Chapter Three- Day One
The first day was greeted with a wave of horror, shock and then anger when the Once-ler woke that morning only to find one of Yoose's feet in front of his face, and it wasn't about to get better.
He'd spent most of the previous afternoon- that perfect, beautiful day- wasted inside as he washed and dried all of Yoose's clothing, more of which was found confined to his backpack, and just as filthy as what he'd been wearing. Oh, and just to save some time, Yoose was only too happy to give him the clothes he'd been wearing at the time as well. The Once-ler was sure that, even with his knowledge of the many bizarre and sometimes gross creatures of the past and present, the Lorax had found the Naked Yoose to be a somewhat new and rather disturbing sight to behold.
Then, of course, was dinner- cooking three pots of vegetable soup for himself, the Lorax and the animals. The Once-ler had put on his apron and immediately been greeted with hearty guffaws and pokes at his masculinity, then a series of degrading jokes about women- to which Yoose would always say, "Oh, no offense Oncie, darling!". Yoose then ate a whole pot of soup himself, dribbling half of it down his front in the process and going to bed without even bothering to change. The Once-ler had tried to urge him to wash and change, but Yoose had already fallen into a deep, deep slumber.
Or so he thought. The Once-ler had done the dishes with the Lorax's help and put on his bunny pyjamas, and no sooner had he done so than a familiar, booming laugh reached his ears along with the cry; "HAH! BUNNIES! Oh, you're cute, sweetheart, you're cute," then a chorus of loud snores as it seemed Yoose had only woken himself to shout that single line.
The Once-ler wasn't sure he could even come close to bringing himself to sleep in the remaining half of the bed at that point, but with the rest of his house filled with animals that clearly had no intention of moving anytime soon, he'd really had no choice. A restless night spent struggling to sleep amidst Yoose's loud noises- which involved not only snoring, but a large amount of grunting and tossing as well- had gotten him no rest at all. That is, if you didn't count the final five minutes when he'd finally passed out, then woken to Yoose's foot.
And thus, the first day began.
The Once-ler sat up, pushing Yoose's foot away in disgust and narrowing his eyes as he first glared at the man, then scanned the rest of the room. The animals were all sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by Yoose's unending noises, which were currently giving the Once-ler a splitting headache. With the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, the Once-ler rubbed his eyes and stood, making his way slowly to the bathroom. Stepping awkwardly over a Bar-ba-loot that had positioned itself in the doorway, the Once-ler closed the door behind him, then turned to face the rest of the bathroom.
Only to cry out in shock as he encountered the Lorax, standing directly in front of him on his sink, watching him carefully. The Once-ler gave a groan and rubbed his eyes again, breathing deeply to calm himself down. "What are you doing in here...?" he groaned, narrowing his bloodshot eyes at the creature.
The Lorax wasn't sure what to say. He gazed at the Once-ler in surprise, then worry. "You okay, kid? You don't look good."
"Oh, I wonder why," the Once-ler moaned, shuffling over to the bath and twisting the knob. There was a moment of gurgling as the pipes summoned the water from the river and the heater struggled to warm it, but eventually there was hot water streaming from the tap and the Once-ler began to strip, uncaring of whether or not the Lorax saw him nude.
The Lorax frowned, his moustache twitching. "Yoose has been giving you a pretty hard time," he observed, his voice low. "Are you gonna be able to last the week?"
The Once-ler sighed heavily, wincing slightly as he slowly lowered himself into the bath, seizing his bubble mixture and dumping a fairly large blob of the stuff in the water. "I don't know," he said tiredly, leaning back in the now-bubbly bath. "The animals all seem to love him, but unless he stops being... him... I don't know... I really don't..." The Once-ler soaked his washer and placed it on his face, sighing deeply into the moist fabric. "Thanks for helping me try to get rid of him yesterday, too... You know, I think that's the first time you've actually said my name!" The Once-ler added the last part almost cheerfully, chuckling when the Lorax growled at him in response.
"Don't get too used to it, Oncie,it's just until he's out of your pretty little hair. Anyway, if he gets too unbearable, we'll just have to force him to leave and explain it to the others, okay?"
"Oh?" The Once-ler removed the washer, smirking at the Lorax. "Could it be that you're actually worried about me, Moustache?"
The Lorax snorted, shaking his head hopelessly and shrugging. "I don't know where you're getting that from, beanpole, but you're off the mark by a long shot. I just don't want this place getting too messy so you're not just spending all your time cleaning- you need to feed us too, you know!"
"Ah, of course," the Once-ler grinned happily, stretching and curling his toes. "Well, look forward to pancakes every morning, then. Two meals a day'll do ya."
"Yeah, yeah, do what you want, freak." The Lorax hopped down from the sink, his moustache twitching again- this time in a smile. "Good luck this week, beanpole. You're gonna need it."
The Once-ler watched the Lorax disappear through the door almost forlornly, dreading the time he would be done with his bath and would have to emerge to make breakfast... in the presence of Yoose. It was not to be avoided though, and soon the Once-ler was clean and dressed, and soon after, emerging into the main room of his tent. Yoose and the other animals were seated around his room and when he entered they all turned around, looking at him expectantly. The Once-ler sighed and headed for his tiny kitchen, pulling on his apron and setting to work.
It took most of the remaining morning, but the Once-ler cooked a grand total of twelve plates of pancakes, silently thanking the fact that he'd stocked up on pancake ingredients to a massive degree two days earlier. Yoose, as expected, ate two plates by himself and then some, complimenting the Once-ler's cooking and then ruining the cheerful effect by implying that he would make a great wife. Afraid that he was about to punch his guest in the face, the Once-ler quickly busied himself with the dishes, feeling slightly better as the Lorax silently came to help him. Yoose, for his part, left the premises to wander outside, leaving the Once-ler alone with the Lorax, Pipsqueak and several Swomee-Swans who were chatting animatedly to each other from on top of his cupboard. The dishes were finished in comfortable silence between the two, and stacked in a large, teetering pile beside the sink.
The work unfortunately didn't end there. The Once-ler then spent the next hour and a half cleaning the rest of his tent- mopping the floor, washing the sheets and gathering what little he could of the fur and feathers that now seemed a constant presence in the tent. Then, absolutely exhausted, the Once-ler collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands. The Lorax sat beside him, patting him comfortingly on the back.
"Good job, beanpole," he murmured, giving the human a wry smile.
The Once-ler nodded in response, then lifted his head, staring for a moment at the Lorax. He then stood, walked over to his bed and climbed in, kicking off his shoes as he buried himself beneath the covers.
"I'm taking a nap, okay?" he called tiredly, his voice muffled through his pillow. "If Yoose comes back, tell him to go away."
The Lorax nodded, jumped down from the table and headed for the door. The Once-ler heard the door click behind him and frowned, a single thought drifting through his mind as he sank into a deep, deep sleep.
The Lorax hadn't made fun of him once that day.