Author's Note: Thanks to BringingYaoiBack for beta reading this for me!
"I need to talk to you about something."
Vegeta and Bulma stood on a balcony overlooking the west side of the Capsule Corp property. The cardinal direction was significant: many of their "chats" took place during the afternoon when the sun hung in the perfect position to blind Vegeta while Bulma railed him about something he did wrong.
Bulma also enjoyed getting railed on the balcony. Which Vegeta generally found to be as exciting as it was irritating. No man should have to use both hands to count the number of times he got sunburned while having sex.
He shielded his eyes from the rays seeking to fizzle away his retinas. "What's the matter?"
"I want to have a baby."
Shit. This was not the direction he imagined this conversation going in. "Why?"
"Why?" Bulma clicked her tongue and raised her hands in the air, as if the answer were obvious to their invisible audience. "What the hell kind of question is that? I want one because I like kids!"
"We already have one."
"Did you know," she said, laughing under her breath, "that there are people in the world that have two children? Some even have three or four."
The idea of four violet-haired babies running around forced Vegeta to take a few steps away from his wife. "I'm not having four kids."
Bulma huffed. "Listen. I've been thinking about this a long time and I decided now is the best time to tell you my plan."
Vegeta always admired Bulma's steadfast approach toward accomplishing her goals. Except when it came to sex. Knowing her, she'd spent the past few months determining the perfect conditions in order to get pregnant. Had she even nailed down the perfect time of day to corner him on this balcony? A quick glance at her chest confirmed his worst suspicions: during the few minutes they'd been away from each other the buttons on her jumpsuit had magically come undone. The pink lace of a bra peeked out from her top.
Why did she always have to play dirty? How was he expected to make a rational decision about having another child when she looked that way? And then there was the issue of Kakarot's strange behavior earlier—which of course had nothing to do with Vegeta having another child. Except maybe it did, since he was thinking about how his rival would react to such news.
This is bad. If only Vegeta had a few minutes alone to think—
"Are you interested in trying now?" Bulma leaned against the balcony railing, a playful curl to her lips. He wasn't sure how she did it, but another button on her top came undone right before his eyes.
He looked away. "Trying what now?"
"Getting pregnant."
He pointed at the ground. "Right here? This instant?"
"Yes."
Goddammit. "Fine."
Despite his qualms, seconds later he was hard and balls deep inside of his wife while they both leaned over the balcony and hung on for dear life.
Sex between them had become strange in the past year. Not that he didn't find fucking while standing up hot. But Bulma had become much more frantic to get his pants off lately, as if his dick would fall off if she didn't make good use of it often enough. A strange desperation had taken over her and Vegeta wasn't sure if he should be worried about it.
"Fuck," he grunted, increasing the speed of his pounding. He detested having his pants around his ankles. What if he needed to make a clean getaway in the middle of sex? Waddling around like a duck wasn't becoming of a Saiyan prince. A nightmarish scenario came to him where Kakarot appeared on the balcony after having forgotten something at Capsule Corp. And he'd see Vegeta banging the shit out of his wife literally minutes after their conversation and…
And then what? Kakarot would be sad? Why was that Vegeta's first assumption?
He titled his hips and thrust into Bulma's sweet spot, eliciting a mixture of giggles and moans from below. She'd be disappointed if he came a measly few minutes after going at it, but he didn't believe in premature ejaculation. Whether he came in five seconds or five minutes made no difference to him. So today, Bulma would have to be content with a quickie.
A divine wave of pleasure and fear forced a moan out of his mouth. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so anxious of an impending orgasm in his life. She was so warm and pliant against him, but a horrible screaming in the back of his mind told him to run away.
Shitshitshit. He pulled out, shoved Bulma to the ground, and relieved himself over the balcony.
"Vegeta, what the fuck!" Bulma wrapped her thin arms around her breasts. "Are you fucking serious right now?"
He clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to face the reality that he was dropping his life essence two stories above the ground. "You didn't give me time to think about it!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"The baby!" The afterglow of his orgasm mingled with his embarrassment. Immediately he pulled his pants back up around his waist. "You can't just walk up to me with your tits out like that and expect me to make life-changing decisions at the drop of a hat!"
Bulma pulled her jumpsuit back up past her waist. "You're a real bastard!" She leaned over the balcony, her top still exposed. "Oh my God, Vegeta. What if there were people down there?"
"You're the one who likes doing it outside so much!"
"Just—ugh. Just go." Bulma struggled to slide her arms back through the sleeves of her suit. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you being silly right now. Maybe after dinner we can talk again."
Blushing, Vegeta checked his armor to make sure he wasn't exposed anywhere embarrassing. "I'm having dinner with Kakarot."
She froze. "Alone?"
He wasn't sure what the best answer was. "Yes?"
"Oh." She raised her brow. "That's…weird."
"He's the one who asked me." As if that fact made it less odd.
"Huh." Bulma buttoned up her top. "Alright. I'll see you later, then."
"Right."
It wasn't supposed to be a date. But Vegeta changed into casual clothing and even inspected himself in the mirror. The harmless act spiraled him into an anxiety attack where he questioned his motives for wanting to look pretty for the third class, a hell he escaped only after convincing himself Kakarot merely wanted to avoid the wrath of his wife. Vegeta was doing him a favor by spending extra time with him. Their rendezvous was in no way romantic. In fact, Kakarot probably didn't think about Vegeta's feelings at all in the matter.
He sat on top of the Capsule Corp roof for hours waiting for the sun to set, only realizing after the sky darkened how betrayed he'd feel if Kakarot never showed up at all.
When is this asshole going to show up? He tapped his foot against the roof. Below him somewhere his wife and child were having dinner and he felt like an absolute ass.
"Oy, Vegeta!" The familiar voice came from behind him.
Vegeta looked over his shoulder. Kakarot waved at him, grin splitting his face. Relief washed over him. "You're late."
"I am?" Kakarot chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't know we agreed on a time."
"We didn't. But you made me wait for you, which pisses me off."
Even though Kakarot had nothing to apologize for, he pressed his hands together and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Vegeta! I would have come sooner if I knew you missed me."
Vegeta huffed. "I didn't miss you. I just wanted to eat sooner." He stood and as quickly as possible sized Kakarot up. He'd changed out of his gi into casual clothes as well. "Did you go back home? I thought you were avoiding your wife."
Kakarot laughed again. A disgusting fluttering in Vegeta's stomach startled him; he wondered why the innocent laughter of the idiot had such a strong effect on him. The playful tilt of his spiky head wasn't helping matters either. "I sneaked into my bedroom to switch into some clean clothes."
Heat rose to Vegeta's face. He didn't see a need to question Kakarot any further. "Whatever. There's a place nearby we can go. Follow me."
As Vegeta crouched down and prepared to fly off into the sky, Kakarot grabbed onto his wrist. "Wait!"
How many times has he touched me today? Vegeta cursed under his breath. "What's the matter?"
"I thought—um, well, I already decided where we're going. If you don't mind."
Vegeta stared down at the large hand still hanging onto his wrist. "Okay."
Kakarot smiled. Slowly, he released each of his fingers until Vegeta's hand fell back at his side. "Great. Follow me!"
They both flew side-by-side across the city, Vegeta making sure to avoid all eye contact with his partner. Kakarot whistled and hummed during their whole journey, his boyish cheer amusing Vegeta as he fell into his own comfortable silence. Without warning, Kakarot dropped from the sky and landed on a busy street corner. Vegeta followed in suit. The people milling about were too busy with their lives to notice them landing on the sidewalk.
Vegeta followed Kakarot into a noodle house crowded with noisy people. A waiter led them to a tiny booth near the back of the restaurant. Quickly he plopped two glasses of water onto the table and promised to return soon for their order. Vegeta slid down into his seat, but Kakarot lingered beside the table with a strained look on his face.
"What's your problem? I've already wasted enough time waiting on you. Sit down."
"Um…okay." Kakarot slid down into the seat opposite of Vegeta.
The booth was cramped. Really cramped. So cramped that Vegeta had to carefully align his legs so they didn't touch Kakarot's beneath the table. He tried his best to relax into the hard wood digging into his back. "Why did you want to come here?"
"Gohan took me here once and I liked it." Kakarot flicked his hand against his glass, knocking it over. Ice skidded across the table and water dribbled into his seat. "Oops!"
"You fucking klutz." Vegeta leaned toward the napkin tray.
Kakarot chirped. "Don't worry about it! I'll just sit next to you!" He slid out from his seat and shoved himself beside Vegeta.
Vegeta opened his mouth. Surely any second now the right words to make Kakarot clean up his mess and get the fuck away from him would leap from his tongue.
"Is this okay with you?" Kakarot asked. He was laughing again, all nervous and blushing.
Does he mean sitting next to me? Or the fact we're on a date? Vegeta wasn't sure if he was okay with any of it. Especially with the way Kakarot was sidling closer to him so that their thighs were flush against each other. He knew his rival would go running back to the other side of the table if he so much as gave him the wrong look.
So what's my decision? "It's fine, Kakarot. Don't worry about it."
His rival exhaled. "Good."
When the waiter came back they both ordered udon. They didn't talk much before the food came, nor much after the piping bowls of soup were dropped onto their table.
Vegeta figured it had something to do with Kakarot's invasive pinkie finger rubbing against his own in the millimeter of space between them.
He couldn't focus on the taste of the food at all. Kakarot awkwardly picked up his noodles with his left hand and slurped them down his gullet. The fingers on his right hand continued to test how far they could travel across Vegeta's shaking knuckles. Terror kept Vegeta frozen to the spot. He prayed he didn't run out of food before his rival was done caressing him.
After what felt like an eternity, Kakarot finally laced their fingers together. Vegeta clenched his hand tighter with his rival, unsure of what any of this meant or how he was supposed to react or—
The waiter appeared at the table again. "Here's your check. You can pay at the front. Thank you!" He skittered off to another table full of screaming people.
"Oh!" Kakarot picked up the bill with the hand not lovingly stroking Vegeta's palm. "I'll pay for it!"
Vegeta wasn't the type to reject a free meal. "Alright."
With his bowl empty, Kakarot lost his only excuse to avoid looking at Vegeta. He coughed. "How do you feel about this place?"
Luckily for Vegeta he'd left a few strategically placed noodles in his bowl to occupy his attention for such a scenario. He shoved it through the broth with his chopsticks. "The service is terrible."
"Yeah. It's always busy here."
"But the food is good. Thank you." He held his breath and squeezed Kakarot's hand harder.
"I'm glad you liked it." Out of the corner of his eye Vegeta watched him bite his lip. "Want to go walk it off in the park nearby?"
"Sure." Figuring their hand-holding time was up, he slipped his hand away.
A strange yelp came from the man beside him. "Alright. I'll go pay and then we can leave."
Once they returned to the outside world, Vegeta absolutely could not look Kakarot in the eye. The farther they walked down the crowded sidewalk toward the park across the street, the more disoriented he became. They had held hands. Like a couple. Had Kakarot intended it to be romantic? Surely he did. He wasn't bright at all, but was he so stupid to think you only held hands with someone you're only friends with?
The quiet of the park helped soothe his nerves. Kakarot was still silent beside him. But at least they weren't touching each other.
"Do you want to sit over there?" Kakarot asked. They were the first words he'd spoken since leaving the restaurant. He pointed to a small bench beneath the shade of a tree.
It was definitely an intimate spot out of the way of any onlookers walking around them. Vegeta wondered if he was being trapped. "I thought you wanted to walk."
Kakarot frowned. "Oh. We can do that instead if you want. I just wanted to relax a little."
That made sense. That's what benches were made for. Relaxing on. "Whatever. I'll sit with you."
Vegeta hated that he felt like a teenage girl getting preyed on by a suitor, but the lopsided-grin on Kakarot's face wasn't helping him feel otherwise. They sat down on the bench and Vegeta stared straight ahead at all the other people in the park who weren't currently clutching their chest in anticipation of a heart attack.
Why isn't he saying anything at all? Vegeta tried his best to regain his normal aloof attitude toward the fool. He crossed his arms. "What time do you want to meet up tomorrow morning?"
"I don't know. Seven or eight sounds fine." The finality in Kakarot's voice told Vegeta this line of conversation was going nowhere.
"Are you happy you had dinner with me instead of your wife?" Vegeta mentally slapped himself. The words came out sounding all wrong.
"Definitely." Kakarot stretched his arm around him, this time lightly grabbing onto Vegeta's shoulder and massaging the muscle there. "Do you feel the same way as me?"
Oh fuck. The husky tone Kakarot used to ask his question sent Vegeta's mind into a whirlwind. The way he was looking at him and touching him was not platonic at all. How was he supposed to respond? "Either way would have been fine with me."
Wrong answer. Kakarot pursed his lips. "Oh."
"Don't be like that. I'm not saying I dislike spending time with you." Vegeta blew out a puff of air. He wished the chill of the park would cool him down more. "You're not as annoying to be around as I used to think."
"I would hope so after we lived together with Beerus and Whis for so long." Kakarot licked his lips. "Do you think I'll annoy you for the next three years?"
"That would be impossible."
"Heh." Kakarot pulled Vegeta even closer to him. "How late should we stay out tonight?"
Vegeta grimaced. "What do you mean? You want to do something else?"
"If you want to, then sure."
Vegeta wiped his forehead. "I should head back home soon. We have to wake up early."
Kakarot nodded, then looked away without another word. Vegeta didn't know if the gesture signaled the end of…whatever it was they were doing. The sense he was missing an important opportunity made Vegeta's chest tighten and his stomach churn. With utmost caution he leaned his head against the broad chest next to him.
A soft murmur came from Kakarot's mouth. He purred and rested his head against Vegeta's. Lips slightly parted, Vegeta counted the number of times his heart skipped a beat and wondered if he was dying.
This was wrong. He wasn't sure he even wanted this. They'd never been this close before, Kakarot's gentle breath against his forehead, and Vegeta cuddled beside him like a lover. If Bulma had seen him like this she'd lose her shit. Which was a good enough reason to end the physical contact.
But he couldn't pull himself away. Kakarot had awaken some long lost sense of tenderness within him.
Kakarot shuddered. Suddenly he leapt from the bench, sending Vegeta falling to his side on the wooden seat. "Ah, Vegeta. I gotta go!"
Vegeta pulled himself upright again and rubbed his sore hip. "What? Why?"
Kakarot turned his back on him. "Something…just came up. Uh, I gotta see Chi-Chi right now."
Vegeta's stomach dropped. "Okay?"
"I'll see you tomorrow. Meet me at the Lookout." Goku quickly peeked over his shoulder. "See ya!" He pressed his hands to his forehead and disappeared.
Vegeta rubbed his thumb against his temple to quell the pressure building there. Had the whole night just been a flight of fancy and the dolt suddenly realized how pissed his wife would be for coming home late? He groaned. "Moron."
