"Here's your payment and thanks again for everything."
"Glad to have you as a client, Mr. Davidson. Keep us in mind if you ever need help with this kind of stuff again." Yamcha said as he gladly accepted the cheque being handed to him. His client laughed and walked off with a wave. Yamcha carefully folded the cheque and put it in his jacket pocket. He looked up at the darkening sky and sighed.
"Do you think the banks are still open?" Puar said.
"Probably not. Besides, we should go home as soon as we can anyways." Yamcha said. He lifted off the ground and Puar followed.
"Worried about Kichiro? Or Tien?" they asked.
"Both, actually. I trust Tien to take care of him but..."
"Yeah, I get it. You're still new to this parenting stuff. Of course you're going to be concerned. It's only been a couple of weeks." Puar said. They floated alongside Yamcha as he started to fly back home. "Speaking of Tien..."
"What about him?" Yamcha said as if there wasn't around a hundred things in his life at that exact moment that were extremely Tien relevant.
"Besides the whole baby thing?" Puar said. They paused for a moment. "... how are things between you guys? I know you're still friends but this... this changes things."
"I know. I'm still figuring it all out." Yamcha sighed. He pulled out his phone and tapped in a quick message about their location. "I'm sure Tien's got his own stuff to deal with. It's not everyday you become a dad out of nowhere."
"That's true but he did have some time to prepare. The visit and the last time he babysat." Puar said. "... that's not all I was talking about."
"What d'you mean?" Yamcha asked. Puar flew in closer.
"I meant your feelings about Tien." they said.
"We're friends, you said that yourself." Yamcha said. He could feel himself getting nervous. The scowl Puar gave him made it clear he wouldn't be able to dodge the question.
"Don't give me that vague bullshit, Yamcha." Puar said. "You know what I'm getting at."
"Well, I, uh..." Yamcha stalled. He knew full well what Puar was asking. The problem was he didn't have an answer. "I.. I don't know, okay? I never thought about him like that before."
"Sure you haven't." Puar said sarcastically. Yamcha's confused expression must have made something click because they proceeded to look shocked. "Wait, really?"
"Uh... yeah?" Yamcha said weakly.
"You've been obvious about having a crush on him for years! Are you telling me you haven't noticed?" Puar exclaimed.
"No!? I mean, I don't - What makes you think that?" Yamcha said. Puar waved their arms around in exasperation.
"Everything!" they squeaked. "Add in a crippling fear of interaction and it's Bulma all over again!"
"C'mon Puar, you can't seriously -"
"Every time we visit him you say "We need to hang out with our friends more" but do we ever have the same kind of visits to Bulma? To Goku? To Krillin?" Puar continued. "Anytime there's a party you always manage to spend the whole night right next to Tien!"
"That's not, I mean, so do friends, I -" Yamcha stammered. He had slowed down steadily as Puar listed things and was now hovering on the spot.
"Every time he holds Kichiro you get this doe eyed look on your face." Puar said. "Anyone who didn't know you guys would say you're already married."
"... is it really like that?" Yamcha said softly.
"Yes!" Puar said with enough force to propel themselves backwards half a foot. "You've spent so long looking for the right person that you didn't notice the one beside you for the last two decades!"
As soon as Puar said it every second of those twenty years rushed through Yamcha's mind. They were right. He'd been so hung up on finding a woman he'd completely missed every hint that Tien was who he needed. All the inside jokes between them. The small smiles that held more emotion than most people could put words to. The relaxed attitude Tien saved for his closest friends. The sense of humor one wouldn't assume he had unless they'd known him for a long time. The times when Yamcha would sit next to Tien on the roof of his house and stargaze in comfortable silence. Every touch, every laugh, every secret and every moment of trust. It all became clear. It was too much to handle. Too much to take in.
Then Yamcha noticed he'd been steadily losing height and was approaching the ground much faster than he wanted to. He quickly flew back up to where he was before and assured a nervously squeaking Puar that he was fine.
"I didn't think it'd be that much of a surprise." Puar said.
"I can't believe I didn't see it before." Yamcha said quietly. Despite his near crash experience he was still feeling sort of numb.
"Neither can I. Now you just need to tell him." Puar said.
"What?! No, I can't do that." Yamcha exclaimed. The thought of actually confessing his newly realized feelings was on a completely different level from recognizing he had them.
"Why not!? According to Shenron he's the "most compatible person" with you, right? I'm sure he feels the same way." Puar said.
"We can't just assume that! Sure, he has the most compatible DNA with mine but that doesn't apply to everything else about him!" Yamcha said defensively. He crossed his arms and looked away. "It's too much to put on him all at once. First he's confirmed to be a dad and then "Oh hey, by the way, I think I've been in love with you for years and still am!" I can't do that to him."
"Even if he doesn't return your feelings they're still there. You're fathers to the same kid so it's not like you can ignore him until your love fades. You have to deal with it." Puar argued.
"I know but... not now." Yamcha murmured. "Not so soon after everything else."
"Fine. Figure out how you're going to be parents. Then you can focus on your feelings. Just don't ignore them." Puar said with a sigh. They floated over to Yamcha and gave him a quick hug. "I don't wanna see you get hurt again."
"Thanks Puar." Yamcha said. He patted their head lightly and smiled. "Now let's go home. With any luck Tien will have a whole songbook done."
With a couple of laughs they continued on their flight. Yamcha spent most of it trying to sort out himself emotionally. He'd deal with any romantic prospects after figuring out how to co-parent Kichiro. It wouldn't be fair to distract from his son this early in his life. He landed and made his way up to his apartment. A short declaration of "We're home" was greeted with silence. He hung up his jacket and made his way into the main room. One look at the couch was all it took to throw his prepared mental state out the window.
At some point during the night both inhabitants of the apartment had fallen asleep. Tien was lying on the couch while holding Kichiro gently on top on his chest. The sight invoked an emotion in Yamcha that he didn't have the words to describe. It was all he could do to hold himself back from walking over there and kissing them both on the forehead. The mental image of doing so both scared and comforted him. He settled for crouching next to the couch and lightly brushing some of Kichiro's hair out of his face. He pulled back as Tien began to stir.
"I see you're having some quality family time together." Yamcha said quietly. Tien woke up enough to register who was talking to him and smiled.
"Indeed we are. If only he'd gone to sleep this early last time." he mumbled sleepily.
"What? No new serenades?" Yamcha teased. Tien gave him an amused look.
"Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty more chances for that later." he said.
"Suppose so. For now let's appreciate the silence." Yamcha said. He reached out and carefully lifted Kichiro off Tien. He held his son close to him and began to walk towards his room. Thankfully Kichiro stayed asleep as Yamcha laid him in his crib. Yamcha looked down at him and smiled. Every moment with Kichiro reminded him why he made his wish. After a few seconds he felt Tien stand next to him. Neither of them said anything. They just watched their son sleep peacefully. After a minute or so they both left the room.
"I take it you'll be borrowing the couch?" Puar asked Tien as they floated over.
"It's too late to fly home so yes. If you'll have me." Tien said.
"Of course we will. You... uh... could just sleep on the bed. With me. If you wanted." Yamcha said while internally regretting the offer already. Why the hell had he said that? There were too many damn feelings running around in his head right now. The little thumbs up Puar gave him as they flew out of the hall wasn't helping.
"If you're okay with it..." Tien said slowly.
"Don't worry. I know how to share." Yamcha said. Gods he felt so awkward. The feeling only got worse once he'd stripped down to a tank top and boxers. He promptly slid under his blankets and looked at the wall. A weight next to him signalled that Tien had taken him up on his offer.
"You're sure...?"
"You're already on the bed. Just try to get some sleep." Yamcha said. A few seconds of silence later Tien shifted as he did as suggested. Yamcha closed his eyes and prayed that he'd drift off soon. Thankfully at least one god seemed to be listening and it wasn't long before he began to dream.