A/N: Another instalment in the prompt collection for you to enjoy. I'd love to hear your feedback in a review, as well as any ideas you might like to see added to the collection. I really like this one and I hope you do to. Enjoy! ~D.B
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Last First Date
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The thing with 18 was, that it was complicated. Or maybe it wasn't and Krillin was just doing the same stupid thing he always did, where he made his life way more difficult that it needed to be.
It wasn't that he was completely inept when it came to ladies. He'd had girlfriends in the past, and more recently even a couple of short summer flings. And growing up around Bulma and Launch – especially when she was a blonde – had taught Krillin how to recognise a sign when he saw one.
And that was the thing. He was sure there were signs. 18 did indeed seem interested. Their banter was playful and free flowing, and all too often seemed to tip over into flirtatious territory. They were comfortable around each other and 18 would often seek Krillin out while he was doing chores around the island, keeping him company while he worked on whatever mundane task he was doing to keep their tiny pink home in tip-top shape.
Then there was the time that she had fallen asleep against him while they watched some awful movie together on the couch one night. From the second her head hit his shoulder, Krillin couldn't have recounted a single thing that happened on the screen. All he was focused on was the pressure of 18's head resting on his shoulder and the warmth of her breath against his bicep. Even when his arm started to tingle and eventually went totally numb, he dared not move and risk waking his sleeping beauty from her slumber. And when she eventually did wake that night, there had not been an ounce of awkwardness between them over the intimate moment they had just shared. 18's eyes had simply fluttered open, she'd asked what she'd missed in the movie, and she'd continued to watch, never moving from her resting place against Krillin.
Oh how he'd wanted to pull one of those dorky teenage fake-yawns that night, and put his arm around her. It was all he'd thought about for the rest of the movie, and every second of every day for the next week, but he'd never worked up the courage and eventually 18 had taken herself to bed.
The point was though, given what he knew, he didn't think his chances with 18 were totally zero.
But what if he was wrong?
Krillin liked 18. Like, he reeeeally liked her. Like, if it was a choice between having her in his life as a friend, or confess his feelings and risk scaring her off for good, he would pick friendship, because at least that way he got to see her every day.
Unless of course, she decided to move off the island because she thought there was nothing for her here. To the city or something. And she made friends with people who weren't short, bald, losers. And one of her new tall, handsome model friends asked her out. And she got married and had babies and never thought of Krillin again. He'd get to see her everyday unless all of that happened.
Fuck.
If that happened, if 18 left – and Krillin knew that eventually she would if nothing changed, and he'd never mustered up the courage to tell her the truth, he'd hate himself forever.
"Hey, stranger." A voice, 18's voice, dragged Krillin from his melancholy thoughts. "Whatcha doing?"
"Oh, nothing," Krillin responded.
"Really?" 18 seemed sceptical. She motioned toward the paintbrush that Krillin was holding in his hand, and the little puddle of paint that was dripping off it and onto the roof where he was standing. "Looks to me like you're making a mess."
"Huh? Oh shit," Krillin followed 18's eyes down to the roof and he winced. Prior to getting so distracted by his thoughts, Krillin had been repainting the window shutters on the upstairs rooms of Kame House. Roshi was very proud of his little island home and took pride in keeping it looking ship-shape. He would not be happy if he saw this. Quickly, Krillin whipped off his shirt and started trying to wipe up the blob of paint. But it was no use, it was about five hundred thousand degrees out under the hot midday sun, and even hotter than that up on the roof, and the paint had already started to set. All Krillin did was manage to smear the sticky, half dry paint across the red tiles, making the situation even worse. "Shit," he muttered again.
"Hmmm."
Krillin noticed a certain tone in 18's voice and looked up from smudging paint everywhere to eyeball her. 18's hands were stuffed deep into the pockets of her shorts and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Are you enjoying this?" He asked. "Roshi will kick my ass over this you know? And don't think he won't notice because he's a thousand years old. He notices everything!"
"No, I'm not enjoying this." 18 replied, and shrugged her shoulders. She was totally enjoying this. She loved when Krillin got all riled up. He was cute when he got flustered. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah right. Just help me clean this up, would you?"
"Are you trying to get me to take my shirt off? That's very forward of you, Krillin."
"What?! No!" A blush raced up Krillin's cheeks. "You know that's not what I meant! Under the sink in the laundry there's a bottle of turpentine and some old rags. Can you please get them for me?"
"Okie dokey" 18 nodded and climbed leisurely back through the window she had appeared from, leaving Krillin to deal with the rapidly worsening situation. "Here you go," she said when she returned a minute later, holding the requisite cleaning supplies, and tossed them to Krillin.
"Thanks, 18." He quickly doused the rag in the strong chemicals and prayed as he wiped it over the paint that it would work. Success! The paint lifted and Krillin let out a sigh of relief. "Hallelujah," he said, and readjusted himself so he could sit down on the roof. "Thanks for your help, 18. I owe you one."
18 sat herself down beside Krillin and shrugged her shoulders. "Hardly." she scoffed. This was a man who had literally saved her life, not once, but three times, without expecting anything in return. He'd stomped on that godforsaken remote control on what was the worst day of her entire life, he'd cared for her after she'd been inexplicably regurgitated by a monster, and then he'd gone and tried to use a magical dragon wish to return her to her human form, without ever expecting to see her again. The least she could do in return was run down a flight of stairs for him. In fact. "Let me cook dinner for you tonight." the words had blurted out of 18's mouth before she'd really even considered them. She didn't know the first thing about cooking. "Unless you have other plans, of course."
"Other plans?" Krillin laughed. "Have you ever known me to have other plans?" He wasn't sure where 18's offer had sprung from, but he would have cancelled dinner with the Queen of England if an opportunity to spend time with 18 presented itself instead. "Dinner sounds perfect."
Several hours later and 18 was regretting her stupid ideas and big mouth. Cooking?! She didn't know the first thing about cooking. Surprisingly, the main chef in this small, dysfunctional home, was Oolong – it was just about the only thing the perverted little pig was good for. He would cook for himself and Roshi each day and usually leave enough extra for Krillin and 18 to help themselves too when they were feeling hungry. His dishes were simple but delicious and today, after scouring through every piece of information in her databases, and coming up with absolutely nothing about cooking – thanks Gero – 18 had to swallow her pride and take a leaf out of Oolongs book. He usually cooked a modest combination of vegetables or soup with rice, and so 18 was attempting the same.
Vegetables and rice. How hard could that possibly be?
Surprisingly hard, it turned out. 18 almost threw a spoon at Krillin's face when he popped his head into the kitchen to see how things were progressing.
"Everything's fine, Krillin! What, do you think I can't cook or something?!" she demanded, while whipping around the kitchen in a disorganised frenzy.
"No, no, that's not it at all!" Krillin threw his hands up to cover his head from any more projectiles that 18 might hurl his way in her frustration. He noticed the piles and piles of dirty pots and pans that were stacking up by the sink and what looked like smoke billowing out from the oven, but very wisely chose to keep his mouth closed on what was clearly a sensitive subject. "I just came to see if you'd like me to set the table or if you'd prefer to eat on the beach?"
"Beach!" she snapped back, although instantly regretted her sharp tongue. "Krillin, stop!" she called, noting that Krillin had, rather wisely, already started to retreat from the tense air of the kitchen – not that she could blame him. Even she knew she was being feral. He turned back around, and the kind look in his eyes took just enough of the edge off of 18's frustration for her to try again. "The beach would be nicer, I think." She said. "Roshi is always hanging around in the lounge watching those disgusting exercise programs."
Krillin beamed a bright and radiant smile. "Beach it is," he winked and pointed a couple of dorky double finger-guns in 18's direction. "I'll be outside waiting whenever you're ready. Please don't rush though."
It was a little over half an hour later when 18 trotted down onto the sand holding two bowls, which represented her hours of hard work and determination. She was most certainly content to let Oolong keep the title of Cooking Champion of Kame House, that was for sure, but for now, she was proud of what she had achieved.
"What's this?" 18 asked, as she rounded the corner of the house, to where she knew Krillin would be waiting for her. This side of the beach was where they always sat because a) it was away from the prying eyes of certain stickybeaks in the living room, and b) it had the best view of the magical sunsets that the island was treated to each night.
Krillin, upon hearing 18's voice jumped up from the sand and turned to face her. "Oh, this" he replied casually to the beautiful spread he had set up for them. A picnic blanket, cushions, a bottle of wine, "This is nothing. You went to so much effort to cook us a meal, I thought the least I could do was provide somewhere nice to eat it."
"It's lovely," 18 handed Krillin his dinner and they both sat down on the blanket. "Thank you."
"No, thank you!" Krillin poured two glasses of wine and handed one to 18. He was acutely aware of the fact that 18 had had the entire picnic blanket on which to sit, and yet she had chosen to sit right next to him. So close in fact that their knees were touching. 'Focus, Krillin' the ex-monk had to remind himself. "Cheers." He held up his wine glass and clinked it against 18's, before they both sipped from their glasses.
"So, how is it?" 18 couldn't even wait for Krillin to swallow his first mouthful of food before she was seeking his approval. She had worked so hard on this meal, and she wanted Krillin to enjoy it. "I know it's not much, but do you think I have potential?"
Oh, Krillin thought that 18 had potential alright.
"Absolutely," he shovelled another forkful into his mouth, making sure to chew thoughtfully this time and savour the flavours before swallowing. "18, this is delicious. Where did you get the recipe?"
"Recipe? It's rice and vegetables Krillin, don't get to ahead of yourself here."
"Honestly though, it's delicious. What type of sauce did you use? I'm very impressed! I thought Oolong was the only one in this house with any cooking skills!"
"Well, I'm full of surprises."
"I bet you are." Maybe it was the wine going immediately to Krillin's head, in the annoying way that wine always did for him, or maybe it was the romantic backdrop of the slowly setting sun – he wasn't sure, but that last sentence had come out a lot more sensually that Krillin had intended and a blush raced straight up his cheeks. "Sorry, that uh… I didn't mean that to sound so well… so creepy!" he laughed bashfully and he briefly considered getting up and drowning himself in the ocean.
Quickly, in a last ditch effort to prevent anymore unfiltered nonsense spewing from his lips, he stuffed his mouth full of food and committed to chewing each piece 100 times.
Beside him, 18 shook her head. "You're an idiot."
For a while, there was a content silence as the pair sat and ate their food, sipped their wine and watched the sky change from bright blue, through rich yellows and oranges to a deep, dusty pink as the sun sank towards the horizon.
18 remembered vividly the first Kame Island sunset that she had been witness to. A view like that; the most magnificent melting together of colours that she had ever seen, it had taken her breath away. 18 had been sure that it had been a once-in-a-lifetime display. There was no way something so captivating could ever be repeated. But there it was again the following night, igniting the sky with its glory, and again the night after that, and that was when 18 had begun to realise that there was something special about this place.
And it wasn't just the glorious sunsets that made it so, or the fact that this house seemed to somehow magically exist in the middle of an ocean surround by nothing and yet still had power and running water. No it wasn't any of that at all. It was the people who lived here. From the moment that Krillin had invited her, and 18 had stepped foot on the islands warm white sand, she had felt welcome.
Roshi and Oolong – disgusting perverted tendencies aside – had been nothing but hospitable when Krillin had humbly informed them that 18 would be making use of the spare bedroom for the time being. There had simply been nodding of heads and they turned back to the TV. No one here cared about her murky past, or that she was a capable of becoming a deadly killing machine if the mood struck her. It was nothing they hadn't encountered before. 18 quickly learned that over the years, Kame House had been somewhat of a safe haven for the Z warriors, many of whom had started out an enemies, and its door were always open to those who needed it.
And then there was Krillin. He really was something else. He had a heart that was kinder than anything 18 had ever known. She felt at ease around him in a way she had never felt around anyone, not even her own brother. He had invited her to stay with them on the island without any expectations and with no strings attached. It was simply an offer of a warm bed and a roof over her head for as long as she needed. She never felt any pressure here to be anything more than she was.
It had been almost six months now, since her arrival, and 18 was noticing a change in herself. She wasn't the cold hearted monster she had come here believing that she was. She had just been scared, confused and in full-blown self-preservation mode when she arrived. "Totally normal," Krillin had said one day, when she'd mentioned her changing emotions. "So many of us, me included, came here as angry little shits, hell bent on making life difficult for everyone around us, and then something happened. This place has a way of bringing out peoples true selves. Like it knows who you were always meant to be." They were words that 18 would never forget.
And as far as she was able to tell, it was true. Sitting here now with Krillin, sipping on her wine, listening to the waves gently breaking against the shore, she felt a world away from the person she had been six months ago. She felt like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, anew, and awash with opportunities and possibilities. For the first time, 18 was beginning to feel like her life was truly hers to take control of.
The sun had set now, and they world seemed to exist inside a glorious twilight bubble. 18 buried her bare toes into still warm sand and lay back so that she could rest on her elbows and stare up at the sky. "This is nice," she said, breaking the silence.
"Mmm," Krillin agreed absentmindedly. He was deep in his own mind too, having picked up his train of thought from earlier in the day. It had dawned on him that this was his moment. The moment. Maybe the only moment he would get, to let 18 know how he felt. He needed to clear the air, and his conscious, once and for all, no matter the consequences. He had to know that he had at least tried. "Do you like it here? On the island?" he asked.
"Of course." 18 either didn't hear, or was choosing to ignore the awkwardness in Krillin's voice.
"And are you happy?"
This time, 18 sensed that there might be more to this than just a casual conversation. She sat up and shuffled herself around on the picnic blanket so that she could better face her companion. "I am happy. Krillin, what's this about? Is this because I got frustrated at you in the kitchen ea-"
"No, no," Krillin cut 18 off mid-sentence. "That's ancient history. It's just important to me, y'know. That you're happy here."
"I am. I'm content here."
"Good. Because it's important to me that you are. Happy, I mean."
"You just said that. Krillin, are you alright?" 18 could see, even in the muted light of nightfall that Krillin was flustered. His cheeks were pink and his hands trembled. A closer, more technical inspection of his vital signs revealed that his pupils were dilated and his heart was racing.
"Because you know, if you're not happy here, I hope that you wouldn't feel obligated to stay." Krillin continued on, totally ignoring 18's growing concern.
"I don't feel obligated to-" something dawned on 18. "Krillin. Are you asking me to leave the island?"
"NO!" Krillin snapped back with so much intensity that 18 jumped. "No, I'm most definitely not doing that."
"Then what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm…" Krillin faltered. What was he doing exactly? "I'm making a mess of this is what I'm doing. I'm sorry 18." Krillin knew there was no going back now, 18 wouldn't let him just walk away from this train wreck of a conversation, so he was going to have to go all in. Which was going to require more wine. He topped up his glass and drained it in one smooth movement, and hoped that the liquid courage would give him the boost he needed to get this over the line. "Let me start again."
"I think that would be a good idea."
"Okay." Before he continued, Krillin closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to steady himself. "I don't want you to leave 18, I'm sorry if it came across like that. What I actually want is the total opposite. What I want is for you to stay for a very, very long time. Maybe even for ever if you'd like."
"Forever?" 18 asked, not exactly following along with this conversation.
"I like you, 18." Krillin finally blurted it out, and that was the cue for the floodgates to open. "A lot. I like you a lot and I've wanted to tell you for a long time. And I dunno, but I think maybe you like me to and maybe we could have something here. And I hope I'm not wrong, because the last thing I want in the entire world is to make our friendship weird because it means so much to me, just having you in my life at all. But I was worried that if I didn't tell you and there was even a chance that you might feel the same, that you might think I wasn't interested in pursuing this and then you would leave and I couldn't let that happen so I just had to-"
"Krillin. Stop." 18 placed her hand on Krillin's forearm and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "You're rambling. Stop." Her hand travelled down Krillin's arm until it found his, and she let her fingers intertwine with his – and chose to ignore for now how clammy Krillin's palms were. "You can relax okay. I like you to."
"Really?"
A long sigh came from 18's lips before she replied, and when Krillin finally worked up the courage to look at her, he could see that she was smiling. There was something about that small upward tick of her lips that soothed Krillin. It was clear that 18 wasn't feeling uncomfortable about this strange turn of events. "Really." She eventually said, and Krillin could hear just a hint of bashfulness in her voice. "So what happens now?"
"Now?" Krillin's mind drew a blank. Honestly he hadn't thought any further ahead than this exact moment. "You could let me take you on a date?"
18's raised a cheeky eyebrow. "A date?" she mused. "Alright. A date. How does tomorrow sound?"
"Tomorrow?!" Krillin swallowed, "Are you sure that's not too soon? I don't want to rush this."
18, it seemed, was much more pragmatic about the situation, and was keen to tackle it head on, and right away. "We've both agreed we'd like to pursue this. What's the point in waiting?"
This was panning out better than Krillin could have ever hoped for, but he was still nervous. There was nothing in his life he had ever wanted to work out more than this, and he was weary of getting ahead of himself. It wasn't like he was about to get down on one knee and propose, hell, he wasn't even asking 18 to be his girlfriend right now. All he wanted was this one date, and he wanted it to be perfect. "Alright. Tomorrow then. I'll pick you up at seven?"
The sound of 18 laughing filled the air, and in that moment, Krillin could have sworn he'd died and gone to heaven. Here he was, sitting out under the stars, holding hands with the woman whom he was pretty certain he was going to spend the rest of his life falling in love with and it couldn't have been any more perfect if he'd tried. The emotional load that had been lifted from his shoulders was intense, and Krillin almost felt like he was going to cry – there was every chance that could have been the wine though. He never wanted this moment to end.
Desperately, Krillin was trying to think of the perfect thing to say next. Should he recite a poem? Sing a song? Do an interpretive dance? No, that last one was definitely a solid no. So caught up in his own head, as he so often was, Krillin failed to notice that beside him, 18 seeming to have her similar internal debate on how best to progress from here.
He blinked when he heard her say, "Ah, screw it." There was barely a second to register the words before a firm hand yanked his head around and a pair of soft lips were pressed against his own. The kiss only lasted for a second or two and was over before Krillin had even realised that it began, but it was enough for the memory to be burned into his brain for the rest of his life.
18 had kissed him!
By the time he was able to process words and thoughts again, 18 was standing up and brushing sand from her legs. She looked down at him and smiled coyly. "See you tomorrow," was all she said before disappearing up the beach and into the house, leaving Krillin to sit stunned in the sand.
See you tomorrow indeed. Krillin needed to get busy, it was time for him to plan his last first date.
A/N: Another prompt done and dusted. Please follow me over at my Tumblr (link in my bio) if you'd like to chat with me, suggest a prompt of your own, or just join in on the K18 goodness we have over there. I'd love to see you. Again, hope you liked this one, reviews and follows are always very much appreciated.
Until next time,
Big Love
Deadly Beauty
