this one is okay. I don't typically write Ralph, and the writing center in my brain has been on the fritz lately. agh.
but ignore the author's note. enjoy! :)
Happy watched as Sly twirled around her fiancé, attempting to repress the amused smile pulling her lips upward.
"Do you think Toby will become more agile on his feet before your wedding?" Walter wondered, his eyes focused on the same sight hers were.
"There's not going to be any dancing at our wedding. It's a simple ceremony, O'Brien."
Walter nodded slowly. "Perhaps that's the most efficient idea. Not that I could do much better, but as the saying goes, you have two left feet."
The engineer raised her eyebrow. "Are you saying I can't dance?"
"Yes." He glimpsed at her dangerous expression. "But you don't believe there's a point to dancing anyway. Why do you care?"
Her face immediately shifted to a scowl. "I don't."
Walter gave her a skeptical look over. Although his attention returned to his employees across the room moments later, seeing how Happy didn't seem to be willing to discuss further.
A minute of peering in silence elapsed before them.
As their conversation died, the female genius stepped away, striding towards the punchbowl on the nearby table. Once arriving, she used both a purple cup and the large spoon, pouring herself her preferred amount of the beverage. Happy then proceeded to throw back a mouthful. Having momentarily forgotten that Toby spiked it, she almost gagged on the unexpected burning taste of alcohol.
Nevertheless, after getting over her initial surprise, she downed the rest of the cup in a single breath.
Happy paused a second to ingest whatever had been mixed in with the red punch, swallowing hard. Her hand neared the bowl for another helping when a voice piped up behind her. "Happy?"
She instantly spun on her heel to respond, clearing her throat of the alcohol in the process. "Hey, kid."
Ralph blinked up at her. "I have a request."
She briefly shifted her gaze to watch her hand drop the cup back onto the table before she focused in on him. "Shoot."
"Well, I know you had an onerous day, and my mom gave me a lesson a couple of weeks ago, so I was just wondering if you'd like to..."
"Are you...asking me to dance?"
He nodded.
"Sorry, Ralph...but I don't dance." Taking note of his expression, she added, "I'm sure Toby would dance with you."
Their lines of sight remained interconnected. But then his pupils fell. "Okay, I apologize for interrupting." He turned, starting to walk away in Walter's direction.
Happy watched him go. Even she knew that wasn't the right thing to say. But she hated dancing. And besides, she couldn't even do it anyway.
Toby suddenly stalked up beside his fiancé, eyes teetering between her and Ralph. "What was that all about?"
Her eyebrows scrunched. "Ralph asked me to dance."
"And you told him no?"
She turned her head towards him. "What was I supposed to say?"
"Uh, how about yes, Hap?"
"I don't dance, Toby."
"You danced with me a few years ago."
"That was a one time thing."
Toby scoffed. "You're full of it, Miss Quinn." He bumped her shoulder with his. "Happy, I came over here so I could ask you to dance with me, but I think you should go with Ralph."
"Why would Ralph even want to dance with me? I'm not his mom."
"No, but he loves you all the same. And he knows you had a difficult day. He was just trying to put a smile on his Aunt Happy's face."
The mechanic narrowed her eyes.
Toby nudged her. "Go dance with him, sweetheart. He wants to spend time with you."
"I don't dance, doc."
"It's easy. You'll get the hang of it." Toby smiled, motioning the kid and their boss from across the room. "You're not going to make him dance with Walter, are you?"
Happy sighed. "...That would be painful."
"You said it, princess. Now-" he grinned, "-please just ask the kid to dance."
She groaned. "You're lucky you're cute, Curtis. And annoyingly persuasive."
Toby swiftly kissed her head. "I'll try not to get too jealous," he commented, reaching out to grab the cup she was previously using to fill up on his own helping of the punch-alcohol concoction.
Happy then padded through the room, awkwardly twisting the engagement ring on her finger as she approached. The two geniuses raised their gazes to her. "Ralph, can I talk to you for a second?"
Walter set his tablet off to the side. "Uh, okay, pal, we can discuss this later," he stated before moving away from them, walking in Toby's direction.
"What can I help you with?" the young boy questioned once Walter departed.
"Is that offer to dance still on the table?"
"You...still want to dance?"
"That a problem?"
He beamed at her. "Of course not."
Ralph grabbed the tops of her fingers and tugged her towards the center of the room. Upon reaching the space, though, he readjusted his hand to hold hers in, putting his arm on her waist from a comfortable distance. In turn, Happy rested her palm atop his shoulder.
She wasn't entirely sure how she should proceed, so the female genius let Ralph lead their steps. The first few seconds were awkward, their paces not falling into synchronization with one another. Her body remained tense, each pace a strange shift in movement.
She could repair any piece of technology, build any machine, figure out a solution to almost any problem presented to her, but dancing was one thing she didn't know how to do.
Ralph gazed up at her with big eyes. "It's a simple 1...2 motion. Move your left foot on the first beat, and your right on the second. Just back and forth."
Happy forced her legs to follow the pattern he instructed. 1...2. 1...2. 1...2.
Her steps quickly became less abrupt and somehow more aligned with Ralph's.
He gave her a toothless smile, the pair slowly beginning to coincide with each other.
She felt herself loosen up a bit. Her muscles eased once she became more comfortable in what she was doing.
Maybe mastering this wasn't quite as difficult as she initially thought.
"Don't tell anybody I said this," Happy remarked, "but I guess this isn't...so bad."
"Mom says dancing is a skill I'll need later on."
The engineer raised her eyebrows. "I don't see where dancing could be useful anywhere down the road."
Ralph shook his head. "Me neither."
They shared a chuckle.
Then, they proceeded to return to the silent back and forth steps. Happy didn't hate it as much as she did a minute ago. Toby was right, she really was becoming a softie. Damn it.
Ralph craned his neck to look back up at her again. "Happy," he said, "I'm sorry about your friend. ...She shouldn't be trapped in a bubble all her life."
"At least she's alive."
"I know you wanted her to be at your wedding."
"Toby and I were trying to stay away from a big guest list, anyway."
"But her attendance would make it better, wouldn't it?"
"Between you and me, no one outside Scorpion has to come."
"Are you saying that just because?"
"Normals ruin everything, Ralph."
"My mom didn't ruin everything here."
Happy's lip playfully quirked. "I wasn't talking about her, kid."
Ralph just smiled.
"Hey, where'd you learn all this human stuff?"
"Clearly not from you guys."
"Ouch."
He cracked a grin. "I've picked up a few things."
"I can see."
The song playing in the background suddenly came to a stop, leading Ralph to remove his arms from the older genius. He took a step back, eyes still focused on her. "Thanks for dancing with me, Happy."
She immediately felt the empty space where his small body had just been. "Quitting on me already?"
He nodded in the direction behind her. "I think Toby wants to dance with you. Besides, I didn't get to finish telling Walter about my new code."
"Don't go too hard on him."
Ralph grinned, bounding away after she returned the gesture.
But the dark-haired woman didn't even have time to turn around before she felt a new pair of arms wrap around her, a kiss pressing against her cheek.
"Have fun with Ralphy Boy?" Toby muttered in her ear.
Happy smirked, rotating around in his embrace to properly face him. "I think it's your turn, doc."
His eyes brightened. "It is?"
"Good practice for our wedding, right?"
He took a long, slow breath. "Hold on a minute, Hap-" he smiled at her, "-are you saying you'll dance at our wedding?"
"I'm saying maybe." She closed the little gap between them. "But don't get too excited. Next time you piss me off, it's not happening."
"Good to know." Toby snuck his arms around her waist, changing the subject as the next song played overhead. "Happy Quinn, can I have this dance?"