A/N: Spoilers ahead.
Meant to have been uploaded weeks ago but was prevented due to computer complications. After a boot up of my system a few days ago, I can now finally upload it. This was part of a trade with Crazy-Pairing-Girl.
Reviews are always appreciated and replied to. Enjoy!
This story ignores Calhoun and Felix's marriage but keeps the relationship canon.
Love.
The word sounded so foreign on Ralph's lips. Not once in his years of acting as the antagonist in the game Fix-It Felix Jr. did he entertain the idea of actually developing affectionate feelings towards someone. Not that there was anything stopping him, of course. Heck, he was aware of several in-game and even cross-game romances himself. He just never pegged himself as a romance guy and for a long time, he was fine with that.
It was only after Felix started going on about Sergeant Calhoun did he start to give it some thought. Felix was undoubtedly infatuated with her and why shouldn't he be? She was assertive, beautiful and complimented his personality well enough. To use Felix's words, they'd definitely make a 'dynamite' couple. So why then was Ralph so irked whenever he spoke of her?
Vanellope's reasoning was that Ralph was "too young and that he'd understand when he was older"; that and the simple yet oddly truthful: "Adults are weird." seemed good enough for him.
Ralph sighed and turned onto his side, staring at nothing in particular. He was extremely thankful for his infinitely more comfortable living quarters in the penthouse. When he received the key, the Nicelanders offered to do some renovations that would accommodate his massive structure which Ralph all too quickly agreed to. The Nicelanders were finally treating him like part of the team and boy, did he enjoy it. Now it wasn't just Felix who got baked goods and parties; he was finally being appreciated for what he did and it became quite the motivator throughout the day. He only wished that Felix would do a little more celebrating with him.
"Do you think she still remembers me? I mean, I know it hasn't been too long since we've seen each other but boy oh boy, does she colour my cheeks." Felix leaned against Ralph's windowsill and looked out past the arcade window. "I hope she's lookin' out too, Ralph. That way, despite the distance that keeps us apart, we're still able to admire the view together."
"If you miss her so much, go and visit her." Ralph suggested, perhaps a little too curtly.
Felix gasped at the mere suggestion. "I couldn't possibly."
Ralph gave his friend a weary smile and patted the spot on the bed next to him. "Why not? You've already game-jumped so you're not exactly venturing into new territory."
The 8-bit hero took the set next to him, wringing his hands anxiously. "She's probably too busy for someone like me. D'you think I should just hold out and wait to see if she comes to see me?" He looked up into the giant's eyes, silently pleading for any kind of guidance.
Ralph knew that the likelihood of Calhoun making the first move was about as likely as Vanellope going back to her former role as princess: it could happen but under extremely rare, "it probably won't happen and if it did it would blow your mind" circumstances.
The way Felix was looking up at him was starting to make him uncomfortable and that couldn't have been Felix tearing up, right? Man, what did he get himself into? "Ahh… Well, you see…" The larger man desperately wanted the smaller hero to look somewhere else. Honestly, anywhere but directly at him would've been fine. More than fine. Fantastic. Anything to rid him of the terrible feeling inside his gut that made it nearly unbearable to be around him.
"Any sort of advice?" Felix probed, eyes falling for a brief moment. "Shoot, I really shouldn't put you on the spot like that." Nervous laughter shared between the two of them broke the extremely unwanted silence.
"I really don't know what to say, Felix." Ralph finally replied, a small smile on his face.
The smaller man scooted closer to his friend, his eyes wandering around the room. "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you been in a long-term relationship?"
The question was so innocent yet so unbelievably complex.
Why not?
Wasn't that the million dollar question.
It shouldn't have been difficult to answer. A simple explanation on how he never developed any sort of romantic affection for another person would have been enough to satisfy the handyman's curiosity. He would've also been lying.
The revelation hit him right then and there. Felix's gushing over Calhoun, the way he verbally described his love-struck perception of her, the look he gave when he looked over at Hero's Duty in Game Central station. All of that earned an adverse reaction from Ralph because he wanted all of that to be for himself.
He wanted Felix to act that way around him.
"I'm not sure. Guess the right person hasn't come along yet." Ralph finally replied after a longer than needed pause.
"Right, of course." Felix nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Thanks for the talk. It feels great to get all of those feelings out and in the open." The handyman leaned over and patted the top of one of the giant's large hands. Sliding off Ralph's oversized bed, the hero moved to exit the room.
Ralph meant to call out for him to come back but he felt his throat tighten up and he couldn't form the words. Instead, he let out a soft but slightly irritated sigh. "Glad I helped out."
Felix stopped at the door frame and turned around to face Ralph one more time. "I hope you find that someone real soon, Ralph." He said with sincerity in his voice. "You're a great friend and you deserve someone equally as amazing." With those final words, Felix was gone.
"Right, 'friend'." He murmured under his breath, rolling his eyes. Out of all the wonderful personalities in the arcade, why did he have to fall for Felix? It would've been so much easier to fall for someone else. Anyone else. Instead, he was stuck feeling terrible about his feelings for his gaming counterpart. Why, oh why, did this have to happen? Just when things were starting to look up too…
"Ralph?" The voice of Mary sounded, jolting Ralph out of his thoughts. Mary smiled sheepishly and did a little wave. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just thought that you would like some cake. I was doing a lot of baking this afternoon and I think I made too much."
Ralph anxiously rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. "Yes…I mean no. No, you didn't disturb me. I wasn't doing anything in particular; Felix just left. I guess I was just…reflecting?" Wow, that sounded dreadful. So disjointed. Maybe he needed some time alone.
Mary moved in front of Ralph and extended her arms out, bringing her cake into view. He had to admit, it looked absolutely wonderful. Not that Mary's cakes weren't always wonderful, of course. She always put so much effort into the little decorative details which Ralph was always a fan of.
The particular cake she was offering had an edible Felix and Ralph in an overly dramatic pose, decorated with red trimming along the edges. He couldn't resist the smile that crept up on his face at the sight. "It looks incredible."
Her face lit up at his approval. "Oh, it was nothing. I just wanted to have our two heroes on the cake together." Her brow furrowed slightly. "Speaking of which, where did Felix go? I was hoping that I'd catch the both of you together."
"Probably off dreamin' about his 'dynamite gal'."
"Is that boy still hung up on that Hero's Duty lady?"
Ralph chuckled, folding his hands in his lap. Wasn't that the understatement of the year. "Hung up is putting it lightly. Completely devoted to her is a little more accurate."
The Nicelander sighed, placed the cake on the bedside table and began cutting it with a small plastic knife. "That can't be healthy relationship for him." Their eyes met. "If it's so one-sided, I mean." Mary clarified swiftly.
"As long as he doesn't neglect his gaming duties, I don't see much harm."
"Maybe if someone stepped forward and let them know how they felt, he might consider other options." Mary stopped mid-way through cutting, her eyes darting towards Ralph before letting out a nervous laugh. "Oh my, sometimes I don't think before I talk. Nasty habit of mine. Terribly sorry."
Ralph froze, his brain desperately trying to comprehend what had happened in the past five seconds. "Wait, what? Are you implying something?"
"Not at all!" Mary responded, far too quickly. Her voice had gotten a bit higher and her attention had gone back to the cake. "Forget I said anything."
"Now wait a second…" Ralph moved off the bed, his larger frame towering over the Nicelander. "We may have not been on the best terms for the better part of our time together but it's not hard to figure out that you're hiding something."
"I'm not hiding anything." She quickly finished cutting him a slice of cake and handed it to him with a fork. "Enjoy the cake! I have to attend to something. I'll be back later."
Mary made a quick break for the door but Ralph beat her to it, blocking the exit with his massive build. Ralph gave his neighbour a smirk and lowered his eyes. "C'mon. We both know that you don't have that great of a poker face. Let me in on it."
The Nicelander laced her fingers and stared at the ground, an apprehensive look upon her delicate features. "It's just that…well, maybe." She took a deep breath, her lips pursing slightly. "This isn't the worst time to tell Felix how you…feel?"
Ralph looked at the smaller woman with a blank look. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I knew I should've given you the cake and then left." Mary sighed, giving the giant a guilty look.
"No, I think you have it wrong. Felix and I are just friends. That's it! Just friends! Nothing else!" He stumbled over his words in a weak effort to correct her implication. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The smaller woman tried to squeeze past Ralph but when it was clear that he wasn't moving, she gave a sound of annoyance and backed away. "Would you please let me leave?"
Ralph crossed his arms and gave her a determined look. "Not until we sort this out."
"The thing is…we've sort of known for a while now." Mary started, walking back over to the cake on the bedside table. "The couple on the third floor, Jack and Jane, have been married for over thirty years now and they've been your biggest supporters." She picked the Ralph figure off the cake and placed it on top of his cake slice. "It was the little things that really made me wonder; the way your face lights up when you see Felix at the end of the day, the way you speak about him, that adorable colour that rises to your cheeks when he compliments you on a good day's work…"
Ralph huffed in response. "…It's not adorable." He mumbled.
The Nicelander giggled and took off the Felix figure. "We think it is."
"By 'we', do you mean…?" The giant trailed off, knowing what she was going to say.
"Most, if not all, of the Niceland residents." Mary placed the Felix figure beside the cake slice on the plate and walked back over to the blockade at the door.
Ralph moaned, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment. Was he really that oblivious to his own feelings? Heck, the Nicelanders had pieced it together sooner than himself. "Even Gene?"
"Definitely Gene." Mary affirmed. "Funny we didn't think of it earlier. It makes quite a bit of sense now. The hero and the villain. I suppose opposites do attract after all." Mary laughed softly and offered the cake slice again, standing on her tippee toes. "Don't worry about it, dear. Good things come to those who wait."
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Ralph took the cake and stepped out of the way. "Just don't mention it to Felix, okay? He has enough on his plate as it is. I don't want him feeling the need to deal with this…"
His neighbour nodded and after collecting the remaining cake, she left the room.
Everything seemingly went back to normal after that. No uncomfortable talks with Felix (though he still had that lovesick look on his face) and not a word from the Nicelanders about his situation. Since Ralph had finally accepted that he did feel a certain degree of affection for the handyman, he was finding it easier and easier to take his mind off of it. He figured that he was fighting a losing battle against Calhoun and he'd get over his crush soon enough. Didn't friends sometimes fall for each other anyway? It wasn't abnormal to feel the way he did. It just needed some getting used to.
With the last game of the day played, Ralph was looking forward to some downtime. Maybe head to Tapper's and meet up with M. Bison or…"Hey Ralph, do you have a minute?" Spoke too soon.
Ralph turned around to look at the Nicelander in question. "Hi Jack, sure. What do you need?" He didn't want to jump to conclusions. After all, there were a number of topics that the Nicelander could ask about. It didn't always have to be…
"About you and Felix…"
Darn. "There's nothing going on between us. I have no idea what you've heard but he's more than happy with Sergeant Calhoun."
Ralph could've sworn that he saw Jack smirk. "Actually, Felix wanted me to tell you to meet him near the dumpsite near Q*Bert's new house."
"Oh." Ralph flushed. "Sure. I'll head on over now." He really was working himself up over nothing, wasn't he?
The giant made his way over to the meeting point, hands in his pockets and whistling a soft tune. He had nothing to worry about. He caught sight of the handyman near Q*Bert's house and waved. Odd, Q*Bert's always home. He thought to himself. Weird.
Felix waved in return and waited until he drew closer. "So here we are…"
"Here we are." Ralph repeated, stopping in front of the smaller man. "So what's on your mind? Need some renovation work done in the apartment or…?"
"What's on my mind?" A look of confusion spread over the hero's face. "Didn't you want to speak to me about something? I heard from Jane that you wanted us to talk. It seemed important."
Ralph blinked. "You heard from Jane?" He ran a hand over his face and let out a frustrated sigh. "And I heard from Jack. Of course. I can't believe…"
"Ralph? Is something going on that I don't know about? The Nicelanders have been acting real funny recently."
"Nothing's going on, Felix. They've just got some crazy idea in their heads and they're not letting up. Why don't we just head back?" He turned around to face the apartment when suddenly he caught sight of all the Nicelanders lined up at their windows, their eyes peering down upon them. The moment they realised that he had turned, they suddenly scrambled away from the windows with a cluster of panicked, mumbled voices. "I can see you, you know! You're not fooling anyone!"
Felix approached the giant and tapped him on his back. Ralph turned back to face the hero only to see a very firm look on his face and his chest puffed out. "Wreck-It Ralph, you tell me what's going on right now or I'll…" He thought about it briefly. "Write you a very criticizing letter outlining my displeasure."
Ralph said nothing, slightly rocking on his heels. This was going to be a long night, wasn't it?
"I didn't want it to come to this but I'm serious." Felix persisted, earning another silent response from Ralph. He had to hand it to him; he was at least trying to act intimidating.
"How about I tell you on the way back to the apartment?" He figured that if Felix did have some sort of negative reaction than he'd at least have a getaway plan.
The handyman opened his mouth to retort but seemingly changed his mind. "Sure." He agreed.
The two of them turned around and started to walk back towards the apartment building, the Nicelanders' eyes on them again. "First off, I just want to say that I'm very happy for you and your potential romance with Sergeant Calhoun. I think the two of you would really hit it off and I'm in no way opposing it."
"Uh, thanks?" Felix's features still clouded with confusion.
"I don't think the Nicelanders have a problem with it either. I think they're happy as long as you're happy so there's no problem there…"
The hero still had no idea where this bizarre conversation was headed. "Uh huh…"
"The problem is that they may think that you're better off with someone else…" Ralph was trying his best to approach the subject as sensitively as possible but he knew that inevitably he'd have to come right out and say it. "I could be completely wrong though." He added on quickly.
"I see." Felix nodded slowly, casting a look to the ever watchful Nicelanders. "And who exactly do they think that I'd be better off with?"
The antagonist blushed hard as he climbed up the steps of the apartment. With one hand on the door handle, he readied himself to bolt in. "Ah, about that…"
The handyman's eyes suddenly widened, his mouth forming an o-shape. "They're talking about you, aren't they?"
And that was his cue to leave. Ralph turned the handle and pulled.
Nothing.
"What?" Ralph stared at the door in disbelief, trying it again but yielding the same result. Looking back up at the Niceland citizens, his expression turned sour. "You've got to be kidding me. You locked the door? Seriously?"
"Ralph…" Felix called out quietly, taking his hat off and holding it in his gloved hands.
"How could you lock the door on me? The doors are never locked!"
"Ralph…"
"I mean, come on. Whose idea was it? Gene? Jack? Roy? It was Roy's, wasn't it?"
"Ralph!" The hero's voice rose in volume, earning Ralph's attention back once more. "Excuse my shouting." Felix coughed into his hand and looked directly at him. "I need you to tell me if that's true or not."
The giant looked around awkwardly, trying his best to think up an appropriate response. "Well, partially. Maybe. Possibly."
"I've been your partner for over thirty years, Ralph. I've never spoken a lie during any of our conversations so now I want you to give me the same honesty." His fingers curled around his hat's brim. "Do you feel the same way as they do?"
"Once again, it's just that they thought…"
"I don't particularly care much about what they think at the moment." Felix looked back up at the Nicelanders with an apologetic look. "Once again, pardon the harsh tone." Once he received an acknowledgement of his apology, he faced his counterpart again. "I'm far more interested in what you think."
Silence once again ensued but this time, it wasn't uncomfortable in the least. It should've been, with both Felix's and the Nicelanders' fixed gaze upon him, but he felt a strange sense of calmness and confidence. He kneeled down in front of the handyman so that they were at eyelevel, an arm resting over his knee. With a deep breath, he began. "Thirty years is a long time to be spending with someone. We got off to a bit of a rocky start at the beginning but our friendship grew into something incredible. I've always been appreciative of your caring and kind personality. Sometimes I wonder how other games survive without having a Fix-it Felix of their own." Ralph smiled as the familiar redness rose to Felix's cheeks. "I never really understood my relationship with you until recently because, well, I've never experienced it with anyone else."
"I…" Felix weakly started before Ralph held up a hand politely.
"When you asked me why I haven't been in a long-term relationship, the question confused me because I've always considered this to be a long-term relationship. Not romantically, of course. But in our own 'Wreck-It Ralph – Fix-it Felix Jr.' way." Ralph offered a friendly look, patting Felix on the shoulder with one of his massive hands. "If you don't feel the same way, I completely understand. The last thing I want to do is ruin our friendship. I'd rather have you as a friend than nothing at all."
"Jiminy…" The hero exhaled. "Wow, I don't know what to say. It takes a lot of courage to admit that and I appreciate it." Placing the cap back on his head, he frowned. "I just wish you told me sooner. It's difficult to suddenly accept that your long-term friend has feelings for you."
Ralph hung his head with shame. "I know. I don't expect you to forget about it right away. I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes in order to get our friendship back. I'll do anything."
Placing one hand under his chin, Felix tilted his head upwards. "What makes you think I plan on forgetting about it?"
"What? You mean…"
"I was so worked up over Calhoun that I didn't even take the time to look at what's always been in front of me." He leaned forward and closed the gap between their faces, capturing Ralph's lips with his. "I love you, Wreck-It Ralph." He whispered as they parted for a breath.
Ralph fell back onto the ground, allowing Felix to jump on top of the larger man and embrace his frame in a large hug. "I love you, Fix-It Felix Jr." His response sounded just before he pulled the handyman into another chaste kiss.
"See? I told you it'd work." Gene nudged Don from the windows. "They just needed the right push."
"Pushing had nothing to do with it. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Jane commented from the side.
Deanna looked down at the happy couple, smiling ear to ear. "After all those attempts to get them together, I can't believe this one worked…"
"Trapping them in an elevator, pushing them into a closet and refusing to let them out unless they talked, sending anonymous love letters to both of them…" Don listed. "Too bad that Felix could've fixed the elevator, Ralph wouldn't have been able to fit in a closet and they both have the same address rendering the letters pointless." A murmur of laughter was heard from the other residents at the poorly conceived plans. "I'd say we picked the best one."
"But Mary, did you really have to lock the two of them out?" Gene asked, looking over.
"Oh, definitely. I did say that these things take time, after all. I just wasn't sure how much time they'd actually need." Mary moved away from the window and returned to the new cake she was decorating. With a coy smile, she applied the finishing touches and took a step back to admire her work. It featured edible Felix and Ralph figures just like before but now, there was a small addition. It was situated right between the two of them and she was hoping to feature it on her cakes for a long time and now, she finally could.
A heart.