Alrighty, here is the next chapter. Like I said, even though I have a this story written, I wanted to space out posting chapters.
Still, though, I really do request that you please leave a review! They mean so much to me and inspire me and just keep me motivated. I ask that you take the time to let me know your thoughts. And to those of you who have and who continue to do so, I thank you tremendously.
Random side note, I am promoting a new blog on tumblr where you can ask Fear and Joy your questions or send them your fanart of the two. It's called AskStarnerve. Feel free to check that out.
And, if any of you are new readers, you can contact me anytime either here or at MY tumblr, which is under the name CoffeeFueledAuthor.
So please enjoy and review. Thanks!
Chapter 3: Riding the Rainbow Rails
Riley had been actually awake for a few minutes now. The train would make it's scheduled pass by headquarters any second.
As Fear took his place beside Joy to await it's arrival, the golden emotion smiled excitedly and quickly pressed the button above the trains delivery slot, making her own quiet 'boop' sound effect. The button began to glow a bright green. Though they couldn't see it, they knew that the light outside their structure was now flashing.
Normally, the Train of Thought wouldn't stop at headquarters. It made a pass around to make it's standard morning delivery, not even slowing down as it hurled its satchel and whizzed by. Using the delivery slot the two emotions now stood beside, the train would drop off any ideas, daydreams, or opinions that had been ordered the night before. But by turning on the flashing light that hung outside, the emotions could signal the train to come to a complete stop, in case one of them needed to head out beyond headquarters to investigate a malfunction in the memory return or something similar. It had been Fear's idea to install the new signal, for it could also be used in the rare event that an emotion became caught in the recall suction, so someone could go out to Long Term and retrieve them.
Fear faced the tall exit door, shivering, silently wishing the train would arrive sooner. Standing this close to Joy was making his internal temperature skyrocket, and he was sure that Joy would be able to feel the heat radiating from his form. He couldn't make any mistakes on this big day. As his blush reached critical levels, he tried his hardest to calm his shaking, not wanting to draw any attention to the fact that he couldn't even hold it together when she was so near.
To his dismay, Joy actually took a quick step backward, leaving herself even closer to Fear. She had resumed humming the same pop song as the day before, and Fear began to worry that this was out of boredom. Little did he know that her humming was actually not dissimilar to what he had been doing; Joy could feel she was getting too excited about the upcoming adventure and was using the rhythmic, repetitive music to keep herself calm.
She couldn't help it. Where Fear was built from the raw feeling of terror, Joy was made up of pure happiness and excitement. Pretty much anything and everything could get her so wound up; she could almost never bring herself to stand still. When life always seemed so fun and enjoyable, she couldn't help but be constantly thrilled to bits. But this, she worried, was exactly the sort of thing that could scare Fear away. So she tried her best to hide her constant excitement. She didn't want to lose him when it had taken so long for him to start making the first steps towards a relationship.
It wasn't long before the clattering of the train upon phantom tracks could be heard approaching. And, rather than keeping up its usual allegro tempo, they could hear the vehicle begin to slow, the clacking of the rails becoming less frequent. Finally, the train came to a complete stop, puffing out a long and somewhat deafening whistle to let the passengers know it was ready to board. This was their ride.
Joy giggled excitedly. Fear took in a deep breath. And when the exit door opened a fraction of a second later, they both quickly made their way through.
Outside was only a small platform to stand on, a shaky extension jutting from headquarters' side raised high above the dark and threatening memory dump below. The train, perched atop it's glittering rails that seemed to exist only as the wheels passed over them, had stopped in such a way that a flatbed car was directly in front of the platform, surrounded by larger box cars on either side with rickety paths between them.
Joy, with no hesitation, hopped from the perch onto the train car, where she wandered to a nearby box and sat atop it. Fear, though his quivering knees tried to dispute the idea, followed Joy's example and hopped the small gap as well, repeatedly reminding himself not to look down. Once he, too had clambered atop a box, they looked to each other and smiled, now settled in and ready for the ride.
The front of the train produced a short whistle blast. "All ready back there!?" A raspy voice shouted over the ambient sounds of the mindscape.
"We're all set, Charlie!" Joy hollered back, mildly startling Fear. She had come to learn the names of all the different conductors, and could recognize each by their voices alone.
As a final warning, the train let loose one last screeching note that puffed into the air as a cloud of sparkling steam. The headquarters door quickly slammed shut, the signal light above the perch went from flashing red to a steady green glow, and the rhythmic breathing of the engine started up once more.
The train bucked forward as the brake was released, which surely would've sent Fear flying off his box perch had it not been for his white knuckled grip in terror. After the initial jolt, the trains movement became steady, a crescendo in volume and in speed as it worked to resume its original pace. The emotions could hear the faintest ringing sound as the tracks left behind faded into nothing and more appeared just far enough ahead of the train to keep it airborne.
As the vehicle finally eased into a steady speed, Fear felt like he could breathe a little. Depending on the day, it could be a little while before the imagination land stop, so he decided it would be best to settle in for a long ride.
Joy could visibly see the some of the tension escaping Fear. His tight posture began to relax, and his breathing seemed to slow slightly. She smiled, happier he was more at ease. Perhaps now, she thought, she could try and share her excitement.
"So!" She chirped, watching as Fear immediately perked his head to the sound. "What are we gonna do first?"
Fear, once again feeling the slightest temperature change in his face, removed his backpack and set it down in front of him. "Well, Imagination Land has really changed a lot recently..." He mumbled, retrieving a folded paper from the packs side pocket. "So I brought the most up to date map of the place I could get my hands on. It looks like the train stops right between 'Adrenaline Rush' amusement park, the 'Fictional Characters Hall of Fame', and the brand new beach that just opened up that they've been working on since Riley's trip to the coast."
Hearing the cranial points of interest only made Joy's excitement stronger. A hushed squeal escaped through her bright smile as she mentally debated on which of the impossibly fun sounding places should be visited first. The emotions didn't get many chances to explore outside of their tall central tower of headquarters. Joy especially didn't get out much, having been the lead emotion inside Riley for as long as she could remember. So she wanted to be sure she made the very best of this rare exploration opportunity, as it could be years before she was offered another.
"We should definitely check out the amusement park first!" She finally decided, nodding her head in agreement with herself. "That way we can go to the beach after it's already warmed up, so we can swim!"
Voicing her thoughts caused her to go over them a second time, and she quickly made a realization she hadn't before. She curled her brow in thought. She had been thinking in terms of the real world; of Riley's world. But this was the mindscape. Things worked far different here. Time barely held any meaning to the world around them, and weather was near non existent. "It's gonna be warm out there, right?" She looked to Fear for clarification.
Fear, who had momentarily zoned out as his eyes fixated on each of Joy's subtle movements while she was in deep thought, quickly shook his head and pulled the map over his face again to hide the worsening redness. "Uhh, y-yeah!" He stammered with a nervous cough. "That... that whole area is actually in something called the 'Perpetual Summer'? It'll be Riley's definition of the perfect summer day. The other side of imagination land, the one with the 'All-Star Hockey Rink' and the 'Minnesota Memory', those are more in the winter side."
Joy eyes lit up with wonder. Despite having spent pretty much her whole life as a part of Riley, she felt like she was always learning something new and amazing about her host and her mind world. She turned to say something about it to Fear, but instead caught herself looking over his outfit and giggling quietly to herself, trying to stifle any full blown laughter.
"Perpetual summer?" She repeated. "And you're going out with long sleeves and a sweater?"
Returning the map to its assigned place in his bag, Fear chuckled nervously in response to the question. "N-no, heh. Of course not." Fear unzipped the main compartment of the backpack, thinking what a disaster it would be for him if he made the trip in his standard outfit. He was already sweating just thinking about being alone with Joy all day. Add an unwavering summer sun, and Fear would be so grossly drenched in his own perspiration that he figured Joy would no doubt call the outing off. He pulled out a lightweight bundle of pastel colored cotton, unfurling it to reveal a summery outfit of his. "I was gonna wear this." He grinned, setting his pack back at his feet. "I just... didn't want to change into it until we left HQ..."
Joy tilted her head and prepared to ask 'why not', but saw the sudden change in facial expression sweep across Fear. It was hard to pick out what he was feeling, but he stared at the change of clothes in an almost nervous yet sullenly defeated sort of way. Joy wanted to offer what comfort she could for whatever was troubling Fear, but was still finding it hard to decide what actions would only make his anxiety worse, like pointing out his obvious discomfort. She ultimately decided that it was still too early in the date to make any sort of a bolder move, and so sat quietly, watching Fear's solemn expression and wishing she could alleviate his unending anxiety.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence (which felt like an eternity to Joy) Fear lifted his head, blinked a few times, and focused instead on the box car ahead of them, his face falling back into a more neutral state.
Fear breathed a long, slow sigh. "W-well..." He stood up from the box, stumbling only briefly from the momentum of the moving train. "I guess I'll go change real quick."
Walking quickly in an attempt to embarrass himself as little as possible, Fear awkwardly tripped his way to the car ahead, slipping into the large wooden crate via the small sliding entrance at the cars rear. Once inside, he glanced back at Joy, who hadn't budged from her makeshift seat. She smiled brightly at the lanky emotion, to which Fear could only respond with his own nervous grin as he slid the wooden door closed, completely obscuring himself from her vision.
The box car, devoid of windows or slots for the ambient light to shine through, was illuminated only by the large, unsorted heap of memory orbs laying in the far corner. The random assortment of the 5 different emotional colors bathed the crates insides in an eerie, muddy-colored glow. With each rail the train crossed, the orbs would shudder, producing a delicate clinking sound as they collided with one another.
Not entirely fond of the crates ambiance, Fear hurried to remove his standard outfit. As he removed his striped undershirt and revealed his scrawny chest, he once more found himself overcome with the feeling of inadequacy. Seeing his own bare, stubby legs wasn't helping either. It only reminded him of how little he had to offer physically. He rushed to get the other outfit on to end the feeling.
Fear had always been self conscious of his lanky shape. He was far skinnier than any of his colleagues, with spindly limbs and a lengthy torso. He had purposefully chosen his outfit to hide all of his scrawny features; the only things left uncovered being his hands and face. But in this thin, lightweight summer outfit, it was easy to appreciate just how slender he really was. The pastel purple t shirt, decorated with a large swirl, left most of his arms uncovered. And the lightish bluish shorts revealed the lower half of his legs.
He looked over himself with an anxious sigh. He didn't like feeling so exposed, especially in front of Joy. But his options had been either this, or allow himself to become drenched in sweat. It seemed to him as the lesser of two evils. Knowing Joy would be wondering where he was, Fear picked up his discarded outfit and slid the wooden door back open.
Joy, who had been happily watching the scenery of the mindscape as the train chugged along, turned to glance at her nervous colleague, who immediately grew paler and braced himself for a negative reaction to his new outfit. But instead, Joys face lit up with a wide smile, her eyes shimmering with pure excitement.
"Fear! That outfit is adorable!" She cooed, placing her petite hands on her golden cheeks.
Fear slowly came out of the defensive stance he had taken. "Y-you..." He blinked, his blush quickly returning at full force. "You think so..?"
Joy nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!" She grinned. "I hardly ever get to see you without your normal bulky clothes!"
Unable to keep his composure one second longer, Fear turned his face away to hide the goofy smile that was taking over his expression. He tried to extend a thank you for her kindness, but it came out only as a random, uncontrollable giggling.
"Now I wish I had a cute summery outfit to wear." Joy folded her arms in thought. "Then we could look adorable together."
Fear instantly perked up to Joy's comment. "W-well!" He accidentally shouted, coughed, and started again at a more controlled volume. "W-well... Y-you actually could, kind of. Because I... I actually... Well, I sort of..."
The golden emotion tilted her head as she tried to decipher his stuttering. Frustrated that his words refused to cooperate with him, he tripped his way over to his backpack to show what he meant. In a swift motion, Fear jammed his hands into the main compartment and withdrew another set of summer themed clothing.
"I sort of..." He tried again, slower. "I packed you a spare set of clothes... In case... Well, in case your dress got wet at the beach or something..."
Fear had only barely finished his thought when Joy bolted past him in a glittering blur, snatching the clothes from his loose grip as she zoomed by. Though he could hear she was saying something, her words were far too garbled together into one incoherent thought for him to understand, only picking out repeated exclamations and 'thank you's. In an instant, she had crossed the platform to the box car ahead and sealed herself inside to change.
It all had happened so quickly; Fear hadn't had time to process what had happened. He stood still for a moment, his arms still outstretched as if cradling the clothes that were no longer there. When the startle wore off and he found himself able to move again, he slowly turned to face the closed wooden door.
While he waited for her to change, Fear thought about what Joy had said, the heat in his face rising marginally. She hadn't mocked his awkward build at all. In fact, it almost sounded like she liked his physical appearance. Fear smiled and giggled softly. 'It's too good to be true!' He thought to himself.
But it wasn't long before his natural emotion kicked in. 'It is too good to be true...' He shivered. 'What if she was just being nice? She'll compliment anyone and anything.' Fear's long face fell into an anxious grimace. 'What if it was just out of pity? What if this whole thing was just out of pity...'
Before he could dwell on it any longer, Joy burst back through the box car door and onto the flat bed, her pose like that of a fashion model. "How do I look?" She laughed, adjusting her denim shorts.
Fear's eyes widened. His cheeks felt like they were on fire, reaching a crimson hue that he hadn't thought possible. When he had grabbed the spare set of clothes for Joy the day before, he hadn't realized that the shirt was short enough to leave Joy's midriff exposed. Fear felt his antennae threaten to twist in on itself, no doubt to form into a heart shape, and he was forced to turn the other way.
"Y-y-you... You l-look... I mean... I think y-you look..." Fear's flustered brain couldn't even handle a simple response.
Joy giggled, the pink in her cheeks returning. "That good, huh?" She smiled.
Fear was preparing to offer a rebuttal when the train suddenly lurched, knocking him briefly to the ground. The train had finally arrived at its destination, and it whimpered and whined as it began to slow to a stop.
"This is the Imagination Land stop!" The conductor shouted over the growing noise.
Joy clapped her hand together with excitement. "We're here!" She yelled.
When the train finally came to a halt, accented by two screeching whistles from the front, Joy leapt off of the train without hesitation. She called out for Fear to follow as she disappeared into the colorful landscape all around.
Fear, still trying to bring his own lavender color back, took in one last deep breath.
'This is it.' He thought. 'Don't mess this up...'