A few days past that left both Vegeta and Bulma in much deeper thoughts about one another then either would have liked.
Bulma noticed for the first time just how hot Vegeta was, well maybe not for the first time, but for the first time that it mattered.
Before he had just been some mass murdering psycho villain, archenemy to her best friend, now although his attitude still lacked something to be desired, she could see the slight changes in him. It was enough to let her know that somewhere under that cold exterior lay a heart.
He had been treating her so nicely recently and even when they argued she found she didn't really mind, every encounter they had seemed strangely normal and comforting like nothing she had ever had before in her life. And yet it was similarly exciting. She never knew what he was thinking and what he was capable of sent a shiver down her spine, on so many levels that combined left her feeling breathless and exhilarated.
She sighed heavily at the thought throwing her blue pencil down on her work station, 'Great my most fulfilling relationship is with a blood lust obsessed alien who doesn't acknowledge my existence as valid!'
She continued to mull the strange idea over in her head, but yet the more she contemplated how she felt with Vegeta the giddier she felt. If anyone would have walked in at that moment they would have found her smiling.
Vegeta was continually distracted from his training by both provocative and innocent images of the blue haired human.
His focus thrown by simple flashes of her smile, her giggle, her sleeping face.
Or finding himself floored by the gravity after being bombarded by images of her with her cheeks enflamed in a way altogether different from her argumentative rage redness, although both were incredibly becoming.
Cheeks enflamed, heavenly sounds of pleasure falling from her mouth as he possessed her body in every way imaginable. Such images would always cause him to loose his concentration and oxygen and would often throw him off balance or cause him to be singed by the battle droids.
He was certain had Bulma existed in his life before he would never have completed any missions considering how much of a distraction she was.
Yet…it was nice…to have someone…something…to look forward too.
He would join her family for their little holiday traditions if only for that.
A few days later as Vegeta entered the house for his midday meal he was ambushed by an excited Bulma she was wearing a silly red and white hat.
"Come on Vegeta! It's time to decorate the tree!" She said excitedly and pulled him into the living room where the tell tale sounds of Run Run Rudolph played while Mr and Mrs Briefs opened boxes of decorations. Vegeta was feeling very awkward for a moment before his confusion was changed to awe by the sheer size and majesty of the tree that stood in the corner by the staircase. The Briefs home was infinitely larger then many of the homes he had seen on Earth and their tree matched it perfectly no less than seven feet tall but still not touching the ceiling.
"Do you like it?" Bulma asked with a giddy smile.
Vegeta had to blink to regain himself. "It is a tree…" He simply answered stating the obvious with a skeptically raised eyebrow.
Bulma heaved a playful sigh. "It is a Christmas tree and with your help we are going to make it beautiful!"
Bulma proceeded to show Vegeta the multicolored lights and silver and gold garland. Her father and her put it on which Vegeta thought to be a long and overly complicated process. For two of the world's foremost genius's it was not a becoming sight.
Their antics almost moved the hardened Prince to laughter.
When they finished Mrs. Briefs had already begun to lay out the various decorations to be hung on the tree.
"Come on Vegeta pick one!" Bulma encouraged pulling him to the table. Vegeta stared at all the ornaments on the table, most were shiny orbs and colorful birds but a few were very detailed depictions of objects and people. He reached out to one and held it up. It was a gingerbread man on a red ribbon. Bulma smiled at his choice of decoration till she turned to his face and saw the frown and raised eyebrow. She giggled as he proceeded to sniff the decoration.
"It is a stale cookie." He observed. Bulma felt herself twitch at his oblivion and her suppressed laughter.
"Yess…" She answered picking up a blue orb and grabbing his arm dragging him to the tree. "But gingerbread men are symbolically important to this holiday." As she placed the orb and motioned for him to do likewise she turned back to the table and picked up two more ornaments. "As are the snowman and the reindeer." She said holding up the two ornaments before handing him the reindeer.
As they continued to decorate the tree Vegeta found himself the most intrigued by a few porcelain ornaments. One was of two doves twining a ribbon together into the shape of a heart and the other was a pair of little shoes tied together with a bow. He was interested in them because they were explained to be milestones of the Brief's lives. The doves represented the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Briefs and the shoes were Bulma's first ornament given to her on the occasion of the first Christmas following her birth.
The sentiment behind such knick knacks was a foreign concept to Vegeta. Ever since the destruction of his home he had never known anyone to give a damn about let alone any achievements or milestones he ever reached. Birthdays passed unnoticed, plateaus reached in strength and power never mattered to anyone but him.
What it must be like to have someone rejoice and celebrate such achievements; Vegeta had long forgotten. He took it all in, the way Mr. and Mrs. Briefs smiled at each other as they watched Bulma a gorgeous smile on her face and they all laughed as she tried futilely to reach a branch above her head. Vegeta felt like it was all a dream. Then the blue haired angel, the star of his every dream turned to smile at him and spoke inviting him to be a part of what he could barely grasp. "Vegeta could you give me a hand?"
Vegeta nodded before striding over to Bulma and lifting her into his arms easily. Bulma knew well how strong he was but the feel of his muscles against her back and legs as he lifted her effortlessly to reach the higher branch was a pleasant surprise. Vegeta was equally affected by the feel of her curves in his arms. He blushed and Bulma just smiled wider to hide her obvious appreciation of all Vegeta's assets.
Doctor Briefs broke the moment of suppressed arousal by chiming in, "Dear, don't forget the star." Bulma looked at her father as he held out a silver star for the top of the tree. She slipped out of Vegeta's arms to retrieve the star. Vegeta's whole body felt her absence and his fingers itched to hold onto her. After taking the star Bulma turned back to Vegeta her gorgeous smile still in place. "Vegeta would you do the honor?"
Vegeta blinked, more rapidly then usual. Bulma motioned to the top of the tree, "Someone has to put the star on top of the tree. It's a great honor." Her smile softened, but the honesty in her tone was unmistakable. Her eyes sparkled pleadingly and although Vegeta's warrior mentality inwardly cringed at his behavior he took the star from her and floated to the top before placing the star on.
He floated back down and Bulma was instantly at his side. Her revelations in the lab had led her to want to be nearer to Vegeta to reassure him that he was not alone and that her care for him was real. She held his arm tightly and whispered. "Watch this." Vegeta stared at the tree trying to figure out what the woman meant when Dr. Briefs flipped a switch and the entire thing lit up. Vegeta's chest expanded in what would have been any normal person's gasp.
The light emanating from the tree bounced off the shiny ornaments and illuminated the room giving it an ethereal glow. Vegeta was astounded by the sight, it reminded him of the legendary. This tree once little more than one in a sea of a hundred other similar green shades was now the grandest sight he was sure he had ever beheld. It made his once cold heart swell, with something, something Bulma had said was a characteristic of this seasonal celebration…hope…
It must have been hope for although he had never felt it he could only assume since this emotion was not confidence, pride, or superiority the three best emotions he could remember from his years spent under Frieza. Bulma had stirred so many new and long forgotten emotions within it was becoming exhausting. After staring for what seemed like hours to him but was only a minute or two he allowed himself to sit back on the couch eyes still mesmerized by the tree.
Bulma too could not remove her eyes from the tree and flopped down next to Vegeta while her parents continued putting up the last of the decorations around the room.
They both just stared for a while before Bulma turned her eyes on Vegeta who sat with a look she could only call dumbfounded on his face. She smirked and looked down making patterns in the couch 'nonchalantly'. "It's beautiful isn't it?"
Vegeta's eyes immediately snapped to her face and he spoke softly almost afraid to break the spell. "Yes."
Bulma was inwardly shocked by Vegeta's first straight affirmative answer to one of her questions. She knew inviting him to decorate the tree had been a good idea.
"I'm glad you joined us today Vegeta." She whispered softly so only he could hear but her smile was radiant enough for anyone to see.
Vegeta was now fully taking in Bulma's appearance. His eyes had been glued to her face most of the day so enchanted by her smile was he but now he found appreciation in her form as well. Her deadly curves were hugged by tight denim jeans and a tight long sleeve red spandex shirt that matched her hat. This sight alone prompted his thoughts to agree with her assessment and before he knew it he was speaking his agreement as well.
"I…" He stopped himself before he could finish, admitting his feelings was not something a warrior did ever, admitting to an emotion was courting weakness and downfall he refused to do it no matter how much Bulma's smile disarmed him.
He turned his head to find a distraction unfortunately he found one... "I was just wondering what in this galaxy your parents are doing?"
Vegeta had turned his head only to see Dr. and Mrs. Briefs kissing, not a chaste kiss on the cheek as he had seen before but a display that caused bile to rise in his throat.
Bulma chuckled lightly as she caught sight of what he was seeing and taking pity on his eyes she redirected his attention to the ceiling. "Oh! See that?" She nodded to the greenery hanging in the door frame.
Vegeta nodded.
"That's mistletoe holiday tradition dictates that couples standing under the mistletoe have to kiss."
"Have you and your mate done such things?" Vegeta asked turning a little 'green' at the thought of such a beautiful creature sharing her companionship with that jagged face weakling.
"My mate?" She asked confused. After staring at Vegeta's hardened expression she realized who he was talking about. "Ohhh! Yamcha no, he's definitely not my mate. He's not my boyfriend anymore either, I can barely tolerate him as a friend I don't see that often."
Vegeta felt the urge to smirk at her confession and almost did if she hadn't continued speaking. "Besides the two standing underneath the mistletoe don't have to be mates, they could be complete strangers they would still be bound to a kiss." She said slyly.
"Is it some sort of spell?" He questioned.
"Sort of." Her sly smile remaining in place, thinking of how it would not be so bad to get Vegeta under the mistletoe. Before her thoughts could progress further her mother chimed in reminding Bulma of their scheduled Christmas shopping outing that afternoon.
"Are you ready dear? Time's a wasting."
"Coming mom. See you later Vegeta. Don't worry we left you boys some stuff in the fridge." Faster then Vegeta could even process how they did it they were gone and he was left confused.
"Off to Christmas shop those two." Dr. Briefs chimed in, answering Vegeta's unasked question.
"Shopping for what?" Vegeta asked temporarily forgetting with the Briefs' women it was usual a stupid idea to ask why.
"For Christmas presents of course. For me, for my wife's brother and his family, for Earth's special forces, for you as well I imagine."
Vegeta remembered Bulma mentioning getting him a gift but he had never got one and couldn't for the life of him imagine why. "What could the woman possibly get me?" He questioned hoping the old man had some wisdom to impart on the foreign matter.
"What women get men I suppose, clothes, watches, books. Whatever strikes your fancy I suppose. That reminds me. With you around I will have someone to shop with myself though I detest the activity." He said with a gruff look.
Vegeta sneered at the idea of spending time in public with Bulma's absent minded father. But before he could outright reject the idea it dawned on him perhaps he did need to give the woman a gift. If she cared about him enough to get him a gift then maybe getting her a gift would be sufficient to show his feelings and hopefully end them.
"What do we buy them?" He asked. Never had he felt the need to converse with Bulma's father so much before outside of demanding GR repairs but from one man to another he had to know something.
"Like I said before, it depends on their preference. Some women like clothes, others jewelry. It also depends on who's giving it, a gift from a parent is very different from a gift from…someone else. The Dr. raised a cryptic eyebrow before leaving the room.
Vegeta sat back on the couch. All this complex thought and emotion had left him drained as though he had just trained at 500 times gravity for a week straight. He wanted to sleep but his mind wouldn't stop racing, he decided he would train to take his mind off of everything…
His training would prove futile since he was so distracted he forgot that he had not eaten which was what he had originally entered the house for.
More to follow.
