A/N: This chapter is short, but it's the 2nd one today so...

Chapter 12: Thinking

It took a while for Vanellope to fully grasp the concept of 'dating'. It seemed well enough like what she and Ralph were doing, but there were a few things missing. The affection that Taffyta explained belonged there seemed to be lacking. There also seemed to be a distinct lack of what Vanellope had classified as 'physical attention'. Taffyta could very well justify it as Ralph being 'stand-offish', but Vanellope knew better.

Ralph was only like that to people he didn't really like. Vanellope suspected that Ralph never got over his first impressions of Taffyta. Sometimes Vanellope had a hard time forgetting her broken homemade kart and the sensation of being pushed into the mud too. Her quickly forgiving nature made her put it aside. That, and Taffyta has proven herself many times to be genuinely regretful of how she'd acted time and time again. Ralph, who didn't spend a lot of time around the other racers, probably just didn't see that. Not that she thought he'd like Taffyta much anyway, but maybe he'd be a bit more indifferent.

Ralph had always been rather demonstrative towards her in the past. Hugs and piggyback rides and pecks on the cheek. She remembered them quite vividly. She only knew that part of the change had to do with the 'boundaries' that men and women were supposed to have as adults. She didn't think that was all of it though. Could it really be that because she was older Ralph just didn't like her as much? It didn't seem so far fetched... But if that was the case then why did everyone seem to think they were closer then ever?

There had to be something she was missing.

Vanellope thought back to all of the discussions she'd had about all of this. With everyone. Taffyta, Tamora, and even Felix had had a little to say about it. There seemed to be just one single person missing. She hadn't discussed any of this with Ralph. Well, clearly that was the problem. Tammy had said to not to, but surely she didn't mean about everything. This involved him more than anyone else, she needed to get his opinion on it.

Talking to Ralph had never been a problem in the past. Whenever she asked him a question he always gave a good firm answer. Or, barring any real answer, an opinion. This didn't have any reason to be different. So, she'd just ask.

"Ralph, are we dating?" or maybe "Ralph, what's your opinion on dating? Specifically me". Neither of those sounded exactly like what she wanted to know. But they'd be close enough. They were the most direct questions she could think of to get to the heart of the matter. Ralph never refused to answer a direct question. Even when she didn't understand or like the answer.

+++[Fix-It Felix Jr.]+++

Vanellope made her way to Ralph's little house, determination in her stride. She was going to get an answer to all of this. It had to be an answer from him. Talking to anyone else at this point just wasn't going to help at all.

Vanellope got to the door and tried to open it automatically. It didn't budge. She resisted the annoyed scream that was trying to build in her throat. This lock thing just wasn't going to fly. She looked over at the window. She moved over and looked through it. The curtains didn't quite hide the interior. Through the curtains she could see Ralph, asleep on his odd little bed. She sighed.

Vanellope looked at the windowsill. She took her gloves off and placed her palms very firmly against the glass and pushed up. The window budged enough that could get her fingers under the sill and push it the rest of the way up. She wriggled through the window and landed with a flop on the floor.

"Haha! Success!" Vanellope crowed quietly as she got up. She dusted herself off and closed the window again. No stupid lock was going to keep her out. She went over to Ralph and deliberately sat down heavily on his chest.

"Oof!" Ralph grunted. He sat up quickly and Vanellope clutched to his neck to keep herself upright. He opened his eyes and blinked heavily a few times to focus his vision.

"... How did you get in?" Ralph asked after a moment.

"Magic." Vanellope answered glibly. She examined their new position. She was clutching at his neck and her seating had slipped from his chest down to thighs. Something in her couldn't help but feel very satisfied with this.

"Why are you here?" Ralph tried again.

"We need to talk." Vanellope answered. She nodded to reaffirm the statement.

"About what?" Ralph asked as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Dating."

Ralph had suddenly never been more awake in his life.

A/N: Yeah... just. There you have it.

Review Response

BoredParanoia - Probably what I wanted to convey with that chapter just didn't come through right. Vanellope is only just touching on her feelings. "I want Ralph to behave the same way I see Rancis treating Taffyta. How do I make that happen?" Then, offscreen, Taffyta explains dating in terms of the limited knowledge she has of it. Where as Ralph, while he's got plenty of technical knowledge on the subject of girls, he's got no experience in actually interacting with people. He knows next to nothing about dating or romance simply because he's never had the chance to experience it. Also, he just strikes me as socially awkward in general. I've been trying to express that, but I've been concentrating more on Vanellope. So... yeah.
You make a very good point about the Bad Anon's though... I'll have to think about that.