Separate Beds

By FireDragon

Disclaimer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Chapter 1 : Stormy Weather


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Bulma gazed angrily out of the window, it was raining, and the sky was a

moody grey, the rain slapped angrily against the window, and slid in fat tears

down the glass pane. Forked lightning streaked the sky, and the wind rattled

the windows of the house as though it was trying to break them into small

pieces.

She turned her blue eye's imploringly on her father, Why dad? Why did

you say yes?


Mr Briefs turned the tea cup nervously around in his hand and looked

apologetically at his only child.

It was a difficult situation, I didn't quite know... ,he jumped spilling his tea

down his front, as a loud blast of thunder shook the house making the

windows quake like jelly, already straining against the wind.

Bulma tried to hide a smile as her father jumped out of his chair, and

scampered across the room to find the tissue box, As I've said before, he

called from the corner of the room, where he was busy mopping his front.

It was an awkward conversation. , he came back and settled himself back

down in the chair, ( his jumper still had a large damp stain on it ) .

Looking over his daughter, he couldn't help wondering why he had agreed

to it, although, he admitted to himself it was rather hard to say no, for all the

wrong reasons.

What's done is done Vegeta will be stay with us until the androids appear.

You shall just have to try and bear him until then. You know what they say,

Every cloud has a silver lining'. I'm sure we'll find one somewhere.

Bulma raised one eyebrow skeptically, I doubt it. she sighed, He's far too

pig-headed, he's full of hot air, and doesn't care about anyone else.

She said the last part with such a finality in her voice that said she wouldn't

hear anything else on the subject.

Mr Briefs nodded at his daughter, and watched her leave the room and

ascend the stairs.


~They have more in common than they think.~ he thought to himself, as

Bulma disappeared from sight, ~ But that's not necessarily a good thing.~

He frowned, and called up after her, Dinner will be ready in about an hour

or so.

He heard her sigh loudly and then call back, Whatever, dad.


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She lay on her back studying her ceiling, ~ Another night of forced

conversation, ~ she thought glumly, ~He's so quiet, and then so loud when

he want's to be. ~ The ceiling was cracked in various places, a large one

ran down the middle of it before it dissipated into various tributaries like a

stream.

~ I wonder what its like being a fissure in a wall, it doesn't have to worry

about people coming and going. It doesn't have to avoid people.~

Bulma supposed that in a way she was like the crack in her ceiling, one of


the little ones, that was trying to avoid one of the others.

~ I wonder why he's like that, so closed off from everything. ~ , she slowly

got off the bed, and walked towards the window.

It was still raining and the bedroom was dimly lit, the walls were white with

cornices , and the carpet was a pale blue, a large cabinet was located at the

end of the room next to the door, and next to the bed was a large mirror

and dresser table, with pictures of her parents' wedding day, on top.

Thunder still rolled over the house, making her ribcage vibrate with all the

noise. Qut on the grounds Bulma could clearly see the gravity machine, it

was emitting a low humming sound, and she noticed the lights were

switched on but she couldn't see anyone training inside.

Bulma squinted her eyes, and tried to get a better view, she considered

using some binoculars, but shook the thought off with a grin, as she

had a hunch that someone would catch her using them for such a silly past

time.

She leaned forward, she still couldn't see him, ~ What's he doing in there

that's so important? ~ she wondered to herself, looking absent mindedly

down at the floor of the room, and was startled to see a spider scuttling

across the carpet.

She gave a small squeal and jumped back onto the bed, with a start.

She watched horrified as the arachnid found it's way into a small hole in her

wallpaper and disappeared from sight.

She went back to the window, after she was quite sure it was gone, giving

herself a mental note that she should redecorate her room as soon as


possible.

Looking at the gravity machine, the light was still on, the whole building was

wet from the rain and the lightning that forked in the sky over head cast eerie

shadows over the entire structure. Bulma had the odd feeling that someone

was watching her, and immediately turned towards her bedroom door, but it

was closed, and there was no light on in the hallway, emphasising

how dark her room was, since she hadn't bothered to turn her

bedroom light on.

But the feeling was still there, so she peered out of the window again

wondering whether or not there was someone in the grounds staring up at

her. No one,... but the ground was so dark and dimly lit, that it was difficult to

tell.

She looked back towards the gravity machine window and her heart

stopped, emphasised by a streak of lighting that struck at the exact moment

and accompanied by a loud rumble of thunder, it was like something out of a

horror movie that Bulma had seen.

Staring at her from the window, was a man, who's black hair and moody

eye's made Bulma uneasy when around him, his sharply proportioned face,

had high cheek bones and a mouth that seemed to amplify his mood and

temper, that made her feel uncomfortable when talking to him, and

usually always careful when around him.

But now, all she felt was the sudden fear of being discovered by him,

alarmed by his sudden appearance, Bulma gave out a small scream that she

immediately smothered with her hand.

~ This is silly,~ she thought with her heart in her throat, ~ how could he

possibly have known that I was looking at him? He's probably not even

looking at me.~ she tried to assure herself.

But there was still the fact that he was staring right into her eyes making the

hairs on the nape of her neck prickle, and her skin on her arms

and legs, erupt into goose bumps, so that it looked like the skin of a plucked

hen.

She felt as though he could see more than her appearance, she felt as

though he could see into her very soul, into her thoughts and desires, it was

scaring her, and she felt as though she was still trying to smother the

scream, as it kept threatening to surface.

She wanted to stare back at him to show him that she wasn't afraid of him,

but she couldn't.

In one swift movement, she tore herself away from the window and ran out

of her room slamming the door with a resounding bang behind her. The

rain splattered on the roof above her as she flew down the stairs.

The wind howled against the windows as she sprinted into the kitchen, to the

comfort and security of her parents, while the wind howled aggressively

against the window panes and rattled them with icy hands.

While the man in the gravity machine watched the woman quickly leave his

gaze, he smirked, there was no warmth in his smile, and it was cruelly

accentuated by the sharp angles of his face.

And his eyes as always remained cold, black and empty, carefully devoid of

all emotion as he returned to his training, ~ She's afraid of me. ~ he thought

simply, and again he smirked, if Bulma had been watching him, it would have

sent shivers down her spine.

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Bulma spent dinner, sitting as far away from Vegeta as possible, carefully

avoiding eye contact with him, listening to her parents conversation without

interjecting any of her opinions into it. She was crossing and uncrossing her

legs underneath the table as quietly as possible, and with as little movement

as achievable, so that she wouldn't draw to much attention to herself, her

stomach felt sick and nervous so she had hardly touched her food, she

just kept pushing it around her plate , she kept her eyes on her plate too,

~ Stop it ! Stop it ! Stop it ! ~ she thought, ~ What's wrong with you? Don't let

this Moron get to you ! ~ however many times she thought that to herself, it

didn't stop her from recollecting how he had known she was looking for

him.

It disturbed her, to say the least.

Bulma? Sweetheart, are you all right?

Bulma looked up startled and dropped her fork with a clatter on her plate,

What? she said unnerved, her mother frowned, I just asked you why you

hadn't touched your food, you're being very quiet.

Bulma looked distractedly at her mothers anxious face, and then into her

fathers suspicious one.

I'm just........ her gaze wondered across the table to where Vegeta was

sitting, as though drawn to his stare like a nail to a magnet.

His black eyes bore into hers as though he knew exactly what she was

thinking, she felt her stomach clench.

~ Stop it ! ~ she thought to herself, ~ Stop it ! Please ! ~

He didn't stop it though, he continued to stare at her, the longer he did it

the more uncomfortable she became.

After what seemed like an eternity Bulma forced herself to speak, I'm....., I'm


just feeling a little woozy, I think, I'll just go to bed.

She began to push away from the table, in a desperate hurry to get upstairs

and away from those eyes.

Yes, he said in a soft and dangerous voice, never once breaking her

gaze.

I'm sure, you must be.

Although Vegeta had said it quietly, Bulma flinched as though he was yelling

at her, the words sounded as though they were a death threat and for some

mysterious reason, made her blood run ice cold.


she murmured, trying to keep her voice steady, she backed

away, and turned round, willing herself not to run across the room, then

walked calmly towards the door and reached for the handle with a trembling

hand.

~ What's wrong with me? ~ she thought as she fled from the room and

pounded up the stairs, ~ This is MY house, MY planet. Why is he scaring me

so much?~ she ran down the hallway and flung herself into her room, and

then locked the door, in an attempt to keep him out of her thoughts and

room.

~ Why is he doing this to me?! ~


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Downstairs Mr Briefs glanced with alarm at his wife, who was looking slightly

surprised but unconcerned, to his daughters empty seat, her napkin

thrown dejectedly to one side, her fork discarded on the floor,

to her untouched food.

And then he quickly looked at Vegeta who still staring venomously at the

door Bulma had just used, odd thoughts began to emerge in his mind.

~ What are they playing at? ~ he thought to himself as he looked back at

Vegeta who was now eating his food again, ~ What's wrong with my

daughter? I know she doesn't like him but now she's acting as though......~

He shook his head, and continued to eat, as the thunder heaved above

them with ear splitting crashes, the rain threw itself with an angry

vengeance at the roof, and the wind rattled the windows backwards and

forwards.

~ Funny, ~ he thought, small smile playing upon his lips, ~ the weather feels

like the atmosphere in here. ~


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