(Untitled)

[catlikesmile]

WHO: Neil (CATERPILLAR) and Gabe (CHESHIRE CAT)
WHEN: Tuesday
WHERE: England. On the grounds of the B&B they're staying in, to be precise.
WHAT: Chit-chat.
RATING: PG-13 for an occasional swear or drug reference.

Comments

[off_the_hookah]

Settling his tush down on the spot that Gabe had patted, Neil shifted his weight to become more comfortable, letting his legs dangle while one hand braced himself upon the branch. "I love what you've done to the place," he quipped, looking around as if he were inspecting somebody's flat, speaking with an exaggerated, gay lisp. "And the location is brilliant!"

From the pocket of his jeans, Neil managed to rummage out first a joint, which he held out for Gabe before getting his lighter. "It was a trip, alright," Neil said, then pretended to be dumb. "Oh! You mean this trip here. To England. Yeah. So far, it's been great. I'm glad you and the others decided to join me... it wouldn't have been quite the same without you. Now your turn... how are you liking it?"

The question was a bit of a loaded one, since Neil suspected something more than what meets the eye was going on - why else would Gabe disappear from their company to hang out alone in a tree? "Obviously, you're getting in touch with your Tale. Did you have a realization yesterday, on the river?"

[catlikesmile]

Grinning a little bit, Gabe winked to Neil. "Oh, I'm so glad you like it. I just reupholstered this branch." He laughed a bit, and then reached out to take the joint, his eyebrows raising in pleased surprise. "Neil, you shouldn't have. Thanks." He took his lighter, and lit the joint.

"Oh, Neil, you crazy caterpillar," he said, shaking his head a bit and took several quick hits before offering it to Neil. Sharing, after all, was caring. "I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself, and I'm glad we came too. Oh, it's okay."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I kind of am hanging out with the Cheshire Cat more. Not so much on the river, no. I'm just," he shrugged again, leaning back a little bit. The thought of falling if he wasn't careful was never even a concern, as far as Gabe was concerned. Oh, sure, it'd happened once or twice, but that didn't stop his confidence. "I don't know."

[off_the_hookah]

Accepting the joint back from Gabe, Neil listened as he too, took a hit, holding the precious smoke in his lungs for a good, long time before slowly releasing it into a cluster of low hanging leaves above him.

"I think you do know," Neil replied, wisely, nodding his head. "You can tell me. What's on your mind?"

Having said that, he put the joint back into his mouth for another toke before passing it back to Gabe.

[catlikesmile]

Neil knew Gabe too well, was the problem. Anyone else, he could've changed the subject, made a joke, maybe done something funny, and no one would've been the wiser. But Neil knew Gabe's shenanigans. He frowned a little bit, and took the joint back.

"Ryoko," he said, after a second, bracing himself for the reaction. No matter who he told, it was always the same: 'again?!' People didn't really get it. Hell, Gabe didn't really get it.

[off_the_hookah]

While it was difficult, Neil found be was able to restrain himself from immediately responding exactly in the way that Gabe anticipated, but Neil did think it: Again?! This was pretty serious business as far as he was concerned.

"What about her?" He couldn't help but let a bit of resentment creep into his voice.

[catlikesmile]

Gabe sighed a bit, hitting the joint a couple of times before offering it back to Neil. At least he was high for this, that was good. It was the kind of conversation that just wasn't fun sober. "I don't know. I went to her house. The night of the Byrons' party."

He pursed his lips a little, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why I do these things. Neil, do you have any idea? Besides, like..." he kicked his legs a little bit. "The obvious masochistic thing I'm obviously experiencing. I asked her to get back together. Sort of. Whatever thing we had before."

[off_the_hookah]

The Red Queen was an inseparable part of their Tale, Neil knew that, and that he should embrace her as their own just as much as he did any other Wonderlander. But Ryoko... she was such a bitch, it wasn't easy for Neil to accept her, even though he knew she was just behaving in the same manner she had in their Tale, as the Queen. Wonderlanders like Kilroy and May practically bowed at her command, and Gabe was her lover, but as much as he wanted to in theory, practically speaking he wanted Ryoko to go back to Japan and never bother their Wonderland family again.

All this clearly showed on Neil's face when Gabe told him the news, and once he'd heard it, he turned his head away to think, staring into the shadows of the trees. In the end, it was Gabe's life to do with as he pleased, and he didn't want to judge him or put him down for his decision, no matter how stupid he thought it was. How did the saying go? 'He who is without sin, cast the first stone'? Neil had made some willful decisions himself regarding his love life, which he knew were poor ones, and therefore he felt as though he had no right to belabor the point.

"Sometimes..." Neil began slowly, thoughtfully, "it's easier to return to a relationship that's been well established and 'comfortable', rather than be alone or go through the work of finding somebody new." It seemed as though he spoke from deep, personal experience. "What did you have before? Casual sex, but dating, too? I imagine she's incredibly high maintenance."

[catlikesmile]

Gabe felt ashamed, when he saw the look on Neil's face. It wasn't a good emotion on Gabe at all, shame, and he ducked his head a little bit, looking down at his feet and kicking them in the air a little bit, idly. He listened to Neil quietly, nodding a little bit and swallowing hard.

"Yeah, I think," he started, but stopped. He didn't want to say that he thought maybe Neil had a point with that, that it was easier to ask Ryoko to take him back than to do the single-dating-looking thing again. "We had an affair a while ago, and then she left and didn't talk to me for a year, and then she came back and we had an affair again, and then she stole my goose so I stopped talking to her, and now I guess we're having an affair again, except for she says I can't have sex with her." He paused for a second. "Or anyone else."

Which actually sucked. But Gabe wouldn't have been having sex anyway, so he figured it didn't matter too much. "She's a little demanding," he admitted.

[off_the_hookah]

"WHAT?!??!"

Neil couldn't believe his ears nor hold back his reaction to when Gabe told Ryoko about her 'sex clause'. "Then what the hell do you get out of it? The pleasure of being yelled at and insulted and kicked like a dog? Of pandering to her inflated ego? You can do better, Gabe. MUCH better!"

There. He'd said it. There was no taking it back, and Neil didn't want to. He was so disgusted he couldn't even look at Gabe. All he could do is scowl and keep an expression that suggested he might want to spit at any moment.

[catlikesmile]

Gabe tried, again, to swallow the lump in his throat. It was a persistent thing, though, and he looked away as well, leaning back a bit on a different branch. He stared down at the ground underneath them. He took a deep breath before he said anything, part to keep his temper from getting the better of him and part because it felt like a lot of the air had been sucked out of the sky.

"No," his voice was quiet. "No, I can't. No matter who I find, it's all wrong. Harrison wasn't ready for a relationship, Ryoko's borderline abusive, and I haven't even had anyone else in a while. All I want is somebody without everyone telling me that it's wrong." His voice started to rise, gaining in volume. He gave the tree a futile punch. It didn't do much good but make his knuckles hurt.