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?

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.

[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?

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]

Jane

[whichwayyoulean]

A really pointless and stupid loss.

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

[whichwayyoulean]

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

That's me.

[nukeoleptic]

Yes. Bass girl.

[ She seems vaguely amused. ]

How are you different?

[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]

I've got about five more years of life under my belt for a start.

Once-ler to end

[cyan_maid]

They're all kind of pointless and stupid.

Would you like me to send anything up to you? I could make you something.

[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.

[whichwayyoulean]

...Yeah. I guess they are.

[He lapses into silence for a moment] No. I don't need anything.

[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?

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?

[ino]

[welp, that sounds like an invitation to come in to her! she hops in and closes the window behind her, taking a few steps into the room and looking around for him]

[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]

Once-ler

[wilder]

...[a sigh] Not really.

[nukeoleptic]

Does that mean we're not gonna jam together?

[whichwayyoulean]

[He's sitting on the floor, his long legs pulled up so he can rest his chin on his knees, watching the unless-es scrawl their way along the surface of the floor. He doesn't even look up at her entrance. He knows it's her. No one else opts to come in through his window]

You really suck at not knowing when people want to be left alone.

[ino]

And you suck at pretending you like to be alone.

[she sits on the floor with him. close enough to keep him company, but not too close]

Zelos

[whichwayyoulean]

[He really wants to hate Zelos for this. Really, REALLY wants to. But he knows Zelos was just being...well, Zelos. He couldn't have predicted this would happen. He would like to believe if he could, he wouldn't have gone through with it.

No. He can't hate the guy. Not when his hatred is always so good at turning inward anyway]

Well, next time leave me out of your drunken schemes, okay?

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.

[whichwayyoulean]

[Awww, kid. It goes to show how much he's grown here, that he doesn't shove her away immediately]

Not for a while. There's some post-loss fallout I need to deal with.

[Such as delicious waves of self loathing coming back to say hi]

[nukeoleptic]

[ It's not her business. It's really not any of her business.

Bluh. ]

Well.. don't keep me hanging too long, okay? I was really looking forward to that.