Inside Out reImagined

Lantern Festival

Even though whatever overwhelmed Sadness was mostly gone, it still lingered, somewhat. If the Daydream incident had taught her anything, it was that for a thought form, being in touch with Riley so much that you even felt like Riley did not feel good.

Perhaps it was a good thing, regardless. This especially held true for someone like the motherly emotion, who was still below par with regard to console time, when compared to the others — that much was evident from both experience and testimony. Yet, it still didn't feel like it.

Of course, post-empathy daze or no post-empathy daze, Sadness knew that other emotions should be taking care of the matter. Riley already had two good cries today, and it was probably no good to have one in perpetuity, lest her reputation radically change — even with her parents and Meg. And of course, one still couldn't forget the Chinese girl beside her, hoping to rope her into some fun activity or another — and if Riley refused, then no friendships would develop, making the problem worse, not better.

Instead, Joy took the proverbial wheel. Though all the other four might have felt a bit uneasy about it, they supposed that she was Riley's best bet as of now. And of course, she, herself, was still learning about teamwork, and for now, just did whatever she wanted — as long as whatever she wanted didn't make her have more regrets than she already had.

"Alright, then. Yeah, it's just... I needed a break, I suppose... what do you suggest?" Riley asked, slowly picking up enthusiasm.

"We should participate in Lantern Festival!" Shilan spoke — almost as though she had rehearsed this particular English sentence.

"What's that?" Riley asked, as Joy released her grip from the console, making it go back to a pale white.

"It's like, day fifteen, month one, and we put lantern in sky..." And just like that, all of the Chinese girl's confidence was already gone.

Nevertheless, Riley spoke the first thing she thought of, once the emotions were out of the picture: "Like, January fifteenth? I'm pretty sure that was a while ago."

Already, Disgust reacted to this, of all sentences, being uttered. Yet, Shilan beat her to it: "No! Day fifteen, month one of our calendar! Not Western! It's different here, you know?"

"And if only you would let me recall instead of just jumping and trying to defend this girl, Riley would probably have remembered. Just saying." Disgust noted, once they knew that they could.

"There will always be an opportunity to recall in the future, okay?" Anger tried to reassure them.

"Ugh, whatever. But if there's another Japan incident — on the same day — I might just go ahead and un-fix the..." They really paused in order to be able to say this right, rather than just go along with the physical document that apparently controlled them. "Bully Prime action plan."

Fear, though, felt like the words themselves didn't belong in Headquarters anymore. "That sounded really weird, coming from you, all of a sudden, not gonna lie."

"Whatever. At least the girl brought up the calendar, and that means you all get to hear her explanation... if she doesn't crucially mess any sentences up." Disgust shot back, still in control of the console, though being as subtle about it as they could.

"Right. And which animal is it the year of?" Riley asked, once at least some of the memories Disgust wanted to recall were finally projected onto the Consciousness Screen.

"The rat! The... golden rat." Shilan answered.

Riley, of course, didn't have the fondest memories of rats, and no doubt, Disgust could recall those, too, if they wanted. Yet, for now, they chose the path of restraint, letting the others, such as Joy and Fear, step in and drive together with them.