordered another of those dark amber drinks and bought one for him as well. After a sip he realized that it was alcohol, something that had gone out of style in Wonderland when the Hearts had perfected the art of tea extraction ten years before.
They finished their drinks and finally Alice gestured that they were leaving.
Outside, Hatter breathed in the crisp (if smoggy) air greedily. It felt good to fill his lungs with air that didn't carry the suffocating scent of so many people crushed together. The cold air felt good against his burning cheeks as Alice wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm sorry. I thought you would like going clubbing." He smiled at her, trying to make sure that she didn't notice the fact that his hands shook.
"S'alright. But can we go back to Wonderland now?" His voice was almost pleading.
She nodded.
Finally…
---
AN:
Filler chapter... yum...
I had to throw Hatter into an uncomfortable situation sooner or later. Clubbing seemed like the thing most likely to give him culture shock while still being something that I think Alice would do sometimes.
As for the comments about I.D.s, Hatter obviously doesn't have one and some of the math for Alice doesn't add up for me. One of the interviews stated her age as 23, while in the show I believe she mentions she was ten when her dad left and it had been a little less than eleven years since then. Depending on how close she had been to eleven when he left, she would be over twenty-one. But I needed the club to let Hatter in too, so she didn't really need to show her I.D. if they didn't check his.
Remember to leave reviews. I love them very much!