Author's Note: Anonkat, you must be my biggest fan ever. Seriously, you've read this 4 times?

Bulma awoke to the morning sounds of the ship; Nappa stomping around upstairs, one of the boys letting out a string of soft farts in their sleep, Raditz yawning and making obnoxious smacking noises with his mouth. She missed her own bedroom. Having just Vegeta to deal with in the massive bed had been a great improvement over this over-familiar arrangement of the lounge floor nest.

She rolled over towards Vegeta, pretending to be still asleep as she peered at him through her eyelashes. Vegeta was close enough that she need only stretch out her hand a little and touch his. Or his naked chest. Or his lips. She didn't, but occupied herself with imagining it for a while. She was sure he would hit the roof if she actually dared.

Vegeta shifted and lifted an arm, but stopped suddenly, eyes and mouth flying open as it shifted the healing wound on his shoulder. He didn't scream, but Bulma thought it was a near thing.

He sat up carefully, breathing hard and touched the dressing with his good hand.

'Is it very "stiff" then?' Bulma teased him.

He looked at her sharply. 'Oh, you mean my shoulder? You could say that.' He ran his good hand through his crusty hair, still matted and sticky from the gel, looking wistfully at Brolly in the tank. 'Raditz!'

'Yes?' said Raditz without otherwise moving from his blanket.

'Plot a course for the nearest planet with a breathable atmosphere. Preferably uncivilised.'

Despite the injuries the good spirits onboard continued. The daily katas and stretches and balances resumed, as much as each person's injuries allowed, and Vegeta requested more lessons on raising and lowering energy levels.

'I found it useful on that last planet. I was able to hide from their scouters to an extent. How low do you think it is possible to take your chi, Krillin?'

'I don't know,' admitted Krillin. 'A lot lower than you've gotten in the past, that's for sure. But I'm sure that a bit of practice will make perfect,' he added, seeing Vegeta's law clench at the perceived criticism. One was always on dicey ground where Vegeta was concerned. Krillin was getting used to him and learning to read his moods better, but Vegeta had a switchblade temper at times and a prickly ego to boot. It reminded him of someone else he knew.

He glanced over at Bulma who was sitting on the sofa, tapping occasionally at her laptop keyboard, but mostly listening to what the boys were saying over on the steps.

'I think it should be possible to lower it until you're right down, almost asleep,' said Goku. 'Maybe even almost dead.'

'Really?' said Krillin. 'What makes you think that?'

'I don't know. I just think it. I can feel it,' said Goku, as if this was all the evidence anyone could need.

'Show us then,' said Vegeta.

Goku nodded, got up and sat down again against the wall of the ship. Then he closed his eyes.

'Well, we can feel your chi getting fainter,' confirmed Krillin.

'Mm-hm,' confirmed Goku.

'Yes, it's low, but how low is low?' asked Vegeta. 'We have no way of saying for sure how low it is.'

'You could compare it to Bulma's,' Krillin suggested.

'It's not that low,' said Raditz.

'Hey!' objected Bulma. 'I'm not that weak! I've been known to give some nasty stingers! Just ask Krillin.'

'Mmm. She's not lying,' confirmed Krillin, rubbing his head at the memories. He encountered his still-unfamiliar hair and rubbed his palm around a bit, savouring the feel. He could shave it if he wanted – he was sure Bulma would have a razor or at least a pair of scissors he could use – but he couldn't bring himself to it. Not only were all the monks of his order currently dead, but to do so would be to affirm his intention to uphold the vows he'd taken as a monk. Krillin had not been very good at keeping those vows at the best of times, but he squeezed by without anyone noticing too much. Now for the first time, as the sole living practitioner of his religion, Krillin considered those vows seriously. He did not think himself up to keeping them, and until the Earth was restored he didn't want to restrict his actions in any way or be forced to break a vow on purpose. No one else out here in space cared whether he shaved his head or not anyway.

'I'm not finished yet,' said Goku. He frowned and his energy got even smaller and quieter. Krillin had observed Master Roshi reign in his power this much before, but never Goku. They continued staring at Goku, his breath getting slower and slower until it seemed like his chest wasn't moving at all. His chi grew stiller and stiller until it was the size of a squirrel's; barely perceptible without concentrating. He was so still he started to look inanimate.

'I can't sense him at all,' said Raditz in hushed tones of shock.

Bulma stood up suddenly. 'Is he even breathing?' She ran up the steps and dropped to her knees beside him but Goku opened his eyes before she could check his pulse.

'I'm fine,' he said softly.

'Urgh!' said Bulma, sinking onto her backside in relief. 'You shouldn't be suppressing your life force or whatever until you're almost dead!' she said angrily. 'What if you went too far and actually died?'

'I don't think that's actually possible,' he said, his voice gaining strength.

'You don't know that!'

'Ah, his chi is already bouncing back up,' observed Tarble. 'It's hard to compare it directly to Bulma's though – the quality is different.'

'Thanks for making me the low-point target, guys!' Bulma complained, still angry about Goku giving her a fright. 'What about Puar? Why don't you use her?'

'I don't mind,' said Puar from where she was watching from the dining table.

'Krillin, how the hell was that flimsy Princess able to get a knock on you?' Nappa asked, still thinking through Bulma's earlier statement.

'By being more lethal than I look,' said Bulma.

'That wasn't really it,' said Krillin. 'If you lower you chi enough, even a slap from Bulma can knock you about when normally it wouldn't hurt a bit.'

'What? Are you saying you let me hurt you, from pity?' said Bulma, aghast.

'Well yeah, I guess,' said Krillin. 'If I kept my chi high when you hit me, you'd hurt your hand.'

'You! What?' she screeched and Vegeta grinned as she jumped to her feet and advanced on Krillin. 'Were you making a fool of me all those times? I'm going to hit you so hard right now, Krillin! Are you going to make your chi high or low, huh?'

'No! Bulma!'

'What's it going to be?'

Krillin scrunched his face up and let the hand smack into the side of his face. He'd chosen somewhere slightly higher than her level, and it hurt both of them. He clutched his face and she yowled and clutched her hand.

Nappa snorted in amusement.

'Hit me too,' said Goku, standing up.

Bulma scowled at him. 'I'm not going to hit you just so you guys can make fun of me, Goku. You'll just hurt my hand like Krillin did!'

'No, you won't, I promise,' he said and smiled at her.

Bulma gave him a sour look but calmed down a little. 'I know this is ridiculous, but I don't want to hurt you.'

'Don't worry about it, just hit me,' said Goku.

'All right then,' she said, raising her hand to swipe at the side of Goku's head. It knocked him over and he tumbled to the floor.

'Goku!' she cried, rushing to him. He sat up, rubbing his wrist that he'd landed on.

'See, what Krillin said is true,' he told the other boys and men. 'That really hurt!'

Vegeta was grinning. 'That settles it – we will practice until we are weak enough to be knocked over by Bulma.'

'Oh, just brilliant!' cried Bulma.

The pit stop was planned for the next day on a planet with no reported higher lifeforms. In the meantime Bulma got her boxes of treasure out of the bedroom and contemplated what she could do with it. While the menfolk practiced throttling their over-amped power levels she took the boxes upstairs to think over how she and the other Earthlings might gain the upper hand on Namek. To pass the time while she thought on it she got out the earpieces and the other hearing aids she'd bought in South City. She shook her head as she dug the pieces out of her electronics kit. The dragonball hunt on Earth seemed a long time ago.

It should have taken her not much longer than an hour, but she kept finding herself staring into space, playing out possible scenarios in her head and forgetting where she was up to with her soldering and programming. Several hours went by and then Vegeta came slowly up the stairs, wincing.

'There you are,' he said. Puar floated up behind him.

'Oh hey, Bulma!'

'Hi,' Bulma said, locking eyes with Vegeta. He looked at her with a peculiarly neutral expression.

'Are you here...for painkillers?' she guessed.

He shook his head. 'No. The wound is healing well. Are you making dragonball detectors?'

'Not yet,' she said vaguely.

He approached the map table where she was sitting, watched her for a few seconds before veering off towards the curved sofa that ran around the room instead. He sat down, crossing a leg over one knee and produced his journal, which he opened and rested on his thigh to write. Bulma tried not to look, but his presence and the scratching sound of his pen across the paper derailed her work and her planning.

'Can I help?' asked Puar, watching her from the other end of the map table.

'Er… you could hand me that tiny screw driver next to you.'

'This one?'

'Thanks.'

'You're welcome!' said Puar, passing it over. 'Anything else?'

Bulma looked at the eager face of the little cat and suddenly wondered if Puar ever got bored. She wasn't a fighter so she couldn't train like the boys, nor was she a genius with several boxes of technology to occupy her. She was just hanging around, waiting for a chance to be useful, the same way she always had with Yamcha. Now Vegeta was the primary beneficiary of Puar's usefulness and she had proved herself very useful.

Bulma blushed slightly and stared at the piece of plastic in her fingers. She was annoyed with Puar, and for the most ignoble of reasons. She remembered the way Vegeta had stroked Puar like she was his little pet the night before and Puar hadn't exactly tried to stop him. If Vegeta hadn't been in the room she might have told Puar off for letting Vegeta take Yamcha's place in her life so swiftly, even though it would be slightly hypocritical of her.

'Why don't you just watch, and when I think of something I need, I'll let you know?' she told Puar.

'Okay,' said Puar brightly, setting herself down on the corner of the table.

Bulma pressed her lips together to try and hide her displeasure, getting even more annoyed as she realised that she'd felt jealous of the attention Vegeta and the others had paid Puar last night. She supposed the cat deserved the glory but she was still jealous that the others hadn't lined up to shake her hand like Puar's, and Vegeta hadn't… hadn't what? Petted her like a cat? She scowled at her own ridiculousness and took up a craft knife, scoring a circle in the piece of plastic.

Vegeta had been drunk on celebration and medication, and she was sure that that was the only reason he'd shown any affection to anyone. She was sure that normally she would be the only one to receive anything approaching affection from him. She touched the ring he had given her, now on her right hand. Whatever he'd said, she was sure there was a nugget of admiration at the bottom of that gesture. She shouldn't care so much anyway – after all, she was only playing with Vegeta for the fun of it and the potential to manipulate him using his feelings for her. He was both a means to an end and an obstacle to get around, but he was not Yamcha.

She pressed the piece of plastic out of the sheet and hunted around for the film of circuitry she was going to glue to it, and then became aware that the sound of writing from the ring sofa had stopped. She looked up and met Vegeta's eyes. How long had he been watching her? The curious, cautious look in his eyes put her in mind of an animal trying to decide whether to snatch food from an outstretched hand.

'What's up?' she asked gently, so as not to scare him away.

He stood up and laid the book aside. 'I was just wondering… what it is you are actually doing.'

'I'm making the earpieces into a proper communication system.'

'Oh, yes?' he said, coming to stand behind her to see. He touched the earpiece on the end of the row, setting it rocking. 'Nine?' he puzzled.

'One each of course,' she said.

Vegeta grunted in a discouraging way. 'Eight streams of useless chatter will be irritating, if not unworkable.'

'I know that,' she said. 'That's why these will only broadcast when we want them to, not all the time like the old ones.'

'Huh,' said Vegeta. 'Good. What about that stuff?' He leaned over her shoulder, pointing out the wide black straps of tough, stretchy material on her other side. As he straightened again his fingers brushed over her back. It was accidental, Bulma was almost sure, but she felt it acutely - goosebumps broke out as she realised how close he was standing to her. In a large room with no one else except Puar in it he was standing close enough for her to feel his body heat against her back and touch her in passing. She knew that Vegeta's sphere of personal space was larger than most people's and he had put her well inside it. She tried not to smile as the shiver of excitement passed through her. She looked at Puar, but the cat hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

'They're the straps to hold the other part in place,' she told him. 'It's got two components to it; the transponder and the receiver.'

He leant forwards and indicated the thing right in front of her on the table. 'And what's this part?' he asked, his voice far softer than his usual. She felt the whisper of his breath on her cheek and throat, and heat began making its way up from the neck of her shirt. All the adult Saiyans had deep voices, and Vegeta's was surprisingly deep for such a young, short guy, but he didn't often use his voice gently. She doubted he knew that when he spoke all soft and calm the sound was like deep red velvet to the ears. She wondered if the others had this reaction – not that she'd ever heard him talk like this to anyone else.

Oh! Is this just for me? she wondered, just realising. Do I see a version of Vegeta that no one else gets to see? He'd been different when they were alone together in the apartment; more like a boy than a warrior, like he was just some guy from her class at high school or younger; like one of the shy, arrogant and clever boys from the chess club who'd never had a girlfriend. He was attracted to her, but didn't seem to know what to do about it. She wouldn't ever call him sweet, but innocent, maybe. It was as if, once the asshole in him was appeased and there was nothing that needed to be killed or look dangerous and evil for, that those parts of him fell away and underneath was... Tarble.

He'd practically asked her to kiss him yesterday – in a very awkward manner, and she'd almost had her way. Bulma felt her face growing warm with the memory of him tensing up as she closed in on his lips. Imagine taking that innocent, childish part of Vegeta... and taking advantage of it?

She looked up at the face hovering over her shoulder. He cocked his eyebrow.

'So complicated that it's not worth the answer for the likes of us non-technorati?' he asked.

'No, it's not that,' she said, trying to remain straight-faced and losing to a smile of impish deviousness. 'I'm just thinking.' She glanced at Puar sitting on the map table. Sorry, Yamcha, she thought to herself. But it's only for now.

'I really feel like a cup of tea, don't you, Puar?' she said.

'Oh, yes!' said Puar.

'Could you be a dear and make us some?'

'Can I?' To her annoyance the cat looked at Vegeta.

'Go on,' he told her.

'Would you like tea, too, Vegeta?' Puar asked.

Vegeta shrugged. 'Whatever. Yes - I will try another of your strange Earth refreshments.'

'Okay,' said Puar, more enthusiastically.

Bulma watched her float away down the stair and tapped her craft knife against her teeth, making up her mind. When Puar was safely away she spoke.

'That's one of the transponders. The sensor closes a circuit when you touch it so it can broadcast,' she told Vegeta. 'That's how it will only send the messages you want to send. And it's much more subtle than those scouter buttons.'

'Hmm.'

She stood up suddenly from her chair, forcing him to straighten to avoid bumping heads. He'd been standing so close that now they were almost touching, and Vegeta took a step back.

'We never did have a chance to practice your kissing,' she said lightly.

Vegeta blushed pink. 'What has that got to do with anything?'

'Well, you never know when the need might arise again. What if, on Namek we are forced to play a loving newlywed couple again?' She grinned, unable to hide how much she didn't believe this herself.

'That is highly unlikely.'

'If you say so,' she said. 'I won't force the issue – I know it's scary for you.'

'For that last time, I wasn't scared!' he said, the calm mood he'd been in beginning to disintegrate. 'It just isn't something I'm normally required to do.'

'All right, then,' she said, putting one hand on her hip. 'I'll believe you if you show me just how unscared you are of kissing.'

She watched as her words had their effect. Vegeta was struggling with it, frozen in place while the cogs of his mind turned. She knew he wouldn't back down from a challenge, and she was certain he wanted to kiss her – she was giving him every excuse, though for some reason he was still hesitating. Gosh, maybe he really was just scared? Luckily she had experience coaxing shy suitors.

Vegeta's fierce gaze fell to her lips, and he pressed his own together, and as he dragged himself closer to her she knew she had won. Patiently she waited while he took a breath and leaned in. He pressed his lips to her own for just a tantalizing moment. Like when he'd brushed her back before, her lips felt alive for his touch, and the feeling raced through her, preparing her for more, and boy, did she want more. One tiny, shy kiss would not do, by any means. She wanted to feel him against her. She wanted to know what it was like to really touch this terrible boy.

He straightened and stepped back again. 'That was not exactly difficult,' he said breathlessly.

Bulma chuckled just as breathlessly. 'You call that a kiss?'

'Yes, of course it was a kiss!'

'It was barely a kiss!' she said with a grin. 'It was technically a kiss, but hardly in the spirit of a kiss.'

Vegeta's frown began to creep back; he didn't seem very happy with the criticism. 'And I suppose you're an expert on the subject?'

'Compared to you, I am.'

His frown and his blush grew deeper and he looked away. She was becoming convinced that he'd never kissed anyone before. Sure, she'd only kissed Yamcha, but she'd kissed him a lot. She was absolutely correct in her statement that she was an expert in comparison.

'Was I the first person you ever kissed?' she asked more gently.

'What does that matter? It's a simple motor skill – not even as hard as landing a right hook, never mind forming a chi blast.'

'Oh, so says the novice! But it's not true. There's lot of technique to learn. Let's try again,' she said and bravely put her arms around his neck. His head snapped back around in surprise.

'What are you doing?' he asked.

'I'm doing it properly,' she told him. She blushed too at this point. 'Now, put your arms around me.'

'An Earthling doesn't tell me what to do,' he told her, remaining as stiff as a statue under her arms.

'Do you want to be kissed properly, or what?'

There was a long moment while Vegeta looked between her eyes and her lips and back again, and then he obediently put his arms around her waist. He seemed unsure of where to put his hands as at first they rested on the top of her buttocks, but then he snatched them away and placed them a little higher up her back. Oh god, this is going to be fun, she cackled to herself on the inside and then she leaned in to kiss him as alluringly as she could manage on the lips. It was so easy to kiss someone almost the same height as herself. There was no neck-craning or tip-toe balancing going on – she just crossed the space and connected.

At the first contact his lips were soft and warm, and she realised how much she had missed kissing. Vegeta didn't move, but as she ended it, wondering if the fun was over already, he darted forward and his lips met hers in answer. So he did want to kiss her! The confirmation sent thrills through her and she unconsciously pulled him to her tighter as his hands splayed wide on her back, spurred to motion, but lacking direction. Their chests bumped and then pressed together, and Bulma could actually feel Vegeta's heart leaping against his ribs.

More! She still wanted more! How much further could she push this moment? When it seemed like he would end it she held on, kissing him with an open mouth. Her tongue encountered his closed lips and she wondered if he would deny her. Vegeta's eyes flew wide with shock, and pulled away from the kiss, staring her right in the eyes. Bulma tried not to pant, but her heart was beating fast – this felt like the naughtiest thing she had ever done in her life. Vegeta looked half ready to bolt, but he held his ground and his grip on her, and Bulma wanted to melt with desire and laugh with triumph at the same time to see him torn in all directions. It made her want to reassure him that it was all going to be all right – with her body. His gaze darted from one of her eyes to the other, searching, his breath from his open mouth on her lips still. Being this close to him was intense – the longer he looked at her the more she felt herself burning up.

'It's okay…' she whispered, seeking to reassure both him and herself, and leant into him again, reaching for his mouth with hers.

But before she made it she heard the sounds of someone heavy trudging up the stairs. Guilt descended and parted them like an axe through firewood, sending them flying apart in opposite directions. Vegeta leapt across the room and threw himself into a pilot's chair so hard that it span around in a circle and Bulma shoved herself back in her chair at the map table, shaking.

Oh, jeez, that was three kinds of exciting, she thought to herself as she tried to regain some composure. Nappa appeared in the doorway holding two mugs and Puar trailed behind him, holding another.

'I found your daemon struggling with three hot drinks, Highness,' he said, and then looked back and forth between them, a look of suspicion coming over him. He sniffed the air. 'What are you two up to?'

'J-just checking our course,' stammered Vegeta.

'I'm making stuff,' said Bulma, with a lot more cool.

'Uh,' said Nappa. 'One of these for you, Vegeta?' he asked.

'Yes.'

Nappa passed him a mug and then took a sip from the other and made a face.

'Hey, that's mine,' said Bulma, making a not-dissimilar face watching her drink come in contact with those hated lips.

'I wouldn't want to drink it anyway,' Nappa said, putting it down on the map table and shoving tools and materials willy nilly out of the way. 'Can't get used to that crap. You're wanted downstairs, anyway. Tarble reckons he's ready to be tested.'

Bulma groaned theatrically and reluctantly got to her feet.

'What about your tea?' asked Puar as she passed her, following her to the steps.

'I don't want it now that Nappa's contaminated it,' she replied. 'Can you make me another one?'

Nappa's mouth twitched up in satisfaction as he watched Bulma and Puar go.

'Checking our course, eh?' he said. 'Was that all you were checking out?'

'Yes,' said Vegeta, unable to counter more subtly than that at the moment.

'Yeah, right,' said Nappa, easing himself into the other pilot's seat and looking around the displays, which were mostly on screensaver mode. 'Where are we then?' He poked at one display showing power consumption rates. 'I don't see any of the navigation screens.'

'I just closed them.'

'Oh. How do I open them again?' he asked, leaning forward as he flicked at random through the system monitors. 'I can't navigate the operating system on this stupid ship.'

'Figure it out yourself,' said Vegeta, taking the opportunity to get away, hurrying to the stairs. 'I'm not showing you again!'

He rushed down stairs just in time to see Bulma slap Tarble across the face. The unexpected sight made Vegeta jump in surprise, sloshing his tea on the floor. Tarble staggered and exclaimed in pain and then looked over at Vegeta, pressing his good hand to his stinging face. Bulma turned to see what he was looking at. Just that moment of their eyes connecting was enough to send the electric sensation running over his skin again, and then she smiled and his feelings moved in yet another direction; waves crashing up against themselves in the storm inside his chest. Without a word he hurried onwards into the corridor, not sure where to go, but knowing that he wanted to be alone.

He headed into the bathroom and locked the door and just stood with his back against it, staring at his own reflection in the mirror, trying to tease some sense from of his agitation or at least cover it up with some clutched threads of reason. Something about seeing Bulma slapping Tarble was very familiar and uncomfortable - he didn't like it – and sloshing around with that unease was some fairly inflamed desire.

He breathed steadily, feeling his heart slow again, though that almost panicked feeling in his chest didn't quite leave him. He had kissed Bulma.

So what? he asked himself. What great significance did that moment have? Other than his own overblown reaction, that was. He had expected desire, but he hadn't expected that heady thrill; the senseless, piercing joy and strayed close to terror that he hadn't felt since he was a small child.

Eventually he stood straight and approached his reflection in the mirror, banishing the wide-eyed expression of wonder and replacing it with a stern face.

'Pathetic,' he said aloud. 'You are no longer a child, so don't act like one.'

He looked at himself – at the hard, unforgiving eyes, the regal brow, the muscles that flexed in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. He was a man; a man his father and his people would not only have been proud of but in awe of. He didn't do piercing joy. That would be reserved perhaps for the day he stood over Frieza's corpse and declared himself Overlord of the galaxy, and even then it would probably not be appropriate. He wasn't sure why he'd been so overtaken by the sensation, but was glad it was fading already.

To avoid having to go back out there and see any of the rest of them for a while he ran a bath in the glass tub and stripped off, though with difficulty due to his injured shoulder. Easing himself into the water he found he couldn't relax fully because if the wound went under the water it stung like hell, but he did relax a little, watching the stars drift by the window at the end of the tub.

The solitude and relaxation was double edged though, because he was unable to divert his mind from thoughts about Bulma. He washed his face, washing the scent of her off his lips, but that wasn't enough to escape her, and he suffered a sudden flashback through the kiss, thrill and all. She'd been about to kiss him with her tongue. The prospect of someone else's tongue in his mouth had always been quite disgusting, but now that it was Bulma's tongue he was considering, it didn't seem as disgusting; more unnatural, in a way that turned him on. Now he wanted to know what that felt like too. He wasn't sure if he was relieved that Nappa had interrupted them or not. His dick was not relieved at all, but when he lay a hand upon his restless flesh he discovered that fast movement made his shoulder hurt too much to remedy the situation.

He was just cursing the injury when someone tried the door handle, jolting him out of his thoughts and making him glad he'd locked the door.

'Prince Vegeta, you in there?' asked Raditz.

'Yes.'

'Just thought you'd wanna know that dinner is nearly ready.'

'Good.'

He put aside those thoughts for now and reached for the spout that dispensed liquid soap and found that the pink stuff had been replaced by white stuff that reeked like silk and biscuits – not much of an improvement over flowers and sweets, and it reminded him unpleasantly of the smell of Zarbon's quarters. Zarbon, that bastard, had been as perfumed as the worst of the Grenouillean women and a lot more than Bulma. He was relieved that she at least didn't feel the need to douse herself in strong scents. Saiyan women didn't do that, or at least, not that he remembered. He frowned; trying to bring to mind any memory of the smell of Saiyan women from his childhood. He seemed to recall that it had been pleasant enough, but…

In the middle of washing, the memory jostled loose by Bulma slapping Tarble finally made it to the front of his mind.

'How dare you!'

Smack!

That had been Aubergina, a long, long time ago. He'd been very young, but it stood out in memory because even though she'd hit him with an open hand it had hurt worse than any strike that his fighting tutors had given him to that date. He remembered falling over and his eyes watering, gasping with shock and sense of betrayal, not only from what she had done, but also that the soldiers in the palace courtyard who had witnessed it had done nothing to stop her or arrest her afterward. The most uncomfortable part of the memory was the words he'd said to her before she'd struck him. It had been something like, 'I don't take orders from you, even if you are my father's favourite cunt.' No wonder she'd hit him. Although, in his defence, at that age he'd had no idea what the words meant – he was only repeating what he'd heard his elders whisper in gossip.

'Would you talk to your own mother like that?'

He hadn't answered. He'd backed away, scared of her.

'Well, would you?'

'I don't have a mother!'

'Don't you? Are you sure about that?' She had turned away, striding down the corridor. 'The arrogant whelp thinks he birthed himself!'

Vegeta slid under the water to get away from the ambiguity of that memory, but popped right back up with a yelp when the warm water got into his wound. He hadn't thought of it for years, nor considered it meant too much at the time, but now he was much older it made him uneasy.

No, she couldn't be, he insisted. How could she have possibly been my mother? She hated me and I hated her! Nappa must surely be wrong.

He was more withdrawn than normal throughout dinner. Since Bulma still had one of the dining chairs upstairs there were only three of them at the table – Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz, though Vegeta wished he could swap one of the others for Bulma. She was sitting cross legged on one of the sofas with the others arranged around her, telling them some nonsense story about the earth's government paying unemployed people, apparently simply so they could continue to be unemployed. Nappa and Raditz were talking, but Vegeta was straining to hear the conversation in the lounge.

'I'm sure the Tech-Techies wouldn't let anyone starve, but at the same time, they don't let anyone have the chance to be unemployed. Why doesn't the government give jobs to the jobless people if they're paying them anyway?'

'That's kind of a good question, Tarble. I guess the Earth government figures that people are the happiest and most productive when they get to choose their own jobs? I'm not sure.'

'Maybe the government doesn't have jobs to give out?'

'You could be right, Goku. But they're the government; why couldn't they-' She looked up and caught him watching her and paused to smile at him. Vegeta's stomach gave a weird lurch, making it a little harder to breath than normal. 'Why couldn't they make more jobs? I read once that job creation programs during times of economic depression stimulate the economy…'

'So what happens tomorrow?' asked Raditz in his other ear. 'Vegeta?'

'What?' Vegeta said, turning away from Bulma's court.

'What happens tomorrow?'

'What do you mean, tomorrow?' asked Vegeta. 'How can I predict the future?'

'Vegeta, get your head out of the clouds,' said Nappa. 'We're letting Brolly out of the tank tomorrow, remember?'

Vegeta felt a little ashamed that he had forgotten that, but then slowly Nappa's words filtered in.

'You'll not talk to me that way, Nappa. I was deep in thought not daydreaming, and it's not your place to chastise me if I were!'

'Sorry, Your Highness,' said Nappa immediately. 'I'm just anxious as Raditz is about what our plan is. You know I'm not keen on having that mad fucker Brolly off the leash.'

'No,' agreed Vegeta. 'No one is.'

'So what do we do?'

The three of them sat in silence for a while. Vegeta stared at his empty plate trying to imagine what would happen with Brolly when he awoke. From the lounge a gale of giggling broke out, and he couldn't help glancing over again, annoyed that others were having fun while he yet again had to think serious thoughts.

'Let's go upstairs,' suggested Nappa. 'Less distraction.'

When the three of them were upstairs and the door shut to keep out further intrusion, Vegeta dropped into a pilot's chair while Nappa and Raditz leaned against the table. Vegeta spun one way and then the next as he thought.

'He's gonna come out hungry,' suggested Raditz.

'He's going to come out weak,' added Nappa. 'Have you seen how rangy he's gotten in the tank?'

'Well, we'd better hope his hunger and weakness overcome his anger at being so long enough to get the crown on him,' said Vegeta. 'If he has no memory of why he went in – or rather, the lie about why he went in – he might react first by lashing out, especially if it's one of us he sees, holding that damn crown.'

Nappa shook his head. 'The last thing he did before it went on last time was try and kill all three of us, and he nearly succeeded on some of us. I don't think we want to be showing ourselves at all.'

'You mean getting one of the others to wake him and put it on?' said Vegeta. 'Maybe that would work. Tarble, perhaps? They've spent a lot of time together.'

'Or Kakarott?'

'Do you know who would be even better?' asked Raditz. 'Bulma.'

'What?' said Vegeta. 'How would she be better? If Brolly decides to take his irritation out on someone she'd have no chance of dodging or surviving the slightest attack from him!'

Nappa grunted in a sort of ambivalent way, but Raditz defended his position. 'Well, I don't want to see Bulma squished either, but the thing is that I don't think he will attack her. He likes her.'

'Likes her?' repeated Vegeta.

Raditz leered and nodded his head slowly. 'Likes her.'

'What makes you think so?' asked Vegeta.

'Oh, you remember what I said about Bulma keeping Brolly calm and about him liking her whole doctor routine? Well, I heard him admit that he likes her while he was off his face on that squirty stuff. And she was stringing him along, stroking him and letting him touch her and stuff.'

All the wind disappeared from Vegeta's sails at those words, so that it was hard for him to get the air to ask, 'What "stuff?"'

'Oh, promising to run away with him and be his queen and garbage like that. And Brolly was fool enough to believe it. She had him eating out the palm of her hand. Or kissing the palm of her hand anyway!'

Vegeta felt jarred as his image of Bulma suddenly hit an iceberg. 'Do – do you think she meant it?' he asked.

'No!' said Raditz. 'Or at least, I don't think so.'

Vegeta felt only a little better, a sick and angry feeling lurking in the pit of his stomach.

'Ha!' barked Nappa. 'Of course she didn't – she's a manipulative one. I'm not surprised at all – she did try to deceive us from day one, and I have no doubt she'd lie till she was blue in the face to save herself.'

Vegeta frowned, sickened by the thought of Brolly touching Bulma, kissing Bulma's hand. It was distasteful to sell an illusion of affection like that. But she had tried to do something of the same kind with him – show her body, perhaps even, though she denied it was her suggestion, sell him access to her body for a price. She wasn't selling anything when she kissed me, he reminded himself. There was no bargain there.

'Don't look so worried,' said Raditz. 'I don't think Brolly will toast her if she plays along like she did last time. Just a bit of gentle seduction and presto! Crown on head, Brolly defused! And we'll all be there, just out of sight.'

'That's right,' said Nappa reassuringly. 'Brolly never got the chi sensing lessons. It's not like he'll be able to sense anyone out of sight. We might be able to rescue her if things go wrong.'

'Might?'

'Yeah, might. What's the problem? Do you want to keep Brolly alive, or do you want to keep Bulma cosy and safe? Last time I checked you only needed her for building the dragonball radar or whatever she calls it, but even if she's dead you can still find the balls. It'll just take longer and involve more interrogation of Namekians I imagine, which I don't mind at all.'

'We could get her to finish building the radar before we land tomorrow,' said Raditz. He grimaced. 'Then I guess it doesn't matter as much if she dies.'

Vegeta felt panic at the thought. 'No! And she's not stupid – I'm sure she could have a radar built in a matter of hours, but she's not going to do it so far out from Planet Namek! She wants to make sure she gets there in one piece.'

'Huh, figures,' said Nappa. 'You're probably right, and she would lie and say she couldn't possibly do it in a day if we asked her. Of course, a few choice threats, maybe a little physical coercion...?'

This reminded Vegeta about his promise to her, and the one to himself as well.

'No. I think that wouldn't buy us much. And I don't want her dead, even if she has built the radar.'

'And why is that?' asked Nappa, neatly masking Raditz's snort.

'Because,' said Vegeta. But there was nothing. No reason he realised now that would seem proper to Nappa. Not unless he wanted to lie and say he wanted to keep her around to fuck. He was pretty sure Nappa would accept that. Well, he didn't need to explain everything to Nappa.

'Because what?'

'Because it's none of your damn business, Nappa. I don't want her dead, or the other Earthlings. And while I have your ears I want you to know that I don't want either of you killing her or Krillin either.'

Nappa looked completely taken aback, but Raditz looked like he was trying to work something out.

'You mean not until we're on Namek?' asked Nappa.

'Not now, and not on Namek either.'

Nappa's face went as slack as a boned game bird in surprise. 'Okay… and what if they try and kill us?'

'They won't succeed, so it hardly matters.'

'The Hell it does!'

'Did you strike some kind of bargain?' asked Raditz. Vegeta's gazed flicked over to him in annoyance. 'Did Bulma - or Bulma and Krillin - agree to help you on Namek?'

'No,' admitted Vegeta. 'When we get to Namek the Earthlings will be working against us. Probably Kakarott as well.'

'What?' cried Nappa and Raditz together. Nappa looked purely horrified, but Raditz looked halfway amused.

'And we can't kill them? Why?' demanded Nappa. 'What kind of bargain did you make with that bitch?'

Vegeta felt himself turning red with anger and embarrassment. 'There was no bargain! It was just an agreement that...' Oh hell, it did sound crazy. 'That it would be more fun and more of a challenge if we made it a kind of scheme versus scheme gameplay. And as they cannot possibly win against us, there is no downside.'

'No downside?' echoed Nappa. He struggled with it, flushing red with anger and biting his lip for a moment before speaking. 'I'm just not sure that is a wise decision, but it's your wish you're risking by playing games, your Highness,' he said darkly.

'And what did Bulma give you in return for that agreement?' said Raditz with a lewd quirk of the brow.

'Nothing!' shouted Vegeta, feeling himself getting redder. 'I just told you, there was no fetid, disgusting bargain entered into! We discussed it-'

'I bet it was her idea,' interjected Nappa.

'Yes, it was her idea! The Earthlings want the wish on Namek first so that they can nobly revive their dead species - they were going to scheme against us anyway!'

'Then why bother with this "agreement", then?'

'Cause like he said, he doesn't want to kill her,' said Raditz, grinning as if he'd just figured something out.

Vegeta growled aloud with anger and embarrassment.

'Hey, I'm with you,' said Raditz. 'I don't think I want her dead either.'

Vegeta turned away from them both to stare out over the console, seething at being exposed like this. The stars streaked by, their passage unperturbed by Vegeta's inner turmoil.

'It's fine,' said Nappa after a few moments. 'My Prince's wishes are my command.'

'Good,' said Vegeta. 'You are dismissed.'

He listened as they trudged over to the door and it opened and then close it again, but then he realised Nappa was still in the room. Scowling he turned to see why the man hadn't left. Nappa stood almost nervously at the hatch.

'Vegeta, can I speak to you privately?'

'Is it about Bulma?'

'Yes.'

'Then no.'

Nappa sighed and hesitated. 'Vegeta, I was a grown man before you were born. I know to you I am just a bodyguard and vassal, but give me credit for my years. I've been where you are and I've seen others get bent out of shape by a girl. If you will hear me out I can offer you the benefit of my experience.'

Vegeta glared long and hard at him, but the truth was he was confused and felt alone with his problems. 'Okay, then, speak.'

Nappa nodded and took the other pilot's seat, perching on it; he was too big to fit in it properly.

'Now, you remember what I said before we went to Grenouillea Two about women being a trap?'

Vegeta nodded.

'Well, I think you are falling into that trap.'

Vegeta bristled, clenching his jaw on his tempter. 'How so?'

'Hmm. Did you two bang when you were on Grenouillea?'

'No!' said Vegeta and then grit his teeth, as humiliated as could be about the direction Nappa was taking this.

'Didn't think so. Well then, you sold yourself cheap, my prince.'

'What do you mean, I sold myself cheap?'

'I mean… that girl has got to you. That deal you arranged – you didn't get anything out of that?'

Vegeta shook his head.

'No favours? Nothing?'

Vegeta turned red, but he was never going to admit the various things that had happened, and definitely not the kiss that had taken place right in that room only a couple of hours earlier. That wasn't part of any deal, anyway.

'As if I would lower myself to swap strategic advantages for sexual favours!'

Nappa rolled his eyes. 'Oh, Vegeta,' he sighed. 'Anyone with eyes could see how badly you want to stir that girl's pudding, but instead she's got you bent over a barrel giving her practically everything she wants for nothing.'

'No she doesn't!' scoffed Vegeta. 'How would she have me over a barrel when I'm the one with all the power and control?'

'You don't have all the power and control. Or at least not yet.'

'What do you mean?'

Nappa gave him a misty eyed look, as if seeing through the veils of time to long ago. 'Let me tell you what my squad leader told me when I was maybe a little younger than you. We're men, and men… well, it's a fact, we want sex. Not always with women, but generally. And women, they know what men want, and they'll give it, but there's always a price.'

'And what is that?' asked Vegeta.

'Depends on the woman. Bulma, she's a woman, and a crafty, sneaky one at that. She wants that wish on Namek, she doesn't want to be killed for it… and whatd'ya know, she's got the promise of safety from you.'

Vegeta turned to glare out of the window again. Nappa's words were making him angry, and he wanted to refute them loudly and confidently, but they struck just enough at the truth that his confidence was cracked. He didn't think he'd been tricked, but maybe there was a shadow of doubt.

'Your argument has a flaw, Nappa,' he pointed out instead. 'Bulma and I never consummated-' he choked with embarrassment on that word, '-the "deal". I purposely avoided such contact, and my head remains clear.'

'Does it?'

'Yes.'

'So you think you are making the same decisions now as you would have before we ever visited Earth?'

Vegeta opened his mouth to deny it, but found he could not. He didn't like Nappa second guessing him and questioning him, but he also knew he was going out of his way to protect Bulma. He knew that he thought of her all the time.

'You're not thinking straight,' Nappa went on. 'You're not thinking with your brain anymore.'

'Wha- I am not some dumb animal! How dare you-'

'Vegeta! Please! I'm not trying to shame you, Your Highness, but I can only call it like I see it. You're thinking with your dick, and the longer you hold out the longer your decision making is compromised.'

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'You just want me to put her out the airlock,' he accused the older man.

'No, I want you to use her while she's useful and then know when it's the right time to put her out the airlock. Sleep with the girl already – get it out of your system.'

'What?' cried Vegeta. This wasn't the advice he'd been expecting.

'Fuck her already!' cried Nappa. 'Get the full use out of the girl; get it over and done with and stop hovering over her like an anxious damsel fly. It makes me sick to see it. All the pointless self-denial you've put yourself through these last few years has your body starved, and your need is taking over your mind. You're made sex into a much bigger deal than it is. Even if we find a Saiyan woman, what's it matter if you pass the time with some alien girl beforehand? I mean, really? You're not mating her, you're not marrying her, you're not making promises to remember each other forever and always – you're just fucking. There's no taint, no scar, nothing to mark you as having tupped an alien, so why you think it matters, I don't know. And then when you've gotten that out of your system you're done with her, and all promises can be damned.'

Vegeta turned away from Nappa as he spoke, furious with shame.

'Go away,' he said when Nappa finished.

'Vegeta-'

'Leave me alone!' he roared, and Nappa knew no further point could be pushed. After Nappa squeezed down the steps of the flight deck, Vegeta crossed the room to shut the door behind him. Puar had been coming back up the stairs and he shut the door in her face. He couldn't even abide the daemon right now. He locked the door for good measure and then threw himself back into the pilot chair and stared over the console into featureless emptiness.

For a long time he just raged silently, fists clenched, chi crackling and leaking from them, trying to hold his temper back from becoming violent, his thoughts just a crazy carousel of anger with Nappa, Raditz, Brolly, Bulma, Frieza and even himself making an appearance before they settled into something more ordered.

He settled on his anger with himself first.

Was what Nappa said true? Was he compromised?

He didn't want to put Bulma out an airlock. Having sex with her seemed a little extreme, but the idea was becoming more and more irresistible. Was this why he felt this strange... possessiveness towards her? Why the thought of Brolly touching her incensed him? She irritated and shocked him no end, but part of him revelled in it. Not knowing what she was going to say or do next made him both amused and delighted. If he let himself... if he managed to entice her somehow into having sex with him, would that remove the variable of Bulma from his equations? Would that element of delight go away? He was not convinced it would. In fact he felt unhappy at the thought of it going away.

'I really am compromised,' he conceded to himself. Perhaps he should follow Nappa's advice... somehow. He had no idea how to proceed in that direction though.

Ah, but it was tempting to risk trying just to know what he'd been missing out on.

Or he might just end up making a fool of himself. His pride was offended by the thought of being intimate with someone who was only letting him to get something in return. Worse, he didn't know how to go about this. He'd never been trained in seduction or technique other than observing Nappa and Raditz on the pull (when they didn't have enough money for a brothel) and hear their filthy talk after they were successful. It sounded sordid, and he instinctually knew that what worked for Raditz on loose women at shady nightclubs would not work for him on Bulma. Crap, he didn't know what to do or think!

'Nappa is an idiot,' he reminded himself.

He sighed, his thoughts fluttering between one possibility and another. He didn't understand himself – how could Nappa understand him better?

He decided that the status quo would do for now.

With that indecision made he was left with the leaden weight in the pit of his stomach. He'd always thought Bulma had been playing with him to some extent, but the idea that there might not be one whit of genuine feeling behind those words and kisses made him feel…

He lost control of his temper for a second, slamming his fist down on the arm rest and smashing it right off. With a snort he got to his feet and forced himself to calm down again. He had no idea what was going on in her head, but in the meantime he would simply not allow himself to fall prey to her any further than he already had.

Bulma returned from the bathroom with freshly brushed teeth and her nightgown on and stood on the parquet floor eyeing up her spot next to Vegeta. He was lying with his good arm under his head, his bicep curled up in a way that was pleasing to her eye, and as she watched him his gaze flicked from the ceiling over to her, an unreadable expression on his face. She felt a quiver somewhere in the vicinity of her womb.

Oh. Damn. Oh damn, I might've made a slight miscalculation, she lamented as she started to feel excited about the prospect of merely lying next to Vegeta. How am I going to hoodwink and bamboozle him if I'm bamboozled myself by how much I want him? Is it still noble to use my charms for the cause if I desperately want to use my charms on him? How am I even going to sleep next to him if I feel like this?

She hopped down the steps and climbed under her blanket (recently cleaned by that blessed detail crew) and lay there, looking at the ceiling, feeling how close he was to her. Actually, she could feel how close Goku was too, but that was not nearly as significant.

'Night-night, Bulma!' said Goku.

Bulma laughed. Sometimes Goku could be so sweet and childish it made her feel forty years old. 'Goodnight, little brother.'

'He's not your brother,' pointed out Vegeta.

'No,' said Bulma. 'But he's like a little brother to me. Sometimes.'

'Goodnight, Bulma!' said Krillin in a slightly more mocking tone.

'Goodnight, Krillin.'

'I'm not like your little brother then?' he asked.

'No, you're more like my weird second cousin that the family never talks about.'

Puar giggled. 'Goodnight, Bulma!'

'Really, are we going to do this?' Bulma asked. 'Okay, then, goodnight, Super-kitten.'

'Goodnight, Bulma!' sang Tarble.

'Goodnight, illicit Saiyan friend!' she replied.

'Goodnight, token female sex-object,' said Raditz. Vegeta looked over at Raditz sharply.

'What?' said Puar.

Bulma made a face. 'Goodnight, creepy older guy who hangs around with kids!'

The others all laughed at that.

'Not by choice!' objected Raditz. 'I'd trade you all in a second for some decent adult company. You're all retarding my personal development.'

'Well, you're certainly retarded in some ways,' said Krillin.

Raditz sat straight up, making Krillin squeal and hop over Tarble onto the steps. 'Come here and say that you little punk!'

'Chill out, Raditz, he was only joking!' said Bulma. 'We don't need any bedtime violence.'

'Yes, Mommy… Oh no, wait, you're not my mother; you're just a loud-mouthed, little-'

'Raditz! Settle down,' said Vegeta in a hard tone that made it clear that a line was being drawn. 'Besides, you walked into that one, retard.'

Raditz growled and both he and Krillin returned to their places. For a moment the room was silent.

'Aren't you going to say goodnight, Vegeta?' asked Puar.

'I don't need to play your childish games,' said Vegeta. But after a long pause he muttered, 'Goodnight, Bulma.'

Bulma felt a ridiculous grin spread from ear to ear and she rolled over to face him, his face still illuminated by the soft light of the holographic flames.

'Goodnight…' she searched for something she could use as a joke, to tease him, but not too badly, or to please him or show how she felt about him and could find nothing that she could utter in front of the others.

'Yes?'

'Vegeta,' she said. 'Goodnight, Vegeta. Holograph off.'

Bulma lay awake for a long time listening to the sounds of everyone else's breathing and shifting. She had made another miscalculation, or rather there were things she hadn't considered until now. She needed to keep Vegeta off kilter and interested until they landed on Namek, but they were still days and days away – enough time for him to go off her or get used to her, or who knew? Too much could go wrong. And in starting so early in her campaign to ensnare him, she had set herself up to get in way too deep with him before she started betraying him.

Damn, damn, damn. She knocked herself on the forehead with her fist in time with her silent cursing. Don't fall for him, Bulma! Just remember who he is, what he can do!

A killer, a maniac.

Oh shit, that's right.

The boy who wanted to rule the universe with an iron fist. Killer of innocents, killer of billions. A killer so casual that he didn't even notice or care when he might have killed people.

Suddenly her stomach didn't feel so good and the tingle in her core fizzled right out. She felt suddenly ashamed of her excitement over kissing him.

He promised me he wouldn't kill me. The kind of person you have to extract that sort of promise from is exactly the sort of person who would break their promise the moment it doesn't suit them.

What am I doing?

Author's Note: I thought you'd like to know (or more truthfully, I thought that I'd like you to know!) that this story was nominated in two categories in the Unnatural Lovers/We're Just Saiyan 2015 Awards! It's been nominated for Best Humour and Best Characterisation, and one of my other stories, Monkey Business, has also been nominated for Best Humour. Voting is open now and until August 1st. Even if you don't want to vote for my fics I think you should all definitely check out the nominations list and vote because the Awards need the support and participation of readers to make to keep them going. I'll put the link to the ballot on my profile page.