"Okay Felix, I think it's ready."

Ralph stepped back, placing hands on his hips, and smiled widely at the four walls that made up his new home. A familiar jingle rang out, and the bricks on the last wall seemed to fuse together making them stronger. Felix sheathed his hammer, joining Ralph in admiring their hard work.

"It's coming along nicely."

"It is, huh?" Ralph's gaped tooth smile didn't falter as he nudged Felix with a single finger. "Ready to get started on the roof?"

Felix swung an arm enthusiastically. "You bet, brother!"

Once the roof was complete, Ralph could finally move in. He had no furnishings, and he couldn't exactly move his tree stump in and sleep against. But he wasn't worried; it would all come together eventually. At least he had a place to call his own.

Glancing at Felix as the handyman sorted through the leftover roofing material, Ralph's mind shifted to the scene he happened upon the night before. He'd been out with Vanellope grabbing a bite to eat in Burger Time, and thought it'd be nice to sit atop the tram entrance to watch the stars for a little while when he returned to his game.

Two silhouetted figures – one small and one tall - caught his eye from across the lake, and Ralph remembered Felix mentioning the moonlit stroll he had planned after his and Calhoun's dinner date. He didn't mean to watch them - really, but his attention wandered from the twinkling above to the couple.

They were seated on a bench. Felix scooted closer to Calhoun and touched her hand that rested there. Calhoun looked at him. She leaned in, and Felix met her in the middle with a tender kiss – nothing like the one Ralph had witnessed the day before.

Calhoun ran fingers through Felix's hair as she spoke, and the handyman leaned into her touch. Ralph couldn't hear what she was saying, but Felix laughed and went in for another kiss. That's when Ralph averted his eyes back to the twinkling stars. His attention had lingered long enough, making him feel guilty for taking a look their way in the first place.

"So, how'd it go with Calhoun?" Ralph asked, as if he didn't know.

"Wonderful," Felix beamed as a light of memories flashed over his face, "I baked up a chicken pot pie, and Tammy loved it. Y'know, she's never had a home-cooked meal before." Felix paused, a look of distraught replacing his high spirits and Ralph wondered why. "I-I really need to have you over too for a home-cooked meal one night, Ralph."

Oh no. Another bridge they had to cross. Ralph waved off the offer. "That's okay, buddy. You save the pot roast and potatoes for your girl. I'll have my own kitchen soon enough. But I may need a few cooking lessons." He chuckled, earning a laugh from Felix as well. "So, is Tammy a nickname or something? Because I don't think that's the name you mentioned the other day."

The pink stain returned to Felix's cheeks. "Her first name is Tamora," he pronounced the name with such reverence, Ralph would have thought the woman a queen, "she only lets people she has total trust in to call her Tammy." Felix's face beamed again. "She trusts me, Ralph!"

"That's great, Felix." Ralph smiled back encouragingly. By the way his friend was talking, Calhoun had some trusts issues and it was a big deal that she trusted Felix enough to share something she found intimate.

A disgruntled 'hmph' echoed down toward them, and both the It-boys followed where the sound came from. Ralph spotted the culprit, groaning at who it was. "Looks like someone is giving us the stink eye."

"Oh, that Gene," Felix sighed in frustration. The mustached man had given them several ugly glares in the past week. "Between you and Tammy taking up much of my off hours, he's been feeling a little neglected. But he has Don and Roy and everyone else to keep him company."

"And don't forget his best friend: the martini."

Felix busted out laughing at Ralph accuracy, and they both glanced up at the window Gene was smoldering out of. Ralph gave him a wave, and that was all it took to drive Gene away, the echo of his window slamming the only thing left behind.

"I wish Gene wasn't so sour about the situation," Felix added with a frown. "It wasn't like we were best friend or anything. He'd stop by my apartment with a bunch of the others and they'd either fawn over me or ask me to come fix something."

Felix wasn't informing Ralph of anything he didn't already know. The wrecker would watch the scenes take place from the dump, but Felix always seemed happy whether it was being congratulated on a job well done or being pulled off to hang a shelf. Maybe the handyman wasn't as happy as Ralph had assumed. "Gene can go suck on a lime wedge until he gets over it."

The thought played around in Ralph's head as they started constructing the roof. "Hey Felix, I was wondering, were you happy getting pies and metals and pats on the back all the time?"

Felix planted gloved hands on his hips, pulling a face in contemplation. "I was, at least, I thought I was." He gave a small shrug. "I didn't really know anything else and I never went looking for anything better. I was content where I was…until you game jumped."

Ralph felt a twinge of remorse for his actions. It tossed life as they knew it off the track. But it all was for the better, even if they did have to go through drastic measures to arrive there.

"I was content with being oblivious, I guess," Felix kept going as Ralph handed him another piece of roofing material to hammer together. "I didn't know there was a dynamite gal waiting for me out there. It took a gun in my face to realize it."

Ralph side-glanced Felix, who'd said that last part as casually as recalling his day - though a gun in the face relating to Calhoun didn't surprise him. "You'll have to tell me that story sometime."

"Y'know, Burger Time's milkshakes aren't as good as what you can get in Sugar Rush, but they're not half bad either."

Ralph snorted. "You'd be the expert, wouldn't you?"

It'd been fun taking Vanellope to visit different games as she became familiar with the arcade and all it had to offer. The pure joy on her face warmed Ralph's heart in a way he'd never felt before. She was anxious to visit his game, but Ralph wanted to wait to bring her until he'd finished his house.

Vanellope was happy exploring other games. Burger Time quickly became a favorite, and she requested a meal there just about every day. The diner setting fascinated her, and she was having a grand time trying out all the food on the menu.

"I think I'll try the triple chocolate cherry milkshake this time," Vanellope said thoughtfully as they found a booth.

Ralph made a face. "Have at it all you want. You don't have to worry about me stealing it."

The waitress took their order, and only a couple minutes had passed when Vanellope spotted something that caught her interest. "Hey, isn't that Felix and that warrior lady?"

Ralph glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough there was Felix and Calhoun scanning for a table. The joint was busy, as it usually was being one of the few restaurants in Litwak's.

"Hey, Fix-It!" Vanellope's bellowed over the noise of their surroundings. She waved at them. "Over here!"

Felix appeared confused for a moment at the voice calling him, but when he spotted Ralph, he knew exactly who was beckoning him over. Ralph ran a palm over his hair. This would be the first time he'd seen Calhoun since the misunderstanding in front of Fix-It Felix Jr. He had a feeling she was bound to say something sarcastic about it.

"Long time no see, Felix," Ralph joked as Felix and his date walked up. He nodded a greeting at Calhoun. "Sergeant."

"Wreck-It," Calhoun greeted with that slight roughness that always accompanied her voice.

"Thought we'd try out Burger Time tonight," Felix said, "but it's looking a might busy in here."

"Why don't you join us!" Vanellope blurted out, causing Ralph's features to startle.

"I'm sure Felix and Sergeant Calhoun want their privacy-" Ralph began, but was cut off by an unexpected response.

"There isn't an inch of privacy in this place," Calhoun said, giving a small sweep with her hand. "If it's okay with Felix, I think we'll take you up on that offer."

Felix smiled widely. "It's fine and dandy with me."

Vanellope bounced on the seat a few times before glitching over to Ralph's side to make room. Ralph watched as Felix offered the inside seat to his date, stating all gentlemanly, "Lady's first", but Calhoun declined, wishing for the outside seat of the booth. There was something different about Calhoun's appearance, and Ralph finally realized she wasn't wearing her armor. A black jacket, dog tags, and a gun holstered to her hip were the three things that stuck out to him.

"So, this is like the 3rd date this week," Ralph said to try and start conversation. "You two must really like each other." He winced inwardly at the words that flew out his mouth. Why did he have to be so tactless?

"Are you keeping track of how often we get together now, Wreck-It?" Calhoun questioned suspiciously. She leaned over the table, eyes sharp as a knife. "Gotta keep up with us in case I try to hurt Fix-It again?" Her tone was deadly, but the sly smirk creeping on her lips gave her away. Calhoun sat back, chuckling. "I just had to mess with you, Wreck-It. Shoulda seen your face."

Ralph relaxed his shoulders that he didn't realize had tensed up. He didn't fear Calhoun, but she was one intimidating woman. If this was her way of being funny, it was going to take some getting used to. "Ha, you got me."

Vanellope glanced from Ralph to Calhoun, her eyes brimming with curiosity. "Wait, I gotta hear what that was all about!"

Calhoun recalled the incident from the other night. It was a short, simple story, but Vanellope got a good laugh out of it and it opened a gateway for her and Calhoun to hold a conversation. Calhoun surprisingly seemed to enjoying talking with the kid, and even saluted her on the perfect delivery of Vanellope's execution joke back in Sugar Rush.

"I didn't have a chance to thank you two for helping save my game," Vanellope said, out of the blue. "I mean, if it wasn't for all three of you, I wouldn't be alive." The words sounded heavy as she spoke them and she was having a hard time meeting any of them in the eye. But Ralph knew how much she meant those words. All too sudden, Vanellope's attention switched and she smiled at Felix. "Hey Junior, will you come with me to the jukebox?"

"I'd love to, little lady." Calhoun slid out for a moment to let Felix hop out.

It hit Ralph like a pile of bricks that he was being left alone with the blonde woman. He kept his glance over his shoulder as he distracted himself with watching his two closest friends hit up the jukebox.

"You never have to worry about me hurting him," Calhoun's voice drew Ralph's attention to the other side of the table. "I'd rather shoot myself in the face then ever hurt Fix-It."

Ralph's eyebrows rose. "That's a little extreme, but good to know. I overreacted-" he snorted a light laugh and shrugged a shoulder, "I do that sometimes."

"Mm-huh," Calhoun agreed, "I've noticed."

"This one time not long after we were plugged in I ran across a group of guys from a fighting game that were bullying Felix in GCS. I wasn't going to get in the middle of it, but when one of them snatched up Felix's hammer, it made me really angry. I ran those guys off. Felix thanked me and it seemed like we kinda had a breakthrough in becoming pals, but after getting back to our game, it all went away again and all we were to each other were co-workers that rarely interacted away from game hours."

Ralph stayed focused on his milkshake, wondering if his tangent was to fill in the space while they waited for Felix and Vanellope to return…or if he really needed to confide in Calhoun.

"Now that we're actually pals, I kinda feel the need to protect him again."

Calhoun nodded in either approval or agreement, Ralph wasn't sure. "You may be thick in the head, Wreck-It, but you're a good guy."

It still sounded like a foreign language hearing someone call him the words he'd longed to hear for so many years. "Thanks, Sergeant."

Ralph felt extra weight on his shoulders, and turned his head to find Vanellope there. Felix arrived a moment later, rejoining the group. As they ate their meal and chatted, Ralph had a feeling this was the start of something great.