Wonderland

"So, Ryan." Gabe's voice pierced my mind. I'd been focusing on the same subtle stain on the wall since Gerard and Frank left the room, hoping no one would interrupt my concentration. Apparently that was a little too much to ask for.

I refused to move my eyes from the wall, but answered the disembodied voice warily, "Yes Gabe?" The falter in my speech was obvious, but I'm sure he'd either not notice, or overanalyze is so much I didn't recognize what he was talking about.

"Sooooo..." a purple cat tail made it's way quickly across my vision.

"Gabe, if you're going to talk to me, then talk." I really wasn't in the mood for him, there was too much confusion running through my mind... at least I thought that's what it was...

"Oh, harsh, Ryro. Real world got you down, huh?" the real world? I've honestly got no idea where he's going with this... "Don't worry about it, Ryan." about what? "Everyone goes through something like this." like what?

"Oh, and Ryro? I can't read your mind." well, that's a relief. "If you want to know what I'm talking about, just ask!" I think he was being a little bit self-contradictory there. How did he know I was confused if he couldn't read my mind?

"Your face says it all, love."

"Ok, Gabe. Since you apparently know everything, what the hell are you going on about?" I asked him, hoping to god that just once he would give me a straight answer.

"Well, Ryan, I said if you wanted to know what I was talking about, then you should just ask." I don't think that answered my question at all...

"Yeah, you did." I guess I was being kind of bitchy because SOMETHING had gotten me down, but it definitely wasn't the real world. I was still in Wonderland, it's not like I could leave.

"Well I never said I would answer you!" He burst into laughter as soon as he was done talking, coming into my view finally. His purple, fuzzy head was sticking out of the ceiling directly above me.

The grin on his face was even larger than usual, full of secrets, madness, and insanity. And yes, I know that madness and insanity mean the same thing, but there's just too much crazy in him to describe it in one word.

"Well then why the fuck did you tell me I could ask?" I don't think I'd ever been this annoyed with him, and that's saying a lot. He can't get within a 20 foot radius of me without turning my brain into fondue.

"Why not? It's not like I lied to you or anything, Ryro!" he pulled himself from the ceiling, his paws making motions as if he were swimming. He made a few circles around my head, and my eyes followed him, making myself dizzy.

His carefree giggling felt as if it were penetrating my brain, digging holes and making my already fairly apparent headache even worse. It soon turned into full out laughter, and he started rolling around in the air rather than swimming.

"HAHA! Poor Ryan, doesn't know what to do with himself!" He stopped rolling above me, then gracefully floated down to lie on the bed next to me, rubbing his belly in a way that I didn't know cats could move, and letting his grin turn content rather than mad.

"What do you mean I don't know what to do with myself?" Not that I really expected an answer from Gabe, asking him questions was practically a formality at this point.

"I don't know, why aren't you rubbing my soft belly?" I looked at him with a skeptical look on my face, hopefully getting the point across that, while I loved cats, knowing that he was also a human made it a bit creepy for me to do that. "Hm, suit yourself! It's quite enjoyable... for me, at least."

I rolled my eyes at his typical behavior, and instead imagined his answer to my question in my head. But, of course, that only lead to more confusion, and I turned my brain off, thinking about nothing.

"That's dangerous, you know." Gabe looked at me seriously. Or, as seriously as a purple cat could look at someone. "Leaving your mind blank." I think he was a mind reader, to be honest. "It let's the monsters in."

With that final statement, I suppose he figured he'd confused me enough for now, and he jumped over me and onto the floor, then proceeded out the door. "Ugh, fuck." I mumbled, reaching up to rub my face, wishing that it was as easy as that to get rid of the weight my brain currently felt.

What did he mean it 'keeps the monsters out'? What monsters? I contemplated letting my mind go blank again to keep away the throbbing of my head, but figured that I should listen to Gabe. Maybe he didn't make sense pretty much all the time, but I guess he still had some sensible things to say.

He knew Wonderland better than me, and I suppose he's been helpful to me physically, if not mentally. "So, happy thoughts, I suppose." I whispered to myself. "Happy thoughts."