Chapter 16-The Dinner
Daemonar cleared his throat. "Um, Bulma what are you doing out of the tank thing that the girls put you in… and aren't you a bit chilly?"
Bulma gave no indication that was she was listening, or that she had even heard him. Her sapphire eyes were glazed as they fixed on the table.
"Food." Her voice was low and husky as she spoke, and her throat worked convulsively as if she was having a hard time forcing the words from her mouth. Her breathing seemed harsh to those with keener senses and every one of them could see that she was painfully thin. Since she wasn't wearing any clothes they could see her ribs were sticking out and her face was emaciated and exhausted looking, a fact accentuated by her hair hanging in damp strands around her face. Her hipbones were sharper than they should be and there was an IV trailing from her right arm. The needle was bruising her fair skin. She didn't notice.
"Of course," Daemonar stood and walked over to her, calling in a black silk robe he remembered her wearing before. He took her arm, easing the needle out and tossing it into the fireplace. Then he wrapped the robe around her shoulders and tied the front, explaining when she stared down, confused, "We don't want you to get a chill while you are trying to recover your strength, and you're still a bit, uh moisture enhanced, coz."
She lost interest in him and what he had said as she looked back at the table. He noticed this and led her to the place at the head of the table right next to Vegeta, motioning to a footman to bring her a plate as he did so. He glanced at the door impatiently as if searching for someone before sitting back down at his own seat, a chair specially designed to accommodate his wings, right to her other side and across from the prince who quickly hid his concern behind an angry expression as he stared at her; although not quickly enough to keep everyone else from noticing it.
Just as the servant placed the plate in front of her, Marian hurried into the room through the far door followed closely by ChiChi and 18.
"Bulma, how did you get out of the tank?! You aren't even supposed to be awake yet!" Bulma ignored this as well as she picked up a fork and somehow managed to delicately devour the very first serving before they even managed to get around the table to her side. When the footman placed another plate in front of her 18 tried to grab it but froze when Bulma snarled at her.
"You need soups and soft foods, you're still in the early stages of recovery from draining your strength. If you eat too large of things you'll risk choking," she pointed out reasonably. Bulma stared at her as if she was contemplating jabbing her with the fork that was still clenched in her hand if the android even considered coming near her plate again. "Alright, have it your own way. You're a healer so you should know what you can get away with," the blonde woman didn't sound as if she believed her own words at all as she closely watched the woman begin to quickly attack her food once more.
The women sat down in chairs carefully directing their attention to their queen, although without looking directly at her. Slowly the males began to resume their meal, although they watched Bulma quickly consume as much as one of the saiyans and continue to eat beyond that. They saw her body slowly begin to fill out as the hours passed by and she continued to consume the food as if it were a fuel for recovery, which apparently it was. The women began to relax as she managed to eat everything without too much trouble.
Finally Bulma had eaten enough that she started to grow more interested in her surroundings, although this did not mean that she grew less interested in her food. She looked around to see everyone else had finished and was now focused on her. All of the guys except for Daemonar, and Vegeta, who had caught on when he heard her mentally muttering something about stupid compensating for stupid powers, looked surprised at the amount that she had and was still was consuming.
"Wow, dad. She's eaten even more than you," Gohan's awed voice finally broke the all-consuming silence that had been interrupted only by the clink of dishes and silverware. Bulma paused with a fork lifted halfway to her mouth as she stopped to stare at the mini Goku who was sitting next to his father a short ways down the table staring at her in fascination. "Listen little man, I'll have you know that if Goku wore as many jewels as me then he'd have to eat like this every time he used a great deal of power in one setting too. You know holding a shield, even one assisted with two other dark jewels, while creating a psychic storm of that magnitude and then shielding the land from the backlash as you try to hold enough power in your jewels to keep your own mind from getting shattered and then redirecting some of your power into healing the broken ribs that were puncturing your left lung from where you slammed into your own shields does rather take a lot out of you." There was a flash of anger from the other women that caused Bulma to flinch and drop her gaze to her plate. Bulma chose to pretend that she didn't notice the glares that were now being directed at her from the members of her family and the sharp, searching look that she received from Vegeta.
"Besides, I only eat like this when I've been using a lot of power, as opposed to your father who is a bottomless pit at all times. Although with all of that training, it makes sense in his case as well since his power is manifested physically. Speaking of which… there's no way I can make the Offering before tomorrow night now so we might as well get them their jewels sometime soon."
"Wait! Hold up a minute! These guys are getting jewels? …I'm missing something important aren't I?" Daemonar stated to the air, not really expecting an explanation from the women. He wasn't disappointed. Bulma's just glanced at him before shaking her head and continuing to eat.18 and ChiChi stared at him with matching expressions that shouted a, 'Think about what you just heard and do we really have to repeat what was said?' "Alright, stupid question. If Bulma says they're getting jewels then they obviously are getting jewels, but anyone plan on cluing me in as to why they're going to be able to get jewels?"
"They're Blood," ChiChi stated slowly in a tone that clearly indicated that she thought this was obvious.
"Never mind," Daemonar spoke in the aggrieved tone of a male who feels he is being purposely baited by the women in his life. He stood up adding, "I'm going to the study to visit grandfather. I guess I'll see the rest of you after you've braved the dragon in his den, so to speak." He gave a wicked smile before trooping off to his destination. As he reached the door he thought to add over his shoulder as insultingly as possible, "And don't overdo it coz." A biscuit hit the door he just slid through and they could hear his laughter from the other side as he made his escape.
"Damn! And he made me waste a perfectly good biscuit," the most powerful female in the world pouted. Then she sighed and dropped her fork onto her plate. She held up her arm to examine it and decided she had eaten enough for the night.
"Alright, I'm going to get dressed," she blushed as she suddenly remembered her entrance earlier in the day, "and then we should be ready."
"Ready for what?" Goku asked her in his disarming manner.
"Ready to face Lorn."
A/N: My second shameless plug for the day, you still need to check out Dark Jewels by Raksha and Pleasures of Payback by Bouzi Neo, they're both really good. If you like the way my fic is going then you definitely need to read these, even if the Jewels isn't a DBZ one.
Roya: Another chapter today. I'm glad to know that I was writing one, otherwise I might have gotten confused, lol. Thanks for your enthusiastic reviews.
Inei Tenshi: Operative word, might. but it's entirely possible since that's only a little less than three weeks and I usually try for at least a chapter a day. But you'll get an e-mail as always when I finish. ^_^
Bulma: Okay, here's some more. Thanks for reviewing.
Empress Sarah-sama: I know, I can't resist having the guys be along for the ride for once. I'm sorry you're finding FF.net stupid. Thanks for the reviews.
Sailor Purgatory: No you don't. I am only capable of doing this because I have no life. Although I admit I like it that way because then I don't have to deal with people since they happen to be my main problem when I am required to live what little life I have. I'm sure there's some really long and unpronounceable term for my personality that pyschiatrists use amongst normal people to sound intelligent... but that has absolutely nothing to do with anything does it? Lol, my thanks to you for reviewing as well.
Raksha: No it's not just your computer, and I understand. Lol. At any rate I'm glad you are enjoying it and yes Yamcha will finish getting his...eventually, bwahahahah! Ok enough with the maniacal laughter. Thanks for being a loyal reader Dark Sister.
Silverstar: Hope the wait wasn't too long... Sorry I couldn't cover the telepathy thing earlier(even though I haven't covered it yet) but it will be covered in the near future, after all our couple will be alone soon ^_~, and questions will undoubtedly crop up once more.
