I don't really know.

He's a generally unusual fellow - if I had to guess, I'd say yes, he takes them to be direct inquiries. At the same time, though, he openly despises conventions, so he may behave inconsistently if any inquiry comes as a result of a convention rather than an honest attempt to get the truth.

I think I do alright at figuring out when a brain's been pretzel-ed. Trying to figure out the pretzels that form in my brain and the brains of those around me, though being a lot of fun, is not something I am very good at.