Disclaimer: I do not own Alice or anything having to do with it. Syfy kindly permits fanfic writers to play around in their shiny new world though.
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Mothballs and Meetings
Alice looked at the dress that Duchess was holding up. It was plainly not something that Duchess could wear now that her belly was beginning to swell. Alice looked at the pale pink dress with consternation. Duchess had better not mean it as something Alice should try on. That was never going to happen.
"No." There was no chance that she was going to wear the dress, even if Duchess liked it. The blonde looked back at the dress.
"You're right, I'm not sure it would be the right color for you anyway." Duchess might have looked good in pink (even if it would make her look like a Barbie) but it was not a color that Alice could wear, even if she had the inclination to do so. The very idea of wearing a pink dress was appalling.
"You have to have something to wear to the opening." Duchess complained. Alice knew that as well as Duchess did. But there was no way that she would ever consider wearing that pink designer monstrosity to cROOKed. She had a far better idea of where to get clothes for the opening.
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"Where are they?" Hatter looked at the individuals that he had privately termed The Five. Over the last week the Wonderlanders had become a little more adjusted, and a little less likely to commit any obvious mistakes in this world (not that they didn't still slip up occasionally).
The most spectacular screw up to date involved Scamp attempting to hail a taxi by walking out into the middle of a busy New York street. Needless to say, it was amazing that the woman had lived.
The Five sat in chairs around cROOKed, waiting for Alice and Duchess to show up, while Hatter paced. The girls were supposed to have been there a half hour before, if the large golden watch on his wrist was correct. Alice had given it to him the night before, saying that no business man could go without knowing the proper time.
Hatter kept pacing. Winnow and Fowler seemed to be making eyes at each other. That was a new development, and one that Hatter didn't particularly want to comment on. Scamp was looking at her nails while Thatcher played with a cup on the table. Hart, as ever, was silent.
None of them were interested in the fact that Alice and Duchess were late arriving to their little meeting. Hatter had just finished the final interview for a bartender. Now they were going to celebrate, or at least just receive some final instructions. cROOKed would be open in one week's time and he was more than ready for it..
Where were they? He wondered again, his mind turning back to the problem of the missing women.
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It was a little hole in the wall place that Alice had overheard some of her students talk about. The clothes were vintage and reasonably priced for all that it was New York. Alice looked in awe at the colors and styles surrounding her. Every decade was represented on the hangers, and Alice loved it.
Duchess however seemed to have a different idea.
"This place smells." The mothball aroma was a bit overpowering, but Alice figured that the smell would come out of fabric easily enough.
"Are you looking for anything in particular?" asked the owner. She seemed to be the only person who could find things with any reliability in the racks.
Alice looked around at the colors and fabrics, trying to imagine what it might be that she was thinking of.
"Something from the sixties." She said finally, remembering the decade that Hatter's clothes reminded her most of. "Or maybe the seventies." The white haired woman nodded her understanding.
"I keep that stuff over this way." Alice and Duchess followed her, sharing a knowing glance. Neither of them had thought that there was any sort of order to the chaos in the building.
"Oh!" Duchess exclaimed when she saw the racks that they had been led to. Alice wondered how many of the clothes looked familiar to the woman. "Maybe I can forgive the smell." The owner of the shop laughed.
"I tend to forget how overpowering it is in here sometimes." She smiled. "Feel free to ask if you have any more questions." The older lady left them to their own devices.
Alice sorted through the dresses, trying to figure out what exactly she should get for the opening.
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Forty-five minutes later she was carrying an entire bag of clothing out of the store. Duchess had ended up with a similar collection. It was amazing that they had been able to limit themselves at all. Not only did they have dresses to wear at the opening, they had clothes that would allow them to dress nearly every day of the week like ordinary people in Wonderland (now that Duchess couldn't wear any of her gowns anymore).
They walked back to cROOKed.
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"Where have you two been?" asked Hatter, ignoring the bags in their hands. He didn't exactly want to focus on what might be in the bag that Alice was carrying. He tried to take a firm stance.
"Shopping." answered Duchess unnecessarily. She set her bag on a table and sat down next to Winnow. The two of them had been getting along rather well, even if Duchess still avoided the other two women whenever possible.
Alice just smiled at him. Every argument he might have had about them being late seemed pointless. He knew Alice would explain it later when there weren't so many people watching.
"We open our doors in a week, and we can't have any slip ups. Scamp, Thatcher and Fowler, I need you all to remember that you're from England if anyone asks. Hart, Alice says you sound like you're from Ireland. And Winnow, you apparently have a Scottish accent. If anyone mistakes you as being from a different place, correct them. It seems like it's a bit of an insult around here to get that type of thing wrong." Of course he could have said this while Alice and Duchess were still gone, but he thought that it emphasized his point for them to see Alice agreeing with what he said.
The Five had been following Alice around for a week, even going so far as to enroll in her karate classes. It was a bit strange that they got to spend more time with her than he did. But Hatter wasn't going to study karate anywhere that people might get hurt by his right hand.
He touched the brim of his hat to make sure that it was sitting at the right angle.
"We all need to remember that while we know about the Looking Glass, no one else does. Please keep any curious individuals away from my office, and I'll do my best to keep it locked when I'm not actually inside." The idea of an Oyster accidently stepping through the mirror had been one that had been weighing on him over the past few days. But it wouldn't happen. And even if it did, Charlie and his men would make sure the visitor came straight back through.
"Scamp, you're going to be the DJ." The small woman almost fell out of her chair.
"Really? You mean it?" He sometimes forgot that she was actually older than Alice with how she acted.
"Yes, I mean it." It would keep her from playing too many tricks on the customers. She had proven to live up to her name, and it was a position in the club that would explain to any outsiders why the other four Wonderlanders looked up to her. It helped that she knew enough about music to keep up appearances as well.
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Alice was proud of him. He had done so much. When he finally dismissed them for the night Duchess and the others went back to the hotel. Alice, however, decided to stay.
"I assume that there was a pressing reason as to the fact that you were so late." Hatter's eyes gleamed with laughter. At least he wasn't too bothered by the fact that she hadn't showed up on time. She wasn't sure if she would have been as understanding if he had been the late one.
"Duchess and I were getting clothes to wear to the opening." It was true, but she didn't tell him that she had bought something that looked like it had come straight from Wonderland.
"I hope I'll like it." He murmured, pressing his face into the side of her neck. Oh, she thought, I'm fairly certain that you will.
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AN:
If it isn't already painfully obvious, I have an obsession with alliteration.
The idea of Alice and Duchess dress shopping was too fun to pass up. Thrift stores are some of the best places to find clothing. The only problem is making sure that it will fit. Thankfully both Alice and Duchess have figures that mean that they would be able to wear some of the more attractive cast off clothing.
And we see Hatter trying to be a fearless general in front of his troops. I'm sure that he'll be relieved to hear that the opening of cROOKed appears in the next chapter.
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