Cole, Pan, Bulma, and ChiChi stood amused at the ruckus within the hedge maze. Although they couldn't see what was going on, hearing it was more than amusing enough. From what they could gather, Goten had been subdued and gagged by Trunks, Armas, and Goku, who were at that moment plotting to throw him into the pool. Eager to be entertained, they strode casually to the pool side as the boys made their way out of the maze with their hostage. As the boys finally emerged, the girls got their giggles at Goten's expense. Goku and Trunks had him by his arms and legs while Armas had a hand clamped over Goten's sock-stuffed mouth. Goten had powered up to SSJ to attempt his escape, wiggling and squirming as hard as he tried, it was pointless since Trunks and Goku had powered up as well. There was just no escaping for poor Goten.
"Oh, my poor baby." ChiChi giggled, watching as they carried the resisting Goten to the edge of the pool.
"On the count of three!" Trunks laughed as he and Goku began to swing Goten over the edge. Armas had been forced to release his hold on Goten's mouth in order to move aside, allowing Goten to spit out the sock that had been shoved in.
"Come on, guys! At least let me take my shoes off!" Goten cried as Trunks and his father began the count. While it was true he had planned to come for a swim, and so was wearing his swim trunks, he had yet to remove his shirt or shoes.
"One! Two!"
"This isn't funny!"
"THREE!" They shouted, releasing Goten so he was hurtled over the edge and into the pool, or so they had planned.
"Hah!" Goten cried triumphantly, using his ki to hover over the water. "Don't forget that I can fly-iiiieeeee!" Goten shouted as he was tackled into the water by the last person he expected, aside from his own mother.
Trunks laughed out loud, a huge grin aimed at Goten's attacker. "Holy Kami, Cole, that was great!" He honestly didn't expect that from the typically somber Saiyan female. Her actions could be accurately defined as playful, which was something he had never seen from her before.
Spitting and spluttering as he broke the water's surface, Goten turned a sour glare to the person who had taken him down. His expression softened to one of mild confusion when his eyes fell on a rather unfamiliar face as he tread the water.
Cole allowed herself an slight impish simper as she met Goten's gaze, completely unabashed by her actions.
"Who are you?" The words came from Goten's mouth only a split second before recognition lit his eyes. "You're that girl..." He began, suddenly remembering her from the day they'd met almost half a year prior when she had first come to Earth. Though he could remember her face, he was at a loss to recall the name that went with it.
"So good of you to remember my gender." Cole spoke in amused tones, though her expression remained as stoic as ever.
Goten honestly didn't have a response for that, other than the light pink tint that colored his cheeks. Internally amused at Goten's speechlessness, Cole pulled herself from the water, climbing up onto the concrete ledge. Trunks watched as Cole rose out of the water, her skin slick and reflecting every curve. However, even as he found himself admiring the shape of her body, he felt a twinge of something unfamiliar as he noticed Goten doing much the same. Standing at the edge of the pool, she was in full view of anyone who wished to look her over. Goten swam to the edge below where Cole stood, grinning up at her as she glanced down.
"So what's your name, again?" He asked, the classic Son grin giving him a charm all his own.
Cole stared down at him dispassionately as she flicked her wet tail, effectively whipping water droplets into Goten's face. "Cole." A flicker of a grin touched her features as Goten's easy grin never faltered while he wiped the liquid away. They both remained that way, looking the other over as Trunks tried to question whatever it was that was making his muscles tense.
Cole was amused by Goku's son Goten. He might not have remembered her name, but she did not forget his. She made careful note to submit all names and faces to memory. It was never clear when she would find herself facing that person again later, for whatever reason. As she remembered from her previous memory of the young man, he was quite tall. He rose to over 6', he was well muscled with a bulky frame built much like his fully matured father. It was hard to believe he still had some growing to do, but when he was done, he would no doubt be magnificent. He was handsome with boyish good looks, which she doubted he would grow out of. His father sported similar boyish good looks, even at his age. He had average features for a Saiyan male otherwise; black hair and eyes and tanned skin, though not quite as dark as her own.
Of all the people present, Cole's skin contained the most color. She had always been dark from head to toe. Her skin was far from porcelain like Bulma's. The funny thing for Cole was that while trying on her bikini, Bulma had confessed she envied Cole's skin. Bulma complained that it was almost impossible for her to get a tan, which Cole found ironic since Bulma's pale skin was probably one of Vegeta's favorite physical qualities. Bulma was almost a perfect package for any Saiyan male; colorful hair and eyes, delicate features, pale skin, excellent female attributes, and abnormally intelligent. The only draw back was her practically nonexistent ki, although that was a trait that failed to negatively effect her offspring, a fact that still baffled Cole. If two Saiyans were to mate with the same power levels, their resulting offspring would be hardly stronger than the weakest parent. Obviously something about the genetics of the human body bypassed the faults that would cripple the mating of Saiyans. The only question was what it could possibly be.
Goten was a result of such a Saiyan and human mating, and was almost as powerful as his high ki level sire, despite the age difference. Cole wasn't a gambler, but she was willing to bet that Goten at Goku's current age would be even stronger than Goku was at the present. All in all, Goten was extraordinarily impressive, almost as much so as Trunks. They were actually very close in age and power levels. Goofy as Goku, Goten was without a doubt 1st class material in Saiyan society.
Complete in her once-over examination of the young man smiling so jovially below her, Cole relented her stare. Turning away from the pool, Cole noted the odd look Trunks was giving her, almost as if he wanted to question her behavior. Meeting his gaze, she didn't release her hold until she had passed. What was the meaning behind that look he was giving her? It almost seemed as though he was angry in some way. He had no reason to be angry, though. What did that look mean?
Trunks watched as Cole made herself comfortable on one of the lawn chairs, pulling the wet hair off her back so it trailed over the side of the lounging chair and onto the pavement in a careless heap. She laid with her back facing up, her head pillowing on one hand with the other arm draped off the chair on the opposite side of her hair. As nice as the view she made was, Trunks found himself still somewhat and inexplicably angry at her. The way she had been openly staring at Goten as though he were a piece of meat had struck some kind of nerve. Trunks knew he wasn't jealous. There was just no way he could be. He just wasn't the jealous type, on top of which was the fact that Goten and Gohan where his best friends. It had to be something else that bothered him, if only he could figure out what.
"Throw me, guys!" Armas chirped, offering himself to Trunks and Goku to be launched into the pool just as Goten had been.
"Me, too!" Pan grinned, getting in line behind Armas.
"Sure thing." Goku laughed, reaching down to grab Armas's wrist and ankle.
Letting go of his current train of thought, Trunks found he was rather glad for the distraction as he copied Goku's action. The began to swing Armas as they had done with Goten, except they were swinging him from back and forth rather than left to right.
"One! Two! THREE!" They shouted, launching Armas high into the air above the pool. Now, it would have been nothing for Armas to fly up that far and let himself drop, but it wouldn't have been enarly as much fun.
With an excited whoop, Armas fell into the water. Taking Pan, they repeated the process, sending her sailing into the air only to splash back into the water. Grinning, Trunks jumped in after, aiming for Goten as he did so.
"Hey, watch it!" Goten laughed, swimming out of the way just in time. He let out a shout before ducking under the water as his father came crashing in. "Sheesh, dad" Goten complained as he surfaced again. "Why bother to give me life at all if you were only planning to kill me later on." He joked
"I wasn't trying to kill you." Goku defended.
"Yeah, just maim you a little." Trunks laughed, pouncing on Goten's shoulders and dunking him under. From under the water, Goten grabbed Trunks's legs and pulled him under. Goku laughed, right before both boys grabbed an ankle each and pulled him under, too.
Armas laughed as all three men surfaced, bumping and dunking each other. However, Armas's laugher quickly died as they all looked at him with evil little smirks.
"No!" Armas shouted, swimming backward as they came at him. He squealed as he felt the first hands on him. "Cole!" He cried for his guardian.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" A voice from above them warned. All three men looked up to see Cole hovering lazily above them, arms and legs crossed. The three men seemed almost surprised that she had moved over them so quickly. Trunks was reminded of Cole's protective nature over Armas as she looked down upon them, calm on the surface and threat beneath.
Goten removed his hand from Armas's shoulder, giving Cole a sheepish grin. "You're right. I shouldn't be picking on him." He spoke, trailing off in a way that made Trunks think his long-time friend was up to something. At that second, Goten shot out of the water, reaching his arms out to catch Cole around the waist. As his hands gripped her waist, Cole gripped his wrists, reared back, and planted her knees into his back, careening him into the water in what was probably the most painful belly flop of his life. As his unguarded abdomen slapped painfully loud against the surface, he released his grip. Cole also released her grip, kneeling on the surface of the water above where Goten keeled over below, his screams bubbling up around her. With a grin, she stood so it seemed as though she was walking on water, stepping aside as Goten resurfaced for air.
"Oh, that hurt!" Goten cried, nursing his beet red skin.
"When you pick on Armas, I pick on you, and I don't play nicely." She said with a promising little smirk.
Pan smiled innocently at Cole, sending fiendish glances toward Armas. "What about me, Cole?" She asked, awaiting permission to give Armas a hard time.
Cole nodded her head toward Armas in a gesture of silent permission. "I wouldn't dream of denying you the pleasure."
With a broad grin, Pan began paddling toward Armas. "Cole!" He wined, sounding very betrayed. Cle chuckled inwardly, amused at the younger generation. Someday Armas was going to have to learn how to defend himself against that little girl. Cole returned her attention back to Goten and their conversation that had been momentarily interrupted.
Goten grinned at her, in spite of the way he still nursed his stinging flesh. "Naughty or nice, you can play with me anytime." He said, hinting innuendoes as he wiggled a suggestive brow. The sound of Armas's desperate cries reached her ears, but she only found herself entertained by them rather than alarmed. That girl was a spitfire.
Despite herself, Cole grinned at Goten. He was just so ridiculous, it was almost impossible to be serious with him. Noticing the quick flash of a smile, Goten pressed further.
"So... do you spar?" He asked, his flirting behavior refusing to take the backseat.
"Why? Do you dare?" Cole replied, her tones matching his.
"Forget it, Goten. She'll whoop you almost as hard as I do." Trunks interjected. He found he didn't much like being a spectator to the increasingly flirtatious conversation that was forming. It was common knowledge that, whether he meant it or not, Goten was a charmer. Goten possessed a certain amount of easygoing charisma, along with the infamous Son smile, that drew women in like bees to honey.
Quick to turn the smile from Cole onto Trunks like some sort of weapon, Goten gave a quick reply. "Give Cole a break, man. I'm sure she's not that bad." He spoke, implying Trunks's fighting prowess was less than satisfactory.
"Of course not." Trunks began, Vegeta's trademark smirk forming on his face. "The only way she could be that bad is if she lost to you." He said, implying right back.
"Oh." Goten exclaimed, touching a finger to his face in a thoughtful gesture. "Don't I remember you losing to me before?" He asked, sounding intentionally innocent.
"Maybe." Trunks spoke, mocking Goten's tone of voice and expression. "It's hard to remember after all the times you lost to me."
Both demi-Saiyans locked eyes as sparks flew, their rivaling nature almost like siblings. The air for a challenge was ripe until both boys noticed Cole walking away.
"Hey, Cole, where are you going?" Goten asked, watching as she used her ki to walk herself over the surface of the water and up onto the concrete ledge.
"You boys are perfectly capable of arguing by yourselves." She commented airily, laying herself back onto her lounging lawn chair as she'd been before. "You don't need me."
Both boys stared dumbly. Had Cole been any other female, Trunks might have thought she was sulking for attention, but he knew better. She had just brushed them off as though they and their entire argument wasn't worth her time. Trunks wasn't sure, but somehow, somewhere he thought maybe he should be insulted. He'd never been brushed off by a woman before, but strangely he wasn't bothered by it in the way he thought he should be. In truth, he kind of liked it. It made him wonder exactly what it would take to make and keep her interest.
Trunks cringed inwardly. Just when was it that he had lost his damn mind?
ChiChi considered many things as her skin warmed in the early evening sun. Within the form clad modestly in a one piece violet bathing suit, her mind worked a million miles an hour. After being at the Briefs' home for past few hours, she had, indeed, acknowledged that Trunks had some sort of interest in Cole. As far as Cole's feelings for Trunks went, ChiChi hadn't a clue. The girl was certainly a mystery of sorts. As far as ChiChi could tell, Cole honestly didn't have any interest in men at all, or women for that matter. She had seemed perfectly content to watch over Armas and mind her own business all day. From one woman who watched her children with the eyes of a hawk to another, she could plainly see Cole possessed impressive maternal instincts. It had been the boys that had continually paid attention to and involved Cole in their antics.
She had expected such behavior from Armas, to seek Cole's attention, but from the older boys was another matter entirely. That was where ChiChi was hung up. While it was plain that Trunks had interest, it became increasingly clear that Goten, too, found some interest in Cole. She knew that her young son liked a woman's attention, but she'd never known him to be so persistent. The more she brushed him off, the more determined he seemed. The thing was that every time Goten found an excuse to bother Cole, Trunks found an excuse to separate them.
ChiChi couldn't possibly see anything good coming from this situation. Her son and his best friend were quickly becoming involved in what would become a very volatile love triangle so long as it was allowed to develop. The question was how to disarm the situation. Ideally, one guy would get the girl and the other would admit defeat and move on. However, ChiChi knew a Saiyan's competitive nature, and so didn't expect things to work out quite so easily. The other things was who would get the girl. As Goten's mother, she was obviously in his corner. However, Bulma had asked her there entirely to help develop what might be between Cole and her own son. Then there was the matter of Cole. She would have to take interest in one of the boys and requite their feelings. How was that to happen if she didn't even care that they were vying for her attention? She seemed completely oblivious.
To make matters even juicier, it seemed that Pan had some sort of schoolyard crush on Armas, and poor Armas wanted no part of it. The whole situation screamed drama. Fortunately, ChiChi loved soap operas, so this was her cup of tea.
Cole grunted in minor annoyance as she noticed Goten strolling over, yet again. She wasn't accustomed to being around a lot of people, so she wasn't yet used to handling so much attention. She wondered if this was considered 'normal'. She wasn't sure why, but all the boys seemed to want her to play. She supposed it was because she looked their age that perhaps they felt some sort of comradery towards her, but she honestly wasn't interested in getting involved in their games. She was here for Armas, otherwise she would be working on more important things. As it was, she was going over things that needed to be done in her mind. As soon as the day was through, she would get to work on all the tasks she'd neglected throughout the day. She had a lot of plans and a lot of work. She would spend time around Armas for his sake, but she was not going to do things like 'beach ball volleyball' or 'Marco Polo'. There was no time in her life for games.
"So..." Goten began, inviting himself to sit on her lawn chair, mindless of Cole's legs. She tucked her legs in at the last minute as she realized he was actually going to sit on them otherwise. "You've been staying here since you came to Earth?" He asked, gesturing to Capsule Corp with a nod of his head.
"Infrequently." She answered without hesitation.
"So you've been living with Trunks?" He asked.
"On occasion." Cole wasn't sure why, but she got the feeling he was leading into something.
"So, is there anything, ya know, happening between you two?" He asked, wiggling his brow for emphasis.
Cole narrowed her eyes. There it was, the question he'd been leading up to. "No." She answered sternly, wondering why Goten would ask such a question.
Trunks floated idly on his inflatable raft, watching Goten seat himself cozily on Cole's lawn chair, and begin to schmooze it up. He was annoyed with himself because he couldn't decide what vexed him more; the fact that Goten hitting on Cole bothered him or the fact that he couldn't convince himself that it didn't. Goten was one of his best friends, and there was no way he was going to let their friendship suffer over some female. He knew that in his heart of hearts, even if he couldn't seem to make himself believe it. If he honestly thought about it, he would know what it was that was making his insides twist, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. He was dead set on the knowledge that he wasn't the jealous type. He'd never been jealous of anyone or anything in his entire life. Why would he start, now?
Even so, the annoyed look that suddenly came over Cole's face gave him a slight breath of relief. Honing his demi-Saiyan hearing in on their conversation, he was curious just what it was Goten was saying to get on Cole's nerves.
"That's good." Goten said with a semi cheesy grin. "So he shouldn't mind if I take you on a date, then, right?"
Trunks nearly fell off his raft as Goten's words rang in his head. He was asking Cole on a date? Son of a...
"That's something you'll have to ask Trunks." came Cole's calm reply. She hardly seemed fazed, which unnerved Trunks. Was she actually fine with the idea of dating Goten?
"Okay." Goten said, standing and turning towards his long-time friend. Coning his hands around his mouth, he shouted over to Trunks, which was pointless since Trunks could hear everything without the yelling. "Hey, Trunks, you don't mind if I take Cole out tonight, do you?"
ChiChi nearly swallowed her tongue as the situation she'd considered had come to a head already. Bulma choked on her own saliva at the unexpected turn, and Trunks's twisted gut turned into a double knot. He wanted to tell Goten that he really did mind and that he had some kind of audacity to even ask, but Trunks realized that he honestly didn't have any ground to stand on. There wasn't actually anything official between he and Cole, and as far as he knew, Cole had no intentions of making it that way. Aside from that, he wasn't Cole's keeper. He couldn't decide what she could and couldn't do. Dislike it as he might, Trunks couldn't red light Goten.
"No, Goten. I don't mind." Trunks shouted back, biting the inside of his cheek. All he really could do was cross his fingers and hope that Goten sabotaged himself.
"Great!" Goten shouted back before returning his attention back to Cole. "So I'll pick you up around... 8?"
"No."
"Okay, then. Is 9 all right?"
"No."
"Um... 10?"
"No."
"Okay, did you want to go out earlier, then?"
"No."
Goten rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a slight blush coming on as confusion sent in. "When do you want to go out, then?"
"Not at all." Cole said calmly, the tip of her tail twitching as she eyed him over. Trunks repressed a huge grin as Cole shot Goten down like a mallard during duck season.
"But I thought you... you said that you..." Goten stammered, pointing from her to Trunks and back again.
"You asked if Trunks minded that you take me out, and I told you to ask him for your answer. You never asked if I was actually interested."
"I... uh..." Goten began, a nice blush touching his cheeks. He'd never been rejected so completely before. Honestly, he'd never been rejected ever. All he had to do was make a girl laugh and his good looks did the rest. Then again, he hadn't made Cole laugh. He'd hardly gotten any sort of reaction from her, and he'd been working on her all afternood. She was going to be harder than he thought. "Well this is awkward." He said, trying to laugh off his embarrassment. "If you're not going to give me a date, then maybe we can at least spar sometime?"
Cole offered a vague smirk. "I think that can be arranged."
Trunks felt bad for being so amused by Goten's rejection, He actually felt pretty silly for having been so concerned about Goten's advances on Cole. He should have known she would make it as hard on Goten to get close as she did for him. He'd ben foolish to worry that Goten had some sort of magic charms that could turn a girl as set in her ways as Cole. She was stubborn, difficult, and a complete hassle. She was everything that drove him out of his damn mind, and he was determined to get his chance.
Watching Goten as he slunk back into the pool with the last of his pride, Trunks grinned at his long-time friend while giving him a pat on the back.
"It's okay, man. She doesn't know what she's missing." He said with a chuckle, trying to somewhat restore Goten's poor damaged ego.
"Oh, I'm not giving up quite yet." Goten said, offering Trunks a subtle grin. "You know me. I'm always up for a challenge, which is probably why I don't bother sparring with you anymore." Goten joked, throwing another cheap shot to Trunks's fighting skills.
Trunks sighed inwardly and outwardly. "Goten..."
"Yeah?" Goten asked, offering a winning smile for his friend. When Trunks pointed behind him, Goten looked, of course. He always fell for that. With Goten's attention drawn to the other direction, Trunks shoved his head under water. Getting a quick kick from his petty vengeance, it didn't take long for Goten to pull Trunks under with him. With that, the horseplay began anew; Trunks and Goten roughing each other up while Pan worked on Armas. The night was full of fun and games, and Cole found herself content merely to watch.
C.S.-
"Hrm... not much to say except all the drama makes my poor little head spin. Oi! Things are just beginning to get complicated! It gets even better, too! Just wait until we get into chapters 50+!"