Chapter Four- Day Two

The Lorax strolled over the grassy hills of the forest, winding his way through the truffula tress, his eyes ever in search of the stubby, filthy man that called himself Yoose. He'd decided to have a chat with the man- who, close to expectations- had not gotten any more polite with the coming of the second day.

The Once-ler was as he'd been left the previous afternoon, curled up in his bed, catching up on the sleep he'd lost the night before. He hadn't even bothered trying to sleep during the night- instead, he'd taken his guitar and his drawing pad outside and spent the time strumming random tunes and jingles and designing various machines that could apparently teleport unwanted guests to unknown locations. The Lorax had sat beside him for a time, but retired after a few hours of chatting aimlessly with his very good acquaintance.

Now, he was on a mission. He was going to confront Yoose and, to the best of his ability, get the man to behave.

Of course, none of his efforts meant that he was friends with the Once-ler. He didn't mind the boy too much, and sure, he was a hit with the animals and could be found to be surprisingly kind and generous on occasion, but he was just so annoying! Honestly, the Lorax had never come across such a thick-headed youth in all his long years as guardian! That being said, he hadn't come across many humans before, but if the Once-ler was a decent example of a normal human, he wasn't sure he wanted to. But he and the Once-ler were close enough at least for the Lorax to be able to see the stress steadily building inside the poor boy, and they were certainly close enough for the Lorax to want to help him. It was as simple as that, nothing more.

The Lorax emerged over the crest of a particularly large hill and, as expected, Yoose was sitting on the other side with a gaggle of creatures around him, distributing marshmallows from an unusually large bag that could only belong to the Once-ler. The Lorax approached him, placed his hands on his hips, and cleared his throat as loudly as he could.

It took three attempts for Yoose to notice, then finally he looked away from the animals and at the Lorax, his face brightening at the sight of the large, orange guy. He waved him over, ignoring the fact that he was but a metre away, and greeted him in a loud, booming voice usually reserved for conversing in a dense crowd.

"Lorax, how ya doin? Where's Oncie, he not with you?" he asked curiously, peering around the Lorax as if the Once-ler was going to suddenly pop out at any second.

'He's FOUR TIMES MY SIZE, MORON!' the Lorax thought irritably, crossing his arms and speaking in a gruff tone. "He's resting."

"Ah, that's a shame. You know, I've only ever seen that fella in the mornings then he's straight off to bed- is he nocturnal or something?"

The Lorax's annoyance grew. "No, he's not-"

"Marshmallow?" Yoose offered, interrupting the Lorax and holding out one of the small, squishy objects. When the Lorax refused as politely as he could manage- which was, unsurprisingly, not very polite at all- Yoose shrugged and reverted his attention to the bag beside him, continuing to hand out marshmallows to the continually growing group of animals, each of whom was buzzing with enough energy that it seemed they would erupt at any second. The Lorax was being completely ignored, and he didn't like it one bit. He cleared his throat again and again, and after the fourth time he finally stepped forward, unfurled his arms and clenched his fists, scowling heavily.

"YOOSE!" he shouted in the man's face, causing him to jump and scoot backwards, staring at the Lorax in shock. Before he had time to speak, the Lorax strode forward, planting himself not a foot away and jabbing his finger in Yoose's direction. "I've had just about enough of this," he said in a low growl. "Now you are going to listen to me and you are going to answer my questions and you are not going to interrupt. Understood?"

Yoose nodded wildly, the creatures around him steadily backing away from the Lorax. Normally their fear would bother him, but the Lorax was too busy confronting Yoose to care. "Where did you get the bag of marshmallows?" he asked quietly, his voice soft and yet no less threatening.

"Oncie-"

"The Once-ler."

Yoose swallowed and tried again. "I-I got it from On... the Once-ler's house. I saw him feedin' the bar-ba-loots once so I took a bag while he was busy makin' pancakes." Yoose laughed, some of his nervousness dissipating. "As if he could eat all those marshmallows anyway- he's got at least ten bags there, he'll never miss just one-"

"That idiot would notice if just one went missing from all those bags, he loves 'em that much. Thinking that he'd miss an entire bag disappearing is nothing short of idiocy." The Lorax huffed, crossing his arms again. "I get that you like these guys and you wanna be closer to 'em. But stealing is not the way to go about it."

"Aw, that wasn't stealing," Yoose scoffed, leaning back in a much more annoyingly relaxed pose. "Me n' Onci-"

"The Once-le-"

"Oncie," Yoose repeated more firmly, "are friends. He knows me, I know him, we have a good time and that's why I have the right to call him by his nickname and you sayin' that I can't is nothing short of hypocritical."

"Oh?" the Lorax raised one of his large, bushy eyebrows. "How so?"

"Well, you call him beanpole, don'tcha? Isn't that the same?"

The Lorax opened his mouth, but Yoose spoke over him. "The answer to that, my furry friend, is yes. I'm not doin' any harm, am I, guys?" He pleaded his case to the critters around him, that had steadily started to approach again after the Lorax ceased shouting. They all nodded tentatively, watching the Lorax carefully for any signs of reproach.

None came. Sighing, the Lorax glared at Yoose, knowing fully well that threatening him wasn't going to work in the grand scheme of things- especially with the animals there to back him up. So, he decided to appeal to him in the one thing Yoose seemed comfortable with; delusion.

Uncrossing his arms and placing them behind his back, the Lorax smiled at Yoose, taking a small step back. "You're right, I'm sorry," he said calmly, ignoring the muscle twitching in his cheek. "It's just that I'm old, you're new- you know, it's a lot to get used to."

"Aw, that's fine," Yoose said, waving an arm dismissively. "I get it. Don't you worry, I'm a very understanding man."

"Clearly." The Lorax, paused, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. "Well then... Why don't I try appealing to you... Man to man, so to speak?"

At this, Yoose seemed to perk up a bit. He sat up properly, grinning a sly grin and nodding slowly. He looked around at the creatures beside him, then called out to all of them; "All right gang, it's been real fun with you all, but the Lorax and I need to have a private chat for a moment, okay?"

Though slightly disappointed, the group nodded and dissipated, soon leaving the Lorax and Yoose to themselves, alone amidst the truffula trees. With the animals gone, the area was quiet enough that when Yoose clapped his hands the sound almost seemed to echo around them, spreading throughout the hills. The Lorax felt a small spark of irritation at this, but when Yoose leant forward, clearly ready to listen, he ignored it and moved on, taking a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Alright," he began, "I'll be honest- there are some issues that you've created during your stay here, and if you want to stay for the rest of the week, I'd suggest you try to fix them, if you would."

"Issues?" Yoose asked in confusion. "What issues? I haven't found any-"

"That's probably because you're the one causing the issues," the Lorax said tersely.

"Really?" Yoose frowned, stroking the black stubble that decorated his chin. "Alright, go on."

Feeling pleased that Yoose was actually paying attention, the Lorax went on. "First off, you're a slob. You need to clean yourself at least once every two days- once a day, depending on how dirty you get. You should change whenever you get your clothes overly-filthy, and try your hardest to eat the food the Once-ler gives you, not eat half of it and use the rest for body art. Got it?"

Yoose nodded, grinning. "Is that all? Well, I s'ppose I could do that easy 'nuff. Anything else?"

"Quit taking the Once-ler's marshmallows, and quit makin' so much trouble for him. Stuff like making a mess wherever you go, maybe you could help him with the dishes, and stick to your side of the bed. Understood?"

Yoose nodded again, his grin widening. "That's what Oncie's been complaining about? Hah! Oh, bless him," he muttered, wiping away an invisible tear. "So the big guy can't handle a little housework, eh? All right, I'll help him." Yoose laughed and stood, unaware of the glare that the Lorax sent him as he started the trek back towards the tent. The Lorax watched him go, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

For some reason, he wasn't sure that his discussion with Yoose had done more good than harm.