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[yolonceler]

[The Once-ler emerges from the barracks (accompanied by a coughing fit, as he was running, and running does not agree with his damaged lungs), after a rather amusing freak-out when he noticed that he was not in his office. He is met with the sight of the Green. The Green, with its growing grass and budding flowers and… and nature. It's the landscape the Once-ler used to know, sans the truffula trees—but this is enough.

He glances skyward. It's blue, a radiant blue, with puffy cumulus clouds drifting about here and there. The light is bright, so bright he puts on his sunglasses, but there's… no sun? That makes about zero sense. He shakes his head and turns his attention back to the Green. He crouches down and tugs off one of his gloves. His hands are shaking, just a little bit, and they don't stop even when he commands them to. The Once-ler presses his palm down into the grass. The feeling is giving him some pretty unwanted flashbacks to when the truffula forest was full and lush. The world was a nice place to be, and you could take a deep breath without coughing up a lung.

He might as well be four years back in time.

So, if you want to see a tall, well-dressed man wandering around the Green with tears on his face, this is your chance.]

Comments

[missmimmi]

...A forest with trees?

[What even]

[yolonceler]

Yes but - [Oncie, stop sounding so strained.] - what kind of trees?

[missmimmi]

Pine? Maybe? I am not exactly sure.

[yolonceler]

You know what I mean. [No, she doesn't.] Truffula trees.

[missmimmi]

Um. What are 'truffula trees'? Are they tropical?

[yolonceler]

[Do people seriously not know what Thneeds are made of?]

No. Yes. ... Sort of. They're thin, and tall, and the trunk has stripes? And there are tufts on the top?

[missmimmi]

Oh! You mean palm trees!

[RIGHT??? DID SHE WIN THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION???]

[yolonceler]

What? No!

[He rubs at his eye with the heel of his hand. This is infuriating.]

Not leaves, tufts. And they're pink, or yellow, or orange.

[missmimmi]

[Oh.

Welp.]

I. Have no idea what you are referring to, then. I have never heard or seen truffla trees before.

[yolonceler]

[For a split blink-and-you-might-miss-it second, the Once-ler looks absolutely distraught, but he quickly turns back to condescending arrogance.]

Fine. That's fine.

[He puts his sunglasses on again.]

Don't know what I expected.

[missmimmi]

[Jeez these trees are really important to him aren't they.]

If it is all right, may I ask why you are so interested to know if those trees are here?

[yolonceler]

It's not all right.

[The Once-ler is not going to discuss his emotional distress with some lady in a fake garden. This has got to be some kind of trap from the environmentalist groups. Damn it, he shouldn't have shown interest in the first place.]

I was just wondering if you would really sink low enough to fake an extinct species.

[missmimmi]

[Aaand she's taken aback.]

What? I am not faking anything.

[yolonceler]

Look around you! We're in the middle of some garden thing, with grass and flowers and whatever! These things don't grow anymore, anywhere. They can't. That's kind of sick, isn't it? Faking something like -

[Oncie, stop! You're showing way too much emotion! He cuts himself off mid-sentence, thinks for a moment, then says,]

I need to know who's in charge around here.

[missmimmi]

[Oooooh. Wow. She gets it now.]

Lord Deior. But none of this is fake. You are no longer where you came from. Everything is alive here.

[yolonceler]

See, you can say that all you want, but I'm not going to believe you. Ever.

[He crosses his arms.]

Where's Deior?

[missmimmi]

None of us know. The staff might, but they will not tell the rest of us, unfortunately.

[yolonceler]

Riiight, nobody knows. All this melodramatic horror movie stuff is getting old pretty fast, you know.

[missmimmi]

Sorry? I can assure you that the majority of us were brought here against our will as well. You are not special.

[yolonceler]

[Normally the Once-ler would bristle at being told he isn't special (though he knows he isn't), but he'll let it slide.]

So I'm assuming you're among the kidnapped? You seem awfully okay with being uprooted.

[missmimmi]

I have not been home for three years. You tend to get used to it after that long.

[...Wow has she REALLY been gone that long?]

[yolonceler]

[Horrible silence. The Once-ler's expressive face cycles through several strong emotions before he settles on... I don't even know how to describe it. Sadness, maybe. Devastation.]

Three years?

[missmimmi]

Three years, ja. Of course, I was not here that entire time. I was elsewhere first.

[yolonceler]

Oh. So, then, how long have you been here?

[missmimmi]

Around nine months, I believe.

[Damn, time flies.]