(A/N: This was originally going to be a several chapter sequel, including many, many more best friend/father-daughter moments with Ralph and Van. But I decided to incorporate those little moments into different stories later and just make this mostly some Cour Four moments lol
Hope all enjoy this shortish sequel to 'Stink Bear' :))
BUUUUURP!
A startling sound echoed in the smallish game of Tappers, causing many heads to swivel and look in the direction such a manly belch came from...
To see a familiar small girl standing at the bar top, clutching a large half-empty root beer mug- her tiny hands bearly able to fit around the sides. On her round face was a large smirk, overly-proud of her disturbingly loud burp.
"Ooh! Nice one, kid!" the large man beside the child commented casually, reaching over to try and gently ruffle her raven black ponytail. "You're getting louder! A bit more practice and I bet you'll belch the loudest you ever have!"
In response to the imminent noogie heading her way, said child ducked and set her root beer glass down next her glittery backpack on the bar top. She then swatted at the large man's persistent fingers, playfully pushing them away before they purposely messed up her hair.
As the wrecker abandoned seeking to dishevel her hair, the little girl rolled her large hazel eyes and reached down to (yet again) adjust her tiny pleated skirt- briefly annoyed that it and her striped tights were a little looser on her... now that Burger Time wasn't just a few portals over.
"We've already discussed this, Stink Brain," she smirked, standing in her place on a tall stool and leaning her elbow on the bar top causally. "You're not exactly the best at placing bets."
Snorting back at her, the child's best friend quickly leaned forward and pinched her cheek softly before she could squirm away- the gentle, playful pinching causing the child to giggle and crumble in her smug stance.
"Well, that's a bet I know I'll win."
A huge smile overtaking her face, the child eyed the large man beside her in happiness. She quickly glitched to sit upon his shoulder- still the most cherish resting place in her world.
"You wanna bet on that?"
"You want to place a bet on another bet?! Man, what in Mother Hubbard has the internet been teaching you, kid? I think it's starting to rot your brain a bit."
"Hey, half the folks on the wide-web are still smarter than one of your pinkies, Bird Brain!"
"I thought I was a Stink Brain."
"You knew what I meant, Admiral Underpants."
"Rather be a Admiral Underpants than a Non-President Booger Face."
"Excuse me, but I'd rather be a resigned President Booger Face than a Major Body Odor."
Large, gentle fingers were suddenly rubbing Vanellope's head playfully in respond, taking her by surprise as she squeaked. Before she could successfully bat his hands away again, her high ponytail was completely messed up, a few strands of raven hair already falling into her face.
The beyond irritated girl tried to angerly glare down at her best friend, who just smirked back at her with half-lidded eyes.
"You knew what I meant, Fart Feathers."
Instead of responding with a quick insult in their banter, the chibi child rolled her eyes again and over-exaggeratedly reached up to fix her askew ponytail. As she did, though, she was unable to hide a happy smirk surfacing on her face- one of many she already had since arriving back to the arcade.
This was one of the playful, fun, weirdly bonding times that Vanellope von Schweetz missed having the most with Wreck-It Ralph.
Missed a lot, if she were being completely honest.
The nasty, loud burping contests...the Burger Time burgers and Pacman cherry chow-downs... the countless games of 'I Spy' and 'Riddle Me This'...the mocking of the other's seemingly annoying characteristics...
All good times that she missed. A lot.
Van could practically remember each and every memory her and her Stink Brain shared together. In fact, on the more lonely nights in Slaughter Race, the hiddenly sentimental girl resorted to replaying all of her favorite memories in her mind as she fell asleep...
Each memory causing that strange little hole in her chest to expand a bit- but still helped her sleep a little better at night all the same. Especially now that she had her little Stink Bear cuddled by her side each night.
Of course, Vanellope's pride would never allow her to admit any of that out loud, however; it'd make others think she didn't love her new life in Slaughter Race- which, of course, wasn't true. She did love her new life in the internet, in Slaughter Race- that would never change...
But there was still something about being in Ralph's presence, being on his shoulder that the girl both loved so much and missed so much- that would never change, either.
In fact, there were still some parts of the whole arcade Vanellope still and unchangeably missed so much as well.
The racers back in Sugar Rush... the children patrons of the arcade...even ole' man Litwak, probably about 109 by now...
The Burger Time burgers and Pacman cherries...exploring the ton of other games...
And of course, sitting on the apartment rooftop in Fix-It Felix Jr...
"Oh! Oh! OH!" the child suddenly squealed loudly- nearly making Ralph's poor nearby eardrum burst in two as he cringed in his place.
Glitching back down to stand on the bar top, Vanellope shook in excitement and danced on her tiptoes, her eyes somehow twice their normal size- making Ralph smile widely. He missed that little excited dance of hers. A lot.
"I just remembered who I really, really, REALLY want to see before I go back home tomorrow!" the elated child gushed out, bearly noticing as her best friend mockishly pretended to massage his aching ear. "We've gotta go see them before they get busy with something else!"
Before Ralph could blink, the enthusiastic girl was hoping off the bar top and onto the bar stool she was once on. Stumbling to the ground, she glitched to stand near the game's saloon doors- and was about to race off to Tapper's game portal.
Realizing she didn't hear any heavy footsteps lumbering behind her, though, Vanellope halted. As she turned, she impatiently saw her best friend still sitting on his stool, still smiling widely and fondly at her.
"Oh, earth to Ralphie! C'mon," she pointedly whined, briefly and fretfully glaring at him. "Move your fat molasses! NOW!"
Chuckling, Ralph shook his head calmly at her insult and nonchalantly took another slow drink of his root beer.
He didn't even need to ask who exactly 'they' were; he already well knew. They were the two people Vanellope had been dying to see since she stepped foot in the arcade, after all.
In fact, they were the two characters she had always asked Ralph about over the Buzziephone, every single day these past two months. The two she was always anxious to inquire about, like their general wellbeing, their latest date (although, that was mostly so she could crack up over the disgusted face Ralph always made at her prying), and, of course, their general care over her old racing pals...
And they were the ones the small girl would always suddenly get melancholy talking about over the phone, too, saying she sure wished she saw them more often. The ones she could easily admit were like family to her and Ralph...And they'd honestly be the only ones the girl would strangely blush shyly about, asking Ralph to say hi to them for her...
They were the only ones Vanellope missed seeing every day- almost as much as she did Ralph, after all.
Sending her a small, understanding smile, the wrecker calmly motioned the child to come sit next to him again- which she just stubbornly narrowed her eyes at. She was pretty sure knew what he was thinking- and she didn't like it one bit.
Ralph gets to see them every day, she mentally hissed, still standing by the doors as she defiantly crossed her arms. So he doesn't think me seeing them is that important or special...
But after sending her a pointed look of parental-like disapproval (which she absolutely hated seeing), Vanellope rolled her eyes and finally complied in coming near.
Slumping back toward him, the child sighed loudly and stood dishearted at his stool's feet- causing the stern look on Ralph's face to soften.
"Don't worry, kiddo," the wrecker told Vanellope assuredly, scooping her up and gently sit her beside him. He then handed over her half-empty mug, the root beer in it slightly swishing around a bit. "We'll run into them eventually, I'm sure."
"But what if they get busy and we all can't hang out like we used to?" She voiced worriedly, setting the mug on the bar top. She couldn't help but absentmindedly trace the rim of the glass with fingers on one hand, while one of her chubby cheeks became propped up in the palm of the other hand. "Or what if I don't 'run into them' and I don't get to say hi before I have to go back home? Or what if..."
The small girl physically welted as she trailed off, unable and unwilling to finish her sad line of thought...
One thought she'd honestly worried about since she left the arcade- and one that plagued her ever since.
But somehow yet again, her best friend beside her knew exactly what she was thinking- and what is more, exactly what to say.
"Oh, they've been dying to see you again, too, kid, trust me," Ralph fondly told the girl beside him, his eyes twinkling a bit as she peered up hopefully at him- causing him to roll his eyes playfully. "They've talked nonstop about it since you left."
An optimistic smile slowly surfacing on her face, the child sat up a little straighter and glowed more happily- before a marked look of remaining worried came upon on her face.
"Now, finish the root beer I'm paying for," the wrecker chuckled as he scoot her half-empty mug towards her again, "and then we'll go find them, k?"
Deflating slightly again -more from annoyance with Ralph than anything else, though- Vanellope sighed loudly and snatched up her root beer. Quickly chugging the rest of it, her mind was swamped with many unhidden worries...but only one thought worried her the most.
What if Hammer Head and Sergeant Crazy are mad at me for leaving to live in the Internet...without even saying goodbye to them first?
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Do you see them?"
"No."
"What about now?"
"No, kid."
"What 'bout- wait! I think I see his hat! Oh, wait, no. Never mind- it was just stupid Luigi's hat with a stupid glare...do you see any sign of them at all, Ralphie?"
"Vanellope..."
The wrecker sighed loudly, trying his best to be as patient as he could be...but the impatience little child on his shoulder was making that hard to do. And it didn't help she was literally climbing all over his head, pulling his hair tight as she stretched and contorted her body around his face as much as she could- literally blocking his vision.
So, yeah- Ralph couldn't see 'them'. He couldn't see anything.
Though, it wasn't like I he could see even if the little mint and black ball wasn't preventing him from searching. For whatever reason, the station around them was now way busier than usual, many a character rushing around at Ralph's large feet.
Such a pack station made it hard for Ralph not to accidentally step on someone so much smaller than him- and to 'discipline' his overly-anxious kid.
"Quit frettin', kid," he simply told Vanellope as he finally grew too tired of her climbing and plucked her off his head, placing her gently on a clear space of ground. "We've seen many of the other characters you remember here in the arcade; I'm sure Felix and Calhoun are here in this sea somewhere. We'll spot them when we spot them...and making me bald won't help anything," he mumbled as an afterthought as he rubbed the top of his sore scalp.
"But we just gotta try to find them!" the child countered, glitching right back up to her spot on his head. She leaned forward, her ponytail flopping to hang down as she hung upside down- her large eyes clearly worried and insecure as they peeredinto Ralph's eyes. "We've just got to."
Rolling his eyes with a smirk mixed in, the wrecker gave the upside girl a pointed look before gently scooping her off his head once again and holding her out at arm's length- surprisingly able to do so without accidentally clocking someone passing by.
"Kid, we've tried to find them already," he reminded her gently- and tiredly, slumping slightly in exhaustion. "We searched for them high and low in my game, then Sugar Rush, then Calhoun's game, and at least a ton of other games after that. It's probably best we just stay put now and wait for them to find-"
"We didn't look that thoroughly in my old game," Vanellope tried to pout yet again, her voice determined- and as stubborn as Ralph begrudgingly remembered it being as he brought her closer to his chest. "I bet they were hangin' around somewhere the fan stand and we just missed them. We should go back and look more meticulously!"
Shaking his head in slight -just slight- assumment, the wrecker holding her just stroked her soft hair. Vanellope was one stubborn kid, he knew- and there was no stopping her until she saw all the members of her old family again.
As if on cue, Ralph's eyes briefly saw a flash of baby blue somewhere in the crowd in front of them...and as Bowser shuffled out the way, a familiar small handyman and his tall, lengthy wife came in the view.
The duo was sporting their casual run-around clothes -him wearing a baby and dark blue plaid button-up and a pair of small denim jeans; her wearing a pair of fainted, worn camo pants with a simple, long gray t-shirt.
They both were peering around them, clearly and anxiously looking for someone...some dear to them as well...
As he turned, Felix' squinted eyes finally met Ralph's- and a huge smile overtook his round face. Animatedly reaching up to clench his blue hair, the short man nudged his wife's legs and pointed excitedly over to where Ralph stood- Vanellope still snuggled safety in his arms.
"I don't think we have to look much further, kid," the wrecker softly mention, nodding behind her as he caught her attention. Wiggling a bit in his large arms, Vanellope turned towards the direction Ralph nodded towards- and instantly her scowled disappeared.
"FELIX! TAMMY!" the child squealed loudly, suddenly squirming out of Ralph's hands and glitching onto the ground.
Taking off into an all-out sprint, the beyond elated girl rushed and pushed and shoved through the crowd around her until she came to the feet of her two other closest friends.
Glitching up to bear hug the segreant woman first, Vanellope clenched tightly onto Calhoun's neck, briefly worried she'd accidentally snap the woman's neck in half.
At the child's tackling and tight embrace, Calhoun was taken back a bit, stagging backward. Snorting, though, the war woman finally straightened up and gently yet firmly hugged the child back- bringing the girl unbelievable amount of peace.
Vanellope had been the most worried about Calhoun when it came to her decision of living in the internet. She worried the woman would hold onto a grudge, being more than enraged at the child for leaving the arcade (and by accidental extension, the Fix-It couple themselves) far behind...
The girl had even been worried Calhoun -the only other girl in their odd little family of four- would 'disown' her in a way, regretting that she had ever let Van into her small circle of friends...
But by her signature gut-squeezing embrace in return, Calhoun made it clear that she wasn't upset with Vanellope nor going to ban her from the family.
She was just going to pick up their relationship where it had left off- still as strong as it will ever be.
"It's good to see you again, Soldier," the sergeant mentioned to the child, her voice softer and lighter than Vanellope had ever heard it- making the child glow deep inside.
Sighing, Vanellope snuggled a little closer to the war woman's shoulder- the location that came in second only by Ralph's shoulder for the most tears cried by the child.
It felt so good to be back in the war woman's crazy strong arms again; other than Ralph's loving cradling, Calhoun's firm, strong hugs were the next best thing. The tough sergeant was the very (and only) woman Vanellope had viewed as a mother figure for six odd years, after all.
"Same here, Tammy," the child commented back, snuggling somehow at bit at closer- using the nickname only she and one other person dared used...
"Wait about me?" a rich southern voice broke out suddenly, mockishly sounding offended as it sucked Calhoun and Vanellope out of their happy reuniting. "Where's my hug, Sugar Cube?"
Lifting her head off Calhoun's shoulder, Vanellope saw an elated Felix at their feet, his arms stretched wide for his own bear hug from the little girl.
Smiling just as widely, the child glitched out of Calhoun's arms and down to the ground to tackle Felix as well- his petite form taking the child's embrace a little harder than his wife. He laughed as he nearly tumbled backward onto the station floor, not caring that his blue work hat had fallen off as he hugged the child back softly.
"I missed you, too, Hammer Head," Vanellope whispered softly, happy that she was back in the handy man's gentle arms. "A ton, actually."
Which was indeed true. Not only because she missed Felix always coming to fix her broken kart over in Sugar Rush when she's make that stupid turn a little too sharply (and that he never once complained when she'd ask for his help, even when it had become several times in a week)- although Vanellope did miss that about Hammer Head.
She mostly missed Felix so much because there was something about hearing his rich southern accent, feeling his overly happy, enthusiastic energy, being with his mushy-gushy lovingness every day that made her feel safe, loved. Cared about by the best handyman ever.
Felix wasn't pushy or overbearing with needless worry over her, either- like Calhoun and Ralph tended to be. Instead, the handyman was always balanced, calm, gentle, and sensitive with any problem she'd come to him with. He allowed her to tell him the details at her own pace instead of trying to pry them out of her...Which quickly made his Vanellope's go-to him for advice, knowledge, and wisdom for most problems, small or large.
Simply put, Felix was such a great, level-headed, good friend to Vanellope. And she greatly missed having him around every day...
Plus, it was always kinda fun to make the honey-glowing man blush beat red.
Hugging her tightly back, Felix suddenly tried to lift Vanellope off the ground, failing miserably as he nearly caused them to go falling backward. Laughing, the child outshined him and quickly lifted him up instead, causing him to blush- but laugh good-naturally as well.
"I missed you a ton more, Candy Princess," he smiled at her as she set him back on the ground, a huge ear-to-ear smile on his face as he peered up to exchange a look up at his wife. "And I think I speak for both Tammy and I when I say that we're so happy your back visiting the arcade!"
"Ooh, meEe too!" Vannelope squealed happily, pulling back from Felix embrace in excitement- her glitch distorting her words ever so slightly as she became overwhelmed with emotions. "I-i've beeen DYinG tO sEE you GUys agaiN!! We CAn alllll haNG oUt agaIN aaand go GAAME JUMPPPIng again and- and-"
Suddenly, the child trailed off in her words and in her glitch, eyeing something by Felix' feet for the first time.
"What's that by your fet, Hammer Head?" she asked curiously, peering at the colorful object by his work boots.
"Oh, right!" the handyman gasped, his eyes twinkling as his smile somehow grew even wider. "I almost forgot! Tammy and I brought you some presents!"
Her eyes growing in surprise, the child gawked- touched that they wanted to get her anything after she kinda left them high and dry.
"Seriously? You got me presents?! Aw, you guys didn't have to do that...," she blushed humbly- right before getting a childishly greedy look in her eyes. "That's cool, though! Whatcha guys get me?!"
Slyly scooping up the items by his feet, the handyman held whatever it was behind his back, a growing smile on his lips.
"Weeeellll," he drew out, rolling his eyes to the side- before suddenly pulling the items from behind his back and making them seen.
In his gloved hands, Vanellope saw, were multicolored, beautiful 8-bit flowers, all arranged in a fancy, delicate bouquet. A girly, lacy mint green wrap and a huge lilac bow were holding the bouquet together, creating a perfect place to gently hold the flowers' stems.
"I picked these from my garden this morin' for ya!" Felix declared proudly, a huge smile on his face as he held out the gorgeous flowers to the child...who didn't seem so impressed.
Instead of graciously taking the flowers and thanking him for the gesture, Vanellope squished up her face in a confused way- seriously unsure if the small man was joking with her or not.
She quickly decided that Felix had to be playing a joke on her. After all, what grown man would collect a bunch of flowers as a welcoming present for a child, anyway?
Blankly peering at the bouquet of blooms then back at Felix, Vanellope finally looked around the flowers altogether. She even leaned to the side a bit, trying to genuinely see if the fixer was somehow magically holding something else behind his back.
"No, like, seriously," she scoffed out at seeing nothing was hiding behind him. "Whatcha get me??"
Appalled by such a rude remark and behavior, Ralph quickly and pointedly reached down and nudged the child in front of him, causing her turn and look at him in childish innocence.
Looking into his eyes, she saw that one of Ralph's eyebrows were raised sharply and his eyes were stern, giving her that look. The look of strong parental disappointment and even shame in her- which made her deeply scowl in her place.
Silently and slowing shaking his head down at her, the wrecker then slightly nodded towards the flowers, clearly telling the little girl to just take the flowers and thank Felix for them.
Quickly getting the point of his steady glare, Vanellope hesitantly took the gorgeous blooms from Felix and held them at arm's length for a minute- bearly clutching onto them as if they were covered with thrones. A look of brief rancid danced onto her face, which the child quickly tried cover up by a forced smile...But Vanellope's face ended up just seeping with awkward acceptance and slight but clear repulsion at her gift.
The child's unsightly face caused Calhoun to hide a mocking smile behind her hand. She had tried to warn her native husband that Vanellope wasn't the 'flowery' type of child, so she wouldn't quite appreciate the best blooms from his garden. But, of course, Felix had just brushed it off and told her that Vanny would love the 'awful pretty flowers'. Boy, was he ever wrong.
"Oh...uh, thanks, Felix," Vanellope finally grumbled out, slowly beginning to pull the flowers closer to her displeased face...although Felix didn't seem to notice her sour demeanor. "I don't know what I'm supposed ta do with these, but-"
"Oh! And I almost forgot," the fixer interrupted excitedly, reaching into his back pocket as he continued to smile widely. "Tammy and I both wrote u a card!"
Suddenly Vanellope's disgruntled face lit up again, a huge, once again greedy smile filling in her face as she quickly grabbed the manila envelope.
"Ooh! Money!" she squealed selfishly, ripping open the card's packet before she could even blink- not even noticing the fancy letters her name was written on the front.
After seeing that all inside was indeed a petite, simple card, the smile on Vanellope's face fell. She turned the envelope upside down, shaking it gently, then more roughly. No even one Mario kart coin came out.
"What the- oh, come on," the girl childishly complained, making Calhoun roll her eyes and stifled a hidden laugh. "If you're going to give some stupid flowers, you should at least make it better by forkin' over a little dough with it."
"Vanellope!" Ralph gawked in horror behind her, his brown eyes wide in shock and revulsion. Since when did the internet suddenly teach kids to be so rude?
Finally unable to hold back a laugh any more, Calhoun snorted and eyed down at her husband- who, instead of being offended by the child's remark, seemed to be trying not to laugh as well.
Vanellope -and her fatherly best friend Ralph- hadn't changed a bit.
"Well, it's not my fault Felix gave me a bunch of plants and some rinky-dink card with no money as a welcoming present!" the child sassed back at the wrecker -all in good fun, though. She rolled her eyes over to silently plead up at Calhoun. "Please tell me your gift is better, Captain Happy-Trigger!"
Her smirk instantly disappearing from her face, the war women's cheeks began to glow a little- and for the first time the other three ever remember seeing, Calhoun actually looked doubtful.
"Well, I kinda forgot to get ya something of actually value, Squirt," the woman finally admit, reaching up to embarrassingly rub the back of her long neck. "Since I've been so preoccupied with ranglin' up those candy cadets you once shared a game with..."
Reaching into one of her back pockets, however, Calhoun pulled out an off-whiteish item, crumbled up into a wrinkled ball of fabric.
"But, uh, I found an old shirt of mine I wasn't using anymore..."
Still a little beat red, the woman handed over the ball of cloth. As she did, Vnellope gingerly and perhaps even cautiously took it- still not exactly sure what she was being handled. As it became unraveled in her hands, though, the child held up the gift so she -and in turn, a curious Ralph- could see it a bit better...
Revealing that the shirt of Calhoun's was indeed very old- and baggy. Baggy and huge, actually, somewhat surprising Ralph that it even once stay on the trim Calhoun at all. It was about as big as Vanellope's whole body.
The shirt was pretty wrinkled, too, the wrecker couldn't help but notice- and although he wasn't known to be the cleanest character ever, he thought it looked like it had been worn way more than it had ever been washed. It contained too many stains to count, for one thing, each a different color and sizes...making Ralph wanting to lose his lunch a little bit.
But perhaps the most interesting detail of the whole gift was slogan it bore. 'No Gun, No Fun' was printed in blocky black letters square in the middle of the jersey, two dark 8-bit gun on each side of the words- making the shirt that much more cringe-worthy.
This nasty, wrinkled t-shirt had been clearly dug up from the back of Calhoun's closet, and deciding it would have to do, was quickly shoved into her back pocket.
What kind of gift is that- to give a kid, no less?! the wrecker questioned, a little worried of what Calhoun would say if he'd dare say such words out loud.
Physically grimacing over the unsightly shirt, Ralph eyed Felix in concern- to see the handyman was doing the same to him, shrugging hopelessly. They both knew that Calhoun's taste in clothing fit her style quite well: sharp, edgy and dark...
But giving such clothing to a child?
"If you don't like it, I can get ya something else, Van," the woman squirmed slightly- no doubt thinking such a gift choice wasn't exactly the best, either. Ignoring the looks of slight disgust on Ralph's face, she ran her fingers her shiny, short hair and eyed Vanellope- seeing that the child's face was expressionless. "And I'll even buy something new, right off the rack..."
But she trailed off when saw a strange look come into the child's eyes. Was that actual... joy? Elation? Excitement?
Her eyes the widest any of the three adults around had seen, Vanellope suddenly let loose an ear-splitting squeal- making Ralph relieved this time the girl wasn't anywhere be his ear. She startled to dance in her place excitedly, clutching the large t-shirt close to her like it was the greatest thing ever known to video game kind.
"I love it! I love it! I LOVE IT!" she surprised the others by screeching loudly, suddenly glitching up to give Calhoun another bear hug around the neck- beyond startling the war woman. "Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU, TAMMY!"
Abruptly glitching over to Ralph's shoulder, the shaking little girl proudly showed off her cherished new shirt, holding it way too close to his face.
"Now this is what I call a gift! Isn't this the greatest shirt ever?!" she glowed loudly eyeing it briefly before pressing it close to her heart once again. "I'm never, ever taking it off! I love it!"
Suddenly glitching back to the ground again, the child danced in her spot before smiling widely up at the rest of her friends.
"I'll be back in a flash!" she screeched. "I'm gonna go put it on real quick!"
And living up to her words, Vanellope glitched again, disappearing from view- only to pixelate back in front of the three adults' eyes yet again, her new favorite shirt replacing her mint-green hoodie.
"How does it look?" she eagerly asked her friends, spinning around a bit in her place on the floor. As she did, the huge t-shirt flared up at the ends almost like a dress.
The old, wrinkled shirt, as Ralph had predicted, reached the floor on the child, bearly staying up on her small shoulders...and for the first time, he noticed an odd, faded red stain in the back of the jersey.
Forcing his mind to tell himself it was just an old plaint stain and not that of any bodily fluids, Ralph winced as the girl wiggled a bit to adjust the huge neck hole.
"That shirt is way, way too big on you," Felix beat the wrecker in saying- although both men couldn't help but smile at the child. She did look incredibly cute in something that huge...and old...and wrinkled.
"Great!" Vanellope surprised them by saying, skipping over to give Calhoun's leg to give it a small, tight hug. "That's a style that's in right now, ya know, according to Yess."
"Yes what?" Felix asked her, scooping up the forgot, abandoned flowers and handling a large, teal one to his smiling, relieved wife.
"No, according to Yess," the child responded, trying to clarify her statement a little better as she attempted to smooth of her overly wrinkled shirt a little.
"Ok, yes, but who is it you're talking about?" Calhoun asked, her seriously annoyed look coming back onto her face.
Growling, Vanellope rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, giving up in trying to straighter her jersey out.
"I'm talking about Yess, of course!"
"Yes of course what?" the handyman asked then, beyond perplexed- and unsure as to why Ralph was trying so hard to not laugh about then. "I'm beyond befuddled as to what you're talking about here, Sugar Cube."
At his words, Vanellope was about to roll her eyes again- before a simple, irritating fact suddenly occurred to her. Slapping her hand on her forehead, the girl turned to glare at her best friend.
"Sweet mother of monkey milk!" she exclaimed angerly- her Stink Brain still just smiling like a fool. "Did you really not tell these two dopes about Shank or the gang or Yess or ANYONE in the internet yet, Ralph?!"
Reaching down to scoop her up and tickle her, Ralph laughed loudly- making Vanellope break in her irate stance.
"I gave'em vague details," he admitted, "but figured you'd want the honors of giving them the rest once you got here, Fart Feathers!"
Sharing a laugh, the two friends turned to eye Felix and Calhoun- both eyeing each and looking more confused than ever.
"Don't worry, guys!" Vanellope smirked, glitching back down to the floor- that beloved childish look in her large, hazel eyes. "I'll explain everything you need to know! Oh, and I want to hear all about how the Sugar Rush and the racers are, too!"
Suddenly jumping up and down in her too long, too big shirt, the child danced on her toes again- the excited little dance the three adults before her loved and missed more than any would ever care to admit
"Let's all go to Tapper's and explain, guys!" Vanellope decided rashly, balling up her fist in excitement. And before anyone could even jokingly reject her motion, the girl grabbed Felix's hand- causing Ralph to exchange a smirk with Calhoun as handyman blushed a bit.
Already dragging him towards the Tappers' game portal, the elated girl caused the handy man's blue work hat to go flying backward, which was caught one-handed by a smirking Calhoun. With one easy motion, the war woman pushed the abandon cap backward on her own head- and intertwining the teal flower in her other hand with the cap's small strap.
Turning briefly to see that Ralph and Calhoun were calmly following her and a happily cringing Felix, Vanellope felt like she was going to burst in happiness.
She had her Hammer Head and Sergeant Crazy back in her life- her whole family again, in fact. They were happy to have her visiting back in the arcade, happy to have her back in their lives and go on more fun adventures.
And Vanellope now knew deep down that would never change, no matter where she lived.
Beyond excited to be back in the middle of her loving, odd little family again, the bouncy little girl smirked- one of many more she'd have, she knew. A new idea hit her all at once, one she knew she could easily convince the Slaughter Race gang to help her with.
I bet we can make a little Tammy Tiger toy, and even a Fix-It Felix Jr Jr, the cutest stuff puppy toy ever!...
Deciding to store such ingenious thoughts safely in the back of her mind, Vanellope started to race off again, her new shirt seeming to fly with her. Briefly looking over her and Felix' shoulders, she then called what she knew her beloved Stink Brain was undoubtingly thinking just then.
"And the drinks are on me!"