Chapter 19 – Gloyd's Princess

"But I'm not tired," Crumbelina playfully complained as they trekked through the hallway together. Now without her surreal shine and sparkles, the castle seemed darker.

Breaking their special moment up on the tower had been hard on both of them. But Gloyd had decided that his friend needed to rest up, so he had persuaded her to get back to bed. Sort of.

"C'mon, Lina, I want you at your best tomorrow," he urged. "And besides, we'll have Vanellope racing with us, just like old times! Won't that be awesome?"

The girl smiled at the thought. Words like 'awesome' and 'cool' weren't usually found in her more advanced vocabulary compared to the other kids, but her frequent exposure to Gloyd, who simply used these terms on a whim, had seemed to loosen her tongue somewhat. "Yes, that will be…awesome."

"Soooo…the faster you get to sleep, the faster morning will show up!" Gloyd reasoned.

Then he frowned. "Wait a minute, why am I the one telling you to go to bed? Aren't you the sensible one out of all of us?"

Crumbelina giggled in a very mischievous way. She rarely did that. "Come now, Pumpkin Pie, I may be sensible, but I'm still only 10 years old. Can't a posh girl like me have a little bit of fun?" she cooed, batting her eyelashes.

"Not when she's recovering from a nasty spill," Gloyd retorted, not falling for it. "Now get back to bed, Miss DiCaramello. That's an order!"

She laughed at his attempt to imitate their mother, but in all honesty, she was feeling very drained. The little dance she had shared with Gloyd had wiped out a lot of the energy she had spent the last good hours building up. Sleep was probably a good idea even if it meant battling another nightmare. Still, she couldn't resist playing with Gloyd's mind for the time being.

"Oh, all right," she finally relented. "But let's move slowly, please? I'm still getting used to this advanced polygon count. This is the first time I've actually felt updated."

Indeed, Gloyd noticed that while looking amazing, she was once again unsteady with her feet. He was about to swing his arm around her to be her guide again, but then a better idea struck him.

Crumbelina's woozy footsteps halted when Gloyd unexpectedly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. He faced his back to her and bent down slightly. "Hop on my back," he said.

The girl blinked. "Why?"

"Just do it. I'll get you to your room in no time."

Crumbelina eyed him for a moment; she had never had a piggy-back ride before, nor had anybody ever offered her one. But she thought to herself, Oh, what the heck. Surrendering her dignity, she hopped gracefully up on to Gloyd's back and wrapped her arms securely around him as he latched her legs and prepared to get moving.

"All set?"

"Yep!"

Gloyd set off down the corridors, power-walking while holding his passenger with utmost care. Crumbelina was quite surprised by his strength to carry her as he navigated the castle and the smooth ride he was giving her. It was clear that this wasn't new to him. But what really surprised her more was how confident Gloyd had been for the last little while. Usually, he was nervous and tried too hard to make the right move (which resulted in him just becoming so adorkable in her eyes). But he was displaying a rather mature side that she had slowly been seeing hints of in the past few weeks, most prominently tonight. She snuggled into the back of his neck. Without his hat, she had a lovely view up here, even without a balcony or a castle tower.

"Since when do you give piggy-back rides, Sweet Tooth?"

Gloyd smiled smugly. "Me and the guys do this all the time with Minty, Candlehead, and Jubi."

His answer surprised Crumbelina; Gloyd had never referred to Jubileena as 'Jubi' before.

They continued their trip back to the bedroom, trying unsuccessfully not to make noise that would draw in attention.

Despite being a kid at heart, Crumbelina did tend to hold somewhat higher standards compared to the rest of her friends. Simply put, she didn't often go out of her way to engage in carefree silliness like this. But Gloyd was making this new experience quite enjoyable for her, rendering her unable to resist letting herself go in exchange for just having fun.

She pretended Gloyd was a go-kart and they picked up power-ups along the way. Gloyd made ridiculous engine noises while Crumbelina role-played the driver and the game's voiceover, announcing the power-ups they picked up, and subsequently firing them at imaginary opponents. Gloyd grinned as he noted that Crumbelina only chose powerful attack-items like Sweet Seekers, Lolli-Poppers, and her own custom power-up, Biscotti Blow-Outs. In fact, with all the attacks that she sent forward to knock make-believe racers out of their way, he was surprised that there was even anyone left in front for her to blast. It also made him thrilled to be reminded that he wasn't the only one who loved to fire ammunition during races. Lina's special coded core ability was 100% higher attack strength with power-ups after all. It had to be a part of her nature.

But even happier he was knowing that she didn't hold a grudge against him for his mistake in any way.

That…and also the fact that she was currently hugging him very closely around his neck. She felt warm.

"And Crumbelina rounds the next turn with ease and precision!" she giggled as Gloyd carefully rounded the corner of the familiar photo-adorned hallway where Candlehead's marble cake statue of Vanellope stood. "She grabs a power-up box…Kernel Krackers!"

Gloyd grinned sheepishly as she announced the infamous power-up that had started all this.

"She shoots…POW! WHAM! KA-BLAM! And just like that, folks, poor Gloyd Orangeboar is blasted right off the track and into a geyser of Hot Cola!"

Gloyd laughed and then joined in with the announcements. "Yeah, but what Crazy Crumbelina's forgotten is that Gloyd is naturally coded with extra protection against power-ups," he intoned. "So even though he got hit, there's no way he'll fly off the track like some prim and prissy fashion queen with fancy lil' hair buns who's got no such luck protection!"

She laughed out loud, and he couldn't help but beam happily as her laughter sang through his ears and washed over his mind. It was a beautiful sound.

Their smiles were not unlike those on the frozen faces of their friends captured on the many photos scattered all over the corridor. Gloyd and Crumbelina were having so much fun that neither managed to register the single blank space among all the pictures as they passed the marble cake statue of Vanellope; a photo was missing, and its blank spot stood out like a telltale bite taken out of a freshly baked pie. No, they were too busy to notice that.

"You know, Gloyd, I just thought of something."

Her voice caught her attention; she had stopped mimicking the announcer, and was now instead asking him a genuine question. He couldn't look up at her given their positions, but he spoke anyways. "Shoot."

"I have the ability to increase my power-up strength by 100%, right?"

"Right."

"But you increase the players' protection against any attacks, right?"

"Right."

Lina leaned closer towards his ear. "So does that mean you don't feel any stronger attacks sent by me during races?"

He thought about this as he carried her down the hallway. "I…I guess not," he answered, now surprised at this discovery. He had never really thought about that. Looking back at all the times Lina had targeted him with a flaming jelly bean from a Jelly Bean Bazooka or a juicy melonball from a Fruit Shoots cannon during their many years of racing, none of her attacks had caused him near as much damage as those same attacks sent by her had to any one of the other racers. To Gloyd, all hits felt like a mild bump in the rear fender.

"I guess my core ability…cancels out yours," he finally stated.

She grinned and cuddled against his neck. "Then I suppose that means you're the only racer whom I have no effect on," she concluded.

Gloyd actually stopped walking when she said that. His mind went blank for a brief moment before he picked up his feet and continued on his way again. Yeah. Sure.

"I'm thinking of making another custom power-up," Lina was saying. "Something with cinnamon rolls this time…so the players will be a bit more familiar. Care to make this a collab creation like Swizzle and Minty's apple slingshot?"

He glanced up her way and chuckled. "Sure, why not? I can give you some of that destructive Orangeboar flare, and then everyone but me will be total goners on the track!"

The girl beamed. "Oh, lovely! Pumpkin and cinnamon spice for the win!"

Gloyd was glad she couldn't see him blushing like the painted flames on the Kernel Kracker Cannon.

Then Crumbelina put a hand atop his head and dug her fingers into his hair affectionately. "Can I ask you something, Gloyd?"

He sensed her shift in tone. "What's up?"

"There's…a concert happening next month in Paperboy…"

"Oh yeah, I saw a poster for that," Gloyd interrupted. "You wanna go? We can go together."

Crumbelina blinked, suddenly at a loss of words, her mouth still open to say the speech that she had prepared for him, but unable to say any of it now. "I…I, well…yes. Yes, I do want to go…together," she stuttered dumbly.

It was like her brain had suffered a game crash. What she had been working up the perfect plan for saying had just been done for her by Gloyd before she had realized he did. It made her feel relieved and confused at the same time.

"You…want to go?" she asked him.

"Sure," he answered. "If you do."

Crumbelina frowned now. "I very much want to...but I didn't think a concert as big and grand as this was really your thing."

Gloyd stopped walking, right in front of a large candied mirror set in the hall that allowed him to see her riding on his back for the first time. "Not really," he admitted, gazing up at her. "But…you kinda are," he mumbled, making them both blush. "So if you want to go, we'll go!"

He resumed walking again, during which Crumbelina took a few quiet seconds to piece together what he had just said. She soon beamed happily as her heart now became flooded with Gloyd's unconditional devotion to her. "I'll wear my best dress for you," she promised into his ear.

At last, they reached the bedroom. Gloyd pushed the doors open with his foot as Lina once again took on the announcer's role with emphasis.

"And the winner is…Crumbelina DiCaramello!" the girl quietly cheered as they passed over the threshold. She threw in some crowd raves in a low voice. "Yay! Woo-hoo! Look at her go! Crumbelina is amazing at racing and having good hair! But…" she suddenly said in a softer tone as she patted Gloyd's cheek, "…she could not have done it without her trusty racing kart. I dub thee The Gloydmobile."

Gloyd smirked with amusement as he gently lowered his friend onto the sponge cake bed. "Well, it's the least I could do," he said to her. "After all, since it was my fault that you couldn't finish the Random Roster race, it's only fair that I help you win this race instead."

They both shared a laugh from his little joke. Gloyd then stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"You know," he continued, "I would have never pictured you being this playful way back when we first got plugged in. Heck, I've rarely seen you act all…you know, goofy until after I met you a month ago. That's my department!"

At this, Crumbelina grinned and patted the bed, inviting him to sit next to her, which he did immediately. "I always was," she admitted. "I just never really showed it. And to be honest, I don't know why. I've never really been sure if this is a personality design from my code or I just decided to hold up higher standards than most…"

She gazed at him fondly. "But after I met you, I found myself loosening up bit by bit. I suppose you could say that your care-free ways awoke the kid inside me." She then blushed lightly, playing with one of her curling buns. "That's one of the many things that I've discovered that I like about you…you give me things that I seem to be missing in my life. You're fun."

Gloyd beamed with pride, puffing out his chest. 'Fun' was the very definition of his code. The thing he was programmed to create and live for. And to hear that coming from Lina truly meant a lot to him. "That's all I've ever wanted to be, princess," he told her sincerely.

That caught her off guard. "Princess?" she asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Where'd that come from?"

He shrugged. "You remember some weeks ago when a player finally picked you to race with?" he asked. "I heard her say you looked like Princess Layah or something like that. I don't know who that is, but it's better than being called 'lame'. And besides, you're spending the night in the castle. That makes you a princess."

"Plus," he added, feeling his stomach spike with a twinge of nervousness, "when your code was updating and you were giving off that pink sparkle, you may not have turned into a princess…but you're a princess to me, you know?"

Mesmerized for just a moment, Lina grinned. "Careful, Orangeboar," she teased in a light voice. "With that flirting attitude, I might mistake you for Swizzle one of these days."

Kicking off her boots, she shifted herself to sit cross-legged on the bed and face him directly.

Gloyd's mind, meanwhile, did a belly flop. Flirting? Is that what I'm doing? he thought to himself. Why would I want to flirt with anyone? That's Swizzle's job. He's the ladies' man, not me.

So lost in thought that he almost missed what Crumbelina was now doing: reaching to the sides of her head to carefully remove the elastics that held her tight buns up, giving her head an elegant shake as she set her hair free. The orange rose dropped into her lap.

Gloyd didn't care that he was now eyeballing her like a creep. Seeing her without her racing cap on had already been a rare thing for him a month ago. But in all 22 years of racing, not once had he ever seen Crumbelina without her trademark cinnamon hair buns. It was so bizarre to not see them. Like Candlehead's candle and Swizzle's swirl beanie, they were probably the key distinguishing feature of her character design besides her colour scheme. But then Gloyd became less interested on seeing her without her buns in exchange for what he was seeing.

Now out of its restraints, her hair fell well below her shoulders in fluffy, weaving curls that resembled the twisty pastries of apple strudels. But unlike Adorabeezle's hair, Lina's wasn't braided; it just seemed to twist loosely on its own. Whether this was her natural look or her hair had been shaped this way after being tightly bound in those buns for hours every day, Gloyd didn't know. And the two golden swirls that had circulated her buns were now two gold-tinted streaks in her hair that flowed like graceful wisps, shining magnificently against her dark brown mane and becoming more pronounced at the very ends. Never in his life had he ever seen Crumbelina looking like this. Intense fascination was flooding his head and blocking any rational thought.

"You have…long hair," he finally said.

He mentally kicked himself. Seriously? That's the best you could come up with? Real smooth landing, Orangeboar. You really are a dork, he thought.

Lina raised an amused eyebrow at his blunt honesty, knowing that by his particular choice of words, he was entranced. She was proud of her hair, and the temptation to spin his mind was too great for her to resist. "Oh, you like this look, hm?" she teased seductively, tossing her mane and striking a grand pose.

His stomach lurched. Why did she have to do that to him? "Er…y-yeah," he stuttered, fumbling at his shirt collar, suddenly feeling very hot. "You look nice. I wish I could see you like this all the time."

Crumbelina giggled at his stunned response and then began to blush again, suddenly feeling a little shy now under the boy's gaze. "Enjoy it while you can, Pumpkin Pie," she said, twisting a long curl with her fingers. "I can't do this during the day. Those buns are practically part of my uniform."

A loose strand of golden hair fell before her face over one honey-amber eye.

As his sight followed the fine curves of her hairline, it slowly dawned on Gloyd that this was the very first time that he had ever seen Crumbelina without any headgear, makeup, or accessories whatsoever. This was how she really looked. "Do you ever let them go at all?" he asked.

She shook her head, letting her hair sway gently from side to side. "Not really," she answered. "Only when I feel very relaxed after a long day of racing…sometimes when I'm having a soak in the bubble bath." She stowed her elastics, which were identical to the colour of her hair, in a hidden pocket of her jacket. "It's just that they take forever to do up again to give off that perfect swirl."

It was taking Gloyd every bit of will power to not stare at her for too long. He had never explored the possibility of Lina changing her signature hairstyle, but now he felt himself drooling over this new look, enhanced by the knowledge that he may never get to see it again. In his mind, this was every bit as perfect as those cinnamon buns.

Wordlessly, she reached a finger forward to his chin, and in one graceful flick, closed his agape mouth. Gloyd blinked back to reality and looked away, feeling embarrassed for goggling at her.

But Lina simply giggled at his flustered state. "Tell you what," she hummed playfully. "I'll let my hair down for the concert. Give you more incentive to come."

Then she picked up her rose from her lap, twirling its stem. "This was so sweet of someone to leave this for me," she sighed dreamily, giving it a sniff and placing it carefully next to her hat on the candy-laden table. "All the gifts everyone brought for me are wonderful, but I just love flowers. Roses are my favourite. Do you know who it's from?"

Gloyd looked at the little candy plant, and then back at her.

"No idea," he said with a shrug. The tiny men in his brain, however, were busy shoving a new piece of vital information into his thought-processors. Lina likes roses.

Those same men were already making plans to send Lina the biggest bunch of roses he could find when this was all over.

A light, yet warm touch brought him back to reality: Lina had taken hold of his hand.

"Thank you for taking me out, Gloyd," she murmured. "Maybe I needed the fresh air. Or maybe I needed some time alone with you. Whatever it was, I feel a lot better now."

Gloyd glanced down at their hands and then gave her a crooked smile as he curled his fingers firmly around hers. "You look a lot better now. In…more ways than one, y'know?" he added with a blush.

Lina smiled.

For a few quiet minutes after that, they just sat there and looked at each other, hand in hand. It wasn't awkward, for over the last month, they had been doing a lot of that lately, just studying the other's face and settling in their presence. Gloyd was pondering on what to do now. Really though, he knew that the time had come for him to depart so Lina could rest, but he didn't quite want to leave her after she had nearly been taken away from him.

Actually, what he wanted to do more than anything was to feel her hair, to stroke it in the same way he often saw Swizzle doing to Minty. How it flowed down her head looked so pretty and elegant that he could only imagine how it must feel. He had never done that in his life, but it didn't seem appropriate. Swizzle had once bragged to him that he knew that girls liked some soft touch. Minty always seemed to, but would Crumbelina? Would she think that would be too forward of him if he were to try? Was her hair off-limits? She did pride herself in appearance after all. He didn't want to take a chance with something so risky…

As for Crumbelina, she was watching him intently, wondering what he would do next.

Finally deciding to hold back on his new desire for now, Gloyd settled for leaning towards her to give her a 'good-night' hug. His fingers briefly touched her flowing hair, relishing for a moment in this new soft texture that they had never felt before. "Well, I'll leave you to get some rest before the arcade opens, then," he told her quietly. "Unless there's anything else I can get for you first."

Upon pulling away, he was surprised to see that Crumbelina's previous smile had faded. Now she almost looked nervous for some reason.

"Well…there is…something else," she mumbled. "But I don't know how willing you'd be to provide."

She even sounded nervous, which just didn't suit her. As the big sister of the family, she was supposed to be strong and confident. But now she seemed to be quite the opposite.

"What is it?" he asked cautiously.

Out of nowhere, Crumbelina suddenly blushed like mad; she grabbed one of the many pillows on the bed and hugged it to her chest, looking anywhere but at him. Her mind was fumbling about, but Vanellope's words were drifting back to her: 'There's nothing Gloyd wouldn't do for you.' Would he be willing to do what she was about to ask of him? There was only one way to find out.

"It's dumb, but I was wondering…perhaps…if you could stay here? With me for the night?" she squeaked. "I…I'm still a little scared." She finally looked at him, a distinct look of anxious fear in her eye.

At first, her request shocked him a little, partly because of what she had just asked him, and also because it was her who was asking him for it. But then Gloyd became more interested in why she was scared. After all, he was the one who had been scared all night. All this time, he had been scared that she would die. Scared of losing his friend. He had told her as much.

But not once had he asked Lina if she had been scared too. She had said that she had somehow been awake in her hovering state…which meant that she had been fully aware of the whole ordeal. No doubt then, that her near-death experience must have been extremely scary to her too. Traumatizing even. Probably even more so than to him. Realizing this, he felt guilty for not asking her about this before she had to tell him. He wanted to apologize, but decided against that; he could show that rather than say that.

Zapping out of his thoughts, Gloyd saw that Crumbelina was no longer looking up at him, rather was now gazing down at her feet, hugging her pillow and looking thoroughly miserable. He must have taken too long to respond, for surely she was now believing that his answer was 'no'. He knew he wasn't programmed to be the touchy-feely sort, and she must have remembered that. She was far too independent to be a damsel in distress, but at this moment, she definitely was.

He had no idea where his moment of boldness came from, but something deep inside made him do it: he reached forward and tilted her chin up with his fingers to make her look at him again. "Crumbelina?" he said, making sure that he had her full attention.

She gazed at him in surprise. "Hm?"

Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Gloyd took a deep breath. "A month ago, you helped me when my life was falling apart. And you were right there when what I needed most was a friend by my side."

His hand moved to her shoulder. "Now it's my turn to help you."

A tiny smile grew upon Crumbelina's rosy face. "You mean you'll stay?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded, hoping that this would do the trick. "I'll stay for as long as you want me to."

The light sparkling in Crumbelina's eyes was enough confirmation. "Oh, Gloyd, thank you," she gushed with relief.

Gloyd smiled back and kicked off his boots.