Audience of Cadavers

Audrey: [her voice is still groggy] Hairy boy,, morning… [streee e etches her arms above her head and then scoots closer to scritch his ears =v=] How was the night shift?

Theo: [he hums as her fingers scratch behind his ears, his tail thumping against the mattress] ..Oh, y'know.. same as usual. Nothin' out of the ordinary to report. Just a lot of snow, and a lot of silence.

Audrey: [she was just joking about “night shift”, but it seems he’s actually started taking her advice about getting up and doing stuff while everyone’s asleep. However, she inwardly admits she could’ve used the company last night...] Aha, glad it wasn’t just my imagination. I’m proud of you~ [ruffles up his mane,] And silence is good. It means I’m doing a thorough job on my zombie sweeps.

Theo: [his tongue sticks out ever so slightly as she ruffles his mane] ..Mmm..you sleep okay..?

Audrey: …,Mm,, I, could’ve slept better…

Theo: [he frowns a little] ..Somethin’ botherin’ you, or was it just an unlucky night..?

Audrey: Hmm,...[she slows down her ruffling and then proceeds to pet his fur back into place] ...I’ve just had a lot on my mind.

Theo: ..Do you want to talk about it..?

Audrey: [another long pause as she concentrates on running her fingers through his fur] Uhm,...I was thinking about,....my friend,,

Theo: The one you’re trying to meet up with, yeah? ..What about them?

Audrey: Yeah, I'm,,, well first of all, I'm wor rie d,...there's been kids on the radio traveling alone, getting infected, dying,..

Theo: [his head tilts to one side as he listens to her voice her concerns] ..You're afraid of him ending up like them.

Audrey: [damn, it’s too early for her anxiety to be rising] I have no idea where he is, or how he’s doing, or whether he’s even alive-- [she takes a breath in, and then exhales] What if he’s dead--

Theo: --Audrey. He's not dead. He's alive. You need to trust in him, and trust that he's alright. Worrying over a possibility isn't going to accomplish anything.

Audrey: ?? You don’t know that he’s alive,, and I don’t either. Right now he’s just,…[rubs her face and mumbles]...Schrodinger’s Ted,

Theo: … [he reaches over and gently flicks her forehead] Yer jus’ provin’ my point here, Audrey. Stop, and take a breather.

Audrey: AH--! HeY,, [she massages the spot where he flicked her. How dare he! She rolls on top of him for revenge and then buries her face in his mane] Hrmmf,,..ssorry, I'm,, I've been trying to avoid thinking too hard about him, but...

Theo: Hmmeheheh.. [he laughs as she rolls on top of him, one hand reaching up to pat her shoulder comfortingly] ..You can’t help but worry, I know. It’s difficult not to..

Audrey: …[takes his paw into her own hand, looking somewhere down and off to the side. Her brow furrows ever so slightly in thought, before she remembers she’s supposed to be taking a breather right now. So, she exhales to relieve some tension] That’s an understatement....you..have no idea…

Theo: ..I think I have some idea. [he glances over at the door] I'm worried about a loved one's well-being too, you know..?

Audrey: ...I know. But there’s m--, [she stops herself,] There’s a lot--hh, nevermind,

Theo: [an ear flicks as she cuts herself off and tries to dismiss it] ..Audrey.. You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I’m not going to force you right here and now, but.. You don’t have to hold it in on your own. I got pretty big ears. [he wiggles them]

Audrey: [she’s almost moved to tears, but that last remark makes her laugh instead. She reaches up to scritch his ears again] Haha,...my, what big ears you have, mister wolf~

Theo: [tail thumps against the mattress again] The better to listen to your problems with, my dear.

Audrey: [hums] ,,...Thanks,

Theo: ..Yer welcome.

Audrey: [her mood has lightened up considerably, so she decides to shelve Schrodinger’s Ted for now]...Since you're familiar with the tale, maybe you can bust this myth for me: can wolves really eat people whole?

Theo: [he gives her a weird look] How would I know that? Do you think I ate people???

Audrey: How would you not know? You're the wolf, here. [a pause] Have you eaten people?

Theo: I've never eaten anybody!!!

Audrey: Have you tried--

Theo: NO!!!!!

Audrey: PffFHAhahHah--[rolls off of him] Hooo, okay, okay. I guess you can't know if you haven't tried.

Theo: [disgruntled huff] I never intend to find out, either,

Audrey: Really? Darn~ I was gonna volunteer.

Theo: Y--, Yhhh,

Audrey: What kind of sound was that,

Theo: [suspicious squint] I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,,

Audrey: …[suspicious squint back at him] Doesn’t matter, right? ‘Cause you never intend to find out.

Theo: Yes. Doesn’t matter.

Audrey: Mhm, not one bit.

Theo: [nuzzles his head against hers]

Audrey: [hugs his head close]

Audrey: Besides, it didn’t end well for that wolf in the story.

Theo: ..Mm mm. Dunno why wolves are always painted as villains,..wolves aren’t bad.

Audrey: They’re not. Or at least, you’re not.

Theo: Nuh uh.

Audrey: And I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.

Theo: ..Likewise. I’ll protect you. ..Always.

Audrey: ,,Hairy boy, that’s so sappy.,, [buries her face in his mane and ruffles it up once more, this time with vigour]

Theo: I’m a sappy guy,, [his mane is soooooo floofy now]

Audrey: Aw, well I love this sappy guy [combs her fingers through his mane only to try to make all of it stick up as much as possible]

Theo: Mmehehehehehe..,,, [thumpthumpthump of his tail] And this sappy guy loves one real sweet girl..

Audrey: Oh? Who’s this one real sweet girl, huh?? [è _e]

Ted: Once-lerrrr!!....[groans] Man! What gives, we came all the way out here...

Audrey: [paps her cheek one more time before pausing] pbhh... Hmmn, didn’t think we’d have a Schrodinger situation, huh.

Ted: [glances over at Audrey] ,,A Schroder whatnow?

Audrey: [glances back at him] It means, we couldn’t really know whether he’d be around or not until we got here. [pointedly looks away again] Thaaat’s the less morbid meaning, anyway.

Ted: --HahaH,,! C’mon, no worries! I’m sure he’s just uh, gooone out for a walk! Yeah! He’s gotta come back sometime...

Audrey: Iiit’s okay, Ted, [stands up] we can always try another day--

Ted: –I mean, no, it has to be–I really wanted it to be–[crosses his arms and looks up at the Lerkim again in frustration] mngh,…today was special,,

Audrey: ...,,Well,...mmmfine, then. We’ll wait a little longer.

Ted: Yeah,,? Okay,

Audrey: [sits back down and patpats the spot beside her~] Come sit with me, though.

Ted: ,,.. [siiighs and sits down beside her, leaving a respectable space between them]

Audrey: [scoots right up against him]

Audrey: Thanks for taking me out today, either way.

Ted: Of course,,// wasn't too bad of a drive, right? Aaapart from that one loose brick before the canyon archway. That was my bad.

Audrey: Mm mm, I trusted you.

Ted: Heh, good...

Audrey: Lerkim today, the rest of the world tomorrow~

Ted: We’ll hit up any place you want, no matter how far. Just you wait--

Audrey: [amused] “We”?

Ted: Ah--I mean,,...y-yyeah? If you wan--mmMMM nahhhaha, did I say “we”??

Audrey: I’d love to.

Ted: --I meant, in the general sense, you know? Thneedville’s still got a long way to go, but with the city branching out eventually--

Audrey: We can be travel partners.

Ted: --Oh.....................,,,ok a y,,

Audrey: Hehe,, [kicks her feet idly] Oh, the places we’ll go~

Ted: Haha,...mm...sssorry, I’ll make sure your next birthday is better.

Audrey: Aww, this one’s already been really good, though, if you ask me. [scoots away and leans down to drag her backpack up]...Do you think we’ll still be living in a desolate valley a year from now? I’ve been eyeing a few vacation spots from that Seussional Geographic magazine I showed you.

Ted: Heh,,

Ted: You mean the one that you made us read together front and back in the park and then I got grounded for staying out so late?

Audrey: That's the one. Wait, you got grounded?

Ted: [waves his hand] It was worth it, so no biggie... I was thinking next year we could party it up in Katroo.

Audrey: Hmm orrr enjoy some peace and quiet at McElligot's Pool?

Ted: ...McGrew's Zoo.

Audrey: The Jungle of Nool!

Ted: Solla Sollew!

Audrey: Slab Ci--Solla Sollew?

Ted: Yeah?

Audrey: I dunno if I wanna go to go to yet another seemingly perfect, wall-enclosed city stewing in their own perceived happiness... [fiddles with the backpack buckle...]

Ted: Oh,,uh, well I thought it’d be a good place to start, just for that reason, actually. It’s like Thneedville, but...but done right, you know? And maybe we can take ideas from there to bring back here. Besides, the Once-ler seemed pretty enthusiastic about it--

Audrey: [sits up straight] The Once-ler,?

Ted: Yeah, back when I was trying to find out how to get a--er,, trying to find out what happened to the trees,... He kindaaa, went on a tangent? About all the places he visited before ending up in this valley.

Audrey: [click-flips open her backpack, listening...]

Ted: And then, when I tried to get him back on track, he just kept blabbing on and on about, how great it was in “sweet, sunny Solla Sollew”, with its flowers and its Wah-Hoo “Ri-vur”--

Audrey: Interesting. Let’s go.

Ted: And--huh??

Audrey: Forget what I said before, okay? It...it's kinda ignorant of me to write off a place that I hadn’t even tried visiting. [u  u,,] I should give things a chance.

Ted: And you’re...sure it’s not just ‘cause the Once-ler promo-ed it--

Audrey: ,,Pfft! No,,...but a Once-ler did let me try a real milkshake not too long ago. It’s opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. [pulls out the bag of marshmallows Ted had made her bring along]

Ted: Uh, didn’t he make you cry--

Audrey: [ignores his statement and keeps talking] They probably have good food there. Real food. Real animals! Real plants?? Maybe even...a real ocean, can you imagine!? There’s so much out there that we haven’t experienced. I wanna try it all. I wanna see it all. So, that’ll include Solla Sollew.

Ted: ...,,Psh,, glad I was able to convince you, then,...

Audrey: Yep, it was totally you.

Ted: ...[shruuugs] Still kinda weird to know there’s more than one Once-ler.

Audrey: Aww, I don’t mind...

Ted: Oh, Seuss, what if there are multiples of us, too...don’t know if I’m ready for that.

Audrey: ...

Ted: ...Eh, forget it. M’sure it’s just a Once-ler thing.

Audrey: ...Mm, and I’mmm sure you’ll always be the only Ted for me, anyway...

Ted: Wh--I better be!!

Audrey: ,,pffhaHAHAHA!!