A Nice Cuppa Tea; A Hint of Insanity.

Singing one of her favorite off-tune numbers, the somehow cheerful Hatter skipped into the Tavern, a huge grin on her face. One would have thought that to stretch the skin of the lips and cheeks would be to split them cleanly, but somehow, Hatter was animated enough that she didn't even feel it, and the elasticity of her skin took care of it.

She'd found a friend!

Happy, happy, Hatter was so happy!

"Tea! A nice cuppa, pleeeeeeease!"

She slid into a seat at the bar, banging a fist onto the counter.

"Just black! Nothing to it! Tea, tea, tea~! Teehee."

o-Wave walked into the tavern and saw the happiness that was this chick with a hat on. Wave sighed as he made his way to the bar and ordered himself a beer.-o

A wave from a random dude, how interesting. No one had really bothered to notice Hatter until a little while ago. Maybe things were looking up!

"HI, WAVING DUDE!"

She waved back frantically, even though he was what, seven feet away? Tops? Crazy kid, this one was.

Aghh...

o-Wave went by the girl and sat at the bar waiting for his drink.he was gonna need it.-o

Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?

"Parents? What're those?"

She seemed genuinely puzzled by that one. She hadn't a memory of what that word was supposed to mean. Just then, her tea was carefully slid in front of her by a nervous bartender. He, much like most others, thought she was rather strange.

"I'll get yours in a sec, kid."

He mumbled to Wave before hurrying off again.

Uhh no parents huh? Seems like we're in the same boat then.

o-Wave did liked his 'give no shit' attitude but birds of a feather right?-o

What your chick?

o-Wave asked the girl with out even looking at her.-o

((Ya meant 'What's your name, chick?', right? I'll just go with that.))

"I'm HATTER. Or... Sayomi... Or, Hayata... I like Hatter best though, so call me that, kaaaaay~?"

She sipped at the piping hot and bitter brew contentedly, with the whole 'pinkies up' attitude and everything. After a moment, the bartender brought Wave his beer, and Hatter set down her cup.

"Saaaaaaaay. What's your name, Waving Dude?!!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, eyes opened up behind Hatter, a smile a mile wide not too far behind.

"... I'm hungry..."

Arms started to appear round Hatter's neck as finally, sloooowly, the rest of Friday's body started to faze into reality.

"... I haven't eaten in quite a while, food bank..."

She ignored the other people in the bar and started her... business.

Wave, Sky Pirate Wave

o-Wave introduced himself as the bartender handed him is drink. Wave pointed to the girl that appeared as he took a sip of his beer.:>

You've got something on you back...

"Wave... Is that why you waved? OOH. PIRATES. Aren't they supposed to be, like, scary? And, haha, druuunk. That's why you ordered a beer!!"

As usual, Hatter's mind wasn't without her illusions. The fuzzy bat-things gathered in the corners, and fell in almost ribbons from the center of the ceiling. Gnomes with funky coloureed hair appeared behind the bottles of alcohol stacked on the shelf. These were all happy illusions, of course. No doubt, Friday would already be devouring them.

"Hi, Friend!!"

Hatter yelled, just a bit too loudly for the small space. She winced a little then.

"Haha, sorry I'm all loud."

Friday winced at the screaming of Hatter, releasing a sort of relaxant into her mind via magic, trying to... Calm her.

"... You're rather noisy... But what does it matter when you give me my nourishment...? Eternal nourishment.."

Friday licked her lips and waved her hands around, starting to collect up the illusions that were being produced. She consumed them all, instantly transforming them into nourishment for her Baku body, since Baku needed such things to survive... even though they can't die.

"... Mmm... Delicious, as usual."

Friday still payed no mind to Wave, as she was only concerned with her fodder, lest she become hostile, like she normally is. She had already decided that she'd be around Hatter anytime she got hungry... So there would be a lot of times where Friday was around Hatter.

o-Wave bottle broke under the loudness that was Hatter and due to seeing all the illusions see was making Wave thought it best to stay away from the beer while he was around this chick.-o

Soo you too know one another?

((Only Hatter and Friday can see them. Hatter's just a little insane. xDD))

"Yeah! She's my bestest friend! She's all nice and she eats all of the scary things! Lets Hatter rest for a little."

The room was shifting through it's colours, blinking eyes peering from the corners of the room between the continuing to fall fuzzy-bats. The slinking cat-like things were there too, but they were playfully swatting at the fuzzy bats instead of attacking them hungrily like they normally did. Hatter was still happy, oh so happy. So, her illusions reflected that.

Friday glanced at Wave, not being concerned with him still, only looking at him because he mentioned his name.

"... She feeds me... We met out in the Darkness Lands when I was starving..."

Friday slipped back out of this world, eating her... happy little lunch without anyone else in the tavern noticing. Though good illusions were never as... tasty or filling as the bad ones.

Wow ok...

o-Wave was starting to get get very annoyed and was close to not being able to take anymore.-o

Hatter got a little sad at that. He thought she was weird, too! Soon, growling wolf-things that only the two girls could see started circling Wave as Hatter's eye visibly twitched. What a meanie. And she thought he'd been nice!

"You think... Hatter's weird, don't you..."

Her voice was soft, almost a sad whisper.

Friday's eyes gleamed, for now her illusions had become more violent and vicious. Those were the tasty ones.

"Oh, yeah... This is what I'm talking about..."

She started offing the illusions now, consuming them and loving how these tasted...

"Oooh... more..."

Luckily, she could make herself unable to be seen by the populous so that she could roughhouse in here without any bad repercussions and such. She was having the time of her life and was nowhere near full. She hadn't eaten in a long time. Finally, she whispered in the ear of Wave, even though she was nowhere near him, he'd hear it as if she were.

"... I've decided to be this girl's shadow... Her 'friend,' as she says... I stay by her side a majority of times so long as I'm fed... and protect her as best I can in the process. Mutual understanding, you could say..."

I see

o-Wave whispered back at the voice he saw the Hatter girl was sad and that t was his fault. If it was anything Wave hatted more in the world it was a sad female.-o

Noo no I don't you weird.....Hatter.

"You don't? Oh. Weird. You acted like it... Or maybe you're just making fun of Hatter, now! They've done that too, tried to act all sorry, and really were laughing at Hatter behind her back!!!"

Friday's previous little sedative was wearing off, supposedly. Little sparks flew in the poor little Hatter's vision, the fluffy bats that fell in steady streams morphing into fanged creatures with hideous talons. The playful cats and gnomes that kept appearing at random intervals warped, twisting into humped-back monsters, drool and blood dripping from their maws. Okay, so maybe Hatter was getting a little upset over nothing here, but she truly felt as though she were being attacked.

Though Friday was thoroughly enjoying her fill of food and how delicious these violent and malevolent creatures were... She wasn't exactly fond of Hatter being displeased, for some reason. Perhaps Friday had grown a bit accustomed to her joy that fast? Though, Friday didn't like joy and such all too much... She whispered back in Wave's ear.

"... Fix this situation... Make her happy again."

Friday fazed out for the time being, reappearing behind Hatter, arms wrapped around her, just like before.

Umm ya ok ahh.

o-Wave was just confused about all this but if was gonna keep the girl happy he'd entertain her.-o

So I like that hat of yours. Were did you get it?

Instantly sobering, the monstrous creatures seemed to hesitate as Hatter regarded Wave warily, her tea all but forgotten for now.

"I made it. In the little shack Hatter found. Needles and thread and buttons and feathers were all over. Hatter had to look around town lots for material, but finally found some lying around, so as not to steal."

The illusions paused, halfway transforming back to happy things.

"Do you really like it?"

Friday could see the illusions changing back to normal now and was a little bit pleased... yet at the same time was unhappy.

"... Tch. I'll just stick with the appetizers, then.."

She was a bit more hesitant to consume them, but still did it anyway. Then again, she shouldn't really be that choosy about her foods, right? That is, since all her other efforts trying to get Nathan's, Orca's, Ken's and Sheng's dreams and nightmares was always so much harder than it had to be... Those four were on her list.

Finally, she whispered back at Wave without Hatter hearing, ".. Good. Keep it up and you won't see me in your nightmares..."

It sounded a bit like a threat, but knowing Friday, it was actually the truth. She always appeared randomly to eat peoples dreams and nightmares, then disappeared to god knows where for god knows how long. Hatter was her only DEFINITE source of food... Le sigh.