As the sun peeked through the curtains covering the windows, it cast a ray of light onto Bulma's face. She frowned, rolling over and pulling her pillow over her eyes. Just as she was beginning to get comfortable again, she was startled by a loud beeping noise next to her head. It was 6am, and it was time to get up. Bulma groaned as she fumbled her hand towards the alarm, searching for the snooze button. Instead she accidentally nudged the volume dial, making the loud beeps more relatable to car horns.
"Waaah!" she shrieked as she leapt up in surprise. She was not prepared for this. Instead of lying comfortably in her large fluffy bed, Bulma was now kneeling in it, her blankets splayed across the ground, and her alarm hanging off the bedside table by the power cord.
Looks like it's going to be one of those days.
As she got up to prepare herself for the new day, she pulled out the top drawer in her closet and inspected what to wear. She decided that although the day would be a little chilly, she would be inside the regulated temperature of her lab, so she picked out a bright pink dress with a big yellow bow on the waist. She tied her hair back into a ponytail, and stood back at the mirror to admire herself. She was certainly one for vibrant colours, definitely the best dressed in the lab. Thinking back to when she first invited Vegeta to stay at her place, she remembered the pink shirt she gave him. She remembered his bellows of distaste against it, "I'm a warrior, not a variety of flower!" She giggled.
We'd certainly look like a couple of cute flowers in our pink outfits.
She let that thought wash over her, giggling again knowingly of his rejection of the colour. Maybe she should suggest he wear it again; the sheer pleasure of watching him squirm aside, it would just be nice to see Vegeta in something more… human. But then again, he was nothing like one. He was a scary, mean brute, with the sense of manners and personality of a rock. He had other features that made him like a rock too…
She shook her head as she walked out of her room and downstairs, trying to change her train of thought.
Vegeta was waiting at the end of the table again, just as he usually was. His fingers had actually made five small indents on the surface where he rhythmically drummed his fingers. He grew up with people flocking to his side, bothering him with pointless questions about his wellbeing. Is he hungry, does he need something to drink, is the table decoration to his liking? Even stuck on Freiza's ship, people had respect enough to ensure that Vegeta was satisfied with everything he was presented with. Now here he sat, forming holes in a table fit for a peasant waiting, actually waiting, for the woman to take her sweet time to come down from her tower above. But that wasn't the end of it! Not only did she have the nerve to make him wait, she always made him fight for his meal. Eating should be relaxing, it should restore the body of its energy! It should not mean a ten-minute argument about why this woman, who rightfully belonged in the kitchen, should "grace" him with a prepared meal.
Footsteps. That means she was finally awake. He scowled at the doorframe, waiting for her to enter. When she did, she met his gaze and simply rolled her eyes. This didn't help the situation. He had been sitting there for nearly thirty minutes. Thirty minutes that could have been spent training.
"Morning Vegeta," Bulma said exasperatedly, "what'll it be?"
"What?" Vegeta sat up in his chair confused. He could not believe that she had just walked over to the fridge and asked him what he desired. For once the world was working his way.
"Breakfast… you know, food," came the reply in the same tone as before. Bulma put one hand on the fridge door and the other on her hip.
"I know what you meant, woman!" he barked at her, "I just wasn't expecting that you had finally come to your senses and submitted to my will." He smirked.
"Don't you start, I plan on having a good day today."
"What is that supposed to mean? That serving me isn't on your list of things you yearn to do?" his tone baiting her.
"That's right," she said, taking her hand off the fridge door.
"I thought you were having fun watching me day and night," he crossed his arms against his chest and leaned back into the chair, the smirk still very clear on his face.
"You hurt yourself very badly! You could have killed yourself-" she began, but was stopped by Vegeta's deep laugh.
"Nonsense! What do you take me for? I am nothing like your weak species."
"Yeah, well my 'weak species' is the reason why you recovered so damned quickly!" Bulma's voice was rising very hot very fast. "My species is the reason why you hurt yourself in the first place… if it wasn't for my dad, you wouldn't have anything to even train in!"
"So you admit it then."
Bulma stopped and looked confused. "Admit what?"
"It was your fault that infernal machine exploded." He had caught her.
"You are so… so…" she began.
"Lost for words? Is your heart that filled with guilt?" Vegeta laughed again at the anguish upon her face. "I can tell that you wanted me tied down so you could get close enough to gaze upon my visage." She was about to go off.
"You know that's not what I meant. Why do you always have to be so difficult?" Bulma was trying hard to keep her composure. "Here I am, trying to stop all this nonsense by just making your food so I can get out of here and do what I want to do, and you just egg me on! Is this just a game to you?"
"It most certainly is. And that is a good idea: eggs! With bacon," Vegeta's voice was calm and collected compared to Bulma's.
"What?"
"You know… food."
"OH, GET IT YOURSELF!" And with that she stormed away.
Before she left audible range, he thought he heard the woman mumbling something about a rock. Humans were so strange.
Vegeta felt a sense of accomplishment, but then realised that she would not be back to prepare him food. Now he would have to wait for someone else to wake up. Being a Saturday, it seemed that he would be waiting many hours. But it was worth it, and he decided he could take a small break. His chest still ached underneath his training uniform. Maybe another shower would help.
Rrrrring! Rrrrring!
The telephone began to sound just as the clock struck 9am. Bulma was working away at a project when she looked up, startled, for the source of the noise. Working her way through her mess of papers, she uncovered the phone, but only as it had just stopped ringing. The answering machine had already gone off, so she let it play as she went back to work:
"Hi! You've reached Bulma Briefs, genius extraordinaire! Leave me a message!"
BEEP
"Oh, hi Babe. I was just hoping you'd be arou-"
It was Yamcha! She leapt for the phone. She managed to snatch it up in her good hand, but bumped her bandaged one on the side of the desk as she did so.
"Ouch!" she muttered as her mouth reached the mouthpiece.
"Ouch?" Yamcha stopped mid-sentence, questioning this sound that he thought came from the machine.
"Oh sorry Yamcha, I hit my hand on the desk," Bulma apologised. "Anyway, what's up? What are you doing calling me so early in the morning? Aren't you usually still sleeping at this time?"
"Hey Bulma!" Yamcha soon realised she had picked up, "I thought you weren't there. I just wanted to call to see how you're doing."
"I'm alright, just doing my usual thing," she replied.
"Oh, stuck in that dusty ol' lab again?" Yamcha joked.
"Hey! It's not dusty. In fact, its much cleaner than your place, if I correctly recall."
"Okay, okay, fair enough."
Bulma could tell he was probably standing in his apartment, surrounded by the sort of mess bachelors are used to. She couldn't understand why he had moved out of her house in the first place. There was plenty of room, and he'd still stayed there back when they were sorting out issues when they were younger.
It must come with the territory of being a guy.
"So anyway," Yamcha said, cutting into her thoughts, "I was wondering if you wanted to get away from that lab of yours and come spend a day on the town with me."
Bulma smiled. She hadn't been expecting this at all; her plans were to just stay in here till she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
"Of course! I'd love to," she beamed.
"Great. I was hoping you would. I'll pick you up in an hour."
"Mmhm, I'll see you soon!"
Bulma set the phone down with a click. She was so glad that even though Yamcha was supposed to be training, he still wanted to spend some time with her; he really cared about her.
Bulma ran up to her room, and tried to improve her appearance to look bright and ready for a good time. She had already spent two and a half hours that morning in the lab and her hair was on its way to dishevelled . She never wore makeup when she didn't plan on being seen, and suddenly an hour seemed like a very short amount of time. She set to work at trying to brush her hair into something nice, and then put on her face. It had warmed up substantially since earlier in the morning, so she decided to keep the dress. By the time she was ready, she heard the door ring.
Perfect timing.
She thought to herself, as she skipped out of her room.
Ding dong!
"Would someone stop that blasted noise!"
The doorbell was getting on Vegeta's nerves. Well, everything was at present. The clock was ticking too loud, the room smelt funny, and it was stuffy inside. The perfect start to a morning. It didn't help that Bunny and Dr Briefs had only just come down from their room for breakfast. They had kept Vegeta waiting oh so very long.
"Oh, Vegeta! Good morning!" Bunny smiled at him sweetly. "How did you sleep dear?"
"Ah, I slept rather well! Though, the pillow I used was a little furry. That was until I realised that I was sleeping on Scratch! My goodness he gave me quite a fright. Didn't you, kitty?" Dr Briefs patted the cat that was sitting on his shoulder. He looked slightly agitated, his fur a mess.
"Aw, come on Scratch. You know I didn't mean it," Dr Briefs tried to reason with the cat. "Let me make it up to you. I know! I'll take you out for ice-cream!"
The cat's eyes widened and he let out a happy meow as he was patted again.
"Oh, my you are so funny," giggled Bunny. "I meant to ask Vegeta how he slept!"
"Oh, sorry," Dr Briefs let out a cheesy smile.
"So… Vegeta?" Bunny turned back to the Saiyan who was drumming impatiently at the table.
"What?" he snapped.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"That is none of your business! Do you know how long I have been waiting!" His voice began to rise.
"For what, dear?"
Ding dong!
"Oh, the door! I wonder how long that has been ringing. I should go see who it is," and with that, Bunny walked over to answer the door.
"Argh!" Vegeta let out an angry groan. What is with these humans? One is a complete idiot, and the other talks to a blasted cat! He didn't even want to begin with what was wrong with the other woman. Speak of the devil.
Bulma came skipping from down the hall, and then broke into a run to the door. She stopped just as she noticed Bunny speaking to Yamcha, and tried to straighten up her hair. Why was everyone flocking over that guy, when Vegeta was clearly trying to get some attention? He was hungry, and quickly growing furious towards these imbeciles.
"So, er, Vegeta. I was wondering-" Dr Briefs began, before he was cut off.
"WHAT?" Vegeta screamed. The force coming from his voice startled everyone, and managed to knock over the vase in the middle of the table without being touched. Bulma, Bunny and Yamcha stared in from the hall, and Dr Briefs looked as though he might need a change of pants.
"Er… um… never mind." He managed to blurt out. He was frozen stiff in his position in the kitchen. Scratch had fallen off his shoulder and was hanging by his claws to the doctor's back.
"Why do I even bother with you fools?" Vegeta said exasperatedly. He then stood up, knocking his chair backwards on the ground at the same time as shoving the table forward a few inches, and stormed out of the room.
Why had he just spent all that time waiting for those humans? It was obvious that they lacked any intelligence whatsoever to be able to see that he required something. He decided that he wouldn't put up with their nonsense for any longer, even if that meant skipping a meal. He was hungry, but that just meant that the training would be harder on his body. He didn't mind the idea, once he thought of it in that sense. He wasn't raised to care about such trivial things anyway. That was the responsibility of those inferior to him.
Vegeta made his way to the capsule ship and entered it. He pulled a fresh fighting suit out of the storage cabinet and replaced his earth clothes with this. It felt comfortably snug, and made him feel better knowing he would be practising his fighting. A sound of laughter from inside the house crept its way into his auditory range. He frowned, as he closed the capsule door and clicked on the power. As the gravity machine charged up, he let the beautiful sound of something doing what it's supposed to envelop him. He was always enthralled by the sound of the engines straining to reach 400g.
End Chapter 2