Chapter Seven

Ralph stared at the girl in front of him, who was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Her voice still held true to its characteristic tone, though the raspiness was more subtle and the timbre was a little deeper and more womanly.

He blinked in mingled surprise and confusion as he slowly stood to face her. "V-Vanellope?" He stammered, letting his eyes quickly peel down her figure yet again. He blushed harder, feeling awkward staring at this beautiful woman that had, the last time he saw her, merely been a small girl.

She beamed her usual toothy grin, though he noticed she looked just as awkward and sheepish as he did. "That's me," she affirmed.

"W-what happened to you?" He spluttered out, gesturing towards her. She now came up to his lower chest in height. "I watched some men come in and turn off your game. And then they put something in it, and turned it back on, and the screen said…" The realization suddenly dawned on him. "...updating."

She looked away nervously and brought her hands around in front of her, bouncing slightly back and forth between the heels and the platforms of her feet. "Yeah…" she started awkwardly. "I'm not really sure. Sugar Rush had an update installed, I guess. I'm not too sure how these kind of things work."

"Your game must be really successful, then," Ralph observed, furrowing his brow and trying to ignore the differences in the atmosphere. "Litwak only puts his money into updating the super popular arcade games."

"Really?" Vanellope asked, though she knew this was all just uneasy small talk. Somehow, there was an unspoken change between them. Their atmosphere felt heavy and strangled. She found herself wishing it could just go back to the way it usually was. She wished he would stop looking at her like she grew an extra head. Yet, with this update came a slew of knowledge as well as physical changes. She knew much more than she wanted to about the birds and the bees...At least, some parts of it. She knew enough to know that her age and her physical appearance now certainly did matter, especially when she was best friends with a man.

"Yeah," he answered, trailing off as he averted his gaze and anxiously scratched the back of his head. "How'd everyone handling this...update?"

"Oh, they're fine," she eased, slowly starting to feel more comfortable being around her wrecker. "I made a big speech both before and after the update. Of course, they were more worried before everything happened. Nobody knew what was going on. We were worried that we might be shut off and unplugged, maybe even moved to a different arcade...or worse."

She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly glassy. "Ralph," she whispered, suddenly feeling more vulnerable and full of bubbling emotions than she had all day. "I was so worried I would never see you again." She finally let her emotions break free from where she had pushed them down and suppressed them. Turns out running a kingdom made a lot of personal demands on your composure.

His gaze softened as he turned his eyes back to her. "I was worried too," he cooed, "When I saw that Sugar Rush's lights were out and there was no monorail. I was more scared than I've ever been. And then I found out the game had been turned off..I didn't know what to think."

Vanellope looked up at him with a small uneasy smile, her bottom lip gently quivering. "C'mere," he lightly soothed, holding his arms open. Not needing any more encouragement than this, she eagerly dove straight into his arms and clutched tightly onto his orange polo.

Ralph wrapped his large arms curiously and gently around her figure, pulling her in closer against his chest. His face warmed at the strange feeling of her body pressed up against him; she fit into his arms perfectly like a puzzle piece. She was much bigger now, so she filled up the space against him quite well. She nuzzled her face against him and sighed in weary content. His face flushed deeper as he settled his chin against the top of her head. His heart pounded so loudly against his chest and his eardrums he could swear she probably noticed the way it sped up every time she pushed herself closer.

He tenderly and hesitantly rubbed his hand back and forth across her back, feeling a tense twisting in his gut when she shivered gently from his touch. The two stood like that for a few minutes, and they both felt heavy tiredness seep into their bones. He had to suppress a yawn before he finally pulled himself away some and Vanellope relaxed the rest of the way out of his grip. She stood back a few feet awkwardly, seeming to look anywhere but at him.

"You wanna head back over to my game?" Ralph asked hesitantly, pointing his thumb back in the direction of Fix It Felix, Jr.

"Sure," she responded with a smile, as a faint blush dusted her cheeks. The two turned and walked silently over to the outlet. As soon as they crossed the threshold, a familiar beeping sound went off, and Surge materialized in front of them. Ralph let out a sigh, but as he remembered the sight from earlier in the day, he managed to contain his gruff irritation.

Surge looked up at the pair from his clipboard. "Oh!" He exclaimed, upon seeing Vanellope. "I see you've finished with your update already." Ralph noticed his holographic eyes rake up and down the clueless girl's body. He felt his muscles tense up with protective apprehension. Just that morning she had been a little kid. He felt his protectiveness swell up and he felt the sudden urge to cover her from view. He didn't want any more creepy guys to start objectifying her.

But Ralph, you were kind of checking her out yourself, he heard a small inner voice sneer. His face heated up instantly. "Anyway," Surge continued, prying him out of his thoughts. "You look great," he complimented Vanellope. He passed Ralph a knowing look, winking suggestively. Ralph merely raised an eyebrow at him in response. "You two are free to go." And just as quickly as he came, he was gone.

"That was odd," Vanellope commented, her tone genuinely bemused. "He kept looking at me funny. Ralph, do I look funny?" She turned to Ralph with her hands on her hips, nose wrinkled cutely.

Ralph looked down at her and furrowed his brow. "Quite the contrary," he chuffed honestly, though he felt his face heat up. "Your update is very...becoming on you," he managed to choke out.

"Thanks, Ralph," she responded cheerfully with a grin. "Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and began dragging him into his game. There's the usual Vanellope, he thought with a smirk. Maybe I could get used to this.

The two headed into Fix It Felix, Jr., and moseyed over to the Niceland building so Ralph could update Felix on the situation. (Hah, kind of a pun. Update? Lol I know, I'm lame.)

"Everything looks so much smaller now," Vanellope noticed bashfully with a smile as they filed into the elevator to go up to the penthouse.

Ralph gave her a teasing smile. "Yeah, well, you're a whole lot bigger now, kid."

"Kid?" She questioned, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow and playful smirk. "You know I'm not a kid anymore, Wreck-It."

He felt his face heat up and turned away to avoid eye contact. "Yeah, well," he said gruffly, but he didn't know how to finish. I guess she's right, he pondered. But this is gonna take some getting used to. I don't want this to be weird now that she's...this. The two continued the elevator ride in flustered silence, neither one looking at the other.

When the beep sounded to signal they had reached their floor, they both waited in poised anticipation for the doors to open. When they did, both gamers lunged for the exit, trying to rid themselves of the tense atmosphere.

But of course, she couldn't really slid under or past him quite so easily anymore, so their attempts resulted in Vanellope unceremoniously tripping over Ralph's foot and falling across his leg as she tried to push past him out the door.

In a flash, Ralph reached out his arms to catch her as she nearly landed face-first on the hard floor. He felt his face heat up instantly as his hands easily encircled her waist and he pulled her up gently to her feet. When she looked at him, her face was flushed too, and for a few moments, he kept his hands tenderly wrapped around her delicate figure, his fingers brushed against the tops of her hips. The two stared in silence at each other for a few seconds before Ralph panicked and hastily let go, causing her to tumble backwards and land on her butt.

"Owwww!" She complained, wincing and lightly rubbing her rear as she slowly stood back up on her feet. She gave Ralph a teasing glare. "What'd you have to go and do that for, you big oaf?"

Ralph looked away, color still filling his face, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry," he muttered sincerely. Though he internally questioned the twisting, pulling feelings he was experiencing in his gut. He didn't know what he would have done if he had held her like that any longer. This update is gonna be the death of me.

She rolled her eyes at him and gave him a playful smack on the shoulder, which carried more force than it used to, but still not nearly enough to affect him. Finally he looked down at her and gave her a gap-toothed grin. "Come on, Stinkbrain," she laughed. Turning towards the doors, his wandering gaze noticed she was still rubbing her lower back, and he found his eyes drift a little more downwards…

Shooting his eyes up practically to the ceiling, Ralph could feel his face burning harder than ever before, and a choking feeling rising up his throat. He couldn't deny, of course the obvious; Vanellope was very, very attractive. But he also couldn't help feeling a little disgusted at himself for thinking of her that way. After all, he knew her when she was just a small kid. And she was freakishly small. That's just the way the racers from her game were programmed, but for a kid she was still really short.

He followed her nervously into the building. In the course of the week that had passed since he last took her in there, Felix and him had done some dual effort wrecking and fixing to make the ceilings and doorways of the place significantly higher. Even the Nicelanders liked their changes; who doesn't appreciate a nice, high ceiling? Of course, for Ralph it still wasn't exactly high, but it managed. He appreciated the accommodations made for him.

Felix was sitting by himself at the bar, slowly sipping at a fizzy root beer. "Hey, Felix!" Vanellope chimed sweetly. "Look at my upgrade!"

Felix turned in a whir to look at the updated racer. "Jimminy jamminy," he uttered with a grin. "Vanellope, you look fantastic!"

"Thanks, Felix," she responded humbly with a girly smile. "Everyone at Sugar Rush was going a little crazy, wondering what was going on and if we were gonna get unplugged. But when the game came back on and the updates were finished, I think everyone was even more shocked than to begin with."

Felix nodded solemnly. "Well, I'm glad ya'll are okay," he told her earnestly, taking another sip of his root beer. He looked at Ralph with a small smile. "If something happened to Sugar Rush I don't know how this guy would take it. He really cares about you, y'know? He was running all around the arcade like a mad man."

Ralph smiled sheepishly and looked away. "Well, I was worried," he justified. "Vanellope's my best friend, and...the first person to accept me."

Vanellope smiled up at him tenderly, her nose wrinkled in a playful manner. "Hey, Stinkbrain," she called to him. He looked down at her hesitantly. "You're never going to lose me," she promised, stepping forward to give him a friendly hug as he stared down at her, unsure.

Felix and him shared a glance, and the sneaky fixer gave him a mischievous wink as he slowly returned the embrace. This hug definitely wasn't as awkward feeling as the last one they shared; Ralph felt somewhat comforted by the friendly nature of it. He chose to ignore Felix's sly winks and kissy faces out of the corner of his eye. Vanellope pulled away after a few seconds and looked up at him, which wasn't such a difficult feat anymore.

He smiled back down at her, beginning to feel the familiar dynamic of their friendship come back into lay. He felt slightly relieved, hoping things wouldn't just get more awkward from there.

The two turned back to face Felix, who immediately stopped making his teasing expressions towards Ralph and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

"How come Calhoun's not here today?" Vanellope wondered, walking over to join Felix at the bar. She sat down at the farthest stool down, allowing Ralph to slide in beside her and take the one next to her.

"Oh, she had to go back over to Hero's Duty; some sort of tussle broke out among her soldiers, apparently. She had to go handle that. But I'm sure she'll be back in a jiffy." He sat back down on his stool and the three sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Ralph kept stealing nervous glances at Vanellope, who, unbeknownst to him, was stealing similar anxious glances back at him when he wasn't looking.

The two continued their little tender dance of secret looks at one another before eventually, Vanellope managed to look back at him while he still had his eyes fixed on her. A faint blush crept into Ralph's cheeks as he opened his mouth to try and justify himself. "Uh," he stammered, "You've uh, got, something, on your cheek." With an inward sigh of relief, he found that actually did have a small sprinkle just above the corner of her mouth.

Vanellope frowned and reached up to attempt wiping the sprinkle away with the back of her hand. "Did I get it?" She questioned.

"Uh, no," he answered, suddenly wondering why he got himself into this predicament. To no avail, she continued trying to swipe away the confection, but she kept missing it by several inches.

She let out a heavy sigh. "Can you get it for me, hamhands?" She asked, her voice teeming with frustration. Ralph gulped, wondering how exactly to go about this. His hands were so big, and that sprinkle was, of course, situated so close to her lips. Shoot. Meanwhile, Felix watched the ensuing bundle of awkwardness from his perch at the other end of the bar.

With a small grunt, Ralph reached his finger out awkwardly to wipe the sprinkle away from her face. As he gently brushed it against the corner of her mouth, Vanellope's eyes widened and a faint blush rose up to the surface of her skin. "I-I thought you said it was on my cheek," she stammered.

"Yeah, well, cheek, mouth, same difference," he mumbled quietly, his face slowly gaining more color as well. He tried to act indifferent as he rubbed the gleaming candy from her dimple. She averted her eyes as a strange warmth spread through her body at the contact between them. The edge of his finger brushed lightly against her lip as he tried to pry the sprinkle off of her. "I-It doesn't wanna come off," he explained with a furrowed brow. She kept her eyes fixed on the wall beside his face, her blush growing deeper.

Finally, he managed to work the sugary sprinkle off her skin, letting out an exasperated noise as it flew off of her and fell somewhere unknown. "How did you manage to get a sprinkle on you?"

"Ralph," she teased with a raised eyebrow. "I live in Sugar Rush. A candy themed game? Or did you forget?" He rolled his eyes at her and sat back in his stool, realizing he had been leaned towards her that whole time. "I guess there's a reason I call you Stinkbrain," she prodded with a toothy grin.

"Oh shush, dirty-faced brat," he shot back, though his lips betrayed a smile. He felt glad to be returning to their usual, teasing banter. He didn't know how much more awkward contact and staring he could take.

After a few minutes, Calhoun walked into the room, looking tired and hassled. As soon as she entered, her features came alive with alertness. "Vanellope?!" She questioned, staring at the dark-haired girl beside Ralph with uncertainty.

"Yeah," she responded sheepishly, turning to look back at the tough blonde woman behind her. "How's it going?"

"What happened?" She barked, eyeing her somewhat suspiciously as she approached the bar and started fixing herself a mug of root beer. "You guys want some?" She asked her and Ralph as she poured the frothy beverage into a mug for herself.

"Sure," Ralph and Vanellope responded in time. She looked at them warily before pulling out tw more mugs and proceeding to fill those as well.

"Sugar Rush got an upgrade!" Felix piped in. "Doesn't Vanellope look swell, hun?"

Calhoun finally gave the racer a small smile. "Yeah, you look great," she complimented somewhat gruffly. Vanellope grinned at her playfully. She knew her rock-hard exterior only broke through to show soft, caring insides. She was much like a crab, in fact. Though she realized that was a little bit of a morbid thought.

"Thanks, Cal," she responded lightly. Calhoun raised her eyebrow and gave a small chuckle.

"If you were one of my soldiers, I would pulverize you for calling me that," she barked. Her gaze softened as she slid her and Ralph their mugs. "But you are a friend, so, I'll hold back on the aggression a little bit." She retired to her seat beside Felix, and the husband and wife shared a knowing look.

As Ralph and Vanellope started playfully bantering yet again, Calhoun dropped her voice to an almost imperceptible whisper and asked Felix, "You remember that conversation we had last week?"

He nodded warily and took another sip of his root beer as she continued. "Well, I think we've just found ourselves in even deeper, murkier waters."

"Do you think….it would be wrong?" Felix asked softly as he stole a glance at the two friends from across the counter. "I mean, she's obviously of age now. And they're best friends. I think they could make each other happy."

"Well, that's a difficult question, Fix-It," Calhoun murmured with a sigh. "No, it wouldn't be technically wrong anymore, because yes, she is of age now. But...the implications it could make...and I'm not so sure the other gamers around the arcade would take to it so well. I'm not sure Ralph would either. I'm more worried the big lug is going to end up breaking that poor girl's heart."

Her hardcore exterior melted away as she showed her tender side more openly to her husband. He had to admit, he loved seeing this side of her. Once in awhile he wanted to be the one to quell her worries and comfort her; it made him feel like he was doing something right. His heart swelled with love for his wife as he gazed into her nervous eyes and smiled gently at her.

"I'm sure everything will be okay, love," he eased, leaning over to kiss her gently on the cheek. "Their friendship is strong. Even if something like that does happen, I'm sure they'll bounce back."

"I sure hope so," Calhoun urged with a furrowed brow. "User knows if they stopped talking, Ralph would never be the same, and the safety of your game hangs in the balance."

Felix nodded, taking his hat off and placing it on the counter next to his mug. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see," he responded. Calhoun turned around and the two leaned over to get a look at the still conversing friends, who looked as happy and carefree as ever. "One thing's for sure," he muttered as his wife looked back at him. "This whole upgrade ordeal is not going to be smooth sailing."

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