Wow, should be studying for test, instead, prepping next chapter to be read. Okay my duckies! I just want to give you a head's up that I have done a sort of fan art to this story. I was wondering about how Vegeta would have grown up and thought 'How would the sleeping arrangements be like?' So, go to my profile, hit one of the links, and then check out my newest pictures. I will have a link up eventually, but not now.
Well here is the next chapter so I have some sort of happiness reading all your wonderful reviews (It's like crack to me, but only legal)
Love to hear from all of you guys out there. It makes me excited. So I hope to hear from you all!!
Warning: This chapter contains female humor. That means if you don't like the idea of a woman's menstrual cycle, you won't like Vegeta's confusion to the whole process. I mean, come on, every woman Bulma's age has it!
So without further ado:
Trusted One
Chapter 10
Nature Calls and Vegeta gets the Worst of it
Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ... I wish I did... I really do.
"Uh-huh," Bulma nodded, jotting down the instructions that were being given to her through the phone, "Mm-hmm… Yeah… Okay, thanks Dr. Sonata."
She paused for a second, listening to the woman on the other side before giving out a short laugh, casting her glance over to the distraught being.
"No, he won't tell me how it happened, all I know is that he looks like he got in a fight with a couple of porcupines and lost." Bulma said, trying hard not to laugh again, "Yes, I will tell him that. Okay, good-bye."
She hung up the phone before walking over to Vegeta. He had a couple of quills sticking out of his face, looking almost like thick cat whiskers. His right hand had a few dozen and he refused to sit because of the quills that had been lodged in his hind side.
"She said that usually there is a bit of a process to taking these out," Bulma said rather amused, poking at one on his face, "But since you are a Saiyan, I just need a pair of pliers and some sterilizer. She told me to offer you some pain killers, but no alcohol. Apparently your metabolism doesn't work well with the stuff."
He huffed angrily when she had poked at one of the quills on his face, scowling at her the best he could without agitating the quills.
"So are you going to tell me how you got attacked by a bunch of porcupines?" Bulma asked, moving away to get the supplies.
"So you know what those things were?"
"Yeah, they are porcupines. They have quills that they use as a natural defense against predators. Usually carnivores avoid them because they prefer not to get a face-full of those things. So how did you provoke one?"
"That hole that the Dragon Ball was in…" He growled, not moving his facial muscles much so not to irritate the quills, "Apparently they lived there. While I was getting attacked from inside the blasted hole, one of them attacked me from behind."
"Oh," Bulma said, coming back with the needed items, "That must have been a den with babies in it. The mother must have come back right when you were trying to get the ball."
She had fallen over laughing when he had come back earlier in the day with the one star Dragon Ball and a bunch of quills sticking out everywhere. It was just too rare to see something get the jump on Vegeta. They had called it early for the day and she had called Dr. Sonata to see how to remove the things.
"Next time, you can get the Dragon Ball from a hole."
"Alright," Bulma said as she pulled out a syringe, "Do you want some pain killers?"
"No," Vegeta hissed, "They screw with my senses."
"Trust me, you don't want me to pull these out without something to dull the pain. Especially the ones in your butt!" Bulma yelled, placing her hands on her hips while being careful of the syringe she had in one of her hands.
"I don't want it." He said, setting his jaw.
Bulma rolled her eyes as she quickly grabbed her pliers and snagging on of his many quills on his arm and yanked it out.
"Gah!" Vegeta yelped, reeling back and using his unwounded arm to steady himself so he didn't irritate the ones on his hind quarters. "WOMAN!"
"Yeah, I know, it hurt, didn't it," She said rather amused, looking at the bloody quill she held in her pliers, "These little beauties are barbed. A real amazing self-defense mechanism. The longer they are in, the further they dig into the area that they are in. So, it is going to hurt like hell when I take it out of your face and your buttocks."
She could see Vegeta blanch. He could take immense amount of pain when it came to fighting, but he probably didn't like the idea of getting hurt outside a brawl.
"Let me just give you a little sedatives. Enough to make you numb and a little drowsy."
"No."
"Why not?"
"It will dull my senses. I will not risk losing control of anything."
She finally got it. He didn't trust him not to hurt her when she was removing the quills. She blinked a couple of times before grabbing a bottle of sedatives and filling it enough to make him drowsy.
"That is ridiculous, you don't loose control." She said with a great faith in what she had said, "Now, stop being a big baby and come here."
He looked torn at what to do. He was shocked by the amount of trust she had in him, but still fearful at lashing out.
"I am not made of paper and glass, Vegeta, humans are more durable than they seem." She said, taking his right arm and pushing the sedative into his system.
"Now, go lie down on your bed. It will be easier to pull then out."
He made no comment as he did as he was told. He lied down on his stomach, letting his arm hang off the bed and his head rested at the side so the pillow didn't touch the quills.
Bulma waited till the drugs were in his system and then pulled up a chair and pulled his arm into his lap. She took her pliers and began to pull out the quills. He flinched somewhat, but he made no sound or movement otherwise. She pulled each one out, cleaning the wound as soon as she removed the quill and eventually wrapped up the arm with gauze.
She went to work with his face, being quick and only had to yank once, getting the whole thing in one go. Soon that too was done and she was putting a gauze pad on his face.
"Well," She paused as she looked at his rear, "I need to pull the last couple of ones out… but…"
"You are not pulling down my pants to sterilize it. I will do that on my own." Vegeta lightly slurred, he was feeling groggy, but not enough to fall asleep while she was tugging at the quills.
"Can you even get up?" Bulma questioned, pulling a quill from out of his butt.
"I am not a fumbling human. Even when I am only half conscious I can still walk with grace and dignity."
"Vegeta, you got quills in your butt, you don't have any dignity at the moment." Bulma shot back, pulling another one out rather harshly.
Vegeta grunted. He tried to pull away, but she was already pulling out the next one.
"Will you quit it?" He snapped as he began to pull himself up.
"Relax, there are only three more," With that she pulled out another one, correcting herself as she did so. "Two."
"No more, Onna," he snapped, he was losing his patience and wanted to get away from her before she thought of trying to disinfect it for him. That he would never live down.
"One," she said plucking the next one as she grabbed onto his waist to try to keep him from walking away.
All that did was get her dragged out of her seat as she held onto him awkwardly. She managed to find enough balance to hold on though as she pulled out the last one.
"There! All done!"
She felt him grab her by the waist and hoist her to a standing position after pulling her off his person.
"There, you've had your fun, now leave me in peace." He growled as he headed for the bathroom.
"Aw, come on Vegeta!!! I'm only trying to help!" She said with a grin on her face, "Plus, you need the sterilizer to clean up the holes in your rump!"
She turned to get the cleaning gauze and the sterilizer, but they were not where she had left them. She heard the bathroom door close and realized that even thought Vegeta was groggy, he was still as sharp as a razor blade. He had swiped them sometime after getting up.
She would have to remember that.
Bulma's eyes flickered as she slowly came too. It was still late at night since she could see the stars glow up above. If the moon had been in the sky, then she would have been able to tell the time by the placement, but it had not been wished back since Piccolo had destroyed it years ago.
Something was different then when she had gone to bed. She noticed that as her mind slowly began to pull out of its groggy state. She then realized what was different.
One, she was wet. No, not the aroused kind of wet, but the kind of wet when one was a heavy bleeder. She had forgotten to keep track of her menstrual cycle.
Oh, it had happened before. In fact, Bulma had a nasty habit of locking herself away in her lab and bleed through her pants on many different occasions. Usually she was alone, but there had been a time or two when she had been in the middle of conversing with other scientists. She had even leaked in her own bed before, because she would overflow while she slept…
But this time was different.
Different because of the second thing that had changed from when she had gone to bed.
Sometime after she had fallen asleep, Vegeta must had come into her room, because now she had him snoozing under her with his nose in her long locks and his arms holding her protectively in place.
She was struck dumb when she had realized that he had come in to sleep next to her, but at this moment, she really, really needed to get up before she bled all over the place.
She tried to wriggle out of his hold, but he was holding her in place. He wasn't exactly waking up to her movements either, but she blamed that on the drugs that were probably still lingering in his system if only minutely. Usually, he would be up and aware at the drop of a pin if he sensed any danger. His knack for sensing ill will was second to none.
She sighed as she realized that she was going to have to wake him up in order to go… tend to her cycle.
She managed to roll onto her stomach in his grip and wrench one arm free of his strong, but gentle hold.
"Vegeta," she whispered as she patted his face lightly.
He stirred a little, his nose twitching as he scented the air.
Oh… she had forgotten about his keener senses. No doubt he would smell the-
His eyes snapped open as he pulled himself up gripping her wrist firmly as he looked at her alarmed.
"Onna-"
"I'm fine! I need to use the bathroom," she cut him off, managing to rip her hand out of his hold and dashing to the bathroom before he could get his wits about him.
He was pounding on the door shortly after she had locked it.
He didn't know what was going on. One minute he heard his name, the next, the smell of rich, sweet blood invaded his senses and what had made the smell even more alarming was the fact that it was the woman's.
She had been able to use the small amount of time that he had been in shock from sensing so much blood, that she had managed to get away before he could ask her what was going on. But now, he was worried.
Had he hurt her when they slept? Why was she suddenly drenched in blood? He could smell that she had bled more and it was only making him even more alarmed.
"Onna! Where have you been hurt? Let me in!" He demanded, knowing full well that she would kill him later somehow if he broke this particular door down.
"I'm not hurt," She replied from inside, "I just forgot what week of the month it was."
"Onna! What the hell are you talking about? I can smell the blood on you! Who harmed you?!"
There was a pause before he heard a loud agonized groan, "Please tell me you didn't just say that. I'm fine Vegeta! I swear! Just let me clean myself up and I'll explain it to you when I'm dressed in something clean."
"Woman-"
"Trust me. I would tell you if I was hurt. Now go, I need to take care of this." Her voice sounded reassuring, no fear in it whatsoever.
He took a large gulp of air, tasting the blood in the air as he breathed through his mouth. It was discomforting to think that she had lost that much blood, but he was willing to trust her.
He left her bedroom and paced in the living quarters, like a caged beast pacing back and forth in its cage. He didn't even bother with the lights, he could see in the dark. His chest was clenched tight as he waited the agonizing amount of time for her to get done.
Was she alright? Would she need help? Did she pass out?
He was about to go check on her when he heard the shower stop and rustling of drawers. He calmed a bit, knowing that she was at least conscious.
Soon, she was opening the door and flicked on the lights. Vegeta winced as his eyes adjusted, but soon his eyes roamed up and down her, making sure she was alright. She was wearing a large T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts, but was holding the bloody pair of pjs and her sheets. Her complexion was its normal rosy color and though she still smelled of fresh, sweet, rich blood, she no longer was drenched in the scent. She looked fine, just as she had reassured him she was.
"Darn it, I got some on you," She signed looking down at his pants, "I always make a mess of something."
"Woman, what is going on," he hissed as he looked at her.
Bulma mused that if he was a cat, his hackles would be raised and was ready for a fight. She didn't need him so wound up. She needed to soothe him back to his normal self before they had the 'talk'.
While taking her shower to clean up, she realized that he probably didn't know what was going on with her. She was an alien to him after all and that probably meant he didn't know of the monthly cycles she had. She had come to realize that the times that she had her period when he was living with them were usually weeks that she had been locked away in her lab, or he was busy with his training.
She sighed as she headed towards the closet in the living room, opening it up to reveal a washer and dryer.
"Come on, I need to get these washed before the blood stains. Go change into something else." She said calmly.
It wasn't as if she wasn't use to this… but oh… it was going to be very embarrassing to explain it to Vegeta. She hadn't even been able to muster up the courage to explain it to Goku… Chichi had to tell him.
"Not until you tell me what is going on." He growled, setting his jaw and making it clear that he was going to be stubborn about it.
Bulma sighed as she looked up at the ceiling, giving out a short prayer before turning around.
"Vegeta. How often have you been around women? Any sort of female of any species."
"I was a warrior of Frieza's. He didn't have any women on his ship that I would spend any amount of time with whatsoever."
"And before that?"
"I had only known my mother."
"… You're making this really hard on me Vegeta…" She groaned as she covered her face with her hands, "This… is really embarrassing to talk about to someone your age."
"What are you rambling about, Woman?" Vegeta asked again, his patience dwindling from her constant dodging of the question.
"You do know that woman have babies, right?"
"Yes," he huffed, "That goes along with mating."
"Yes," she emphasized with exasperation, "and do you understand the process of the events that make a baby?"
"Screw a female enough times and she might get pregnant." His face was totally serious.
It made Bulma want to scream. Who had taught him this?
"No, Vegeta… that is not how a baby is made." Bulma groaned loudly as she sat down, "Go change your pants and whatever else I got blood on and I will explain everything to you about why I am bleeding."
"So you are hurt?" Vegeta demanded, his tone was worried.
"NO! GO CHANGE! I WANT TO GET THE FREAKING LAUNDRY GOING BEFORE THE BLOOD SETS IN!" Bulma roared as she finally lost hold of the little patience she had in her current state.
Her mood tended to be a little unpredictable when she was on her cycle. But he wouldn't understand that until after she had the talk to him.
He seemed startled by her explosive temper and decided to do as she asked. He was thoroughly confused to what her bleeding had to do with how babies were made. They seemed to have nothing in common other than her constant insistence to know how much he knew about women!
He knew nothing of women! She was the first one he really had been around other than his mother! He had only been five when she left and after that was raised by his father and then by Nappa, Turles, and Radditz!
What was scarier was the fact that Radditz was a better caretaker than Nappa, who was much older than the both of them! The third-class Saiyan was only five years older then he hovered over him like a worried mother when Vegeta was little! He knew more about these sorts of things, but that was because his mother had taken him and raised him to follow her footsteps. His father was a genius scientist who was obsessed with fighting and rarely was ever stuck in the lab, while his mother had been a healer, rarely leaving her station. Radditz was more like his mother, he was usually the one who ended up doing the patch job or manning the rejuvenation tanks for his Saiya-jin brethren.
He knew about these sorts of things, but Vegeta had always ditched him when he began to get a little too graphic about the anatomy of Saiyanoids. Once the word 'baby' or 'impregnate' came into the conversation, Radditz found himself all alone.
But why was she asking him about these things?!?
He quickly changed, coming back out and dropping the soiled clothes on the table.
"I have done as you asked, now tell me why you are bleeding."
And so, she did.
"Vegeta," Bulma said as she stared at his ruffled state, "Don't hit your head against the table please."
It didn't stop him. He just kept going.
"If you must hit your rock-hard head on something, please use the wall or a rock outside somewhere, but not my table."
"Shut up Onna," he growled, pausing from his pounding to glare at her.
Bulma mused that he was rather startled and bewildered by the images she had put into his head as she explained the current process she was going through. She was slightly embarrassed at the whole thing, but he was taking it out of hand. His composure had been lost some time during the first three sentences, and he had yet to recover any of it.
His face still sported a huge blush. He felt embarrassed no doubt at the lack of knowledge he had had and was embarrassed by her thorough explanations. Vegeta was always a bit of a prude. He lacked any knowledge since his race remained celibate till they mated with their potential mate- making the other their life-mate. But then again, so was she. She just was taught Sex-ED as a little girl. It was something she didn't- couldn't- forget.
"It can't be good for you to be doing that," she said, feeling strangely calm for one who had just explained the bodily functions of a woman.
"It can't harm me. My ki is up… Just… ARGH, those images you placed into my head, Woman!" He groaned as he began to hit his head against the table again.
"So even the great Prince of all Saiyans can be embarrassed," She mused, smirking as she thought of the next order of business, "By the way, what were you doing in my bed? Snuggling me no less?"
There was a pause before Vegeta stood up and headed for the door.
"You are right, Onna. I think I will go find a rock."
"Vegeta!"
He was already gone. Bulma knew there would be no way for her to even remotely find him, so she gave out a huff and went to his bed to sleep. Her sheets were in the washer and she was too lazy to find a new set and actually make the bed.
Plus, it's not like he was going to use it.
To her amusement, Vegeta showed back up sometime in the morning while she was eating a small breakfast, lounging in her chair. He didn't look at her, only marched into his room, grabbed some clothes, and headed for the shower.
He walked past her on his way to the shower and muttered darkly to her, "So I can't sleep in your bed but you can sleep in mine?"
"No one was occupying your bed." Bulma said as she sipped the coffee.
He gave a growl and slammed the door to the bathroom. Bulma rolled her eyes. It was apparent that something was still bothering him. He looked calmer before he had come back into the house. Then he looked stiff with something.
She groaned as she realized what he was so stiff about. Vegeta could still smell the blood.
"I'm going to make him go crazy if we don't hurry this up," Bulma decided out loud, finishing up her coffee and readying herself for the day.
She dressed quickly, into something travel worthy and sprayed on some light vanilla perfume. She hoped that would help him. By the time she was ready to head out, Vegeta was already outside waiting.
"It's about time, Onna," he huffed, keeping his distance as she capsulated the house.
"Yeah, yeah," Bulma said with a shrug, throwing him the keys, "You drive the bike today. I'll just sit behind you."
He seemed to be grateful for that, since he didn't complain one bit. Yep. He was definitely a prude.
Soon the two of them were on their way to the next location of the Dragon Ball. Bulma thought it almost hilarious as they drove into the city that the mythical item was located in. The World Martial Arts Tournament was about to take place again and they were right in the city that it was located in.
"So, where do you think this blasted ball is?" Vegeta finally asked, when he was paused at a stop light.
Bulma was about to shrug and tell him the hell if she knew, but she paused when a flyer caught her eye.
"It's in the world champion trophy," she said in awe.
"The what? How do you know that?" Vegeta asked her as he looked over his shoulder to glare at her.
"Because its in the flyer, look," she said, pointing to the flyer for the WMAT.
It was a picture of the champion belt, the trophy for the winner of the tournament, used as the centerpiece of the belt.
"That's just great," Vegeta scoffed, "How are we suppose to get that."
Bulma peered down at him with a dark smile on her face that made even Vegeta want to shiver. She had an idea and he knew that he would not like it one bit.
"You enter the World Martial Art Tournament and win." She said, "Simple as that."
"No way. I refuse to fight a bunch of weaklings in some stupid tournament." Vegeta growled, not amused at all at her idea.
"Well then… make it a challenge." Bulma hissed, "Look, buddy, you are the one who wants a wish, so you are going to have to sacrifice something to get the wish."
The light turned green and Vegeta revved the engine of the motorcycle as he continued driving.
"And how do you suppose I could make fighting a bunch of weaklings a challenge?" He sneered.
"You're a fighter. You punch, you kick, you use ki, but how about fighting without using your ki and trying to put on a good show? I mean, yeah, you could knock them out in one punch, but where is the presentation? When Azel was alive she told me that fighting was about three things, strength, skill, and presentation. I've seen your strength; I have seen your skills; but what I usually don't see from you is your presentation. I know you are graceful on your feet, I can see that in the way you walk and move about, but I have never seen you play something up to make it entrancing."
She paused for a moment, noticing that Vegeta was pulling the bike over into a parking lot. She just needed to add the last part and he was as good as hers.
"You are the prince of the most prestigious warriors. Fighters. They must have known how to put a good show on, playing up a battle where they had the upper hand just to get the crowds roaring for them… Your challenge isn't to defeat your opponent as fast as you can, it is to defeat them with so much style that the crowds are roaring for you to win."
She could see he was debating it. Really, truly thinking about whether or not he should participate. So, as one final push, she decided to add the final statement that would no doubt make up his mind.
"Goku always use to get those crowds cheering, year after year after year until he finally won the WMAT. Shame. No one has ever made the crowds scream in excitement like Goku did."
"Onna," Vegeta barked, trying not to snarl at the mention of Goku and this tournament, "Where do I sign up?"
Bulma smiled. It would be fun to watch this. She hoped she could get front row seats to watch Vegeta awe the crowds with his ability to present his strength and skills in a very controlled matter.
She half hoped that Yamcha would be there, just to watch him get the crap beaten out of him in the ring.
"Let me drive your Majesty, I'll get you there in no time."
"This might be fun Woman," Vegeta laughed viciously.
"Oh, I hope so. I haven't seen a good show in years."
"Then I will definitely give you one you can never forget."