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[he doesn't see what it is that slips out-- doesn't think it's a photo. thinks it's probably another invite to a bird party, maybe? or some weird thin explosive. jessie goes to pick it up and buzz is ready to do a yeet again if he needs to, but she goes still and...

boy, does he ever know that expression on her face. even as it shifts. for a brief, horrible moment he thinks it's something he's done that's brought up some bad memories for her. a trigger she didn't know she had but she's only just discovered. it makes him hesitate before he goes over to her, raising a hand to put on her shoulder but stopping himself and letting it fall back to his side.

unsure for a moment, buzz picks up the small box and moves it out her line of sight (maybe that was it?) and kicks the box cutter aside, finally peering around her shoulder at what it is and...

ah.

shit.]

Jessie? [he asks, trying to keep his tone level and gentle. shit!!]

[She's vaguely aware of him moving around her- she can see him in her periphery, trying to keep her safe, as he always does. She doesn't speak until he speaks to her through- her fingers brushing the picture, staring at it intently. How did Sodder get this? How were her memories brought up so easily? Are the other boxes like this? ]

It's Emily.

[Her tone is a little far-away at first, she closes her eyes, opening them again, trying to chase away the memory. It made her feel good, but she knew the joy was short-lived. Woody had asked her once, wouldn't you give anything to just have one more day with Emily? and he was right. Despite everything, it had been NICE to have that back- even if she knew how it ended. That it wasn't real.]

Did you see anything? It was like I was in the memory for a second there. Like... like I was back then. When she had the picture taken.

[trying to protect her is always the first thing buzz'll do. no matter what.

you know one thing he doesn't like about this? is that he's already seen something like this happen with woody. it obviously wasn't the same thing-- he didn't see anything this time, though he still feels pretty awful for her for having to experience it.]

...No. I didn't see anything. That doesn't mean it wasn't real, though. [he's not about to tell her she's seeing things, after all.] Are you... alright?

[woody wasn't. woody really, really wasn't.]

[She has no idea, of course, about what happened to Woody. Which is probably for the best. She's worried about him enough already. The news that Buzz didn't see it is no surprise, she guesses Deerington was just in her own head. Playing around in things it had no right to.]

Not really.

[She'll be honest about it. She looks at the picture again, brow furrowed.]

I-I don't know. I felt real happy for a minute there. Because it was before.... everything. It was nice for a hot minute, but it doesn't change what happened.

[The reality is still shitty and she hates it. One hand comes up to play with her hair a little, trying to soothe the anxiety before it takes hold. She turns the photo so Buzz can see the little message on it.]

I think it's from Sodder. Guess she was trying to give a nice gift. It was a nice memory.

[It just has a miserable ending. ]

[same (toy) story, right? they were shown someone they wanted to see again so desperately but had it yanked out from under them like a particularly cruel rug. at least this one had... good intentions? oh, sodder.

buzz frowns, putting his arm around her shoulders (as best he can, with the height difference) and peeks over at the picture proper when she shows it. so that's what emily looks like...]

Guess it's hard to know how it feels in context... [does... sodder know the results of it? maybe she just wanted jessie to focus on the happy parts of the memory. would she know how hard that might be for her?] Are you going to keep it?

[She for sure wasn't expecting this. Maybe she really should expect just about anything at this point - Deerington seemed pretty hell-bent on making things difficult for them. It's hecking rude.

Still, she really does appreciate him being here. He makes the whole goddamn mess marginally bearable. She'll lean into him, compensating for the height difference as best she can. ]

Yeah. I think I will. I... it's nice to be able to see her again. I know it ain't real, and that all this ended real bad. ["This" being her being loved, her never knowing what it felt like to know any different.] But it still something I wouldn't have otherwise.

[gotta second guess everything! buzz has been putting off replacing his batteries because he's a little worried about putting ones native to the town in him, but-- well.]

Yeah. We don't really get pictures. Do you want me to find a lockbox for it?

[That is an unfortunate bullet y#all need to bite eventually, buddy. She'll keep an eye to make sure they don't make you crazy, though.]

That'd be... real nice, yeah. I don't wanna lose it, thanks.

[She looks at the other boxes, narrowing her eyes a little.]

I wonder if they're all like that.

I have a padlock and key in the collection.

[said with a smirk-- even if jessie's down, he's trying to soften the blow. bring up something that made them laugh earlier.

it doesn't last, though, and he looks to his own box.] I'll try. If they are, then maybe you should leave opening the others until you're ready for it.

[if, you know. she's ever ready for it.]

Oh right. The collection.

[Smart move, Space Ranger, that brings a wry smile to her face. She still says 'collection' with the sarcasm it deserves.

She eyes the boxes with the same trepidation when they started this- but now she knows what's in them and that somehow makes the whole thing worse.]

Yeah. I'll... uh, see what they do. Maybe they won't be? Maybe this was a one-off?

[She doubts it, though. ]

Only one way to find out... [he says, with his usual edge of overconfidence. he's maybe also a little biased-- what traumatic memories does he have? being reset, the incinerator? the whole thing with sid? buzz thinks he can cope with seeing those again, perhaps naively. he knows how they ended.

padding forward to his own box, buzz picks up the boxcutter and quickly undoes the wrapping to experience what he can only assume jessie did. suddenly they're not in the backyard, he's in the... sky? jessie will probably see him flinch backwards slightly, though not through any pain. the sudden scenery change was so extreme him flinching is more like dreaming of falling in bed and trying to catch yourself when you're already lying down.

this isn't flying! this is falling with style!

it's not something he's unfamiliar with. hell, everytime buzz manages to launch himself into the sky that's the thought that crosses his mind. the memory is done when he and woody glide down and plunk into the cardboard box next to andy, and buzz is left holding a picture of them in the sky. over just as quickly as the actual falling was. oh, gravity. you're a harsh mistress.

he's zoned out, staring down at the picture, much like jessie was. suddenly, he understands how she felt just now a lot better.]

...It's all of them, [buzz comments evenly, angling the picture to show her.]

[When Buzz finches, Jessie automatically steps forward- ready to fight... what? Buzz's own memories? Things he can only see in his own head? She doesn't know, but she is goddamn ready to protect him from it regardless.

Eventually, though, he comes back to her and she peers over his shoulder to see the picture in question. She never saw it, of course, but she'd heard the story plenty of times. The day Buzz very almost flew. A small smile crosses her face.]

How about that. Well, that sure wasn't a bad memory, right?

No, not at all.

[getting there wasn't super pleasant, but buzz is glad things went the way they did. he wouldn't be the toy he is now if things were different, and that's a completely unacceptable thought to him.

it's not even sad for him, knowing the future. he's grateful to have this-- they don't really have any keepsakes back home other than the badge.]

That just... leaves the other boxes. [that is a worrying thought.]

Glad you got to enjoy it again.

[It was a while ago, after all. She is glad he got a happy experience out of it, she'd hate to see him sad for anything.

She casts the boxes a distrustful look. Ugh. ]

I mean.. I guess you got a real good one, so stands to reason I would too, right?

[She sounds like she's trying to convince herself, more than half her life is filled with awful memories, so the odds aren't really in her favour and she knows it. Still, if there's one thing Jessie Pride ain't, it's a coward. She squares her hat on her head, glaring down the next box like she's gonna murder it.]

I'm gonna get it done with.

[buzz isn't sure this is a good idea, but he also knows it's not really his place to stop her if she wants to do it. this isn't like seeing if they can do a triple backflip out the back window, this is something intensely personal for her. so he doesn't say anything, just nods and follows her to the box. reaches out and gives her hand a squeeze.

this is her choice, and he'll do what he always says he'll do: be there to support her if she needs it.

maybe something nice will happen. maybe she'll get a nice memory. they'll just have to see.]

[As ideas go, it's pretty bad, but Jessie is a Pride and as such is stubborn as all get-out, so she's not going to back down now that she's said she's doing it for anything. Because now she has to make a point. To the magical boxes. That she doesn't actually have to open. Isn't it tiring wrangling her and Woody, Buzz? It must be so tiring.

He hand squeeze gets a flicker of a smile and she returns the gesture. You're a good egg, Lightyear. She grabs the boxcutter and goes to town on the next box- probably a little more violently than needed but she's still pretty mad over the first one.

The good feeling blasts out as it did with the first picture- and it's all too easy to just enjoy it, despite her trepidation. She doesn't get a memory this time, which is what catches her out- she's been bracing herself for it, but nope. It's just her and Buzz, in the back yard, hand in hand. Out of the box slides the picture. Hey Buzz, look, it's you. ]

...Huh. Wasn't expecting that.

[IT IS PRETTY EXHAUSTING but the reward is having two members of his family he dearly loves with him all the time. that reward wins out pretty much anything either of them could do.

he stays where he is, calmly leaning back ever so slightly when that box cutter end gets a little close to him, and watches her carefully to make sure it's not something that might send her over the edge.

it's not, fortunately, and he just kind of... blinks. oh. that's making him FEEL A FEELING.]

Me neither. What does this one say?

[Enjoy the feeling, Buzz, Jessie sure is. She's just glad this one didn't send her into an emotional death spiral. She turns it over to peer at the message Remember who you are. Well. She's a lot of things but she's not Buzz. That'd be weird. She cocks her head, considering this, before shrugging and offering him a smile over her shoulder. ]

I guess it's metaphorical.

Looks pretty literal to me, [he says, but... he's content that this hasn't ended too badly for her.] I don't think I'm opposed to keeping these pictures anymore...

[you say that, buzz.]

Lemme try my next one.

I know I'm sure keeping hold of this one.

[She's gonna cherish it forever, thanks. She gives a nod, putting a hand on his shoulder. Well, maybe they're not all that bad.]

Good luck.

[he goes forward with far more confidence than before. if that's what jessie got, then maybe...

yes! it's a picture of both of them together, though buzz's one is one of when he first tried to do a flip off the hot wheels car track to impress jessie after she'd done it herself. he'd ended up bouncing off the wall like an idiot because he got distracted by her and then... she caught him.

he feels just as strongly for her now as he did then, but evidently that's a special memory for him.]

[She moves a little closer to peer at the picture, a smile crossing her face at the memory. She was still pretty fresh to the room then- still getting used to being loved by a kid and not being inside that god-awful cardboard box. Everything had been like seeing the world with fresh eyes again.

And Buzz. Well, BUzz had been decent and kind and sweet and the absolute opposite of everything The Prospector had told her space toys were for so long. She had never been more pleased to have been proven wrong.]

You still did pretty well. I was impressed. But I had been stuck in a box for thirty years so don't read too much into it. [She's teasing on that one and gives a little wink to show it. ] You really did make me feel welcome, I appreciated it.

Oh, I'm going to read into that. You can't stop me. [like, the whole romance thing aside, he knows they were both capable of it. at one point it was just a never-ending parkour tournament that woody complained about so much.

a lot was learned about both their limits during that week.] Well... you deserved it, you know?

[That gets a soft snort of amusement and a roll of her eyes, good sir. Still, she looks back at that time with fondness. She really had appreciated being so welcomed into the room. It had felt real nice, being part of a family again. She'd almost forgotten what it had felt like.]

Back then, I probably didn't know. [Because she was still very much going through the healing process. It still took her a while to really accept she wasn't bound for the curb again.] So I appreciated ti all the more.

Well... I'm glad you know now. [honestly it still upsets him to know how low she'd gotten and why-- he isn't really angry towards emily. mostly towards al because... he's never met emily and also fuck al??] You wanna get the last one first or should I?

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