Mike stretched and turned in his chair to pop his spine. He looked at the completed transport device in front of him. It's finished. I did it! I'm as smart as Bulma Briefs! Mike sat there for a few minutes, exalting in his triumph.
Then, he stood and walked up the stairs. He felt full of energy, as if he had just eaten a senzu bean. Well, actually, he'd never eaten a senzu bean before so he didn't know what someone would feel like after eating one but he felt like he imagined someone would feel like. Mike walked into the kitchen where he found Goku raiding the fridge. "Didn't you just eat?" he asked the Saiyan.
"No way! We ate three hours ago!" Goku said and pulled a bag of chicken breasts out of the freezer.
"What?" Mike looked at the clock and sure enough, it was around eleven o'clock. "Hmmm, how the time flies. I guess we'll have to send them back in the morning…" Mike muttered to himself and then turned to look back at Goku, who was sticking the chicken breasts in the microwave. "Eh, Goku?"
"Yeah?" Goku watched the raw meat begin to warm up.
"You do know that nuking them won't cook them, right?"
"Yep! I'm too hungry to wait for them to cook."
"But… won't you get some kind of food poisoning or something?"
"Nope! Saiyans don't get stuff like that!" Goku grinned and took the now warmed meat out of the microwave and picked at piece up.
Before he could take a bite though, Mike ran out of the kitchen. That's disgusting… Maybe I should become a vegetarian or something after all this... Mike poked his head in Bouke's room and saw Rogue and Bana sleeping. That's odd. Where's Bo? He wandered around the house, looking for her but not calling her name out because he didn't want to wake the other sleepers. (A/N: How nice of him! I would just scream at whoever it was I was looking for to haul their ass over to me)
He walked into the laundry room where he saw Vicky sprawled in a blanket on the floor, sleeping. "Odd…" he murmured to himself and was about to leave when he heard something.
"Psst! Mike! Up here!" Mike looked up and saw the attic door was open. Trunks' head was framed in it, "Mike! Could you get us some food? We're starving! We had to evacuate the table because of her!" he pointed at the sleeping girl.
"Where's Bo?" Mike asked.
"I'll tell you if you get us food!" Zar's voice answered him.
"Okay…" Mike heaved a sigh and wandered to the pantry where he grabbed two boxes of cereal, three bowls, three spoons, two gallons of milk and two bags of candy. He lugged all that back to the room where he handed them up one by one to the boys.
Zar stuck his head out of the attic. He looked funny with his hair hanging, "Thanks Mike! Now, you know the window at the end of the hall?"
"You mean the one with the black curtain that's always down?"
"Yeah, that one. The curtain should be up. If it's not, pull the string to lift it, crawl through the window and onto the roof, look around and you should find Bouke."
"Why didn't I know about this before?"
"She didn't figure out how to get up there until a few weeks ago."
"Oh, I see. Thanks, Zar!" Mike turned to leave.
"Wait!" Zar called, "Before you go up there, open up that little cabinet on the wall above the washing machine."
Mike did as he was told. "Whoa!" he stood and looked with amazement at all the different kinds of liquor held in the cabinet.
Zar studied the contents for a moment, "Good, you can close it."
Mike closed it, "Why'd you want me to open it in the first place."
"I was seeing how much liq me 'n the guys could wipe without being noticed," Zar grinned when he saw the stricken look on Mike's face, "Nah, nah. I'm joshing ya, man. I was seeing if reishi had taken any. She has."
"How much?"
"I dunno, not a lot I think. Anywho, good luck. I hope she's coherent." Zar retreated back into the attic and the door slide closed. A few seconds later, Mike could hear the sound of music being played.
"Must have taken a portable stereo up there or something," Mike mumbled to himself and walked out of the room. He looked down the hall and sure enough, the curtain was lifted. He walked over to the window and crawled through. It was a tight squeeze, but he made it. He put his feet on the windowsill and hauled himself up a rope and onto the roof. There was Bouke, lying down on a blanket and looking up at the starry night sky and humming to herself. (A/N: Oh no… I'm starting to get the feeling… *hands shake* NOOOOO!! I WILL NOT GO MUSHY/ROMANTIC ON MY READERS!)
Mike couldn't help but smile at his long time friend. It's just like her to retreat to a place like this… he walked awkwardly to her. He wasn't used to walking on roofs after all and it was at a tilt and slightly slippery.
"Bo?" he reached out a hand and touched her arm.
I felt something brush my arm, "HOLY SHIT!" I yelled and jumped. Through the top volume of my CD player, I heard a muffled yelp and I opened my eyes to see Mike toppling over. I ripped off m headphones, jumped to my feet and reached out to grab his failing hand as he slid toward the edge of the roof.
"Hold on Mike!" I pulled him back with all of my strength. He was jerked back and he crashed into me. We fell onto my blanket. I lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, with Mike on top of me. Then, I became aware of the fact he was on top of me with one knee between my legs.
"Gah!" Blushing furiously, I pushed him off of me. He landed next to me and stared up for a few moments. I grabbed my CD player and checked it to make sure it wasn't broken.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I hurt a little but other then that, I'm fine," he sat up and looked at me.
"Sup?" I looked around for my CD player.
"I just came to find you and tell you that I fixed the device."
"Shpiffy," I turned my CD player back on and hung the headphones around my neck so I could still hear the music but also talk to Mike.
"Yep, pretty nifty. What you listening to?"
"'Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, hey!' Oh, System of a Down. They kick ass!" I answered.
Mike gave me an odd look, "Yeah, sure, riiiiiiight…"
"Shut up." I glared at him mockingly.
"Hey, hey, hey! Pull the tapeworm out of your ass!" He said to me with his cute little smile he had. Wait a minute… did I just think Mike's smile was cute? Okay… the night air must be getting to me…
He shook his head and looked around the roof and surrounding neighborhood, "Nice view."
"Ah, it's nothing special. A good place to brainstorm and to think but-"
"What is this?" Mike held up an empty bottle and peered at the label.
"Uh… heh… that, yeah," I put a hand behind my head and smiled the Son Grin™, "It's not-"
"Vodka? 90 proof!" he picked up another bottle, "Jack Daniels? Bo! You alcoholic!" Mike dropped the bottles and they clattered down the roof and into the gutter.
"Hey! I didn't drink that today! That was from last week! And I spread it out over the course of a few hours! The other was from the day before the vodka," he glared at me when he saw the other alcoholic beverage bottles littering the roof, " I'll clean up the mess! I swear!"
"I'm ashamed of you! Drinking underage! All the time it seems! And on a roof! What if you fall? What if someone sees you?"
"Well… fuck the world. Those are what ifs. They don't matter," I answered and lay back on my blanket.
"Bouke… one day you're going to get in major trouble…"
"Yeah, yeah. Until then though, I'm having fun!" I grinned but it melted under his glare. Our conversation dissolved into frosty, on his part, and embarrassed, on my part, silence that was only broken by the music, which I quickly turned off.
Finally, Mike pulled a square box out of his pocket, "Mind if I smoke?" he asked.
"Mike! Smoking is bad for…" I realized the point he was trying to get across to me as he lit up a cigarette.
"Ahhhhh…" he took a drag, "I love these. I don't smoke them often as it's bad for me but every other day doesn't hurt, right?"
"You bastard. Trying to guilt trip me… I won't work…" I muttered, not so sure if what I said was true. I picked up my half-empty beer bottle and I chugged the rest. I let the now empty bottle fall to the gutter and picked up another then popped the top off. Mike snorted at me and took another drag from his cigarette. "So… sup?"
"Nothing much… nothing much." Mike answered and we sat together, looking at the stars and indulging in our separate pleasures that would in the end harm us. "I feel sorry for Piccolo," Mike said, a slight smile creasing his face, "It's not his fault people think he's part plant."
"Hey! It'll be funny! Imagine when he comes back! He'll prolly be exhausted! Even if I was getting paid five hundred bucks, I'd never take the chibis out to anywhere without backup!" I chuckled as I finished my beer. Mike looked at me and shook his head. "What?" I asked.
"You… you're so… so… you. There's no other way to describe you."
"What about singular words?" I asked as I popped open another. I knew I shouldn't but I couldn't help myself.
"Words? Let me think for a moment…" Mike sat thoughtfully, smoking his cigarette. After a few moments, he cleared his throat and flicked the cigarette into the gutter, "Okay, here's a few that came to my mind-"
"That was quick." I remarked.
He gave me a look and began his list, "Smart, funny, insane, annoying-"
"Hey!" I glared at him.
"At times." Mike amended. I nodded my acceptance and he continued, "short-tempered, sarcastic, intelligent-"
"Ah, ah, ah! You're being repetitive!"
"Shut up and let me continue…" he glared at me, "hyper, odd, and pretty." (A/N: Awh, hell! Here I go people! I'm cutting loose on the cheesiness! Get ready to GAG!)
"Pretty?" I looked at Mike, "Have you been smoking more then cigs?"
"I'm not joking, Bo. You're beautiful."
"Serious, you are? But… you've never told me I was pretty before…" I looked at Mike in a new light. Sure, he wasn't much of a looker but his brown eyes that were almost black they were so dark, could stare into your soul and make you stop in your tracks. His short, slightly curly dark brown hair fitted his face that perfectly. A face that nearly always had a smile on it, whether the smile was of sarcasm, joy or irony. He was a few inches taller then me but didn't have much in the way of the body department.
"That's because I've always thought platonic about you. You were never more then a friend… but now…" he leaned closer to me.
"Me either…" involuntarily, I found myself leaning towards him. The gap between us was rapidly closing. Six inches… five… four…
"You're eyes, their like emeralds… so beaut-"
"UHGG!" I gagged and pushed him away, "Cig breath! Bleh! Brush your teeth!"
"Hey! Your breath smells like beer! I hate beer!" Mike snarled.
"Yeah, well, I hate cig breath!" I growled.
"You bitch! I confess my three year crush on you and you complain about my breath!"
"Three years?" I looked at him.
"Yeah! Three whole years! And what do I get? Not a single kiss! Nothing but hugs! I-" I cut him off with a small kiss on the lips. He kind of sat in shock for a moment. Though, when he went to put his arms around me and deepen it, I pulled back.
"Nothing you say?" I picked up my CD player and stood. I looked around the roof and shook my head. The roof was moving around a little.
"Here Bo," Mike stood up and put an arm around my waist, "Let me help you to your room. You're a little tipsy."
"Okay…" he led me over to the edge and went down first. Then, he talked me through getting half way down the rope. He then grabbed my legs and placed my feet on the windowsill. He stood anxiously as I made my way into the house.
"You good?" he asked.
"Relatively."
"Let me help you to your room." He offered his arm like those gentlemen did on all those movies. I was touched. I always wanted a guy to do that. It was so sweet and gentlemanly. Like all the opening of doors, pulling out chairs, taking off their hats. Guys now a day didn't do it though. I went to take his hand… and fell against him.
"Whoa!" he grabbed my arms and looked at me, "You got balance?"
"Not really…" I looked around.
"Ooookay then…" he sighed and helped me down the hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeril: Another day gone by! Heh, I bet you thought they were gonna kiss, then you thought they weren't, and then they did. *laughs in delight at her inner genius* Anywho… were the A/Ns during it annoying? Please tell me if they were and I won't do it anymore. I don't drink IRL. I just got a description from a friend that has to write that part. What do y'all think about the Bouke/Mike thing? Is it because she's tipsy? Or is it something more? And will Vicky get her hands on Trunks? What's going to happen to Piccolo? I almost feel sorry for him…
Vegeta: I can't believe you put a little bit of romance in that chap… it made me gag…
Kakarot: I didn't think it was too bad.
Vegeta: No one asked for your opinion, third class baka.
Jeril: Tanx Kakarot. *glares at Veggie* Also, huggles to all you people out there that leave long reviews!! You know, four or five sentences at the least!! You people kick ASS!! I really, really, really love reviews like Rogue's, Dark-Angel's, Saiyan Princess TRF's and others because you guys let me know what you're thinking about my fic and sometimes you leave a drop of inspiration in there!!! KEEP UP YOUR ASS-KICKING WORK!! GO YOU GUYS!!!
Kakarot: Yeah! Keep those longish, informative reviews coming!
Jeril: Congrats to Saiyan Princess TRF for being my 175th reviewer! You get a… *digs around in a box* framed pic, well, two pics of Vegeta and 17! They're signed too!
Vegeta: Remember, you owe me two chocolate cakes for signing that and forcing 17 to.
Jeril: Shut up, Veggie. A few questions to you peoples out there: Can anyone tell me if Androids can sense ki? Or, if they can't, can they learn how to? I know that they don't have a ki signature. Also, how many years older then Bra is Trunks? And how old was Vegeta when he first came to Earth? These A/Ns are just getting longer and longer and longer… Do any of you read to the end?
One last thing, I swear! If any of you are getting lost in the house (I know I am) I made a little map to show you the way! http://www.angelfire.com/realm/trewthsweyr/fanfic/house.jpg It's actually kinda based on my house… The garage is just the lower story and it's half work area, half storage. You people better be thankful! I stayed up till 1:30 am my time writing this fic! I have half of the next chap finished!
