*Whimper* I have to do a realistically sweet fic. I'm going to die! *starts dying* Grr… what would be realistic? *contemplates* Hmm… I suppose I could try one of those lovely "those three years" things. *makes gagging noises* There should be some romance in that. Come to think of it, I don't have any Vegeta/Bulma stuff. Oh, what the hay…

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I'm gonna wash that girl right out of my hair… Oh, why the hell did I let her talk me into watching TV with her? Now I've got commercials stuck in my head. Vegeta lifted his face to the spray from the shower. Short of killing her, there's no way to get rid of her. And that annoying mix of insults and compliments… I never know what she's going to say next!

Then again, I've always considered females to be baffling. She's just worst than most I've met. I simply can not figure her out. He wiped the water from his eyes, stepped from the shower. Fresh clothes waited by the towel he'd laid out. She'd been in while he showered again. Her mother would have made more noise. Her mother wouldn't have stopped talking from the time she came in to the time she finally left.

First she's scared to death of me on Namek, then she calls me cute as soon as we get to this mudball and offers to let me live with her… and meant it, no less… He shook his head, sending water flying everywhere. "Oh, this is getting me nowhere!" He toweled off and dressed quickly.

He was not about to get conned into another evening of television. Or chatting with her mother. But he wasn't about to miss supper, either. He headed for the kitchen. Vegeta stopped in the hallway just outside the doorway, checking occupants.

Dr. Briefs sat at the head of the table, nose buried in some blueprints, coffee cup in hand, cat on his shoulder nibbling cheese off his plate. Normal. Mrs. Briefs was burbling by the stove, stirring something that at least smelled edible, and being ignored by the others. Also normal. Bulma was in the refrigerator, saying something he couldn't quite make out. He didn't see Yamcha until he stepped into the kitchen, or the little blue shape-shifter that invariably floated around his head.

That's everyone. No surprises today. Am I actually disappointed? Who do I hope to see, Kakarot? Bah! He took his seat at the table, grabbing a few of the appetizers laid out to munch on while the main part of the meal finished cooking. His gaze roved before finally coming to rest on Bulma, still rummaging in the refrigerator. I still do not see why she offered to let me stay, or why she suddenly no longer acts afraid. Perhaps it is merely because we are at her home, where she feels more in control. She certainly doesn't treat me with any respect. I can't even take a shower without her coming in! He smiled grimly. Maybe pulling the same stunt on her would take care of that. I would like to have some time alone.

"Vegeta, dear, do you want any turkey?" His grunt was taken for a yes, half the bird landed on his plate before the lady of the house moved on. He contemplated the bird a moment, then dug in. Two and a half turkeys, one and a half hams, an entire serving bowl of potatoes and gravy, and some cabbage rolls later, he decided he'd had enough company for one day. Which, of course, when Mrs. Briefs brought the desserts out.

Vegeta stayed glued to the chair, nearly salivating over the rich arrays of chocolates and other sweets. Nothing - not even Kakarot coming back - was going to make him skip dessert. Mrs. Briefs gave him a whole entire chocolate cream pie to start him off, giggling and messing up his hair as she did so.

Then again, her flirting might be enough to make me grab and go… If she touches me again, I am leaving. She's worse than that girl Zarbon kept until Frieza took her as a pet… He wrenched his mind from those memories, concentrating his attention on the flavor of the pie. And frowned. He hated it when Mrs. Briefs decided to go health-conscious and use applesauce to reduce fat in her recipes. He hated applesauce.

Vegeta gave the pie an offended look and put his fork down. He ignored the protests as he rose and walked away. There was nothing so annoying as ruining good chocolate, he'd discovered. He threw himself across his bed as soon as he got to his room, kicking his boots off onto the floor. And, as usual, flipped off the camera.

They keep me under constant surveillance. There's even a camera in the bathroom. If I want privacy, I have to leave… and considering that the blue-haired baboon has followed me, I must have tracking devices in my clothes now. I can't go anywhere to be alone. It was almost better out in space, by myself.

He shoved a fist into a pillow, messing it up to his satisfaction. Maybe I should go back into space. No one could follow me there, or interrupt me for shopp…. He growled at the knock on the door. "You already know I'm here. What do you want?"

His door had no lock, and he wasn't surprised that his unwelcome visitor came right in. "What is wrong with you?"

Vegeta rolled over, looking at Bulma. She'd sounded sincerely concerned. "Nothing."

"You didn't finish your pie," she explained. "I know how much you love chocolate, so I thought maybe you were sick or something."

"The only thing I'm sick of is the constant monitoring," Vegeta snapped, pointing at the camera trained on his bed. "I can't even take a shit without being under a camera."

Bulma followed the pointing finger. "Oh! Those? I can take care of that tomorrow while you're training, if they're so annoying."

He blinked. "You will?"

"Sure! But the ones in the GR stay. I've been recording some of your training sessions, and comparing them. You've gotten so much stronger so quickly it's almost scary." She saw the frown starting, and headed it off. "You can watch them sometime. I've got the monitors set to record when your heart rate reaches a certain point. I think you've started leveling off."

"Leveling off!" His training had gotten longer and under heavier gravity. "How can it be leveling off?"

She shrugged. "Maybe you've gotten too used to doing the same thing over and over? Take a week off or something, do something you haven't done before."

"And what do you suggest? Follow you around a mall for hours so I can carry packages?" he asked sourly.

"No…" She sat beside him on the bed. "Can you ride a bike? You could go biking. Or hiking, skiing, something like that. You'd still be getting exercise, but it wouldn't be the same kind - or the same intensity that you're doing now. Go down and swim in the ocean. We aren't that far away, especially since you can fly there. Just… change your routine a little. For a week."

Vegeta fell back against his disarranged pillows. Change the routine. I can do that. I was thinking about it anyway… only I was thinking of heading for space, where I could train in peace. "I'll think about it."

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed. I'm actually going to consider this idea of yours, why sound depressed about it?"

"Oh, well… I was kind of hoping you'd like the fly down and swim in the ocean idea…" She fidgeted a bit. "I, um, have this little capsule house we could take, just stay down there for a week."

"You would want me to take you with me!??"

"I can cook," Bulma pointed out. "And pretty well, too. I just… well… I want to get away from here for awhile. Have an adventure, but not a really dangerous one like going to Namek turned out to be. A vacation at the ocean… with you… that would be a kind of adventure."

He startled himself by thinking about it.

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Yeah, yeah, I got plenty of other things going, and I'm going to updating more sporadically, and now I add this! Hmph. I'm just trying to prove a point, I think.