It takes me a while, wandering through the halls of Dende's place…palace? I guess. Anyways, I suppose I could have sped the whole process up by searching for Piccolo's ki, but I need a little time to myself first. Things have been moving so fast lately, and while I'm mostly happy with the direction they're going, it's still all a bit overwhelming. So I roam through the massive place, happening across little nooks filled with plants, spacious rooms draped with rich silks and other fabrics, and graceful, open roofed atriums.

I wonder idly why Dende needs all this room. Kakarot's told me before that it's just him and Mr. Popo, and Piccolo sometimes. This place is big enough for a hundred guests, and it's all laid out almost as confusingly as Bulma's house. I peer into a room shrouded in darkness that holds a glittering pool of water in the middle that pulses disturbingly. Later I find a long storage room holding bottles and jars full of unknown unguents, salves, and potions. Something swims restlessly in a large vase of green glass, hidden in the murky liquid. One room is filled with birds, of all shapes and colors, flittering around restlessly, some singing beautifully.

I finally find Piccolo in the middle of a huge circular room that is free of furnishing or decoration. The stone walls are a dusty off-white, and the floor is covered in a thin layer of pale sand. My friend floats cross-legged, six or seven feet off the floor. His eyes are closed, his hands resting palm up on his thighs. Instead of his usual indigo gi, turban, and cape, he wears a pair of flowing white pants, and a sleeveless robe in deep twilight purple, falling to mid-thigh. The robe hangs open, revealing the rich green of his chest.

I pad in as quietly as I can, tail swinging curiously behind me as I sniff around the room. Smells like sour sweat, under the tickle of the sand. Practice or training room? Probably. Still, Piccolo doesn't open his eyes as I circle behind him, and walk up to the wall, running my fingertips over the rough sandstone. The sound of cloth rippling in the air and a slight twinge in my tail is the only warning I get.

I feel strong hands seize me by the shoulders, and suddenly I'm flying through the air towards the far wall. The lack of the Namek in the center of the room as I pass through it rapidly is my second clue that Piccolo is probably the one that threw me. I twist in the air and launch off the wall with my feet, landing in a crouch.

Piccolo has stripped himself of the robe, and stands there bare-chested. Grinning at me, his arms crossed arrogantly. I feel my heart beat faster as I grin back, and them I'm launched for him. He dodges to the side neatly, but I snag a wrist with my tail in passing, and as I land I yank as hard as I can, flipping him over onto his back. I stomp down, aiming for his chest, but he rolls quickly, and uses my tail to bring me crashing to the ground.

Ah, I missed this! I unwrap my tail quickly, snaking it out of his grasp as I come back up into another crouch. He's already on his feet, and we collide mid-air, exchanging a flurry of punches and kicks. He gets a solid one in to my thigh, and I curl forward in pain, managing a good, heavy blow to his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He flies backwards, and I follow up with a kick to the head that misses by a mile as he ducks out of the way and grabs my ankle, swinging me around and sending me thundering into the wall.

A spider web of cracks marks where I hit, but I'm no longer there, as I appear behind Piccolo with a laugh, double-fisting a punch to the small of his back. I love moving that fast, knowing most of the weaklings on this planet couldn't even follow it. It's absolutely delicious to hear the air sleet past my ears, to move almost faster than I can think.

The Namek takes the blow with a grunt, and flies to the other side of the practice room. I follow, tail lashing in anticipation, then pause in astonishment as Piccolo groans, and splits himself into two with a wet noise. I've heard that he can do this, but I've never actually seen it before. It's fascinating, in a train wreck kinda way, and I consequently let my guard drop too far. I pay for it with a dual punch to either side, one hitting my kidneys dead on as the two Piccolos move in for another flurry of blows.

Careless. I won't let it happen again, and move smoothly back into the now of combat, not thinking, just reacting and moving, dodging and weaving almost unconsciously. And to my great delight, I find that I can avoid two opponents almost as easily as one. I let myself fall into a pattern of avoidance, until…there!

Dodging one blow to my face, I duck under one of the Piccolo's guard, wrapping my large hands around his waist. My tail lashes out in the opposite direction, catching the other Namek around the thigh. And with one quick heave, I smash the two into each other, forcing absorption, so that now I have only one Piccolo pinned awkwardly at waist and thigh. With no thought I follow up, driving him into the ground powerfully, straddling his legs and pinning his arms above his head.

"You give?" I growl down at him, tail waving excitedly behind me.

He simply grins up at me, arches his back and…head-buts me, right between the eyes. I fall back with little white flashes swirling around my peripheral vision, but I keep ahold of his legs. He takes the opportunity to sit up, and grabs two great handfuls of my hair, trying to pry me off. I grin ferally and hang on tighter.

And then I bite him. Hard. On the upper thigh.

Who knew Piccolo could yelp like a little girl? He abruptly releases my hair, and I clamber to my feet, staring down at him. "Why do you always have to fight like an animal?" he growls at me in irritation.

I offer him a hand up. "Because I am an animal," I respond with a smile as he refuses my hand and gets to his feet slowly, dusting off those voluminous white pants. Man, Piccolo is always a sore loser.

"You've gotten better," he comments as he stalks over to his robe, leaning over to scoop it off the floor. I take the opportunity to admire his ass. Not as good as Vegeta's, but still a nice view.

"Mmmhmm," I say idly, missing him looking over his shoulder at me. The loud snort of disbelief causes me to flick my ears back up to my face. Uh-oh, he looks ticked.

"Are you staring at my ass?" he asks indignantly, and I smile guilelessly.

"Who me?"

"No, the pervert in the corner. Of course you! Kami, but you sound just like Goku sometimes…"

I think about that as he turns away from me and starts for the door. I follow, frowning. "Isn't it kind of odd to swear by…well, by yourself?"

"I'm not the guardian anymore. Dende is." He glances at me as I catch up, walking next to him and wiping some sweat from my face.

"Yeah, but Kami is a part of you, right?"

"In a way." He sighs a bit. "It's complicated."

I nod sagely, then sling my arm companionably over his shoulders. He looks over, dark eyes hooded, but mouth curled in an uncomfortable expression. "What are you doing?" he asks tersely.

"Missed you," I explain. "Where're we going?"

"Not far," he responds obliquely. His shoulders are tense under my arm, and I sigh, rolling my eyes as I release him.

"I swear, you Nameks are so fucked up."

"And you know this from your years of experience with my people?" he snorts, and I grin.

"Nah, just from you. Though Dende's kinda freaky, too."

"Freaky?" he raises one brow ridge questioningly, lips pursed, and I laugh again, scrubbing my hands through my mass of hair.

"Nice, though. Wouldn't last two seconds on Vegeta-sei."

"Hmph." He doesn't seem inclined to continue to conversation, so we walk in easy silence. At least, easy on my end. That quick spar went a long way to assuaging most of my nerves. This is Piccolo, after all, and he seems back to himself, none of that weird vibe from our last encounter.

He leads me into another one of those spacious rooms with wide, open windows and white walls. The windows have odd arches at the top, and strange curlicues and patterns carved into the walls. Unlit oil lamps of graceful, fluted brass and glass hang from the ceiling. The floor here is a delicate pattern of small tiles, and a small table sits next to one of the open windows, low to the ground. A steaming tea service rests on the table, and I raise my heavy eyebrows in surprise as Piccolo moves over to the table.

"Tea?" I ask in surprise, and he smiles, close-mouthed.

"Dende is rather fond of it. I'm afraid I've developed something of a habit." He settles on the pile of pillows surrounding the table; there are no chairs here. I sprawl gratefully, turning my head into the gentle breeze wafting in the window. It's another of those little gardens, much smaller than the one Kakarot and I found Dende in, but with a small birdbath set up in the center.

"I thought you only drank water."

"Well, tea really isn't much more than that, is it?" Indeed, sniffing the pot curiously reveals that the blend is rather weak. A bit spicy and something…fruity? I taste it curiously, drinking from the pot and earning an eye-roll from Piccolo.

"Huh. Weak as piss," I declare, just to see Piccolo scowl at me as he pours himself a cup.

"Then don't drink it," he growls, and I grin back at him, laying back on the pillows and folding my arms behind my head, propping myself up slightly with the wall. I flicker my tail through the cushions, enjoying the luxurious feel of silk and velvet against my fur.

"Nice place you got here, "I comment, and receive a non-committal noise from the Namek. "This your room?"

"No."

"Wow, just can't shut you up today, huh?" I grin lazily over at him, and he sips his tea, not answering. I give up, half-closing my eyes and simply enjoying the feel of the sun filtering in through the window and the delicate scent of flowers and water that wafts in on the breeze.

After about ten minutes of this, Piccolo's voice drifts through my relaxed haze. "Something's happened to you." I slide my eyes along the wall to look over at him. He's simply sitting there cross-legged, his face blank and unreadable.

"Yes," I reply simply.

"With Vegeta." Again, I nod. He looks out the window, black eyes glittering in the soft sunlight. "I'm sorry."

I blink, trying to process that. "For what, Vegeta?"

He shakes his head impatiently, still not looking at me. "For…before. It was…inappropriate."

Inappropriate. How very Piccolo. I snort, and lean back again. "S'ok."

Another long silence. I guess neither of us are really big talkers right now. "Piccolo?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you still want to?"

I carefully keep my face turned away from him as I wait for his answer. His voice is cautious. "Still want to have sex? Why?"

"Why?" I can't help but let a little laugh escape. "I dunno, partially curiosity, partially because I think I would enjoy it. I don't know if I should, though."

"Because of Vegeta."

I nod seriously. "Kakarot has already said he would be okay with it. But Vegeta's generally not so eager to share. He's very important to me."

"You're in love with him."

"Always have been, I think sometimes," I agree, and risk a look over at the Namek again. His head is bowed somewhat, his face hidden in shadow. His antennae jut from his forehead, lit by the gentle glow of the sunlight. He really is quite attractive in a weird, alien sort of way.

"Then this isn't a conversation we should be having," he replies softly.

"Mm. You're probably right." I let out a long breath. "Still, it's fun to think about, isn't it?"

He snorts, and I grin up at the ceiling. And that's it. Everything seems to be settled right there. By all rights, there should have been this long, convoluted conversation, and everything should have been awkward, and fucked up afterward. But Piccolo and I understand each other, I think.

I want to have sex with him. He's still curious and wouldn't be averse. But neither of us really want to screw with Vegeta, for different reasons. And so, for now, it isn't going to be an issue. I nod internally at the decision I come to. When things are settled with Vegeta, though, then this whole thing is gonna be re-opened. For now, I'm just glad to have my friend back. I roll over onto my side to look at him, propping my head on my palm.

He lifts his head to look back at me, and I see an equal understanding in those dark eyes, so different from Saiyan black. He smiles, then, too, just a little quirking of the corner of his lips. He hides it behind his teacup, then, and I turn to look back out the window.

"So what does your brother have to do with anything?" he asks suddenly, and I laugh, wondering how to explain this.

"Well…huh. It's a kind of long story. I'm not sure you'd understand…"

"You're lovers now?"

I blink at him in utter astonishment, my tail flicking surprise in the warm air. "Uh…yeah."

He laughs, then, that low, gravelly sound that is by far his most intriguing feature. "Don't look so shocked, Raditz. Incest is a human taboo, not a Namekian one." I raise my eyebrows as he continues. "Of all the Namek left, I am the only one who is not related in some way."

"What do you mean?"

"All of the Namek share a father. Dende and Nail are brothers, as are all the other Namek of a certain age. Kami left before the disaster that wiped out most of Namek, then Guru set about repopulating afterwards. So any children that those Namek would have would all be cousins as well."

"Oh." Huh, that's a new one on me. I scratch my head. "So me and Kakarot-"

"Don't bother me, no. I wouldn't suggest letting ChiChi know, however." I wince as I imagine what my sister-in-law would do, but it brings up a more important topic, something that has been bothering me for a bit.

"How do you think Goten and Gohan will react?" He sighs, and shrugs broad shoulders.

"Honestly? I don't know. Gohan may have an easier time with it…he's experienced more than his younger brother, and I think has a more open mind. However, he's also immersed himself in a more human lifestyle than Goten, now." He rubs the base of one antennae thoughtfully.

I nod. "True…I can't see Goten taking it well at all."

He agrees. "Goten is very close to his mother, and not as close to Goku, despite their looks. Goku simply wasn't around for most of his childhood, and ChiChi was. He might see you as breaking up their family, which won't be good."

I sigh softly, gazing blindly out the window. "I think you're right. Goten is going to be seriously pissed off at me, at best. I really like that kid, too. I hope this doesn't fuck everything up."

"Would you give up this new relationship with Goku for them?" Piccolo asks carefully.

"It's not a matter of choice," I explain to him, spreading my hands. "Though, even if it was, I don't think so. But we're forming a bond, now…to give it up would hurt both of us, very badly."

"All you can do is explain it them that way, then. And hope for the best." I nod solemnly, my thoughts suddenly plunged into a gloomy pallor that I had hoped to avoid, at least for a little while. Sensing my shift in mood, Piccolo stands abruptly. "Let's go find Goku."

I stand gratefully, offering a weak smile. "Thanks for talking, Piccolo." He just nods formally back at me, and I snort, pulling him into a quick, fierce embrace. "Weirdo Namek," I say affectionately, and he snorts, smacking me on the back of the head.

"Idiot Saiyan."