A/N: Hmmm...

Chapter 11: Dating?

Vanellope, in the off hours that she wasn't spending with Ralph, liked to hang around Sugar Rush and just admire it. Now that she was in charge she liked it better. She sometimes even went and hid away in Diet Cola Mountain again, for old times sake. But she also liked to sit somewhere up high and look around at all the candy-striped scenery and the people. It was just a fun way to organize her thoughts.

Normally she'd think about what it actually meant to be in charge of all this, and ways to make things more interesting. Usually nothing very world changing, just little things. But more often than not she lately found her thoughts turning to Ralph.

Just... little thoughts that would creep in between her more sensible ones. She'd be staring at the candy cane forest and then suddenly have an idea that maybe a candy tree trimming department really would be a good idea. Which, of course, lead to Ralph. She'd think about how they met, and think about how strong his arms must be to be able to climb the tree in the way he had. That made her sigh, for no good reason. Which would distract her and make her wonder why in the world she was think about Ralph's arms.

When she sat up high and observed the people she began to notice something. Taffyta was starting to spend quite a lot of time with Rancis. She'd see them walking around, Taffyta giggling and clinging to Rancis' arm. Rancis would be smiling down at her and talking quietly like they were sharing secrets. It made Vanellope strangely jealous. It took her a long time to figure out why, for she certainly didn't have a lot of love for either Taffyta or Rancis. It eventually dawned on her, she'd rather like it if Ralph acted more like Rancis when Vanellope grabbed his arm like Taffyta was doing.

Ralph, although he never pulled away, usually tried to distance himself a bit whenever Vanellope snuggled into his arm. It hadn't bothered Vanellope before, but seeing Rancis' reaction to Taffyta made her feel oddly disappointed. Like she was clearly missing something.

She thought she'd talk to Taffyta about it. Maybe she was doing something differently that Vanellope just couldn't see from a distance.

It took a while, but Vanellope finally got her chance. After the Random Roster Race one day Taffyta was milling around and chatting with Candlehead.

"Hey Taffyta." Vanellope greeted casually.

"Hi there Vanellope, what's up?" Taffyta greeted.

"Umm... Well, actually I wanted to talk to you about something." Vanellope said.

Taffyta looked at Vanellope, then at Candlehead. Candlehead blinked and then realized what was going on.

"Oh. No, that's fine. I was actually going to go hang out with Snowanna and Jubileena anyway." Candlehead excused. She waved and then went off. Taffyta and Vanellope started walking toward the jawbreaker beds.

"So, what's up?" Taffyta asked once they were out of earshot.

"I dunno... I guess, I just wanted to see how you and Rancis were doing?" Vanellope asked with forced nonchalance.

"Oh... we're doing okay, I guess." Taffyta answered, confused as to why Vanellope would ask.

"That's nice." Vanellope answered with a nod.

Taffyta, being more astute than people gave her credit for, thought she knew what was going on.

"How're you and Ralph getting along?" Taffyta asked.

"Me and Ralph?" Vanellope wondered.

"Well, we always see you two together. Arm in arm and stuff. You two hang out together almost more than I do with Rancis. We just thought..."

"Oh... yeah. I guess." Vanellope answered. She wasn't exactly sure what she was agreeing to, but the way Taffyta said it, it made sense.

"So, how are you two doing?" Taffyta asked again.

"Well, I dunno. Ralph is...Oh, I'm not really sure. It's just... Ralph doesn't look at me the same way Rancis does you. I guess I was just wondering why." Vanellope said, sitting down on a jawbreaker.

Taffyta had to think about that. She didn't know Ralph very well. He didn't seem too friendly with many people. People always greeted him warmly, but he just sort of grunted back.

"Well. He seems like a stand-offish sort of guy." Taffyta thought aloud. "That probably has something to do with it. Some men are just more affectionate than others."

"It didn't used to be like that." Vanellope mourned. "It used to be that he'd always smile at me, no matter what. Now I have a hard time getting him to look at me."

Taffyta sat down on a nearby jawbreaker to think about that one. She rubbed at her chin.

"Well, that just sounds like he's being shy." Taffyta said.

"That doesn't sound like Ralph." Vanellope frowned.

"Well, some guys are just weird when it comes to dating." Taffyta said dismissively. "Clearly you have to make the first move."

"Dating?" Vanellope asked. Taffyta stopped.

"You are dating Ralph, aren't you?" Taffy asked.

"Umm..." Vanellope hesitated.

+++[Tappers...]+++

Ralph was trying not to laugh as Felix and Calhoun were making their way all around the dance floor. He was failing miserably. It probably had to do with one too many drinks, but Calhoun's tendency to lift Felix just a bit on the more enthusiastic turns and Felix's sort of hopping dance moves in order to be barely tall enough to successfully dance with her... it was hilarious.

Felix came over when they'd decided they'd had enough of dancing. Calhoun had went... somewhere. Ralph wasn't really paying much attention.

Felix hopped onto the bar stool next to Ralph and ordered two drinks. Apparently Calhoun was going to be coming back.

"Oh, it's hard keepin' up with that gal of mine sometimes." Felix commented. He was fairly out of breath. Ralph, who had calmed down, chuckled again.

"It must be." Ralph commented.

"What's so funny?" Felix asked.

"If you'd seen yourselves out there you'd be laughing too." Ralph commented. Felix just humphed at him.

"Well, some of us don't care about looking looking ridiculous as long as we're having fun." Felix said with an air of importance.

"Uh-huh." Ralph said dryly.

"So, what made you tag along anyway?" Felix asked.

"I didn't mean to horn in on your date night with Calhoun. I was just coming to Tappers." Ralph explained.

"Oh, it's not that. We don't think of you as a 3rd wheel or anything. It's just that we didn't expect it. You've been spending a lot of time with Vanellope lately. We figured you might be having your own date night thing going on." Felix explained.

"Date night?" Ralph asked. "Why would you think we were dating?"

"I dunno..." Felix replied. "Just the way you two act I guess." Felix reasoned.

"What?" Ralph asked.

"Well, she's always hanging on your arm and looking so happy. And you're always taking her out places." Felix answered.

"I've always done that!" Ralph argued.

"Yeah, but you're the one who was harping on about how there are supposed to be different between you two now. To make that work it's not just her behavior that needs to change." Felix said. "You knew that, right?" Felix asked Ralph.

"Umm..." Ralph blinked at that.

"Ralph, have you been leading that girl on?" Felix asked, sounding downright scandalized.

"What? No!" Ralph protested. "We haven't been doing anything weird or romantic or... couple-y." Ralph finished lamely.

"You have no idea about dating, do you?" Felix asked with a deadpan stare.

"Umm..." Ralph thought.

A/N: Ah Ralph. You only think you know what you're doing. So, everyone thinks they're dating... Lets see what those two do with this information, shall we?

Review Response:

jeh-nee- Oh, don't worry. Vanellope isn't done with the pranks and possible impromptu naps.

Vanellope von Schweetz 12, vesperlynds - I'm glad you thought that line was funny. I thought it was pretty funny too.