Can't Resist - Chapter 8 - Cousin

Disclaimer - I don't own DBZ.

BRiiiing! . . . BRiiiing! . . . BRiiii-

"Ahh!" Bulma glanced at her watch. "6:30. It can't be Tristan on the holophone already! I told him to call at seven! Ugh. Men." She plopped down on her bed and pushed the 'on' button on her holophone.

It was her older cousin, Neliyah. "Hey Bulma! I just got the invitation to the reunion. I wanted to RSVP as soon as I could. How's it going girl? I haven't talked to you in ages!"

"Whew Nel, I thought you were this guy. You gave me quite a shock." Bulma said by way of a greeting.

"Oh girl, you're always got some guy or another tagging after you. It's the natural beauty that runs in the family. You got it from me." Neliyah said, tossing her thick green hair at Bulma and trying her best to look coquettish.

Bulma laughed. "Yeah, that's it all right." she said sarcastically.

"Seriously Bulma, it's not Yamcha, is it? He's cute, but you know I never liked him. But I suppose it is. Really Bulma, I just don't see the attraction. There are cuter guys -"

"It's not him." Bulma broke in.

"What? . . . I say, I say, did you say that right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just say 'It's not him'?"

"Yes." Bulma laughed.

"Well are you done with him for good this time? Not just mad at him?"

"Yes."

"Well praise Kami! Let me hear the angels sing HAH-LE-LU-JAH! Come on! Do you feel me?! Give me a Ha-Le-Lu-Jah!" Neliyah shouted, dancing around the room. She came back, sat down, and peered at the holophone. "Girl, you are looking good without that man. Your eyes, they are shining! Your hair, it is not in that awful curly style anymore! your teeth, they are whiter-"

"What!" Bulma broke in. "Hey, I thought you liked my hair curly!"

"Nah." Neliyah shook her head. "I just said that to make you feel better. Some guy had just tried to put the moves on you on the first date and you were about to go back to Yamcha, if you remember."

"Oh yeah. Well you just got me down so make me feel better again." Bulma said, pouting for her cousin.

"Ok. Ummm . . . Who's the guy?" When Bulma was silent, she prodded. "Come on. I know there is one. Is it the guy on the phone?" she gazed at Bulma's face intently. "No? Who could it be then? Oh, I know. What about that guy (mmhmm, this is the one) the guy living in your house 'cause he's training or something. Mmmhmm! It is him! What was his name? Sec."

Bulma saw her swing over to her computer on the holophone screen. Her cousin was a genius in her own way. She could hack into anything.

"Got an image! And is there a record of his name anywhere in here? . . ." she clicked away on her keyboard. "Uh huh! Vegeta is his first name and let me get a close up shot . . . Oh girl, I like his hair, and he does emit a certain presence. And look at all those muscles! Lucky you!" she rolled her chair back over to the holophone, sat back, and started filing her nails. "Well . . . Am I right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Bulma admitted.

"I knew it! And you told that other guy to call you before something happened between you and muscle-man. What a soap opera . . ."

"MY LIFE IS NOT A SOAP OPERA!" Bulma yelled.

"Uh huh. So what are you going to tell the guy?" Neliyah asked, not caring in the least that Bulma had yelled at her.

Bulma curled up on her bed, facing the holophone and sighed. "I don't know Nel. Maybe . . . maybe I could just give him your phone number. I did tell him I had a boyfriend."

Neliyah shook her head violently. "No way. He fell for you, not me, kiddo."

"Don't call me kiddo. And yes! You're just as pretty as me. You've won beauty contests!" Bulma said, sitting up again.

"That's only 'cause I needed money. Don't ever bring them up again." Neliyah ordered, shaking her head. "Not this time, kiddo."

"Please?"

Neliyah shook her head no. "I'm begging you, Nel!" Bulma pleaded, dropping down on her knees and folding her hands in supplication.

"Nope." she closed her eyes and turned her face away.

"At least access a picture of him! For me, Neliyah. I need you!" Bulma begged.

"Well . . ."

"PLEASE??? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"And a cherry?" Neliyah asked, her resolve weakening.

"YES! YES!" Bulma exclaimed.

"Well . . ."

"Well!?!"

"Do you love this Vegeta guy? 'Cause I don't hire myself out if it's not for a good reason - VERY good." Neliyah asked, opening her green eyes and staring at Bulma.

"Yes." Bulma said, climbing back up onto her bed. "Yes. I do. I actually do." she tasted the words on her tongue, realizing that they were true.

"Well okay then. Let me access the guy's file. What's his name?"

"Arigato, Nel. His name's Tristan Sushynah."

"No prob, cuz." Neliyah rolled her chair back over to her computer. After a moment, she'd hacked into the phone book records and accessed his file. "Well he's cute and he doesn't have a criminal record, so okay." Neliyah said after a moment. "Tell him to call me tonight. I've got some paperwork to do for my job anyway. Hey, what was he calling for?"

"I said I'd invite him to the reunion. Mom mailed him the invitation this afternoon. You'll take him?"

"Sure. We'd better go somewhere else before then though. I wanna get to know him a little bit at least."

"Ok. Thanks a bunch, Nel. I owe you." Bulma said.

"Sure, no prob as I said before. What are older cousins for? You do owe me though. So how's that project that I understand about half of going?" Neliyah asked, changing the subject.

"Great. How's your anti-hacker software coming along?"

"It's coming. I can still hack into it though. I'm gonna try it out some of my hacker peeps soon though, see how it goes with them. So are your martial arts friends who saved the world more than once coming to the reunion too?" Neliyah asked.

"Yeah."

"Cool. It's fun messing with Krillin and I'll like seeing Goku again. He's cute. I could go for someone younger than me. My advantage when we get old, right? But I wouldn't want to break up that wonderful marriage. Your girl Chi Chi always gives me suspicious looks anyway. I think I'll get him alone and kiss him this time. I'll just lead him astray with a big hunk of ham or something." Neliyah fantasized.

Bulma cracked up. "That is so mean and you know it! No wonder Chi Chi doesn't trust you!"

"Girl, I'm just playin'. Goku's too cute to lead astray. Maybe I'll just go after your man."

"Hold up! I'd like to see you try!"

"Oh I'll try. I have the feeling he's the serious type. I'll get him, you'll see!"

"You have my permission to try." Bulma said, still laughing. Then a light on her holophone blinked. "Got another call girl. It's Tristan."

"Ok. See ya." Neliyah turned off her holophone.

"Hey Tristan!" Bulma said as his image flashed onto the holophone screen.

"Hi Bulma. How are you?" he asked.

"Fair. Listen. I told you I had a boyfriend. You're not going out with me."

"Then why'd you give me your number?" Tristan asked, puzzled.

"I thought you would be perfect for my cousin. She's coming to the reunion too. I told her and she looked at your file and she wants you to call her. She'd just as pretty as me, maybe more, though I'll never admit it to her. Please, Tristan?"

Tristan looked let down. He sighed. "I don't know. I was looking forward to spending time with you, Bulma."

"Just access her file and then decide. Her name's Neliyah Brief. Besides, you'd have to fight my boyfriend and I don't think you'd win."

"I don't think so, Bulma-"

"Please?" Bulma found herself begging again.

"Well ok. I'll access her file. I'll call you in a few minutes and tell you. See ya for now." Tristan agreed, before terminating the connection.

(A/N: Sorry the chapter's so short this time. I finished writing the story six months ago, I just hadn't bothered to type it up. Must be because I'm lazy.)