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[thatholeinside]

[It took a couple of days, but the Mirror Once-ler found the door he had been searching for - his door, which was apparently in the pool area. Whatever was inside it, he was going to take for himself. He deserved it - he's the competent businessman, after all. As long as he grabbed another key (any key, because did it really matter?) he would be safe. He certainly wasn't concerned.

At least, he wasn't before he opened the door. When he was through, he did not calmly exit with his usual grace - he ran, pale, frightened, and breathing heavily. He could still almost hear it, even though the door was gone and the moment taken far away with it. He covers his ears.]

Shut up! Go away! I don't care!

[He needs to go home, and he needs to go home immediately. He looks around in a hurry, and while there are mirrors in the area, those would take a fraction of a second longer to reach. So, he runs and leans over the side of the pool. He only sees his scared face for a moment no longer than a blink, and he's gone.]

Comments

REALSIDE

[thneedifestdestiny]

[The Real Once-ler, of course, was expecting no such switch. So he goes very suddenly from walking down the hall to staring directly at some pool. He'd been walking, so that swap pulled the rug out from under his feet, and now he's unsteady.

He makes an admirable effort to flail and tilt and balance himself. He tries so, so very hard, but it's hopeless.

The Once-ler tumbles right into the pool with a loud splash, clothes and all.]

MIRRORSIDE

[thatholeinside]

[The Mirror Once-ler is still breathing heavily when he returns, but he is not so clumsy as his Real Thing. He stands, brushes off his coat for good measure, and heads down the hall, hoping that no one witnessed such an unprofessional reaction.]

[speaksforthetrees]

[Oh crap, he's in the suit. Did he go back? Did the Lorax just miss him being missing and now he's the jerk version of himself from the future? Oh dear, oh why? Oh me, oh my.

Gosh, he looks angry.

Better hide under this nightstand in the hallway. Nobody would notice an orange guy here. Nope.]

[thatholeinside]

[The Mirror Once-ler almost walks by him. Almost. But then he pauses, turns around, and stares at the orange fuzzball.]

Ugh. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be over there with all their stupid doors and stupid keys and stupid decorations?

[speaksforthetrees]

The real me went over to the other...

[Lightbulb!]

You're the mirror...ler!

[thatholeinside]

I am. Congratulations.

[He could keep going with miles of sarcasm, but that's more of his Real's shtick and he's not in the mood right now. Instead, he deadpans and shrugs. He's honestly not surprised to see the real Lorax, but he's far from thrilled. Mostly he's just annoyed he's in the space near where the Mirror-ler happens to be.]

[speaksforthetrees]

I. Uh. Nice to meet you?

[Wow, his first mirror meeting. Hmm.]

[thatholeinside]

[He scoffs at that.]

Quit lying. If it was nice to meet me, you wouldn't be hiding under a table.

[speaksforthetrees]

[...Oh yeah, that stopped being a thing he was doing.]

I thought you were the Once-ler from the future. The one who chased me down the stairs.

This tag isn't super late what shh

[thatholeinside]

[He raises an eyebrow. Outfit aside, he has no way of knowing what his Real's future is like. And now even his Real doesn't, without that stupid, stupid key.]

Yes, well. I'm not. Not really. But it doesn't mean I'm your Once-ler either.

[Despite not being that future Once-ler, he's just as angry as him, though maybe a bit more bitter.]

I didn't see nothin

[speaksforthetrees]

[The Lorax stares some more.]

S-so, uh. Can you help me get back to my side? You know. So I can be with mine?

[...That sounded a little more romantic than he meant it.]

GOOD. 8 |

[thatholeinside]

No, I can't.

[He rolls his eyes.]

The only reason the other me is even over there right now is because I cut my trip over there short. Your Mirror has to get over here for you to be able to go back to that side.

:3

[speaksforthetrees]

Darn.

[The Lorax looks up at the nearest mirror, wondering if he could maybe just. Reach through or something. Or leave a note? He's seen notes on the mirrors...

Not that he's certain his mirror will listen.]

Do you know him? My um. The other Lorax?

:P

[thatholeinside]

I know him. Or know of him.

[He gives a bitter laugh at that.]

He's not like you, so he's had little reason to talk to me so far. I assume it's because nothing was in it for him, or something like that.

[But it's not like The Mirror-ler's sought him out or anything. He's been busy biggering and whatnot.]

[speaksforthetrees]

...Peculiar. You'd think he's still got my job, and all. He'd still want to keep an eye on you.

[Hmm.]

Can I meet him? Or are we always stuck on opposite sides of the glass?

[thatholeinside]

Some people are bad at their jobs.

[Is it really that surprising?]

We're supposed to be on opposite sides. There were times when it didn't work like that, but that was before I was made, so I don't know anything about it.

Why would you even want to meet him anyway?

[speaksforthetrees]

[The Lorax logs that away. He'll have to ask a less...angry-sounding mirror about that, later.]

I guess just to...see. Morbid curiosity?

[thatholeinside]

[He raises an eyebrow at the rhyming.]

It's not worth it - you'd just be offended. You're better off just sticking with your stupid Once-ler.

[speaksforthetrees]

Huh? You think he's...

[Misguided, he might say. Naive. Greedy. But not stupid. The Once-ler is actually pretty bright, from what the Lorax can tell.]

Why do you say that?

[thatholeinside]

Of course I do!

[He almost growled that out. He has a lot of feelings on this subject matter.]

He's a terrible businessman and he's not even a little self-aware. And he cares way too much about other people, and what they think of him. He's not the kind of person who should be CEO - he's the kind of person who should be paid pennies to come up with designs.

[He could go on, and on, and on. But he just sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.]

He's a complete idiot who only sees what he wants to see in every situation, and he makes me look bad. What a worthless optimist.

[speaksforthetrees]

[The Lorax frowns deeply, shaking his head.]

But...wanting to impress his family is what made him do the business in the first place. And it's what made him agree that cutting down trees wasn't necessary, at...at least at first.

I don't think you understand what's good about that guy.

[thatholeinside]

[He scoffs at that.]

Why he would ever want to impress those people is beyond me. You can't base an entire business model on wanting Mom to like you more.

[Of course, they're his family too, but he doesn't go back to that subject.]

Besides, isn't wanting to impress them what made him break that promise? It's not something good about him. He'd throw you under a bus if he thought Mom would watch him do it.

[speaksforthetrees]

I didn't say they were the people he should be trying to impress. Just that it's not a bad thing to want people to like you if it makes you a better person.

[thatholeinside]

But it never makes him a better person, does it? Sure, he tried that one time, but that didn't work out so well, did it?

[But this all sounds a little too much like caring about it, so he pulls back a bit, with a cool shrug.]

I don't really care one way or the other what he does, but he's still stupid.

[speaksforthetrees]

[The Lorax turns away, crosses his arms.]

You're wrong.