A/N: Chapter 5 here, and this one finally has Riley interacting a bit with the broader outside world... with varying degrees of success, haha. I kind of based her personality and naivete here on Young Mewtwo from the Mewtwo's Origin short, I always thought how he didn't know anything was adorable, and seeing as Riley was created under similar circumstances, I figured, "Hey, why not?"
Also, going to see Inside Out tomorrow thanks to a Fathom Events thing! So excited... and nervous... but mostly excited!
Disclaimer: I own a ticket to see Inside Out; I don't own the movie.
The moment Riley opened her eyes, she felt as if she had been on the verge of falling for all eternity, like she was standing over a ledge and just barely held back from tumbling forward. Her head throbbed a bit, but other than that nothing else hurt. As awareness came back to her senses, she realized she was back in her old container, and she feared something had occurred last night that she couldn't recall. Why was she back in here?
She inwardly searched her memory. All she remembered was Panic checking on her, and she herself feeling a bit tired. Then feeling dizzy. The last thing she saw before closing her eyes were Panic and Delight rushing toward her as the world spun sideways.
And now here she was, back where she started from.
However, she realized she wasn't alone as she found a glowing figure slumbering peacefully right next to her container.
Riley couldn't help but allow a small smile upon her lips, touched that Joy never left her side all night, just as she had said she would. It was a relief to see her friend right next to her, curled in a sleeping bag and pretending as if this was like some bedroom to them. She really had been true to her word, despite what Aggravation said.
The thought of the blood orange emotion made Riley's skin crawl. She remembered Contempt telling him how Joy gave her new name. The look on his face was not appealing, and she feared Joy might have gotten in serious trouble for interacting so deeply with someone so different from her. But Joy accepted her, and it was worth whatever Aggravation said to her in the other room.
Riley shifted a bit, wondering if she should go back to sleep mode despite already at 100%. It wasn't like she could do anything else while stuck in here, anyway. She gazed at Joy's slumbering figure, her glow still lighting the dim room.
However, Riley didn't need to attempt anything as she saw Joy's form begin to stir. A soft groan escaped her lips before slowly opening her eyes. She muttered groggily, rubbing her cheek before she finally made out the image in front of her.
Her eyes nearly hit the ceiling as she immediately threw her cover off and stood to attention, as if she were in the army and the top general had just shouted at her to wake up.
"Riley!" she cried happily, all traces of tiredness gone. "You're awake!"
Riley merely nodded, unsure of what else to say. But she didn't have to say anything as the yellow emotion rushed toward her container, throwing her arms against it in a way of giving the girl a great, big hug.
"Oh, man, you scared me so much last night!" Joy exclaimed.
Riley would hug her back, albeit awkwardly seeing as this "hugging" stuff was still a new thing for her, but given she was still attached to her chargers and within the container...
Joy paused and moved away, noticing the obvious problem. She grinned sheepishly and rushed at the controls. "Hold up there, Riley!"
She was thankful that she had watched her mom and the others check on Riley before her awakening and had been in the lab many times before then, as she remembered the buttons and levers that they said would be right for opening the chamber when Riley wasn't in danger or forming. Energy flow off, suspension field dissipated, wires disconnected, a sliding noise to indicate the container had opened. "Okay! You can come out now!"
Riley was definitely relieved to be out of her enclosure, able to get out with a bit more surefootedness than yesterday, though her head still throbbed. She yawned tiredly, only to let out a grunt as Joy suddenly wrapped her arms around Riley in a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Joy exclaimed, meeting Riley's eyes.
Riley's grin was a bit lopsided at the sudden physical contact, but after a moment she slowly returned the hug in kind. "You really stayed with me all night?"
Joy looked at Riley with as much sincerity as she could. "I never left your side. And I don't care what my friends or Aggravation says—"
Riley winced at the mention of the older emotion.
"—you'll always be perfect to me.".
Well, this was certainly a better start to the day than yesterday had been. Riley couldn't help but smile gratefully at Joy's insistence, though she still felt a little tired. Kind of weak but she didn't know why, her stability seemed fine if the fact that there were the three digits lit up on the armband...
Suddenly, Riley's stomach growled, causing the startled girl to leap back in surprise. She glanced downward, then at her armband nervously, then at Joy. "I thought I was okay...". She started worrying that she was going to turn unstable again, gripping onto the nearby table to steady herself as she sat on the ground, in case another fainting spell occurred, closing her eyes and fearing the inevitable. What if she was going to collapse and disperse into particles any second or something? The three numbers were lit up, why did she feel this way?
Joy, however, realized the source of Riley's discomfort, and chuckled lightly.
Riley cautiously opened her eyes. Why was Joy laughing when something could be wrong with her?
"Oh Riley, you're fine. I know exactly what's wrong!" Joy put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "You're just hungry, that's all!"
"I'm... hungry?" Riley heard her stomach growl again and she winced, trying to stand up and steady herself both from just waking up and from her lack of nourishment.
Joy instantly noticed the questioning tone and the confusion written on Riley's face. "Of course, you've only been fully formed and awake for less than a day, you haven't eaten anything before!". The vibrant young emotion chided herself before eagerly taking Riley by the hand and helping her to stand, looking at her encouragingly. "Before we see the town, we gotta make sure we get that problem taken care of! Come on, let's go before Aggravation and the others on the team get here!"
'And hope Aggravation doesn't interfere, she thought in the back of her mind. Joy was pretty confident that the team wouldn't let Riley starve, especially not her mother, but when it came to the leader, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"W-Wait, what?!"
Although it warmed Riley to be with Joy again, she couldn't help but worry that their departure would make more problems. After all, it was bad enough Aggravation disapproved of her new name, what more that Joy was taking her out of the lab again? Especially after yesterday? And without telling anyone?
"Gee, Joy, I really appreciate all you're doing..." she told her nervously, "but I don't know if we should be leaving. Won't your mom or the others wonder where I went?"
"Oh, my mom completely gets it, she knows you're safe with me!" Joy assured her. "Panic knows you'll always be with me, and I'm sure Grief would understand. Contempt and Aggravation...well, yeah, they'd be ticked, but Aggravation probably won't let you go otherwise." She moved her arms in a grandiose gesture. "How else will you see the world?"
"Do you think maybe it would be best to let them know first?" Riley asked, still in doubt.
"Um, don't worry," the yellow emotion told her. "Just stick with me, and we'll both be fine."
The squeamish feeling in Riley's stomach ached once more, but then again it might have been because she was "hungry". Just the way that word echoed in her head sounded almost pleasing. And the thought of what Joy would do to fix this seemed kind of exciting, whatever it was. She allowed Joy to take her away from the lab, abandoning the silent laboratory and quickly exiting out the door.
But the moment they did, Riley flinched as the light of morning seeped into her pupils, and she instantly stumbled backward. It was nearly blinding, seeing as all she had seen of the outside world before was just as the sun was setting. She shielded her eyes. "What's that?! It's too bright!"
Joy gave her a sympathetic look, taking her hand. "It's just the sunlight!"
Riley frowned. "Sunlight?"
"Remember that redness you saw in the lower part of the sky yesterday?"
Riley nodded.
"Same thing as that. It's just up there in the daytime right now so it looks brighter."
The part-emotion still cringed. "How can you see in it?"
"Your eyes just need to get used to it, that's all!"
Riley blinked uncertainly. She preferred where it wasn't blindingly bright.
Joy gently took her hand. "As long as you don't look right up at it, you'll be fine! Just trust me!"
Stepping forward cautiously, Riley blinked a few more times before her gaze finally accepted the bright colors and various noises of this world once more. Still holding Joy's hand, she watched the buildings pass by them as they ventured further away from the lab, staying close in case she got any weird looks. While she was certain Aggravation would be furious, she placed all her trust in Joy.
Unlike yesterday, very few people were in their path. That meant less stares and mutters because of her appearance. Riley felt even more pleased. She secretly hoped Joy wouldn't bring her to her friends again. She already knew they didn't like her, and why worsen that by attempting to forge some friendship that would likely lead to more harm than good?
The growling in her stomach became even more unbearable. It lifted into her throat before thumping around her chest area. Like an empty trash bin.
"So how exactly are you going to fix my "hungriness"?" she asked innocently.
Joy smiled as she led the way. "Breakfast, of course!"
"Breakfast?" Riley asked, the term completely foreign to her like so many others.
"It's the most important meal of the day!" Joy chirped. "I'll buy you the complete package, which is eggs, bacon, pancakes, and then some hash browns—"
"Isn't that a bit much?" Riley told her. She may have had no idea what those things were, but at least she could distinguish a list. And it seemed like a pretty long list.
"You have eaten for a whole day," Joy reminded the blonde. "Or rather, ever. Don't worry, the hearty breakfast deal will be good for you. And great thing that we're so early, or there would have been a breakfast rush going on!"
Riley just nodded at all this. However, the events of yesterday brought something else to question. "Have you gotten word from your friends last night?" she asked.
"Oh, the guys?" Joy said nonchalantly. "Well, Disgust did send a text—"
"What's a text?"
"Like a message."
"Oh..." Riley paused. "What'd she say?"
A slight frown crossed Joy's face. "Well, she said that Movie Night wasn't much fun without me."
Riley stiffened at this, feeling completely responsible. "I'm sorry—"
"Don't be," Joy assured her gently. "Like I said, it was Fear's turn to choose the movie. So of course it wasn't fun!"
"But you had to leave your friends for me," Riley mumbled, not looking Joy in the eyes. "They seemed pretty mad. Especially Anger."
Joy waved her hand with a dismissive grin. "Anger gets mad about everything, it doesn't take much to set him off." She gave Riley's hand a gentle squeeze to indicate there were no hard feelings. "He got mad at me once like that when I tried to scare him on Halloween as a joke—"
"Halloween?"
Joy remembered how little Riley knew of their world (and basic life in general), so she put it out of her mind for now. "Oh, right, I'll tell you later! Point is, Anger being mad like that is kind of a weekly thing for him, or, actually, make that daily. It's not your fault."
"But—"
"Uh uh uh, Riley," Joy chided, putting a finger to the part-emotion's lips and grinning broadly, the glow around her form having returned. "Don't try to blame yourself for what happened. This is meant to be a good Second Waking Day, and the first order of business is to get you some breakfast!"
When they did enter the cafe, Riley was relieved that there weren't too many people about. After being welcomed by the hostess (who flinched when noticing Riley but at least didn't scream or run like Fear had), they entered the portion of the building where the buffet of food was.
Riley couldn't help but have her mouth drop open in shock. There were so many tables along the walls displaying what she assumed was food that it was almost overwhelming. And the smells! Riley carefully sniffed to let the scents move through her, feeling much more awake and curious and excited.
"Wait right here," Joy exclaimed, gesturing to a table with two chairs, "I'll be right back!" With a grin, the hyperactive emotion bounded away toward the tables as Riley watched her pick up two plates like it was effortless, piling up different foods that she could only guess what they were.
Riley noticed that several more beings were coming into the room, and a few of them seemed to glance momentarily in her direction. She tried to make herself small, to not be seen. What if they freaked out as Fear had done? What if she then disturbed everyone else's... what was the word? Breakfast? What if she got a negative reaction from them too?
Think positive, Riley, she told herself. That's what Joy would want.
She was relieved when Joy finally came back with two heaping plates of what was called food. The eggs were scrambled, almost as bright a yellow as the glow that surrounded her friend. The bacon was crisp, dribbling oil down onto the plate and atop the eggs, the dark red color almost looking like a warning toward Riley. And Joy did mention the hashbrowns, which were just as crispy with their insides glistening like pearls. Joy even brought out the dessert portion of breakfast, which consisted of every brand of muffin the cafe had available. Riley found herself staring at the one which glimmered of bejeweled blue orbs on it.
It was all so colorful, pleasing, and the smell was making her stomach become more impatient. So this was what hungry felt like. Riley was even questioning how exactly she managed to last a day without food when it seemed all these people could hardly survive five minutes. She smiled gratefully at Joy who sat opposite from her. With her own plate in front of her, she helped Riley with her utensils.
Other than being unsure about what living was, what holding was needed some work as well. If Fear had been in Joy's place, he would probably be worried that Riley would use her own fork as a deadly weapon. But no, the poor kid was staring at the utensil curiously, its three points slightly intimidating her.
"You just poke your food with it," Joy instructed as she picked up her own fork. "See, like this."
She lowered it toward her sunnyside eggs. She picked at the yoke, which popped. This image surprised Riley, who wasn't really sure if the sight of something so gooey-looking was the best thing to look at. But she understood what exactly Joy was trying to say as the emotion used her fork to pick up a piece of egg white.
"See?" Joy said, holding her fork toward her mouth. "It's easy!" She noticed Riley look from Joy's plate to her own. "Oh, I got you the scrambled ones because I figured they'd be easier for you to eat, less gooey."
Riley gently gripped her fork, slowly she lifting it toward her plate once she figured out it wouldn't stab her in the face. She decided to go for the bacon and picked at it. It was quite complicated given that the strips were cooked rather well done, which hardened them to any form of protruding tool. The blonde frowned a bit, pressing deeper and trying to get it on her fork.
Finally, she heard a small crack erupt from her bacon. She managed to lift it up toward her face, the piece barely dangling from her fork. She smiled hopefully toward Joy, who gave her two thumbs up.
"Ooh, bacon!" the yellow emotion beamed. "Best food to have on your first time trying food!"
Riley smiled sheepishly before inching her mouth toward it. However, before her teeth could clamp on, the bacon slipped out of her fork and fell on her plate with a soft thud. She looked at it momentarily, frowning a bit. She then raised her fork and brought it down on the plate with a bit more force. The bacon just cracked a little bit and went sliding more on the plate.
"Um, Riley—"
Raising her fork again swiftly with a determined and mildly frustrated look on her face, Riley slammed the prongs of the fork down on the bacon piece before Joy could do anything. The food in question went flying off the plate and onto the floor. With her face scrunching up in a frustrated grunt, Riley raised her fork once more to slam it on the single remaining piece of bacon on the plate, when suddenly her hand was caught by Joy. Her glowing friend gave her a sheepish grin.
"You know, when we eat bacon..." Joy advised her, "we just pick it up with our hands."
The blonde watched as Joy reached over with her other hand and plucked the remaining bacon strip off Riley's plate. She lifted it toward Riley's lips, grinning excitedly as she allowed her friend to enjoy the deep scent of it instead of stabbing it.
"Mmm, bacon!" Joy mused.
Up close and personal, Riley could see glands of liquid seep off the strip. The scent was even more powerful than before, and somehow it made the back of her throat almost salivate. Her stomach growled even more, begging to just get it over with.
Finally, she inched her teeth toward it and clamped onto the strip. Joy's eyes widened in anticipation as Riley pulled it toward her. It dangled from her mouth as she carefully chewed. Like a toddler trying a new recipe she might not agree with.
Riley's eyes rose in amazement as she tried the taste. Her tongue had only tasted dryness of air for so long that she never thought there was any other taste.
But this was amazing!
It was slightly hot, but tender. And the way it crackled in her mouth was a sound she found herself enjoying more and more. It was a few seconds before the entire piece was in her mouth, and she was chewing much faster. She eventually swallowed, savoring the flavor as it trickled down her throat.
"Well?" Joy gushed.
"Wow..." Riley muttered, staring at her plate. "Joy, that was...just wow..."
"I know, right?" the yellow emotion squealed. "Come on, try the eggs!"
Riley arched her brow in confusion.
"The yellow stuff," Joy clarified with a chuckle.
Riley wasted no time as she aimed her fork at the yellow portion of her food. Picking up the eggs was much easier, and it was rather soft when it touched her tongue. When she tasted, it didn't exactly have the same effect on her as the bacon did. The eggs almost tasted a little bland, but she managed to hint at some salt particles baked into it.
But it was still so tasty! Or maybe that was just her stomach begging for more.
Joy's smiled grew wider as she watched Riley consume her food. Seeing her filled with so much enjoyment over her first meal delighted the yellow emotion. The blonde was eating at a fast rate, hardly giving time to chew as she swallowed in big portions. She was enthralled in her first ever meal, her stomach becoming much happier from the part-emotion actually consuming food for the first time in her short life. Riley was off to a great start experiencing actual life like Joy did.
And when lunch rolled around, Joy would introduce her to pizza!
Before Joy's eyes, Riley's plate had finally been finished. There wasn't even a crumb left as Riley lowered her fork. She chewed the remains of her first meal, licking her lips. Even after all that, she still looked hungry.
"Well?" Joy giggled. "How was it?"
The way Riley beamed was a sight for her as the blonde wiped her mouth.
"Any chance I could have more?"
Joy laughed good-naturedly, amused at Riley's naivete and enthralled at her budding experience of what life was like. "Well you can't eat more now, silly, or you'll get a stomachache! Wait til later, then you can really get some of the good stuff!"
"There's more?" Riley asked hopefully. After eating all that wonderful food, the thought that other emotions actually got to eat more later in the day—other things apparently—filled her with excitement. She understood why people did it a lot, as evidenced by the myriad of customers.
"Oh yes, there's more, and you'll love it!" Joy's arms moved in a grandiose gesture of enthusiasm. "Wait til I introduce you to pizza!"
Riley had no idea what pizza was, but even the word sounded tasty. She was so enthralled by the thought that she had almost forgotten about the stares of the onlookers. That is, until she thought she heard some point it out on the edges of her hearing.
Joy noticed and quickly leapt up to pay for the food. No way was she going to risk letting Riley's introduction to life be soured by those who would look down on her for being what she was. True, it may be hard to avoid, but the less they could do without it, the better.
After leaving, Riley couldn't help but glance around and upward. There was just so much of this colorful majesty to see in the city that she understood why emotions like Joy spent so much time doing such things. A lot cheerier-looking than the lab, that was for sure.
The enthralled look on Riley's face caused Joy to feel a glow of happiness rise within her chest. Today was already shaping up to be going great on her list of things to introduce Riley to.
She knew that Aggravation would like not be pleased with either of them for their daytime schenanigans, but Joy figured that it would be better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission—especially seeing as she was certain said permission request would be rejected immediately.
"So, what next?" Now that Riley had more energy, she seemed to be quite a bit lighter on her feet. A manner that was a bit more emotion-esque.
Joy hurriedly considered the possibilities of what they could do together next, so lost in thought that she nearly crashed into Riley. Following Riley's gaze, she noticed that the girl's attention was drawn to a group of beings—some looked like emotions and some not—tossing a ball back and forth. The aura around Joy's body shimmered in eagerness.
"Hey Riley," she asked, "what does your bracelet say?"
The bracelet. Riley had almost forgotten about its presence. She glanced at the metal band and saw the green 100 meet her eyes. "It has three numbers."
"So you're fully stable?"
"I... think so." Riley was a bit hesitant based on last night, but so far so good. If three numbers meant fully stable, that is...
"Great!" Joy grinned, pulling her companion along. "I think then it's time I introduce you to sports!"
As Riley pondered what in the world "sports" was supposed to be, Joy bounded past some of the emotions in the streets. Riley tried to follow, but a few noticed.
"Hey, wait a minute!" A gray emotion about half Joy's height pointed nearby. "Isn't that that emotion-human experiment thing?!"
With what felt like a million pairs of eyes suddenly swiveling around to look at her, Riley suddenly felt as if her happy mood had deflated. She wanted to ignore them, but it was hard when she noticed some of them step back, a mixture of feelings in their eyes. But the ones that stuck out most were unease and fear.
There went her self-esteem. Riley hid her pale face in her golden locks, hoping to not make eye contact with anyone around here. She had already suffered enough yesterday, she didn't want a repeat. She hurriedly went after Joy, about as fast as her lanky legs could carry her.
Somehow the food she consumed had made her a lot stronger, more flexible. Her weakness was still present, but her strength dominated it. 1% less wasn't that bad of a drop, and she was pretty sure by the time they were done with today she would still be well above 85 and having the alarm go off.
The eyes were still on her, like each pair was a needle sinking into her scalp and flesh. Maybe if Riley was a different color instead of her humanly soft pink, and had "altered", more stretchy joints that were similar to at least Joy's or Fear's, she wouldn't be having so much attention despite her lack of a grainy look. She was at least one half of an emotion, that should have been enough. But, like her name, it was too differed in this new society.
She finally caught up with Joy, the eyes still following them as Riley lowered her head nearly to her chest. The yellow emotion had noticed nothing, completely cheery and excited she and Riley were finally hanging out. To Joy, i was important that Riley have a great day, no matter what other people might think.
"So, uh, what kind of "sports" are you talking about?" the blonde asked her as she kept her shoulders hunched.
Joy beamed. "Well, there's softball, basketball, oh, and my favorite: soccer! There's others too like hockey, but we need to go elsewhere besides where we're going for those."
Riley lifted her eyes in question. "Are the sports like foods?"
The yellow emotion laughed. "What? No! They're activities you play to, you know, get active and have fun."
"Fun?"
"Yeah, fun!"
"What's fun?"
"Enjoyment out of things!" Joy exclaimed with a grin.
"So, the food was fun?" Riley asked, trying to forget the stares and instead recalling how much enjoyment she felt at trying all that food for the first time.
The corners of Joy's mouth were turned up in amusement. "Well, different kind of fun! There's eating-fun and play-fun, this is play-fun!"
The other girl pondered this for a moment, then she shrugged sheepishly. "And what exactly do you do?"
"Well, we run, of course," Joy went on, "and we sometimes kick, sprint, and hit a ball." She lifted one of her legs, and shot it forward to mimic kicking a ball.
Riley could only think of the possibility of someone getting hit in the face with a kick like that. And people did that for enjoyment, for fun? "Sounds...dangerous,"
"You're starting to remind me of Fear," Joy giggled. "But seriously, sports are fun! And once you give them a shot, you'll be asking for more."
"Like the bacon?" Riley asked hopefully.
"Just like bacon!" Joy grinned. "Except you can't eat it! Come on! I know where we can play!"
She took Riley's hand and together they hurried off, away from the stares that momentarily worried the part-emotion.
Riley never thought she would run this fast, but the energy she was given was astounding. They found themselves running past various colorful buildings and businesses in their path, the sights hauntingly amazing to the girl's view. Joy giggled as she hurried Riley along, her golden glow becoming so vibrant it could nearly beat the sun.
Soon they found themselves near an open gate, where on the other side the grass was even more green than Disgust's hair. Riley peered at the location, noticing that a walkway was placed through the entire area, complete with larger than life trees, followed by a wide lake that consisted of creatures that flew over it and seemed to swim underneath its surface. It was very beautiful, save for the fact there were a few people walking by. Most of them children.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"The park!" Joy chirped.
"Park?" Riley repeated uneasily. "This is where the sports is?"
"It's where fun is!" the yellow emotion explained. "Come on, I left some gear here for us!"
Riley allowed herself to be dragged on once more as they hurried down the cemented path that separated two sides of grass. She fought to ignore the ongoing stares they received. It just wouldn't end.
Soon they found themselves near a thick tree with its branches completely shading them from the sun. Sitting in front of it was a large bucket full of various tools that almost reminded Riley of the lab. She watched as Joy reached into it and picked up two large brown hand things, followed by some orb that was white with some stitching on it.
"What are those?" Riley questioned.
"Mitts and a softball," Joy explained excitedly.
She tossed one of the mittens to Riley who almost didn't see it. When Riley did catch it and felt the rugged burlap of its palm, she was amazed at the feeling. It was like a hand, only softer and more smooth. She turned to see Joy bounce the ball from her mitt to her bare hand. The emotion grinned at Riley.
"Let's play some catch!"
"Catch?" Riley echoed.
"It's simple," Joy instructed. "You'll get it easy! Here, just put your mitt on..."
She waited as Riley slowly did so.
"Then hold it out like this," she went on, pulling out her own mittened hand.
Riley followed.
"Then you catch!"
Joy tossed the ball over to Riley. The blonde gasped before taking a step back from it, not having expected the thing to be flying at her like that. The ball fell on the grass with a soft thud, rolling a bit before coming to a stop. Riley just stared at it.
"Oh..." Joy winced. "Maybe we should take it a bit slower..."
A/N: Silly Riley. :) I really liked writing this chapter with Cartuneslover17 because we got to explore Riley's uncertainty about the world some more. And next chapter will have a bit of a heartwarming moment. ;) Hope you enjoyed, remember to review, and see you guys after I see Inside Out!