entrancelogs | Save yourself, serve yourself

Who: The Once-ler [

thneedifestdestiny] and OPEN
Where: In the Shelter
When: The duration of the event, May 15th - 18th
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Once-ler has to scavenge for food and deal with intense paranoia. Or, as he'd call it back home, a totally normal weekend.
The Story:

[It's a little concerning that the Once-ler isn't completely lost about what to do in an apocalyptic-seeming scenario. Who would even look at the Once-ler and assume he knows anything about surviving anywhere.

First order of business is getting into this vending machine he found. He woke up alone and he hasn't seen a single other person yet, but he did find a heavy broken pipe with a sharp bend in it two-thirds of the way down. Without much hesitation at all, he lifts the pipe up and swings it like an axe and the glass rains down everywhere. The sound of it echos in the otherwise silent hall. Then, once he knocks most of the glass away, he slips off his ridiculously long gloves and starts filling them up with as many snacks as he can fit in them.

Of course this would be the event where he gets caught not wearing his only Thneed before it starts. He could've just knotted that into a bag, but noooo, that would be too easy!

The drink machine is a little trickier, since it doesn't have a glass front, but with a little effort he's able to jimmy it open and he nicks all the water bottles from it. He can only cram a few inside the gloves, but he has a plan. He lays the gloves on the ground with the hands pointing in opposite directions. Then, he ties off the openings (leaving a good amount of room at the end) and ties the two gloves together, elbow to middle finger on both ends. When he's done he has a very, very stupid looking sash, but he also has a way to carry his supplies and keep his hands free...just in case. He uses the remaining fingers to secure two more water bottles to the outside of his sash.

Aside from the dumb sash and the cold weather, he's done all of this before. Long after the Thneed factory was abandoned, he broke into the vending machines in the workers' breakroom and raided them for the last sweets he thought he'd ever have. Back when he was in charge, he wouldn't have even associated with the guy who knew where the keys would be.

If anyone run into him on the first day, he might be willing to share some of his supplies. Try your luck. But, as the event progresses and he grows more and more paranoid of everything and everyone around him, he won't be letting anyone within three and a half feet of him. He's very, very painfully aware that he isn't much of a fighter and he doesn't stand a chance against anyone who tries to come at him with magic, but he sure can swing a lead pipe if he has to.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Yeah, that's what happens when you ruin everything around you. But the Once-ler shrugs.]

Can't be any worse than this, right?

[He assumes not, if she actually wants to go back. He is definitely on board with Operation Garbage though. Vengeance just sounds right today for some reason, like they deserve it for making everyone so paranoid and twitchy.]

Ha, yeah! They'll get what's coming to them for dumping us in this dump in the first place.

No, it's way better! I stay in this temple by the beach and we protect the city from monsters and stuff. Uh, don't worry about the monsters! They're no match for me. [Said very proudly.

Vengeance is sweet, Once-ler. So sweet.]

They'll get slam dumped in the dump!

[He raises an eyebrow at her, just a bit skeptically. But...gems are magic apparently, so whatever. Maybe there are monsters too. Maybe she just throws people in trash cans for a living.]

...Right. Sure. I guess that'd be fun though? I've never been to a beach before - outside of here, anyway.

[A pause, as he remembers they're in a frozen tundra.] ...Not here-here. Back at the mansion.

The whole city's on the beach. People visit all the time just to relax and have fun and stuff. You can swim or do volleyball or whatever, it's all good.

I mean. My friends are kinda jerks so they might say you can't stay with us, but they let Steven keep Lion.. I'm sure they'll be fine with it if we just explain it to them.

Is Lion...an actual Lion?

[This is an important question. He's lived with a lot of wild animals before, but he might have to draw the line at lions.

There's one other important question too, and he tries to ask it as casually as possible.]

And, uh. Are there...trees, in your world?

Yeah, Lion's a lion. He's cool though. He doesn't even leave half-eaten corpses around or anything. Actually... I've never even seen him eat? [Huh. Weird.]

But yeah, of course there are trees! Tons of 'em. They're pretty much everywhere. Heh, what kind of world wouldn't have trees?

[So, Lion sneakily eats his dinner whole and leaves no trace behind then. Got it.

He doesn't comment on that, but he does laugh awkwardly and half-heartedly. He's normally more open about what happened but...right now he's not quite so trusting.] Ha. Right...a world with no trees. That'd be super weird.

[Ha. Ha. Ha...]

[Amethyst is smart enough to notice his discomfort with the subject of trees. But she doesn't comment on it, knowing when it's best to let subjects lie. She has her own subjects that bother her. She knows what it's like.]

Yeah. [And she drops it there.]

So you done this before? [Gesturing to the makeshift sash full of snacks and water.]

Yeah, once. I mean, not this specifically-- [He gestures vaguely at the sash.] --but I've got to be kinda resourceful to get by where I'm from.

[His world's just sounding better and better, isn't it?]

[Yeah, his world sounds real dandy.]

Is your world like this? [And a gasp.] Wait, has this been your event all along? Am I gonna have to put you in the garbeage!?

What? No! This is nothing like my world! I-It's not my event!

[...Except for all the ways where he already admitted that this is totally like his world. Suddenly though, he looks a lot more uncomfortable with her now that he's the one who might get thrown in the garbage.]

Yeah, except that's what you'd say... if this were your event. [She steps closer to him, arms raised and poised to grab him.] Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna--

[--And she tries to grab him in a bear hug.]

[The Once-ler starts to back up, arms raised as if trying to calm a wild animal, but he's too slow. She's already grabbing for him and even though he tries to stagger back she's much too strong for him. He struggles, but it's kind of hopeless. He's too skinny and lanky to put up much of a fight this way.]

Let go of me! Don't put me in the garbage!

[She's got him in a bear hug, and she lifts him above the ground easily. Thankfully, there's a garbage can nearby, near the vending machine for practicality reasons. She kicks over the can, which knocks off the top, and stuffs him inside in one swift motion, then quickly turns it back upright. She finishes by neatly setting the top back onto the can and dusting off her hands after a job well done.

It's probably mostly candy wrappers and bottles in there, but who knows, maybe there's some treasure.]

Save yourself, serve yourself | Open

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