"He came to you for help?"
Yamcha had taken some time away from his own home to help Tien out on his farm, as he often did whenever he had the time. Now that they had finished out in the fields, they were inside of his friend's house, with Chiaotzu there as well. He didn't mind the psychic hanging around to hear about his tale, as he trusted them both to keep it to themselves. They both lived the hermit lifestyle, after all, and they were his friends.
"Yeah, it sure was a wild week," while he supposed he trusted Frieza more than the rest of his friends, not that that was saying very much, considering no one except maybe Goku had any trust in the icejin.
"It was like having a cat, if a cat could kill you,"
"You basically had your own Lord Beerus in the house."
Yamcha had to laugh at that, "pretty much."
Tien brought over some senbei crackers and green tea to where Yamcha and Chiaotzu were sitting on the couch, and sat opposite him, where the group had a moment of quiet as they enjoyed the snacks.
"So what's the end game, here?" Tien asked eventually, and Yamcha blinked at him, "what do you mean?"
"Well, you said that Frieza likes you," he pointed out, "so, what about you? Do you like him?"
Yamcha didn't need to question that to himself. He already knew he liked Frieza, but confronting said feelings was another matter entirely. Over the past few weeks, he had shared a few more video calls with the former tyrant, mostly persuading him not to blow up planets with life on them, though how serious Frieza had been in the first place was questionable. If anything, it seemed like he was purposely trying to rile Yamcha up.
But he had enjoyed all of their calls… and the obvious flirting between the pair of them had not escaped the fighter's notice. Maybe he just liked the attention after having been the butt of jokes and the loveless life he had been leading as of late, but he dashed that thought. He knew it was more than that.
He genuinely liked Frieza, and so, he sighed and answered, "I think so."
"Hmm…" Tien always gave him honest answers. He had remained largely silent on Piccolo and Vegeta becoming part of the group, and then there was his own past to consider, too. He felt that he had no right to really judge others. But Frieza was another matter entirely - even the gods didn't trust him, and that said a lot.
"You're going to have to be careful," his friend offered, "I don't know what you see in him, but I think that you have something good going on."
"Really?" Yamcha was surprised to hear that from his friend.
"Well, for one, Lord Beerus AND Whis both said that what you had going on was a good thing, and I'm inclined to trust the word of the gods," Tien shrugged, "but, however ludicrous it might be, you both are having a positive effect on one another. And frankly, that's all I really care about. That you're treated right."
"It would be a different story if he was hurting you," Chiaotzu spoke as he sipped his tea, "I mean, it's like with Krillin and 18. We had our doubts there too, right?"
"That's true…" he certainly did. Hadn't they all made fun of Krillin at first for falling for the android? But 18 had turned around and, along with her brother, became good people.
Yamcha didn't think that Frieza would ever become 'good' in the sense of the word… but he did know that there was a possibility that he could become 'better.' He was already showing signs of restraint, and being more playfully evil than actual evil.
Only time would tell.
"Besides, I'm sure if he hurt you, Lord Beerus would kill him," Tien shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm pretty sure he's just looking for an excuse to send him back to Earth's hell."
"That's true," Beerus made no secret of his utter contempt for the icejin, though he didn't seem to be bothered in giving advice to Yamcha about his behavior.
Such an odd God he was.
"I'll play it out," Yamcha decided with a smile, "who knows what will happen?"
Tien and Chiaotzu could only hope for a good outcome. For Yamcha's sake.
The weather warmed up as the baseball season began. The ex-fighter became very busy with his game, and the season started off without a hitch. He was well known to be one of the best pitchers the game had ever seen, though no one knew about his ki control abilities giving him the edge on competition. It was kind of cheating, so Yamcha only used it when he absolutely had to. The surprise on his opponents face never got old, though, when the ball moved on its own to hit them out.
The match ended with his team victorious on a warm spring day. Yamcha was feeling damn good that night as he came back to his humble abode, but a quick look at his communicator showed the light flashing.
A message? He went over to check it. He pressed the button on the communicator and sat down, only to be greeted with a closeup of Frieza's eye.
"Is this stupid thing even working?" he could hear him grumbling, only for his head to turn as one of his tech support explained that it had gone to message bank. "Leave a message? Feh. Fine."
Frieza leaned back in his chair. He was wearing the cape that Beerus had given him, and now that he wasn't wearing his fancy suit, the purple of it contrasted very nicely with the bright white of the icejin's skin, as well as complimented the purple jewels on his body.
Yamcha thought he looked gorgeous.
After Frieza had obviously shooed his support staff out of his room, he turned back to the screen as the Frieza on the screen sighed, "well, I suppose you're out playing your silly game right now, but at least it's lucrative enough for you to have a decent abode. Alas, too bad you couldn't be here on the ship with me, making a living blowing up planets~"
Yamcha had to snicker at that.
"Let's see…" Frieza crossed his legs and folded his arms behind his head, "I've destroyed two dead planets. I do always enjoy the fireworks of it, but it's kind of boring without the frightened screams of the inhabitants… aaah. I miss the old days."
Yamcha was glad that this was a recording. He could only feel very sheepish about Frieza's unhidden sadism. He made no secret of it, and he had to wonder what that meant for him in the future.
"Ah well. I suppose you could say things are 'well' here, my dear human," the icejin winked at the camera, and the human could feel a blush on his face, "do give me a call~"
The transmission ended, and Yamcha could only chuckle to himself. He really did love the way Frieza could banter when he was in a good mood… so with a smile, he decided to call back.
The call, however, rang out, and it was Yamcha's turn to leave a message. When the recording began, he blinked, and then laughed a little, "I guess it's my turn now, huh?"
"I just got home from a game. We won," he grinned, "landslide victory! Pretty cool, huh?"
He settled back in his couch and smirked a little, "it sounds like you're having fun with your work. I'm glad. Though, if you're trying to get a reaction out of me in regards to destroying populations, I must say, you're giving me a real good reason to take another space holiday!"
Something he truthfully wouldn't mind doing in the slightest.
"But if you want to…" he scratched his cheek, "next week is a pretty big game here. Would you like to come and watch me play? It's on Saturday at 2pm, at the Baseball stadium near my house. I'll send you a map - you can't miss it. I'll even get you a uniform to wear, if you'd like? Fans often do that… if you like that kind of thing, that is. I'll have the Galactic Post mail you one?"
Maybe it'd be a nice present.
"I hope you're having a good time with your new role," he said that sincerely, "this all can't be easy for you, and… I really hope you're happy out there."
With a smile and a wave, he ended the transmission.
As promised, Yamcha sent a uniform to Frieza via the galactic post, just because he could. He didn't know if the icejin would even like it, let alone show up to the next game, but the human decided he didn't care.
If he didn't take chances with this relationship, friendship or otherwise, it would go nowhere without it.
He didn't receive another transmission after the one he left, but the next game rolled around, and he had all but put it out of his mind. Yamcha had a game to focus on winning, and boy oh boy would he. He worked hard all match, putting on his best ever game, by throwing ball after ball with as much power as he could, which, given his mastery of ki, was far stronger than the average human.
They beat the other team by a landslide, and it was only when Yamcha sighed and wiped his brow did he look up into the stands and notice a very familiar tailed figure sitting in the stands, well away from anyone else. He had not noticed his presence because of his concealed ki, and that he was dressed in the very uniform that Yamcha had sent.
He could practically feel his ears burning before being distracted by his team congratulating him on the fantastic pitches, to which he did his duty in greeting everyone and thanking them. It didn't take him long to realise that Frieza had made his way onto the field, though he was leaning against the barrier with a clear smirk on his face.
Yamcha soon went over to his wayward companion after his team continued to celebrate, and he waved in greeting, "I was hoping you would visit."
"Well, someone had to make this stupid uniform of yours look good~" Frieza waved off with a grin, "I got your message, and decided to make an appearance~"
"I'm glad you did!" Yamcha grinned, "the uniform suits you, you know."
"But of course," the icejin smirked, "did you expect it not to?"
"Quite the contrary, I was hoping you'd wear it."
"Oho~" Frieza raised his right hand to chuckle some more, "you certainly know how to flatter me, my dear human."
"Though…" he moved his hand and poked Yamcha on the chest, "don't think I didn't notice you using your ki with those pitches, you naughty cheater~"
"It's not cheating if they don't know about it, right?" the human winked, and for the first time, Frieza laughed out of pure humour. He had heard him chuckle and giggle, and of course his evil laughs, but this one was completely different. It caught him by surprise, but all he could do was smile and chuckle himself.
He never thought he would hear Frieza laugh for real.
"Oh my, aren't you after my heart?" the icejin swirled his tail in the air and folded his arms behind his back, "I must admit, I didn't expect to enjoy watching this game, but it was a nice break from all of my duties of ruling the Universe~"
Yamcha knew he was joking, thankfully, and chuckled in response, "are you going to go now?"
"I think so. Although…" Frieza seemed thoughtful for a moment, as if contemplating a decision, but after a couple of seconds of that playful, red gaze, he floated up and pecked Yamcha on the cheek, "good job~"
With that, he flew off, to the surprise of everyone, leaving a stunned human behind.