And now we return to the cleaner story. For those who missed the last chapter, it's in a separate story called "The Next Level". In this I kind of reference It'll Be Okay from Friendship is Witchcraft, it's kinda fitting for the relationship between these two. Oh, and I'll explain how Skrillex got into the arcade in another story but basically it involves technology. He gets the movies from Litwak's Laptop. I've always wanted to use him in a story. Now onto some fluffiness!
The morning brought with it pain, but no regrets.
"Good thing the arcade's closed today," Vanellope muttered after hissing through her teeth in the pain that moving caused. She wanted nothing more than to stay cuddled up to her boyfriend. But at least the upper half of her body was fine to move, so she rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her hand, black strands of hair falling through her fingers. She watched him sleeping, the slow rise and fall of his chest and the very faint whistle of his breathing. A smile grew on her face.
Finally, Ralph woke up and stretched before pulling his bedmate closer to him. It was quite similar to a cat drawing a soft toy to its chest, and it made the president laugh.
"I didn't wake you, did I?" Ralph worried, startled into full alertness by her laughter.
"No, no, I've been awake for a while watching you sleep," Vanellope admitted, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes.
"That's a little creepy," Ralph commented, but she could tell that he was joking.
"Is not," she retorted, her cheeks flushed with laughter and embarrassment.
"So if I was watching you sleep, you wouldn't find it creepy?" he hypothesised. She shook her head.
"I'd feel safer with you watching me sleep," she admitted with a grin. "Bill might complain, though."
"Bill," Ralph suddenly realised, looking at their surroundings and then the girl in his arms. "I wasn't supposed to let you sleep outside your game."
"So?" Vanellope scoffed, laying her head on his chest. "I'm a grown woman, he can't control me."
"But he can control whether or not the guards let me through to see you," he reminded her. She had to admit that he was right.
"Well, what do you suggest we do then?" she asked. "Do we pretend that we were in Diet Cola Mountain this whole time?"
"He'd see us come in, not to mention other characters will see us," Ralph observed. "There's no way out of this one."
"Well, I can't exactly move much at all so it's not like I can walk back to my game. So we may as well stay here all day," Vanellope suggested, chewing her bottom lip in an old nervous habit.
"Was I that rough?" Ralph winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It was totally worth it and don't worry, I'll be fine. The arcade isn't open today anyway and by the time I can walk again, Bill will have calmed down for sure," she assured him, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. If his was messy, she could only imagine what her hair would look like.
"Well, if we're going to be staying here all day, I'd better get some supplies," Ralph decided, gently lowering her back onto the mattress and stepping over her to put his clothes back on.
"Like what?" she asked, fighting the urge to sit up with the reminder of how much it would hurt.
"Food, drinks, maybe some board games," he figured, raking a hand through his hair and magically making it fall back into its regular style.
"Bring a TV and some DVDs," she suggested.
"I would but Skrillex lives so far away," Ralph reminded her. "I don't wanna leave you alone for too long."
"Alright," she sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "I'll just have to make do with boring old board games, then."
"Hey, don't knock Monopoly," Ralph replied, and she shook with laughter.
For the rest of the day, the pair of them played Monopoly on the mattress while sharing chips, biscuits and soda. It was a little difficult to play the game while lying down, but somehow Ralph managed to win after hours of gameplay had amassed.
"I beat a president," he gloated after Vanellope declared herself bankrupt.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," she smirked. "But because you won, you owe me something."
"And that is?" he asked, feeling just a little nervous under her smouldering gaze.
"Go get some DVDs," she ordered him, still holding his gaze. If this worked, she could use it on him every time she wanted something. "You have power in this shack so get some DVDs and on your way out, ask Felix to bring over a TV and set it up." When she bit her lower lip, Ralph caved to temptation and kissed her before starting out of his shack again. Victorious, Vanellope lay back again and wondered what movies Ralph would bring back.
"Oh my land, what happened in here?" Vanellope managed to sit up just slightly, holding the sheet up to her chest so Felix wouldn't see too much of her.
"You didn't hear last night?" Vanellope laughed, and the handyman entered the bedroom with a severe case of the honey glows. "Ralph and I decided to take our relationship to the next level. Now he's out looking for DVDs so I don't get bored."
"And why would you get bored? Why would you have to stay in here all d- oh," Felix's blush intensified as he realised why the president couldn't move. She giggled at him.
"Now, set up the TV and be on your way," she suggested. "I'm sure Ralph doesn't stick around for too long when you're recovering after a night with your special lady."
"True," Felix admitted, and pulled his cap lower to hide his blush. Smiling, Vanellope listened to him set up the TV before he walked out the door, leaving the shack in silence.
After what seemed like hours to the bored racer, Ralph finally returned with some DVDs and carried his candy-coated lover out to the living room where a lounge and now TV were set up.
"So, what DVDs did ya get?" she asked as he settled her down onto his lap. He'd wrapped her in the sheet for lack of comfortable clothing.
"Well, Skrillex doesn't have as many president movies but there were a whole lot of princess ones. I did find one movie, though, that you might like," Ralph replied, and brought out one called "The Princess Diaries".
"I dunno," Vanellope considered, chewing her lip. "It sounds kinda too princessy for my tastes."
"It's about a girl who doesn't know she's a princess and then she finds out and has to learn how to be one. It's funny, I promise," Ralph assured her, although she still looked sceptical. "Look, just get it out for me and watch it." Any DVD from Skrillex was in a clear plastic case and none of the discs had pictures on them, but they were all very high-quality. Even Calhoun was impressed.
As the story in the movie progressed, Vanellope found herself becoming more interested in it. She giggled at any of the funny parts and even looked genuinely upset when the princess was bullied by her peers or shunned by her friends. By the end of the movie, she couldn't stop smiling.
"Okay, you were right- I did like that movie," she admitted as the credits rolled. "It was really good."
"Well, there's a sequel," Ralph told her, and the eager look on her face told him to put it on next. Chuckling, he handed the case to her and slid the disc into the DVD player (also got from Skrillex) before handing her the remote to press play.
"Do you think I have a heart of gold?" she asked Ralph after the 'crowning glory' song.
"Of course," he replied without hesitation. "You're absolutely amazing, even if you were a little brat when we first met."
"And now that I'm bigger, what am I?" she asked, lowering her eyelashes to look at him lovingly.
"The most amazing, beautiful president ever," Ralph complimented her, and she felt her face heat up in a blush.
"And you're a big softy," she replied, grinning and wrapping her arms around him. They kissed a few times and then settled back in to watch the movie.
At the end of the day, they'd watched every movie that Ralph had brought from Skrillex's. Of course, they'd spent much of one of the more romantic ones kissing and almost gone too far until Vanellope admitted that she was too sore to do anything like that, but by the end of the day they were satisfied and very comfortable.
"I almost don't wanna take you back to your game," Ralph admitted, running a hand through Vanellope's long black hair. He'd managed to gently comb out any tangles while watching movies.
"I know but I do have to race," she sighed. "I almost feel like we should do something else before I have to go because we know I won't be able to leave my game for a few days at least."
"Well, we can at least sleep in a fixed bed," Ralph figured, glancing at the ruined bed. "I'll get Felix to come over and fix it. You don't mind being seen in a sheet, do you?"
"I'll live," she replied with a shrug. "Go get Felix so we have an actual bed to sleep in." He obeyed her after kissing her a few more times, and in about ten minutes the bed was once more whole and Felix left, commenting that the whole place smelled like vanilla.
"I can't imagine why," Ralph joked, and Vanellope giggled even as she blushed. And then they fell asleep in each other's arms on Ralph's large, comfortable bed, wearing little more than they'd been wearing the last time that had happened.