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Cafe Fina [Monday Afternoon]

Something strange was happening.

After his unexpected landing on this small rock of an island, Hatter had figured that he'd find the Looking Glass and pop over to Alice's home after the small side adventure. Only thing stopping that plan was the fact that he could not find the Looking Glass. It was just gone.

Hatter had waited a night and earlier today, he'd gone out looking again. Still no Looking Glass which left Hatter a bit perplexed and without any real plan as to what to do. This little island, it wasn't terrible, even if it was filled with an all kinds of oysters. The tea left a lot to be desired and it was warmer than he liked but it was quaint. Cute. Adorable, even.

And when Hatter's feet stopped just outside what looked to be a rather fancy restaurant, he couldn't help but peer in the window. It was empty and looked to be dusty and almost sad with disuse. It looked a lot more distinguished than his old tea shop but still, he could almost picture himself inside this place, perched in a comfortable chair while his menu gleamed above his head.

"Hmm." If the Looking Glass was going to go missing in action, perhaps Hatter would just have to entertain himself until he could find a way to Alice or back to Wonderland. "Just needs a bit of a cleaning."

Hatter pushed his hat further onto his head and continued looking inside the windows, imagining all the things he could do to the place behind the window.

[Open post]

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Cecil had no classes today, and the weather was lovely, so he was out taking Foucault on an extended walk around the island. Or, well, Foucault was taking him on a walk.

"Just because you're a little taller now, don't think you can push me around," he warned the bird fondly as Foucault tried to hurry them along. But seeing as how he'd been in a pretty bad mood for a couple days because of that silly crystal, he figured a bit of catering to him was probably okay.

He reached up and scritched Foucault's head just the way he liked and got a happy honk in return. Then he noticed the strange new face and waved. "Hi! I think that place is closed," he added helpfully.

Just in case he couldn't tell. You never knew; it could've been selling dust, right?

[OOC: Dunno if it'll be relevant, but Cecil currently has eyes and swirly things henna'd all over his arms.]

This was the first time someone had actually talked to him since he'd landed here. Hatter turned around, keeping one palm flat against the glass of Cafe Fina and grinned widely.

"And what a shame that is," Hatter said, giving Cecil and his pet bird a once over. He hadn't seen markings like that before. Interesting, interesting. "How can anyone keep a place like that closed?"

"I'm not really sure what kind of place it is," Cecil answered, eyeing the sign. "I mean, it says it's a cafe, but we've got the Perk and Jeff, God of Biscuits and everything already. I've never seen it open," he explained.

"Oh, and hi! I'm Cecil."

"Cecil, pleasure," he said, giving a little tip of his hat to him. "I'm Hatter."

He tapped a few knuckles against the glass, like he was testing something. "That's really too bad. I can't see much but I like what I do see. Nothing that elegant should be closed. It's just a waste."

He changed topics quickly enough. "Where exactly is this, Cecil? I gather it's a bit out of the way."

That was okay; Cecil was a topic-surfing pro!

"Nice to meet you! Um." Not being sure what Hatter was asking, he shrugged and went through it all. "The street's Chimera Court, and it's on Fandom Island, which is just off the coast of the city of Baltimore - it's an okay city, I guess, I've only seen the ballet. That's in the state of Maryland - I don't really know much about it. It's in the country the United States, which is a great place on the continent of North America, which is a pretty big place on the planet Earth, which is in a galaxy and everything too, but if that doesn't help, the rest probably won't, either," he finished cheerfully.

"Does that help?"

"It does, thank you," Hatter said, nodding and looking around. "Very informative too. I haven't ever been here before."

He knew the Oysters came from this place, knew Alice was somewhere on this planet but, from what he'd gathered, this planet was massive. Wonderland was terribly small in comparison.

"I've absolutely no idea how I got here," he said cheerfully. "Tell me, you haven't seen a rather large mirror around here, have you? I seem to have misplaced it."

"A mirror?" Cecil shook his head firmly. "Oh no, I try to avoid them. Mirrors are dangerous. But I don't remember seeing any new ones around. You could ask the police station," he suggested. "Or one of the bars; sometimes they know more."

"Mirrors are dangerous?" Hatter asked, tilting his head and crossing his arms. His attention was momentarily off Cafe Fina. "What makes you say that? Don't like having a look at your reflection or something?"

"I...um. Well, my mom always used to say," he had to take a deep breath, but he remembered what Jono had told him, and kept going, "'Someone's going to kill you one day, Cecil, and it will involve a mirror.' So I just keep them covered now." Even if it might've already happened. Maybe. It never hurt to be careful, right?

"They're probably not dangerous for you," he added helpfully. "Well, not as far as I know. Most folks seem to be fine with them."

"Interesting, interesting," Hatter said, rubbing his chin. "Well, probably better to be safe than sorry, right? No one wants to die especially if it involves a mirror. I can't imagine how it would happen but what I am imagining is rather...uncomfortable."

Hatter made a face and shuddered. "Anyway, no mind that you haven't seen my mirror. It's a bit of a special one and I'm not surprised it's pulled a disappearing act. It's very temperamental."

"Oh, is it a pet or something? They're like that sometimes." Cecil gave Foucault a fond poke and got a light peck on the head back. "But I'm sure it'll come back eventually."

"Eventually."

He guessed someone would activate the Stone of Wonderland at some point and give him his way home.

"I guess the question becomes what I do in the meantime," Hatter questioned, glancing around again. "I had a tea at one of the local shops the other day but I don't think I could continue going there. It wasn't that great of tea."

"I'm not much of a tea-drinker, so I'm not sure if there's anywhere better," Cecil answered apologetically. "There's a few English folks on the island, though; they might know!"

He deflated a bit. "Oh, except maybe not Jono. Unless he drank it back when he had a mouth. But I think the school counselor is English, and the guy who manages the apartments. And - oh! Doctor Lecter's not English, but he really likes good food, so he might know, too."

"You certainly know a lot," Hatter remarked, giving Cecil a look of curiosity. He was familiar with knowing a lot about a lot of things though he didn't tend to be so free with that information. "That have anything to do with the marks on your arms?"

"Huh?" Cecil glanced down at his arms. "Oh, no. Those are just...I'm thinking about tattoos, and wondering if I'll like them if they don't move, so this is a test. But some folks I know, and the rest..." He shrugged. "I do radio, and I listen when I'm not doing it myself. The squirrels report pretty much everything!"

"Squirrels?" That would have been inordinately helpful back in Wonderland. Tiny animals that were able to listen and report back? They might have been able to take down the Queen far earlier than they had.

"Forgive me, but you said this was Earth, right? And from what I learned from...a friend, I didn't think Earth's animals did anything but eat, sleep and shit. Oysters are okay with talking animals?"

Such a curious place.

Cecil shrugged. "I don't know; I've never asked them." Were the oysters sentient? He'd have to check. "The squirrels don't really talk, though. They just write, mostly. And spy, I guess."

There was chittering from a nearby alleyway.

"Oh, and drink rum," Cecil amended. "Sorry!" he called to whichever squirrel was there.

"Spy?" Well, that particular word caught his attention and pushed any further question to the back of his mind. "What's there to spy on here? Anything specifically?"

"Mostly just typical school stuff," Cecil answered with a shrug. "Who's in which classes, who's seeing who, if anybody got drunk or turned into an alien monster. Things like that."

Sorry, Flash.

"Alien monsters?" Hatter repeated, brow furrowing. "I haven't landed in yet another kingdom run by yet another narcissistic tyrant, have I? I was so hoping for a vacation!"

"Not that I know of," Cecil reassured him. "Although I haven't really met the mayor. I'm pretty sure he didn't have anything to do with the alien monster, though. Oh!" Cecil's eyes went wide. "You're not an alien, are you? I'd hate to be speciesist. We have some really great aliens who are students, so I do know they're not all monsters. Just the one I was thinking of was."

"Well, I don't know," Hatter said, putting his hands on his hips and looking thoughtful. "I mean, what if I am? I don't exactly know where my home is in relation to this place. I always assumed it wasn't far since there were similarities but what if I actually am an alien?"

He snickered and rubbed his hands together almost delightedly. "I don't think I'd mind it, actually."

"Maybe you are!" Cecil agreed. "I mean, if you're not from Earth, I guess you would be. Where are you from?"

"Place called Wonderland," Hatter said, pointing at the sky and waving his hand around. "Somewhere in that direction. I think. Maybe. Honestly, I don't know."

"I think you should definitely be an alien, then," Cecil decided. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if they have any business grants or anything for aliens?"

"That would be helpful for aliens like myself, wouldn't it?" he said, spinning around to look back at Cafe Fina before he spun right back around to look at Cecil. "I might have to look into that. This place has to have some leader, right? Maybe I'll have a visit and a chat. I can be quite convincing when I want to be."

"Great!" Cecil grinned at him. "There isn't any City Council - which is pretty weird, honestly - but the Mayor is at City Hall, I bet. That's, um." He squinted, remembering. "That way, past the park, and make a right at the magic shop."

Hatter glanced in the direction that Cecil was referring to before nodding. "Brilliant, thank you. Again, it's been a pleasure. Hope to see you again soon!"

With that, he tipped his hat and ambled off.

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Cafe Fina [Monday Afternoon]

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