Rated M/Warnings: M/M relationships, Oncest, Greed-ler/Once-ler, future lemon, some language, mature themes.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lorax or any of its characters.

(Currently discontinued.)

It was another long, unsuccessful day for the Once-ler. He had been trying so hard, day after day, to get someone, anyone, to purchase a Thneed, a fine invention of his that has the use of a million and is a thing that everybody needs! Sadly, no one developed even the slightest hint of interest in them, through all the effort Once-ler had put going into town and trying to sell them. His recent trip to Greenville caused him to storm angrily off the platform of the gazebo, throwing his perfectly good invention away in a rage. It was a foolish action, and he was back at his home the very next day making another one. The Thneed was all he had . . . perhaps he'd use a different approach next time.

"Ow!" the Once-ler yelped, having picked himself in the finger by his sewing needle for the millionth time today. He let out a sigh and threw his unfinished product on top of the desk in front of him and slouched against the back support of his chair. He looked out the window, seeing that the sun had already begun to set in the valley. He turned his gaze from outside back down to his unfinished invention. He was not having the best day. First off, he had been getting annoyed to death by the Lorax telling him how stupid and pointless the Thneed was all along and how it served him right for getting a negative response by chopping down one of the Truffula Trees. Then, having limited resources to use to hitch up just one more Thneed, being banned by that orange ball of annoyance to even dare touch another one of the trees. And now, being out of ideas, feeling tired, hopeless, frustrated on top of that . . . he felt like giving up. Again.

No, stop it, Once-ler, he said to himself, don't let all this stress get to you. Just, take a break for now . . . and get back to working on this Thneed. It's a wonderful invention . . . I know it is. Just give it time.

He decided to get up and grab a quick snack, perhaps nibble on a few marshmallows to ease himself a bit. Just as he rose up and began to make his way to the kitchen, he heard the faint knock of something at the door. He froze for a second and looked back, thinking if he had just imagined it. He stood there waiting for another series of knocks to ensure that there really was someone at his door. And, in fact, yes; there came the knocking again one second later. This time, the sound was louder against the wood of the door, echoing throughout the household. Once-ler frowned, narrowing his eyes, as he clenched his fists to either side of him and stomped to the entrance of his house. Who could that be at his hour? I swear to God, if that's the Lorax– He stopped abruptly after having turned the knob and swung open the door, eyes peering down. It was a force of habit from expecting visits from the Lorax or any other forest creatures, for those were the only people who showed up as his house, anyway. However, this certainly was not the Lorax he was looking down at. He was staring down embarrassingly at the shins of a person wearing skinny, pinstripe pants, and black shoes, actually looking quite like the ones he wore now. His eyes began trailing up this slim figure, observing this person's fine details. He saw that this guy was wearing a flashy, long green suit, green gloves to match, sparkling teal-rimmed shades, and a green-striped top hat to top everything off. It was hard making out his face as it appeared dark and was silhouetted by the golden sun setting behind him. The man lifted his arm, took his shades off, and folded them on the inner part of his coat. He then grinned, revealing his razor-sharp teeth, causing the Once-ler to gasp.

"Yes, up here, silly." He was directly eye-to-eye with the Once-ler, being identical in height. This man also had the same raven-black hair he did, and looked very much like him, only difference being the way he dressed, possessing, what it looked like, green, emerald-colored eyes, and having those frightening sharp teeth. Once-ler didn't know what to make of this. "Heya, Oncie~."

The Once-ler's jaw dropped upon hearing that.

"Oncie . . . ? H-How do you know my name?"

The other only laughed in response.

"Can I come in?"

Once-ler didn't know what to say. Instead, he tried forming a sentence but was stuck stuttering. The other amusingly took this chance to walk right into Oncie's home regardless of his answer.

The Once-ler protested immediately. "H-Hey! You can't just walk in here!"

The other man simply waltzed in, observing the inside of the now-becoming dim house. He walked over to the nearest lamp and turned it on. He smiled to himself as he looked around once more. "I remember you . . . ~," he reminisced, fingers tracing along the outline of the furniture that filled the home. Once-ler only stood there staring at him, absolutely confused. "It's a little messier than I remembered. How I like it to be. I don't suppose the animals have already terrorized your home in the morning, have they~?" he smirked, looking back at the other.

The Once-ler's eyes widened. This was getting weird. "Who are you?"

The man smiled. "You can call me Greed-ler. Or Greed."

"Greed . . . -ler?"

"That's right. So, has the Lorax been a real pain in the ass lately?" he asked.

"I-I- y- . . . you know the Lorax?"

"Of course I do. How could I not?" He paused a brief moment. "Ooo~!" he exclaimed, out of nowhere. "I feel like a little snack. Don't you?"

Before Oncie could say anything, Greed-ler had already gone into his kitchen and reached up to the first cabinet on the right, pulling out a huge bag of marshmallows like he knew exactly what it was he wanted and even where it was. Greed was just about to tear the bag open when the Once-ler dashed to him right at that instant, allowing the front door to close by itself. He snatched the bag away from him.

"Whoa, whoa," the Once-ler started, "what do you think you're doing? This belongs to me, and how did you even . . . well anyway, Greed-ler, whoever you are, I want you to leave. You're really weirding me out. How do you even know about all this?"

Greed-ler looked at him a second and smiled amusingly. "You really don't get it, do you? I'm you."

The Once-ler's face scrunched up in confusion.

"You're me? How can you possibly be me? That's complete baloney."

"Is not," Greed-ler said bluntly. "You still think that the Lorax is a fraud, don't you? With his 'magic powers' and such. Do you ever think if he actually wasn't? You know, maybe that's how I got here. And maybe he isn't such a phony after all. Who knows~," he grinned, shrugging his shoulders.

Oncie looked uneasy. ". . . What? No way . . . I don't believe this for one second! That furry meatloaf is a phony! And so are you."

Greed sighed. "Oh, Oncie. You're so naïve. You'll learn soon enough. One day . . ."

There was a deep, painful look in his eyes as he said this. He looked down at the ground, up at the boy in facing him, and then turned his attention back to the marshmallows. His expression changed.

"Gimme that, Oncie. Greedy wants him a treat~," he said, reaching over and pulling the bag of marshmallows away from him, but the Once-ler tugged them right back.

"Hey, stop . . . !" the Once-ler strained.

"Just give me a few, c'mon, you and I both know we have a sweet tooth for marshmallows," he growled, pulling harder.

"No–!" Once-ler said, when all of a sudden, the bag ripped open at the seam, marshmallows exploding out the top like a waterfall. They flew everywhere and landed on the floor of the Once-ler's home, creating a giant pile of never-ending marshmallows.

Greed-ler snickered. "Seem familiar, Oncie?"

The Once-ler just glanced down at the mess surrounding him, mouth open, completely dumbfounded. He had had enough. This strange man, the things he's been saying, these odd occurrences, coincidences . . . "That is it! I've had enough of this. I–"

"Hey, but–"

"Shut up! I won't tell you again! I want you to get out!"

"Just listen to me–"

"No!"

"ONCIE!" Greed-ler hollered at the top of his lungs, grabbing his counterpart forcibly by the shoulders and slamming him into the wall nearest to them, caging his other self in between.

The Once-ler shrieked in pain by this sudden action of being shoved. He was taken aback by this and was terribly frightened as he looked into the cold, dark eyes of Greed. He trembled beneath him now, regretting his sudden outburst. He was afraid of what this man was going to do to him now . . . he couldn't help what he had done. A stranger had intruded into his private property, claiming to be a "Once-ler" himself, reminding him of these events that have happened to him before, like he actually was himself. It was all too much. Oncie helplessly closed his eyes for the worst of it.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Once-ler slowly opened his eyes to see what was going on, why there was this sudden pause, to reveal that the other man's facial expression had softened a deep amount. He hadn't noticed how close they were either . . . their noses were practically touching, bodies against each other. He noticed that Greed had been observing his facial features, just looking at him with easy eyes. Then, he spoke once more.

"Oncie . . ." Greed repeated, a much calmer tone than before. "Stop being so cute."

"H-Huh?" he squeaked.

Greed-ler leaned in seductively, coming into close contact with the Once-ler, and pressed his lips against his, kissing him gently. Once-ler was completely baffled–his face was bright red, eyes open wide, and he was unresponsive. When Greed pulled away many seconds later, Oncie immediately shoved him off and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Why did you just . . . do that?"

Greed-ler smirked, coming up close to him again. The Once-ler held him arms out, holding him back to keep distance, but Greed-ler grabbed both of his wrists and held them up against the wall. Once-ler fidgeted in annoyance, trying to break free but failed. Greed leaned in dangerously close, body pushed against his even more so than before, legs intertwining with his. The Once-ler held his breath.

"Because," Greed hummed, looking deep into Once-ler's sky-blue eyes. "I like you . . . and I missed you, my cute, adorable self~."