Day 4…

The overwhelming heat was the most challenging thing about the time chamber thus far. Tessa sighed, pulling a drained water bottle away from her lips; it was her fifth in as many hours. Piccolo had drunk several himself, though despite his weights didn't appear to be nearly as bothered.

Glancing down, she couldn't help the destined that spread across her face. She was covered head to toe in sweat, weighing down her ponytail, and making the already thin sports bra and shorts she'd dawned near impractical. 'Hell, I bet Yamcha wouldn't be capable of speaking since I might as well be naked.' Her thoughts turned to Piccolo. 'Sometimes I wonder if you know the difference.'

A curse from behind caused her to turn and she graced the frowning Namekian with a smile as he stood from the ground. "Problem?"

Piccolo didn't hide his annoyance as he straightened his cape and turned his back to her. "You know damn well I can hear thoughts when they're projected like that."

A smirk crossed Tessa's face. "We both know you read minds on a regular basis, so I fail to see the difference." It was true, between his gifts and her telepathic/empathic abilities they'd eavesdropped on more than a few of their friend's private thoughts over the years.

He turned on a heel, dark eyes glaring daggers into her blue ones, though it did little to intimidate her. "You're impossible."

Tessa laughed, flicking her damp ponytail from her right shoulder and stepped past him. "Look who's talking."

Knowing he would eventually follow; she made her way back to the platform and began busying herself with preparing a lite meal. She laid two bowls of salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, and boiled eggs on the table along with each of them a fresh bottle of water. Though Piccolo didn't normally eat, she knew that when she chose fresh things like salad he would usually pick through his portion; as he had done since shortly after moving in with Goku and Chichi.

Piccolo appeared as she took her seat and deposited his weights and turban on the floor; another habit he'd taken from that time. While opening his water, their eyes met and sincerity that made her heart flutter flashed in his dark depts. "Thank you."

Nodding with a smile, Tessa turned her attention to the meal as her thoughts drifted to the world outside this one. She'd left her phone with Bulma, who had no doubt been bombarded with calls from her family by now. The conversation with her older sister Kirsten filled her mind…

Flashback, one hour before arriving at the Lookout…

"You can't be serious; you're going to WHAT?!"

Tessa sighed, holding the phone between her check and shoulder as she packed. "Train, I'm going to train. Look Kirsty, I just called to let you know I won't be reachable for a day or two. I'm leaving my phone with a friend."

Her sister's huffed breath caused the line to break up. "I can't believe how irresponsible you're being!" Tessa could hear her heeled shoes stomping. "How can you even think of competing? I mean have you seen 'THAT THING'? It's a freak of nature!"

With a sigh, Tessa stopped packing and stood straight, holding the phone more comfortably in her hand. "That's why I'm doing this intensive training, so if the worse happens I can put up a fight against Cell. But I never said a thing about actually competing; I can't beat him."

"HIM!" Kirsten's voice nearly echoed in the small room. "That thing is not a 'him', it's an 'it' and if you really intend to do this than you're a freak too!"

'Here we go.' Tessa sighed, crossing her free arm across her chest, hand hooking the bent arm. "I thought we'd already established you felt that way about me and my friends."

Kirsten let out a laugh that could have put Frieza to shame; cold and heartlessly judgmental. "We always have, ever since you got with that three-eyed monk years ago!"

Angry Tessa held the phone from her, ready to end the call after her reply. "Think whatever you want, this was a waste of my time…"

"She was wrong." Piccolo's deep voice broke through the memory just as the fight would have become nastier. "You're doing yourself a disservice by giving the memory any focus."

Nodding, Tessa watched as he stood and placed their nearly forgotten salads back in the fridge before collecting his weights. The deep v-cut of his gi showed off the toned muscles of his chest, and she could keep herself staring. 'Damn it, I don't know what's hotter this room or you.'

The thought had no more formed when he looked up and their eyes met again, causing her to blush. "You might want to try ignoring what you hear from me while we're stuck here; it might be safer..." He straightened weights still held in hand. "…or at least less uncomfortable for you." She sighed. 'Maybe I am a freak.'

Piccolo frowned. "I don't see you that way, and if relaying what I hear will keep you from the funk of those memories, then it's a price I'm willing to pay." As his dark eyes raked over her, Tessa's blush deepened, and a smirk spread across his face. "Besides, I'm not the one blushing."

Tessa stood, flinging her napkin in his face as she tried to regain her composure. "When did you become such a flirt?"

Piccolo shrugged, tossing the napkin back to the table. "When you started going around practically naked." Their eyes met again. "Go bathe, you've still got a little funk."

As she reached for something new to throw, he stepped back towards the void, and she sighed. 'You big green jerk, sometimes you infuriate me, and sometimes you're the only one who can safe my day.' Taking a moment to clear the table, she'd finally made it into the bath when her thoughts returned to him as she set out her necessities. "Sometimes I do wonder what you think of me?"

Settling back as the hot, claiming water enveloped her to the shoulder, Tessa sighed; and Piccolo's gentle voice filled her mind. 'You're a force of nature, wild…and beautiful.'

As the blush returned to her checks and a soft smile spread across her face, Tessa didn't try to deny the fluttering of her heart.