Envy. Jealous. Bitterness. Resentment.
Looking at his brother, he would always find himself thinking those words. Why was he the one stuck being weak? Vegeta was the perfect son, the child that both of their parents always wanted. So why did they even bother bringing him into this world?
He often sat by himself, watching the clock, wondering how long he each day would last of his miserable life.
No matter what he did or tried Vegeta would be better. So why even try? His brother was perfect. So much so that he often wondered why he was even born a Saiyan.
He had no ill will against anyone, for the most part. Vegeta seemed to step on whoever he pleased, but he could do that, he was strong after all.
Day after day, night after night, he wondered why he had been cursed like this. Why he was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch his brother take every glory for himself.
It wasn't fair, why should he be made to suffer like this? A Saiyan should be strong and full of pride, but had none of that. How could he be prideful if he had no pride to begin with?
Every once and a while they would run into each other in the halls of the palace, but they never spoke. What could he possibly say to his brother anyway? To him he was probably equal or less than an ant. There was no way that Vegeta would ever spend any of his time talking to him, let alone being seen with him.
So he didn't even look up his brother's face, he didn't want to be burned by his gaze. He already knew he was hated, there was no reason to even try.
"What is your problem?" Vegeta asked one day, much to his confusion.
He backed away, not responding. Keeping his eyes on the ground.
"You know you're supposed to look at me when I speak." He could hear the anger already in his brother's voice.
Complete and utter sadness seemed to take over. If only he could be a brother that the other could be proud of, but that wasn't the case. It would never be the case.
"Tarble look at me dammit!" His brother had had enough as he tried to push his face up.
He put up no resistance, allowing his brother to look at his shameful display. He couldn't help the barrage of tears that began to fall from his eyes.
Vegeta glared at him. "A Saiyan doesn't cry. You sicken me."
He cringed as he was pushed away. The words cut like a knife, but what did he expect? "I'm sorry." He looked back down at the floor, he just wanted to disappear.
Vegeta growled. "What did you say?"
He felt himself growl. "Is that not good enough? Of course it's not." He mumbled under his breath.
Vegeta forcefully pushed him against the wall, growling in his face. "You fool, what about your pride as a Saiyan?!"
"What pride? What do I have to be proud of? I'm not you!" He snapped, finally looking up at his brother, only to find the other in shock.
"You're a member of the royal family, of course you have pride." His brother said confusing him.
He shook his head. "What would be the point? My title means nothing anyway!"
Again Vegeta just stared at him, like he was trying to read him. "You think our titles are nothing."
He growled, trying to pull himself away from the other. "Not your title, my title. I don't deserve to be a prince, so let me go before you get your hands dirty. Wouldn't want to get caught touching something as filthy as me."
With that Vegeta let go of him, but for some reason he looked like he had been stung. "Is that what you really think of me? Of yourself?"
He couldn't help himself as he glared at his older brother. "Why wouldn't I?" And with that he ran off, glad to finally be away from the last person he wanted to see.
Sitting in his room, he was waiting to be punished, but nothing happened, no one came.
He rolled his eyes. Like he should expect anything different. Vegeta wouldn't care about his outburst. He was probably laughing about how pathetic he was. He cringed slightly, but tried to push that thought to the back of his mind.
A knock came rapping on the door and he rolled over and glared at it. Who the hell would be out there wanting him? He choose to ignore it.
"TARBLE OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!" He jumped as Vegeta yelled at the door.
Slowly he stood up, fearful of his brother's rage. He guessed that he should apologize for being out of line earlier.
As he cracked the door open, his brother pushed himself in, but said nothing as he glanced around the room. His room wasn't as spectacular as Vegeta's was but he wasn't complaining. It could be worse.
Vegeta sat on the side of the bed, as his eyes went wide. "Do you really sleep on this piece of junk?"
There were about a hundred different remarks that he wished to make, but he held his tongue and nodded.
His brother shifted on the bed as if particularly annoyed. "And you put up with this?" He nodded again, but it seemed that wasn't what Vegeta wanted as a response. "You can speak, you know."
He left out a huff. "It's not like they would listen anyway. Besides, I'm used to it."
Vegeta growled. "You're a prince, they have to listen to you."
He shook his head. "No, unlike you, I just live here."
Again his brother looked at him as if he had stung him. "I'll talk to father and get this fixed."
He shook his head violently. "The last thing I want is your pity."
With that Vegeta's frown became a smirk. "So you have some pride after all."
What was that? A look of approval? That couldn't be right. "Look, what are you really here for? Because if all you want to do is make fun of me, then just live. Life already does that enough as it is."
He expected the smirk to fall from his brother's face but instead it grew. "For someone without a power level, you have a lot more bite than most."
He knew he was stepping on some toes, but all of his anger over the last 5 years of his life just started oozing out of him. "You would be bitter too if you were ignored like I am. Not that you would ever understand that."
"You hate me then?" Vegeta asked, his voice sounded as if the concept was new to him.
He growled. "Why wouldn't I hate you?! You're perfect and what am I? Just a weak little nothing that will live and die here, just as easily forgotten as trash! And you wonder if I hate you?!"
His brother's face fell as he finished up his rant. He waited for yelling, but it never came. Instead, his brother just stood from his seat and left the room. Closing the door behind him slowly.
He wondered if he had hit a nerve, not that it mattered anyway. Nothing would change and Vegeta would just ignore him from now on.
The next day, he was returning from grabbing his food from the kitchens. He was used to doing things on his own. No one needed to pay him any mind.
As he reached his room, he froze in place. All of his furniture, was being switched out. Vegeta stood in the doorway. Only giving him a small nod before turning his back and leaving.
But he found that he couldn't let him run off. "Why did you do this? Didn't I tell you that I hate you?"
His brother didn't turn back to look at him. "It doesn't matter, you're a prince. You should be living like one."
Author's Note
Tarble happens to be one of my favorite characters in Dragonball, basically because he's such a mystery. We don't know a lot about him and he seems to be Vegeta's opposite.
I do have headcanon concerning Tarble, but I figured that this wasn't the place for it and I'll be covering that it a much larger fic in the future. (It is in production, just not posted here yet.)
