Bulma has an interaction with both of the men who love her. I also snuck in a funny moment with Baylor. And someone who hasn't made an appearance since chapter 18 is in this one. Enjoy!
It was late in the afternoon and Bulma's shift had just ended. She was on her way to her room to get cleaned up after an incident at work. While she was on her way out, Baylor had asked if she could help him put on the last couple of pieces on a pod that he was repairing, which were the door and a covering for the panel on the back. She attached the covering with little effort but saw that he was having trouble trying to hold the door straight and put the bolts on the hinges at the same.
She offered to help, but he said that he had it, so she stood beside him and watched as he tried to prove his strength. A moment later, he nearly dropped the door, so she quickly got behind him to help support it, and as soon as she did he acted as if he had been electrocuted and turned around, causing her to drop the door, stumble backwards and fall next to a table. He tried to reach out and catch her but ended up slipping on a wrench and bumping into the table, causing a can of oil to spill off of the side and all over her.
He must have apologized a hundred times as she got up and told him that it was fine before she left for the night.
She couldn't help but laugh at how the white-haired man was acting so awkward when she tried to help him. 'All men have their pride, I guess.' She thought to herself.
She stretched her arms above her head as she got closer to her quarters. She was tired and ready to jump in the shower before she went to find Verles.
She could admit to herself the nerves she had about speaking with her young lover. She knew that the time for the truth had, and she were going to tell him anything she would have to tell him everything. She couldn't imagine what his reaction would be. What he misunderstood certain things? What if it just makes things worse between them?
She sighed and allowed her arms to fall limply at her sides. This was not something she wanted to ponder over for too long at the risk of changing her mind. It was best to leave it alone for now.
She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, as she finally approached the last corner before she got to her room. She ran fingers through her greasy hair and made a noise of disgust at the thick, black substance between her fingers.
Once she rounded the corner she froze at the sight in she was met. There, standing at her door with his fist up ready to knock, was Vegeta. He appeared to be frozen as he stood there staring at the door.
She didn't know what to to. She needed to get into her room, but she didn't want to have get through the king to do it. She looked back to where she had come from and contemplated going that way. The way she saw it, she could do one of two things; she could turn around and go to Kakarot's room to get cleaned up, or she could just go ahead and get the inevitable awkward encounter that they were bound to have out of the way.
She chose the latter.
She inhaled deeply before she forced her feet to continue onward. She took a long exhale as came closer to him. "Hi," she said, purposely announcing herself.
He turned his head toward her, to the door, then back to her. "Hello," he greeted.
"What are you doing around here?"
"I was looking for you and thought that you would be in your room by now." He said.
"I got a little held up at the department." She said, pointing behind herself.
He then seemed to finally notice her appearance. She was covered from head to toe in oil. Her once white shirt was now blackish-brown and clung to her body, as did her pants. "What happened to you?" He asked as he stepped closer.
"There was a... little incident with a door and a can of oil." She said vaguely.
"Are you okay?"
She stepped past him to get to her door. "Yeah, I just need to get this stuff out of my hair before it turns it brown." She told him as she opened the door. She was about to go inside when she noticed that was still just standing there. "Um. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Yes. But would you mind if we spoke inside?" He asked.
"No. Not at all." She said hesitantly, and walked inside. He followed behind her and closed the door behind himself. They stood in the middle of the room saying nothing for a very long time. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Weren't you about to get cleaned up?" He asked, looking at her clothes again.
"Well, yeah, but..."
"Then, I can wait." He said, then took a seat on the couch.
"Are you sure?" She asked confusedly.
He nodded. "Go on. I'll still be here when you come back out."
She raised a brow. "Um, alright. If you don't mind waiting, I'll be done in about fifteen minutes."
"Take your time." He told her in a tone that had no double meaning to it. He was actually telling her to take her time with bathing.
She nodded once. "Alright then." She said quickly, then walked into her bedroom and closed the door.
Once inside, Bulma instantly went into the bathroom and began to strip. She understood that he told her to take her time, but she didn't want to keep him waiting for too long.
She turned on the water and got under the hot spray of the shower. The water around her feet became black as the oil washed off of her skin. She grabbed a metallic tube of shampoo, poured a generous amount onto her palm and began lathering and scrubbing her hair until she was sure that there wasn't a trace of oil left in it, then placed her head beneath the spray. She then grabbed a tube of soap and poured it onto a cloth, then scrubbed her skin until she was the right complexion of porcelain.
She would go on to repeat this process several times before she certain that she was clean. This was the same process she went through every night, but this was the first time since Nappa that she had a reason to scrub her skin raw.
(((Vegeta)))
After she had gone into the bedroom, Vegeta was left on his own in the front room. He looked around from where he sat on the couch. The last he was there it was far too dark for him to see any real details about the place.
If he were being honest, he was expecting something more. The Bulma he knew on Earth couldn't go anywhere without bringing something that would make her feel comfortable while she when she was away. She would carry capsules with little personal objects in them so that she could have a reminder of home wherever she went.
This place held no personal comfort of any kind. She had been there for nearly six months and it didn't even look like anyone even occupied the space at all, other than slight lingering scent. It was so neat, almost overly so. It was very bland and drone-like. It lacked character in every direction he looked.
He stood up and slowly walked around, getting a closer look at the anal-retentiveness reminiscent of a soldier.
He suddenly turned his head toward the bedroom. Was her bedroom the same as the rest of the place? He knew that he should have just sat back down and waited like he said he would, but curiosity got the better of him and he walked over and focused his ears to make sure that she was still in the bathroom, and she was, so he quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
Once inside, he immediately noticed that it was neat, but not as neat as the rest of the place. It definitely appeared lived in, and he was relieved to see that. He liked to believe that she was comfortable here after all this time.
He began wandering the bedroom, his eyes scanned over every last inch of the layout and landed on the bed. It was queen-sized with simple gray-green bedding. It truly was nothing special, and, yet, it looked twice as comfortable as the extra large king-sized bed that he shared with Kaede.
He walked closer and pressed his palm down on the mattress. It was soft. He glided his hand over the spread and felt that it was made of a decent material, cotton.
He lifted his hand away and sighed. The bed reminded him of the room he slept in when he first arrived at Capsule Corp., and he wanted nothing more than to lie his head on one of the pillows, and then he began to imagine which side of the bed Bulma slept on, or which pillow she used and if she still snuggled one of them out of habit when he wasn't there that he discovered when he came to bed very late one night and found her wrapped around his pillow.
The ache in his heart returned and suddenly breathing became a bit difficult. He placed a hand over his heart and sat down on the edge of the bed. He fisted his shirt in frustration as he tried to get himself under control.
He didn't understand what was happening. He felt like he was drowning and had no way of stopping the water from rushing into his lungs. He hunched over and fisted the hair on the back of his head.
Just when he felt the need to lie back, the door to the bathroom opened, and there, standing in the doorway, was none other than Bulma, clad in nothing but a towel.
His eyes widened and they stared dumbly as he attempted to remain as still as possible, hoping that by doing so made him invisible. He was not supposed to be in this room.
She hadn't seemed to notice him right away, as she walked across the room with another towel over her head that she was using to dry her hair.
His eyes followed her form until she stopped in front of the dresser. She pulled the towel from her head and shook her hair out and tossed it over her shoulder, and then opened a drawer to grab some clothes.
He contemplated making himself known before the inevitable moment when she would drop the only thing that separated her from complete nudity. He knew that he should have done the right thing and alerted her, but his brain told him to keep quiet and enjoy his right as her husband and mate.
As expected, she did drop the towel, and his eyes followed as it pooled at her feet. The black orbs trailed upward on her pale legs, over her firm rear, and landed on her back that was littered with a few freckles...and scars.
He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer to get a better look from where he sat. Nearly every part of her body had a scar. Some were faded, and others looked recent.
"What is all of this?!" He asked before he could stop himself.
The way in which she whipped around at the sound of his voice was astonishing, but the way she turned back toward the dresser and began dressing was just plain shocking.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, oddly less nervous than usual, and put on underwear. She pulled on a pair of khakis and a black v-neck, and then turned to face him. "Were you looking for something?"
He suddenly felt bad for invading her personal space. "Uh...No, I was just looking around." He said truthfully.
"I'm sorry." She apologized out of nowhere.
"Why?"
"I took so long in there, it's no wonder you got bored waiting for me." She said, grabbing on a pair of socks before she walked over to the closet and grabbed a clean pair of shoes.
He tilted his head in confusion. First, she had made no attempts to cover herself when she realized he was there, it was as if she hadn't even care that he had been sitting there watching her, and now she was apologizing for no apparent reason.
He stood up. "I did tell you to take your time, so don't feel bad." He assured as he watched her sit on the bed to put on the socks and shoes. "And you didn't even take that long, anyway."
She nodded as she tied her shoes. "Good, because I was really trying my best to be quick."
"That wasn't necessary, I could have waited longer." He said, and then uncharacteristically rubbed the side of his neck. "I'm sorry for wandering around in here."
"It's no problem." She said submissively as she stood up. "It is your house, sir."
He nodded in sudden remembrance. "Right." He said, almost unsure. 'That's probably why she didn't say anything about me being in here earlier.' He thought sullenly.
"I hope that I have managed to maintain this place at your standards."
"You've done a wonderful job." He assured.
"Thank you, sir. Now, if you don't mind, I need to go clean up the oil that came off of my clothes."
"I don't mind at all." He said slowly and raised an eyebrow. 'Why is she calling me sir again?' He asked himself.
"Alright then," and she retreated into the bathroom.
He looked around and cleared his throat. "I'll just go wait for you in the front room." He said loud enough for her to hear, and then quickly left the room. Feeling a little uncomfortable, he chose not to sit.
A few minutes later, Bulma emerged from her bedroom. He caught the glance she shot at the small clock on the wall.
"Sorry about all of that." She said, and went to stand in front of him. "So what did you want to see me about, sir?"
"I thought that we were past that?" He started, irritably.
"Past what?" She asked, truly oblivious to what he was talking about.
"I don't want you calling me sir, alright? I just want you to address me as Vegeta, that's it."
"Yes si-" she slipped up. "I mean Vegeta." She corrected herself. "But why do want me to call you by your name?"
"Didn't we go through this months ago?" He said with a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.
"Yes, we did. But I don't think that you ever told me why, though."
"It just makes me uncomfortable to hear you say that when you're addressing me." He explained. It was the truth. It did make him uncomfortable hearing her speak like a subordinate. Back on Earth, Bulma never actually had a superior when she began working at Capsule Corp., other than her father for a while, so she never really had to behave like someone who was trying to keep their job by being overly respectful. She was a respectful businesswoman, but she never had to go out of her way to get someone to agree to something. No. She allowed her work to speak for itself.
She looked around. "Okay. What did you want to see me about, Vegeta?"
"I wanted to see how you were doing after what happened this morning." He said upfront. "It was a surprise for you, I'm sure."
From where he stood he could see the way she was trying to not to react, but the instant he brought up that morning, her pupils became pinpointed. That was a telltale of an uncontrollable emotion being suppressed.
She said nothing, and just stood there with her eyes staring off to the side.
He took a step closer to her. "I know that is all seems to be coming out of nowhere, but I can guarantee to you its not." He said gently and took another step. "Talk to me."
She swallowed heavily, still trying to contain herself. "Why did you kiss me?" She asked in an almost inaudible whisper.
'Because I'm in love with you.' He confessed mentally and shook his head. That's what he wanted to say to her, but he knew that he couldn't right now. "It seemed like the most...reasonable thing I could at that moment."
Blue met black when she stared at him. "What does that even mean?" She asked, still keeping her voice low.
He sighed through his nose and took another step closer, leaving only about a foot between them. "It means that it was something that I've wanted to do for a while now." He got even closer and reached up to cup her neck making her stare up to him. "Bulma, there are so many things that I feel I must say to you but I it will be in vain unless I do it at the right time. I just want you to know that things will be different from this day forth, I can promise you that." He said in the most ambiguous way his mind could come up with.
"Why?" She asked steadily. "Why now?"
"I thought that I was doing something right for a change when I brought you with us. And because I know that you haven't been happy, I can't be happy."
Kakarot had said it so well the previous day. How could Vegeta ever expect to be happy while knowing that she isn't? She was a huge part of his happiness.
So, to answer her question he leaned down and captured the lips of the woman he cared for dearly for the second time that day. The kiss was short but passionate as he pulled away. "Because you've been unhappy for far too long." He said, remembering Kakarot's words. He leaned in and placed a kiss to her forehead, and then he released her and started towards the door.
"What is all of this about, Vegeta?" She asked, clearly not in shock this time.
He stopped for a moment but did not turn around. "You." He said simply. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Goodnight, Bulma." And he left.
(((North Kai)))
Standing at the edge of his planet, North wore a stressed scowl on his features. He had been paying close attention to the dark that is Planet Vegeta for close to a year now. There had been something very off about Vegeta III lately. The dictator that he once saw had changed somehow. Vegeta couldn't go a day without planning or doing something that was truly malicious, and now he didn't seem to want to do anything but bother his favorite slave again.
The woman had always had North's sympathy and respect. Throughout it all, she held onto as much of her sanity as she could manage, but what Vegeta took from her was something that was irreplaceable to anyone. But Vegeta always made the mistake of underestimating the earthling. Bulma was a businesswoman-turned-survivor, so she knew how to work her situation. She sacrificed an important piece of herself in order to salvage the rest, and there was something to be admired about that. Even now, she was still trying to keep it together by way of sacrifice.
"What is going in your head right now, Ms Brief?" He asked aloud, understanding that she wouldn't be able to hear him.
(((Bulma)))
She just stood there in the middle of the room after he left. She didn't know how to decipher what he meant by any of the things he just said. Vegeta had kissed her again and now she was left feeling very confused instead of shocked like this morning.
In the last ten years, Bulma had only kissed two people: Kakarot and Verles. With Kakarot, she had always gave him a short peck on the lips or cheek. The way Vegeta had kissed her seemed like something meant for a lover, very unlike the way she did it Kakarot. The kiss was similar to the way Verles did it, almost possessively.
She sighed. "Verles." She breathed and looked at the clock. It was getting late, and she knew that he would wait for her all night if he had to.
She needed to talk to him but she didn't know if tonight was the best time for it. She turned to her bedroom to head to bed.
"No, Bulma!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up to stop herself. "You've kept him waiting long enough." And she rushed out of her apartment.
She made her toward the Royal quarters, only stopping every so often to make sure she wasn't seen. When she finally reached his room, she instantly punched in the password to the door and slipped inside.
She closed the door and leaned against it. Every single time she came over to this wing there was an nagging feeling that she would get caught.
"Hi," her young lover greeted from where he sat on the edge of his bed reading something.
"Hi, Verles." She replied softly.
He got up and walked over to her. He lifted her off of the ground in a tight hug with arms around her waist and his nose on her neck. "I'm so glad you came." He murmured into her skin. He placed her back on her feet.
She looked down and placed a hand on his bare chest. "It's a little early to be ready for bed, isn't it?" She said jokingly, referring to his no shirt and night pants.
"I thought I'd get cleaned up before you got here." He said innocently with a shrug, putting his hands on her hips.
"Whatever you say." She said with a raised eyebrow and tapped him on the chest.
"Hey, if my anatomy is too distracting for you I could always wear a shirt." He said smugly.
She rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She said playfully and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug and rested her head on his shoulder. She just wanted to hold him like this for a while.
After a few minutes, he began rubbing her back soothingly. "Are you alright?"
"Not yet." She whispered, as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. She pulled away to look him in the eyes. "Verles, I need to tell you something."
I will definitely pick up this long overdue conversation in the next chapter. Once I get all their personal issues out of the way there will be a small time skip, and I'm going to bring the villains back to the forefront for the ending. The appearance of King Kai will have its significants, you'll see. Review this chapter and stay tuned to find the key to MyLockedHeart!
