Layna was not comfortable, at all. This was not what she expected when she entered the mad tea party. Not to mention, she didn't remember any floating aspects in the actual book. She'd very much like to have gravity back, and this tea cup away from her face.
Glaring at the Hare beside her, she shifted to grab the floating cup as her other hand still held onto her seat. However, the moment she touched the cup, she felt herself fall onto her seat. The floating sensation was gone, and she barely was able to keep the tea cup in her hand, fumbling with it as half the liquid splashed out.
The March Hare laughed, "Wow! You don't even know how to hold a tea cup correctly."
Layna was starting to question if Cheshire Cat wasn't as annoying as she had previously thought, especially when comparing him to this rabbit guy.
Looking around, she found a napkin that wasn't floating about, using it to dry her hand. She didn't burn herself since this tea wasn't hot. It was actually quite cold, as if it had been out for a while now. Still, this one actually smelt like tea, albeit a bad one. Taking a sniff from the cup, Layna cringed a bit. It was definitely different from the previous tea that was thrown at her. This one smelt a bit too sweet, like the canned green tea that came from America. She set the abomination down. Not only did she not trust the tea, she also didn't trust it'd taste good. If she was going to drink tea, she'd drink freshly brewed and hot tea—the taste and warmth that has comforted her time and time again in the past.
"We were in the middle of conversation when you arrived. How good are you at answering riddles?"
It was the Mad Hatter who spoke this time. However, he didn't seem too invested, simply asking the question. Layna noted this time his odd accent, similar to Cheshire Cat's in the fact that Layna could quite place where in Britain it came from. But, unlike the Cat's, this Hatter's speech didn't focus as much on the vowels.
Curious and interesting. Still, Layna, remembering the book, replied, "Depends on if there is an answer."
She spotted a twitch of a smile on the Hatter's lips, before he took a sip from his cup. He answered back, "I suppose we all have standards regarding riddles. Perhaps you'd like a simple one that has a simple answer? Something easy."
Layna didn't enjoy the fact that it sounded like a challenge, like a tease, despite his calm demeanor. This isn't exactly what she expected from this character, "I guess I wouldn't mind it then…"
The March Hare gave a hop, "Oh! I love a good riddle."
Both Layna and the Hatter ignored him, simply focused on each other with intensity. Both sizing the other up, trying to figure out the other in some way or form.
"Daffy-down-dilly has come to town, with a green petticoat and a pretty yellow gown."
A slightly confused look came on Layna. He was right, this was an easier one in its shortness and simplicity—an old little nursery rhyme that she heard as a child. Granted, this felt a bit too easy and not quite right. She mumbled the rhyme again to herself and realized why it felt a little off.
"Ah, the answer is supposed to be a daffodil. But, isn't it supposed to be 'with a yellow petticoat and a pretty green gown?'"
The Hatter shrugged his shoulders, a bit of his drink spilling out by the movement, "Yes, I suppose you are right. Apologies, my memory does escape me sometimes." He gave a more thoughtful look, even if seeming a bit apathetic, "Though, I suppose I don't have to work as hard to chase after them compared to others."
He looked intensely at Layna, "I wonder, how hard would you have to work?"
What?
Despite asking the question, he continued on without letting Layna dwell on the thought or answer his question. The Hatter poured his cup out onto the grass, watching the liquid fall. Layna, on the other hand, was confused by the color of the liquid that now looked as clear as water and no longer had the scent of whiskey.
"I'm captain of a party small, whose number is but five; but yet do great exploits, for all, and ev'ry man alive. With Adam I was seen to live, ere he knew what was evil; but no connexion have with Eve, the serpent or the devil."
The Hatter shifted his amber eyes back onto Layna, continuing, "I on our Savior's Laws attend, and fly deceit and vice; Patriot and Protestant befriend, but Infidels despise."
He moved to stand, and Layna noticed a vintage looking cane, "Matthew and Mark both me have got; but to prevent vexation, St. Luke and John possess me not, tho' found in ev'ry nation."
Taking a few steps towards Layna, the Hatter had a bit of a limp. Still, Layna was beginning to feel intimidated by this Hatter. He barely looked older than herself, yet he carried himself in a way that hinted power and knowledge.
"So, dear, what was described?"
The March Hare was in the background, spitting out different things that it could be, but none seemed to make any logical sense. It was basically noise to Layna as she felt her hands shake ever-so-slightly, her body becoming more tensed—too focused on the movements and words of the Hatter who didn't seem to match the book's descriptive energy.
Calm down. Don't show your fear.
Layna's body responded to her inner encouragement, something she has practiced many times before. To not seem intimidated, she questioned back, "I'm not sure about that riddle. What is it supposed to be?" It indeed wasn't a riddle she's heard before, and it was much longer and complex compared to the nursery rhyme that was previously given. Layna didn't feel like she could even begin to unravel the answer herself since she was more focused on suppressing her fight-or-flight feeling.
The Hatter gave a shake of the head, as if disappointed that Layna didn't even try to answer, "Well, I know the answer. It's a riddle and solution that I remember. However, I haven't care for the original answer for a long time now. With my run-ins with time, I think there's a more fitting answer."
Layna blinked, awaiting the answer, before realizing he wasn't continuing, "Which is…?"
There was another second of silence before the Hatter lifted his cane. Layna flinched back into the chair by reflex. But, the cane never came down. Instead, the Hatter was using it to get a hold of the floating Dormouse, who seemed to have moved further away from the table.
"I think…" the Hatter began to speak again as he used his cane to move the Dormouse into the chair at the head of the table—the seat the Hatter had just been in, "…we ought to move seats now." The Hatter, himself, moved to the right seat where the March Hare had previously sat.
At the suggestion, the March Hare jumped up and down, using the top rail of the chair which caused the chair to move backwards. Layna flailed her arms, trying to keep balance. Suddenly, she felt herself and the chair she was sitting on be lifted up into the air. Before she could gather her bearings or get a steal grip on anything, Layna was dumped into the empty seat beside her by the rabbit.
Layna practically growled at being treated like a ragdoll. This situation was getting frustrating, and she didn't appreciate the negative emotions she had been going through recently. One, what was the point of tossing the Dormouse, sitting her in the neighboring seat, and then dumping her into the seat the Dormouse had been in? Two, what was the point of telling a riddle if you aren't going to give an answer? Okay, the second reason wasn't actually all bad, but Layna didn't like the vulnerability she felt in that exchange with the Hatter.
While trying to shift herself back into a sitting position, instead of sprawled over the arms of the new chair, she caught a glimpse of the March Hare tossing the her previous seat to the side. It was now a part of the floating décor of the tea party. Once finished, he grabbed the chair to his left and moved it to where the previous chair had been, sat down, and grabbed an empty cup for the Hatter to pour a drink in.
The Hatter obliged, pouring a dark liquid out of his tarnished silver tea pot, and the smell of coffee filled the air.
"Thanks, Hatter! Alice here has gotten boring. So, Dormouse, tell us a story!"