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It was impressive, really. How when a war goes on for long enough, it all loses meaning.
Of course, Hatter had never seen any meaning. They just told him he needed to go to war, so he did.
He fought for… The rebels?
They certainly looked much better than the king, but how sure could Hatter actually be that he signed up in the right recruitment office?
He didn’t even know what rank he was in! Because, as far as Hatter knew, you ranked up by killing the enemy. He hadn’t killed enemies, only a few other people wearing a different colour than him.
Even so, he was sure that the symbols in his uniform meant something higher than the ones simply there to die.
Maybe he was a major. Eh, whatever. Familiar enough.
He had no idea when he met him. It could be Sunday or Wednesday, January or July, tomorrow’s tomorrow or yesterday’s yesterday. Perhaps even today’s today.
But whatever day, night and evening it was, that was when Hatter met Hare.
Whichever side Hatter fought for, Hare fought for the other. That much was clear, for their uniforms were different.
One of them was hurt. Thinking about it now, Hatter couldn’t know who. Maybe none of them, maybe both.
But he knew both had their guns.
Knew neither shot.
They just stared.
And, eventually, marched away without a word or fight.
Hatter didn’t think he’d see him again. That first meeting would just be some weird, untamed memory.
But… They met again. Hatter saw him in his gunsight. Instead of shooting, he… waved. His enemy’s long, rabbit-like ears flopped up. Was that a greeting…? Just to be sure, Hatter tipped his hat. The other waved and both laughed.
Just like that, they went back to their war. Hatter only learned his name by their third meeting.
He was walking through a battlefield. Abandoned, he thought. Or at least that’s what he had been told by whoever ranked above him. He tripped. From the floor, he looked at whatever had tripped him.
A hole with a person in it. A nice hole, really. Lined with leaves. The person was asleep. Clearly using it as a bed. Hatter carefully dragged himself a little closer to see a face covered by two, long, big ears. He lifted one and saw the face underneath. His enemy!
The guy blinked awake after Hatter let his ear fall back in his face. His ears were already flaying about, trying to catch the sounds around him while his nose twitched, sniffing around. Eventually, his eyes saw Hatter.
”Enemy?”
”Oh, yes! I am here!”
He smiled and walked over to the enemy soldier. He sat right next to him.
“I am Hare.”
”Pleasure to meet you! I am Hatter! Would you like some tea?”
”Most definitely!"
Hatter took his hat off and took a look inside. Shook it. Looked again. Let out a little happy sound and reached inside his hat, pulling out two cups of tea. He gave one to Hare, whose face was much different looking closely.
From a distance, Hatter was sure Hare was just an ordinary human. Looking now, he could see the hints of whiskers and the angle of his nose that made it seem more of a hare’s nose than a human’s. Maybe that was why Hare had this name.
”Earl Gray with lemon?”
”Indeed! My favourite, Hare!”
“Great choice indeed, Hatter!”
The two clinked their mugs together, giggling. Hare took his enemy’s hat, pulling out a tray of scones for them to share.
After they were done with their tea, Hatter said he had to go and Hare twitched one ear at him. Bye. They went their separate ways. But- this time Hatter just… knew he’d see Hare again. Somewhere, somehow, somewhen.
He was right. He did see him again.
Who knows where or when, but he did.
“Hare!”
He waved, enthusiasm clear in the way every part of him seemed to gravitate towards the enemy. Hare was just as excited, their ears perking up in their enemy’s direction.
”Hatter!”
“How have you been, my good liege?”
“Very well, my good sir! Would you like some tea?”
Not even waiting for his response, Hare took Hatter’s hand and dragged him away from the battlefield, into a little dent in a destroyed building. Amongst the ruins, there was a little table with a pink towel over it. Some pastries and so many kettles. So, so many of them.
Hatter smiled and pulled a chair for Hare, despite him not being the host this time. Hare sat cheerfully and took the teacup that rested on Hatter’s hat, filling it with the tea from the yellow kettle. Hatter noticed some kind of squeal. He opened the teapot, just to make sure. There… There was a dormouse in the tea teapot. Hatter just decided to leave her there.
Hare took a sip of the tea, smiling, before giving their cup to Hatter. The other happily drank some too, passing the cup back to Hare. Their back and forth went on and on, sometimes serving each other more tea or grabbing a pastry from the table.
“Thank you very much, Hare! See you on the other side.”
”Til’ we meet again!”
They said, waving him goodbye.
Those meetings for tea and chatter… went on. The next one with anything… interesting was when the girl showed up. She had been in the war and was covered in blood when she walked up to the enemies’ tea party.
“What’s going on…? Shouldn’t you be fighting?”
She asked, looking at the two. Hatter handed his cup to Hare before saying anything.
”Oh, we are fighting! We’re just having a ceasefire!”
”Who are you fighting…?”
”Come with me, I’ll introduce you!”
”Hello!”
Squealed Hare, long ears twitching. Looking at them, Hatter came to the conclusion there was no better way than a song to explain what was happening.
“We fight for our lieges-”
Started the two of them, at the exact same time.
“Oh, after you!”
“No, after you!”
Hare bowed slightly to Hatter.
“I insist.”
Hatter nodded and started to the song, eyes still locked on his enemy. He was weirdly happy about the way they just- insisted for him to sing it. The way their ears just… turned to him, trying to catch his voice better.
“We fight for our lieges, with loyalties unmatched, that’s not changed!”
“We’re consistent, they say!”
“We shan’t be deserters, turn our backs on what we know, that’s insane!”
“It’s entirely deranged!”
The girl paused, looking between the two of them, visibly confused.
“So… which of you is fighting for King Cole?”
“Oh, it’s certainly not me!”
Said Hare, flipping their hand dismissively.
“It's not me, man’s a monster!”
Hare turned to look at him, confusion in his eyes too. Did they want him to be fighting for the King?
“I thought you were his colonel!”
“Pretty sure I’m a major…”
Were they mad? They certainly weren’t, right? Hatter didn’t know any of this stuff, he always assumed Hare knew that about him. The enemy grabbed the teacup from Hatter’s hands. And… lifted it?
“Raise your cups!”
They started, expectation clear in their voice. They wanted… They wanted Hatter to sing too! They weren't mad at him!
“Raise your cups!”
“To this sordid affair! For today we drink,”
“Tomorrow we fight!”
They didn’t even need to plan it, did they? Hatter knew what Hare wanted to say, just as much as Hare knew Hatter’s words.
“Raise your cups!”
“Raise your cups!”
“Majors Hatter-”
“And Hare!”
Sung his enemy, hands resting on Hatter’s shoulders and head peeking out from behind him. The last line, they sang together.
“As we’re on the brink, just not tonight!”
Hatter… wasn’t exactly sure what happened after that. His hands were on Hare’s and they sung and sung, letting their little song carry their moves. They didn’t even notice the girl walking on.
“Oh, she’s leaving! Funny one, isn’t she?”
Hare nodded solemnly, hands still around their enemy’s.
“Probably an enemy spy…”
“Almost definitely!”
Noticing the empty cups, Hare hopped back to the table to fill them up. They opened the teapot and looked back at Hatter, puzzled.
“Hatter?”
“Yes, Hare?”
He walked over to them, looking inside the teapot they held. A tiny dormouse waved.
“Have you noticed there’s a dormouse on the teapot?”
“I think she’s always been there.”
“Huh. Well. Guess we’ll leave her there.”
Waving at her and her tiny book, Hare closed the lid.Then looked up, back at Hatter. Their ears… drooped.
“Do you need to… go back to the war?”
“Sadly, my non-binary sir!”
Hare’s ears fully flopped down.
“‘Till we meet again.”
So… Hatter left. Went back to his useless war.
He didn’t know anything about time, but he was pretty sure it was a shorter wait to see Hare again. Maybe they were just meant to be near each other.
They met in that same building from last time. Hare was waiting for Hatter, sitting on their chair with their ears ready to pick up any sound.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
Hatter sat next to them watching the way they served the tea, their easy smile. Hatter’s face went red. He and Hare were… close, he knew that. They had tea together, they chatted, and had pastries. Just existed. Next to each other.
They were enemies still, obviously! That didn’t stop them from being happy! Hatter liked being near them, even if he didn’t understand why or what was happening in his mind.
Sighing, Hatter took a sip of his tea. It was so sickly sweet, like all of the tea Hare made. He wondered if their lips were just as sweet.
Randomly, no warning, Hare stood up just to- hug Hatter. They knocked his hat off, only to lay their head on his, ears falling into Hatter’s face.
They kissed the top of his head.
And, that day, no more happened.
The wait time was, somehow, less than the previous time. If time ever enlisted at all, that is. But it had felt shorter, and that was all that mattered. Hatter wasn’t able to wait, and just went looking for Hare. Maybe that’s why they were together so soon again.
They already had a cup of their sweet, sweet tea waiting for him.
“Thank you, my good not-sir!”
“You’re welcome, my good sir!”
Still smiling, Hare took a pastry from Hatter’s hands. He didn’t mind it. He liked watching his enemy eat. Their whiskers seemed delighted and their nose kept scrunching when they got a good smell of the pastry, all without saying anything about their two long teeth, that tended to show even when they didn’t have their mouth open.
Hatter had to say he loved Hare’s hare-like quirks.
After the pastry was gone, Hare picked up their teacup, filled it, drank it, filled it again, and gave the cup to Hatter.
He just looked at them. His Hare, his enemy, his.
He didn’t notice them leaning closer. Not until their mouth was on his.
What- what the hell…? They- they liked him?
He… had been right, about their lips. They were sweet, just like their tea. Hot- in the literal way. Did… did one of them have tea in their mouths still? That didn’t matter. Hare’s longer teeth brushed on Hatter’s lips, in a way that only made him want to kiss them more.
Neither said a thing at all, after they pulled away.
Until Hare offered Hatter a cup of tea. He accepted. And just like that, they were back to normal.
No talking or relationship- Just them. Just the two enemies who talked and drank and sometimes kissed.
Nothing special, nothing different.
Except that their meetings were more and more frequent.
Hatter would say they happened every day… if he knew what a day even was. All he knew is he met with Hare often enough, the encounters ranging from simple tea drinking to the most intimate of meetings.
At some point, Hatter knew every single part of Hare. He knew their laugh, the way they liked their tea, their ears, speech patterns, every single inch of their body, every thought that ran through their mind.
He knew his enemy just as much as Hare knew theirs, and neither needed the usual words to say what they felt.
They needed their tea and needed to be together. That was it.
“Hatter?”
“Yes, Hare?”
They didn’t answer with words, instead giving Hatter another kiss. A short one, just a peck. Enough to make Hatter laugh. Hatter wouldn’t even need the kiss for that- they were enemies, yet Hare sat on his lap. It was just a ceasefire of course, tomorrow they’d fight!
And since there were no tomorrows, they drank on.
Tomorrow didn’t arrive, as long as Hatter knew. But time did pass and other days did come.
So, eventually, they had to go back to the war, that damned war.
That’s why Hatter stood in that trench, gun in his hands.
His orders were to shoot anyone with a different coloured uniform, just as they’ve always been.
It was simple enough. Anyone without a purple uniform was shot.
Suddenly, a blur passed through his gunsight. A… green blur. Someone with a green uniform running absurdly quick was the only explanation for what that thing might be.
Green wasn’t purple. So Hatter pulled the trigger.
The person who fell had ears. Long, bunny-like ears.
No. It wasn’t possible.
But-
No.
He-
No.
He had to check. He needed to, at least, check.
Hatter dropped his gun and ran, as fast as he could, dropping beside the soldier he struck down.
The ears were slow to turn and their scrunchy nose could hardly catch Hatter’s smell.
It was Hare.
Their hands were pressed against their chest, but blood still oozed from between their fingers and mouth.
“You… you shot me.”
They muttered, voice small. Hatter didn’t know what to say.
“Do- do you want some tea?”
It just- felt right, to ask that. Just- better than talking about… about what was happening.
Hare nodded, reaching their hand forward to grab the cup of tea in Hatter’s hat.
Neither noticed the blood seeping out of Hare’s wound.
They smiled, drinking the sweet tea.
“’m sorry.”
“‘t’s okay.”
He held them. For as long as he could, he held them. Until their hands couldn’t hold the mug and it fell to the bloody ground.
It shattered on the ground, dying along with Hare.
Hatter’s face was wet. He hadn’t noticed his tears.
He…
He couldn’t think about it. He needed his tea. He needed to run back, to his and Hare’s place, to their pastries, forget Hare was- Just forget. Drink his tea and forget.The moment he saw the pink tablecloth, he let out a sigh of relief.
Because Hare wasn’t dead. They were there. Smiling, holding their tea cup up, in a toast to any of them.
Hatter’s tears doubled when he saw them.
They were okay. They were there and they were fine, just like Hatter knew they’d be!
His enemy, right there, right then.
“Hatter! Would you like tea?”
“Yes, Hare, my good not-a-sir!”
Still smiling wildly, Hare picked up the dormouse pot. They filled a cup for Hatter, and handed it to him.
Hatter picked it up, his hands closing over the cup. The cup and nothing else. For sure, nothing else. Just the cup. Something.
Because the cup was real, he could touch it, of course he could! And Hare was just as real, of course they were!
Still, Hatter… refuse take Hare’s hand. Or kiss them.
Because he couldn’t allow his mind to realize there was no one there.