Chapter Text
"Come ON! Dawanye, it's starting!"
Faith yelled at the top of her lungs from the floor, squeezing the life out of her soft tiny Sunny day Jack™ plushie. The commercial was almost over and her friend was still in the kitchen! How long does it take to get some freaking chips?!
"I ain't watching your stupid clown show."
"But you promised!" Faith whines
Dawanye steps out of the kitchen with his chips and glances at Lillian who is sitting on the couch, Lillian shrugs nonchalant as ever.
"You did promise…"
Dawanye held up a finger. "Technically I said "sure whatever." I didn't promise anything."
Faith sits up, her hands gripping the plush carpet and looks at Dawanye. Dawanye looks back at Faith with a blank face. Faith tired her best to look as pitiful as possible, making her lip into a pout and quivering. Puppies Crying…kittens falling over…she tried to think of the saddest thing possible.
Dawanye smirks. "That doesn't work on me."
Faith felt a single tear stroll down her face and Dawanye groans.
Score!
"Fiiiiiinnne."
"Yay!"
Faith gets comfortable again and hugs her plushie, just in time for the commercial to end and for her
favorite show to start. The theme song played and Faith gladly sang along with it.
"Hello, everybody!" Jack said dragging out the hello. "Welcome to.." Confetti set off and a red, blue, and yellow title card came on screen. "The Sunny time crew show™!" said a chorus of kids off screen. The title card disappeared and Faith's beloved Jack came back. "I have soo much I plan to teach you today! Let's start-"
"Jack! Jack!"
Rory Rainberry comes on screen with tears falling from his eyes, clearly distraught.
Jack cartoonishly turns around and over exaggeratedly looks shocked as an explanation point pops out over his head, some might have found it silly but Faith believes it just works for Jack.
"Uh Oh," Jack says, in that cartoony way actors tend to do on kids shows. "Rory Rainberry doesn't look so happy! He's crying, his face is scrunched up and he's hunched over. Does any sunshine know what emotion he might be feeling right now?"
"Sad!" Faith confidently cheered.
"Constipated." Lillian says bluntly.
Dawanye smirks. "He clearly just got pegged-"
"The answer is SAD!!!" Faith screamed and Dawanye and Lillian laugh at Faith's outburst.
Lillian squints. "I could've sworn we saw this episode already."
"We did." Faith steals a chip, Dawanye is offended. "This is a rerun."
"Then why the hell are we watching this?" Dawanye goes to get up but Faith pulls him back down. "Cause every episode of The Sunny time crew show™ is a good episode!"
Faith turns back to the TV. Jack is there with Rory at the library, CloudyBelle is seen in the back with angry cloud puffs around her, thunder is flashing in her hair to express her anger. Jack turns to the camera. "Look everyone! CloudyBelle is stomping her feet and making fist with her hands! What emotion do you think she's feeling?"
Faith spins and glares at her friends before they can say something and they respond with laughing again.
"That's right!" Jack smiles proudly at the audience, as if someone had bothered to answer him. "She's angry!" CloudyBelle stomps her feet and puffs her cheeks up cutely. "Oooo, I'm so mad!"
Faith frowns. "Poor Cloudy, Rainberry didn't mean to spill his juice on her book." Dawayne eats a chip. "Me personally I would not let that slide." Lillian looks at Faith. "You can't be that easily entertained by bright colors." Faith looked at her with a pout. "I think the show is cute!" She whines. "And their names are absolutely adorable! CloudyBelle sue, Knackadan Drizzle, Daisychain Jane!? It's adorable! And they teach kids about emotions! I don't remember any show doing that before!"
The problem was solved by Rory Rainberry apologizing to CloudyBelle and making it up to her by using his chore money to buy her another copy of the book, they hugged it out and then they all sang an "I forgive you" sing with Jack strumming the guitar.
Faith scooted closer to her tv and never took her eyes off of Jack, she watched him dance and sing while playing the song and her heart filled with joy at his bright smile, Sunny seemed to be so good at that. Making anyone and anything better with just a smile.
Lillian smirks. "We all know the reason you watch this is because of that blue haired guy you got a crush on."
Faith spins around. "It's not a crush!" She turns back to the screen with a dreamy expression, hearts practically in her eyes. "It's true love."
"Your honor, that is pixels on a screen," Dawanye says in between bites. "And at this point it's becoming an obsession. You have stuffed toys, posters covering an entire wall of your room and a shrine in your fucking closet, and this is of the same guy. I think you only have one toy each of the rest of the cast except for the big mime guy and the red head clown lady."
Dawanye pauses.
" …You're still seeing your therapist right?"
Faith frowns but ignores her very mean and totally not cool friend.
"I mean if anyone was cute, it would be the baker guy." Lillian says.
Faith sticks her tongue out and Dawanye says a curt 'ew', Lillian sits up fast, red dusting her light brown cheeks and points at both of them. "Nuh uh! Dawanye you have a crush on Shadow the hedgehog and Faith you liked our old highschool principal, you have no opinions!" Faith looks at her friend and screams in embarrassment and Dawanye chokes on a chip he just popped in his mouth.
"That was a difficult time in my life and you know it!!"
"Plus everyone likes Shadow the hedgehog."
Faith looks back at the screen and see's Jack introducing his father.
Jack turns to his father that is walking up to him. "Hey dad! Everyone say hi to Papa Rise! My dad and principal of the school house!"
Papa rise smiles sweetly and signs to the audience. 'Hello little starlights!'
Lillian gestures to the screen. "Who's the mime?"
Faith didn't turn from the screen. "Girl he literally just introduced him."
Lillian frowns. "You say that like I'm listening."
Faith finally takes her eyes off of her beloved Jack for a second and looks at Papa Rise, his dark eyes tinted purple bore into her soul and it sends shivers up her spine. Every episode with Papa Rise in it, he always seems to be staring at her. She knows the point is to talk to the audience but sometimes the way he just stares at the camera, it looks like he's staring past the screen and directly into her room.
Jack does it too sometimes, which is another reason why she loves Jack because it feels like he's talking to her. However when Papa does it, it feels intimidating, and Faith knows she shouldn't be intimidated by her father in law but it feels like he can see every sinful thing she's said, done, and thought.
"Does anyone else feel weird about Papa Rise? Like he's…watching you?"
Faith Sees Lillian's reflection in the screen raise an eyebrow and Faith is actively choosing to ignore Papa's glance in her direction that seems to portray that he heard her say his name
"You mean the mime? No. See this is a sign you need to stop watching this show, even you are getting creeped out-"
"I'd smashed."
Faith, Lillian, and even the mime on screen that was previously looking at Jack all slowly turned in Dawanyes direction.
"Pardon me?"
"Be so for real."
Dawanye waved them off. "You be for real! Look at him! Just- Ahhh!" He Adjusts his glasses. "Ugh, the things I'd- "
Faith throws a pillow at him.
"That man is married!"
"lol and?"
"That is my father in law!!!" Faith falls to the floor, kicking her feet and shoving her plush Jack in her face making her glasses crooked, she felt like ripping her skin off.
"You're insane." Lillian says.
"We're all insane." Dawanye counters.
The group continues to watch the episode and it ends with Jack and friends waving goodbye to the audience, Faith gets one last look at Papa Rise, who's eyes held something she was too scared to name before a commercial came on.
Dawanye stood up and stretched. "I'm getting something to drink, y'all want something?"
Lillian blinks. "uuh water."
Faith points to the kitchen. "there's tea in the pantry."
Dawanye leaves and Lillian gets on her phone, Faith sits there staring at the TV but not truly looking at it. Papa Rise, a mime with a huge stature but little words to say. He teaches the kids, or starlight's as he calls them, about nonverbal communication and how to express their emotions even if they can't say it. Even though he doesn't talk, sound effects on the screen helps portray what he's accurately feeling. He gives a vibe of a warm day filled with cuddles and comfortable silence. He's as gentle as fresh cotton and gives advice to the kids and Jack whenever Jack doesn't know what to do.
With the way he looks at Faith, a good comparison would be like how a farmer looks at a baby cow. "I have big plans for you," the farmer would say, "and if you meet those expectations you live for another day, and if you don't you're just another burger to put on my plate". That look he gave at the end seemed…final, concluded. Maybe the actor was just having a bad day.
"Ooo!" Faith suddenly says, getting Lillians attention. "Lilly! I totally forgot to tell you! But I made character sheets for us! Like, if we were in the Sunny Time Town™ universe!" Faith ran in her room and dug in her pink drawer, after throwing out random pieces of paper and a sock she finally found her art notebook, she then ran back into the living room to her best friends. Not before stopping to admire her Jack shrine, of course.
"I got it!"
Dawanye drinks some soda as he sits down. "Got what?"
Faith places her notebook on the table and flips some pages. "Look look! This is you Dawanye, this Is me and that's Lilly!" On the paper was mediocre drawings of Faith and her friends, Faith had a really poofy and glittery outfit drawn on her, Lillian had purple pants and jacket with big shoes, and Dawanye had a long feathery tail coat and diamond encrusted glasses.
"My name is Funtime Faith! I'm a music teacher at Jack's school house and Jack has a crush on me and he gives me flowers and-
"Focus." Lillian and Dawanye says at the same time.
"And I have an episode where I teach kids that a healthy way to express yourself is with music! And listening to the right kind of music can lift your mood!"
Faith points to Lilly. "Your name is Lazy-day Lilly! You teach kids that it's important to take a break once in a while! But you're also a comic relief and you're always sleeping in places you shouldn't be, so like if Knackadan reached inside his bag or if CloudyBelle looked in her drawer you would be in there."
Lillian shrugs. "At least I'm sleeping."
Faith finally looks at Dawanye. "And your name, Dawanye, is Double Trouble D! You cause mischief like Pete in mickey mouse or Swiper in Dora the explorer! You usually take items the cast need and they find other ways to handle the problem. It's harmless fun though so you're not a hated character.
Dawanye blinks. "Did you make a fanfiction of this?"
It's silent.
"I might have…posted chapter 1 online."
Faith's shakes her head as if shaking away the conversation.
"I even started making cosplay of it! I made mine first obviously and I'm working on yours Dawanye since yours is the hardest to make! We gotta wear it and take pictures one day!" Lillian and Dawanye look at each other and say nothing. "Come on! I won't post it if that's what you're worried about! It'll stay clean and crisp in my photo gallery!" She whines and bounce on her feet. Lillian and Dawanye look at each other again, Lillian opens her mouth to speak but Dawanye interjects.
"There is no way in Satan's firery hell could you convince me to put that on." Faith activates her tears of sorrow but Dawanye smiles wickedly.
"Nope."
"Damn it."
Lillian shrugs but smiles. "Tough luck, cutie pie."
The theme song of Jacks show came on and Faith, an obedient puppy, sat down and gave her full attention. Her friends followed and watched with her, saying crude and sometimes funny things and everytime Papa Rise popped up Faith ignored the looks and underlying sentences her brain was clearly making up.
About 10 episodes later and Faith was nodding off, the sweet manipulative embrace of sleep was promising trips to a carnival or a grassy field and it sounded so intriguing. Lillian caught her.
"Looks like it's time for us to go."
Faith pouts and whines. "Nooo." Dawanye gets up. "Sorry kitten, remember you got work tomorrow." Dawanye and Lillian begin to pack up their belongings while Faith only whines in protest. They circle around the couch and gave Faith a hug and a kiss.
Lillian smiles."We'll see you later ok? Let's have a tea party next time we all got a day off."
"Bye!" Dawanye says.
Lillian and Dawanye left and Faith, sadly, was once again alone. She laid down on the floor, not bothering to move to the couch and continued to watch the show. It was now just an episode of Papa Rise only, teaching the kids and Faith at home simple sign language.
Unlike Jack's, Papa Rise centered episodes were calm and soothing. Soft music played in the lilac background and any noise that would've usually been loud was at a soft gentle tone. They learned words like "Home", "Happy", "Sad", "Hungry" and worst of all, "I love you."
"I love you..." Faith said slowly while signing the words.
Faith hugged her plushie tight and blinked her eyes individually, trying not to fall asleep.
"Maybe they're right, this is a little insane. I also haven't seen my therapist in a bit, but they said I was getting better…"
Papa Rise clapped as confetti set off gently and quietly on screen, sounding more like the pitter-patter of a mouse then the pop of a canon. The music, happy and cheery, to represent how proud he was of his audiences. He then went on to sentences.
"It's not like I'm hurting anyone though…but maybe this isn't exactly healthy, especially since I'm literally refusing to date anyone cause I love Sunny so much..."
Papa Rise gave a thumbs up after teaching sentences like "I love my parents!", "I'll bring you here.","Today's a great day." And "You'll be happy!".
"I need to get better," Faith suddenly said. "Yeah! One day I'm gonna sell all my Sunny Day Jack ™ merch and I'm gonna find a better way to spend my time!"
Even though she said that, her words held no weight. She most likely wasn't going to do anything and she was perfectly fine with that.
Papa clapped again after teaching a few difficult sentences that Faith wasn't really paying attention for. He plucked the daisy that was attached to his top hat off and waited until another one grew back before handing the flower to the audience. Papa Rise mimicked a yawn before making a sleeping motion with his hands, he then pulled a music box out of his hat and began to slowly turn the handle, playing a slow melody of the song "Twinkle Twinkle little star"
Faith scrunched her face in confusion. This never happened before, Sunny time crew show only had daytime episodes, not night episodes, and When there was reference to it being late in the day the episode would end with Jack and friends waving goodnight to the audience before coming back on air at exactly 8am. There was no night episodes.
However, the sweet lullaby hushed all her concerns, her brain turning mushy like jello and all she could think to do was cuddle and sleep. No wonder parents and kids alike loved this show. She tried hard, really hard to stay awake, but as if Papa Rise himself could see that she was fighting sleep, the lamb on the music box began to hum, harmonizing with the music and it sounded like a sirens call.
Faith couldn't fight anymore. The gentle music, the lovely singing, the fatherly vibes Papa provided mixed with this strange feeling as if someone was hugging her just felt too nice, too perfect. She finally closed her eyes and a cute voice she assumes belongs to the lamb says. "Goodnight." The last thing she hears before falling to sleep is the TV turning off.