" You do realise what you are trying to ask of me? For your sake I will ask you to elaborate what you mean by 'not coming second' to my training. If it is for me to spend more time with you than I do training, I physically cannot do that, if it is that I have to ask your permission to use my training room then you'll be awoken at ungodly hours in the morning and even if you decline I will still train. Lady Ayeka, if you want a sign or pledge that I acknowledge your feelings and am taking things seriously then do not make it my training. Bulma lost to my training."
Vegeta does not kneel, he does not take Ayeka's hand, he stands exactly where he is, trying to act as calm and composed as he can when in the face of such an audacious request. Blatantly declining Ayeka, as much as he would like to do that, would hurt her dearly and so he tries to give her the chance to back down or rephrase her demand. Her dainty hand wobbles in the air. She expected as much from him. She hoped that somehow he would find it inside him to accept her offer and yet deep down it was apparent to her that coming between him and his training would be as welcome to him as cutting off his air supply. Ayeka still desires something from him though and as he has said he will listen to alternatives she dejectedly begins to think on it. Her shoulders slouch and it takes a lot more effort now for her to keep her arm offered out to him. Red eyes try and pierce through Vegeta and into his soul as she wonders about what she can do to get what she yearns for. Feeling desperate and cornered by her own words, her burning heart and the indomitable Saiyan, Ayeka really wants to try and make a breakthrough with him. His training is his life and she knows it is unfair of her to demand it from him just like that, however she would surrender her life as a Juraian royal to be with him and it would please her to no end if he would at least say that he is willing to make an equal sacrifice for her.
"I … I am not asking for you to desist from training, I just want more." Imploring him deeply with her eyes before they fall from his face, Ayeka quietly voices her desire. Her hand, pale skinned and trembling, retracts marginally from the Saiyan and lowers, closing her eyes it extends and grabs onto his navy blue outfit. She grasps tight, not wanting to ever let go of him, colour re-entering her cheeks at so brazenly touching him and for what she is about to say. Opening her big maroon eyes she sees how close she is to Vegeta, and how he is waiting for her to explain her definition of more before he gives an answer. Dreadfully nervous about asking such abrupt things of him and worried to no end that he will shoot down all her requests without remorse, she take small comfort that he is at least willing to listen to what she has to say and was gentle in his previous declination.
"Lord Vegeta, if I ask it of you would you spare time for me, to be with me and me alone, and to never purposefully upset me by recounting your crimes." Her words ring out clear as she clarifies her request and lets go of Vegeta's clothing as her mouth closes. She feels warmth in her cheeks and keeps her arms stiffly down by her sides. Looking eye to eye, she watches as Vegeta listens and processes what she just said. His pupils glance off to the side as he muses over his most precious commodity, time, and how much in a day he spends not training. The answer is not a lot, and every second of training he spares decreases his chances of defeating Goku. He gives her the most generous answer he can, though he knows it is completely unsatisfactory for Ayeka.
"It all depends on how much time you are asking for, and I have already said I will not say those things if you do not push onto me my identity. I can spare all the time you would like out of my sleep schedule, when I eat or the few times I rest."
"You sleep little enough as it is already, I would not want to deprive you of that."
"Yet you want to deprive me some of my training." Vegeta's hard, black eyes spell it out to her how absolutely unwilling he is to waste a single second not pursuing his life's goal. In his mind he is being exceptionally fair, patient and considerate with her as the claws in his mind grip tight that he is not currently training. Just spending the time to converse this with her he sees as an admirable act of charity for his blood demands action and that he get stronger and more powerful. Ayeka winces at his words. She does not want to sound selfish in demanding something from him which he treasures above all else, in spite of that though she cannot beat back her undiminishing craving for him to also treasure her at least in a similar light. She tries a different approach and asks for him to say what offer he would accept, and see whether it is good enough for her.
" … Yes, I do. How much time would you be willing to give me?" She looks on in earnest as Vegeta considers each and every possible loophole he could exploit. Her hands raise and clasp together in front of her chest as if praying for him to give in and surrender some of his time unto her.
" I can give you the time you desire, by multiform, that is my offer. No large amounts of time, I would be happy if it remained minimal but if I perfect the technique it will cut little into the efficiency of my training and so maybe up to an hour a day." Vegeta nods to himself and calculates in his head how much practise of said technique he will require to achieve his goal for accomplishing this. His plan is simply to split and have all but one reform, have that one split and mostly reform and repeat this process until his power divide is not three or four equal parts but one holding as close to 100% of his power as he can whilst making sure that the split multiform designated for social activities still has more than enough power to ensure Ryoko will not try anything. Saying that he only learnt the technique today and has used it but once, he predicts it will take him a while, and he cannot practise it simultaneously when transforming. This is the offer he gives Ayeka, the absolute maximum he can afford himself to spare, but a sliver of himself to leave the training room for minutes. The princess does not see this as stingy, and instead smiles kindly at the Saiyan and bows her head to him. She gets time with him and he gets to train.
"That compromise will work, I realise asking more from you would be greedy and selfish … and be pointless." Ayeka keeps her head humbly bowed, and mumbles the last part to herself despite Vegeta still being able to hear it clearly. She is greatly pleased that she even managed to wring this much out of the Saiyan with her persistence. It is not a small and trivial victory to her but a major stepping stone that she intends to use. She raises her head again with her happy smile demurely beaming at him, and then she sees that his attention has waned off her, the woman in front of him, to the two outside. Her smile drops as the green eyed monster seizes control of her. "... Are you going to go out there and tell her the same thing?"
"Hell no, she asks enough of me already and if she wants something she will ask it of me herself." Vegeta keeps his focus out of the window instead of facing Ayeka for her envy is unfounded, he is concentrating mainly on his son out there and his motions and attacks. Following them all without effort, he begins to glance back after noticing that Ryoko's skirt was not a smart choice of clothing for her when fighting, flipping and flying. The Juraian picks up on the minimal amount of awkwardness in his face as he turns back to her. She finds it incredibly rude that he would apparently lose interest in her just as that particular part of the conversation had concluded and insulting that his mind would wander straight to Ryoko.
"What are these things she asks of you and how many of her fancies have you indulged? I-I know it was not your intention but you have still slept in the same bed as her, I demand to know." She tries to make him feel indebted to her by exhuming the incident she would rather forget and seat herself on a high horse whilst demanding of him to spill the beans. It repulses her that thought, that he was taken advantage of in such a manner and Ryoko spent a night with her prince, albeit as innocent an encounter as she could have possibly hoped for, she hates it. Shamefully, jealousy is invoked within her from thinking on what the brass woman shared with him that she hasn't, something not becoming of someone of her stature when on the subject of such matters. She believes he owes her this much under obligation of her feelings for him. Vegeta waves at her with his hands to calm down. He knows she can easily work herself up over this and wants to avoid prolonging this conversation. Ayeka stands attentive and ready for him to tell all to her about what her rival has done to soil her prince.
"Number 1 would be that Sasami has refused to cook for her and so yours truly is now-"
"I'll speak to my sister about that, you don't have to worry about such a meaningless obligation anymore. … Lord Vegeta, would you ..." Not even letting him finish his sentence, Ayeka is quick to bring a complete stop to Ryoko's Saiyan cooked meals. She can understand that Sasami was punishing Ryoko like this for her sake but honestly she would much prefer it if her sister forgives her. Ayeka earnestly looks at the Saiyan as she lets her words hang there. Already having asked him to spend time with her daily it makes her feel guilty to ask this of him as well and yet if Ryoko has had food cooked for her by him then she wants the same and not to be left behind, as she already has been by an act she can't even contemplate till after marriage.
"My cooking is unskilled and basic, Ryoko has no taste-buds and so it doesn't effect her. With you though you would prefer the much better tasting food already available to you, and I doubt your sister would be pleased with you choosing someone else's food over hers." Vegeta offhandedly tries to dismiss her unspoken request with the perfectly valid excuse that the food he cooks is purely for nourishment and has little value when compared to the culinary expertise of Sasami. Though thankful that he doesn't have to provide Ryoko with all her hot meals anymore, he is cynical enough to know whether or not Sasami is cooking food will not be much of a deterrent for Ryoko to pester him for it. She is in a position she does not want to be removed from, and now Ayeka wants the same. A puzzled look appears on his face as his mind hypothesises on the true potency of multiform; whether if one part eats food and then rejoins does it save him having to stop training for meals and if that is the case then he could indefinitely train, and that he likes the sound of. Vegeta smiles to himself at this prospect and Ayeka misinterprets this.
"She is a good girl, she would not mind if it were … a one off?"
" If my multiform is keeping you company at the time then it would make no difference to me. You would do best to remember though that my culinary skills only evolved for survival purposes. Even with years of marriage and even being a single father they have not changed much, I might as well still be- … You can be quite the aggressive one when pushed can't you, Lady Ayeka?" Attempting to cover up a slip of the tongue that would have disgusted the princess, Vegeta makes a quick quip to embarrass the Juraian. She would definitely not like to know what he, Nappa and Raditz occasionally roasted and ate for sustenance after a hard day at the office. It makes little difference to him what his non-training multiform is doing unless it is time consuming and thus prevents him reforming and training at maximum strength. He will thank his son for opening his eyes to such a wondrous technique he never considered because of its low value when in combat.
"Please don't say such embarrassing things about me, Lord … Vegeta?" Ayeka blushes at his words and looks away momentarily out of embarrassment. Honestly she didn't think she had it in her to be as forward as she has been yet once she started she found it hard to stop. When she looks back up to Vegeta though she sees him instead smiling warmly out the window again with his gaze darting about the sky. This time she does not construe this incorrectly as him watching Ryoko and the flashes of what's under her skirt. There is no way she could fail to read his face as anything but that of the proud father he is. Her cheeks remain flushed as she watches him watch his son, and smiles to herself at this gentle and caring side of Vegeta that he cannot hide. It makes her wonder though how to make herself the subject of such an affectionate look. "You truly do treasure your son don't you."
"I do, being able to ascend when he was eight he has incredible strength and potential. I am proud to call him my son, though he could do to lose his human laziness." Like before, he keeps his focus on what is transpiring on the other side of the glass than turning to face Ayeka and so he misses the redness in her cheeks growing. He is too busy seeing how quick his son is to pick up and use Ryoko's fighting style against her to pay her attention. Ayeka's feet shuffle about and that noise brings Vegeta's attention back to the woman he is conversing with, the maiden nervously bites her lower lip.
" … Lord Vegeta, I would like to humbly apologise to you for the distress I have caused your son by being here. I was ignorant and had not thought how … how it might affect him and ..." With his mind on his son, she thinks it only fair that she apologises for upsetting Trunks over her engagement to his father and apologise for her ignorance of the full situation. She was always too caught up on Vegeta or Ryoko that she never gave proper thought to the child Vegeta already had, and how her courting of the prince also entails her to all of his baggage. It is a daunting thought for her.
"And the issue of motherhood. Marriage to me will mean having a responsibility towards my son." Vegeta puts her thoughts into words. His parental concerns are minimal though. Having no natural paternal urge to look after Trunks and only caring for him out of devotion to his deceased wife he ultimately cares a lot more about which woman will make him happy not his son. Born from a society that sends new born infants away to conquer planets, Vegeta will not push motherhood and the care of his child onto either woman for he sees Trunks as being perfectly capable of life independent from him.
Ayeka, on the other hand, is taking the prospect of such an important responsibility quite seriously. She is a young woman and she does not think she is ready. It truly does scare her the thought of becoming a step-mother at such an early age. She looks after her younger sister who is of a similar age but Sasami is rather self dependent and in actual fact does more for her older sibling than Ayeka does for her. Feeling inadequate and not up to the task dampens her spirits, she still has only just separated herself from her parents and hasn't found her feet yet as an adult. Vegeta's silence does little to console her. He isn't pushing the matter and so she can infer that it is a relatively minor thing to him, Ayeka cannot perceive it as such though. There is no doubt in her mind that she could easily love a child of Bulma's as much as one of her own, that is not what is in question, she is just not ready for a commitment to a child and two months of time will not be enough to prepare herself.
Two months seems like an eternity to wait for him to proclaim his choice and then in direct comparison it is but an instant for what it will mean for her. Marriage, life partnership, motherhood, a physical relationship, it is so much for her to have on her mind. However, those responsibilities and roles will only fall to her if she is his choice. Hitting the snag that is Ryoko, Ayeka's mind stops and thinks on things. Vegeta has told her the secret of Ryoko, and when combined with this subject it becomes a none too pleasant thing to think on. Ayeka unequivocally believes herself to be superior to the criminal in every way, a better woman, a better wife and also a better mother. A knot of guilt builds in her stomach at that last thought. She feels wrong thinking such things, to call herself a better mother than a woman who is infertile to all Juraianoid species and unlikely to ever become a natural mother is a very low thing. Ayeka detests Ryoko nearly as much as she loves Vegeta, and even so she can still find empathy for her.
"It would more or less be her only chance, wouldn't it?" Quietly speaking her musings, Ayeka looks outside and at the pirate, her rival, in a sympathetic manner which Ryoko would despise if she knew. She wants to know Vegeta's opinion on this, hence why she spoke aloud her thoughts. Looking at him with her red eyes, her emotions are far too easy for the Saiyan to read. He can see the pity she holds for the one she hates and that single emotion would cause greater damage to Ryoko than any attack Ayeka could throw her way. Understanding what she is saying and why, Vegeta shrugs his shoulders for she has found another area of discussion he does not want to discuss. It is a sticky enough situation for him to deal with when Ryoko brings it up that he would rather not have to converse about another woman's fertility to her rival.
"Ryoko? Perhaps. I don't know the details, but adoption is still an alternate for her, not for this Saiyan however. Why, do you hold concern for Ryoko?" That is all he will say on the matter of Ryoko's ability to bear his children and his blunt indifferent disposition to it. For both his sake and the princess' he will not delve into the delicacies of Ryoko's biology, his stance on siring more children or the like. He wants to get back to training now, he has dilly-dallied long enough here entertaining Ayeka after her accidental declaration. Stretching his arms and beginning to limber up his body, Vegeta gives Ayeka the signs that her time with him is coming to an end. The Juraian exhales to herself. He has made a dig at her good nature to try and end the conversation. She is perceptive enough to see he wants to go now and leave her company, and so she nods to herself in agreement to his question. There is no more she can say to him or ask of him. Ayeka has much to think on now and has gained a few favours from the prince. She will not, however, let him leave on that sly comment.
"I am not a monster like her, of course I can sympathise even for her of all people. Her abhorrent behaviour and selfish ways do not make her deserve all misfortune."
" Selfishness is what allows both her and me to be living and breathing right now, survival favours those who look after themselves." Vegeta has the last say on the matter. Rolling his broad shoulders and twisting his neck to the side, producing a cringe-inducingly loud series of cracks, he looks at the purple haired beauty and states this simplification to her. Ayeka has lived a life of luxury in high palaces and behind higher walls, she does not truly understand how a life that dances with death is altered by its experiences. Both he and Ryoko have lived through battles and wars. They survived because they could not give a single care to the others around them or give a shred of mercy to their enemies, selfishness wrought in the fires of conflict is an intrinsic part of who they are now. With that said, Ayeka nods again, not bothering to argue with Vegeta over such matters right now. She wishes him good luck in his training as he bids her farewell and leaves to continue his eternal pursuit for power. Watching as the metal door closes, Ayeka smiles to herself about the deal she made.
Sunlight streams down around her as she stands alone. Shadows flitting about from the sparring woman and child outside, hushed voices whispering in the kitchen and the electric buzz and hissing coming from Vegeta transforming along with the correspond rays of golden light issuing out from the small porthole, Ayeka looks about herself still with a lot of things on her mind and casually begins to amble her way outside to where he sister disappeared off to. Stepping outside the house, she quickly spies the twin tails of blue belonging to Sasami by the lakeside with the happy meows of a cabbit accompanying her. Ayeka ambles over and gently places her hand on the girl's head. Sasami chirpily smiles up at her sister as booms echo out overhead from Ryoko trying her hardest to take down the Saiyan kid. Ayeka inspects the ground beside her younger sister but deems it too dirty and wet to seat herself upon and so remains standing, patting her happy sister's head. She starts telling her sister that her punishment for Ryoko by not cooking her meals is discomforting Vegeta and so it would be best for her to partially forgive Ryoko when both wince from a loud explosion and splash in the middle of the lake. Ayeka sends a dirty look towards the scowling woman panting as she hovers over the water. Stood on-top of the fiery blade steaming from the droplets of water raining down is a bored looking Trunks.
A shout from the lakeside distracts the lad. Effortlessly dancing in-between the deadly arcs of red whipping up the air into a searing plasma, Trunks turns and waves towards the girl merrily cheering him on as his antics and skilled acrobatics amuse her. Not forgiving the boy for the slew of insults she has had to listen to, Ryoko's scowl turns to a sneer seeing the Juraian royals watching her fail and flail about. Thrusting her sword straight at the turned back of Trunks which aptly disappears well before her strike has any chance of hitting, Ryoko releases her sword from her grasp and smirks devilishly at the maiden who just so happens to be in its path. Blue shimmers into existence, forming a protective hemisphere around both princesses and the projectile harmlessly ricochets off into the sky. Ayeka replies with a satisfied smirk of her own as she drops the shield around her and thanks the lavender haired child floating within it for his unneeded efforts. Trunks looks about him appearing confused and casually throws Ryoko over to the other side of the lake as she re-summons her sword and charges him.
He didn't sense his dad appear at all during that moment Ayeka could have been in danger, not even the trace ki that would be left if he was moving faster than he could perceive in a higher transformed state. Trunks scratches his head and thinks on why and his mind comes up with two answers; either his dad for some reason now has implicit trust in him being able to protect Ayeka, or Vegeta sensed that in her tired state Ryoko's energy blasts were of no threat to Ayeka. Ryoko teleports next to him with her sword held high and grim determination on her face to land at least one blow on the smart-ass kid who has been berating her and mocking her.
" You're boring me now, I'm done." A blazing rod of ki smashes down onto the top of his skull as he turns to face Ryoko and tell her he is quitting from what was the equivalent of game to him. Ryoko is having none of it and puts all her energy into her sword as she presses down harder and harder on her weapon.
"I'm not done with you yet you cocky brat."
" Catch your breath first, old woman. You're spent, and I'm bored so bye." Trunks descends down onto the grass and starts walking towards Sasami to see if she will play with him now. Still hovering there, Ryoko hisses out a breath of aggravation as she dissipates her sword. She got her hit in. It did nothing. She pants heavily for breath in the air, feeling worn out and exhausted after giving it her all to land that single hit on him, and cancels off her ki for flight.
Ryoko splashes down into the lake and floats about wearily, not caring about her clothes or hair as she lets the water rinse the perspiration from her. She aches, not being used to prolonged battles when exerting herself to her maximum. She knows Trunks was only toying with her and most of the things he said were just provocative jokes but he really got under her skin and once the red mist had descended over her eyes she isn't one to stop. A smug chuckle sounds out and harshly reverberates through her elfin ears. Ryoko sits up on the surface of the water and stares at the haughty Juraian waving in her direction. Confident due to the weak nature of the blast she deflected, Ayeka smirks at the bathing Ryoko and calls out to her.
" It's all Ok now Ryoko, I have talked with Sasami and she will cook you your meals again. You can thank me later." Being ever so polite, Ayeka informs her rival about the good news with a wide smile on her face. The look in each woman's eyes says it all as a nonplussed Ryoko stands up on the water and dries herself off with ki. Ayeka is all too happy to relay to Ryoko that she has taken from her Vegeta's home-cooked meals but will leave out that she is now privy to them herself. Behind her Sasami and Trunks start chatting, with the young girl complimenting the half Saiyan on his skill and how fun it was to watch him. The chattering of the youngsters does nothing to deter the two women glaring at each other with abject hatred lighting up their eyes. Ryoko teleports over to dry land and saunters up to Ayeka with a face like thunder.
" You're breaking the rules, Ayeka. Didn't Vegey just tell us to not do this kinda thing anymore? Guess you're just not a very respectful person, or is it just natural for Juraians to break a promise as soon as they turn their back?" Despite her evident fatigue from going all out in vain against a Saiyan child, Ryoko acts confidently back to the smug princess. She stands with her face inches from her rival and evil intent curling her lips. Ayeka's smile does not falter from the intimidation tactics. Technically she might be bending the rules Vegeta told her yet her confidence in Ryoko's tiredness and thus her weakness leave her with no fear that Ryoko will jump the gun and make Vegeta step in to protect her. Not that she feels she needs his protection at this minute in time. Just to remind Ryoko who she is dealing with, a few guardian logs start hovering in the air behind Ayeka before vanishing again.
"On the contrary, he said that so you don't start a fight, and you are not going to start a fight."
"My ki may be running low but I can still knock your teeth out the old fashioned way so fuck off." Ryoko is not in the mood for Ayeka to try rubbing her temporary superiority over her and shoves the princess over. The cyan haired woman looks down on the princess scowling in indignation as she starts walking off and then teleports off out of sight.
Ayeka sits up and dusts herself off, mumbling things under her breath about foul language and treating a princess like that. Trying not to appear nervous she glances about for Ryoko, for her confidence has buckled slightly having been pushed to the ground so easily, and smiles as she sees that Ryoko is nowhere to be seen. Holding her head up high to save face she calmly walks back over to her sister and Vegeta's son. They seem to be enjoying themselves sitting on the grass and idly chatting as they both pet Ryo-ohki together. Ayeka pauses for a moment though as she stands there. Looking down on Trunks she starts thinking again on the issue she just discussed with Vegeta; her potentially being Trunks' parent by law. Observing the two kids playing together she just cannot see Trunks in that light, or herself as a mother.
" Sasami, you're big sis is staring at me and it's weird." Trunks has noticed Ayeka's attention being on him as she deeply ponders to herself, and Ayeka hurriedly looks away as people do when caught staring. Sasami just laughs it off.
Feeling awkward, the high princess of Jurai heads back off into the house to go to her room, having an urge to write the events of today down in her diary while they are still fresh in her mind. Going up the stairs she spies Mihoshi and Kiyone in the living room conversing to each other about the love triangle and their views on it. Ayeka's progress halts as she silently listens in. Neither Kiyone nor Mihoshi have a kind word to say about the Saiyan, and not much on the subject of Ryoko either, and Mihoshi is enjoying herself far too much in this conversation. The idea of a love triangle and such is exciting to her and reminds her of several films she has watched and she makes sure to bring them up to Kiyone' attention who is instead relaying her observations of the interactions between the Saiyan and the women. Though not agreeing with several things they say and not liking Kiyone's statements on the physical intimacy between her prince and the raunchy rogue, Ayeka is pleased that their opinion is in her favour even though they think she is wasted on the Saiyan. She proceeds upstairs and fishes out her not so secret diary and begins writing. Back downstairs Mihoshi is animated at the prospect that she could get to play matchmaker and is not listening to Kiyone explaining that that is not why she forced Ayeka into that confession. A loud voice barks out from the adjacent training room for them to keep it down and immediately both policewomen silence themselves.
Vegeta is working on the multiform technique and is getting frustrated by its exponential complexities when he tries to divide again and how the efficiency of his transformations is so harshly reduced. He continues toiling away at it, he wants this breakthrough for perpetual training and his chance to push himself to number 1. Hours pass quickly as he schedules his time between transforming to super Saiyan 3 and then multi-forming when recovering his ki. He is making a lot more progress on the technique than the transformation, knowing he will need at bare minimum a year to make his ultimate form sustainable for a satisfactory amount of time. Vegeta doesn't realise the Sun has long since set or that he has missed a meal. His mind is single tracked and is not deviating. Eventually though with midnight fast approaching hunger catches up to him with a vengeance, he exits the training room and sees the other night owl grinning up at him from the sofa.
Drinking some midnight sake as she lounges on the sofa, Ryoko raises her glass to the Saiyan as he walks on by and to the kitchen. Vegeta passes through the doorway into the kitchen and finds Ryoko now laying on the table with her skirt riding high and her drink still in her hand. She gives him the option that if he is hungry that she is available, he doesn't dignify it with a response and sets about downing a gallon of milk whilst preparing himself a sandwich that makes use of a whole loaf of bread. Bright eyes watch him in the gloom. She waits, wanting him to notice and compliment her. A few red balls of ki hover about her head, lighting the room in an unnatural hue. Ryoko takes another sip and Vegeta moves onto gorging himself with whatever else is in reach. Light pours out from the opening of the fridge door, Vegeta hears a pleased exhale from behind him. He grabs an uncooked shoulder of mutton and starts roasting it with the ki from his hand and closes the fridge. Taking large bites from the still cooking meat, he looks at the woman relaxing on his table. They stay in silence as she sips her alcohol and he fill his stomach, her golden eyes never leaving him.
With only the light from the stars outside and Ryoko's ki, the feasting Saiyan has not failed to notice what Ryoko wants him to. He is not going to congratulate her on it. Assuming that all this time his house has been quiet and most are asleep that she has been outside the training room he understands why she might need the drink in her hand. The times he has spent as a super Saiyan 3 she must have taken comfort in the bright rays he emits. For the periods in which he had to power down he can only guess that her alcohol and lanterns of ki are what she used to stave off the darkness. Ryoko is making sure he knows that she is fighting her fear. One orb of purple births itself above Vegeta and Ryoko smiles at him, thinking he is trying to ease her worries and anxieties. The orb suddenly darts out and crashes into the floating energy of Ryoko. Breaking them and then quenching his own ball of ki, Vegeta continues to eat in silence with the smell of roasting meats enticing his nostrils and a dismayed Ryoko groans at him. She takes a large gulp of sake and sits up. Her reflective golden eyes look on at the man in an unimpressed manner. A cleanly picked bone is discarded in the bin and Vegeta walks out the room.
The comfort of the sofa welcomes him as he sits down and lets his muscles cool down and his meal digest before calling it a night. Eyes stare at him from the table in the kitchen, two new orbs of red begin to orbit her. Taking a rare moment to himself and to relax, Vegeta leans back, stares out the large window at the reflections of the stars in the lake and kicks his feet up on the small table. A small thud breaks the silence of the night. He looks down and picks up the object that he knocked over. The happy and radiant smile of the woman he loves hauntingly glares up at him, a newborn infant in her arms and his first sign of fatherly compassion. Resting his chin on his hands, his cold, dark eyes stare at the image of his dead wife. He feels a pang in his chest. Vegeta sets down the picture frame. Closing his eyes he shakes his head. A liquid sloshes about in a bottle next to his head. Ryoko asks him if he wants a drink. He silently pushes the bottle away from him, seeing the kind intentions in her offer but he cannot and will not consume any drink with alcohol in it.
Strands of her long cyan hair brush against his neck as Ryoko leans over the back of the sofa. Her arms then come around his neck, her smooth cheek touches against his and she makes a quiet remark about liking the small amount of stubble on his face. She asks again whether he's sure he doesn't want a drink and he verbally declines this time, shrugging, she takes a drink herself and sets the bottle down beside him. His sensitive nose is overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol permeating off of her breath, she has indeed been drinking for a large portion of the night though with little affect on her cognitive abilities thanks to her ki. His eyes drop downwards and towards the face down photograph. If but he had thought of the multiform technique sooner then he could have spent more time with her, he would have more memories of the time they spent together and less regret over the way he treated her. He misses his wife. A caring and soothing sound shushes into his ear as Ryoko tightens her embrace on Vegeta. It pains her to see him soundlessly grieving like this and knows that what he dares to let show is but the tip of the iceberg of his emotions, it also pains her to see how strong his love for his wife still is.
Nuzzling her face against his as she attempts to comfort the man she loves, she can sense the want in him to put up resistance against her intimacy. It is only natural for him. Ryoko understands that her presence complicates matters when he is mourning for his wife, she being the new woman trying to release him from the bonds of the past, she couldn't just sit back and watch though. She wonders to herself how many times he could have been like this in the self imposed solitude of his training room and how often his thoughts do drift towards Bulma, for both their sakes she hopes it is low. Selfishly though she herself finds solace in this embrace, feeling his warm body fending off her fear of the dark. Ryoko presses her cheek hard against him before she stands back up. Her hands trailing upwards tussle the spikes of his hair as her hug ends, her hovering flares follow her as she walks around to the front of the sofa and she seats herself down next to the solemn Saiyan.
"Us two are going to be going out on another date. Doesn't that sound nice, Vegey?" Entwining her arm with his and cuddling into him, Ryoko speaks softly to him with a warm and inviting smile on her face. She squeezes his arm and rests her head on his shoulder as he turns to look at her with an eyebrow raised.
"We are?"
"Mmhmm, we are. No princess in the way, just some me and you time. I want to have some fun with you before you leave." Still with her head on his shoulder she nods and her smile grows. She will not take no for an answer, hence she is not even bothering to ask him and just tells him instead. Vegeta dislikes being forced into things however if she makes it optional then he will always choose his training, he told her to focus her attention on winning him over and not on fighting with her rival and so she is. Ryoko is not disillusioned about how he will act if he does take her out on a date but she knows of no better time to go on the offensive than when his libido will be at the highest he will allow it to be whilst still on planet. Pushing aside her doubts about his natural urges and her major discomfort in this lack of lighting, she beams up at him and tries to alleviate the previous sombre mood and take Vegeta's mind off of things. He can feel her chest against his arm and he is tired from a day of training. Vegeta leans back in the sofa and Ryoko leans back with him.
"I'll only be gone 2 or 3 days. Are you trying to take advantage of it?" She specifically asked for the date to be before his mating period and he is shrewd enough to work out her reasoning. He did reveal to her there will be some minor build-up before and after his time. It is not a pleasant thought that she is trying to stack the deck in her favour as much as she can against him, nor is it a good thought that he will lose some training due to this. It cannot be helped that during his time he won't be able to properly train, but then again neither will Goku or Gohan. He much preferred it when he was made aware of the hyperbolic time chamber and could shelter himself in there for the full duration and then leave with not much actual time having been wasted, though he did have to share that with Gohan eventually. Ryoko kicks one of her legs over the Saiyan's waist and he nonchalantly pushes it off him.
" I'd be a fool not to. Since our first date ended in a kiss I want to see how far I'll get this time when you're more persuadable. The day before you leave, that's when we go and have our fun. You, me, whatever romantic spots you know of and who knows … maybe even a hotel room if you play your cards right." Her voice drops until she is just sultrily whispering into his ear and giggles to herself at the end. She adjusts herself against him so that she is more comfortable and in contact with Vegeta as much as he will allow. Her feline eyes watch as he frowns at her not too subtle insinuation and how her body against his is making him uncomfortable. He sighs to himself and rubs at his face with his free hand and looks down at the expectant and keen Ryoko gazing up at him with a face full of desire. Training is still in the forefront of his mind though.
"Two days time. If I carry on my training at this rate it may be possible for me to perhaps spare an afternoon or evening with a multiform and test out the technique. Maybe, if you give me a reason I should consider this." Depending on how far he can split his power at that time it would not be too much of a bother to him if he spared a couple of hours, as long as he has satisfactory control over multiform at that point in time. It has come to his attention that maybe it would be useful for him to purposefully weaken himself with multiform and then he could push his less powerful selves so much more than he can push himself at the minute. He doesn't know if that will work, he doesn't know yet if perpetual training due to multiform is even possible or how long he can sustain the technique for. There are many variables but given two days he is sure he can sort most of them out. Having to multiform anyway at least once a day for Ayeka he sees little problem with using that offshoot to entertain Ryoko for her plans. Ryoko's eyes light up at the challenge of persuading him.
" Because I love you, Vegey, and I'm gonna make you all mine. This is what you meant isn't it? I ain't waiting 'round these next two months, so is it a yes?" She snuggles in close as she happily declares her reasons and purrs contently as she moves her face closer to his. She slyly smiles knowingly to herself at her question, already knowing the answer and leans her face in and puckers up.
"And what if it isn't?" Vegeta leans his head away from her unwanted advances and looks at her out of the corner of his eyes. Ryoko smirks to herself. He can play hard to get but that just makes her want to win the game even more. She sits up and pulls away from him and he watches her movements, knowing she is planning some new offensive. With an overly dramatic swoon, Ryoko falls down onto his lap with a cheeky grin spread ear to ear. Vegeta looks down unimpressed as the content woman rests herself on his thighs. Her arms reach up to his face and he blocks her, she then grabs onto his arm instead and pulls it possessively close to her.
"Then you'll be finding it hard to train with me in your training room until you say yes. I'll just keep on teleporting in and asking, and as for tonight I guess I'll have to keep you company and show you some reasons you might want to come and have some fun with me."
"Try it, I'll just bind you with ki so you can't."
"I've told you before, Vegey, I don't like that kind of play, and you aren't really arguing against this are you? You're just putting up some token resistance, ain't that cute. So it's a date then. Make sure you don't get too excited when you see me all dolled up, save it for the big night. Bed?" Her head drops a few inches onto the cushions of the sofa. Her big grin lights up the room and she merrily chuckles to herself. Vegeta might have vanished to prevent her from trying what she did last night to avoid facing the darkness but she has her victory and she is revelling in it. Her elfin ears hear him upstairs and so she teleports up there. Standing in his doorway, she waves at him and asks for bedding so she can spend the night watching him again. Vegeta ignores her and climbs into bed. Leaving his door open, Ryoko goes back to her room. She then reappears with her own bedding and settles down in the corridor. Another purple ki ball darts out and extinguishes her red light. Ryoko sticks her tongue out at the back of the Saiyan and wishes him a good night with a happy grin on her face.