Author Note - Hi everyone! I'm back with more Dolly/Woody! Everyone who reviewed on Meant To Be just really made me feel so good! Thank you all! Once again, this only goes so far in the shippiness, but I think it's more implied than the last fic. Actually, this probably won't even make much sense because it's so unpolished (I haven't much time these days unfortunately) and just something that, even though it's slightly ridiculous, has been dancing around in my brain since I first played the video game last year! Speaking of the video game, most of this is pretty much inspired by the Bonnie's Room level in the video game and the cutscene that follows that level so if you haven't played it, you might not understand what they're talking about. So, my apologies for OOCness and stuff that may or may not make sense lol.
Disclaimer - I don't own any part of the Toy Story trilogy. I don't even know if this story plot/title has ever been used on FFN or elsewhere before. If so, it is coincidence.
Star Crossed Lovers
Playtime with Bonnie was different. The feisty little girl was much more random with her imagination than Andy's toys were used to. Andy had continual established character roles for all of his toys. But Bonnie would change things up just as quickly as she'd established a new plot point. Buttercup hadn't been kidding when he said they did a lot of improvisation.
However, amidst Bonnie's constant changing of things, there were two toys that seemed to have taken up permanent positions in the little girl's imagination. Her newly beloved cowboy doll and his arch nemesis: the scary witch. Yes, Woody was still the hero. He couldn't help but feel a little proud that Bonnie had taken to him so fondly. A few months with Bonnie had been good medicine for the dull ache he felt for Andy. Maybe she somehow knew and gave him special attention, he sometimes mused.
Yet, being the hero was different now, he thought to himself. In Andy's room it had been simpler. He was the hero. Buzz eventually came along and became his co-hero. There were the villains. And then there had been Bo, the constant damsel in distress. She was the one he was always trying to save just as much as he was trying to save the world in those playtimes. Even after Jessie had come into the picture, Andy had opted to continue with making Bo the object of Sherriff Woody's love and daring rescues.
In Bonnie's room, he was a hero just to be a hero. There was no damsel in distress to motivate him. It was quite the opposite really. Instead of a female in need of rescuing, he was faced with a female in need of overthrowing. It was a different dynamic and certainly fun to say the least. But lately, it had Woody feeling a little confused.
At first, he didn't think anything of it. He was simply enjoying his role as protector against the villainess. Then, one day, Pricklepants made a very random comment about how epic and exciting it was to witness their battles against one another. "It's as if the toy gods knew you were meant to someday be bound together in an intense struggle of good vs. evil. That such a romance should exist in this very room should humble us all." Naturally, there had been a shared laugh from Woody, Dolly and a few of the others who heard him. After all, it didn't even make sense. What did romance have to do with anything? They were supposed to hate each other.
Eventually, curiosity got the better of him and Woody decided to talk to the hedgehog doll privately to ask what he meant. "All I'm asking is what makes you think there's love involved? Am I sending signals? Because I really don't mean to make anyone think things that just aren't there," he had struggled a little to explain himself.
"Come now, Sheriff. Open your eyes to the beauty that is irony. Not every great romance is begun or carried out through straightforward affection."
"Well, yeah, I get that. I mean, it took Buzz 9 years and a different language to be straightforward with his affection for Jessie," Woody had tried to follow, but it wasn't easy keeping up with the melodramatic toy.
"No, you misunderstand me, Woody. What I mean is your intense battles against one another quietly whisper of an unspoken attraction. Such unadulterated obsession with one another, such cat and mouse back and forth is like a twisted dance of two fated lovers." Once again, the hedgehog had spoken dramatically and Woody had looked around hoping no one had overheard the weird conversation.
"Why did I even bother asking," Woody said under his breath as he rolled his eyes. He should have known better to have wondered about what Pricklepants meant. And he knew he'd be even crazier if he took the nonsensical mutterings of a wannabe Shakespeare seriously.
So maybe he was crazy. No matter how hard he tried, Woody couldn't shake the words from his memory. He began to wonder if he really was somehow sending mixed messages about his feelings for Dolly. Or maybe Dolly was the one sending signals, mixed or not. This turned into his analyzing playtimes more closely, looking to see if he could see what Pricklepants saw. This, however, only made him feel crazier. After all, playtime was from Bonnie's imagination and no indication of anything realistic – no matter how real it felt to toys during the course of said playtime.
And then it happened. He did start seeing things. There was the flirtatious way Bonnie would have Woody tip his hat and smile at Dolly at times when the scary witch was defeated yet again. There were the absurd moments where even their dialogue seemed to turn towards flirtatious banter at the drop of a hat, making Woody sometimes wonder what Bonnie's parents let her watch on television. And there was even a time where the witch's evil plan backfired and the noble sheriff had stepped into actually rescue her. "Life would be dull without you around to fight I guess," Bonnie had said in her "Woody voice" and then proceeded to have the two awkwardly decide to pretend like it had never happened.
That was the playtime when Woody began to think about what Pricklepants had said more seriously. Just maybe the melodramatic hedgehog wasn't as ridiculous as he thought. Maybe, being keen when it came to plotlines, he had somehow been privy to the direction Bonnie intended to eventually take the two unsuspecting dolls. Maybe it was a grand deception and the sheriff and the witch were in the middle of some epic romance.
Soon after, Woody's thoughts began to take a natural turn towards Bo and the differences between having had her as his love interest in playtimes and the possibility of having Dolly as his love interest should it ever happen. "It's all make believe," he told himself over and over. There was no real reason to even analyze it so carefully. But he couldn't help it. He recalled how Bo had been a damsel in distress in Andy's imagination, but far from it in real life. He wondered what she would have been in Bonnie's imagination. On the other hand, Dolly was a scary witch in Bonnie's imagination, but in real life she was one of the friendliest and funniest toys he'd ever had the pleasure of being around. Would she have been the villain in Andy's imagination?
"Why does it even matter?" Woody sighed, draping a hand over his face in exasperation as he thought about it for what felt like the millionth time since Mr. Pricklepants had first opened his big mouth.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Her voice was probably the last one he wanted to hear at the moment. Woody turned his head and smiled at Dolly nonetheless. However, he remained silent.
"No? Well, I'm willing to go to a nickel if you'd like," she teased and he couldn't resist giving a small chuckle.
"I don't really know how to put my thoughts into words, honestly," his smile fell and she stared at him in concern. "I guess I've just been thinking about how things used to be. How they are now. You know."
"Still hard, huh?" Dolly placed a hand on his shoulder, Woody's eyes falling to look at it instantly. "I had hoped it wouldn't be so bad after awhile, but I guess there's only so much we can do," she admitted. She had taken a keen interest in Woody's well-being almost immediately after Andy's toys' arrival in Bonnie's room and he had willingly confided in her from the start. They had forged an endearing friendship over the first few months.
"It's not that, Dolly," he wanted to reassure her. "You guys have all done an amazing job with making us feel like we belong here. And I do feel like I belong here," he added, a little to his surprise since he hadn't ever audibly admitted it before. "You've done so much and, what I was thinking about was really silly more than anything. I was just…" he paused. "I was just thinking about the differences between Andy's playtimes and Bonnie's playtimes," he finally answered. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.
"Oh," Dolly's eyes widened a little and she dropped her hand in relief. "Well, I guess that's a normal thing to think about," she said in her usual peppy tone. "Is it really different?" She asked, more than a little curious.
"Definitely," Woody answered with a small laugh and nod of his head. "Bonnie's imagination keeps us all on our toes. Andy's was, well, a little more structured I guess you could say. We all had very specific roles and he never really deviated from those characters."
"Well, that explains why he got such a kick out of Bonnie's spontaneity the day he brought you here," she laughed as she recalled how the boy had played with her owner, amused at how she would randomly change plot points. "Yeah, Bonnie definitely doesn't follow any set rules. Well, I mean, except for with us."
Woody spun to face her a little more quickly than he would have liked. "Us?"
"Well you know," Woody thought she suddenly looked slightly nervous. "Not us us, but the sheriff and the witch us. She just can't give up those characters can she?"
"It doesn't seem like it, no." Woody answered before hesitantly asking, "You've noticed it too?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's kind of hard not to. We're so static compared to everyone else. They get variety, while we're stuck in an endless battle. I don't know if we should be flattered or jealous of the others," she harmlessly joked. "No, I mean, whatever makes her happy is fine with me. I definitely don't mind being the scary witch day in and day out," she smiled. And there was silence for a moment before she added carelessly, "But it kind of makes me wonder if Mr. Pricklepants was right."
"What was that?" He asked anxiously once his mind had processed what she said.
It also took a moment for Dolly to process what she had said before her eyes widened. "Oh dear, this is…well, this is just embarrassing. I uh…I meant, well…"
"Did you mean the time Mr. Pricklepants said we had some sort of romance?" Woody asked her point blank, taking her off guard.
"Well, yeah." She nodded. "That and, well, it's silly really, but later I sort of asked him about it and he said, well, he said…"
"That we're two fated lovers?" Woody filled in the blanks as she stuttered, quite uncharacteristically.
"Exactly," she said, almost gasping as she did. "I mean, we aren't, but at playtime we are or our characters are…" she continued awkwardly, not really sure what she meant at this point.
"Right, right, of course," Woody nodded in agreement quickly. "So you actually asked him about it?" He narrowed his eyes at her in confusion.
"I know. Completely silly of me, but," she paused. "I guess I was just curious. I'm sort of sorry I did."
"No, no. Don't be. I mean, I asked too," Woody thought she would have realized that by now. Or maybe she did and she was trying to ignore it. "That's how I knew what he might have said. He told me the same thing."
"Well this is just getting weirder by the moment isn't it, cowboy?" Dolly attempted to be witty and nonchalant in order to lighten the strange mood that seemed to settle over the room, or at least the part of the room where they stood. "So, let me get this straight. We both talked to Mr. Pricklepants so…we're both crazy?"
"I'd say that about covers it," Woody laughed in spite of the bizarre situation. "Look, I'm going to take a chance of sounding even crazier here, but when you said you were beginning to wonder if Mr. Pricklepants was right, did you mean that?" She opened her mouth but before she could answer, he continued. "Now before you say anything, I'll go first. The reason I was thinking about the differences of playtime was because I've been thinking a lot about what Mr. Pricklepants said. I've been wondering for awhile now if in some inexplicable way…he was right. And I guess I've also been wondering why it really matters," he added, lowering his voice a little as he did.
"In that case, my answer is no," Dolly said after a brief silence. Her answer shocked him a little, until she finished. "I wasn't actually beginning to wonder. I've been thinking about it more and more for a while now. But I keep telling myself it's just playtime. Whatever makes Bonnie happiest is what matters. Then again, I guess it's a little weird since this is new for me. You had Bo at least," Woody had eventually confided with her on his relationship with Bo. "Me, I've almost always been the scary witch. And while I'll admit having a foe has been a nice change, I don't know how I'd feel about playing your romantic lead, partner," she teased, hoping she hadn't actually been hurtful. Thankfully he laughed.
"Yeah, well, I did have Bo, but that's why it would be a little weird for me too," Woody nodded his head a little. "But it was different. That's part of what I was thinking about, to be honest."
"Oh no," Dolly tried to suppress a giggle. "Don't tell me you were actually comparing me to Bo." At last she couldn't contain her laughter.
"Hey now," Woody said in mock defense. "You're not exactly the damsel in distress so this whole star crossed lovers thing is new for me too you know," he tried not to laugh at how ridiculous they sounded even if it was surprisingly amusing.
"Ah so that explains why you rescued me," she referred to the playtime Woody had previously recalled.
"Well, you know, old habits die hard," he answered with a slightly smug grin.
"And here I thought it was my irresistible charm," she patted her hair a little and turned up her nose for effect.
Woody laughed hysterically at this. "Oh, well, yeah there's that."
After their fit of laughter subsided, Dolly finally asked a question that had been playing in her mind since they'd admitted to each other about having talked to Pricklepants. "So, do you really think Bonnie thinks of us as star crossed lovers?"
"I don't know. I mean, it's crossed my mind. I have noticed hints of it, but I don't know how much of that is just because Mr. Pricklepants made me paranoid," he answered honestly, no longer feeling uncomfortable with the subject.
"I know exactly what you mean. I've noticed things too," Dolly nodded. "But maybe I don't want to know what she has in store," she added in a strange tone. "Maybe half the fun of being a toy is waiting to see what your kid comes up with next."
"That's a good way of looking at it," Woody had to admit he admired Dolly's outlook on her relationship with Bonnie. "Besides, Bonnie could always change her mind one of these days for one reason or another and we'll never get a chance to know. It's hard to say what she'll do next."
Dolly smiled. "That's for sure. But uh, if it does ever happen like Mr. Pricklepants suspects, I guess it won't be so bad," Dolly toed the floor a little sheepishly and Woody smiled as he avoided eye contact. "And at least now we don't have to keep our thoughts about it from each other. That should definitely make things less awkward."
"Good point," Woody nodded thoughtfully before giving her a sly look. "Speaking of thoughts, I believe you owe me a nickel."
"Oh really? Because I don't believe a price was ever actually agreed on, cowboy," Dolly answered with a wry smile.
"Is that so?" Woody looked at her in mock disbelief. "You really are a witch aren't you?"
"And you know you love it," she responded with a playful wink before turning and walking away.
Woody shook his head, smiling as he watched her go. "Maybe a little too much," he muttered once she was beyond earshot. He then sighed and his smile faded. "Maybe a little too much."
A/N (cont.) - Hope you liked it...and that it made at least a little sense. It's marked incomplete for now, because I do have plans of using this first part as a launching pad of Sheriff!Woody and Witch!Dolly playtime vignettes...with maybe their growing reactions to said playtimes... It's all a matter of if I have some time (and of course if there's any interest haha). I also have some other random Woody/Dolly ideas that have popped into my head that I think I'll try to work on. Again, time is key. Anyways, HAPPY EARLY VALENTINE'S DAY everybody :)