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Toy Story: Mister Spaceman

Chapter 8: The Final Odyssey

Hannah was watching the video play out on his laptop. He was watching her. If anyone was watching them, he wasn't aware of it, but he doubted it was likely Sitting at a Krispy Kreme in a mini-mall wasn't exactly the strangest thing in the world, especially at this time of year. Summer…August, to be exact. That time of year when courses were completed, assessments were handed in, and where students decided to celebrate in all manner of ways. Boozing, bonking, taking drugs, or in his case, biting a donut, and filling his body with a different kind of poison.

Still, he reflected, not only was this donut pretty good, but it fit right in. Sugar, spice, and everything nice, right? He didn't believe he had a puppy's dog tail though, granted, but as the animation stopped playing, and Hannah looked up from his laptop, he might have been wagging it if he'd had one.

"That was…"

Wagging it ever slower right now, but-

"Amazing," she said.

The proverbial tail began to wag again. And like Buster on a good day, Andy grinned. Thankfully, without any slobber.

"You really did that in just a few months?"

"Pretty much. I mean, you can probably tell it was a rough job – lots of reliance on still-images rather than moving characters, but…yeah."

"But nothing." Hannah took a sip of her milkshake, before continuing. "I mean, that story…those two meeting as kids, spending their lives together, growing old…discovering they can't have children, drifting apart before realizing that their greatest adventure has been the lives they've lived…" She stared at him. "Not projecting, are you?"

Andy remained silent. The answer wasn't a simple "yes," but nor was it a simple negative either. He'd decided to change his project after meeting Hannah, and even if his old one hadn't been working, if he hadn't spent time with her these last three months…

"You're the shrink, you tell me," he said eventually.

She chuckled. "Let's wait for my results to come in first."

"Come on, I'm sure you've done great."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Mister Davis. I shall take it into consideration if I ever need a character reference." She leant back in her chair and sipped more of the milkshake. Slurped, as if she was a child again.

"So is this a date?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"Tell a girl you're taking a her to a movie, head to the mall, get her a drink, batter her up with sugar..."

"You don't batter with sugar."

"Tomato, tomahto." She leant forward on the table. "Because it's sweet, really. I mean, maybe we did things out of order under the Lamplight Tree, but hey, aren't we on fifth base already?"

"No," said Andy quickly. "And there's only four bases."

"Really? Could've sworn that…isn't there a base in the centre?"

"That's the pitcher's plate."

"And the one where the batter starts at?"

"That's the fourth base. It doesn't get counted twice."

"Huh." Hannah leant back, taking another sip. "The more you know."

His mouth running faster than his mind, Andy asked, "you seriously don't know about baseball?"

Hannah remained silent.

"Come on, even T-ball teaches you the basics." And also wins you a few little league trophies if you're good at it.

Hannah sipped her milkshake.

"You really haven't-"

"I saw my dad carry a baseball bat once. That kind of put me off."

"Oh." Andy's mind caught up with his mouth. Oh…

The spice was gone, and the sugar didn't seem as sweet. Andy, taking his eyes off Hannah for a moment, cast his eye to the nearby cinema, wondering if they should just go in now. At the least, it would put an end to the conversation early. They could sit in silence for close to two hours, before emerging into the light and seeing what the glow of a screen had burnt away, and what detritus they had left to sort out.

And it wasn't as if Hannah didn't know they were seeing something. Exactly what, she didn't know, and maybe, it was better to spring the surprise now. Though on the other hand…he frowned, as he looked back at her. The last three months, he'd seen Hannah Phillips change. Less shy, more confident. More willing to speak her mind. So seeing her like this, now…

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

It wasn't the most eloquent of words, but he figured it was better than nothing.

"Don't be," Hannah murmured. "He's not."

"Your father?"

"Him. Sid." She put the empty cup aside, a sad smile on her lips. "But then, you already know the story."

He did. But even so, he asked, "are you going home for the break?"

"God no."

"Come on, you must miss them."

"Not really." She took a look at his donut. "Are you finishing that?"

"I-"

"Thanks." She took a piece, and began to chew slowly. As if trying to wait out the clock. Though in doing so, giving Andy time to choose his words carefully. Thanksgiving? Christmas? Both were options with his mum, and he doubted that she'd object to him bringing a friend home (Molly would, but Molly could complain about anything), but to spring that on her now?

Not the best idea.

On the other hand, as he watched Hannah slowly chew, like a mouse, trying to ignore the knife above her…he had to say something. For her sake, for his, for some vague sense of cosmic justice…

"I think you should speak with your dad."

Hannah stopped chewing. And while Andy was tempted to apologize, remain silent, or change the subject, he instead went with the option of "other."

"And Sid."

Other was good. Other let you say stupid things that needed to be said.

"And maybe you're-"

"Andy Davis," said Hannah, folding her arms before him. "You're about to say something stupid."

"Haven't I already?"

"…yes. So before you say something else that's stupid, I want you to have a good, long think, and consider why on Earth you'd suggest I try and make up with my deadbeat dad."

"Because I know what it's like to lose a father."

He hadn't had a good long think. Not today at least. The truth was, however, was that he'd been thinking about that for awhile. Not least of all after his last conversation with his mother.

"Your dad," Hannah murmured. "You never talk about him."

"We almost did. At Flick's. When I told you why we moved."

"Because your sister needed her own room?"

"That," Andy murmured, "and other reasons."

Hannah didn't say anything, but it wasn't due to lack of interest. She instead chewed at the donut, watching him in silence.

He heard a child laugh, and he glanced over his shoulder. A boy, four or five, arriving with his father. Laughing, as he lay out the intricate details of the latest superhero movie, re-enacting the fights with his fists. Being the boy that Andy once was…with the father that he'd never had. Not after his fifth birthday at least.

"My father left us when I was four," Andy murmured. He looked back at Hannah. "Right after my mum got pregnant with my sister."

Hannah gasped. "He left in spite of your mum getting pregnant?"

"He left because she got pregnant," Andy murmured. "Or at least, that's what I think happened."

"Think?"

He took a sip of milkshake. The creamy mix turned to ashes upon his tongue. The straw like a dagger through his chest. The cardboard, daggers to his hands. Nevertheless, he continued.

"I don't know what happened," he whispered. "Before my sister, he was like any dad you'd want. Fun. Always had time for me. We'd play Cowboy together. Watch ABC Roundup. He'd pick me up from school, walk me to the park…but then he found out there was another bundle of joy entering his life, and he took off." He clicked his fingers in front of Hannah. "Like that."

She didn't say anything. Maybe, like him, she was watching his hand. How it had gone from clicking fingers, to forming a fist.

"Mum tried to hide it from me at first," Andy continued. "But even a five year old dweeb figures it out eventually. Certainly by the time he has to be babysat by Ms. Lewis while his mum is in the hospital, alone."

"Oh Andy…" Hannah took his hand. "It must have been horrible."

"I made do. My mum was the best mum a kid could ask for. And hey, toys, games…they made up the rest." He sighed. "It's Molly I really feel for. She never knew her dad at all."

"Can't you track him down?"

"Maybe. But none of us have tried." He took a breath, steadying his words as much as his heart. "He left us when we needed him the most, why would he come back?"

Was that a tear in his eye? Fuck, he didn't know. But Hannah squeezed his hand regardless. Its warmth running up his arm, to his hearts. Keeping the chill at bay.

"So yeah, we moved," Andy said. "Real reason was that Molly needed her own room. But I think…I think mum, most of all, needed to get away, y'know? Too many memories in that house."

Hannah nodded. "I know what memories are like."

"Yeah…" He withdrew his hand from hers, and sipped at his milkshake, only to find the sugar supply gone. "Don't get me wrong, ask me about any moment in my childhood, and there'll be a good memory to go with it. Had a great family, with my mum, my sister, my dog…my toys…" He chuckled, thinking of all the times he'd taken one of them to bed with him. Imagined that they were there for him as a human, a father might…taking him to the stars, while always being there for him on Earth…

"But hey, I'm here now, right? Family's in another state, toys have been given away…making my own path in the world, yeah?"

Hannah was staring at him. Like there was a microscope between them. As if she was the scientist, and she the amoeba.

"What?" he asked.

"That's why you made the short, isn't it?" she whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"A man and a woman meet as kids, and spend their whole lives together. Like you wanted your parents to do."

"I…come on, that's hardly…"

"Fair?" Hannah asked. "I think we both know that life isn't fair."

"Yeah, well…fairer to some people than others, right?" Andy took her hand, and squeezed it. "Am I right?"

Hannah didn't say anything. She just ran her thumb over his hand. Meeting his gaze with her own. Her green eyes locking in with her blues.

He'd have kissed her then and there, if they weren't in a public space. Though glancing at his watch, he did the next best thing.

"Anyway, this is yours."

He handed her a ticket. Watched her eyes widen as she looked at the name on it. Watched her lips form a smirk, as she looked at him.

"Lightyear," she said drolly. "We're seeing Lightyear."

He remained silent.

"There's a hundred films out there, most of which will have some excuse for you to shield me from monsters, or get romantic, or anything, and you get tickets for a kid's movie?"

"To quote a certain sci-fi property, there's no point in being grown up if you can't act a little childish sometimes"

The smirk deepened. "Star Trek?"

"No, Doctor Who."

"Who?"

"Doctor…look, I get it. It's not mature, or romantic, or even scary. But…" He sighed, taking the plunge. "I turned twenty-one this year. I'm doing animation. The world's a weird, jobless place right now, and I thought, maybe…we could…go back, y'know? Relive our childhoods?"

Hannah stared at him.

"Just wanted to give you something that I don't think you had all that much. I mean, I saw the original Lightyear film, and The Adventures of Buzz Lightyear, and I even got the game on the Nintendo PlayStation, but…I mean, if you want…just think that…"

Hannah kissed him on the cheek. "I love it," she said. She sat back in her chair, giving him a sad smile. "In fact, I think it's the nicest thing I…I ever…" She brushed her hair. Or her eye, it was hard to tell. But before he could ask, she stood up. "Should we go in?"

Andy smiled, getting to his feet as well. Extended a hand. "To infinity?" he asked.

Hannah smiled as well, taking her hand in his. "And beyond."