Can't Resist - Chapter - 7 - Other Guys?

Disclaimer - I don't own DBZ.



Four weeks rolled smoothly by. Vegeta stuck to his routine with little variation. He spent most of his time in the GT. The cooking woman brought him lunch. He had the uneasy feeling she liked him a little too much, but he always shook it off, ate, and went back to the GT. The human fixit woman stayed out of his way. He had to give her credit though, the GT was marvelous. Bulma had advanced it so much that it now was capible of going up to 500 times normal gravity. For now, he was only at 350. Not enough to beat Kakarott and those androids. He shook Bulma out of his mind and reapplied himself to his training.

Bulma had been pleased at the way these past four weeks had rolled by. She'd done nothing but lounge around in the sun, go shopping, talk on the visual phone with Chi Chi and her cousin Neliyah, and work in the lab. She and her father had a project going to remodel and upgrade the space ships he'd designed. Yamcha hadn't dropped in and she hadn't called him. But there was the summer reunion her mother had planned for her and her friends coming up. All the Z-fighters were supposedly coming, though Chaotzu, Puar, and Chi Chi had to do all they could to drag their respective warriors away from their training. Come to think of it, she hadn't told Vegeta yet, but she supposed her mother had. Her parents actually rose at 7:30am for breakfast at 8am, when Vegeta was always finishing. She supposed they talked. 'Kami, it wasn't easy to stay away from him for so long. But I have my pride too. He'll have to make the next move. I refuse to beg.' Her temper suddenly flared. 'Sooner or later . . . I guess it'll have to be later then.' She went back to fiddling with her latest experiment. It showed a lot of promise. Maybe a few more millions for capsule corp and a start to her own personal fortune . . .

***************

"Oh Vegeta, I don't think I've told you the good news yet, have I?" Mrs. Brief said the next morning at breakfast. "Well I've been planning a little reunion for Bulma to cheer her up now that she doesn't have a boyfriend. It's going to be outside in the garden and we'll have a pavilion set up. It'll be so fun, don't you think so? And of course you're invited, hon. I put the formal invitation on your bed before I came to breakfast. All the Z fighters and their friends and families are coming. And myself and my husband's relatives of course. Bulma gets along well with her cousins. You can show off the GT to your friends like Goku and Tien, won't that be fun? Oh, I guess you want to know when it is then, huh? In two weeks. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of food. I've taken saiyan appetites in to account. And that Goku eats even more than you - and so sloppily. I must make a note to order more of those cloth napkins. And we'll have a huge blow up slide for all you kids and all of Bulma's little cousins. Oh that Gohan is so adorable! I know he'll love it and he can make some friends with my nieces and nephews. That Chi Chi should send him to public school instead of tutoring him. We all know he can take care of himself. Why, he'll be too smart by the time she'd done with him! I'm afraid my daughter was never like that. School was too easy for her. It bored her and I'm afraid she was prone to simply walking out. On well. Her school days are over. So what do you think of this reunion, Vegeta? On I can tell by your expression that you love the idea. Well I guess you're off to train in the GT now. Like I said, the invitation is on your bed, you can look at it for all the details. Have a wonderful training session, Vegeta honey!" Mrs. Brief called after him as he left the kitchen.

Vegeta was surprised to run into the long-winded one's daughter in the hallway. He hadn't talked to her since the day after Gohan had introduced him to video games. He'd found an hour of them just before bed was relaxing, plus he seemed to moving his fingers quicker since he'd started playing. But they were dangerous, they lulled him into a state of half concentration, half sleep.

"Oh hi Vegeta! I haven't talked to you in a while." she said. "Well I'm off the library to do some major research. I think I'm close to a breakthrough!" she practically sang the last sentence. "See ya!" she walked towards the front hall. He heard the door slam.

Vegeta stared after her, puzzled. He knew what a library was, but he wasn't much of a reader. Who voluntarily went there anyway? Her happiness was refreshing though, and the thought came back that maybe she did love him after all and wouldn't use him. He shook his head and went on into his room.

Ah, here was the invitation. Did Kakarott have to come? Oh well. It was obvious that he was obligated to attend out of respect for his hosts. They had never asked him anything in return for what they'd given him. Besides, Kakarott didn't have a GT, so maybe he would steer him towards it so he could gloat a little, maybe even turn it on and see how high Kakarott could take. And the idea of food was appealing . . . It would be memorable, he decided.

**************

"Can I help you ma'am?" the librarian asked.

"Yes, thank-you." Bulma said. "Could you help me get all the books on surface waves, transducers, and impedance matching?" she asked.

The librarian just blinked for a moment, then turned to his computer. "Just pick a seed at the table and I'll be right with you."

"Thank you. Oh, and look up ultrasonic and subsonic vibrations too please." Bulma went to the fiction section, snagged a romantic novel, and then sat down at a free table.

An hour later, she was deep in to the technical world of microns and impedance matching when a young man plopped down in the seat next to her at her circular table. "Good. You're still here." he said.

"Excuse me, still here?" Bulma asked, noticing he was kind of cute.

"Oh. Sorry." he stuck out his hand. "My name is Tristan Sushynah." Bulma shook his hand. "About an hour ago I guess, me and my brother over there - ", he pointed towards a guy browsing the fiction section who waved and went back to his book, "My brother and I were just cruisin' and we saw you walking in here . . . Well I finally got the guts to come and talk to you, so I'm glad you're still here. And well, here I am."

Bulma laughed. An old man at the next table glared at her. She shut up. "So you saw me for two seconds and now you want to talk to me? Well I've got a boyfriend, sorry though. What'd you say your name was?"

"Tristan Sushynah. Could we just talk then?" he asked, not looking discouraged in the least.

"You don't look too disapointed. But I'm doing a little research now, sorry."

"No. I'll help. What is it?" he asked, picking up a book. "Surface Waves Impacting Our Daily Lives? I didn't take you for a genius."

"Well I am. I'm doing research for my latest project. Pass me the book on subsonic vibrations, please." Bulma said matter of factly. She loved stunning 'em. "If you're looking for a dumb girl who looks kinda like me, I know a few." she made a small note in her notebook.

"No. It would be nice to hold an intelligent conversation with someone, namely you, who's smart as well as pretty." Tristan said. "But I'll wait until you finish your studies." He got up and walked in the direction of his brother.

*************

A few hours later, Bulma left the library with an even greater sense of excitement. Her research had given her a few great hypotheses concerning her project. She was impatient to get to her lab. In the parking lot, she popped her motorcycle capsule and climbed on. Just as she started it, she heard a voice calling.

"Wait!" It was that Tristan Sushynah, running towards her.

'Ah what the hey,' Bulma figured. 'He seems okay. Maybe he's the guy to get Vegeta off my mind.' She waited for him to reach her.

"I didn't catch your name." he said once he'd reached her.

"Bulma Brief."

"Oh. It sounds familiar . . . Listen, maybe we could catch a movie sometime Miss Brief."

"Or better yet, come over to my place next week." She scribbled down her address and phone number on a scrap of paper she found in her pocket. As she handed it to him, she added. "Call me tonight around seven. Oh, and don't get the idea I'm being fresh. I'm having a picnic next week and my friends are invited so we may as well get to know eachother then."

"Okay." Tristan agreed, a little amazed at how easily he'd gotten the information.

"And you can call me Bulma. I've gotta get back to my lab now. See ya Tristan!" she called, zooming off on her motorcycle.

Tristan sighed. 'Well atleast she remembers my name.' he thought. 'And boy is she pretty! Man, Urako's gonna fall over when I tell him this . . . and he said I couldn't get a pretty girl.'

************

Bulma quit working at six that day. She felt an irrational urge to bother Vegeta before dinner and knew he quit training at six for dinner. 'I haven't talked to him for about a month now, well not counting this morning. Not that I haven't thought about him though.' she thought as she turned off the lights to the lab and walked down the hallway. 'I know he atleast likes me. Maybe I can get him to take me somewhere before dinner. I'd like to hear his stomach growl just once though.' She giggled. 'And it's such a beautiful day.' she sighed as she passed a window. 'He and I need a little sun lately. I've been working on my project and he's always in the GT. He does go on morning jogs though . . .'

Bulma walked down the stairs and out the backdoor. She walked down the narrow stone path leading to the GT which she could see rising above the trees. They'd put it more away from the house this time, since her mother hadn't been to happy about the destruction of her beloved flowers. They were growing back fine now that it was early summer though. Bulma layed down on the grass and stared up at the clouds floating past in the blue sky. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun on her body. After a few minutes, she heard the GT's door shut and light footsteps coming up from the path.

Bulma imagined Vegeta walking up the path, with his quirky hair that defied gravity. She smiled at that thought. She wondered what the expression on his face was as she heard the footsteps slow and stop in front of her. To her surprise, she heard him sit down next to her in the grass.

"How'd it go today?" she asked, still with her eyes closed.

Vegeta didn't know what had made him sit down next to her. She looked so peaceful and content lying there in the sun with her eyes closed. And his training had been going exceptionally well. He was reluctant to admit it, but perhaps that vacation had done him some good. Now he found himself pleased that Bulma had asked about his training.

"I broke 400." he said with no pride in his voice. He was only stating a fact. Vegeta picked up a blade of grass and began methodically to shred it into tiny pieces. "Find what you wanted in the library?"

"That and more." Bulma replied, that content smile on her face. She patted the grass to her left. "Lay down so I can tell you." When she heard him lay down, she opened her eyes and stared up at the sky. "Well my project is about vibrating the microns of a thin layer of glass. It has tons of practical application. But just to rule some things out, I researched ultrasonics and . . ."

It was pleasant watching the clouds float by and listening to Bulma's voice. She was going on and on about 'impedance matching' and he had no clue what that was, but it didn't really matter. He had the feeling she didn't expect him to, and she didn't mind the fact that he didn't. Let's just face it, she liked to talk, to hear the sound of her voice. He usually couldn't stand that quality in anyone, but he thought it was amusing in this particular case. She didn't need to talk to make herself noticed, by him atleast. 'She does want me to notice her.' he realized. 'I don't really mind about that, but what happens once I let her know I'm noticing her? Is she gonna try and take over my life? That's not going to happen. . . . But I have to admit, it would be a real battle. . .' He let the sun wash over him and turned his head to the right so he could see Bulma.

" . . . so I've got a few new ideas, but first I have to rule out subsonics for sure. I think it might have an eddect on animals though, especially dogs. That would be awful if I patented that theory. I'd be sued like mad. Still, I'm, gonna test it out tomorrow. And that was my day." Bulma finally finished. It nagged her a little bit that she'd omitted the meeting with Tristan Sushynah. 'But that doesn't mean anything. Besides, Vegeta doesn't want or need to know about that . . . He does care about me though. It'll be bad if I bring Tristan to the reunion. He won't fit in anyway. I'll end it with him when he calls tonight. . . But he was so cute! . . . But in an immature way, like the boys in high school. And it's not like Vegeta is ugly or anything. The kids will be cute. WHOA!' her rational side broke in. 'Didn't I just say to him that I wasn't asking him to get married! - or make any kind of commitment for that matter! . . . But I said I wouldn't ask him, not that I didn't want that. . . Oh shut up thoughts. Just shut up. I am not going crazy when I'm still young and beautiful and a genius. I'm gonna go with the flow for now.' She sighed when there was finally golden silence in her mind and rolled over on her side, facing Vegeta who was looking directly at her, to her surprise.

"Are you happy with how your training has been going?" she asked him. They were only about a foot away.

Vegeta turned his head to look up at the sky again, but he could still see her from the corner of his eye. "Yes." he said after a moment. "I have to admit, my progress has escalated since you made me take that vacation."

Bulma laughed. "See, I knew what I was doing. I'm glad it's been working our for you . . . Are you coming to the reunion?" she asked.

"I figured I should respect your parents' wishes, so yes." he replied.

"I'm glad." Bulma said, concrete in her belief that she meant it. Summoning her courage, she brought her right hand over Vegeta so she was leaning over him, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

Vegeta was surprised that Bulma had taken the initiative and kissed him, but it was a wonderful sensation all the same. He allowed himself to reach up and encirle her waist with his arms, pulling her down closer to him. It was fulfilling to finally taste her, as he'd thought of that day at the water park and so many days since. She was like raspberries and she felt very smooth and soft. She was wearing blue jean shorts and of those shirts for women that cut off just above their stomach. She was the most exciting creature he'd ever met and he found he didn't want her to die at the hands of the androids. And surprisingly, in all the time he'd been here, he'd never once felt like blowing her up. Now that was the real miracle. He seemed to forget how much he loved her until he was near her again.

Bulma found herself wildly joyful that Vegeta was reciprocating her feelings. She'd half feared that he would reject her and she didn't know how she would've handled that. She felt certain he loved her, but she wasn't so certain that Vegeta knew he loved her. And kissing Vegeta was great, better than what she'd dreamed of, just about the best thing that had happened to her lately. The importance wasn't in that order of course. Anyway, it felt so nice to be geld by this man. It was exstasy to feel his hands on her body, taste the warmth of his kisses.

"When did you know?" Vegeta suddenly asked.

Bulma didn't even have to think. "When you gave me that sweatshirt." She let her lips brush his. "I knew I liked you a couple hours before that. I watched you climbing up to get that 200 zenii and I watched another couple and I knew I wanted what they had . . . I wanted us to have what they had. I still do." Bulma smiled down at him. "You're not like anyone I've ever met before." She rolled back over onto her back and once again stared up at the sky.

"I've got to get a shower before dinner. I'm heading in." Vegeta said abruptly, sitting up and climbing to his feet.

"Help me up." Bulma said, reaching her hands up. "I'll come with you."

As Vegeta looked down at her, he realized . . . she trusted him. He took both her hands in his and pulled her up. 'This is too fast, too fsat.' he thought. 'I need to think about this first. I am a saiyan prince, she's only a weak human female. . . . But I must have this one, this female, even though she can't cook. Still, I need to think long and hard about this. Kami, why couldn't this have happened after the darn reunion?' Already though, he was glad this had happened. Still, he could've lived in oblivion for another week or so.

Meanwhile, she was asking when dinner was, since she usually had food sent to her room or the lab.

"You don't know what time dinner is in your own house?" Vegeta asked incredulously.

"No." Bulma laughed. "My family and I aren't really big eaters, so we didn't have a cook until after I came back from Namek-sei with all those people. My mom hired Vera before she knew Nameks only drink water, but she was glad she did because of your appetite. Before that, we each just cooked ourselves dinner." she explained.

"What about breakfast and lunch?" Vegeta asked.

"Cereal and a piece of fruit for breakfast. A sandwhich for lunch." Bulma replied promptly.

"Humans certainly don't eat enough. No wonder you're all weak." Vegeta scoffed.

" Usually you don't have to be strong on Earth. It's more brains that count, as long as you're physically fit. If I ate as much as you, which is just not possible by the way, I'd turn into a blimp in a couple weeks." she laughed.

They reached the door. Bulma opened it and went in, followed by Vegeta. She turned to face him. "Don't worry, I'm not coming to dinner. I enjoy my solitude way too much. I'll just see you around." Bulma found herself saying. She guessed Vegeta might need sometime to adjust to what had just happened. 'Boy I sure do. And oh crap, Tristan's gonna call me in a half an hour. I led him on. Ugh. I hate to hurt his feelings, but what else can I do?' She grew preoccupied. "Well see you later." she told Vegeta, hurrying off to her room.

Vegeta looked after her, puzzled. 'Being near her is more trying on my brain than even Kakarott's lack of intelligence.' After a moment, he turned and went to take his shower.