Twenty One Truffula Trees

[whichwayyoulean]

[The Once-ler had woken up, loss free, and decided to focus on making his tower home as inhospitable as possible again before dealing with the rest of the disaster that had been the last two weeks. Take it slow. Baby steps.

Unfortunately, after he re-boarded up his windows and re-set all his traps, there's little left to do other than face the music. And so, he moves to sit on the floor for a while, watching an 'unless' scrawl itself beside his foot.

Deep breath. In. Out.

There's the pile of Truffula tufts, for a start, sitting in the corner of the room, looking deceptively unobtrusive. He doesn't even know what he's going to do with them. The horrible concept that they probably came from the Valley as he wished them up had dawned on him earlier and has stayed lodged in his mind. He'd just taken from the Valley that little bit more faster. As if he hadn't done the place damage enough already. Great.

And then there are the Thneeds now circulating the castle. He honestly wants nothing to do with them. But people still have them. Little wearable symbols of everything he's done wrong in the world. To the world. He pulls his own Thneed a little closer around him. Deep breath. In. Out. And then, finally, he pulls down his journal to speak]

If you can all forget what happened while I was on my loss, that'd be great. Okay? Okay.

[He closes the journal and leans back on the wall, closing his eyes. Maybe he'll respond to the book again. Eventually]

Comments

[audio]

[nukeoleptic]

-- wait, when were you on a loss?

forever!

[whichwayyoulean]

[It takes him a moment to place her voice]

...Bass girl.

I was on a loss then. That... It wasn't me. [Not anymore]

Once-ler

[cyan_maid]

[Welp. At least he's back to normal.]

I thought it was a loss.

...I'm assuming you don't want to talk about it.

Jane

[whichwayyoulean]

A really pointless and stupid loss.

And you win the prize for assuming things right. Yay you.

[not_mafia]

[Oh. Sounds like the loss is over.

...

Even though the guy teases him on a regular basis and sometimes really, really weirds him out, he still can't help but feel some concern.]

Once-ler?

[whichwayyoulean]

[The Once-ler doesn't reply for a while]

That's me.

[ino]

[aha, finally! but ... yeah, he's sounding pretty depressed, so.

after a few minutes there'll be a knock on his window. look at her, being considerate!]

[whichwayyoulean]

[Nope, he's not answering. He's not home.

...Okay he's totally home]

Once-ler

[wilder]

[He knows that tone and freezes. He knows that this means the loss is over. More importantly, he knows how badly he screwed everything up. That he ever let the joke happened, that everything went wrong. That he should rightfully kiss goodbye any trust this guy had in him]

[He wants to avoid him- old habits sure die hard. But at least]

Sorry.

Zelos

[whichwayyoulean]

[Oh he was angry, because anger is always an easy emotion to jump to. But he managed to peter most of it out while he was re-boarding up his windows. He's still annoyed, certainly, and it's there in his tone. But most of the venom has gone out of it.

Still, there remains something he has to ask]

Was it worth it?

[heal_theworld]

[Martel had sort of been waiting for this to happen. And she knows that he'll probably go hide in his tower. And she wasn't about to let him hide up there alone. He had been there for her when she had been upset, so she would be there for him. It's what family did.

A few minutes after that little announcement, Once should be hearing his traps go off in the hallway, and after she avoids the boot, a gentle knock.] Once-Ler?

[whichwayyoulean]

[He glances over at the door with a touch of annoyance]

You know, those things are there for a reason.

[Go away. Except don't.

No. Definitely go away.

Maybe]

Written

[kungfuwitch]

[Unlike others Phoebe won't be knocking on Once's door. He's had enough lately without her forcing her way through his comfort zone. But that doesn't mean she's not going to reach out.]

I kept an eye out for Ted while you weren't yourself.

Consider this an open invitation for tea whenever you're ready.

Phoebe

[whichwayyoulean]

[There's a soft exhale on Once-ler's end. It means a lot, possibly more than she realises. Ted means the world to him. More, even. After all Ted is the only being in his world who ever gave a damn about him. The only one who can fix what he did. Give him something like redemption]

Thank you. [And it's a truly sincere thank you, too] Is he ok?

[Ah, The invitation] ...Yeah. Thanks.

Action because reasons

[wizard_redfive]

So you're finally back to your usual self.

[Dairine's response comes immediately from the direction of his journal. But wait, isn't the journal closed? So why can her voice still be heard?

That's because Dairine is standing in the middle of his room, watching Once-ler carefully.]

yes good

[whichwayyoulean]

[He startles for a moment, because hey GIRL APPEARING IN HIS ROOM. The others are least usually have to use the door or a window. Still, after the initial shock, he goes back to his moping]

It's rude not to knock.

[courageous_wit]

Do you remember what I said earlier?

[whichwayyoulean]

Most of it was lost in a sea of my own idiocy.

[whistles_the_blues]

How about we just don't talk about one day of it?

[whichwayyoulean]

[And the Once-ler's defences are certainly up. Those protective walls that only so very few people are allowed beyond]

How about never.

[tapshoetomove]

That was a loss? But you seemed so happy.

[whichwayyoulean]

I was stupid, I didn't know better. There's a difference.

[Wow, he really needs to learn not to snap at kids. Deep breath]

I'm not like that any more.

[Dictated]

[3nterprising]

So... you peddling that fuzzy thing. That was a loss?

forever!

[whichwayyoulean]

Oh...you.

Yeah. It was my past.

[rose_of_battle]

[Sheena's not sure if she should respond, since there's more that happened to him than just his loss over the course of the past several days.

Will she welcomed to talk to him? Or will he shut her out?

She had thought she had prepared for the consequences, but she had thought wrong.

She's not prepared at all.]

[whichwayyoulean]

[He, of course, remains silent. Of course, she's something he knows he'll have to deal with, and likely soon.

But the desire to shut out the world is far stronger, right now]

[bronwe]

[ He sounds sad, but Frodo isn't sure what else to say... ]

I have ceased my rhyming.

[whichwayyoulean]

Oh, good. That's three out of the four of us back to normal then.

Once-ler forever

[fanstheflame]

[he knows Ino's gone to bother him, and he could probably be helpful and yell "INCOMING" or something, but that wouldn't be likely to go over well with either of them, so]

You still owe me a card game.

[there, not mentioning. tah daaaaah, best ohana?]

Gale forever

[whichwayyoulean]

[He expected her to break in himself, anyway. By now he'd pretty much begun to always prepare for an Ino Invasion.

He glances at the journal, taking his time to comment. Because hey, thanks, Gale. The not mentioning is a good thing, and what he needs. Still, his response is as wry as ever]

I didn't kick your butt enough last time?

breaking hiatus for you

[polar]

[Korra's perched on his window sill, waiting a moment for him to stop dictating. Once she doesn't hear him speaking anymore, she kicks the boards in with a CRACK and hops on inside.]

Hey.

I feel special

[whichwayyoulean]

[He glances up at the board smashing, then frowns a little]

And there you go, trashing my place again.