Disclaimer: Syfy owns Alice. But can't I at least have Hatter's hat?
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Dedication: To the Reviewers, for begging me patiently for more fluff. And for Ikaplon for offering to help with the fluff if I got stuck. I think I did okay by myself this time though.
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Three Days of Duchess
It took Alice about three days to realize that she still didn't really like Duchess. The woman was entitled and a royal pain in the… Well, at least outside of Wonderland she didn't have anyone who waited on her hand and foot. Alice reasoned that it would be a character building exercise for the woman, much like Alice taught white belts to respect the fact that there were things they could not and should not do.
Already, Duchess had found out about money and exactly how much it was worth. The first day's shopping had been a total fiasco.
Since Duchess had arrived with only gowns and overly large pieces of jewelry, Alice and Hatter had taken the woman in search of clothes that could be worn at places other than parties or court functions.
It didn't bother Alice that Duchess wouldn't even consider wearing pants, let alone jeans. Alice preferred skirts sometimes but wearing nothing else seemed a little bit excessive. Thankfully all the dresses the woman picked were fairly conservative, if expensive. Duchess seemed to only pick designer label clothes, even if she didn't know who the designers were.
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"She's worse than I am." Hatter said with a bit of surprise. Certainly he liked nice clothes, but he didn't buy them all at once, and he certainly wouldn't buy them for the amount that Duchess was willingly handing out. After just a few days in Alice's world, he had gotten the hang of using those pesky bits of paper to buy things.
"We need to figure out how to get the money into a bank." Alice whispered in his ear, causing his hair to tickle his neck. "You can't just keep buying everything with cash." He had no clue what she was talking about, but he wasn't going to admit it. He nodded, even though trusting other people with his money wasn't exactly on the top of his list of things to do.
He hoped that Alice would teach Duchess about finances at some point, because he certainly wasn't going to do it. The woman had no concept of how to budget wealth.
"Duchess, that's enough." Said Alice as the woman started making her way to yet another rack of clothes.
"Jack said I was to have anything I want." The blonde's pout was anything but cute to Hatter.
"Yes, but Jack doesn't have to feed you," commented Hatter. The woman ate a lot more than could be expected of someone her size. She had gone through multiple containers of what Alice called "Chinese food" the night before.
They got Duchess out of the store with promises that they would come back later at some point. Though, Hatter amended, only after she had her own source of money to spend. A few of the women in the shops had asked if Duchess was a model, whatever that was.
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The second day, Duchess claimed that she needed an apartment of her own.
"I can't live here with him! He's disgusting." Alice's jaw clenched.
"That's my boyfriend you're talking about." Luckily she had rules against hitting people who weren't trying to fight her. Being a black belt had certain disadvantages.
"Well then, you live with him. I'll just take your apartment." Duchess looked perfectly serious. A smile tugged at Alice's mouth.
"Well, if you want to live with my mother, you can certainly go ahead." The taller woman stopped suddenly.
"Your mother? No wonder Hatter never goes over to your place." Well, at least they were in agreement about that. Hatter wouldn't go anywhere near her apartment if her mom might be there. He would have to show up for the dinner her mother had planned but they had more important things to worry about in the next few days.
The meeting with the owner of the construction company was the next day and then if everything went well, Hatter and Alice would be busy finding a lawyer and figuring out what to do with the money.
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On the third day, Duchess decided that she needed to go with them to the meeting.
"Really, Hatter, it won't be so bad. I'll make certain that she stays quiet." Alice wondered if it was like owning a small dog. Too bad Duchess couldn't be put in a purse to keep her out of the way. The idea was appealing though…
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The cab ride to the office was uncomfortable at best. Hatter was forced to ride in the front because Duchess insisted that it was much too crowded with three people in the back seat and that she wouldn't sit next to the driver.
Everything else went well, at least until the owner saw Duchess. The man practically tripped over his feet in his effort to get closer to the tall blonde. Hatter didn't see what was so attractive about her. He much preferred Alice's looks.
The meeting was a waste of time. Certainly they got promises that they would be able to buy the building once it was completed, but the other man's mind seemed to have departed completely when he saw Duchess. None of Hatter's comments about speeding up the construction or purchasing the building as it was received anything more than a non-committal grunt.
Hatter hoped that they would have more luck with a lawyer. And next time, Duchess was staying at the apartment.
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That night, Alice decided that she needed to do something about Duchess. It wasn't like they could let her live by herself yet. Alice trusted Hatter with that, but certainly not Duchess. The woman might be smart, but she wasn't adapting as quickly as Hatter was. She hadn't even been used to doing things for herself in Wonderland.
"Thinkin' 'bout things?" Hatter's voice rumbled in his chest under her ear. They were lying on his bed, fully clothed, trying to relax after the long day. Alice found that when she was tense or worried that just being near to Hatter helped her calm down. She pulled her head off his chest to look at him. His hair was hanging in his face and his whiskers looked longer than normal.
"Yes, just that Duchess…" Hatter's mouth closed over hers, silencing what she was going to say. And after just a moment, she forgot what she had been thinking about.
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Hatter couldn't believe his luck. It was still surprising that Alice wanted to be with him. He deepened the kiss, letting his tongue enter her all too willing mouth. It was bliss. That was the only word he had to describe how it felt.
He let his hands curl into her hair, feeling the soft strands beneath his fingers.
With his eyes still closed, he let his lips trace every curve of her face, memorizing them in case none of this was real. He had told Alice that his world wasn't a children's story. But to him, her world felt like one.
He was terrified that one day he would wake up back in the Tea Shoppe to find that Alice and their adventures had just been a dream. Alice had told him that when she first woke up in the hospital, she had feared that Wonderland hadn't been real after all. But that he had proven it wasn't a dream when he had showed up at her apartment.
"This is real." He murmured too softly for her to hear as he let his lips find their way back to hers.
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Alice wanted to stay there forever. Curled up in Hatter's arms seemed like a wonderful way to spend the rest of her life. But it was far too soon to try to convince him of that. Even if he had followed her through the Glass, he would bolt as soon as she mentioned making their situation a bit more permanent.
Heck, she had bolted when Jack had suggested that, and they had known each other for a lot longer than Alice and Hatter had.
At least Hatter wouldn't ask her to go visit his parents. And even if he did, his family couldn't be any worse than Jack's had been.
Hatter's lips on her neck reminded her of the present. For now she had happiness and she was determined not to mess it up.
She placed her hand beneath his jaw and smiled in pleasure as his eyes opened to look up at her. His gaze was stormy and she felt as if it were possible to drown in those turbulent depths.
Her lips brushed against his, feeling the softness of his mouth underneath hers. She closed her eyes, reveling in the moment.
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AN:
I think I'm becoming more and more a fan of Duchess. It's a pity she gets so little screen time in the show. She just seems like someone who would have made an interesting character if we were given more of her actions and motivations. Which is why she's here in this story, I wanted to know more about her, so writing about her seemed like a good idea.
As for the fluff: I hope you like it. It's a lot more difficult to write than I expected.
If you have anything to say about this chapter or any questions you want to ask, leave a review!