Falling Deep: Whatever it Takes

Please continue to enjoy Falling Deep in it's new format!


Once-ler had his feet propped up with his ankles on his dining table when the Lorax returned and didn't bother to look up from the nearly completed Thneed to welcome him back. He did, however, toss out a casual greeting with a slight raise of his foot to substitute a hand wave, "Yo, welcome back."

He was having a bit of a problem with one of his knots, the darn thing didn't want to set right and kept poking out of the otherwise neat row. If he didn't manage to somehow work it in he was going to find himself having to unravel a good part of it and set himself back about an hours worth of knitting. On top of that his mother kept calling trying to yell at him for being 'a devil of a child whom she regretted giving birth to' to the point that he'd had to stuffed the damn thing between his mattresses and did his best to forget it existed.

Almost on cue a muffled ring came from his bed and he frowned into his lap when it showed no sign of ending before looking up to complain to his friend and finding the very blonde girl that had been haunting his vision for the past few weeks. She was staring at him with a mixture of confusion an intense concentration that had goose bumps quickly chasing down his arms with blue eyes so dark they nearly bordered onto the color purple. Her long and somewhat dirty blonde hair hung limply down her back in a tangled mess and her pale skin was nearly translucent enough for him to make out the thin blue lines where her veins would be with large dark circles giving her the impression of a raccoon.

He carefully took his feet off the table and put them on the ground, giving her a nod of greeting before his eyes looked about for the Lorax, "He said he had to clean up the mess I made." she stated, scrunching her nose and frowning a bit, "I still maintain he shouldn't have put his crack under my stuff." Once-ler nodded slowly and she fidgeted a bit under his stare before licking her lips and coughing, "I can go if I'm bothering you-"

"No!" He was already on his feet before she could finish her sentence and she jumped a bit from the force of his answer and he shook his head, "No, sorry. You're not bothering me, you just look really familiar is all."

She nodded her head, "I know the feeling." she stated, tilting her head at him and giving an amused smile, "Then again, I guess we did know each other in another life." he didn't know what to say to that but decided to nod anyhow so that he wouldn't have to admit it. "I'm Juniper Fallie."

Once-ler nodded, "Once-ler."

She nodded.

They stood there staring at each other in awkward silence and Once-ler had no idea what to do about it, "I take it Mustache told you that you can stay here?"

She shook her head, however, "No, actually he didn't." now she looked worried and brought her thumb to her lips before visibly stopping herself from chewing on the waiting nail and instead tried to push her hand through her hair. Failing in that she gave a laugh, "Sorry, I just woke up from sleeping in a truck. If I'd known I was going to 'drop by' I would have at least brushed my hair."

Once-ler shrugged and made to stuff his own hands into his pocket when he realized he still had hold of his needles and the now mangled remains of the dark blue Thneed in his hands that he know seen was just a hallow imitation of her eyes. He put his needles on top of the table and tossed the Thneed into the garbage, breaking eye contact as he did and sighing a bit in relief.

"I've got a shower in back, it's not much but it'll get you clean." he informed her, walking over to it as he spoke so that he'd have a continued reason to not look at her. Luckily he'd just refilled the bathroom water reserve last evening before he'd gone to bed so there was more than enough for her to take however long a shower she wanted which would give him time to think.

When he turned around, however, she was still standing by the door looking at him and he felt heat slowly rise to his cheeks when he realized he'd just basically called her dirty. "Not that you're dirty, just thought you'd want to be clean...er..." he coughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to think of a way to smooth over the double blunder when soft bell like laughter froze his heart mid beat.

Her smile was soft and small, but he could picture it full and wide with sparkling white teeth showing between the full pink lips and blue eyes dancing with laughter. It would come slow, first starting at the right corner before the left rose to join it and stretching so much that her lips would have to part so that it could finish in two small dimples just below the corner of either eye. He felt a smile of his own slipping onto his face and laughed, "Care for a shower?"

His laugh must have triggered something in her as well because her smile bloomed exactly as he knew it would and she nodded, "I'd love one."


Juniper stood in the shower grateful for both the steamy hot water and the time alone in which she could use to collect her thoughts instead of standing there staring at the man. She'd thought she'd recognize him a little, after all if what that creature had said was true, she'd known him almost as well as she knew herself in another life. However she hadn't expected him to look so right, and when he'd laughed every detail was so crystal clear to her that she hadn't even needed to look at him to know every small detail. Had somehow missed the ever so slight tilt, as though he had a secret in his pocket that he didn't plan to share just because it amused him to know something you didn't.

He was handsome, which also hadn't surprised her; with broad cheekbones, smooth skin, and a button nose that was unexpectedly adorable and gave him a hint of boyish charm that made her want to smile. He was tall, too, towering over her by at least seven inches; which was no small feat and she wondered if she wouldn't actually be able to wear heals next to him? She shook the stupid idea out of her head and laughed at herself for actually thinking it, when would she get the opportunity to stand next to him wearing heals?

If his first reaction to her presence was any indication; he preferred having his space to himself. She didn't blame him for it, who wanted their house invaded by a stranger? Especially one that he had to show to the shower first thing after entering his home? When she'd first stepped into the offered bathroom and seen her appearance reflected back at her through the mirror over his sink she'd nearly screamed her mortification for anyone in a fifty mile radius to hear.

Sighing she lathered up her hair using his shampoo before cautiously peeking around the plastic curtain and giving her soapy hair a quick sniff. It smelled nice; did his smell the same? Shaking her head she blushed and hurriedly rinsed her hair, feeling like a complete pervert for even wondering what his hair smelled like to begin with. "Who thinks like that?" she mumbled to herself, making sure to keep her voice low enough for the shower to drown out.

After soaping up her body with a cloth and a bar of soap she rinsed and turned the water off, reaching out for the fluffy white towel he'd set out for her and wrapping it around her body. After drying she made to slip into her clothes when a knock sounded on the door, "Hey, uh... Juniper," she stifled the startled squeak and suppressed the insane urge to jump behind the shower curtain again, "I was wondering if you needed any clothes?"

"If you have any you can spare, that'd be great." She answered and it wasn't a full minute until he knocked again and she opened the door to accept the clothes. Safe in the towel, she hadn't thought twice about opening the door fully; however his face had immediately turned tomato red and stuttered something out so intelligibly that she she could only smiled in bemusement and accept the clothes that his shaky hand held out to her.

She made a mental note to never do that to the poor man again.


She'd answered the door naked...

Sure, she was wrapped in a towel but for some strange reason that had only made it worse for him and his now over active imagination. He had to actually give a vicious shake of his head to clear the more lewd pictures from his head before he could breath properly and had to sit down and wait for the rest to clear out. Thankfully it seemed like she liked to take her time changing, so when she came back his face wasn't nearly as hot and he was able to meet her eyes without seeming like a pervert despite the fact that he felt like he was.

Her wet hair had been towel dried the best she could manage but still maintained damn curls that clung to her cheeks and his shirt, leaving the thin fabric where it touched fairly transparent and he did his best to keep his eyes glued firmly to only her neck up... Even the neck was slightly pushing it, though, and he had to turn his eyes away from her completely, which probably seemed odd so he clung to the first activity he could do without thought he parked himself at his table and snatched up his knitting needles to began work a new Thneed.

A squeak brought his attention to his bed and he nearly had a heart attack when he realized she'd made herself at home and sat on it cross legged and he took a quick second to thank whichever god that had given him the foresight to offer her pants. "What are you making?" she asked curiously, breaking him away from his current train of thought.

"A Thneed." He answered before gesturing to the one he usually wore hanging across the foot of his iron bed frame and she reached over for it, feeling the fabric curiously, "I sell them to people who come by wanting them."

She nodded and brought it up to sniff, her eyes widening a bit, "Is it made from the Truffula leaves?" he grinned and nodded, surprised that she'd realized it so quickly and she gave a giggle, "I never thought you could wear it!" She happily threw his Thneed around her neck before remembering her hair was wet and taking it back off, "Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's super absorbent, if I'd have thought of it I'd have given you one to use instead of the towel." He joked before an image popped into his head that sent him into a massive coughing fit that, thankfully, excused his undoubtedly crimson face. He continued to cough until he felt his face cool a bit and hit his chest a bit, grinning at the concerned looking girl weakly and made a show of standing up and retrieving a glass of water. "Tickle in my throat."

"Ah, I hate it when that happens." She said, frowning a bit and he gave a weak smile, "So it's a towel, then?"

Not wanting to repeat his coughing fit he shrugged, "Or a hat... scarf, shirt, umbrella." her eyes widened and he grinned at her, "It's very versatile, I had someone come by the other day telling me it makes an excellent parachute." her eyes widened a bit and she burst out with her bell like laughter again and he chuckled with her, "I prefer using mine as a scarf, though."

"Still nice to know it's an option." She quipped and he tilte his glass to her in a salute before walking back to the table and resuming work on his newest Thneed, "How much do they cost?"

He nearly opened his mouth to blast out an exorbitant price on reflex before catching himself, "What color do you want?" he asked instead, standing up once more to go to the closet where he'd taken to storing the finished Thneeds. They all sat neatly stacked on the floor, each individually wrapped in their baggies and waiting to be sold.

"Do you have any purple?" He heard the bed squeak and looked over his shoulder to see that she was leaning on the iron foot board, watching him look through his closet. Turning back around he found a purple Thneed and slipped it from the middle of the stack taking care not to send the small tower toppling over.

He tossed it to her and she caught it, opening the bag and smiling happily at the dark purple Thneed in her hands before holding it back out to him, "How do I make a blanket?"

"Are you cold? I can turn the oven on for a bit." she shook her head and he shrugged, taking the Thneed and quickly folding it about until it became a medium sized blanket and handed it back. She didn't hesitate to wrap it about herself and snuggle into it, sighing happily, "So I'm guessing you like it?"

"Love it, everyone should have one." She confirmed, breathing in deeply and sighing happily, "If butterflies could be milked it would smell like this." he blinked at her before closing the closet door, knowing that she couldn't have possibly known just how exact her thoughts lined up to his. "Well it would." she mumbled, taking another deep breath and he gave her a grin.

He took his seat once more and picked up his needles, "How much do I owe you?"

"Consider it a welcoming gift." He answered causally as he worked the needles in his lap, feeling more confident now that he had something he could direct his attention to, "So how badly did Mustache yell at you for splattering paint all over his trees?"

She laughed, "Let's just say I'm lucky I managed to get here with my hearing intact and without bursting into flame. Apparently the paint's Eco-friendly and the entire reason why I'm not being drown in the river." Once-ler laughed at that, shaking his head, "Hey, you might think it's funny, but for a minute there I thought I was going to be murdered by a hair ball, do you know what that does to your self-esteem?"

The table opposite of him scrapped lightly against the floor and he gave a quick glance up to see her sliding into it with the Thneed still wrapped loosely around her shoulders. After a few moments he looked up again to see her watching the movement of the knitting needles an hesitated a moment before offering them to her, "Want to try?"

She bit her lip and itched her palms, "I would, but I've never knitted before and I'd probably ruin it." he rolled his eyes and pressed the needles into her hand, ignoring the weak protests that came out of her mouth. "Really, what are you going to do if I trash the whole thing?"

"I'll make a new one." He answered and she huffed, "Go ahead and try it out, you might find you like it." she nodded slowly and started working the needles in her hands clumsily and he folded his arms against the table top to watch. At first the knots were a bit uneven, however as she continued she started making full neat little rows one after the other, picking up speed as she went along and confirming a slight suspicion he'd had.

She was the pouting girl under the tree, "Not bad for a beginner." he complimented, "You ever done this before?"

She shook her head, her eyes wide as she continued knitting the Thneed before suddenly putting the needles down and gaping at him, "That was entirely to easy." he studied her before giving a careless shrug, "It's weird."

"Not really." He denied, picking up the needles and picking up where she left off, "Sometimes it just comes naturally to people." The excuse was weak, but she accepted it with a nod and he grinned, not able to resist teasing her a bit, "Of course, only to the weird ones."

"Shut up, Once-ler." She muttered, rolling her eyes away from him and he laughed.

The door opened and a few animals skittered in before the Lorax stepped through and shut the door behind him, leveling a flat stare at the girl; "You're not allowed to handle paint in my forest again." he told her seriously and she shot him a grin, "Let's see how brightly you smile when you're falling a hundred feet from the air."

"I've got a Thneed that can turn into a parachute." she informed him jokingly and held it up as proof, "Your threat is useless against me." he growled and she coughed, "I really am sorry, I didn't know I was throwing it into the forest."

For a moment the guardian's eyes softened and Once-ler thought he would relent a bit, however the moment was short lived, "Ever."

"Fine, no painting." Juniper conceded and Once-ler grinned when she held up a hand to block her lips and mouthed 'unforgiving runt, isn't he?' to him and earned herself a pinch for her effort. She yelped and rubbed her injured wrist, "Trim your nails you animal." she muttered.

The Lorax opened his mouth to retaliate and Once-ler pushed himself away from the table, "So who wants pancakes?"

Attention diverted the Lorax raised his hand and Juniper's quickly added her vote as well before her stomach rumbled and she blushed. "Start eating and that won't happen." The Lorax joked and she stuck her tongue out at him childishly. Not to be out done, the Lorax responded with a raspberry that had both Once-ler and Juniper rolling in near hysterics.

"Someone as hairy as you should never do that again." Once-ler managed to wheeze out before turning around and starting his batter. When Juniper came up to look over his shoulder he gave one a flip, catching it expertly in the pan and she erupted with applause and he smirked at her before flipping another higher in the air and catching it again.

"Stop showing off, Beanpole, some of us are actually starving here." The Lorax grumbled and Once-ler threw a dirty look over his shoulder before accidentally flipping another pancake a bit to far over his shoulder. It landed on his friends head and the grumbling turned into half formed threats of bodily harm.

"Whoops."


Juniper watched as Once-ler piled a plate with pancakes that towered comically high and set them onto the table before turning to start another batch and she stared at him wide eyes, "You're making more?" she asked. Instead of answering he pointed his spatula over his shoulder and she turned to see that each of the animals had snatched every available pancake from the plate, leaving only crumbs behind; "Hey!"

"You gotta get 'em while the getting's good, Doll-Face." The Lorax informed her as he poured gravy over his four pancakes, "If you don't learn that you're gonna starve."

She crossed her arms and pouted at the gluttonous little pig as he stuffed his face full of the fluffy disks and was tempted to throw her fork at him. "Sorry if I choose to wait for everyone before porking everything down." she huffed, then flinched as he stuffed nearly an entire pancake into his mouth, "If this is revenge for the paint then congrats, mission accomplished." she stated flatly.

Two pancakes were slid onto her plate and she looked over to watch Once-ler reclaiming his spot with a few on his plate as well with an amused grin on his face. She rolled her eyes and reached for the syrup, pouring it on thickly and letting it pool around the edges before sliding it over for him to use as well. Cutting into her small stack she quickly took a bit and hummed her appreciation to him. "This is good."

"Of course it's good, I made it." Once-ler replied cockily and she grinned at him before diverting her attention to her meal. She ended up eating everything plus three more before she was full, then she went to work covering her fork tines with her remaining syrup and licking that as well before sighing in satisfaction. Once-ler and the fuzz ball Lorax were laughing at her, but she didn't care, she hadn't eaten that well for days and it looked like her stomach wasn't in the mood to reject even a bite.

Once-ler quickly collected the plates from the table and dumped them into the sink, washing up the mess and ignoring her offer of help so she picked up the knitting needles and worked on his Thneed instead. It turned out to be a mindless task for her and she was able to watch in amazement as she neatly finished the Thneed, holding it out proudly for Once-ler's inspection with a cocky smirk of her own on her face.

The fact that he didn't look surprised at all that she could knit a Thneed without even a pattern to go by on her first attempt made her feel like he'd expected it and she wasn't sure how she should feel about that. He'd simply packaged it up and placed it on one of the stacks in his closet, apparently deeming it a good enough quality to even sell and she arched a brow, "I'm not responsible if that's a faulty Thneed." she warned him playfully.

"It's not faulty." He stated, no hint of doubt in his voice as he stretched his back and looked around his tent for something before giving up and just sitting back at the table. He looked content enough to just sit there, so she let him, propping her chin up against the heal of her hand and closing her eyes, it felt nice. Not once since she'd stepped into the tent had she felt that anything was wrong or off despite the many odd things she didn't recognize. Her belly was full and the pressure that had been chasing at her temples ever since she woke up in the dirt was no longer there.

She didn't even mind that the tent was fairly stuffed full with cute little living teddy bears or fish that walked and the birds that nested themselves wherever they pleased snored lyrically giving everything a pleasant atmosphere. It was so soothing that she didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep until she woke up to find herself in the middle of Once-ler's bed under his blankets with a few teddy bear bed mates that were snuggled against her in warm cuddly balls.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to be woken up or not so I just let you sleep." Once-ler's voice spoke, bringing her attentionover to the couch a short distance away. He had his legs propped up on one of the arms and his back pushed up against the other with another Thneed in his lap being sewn. He looked entirely too cramped but he was still grinning at her as though he was the coziest person in the world.

She shook her head and gingerly stepped out of the bed, making sure not to thread upon any unsuspecting snoozing animal as she made her way over and pushed his feet off the couch to make room for herself, "You could have put me on the couch." she pointed out. He gave a careless wave of his hand to show he didn't mind and she shrugged before settling to watch him work quietly before sighing, "This is nice."

"It is." He agreed simply, nodding his head before pausing his work and looking seriously at her in a considering manner and she crossed her arms over her knees, silently waiting for him to put whatever thought it was he had into words. "Your presence has been chasing me everywhere." he finally blurted quietly, shaking his head before looking back down at the Thneed in his lap. He probably thought the darkness covered the slight tinge of red on his face and she let him believe it, keeping it a warm little secret to herself. "It was like you ghost was chasing me around everywhere I went, it was actually very aggravating."

She thought for a moment before looking over at him and frowning, "So you really think we've had a past life or whatever?" she asked. He didn't answer, but he didn't need to; "Do you play guitar?"

He looked up again at her and grinned, "Sure do." he answered and she smiled at him, "It's over there collecting dust at the moment." she looked to where he pointed and spotted a simple black and white beaten up guitar in the corner.

Her smile widened and she stood up, zigzagging around sleeping bodies until she was by the instrument and brought it back with her, sitting on the couch and looking at the old worn strings, "This is it." she sighed happily, hugging it before positioning it in her lap. She didn't strum the strings, not wanting to wake anyone up, but her smile didn't lessen, "I couldn't even hold mine anymore."

He chuckled, "Something off about it?" he guessed and she murmured a positive sounding noise; he put the knitting needles aside and took the guitar from her hands. Standing up he gestured for her to follow him with a jerk of his head and left the tent, she quickly retrieved her Thneed from his mattress before trailing after him. He'd walked over to a wooden cart and was sitting in the back with his guitar in his lap and she climbed in herself.

He was tuning the strings, turning knobs and adjusting the volume until the vibrated the notes softly into the night. She leaned back against the wooden walls of the cart and listened to him play a simple tune, closing her eyes and sighing happily as the notes washed over her like a warm blanket. He mumbled something and she heard him adjust his position before starting again and grinned, picturing him in a small bed with a pick that he never used clamped between his teeth and peeked an eye open to even see the same expression.

"We were in love." She stated, feeling no embarrassment for saying the words out loud and he looked up, his eyes meeting her seriously.

"I guess we were." He stated, tilting his head to look at her before grinning and giving her a wink, "Of course, how could you resist me?"

She grinned and arched an eyebrow, "Indeed, your bunny pajamas are so sexy it's blowing my mind." he looked down at the pajamas and blinked at them, as though forgetting he was wearing them. She laughed and poked his knee with her toe to get his attention, "Very manly, it really curls my toes."

He gave her a playful wink and went back to fiddling with the guitar before pausing suddenly and looking up at her, "You're staying, right?" he looked worried, his brows knitting together tightly to form lines on his brow.

The question gave her pause and she took a moment to fold her legs under her before answering, "Well, I don't want to leave; but I don't think I wanted to leave last time, either." she looked up at him to see him nodding slowly, the frown still fixed on his face as his fingers idly smoothed over the guitar strings. She wanted to give him some assurance, to ease the pained look from his face, but she had no idea what to say before tilting her head to the side and smiling at him, "I can promise I won't leave, though."

"So you might not stay, but you won't leave." He asked and she gave a small one shouldered shrug and sighed, "Better than nothing."

"That's good, because aside from that I've got nothing else." she meant it as a joke, but he nodded seriously and looked down at the instrument in his lap, picking out another slow tune. It sounded a bit sad, the notes bending into each other soulfully and she leaned forward a bit, "Do you think we were happy with each other?"

"Without a doubt." He answered without hesitation, "I was too miserable for us to be anything else." he looked at her for a second, his fingers slipping off the strings and letting the forest sounds take over. He obviously wanted her to say something, but just what it was she had no idea so she let the silence take over and looked back at him. His dark brown hair ruffled in the wind and he pushed it back from his eyes with long slender fingers that slid through fluidly, sighing and looking up at the brightest stars she'd ever seen.

He looked a bit silly, sitting with his knees up in his bunny pajamas with a guitar in his lap, but the image was somehow very dear to her. Each slight movement he made, from curling his fingers against his knees to flexing his toes against the flat wooden bottom of the cart, was familiar and comforting. Even the dissatisfied frown creasing his brow made her smile and she leaned forward, taking his guitar and setting it aside before crawling between his legs and settling her back against his chest.

He sat frozen for a moment, but then long arms wrapped around her stomach and held her tightly to him before releasing a deep sigh. She could feel the even thumps of his heart and wondered if she'd taken advantage of his warmth before; somehow she doubted it. It was an entirely new type of feeling, both suspenseful and peaceful; odd as she'd never been one who enjoyed sharing her personal space with others. "It's kind of weird, isn't it?"

He nodded and she felt him breath deeply again before moving his chin off her shoulder to pick her up a bit so he could readjust his long body before settling her back against his chest, "Kind of, but I'm not going to worry about it."


The heavy warmth against his chest was something Once-ler didn't planning on releasing any time soon, but it didn't look like she was in a hurry to move so he didn't bother telling her. She tucked perfectly against his long body and he privately enjoyed the way she unconsciously snuggled deeper into his arms. She was right, it was a bit strange; then again, what about their situation wasn't weird and why shouldn't he enjoy it?

He reached over and picked up the guitar again and she lifted her arm to allow it to rest in her lap and he began plucking lazily at the strings again. It wasn't long until she began humming along with the tune, her foot keeping time by tapping softly against the wood floor boards. He was pleasantly unnerved that she was able to do it since he was only playing around without going for any particular song.

If what the Lorax said was true, which he firmly believed was the case, then he and Juniper had once shared a close relationship that was cut short before they could act on any feelings they had for each other. A tight friendship and mutual understanding of appreciation. He glanced at his tent and tried to picture the cottage that he'd apparently built, which was odd since he had no wood working skills whatsoever.

The girl in his lap obviously knew less than he did, maybe she pictured a full whirl wind romance with a thousand kisses instead of the comfortable support they'd actually shared, but that didn't really matter to him. What did matter was that the Lorax had been right; there was no true awkwardness in having her in his lap with the guitar propped against them both. He didn't mind at all when her fingers trailed themselves across his arms to loosely grasp his sleeves, and he could honestly say he enjoyed the way her head rested lightly against his chest.

The only thing that bothered him was the knowledge that he might wake up again with an even deeper scar on his heart and have to suffer the same mind numbing depression that had very nearly swallowed him whole. The thought of her ghost chasing him about with teasing bits of her image littering about his life stilled his fingers and froze his heart. What if he woke up tomorrow with plans of heading to town to sell his first Thneed, completely forgetting that there was supposed to be a sweet smile meant just for him as he struggled to remember what he'd forgotten.

He shook his head and sighed, just what was he supposed to do about that? She couldn't give him a guarantee even if she wanted to and her promise that she wouldn't leave just meant that if she did it wouldn't be by her own will. "You stopped playing." her voice informed him groggily and he looked down to see her eyes drooping a bit as she struggled to resist the large yawn that still managed to escape.

He nodded and set his guitar aside, wrapping his arms over her shoulders, "Yep." he answered despite not needing to. He didn't care if she was tired, she could just stay in his lap forever and he wouldn't have any worries about jerk gods poking their noses into business that couldn't do them any harm. "Go to sleep."

She shook her head and stretched against him, pushing her back against his chest as her arms rose over her head, "I don't want to, if I go to sleep then I'll wake up and you'll be gone."

"You've already woken up once, remember?" He asked her, frowning at their feet before reaching over and collecting her forgotten Thneed from where she'd sat. She muttered something that he didn't understand but sounded negative, "Everything's going to be okay, they can't take you if I don't let go." it was probably a lie, but it was one that had her relaxing against him with her head on his shoulder so he didn't mind saying it.


The sun hit Juniper's eyes harshly, rousing her from a pleasant dream where she'd taken a wild gamble and followed a strange little fur ball claiming to be a forest guardian into a brightly colored forest where she'd fallen asleep wrapped up tightly against the chest of a man that swore to hold her all through the night. She could still feel his arms locked tightly around her waist and hear his strong heartbeat under her ear so much so that she refused to open her eyes and let the dream fade away.

It wasn't until she heard the braying of a donkey that she popped her eyes open to see that she was, indeed, still wrapped in his arms with the fluffy purple Thneed he'd given her wrapped around them. He was propped up against the side of the cart they had slept in with a slight frown causing two little dimples to form between his eyes and looked about as comfortable as one would expect from sleeping sitting up, probably made more so with her curled comfortably on his lap.

She tried to untangle his fingers from each other and was slowly moving his arms from around her when his wrists suddenly jerked from her fingers to once again lock around her waist so tightly that she lost her breath and he jerked awake. She looked up to see his eyes blink sleepily before flinching slightly and rotating his his shoulders, probably to ease the pinched nerves of his neck, and looked around with an air of confusion before realizing she was in his lap. His hold loosened dramatically and she took a large swallow of air, "Morning." She wheezed.

He yawned again and scooted them over until he could stretch out on the bottom of the cart, "Not yet." he muttered, pressing her head back to his shoulder and closing his eyes. She blinked as she felt his breath quickly even out under her head before realizing he'd already fallen back to sleep and tried to untangle herself again. It took her two tries to realize she was getting now where and groaned before giving up and laying across his chest feeling like a full body pillow. "Seriously, this can't be comfortable for you."

"Good luck with that, I dumped him into the river and he didn't wake up." She heard a voice claim and arched her neck until she could see the Lorax sitting at the bottom of the cart, "If I was you I'd get comfortable and go back to sleep cuz it doesn't look like he's letting go any time soon." his tone was snarky and his smirk entirely to pleased, but Juniper couldn't reach him to even kick him so she settled for a glare and folded her arms across the man's chest to proper her head up a little and ease the strain on her neck.

The Lorax's smirk widened and she rolled her eyes, "Once-ler," she called, ignoring the laughing Lorax and trying to shake his shoulder a little and getting no response, "wouldn't you be more comfortable on your bed?" she asked, grinning in satisfaction as one of his eyes hazily peeked open to look at her in consideration. "Come on, I'll tuck you in and everything." she offered with a smile, trying to heave him up with her and failing fantastically. The Lorax laughed again and Juniper speared him with a frustrated glare, "Can you levitate him or something?"

"Doesn't work like that, Doll-Face." The Lorax replied smartly and she looked at him flatly, thinking back to when she'd falling through the ground and into the sky before he'd snatched the collar of her shirt and slowed her fall enough that when she landed on the ground she wasn't hurt. She reminded him of this and he shrugged, "Life and death situations don't count, he won't die from sleeping on a cart but I'm sure you wouldn't make it far landing on a pile of lumber."

In other words he planned on watching her struggle for his own amusement. She sniffed at him and returned to trying to heave the half asleep man up enough to get him standing, which was far more difficult then it should have been since his arms wouldn't let go of her. Soon she just gave up and made herself comfortable, just beginning to fall back asleep when a pillow hit her face and startled her back awake.

"Look, I helped ya." The Lorax mocked and she tried to kick him, coming up several inches to short in her reach before she took the pillow and managed to work it under Once-ler's head. He said something about wet towels and squeezed her tight enough that she was sure her ribs would crack, "I'd stop moving around before he accidentally snaps you in half."

He was probably right so she stilled against the sleeping man under her and was pleased to find his grip on her slacken enough to ease the pressure on her ribs. The blanket Thneed was thrown over them and she chanced a quick glimpse at the Lorax, giving him a smile in thanks and he waved it away and hopped off the cart to wander around and do whatever it was that tree guardian's did when they were tired of bothering humans.


Authors Note: My dog, Lily, is so weird... We give her a bite of burrito and she carries it around for nearly ten minutes before wanting outside, then she does a weird trot around the yard like she's showing off before sitting down and eating it.

I like to think she's bragging to the other dogs. "Look what I've got that you don't. Yum."