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[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?

[Fuck Al so much, honestly. She offers a little thumbs-up. You can do it, Buzz, she believes in you.]

Knock yourself out. I'm kinda curious to see what you get.

[that makes two of them. buzz opens it with confidence, though... when whatever the picture makes him see is over, he looks down at it with a conflicted expression. finally, he folds it up.]

Don't open it.

[Jessie trusts Buzz implicitly. She catches his expression and that's... concerning. She has no idea what he saw, but if he says not to open hers, she'll listen to him.]

...Was it that bad? [She'll reach out to put a hand on his shoulder.] You okay?

[he's quiet for a long few moments, clearly debating if he wants to get into this. finally, he decides he can't just keep it from her. he holds the picture out.

it's one of an ideal future; immediately clear as one that doesn't exist. it shows woody and bo together, duke and ducky and bunny are sort of visible, but it's mostly woody and bo in frame... in bonnie's room with the others.

buzz just grimaces.]

I don't know what to make of this one. This is impossible. [and yet, it's a very quiet, very selfish hope of his. logically, he wouldn't call this an ideal future. emotionally, though...]

[Jessie peers over his shoulder to look at the picture. She never really met the rest of Bo's motley crew, but she at least recognises them from the top of the carousel. It's not them that catches her attention, though. It's Woody and Bo, in Bonnie's room.

It's an impossibility - she can see why Sodder would offer a gift like this- a hope for something that can never happen. But oh, how it stings. And if Buzz got this as his picture, it's got to hurt him more.

She moves to give him a little from-behind hug. Trying to offer some sort of comfort. ]

I'm real sorry, Buzz. It is impossible, but it's still a nice thought, right?

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