~*Usual disclaimer I own no characters/universe mentioned in following etc etc*~
Taking the plate for Kakarott, Vegeta followed the warrior back into the lounge and handed it over.
"Oh boy! Thankyou!" The youngest Saiyan started shovelling the food into his mouth.
Watching him for a moment after sitting back on the couch, Raditz shook his head and leaned back, taking care not to push into Vegetas space as much as possible. Taking note that the prince ate steadily enough, he took the time to enjoy his own food. It was nice not having to rush everything as though his life depended on it. The missions he had to train and protect Vegeta on had been intense. Cleansing planets for that asshole Frieza was one shit storm after another, especially the assignments they'd been sent on when the prince was coming into heat. Those had been the cruellest. Watching Vegeta struggle with his bodys natural urges and being denied any relief, because of the duty Frieza demanded of him. Between keeping Vegeta occupied by hunting down planet natives and trying to keep them both fed, Raditz had been run down and exhausted by the time he'd been sent to earth to find his brother.
He jumped a bit when the prince nudged his elbow.
"Huh?"
"Smoke after this?"
"We just had one." Raditz chuckled, nudging him back.
"So?"
"Still got a whole lotta daylight to go, and only one pack."
"And?" Vegeta didn't see the issue.
"And a whole lot of baka to deal with." Raditz looked pointedly to his brother.
Thinking a moment, Vegeta took another mouthful and chewed before retorting, "We still have a whole lotta beer too."
Grinning at the smart reply and kind of wanting to put him into a choke hold for it, the warrior settled for a chuckle instead. "Alright, if you finish your plate we can go out for a smoke."
Looking at the mountain of food still in front of him, the prince evaluated whether or not he could do it.
Seeing the hesitation, Raditz bargained, "Finish half now, more gaming then finish the lot then smoke?"
The offer seemed reasonable enough, so Vegeta nodded and hoed into his food as best he could.
Kid used to chow down with the best of us, now he's struggling with a quarter of our old portion. What's going on with him? Raditz took a good look at the prince as subtly as he could, kicking himself for not realising how little he'd been eating, and how secluded he had become.
Cheek bones standing out, muscles depleted and as lean as he'd been when he'd left for Earth the first time, Vegeta just looked thin and frail. Realising his prince hadn't so much as done a work out since they'd been living together, the older Saiyan saw how much muscle and presence Vegeta had actually lost. If anything he was half the Saiyan he had once been, and it had happened right before his eyes.
Frowning and getting caught up in his thoughts, Raditz went through the motions of playing another round and having a quiet smoke with the prince.
When did it start? Raditz wondered as they both put out their smokes and headed back inside.
"Hey space cadet, you home in there?" Vegeta nudged his elbow gently.
"Yeah sorry." Raditz leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the game.
Frowning a bit, Vegeta did the same, ignoring Kakarotts exclamations of outrage when they started winning.
They continued like this until the youngest Saiyans stomach growled loudly and he paused the game. "There aren't any more of those nachos are there?"
Rolling his eyes and burying his face in his hands, the prince shook his head. He'd just been enjoying the silence and getting into the game.
Growling a little before rising, Raditz stalked to the kitchen, Vegeta following quickly.
"You alright?" The taller male asked, rubbing a hand over his eyes and leaning against the fridge.
"As I'll ever be." The prince shrugged, shoving him out of the way and grabbing some beer.
"A bit early, isn't it?"
Vegeta checked the clock, it was three in the afternoon. "You really want to deal with him sober?"
"No." Raditz admitted quickly.
After putting on some frozen chips and distributing the bottles they went back to their places and leaned back, getting back to the game. Once the timer was done on the food, Vegeta rushed to the kitchen, continuing to ignore Kakarotts voice. The warrior followed closely, going straight to the fridge for more beer.
"How does Chichi cope with him…"
"She's more annoying than he is." Vegeta grumbled, heaping the chips into a large bowl, giving up on individual plates.
"Nice." Raditz approved with a nod and grabbed the bowl along with the beers.
"I can take something-" Vegetas protest was cut off as Raditz shouldered him softly back towards the lounge.
Shaking his head and grinning, Vegeta complied and sat back on the couch.
After setting the food and drinks down, Raditz turned off the console.
"Hey I was winning that round!" Kakarott protested with a mouthful of food.
"Movie time baka. Requests?" The oldest growled at him, flicking through the dvds.
Vegeta shrugged and ate some chips, avoiding having to make any decisions.
Rolling his eyes good naturedly with a smirk, Raditz chose one and put it in the player.
"What've we got?" Kakarott asked, again with a mouth full of food.
"No manners apparently." The prince shuffled away from the younger Saiyan, pressing against Raditz as he sat down.
Telling himself it wasn't a big deal and that Vegeta was just trying to get away from his brother, Raditz grabbed the bowl and set it on his lap.
When Kakarott protested he growled loudly, glaring at his sibling over Vegetas head.
Face freezing mid-chew, the youngest of the three sat back and crossed his arms.
The prince took some more chips and sat back himself, making sure to keep some distance from him. The movie came on and he smirked, it was Van Helsing, one he'd seen before but remembered mentioning how much he liked it to Raditz.
"What's this one?" Kakarott asked eagerly.
"Shut up and you might be conscious to find out." Raditz glared at his brother again, halting the question line before it ruined the rest of the movie. Usually he was pretty good during movies, but now and then he broke stride and babbled. Raditz had found it easier to snap early on and shut him up.
Making sure he and Vegeta had enough to eat before giving the chips back to Kakarott, Raditz offered the bowl to the prince first.
Shaking his head quickly, Vegeta tilted his head to the youngest, knowing he'd be hungry until the cows came home. After Raditz had passed along the food, he crossed his arms and set his feet on the table. Enjoying the warmth of being next to the warrior, Vegeta relaxed quickly and could concentrate on the movie. He did notice Raditz sigh and loosen up once his brother stopped talking, folding his hands behind his head.
About twenty minutes into the movie Vegeta got up to get another beer, regretting the decision when Raditz made to get up too.
"Stay, I'll get us a round." The prince took the empty bowl from Kakarott and shuffled past the older brother.
"I'll do dishes then it's smoke time."
Vegeta frowned at the coldness in his voice but followed him to the kitchen. After setting the bowl in the sink he grabbed some beer from the fridge and took one to Kakarott before opening and handing one to Raditz when he returned to the kitchen.
"Cheers." Raditz took a swig and leaned against the bench a moment before turning on the water.
Fetching the trays from the stove Vegeta handed them to his companion, withdrawing when they were snatched from his hands. Deciding not to ask for fear of being snapped at or ignored, he opened his own beer and sipped at it until the dishes were done, following Raditz outside quietly.
Ignoring Kakarotts question of if they wanted the movie paused, the prince crossed his arms and let the door close behind him before taking a seat on the step next to Raditz. Carefully keeping his distance and still unsure if he'd done something wrong, he took the offered cigarette and lit it. Trying not to be obvious about it, he watched the warrior rub his eyes and run his hand through his hair. He looked exhausted.
Surprising himself, Vegeta asked, "Rad, you ok?"
The question seemed to draw the warrior out of his daze and he shook his head quickly to clear it.
"Yeah I'm fine." Raditz answered, taking a long drag and finally noticing how closed in the princes body language had become. Realising his behaviour inside when he was annoyed at his brother had worried him, Raditz tried to ease Vegetas concern by voicing his frustration. "Usually when I'm spending time with him we're with his friends or training. He doesn't have much time to talk or get as irritating as he is today."
"He's always like that." Vegeta snuffed a laugh, tension leaving his body as he was assured he wasn't the reason for his companions annoyance.
"Why am I only realising it now then." Raditz rolled his eyes.
"Because you were with his friends who are more annoying than he is in a collective, and you were beating the shit out of him when you two were alone. Feel free to continue that in my presence."
Chuckling and finally loosening up, Raditz offered, "You could hold him down while I get a few hits in if you like? You're closer to his power level than me."
"I don't know about that anymore." Vegetas grin dropped, staring at the ground and continuing his smoke.
Unsure of what to say, the warrior finished his and swigged at his beer while the prince finished. Getting up and extending his hand to help Vegeta rise, he was met with a curious tilt of the head before his help was accepted. Looking down at the smaller Saiyan Raditz smiled, wanting to say something reassuring but coming up short, he settled for tracing his thumb over the princes knuckles instead.
Unaware he was blushing, Vegeta gently withdrew his hand and started picking at the label of the beer bottle as he turned and led the way inside.
"I paused the movie for you guys." Kakarott greeted them hesitantly, grinning and scratching the back of his head.
Taking a seat and seeing Raditz bristle as he sat, Vegeta thanked Kakarott and pressed the play button, hoping to distract them both.
It worked, Raditz settled back into the couch, his elbow resting against Vegetas arm, his head tilted back on the couch towards the prince as he continued watching the tv.
Vegeta started getting into the film, enjoying the silence from Kakarott and the comfort he got from Raditz.
Allowing Kakarott to choose the next movie, the pair didn't bother moving since the youngest went and got another round of beer.
Vegeta grabbed and opened the beers for himself and Raditz, handing him one and only meeting his gaze for a second.
"You guys want anything else?"
"Nah." Raditz responded quickly, still watching the prince. When Vegeta looked back at him and raised an eyebrow sceptically, he added, "Thankyou."
Smirking in satisfaction, Vegeta refocused on the tv and tried to get into the story.
After about half an hour he needed another beer and was getting hungry. Realising he'd barely payed attention to the movie so far, the prince rose and gathered the empty bottles. He'd been too preoccupied with Raditz's show of affection earlier, and his closeness now.
"Smoke?" He asked his companion, noting Kakarott paused the movie for them.
"Course." Raditz got up too, searching the freezer for something else to eat. "We have more chips or pasta."
"Pasta."
Nodding in agreement, the warrior found a pot and put some water on to boil. Grabbing the ravioli from the freezer as well as beers from the fridge, he handed them to the prince before putting the pasta in the pot.
After a smoke and dishing the pasta out, the pair settled back onto the couch, arms settling against each other comfortably.
The afternoon moved slowly into evening and Vegetas back and shoulder started to cramp up. Noticing the princes attempts to stretch the muscles out, Raditz decided to help him sooner rather than later.
"We've got some stuff to talk about, help yourself to more beer." He told Kakarott, almost dragging Vegeta upright and up the stairs.
"Everything alright?" Kakarott called after them.
"Housemate stuff." Raditz yelled back, guiding the prince to his room and shutting the door behind them.
"Uh, Rad?" Vegeta looked around for an escape route, his flight response going into overdrive. It wasn't that he thought his companion would hurt him, he just had no idea what the hell was going on.
"It's ok." Raditz sighed, relieved to be away from his brother for a while. Gesturing to the bed he said, "Lay down, it's time to have a proper look at your back."
"Rad I dunno." Vegeta sat on the bed and sighed. "What if I'm just broken?"