The Mad Tea-Party, For One and All

[Alice]

Very close to the Tulgey Wood was the Mad Hatter's property. Although there was a house, the tea party that was forever set up in the patio was undoubtedly the main focus for anyone. Bright and flamboyantly decorated, an enormous table topped with every kind of tools for teatime sat under the overhead lanterns.

Alice was very familiar with the tea table, and by this time Dinah, as well. Alas, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse were nowhere to be found, and had all been missing for quite some time. This greatly worried the English youth. She had made an effort to visit the Mad Hatter's tea table infrequently, hoping to meet he and his friends again someday. But because of the long absence, the blonde girl couldn't help but wonder if she would ever see them again.

"I do hope they are well," the girl said with a soft, worried voice. She sat in a large, exaggeratedly lavish armchair at an end. "No matter where they are, they ought to be safe."

Dinah, who drank from a saucer of cream, took a break from feeding and looked to her owner. She nodded in agreement. "Miaow."

Alice had learned how to return to Wonderland, partially thanks to Uncle Remus. In truth, there were several ways to enter Wonderland: one could tumble down a rabbit hole, or simply slip through a looking-glass and fall face-first into Wonderland's turf.

[Basil]

One of those ways, most particularly the rabbit hole one, had been accidentally discovered by none other then mousedom's own Sherlock Holmes, The Great Mouse Detective Basil of Baker Street.

Though falling down a rabbit hole does not always ensure that the fallee will land with grace and decorum. So as such Basil landed with an undignified oof before standing and dusting himself off.

He tutted and looked straight up- well, there was no real way he was going to return through there!

"One moment I'm at Picadilly the next I'm...well who knows where!" he wriggled his nose, sniffing the air and giving small hmm. How odd- he could smell tea.

Carefully walking through the woods, he followed a strange trail to what had to be the most obvious decorations he'd ever seen. Bright tea-lights hung in every imaginable color (some he swore had yet to be even named!) cautiously opening the wooden gate. He blinked in confusion at the sight- a entire tea party, large enough for perhaps fifty people, sat ready and waiting. With only a single human child at the head.

[Alice]

Both Alice and Dinah heard the gate open. Since the gate was wooden and aged, it made a loud creaking noise when moved.

Dinah's ears twitched, but Alice remained still as her eyes focused on the gate. She wasn't able to see anyone. "Hello?" she called out of politeness rather than fear. "Are you there?"

The girl didn't know whom to expect, but manners were always in demand.

[Basil]

Basil winced when the girl spoke- so much for sneaking about. Blasted door hinge.

He straightened his tie and moved towards the table, clambering up the cloth and adjusting his hat once he was firmly standing on the table. The detective blinked at the odd assortment of confectioneries and tea settings. not a single one matched yet the hodgepodge of it all made it look all the more inviting.

"You have an interesting way of throwing a party."

[Alice]

Alice soon caught sight of the mouse, and watched him climb up onto the table. When he was close to her, the girl rested her elbows on the table and placed her chin on her palms, so her face could be somewhat closer to the guest.

Fortunately, Dinah was a cat who disliked the taste of mice, and found them undesirable. Nevertheless, she stared intensely at the mouse, not in hunger but in curiosity.

Alice giggled lightly and shook her head. "No, this is not my party. I attended, uninvited. But the hosts aren't here..."

She was silent for a moment before continuing. "My name is Alice, and that is my cat, Dinah." She smiled.

[Basil]

Basil watched Dinah warily- he had bad dealings with felines in the past and was not to keen on repeating the events. He looked at Alice, taking a step back as she neared his eyes level.

"Basil of Baker Street." he answered primly, looking at his claws for a moment before glancing back at the child, "Uninvited- to a party with no hosts?"

[Alice]

Alice gently shook her head. "I'm afraid so. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare--and the Dormouse, too--are not here. I have not seen them for such a long time."

The girl's face expressed worry. "I do hope they are well, wherever they may be... I don't suppose you have seen them?"

Dinah finished examining Basil and resumed drinking her cream.

[Basil]

"I haven't seen anything except some rather obnoxious flora." he answered with a bit of a snappy tone. He erked and focused back on Alice, "I mean- I've been busy trying to figure out where I am. nothing is familiar and it's beginning to give me a headache trying to make sense of anything here!"

[Alice]

Alice giggled, but quickly quieted herself in fear of insulting the mouse.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," she said. She leaned her back against the chair and rested her palms on her lap. "You see, this world is all nonsense. Nothing makes sense here, because everything is what it isn't."

She glanced at a nearby empty tea cup and slipped her index finger through the holder. "Would you care for tea?" she politely asked.

[Basil]

Basil looked at her with wide eyes before shaking his head in confusion, "What? That's impossible! Everything can't make...I mean...everything has a logic to it." he rubbed his forehead, he was liking this place less and less.

"Everything has rhyme and reason- this place exists...so far as I hope I am not dreaming. That means there is some sort of...sense."

[Alice]

"Not in Wonderland," Alice replied with sympathy. She started to pour tea in her cup. "But it's nice to meet someone who makes sense."

After a moment, it became clear that Alice poured far too much tea into the cup than the cup should have hold. She noticed this, and so she looked inside and saw that, despite appearing normal from the exterior, the teacup had a deep funnel within, allowing the cup to hold an infinite amount of tea.

Since this defied logic, she decided to rest the cup beside Basil so he could have visual proof of her argument. "Do you see?" she asked.

[Basil]

"Someone who makes sense?" He rose an eyebrow as she pushed the cup closer, giving her a glance before moving towards it.

Basil rested his hands on the rim of the cup, peering into it. His green eyes widened and he stepped back in slight shock. Pointing at the cup, "That's....there is no what that is possible young lady." he said in mild disbelief. His great brain though was working and he lowered himself on to the table top. Looking at the cup from every angle- there had to be something to explain what he'd just seen!

[Alice]

"Please, Mr. Basil," Alice worriedly said. "Don't upset yourself. I eventually realized on my own that this world is nonsensical."

Dinah looked from her bowl of cream to Basil. She also approached the teacup and peered inside. "Miaow?"

"I beg your pardon," Alice said to Basil, "but are you English, too?" She asked because she recognized the mouse's accent.

[Basil]

He seemed to be half listening to the girl, scratching his head as he peered up at Dinah then back t the cup. "English? Yes...from London." he said almost automatically.

"This...hmph." he sat on the table with a look of indignation on his face as he glared at the tea setting. Blaming it fully for why he couldn't make heads or tale of anything.

"Nonsensical...yes...this...haha!!!" he leapt up and looked at Alice, "My dear girl you've added to this conundrum but in so have aided in bringing me closer to the answer!"

[Alice]

Alice smiled when her suspicions were confirmed, but they were wiped from her lips with Basil's sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "but I don't understand. What do you think?"

Dinah looked from inside the teacup to Basil.

[Basil]

"Yes! This place is logical in it's entirety! BUT!" he had begun to pace, scratching his chin as he spoke/thought out loud.

"That is the solution- the logic of this land is ill-logic. Everything that is, isn't and because of that everything that isn't- is!"

[Alice]

Alice contemplated humoring the mouse, or remain silent, but she chose neither. She acted by impulse.

"But that is precisely what I was trying to tell you," she said. She wasn't offended, but she was perplexed why Mr. Basil chose that particular moment to draw a conclusion.

She brushed away hair that overlapped her shoulders.

[Basil]

The detective grinned at Alice, seeming to take no offense, "Ah but there is the thing my dear. I've proven what you had been trying to say." his ego was a little apparent at this point- not that he really noticed.

"...though it still does not make this place sit well with me. Such ill-sense is....off putting." Funnel's in cup and endless tea. Those sorts of things just did not happen in normal times.

[Alice]

Alice accepted the answer and moved on.

It was obvious that Basil was still largely annoyed by Wonderland's oddities, and so Alice, by coincidence, found a very tiny teacup and carefully applied a single drop to fill it.

"Oh, Mr. Basil? Perhaps a cup of tea will calm you." She attempted to sound comforting, but not overtly motherly. She then picked up the cup between her index finger and thumb and placed it beside Basil. The cup was still larger than the mouse's hands, yet he could easily pick it up with his hands and sip.

Strangely, Alice had yet to drink tea on her own, and it was only then that she realized it.

[Basil]

Basil took the offered tea with a rather short Thank you, manners had never been overly important to the mouse. Sipping the liquid carefully he let out a sigh and looked up at Alice.

"Miss Alice, I've begun to wonder. You said yourself that you are an uninvited guest- how exactly did you come about this...place." He gestured vaguely to the surroundings, deciding to focus on the one semblance of logic in the entire garden- the cup and the girl.

[Alice]

Unfortunately, the mouse's lack of manners may eventually conflict with Alice's personality, but at that time the little girl didn't start any fights. She locked her fingers together and watched the mouse detective drink his tea.

Alice's blue eyes focused on Basil's face specifically when she was asked a question. She used her hands and moved her head as she explained, sometimes to emphasize her words. "Well," she said, "my adventures in Wonderland began when I followed a white rabbit down the rabbit hole. All of a sudden, I fell! Down, down, down the rabbit hole. Since then, I sometimes went through a looking-glass to Wonderland. Uncle Remus (I beg your pardon--Mr. Remus) said that I am... very important to Wonderland, just as he was."

Realizing that she gave a convoluted answer, the little girl frowned slightly. "I'm sorry; did that answer your question?"

Finished with the cream, Dinah crawled on the table closer to Alice and sat upright, looking to the mouse.

[Basil]

He awkwardly sipped the cup, used to a normal sized one (well for him) but he wasn't one to complain over too much tea. He raised his green eyes to the girl and shrugged.

"No- but it bares more interesting information." Had Basil been anyone else, he would all ready have realized just what 'Wonderland' Alice was speaking about. However, Basil was not one to record every instance of fictitious literature in his massive memory.

"Well it's a small comfort to know that I am not the only one who fell down the rabbit hole." he said with a sniff as he took another sip of tea.

[Alice]

"Well, then I am happy to comfort you," Alice chose to say. The girl thought the mouse to be moody yet undoubtedly brilliant.

Dinah cautiously approached Basil, not in a threatening manner at all, but rather to better examine him. She had never seen a mouse with a dapper sense of fashion.

"Oh, Dinah," Alice said when she noticed her cat face-to-face with Basil. "Please don't bother Mr. Basil. He is upset, you know." She rested her hands on the table.

[Basil]

While instincts screamed at him to run off- the fact that the great mouse detective would run from a kitten served to hold in place. Though he did visibly tensed as the feline came closer. his grip on the cup became strained and he cleared his throat and took a step back.

He held an arm out to push the kitten back should Dinah see it fit to investigate further. The mouse looked up at Alice, upset? Oh that was only a fraction of what he was feeling- but even he knew not to be callous in front of a child.

"That...would be one perspective to take." he said after a moment, putting the empty cup down and adjusting his cap. "Now then...I thank you for the tea but I need to find a way out of this place..."

[Alice]

Alice held up a hand and waved gently in protest. "Oh, wait! Please don't go, Mr. Basil. You are sure to be lost if you don't know which way to go."

The girl thought about that sentence and felt it necessary to not sound condescending. "What I mean is Wonderland is so confusing, and I was always in trouble when I was here for the first time. If you don't mind, I can show you your way."

While smiling she pressed her hands against her chest to emphasize her offer.

Dinah backed away when she was instructed, but she continued to stare at Basil.

[Basil]

"Lost?" He peered up at her, "This place seems dead set on having that happen girl." He answered with a slightly hidden sneer. He raised and eyebrow at the kitten before walking closer to the edge of the table.

"If I found a way in- I highly suspect I can find a way out." he knelt on the edge, tugging at the the table cloth to see if it was decently secure.

"And you've all ready mentioned a possible way out- now I only have to find a mirror."

[Alice]

"My name is Alice," she said in response to be referred to as 'girl.' Her tone wasn't threatening, but it was without humor. "And if you don't think you will need my help, then I suppose we can say good-bye. Good-bye, Mr. Basil!"

She waved gently. Dinah examined the cub Basil drank from, bringing her nose to it and sniffing the scent. "I hope we will meet again in England," Alice said with a smile.

[genie]

*Suddenly, there was a puff of pink and blue smoke, and in the midst of the tea table stood Genie, looking quite befuddled. He looks to Alice and Basil, and blinks.*

Hmm...this doesn't look like the 23rd-Thousandth Annual Genie Convention...ooh maybe I shoulda taken that left at the second star to the right. Or was it the other way around...oh well, either way, sorry to interrupt the party, ciao!

*Another puff of blue and pink smoke...but he doesn't vanish. He looks at his right index finger, pondering.*

Hmm...I know i'm usually semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic, but what gives?

[Alice]

Alice jolted and shrieked at the mystifying being's spontaneous prescence. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"O-oh! Wh-who are you, if I may ask?"

Dinah reacted similarly to Alice; she was very shocked. She hunched her back and hissed, a rare sight, indeed!