[Introduction: This was written as part of the WIR Secret Santa 2013 on Tumblr and was my gift to saziskylion who had the request "character: Ralph, Vanellope. Prompt: Ralph and Vanellope having an ice cream snowball fight in Sugar Rush."]
With the change from fall to winter in the gamers' world, it meant that the naturally occurring seasons caused it to get darker earlier in the day. This plus the holidays meant that Litwak's Family Fun Center closed sooner than it normally did during the sunnier seasons.
Nobody minded too much, there was a lot of hustle and bustle around this time of year, however, it was the opposite for all the video game characters that took up residence in the arcade consoles. The shorter operating hours gave them much more downtime between close and opening, it was a welcome change from the busier times that kept them all working most of the day. Nobody minded the full days, but getting some extra rest at the end of the hectic year was appreciated.
The arcade had been getting a lot more business after the events of last year, with the homeless characters bringing a new bonus level and life to the retro classic Fix-It Felix Jr. and the addition of Vanellope and her teleporting powers to Sugar Rush, not to mention that Hero's Duty had brought a lot of interest in the Fun Center as well.
Everybody spent their downtime differently, for Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz, they explored the various games of the arcade together each night. For the past week or so, Vanellope hadn't been on the Random Roster each day. After the second day, Ralph had asked her about it and she had just shrugged it off, saying that she figured some of the ones who didn't get to race much would appreciate it.
The truth was a little bit differently, while that was part of the reason for her not participating in the daily races, Vanellope had a plan and she needed some time to pull it off.
Finally, she had finished her project today, shortly before the arcade closed and the fun began. There was still a couple of hours until she could show her surprise to Ralph, so she didn't have much to do until then.
Living in the castle had been a big adjustment, but it was nice. Even when she wasn't on the daily schedule, she didn't have to be alone any more. Sour Bill, the Oreo Guards, and the other inhabitants of the castle were always around. It had taken some time for the Oreos to calm down, they felt like they had let Vanellope down for all those years, allowing someone else to take her place and treat her so terribly. Even though she had said that everything was fine, they sort of took on the role of over-protective parents. Eventually after everybody got settled into the new order of business, she managed to convince them to relax, but it had taken some time. After all, it was a big change for everyone, even people in other games.
So, even though she was bored and excited to show off what she had done to Ralph, she had plenty to entertain herself with. She started off with one of her favorites, trying to get Sour Bill to smile. He had lighted up with the less-strict rules, but he was naturally more low-key than just about anyone else in the game. It was his job to make sure things ran smoothly. They took care of themselves for the most part, but if something went wrong, he could be counted on to solve the problem with minimal fuss.
Vanellope knew that her efforts would be fruitless, but that was part of the fun, what if she suddenly succeeded? Like usual, no amount of faces or ridiculous jokes that she made brought glee to his face, but Sour Bill had his own enjoyment of not smiling at her nonsense, no matter how funny he thought it. It was their own little game and each probably knew that the other was just teasing with them.
After she grew tired of that, there still was a little bit to go, so she spent her time darting and glitching from window to window to look out of each one. There were plenty of windows throughout the castle, so this managed to occupy all of that time, she didn't even reach all of them before the announcement was made that the working hours were over.
As soon as she heard the all clear, she changed directions mid-teleport and ran out of the castle at full speed. Fortunately, because the arcade had just shut down, the train was waiting right inside the plug to take her and anyone else in the game to Game Central Station.
She bounced up and down in her seat as she wait, occasionally stopping to eagerly peer out of the window.
Finally, the train pulled out of the station and made its way through the cord, chugging along as it glided down the pathway.
As soon as the train docked, Vanellope dashed out, heading off towards the short distance to Fix-It Felix Jr.
She had to wait a small amount of time for the train to take her inside of the game and to the old-fashioned train station.
Nobody was there to greet her as the rickety train clanked into view, the railroad crossing alert dinging constantly from the moment it entered the console.
Vanellope hopped out and scampered to the area in front of the apartment building. Ralph was the first person to come into view, being 9 feet tall in a land of much shorter people, he stood out in a crowd. He and the rest of the Nicelanders were cleaning up after a hard day's work, mud was still dripping off of Ralph as he helped gathered the broken bricks and shards of glass to take to the dump.
As she got closer, she called out excitedly, "Ralph! Ralph! Ralph!"
Ralph stopped in mid-stoop, straightening up and giving his best friend a smile and a wave, "Hey, kid! Once I've finished here, we can head on out." Ever since the Nicelanders had been treating him better, he had been helping them out and contributing more than just making the mess he was programmed to.
Vanellope nods quickly, "I'll help you out! After all, you're the slowest person I know, so it'll be weeks if I'm waiting on you!" Her and Ralph always teased, coming up with silly names and colorful insults for each other.
Ralph grins, "Fine by me, but you'll need to check your hair to see if anything got stuck in it! I'll have to wait weeks for you to clean it all out!" He returns to picking up the larger bits and pieces, while Vanellope picks up whatever's within reach.
She teleports a short distance at a time, taking an armload several jumps until she gets to the dump, then she drops it off. During one of these trips, she passes the game's namesake himself, cheerfully greeting him as she zipped past, "Hi Felix! Bye Felix!"
Felix chuckles, he'd tip his hat if his arms weren't full of debris, "Good evening to you too, Madame President!"
It wasn't long before the work was done, the Nicelanders and Vanellope were all standing around the dump, the game's natives gathering in their own groups to talk, while the Sugar Rush racer is nearly dancing in excitement, "Ralph, are you ready to go?"
Ralph pretends to think for a moment, deciding to play around a little with his friend, "I don't know, I was thinking about taking a bath, after all, that was some hard work today…"
Vanellope laughs, "We both know that you've never taken a bath before in your life! There's a reason I call you 'Stinkbrain'!"
He grins, "You got me there, kid." Ralph reaches a hand out to ruffle her hair gently. "I'm ready whenever you are."
Vanellope cheers, "Great! Then let's go!" She grabs one of his giant hands in her tiny ones and attempts to drag him along to the train station.
Ralph chuckles and trots along gamely, he could easily outpace her if he wanted to, but she seems to be enjoying this.
Unfortunately, they can't sit together in the train, Ralph barely fits in a full train car as it is, so they sit back to back and talk as they travel back to the Station.
Vanellope continues to lead Ralph back to her home game, even though it's a path he knows well by now.
He can tell she's more hyper than normal, but any questions he has are answered along the lines of, "You'll see when you get there!"
Fortunately, the train ride to Sugar Rush is quick and it doesn't take them long to travel to the castle.
Vanellope had offered Ralph his own wing of the castle, even though he had declined, she had still set aside a room for him, complete with a Ralph-sized bed and other comforts. Today, she leads him to the room, the larger door shut at the moment.
She reaches out a hand to turn the knob, then stops, turns around, and looks up at Ralph, "Close your eyes!"
He chuckles and closes his eyes, Vanellope looks at his face carefully, to make sure that he really was, then wags a finger at him, "No peeking until I say so, got it?"
Ralph grins, "Got it! Hurry it up, though, I might fall asleep if you take too long!"
Vanellope laughs, then opens the door, leading her giant friend into the room.
She then lets go and scampers over to the present in the middle of the room, looking it over one last time, "Okay, open them, open them, open them!" She's nearly bouncing in place as she waits.
Ralph opens his eyes to look at the gift, widening slightly as he saw what was presented before him.
On a large stand in the very center of his room sat a hand-made coat. It's been put together in a patchwork of different pieces and tied up with bits of licorice. It's lovingly Sugar Rush style.
He walks around the jacket, admiring it from all angles, "You made me a coat?"
Vanellope beams, "Yep! Adorabeezle helped out with the design, but I made it all myself!" She rocks back and forth slightly, "I thought that we could go play in the ice cream mountains, but I didn't want you to freeze, even though I'm sure your blubber would keep you plenty warm, so I decided to make it for you. I've been working on it all week, that's why I haven't been in the races." She tilts her head, "You do like it, right?"
Ralph grins, "It's the best coat in the world, thanks, Vanellope!" He scoops her up into a hug, then backs up, "I've gotta try it on!"
It takes a few minutes for the both of them to get him into the coat, Vanellope can't help him too much, but she does her best.
Once the coat is on, Ralph turns in a circle, "So, how does it look?"
Vanellope giggles, "Like it was made for you!"
He chuckles and offers a hand out to her, she takes it in her own way, climbing up to reach his shoulder and sit down in her favorite spot.
She pats Ralph on the head, "Onward, presidential steed, mush!"
He laughs, "Yes, your presidentness!" With that, he heads off towards the chilly mountains.
They talk and joke as they travel, it's a bit of a walk, but not a terribly long one, especially since they've got more time than usual, thanks to the arcade closing early.
The closer the two friends get, the colder the wind blows. As they reach the frozen lands, sugary snowflakes drift down from above.
Vanellope looks around, "Watch your step, the ground can be pretty slippery. I thought about making you some boots, too, but I knew you'd never wear them."
Ralph nods, "I had more than enough of shoes when I wore that armor from Hero's Duty." He takes her advice and slows his pace down.
Once they're a good ways in and partway up the mountain, with ice cream surrounding them completely, Vanellope taps his shoulder, then slides down his arm, "Here is good!"
Ralph's not sure what to do in the snow, but Vanellope solves that for him quickly. She giggles as she scoops together a vanilla snowball, then chucks it at him, making a cold, white spot on his new jacket.
He laughs, "So, that's how it is?" Ralph works on making his own snowball, but his hands are too large and he can't pack the ice cream in without it falling apart.
All the while he's doing so, Vanellope's gathering her own army of snowballs, giving Ralph a chance to make his own.
He's not very successful, so he finally just decides to grab a huge double handful of ice cream, carefully and quietly sneak up on his best friend, then dump it on top of her head.
Needless to say, it's a cold surprise, but not an entirely unwelcome one. Vanellope laughs, "Hey! That's cheating!"
Ralph chuckles, "You never set any rules!"
Vanellope pushes her way out of the ice cream, "Fine, fine, no rules, except for, uh, no chocolate chips or chunks. Don't wanna get hit by one of those."
Ralph nods, "Fair enough, no chocolate. I'm not gonna be cryin' over that."
Vanellope grins, "So, should we make our bases? I've claimed this spot in the name of the president, but the president will grant you a share of land, as long as it's, ummmm, a few feet away…" She scampers over a short distance, then draws a line in the ice cream with her foot, "Past here, okay? That should be fair enough. We've got, hmmm, how about ten minutes to build our forts, and then the war will begin!"
Ralph heads over to the indicated spot, then starts shoving ice cream into a wall. It doesn't take him long at all to push up enough to make it nearly as tall as he is. When that task is done, he sits down with his back to it and starts to attempt to make snowballs again.
It takes longer for Vanellope to build her much-smaller fort, however, she's already got a supply of pre-made ice cream snowballs, so she has the advantage there.
Once ten minutes have passed, Vanellope calls out, "Ready! What about you, or are you too busy hiding behind that wall of yours?"
Ralph peers around his giant snow fort, "I am not hiding, I'm preparing." No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was greeted with a scoop of vanilla to the face. He chuckles and wipes it off with one hand, "Heh, you got me there, kid!" He turns back around behind his fort, while Vanellope giggles from hers.
He chucks a handful of snow over his fort, but it falls to pieces as it flies through the air, only raining a few pieces down on Vanellope. She laughs, "Is that the best you've got?"
"You've not seen anything, yet," is the response she gets as Ralph flings another handful her way.
Vanellope dodges the snow chunks this time, grabbing a few snowballs as she sneaks off behind her best friend.
Ralph's wall is too tall, so he can't see around it very well, especially when he's gathering snow, so he only knows Vanellope's there when he feels three snowballs in a row pelt him in the back.
He turns around with an armful of ice cream and simply dumps it on Vanellope again. She giggles, shaking most of it off like a dog, "You've only got one trick there, chumbo, gonna try something new or what?"
Ralph chuckles, "You wait right here and see." He takes off around his ice cream wall, leaving Vanellope to stand there, tilting her head as she waited to see what her best friend had in store for her.
It didn't take long for her to figure out what it was, as he pushes part of his wall over on top of her.
"Hey!" She sputters, spitting some ice cream out, "That's almost the same thing, silly!"
This time, Ralph has to help pull her out, "What can I say, I'm not too good at coming up with new ideas!"
Vanellope laughs, "You're selling yourself short, I know you've got a brain in there, put it to use!"
There's a moment of silence as a bit of inspiration hits Ralph, he scoops up Vanellope, then gently tosses her several feet into a snowbank.
As she briefly sails through the air and lands in a cushy pile of ice cream, she squawks, "Whoa!" After she lands, she sits up, shaking her head and sending ice cream flying everywhere, "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
She darts over to Ralph, teleporting once to get back to him, "Again!"
Ralph grins, looks around for another pile of snow, then carefully throws her into it.
This game goes on for a while, as they leave Vanellope-shaped holes around the area.
Both of them are getting pretty cold at this point, Vanellope more than Ralph, due to her repeatedly landing in snow piles as big or bigger than her.
Ralph looks to his shivering friend, "What do you say we get outta here and warm up?"
Vanellope looks up at him and nods, "G-good idea, I was thinking the same thing. We should go back to my old place, you know, in the mountain. It's closer and warmer."
Ralph nods, "Sounds good to me." He gently picks up Vanellope and holds her close, trying to keep her warm, or at least keep the wind off her.
It takes a bit for them to get out of the ice cream mountains and a bit longer from there for them to arrive at Diet Cola Mountain. They immediately warm up a little once they exit the enormous ice cream scoops, the further away they get, the better they feel.
They head through the secret entrance Vanellope had found all that time ago. Between the entire mountain going off and the resets of the game every time Vanellope crossed the finish line, all of her stuff and the makeshift racetrack Ralph had punched out with his hands are gone.
She's gone back from time to time and remade her little home, it's something of a secret hideaway instead of an exile now, sometimes she needs to just get away and relax. She adds little interesting things she finds now and then to her stash.
They both head back to the Diet Cola Hot Springs and sit a few feet away from the molten cola, its heat warming them up quickly.
Vanellope scampers over to her collection, pulling out several things and messing around with them. After a few moments, she's got two cups tied carefully popsicle sticks. She carefully scoots over and dips them just in the boiling soda for just an instant, one after another.
Once she's sure that they're cool enough to hold, she unties them and takes them over. She sits next to her best friend and holds it out. "Mine's hot chocolate, but I came up with something different for you, give it a drink!"
Ralph gingerly takes the cup, sniffs it, then sips, "Mmmm, not too bad, what is it?"
Vanellope beams, "It's my own recipe! A little marshmallow, a little caramel, just bits of this and that I thought would taste good together!"
Ralph grins, "Well, whatever it is, it's good!" With that, he drains the small cup, "Mmmm."
It takes a little longer for Vanellope to finish her drink, she chatters with Ralph in between sips and they spend a good portion of the night there, just enjoying each other's company.
After some time, they finally leave the cozy cave. Because of its warmth, he had taken the coat off and was now carrying it while Vanellope rode on his shoulder.
They arrived back at the castle shortly, when they get there, she slides down his arm, "I think we're gonna do the nightly race soon, you wanna watch?"
Ralph grins, "Of course I do, I haven't missed a one, now have I?"
Vanellope grins back, "You haven't, but I always wanna ask!"
Ralph smiles down at her, "Good luck, kid, you know I'm always rooting for you."
Vanellope smiles up at him, "I know. Thanks, Ralph."
Ralph replies, "You're always welcome, kid."