Touched

2: So Much of What You Say

Marron checked her bags for the forth time, to make sure that she had everything. Not that it really mattered; if she had forgotten something, her mother or father could easily drop it by Capsule Corp. for her. It was simply something to do while she waited.

She had called Trunks several times over the past few days, to make sure that Vegeta was really serious about hiring her. She kept waiting for someone to turn around and tell her that it was all a joke, then make fun of her gullibility. But every time she rang Trunks, she got the same reply of, "Yes, my father is quite serious about this, and would you please stop calling to check!"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure," Marron had huffed on the last call.

"Making sure is one thing. What you're doing borders on obsession and or harassment." Trunks sighed, but his tone became more gentle. "Look, I don't know why Otousan decided to hire you as Bra's nanny, but I do trust his judgement. I'm sure he knows what he's doing, even if no one else does. Why should you be worrying anyway? It's a job, right? Near home. And Bra's not that much of a brat."

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am. Now, I have to get back to work. You're starting tomorrow, right? I'll meet you when you get here."

"Alright, thanks Trunks."

The confidence that she had built up during that conversation had now completely diminished. She was only certain of one thing – how uncertain she felt about this whole situation. Oh, well. There's nothing I can do about it now. I just have to treat it like any other job.

"Ready, chestnut?" Krillin called.

"Yes, I'm coming!" Marron gathered her bags, and headed towards where the family car was awaiting her arrival.

"You look lovely. Very professional," her father gushed.

Even while training to be a nanny, Marron had altered her general appearance. She was sure that no one would want her as a nanny if she looked younger than the children she was supposed to be caring for, so no more pig-tails, and no more pink. On this day, she had left her hair out, in a style similar to Juuhachigou's when she had first met Krillin. She wore a neat navy jacket and trouser set, with a white shirt underneath. While she may have looked professional, she felt anything but.

"Thank you, Otousan," she mumbled. Very few words were spoken for the rest of the trip to Capsule Corp. As she saw the dome approaching, Marron's stomach knotted up, and she began to feel sick.

"Are you okay?" Juuhachigou asked. "You look very pale."

"I'm fine. Just nervous."

The car pulled into on of Capsule Corp.'s driveways, and came to a halt. While Krillin unloaded Marron's things from the car, Juuhachigou pulled her daughter to the side.

"Be careful," she urged.

"What of?" Marron asked, confused.

"Vegeta. He's probably not all that stable at the moment. It hasn't been that long since Bulma died, and I can imagine it'll be weird for him to have another woman in the house. Just watch your back."

"Uh…okay." Marron didn't know what her mother had hoped to achieve from the talk, but it had made Marron even more nervous than she had been previously.

"Are you right to take it from here, chestnut?" Krillin asked. "Your mother and I have some things we need to do, so we can't hang around for too long."

"I'll be fine, thanks." She hugged her father.

"We'll call you tonight, see how you're settling in, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, bye!" Trying to look more confident than she felt, Marron staggered up to the front door, juggling all of her bags. The door opened before she had the chance to knock.

"You're early," Vegeta stated.

"I…uh…wanted to make a good impression. Where's Trunks?"

"He has been held up at the office, and asked me to take care of business with you."

"Oh, cool." Marron forced a smile. As if things hadn't been bad enough, she now had to be lead around by the oh-so-creepy Vegeta. Sure, he was her new boss, but she had hoped that she would be able to avoid him as much as possible. That currently seemed very unlikely.

"Do you need help with your bags?" Vegeta asked, his expression impossible to read.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Marron was shocked when Vegeta took all of them off her.

"This way, I'll show you where your room will be first."

Marron followed the Saiya-jin prince through the giant building, past countless doors leading to who-knows-where before he finally stopped at a door that was identical to the rest.

"I'm going to get lost in here," she joked. Seeing that Vegeta did not seem in the least bit amused, she opted to keep her mouth shut.

"This is your room. I had Trunks and Bra make it up for you last night," Vegeta explained, as he opened the door and stepped inside. "My room is two doors down the hall, and Bra's is directly across."

"Where's Trunks'?"

Vegeta glared at her, and Marron realised how bad it may have sounded to him, so she quickly added. "In case Bra wants him, and can't get to him or something."

He seemed less than impressed with her explanation, but replied, "If you follow this hall to the end, you will find the boy's room."

Vegeta placed her bags down, and motioned that she follow him again. He lead her back down the hall that they had just come up, pointing out the bathroom she should use as they passed it. They finally ended up in the kitchen.

"Can you cook?" he asked.

Marron nodded. "Fairly well. I tended to do the cooking at home."

"Good, then you shall also cook here. But remember, here you will be feeding three Saiya-jin. Their requirements are different from humans…and jinzouningen."

"W-what do I need to know?"

"Saiya-jin require a greater amount of protein in their diets, so vegetarian meals are not to be prepared. Also, we tend to eat a larger amount than most humans, so you should take that into account."

"So basically, I should cook as though I'm feeding ten instead of four."

"Make it fifteen. Bra is starting to go through growth-spurts."

"Where is Bra at the moment?"

"At school," Vegeta replied. "She should be home at around four. You'll have to find something to occupy yourself with until then. I'm going to train."

"I'll unpack my bags, then start thinking about dinner."

Vegeta nodded, then started to walk away, but he stopped. Without turning around, her mumbled. "Oh, by the way…nice suit."

He then continued on his way. Marron flushed bright red, partly from embarrassment, partly from anger. Was he making fun of her? Arrogant jerk! Marron stormed up towards her room, trying not to think of ways that she could poison the Prince.

Unfortunately, her earlier prediction turned out to be true. With all the doors identical, Marron could not remember which one was hers. She cursed Vegeta for shutting the door behind them when they had left.

"I think I've gone too far up…or maybe it was one of these." Marron let out a frustrated sigh, and finally just chose a door at random. It wasn't her room. Perhaps if it had just been a guestroom she would have simply closed the door and tried again. But curiosity always seemed to get the better of her.

The door Marron had chosen belonged to Vegeta's room. It was not how Marron had expected the room belonging to the Saiya-jin Prince to look. But, I suppose, it used to be Bulma's room as well. Against her better judgement, Marron stepped further inside. The bed was unmade, so absent-mindedly she roughly fixed it. Next to the bed, on a table, were a large amount of photo frames.

"So many pictures of Bulma…" Marron whispered. She had had no idea that Vegeta had felt so strongly for his late wife. Sure, she saw his grief, but this room showed another side. Marron smiled at a photo of Bulma and Vegeta together, which must have been taken when Trunks was only young.

In front of the photos was another unexpected thing: a vase of blood-red roses. They seemed fresh, and Marron remembered that there was a rosebush in Capsule Corp.'s garden. Beneath the table, in a trashcan, less lively roses had been violently tossed.

Marron reached out to touch the fresh roses.

"What are you doing in here?"

Marron gasped, and looked up to the door, which she had left open. Vegeta was standing in the doorway, glaring accusingly at her.

"I…I…I got lost. I'm sorry," she stammered. "I just saw the bed was unmade, so I thought I'd fix it. And…and then I saw the photos. They're very nice."

"You are not to come into this room again, understood?"

Marron nodded. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"Just get out."

She pushed her way past him, and, remembering that Vegeta's room had been two doors down from her own, finally found her room. Before shutting the door behind her, she saw that Vegeta had closed the door of his own room, and was walking back down the hallway.

Finally alone in her misery, Marron cursed herself. "Great work, Marron. Get caught in your boss's bedroom, looking at pictures of his dead wife on your first day!"

She started unpacking her bags, and hoped that she'd be able to make it up to him later. I'll have to make a really nice dinner or something.