A/N: there are a lot of Toy Story fanfics in the BLoSC universe but I can't find any in the Woody's Roundup universe, probably because Disney never made a show of it. Thought I'd give it a go myself
I've tried to keep some aspects, especially names of random characters (e.g. Stagecoach Sam, Bartender Bill) fairly cheesy, like you'd expect from Woody's Roundup, so hopefully it works out. There's a CD called Toy Story Songs and one song says Jessie's from Oklahoma, and another says Woody got Bullseye in Texas, so instead of full siblings I've made them half-siblings, because even though by that logic it's more likely that they're friends, I like the idea of them being siblings. Also, for Buzz's outfit, think of (or look up) the Cat's outfit in the Red Dwarf episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". I know it's more of a Mexican outfit than a Spanish one but it would look good. In addition, I've looked up some cowboy slang for this and some of these phrases are going to be sneaking their way into my conversations, they're really good. I'll translate everything at the end of the story
I might have overdone the Western slang. A lot
Enjoy!
In Your Eyes
"I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you." ~ Somebody Like You by Keith Urban
It started off as just an ordinary day in the town. Woody and Jessie were painting the church house when the clock on the town hall struck midday. Woody suddenly slapped his forehead, splashing brown paint all over himself. At least, Jessie pointed out, his forehead now matched his hair and eyes.
"Har-de-har-har," Woody replied, thoroughly unamused. "The new boy's coming into town, Jessie. I was supposed to go and meet him."
"I'll do it," Jessie volunteered, still giggling. "You go get washed up."
"Thanks," Woody said, looking relieved. "His name's Buzz. The stagecoach should be arriving with him any minute."
He leaned over a water trough with the intention to splash the water over his oh-so-brilliantly painted forehead and, grinning cheekily, Jessie snuck up behind him and pushed him in, full-out laughing as he spluttered about. Woody managed to roll onto his back and sit up, and was about to reprimand Jessie when she spotted the stagecoach.
"There it is, gotta go!" she hollered, pushing him back into the water and bounding over to the stagecoach as Bullseye, Woody's horse, whinnied with laughter.
"It isn't funny," Woody said firmly, but the horse just whinnied as if to say, "Yes it is."
"Howdy there, Stagecoach Sam," Jessie called to the man who drove the stagecoach in their town. He was a thin boy, barely a man, who had taken over driving the stagecoach after his Pa got too ill to do it himself. "You brining in the new guy?"
"Sure am," Stagecoach Sam replied. "Are you greetin' him?"
Jessie laughed a bit. "Sheriff Woody should, but he's feeling a bit – uh – washed out at the moment."
Stagecoach Sam looked over at the water trough and burst out laughing. Bullseye had gone to Woody's aid, and Woody was trying to use the reins on the saddle to pull himself out of the water trough, but his hands were too slippery and he fell back in.
Jessie giggled again, too. Her laughter was interrupted by a voice from within the stagecoach, which asked, "Sam? Are we there?"
"Sure are, Mr Lightyear," Stagecoach Sam replied. "Come on out."
Sam hopped off the stagecoach, tied the reins of the horses to a nearby post and opened the door. Jessie felt her jaw drop.
The guy looked like something of a dude, with one of the grandest outfits Jessie had ever seen. It looked like a mariachi outfit, and she had to admit it suited him. He was tanned, a bit shorter than her, and he had blondish-brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes.
She was admittedly pleased that his jaw dropped, too. It made her grin.
"Howdy, mister," she said brightly, holding out her hand for him to shake. He complied and she felt her cheeks heat up a bit when his hand lingered in hers just a bit longer than they should. "I'm Jessie," she said, mentally shrugging the feeling off.
"I'm Buzz Lightyear," the guy said, smiling. "Do you work with the sheriff? I was told I'd be meeting with him when I arrived."
Jessie giggled at the memory of what she'd done to Woody. He had only just gotten himself out of the water trough and was glaring at her, dripping water everywhere.
Acting as though she hadn't noticed the blush spread across Buzz's cheeks when she giggled, she said, "Oh, my brother will be here in a minute. The goofball got stuck in a water trough. I'd never be that clumsy."
"Well, I always say, don't judge a person by their relatives," Buzz answered. There was a brief pause before he said, "I have to say, ma'am, you're very beautiful."
Jessie grinned at him again. "Well gee, thanks, Buzz. Feel free to keep that soft solder coming, y'hear?" Even though everyone agreed Jessie was pretty, she was very much a g'hal at heart and didn't receive compliments very often, unless they were from out-of-towners. And sure, this guy was an out-of-towner, but she had to admit that she liked him.
Woody finally caught them up. "Jessie, why would you push me? Twice?"
Jessie shrugged with pretend-innocence. "Felt like it?"
Ignoring her, Woody turned to Buzz. "You'll be Buzz Lightyear, then?"
"Sure am," Buzz said.
"I see you've met Jessie," Woody grumbled. "The pest o' the West."
Jessie frowned. "Aw, shut your big bazoo, Woody!"
It didn't take them long to get into the most epic Western-slang competition ever.
That night, Woody almost thought something was wrong with Jessie. As half-siblings, they lived in the same house, and obviously they knew each other pretty well.
Jessie was never this quiet.
"Okay, what is it?" he demanded at last.
Jessie sighed from the armchair she was lounging in by the fire. "It's that Buzz guy," she said quietly.
Woody's eyebrows shot up. "What – did he say something to you?"
"He was givin' me a lot of soft solder all day," Jessie said, sighing again. She stared into the fire, looking away from Woody, so that he couldn't see her face.
"If you're down on it, give him the mitten," Woody suggested.
"But I'm not down on it," Jessie admitted. "I like him, Woody."
"So what's the problem?" Woody could feel himself getting steadily more frustrated.
"Well…"
"Wait," Woody said. "I have a feeling this could take a while. Let me get us a cup of Arbuckle's first."
"I appreciate it," Jessie said, turning to him and smiling.
When he returned with two cups of coffee, Woody sat down opposite Jessie and said, "So what's got you in such a funk?"
"It's just… when it comes to guys, I'm at sea, Woody."
"What, you mean you don't know what to do?" Woody had to admit, he was surprised.
"Yeah."
Resting his forehead in his hand, Woody sighed heavily. "Jessie…"
"No, I really mean it! Dontcha believe me?"
"Sorta."
"Sorta!?"
He had to admit, she looked desperate. Like she was silently begging for help. She genuinely had no idea what to do.
That was a first.
"It's not like you haven't been in this situation before."
"It's the first time I liked the guy using all them pretty words on me."
Woody sighed. "I can't tell you what to do about it, Jessie. What do you want?"
"I dunno!" Jessie exclaimed desperately. "I want him to keep giving me the soft solder, I guess."
"Well, it's not up to me, Jessie. It's up to you. Whatever your heart wants, just go with it." Woody stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. I gotta get up early tomorrow." He left.
Jessie stared into the fire. Just go with it, huh?
The next morning, she got up almost as early as Woody. Jessie liked to think of herself as a morning person, but Woody had always been better at getting up early than her. She was so excited, she could hardly sit still.
"Where are you off to so early?" Woody asked suspiciously.
"None a' your business," Jessie teased, slipping out the front door as she tied the yellow ribbon into her plaited red hair. She wanted to go see Buzz.
He was already up when she got to his house. She pulled her plait over her shoulder and tugged at it gently, then reached out and knocked on the door, surprised that it didn't take long for him to answer. He was already fully-dressed.
"I just finished breakfast," he explained in his silky-smooth voice. "Would you like to come in?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind takin' a walk with me," Jessie said, tugging at her plait again.
"That sounds wonderful," Buzz replied, smiling and stepping outside. They began to walk through the small town together.
"Woody said you're from Spain," Jessie said.
"Yes, in a way, I suppose," Buzz said. "I've lived there for over half of my life. I only recently moved back. We went to Spain when I was a child, you see."
"Oh, is that why you talk so purdy?"
"Excuse me?"
Jessie's face flushed with colour. "I meant, is that why you're such a smooth-talker? Ya come from Spain?"
"Most likely, yes," Buzz answered. "It must be. I can't think of another explanation for it."
"Will you say something Spanish for me?"
"Like what?"
"Anything."
"Oh – okay." Buzz paused, seeming to search his mind for just the right thing to say to her. Then he gently took her hand, looked her straight in the eyes, and said, "Mi flor del desierto."
"So, uh, what does that mean?" Jessie giggled softly when Buzz whispered the English translation in her ear.
"You charmer," she giggled. Buzz grinned at her.
"I'm trying," he said. "I like you."
"I know. I can see it in your eyes."
A/N: cheesy ending ahoy. Here's the translations:
Dude – someone from the East, or who wore up-scale clothes rather than plain clothes. Basically someone in fancy clothes
Grand – beautiful or excellent. So in this case, again, fancy
Soft solder – flattery
G'hal – a rowdy girl
Bazoo – mouth
If you're down on it, give him the mitten – "down on" means "opposed to" and to get the mitten is to be rejected by a lover. So what Woody's saying here is that if Jessie doesn't like being flirted with, she should turn Buzz down
Arbuckle's – coffee. The slang term comes from a popular brand of coffee for the time
At sea – at a loss, or not comprehending
Mi flor del desierto – if you don't know what that means, go watch Toy Story 3. Right now
