Raindrops
Chapter 20: Obvious
A/N: Heyyyyyy it's been a fat minute but I'm back.
Trunks sat in the boardroom, it was much like a glass box. Fixated in the center of Capsule corporation with windowed walls and doors. The architect that designed it had told Dr. Briefs that it enabled transparency within the individuals in the room. Trunks believed it was bullshit, oftentimes he was putting on a facade. Like this very instance: here was this 20 something hotshot trying to sell a service absolutely no one in Capsule Corp wanted nor needed. Trunks sat there, half-listening as he stared aimlessly at the projection on the glass screen.
"Mr. Briefs, I can assure you that our employees are top of the line-" Trunks tuned him out once more.
Sure, he was also a twenty-something hotshot that inherited one of the biggest tech companies in the world...but, he wasn't necessarily happy about it. He understood that many of his colleagues envied him, individuals who have been working at Capsule Corporation for...decades never rising above the status of the Briefs. The difference between this invigorated salesman and him is that Trunks was handed everything on a silver platter.
Trunks' eyes were somewhat glazed over, his hand traveling to the pen near the edge of the oak long table, twiddling it between his fingers to distract him. He had been focusing all his energy on the man in front of him for one sole reason. It wasn't to put him down but really, he was comparing himself to him.
A couple of days ago, Marron's mother had told him something that he'd let marinate in his thoughts for far too long. Marron doesn't need a senseless Saiyan in her life, the words struck him, someone normal. Was he...normal? He had come to the conclusion that he wasn't. The acute senses, the abnormal eating, and the immense strength he possessed...to blend with the rest of society he had to walk on eggshells. One slip up, one piece of overexertion could send his public life spiraling. Even in sexual endeavors, he'd struggle to keep himself from accidentally killing his partner.
A scary thought.
But it wasn't like he hasn't had close calls before.
He sighed as he leaned his head back thinking back to the night of the incident. He had felt Marron's energy faltering, and perhaps it was an act of anxiety but he gave her a small fraction of energy. Unbeknownst to all who were there at the time, he covertly laid a hand atop hers managing to stabilize her faltering ki.
Marron was not fragile, however, in moments like those Trunks saw clearly the vast difference in resilience between the two. He was lost in his thoughts again, completely dejected from the conversation at hand. "Look Mr..."
"Leemon," The businessman interjected.
"Yes, Mr. Leemon...I simply do not see the use of your company inside of Capsule Corporation," Trunks began, "we are a self-automated company with bots completing many of the tasks and issues at hand at half of the cost...without risking human error."
The young man's face turned into a face of complete and utter devastation. There went the biggest possible sale in his company's history...gone, to technology.
"Now if you excuse me," Trunks cleared his throat whilst straightening out his jacket. "I have business to attend to..."
No, he didn't. What Trunks needed was to blow off some steam. His mind was running a mile a minute as he constantly dipped into Marron's ki signature trying to track her health. What good would that do him when she had such puny energy to begin with. He left the board room and beelined to his office, closing the door behind him. As soon as he sat down in his chair he kept going back to what he did the evening prior.
Right before he fell asleep, he remembered giving a small amount of energy to Marron whilst she slept. It was more of an anxiety-driven action than kindness, he kept feeling how her energy continuously faltered whilst she was fighting for her life. He knew Marron was stronger than most humans, however, she was still just that...human. According to Goten, she had seemed far too distracted to have even noticed the vehicle whirling at her.
And...Trunks had to admit, he felt that this was partially his doing. Maybe that was a selfish perspective on the situation, maybe he was just being self-absorbed but he felt as though he could have avoided a lot of headaches had he simply not chickened away from his emotions.
Vegeta leaned against the doorway of the steamy bathroom watching the silhouette of his wife in the shower door. She was going on ranting about her day and the stressful meetings she's had with some of the scientists at capsule corporation. However, something was bothering Vegeta to his very core. "Bulma," the Saiyan cut in.
Bulma paused her rant, turning her attention to her husband. "Yeah?"
"There is something...off...about Trunks," Vegeta began, "the brat's had strange energy spikes at random hours of the night."
Bulma sighed, knowing where this would lead with Vegeta. Trunks' random energy spikes must have woken the man up at night. "Look, I'm sure it's fine Vegeta," Bulma swatted her hand as she continued to wash her hair. "Goten and him are friends again last I heard, I'm sure it's just them sparring."
Vegeta's eyes flicked from his wife's visage to the fogged-up mirror. "There's something else you aren't telling me." Bulma froze in place, quieter than he anticipated at the statement. "Well?" Vegeta pressed, "Out with it!"
Bulma sighed as she turned off the shower, wrapping her hair up in a towel and stepping out nude. "You aren't going to like what I've got to tell you," Bulma began as she dried off her body with another towel. "It's got to do with Krillin and 18's daughter, Marron," she paused momentarily to look back up to Vegeta's face to analyze his reaction.
"A couple of days ago she got into a horrible accident, and...Trunks' reaction was just...visceral." Bulma recalled the panicked expression that struck across his face, she'd never seen him react like that towards anyone.
"So that toaster's spawn got a bit roughed up," Vegeta began, "Good...maybe it will grow some backbone."
Bulma scowled at her husband referring to Marron as an "it." She breathed out steadily and looked back at her husband in the eye. "Y'know Marron isn't an android, right?" Bulma asked, "She's just as human as Krillin or me."
Vegeta ignored Bulma's statement, turning his head to the side to avoid her glare. "I simply don't understand what Trunks could possibly want with such a pathetic being, aren't there any other humans running amok he could mate with?"
Bulma sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose at his remarks. She understood full well that Lazuli bruised his ego tremendously...however, that was more than twenty years ago...she would have believed that a broken ego and a broken arm would have healed eons ago.
"Regardless, it's not up to us," Bulma replied. "It's become more than apparent that Trunks has developed a soft spot for her, hell, I'd even say he could be in love with the girl."
Vegeta was nearly winded at the very thought. Trunks? In love with the spawn of a fucking robot? It was nauseating.
"Look," Bulma continued as she walked closer to him, her chest nearly pressed against his. "I think you should suck it up and maybe talk to your son instead of brewing up hypotheticals with your wife, sound good?"
Vegeta simply nodded as he pressed Bulma closer to him, breathing in the strawberry scents that lingered in her freshly washed hair. He would definitely speak to Trunks, however, he had something else to attend to beforehand.
Marron was absorbed by her work to have noticed the gentle knock of someone at her window. Her eyes flicked to the time in the corner. 1:46 AM. She looked outside to find none other than Trunks floating outside her window, with his hands crossed across his chest pretending to be freezing.
She knew better, that he could remain warm by simply controlling his ki. However, regardless...she laughed. She got up from the hospital bed, inching towards the window, mustering all the strength she possibly could use.
As she opened the window, she watched as the man slid in. Quickly locking the window behind him. This was the fifth evening in a row he'd come to visit and she wasn't sure exactly why he was so invested in her recovery...however she wouldn't question it either. She felt her heart skip a beat as he held her waist, guiding her to the edge of the bed.
"You're recovering quickly, I see," Trunks commented as he examined her face, a bit too close for Marron.
Her cheeks went red, as she watched his lips as he spoke. "Yeah, the doctors aren't sure exactly why," Marron replied, "I can't explain it myself but hey...I'm not complaining."
Trunks smiled, happy to see that her recovery had been going smoothly. He had been worried that his efforts were void. But it seemed as though the opposite were the case. Trunks had made sure Marron didn't realize he'd been sharing his energy nightly in an effort to make her heal a bit faster.
From the look of her injuries, it seemed to be improving quickly. Her facial injuries had healed in a matter of 5 days. The swelling on her left eye had gone down significantly and all that was left was the road rash and the remnants of a black eye fading away.
The blonde was hardly mobile, it seemed. Struggling to move her body about, he was surprised she could even get up. "I got to ask," Marron began as she hauled her laptop back on her lap. "Why is it you've been stopping by so often, aren't you tired?"
Trunks shook his head as he sat at the edge of her hospital bed. "Can't visit my friend?"
"Yeah," Marron replied motionless as she stared at the spread she was working on. "But in the dead of the night?" Marron pushed him a bit more.
Trunks paused, his mouth now dry at the lack of response to her question. "Well I-"
"Trunks," Marron interjected, still not glancing up to him as she played with the trackpad of the computer. "You've been acting strange since that day," she bit out. It was true that neither party had addressed the elephant in the room. The two had kissed, and neither one had been wanting to actually talk about what happened.
"Why haven't you talked about it, Trunks." She had closed her laptop, looking directly into his eyes now. "What have you been so afraid of?"
Marron held her gaze, studying his reaction whilst begging him for answers he simply could not come up with. Her gentle hand lay atop his as she crawled closer to the edge of the bed. "Well?" Marron asked once more. "What are you so afraid of Trunks?"
The idea of losing another close friend to his idiotic actions was more than enough to deter him from said actions. It was also in part the fear of being shut down and ruining anything they could have had.
"Losing you," Trunks stated plainly.
Marron's face erupted into the darkest hues of red. "S-Seriously?" Marron sputtered out.
"Yeah, serious," Trunks replied, not wanting to look her in the eye.
"Well…" Marron looked away, her hand gripping her chest as she looked back up to the other party whose face was just as red as hers.
"Then tell me," Marron began her face inching closer to him, "why haven't you done anything to keep me around?" She asked.
Trunks was absolutely frozen at her sudden forwardness. For the first time in months, he had her close. He kept his hands flat on the white sheets of the bed, watching her with caution.
He gulped, hard. "I-" He held a hand against her shoulder to create distance between them. "I felt like I'd end up hurting you somehow."
Marron quirked a brow, adjusting herself to sit beside Trunks. "Hurting me?" Marron stated, with a twinge of sadness. "It hurt more when you stopped talking to me…" She inhaled deeply a delicate hand creeping its way to the hand gripping the sheets.
Trunks nearly flinched at Marron's delicate touch, he turned to look her in the eye...and found eyes filled with an overwhelming emotion that entranced him to lock on to her gaze. "Trunks, I need to tell you something."
He paused, giving her a slow nod.
"Okay...here it goes," Marron breathed in deeply, "I've liked you...for some time now…"
And suddenly, a wave of relief washed over him.
Marron's resolve was unwavering, her grip hardened on his hand as she brought it between them. She was not backing away from her emotions, not since she almost died. "Ever since I was fifteen...I liked you...a lot," she looked into his eyes trying to find some semblance of a response however her nerves rose at his apparent silence.
"I thought it would go away with the years...just a stupid teenage crush…but that night where I was coming back from the party it came back and-"
"Marron, stop." Trunks quickly interjected, catching her by surprise. Her heart dropped at his sudden dryness. Had she messed up? Did he not feel the same way? Then why was he staring at her in such a thought-provoking manner? Her heart couldn't take the sudden whirlwind of emotions descending unto her.
"Are you messing with me?" Trunks asked. His chest was swelling with a warm feeling, as though the sun itself was cascading down on him.
Something about knowing she felt the same way was relieving, he felt as though he was holding his breath for months, paralyzed by a fear of losing a friend due to his emotions.
Marron could feel her heart beginning to shatter, but she already committed to telling him how she's felt...for a long time. "No," Marron responded, "I'm dead serious."
Trunks let out a sigh of relief, a hand splayed across his chest along with a sight Marron had never bare witness to: he smiled, a genuine and brilliant grin. Marron was utterly entranced by the sight as he wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close. Marron stared into his eyes and noticed a flurry of joy lighting his usual serious gaze.
She couldn't help but smile, draping two thin arms atop his shoulders as he descended down to her lips. This kiss felt different, rather than a distraction and being caught by surprise, Marron felt as though she were being enveloped in a thick blanket of light.
Love? Could this feeling be it?
Feeling as the noises of the room washed away, she drew herself into the world of emotion he allowed into her. His hand cradling the back of her head as he played with the blonde waves. His other hand wandered up her back leaving a trail of chills up Marron's back.
She found herself straddled on his lap as his gentle kisses became a feverish assault of affection, his lips traveling down to the nape of her neck.
That was the first time he'd ever dare to touch her, and being exposed to a single drop urged him to explore more. But he paused, pulling away from her intoxicating scent.
The two were so drunk on bliss, they hadn't noticed how Marron's hospital gown had undone itself, only barely clinging on her chest.
Trunks' hid his hands in his face, embarrassed. Had it been so long since he'd felt the touch of a woman he was attracted to? This used to be nothing to him.
Where did all of his smoothness disappear to? He felt like a teenager...with hormones running amok and a rather stiff feeling in his pants.
Marron chuckled, as she leaned on him, playing with his hair, twirling it between her dexterous fingers. "Didn't know you were so easily flustered," Marron giggled, "here I thought you were West City's playboy," she said in jest.
Trunks rolled his eyes at her, "haven't slept around in a while, Mar."
"Yeah," she mumbled, leaning her chin on his shoulder. Tracing soft circles on his dress pants. "So...you never really responded…"
"Kiss not enough for you to figure it out?" Trunks snorted before turning to the blushing blonde, tilting her chin up slightly to look into her eyes. "Since that day, I've been trying to figure out what it was about you...and I've been dragging out the inevitable."
Marron tilted her head curiously, making the hybrid erupt in a short-lived fit of throaty laughter. "Yes, Marron...I like you."
"Fifteen-year-old me would be so jealous right now," she chuckled as she leaned back on the bed. She noticed him grab his suit jacket from the chair putting it on and beginning to button it up. Marron quickly held his forearm, making Trunks freeze up.
"You're leaving already?" Marron asked a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Yeah- I've figured you probably need your rest…" Trunks responded.
Marron sat up, scooting to the side. "Stay with me tonight?"
"Like sleep here?" Trunks questioned, glancing at that empty slither of space on the hospital bed "Are you sure?"
Marron nodded patting the bed, "I won't be as lonely."
That was all he needed to hear to justify it, he pulled out a capsule case from his pocket. He always carried it around, mostly due to his mother's incessant nagging that one must "always be prepared."
Yes, prepared with a boat, house, spaceship, and emergency food and clothing...makes perfect sense for a Saiyan. He popped one on the floor with a change of clothes.
"So you just carry that stuff around all day?" Marron chuckled.
"Yep, I'll be back," he said as he beelined towards the bathroom in her hospital suite.
Marron sat up, her cheeks burning violently. What just happened? Her head was spinning. She just made out with her childhood crush and now he was just going to stay with her for the night?
She continuously reached for her arm pinching the skin, but as a sleepy Saiyan emerged from the restroom in a white crew neck and thick grey sweatpants, he crawled into the small space provided. "Is this ok?" Trunks asked again, unsure of the close proximity.
"This is ok," Marron whispered as she reached to turn off her reading light.
"I know, it's just," Trunks began placing his chin atop her shoulder from behind her. "You're injured, I'd like for you to be comfortable…"
Marron clicked her tongue, pressing her back against his chest. "I'll be ok," she reassured as she watched his arm wrap around her. Her fingers traveled to his forearm down to his wrist. She parted her lips, breathless but he was sound asleep.
And soon she too wafted into a much-needed slumber.
AN: Wish I could put emojis here...anyway...:) Thank you for everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, you guys are one of my greatest motivators and I am so thankful for all of the support! Special shout out to: Gingacookie03, MusicChick, Artemis Rad, CocoaEyes, Simple G, Megumi007, AsunaMK8, Sunshine Spray, holasoybv, MarronChestnut and of course my amazing beta HannabellLecter!
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