When Litwak went on his lunch break, the arcade came alive as it did every night but, due to the short duration of this particular break, game-jumping was quite uncommon. Unless, of course, characters wished to go on a date.
Vanellope skipped across the delicious apple-flavoured grass of her game, a picnic basket slung over her arm. Her current form was lean but surprisingly strong, full of hidden muscles, not to mention tall and womanly.
"Come on, Stinkbrain, we only have half an hour," she called back to her date, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Then why take us so far?" Ralph grouched. Vanellope simply giggled in reply before jumping up and then landing cross-legged on the grass.
"We're here," she announced, giggling up at him with her hair coming loose from its ponytail. She patted the ground in front of her, inviting him to sit, and smiled when he did so.
"So what did you bring for this date, President Pain-in-the-butt?" he grinned at her. Sitting down, they were both the same height.
"I raided the kitchen," Vanellope grinned. She began to take food out of the basket, producing cakes, biscuits, pastries, candy, and several of the sweet fruits that grew in her game. There were also a few bottles of soda taken from the soda fountain. She beamed with pride at her stash.
"Little thief," Ralph chuckled, dragging his fingers through the pile to spread it out. It wouldn't matter if anything came into contact with the grass, considering it was edible, so a blanket wasn't needed. He spied a strawberry cupcake, picked it up, and ate it in one bite.
"I could've asked for it but where's the fun in that?" she grinned cheekily. He leaned across and kissed her, making her face light up with sheer joy. They'd kissed before, sure, but it still felt good every time they did it.
"So how's your game day been going so far?" Ralph wondered. "Any wins? Any terrible gamers?"
"Yes to both," Vanellope reported proudly. "You probably didn't see me win because you were busy being thrown off the building, and there've been a lot of little kids today. They suck at this game." She poked her tongue out at the memory.
"Well, I've only been thrown off the building two times, so I've technically been winning a lot today," Ralph figured with a toothy grin.
"And now you- ugh, this is so sappy- you've really won by being on a date with a ruler," Vanellope added, grimacing at the sickeningly sweet statement.
"That was so cheesy," Ralph laughed, covering his face with his hand. "Who told you that line?"
"Rancis," Vanellope offered. "He convinced me to take you on a date today. He said that for a guy, there's nothing better than being surprised by a spontaneous lunch date. And then he said the ruler line, only he said it as princess but I altered it."
"Doesn't surprise me," Ralph commented. "But why talk about someone else on our date, huh?"
"Was that a romantic sentiment?" Vanellope asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Probably," he shrugged, and took a purple macaroon. It was so tiny that it almost fit on one of his fingers, but the taste was very pleasant. "The cooks in the royal kitchen are really good."
"They are, aren't they?" Vanellope agreed, taking a chocolate chip cookie. "I never go hungry now, and there's always something different for me to try."
"Oh, I nearly forgot," Ralph suddenly said, and reached into the pocket of his overalls. He withdrew a wrinkled-looking bouquet of beautifully-scented white flowers. "I picked these for you while you were skipping along ahead of me."
"They smell like..." she trailed off after taking them and pressing her nose into the flowers to inhale the scent.
"Like you," Ralph finished for her, smiling gently. "I know, I know, it's really sappy, but I thought you might like 'em."
"Of course I do," Vanellope beamed at him, and rewarded him with a few more kisses.
After practically inhaling the rest of the food, the two lovers lay on their backs with their arms folded behind their heads, staring up at the fluffy pink cotton candy clouds.
"I wonder if those clouds taste like cotton candy," Vanellope mused, licking her lips thoughtfully.
"Oh, I ended up with some in my mouth way back when I crashed that Hero's Duty shuttle here. They do taste like cotton candy," Ralph confirmed. "It's really sweet and at the same time tastes kinda like strawberry."
"Really?" she inquired, turning her head to look at him. Her hazel eyes gazed into his brown ones.
"Yeah," he responded quietly.
"Do you think you could get me some?" she asked, grinning impishly. "It wouldn't be hard for someone like you to come crashing in here again."
"No," he frowned. "I can't, Calhoun banned me from going into her game."
"I never took you for a guy who follows orders," Vanellope commented, and shifted a little closer to press a gentle kiss to his lips.
"No, she literally banned me- she asked Surge to stop me from going into her game and now I couldn't, even if I tried. Some kind of virus protection I guess?" he replied. She laughed at that.
"Big, strong Ralph, stopped by a little virus protection," Vanellope teased, gently poking his broad chest.
"I was stopped by a little girl once, too," he reminded her, and his eyes grew misty with remembrance.
"The same little girl who's now lying beside you as an adult," she agreed. They relaxed until the timer that Vanellope had set chimed to signal that their half hour was almost up, and then Vanellope grabbed his hand and the picnic basket and glitch-teleported the two of them back to the entrance of her game where they appeared in a flash of pixels still laying together only now on the rainbow road.
"I'll see you tonight, Fartfeathers," Ralph promised her as he began to make his way out of the game.
"Hey, you forgot something!" she called, and then glitched to appear in front of him where she leaned up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss farewell.