Welcome to the next chapter, I'm glad you came back… :-D

Thank you for the reviews, I never realized how badly I was in need of some feedback. I'd be more than happy if you'd review that chapter as well, it really helps. ;-)

Disclaimer: I still don't own DBZ, only Kate and Epin are mine.

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'Coward' an inner voice sneered at me. 'Shut up' I thought back and thought furiously. What now? Putting some distance between me and the room was a priority now. I didn't know the house and I have a terrible sense of direction, so I went back the way I came from, after a little while standing again in the room where I first met Vegeta.

The whole situation, what had happened and what could have happened, together with my own jumbled emotions took hold in that moment, and I have to admit I did  a really convincing impersonation of a deer caught in headlights. A very weird deer, but still.

The memory of his hands roaming over my back and his lips against my skin made me tingle all over. I usually don't lose control that easily, so why did I just then? It had felt so good, so… right. I felt myself cheeks heating up when I remembered how I had pulled at his shirt in the attempt to touch bare skin, losing myself completely in his touches and pressing as close against him as possible. The way he reacted when I had brushed against his tail…. Gods… only a few moments later and we would have… I blushed deeply, mainly because I had to admit that I somehow liked that idea. A lot.
But not like that. First of all I wasn't really sure what the hell was going on really. As I said, I had somehow expected to get here, but that it was actually a real fact now rattled me. And Epin had been convinced I was a hallucination anyway, at least at first. Not the best conditions to start a relationship.

My train of thought skittered to a halt, burning mental rubber off mental tyres. Woah…. just a minute. Relationship?! Where the hell did that come from? Damn…

Honestly, I'm not someone to happily almost jump into bed with someone else without having a serious interest, regardless how flooded with hormones I am at that moment. But the word 'relationship' and everything it implied seemed too …  I don't know, too definite. For the gods' sake, I had only met him a short time ago! Nah, it was probably only a short moment of insanity, some synapses in my brain connecting wrong. What I meant was something like friendship, right? Right. Gods, I so hated conflicting emotions!

My thoughts ran in circles, and  I didn't even notice that someone else had entered the room until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I nearly jumped out of my skin but calmed down when I saw it was my blue-haired guide from before. "What's the matter? Is everything okay?" she asked me worriedly.
I stared at her. "Uh…er…"

How the hell could I explain to her what the problem was? Especially since I wasn't completely sure myself. She looked at me quizzically and then nudged me toward another door.
"Come on, let's go into the kitchen. I have some fresh coffee there, you look like you need it. Or maybe some hot chocolate. I need a break anyway, I can't think straight anymore. I spent too much time staring at those blueprints…" she chattered in the obvious effort to calm me down, and it worked.

She poured a mug of steaming coffee and placed it on the table in front of me, seating herself on the chair opposite me. "Now, what happened? Epin's okay, right?" she asked worriedly.
I nodded quickly and blushed again. 'Okay' wasn't the expression I would use… 

Before she could ask me again Vegeta walked into the room,  snorting at her question "Oh right, he's okay. More than that, actually. His energy level was very high a few minutes ago. He seemed to be really excited for some reason."
He raised his eyebrows and smirked evilly at me, apparently enjoying my mortification immensely.
"Oh!" Bulma nodded, catching his meaning and grinned at me I lowered my now deep red face.
How the hell did he know? Energy level?? Did that mean they could sense when someone else was…. I groaned.

"So." Vegeta said, leaning against a wall near his mate. "Tell us what happened."
My head shot up and I looked at him with disbelief. "What?!" I squeaked. Telling them? Absolutely no way! I wouldn't…
He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Not like that! Spare us the details. As if we wanted to know that anyway. I meant how he reacted in general, it's important."

So I told them. Just in general. Well, as general as I could. Which resulted in me omitting about 90 percent, but they seemed satisfied for the moment.

"A hallucination, right?" Vegeta snorted with something faintly resembling amusement. "Never mind. But he did look better than before, right?" I nodded in confirmation and concentrated on my mug of coffee, barely noticing that Vegeta left the room again. Telling them, not matter how general I had kept it, had made me relive those moments, and I had the suspicion that my face complexion would forever resemble a tomato.

"So…" Bulma began after a while, looking at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "why did you go out of there?" Taking  another mouthful of coffee I decided to tell her, without too many details. Talking about things had always helped me, and I liked her somehow.

"Yes. Why did you?" A familiar voice asked from behind me.

I spluttered, almost adorning the surface of the table in front of me with some coffee spray and swallowed with difficulty, my eyes feeling as if they would pop out of their sockets

Shit.

Bulma looked at the voice's owner behind me with and smiled. "You're up again, good."

I turned around slowly and saw Epin standing  in the doorway, wearing a feral grin. His eyes were focused on me, a pair of boots dangling from the laces in his grip.
"You know" he said casually, "I'm not an expert, but I don't think hallucinations usually forget their shoes…"

Oh shit… my boots…I had totally forgotten I had pulled them off before I had crawled onto the mattress for the first time. Since I always ran around indoors with only socks or bare-feet I hadn't even noticed.

"Er…" was all I could utter, my ability to adapt to sudden changes in situations completely gone. What should I do? What should I say? Or for that matter, what did I want to do or say?

Once again, Bulma saved me, giving me a few seconds to collect myself.
"Well", she said, getting up from her seat and walked over to him, peering intently at his face and raising a hand to feel his forehead. He twitched almost unnoticeable, and I could actually feel his uneasiness at this action of hers and at the same time faintly amused defeat in the knowledge he couldn't do anything to stop her.
"You really do look better. And your temperature has decreased. You know, you really had us worried there…."
She sighed and shook her head. "Later. Now, you two have to clear things up. I know of my own experiences there's no way an outsider can help with bond-issues, so I won't even attempt it. You both have to deal with it. Are you up to it?"
She looked at me questionably, and I nodded in confirmation. What else could I do? And to be honest, I really wanted to clear things up, to get some answers. I wouldn't run away or something, if that was what she meant. Not anymore. Epin knew I wasn't a figment of his imagination, and I was strangely relieved at that thought. Somehow the notion of not being perceived as a real person had felt like cheating, on both him and me. I wouldn't back out now.

What she saw in my face obviously satisfied her, and she gave me a quick knowing grin before she spun around to Epin, giving him a stern look and poked a finger against his chest. "Now you, mister, have a lot of talking to so. I can't believe you really didn't tell her everything concerning the bond. You should know it's essential for both persons to know exactly what it is and what it means. She has the right  and the need to know, so you'd better tell her. Did I make myself clear?"
She waited until he mumbled a confirmation and then stepped back, flashing us a satisfied grin. "Good. I'm going to bed now. Vegeta will be pleased to know you're that much better again. Not that he'd admit it, but anyway. I'll see you two in the morning then."
And with that, she left the room. I had the short and irrational feeling of betrayal at her sudden departure. But then, there was nothing she could have done or said to make it easier.

My eyes drifted back to Epin who was still standing at the same place. I swallowed hard. What now?

"Are you finished here?" he asked. "Yes" I muttered and put the mug down. Silence.

I looked over to him and couldn't help giving him a quick once-over, taking in his appearance that I had seen only partly before.
He wasn't big, only a little taller than me, and the tight dark shirt and pants he wore accentuated his toned frame. His tail was wrapped firmly around his waist, twitching occasionally and he looked at me intensely. It was a picture that made my mouth water, and I forced my eyes away, having the sneaking suspicion he could sense what I felt.

 "And now?" I asked, squirming uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze. He blinked and cleared his throat. "Let's go somewhere else. The others will be back shortly, and I'm don't want them to interrupt us."
My face took a crimson shade when I involuntarily thought about some other scenarios than talking they could interrupt. Gods, I was turning into a walking hormone! "The others, right. I remember." I said.

There were about 6 other Saiyans beside Epin and Vegeta temporarily staying at CC at that time, waiting until the space transporter picked them up.
It was an interesting principle Vegeta and Bulma had thought up, there was a constant fluctuation of Saiyans at CC. When one group went into space again another came to replace them, thus giving each of the few Saiyans left alive the chance to get in contact with their prince, stay in touch. And at the same time relaying information and other interesting data Bulma's company might need.
From what I remembered of Epin's thoughts, Vegeta's method of keeping in touch had resulted in building one of the largest information network in nearby space, without being publicly known. And his fellow Saiyans were fiercely loyal to him, feeling proud to have the opportunity to personally get in touch with their ruler regularly.
The single groups consisted of about 6 or 7 Saiyans, due to the small number of them left, and also because Bulma had refused to host more of them at the same time. Something about food shortage, if I remembered correctly….

"Are you coming?" Epin's voice ripped me out of my musings. "Right" I muttered and followed him through the corridor, trying to keep my eyes off his shapely butt.

After we reached the room Epin plopped down unceremoniously on the mattress, crossing his legs. I sat down on the edge, feeling awkward. There weren't any chairs in the room and standing all the time was out of question. But the mattress brought some rather pleasant memories back that didn't really help clearing my head.
Oh, what the hell… I scooted backwards until I felt the wall behind me.

An uneasy silence ensued.

"You know.." "Well…" we both started at the same time. I groaned. At this rate we would still sit there tomorrow without saying anything.
"Okay. You first. And give me those back!" I demanded, stretching my arm out. He gave me a mischievous grin and lifted my boots. "You mean those? Come and get them."

I stared at him  indignantly.  Playing games now, right?
Gods, what did that guy do to me? One moment I was feeling uneasy and awkward around him, and in the next I wanted to kick him where it really hurts. Or maybe not… argh!  Schizophrenia live and in person, nice to meet you.

"As if," I snorted. "I don't need them right now."
I gave the boots dangling our of my reach a glare. "Gods, how could I forget them here. I should have left them on…" I murmured to myself, forgetting his excellent hearing.

"It wouldn't have made any difference." he stated.

Huh?

"But, you said back there…"
"I know what I said." he interrupted. "But…" his voice took on a more guttural quality than sent shivers racing up and down my spine, and he grinned at me with an expression I can only describe as mischievous hunger.
"But what?" I asked an swallowed. I wasn't sure if I liked the way he looked at me. Or rather I was worried about the fact that I liked it more than was probably good for me.

"But…" he said again, getting our from his cross-legged position and on his lower legs in a smooth and fluid motion, giving me a look that made my cheeks heat up. Among other parts of my body.
He placed his hands on the mattress and started to crawl slowly towards me, his tail swishing lazily from side to side behind him. My attention was fixed on his graceful and seductive movements, I almost didn't catch what he said next, still in that low and sexy voice.

"… your boots were only the last confirmation I needed. I admit I have an active and wild imagination. But no hallucination I could think up would be so realistic."
By that had reached me, and for the fraction of a second I wondered why I didn't do anything and let myself be captivated like that, but that thought fled me when he put his head next to mine.
"I could never think up such a delicious smell…," he breathed next to my ear, "… or taste…", he flicked his tongue against my earlobe, "… or touch."
He placed his fingers on my arm, dragging them lightly up to my shoulders.

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Weeeell….  nice spot to end the chapter, don't you agree? *ducks to avoid rotten friuit and the occasional wrench*

What do you think? I'd more than appreciate you telling me your opinion. (You too, B.S ;-)  )

I'll have the next chapter out before the weekend, promised!