A/N: Hi again, everyone! I saw Inside Out—I laughed hysterically, I teared up multiple times, I was wowed by some animation sequences, it was great overall. Maybe not my favorite Pixar film, but not sure where it falls on the ladder yet since I like all Pixar films except Cars 2—definitely in my top 5 though. :)
Also, I've created an Inside Out forum for all my fellow Insiders! Just search "inside out forum proboards" and you should find it. :) With that said, onward to more Joy and Riley sweetness!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inside Out, but I don't.
Hours passed by, and Riley focused on ignoring the stares of the other parkgoers. To her mind, it was just her and Joy, doing various activities that Joy called "sports" and "fun". Eventually she had mastered the art of catch, and Joy decided that she was ready for the next level, which meant introducing her to some of the other kinds of sports that the park allowed for.
Some she found easy, some were difficult. And as she watched some emotions and other denizens play around out of the corners of her eyes, unaware of her watching them, she noticed they seemed to be playing sports as well, but ones that were all over the place, moving in ways Riley realized she never could. Those seemed more like sports that Joy might be able to play, using her more "stretchy" structure to her advantage, while Riley could only work with a portion of that flexibility thanks to whatever part of her stiff-joints that was "non-emotion". And yet, somehow those games looked almost effortless for an emotion. Why not for her? Was that what "looking human" meant, like Panic had mentioned before?
She tried to imitate them, with Joy watching on, but it seemed she could produce no glow, or flame, or raincloud, or move like they did. She tried, even getting a running start or crouching down before leaping, but it resulted in either her moving her limbs around like an idiot or her body making a rough contact with the ground and causing dirt to get in her mouth.
Maybe it was because she was trying to figure out what feeling was—maybe she'd have to really feel things in order to do it. But happiness sadness, fear, those were new things to her after being stuck in a wavering awareness in that container for so long, with only muffled voices for company.
Still at least trying the sports she could play was something she enjoyed, regardless of her physical limitations.
She did eventually get to try pizza, with Joy's encouragement, and ended up loving it just as much as Joy thought she would. Even if some of the cheese was so sticky that it stuck to the roof of her mouth and she nearly choked for a few seconds. If this enjoyment over eating was what Joy called "happy", then she felt too happy to care, and it was only when Joy warned her against eating too much that she stopped herself from getting a third slice.
She grew more tired as the day wore on, but she tried to ignore it. She wanted to ignore the band on her arm, the fact that she was different different from these people, the stares of mistrust from the others of this world. She wanted to forget all that.
Despite everything, the running around, the struggle to grasp these new concepts, the stares and mutters of others, the midday sun beating down on her head, and the looming threat of the trouble they'd be in when they returned to the lab, Riley felt surges of energy and exhilaration throughout her system. This was what fun was. This was what living was.
It was wonderful... so, so wonderful... something she never wanted to let go of.
And she was supposed to be kept away from all this? Why?
As the sun started to set, which was a welcome change in lighting since she no longer had to squint if she tried to look up, Joy glanced over at Riley as they walked along, who seemed worn out but happy all the same. Joy couldn't help but feel happy as well with every moment that Riley was smiling. Just seeing her friend who had felt so lost before become so alert and excited filled her with elation.
The thought that they should head back to the lab had crossed her mind, but she pushed the thought away again and again. And as the sky darkened and the city came alive with its lights, Joy glanced up at the large colorful pinwheel structure that rotated overhead in a large spiral that they had to crane their necks to glimpse the top.
Joy knew that Riley looked tired, but at the same time she knew that Aggravation would be very likely to forbid any more excursions like this. It might be Riley's only chance to really experience life—but maybe her myriad of experiences that day would allow Aggravation to actually give in and let her be free. After experiencing the world like this and knowing what it was like out here, he wouldn't bar her from it now that she knew, right?
"Hey Riley," she said with a gentle grin, gazing toward the towering construct spinning lazily overhead as its colors swirled in a slow dance. "Want to see what this place looks like from the Plutchik Wheel?"
Processing what her friend had said, Riley's eyes widened as she stared at Joy. The yellow emotion just smiled, gesturing toward her hopefully.
"Are you serious?" the blonde asked.
"Would I ever lie to you?" Joy teased.
Riley's expression became uncertain as she stepped back a bit, looking from Joy to the wheel. "You mean now?" Gears of anxiety could practically be seen turning in her head. "But what about Aggra—"
"Riley," Joy cut in sharply, reaching over and placing a hand on hers, "this isn't about him. This is all about you. Come on, Riley, you deserve to have fun! And what better way to complete this perfect day than see everything from the wheel?"
The other girl played with her fingers, unsure of what to make of this decision. On one hand, it was getting pretty late and no doubt both of them would be reprimanded by the adults for going without permission and staying away for so long. However, with so much having been learned, Riley didn't want the day to stop. She wanted to stay with Joy, to learn everything there was to know of simply being an emotion. She wanted to be able to really feel things.
And she really wanted to go on that wheel.
"Could we really?" she asked almost hopefully.
Joy beamed before nodding vigorously. "We need to get there right now!" she urged as she took Riley's hand again. "Everything is so beautiful at night, and we don't want to miss out!"
Riley just smiled, her heart thumping knowing that later back in the lab they would both be in extreme trouble. But for the first time ever she just didn't care. All that mattered was spending this precious moment with her friend.
As they ran off, Joy's glowing flesh guided them across the streets of the city. The lights shone from every building as the entire world as Riley knew it stayed awake. People were still on the streets with a few cars going by, some stopping to gawk at the duo, mostly Riley. But she hardly noticed, her entire focus straight on that special wheel that would actually make this day perfect.
Riley hardly remembered what her percentage was right now. But she felt much stronger, and didn't even bother to look at her wrist. All she wanted was to ride that colorful wheel, to feel like an emotion for the first time since she arrived to this world.
"Did you ever ride it with any of your friends?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, yeah," Joy answered. "The first time Fear got super scared that he had to hold onto me when we went super high."
"Is he always afraid?" Riley questioned, recalling the nervous state the purple emotion was always in even when she wasn't inches away from him.
"Not all the time," her friend assured her. "I mean, yes, his name is Fear, but he can be brave sometimes."
The wheel was within their view, and Riley's eyes drank in the colorful display that would become her enjoyment soon enough.
"The line isn't long!" Joy exclaimed happily. "Come on, Riley!"
Riley eagerly followed after her friend, slowing to a stop as the next group exited off some parts of the wheel, leaving enough room for them to get on. Reaching the more yellow-colored layers of spokes, Joy led Riley to the outermost portion.
"You get the best view of the city from the outer spokes," Joy said with a grin and an affectionate hand squeeze.
Once everyone was loaded in and the containers on each of the landed spokes closed, the wheel started to move upward.
Riley instinctively held on to Joy, the upward movement catching her off guard. Sure she had jumped around before, trying to learn how emotions moved, not to mention she had been suspended in her container. She knew, somewhat, what it was like to be a bit closer to the sky, to have some space between her and the ground. But this... it was something altogether different. It was a feeling of floating that just kept taking her higher and higher.
But as the wheel's turning went on, Riley stuck her head over the edge and felt her eyes widen, her jaw dropping.
The city looked amazing at night. The park shimmered with lamps that danced in a thousand colors, the lights on the buildings seemed to flash as if in a spoken language only they could understand, and even the towering flask-shaped laboratory seemed to reflect those lights in a prisim-like display that illuminated the skies.
Everything in general seemed to glow just as brightly as Joy was next to her.
Joy...
Riley turned slowly toward her friend, who was beaming with euphoria at seeing her friend so happy.
"Well, what do ya think?" Joy exclaimed. "Doesn't Cerebral City look beautiful?"
Riley could only nod, practically breathless.
"That's only part of it!" Joy exclaimed. "You can see more when we go up higher!"
As the turning of the wheel brought them higher and higher, Riley's gaze then turned as her heart practically leapt around as much as Joy herself. With the vehicle they stood in rising higher, there were areas she could see beyond the city, even if they did look far away. Other towns and cities, one that looked almost like clouds that had come to rest on the ground. Mountains that shone like prisms, an ocean that reflected the moonlight... so many places that she was getting a glimpse of up here. Places that she had never imagined existing.
Riley felt a warm and fuzzy feeling rise up from her chest and fill her whole being. This elation, this wonder... this was what it felt like to live. This was what it felt like to really be an emotion like Joy. This had to be what happy really felt like.
Joy gently took Riley's hand, her glow brightening in these wonderful moments. As far as she was concerned, it was just the two of them up there.
"Someday, Riley," Joy said, her voice sounding almost breathless, "I'll take you to see all of Terracordis!"
"What's that?" Yet another question, just as the hundreds Riley had asked today. But this was asked with a tone of absolute wonder to it.
Joy raised one hand to gesture to the space around them. "It's our planet!"
There was that confused look again that Joy was becoming so familiar with, and she didn't mind. "What's a planet?"
"A world. Terracordis is our whole world. It means, 'the world that's the center of thought and emotion', neat huh?"
Riley nodded numbly, still in awe.
"If you think Cerebral City is big, ya haven't seen anything yet!" Joy grinned softly, pulling Riley into a hug and ruffling her hair playfully.
Riley laughed and hugged back, feeling her eyes drawn to Joy again. She gripped her hands tightly and smiled, actually feeling as alive and vibrant as any emotion like the one beside her.
She didn't want to leave this. She wanted to stay. Just stay where it was her and Joy and they didn't have to worry about anything at all. No tests, no instability problems...
Riley looked directly at Joy and managed a warm, affectionate smile.
That was all Joy ever wanted from her friend. A wide, sincere smile that evenly matched hers. I finally did it, she thought happily.
The two friends simply grinned at one another before gazing back at the city itself. The bright lights shone evenly with Joy's glow, and Riley never felt more alive since she had finally woken up from her comatose forming state. It had been scary, and yet Joy helped her see the wonder in it despite everything.
While being social was still hard for her, the beauty that was the world she was experiencing was worth it all. And at least she had one friend who was more than she ever hoped for. Joy had given her so much in just one day, and Riley hoped maybe she could return the favor. Of course, that seemed impossible, given that she was a stranger to this world, and everything was already known by the yellow emotion herself. Who knew how far she had been?
Still, maybe someday it could happen. And it would be Joy who would be smiling in awe seeing a whole new world.
Her hand tightened in Joy's, the elation almost making her light-headed. But it was a great feeling. The best feeling. She never wanted to stop feeling like this.
It seemed like the lab and all her problems and worries just faded away. She and Joy absorbed the beautiful sight before them, never letting go of the moment. Or each other.
Now Riley knew why her name was Joy. Because she gave that feeling to anyone, just like she did for Riley. She looked at the yellow emotion affectionately, trying to get the nerve to speak.
"J-Joy?"
Said girl turned to her, looking at her and noticing her odd expression. Riley swallowed her nervousness as she tried to find the right words.
"T-thanks for doing all this for me," she finally said. "You're the best thing that's happened since I woke up."
It was Joy's turn to feel her heart become even more elated. All she had hoped for since seeing Riley in that container, even before her structure was finalized, was to give her a life. And she did. Whether or not Aggravation tried to deny Riley a normal life, Joy would continue to make Riley happy. Everyone deserved happiness.
She thought over the possibility that Riley would get a better room, with an actual bed. And some decent clothes, if Disgust's mom was still willing. And then there was more about the sports, and Joy felt that Riley would do great with hockey for some reason. And more pizza! Riley needed to have more pizza! Because who didn't?
The entire plan formed in her head as she and Riley continued gazing at the beautiful sight. The yellow emotion was confident things would look up, and Riley would be in better care than being just some lab rat.
She would be more than just half an emotion. She would be able to experience everything like a true native of Terracordis could. Aggravation be darned, Riley would feel at home.
They felt the gravity begin to pull, the wheel shifting downward. The higher parts of the city and the surrounding landscape disappeared before their eyes as they began to lower further toward the ground. Still, the image would forever be in Riley's mind. As was this moment. She never thought a mere thing like her would actually make memories, but here it was.
Her first real, happy memory.
She wiped her eyes, smiling painfully knowing that this moment was simply so precious. Joy continued holding her hand as the ride resumed, the beauty still surrounding them even when they weren't high above.
Riley felt higher than she reasoned herself to believe. For the first time in her short life, she felt strong. Like she could do just about anything with Joy's guidance.
Perhaps there was some potential to her name after all. Perhaps she really could be deserving of the name "Riley".
Even though Riley's appearance hadn't physically changed, still quite dull in comparison to Terracordian natives, she felt as if the glow that surrounded Joy's body had rubbed off on her and filled her heart, bathing every part of her being in an aura itself. This was the best day she ever had—well, she had only really had two days in terms of full wakefulness, but all the same it was better than she could have imagined in her short time being able to experience things.
There was so much that Riley loved about this world. She loved the colors and sights and sounds and food and fun and beauty and Joy...
She made sure to stay as close to Joy as she could, gripping the emotion's hand and drinking in the city sights around her. She was pretty sure that Joy was having their walk to the lab be deliberately slower, and that was just fine with Riley.
She didn't want to go back to the lab. Didn't want to go back to that cold, stark environment, to the darkness of her container that she had known for so long. She wanted to experience the world and be able to hang around with Joy as much as she wanted.
But both of them knew they had to go back. Even if it hurt more than either of them imagined it would after today.
Riley's mind played over everything that had happened that day, holding it all in her memory as her's and Joy's hands intertwined and they exchanged soft smiles. She wanted to make sure that no matter what Aggravation would forbid her to do, she wanted to have the memories and the experiences that had allowed her to grow.
She was stronger. She was more alive. All thanks to Joy.
Eventually, the two reached the lab and reluctantly stepped through the door. They both turned around slowly, still holding hands, as the doors closed behind them and the colored lights of Cerebral City vanished.
And then a loud voice boomed through where they stood in the lab, tearing a jagged hole through the happy feeling that had overtaken Riley, though she refused to let go of Joy's hand.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
A/N: Unfortunately it seems their happy, peaceful moment was too good to last. :( So next chapter the pair will have to face the consequences of their daytime excursion! I'll try to get chapters out quicker since I have just some editing to patch up on on next ones. Hope you enjoyed and remember to review! :)