Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Alice. Though, I really wish that I did.
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Home is Where the Plants Are
"So, when are you going to let us see it?" demanded Duchess. Her pregnancy was just beginning to show and her mood swings were getting worse. For the most part Hatter tried to ignore her. It was difficult enough living with a pregnant woman, but having her as a business partner was a pain. On a regular day, Duchess was nice enough, but the fact that she had been banned from going near the warehouse had obviously started to wear on her.
Alice and Duchess sat in front of him. Both women looked extremely annoyed. At least he had a reason for keeping Duchess away from the warehouse. All the chemical fumes and dust probably weren't good for her or the baby. But he had no such excuse for Alice.
Hatter had actually told the workers to make sure that she stayed off the premises. It was going to be a surprise, even if she killed him for keeping it that way. He wanted to see the look on both their faces when they saw the club for the first time.
Most of the work was completed and only a few finishing touches remained. And he wanted Alice and Duchess to help him with those. It would placate both of them.
And that was the reason why tonight he was actually at the apartment instead of sitting in his office at the club. All the crews had gone home for the night, while he supposedly deliberated over the final touches. In reality, he was waiting to startle the women with everything that had been accomplished in the last few weeks.
"I was actually thinking about going over right now." He stood up from the table before either of the women could reply. "It's not quite done, but there might be some things that you can help me with."
"Finally you ask us!" Duchess threw down the notes she had been going over and went to get her coat. Alice just sat there, looking at him.
"So, the surprise is ready?" She asked innocently. Hatter's heart raced at the sight of her somewhat less than innocent glance towards him. Alice was going to be the death of him. And what a joyful death it was going to be.
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They walked to the warehouse in silence. Alice wondered exactly what Hatter had been doing that he had decided to keep secret from them. Those stacks of receipts that made no sense had to have a purpose. What exactly had he been buying?
It had been a mystery for almost a month and a half as she and Duchess worked together to make sure that Hatter didn't spend too much money on his plans.
Hatter went into the warehouse first, leaving Alice with Duchess outside.
Alice felt a little giddy. All these weeks of working were finally going to pay off. The club was almost completed and she would be able to spend time with Hatter again. Right now it seemed like they worked every waking moment to make this dream of his a reality.
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Hatter was practically rubbing his hands together in delight. He hoped that Alice would be as thrilled with the place as he was. So much had gone into the club that he was relieved that it was near completion. Seeing a well thought out plan come to life was one of life's greatest pleasures.
He quickly looked around to make sure there wasn't anything that the construction workers had left that would detract from the over all appearance of the place. He did spot a lonely hammer sitting by the DJ booth. Oh well, that wouldn't be too bad, he thought. But he moved it into the booth anyway, so that it wouldn't be in the way.
Hatter tried to keep his cool. This was going to be a big night. All the final touches would go into the club in the next few days and he would be free to start earning money the completely legal way.
He opened the door for the women.
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"Oh my God…" Alice's jaw fell open. It felt like she had just walked into a dream.
There were trees growing out of clear Plexiglas boxes spread throughout the room, while the floor was checkered with black and white tiles that were almost two feet wide on each side. The wall directly opposite her was made entirely out of mirrors, almost like a dance studio and it made the already massive warehouse seem bigger. The other walls were painted a deep burgundy, nothing like the garish red that the Hearts seemed to prefer.
Over all, it was breath taking to be almost alone in such a large room. Even the vents and ducts on the ceiling, as well as the protruding pipes had been painted uniform dull silver that was echoed in light fixtures around the room.
"Do you like it?" Hatter asked, concern written all over his face. Alice walked forward, ignoring his comment and focusing instead on her environment.
Was that grass? She bent down, touching the green blades carefully. No wonder some of the receipts didn't make sense. They were from landscapers. The grass boarder formed a square around the middle of the room, where Alice supposed that the dance floor would be. Cement slabs, wide enough for three people to walk across at once, formed bridges to the island dance floor.
"Hey, look at this!" Duchess called out, and at last Alice started paying attention. The bar was set up along one of the burgundy walls, but the where normal bars had glass, this bar had a mosaic made of tiny pieces of broken glass forming the vague outline of chess pieces. There were no bottles behind the counter yet, and Alice realized that the space behind the bar was actually a lot bigger than she suspected. There would be room for multiple people to work without getting in the way of each other.
"Hatter, this is amazing." Alice turned towards him. He looked smug.
"Of course it's amazing. What else did you think it was going to be? It's not like I haven't run a profitable business before. But of course, the Tea Shoppe didn't take nearly as much effort to get running." His smug look vanished to be replaced by his charming, but cheeky, grin.
To hell with it, thought Alice. She threw herself into his arms. Duchess was a big girl; she could deal with a public display of affection or two.
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It took Hatter awhile to disentangle his enthusiastic and beautiful girlfriend from his arms. Not that he was trying very hard. But there were things that he wanted to show her.
The DJ booth was the first. It was made all out of black stone, worked together to look like the top of a castle wall.
"It's a rook." Hatter corrected when Alice told him it looked like a castle. The entire club had a bit of a chess theme, Hatter's way of making a nod to the glory days of Wonderland. The stories of the Knights had provided most of the inspiration.
"I should have realized that." Alice said, still looking around. Hatter had to admit that the DJ booth was really the best view of the whole place (except for the aerial view provided by the catwalk). The wall of mirrors was directly behind the booth while the dance floor and everything else stretched out before them. "It sort of reminds me of Charlie."
Leave it to Alice to think of the old knight at a time when Hatter was standing right behind her. He was sorely tempted to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him while they both surveyed the outcome of weeks of work.
"That old knight wouldn't know a club it you hit him with it." Hatter's joke caused Alice to burst into laughter. It took almost a minute for her to regain her composure. Hatter looked at her with confusion; the joke hadn't been all that funny. She must have realized that because she started to explain.
"Sorry, I just pictured someone trying to hit Charlie with those stupid hats the Queen had the Clubs wear." Hatter joined in her renewed bout of laughter.
"Is there something you two aren't telling me?" Called Duchess from the other side of the room, where she sat on a bench built against the wall. Neither of them really felt like explaining it to her.
Hatter let Alice leave the booth and the girls explored every part of the club they could get into. The only room they found they couldn't open was his office. Hatter explained that it was locked to protect the Looking Glass, even though he could have just unlocked it to let them inside. He had to keep some surprises up his sleeve.
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AN:
Sorry that certain circumstances kept me from updating yesterday. Don't worry you'll get two chapters today because of that.
I really wanted Hatter's club to be something different than we would normally see in our world. And the fact that there were a lot of plants growing in the city in Wonderland mixed with the grass in Hatter's office made me think that plants growing indoors might be comforting for him. Also, I really wanted to avoid the card theme, since I figured that all the characters would hate to be reminded of the Queen every time they went to work.
Feel free to leave a review! I'm still taking suggestions for naming Duchess's baby if you want to post some of those.