by scorpions-tale
Greedler lay in bed as Oncie worked through the night on the thneed, making sure every detail was perfect. It was so strange to Greedler that someone would be hand-crafting a thneed again after all the mass-production he set up. Nothing he’d done existed here. He didn’t even exist here up until today, because if this were the same timeline as his own, it would’ve happened to him, too. And he definitely remembered the Lorax being the only sorry excuse of a companion he ever had.
He dozed off as Oncie still worked tirelessly on that thneed, having lost time by having to harvest it without cutting it down. It was good work ethic, Greedler was willing to give him that much. Greedler still didn’t want to see much of himself in this person who would never know his hardship. He was the one who deserved the name Onceler, this…other version was simply along for the ride. A possession, nothing more.
“Hello?” Oncie said, and Greedler could see the sun shining through the windows as he slowly opened his eyes, shielding himself from the brightness with one hand until he could find his glasses again.
“What do you want?” Greedler said, never being much of a morning person.
“It’s ten o’ clock, I thought you might want to wake up,” Oncie said.
“If I wanted to wake up, I’d be awake,” Greedler hissed, a hand on his forehead.
“Alright, no need to be a jerk about it,” Oncie said, flipping some pancakes over the stove.
“Who asked for your opinion?” Greedler said.
“I did, and that’s as good as you asking for it, isn’t it?” he said, but he didn’t look angry or bitter towards Greedler at all, “I made you some breakfast today, because I figured coming from the future might be a little exhausting. You didn’t sleep very well.”
Greedler thought his rest was quite refreshing, but as he sat up he noticed feathers scattered across the ground, and a pillow with multiple scratch marks all over it. He didn’t remember what he’d dreamt about, but he had only had something like that happen once before. The night his company went under. He didn’t bother to mention that.
“Here you go,” Oncie said, handing him the pancakes on a plate with a fork.
Greedler took them without so much as a thank-you, devouring them ravenously as if he hadn’t eaten in months. And then he took the stack sitting on the counter, and ate them, too.
“Hey! Those were mine,” Oncie said, visibly irritated now, “I think that was pretty obvious.”
Greedler shrugged, “Should’ve eaten before you woke me up.”
“Look, I appreciate your help, but if you’re just going to push me around I’d rather do it on my own, okay?” Oncie said, and Greedler glared at him, teeth bared, “I didn’t say you had to leave, alright? But if we’re going to do this business thing we have to be partners. I want to accomplish something, too.”
Greedler stood up, slinking dangerously close to Oncie, fists clenched. But, as much as he hated to admit it, he needed this version of himself. The way he was now, people would notice if he was suddenly so different. He feigned a smile and extended a hand towards Oncie, “Deal. I’m just a little exhausted, that’s all. Sorryabout the pancakes.”
“It’s alright,” Oncie said, accepting the handshake.
Greedler’s grip was strong, and his hand could almost crush Oncie’s if he tried hard enough. Greedler released his grip, and Oncie shook his hand out as if he’d just hit it with a hammer, but smiled awkwardly up at Greedler either way, “Yeah, uh, thanks.”
“I think you have somewhere to be,” Greedler said, not too eager to spend more quality time together, “You’ve got to sell that invention you’ve spent all night making, right?”
“Right, right,” Oncie said, rishing to grab his hat, his guitar, and the thneed, “I’ll be back when I’ve made a sale!”
He walked out the door whistling a happy tune, but he didn’t come back when Greedler expected him to. In fact, he didn’t come back at all. It was near dark, and there was no sign of Oncie to be found.
Shit. The possibilities of what could’ve went wrong rushed through Greedler’s head. Had his influence been a disaster after all? Was he doomed to screw things up in every timeline? He didn’t want to waste more years trying to get another fresh start. He ran out of the house, nearly tearing the door off its hinges, and set out towards town as fast as he could go.
About halfway there, he heard the familiar twang of guitar strings from behind a rather large rock. Sure enough, there was Oncie, sitting on the other side, absent-mindedly strumming his guitar with a look of dismay on his face.
“What in the hell are you doing?” said Greedler, his voice when he was yelling lower-pitched and almost demonic sounding.
“Nothing, I – I’m just – “ Oncie backed himself up against the rock as if that would protect him, his eyes darting towards the unsold thneed, “I didn’t sell it, okay? I failed. Our business plan is ruined now, isn’t it?”
“So, what, you were just going to stay out here and never come back?” Greedler said, still irritated but less enraged now that he knew Oncie wasn’t lost or worse.
“I just didn’t know what to say to you,” Oncie said, “You said I was supposed to sell this. I didn’t. What’s the point in coming back if I’ve made a mess out of everything already?”
“Oh, that’s just a minor set back,” Greedler said, taking Oncie by the arm and pulling him towards the campsite, “You shouldn’t be so worried about that. You can try again tomorrow, right?”
Greedler knew that it wasn’t going to sell tomorrow, either. Or any time he actually tried to go out and sell it. But his only concern right now was that Oncie didn’t pull any stunts like this again, so he tried his best not to seem as angry as he was.
“You have to promise me you’ll come back, no matter what happens, alright? I can work something out, even if you don’t sell it right away,” Greedler said, “But we’re partners, and…and friends, right? We ought to stick together.”
Oncie didn’t say anything, but his expression brightened. When Greedler caught him behind that rock, the way he looked, the way he was yelling, Oncie could’ve sworn he was about to be torn in half. Was that concern? Was he only that upset because he was so afraid for the safety of his friend? Oncie didn’t quite know how to recognize that. It wasn’t familiar to him, being cared about like that. But it must be, that must be it, he rationalized to himself, and it made him feel more comfortable around Greedler than he had been before, although his wrist was surely being bruised by the way Greedler was dragging him around right now.
“I’m sorry,” Oncie said, as they got closer and closer to home, “I won’t do that again. I won’t leave you alone anymore.”
With his free hand, Oncie gave Greedler’s arm a gentle squeeze, but there was no response other than a small grunt and a nod of approval. Greedler’s expression didn’t change at all, even with the promise of not being alone.
We are alone, you idiot, Greedler wanted to say, we’re technically the same.
Greedler only released Oncie from his grasp when they stepped through the doorway, door still open from when Greedler stormed out.
“Get changed and get to bed, it’s late already,” Greedler said.
“I’m not really all that tired, and I’m still kind of hungry after being out there all day,” Oncie said, and he was about to continue before he was interrupted by a growl from the Greedler.
“You should’ve thought of that before you sat out there all day, then,” Greedler said, “I’m tired and I don’t want you pulling anything stupid while I’m asleep, so you can come to bed, too.”
“Oh, well, alright then, if that’s the case,” Oncie said, not bothering to argue with what could vaguely be interpreted as ‘caring’.
“How can you not be tired, anyways? Did you even sleep last night?” Greedler asked.
“Only a few hours. Just at the table. I was tired, but I was woken up by, uh…” he wanted to say ‘by your terrifying shouting’, but he figured that might be a bad idea, “Well, I’m kind of awake now, but I’ll go to bed if you want.”
“Yes, I do want,” Greedler said, lying back down on the lumpy, too-small bed that was available.
“Hang on, I’ll just dig out the sleeping bag, I was too exhausted last night but I know I have one somewhere in here,” Oncie said.
“No,” Greedler said, “Just use the bed.”
“Oh,” Oncie said, “You’re letting me have the bed?”
“Ha! Hardly, just get over here,” Greedler said, putting his glasses and top hat on a nearby stand.
“Uhh…” Oncie was trying to find a way to say ‘that’s awkward’ without offending his future self, but the best he could come up with was “There’s barely any room left, with the way you have to curl up like that.”
“Too bad,” Greedler said, “What, are you nervous? It’s not like I’m a stranger or something.”
“Well, no, I guess not,” Oncie said, not being able to argue with that, “Do you at least want some extra pajamas? I have another pair.”
“No,” Greedler said, “Just hurry up. Searching for you was tiring.”
“Are you sure?” Oncie said, “These ones are a little too big so they might just fit you.”
“I said no,” Greedler said, “How many times to I have to tell you to hurry the hell up?”
Oncie shrank back, head down. He didn’t like it when his other self acted like that. He had sincerely hoped that that type of behavior would’ve subsided after a good night’s rest, but maybe today was just too stressful, too. Tomorrow would be a better day.
He got changed and sat at the edge of the bed, Greedler being nearly asleep already. He looked down nervously at the shredded pillow (which, by the way, was the pillow that Greedler had left for Oncie to use) before he was yanked down, his legs hanging awkwardly off the bed as Greedler held him close.
Greedler wasn’t going to let Oncie call the shots of when to get up anymore. He had caused enough stress today, so it would be better if he got used to running on Greedler’s schedule. Tomorrow was another day of failure, after all.
Oncie, unable to fall asleep, listened to the sound of Greedler’s breathing as it became slower and deeper until he was sure that his future self was sleeping. His claw-like fingers sometimes dug into Oncie’s back uncomfortably, but there was thankfully no scratching.
Oncie tried very hard not to find this situation weird, but the thought that confused him most was that it was kind of comforting to have a warm body in the same bed as him, even if that bed was all too small. It was a sadly unfamiliar feeling, but one that he could see the appeal of, even if the other person was himself.
He hadn’t really been able to see Greedler as another version of himself, though. He was just so…different, aside from the physical similarities, and even then they could easily be told apart. Greedler just seemed so aggressive, and angry, and…strange that he couldn’t imagine himself ending up as him.
But that’s why he was here, right? Oncie knew he’d come to correct some mistakes he had made in his own time. Maybe there was a lot of hardship there. Maybe he didn’t want Oncie to turn out the way that he did. It was that interpretation that kept Oncie from acting out against Greedler the way he wanted to. He didn’t like being pushed around and, despite their deal, he felt like he still was being pushed around.
But what did he know? He was just the past version. The one about to make all the mistakes. The one that couldn’t even go out and sell the thneed with the guidance of someone from years in the future.
Maybe he was a failed version of this successful entrepreneur.
Maybe he was annoying, and frustrating, and couldn’t do anything right.
Maybe Greedler was being as patient with him as he possibly could.
The best he could do now was show some patience of his own in return.
You Obviously Love Oncest 