O'Hare could barely see in front of him.
He had a handful of papers stacked up in his arms, and he tried to keep them from tipping over, as he made his way down the long hallway of the Thneed factory. He barely noticed as The Onceler showed up around the corner, until the older man pushed past him. The papers spilled from O'Hare's grasp, making him let out a horrified cry. He bent down to quickly gather them back up, when a putrid smell entered his nose. He froze and looked back up to see The Onceler nearing his office. O'Hare squinted, and thought he noticed The Onceler's shoulders trembling.
When The Onceler closed the office door behind him, O'Hare was about to go back to gathering together his papers, when he heard a booming voice come from inside the room.
"I WANT AN ANIMAL EXTERMINATOR IMMEDIATELY!"
O'Hare scrambled up with some of the papers in his hands.
"YES THERE IS A FUCKING PROBLEM! I JUST GOT SPRAYED BY A STUPID SKUNK! HOW THE FUCK CAN I GO TO THAT MEETING NOW?!"
Silence, though O'Hare could picture The Onceler pacing back and forth near the phone.
O'Hare pressed the papers closer against his chest, and made his way carefully towards the door of The Onceler's office. When he was in front of it, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before touching the doorknob, and pulling the door back just a crack. The small man peeked inside to see The Onceler; like he predicted; pacing back and forth near the phone. Even from where he was, O'Hare could smell The Onceler strongly. The acid in his stomach churned, making O'Hare look away and gag.
"You."
O'Hare whipped his head back to see The Onceler looking over at him, his expression dark.
"What are you doing here?"
O'Hare straightened up and opened the door wider in order to slip inside the room.
"I-I-I just heard some noises here, so I was just wondering if everything was alright."
O'Hare could feel The Onceler's judging gaze fall and rise on his body. The sigh was a surprise.
"Hey kid…" The Onceler spoke as he hung up the phone, and walked closer to O'Hare. O'Hare took a step back: both from nervousness, and for the fact that the smell was getting stronger. And O'Hare was never good at keeping down anything.
"Do you know how to deal with this?" The Onceler didn't seem to notice his discomfort, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"P-P-Pardon?"
"They use like, tomato sauce or some shit, am I right?" The Onceler seemed to ramble on, and checked his pocket watch in between. "Fucking time…Do you think you could help me with it, and stuff…?"
O'Hare blinked, and opened his mouth, but shut it soon after. He did this several times before a weak "okay" came out from his mouth.
"Great. I'll show you where the bathroom is." The Onceler said soon after, and ushered for O'Hare to follow after him.
O'Hare looked around frantically for a place to put the papers, and then rested them on the desk nearby. He ran after The Onceler on his stubby little legs, his littler heart threatening to burst from his chest.
When they arrived in the bathroom, O'Hare took a moment to stare at the marble while room with a hanging mouth. The walls and floor were a blinding white, and on the far side was the biggest bathtub he ever saw.
"Hurry up, we don't have all day."
O'Hare looked over, and almost had a mini heart attack.
The Onceler stood a few feet away from him, already stark naked, with his hands on his hips.
O'Hare immediately covered his beet red face, not believing at the sight he was seeing right now. It's like he went to heaven and the gods are rewarding him.
The Onceler seemed to still be oblivious of how flushed the other was, and picked up a tomato sauce can from nearby. It was on top of a pile of a dozen others.
"I already told some of my men about this, so we have plenty to spare." The Onceler said, and peeled the unscrewed lid from the can. He proceeded to dump the whole can of tomato sauce into the bathtub. The red substance spilled from the can and splattered onto the bottom of the tub, dirtying the milky white color.
O'Hare swallowed audibly, peeking through his fingers but squeaked when he got a glimpse of The Onceler's pale butt cheeks.
"If it's not too much trouble, would you mind helping out?" There was a hint of sarcasm in The Onceler's voice as he emptied the third can into the tub.
"Y-Y-Yea-I mean no! Not at all!" O'Hare stumbled over his words as well as the floor when he was hurrying over to The Onceler. He grabbed a can and began to help fill the tub. He took his breaths in rations; the skunk's scent was at its strongest peak, and The Onceler wasn't wearing anything to smother it even for a bit.
After what seemed like a dreadfully long time, the tub was filled halfway with the thick red sauce. The Onceler grimaced at the scene, but planted his feet in first. He let out a sound of disgust when his foot was swallowed in by the sticky sauce. After inserting both feet, The Onceler took a deep breath, and then slowly lowered himself down to the bottom, while gripping onto the sides of the tub.
When The Onceler was properly seated in the tub, he looked up at O'Hare,
"Hey kid,"
O'Hare realized he had his face covered this whole time. He took his hands away and tried not to flush as much as he already was.
"Y-Yes?"
"There's a towel on the side. Help me wash that stench off."
O'Hare looked to where The Onceler was pointing. He grabbed the towel hanging from the rack, and gripped it tightly in his hand. This was it. His dream was finally coming true. He couldn't screw it up now.
O'Hare dipped the towel into the tub, getting one side of the fabric coated with the sauce; which was turning runny by now; and brought it up to The Onceler's arm. He pressed it against the skin, which looked so soft and delicate. O'Hare froze when he saw The Onceler wearing an expression of discomfort.
"I-Is something wrong? Did I do something?"
"No, continue."
O'Hare hesitated at first, but glided the towel down The Onceler's arm. He saw faint goose bumps starting to emerge.
Knowing The Onceler was a man of dignity, O'Hare decided to keep silent on the matter, and moved the towel to the male's back; covering the entire surface with tomato.
All the while, his heart was racing so hard he thought he was going to have a stroke.
Leaning closer, O'Hare reached around to the opposite side of The Onceler in order to wipe at the area there. He scrunched his nose at the smell of skunk, now mixed with tomato. At least it was better than the skunk smell alone.
O'Hare was so absorbed in The Onceler's body, he wasn't aware of where his hand was gliding next. Until he felt The Onceler's firm hand grasp his wrist.
"That's enough."
O'Hare looked down to see his hand inches were from The Onceler's crotch area, which was covered under the thick sauce.
Letting out a sound of shock, O'Hare dropped the towel and withdrew his hand.
"I am so sorry, s-sir! I wasn't paying attention—"
The Onceler dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
"It's fine. I just want to get out immediately."
O'Hare backed away frantically as The Onceler rose from the tub. The Onceler gazed at O'Hare, and then nodded for him to grab a towel. O'Hare hurried to the other side of the bathroom, where there was a shelf of folded towels. Much too high for O'Hare's liking. After several attempts to grab it, O'Hare went to the laundry room on the other side to grab a spare. He came back with a light blue towel, and gave it to The Onceler. The Onceler took the towel and wrapped it around his body.
"Go get my secretary for me." The Onceler ordered without looking up.
O'Hare nodded then turned around and rushed out of the room, covering his cheeks which seemed to be heating over.
a/n ; and here's when I remembered my head canon of The Onceler despising tomatoes. (Warning: This alternate ending was just for fun.)
"I'm not sure what the staff had planned but—"The Onceler froze mid-sentence as he opened the door to the bathroom. In there was a bathtub filled with a thick, red looking sauce; apparently tomato; as that was what it said on the cans littered on the side.
The Onceler and O'Hare stared at the scene for a few seconds, before The Onceler began turning back,
"Ya know, on second thought—"
"But sir—"
"What? I'm not getting in there!"
O'Hare bit his braced teeth on his lower lip. There was no choice.
"You got to go in!" O'Hare cried as he practically dragged The Onceler towards the tub. Meanwhile, The Onceler was grabbing onto whatever he could find.
"No! No please, don't make me go in there! You don't understand!" The Onceler was practically begging as he pawed the air.
O'Hare ignored the man's protests, and began pushing the other's body into the tub. The Onceler put up quite a fight, before he slipped on the mat under his feet, and fell butt-first into the tub.
O'Hare jumped at the pitched scream that the other let out.
"A-Are you alright?"
"No! Does it look like I am? Let me out! Oh god,"
The Onceler was splashing around, getting some of the sauce onto the white marble floor. He was spluttering as well, even though the liquid only rose up to his waist.
"It'll just be a second, trust me!" O'Hare tried to reassure his boss while grabbing a cloth from nearby and using it to wipe The Onceler's smooth, pale body.
"It burns! Oh it burns very much!" The Onceler howled as tears were starting to peak out from the edge of his eyes.
O'Hare scrunched his face in concentration as he wiped around the opposite side of The Onceler's body, coating every single piece of skin with the red sauce. The Onceler was whimpering and mumbling protests all the while.
"…There!" O'Hare let out after whipping up the last patch of visible skin. "Now we can just call your secre—"
O'Hare jolted midsentence when The Onceler fell against him: his head nestled against the side of his chest while he gripped onto the sides of his shoulders with trembling hands. Faint whimpers were still coming out from the older male.
O'Hare stared in front of him in shock, before gazing down at the other. A weary, bashful smile grew on his face, and he pressed his hand against The Onceler's sticky back.
"It's alright, sir… It's over now."