J Hello! Yup, it's me again. Thanks for all the flattering reviews. I decided to humour your requests and put out the next chap. This is the one before last already. L sorry!
Three weeks; that had all happened three weeks ago, and him and the woman were still not on speaking terms. Vegeta frowned a little, pointedly forgetting about that one last training bot. It blasted the Saiyi-jin a couple of times, before the man got tired of the thing and incinerated it; Time to demand an upgrade.
He would have to ask the old man; the woman wasn't even nagging him about dinner anymore. Hell, he hadn't even seen her face since three weeks ago.
He didn't really mind.
It was just… odd. She'd never stayed mad this long before, and Vegeta couldn't for his life think of anything especially mean he had said during that particular fight, unless.
Unless…
Three weeks ago...
When he startled awake again, realising he'd drifted off for the third time within hours, Vegeta had known this was no good.
Oddly enough, he realised as he lifted his head from the floor, he wasn't mad any more. Just tired. The Saiyi-jin sat up slowly and stiffly against the heightened gravity, then tried to swallow that odd, thick taste from his mouth. It was already getting cold in the gravity-simulator; without Vegeta's own heat and his Ki-blasts, it always turned cold quickly. To the prince, it meant he must have been out for over fifteen minutes. Why?
He'd taken good care of himself. Eaten enough, cared for his injuries. Why then did he feel so goddamned weak?
Whatever the reasons, the choices seemed simple; either start his series of sit-ups anew – and probably pass out at around three hundred again -, or get back to the house and eat something to get his strength up. As the Saiyi-jin was currently in one of his more realistic moods, he chose the latter.
When the doors swished open, Vegeta was pleasantly surprised; it was the dead of night, still a few hours until daybreak. Which meant he would be able to enter Capsule Corp, have a pleasant meal, and leave again. All without having to deal with that woman and abhorrent hollering –nor having to deal with anyone else for that matter.
That too was a good thing. He probably looked a mess. Vegeta certainly felt a mess as he staggered through the gardens, that illusion of weightlessness fading much too fast for his liking. Perhaps, as a precaution, he should have bothered with a shirt, or at least a towel. But going back; it was such a long way. And he wasn't cold. Not any more.
It was at that moment Vegeta had what was probably the worst idea of his entire life; he wanted to lie down. Not amongst the flowerbeds though; that didn't suit him at all. No, after a few more steps, the Saiji-jin let himself fall back on the gravel path instead. The rocks were a bit sharp, but he wasn't in the mood to care. Rather, it felt right that way. Somewhere in the back of his head, that worried him.
Staring up, he wondered what was wrong with himself.
And got a disturbing answer when one of the few misty clouds moved out of his line of vision. Vegeta let out something that sounded disturbingly close to a sob to those that didn't know Saiyi-jins didn't cry. Oh, this is rich. He chuckled at himself as the full moon illuminated the gardens, giving those spring flower buds an eerie glow.
No Ouzaro's were going to destroy this planet tonight.
In fact, no Ouzaro's were going to be destroying any planet anywhere again. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the moon in suspicion. Yes; funny how every Saiyi-jin that came to attack this little planet either ended up dead or with his tail cut off, docilely helping to protect it.
Well, this Saiyi-jin wasn't docile yet! And if anyone was going to try brain-washing him into a nice, friendly all around guy that would give his life to protect his planet and family, they were sure Vegeta would teach them exactly what 'purging' meant first! Oh, they were smart, the Saiyi-jin prince admitted as he went all the way on his paranoia-trip, whoever they were. But just because they'd gotten his tail when his back was turned didn't mean he'd let them mess with his mind.
Then again, if they showed up right now, with the prince too miserable to lift his own hand…
It was ironic, really. The first time in his life that he could go were he wanted, do what he wanted. Kill whoever he felt like, and all the Saiyi-jin prince felt like was lie down and feel sorry for himself. So, this is what freedom feels like. Funny, he didn't fee free. He felt… cheated.
No revenge, no Saiyi-jin empire to rule, no 'lord and master of the galaxy'. No nothing, thanks to a certain third-class no-body –and, incidentally, his only living subject. Irony? Oh, but that was nothing yet. A prince of a race of planetary exterminators wasn't all that free to go where he wanted either. There weren't many races that wouldn't know him on sight; all would either run from him, fight till the last man, or surrender and eventually sent their snipers at him when his guard was down.
That, or all three.
No, things were looking very grim for his plans of world-domination.
He supposed he could go and find some far off planet like Chikyu, where no one had yet heard of 'Saiyi-jins. Try to rebuild the Saiyi-jin Empire by finding a planet with natives that could actually interbreed with Saiyi-jins –slim as the chances of that were.
But the thought of Kakaroth getting wind of this, and then flying over to give him a solid butt kicking if the prince didn't make a very good king. (Hell, he certainly hadn't been planning on being a good king. What was the point of power when you weren't allowed to use it?)
Another practical problem came to mind; for him to rebuild a Saiyi-jin empire, all the children would have to be his –seeing as Kakaroth certainly wouldn't be willing to help. Vegeta sneered silently, the thought of a thousand of his own half-breeds running around making him feel physically ill. A thousand half-breeds with his face, his hair but somehow with that brat Gohan's persona all running around, all screaming 'daddy daddy' at him.
Just then, he heard the crunch of boots right next to his head.
He should have moved; usually, he could have moved. He didn't, and whoever had been walking up the lawn fell right on top of him with a loud squeak. Vegeta just grunted as she landed with her elbow in his stomach.
Honestly, it isn't that dark! Surely, humans could see well enough with a full moon out like this. The woman groaned, rolling over, and –thankfully- off of him. She sat up, and looked down at him wide-eyed. It was her, of course. Just his rotten luck.
"Vegeta" she slurred out so loud it hurt his ears. 'Godths you're as cold as the ground! What are you doing out here?"
It took him a couple of times to find his voice, but at least his thoughts were collected by then. "What does it look like? I'm just lying around." She squinted her eyes at him, as if she actually doubted the truth in this. The woman looked quite ridiculous that way.
Finally, after looking at him that way like what seemed forever, she got to her unsteady feet. "Yeah, but … why?"
He was desperately hoping she would leave by now. Vegeta had almost been dozing off. It had felt so relaxed. "Just taking a break, you know, sunbathing or whatever you call it."
She frowned, putting her hands on her hips, and raised her voice another notch. "Vegeta! You can't sunbathe at night. Besides, it's March and practically frrrheezing. You have to come in rright this minute."
It was at about this time the Saiyi-jin made an observation. "Have you been drinking?"
-"Just a li-hitle." She giggled, before sobering up. A bit. "But that's not the point. You hafthe come in before you freeze."
Now he really wished she'd leave. Actually, Vegeta wasn't so sure he still could get up. "I can use my Ki to warm myself."
Bulma blinked. "Oh?"
It had worked.
"Thfen why don't you?"
Or, maybe not.
The prince decided on a different approach. "Go away."
Then cursed his own stupidity. She didn't, of course. Goddamned earth-women never did what you told them to, so Vegeta guessed he should have known. He tried one more time. "You're blocking my moonlight?"
Bulma swayed, then crouched down to him, tucking on his arm. "Don't be funny." She told him, getting a firm grip on his hand as she straightened. "You're not going to turn Ousssaro or anytfhing anyway. Come on inside."
Vegeta decided to let her tug at his arm, confident that the little scientist couldn't lift him anyway. He was more then a little surprised when she succeeded in pulling him along a bit. Just a foot or so, and the woman shuffled a bit further, bracing herself again for the next pull.
Bare skin over grinded rock.
By the third 'pull', the prince had had enough. "Ok ok, fine then, woman. Just... gimme."
A hand?