Chapter 3 – Flirt
From edge of the balcony, Vegeta listened in on the conversation between Bulma and her ex. Her ki was like a lure, but she was only a weak earthling. Ok a very beautiful, smart but frail earthling. He heard the door close. Vegeta felt her ki come outside, he jumped up and landed gently on the roof. She fortunately had not spotted him.
The next day Bulma was drinking coffee when the Saiyan prince walked in. The two cast a quick glance at each other, but otherwise ignored each other. The old inventor also came in and received a cup of tea from his wife. "Oh Bulma dear, the things you asked for are in your lab." Bulma looked up "oh great dad, Vegeta would you like to stop by my lab later?"
The Saiyan prince just swallowed a sandwich and was already grabbing another one from the platter. "Does it take long?" he wanted to know. Annoyed Bulma looked his way "it only takes ten minutes out of your busy training schedule mister royalty". Vegeta took a big bite of his sandwich "ok show me the way." And the prince stood up, surprised Bulma did the same.
Together they walked down the hallways toward the Briefs family's workrooms. Vegeta had never been here before, it was a bit cluttered. The blue-haired woman's room was completely chaotic. "What do you want, woman?" Vegeta wanted to get out of here, but Bulma grabbed some kind of measuring tape and wrapped it around the prince's waist.
A little surprised by the woman's unexpected action, Vegeta stared at Bulma. "Oh you are broader than I thought" teased the blue haired genius. Vegeta raised an eyebrow. Bulma brought the ribbon to a pin point from his shoulder; she walked around Vegeta and pulled the ribbon through to his other shoulder. "Also broader than you thought?" teased Vegeta. Bulma giggled for a moment "you are in good proportion for a brutal warrior from outer space."
Teasingly, Vegeta turned around "and how many do you know?" Bulma started counting on her fingers "quite a few by now." There was a tension in the air, Vegeta took a step forward and put a finger under Bulma`s chin. "Do you need to measure more?" With her slim fingers she surrounded the prince`s wrist and pushed it down "I`m not done yet, step back you." Vegeta did not listen, or at least did not carry out her order. Bulma continued to measure, without the man moving from his place.
Bulma scribbled the final numbers on a piece of paper. "Are you done now?" asked Vegeta impatiently. Waving, Bulma called out "Yes, yes run and play with your plaything." Vegeta walked away, but Bulma looked up after him her heart jumped for a moment. What was wrong with her? She dumps one and then the first one to tease her is making her warm and fuzzy? No shook Bulma, she was done with men, or is she?
Sometime in the afternoon Patsy called her daughter on the internal phone line. Because Bulma was busy in her work she was a little irritated "What mother?" she snarled. Her mother giggled "a certain Mr. Manno is here to see you, something about an invention?" Shit thought Bulma. She quickly walked past a mirror and briefly put her hair in a messy bun. She walked to the garden where her mother had already spoiled the guest with tea and cookies.
The man with thick dark brown hair a big smile stood up to greet his hostess. "Manno what are you doing here all of a sudden?" The man grabbed Bulma`s hand and pressed a kiss on it. For a moment a giggle escaped from the blue haired woman. Deep brown eyes looked at her but Bulma quickly looked away. She briefly turned away, away from her guest.
Manno grabbed a cookie from a tray a broke it in half. "I heard what happened during the fundraising night, tragic. Nobody deserved that humiliation". Anger and shame flowed through Bulma. The man continued speaking "But now that you are free I thought, maybe you would like to work with me on a project." Still flustered Bulma looked at the man in shock.
Gently walking closer to the blue-haired genius, the man came to stand in front of her and pressed half of the cookie into her hands. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm currently busy with a project of my own" stammered Bulma. The man took another step closer "but it's not really a question, see no one actually knows what happened and you probably don't want everyone to know. The gorgeous beautiful Bulma so humiliated. But if you help me I won't say anything."
Furious, Bulma took a step backwards and came up against a garden table. Manno stepped another step closer, he trapped Bulma. Bulma clenched her fists "that's blackmail, I won't participate in that!" The slick man took a phone out of his pocket "then I'll go make a phone call. This is your last chance gorgeous."
With a flat hand Bulma wanted to slap the man but he grabbed her wrist. Manno laughed viciously but Bulma didn't let this stop her. Her knee landed in the slick man's crotch. He gasped and took a step backwards. Angrily Bulma shouted "You are making me do nothing, you are now getting lost from the premises. You dirty fucking creep!" The man balled a fist and made a punching motion. Bulma got ready for impact.
The fist was stopped, Vegeta had flown his body between the unwanted guest and Bulma at high speed and caught the fist with his hand. "What the hell? Who are you?" stammered Manno in surprise and anger. "Vegeta no" shouted Bulma but it was too late, Vegeta squeezed the man's hand. A few bones were definitely broken. Manno sank through his knees in pain.
Vegeta said nothing; he just knew that this visitor was not welcome here. He had caused the blue-haired woman to become enraged. Her ki had started calling to him, and his instinct brought him here. Vegeta didn't look at Bulma, he crouched down next to the collapsed person and whispered "fuck off if you want to live little maggot." With great haste the unwelcome guy got the hell out of there.
Then Vegeta turned around and Bulma was standing in front of him angrily. "What the hell Vegeta, you broke his hand". Vegeta snorted hard "I don't see the problem woman." Angrily Bulma threw her hands in the air and wanted to walk away. Vegeta grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, she banged into his muscular chest. Very softly he asked "shouldn't I have intervened?"
Bulma put a hand on his chest "I'm grateful for that, don't get me wrong. But you can't just break someone's hand." She still looked angry, frustrated he let go of Bulma`s hand and walked away. He didn`t understand anything about this woman, he could have argued with her some more but he also had to train. That woman causes too many distractions.
The door to his training room closed behind him again. He stepped to the control panel and adjusted gravity again. Angrily he punched through the air. That woman needs to stop getting angry; her sheer presence was already being distracting. He, the prince of all Saiyans should become Super Saiyan. And she has gotten in his way! Angrily he kicked a few times.
After about an hour, the gravity decreased and the control panel was beeping. Angrily, Vegeta walked over to the panel. Then the door behind him opened and Bulma stepped inside. "Your machine is broken" grumbled the prince. Bulma was holding a box and giggled "no I've got an extra control on the outside, kind of a safety panel." Heavily annoyed Vegeta glanced at the woman who had now stepped next to him.
He watched as the woman pulled a new armor from the box. "This is only a prototype, but I wanted to see how it fit. Not that I'm going to continue developing and I got the fitting or anything else wrong. When I get that other machine ready later your armor should handle the gravity difference." Vegeta looked at the clothing in the box.
Then he looked at Bulma again. The blue-haired woman smiled sweetly "you'd better give me a thank you already; I've been working all day for you." For a moment Vegeta recovered "I can teach you to throw a good punch if you have another goof of an admirer." Bulma put a hand on her hip "fighting lesson from the prince himself, does that fit into your schedule?"
With a confident smile he observed Bulma "tonight after dinner I have an hour." Bulma threw him a wink and a playful smile "ok homeboy, tonight after dinner." Bulma grabbed a glove from the box "and don't forget to test this ok". Bulma pressed the glove against Vegeta`s chest, he grabbed her hand and took a step towards her. Intensely the two looked at each other, Bulma put a hand on Vegeta`s hip.
"And woman, don't forget to put on something comfortable, a pair of overalls is not ideal for fighting in." Almost mischievously Bulma looked at him "fine, it's a bit warm here in a jumpsuit too". She pulled her zipper down and Vegeta looked down at her large decollate. Uncomfortably he swallowed for a moment. "Hey cutie, my eyes are here" Bulma teased.
Startled and almost blushing, Vegeta looked up. "See you tonight, after dinner." Hip-wiggling, Bulma walked out of the machine. Gravity built up again, this was not what Vegeta had prepared for and he fell to the ground. Angrily he hit the ground. That damn woman, what was she doing? Was she helping him now or is she working against him?
Just before dinner, Bulma had already changed her outfit. She looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't worn a workout clothes in a long time. So much had happened lately that she just didn't have time for fitness. But she couldn't sit at the table like this. She grabbed a button down dress and threw it on. An extra button at the top remained open. There was something in her that liked to tease the Saiyan prince, like earlier in the gravity machine. He was also so different from other men she knew, his focus and pride was just alluring.
When Bulma came into the kitchen for dinner Vegeta was already seated, she sat down opposite him. They exchanged glances but then Patsy came to sit next to Vegeta. Her mother looked at Bulma "Oh honey, what did that handsome man in the afternoon want? He was suddenly gone." Bulma looked aside irritated "that man is a dirty sneak, he's not welcome here anymore either." Vegeta got a dirty smirk "don't think he's trying either."
After eating, Bulma walked out after Vegeta; together they walked across the grass. Then the prince stopped "you're not going to train in that huh?" Bulma walked on and looked back "of course not!" she gave him a wink. Nervous for what the woman had thought up they walked in the gravity machine together. Bulma turned around and unbuttoned button after button. Vegeta looked hypnotized at the show before him. Bulma`s dress fell to the ground and Vegeta saw a beautiful woman in very short shorts and a sports top crop. An uncomfortable but intense silence followed. Vegeta searched for the right reaction.