Set a week after The Frag's Engines

The topic came up during supper one evening. Yamcha was off training with Master Moo-shun at the Dojo and Bulma, had flown up to start setting up a lab to use when she came out here, had joined the three saiyans for the meal. The conversation had mostly involved Geta grumbling about having to enlarge his clearing again and making the declaration that anyone new who showed up would also be tasked with finding a new clearing to live in, because this was the last expansion, seriously, the last one, and the topic had somehow gone from there to Bulma teasing Geta about the fact that he was shorter than her.

Raditz, who had been working on his food (and Bulma had had to repress the urge to gag when she found out what was on the menu (turned out Geta's lizard-dinosaur-egg-plant dish was less a culinary disaster and more a 'for saiyan pallets only' sort of thing)), had looked up from his egg at this point, given Geta a once-over, and snorted, before stating, "Ease off on him, Bulma, he hasn't hit his second spurt yet. He's probably got a few inches in him yet."

Bulma just rolled her eyes and snorted back, "Yeah, he wishes he had a-"

"Wait, back up," Geta interrupted, "My second what?!"

"Spurt. Your second growth spurt." Raditz gave Geta a casual once-over. "You're what, nineteen or twentyish?"

Geta nodded stiffly. "I think so."

The tall saiyan gave a matter-of-fact nod. "Yeah, so you've had your first spurt and you should be hitting your second one soon. Saiyans go through two major growth spurts – one around fourteen or fifteen, one around nineteen or twenty – when we shoot up like weeds and get stronger as a result of the stress it puts on our bodies."

"Wait a second…" Geta's eyes widened as a horrible thought came upon him. "You mean, that time I couldn't get enough to eat and my whole body just kinda ached constantly and I wanted to fight everything and started noticing… um…" he glanced at Bulma, turned pink, and glanced away again, refocusing on Raditz. "Was that my first spurt?"

Raditz grinned. "Yes, yes it was. And if you think you're noticing potential mates now, wait until you've finished your second one! He hasn't quite reached full sexual maturity yet," he added in a loud whisper to Bulma, who nodded, a considering expression on her face.

"You know, that would explain a lot."

Geta, meanwhile, turned so scarlet it was a wonder he didn't pass out. "No way! Uh-uh, not happening, I refuse!" he held his hands over his chest in an 'x' of denial. "I'm not doing that again! I've changed my mind about being a saiyan, I'll go back to being a monkey-tailed human, thanks all the same!"

Raditz gave him a bemused look. "It's not exactly something you can quit."

"I'LL FIND A WAY!" Geta was clutching his hair now, eyes bugging out of his head in a panic. "None of my clothes fit by the end of the second month, and I was so pissed off all the time that I couldn't go buy more, and I couldn't even fight anyone at the dojo because everyone was too breakable and I couldn't trust myself to keep control-"

"So, how much do you grow during your growth spurts?" Bulma interrupted cheerfully.

"Eh, it varies from saiyan to saiyan. I got another foot for my second one, and our hair always stays proportionate, so I got more of that, too." Raditz ran a hand through the aforementioned mop, "That's probably the only reason the Frag survived my first spurt - I was so tired from my body and hair growing so much and so fast – all I wanted to do was eat and sleep, no energy left for any destructive instincts."

"Oh come one, I'm sure it can't have been that bad-"

"I destroyed a mountain while I was growing," Geta gave her a baleful look, "Not with ki or anything, with my bare hands."

Bulma gaped at him. "Why the hell would you do that?!"

He shrugged. "It offended me."

"That's insane."

"That's growing up saiyan style." Raditz cut in cheerfully, "Don't worry, from what I understand, and from my own experience, the second spurt isn't as bad or as long as the first one, usually. You don't grow as much, either."

"How much not as much?" Bulma asked curiously.

"Like I said, it varies," Raditz scratched his head, "I went into my first spurt a bit more than three feet, and came out of it six foot even. And, like I said, I grew another foot for my second spurt."

At that, Bulma's look became calculating. "Geta, how tall were you before you grew the first time?"

"Ah, a bit under three feet?"

"Okay. And you're what, about 4'10" now?"
"About that, yeah."

"Uh-huh." After looking him up and down, Bulma turned back to Raditz. "His second spurt is going to be really disappointing, isn't it?"

"Hey!"

"Oh, without a doubt."

"Hey!"

OoOoOoOoOoO

Geta, you're such a spaz, I love you. And look at you, Raditz, getting all sassy there! (he's finally relaxing and his true colours are showing through as a result)This is headcanon that sometimes is in play with saiyans and sometimes isn't, at least in regards to the sexual maturity thing. They generally have two major growth spurts in my worlds. And yeah, I know, another really short one. Don't worry, the trend ends next week, promise, it ends. (ominous crash of thunder and out-of-sequence flash of lightning)