A/N: This chapter was very fun to write. I just kept going and going...

Chapter 24: Rave, Part 2

Ralph sighed in annoyance as he hopped down off the pillar. The room was a little cooler now, but Ralph was really too warm now, after doing all that. It was hotter nearer the ceiling and that had been more work than he'd expected. It didn't help that when he was up there he was able to spot Vanellope. Dancing with Ken again, of all things. Ralph suppressed an annoyed growl. He really wished that guy would just stop... being around. Or something like that.

Vanellope and Ken had eventually stopped dancing, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. He'd lost sight of Vanellope a little after that. She'd gone off to parts unknown again. Ralph still had his eyes on the dance floor, surreptitiously glaring at Ken.

Suddenly the lights dimmed a bit and the music went silent. Ralph blinked and looked up at the stage, which was still well lit.

"May I have your attention please." A low announcer's voice asked. Everyone looked towards the stage. A familiar musical intro started lightly on the drums, but Ralph thought it was familiar but it kept looping right before it got to the part where he was sure he'd recognize it.

"Hi everyone!" Vanellope's voice said. She came out onto the stage wearing a mint colored cloak. "How is everyone? Enjoying the party?" She asked.

The whole crowd cheered in response.

"I'm so glad." Vanellope answered. "So... since it's our anniversary me and the girls got together and... well. You'll see. Sing along if you know the words, okay?" Vanellope asked, in a voice so sugary sweet that Ralph nearly checked for cavities.

The intro got a little louder and repeated a couple of more times while Vanellope shed the cloak and all the other Sugar Rush girls ran out on stage. They were all covered in glitter, which sparkled in an enticing manner.

Vanellope, Ralph was quite quick to notice, was once again lacking in a hoodie. Her shirt, which was too short and too tight to begin with, also seemed to be just a little damp with sweat.

"Kay, hit it." Vanellope said to the band.

The intro repeated just one more time, and the song started in full.

"Oh geez..." Ralph thought as he recognized it.

donna michi datte

massugu jani darou

sou magari kunette

dekoboko shiteru hazu sa

The girls started dancing as Vanellope broke out into song. Lots of short, complicated looking, wiggly, movements that seemed designed to make the glitter catch the light in interesting ways. Vanellope, however, was starting off a bit slower. She was swaying her hips and bending her knees a bit as she sung, making her body rock back and forth and her skirt catch the light. That changed as the song got a little faster.

tsurai koto toki ni wa aru yo ne

bokutachi wa soredemo hashiru yo

Vanellope's free arm went up and down through the air, almost tracing her body as she continued her rocking movements. She took a wide stance and locked her knees.

amai mono demo ikaga?

The beat got louder and she started bouncing as she practically shouted the chorus.

S-U-G-A-R Jump into your racing car!

Say SUGAR RUSH!

At this point she held the mike out to the crowd who replied:

SUGAR RUSH!

"Sugar Rush!" Ralph sort of mumbled a half-step late. He actually didn't like this song very much, but it was so catchy that he just knew it was going to be stuck in his head forever. On the repeat of the chorus Ralph had sort of caught up and shouted the second 'sugar rush' in time with the rest of the crowd. He wasn't all that enthusiastic about it though.

His attention was more locked onto Vanellope than her actual words, which he didn't understand anyway since he didn't know Japanese. The way she strutted around the stage, bending forward and cocking her shoulder on some lines. The way she bounced around and shook her hips as she danced on the instrumental. The glitter was catching the light and Ralph could see where it was wearing off just a little because of how she was sweating. He almost wished he were closer to the stage, but who knew what he might've done.

It was way too hot in here. Ralph decided. There weren't any more windows to open, he was just going to have to get out of the crowd. He knew there were a few side rooms that were probably unoccupied at the moment. He located a door and headed towards it.

It was difficult to get through the crowd, the way they were all bouncing around to the ridiculously catchy beat. But Ralph was making steady progress.

S-U-G-A-R Jump into your racing car!

Say SUGAR RUSH!

"SUGAR RUSH!" The crowd shouted, fists were flying into the air. Ralph narrowly avoided getting hit with an uppercut.

S-U-G-A-R Jump into your racing car!

Say SUGAR RUSH!

"SUGAR RUSH!" The crowd shouted.

"Sugar Rush." Ralph said, half a step behind as he struggled through the crowd.

S-U-G-A-R Jump into your racing car!

Say SUGAR RUSH!

"SUGAR RUSH!" The crowd screamed.

"Sugar Rush." Ralph said, late again.

Ralph finally made it into the room, fortunately unassaulted, almost exactly as the song was ending.

Vanellope, although she'd been very into the song, had noticed Ralph's slow struggle near the end. She hadn't noticed him while he was moving with the crowd. The lights on the stage were a little too bright for that. But a large man working his way against the grain in a crowd was a little hard to miss, even in poor lighting.

"Thank you! Thank you!" She shouted to the cheering crowd. She then declined any encore requests and dove through a side door to take the more empty route to the room Ralph had went into. It was only moments later that she was barreling into the almost empty antechamber. Ralph just blinked at her in surprise.

Vanellope's face was flushed, and her hair was a little wild, she was breathing really hard. She was also really sweaty and somewhat aware that she was covered in sugar glitter that was starting to streak and melt. She was so worked up at that point that she didn't really care what she looked like.

"So... umm..." Vanellope stalled, attempting to catch her breath. "Did you see the show?" She asked.

"Umm... yeah." Ralph answered. He looked at her with a strange expression she couldn't place.

"Was it good?" She asked quickly. She walked towards Ralph, who was standing propped up against a wall. He tensed up a little.

"Yeah." Ralph answered. He seemed a little on edge. Vanellope could sympathize, but she wasn't really sure why.

"Did you like my dancing?" Vanellope asked quietly. She was close enough now that she could.

Ralph looked away and raised an arm to scratch the back of his head nervously. Vanellope smirked, which turned into a grin when she realized his arm was up. She looked down. Sure enough there was that patch of skin she liked so much. Her hands almost started moving on their own.

"What?" Ralph asked in alarm as he looked back at her and saw the expression on her face.

She bit her lip and looked up at him, looking unintentionally coy. Her hands started moving just as soon as the idea came into her head, there was no help for it. In the blink of an eye they'd latched onto that patch of exposed skin and pushed themselves under his shirt and up his chest. She'd never been so glad that she didn't have her gloves on, having taken them off before the performance.

Ralph tried to jerk back, but bumped into the wall behind him. He groaned as Vanellope's hands explored his chest just as thoroughly as they had his arms just days ago.

Vanellope was ecstatic. There was so much skin to explore now that she'd gotten to it. She couldn't see it, since it was all still covered by his two shirts, but that just gave into finding all the details with her fingers. They were trying their darnedest too. His abs were flat and firm and full of so many ridges that she was having a hard time keeping track of them. Her hands trailed upwards and she was up to her elbows into his shirt before she realized something. Ralph was breathing very hard. His chest was moving against her hands.

She looked up at Ralph's face. The back of his head was pressed up against the wall and his eyes were closed. His jaw was tensed up and his throat was working really hard. Her hands stilled.

"Are you okay?" Vanellope asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure, but she thought Ralph might've whimpered.

It took a long time for Ralph to answer. He didn't trust himself to do anything, he didn't trust himself to say anything. He didn't even trust himself to open his eyes. Any more sensory input was going to set him off.

"I just..." He had to catch his breath. "Now would be a good time to stop." He advised after a moment.

Vanellope looked from Ralph's face down to his chest. There was a terrible sense of anticipation looming in the back of her mind. Ralph had said it like a warning... but something in her just knew that it was something good. Vanellope's hands started to move again. They'd just barely had time to register the two small nubs on his chest when-

Ralph couldn't stand it anymore. He picked her up and reversed their positions, pressing her into the wall. Vanellope's legs automatically wrapped around him and her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pushing his shirt up to his underarms. There was a pause where both of them looked very alarmed at this. Vanellope was a bit breathless, her back having hit the wall just a little too hard.

"Ra-?" She didn't get a chance to ask the question. Ralph captured her mouth with his, kissing her so fiercely she was seeing stars.

Vanellope's hands snaked their way up the neck of his shirt to clutch at the base of his head, her fingers going through his hair. She just barely registered the movement of Ralph's hands, trailing up the back of her thighs. She whimpered as they got so far up and he squeezed, just lightly, the largeness of his hands making it so his fingers were so close to...

She couldn't take it anymore, she had to breath. She pulled her head away and angled her face upwards to catch her breath. This didn't stop Ralph, whose mouth then latched onto her neck.

"Ah!" She attempted to exclaim. It came out as more of a squeak. Her eyes were clamped shut and she bit her lip. She almost couldn't stand it.

Ralph continued to kiss her neck and jawline, sucking on it gently and enjoying the flavor. Vanellope tasted like sugar and salt and skin. It was wonderful. One of his hands trailed up her side, stroking her back. The other one was still around her thigh, his fingers flexing as they felt through the cloth of her leggings. Vanellope's legs clenched around his waist with every wiggle.

Something broke through Ralph's little wall of concentration. He looked up from his work on Vanellope's neck to try and pinpoint it. He caught sight of Vanellope's face and was almost lost again. Vanellope was gasping and whining, her hands scrambled at his neck to urge him on.

"No wait!" He said quietly. He tried to concentrate on his surroundings, trying to figure out what had triggered his alert. Vanellope pressed her lips shut in the effort to stay quiet.

After a minute he heard it again. There was excited shouting of...

"Vanellope~!" He heard coming from the grand hall, faintly. "Where's the hostess?"

Ralph's heart decided to skip a beat in panic. It really hurt, considering how fast it was going already.

"We have to stop." He informed Vanellope after he got a hold of himself.

"No!" Vanellope almost cried. "Please no."

"They're gonna be in here looking for you, you don't really want to be caught like this do you?" Ralph asked, going for a teasing voice but it sounded a little pained. Vanellope just whined at him.

Ralph wrapped his arms around her waist and let her up from the wall. She hung her head on his shoulder, catching her breath for a minute, before making a move to put her feet on the ground. Ralph set her down gently, letting her get a feel for her legs again. She wobbled a bit, but then let go of Ralph, taking her hands out from under his shirt.

Ralph pulled his shirts down, trying to make himself presentable, when he noticed something.

"You ripped my shirt!" He complained. Vanellope snickered at the rip that went all the way up his side, exposing the teal undershirt Ralph wore.

"Technically that was your fault." She pointed out. She'd been quite gentle with the shirt until she'd been unexpectedly lifted.

"I still have to go out looking like this." Ralph grumped, patting his shirt down a little in hopes of concealing the tear.

"That's the least of your problems." Vanellope informed as she took a good look at Ralph. Nevermind the tear in his shirt, his whole front was covered in glitter, his hair was even more wild than usual, and despite how loose they were there was an unmistakable tent to his trousers. Vanellope had to grin at her handiwork, even if the job wasn't finished.

Ralph was about to comment that she had no room to talk, but actually... She looked almost exactly the same as when she'd come in. Well... She had a couple of hickies starting, her glitter makeup was smudged in a lot of places, and he'd bet anything that she'd be walking a little funny, but other than that she looked just fine. Her hair had been like that before.

"Hmmph." Ralph just narrowed his eyes at her as she giggled.

"I'd... I'd better go and... and distract them." Vanellope said between giggles. "While you make yourself presentable."

"Oh?" Ralph asked. Vanellope just nodded.

When she went for the door Ralph grabbed her once more and kissed her again. Vanellope squeaked and flailed as her leg popped up behind her in bliss. Ralph then let her go. She wobbled a little and fell against the door. She blinked, realizing what had happened. She pointed at Ralph for a moment before she could speak.

"Mean." She said firmly, shaking her finger at him with emphasis.

"You deserved it." Ralph said with a small chuckle. He then opened the door and pushed her out into the crowd.

A/N: I didn't think that what I wanted to do in this chapter would take as many words as it all ended up taking. Oddly enough, my initial goal for this chapter didn't get accomplished. All I really wanted was to get Ralph out of his shirt. There's this artist on DeviantArt called blindthistle. She's done a couple of pictures of Ralph shirtless. They inspired that bit where Vanellope was putting her hands up his shirt. I'm gonna have to try again to get him shirtless.
I couldn't write Vanellope's dancing in the detail I wanted. For my source of inspiration on how I thought she might move look up "I'm The One That's Cool" by The Guild on Youtube. Felicia Day's dancing is how I imagine Vanellope would look while rockin' out.

Review Response:

The Phantom Soldier - When you put it like that it seemed really obvious what I was planning.

jeh-nee - Ralph saw her dancing with Ken. He was just in the middle of something. He gets something in his head and he doesn't interrupt it until it's done.

Nunyeahbusiness - Good to have you back! I know what it's like to be without internet, so I feel your pain. Yeah, there is a lot more leeway in the personality of a character from a movie rather than that of one in a serial. In a serial the characters are exposed to a lot more situations, so you know how they'll react to a lot of different variables. It's nice to not have a lot of source material to have to consider.