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strange things
[Woody doesn't like trash cans. One ride in a dumpster (and a near-incineration at the dump) was enough for him.]
[But the upturned wastebasket seems enough to keep Forky pacified, for now. Even though he isn't in the bin, technically, being under it and surrounded by trash is apparently enough to keep the (freaky and alarming) little guy from trying to throw himself away. When Bonnie comes back Woody plans on tipping it back over so Forky's visible, so that Bonnie can take him on the road trip.]
[In the meantime, Woody is making sure the new toy(?)(!) doesn't go anywhere, by sitting on top of the upturned bin to weigh it down. He kicks his legs idly, looking out at the other toys excitedly getting ready for the road trip, gathering all their accessories.]
[Woody's expression, now that no one is currently looking his way, is slightly pensive.]
[He's pretty sure he knows who's going to get chosen.]
[Mostly sure.]
[Kind of sure.]
[...Okay, he's sure who else is probably going to get chosen by Bonnie to go with her. The toy he's not sure will get picked...is him.]
[Maybe it's just a phase, he thinks. Kids are funny like that. Look at Andy's brief obsession with Buzz. Temporary insanity, really, but then the status quo settled into a position where they were close to equal.]
[Close to it, because Woody had still shaken out to be the clear favorite, once the dust had settled. He's the one Andy had chosen to take to college, after all, when he could've chosen them both. Maybe Woody'd just gotten a little spoiled. This is how it is for the non-favorites, right? Phases of not getting played with? Maybe it doesn't mean she's done with him already. Who is he to fuss over it? Getting played with is just not the point of it all.]
[Still, his foot twitches nervously as he kicks his little kicks.]
[She'll take you too, he tells himself. She might not play with you but she'll at least do that.]
[But the upturned wastebasket seems enough to keep Forky pacified, for now. Even though he isn't in the bin, technically, being under it and surrounded by trash is apparently enough to keep the (freaky and alarming) little guy from trying to throw himself away. When Bonnie comes back Woody plans on tipping it back over so Forky's visible, so that Bonnie can take him on the road trip.]
[In the meantime, Woody is making sure the new toy(?)(!) doesn't go anywhere, by sitting on top of the upturned bin to weigh it down. He kicks his legs idly, looking out at the other toys excitedly getting ready for the road trip, gathering all their accessories.]
[Woody's expression, now that no one is currently looking his way, is slightly pensive.]
[He's pretty sure he knows who's going to get chosen.]
[Mostly sure.]
[Kind of sure.]
[...Okay, he's sure who else is probably going to get chosen by Bonnie to go with her. The toy he's not sure will get picked...is him.]
[Maybe it's just a phase, he thinks. Kids are funny like that. Look at Andy's brief obsession with Buzz. Temporary insanity, really, but then the status quo settled into a position where they were close to equal.]
[Close to it, because Woody had still shaken out to be the clear favorite, once the dust had settled. He's the one Andy had chosen to take to college, after all, when he could've chosen them both. Maybe Woody'd just gotten a little spoiled. This is how it is for the non-favorites, right? Phases of not getting played with? Maybe it doesn't mean she's done with him already. Who is he to fuss over it? Getting played with is just not the point of it all.]
[Still, his foot twitches nervously as he kicks his little kicks.]
[She'll take you too, he tells himself. She might not play with you but she'll at least do that.]
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He's been reading this weather report for too long, though. Woody keeps being left behind, and it's frightening. Seeing someone who's never been anything but a favorite fall by the wayside would be distressing even if it weren't his best pal. The possibility of Woody being lost or thrifted affects them all, even if it ends up affecting Bonnie not much in the end.
Not that Woody will ever give him a straight answer if he asks about his pal's mental health directly. Woody's so used to command that he barely opens up about his worries to anyone, but the only person he barely opens up to really is Buzz. He can take an indirect approach.]
Shift change, Cowboy? You've been up there a while.
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I've got it under control.
[He mostly does. Forky is happily half-napping in the trash and not trying to fight his way out because of his contented trash-snuggling.]
When we hear Bonnie coming back, I'll knock the trash can off of him and she'll probably pack him up right away before he has a chance to escape.
He can't keep this up forever, right? He'll get used to being a toy before long. Until he settles in, I'll just have to keep a close eye on him on the trip.
[Despite his assurances, his foot twitches even worse. Twitchtwitchtwitchtwitchtwitch, tapping slightly against the overturned trash can.]
That we're all going on.
[So far he hasn't taken his eyes off Bonnie's bedroom door.]
[He doesn't chew on his nails because he doesn't have nails, but when he's anxious he sometimes chews slightly on the ends of his fingers all the same.]
[Taptaptaptaptap goes his twitchy foot.]
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[Everyone can also see Woody being as physically nervous as he can possibly be, without restraint.]
Woody - Bonnie will -
[Probably get over Forky pretty easily, if he does go missing? No, he definitely can't say that. Not to Woody, not right now.]
- Probably be back any minute.
[Great. Real decisive. Helpful.]
If she wants to keep Forky with her, she will probably manage that.
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Not if he's actively trying throw himself out, Buzz.
[He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose.]
Look, I know you all think I'm crazy, but I was the one at Andy's first days at school. When kids are in a scary new situation, they sometimes latch onto whatever toy gives them the most comfort to get through it. Even Andy had moments where he was shy and nervous.
[Despite being a very rambunctious, social kid, firsts were still scary because they were scary to many kids.]
It makes them less scared, they adjust faster, they're more confident when reaching out to make friends. Since Bonnie wasn't allowed to bring one of us, she made him and...whatever happened happened.
[He raises both eyebrows because that whole thing is weird existential can of worms he wishes hadn't been opened, so he's just going to ignore it as said worms crawl away on the table.]
[He looks over at Dolly.]
I know Andy and Bonnie aren't the same, and Dolly's got seniority here in Bonnie's room. [He holds up both hands.] I can respect that. But even though she's got seniority, I'm old enough I'd qualify for discount movie tickets if I were human. I'm even older than Slink.
And I got taken anyplace Andy felt insecure: first days at school, doctor's visits, the dentist, his first time at summer camp, funerals...
[Most of those the others could've easily guessed by virtue of Woody being the favorite but the last one was one he'd definitely never mentioned.]
If something happens to Forky, it'll be a huge setback for her. Kids react badly if the thing they were leaning on falls out from under them. She'll probably feel even more insecure than she did before she made him.
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[Buzz really doesn't want to bring up this bad possible future. But he's considering it, and Woody will never bring it up on his own.]
If you say keeping the fork entity out of the trash is important, I believe you, but -
[This is going to be bad, but there's no way around it.]
Who do you want monitoring him if Bonnie decides not to take you on the trip?
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[He can manage plenty of bluster with the others but there are - and were - a few toys that always saw right through it. Buzz is one. Bo...she'd been another. Jessie sometimes too.]
[Woody decides not to lie, to Buzz or himself.]
[His shoulders droop a little, as if the weight of the truth he's trying to acknowledge is dragging them down.]
If you and Jessie could keep an eye on the little guy it'd be a load off my mind.
[They'd be the most competent at lassoing and tackling him before he could throw himself out. Plus Buzz has experience with thinking he was one thing and then finding out he was a toy.]
[Woody stares at the door for a long time, looking a little lost. If he's not taken on the trip, if Bonnie's favor doesn't swing back in his direction again sometimes soon...]
[Bonnie's mom loved donating toys to the preschool or thrift shop. Sunnyside at least wouldn't be that bad now that Lotso was gone, would it?
Yes. Nosirree. And they had some friends there. And there's always a chance at finding another kid at a thrift shop.][Bo had been able to accept that. When she'd been given away.]
[("It's time for the next kid.")]
[But those possibilities will happen only if Bonnie's lack of attention doesn't get him lost first. If she takes him on the trip and leaves him at a rest stop would she even notice he was gone? Would she care?]
[Woody looks everywhere but Buzz]
You and Jessie are always good at taking the lead. It's important that someone does. Between you two and Dolly, you can make sure everyone's taken care of.
[The words he says next aren't so much spoken as excavated.]
During times I might not be around.
[Buzz wanted to know where his head was at right now? Well, there it is. He's thinking about the what ifs and the contingencies already. He can see the writing on the wall.]
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We'll keep him out of the landfill, if we have to.
[. . . but it's not comforting to know that his buddy knows he is.
Buzz hops up on the trash can beside Woody anyway. Two bros, chillin on a trash can, one inch apart because they're in this together.
At least . . . as far as they can decide to be in anything together with the minimal agency they have to choose their own fates.]
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Can't say I ever thought it'd come to this.
Once we wound up with Bonnie, somehow I had it in my head that if things took a turn it'd be after she'd grown up. Like when Andy outgrew us. Not...
[Not so soon. Not with her losing interest just a short way in, and him with the old timers - with the other toys Bonnie had outgrown - collecting dust-bunnies in the closet.]
[Not while all his friends get to bask in the happiness that comes from making a child happy.]
[His words drop off.]
Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get maudlin about the whole thing. Kids have their moods. Look at how Andy ignored me when he first got you. He got over it and then we both got plenty of attention.
But I was never Bonnie's favorite, not like it was with Andy. I meant something to him.
And sometimes you need to hope for the best and expect the worst, just in case. To be ready for it.
[He looks out at Hamm and Rex and the others excitedly chattering about the trip.]
Don't tell the others I'm worried. You know how they get. Especially Rex.
[It's one thing for them to all see him left in the closet collecting dust but they're not quite panicking yet, assuming it'll magically get better somehow. If they knew he was worried, mentally preparing for the worst...]
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[Under no circumstances are any of the toys going to find out they're both worrying about this. Maybe Jessie. But it's still better if they can handle this quietly between them, probably.]
Whatever happens, we'll figure it out.
[Woody doesn't have to hear him say it to know it, but hey, what else can he say? If Mom comes looking to donate, there's plenty of places in the house for a ragdoll to hide. Buzz is already listing up the places in the back of his mind, in order of best to worst, but there's only so much they can do if Mom decides to do a real deep spring cleaning one of these years.]
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[Woody's always been one to do whatever his kid needs. He's broken the rules a little for other toys, sneaking them back in after yard sales and hiding them from spring cleaning, but when it comes to himself, he's always been willing to do exactly what his kid wanted, ready to accept most fates that potentially came his way. Oh sure, he'd have fought getting thrown in the trash and would've opted to be a lost toy instead, but if Andy had sold him in a yard sale or put him in the attic...]
It's about what Bonnie wants. [A pause. A sigh.] Or doesn't want.
[This is treading on painful territory for more than one reason.]
You know, when we lost Bo...
I could've sneaked her back in. I had a chance, but she said "It's time for the next kid." Because Molly didn't need her anymore.
[He'd told them all he'd gotten a chance to say goodbye, but nothing more than that, not any of the specifics. This is the first time he's mentioned anything about their last conversation.]
I think sometimes the only thing you can do is let go.
[Especially when the kid you want to make happy is letting go of you first.]
In the meantime, while we see where this goes, I'm just going to do the things I know I can do for as long as I can do them.
[He lightly taps a foot against the trash can, indicating that keeping Forky alive is part of that. Maybe he can't make Bonnie happy but if he can get the new toy to settle in and accept his role, that's at least something.]
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And Buzz does not want to.
Why should he have to think seriously about a future in which his best pal is lost in the limnal timelessness of a rest stop, or snatched by a collector from a thrift shop shelf to dry-rot into eternity behind glass, why does he have to just accept this?
Because they're not people. Not even not Space Rangers, just not people. He accepted this once. He did. But that was for himself.
And as much as it might be less painful to be able to . . . much as he never brings it up, not even to Woody, not even to Jessie, he still remembers what it felt like to assume he was a person.
Forget assuming that all of the universe was his to protect and explore. Assuming that he had a future he was even a little bit in control of is impossible not to miss.
It was one thing to stuff down when it was just his future he was staring down with uncertainty. It's another entirely when it's his best pal.
Building frustration gives him the steam needed to ask a harder question.]
What if there's not a next kid?
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[But he doesn't want to actually grapple with the answer. His voice goes taut.]
I don't think there's anything to be gained by dwelling on that, Buzz. Besides, even if that happens, I'm not going to let myself get thrown away. When Andy's mom put you all on the curb, I ran down right down there with scissors.
If I have to walk away I'll just -
[But he doesn't know what he'll do if he walks away, if he becomes a lost toy. He puts his hat back on, adjust it slightly.]
I'll figure something out.
[He adds, a little more hopefully.]
I could always make a break for it and go to Sunnyside. It's only a few blocks from here.
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[There he goes, dipping back into Space Ranger brain again. There are so many ways trying to plan is like trying to throw a rock at the sun, but Buzz would rather do it than silently wait to see what bad possibility becomes a bad reality.]
If you're going to figure out something then, why not figure it out now? Nobody here wants you to walk away forever.
[Jesse would be devastated. He'd be devastated. Why does that devastation have to seem unavoidable?]
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[Toys don't really get to do social calls that easily, unless it's somewhere very close or unless there are play dates between two children.]
If I have to go to Sunnyside, I'll try to swing by sometimes. If I can. But that's a big "if."
[He shrugs].
Besides, if Mom takes me to the thrift store instead, maybe that's where I'm meant to be. There's a chance of another owner that way, instead of being played with by multiple kids.
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Oh yeah, because they're not people, and not-people don't get to have social calls.]
'Meant to be?'
[What are they, religious now? Social calls they can't have, but a vague sense of universal guidance, they can adopt THAT people-attribute into their lives?
But Buzz is getting irritated and that doesn't lead to any sort of productive planning.]
If you end up at a thrift store, you could be found by a collector. Remember how quickly you got bought last time you were on the E Bay? Are you still all right with going to a museum?
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No. Not anymore.
[Locked away behind glass, never to be loved again? He's very glad he decided against it. Especially since if the museum had cameras or locked him in his case, how would he have even talked with other toys? That's an even more horrifying prospect.]
[His expression changes from fretful, to wistful. A happy reminiscing wistful.]
Watching Andy grow up, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
[He stops looking off into the middle distance of memory and shakes his head.]
But that's all the more reason it's worth trying to find another owner, Buzz. I don't want to leave any of you behind, but helping a child grow up?
[He cranes his head to look down at Forky.]
Whatever makes us what we are - and now I'm even more fuzzy on that than ever - I think it's what we're here for.
[Forky came alive the second Bonnie needed him. Toys often "woke up" after being taken out of their boxes by child, or after just being near children in a toy store. Somehow, being around children gave them life.]
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[Buzz checks himself. He can't stay prescriptive about this. He's practically trying to tell Woody to do regarding a situation that isn't certain yet, and it's less for Woody's benefit than for . . . truthfully, his.]
Then we should come up with some ways getting a new owner is the likely outcome, not just a possibility. Anything can happen in a thrift store.
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[Woody suspects he and the others in the closet might be gone sooner than later.]
[It's hard teaching an old toy new tricks but he's at least learned a little over the years to loosen up and accept some change, to look for better solutions, to fight fate just a little bit harder. At the end of the day if Bonnie wants him gone, he's gone, but Buzz is right that maybe where he goes off to doesn't have to be at the fickle whims of Mom or fate.]
[He won't fight the leaving if it's what Bonnie wants, but maybe the where. He'd done it before, leaving that note to give Andy the idea to donate them to Bonnie. So he reluctantly nods, more flexible about it than he'd have been several years ago.]
Maybe you're right. If Bonnie eventually wants me gone, it's what she wants. But I guess it's okay if we at least try to control where I go off to.
[He puts his hand on Buzz's shoulder, appreciative of his friend's support, of his lack of panic over the idea of him leaving. Buzz is channeling the concern into trying to figure out what Woody needs done rather than flailing in a way Woody has to try to soothe. It's the only reason Woody is able to talk about this with him, in a way he can't with the others.]
[It's selfless to have fear and potential grief over potentially eventually losing a friend, but putting all those feelings off to the side to do whatever you can for them. Woody recognizes it for what it is. The gesture is to show that. And to hold on in a way that will let Buzz realize how much he'll miss him, if they've read the room right, if they're not wrong about Woody getting cast aside.]
Even though I'd rather stay here with all of you. [He looks up at the door, wistfully.] And with her.
[She isn't Andy and she doesn't love him the way Andy had, but being loved isn't what it takes for Woody to love a child he belongs to. And that's the tragedy in all this, not that he can even see it as being as tragic as it is.]
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He also wants Woody to stay with them. But what they want is almost never a factor in their lives.
Bonnie could decide she was done with him tomorrow and he'd be off to some thrift store, and would he be expected not to find his way back to hide in the attic, to follow Jessie and Woody to wherever they end up next? Would he seriously be expected to just let whatever happened to him happen, regardless of how good or bad it was, regardless of how far it took him away from the people he wants to be around?
Yes he would be expected to. He would, and he already knows he's not going to do it.
Woody is leaning so hard into it, though. Woody embraces his identity as an owned object with so little hesitation. Even though Buzz can tell that in this case at least, embracing it is not easy.
So why does he have to do it?]
What we want doesn't factor in.
[Why can't it? Why can't it though!]
Does it, Woody?
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[But he's grown over time.]
[So his voice is taut like a bowstring ready to break, but it doesn't snap. It stays quiet, he doesn't yell, he doesn't lash out and try to hurt. It's tense and a little pained, but without being accusatory.]
[He didn't want to talk about this like they owed him anything, didn't want to ever hold it over their heads, make them feel indebted. But sometimes it bothers him that it's something his friends never really think about when they ask things of him, or prod at him, or tease him, or just not quite get where he's coming from or going through.]
[He doesn't expect them to be grateful but he does expect them to understand. Instead of getting angry, though, for once he explains where his head is at. He's a different toy than he was a decade ago.]
I already factored in what all of you [not "we"] wanted. I factored in how you'd have been up in Andy's attic in the dark, not sure when you'd be taken down again or if you'd be yard saled. I factored in Jessie having to be stuck in a box, about how you might have your box pinned down by another box, so you couldn't even get out and move around. I factored in that boxes in the attic sometimes get thrown away by accident.
[He'd thought about the contingencies and the worst case scenarios. He'd been a good leader who worried more about the well being of the group than himself.]
I factored all of that in and now everyone has a second chance, right now, no being stuck in the dark, with Bonnie.
[He bristles with tension, shows a rare bit of grief on his face, for what he still feels like he gave up. It's something he'd only ever show his best friend, due to a bond that started when they'd opened up and been vulnerable in a way you only could be while trapped in a crate and strapped to a rocket.]
[He'd been a favorite toy, so loved Andy wanted to take him to college. He'd been so loved he'd already been passed down from one Davis to the next. He'd been so loved there was a very strong chance he'd have been passed down to Andy's child - special, because it was dad's.]
[It wasn't certain because nothing ever was but after giving up that strong chance to keep his friends out of the attic, and then be asked to, what, hide in the attic? Gather dust in a closet? Sneak around behind furniture to avoid getting caught? Instead of being loved by another child?]
[It stings, having someone not seem to notice that he'd sacrificed his near-sure chance for theirs.]
[He finally gets stubborn, hand curled at his chest.]
If she doesn't want me, if she gives me away, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting my second chance too.
[Asserting his needs and wants for once and just saying them - apparently you can teach an old toy at least a few new tricks.]
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[Of all the conversations they can have - and when there's a conversation Buzz can only have with someone, he has it with Woody (or Jessie) - are they never ever going to have this one?]
I know you gave up a lot for the rest of us.[To be fair, he's actually glad Woody is acknowledging that elephant in the room, which he's been growing more aware of himself as the years passed.]
I'm talking about all of us. All toys, everywhere. What we want doesn't factor in. It never will.
[If they are becoming religious types, then what he's saying is as close as they get to heresy. This is why he can only talk about it with Woody - if Woody will talk about it at all.]
But it's not even worth talking about, is it? There's nothing we can do about it.
[Challenging the status quo that keeps them basically powerless in their own fates would mean jeopardizing their chances of being played with. Even if all they get is a few years . . . jeopardizing that is just not worth the heresy of growing tired of not being people, with their own fates in their hands.]
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[What Buzz is talking about is even heavier. It's a conversation toys just don't have, something they try not to question. They try not to think critically about the lack of control over their own lives because the answers at the end of every line of questioning are quite frankly a little depressing.]
[It takes some times to find the words. He works his jaw a few times and nothing comes out at first.]
What can we do? It's either living the way we do where we don't have much control or living in secret as lost toys. Either way is still in secret. Either way is hard somehow.
That's all there is. We can't ever...ever talk to them. You know how humans get, they get afraid at things, and when they're afraid they get angry. And if we can't ever be seen, we can't ever have some of the things they have.
[He gestures towards the door, towards Bonnie.]
If they knew we were alive all this time they might...get rid of every toy there is. And all the kids that didn't know we were alive would look back on their childhoods as something scary, and they'll think about any toys they threw away or accidentally broke and...
[It'd hurt them all, toys and kids and adults remembering their childhood.]
And if anything made to be a toy comes alive - [He lightly knocks a spurred boot at the trash can, pointing out Forky] what if they stopped making us at all? And kids never had us again?
[He breathes in a deep breath into lungs that aren't real, the habit probably dreamed into them.]
I don't have any answers, Buzz. All I know is we have to find meaning and good we can do for others, toy and human, wherever we can. Even if it's hard. Even if there are things we can't control. Even if sometimes our choices aren't really the ones we want.
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But it all comes down to this, to him accepting that in a short amount of time, he might never see his best buddy again, because Woody is better at accepting it than he is.
If he's ever separated from Jessie, he already knows he's not going to accept it quietly. He'll kick out a tail light and hitch a ride back from the thrift store or the dump if he has to. He'll hide out in luggage until he makes it all the way to whatever museum she ends up collected in, and . . . then what? Hide in the vents forever, depending on the security system, just staring down at her in her motion-sensor-guarded box for all eternity?
And he'll do that, because the alternative is just too catastrophic for everyone.
They get a few unguaranteed years of happiness.
It has to be enough.
With nothing to say but agree, he just puts a plastic hand on Woody's ragdoll shoulder.]
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All we can do right now is just hope the wind blows a different direction.
[And that he gets more time with his friends.]
[There's a warning jangled from Ringles, the stuffed animal on the door and Dolly calls out "Bonnie's coming!"]
[Woody lets go of Buzz's hand. The contact is there and then just like that, it's gone. He hops off the trash can.]
Quick, help me topple the trash can over.
[He needs to expose Forky underneath, so Bonnie can pack him for the trip.]
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They have to work fast, as the sound of Bonnie's little footsteps thunder down the hall.]
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I've got him.
[Only one of them is needed to keep him in place until Bonnie picks him up.]
[Woody waves an arm towards the spot Buzz had previously been at a few feet away.]
Go.
["Places, people!" calls out Dolly, and everyone collapses to the floor and freezes in the ways they were when Bonnie saw them last. Woody falls with his hand on Forky's foot stick, holding him until toy instinct makes Forky collapse too at the sound of Bonnie's footsteps.]
[She bursts into the room just after Buzz falls into place, pulling a tiny wheeled suitcase her parents gave her to put her toys in.]
["Hi toys! We're going on a road trip! Nyoom!" she cries happily, and starts going around the room, picking out toys. "Hi Dolly! Hi Jessie! You're going and you're going. And you're going too, Buttercup!"]
[She opens the top of the suitcase and wheels it around instead of setting it down and opening it completely, dropping them through the gap into the depths inside.]
["Hi Buzz, we're going on a road trip, tooo infinity and beyond!" She presses Buzz's voice button and gets "This is a secret mission in uncharted space!" from his voice box. She gasps. "A secret mission? We'll have to bring our new space ranger, Forky!" Forky makes a few furtive attempts at escape when she's not looking but Woody successfully keeps him in place until she turns around and he freezes. "Where's Forky?" She spots him. "Forky! We're going on a road trip! To space!"]
[She picks up Woody to get him out of the way and then... doesn't put him in the bag. She temporarily throws him aside so he accidentally bangs into the closet door and then lands in the small pile of trash, picking Forky up instead. She lifts the spork toy up and hugs him to her as best as she can without poking herself, then turns away to put Forky and Buzz in her case.]
[The second she turns away, where Woody lay in the trash pile in a tangle of limbs, his chest suddenly jumps in a gasp of anguish. His face unfreezes and is stricken with a sudden expression of shock and betrayal.]
[Then Buzz is put in the backpack. She keeps stuffing more toys in that aren't Woody like Trixie and Rex. Then Bonnie's mom can be heard, muffled, telling Bonnie she's going to help her pack her clothes.]
["Are you done packing your toys?" "Yes!" "Don't forget your cowboy." The hand that drops Woody in the luggage is too large to be Bonnie's. He lands near Buzz, unfreezing and drawing his legs up after the case is zipped, looking at nothing at first, mouth gaping, chest rising and falling in little starts. The other toys are awkwardly silent, not wanting to call any attention to what just happened but not knowing what to say. Woody looks over at them, sees the pity, looks at Buzz and then looks away too fast to even see if Buzz has pity on his face, too.]
[The furtive gesture is one of deep embarrassment.]
[Forky is the one that breaks the silence, letting out a whine and trying to reach for the zipper to get out. "Uuugh, I don't want to go on a road trip. I want to go back to the trash." Woody slaps his pipe cleaner hand away from the zipper.]
Stop that. Look, road trips are a lot more fun than trash, I promise. You're going to love it.
[Forky keeps fighting him and Woody's wraps an arms around him firmly to keep him from squirming, then awkwardly clears his throat and speaks to the others.]
I'll just, uh, keep an eye on the little guy.
[Woody spares a look at Jessie, just to check and see if she's doing okay. Her breathing is a little fast but she's doing her breathing exercises. Woody briefly reaches out to pat her knee comfortingly - still able to care for his friend in spite of his embarrassment.]
Easy, Jessie. Bonnie will probably take us out to the RV soon enough.
[Then his arm goes back to Forky as he tries to jump for the zipper again. He holds him still and keeps looking at the cloth of the luggage, going back to avoiding all their eyes. They gradually start to talk in quiet voices but Woody stays silent.]
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Buzz shares the pity and concern in a glance with Jessie, whose hand he is already automatically holding in the small space. Her chest is rising and falling as she manages her panic, but even beyond her own discomfort, she's also looking with worry at Woody.
Who's managed, in his own distress, to still reach out to comfort her.
Buzz and Jessie exchange another look, as he squeezes her hand and puts his free hand on Woody's shoulder. Jessie lets go of his hand, and moves to Woody's other side, to put her hand on his shoulder too.
That was hard to see, and had to have been harder to experience.]
He's right, you know, [Buzz puts in, to Forky.] A toy's first road trip is one of the greatest adventures you'll ever experience. You won't believe how much fun a kid and her toys can have on one.
[How much fun they'll all have together.
Bonnie will come around. He has to believe it. Her attention will rotate, as is natural, and out on a grand adventure she'll become interested anew in Woody.
Hopefully.]
no subject
[It what he needs right now. Everyone going on like everything's normal.]
[Woody lets Buzz and Jessie join him at both sides and scoots to try to give Jessie the most room as possible while she stays close, so she doesn't feel stifled. He doesn't look either of them in the face, but his shoulders relax slightly from how he'd had them hunched up with brittle tension.]
[Holding Forky practically in his lap, almost like a parent holding a child on their lap on a plane trip, he reaches his free hand up to hold onto Jessie's hand at his shoulder, returning the contact, giving her something to help ground her. He'd put an arm around her shoulders but they'd learned that always made her feel more boxed in. What comforted her most was a tether to something outside her anxiety but where she didn't feel smothered. Hand-holding was therefore usually the best.]
[He segues off of what Buzz said, and starts telling stories, hoping that it'll give Jessie something else to focus on, too.]
Oh yeah. They're always a good time. In fact, one time Buzz, Jessie, and I got taken on a road trip and we...
[And he fills the quiet with experience and whispered old stories and a promise of new things, because that's just what he does.]