Chapter Twenty Nine: Auction
Authors Notes: I'm really, really Sorry for the really late update, but as I told some of you, and I have been suffering from a really bad case of writer's block for the past week or two. Again, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to write while I was stumped, because then the chapter would have turned out ugly. I had some personal things to take care of as well, which stopped me from getting creative. Anyway, I hope you like this one.
~J.J
The nine adolescents Roctorn's were having the time of their lives while their masters were away. Food lay everywhere, boxes and cartons lay in tattered, chewed up pieces strewn across the floor. The large couch had become a scratching post, and Roctorn…poo…lay in rather large piles in every corner. The Roctorn's didn't mind. They were thoroughly enjoying their freedom, and were content to keep up the frantic pace of their destruction.
It would be short lived, however.
The door to the ship swung open with its usual hiss of exhaled air, and nine debris covered heads lifted toward the direction of the two intruders. It was none other than Vegeta and Bulma; their masters come to reclaim their rightful space. The more intelligent of the Roctorn's made a hasty retreat to whatever cover they could find, abandoning their current toys. The others remained content to chew and gnaw on the vulnerable corners of the couch and kitchen counter.
"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS THIS!?" Vegeta screamed. Spider, who was limp in Vegeta's arms, took the moment to revel in his siblings expressions as they looked up and saw the bulging vein on the Prince's purple forehead.
It wouldn't have needed an apology, but yet the Roctorns gave the Prince one. Crawling forward on nervous bellies tails swishing to and fro as they whined anxiously, they halted before him and stared obediently at the floor. Having no training, it was an odd thing to see happening. It was as though they knew that the man who stood before them was a Prince, and that they needed to show such respect in his presence.
Although Vegeta was not cruel enough to send them away he took a small amount of private pleasure in the display. Bulma, however, wasn't about to honor his princely attitude. She stalked forward and gave all the Roctorn's an evil glare, ignoring him completely.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she scolded. "This is no way to live in a house!" she turned to Vegeta after they had all slunk away, back into the corners of the ship, where they feel somewhat safe.
"This is going to take hours to clean up." She moaned. "And I feel like shit to boot…"
Vegeta made his usual unimpressed noise. "What are you saying, woman?"
Bulma made an exasperated sigh. "I'm saying that my back hurts, I was just beaten the hell up, and I don't want to crawl around on the floor for the rest of the day cleaning up Roctorn shit!"
Vegeta resumed staring ahead. "This problem needs to be dealt with swiftly." He remarked. "The Roctorn's are already getting bigger by the day." He paused. "Spider is enough trouble."
"What are you implying?"
"I think we need to get rid of them."
"Who would we give them too? Nobody would want a pack of mischievous little rug rats like these!"
"No," Vegeta agreed as the idea began to form in his head. "Nobody would want them, when they haven't been somewhat trained." He looked at her. "But we've had them for a good number of weeks now. They're used to human…err…'alien' contact by now. I'm sure someone would want them."
Bulma considered what he was saying. She crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. "What would a Storkrin want with nine adolescent Roctorns?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Who knows?" he grumbled. "I wouldn't know. Maybe they'd use them for guard dogs or something."
"Al right," Bulma looked at him. "Let's say we decide to do this. The question is how do we go about it?"
"We auction them off at the Council." He said with a smirk. "And we leave this mess for later. I'll clean up the shit…" he paused. "And you can handle the rest when you're feeling better. While you're resting, I'll make this marvelous idea of mine happen."
"YOU'RE going to clean up shit?" Bulma cried, trying not to laugh. She stopped her chuckling when she realized what exactly he was doing. He was giving up his usual arrogance to help her out. She smiled.
"Sounds like a plan." She said, giving him another awkward kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."
With that, she was gone, leaving Vegeta to wonder if offering to help clean up piles of shit had been a good idea. Sighing, he went off down the kitchen hallway to fetch the mop and pail. Dr. Briefs had equipped this ship with a mop and pail, hadn't he…?
* * *
Ghost supposed the fates had been kind to him.
Well, he might have thought that if his tiny brain would have allowed him. It was the most unlikely of people who had come to his rescue, and he was still feeling a little odd about it.
After all, wasn't the big ugly red and black thing that he had always assumed hated him an enemy?
Spider, limping and growling pushed his dry blunt nose into Ghost once again. The Ceribulum had been lost for hours now, and even though his enemy was rescuing him, he was extremely happy about it.
If Spider could talk, he would have been grumbling and complaining to Ghost about how he had better hurry up before Bulma and Vegeta discovered that he had snuck out. After all, if he hadn't rescued him right this minuet, no one would have, because only Spider had the sense of smell of sniff the little guy out. He would have also been whining about how he must be crazy to rescue an idiot lint ball like Ghost.
But, he merely nudged the small creature out of the crevasse he was hiding in, flipped him up onto his back, and began the slow limp back to the ship.
Halfway there, Ghost leaned down in the big Roctorn's ear and chirped a warm 'than you'.
* * *
By the time Vegeta had cleaned up the eighteen towering piles of steaming crap, he was ready to douse the entire litter of watching Roctorn's in flammable liquids.
But, he gathered his dignity and his pride and put it all together in a nice little package, straightened, and went to wash his hands in the sink. He made sure to give each and every one of the small dog creatures a heavy glare as he did.
When he was done he stood drying his hands with the tea towel and admired his work.
"Better than that woman would have done." He mumbled. "I shouldn't have done it anyway, it's not a mans job, and certainly not a Prince's."
He threw the towel absently onto the counter and turned to regard all the Roctorns. "Now, what the hell are we going to put you little shitheads in?"
The Roctorns stared back at him, large yellow eyes unblinking, tails lashing, mouths agape with childish yawns. Some got up and began to wander around the ship, sniffing at corners and regarding the damage they had done. They didn't seem so terrified about it now.
"We can't keep you anymore." Vegeta announced, and then instantly felt stupid for talking to them. "Especially after you do stuff like this."
More yawns.
"So, I'm going to stuff you all in a giant box and cart you off to The Council. I'm sure you'll all go to great homes."
Not trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, Vegeta stalked out the room in search of a big enough box.
Authors Notes: I'm really, really Sorry for the really late update, but as I told some of you, and I have been suffering from a really bad case of writer's block for the past week or two. Again, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to write while I was stumped, because then the chapter would have turned out ugly. I had some personal things to take care of as well, which stopped me from getting creative. Anyway, I hope you like this one.
~J.J
The nine adolescents Roctorn's were having the time of their lives while their masters were away. Food lay everywhere, boxes and cartons lay in tattered, chewed up pieces strewn across the floor. The large couch had become a scratching post, and Roctorn…poo…lay in rather large piles in every corner. The Roctorn's didn't mind. They were thoroughly enjoying their freedom, and were content to keep up the frantic pace of their destruction.
It would be short lived, however.
The door to the ship swung open with its usual hiss of exhaled air, and nine debris covered heads lifted toward the direction of the two intruders. It was none other than Vegeta and Bulma; their masters come to reclaim their rightful space. The more intelligent of the Roctorn's made a hasty retreat to whatever cover they could find, abandoning their current toys. The others remained content to chew and gnaw on the vulnerable corners of the couch and kitchen counter.
"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS THIS!?" Vegeta screamed. Spider, who was limp in Vegeta's arms, took the moment to revel in his siblings expressions as they looked up and saw the bulging vein on the Prince's purple forehead.
It wouldn't have needed an apology, but yet the Roctorns gave the Prince one. Crawling forward on nervous bellies tails swishing to and fro as they whined anxiously, they halted before him and stared obediently at the floor. Having no training, it was an odd thing to see happening. It was as though they knew that the man who stood before them was a Prince, and that they needed to show such respect in his presence.
Although Vegeta was not cruel enough to send them away he took a small amount of private pleasure in the display. Bulma, however, wasn't about to honor his princely attitude. She stalked forward and gave all the Roctorn's an evil glare, ignoring him completely.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she scolded. "This is no way to live in a house!" she turned to Vegeta after they had all slunk away, back into the corners of the ship, where they feel somewhat safe.
"This is going to take hours to clean up." She moaned. "And I feel like shit to boot…"
Vegeta made his usual unimpressed noise. "What are you saying, woman?"
Bulma made an exasperated sigh. "I'm saying that my back hurts, I was just beaten the hell up, and I don't want to crawl around on the floor for the rest of the day cleaning up Roctorn shit!"
Vegeta resumed staring ahead. "This problem needs to be dealt with swiftly." He remarked. "The Roctorn's are already getting bigger by the day." He paused. "Spider is enough trouble."
"What are you implying?"
"I think we need to get rid of them."
"Who would we give them too? Nobody would want a pack of mischievous little rug rats like these!"
"No," Vegeta agreed as the idea began to form in his head. "Nobody would want them, when they haven't been somewhat trained." He looked at her. "But we've had them for a good number of weeks now. They're used to human…err…'alien' contact by now. I'm sure someone would want them."
Bulma considered what he was saying. She crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. "What would a Storkrin want with nine adolescent Roctorns?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Who knows?" he grumbled. "I wouldn't know. Maybe they'd use them for guard dogs or something."
"Al right," Bulma looked at him. "Let's say we decide to do this. The question is how do we go about it?"
"We auction them off at the Council." He said with a smirk. "And we leave this mess for later. I'll clean up the shit…" he paused. "And you can handle the rest when you're feeling better. While you're resting, I'll make this marvelous idea of mine happen."
"YOU'RE going to clean up shit?" Bulma cried, trying not to laugh. She stopped her chuckling when she realized what exactly he was doing. He was giving up his usual arrogance to help her out. She smiled.
"Sounds like a plan." She said, giving him another awkward kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."
With that, she was gone, leaving Vegeta to wonder if offering to help clean up piles of shit had been a good idea. Sighing, he went off down the kitchen hallway to fetch the mop and pail. Dr. Briefs had equipped this ship with a mop and pail, hadn't he…?
* * *
Ghost supposed the fates had been kind to him.
Well, he might have thought that if his tiny brain would have allowed him. It was the most unlikely of people who had come to his rescue, and he was still feeling a little odd about it.
After all, wasn't the big ugly red and black thing that he had always assumed hated him an enemy?
Spider, limping and growling pushed his dry blunt nose into Ghost once again. The Ceribulum had been lost for hours now, and even though his enemy was rescuing him, he was extremely happy about it.
If Spider could talk, he would have been grumbling and complaining to Ghost about how he had better hurry up before Bulma and Vegeta discovered that he had snuck out. After all, if he hadn't rescued him right this minuet, no one would have, because only Spider had the sense of smell of sniff the little guy out. He would have also been whining about how he must be crazy to rescue an idiot lint ball like Ghost.
But, he merely nudged the small creature out of the crevasse he was hiding in, flipped him up onto his back, and began the slow limp back to the ship.
Halfway there, Ghost leaned down in the big Roctorn's ear and chirped a warm 'than you'.
* * *
By the time Vegeta had cleaned up the eighteen towering piles of steaming crap, he was ready to douse the entire litter of watching Roctorn's in flammable liquids.
But, he gathered his dignity and his pride and put it all together in a nice little package, straightened, and went to wash his hands in the sink. He made sure to give each and every one of the small dog creatures a heavy glare as he did.
When he was done he stood drying his hands with the tea towel and admired his work.
"Better than that woman would have done." He mumbled. "I shouldn't have done it anyway, it's not a mans job, and certainly not a Prince's."
He threw the towel absently onto the counter and turned to regard all the Roctorns. "Now, what the hell are we going to put you little shitheads in?"
The Roctorns stared back at him, large yellow eyes unblinking, tails lashing, mouths agape with childish yawns. Some got up and began to wander around the ship, sniffing at corners and regarding the damage they had done. They didn't seem so terrified about it now.
"We can't keep you anymore." Vegeta announced, and then instantly felt stupid for talking to them. "Especially after you do stuff like this."
More yawns.
"So, I'm going to stuff you all in a giant box and cart you off to The Council. I'm sure you'll all go to great homes."
Not trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, Vegeta stalked out the room in search of a big enough box.