"No, noooo, nooo…" Hatter insisted as he led him into the house, though he did not seem to understand his aversion to being affectionately man-handled. "You've got the tongue-twisties! We've got to act fast, or who knows! You might have 'em forever!"

"Near an ear! A nearer ear! A nearly eerie ear…!" Hare trailed as he glanced around the living room in awe.

"Yes, I know, it's awfully scary, but the Queen showed us what to do, remember? I'll give you a good spin. I just need to know which direction you were spinning during the twister-!" Hatter let go of him for just a moment before he realized Hare was going to wander off, so he grabbed his hand and tugged him back to his side. Hare blushed.

"A good spin, he insists, insists I was spinning during a twister, a fine mister…"

"You're acting very bizarre, you know that?" Hatter told him with his brow cocked.

"Now, which way were you spinning?!" Hare scrunched up his face. "You don't have to speak: just point!"

All this thinking… it seemed to trouble him considerably, until he was clutching the back of his head and wincing. Hatter was now twice as concerned. "Okay look, I'm just going to spin you and see if it works. If not, then I'll… spin you the other way." He grabbed Hare by the shoulders again and brought him in close. He seemed to be standing stiff as a board as Hatter did so. "If you get dizzy, just let me know," he said into his ear.

Hatter tried his best to turn him around and around and around. Ten seconds should do it, he thought. But Hare still had that dumb look on his face. "Better?"

"Betty Botter?"

"No no no, not with the Betty Botter's butter again-," Hatter tried to shut it down.

So he turned him the other way. By now, Hare was so disoriented, he almost tripped and fell over. Hatter had to catch him, which just made his cheeks turn red again.

"Oh my gosh!" He finally said, with his hands against Hatter's chest. "I'm so sorry." Hatter frowned.

"Don't be sorry. I'm the one who's been spinning you."

"Woah!" Hare suddenly realized: "You can understand me now! I thought maybe you and I spoke different languages. Talk about scary. I-I-I can't imagine what I would have done if I was lost and without a tongue! ...You can let go of me now. I-If you want."

Hatter let go of him for maybe a total of five seconds before he saw him clutching the back of his head again. "Hey, are you okay? You seem a little confused." Again, he was all up in his business.

"Yeah, it's just my head. It's been hurting ever since I can remember."

"Ever since you can remember?! You'd think that'd come up at some point!" Hatter seemed somewhat outraged as he brushed his partner's head with his fingers.

"Well I was-..." As Hare tried to speak, he smiled to himself and repeatedly batted away all of Hatter's concerned caressing. "I was trying to tell you, but it just came out as 'shoeshine shop'."

After one long, deep frown, Hatter was off to gather all the pillows and blankets in the vicinity and surround Hare with them, then urge him to sit back on the sofa, and not get up, just stay put, relax, have no worries, tea was on the way- "No, this is not my house?!" Hatter suddenly had to utter from the kitchen.

He found the bunny surrounded by pillows, just as he had left him, but he was not breaking into a fit of laughter as Hatter would expect of him after asking such a blatantly trollish question. "Hare?"

Hare smiled back at him. "You know, it's funny, because you know my name, but I don't know yours," he told Hatter, with eyelids drooping. "This must be a bed & breakfast…"

"You know my name…!" Hatter said under his breath with his shoulders slumped. "Hare, old buddy…" He dropped to his knees beside the sofa, startling him again. "It's Hatter!"

"Hatter?" It was painfully sweet, the way it fell from Hare's mouth, whether he was aware or not.

"Yes!"

"I… didn't mean to forget."

"Okay well, just don't forget again- hey wait. What else did you forget? Have you forgotten?!"

"I don't know," Hare answered, in all sincerity.

"Well you didn't forget that we were friends, did you? And that this is your house, in Wonderland, where we live with all our other friends?!"

"We all live in this house?! But it's so small!"

"NO NO NO, you live here. I live in the Hat House." An unsuppressable giggle escaped from Hare's mouth. "What?!"

"Your name is Hatter, you wear a hat, and you live in a hat house?" Hatter darted his eyes around.

"Yes. I'm very consistent like that." He failed to find the humor in it himself, but was easily wrapped up in Hare's soft smiles and-oh. "You know, there's something else about me," Hatter mentioned to him.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm. So yeah, when I said we were friends… uhm…" Now Hatter was blushing, and Hare's heart was already thumping. "Well, I-I meant that we were really good friends, like best of friends, like friendly friends. I-I'm not sure if I should be… winking…" Hatter squinted, instead, hoping he wasn't making things awkward. By the looks of it, it was just making Hare have to think too hard, because he pinched the bridge of his nose in pain and laughed nervously. "Nevermind."