Aliss Clevereyes and Nivens:Aliss and Nivens stopped at the front of the master craftsman's den. They were here, it was time to offer the best of her cache and... And still Aliss wanted to turn around. When she stayed frozen, annoyance already building in the back of her mind, Nivens frowned up at her.
"Aliss?" he whispered, tilting his head slightly. Her maw pursed a bit before she rolled her shoulders and walked in.
She cleared her throat before speaking, "Mr. Hatter, I've brought some items for you to look over." Her tone was fairly neutral as she called out, from just inside the entrance of the den, not seeing the male just yet.
Reginault Hatter and Thackery:
Reggie was busy musing over fabrics. He busily pieced things together, throwing them around each other to see splashes of color and design. He liked chaotic things. Bright colors with others that looked more tacky than anything. He looked at the little brown hair, that was sporting a sort of vest made out of the furs and cloth.
"Thackery.. What do you say?" He asked, holding up the new cloak made of black furs, and pink cloth. Thackery twitched his nose, thinking a minute before he twiitched again.
"Looks great. Looks great. Wacky." He said, a nod of his head as his little paws went back to work on adding the paw prints out of berry dye to the cloth he was currently working with. He was probably not the best helper, as he got easily distracted. But Hatter never seemed to mind, and so Thackery just did what he was good at.
Then Aliss's voice called out of nowhere, and Thackery instantly was taking off and running up Reggie's shoulders. Reggie groaned, both at the company that had made herself known, and the little hare's footprints that were dotting his very pale fur.
"I'd hear you better inside." He called out, inviting her in in his own round-about way.
Aliss Clevereyes and Nivens:
"By the fact that you answered me at all says you heard me well enough," Aliss shot back, though the retort was only a little sharp, actually it was sort of like a haughty tease, and she padded further into the den until she was in proper view. It took ever ounce of her willpower not to grimace at the... mess Mr. Hatter was making. How on earth did anyone stand such a mass of clashing colors, she'd never know.
Nivens, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice it. He was to busy bending over in a bow of greeting. A nudge of Aliss' paw and he was straightening again, though he might have almost fallen over when she did so.
Aliss sat and, with Nivens' help, took out the items she had brought for Mr. Hatter.
"Does any of this interest you?" she asked, her mind going over what each piece was worth to her, and then how much to scale said price down since he was the head craftsman and not just a normal one. Normally it would be a favor or a bit of information on another merchant or the inner-workings of the pride or something intriguing like that. But, well, for one thing Mr. Hatter was the last lion she wanted a favor from. And for another, she doubted he knew anything about current intrigue. At moment, she was almost inclined to just give him what he wanted... It would save her having to barter. But that was bad for business...
Reginault Hatter and Thackery:
Hatter rolled his eyes, huffing a bit as she spoke. Most of the time they got by if he would just.. not say anything.. However sometimes he just wasn't very good at holding his tongue. Okay, most of the time he wasn't very good at holding his tongue. "Luck is the damndest thing" He said simply, before shaking his shoulders to shoo the hare that had scurried there off. He cast Thackery a look, and Thackery just twitched and narrowed his eyes.
Hatter looked at the wares she had brought, picking at them. Shells, baubles, cloth of simpler hue. She had lost her touch. He arched an eyebrow, before clearing his throat. "These would be fabulous. Not sure where, but they would be." He said, picking up a few of the shells she had brought with her. Even he was too nice to turn her away.
Thackery smacked him with a paw, frowning as he looked over the cloth. "Why not this? You use these." He twitched again. "I could use these. Yes yes. i could."
Aliss Clevereyes and Nivens:
"Everything has a purpose," Aliss replied with a bit of a shrug. Thoughtfully, she picked up one of the pearls that had ended up falling to the den floor when he had been picking through the rest of it. For reasons beyond her, she had become quite partial to the things, preferring the colored ones over the whites. Abalone was just as good, but so much could be done with such a large shell and she didn't get them often enough to be able to justify keeping one.
She glanced at Thackery and her eyes crinkled ever so slightly. He was a bother usually, but damned if she didn't like hares for some reason. Her affection for them drove her so far as to avoid eating their brethren for goodness' sake!
Her paw returned the pinkish pearl back in the abalone shell with the other smaller materials. In that moment, her curiosity got the better of her and she peered around Mr. Hatter at where he and his little helper had been working.
"What were the two of you working on?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could give herself a good whap. She knew better than that! Too late now, though.
Reginault Hatter and Thackery:
Hatter looked at the pearl, realizing that was the perfect way to bring a bit of sparkle into a piece .He picked it up, his paw grazing hers as he rolled it in the palm of his paw. He nodded, and looked at Thackery. "This might work, and if you want those fabrics you are more than able to pay for them yourself." He said, with a narrowed gaze that was all too familiar between the two. They were best friends, always together, but that was probably why they could get into some of the most heated arguments. Both were just as wacked as each other, and they managed well together.
"Garments! Garments all the day!" Thackery cackled, rushing back over to the cloth with the purple printed pawprints on them. He held it up to himself, then threw it around his neck like a scarf.
"If I left him to hats, we'd be ruined." Hatter said, a gaze looking over Thackery before turning to Aliss. "Hats are a great thing, little paws ruin them." He said simply, matteroffactly.
"DO NOT." Thackery shouted, before bouncing over to the large male and twitching his nose and fwapping him good on the paw. "A hat is a hat is a hat." Thackery said, and began pouncing on all the cloth around the den.
Hatter's paws flew up to his mane as he looked on in irritation and surprise. "My hats!"
Aliss Clevereyes and Nivens:
Nivens sat calmly at Aliss' side, just watching the exchange, really. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, after all. Why, he rather liked his little conch shell, the last thing he wanted was for Hatter to take notice and ruin it. The talk between the two was rather interesting, though, and watching how Hatter interacted with Thackery... Did Aliss know she sometimes gave him the same look?
Probably not.
Of course the pearl would work, it along with the other few that were nestled among the other shells had been carefully picked from a larger batch. And she was a very picky lioness when she put her mind to it.
Aliss didn't even bat an eye when Thackery scampered off to where he'd been working. Cute, but just as bad as Mr. Hatter sometimes.
"Wouldn't it stand to reason that little paws can make little hats?" she asked just moments before Thackery went on a mad spree around the den. Good lord, what had she come in on today? Nivens apparently feared for something because he suddenly wedged himself behind her forelegs, his back pressed against her belly. A sigh left her as her eyes rolled heavenward.
Reginault Hatter and Thackery:
If Aliss had been aware they had been bickering the better part of the day, she probably would have understood their banter now. Hatter sighed, flumping against the den floor until Thackery heard Aliss, and he stopped dead in his tracks. His nose twitched, and within seconds he was nodding.
"See? Seeseesee? Little paws, little hats. For little mice, and sometimes rats!" He cackled again, and Hatter just rolled his eyes. Though he knew he was not of sound mind, sometimes he felt Thackery was far worse.
He just continued frowning before letting out a sigh and shaking it off. He didn't have the most attentive attention span anyway, so it stood to reason he wouldn't carry on about something too long. "Ths entire evening has been a touch loony, for me." He said...Ironically.
Aliss Clevereyes and Nivens:
Well, rats and mice weren't exactly what she'd been thinking of whe she'd suggested little paws made little hats. She was more inclined towards, well, hares. And cubs. Cubs probably enjoyed the wrapped head-scarves Mr. Hatter made. Okay, more likely that would enjoy the hats if there were any that were made for their size. But it seemed to her that most of what he made was strictly for adults. Sort of made sense, that, as a cub would probably ruin whatever it was much faster than an adult, and they'd certainly grow out of it.
Another glance around the den at all the headdresses he'd made and yet to sell to the merchants or give to whomever might have commissioned it and Aliss' curiosity was tweaked once more.
"He could arrange hats for cubs, since by the looks of things, you don't," she suggested to Mr. Hatter, tilting her head slightly as her attention returned to him. Goodness, she'd forgotten all about his own. It was... certainly larger than the others.
