[Joy & Sadness] That moment when you want to say 'please stop invoking Murphy's Law...'

[isadrag]

Joy may not have actually asked 'what could happen' when they got that new console installed, but if there was one thing they all had learned by that point, it was that if something can go wrong, it's probably going to.

That's what they were for though, right? To help Riley through any troubles she went through in her life.

Unfortunately, it's something completely different when the trouble is history repeating itself - this time, however, Sadness wakes up one morning to find herself... not in her room. Not even in Headquarters. ... And nowhere in the Mind World. Instead, she was lying on something rather soft, and green, and leafy...

Grass. She was lying on grass. But grass didn't exist in the Mind World! She slowly tried to sit herself up, if only to try and see where she was... and saw a building in front of her. With multiple kids staring at her from in front of it.

The sign read something about a Middle School.

School. In the human world. With actual people staring at her. Staring down at her hands, they were still blue... and she was still wearing her sweater... but she was human-sized too?

Whatever the kids were thinking, they started covering their mouths and giggling, which caused Sadness to back away a little, putting her hands together and lowering her head a bit. They thought she looked funny, didn't they? Oh, this is bad... This is so, so bad...

Was this really a dream? Or was it reality? Were any of the others here? What was going on...?

Comments

[isadrag]

The children stop giggling long enough to look between the two of them, then one points to Sadness. "She just looks kinda funny. Are you wearing facepaint everywhere?"

Sadness, meanwhile, just... stays silent. She's taking everything in one thing at a time, and with the giggling having stopped, she looks over to see Joy.

"J...Joy...?" Well, that does answer one question, at least. And makes her feel a little less... well, sad.

[letssaveourgirl]

"She doesn't look funny! She looks just fine."

Which is something Joy would have said about anyone. But it's Sadness! Oh, Joy is so very glad to see her. She rushes past the children and gives her friend a hug. "Sadness! Am I glad to see you!"

[isadrag]

A ringing sound goes off inside the building. One of the kids replies, "If you say so!" before walking inside with the rest.

Sadness ends up clinging to Joy for a second, hugging her back, trying not to lose her composure. Sure, she's usually sad, but being laughed at was another story. She was never laughed at even in Headquarters! "I-I'm glad to see you too, Joy... where are we...?"

[letssaveourgirl]

"Well .... "

Joy stays close to Sadness, looking around. "I think we're at school."

But why they aren't at headquarters, and why they're so big? Well, that's just a mystery.

[isadrag]

"School...?" But why? So many questions starting with 'why' start flowing through her mind. At the very least, having someone with her was helping her keep... relatively calm.

"But if we're here... we're not in the Mind World...!" She looks at Joy with a frightened expression. "A-And if we're not there..."

[letssaveourgirl]

"I know." Joy looks lost for a moment before she firms up her shoulders. "We can do this. We can!"

Mostly! Perhaps.

Surely.

Linking their arms, she starts walking toward the doors. After all, they don't want to be late!

[isadrag]

Of course, the both of them knew what would happen if they weren't at Headquarters. But at the same time... they didn't know where they were, or how they could get back. Only that somehow they were here... and somehow they were enrolled in this school.

Sadness lets out a resigned sigh for the moment; she doesn't want to bring Joy's mood down any more, and through at first she's being pulled towards the doors with their linked arms, she starts walking alongside her friend. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad for the moment...? Sadness did like reading and studying... and this was school...

"Do you know where we're going...?"

[letssaveourgirl]

"Nope!" But that's never really stopped Joy, has it? The other children were walking this way, so this seems to make sense.

The building seems so ... sterile. She'd never noticed that from Headquarters before. Um ... "If we see Riley here," she decides, "we should ... probably not say anything."

that is my favorite Joy icon. just. that expression.

[isadrag]

Definitely a good option. She nods at Joy's statement. "Y-Yeah, I agree. It would probably make things even weirder." How would they introduce themselves to others? Well, okay, Joy's name is normal enough. Sadness... not so much.

heee

[letssaveourgirl]

Inside this sterile place, Joy has no idea where to go. "Do you remember from the memories, where to go?" she asks Sadness in a sidelong whisper. They're being jostled and there's more of that laughter.

[isadrag]

Trying to ignore the laughter (with minimal success), Sadness tries her best to remember. The first class would be... homeroom, right...?

"I think so," she whispers back. "We're going the right way."

[letssaveourgirl]

Okay!

And the other kids could laugh all the wanted, but they won't bring Joy down! Tugging Sadness along with her, she moves down the hallway a little further.

Oh, that's right! This does look right. Okay. "Here we go!" she says. What can possibly go wrong?

dangit joy, stop invoking murphy's law! XD

[isadrag]

Sadness sure wishes she had the same level of confidence Joy has... because the laughing was unnerving her.

Even more so when they walk into Homeroom and are asked to take their seats alongside everyone else. Sadness knows how this is going to go... they're going to get called on for being new, aren't they? Do they know their names? Did they get put in the roster under different names...?

...She ends up hiding her face a little. She isn't sure she can handle the pressure.

XD

[letssaveourgirl]

Oh, why Joy can do this! It's a matter of being cheerful and upbeat, right? "I'm Joy!" she tells everyone. "And I'm very glad to meet you all. I'm sure we'll all be good friends."

See? That's how it's done.

[isadrag]

That's how it's done... if you can be cheerful and upbeat. Sadness, however, is neither of those things.

But she forces herself to try. "Oh... um... h-hi... I'm... I'm Sadness..." She feels the pressure mounting on more and more as everyone looks from Joy to Sadness. "It's... it's nice... to meet... you all..."

Well, she made it through without crying or sniffling. That's an achievement, right? Right?? At the very least, the giggling seems to stop after that. A portion of the class seems to feel sorry for her now, if the looks they're giving her seem to indicate.

[letssaveourgirl]

Glass half-full, that means at least they aren't laughing?

They're both encouraged to take their seats and Joy does, giving Sadness what she hopes is an encouraging smile. Riley likes school - mostly. It'll be fine!

Until the class is told to take out their homework, which of course, Joy and Sadness don't have. Vocabulary words. Oh, boy.

[isadrag]

It does, and she tries to smile a little in return.

Thankfully, since they're new, the teacher helps the two of them out by giving them a list - apparently, the list of words everyone else was given a day ago. Of course, it also doesn't help the two of them weren't able to bring a writing utensil or any paper, but a nearby student was kind enough to offer them each a pencil.

[letssaveourgirl]

Okay! So, that's a start! The words aren't too difficult, thankfully. Joy catches her tongue between her teeth and writes slowly and carefully.

School is fun, isn't it?

[isadrag]

They're almost no trouble at all for Sadness, who learned a lot thanks to reading the manuals. She'd be lying if she didn't say that it's kinda fun to learn, both then and now.

But this is only the beginning of a normal day at school.

[letssaveourgirl]

It is. After vocabulary comes math.

Math! With one right or wrong answer. Isn't it nice that it's that simple? That straightforward?

Joy lets out a happy sound as she solves a division problem. Look at that. She nudges Sadness's shoulder. "Math is fun!"

"No talking!" she's told.

Oh. Oops.

I'm loving their dynamics for school so far XD

[isadrag]

Straightforward is good. Either you're right, or you're wrong. There's not really an 'almost' in math.

Sadness keeps to herself for the most part when solving problems, only looking over to Joy momentarily when she's nudged, and smiling a little. Otherwise, she's usually mostly focused on her own paper, working out the problem slowly, but feeling alright about her answers.

Hee! It's cute.

[letssaveourgirl]

Look at that! A very nicely completed page of math problems.

It feels strange, really, though. Joy looks around, taking in all the other students and how they interact, how they're all either working or not working. How many times did they see something like this in Headquarters? Joy never really thought about it. But now here they are, and there is really no way to account for the ... well how noisy it is and how strange it feels.

[isadrag]

Finishing her own page of problems, Sadness neatly sets her pencil on top of her paper, and, seeing Joy look around, decides to do the same. It's strange, being out here like this... in a way, it's almost like being inside of a movie. After all, their world wasn't this world. The Mind World may as well have been their 'real world', compared to the world Riley lived in, even though it was just as real as theirs was.

And yet... Sadness couldn't help but feel a little lost. This was like a day in the life of Riley, outside of her head... but it felt far different than she'd ever imagined.

She leans over to try and whisper to Joy. "I haven't seen Riley so far... Do you think we should check out the city after school if we still don't see her...?" Sure, they shouldn't tell Riley anything if they find her, but... if they did, Sadness would want to make sure she's okay...

[letssaveourgirl]

(whee!)

If they did see Riley, what would that even mean? Were they fired or something? Did they do something wrong? How did they even come to be outside of Riley's head?

"I don't know," Joy whispers back. And boy does that make her feel uncomfortable to say. But she just ... really doesn't know. People just don't get whole new emotions ... do they?

/immediately posted that to plurk! EXCITE!

[isadrag]

Sadness stays silent for a moment while she... contemplates what her words probably meant to Joy. She frowns and puts a hand on Joy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Joy... I don't mean to bring you down with me..."