The Once-ler's face was split with a lop-sided grin. His hands rested on the balcony railing, gaze travelling across the open, baring landscape. With every tree that came down, his business just kept biggering.

The sun was setting behind the brown-gray clouds on the horizon. Such a long day at work, and he felt a bit stiff. Turning, he headed towards his quarters. In his room, there was a large green velvet bed that dominated the majority of the space. He swaggered past it through a door off to the side that led to his private bathroom.

He slowly took his top hat off and set it on the counter, followed by his gloves after he tugged them off one finger at a time. He watched his reflection as he ran his fingers slowly through his dark hair with a smirk. He slid his fingers along the lapels of his green pinstripe jacket before unbuttoning it, shrugging it off his shoulders, and dropping it into a wrinkled heap on the floor. The green and black tie slipped like water in his hands it was so silky, and it fluttered in slow motion to the floor. He ran his fingers down his white collared shirt, unbuttoning the buttons one by one down his chest. He let that, too, crumple on the floor behind him. Staring in the mirror, he took a moment to admire his bare chested reflection in the mirror, a bit taken aback by the muscles he'd acquired chopping trees. He never stopped to notice how he'd changed since being so scrawny and emaciated. The tips of his fingers slithered down his sides without his conscious permission, making him shudder. When they reached his waist line, he slid them to the front of his slacks and unbuttoned and unzipped them, never taking his eyes off the mirror. They rumpled around his ankles and he stepped out of them, pushing them back with his foot. Biting the inside of his lip a bit, he slid his boxers down as well.

His deft fingers reached down and turned the shower faucet on. He stepped into the warm spray of water and closed his eyes. He was acutely aware of the beads of hot water sliding down his torso, and that ultimately is what made his palms slide down the flat plane of his chest. He let out a shuttering gasp as he slowly wrapped his fingers around himself. He leaned his back against the wall of the shower and let the hot streams hit his chest, and roll down around his pumping hand. He used his other hand to gently massage the tip, enticing another gasp from his lips. A twinge of guilt threatened to enter the back of his mind. Should he really be doing this? But he shook it off, convincing himself that it was his right to treat himself this way. After all, how bad could it possibly be?

He ran his tongue across his bottom lip as he pumped faster. Besides, he thought, I'm just doin what comes naturally. He let out a deep moan as he slid his thumb across the tip gently. And then another as he did it again, not so gently. He pressed the tips of his pumping fingers against the sensitive veins on the bottom of his shaft and huffed his breathed out hoarsely. The skin of his shoulders and chest had grown red from the constant battering of hot water, but he was so near climax that it only fueled his libido.

His quick, labored breaths transformed into a long shaky moan as he slid down the wall a bit and released. He stood up straight and took a deep breath. He slowly began to rinse himself off.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Lorax or the Once-ler (unfortunately...)

... I regret nothing.