Sweet on Him

By Shahrezad1

Summary: It started with a cake. An unexpected Wreck It Ralph pairing. RalphXMary

Disclaimer: I don't own any movie or videogame references in this. Just the bad puns. Those are definitely mine. ;D

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It started with a cake.

After his acceptance of self and of his position as the 'Bad Guy' to Fix-It's 'Hero,' other epiphanies were soon to follow. He'd been selfish, he knew now. True, the way he'd been treated for the last thirty years was not fair. But neither were the tantrums he'd thrown, hurting more than just the instigators involved.

To be honest, with their cookie-cutter appearance he'd long assumed that all the Nicelanders thought the same thing about him. That he was an uncouth mountain of a bully. But looking at the cookie necklace Vanellope had given him, and remembering the look of utter anguish on her face, had reminded him of other faces and other emotional explosions in the past.

Sure, he'd destroyed the little squirt's kart but that had been in the belief that he was doing something right for once. Other such looks of upset…suffering…and pain had been the side effect of his thoughtless actions.

Thus it made perfect sense that the first change in his life relate to his relationship with his coworkers.

Ralph had nervously approached them one by one, trying to make restitution for past wrongs. Ripped curtains were replaced with fabric from the Style Savy game, bartered for with the promise that he would help them transport their fabrics to a newer, larger storage area.

Hurt feelings earned themselves heartfelt notes of apology, written legibly in Sgt. Calhoun's hand (but his words, however, which was what was important. They really didn't need evidence of his scrawl to know that he felt contrite).

And tokens of friendship were provided for via spare items from Professor Layton's book and puzzle collection, pizza from the Ninja Turtles' game, and potted plants that had the ability to fight off undead infestations.

But there was one person that he wasn't certain how to approach.

Looking down at the large plate he held in the palm of one hand, Ralph hoped that what he'd come up with would more than make up for his mistakes. It was only a small token, but…there had definitely been effort involved.

Ignoring the feeling of two dozen invisibly peering eyes digging into his back, the burly Bad Guy shifted back and forth on uneasy bare feet. The peephole of the Nicelander apartment before him barely reached mid-chest and the nameplate read, engraved in gold, "2-B." Resisting the urge to check the next door over for its opposite, "Not 2-B," Ralph rocked anxiously to the silence of the hallway before reaching forward to apply a short, light knock.

There was no response for several minutes which stretched into several more. Surely everyone was home by now, he thought to himself, frowning, so it couldn't be that she was busy in Game Central Station. Then again, it was also fairly late so the likelihood of her being awake was also low.

Grimacing as he realized that his task had taken him into the wee early hours, the villain sighed heavily and turned to go, set on leaving. But just as he did so the clatter of a chained lock being moved away and the squeal of an old handle shifting stopped him short.

Eyes wide and suddenly anxious, Ralph turned back to face the door. But all that Mary did was blink blearily up at him.

"Ralph? What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling her lavender robe tighter about herself and tying it closed. Her hair was down instead of pulled back, pearls removed and feathered pillbox hat set aside for the night. Instead her brown tresses were loosely braided to one side, making her look years younger in an instant. He swallowed suddenly, something warm rising within him and then looked anywhere but at her.

But that couldn't last for long.

Shoving his gift forward abruptly he heard a little gasp as she stepped backwards to avoid being bumped. Flushing in embarrassment, the Bad Guy looked up to see her put one delicate hand to her heart, startled. But her expression was slowly softening into something gentler.

"It's for you, um, Mary. I just wanted to say…sorry," the word was still chalk on his lips despite how frequently he'd used it lately, and with a large measure of shame he choked before forging on, looking down at his feet, "I know that you worked really hard on the cake you made. And I'm really sorry…for wrecking it."

Acceptance he'd been expecting, maybe even a grudging, 'thank you' (similar to what he'd already received a time or two in his quest for forgiveness). But the tiny hand that rested on his arm was a surprise, as was the reassuring smile upon Nicelander's face.

"I forgave you a long time ago, Ralph," she answered quietly, light brown eyes kind and soft. Then in a completely dumbfounding move she hopped forward enough to plant her lips on his chin, a-la the kiss she usually gave Felix at the end of their game. Ralph didn't know how to react so he merely stood there, resembling a shocked statue. Which Mary took as her cue to accept the gift, carrying the plate to her doorway.

"It looks beautiful, Ralph," she murmured, examining his first creative foodstuff, "is it marbleized cake? With cheesecake frosting and a candied sprig of lavender?"

He coughed, driven to speak, "y-yeah. Um, I made it with Vanellope's help."

Truthfully it wasn't that they'd made it, per se, so much as found the needed ingredients. The marbleized cake had come from the baking quarry, the cheesecake courtesy of the buttermilk maids of the Swiss chocolate mountains and their cinnamon stick goats. And the lavender was from an untouched glade of grape flowers, far from the racer's track. He imagined some coder creating it purely for beauty's sake, as neither he nor Vanellope could find any other reason for its crystalline existence.

He had, however, informed Felix about the place, should he wish to bring a candied gift to his lady love or plan an outing for the two of them.

Wait, did Mary think that he…that the lavender meant that…?

Mary gave him a knowing look and patted his arm once more, although he could tell that perhaps she wanted to reach up to pat something else. His cheek, maybe?

"Perhaps you and I could go over the recipe that you used tomorrow after gaming's done," she suggested tartly, and the videogame villain knew that he'd been caught. Still, she didn't seem to be upset and was, in fact, rather pleased, if her expression was anything to go by.

Then the petite Nicelander bid him goodnight, waving behind her with curled fingers and while her light purple nightgown swished about her slippered feet.

Ralph found himself holding his breath and yet not knowing why.

The next morning he awoke to find a chocolate pie waiting for him beside his pile of bricks, and a slice of beautiful chocolate cake set in a place of honor for him during their after-game party. They didn't get the chance to bake together as she had suggested, but the offer remained there for the taking. And he had a strange feeling that someday he just might take her up on it.

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AN: Most of the videogames referred to are not arcade games, but rather regular videogames. This is because I work in the electronics section of a Toy Store. XD So please forgive the inaccuracy of that detail!

Also, I don't know what possessed me to write this. As my roommate disapprovingly has said in repetition, "Mary is smaller than his fist."

But then again, his fists are freakishly huge, so…-shrugs- And Mary is a canon adult character, not a child, an OC and not a character from another videogame that's already involved with someone else. XD So I honestly can't complain. Plus it seemed like a sweet idea.