Magical Mix-up
(Note: Let's pretend that the Once-ler never "promised" not to cut down another tree after the bed in the river incident)
'I'm warning you, beanpole, if you cut down one more tree...' the Lorax growled, shaking his finger at the young man.
'Don't you ever get tired of nagging? Why don't you just do some of your hocus pocus magic and stop me, if you really don't want me to cut down a tree?' the Once-ler gave his axe a few practise swings, eyeing a Truffulla tree with a bright orange top.
'I keep telling you, kid, that's not how it works,' the forest guardian grumbled, wincing as the metal axe hit the base of the tree. A few hard whacks and the tree tumbled toward the ground. It hit the grass with a resounding BOOM!
The sky darkened instantly, the clouds spiralled above the pair as they watched in shock. A bolt of lightning crackled through the air, followed by an ear-piercing burst of thunder.
'Whoa... Now that's more like it,' Once-Ler dropped his axe and grinned up at the swirling sky.
'Sorry to burst your bubble, beanpole, but I'm not doing that,' the Lorax commented aloud, his own green eyes narrowing at the sight. The forest guardian felt a surge of magical energy ruffle his fur moments before a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of him. A small, blue shape hurled directly into his chest, sending the Lorax flying back into the bushes.
Once-ler found himself yelping in shock as a strong body knocked him down to the ground without warning. After his eyes finally re-adjusted, the young man found himself gazing up into strangely familiar green eyes.
'Lorax?'
The Lorax grunted as the small creature in his arms began to stir. The little one unfolded itself and sat up, straddling the orange-furred forest guardian. Sky-blue eyes blinked down from a darker blue face as the creature stared at the Lorax in shock.
'What... Who..?' the Lorax found himself unable to speak as he peered up at the somehow familiar creature sitting on his stomach.
'I am the Once-ler,' the little creature suddenly announced, eyes narrowing at the Lorax beneath him.
'Sure you are. News flash, but the Once-ler is a wee bit taller than you, kid,' the forest guardian rolled his eyes and sighed as he waited for a truthful answer.
'I AM the Once-ler. Guardian of the Forest. I speak for the trees,' the blue-furred creature growled, crossing his arms over his chest like a spoiled child.
'You've got to be kidding me... Look, I am the Lorax and "I" am the guardian of the forest. "I" speak for the trees,' the Lorax stated, resisting the urge to just shove the cute and annoying creature off his body so he could finally get up.
'No, you are Vincent Lorax, an annoying human who is trying to destroy my forest. I don't know how you turned yourself into... this,' the blue creature gestured toward him with a sweeping paw-like hand.
'What do you mean, THIS?' the Lorax sat up, forcing the little one to tumble from his sitting place.
'I'm not done talking. I don't know how you did it, but I'm not falling for it again. So keep your sweet words and silky promises, and get the hell out of MY FOREST!' the blue creature was on his feet and poking the Lorax in the chest with a finger.
'For such a cute little fuzz-ball, you sure do have a nasty temper,' the orange-furred guardian commented, stroking his mustache.
That did it. The blue Once-ler threw himself at the Lorax with a hiss, but didn't count on the orange creature twisting him around and forcing him to the ground. Startled blue eyes met annoyed green as the smaller guardian struggled to get free.
'What the? Oh, you're back to your human form. So you can look like a regular person if you want to. Not that your blue skin and tail weren't adorable, Once-ler,' the red-haired man purred, giving the younger man pinned beneath him a suave smile.
'Who are you? And how do you know my name?' Once-ler felt himself blushing at the attention and wanted nothing more than to be on his feet, rather than on his back underneath a strange man (no matter how handsome he was).
'Did your little magic trick make you lose your memory? I'm the Lorax. You know, the guy you keep nagging to stop cutting down your precious trees,' the older man explained, finally sitting up.
Once-ler pushed himself to his feet and blinked as the red-haired man stood up, muscular and slightly pudgy at the same time. The total opposite of the Once-ler's tall and lanky frame.
'You're the Lorax? Not buying it. The Lorax is an annoying little orange furball who keeps trying to stop me from making thneed from his trees. So, unless you magically turned yourself into a human, then you're clearly not THE Lorax,' Once-ler frowned, giving the other man his best "You-bore-me" look.
'Get off me,' the blue guardian growled, glaring up at the orange guardian pining him down.
'Not until you calm down, kid,' the Lorax grumbled back, carefully avoiding the smaller creature's tail.
'I am NOT a kid. I'm an ancient forest guardian,' the little one huffed, pouting up at the mustached Lorax.
'So am I, but you don't see me throwing a temper tantrum,' the Lorax stated, taking the opportunity to study the smaller guardian's face. Black hair, light-blue eyes, a cute pudgy nose, blue fur... he did sort of look like the human Once-ler.
'We got off on the wrong foot. I saw that bit of magic and I know I wasn't the one casting it. Was that you?' the orange guardian asked, releasing his hold on the smaller creature and moving back to give him some space.
'Yes. I was trying to take the Lorax to the future, so he'd finally see the damage he was causing to my forest... You're not my Lorax, are you?' the blue guardian sighed, the fight draining out of him as he got to his feet.
'Nope. And my Once-ler is a human. I think that spell of yours might have gotten a little mixed up. Granted, that's a difficult bit of magic to attempt on your own,' the Lorax commented.
'Yeah, I know. That human just makes me so mad. He keeps cutting down my trees and taunting me. I guess I just... snapped,' the blue Once-ler admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as a flush of red stained his cheeks.
'Well, what's done is done. You should rest a bit before you try to get home. Come on, we'd best go check on my Once-ler. That kid can get into so much trouble when I'm not around to keep an eye on him,' the Lorax chuckled, holding out his hand to the other guardian.
The Once-ler gave him a shy smile in return, placing his own blue hand into the Lorax's orange one. Together, they headed back toward the clearing.
'Is yours' as annoying as mine?' the young brunette asked, taking a seat on the chopped down tree he'd pulled next to his campsite.
'You mean does he go on and on about protecting the forest?' the human Lorax asked, sitting next to him.
'Not only that, my Lorax actually put my bed in the river and nearly drowned me,' Once-ler chuckled, shaking his head at the memory.
'My Once-ler tried that too, but it didn't turn out the way he planned. Actually, he ended up finding himself locked into my house instead,' the red-haired man smirked, stroking his neatly trimmed mustache.
'Yeah, my Lorax can't reach the door-handle either. But he's never turned human, at least not around me,' the dark haired man rubbed his chin, wondering if his Lorax would end up looking similar to the man sitting next to him. He was pretty attractive.
The humans glanced up as two familiar creatures pushed themselves through the bushes, heading directly for the campsite.
'Well, this explains everything. Your magic did bring you to my dimension rather than the future,' the Lorax explained, pulling the other guardian closer to the waiting humans.
'Your magic messed up, Once-ler? That's cute,' the red-head chuckled, leaning back to smirk at the blue-furred guardian.
'I can see why he riles you up,' the Lorax studied the older human lounging beside his Once-ler.
'Soooo, you're suppose to be me... if I was a tiny, little forest guardian,' the human Once-ler couldn't keep a smile off his face as he watched the pair. Awww, they were holding hands.
'The Once-ler needs time to recharge, so it looks like you'll have to bunk with the other human for a few days,' the orange-furred guardian announced, frowning at his human.
'What? But I only have one bed. I can't fit four of us on there,' the Once-ler whined, pouting at the mustached guardian.
'Actually, I was thinking just you two humans, but now that you mention it...' the Lorax grinned.
'I'm all for being bunk buddies,' Vincent Lorax put an arm around the Once-ler's human counterpart and pulled him close.
The Lorax raised an eyebrow at the blush staining the younger man's cheeks, but a low growl from the blue guardian next to him caught his attention. {Oh no... Falling for a mortal is not a good idea. Especially when the mortal is in the process of threatening your trees}
'You can call me Vincent and I'll call you Oncie. We'll let the forest guardians keep their full names,' the red-haired man announced, pulling the other human closer.
'Um, okay,' Oncie chirped, blushing an even brighter red.
'We'll be back. Remember, I'm still keeping an eye on you, Oncie,' the Lorax promised, pulling the other guardian back into the bushes. They needed to have a little chat...
...tbc...
Author's Note: Check out Damon1515 on deviantart for a cute little fic (NC17 slash warning though) inspired by the same picture of the blue Once-lax (!DOOMchan).