Medals Must Be Earned
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Chapter 9: The World
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Ralph woke and found himself alone, but the open drapes across the French doors to the bedroom's balcony revealed his wife standing outside, looking out over the darkened landscape. He watched her for a while, and then realized that she'd thrown Gene's bathrobe over herself for modesty...sort of. What was probably floor-length and bundling on him barely covered her. It reached only to the tops of her thighs, and when she turned to come back inside he saw that it barely closed around her chest.
"I think that bathrobe is having the happiest day of it's life," he chuckled as she approached the bed, seeing him awake.
"What are you doing up?" she asked as she crawled onto the bed.
"I could ask you the same thing," he said, slightly worried. "You're not having second thoughts about this are you?"
"Of course not. I'm a light sleeper, and I'm just not used to sleeping with anyone else."
Ralph breathed a sigh of relief as a smile crossed his face. "You'll have to get used to it, I guess."
"Ralph?"
"Tamora?"
"I've been thinking. This place, this apartment, is really nice, but it's not sized for us. It would take a lot of remodeling to get comfortable. Why don't we just go live in my game?"
"Oh...but I'd kinda had my heart set on living in Niceland," Ralph said sadly.
"I was afraid you were going to say that. Well how about a compromise then? We'll go live in Hero's Duty while we build us a place here, somewhere sized for us. There's a good amount of land out around the edges of your game. Build a roomy house with a garden of flowers and a white picket fence? Nice big bathtub and a nice big bed."
"I like the sound of that. I think I could be persuaded."
She straightened up to stand on her knees and untied the robe. It fell open like a pair of theater curtains.
"I'm persuaded," was his response. She stretched forward and pressed her lips to the tip of his button nose. "I know that Niceland was your reward, but I think we can do even better." And she continued to kiss him, sprinkling delicate kisses across his face and neck.
"How come we never met before, Miss Tamora?" Ralph giggled as some of the kisses began to tickle.
"I don't know. Hero's Duty has been plugged in two months now." She left him and closed the drapes.
"Only two months..." Ralph mused. "Such an innocent young thing." He reached for the champagne bottle in the ice bucket on the floor beside the bed, but on lifting it he found it empty, and then he looked again into the bucket. "You might be an innocent young thing, but you're so hot you melted all the ice," he teased. And then he looked at the clock on the bedside table. "Four hours until the arcade opens. I'll go get another bottle."
He rolled out of bed but paused to watch her peel off the robe and climb beneath the sheets. Had he really married this fabulous creature?
Going out to the bar, he refilled the bucket with a bottle of fresh bubbly and ice. What was this? Bottle number four? Number five? Who cared? Gene was picking up the tab for their stay. And admittedly the bottles weren't big for someone his size.
Ralph looked around the penthouse. It was rather small for their size, especially for a couple. He would probably keep hitting his head on the underside of the loft. And the bathroom was far too small to put a larger bathtub into it. The current tub inside it would perhaps fit his feet.
And then he thought about his bride and her game. He could get used to living in that wretched war-torn domain if it was just a temporary arrangement. It would be nice to be welcomed there as their sergeant's husband. Sure most of the soldiers had been somewhat uncomfortable with her marrying him, but they'd all come to the wedding, even the General. Even the miserable Markowski. And Calhoun had assured him that their opinion would change once they got to know him.
In a few hours they'd get up and get dressed. And then he'd walk her to work, even if she protested. And then he'd kiss her goodbye for the day and head back for his own job. Then after work there would be a party in their honor and a delicious cake just for them...his first cake ever.
Ralph picked up the bucket and headed back into the bedroom.
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One more chapter to Medals Must Be Earned!
If you enjoyed this story, you might also like my WIR story "Hero's Duty: Code Blue," a tale of drama and deception with a notable dose of romance and violence. This story and my other fanfics can be found at the bottom of my Author Profile page. Thanks!
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Wreck-It Ralph and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.