Be My Alice

Leonardo and the Hatter

Voices.

So many voices.

This is your fault!

Close the portal, Casey!

I will make you suffer!

LEO!!!!

I gasped heavily with widened eyes. My vision blurred until my focus became clear. I was lying on a comfortable bed underneath a window with sunlight streaming through it. I pushed myself up. My joints were groaning. I looked around the room. It was a small room cluttered with junk, at least someone had the decency to tidy up a bit.

How did I get here?

Where was I?

I planted my feet and stood up. My limbs felt jelly, but I maintained my stance. I noticed my bandana, straps, and swords were on the nearby chair. I strapped myself up. I exit the room. I was met with a country hometown feel. The house looked like it was mostly made of wood. I heard some clicks down the hall. I followed it. A door was cracked. I peered inside. There was a teenage boy with smooth medium-length blonde hair. He was over a sewing machine stitching fabric together. I just watched him work. Throughout the process, I watched him craft a hat. I never thought watching fabrics fly was fascinating.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked after putting in the last touches on the newly crafted hat. It took me a moment to realize he was speaking to me until his green eyes were looking my way. I entered his fabric room shifting uncomfortably. He kept staring at my figure. His stare wasn't fear or disgust. It's like he was curious. "How are you feeling?"

I blinked. He had a strong British accent. Oh right. We're having a casual conversation. "Uh... yeah, I'm good. I had a nice sleep. Slept like a log!"

He stood and stretched. "Do you realize you were unconscious for a week?" my throat grew tight. A week? I need to get home! My family will be worried sick! "I took care of you. Tending to your injuries and feeding you Bone Marrow's Stew."

"What's Bone Marrow's Stew?"

"It's an accelerated medicinal soup used for healing broken bones. It wasn't easy feeding you, but I made it work." my mind flashed to a dark figure leaning over me planting a kiss and forcing me to drink.

I backed away. "You forced me to drink it, didn't you?!"

My host tilted his head. "Forced you? For your information, I had to tilt your head back and pour the warm soup through your mouth. Count yourself lucky, I am a patient Hatter. If it were my uncle, Bartholomew Hatter, he would throw a chair watching the second's tick." I hope he was kidding. The blonde continued to stare. "This is the part where you apologize for your accusation."

It took me a minute to realize that I accused him of force-feeding me. Wow, I felt bad. "Sorry", I apologized as I nervously rubbed my neck, "You took care of me for an entire week. It's not cool for me to lash out at you."

He nodded. "Bridge above water." I was certain that's not how the saying goes. "Let's start over. My name is Samuel; friends and family call me Sam. And you are...?" he held his hand out.

I accepted his handshake. "Leonardo. You can call me Leo, Leon, Primetime, Neon Leon -"

"I think I will stick with Leon."

"Right." I looked at our hands. Sam followed my gaze. Our hands didn't let go. We immediately departed. Awkward. I noticed how he inspected his hand. Once again, his stare was of curiosity. What's with this guy? I coughed a bit too loud. "So! Can you tell me where we're at? I really need to get to New York A.S.A.P."

"New York? Is that where you hail?"

"Yep! Hopefully I'm not too far from home. Gotta get back and take off this awesomely, convincing turtle costume!" I had to set the record for Goldilocks here that he wasn't talking to a mutant turtle.