Complications: Of Imprints and Bondage
By Ice Queen
Disclaimer: I don't... aw hell, you've got the picture.
It was strained the next few days, Bulma feeling that Vegeta had mistreated her trust, Vegeta feeling her attitude was a good excuse to focus more on training.
He shoved up, one finger on the ground holding his weight at 500 times gravity. There was sweat dropping on the floor and a long stream of curses in millions of different languages, but there was something bothering him. You could tell by the way his cursing wasn't nearly as creative as usual.
"Blach ech int franee..." Mother licking dog turd... (But that's the clean version of what he was trying to conveyO.o) Not that anyone would understand... He had killed the only planet that spoke it. He grunted, dropping to the floor when he heard music being piped in through the speakers.
"ONNA!!!" He bellowed, turning off the GR and storming out the door. "Just WHAT in the hell do you think you're doing? How can I concentrate with that... *CENSORED* playing in the background?" He stared down at her, regardless to the fact they were eye to eye. She grinned, dancing to the music she had started piping in.
"Oh relax Vegeta, it isn't as though music is going to kill you! Besides, it's been quiet as a grave around here lately. I thought I would liven it up!" He blinked, hearing a strangely rapid beat from her chest, and the glimmer of tears in her big blue eyes. But she was still smiling, daring him to comment.
He grunted, using a small burst of ki to blow up the stereo and walking back to the GR. "Oh no you don't! Vegeta!! Get back here! You just blew up my stereo!"
He turned, smirking at her slightly. "Onna, I have training to do, and you're bothering me with your petty concerns. Either tell me who I need to kill or leave me be, but whatever you do, NEVER play boyband music around me again!" She blinked, then choked, then began laughing until tears fell from her eyes.
Silently Vegeta watched her, realizing by her unsteady heartbeat that the tears were not completely from laughter. He just didn't expect her to throw herself into his arms. Which she did, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around his waist as though never planning to let go.
Vegeta stiffened, his arms out slightly one unconsciously moving to wrap around the sobbing form. It hesitated, then dropped, and he stood there, allowing her to finish crying, albeit reluctantly. "I... just..." She sobbed, unable to get a complete sentence out.
The people milling around the place stared in shock at the sight of the Boss's daughter holding for dear life to the man who gave them nightmares on a regular basis. Vegeta glared at them, scooping Bulma up and flying away, if for nothing but to save his own reputation.
They landed somewhere in the woods, by a small waterfall most would recognize from Goku's fishing trips. She sobbed, barely even noticing the changes of locales. "Three years... Just... three years... and you... the boy said... you... and Son... and... I just can't handle it. And we were fighting... and I just... Just..."
He silenced her by brushing a hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. She scowled, blushing slightly. "I guess my entire life's been like that, huh? I must really seem to be a big baby to you. I mean... I went through this same thing when waiting for you to come to earth."
"Onna. I'm not going to die." He stated firmly, ignoring her blabber and getting to the heart of the problem. "You're ex-mate might, but I'm not going to. There's no way in hell I'm going to be taken out by a tin can." He smirked. "But it's understandable that you're worried."
"What?! I AM NOT worried about an egotistical jerk like-" She stopped as he leaned forward, shutting her mouth with what the humans called a kiss. A few minutes later she sighed. "... you... Um... What were we talking about again?"
His lips trailed down, stopping over the beat at the bottom of her throat. He licked the spot, his teeth rasping over it making a shudder trace over her spine. Bulma jerked back, her eyes wide in something akin to shock. "Ve-Vegeta? What are you... well, I mean I know what... but... why?"
He shoved away, turning away from her and leaning slightly against a nearby tree despite himself. "Run, Onna. Run now, and I might be able to... Just go."
"I will NOT! I'm not scared of you Vegeta, and no matter what you say I'm not going to... ah.... um..." She stopped as he turned on her, a strange look in his eyes. Wild yet cunning, filled with an emotion she couldn't quite decipher.
"Leave. Or else you'll find yourself bonded to me. Whether you want it or not." He took a step forward, unconsciously smiling as her heartbeat quickened. "Damn... I should have known I would imprint..." He shook his head, his almost canine smile still dancing on the edges.
Bulma stepped back. "Imprint? Like birds?"
"No, Onna. Like Saiyans. At a certain age..." He stepped closer. "We imprint on a potential mate..." closer. "And only death or early separation can keep..." Closer. "Us from following through. Just like on Namek."
"Wha-what?" She stepped back again as her mind began clicking. "You're saying... this... has been building up since Namek?" He nodded, his hand trailing over her neck, his head bowing down to meet the place where her neck and chest collided. "Vegeta... I'm sorry."
He stopped, confused, until he felt her knee slamming into parts that shouldn't be slammed into. Not even Saiyans are tough enough to handle that without forewarning. He dropped to his knees, groaning. "I need some time to think." She called over her shoulder as she raced away.
He would have appreciated her worthiness, had he not been cursing her forefathers... several generations of them. "And... I suppose that death doesn't work afterall." He finally spoke, after some of the pain had dulled.
***********************
She was hunched over a microscope, focusing completely on the small blood sample that she had. There had to be some sort of way to either stop this imprinting thing, or just slow it down enough that he could handle it.
The door came open, making her jerk with an almost guilty look as her father walked in. "Oh, hi dad." She stated, torn between gratitude and a strange feeling of disappointment. "I'm just looking at some samples."
"That's nice, honey. Speaking of samples... there was something that I was supposed to do... what was it now? Something about a towel... Vegeta gave it to me, but you know how busy I've been lately, things just go in one ear and out the other!"
"Vegeta... gave you a towel?" Bulma asked, thinking this over slowly. "When exactly did he do this?"
"Oh well, it must have been almost a week ago. It was before I went out of town, I remember because I was wearing my-" He stopped, finding the room empty. "And I had a really funny joke planned, too." He pouted, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up. "Oh well, Bunny will enjoy it."
***********************
Vegeta was back in the GR, not quite sure he could trust himself around the Onna at the moment. He grunted as the screen came up and her face appeared. "What is it this time, Onna? I thought I said not to bother me."
"I... Um... well, dad told me what you did, about the pool, you know? And I just wanted to say... well..." She stopped, looking slightly flustered. Vegeta smirked, motioning for her to go on. He really couldn't care what the old bat had told her, but it was too enjoyable watching her suffer. "I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"Of course not, Onna." He smirked. "It's nice to see you realize how superior I am."
She gave him a dirty look, deciding to leave that last comment untouched. "Umm... Vegeta? About that... bonding thing..."
He raised one eyebrow, a slight smile at the corner of his lips. "Don't tell me you've decided to jump me just because your father's a bakayaro."
"I DID NOT! I just need to know all that's involved here, to help with my research, okay?" She was flustered, and he could hear her heartbeat speed up even through the hum of the GR. "For your information I'm trying to figure out how to stop it!"
Vegeta flinched, it was small, but she noticed it after having watched him for the last year. He smirked, covering his action quickly enough that she thought she might have imagined it. "Of course, Onna. The bond isn't something we questioned on Vegetasei, but if we were bonded you would have never looked twice at that weakling."
"So... It's more than just an agreement, right? Why hasn't Goku- Or has he? Chichi, right?"
"You're catching on, Onna. Kakkoratt and that harpy onna must have bonded earlier than usual. You can almost smell it when they're in the same room." He looked disgusted, as though the idea of bonding with either of the two sat wrong on his cast iron stomach.
"It's kind of hard to imagine Son-kun... well, anyways. You said something about separation, so it's physical, since there has to be contact, right?" She started taking down notes, talking to herself.
"Sure Onna. Now leave me be!" She looked up, blinked, then flushed as she slammed off the console. He stood there for a moment, not doing anything, then returned to his training, even more viciously than before.
*********************
Vegeta didn't see Bulma for days after that, the sound of her heartbeat steady as she spent hour after hour researching his blood and chemical makeup. It would have been flattering if she weren't trying so hard to get rid of him. As it stood, he showed no emotion, merely avoiding her as she did him.
He even went to her father to fix his droids, rather then risking running into her. It was a thin line that he walked. Very thin, indeed. But the day wasn't the worst time... it held no candle to the nights.
Mainly he trained, deep into the early hours of the morning, yet he had to sleep sometime, giving his body the chance to catch up with the damage he had dealt. And supposedly his mind a chance to relax... But he couldn't. At night the house was silent, a few rustles from the menagerie, and the steady thumping of the Onna's heart.
She was always the Onna... never the blue-haired onna, or anything but the Onna. He wondered if she realized that. Any other female came with a pronoun, her mother, Kakkoratt's mate, they weren't 'woman' to him... there was only one real Onna. And she was trying to get rid of him.
He smirked into the darkness. He should be used to it by now. Several million planets had wanted nothing better than to get rid of him. But this time was different. She didn't want to kill him, she just wanted to get him out of the way. Probably so she could go chase more weaklings like the one she had just gotten rid of.
He grunted, forcing his mind clear as he had when he was young, and falling into sleep.
********************
Bulma couldn't sleep, the words and actions of the cold prince creeping under her skin constantly. She hadn't meant to hurt him, if she actually had, that is. There was just something about him being forced, whether by nature or not, into wanting her.
It hurt. The thought that he would have never even looked at her if it weren't for a silly instinct that he hadn't even noticed until it was too late. All she really wanted was to be loved. Not imprinted or bonded, or whatever the hell he kept ranting on about. It taunted her, though... the idea that all she had to do was say yes and he would be hers. Forever.
But would he love her? Or just need her because his natural instinct was to continue his heritage? Because... she was scared to death that...
She already loved him.
**************************
TBC...
And no, I won't blackmail you for reviews, though I do appreciate them... This one's actually just for me, I thought I might share, if anyone was interested.
By Ice Queen
Disclaimer: I don't... aw hell, you've got the picture.
It was strained the next few days, Bulma feeling that Vegeta had mistreated her trust, Vegeta feeling her attitude was a good excuse to focus more on training.
He shoved up, one finger on the ground holding his weight at 500 times gravity. There was sweat dropping on the floor and a long stream of curses in millions of different languages, but there was something bothering him. You could tell by the way his cursing wasn't nearly as creative as usual.
"Blach ech int franee..." Mother licking dog turd... (But that's the clean version of what he was trying to conveyO.o) Not that anyone would understand... He had killed the only planet that spoke it. He grunted, dropping to the floor when he heard music being piped in through the speakers.
"ONNA!!!" He bellowed, turning off the GR and storming out the door. "Just WHAT in the hell do you think you're doing? How can I concentrate with that... *CENSORED* playing in the background?" He stared down at her, regardless to the fact they were eye to eye. She grinned, dancing to the music she had started piping in.
"Oh relax Vegeta, it isn't as though music is going to kill you! Besides, it's been quiet as a grave around here lately. I thought I would liven it up!" He blinked, hearing a strangely rapid beat from her chest, and the glimmer of tears in her big blue eyes. But she was still smiling, daring him to comment.
He grunted, using a small burst of ki to blow up the stereo and walking back to the GR. "Oh no you don't! Vegeta!! Get back here! You just blew up my stereo!"
He turned, smirking at her slightly. "Onna, I have training to do, and you're bothering me with your petty concerns. Either tell me who I need to kill or leave me be, but whatever you do, NEVER play boyband music around me again!" She blinked, then choked, then began laughing until tears fell from her eyes.
Silently Vegeta watched her, realizing by her unsteady heartbeat that the tears were not completely from laughter. He just didn't expect her to throw herself into his arms. Which she did, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around his waist as though never planning to let go.
Vegeta stiffened, his arms out slightly one unconsciously moving to wrap around the sobbing form. It hesitated, then dropped, and he stood there, allowing her to finish crying, albeit reluctantly. "I... just..." She sobbed, unable to get a complete sentence out.
The people milling around the place stared in shock at the sight of the Boss's daughter holding for dear life to the man who gave them nightmares on a regular basis. Vegeta glared at them, scooping Bulma up and flying away, if for nothing but to save his own reputation.
They landed somewhere in the woods, by a small waterfall most would recognize from Goku's fishing trips. She sobbed, barely even noticing the changes of locales. "Three years... Just... three years... and you... the boy said... you... and Son... and... I just can't handle it. And we were fighting... and I just... Just..."
He silenced her by brushing a hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. She scowled, blushing slightly. "I guess my entire life's been like that, huh? I must really seem to be a big baby to you. I mean... I went through this same thing when waiting for you to come to earth."
"Onna. I'm not going to die." He stated firmly, ignoring her blabber and getting to the heart of the problem. "You're ex-mate might, but I'm not going to. There's no way in hell I'm going to be taken out by a tin can." He smirked. "But it's understandable that you're worried."
"What?! I AM NOT worried about an egotistical jerk like-" She stopped as he leaned forward, shutting her mouth with what the humans called a kiss. A few minutes later she sighed. "... you... Um... What were we talking about again?"
His lips trailed down, stopping over the beat at the bottom of her throat. He licked the spot, his teeth rasping over it making a shudder trace over her spine. Bulma jerked back, her eyes wide in something akin to shock. "Ve-Vegeta? What are you... well, I mean I know what... but... why?"
He shoved away, turning away from her and leaning slightly against a nearby tree despite himself. "Run, Onna. Run now, and I might be able to... Just go."
"I will NOT! I'm not scared of you Vegeta, and no matter what you say I'm not going to... ah.... um..." She stopped as he turned on her, a strange look in his eyes. Wild yet cunning, filled with an emotion she couldn't quite decipher.
"Leave. Or else you'll find yourself bonded to me. Whether you want it or not." He took a step forward, unconsciously smiling as her heartbeat quickened. "Damn... I should have known I would imprint..." He shook his head, his almost canine smile still dancing on the edges.
Bulma stepped back. "Imprint? Like birds?"
"No, Onna. Like Saiyans. At a certain age..." He stepped closer. "We imprint on a potential mate..." closer. "And only death or early separation can keep..." Closer. "Us from following through. Just like on Namek."
"Wha-what?" She stepped back again as her mind began clicking. "You're saying... this... has been building up since Namek?" He nodded, his hand trailing over her neck, his head bowing down to meet the place where her neck and chest collided. "Vegeta... I'm sorry."
He stopped, confused, until he felt her knee slamming into parts that shouldn't be slammed into. Not even Saiyans are tough enough to handle that without forewarning. He dropped to his knees, groaning. "I need some time to think." She called over her shoulder as she raced away.
He would have appreciated her worthiness, had he not been cursing her forefathers... several generations of them. "And... I suppose that death doesn't work afterall." He finally spoke, after some of the pain had dulled.
***********************
She was hunched over a microscope, focusing completely on the small blood sample that she had. There had to be some sort of way to either stop this imprinting thing, or just slow it down enough that he could handle it.
The door came open, making her jerk with an almost guilty look as her father walked in. "Oh, hi dad." She stated, torn between gratitude and a strange feeling of disappointment. "I'm just looking at some samples."
"That's nice, honey. Speaking of samples... there was something that I was supposed to do... what was it now? Something about a towel... Vegeta gave it to me, but you know how busy I've been lately, things just go in one ear and out the other!"
"Vegeta... gave you a towel?" Bulma asked, thinking this over slowly. "When exactly did he do this?"
"Oh well, it must have been almost a week ago. It was before I went out of town, I remember because I was wearing my-" He stopped, finding the room empty. "And I had a really funny joke planned, too." He pouted, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up. "Oh well, Bunny will enjoy it."
***********************
Vegeta was back in the GR, not quite sure he could trust himself around the Onna at the moment. He grunted as the screen came up and her face appeared. "What is it this time, Onna? I thought I said not to bother me."
"I... Um... well, dad told me what you did, about the pool, you know? And I just wanted to say... well..." She stopped, looking slightly flustered. Vegeta smirked, motioning for her to go on. He really couldn't care what the old bat had told her, but it was too enjoyable watching her suffer. "I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"Of course not, Onna." He smirked. "It's nice to see you realize how superior I am."
She gave him a dirty look, deciding to leave that last comment untouched. "Umm... Vegeta? About that... bonding thing..."
He raised one eyebrow, a slight smile at the corner of his lips. "Don't tell me you've decided to jump me just because your father's a bakayaro."
"I DID NOT! I just need to know all that's involved here, to help with my research, okay?" She was flustered, and he could hear her heartbeat speed up even through the hum of the GR. "For your information I'm trying to figure out how to stop it!"
Vegeta flinched, it was small, but she noticed it after having watched him for the last year. He smirked, covering his action quickly enough that she thought she might have imagined it. "Of course, Onna. The bond isn't something we questioned on Vegetasei, but if we were bonded you would have never looked twice at that weakling."
"So... It's more than just an agreement, right? Why hasn't Goku- Or has he? Chichi, right?"
"You're catching on, Onna. Kakkoratt and that harpy onna must have bonded earlier than usual. You can almost smell it when they're in the same room." He looked disgusted, as though the idea of bonding with either of the two sat wrong on his cast iron stomach.
"It's kind of hard to imagine Son-kun... well, anyways. You said something about separation, so it's physical, since there has to be contact, right?" She started taking down notes, talking to herself.
"Sure Onna. Now leave me be!" She looked up, blinked, then flushed as she slammed off the console. He stood there for a moment, not doing anything, then returned to his training, even more viciously than before.
*********************
Vegeta didn't see Bulma for days after that, the sound of her heartbeat steady as she spent hour after hour researching his blood and chemical makeup. It would have been flattering if she weren't trying so hard to get rid of him. As it stood, he showed no emotion, merely avoiding her as she did him.
He even went to her father to fix his droids, rather then risking running into her. It was a thin line that he walked. Very thin, indeed. But the day wasn't the worst time... it held no candle to the nights.
Mainly he trained, deep into the early hours of the morning, yet he had to sleep sometime, giving his body the chance to catch up with the damage he had dealt. And supposedly his mind a chance to relax... But he couldn't. At night the house was silent, a few rustles from the menagerie, and the steady thumping of the Onna's heart.
She was always the Onna... never the blue-haired onna, or anything but the Onna. He wondered if she realized that. Any other female came with a pronoun, her mother, Kakkoratt's mate, they weren't 'woman' to him... there was only one real Onna. And she was trying to get rid of him.
He smirked into the darkness. He should be used to it by now. Several million planets had wanted nothing better than to get rid of him. But this time was different. She didn't want to kill him, she just wanted to get him out of the way. Probably so she could go chase more weaklings like the one she had just gotten rid of.
He grunted, forcing his mind clear as he had when he was young, and falling into sleep.
********************
Bulma couldn't sleep, the words and actions of the cold prince creeping under her skin constantly. She hadn't meant to hurt him, if she actually had, that is. There was just something about him being forced, whether by nature or not, into wanting her.
It hurt. The thought that he would have never even looked at her if it weren't for a silly instinct that he hadn't even noticed until it was too late. All she really wanted was to be loved. Not imprinted or bonded, or whatever the hell he kept ranting on about. It taunted her, though... the idea that all she had to do was say yes and he would be hers. Forever.
But would he love her? Or just need her because his natural instinct was to continue his heritage? Because... she was scared to death that...
She already loved him.
**************************
TBC...
And no, I won't blackmail you for reviews, though I do appreciate them... This one's actually just for me, I thought I might share, if anyone was interested.