Chapter Thirty Six: Souls in Sensory Pleasure
Authors Notes: Well, how's that for a quick update? I feel really bad about making you guys wait like, two months, so here's another (yes, it's another filler) chapter. It's cute though, so enjoy! ^_^
It was raining.
The rain had been coming for days, in relentless turrets that now pelted upon the mighty foundation that was the Capsule Corporation household. The sky was black enough, and the rain fierce enough, that many of Bulma's family and friends believed that something terrible had happened.
Yaumcha had been out of the hospital for some time, now. The scars on his wrist were white and cruel, jagged like the paths of lightning against his smooth, tanned skin. He was a foolish man now, who sat on the fine white upholstery in the living room, humbled by his ultimate stupidity; a mistake that would just have easily been undone. Pastries were aligned, orderly, with the same fastidiousness that Mrs. Briefs arranged everything. They seemed a morbid bunch, dripping their once cheerful icings onto the silver tray they sat upon. None had been touched. It was, after all, not the time for sweets.
Mrs. Briefs had too polished an upbringing to see this. Be it that her daughter and a (strangely) close friend were in space, on a dangerous mission, her daughter wasting away, a guest still called for treats and spoils. It had been far too long now. She had no idea as to what was going on, nor did anyone else. Her husband had told her, with the hesitant, soft tones that one uses when trying to lightly bear bad news, that the radio contact must have broken, and that everything was probably all right.
A delay, that was all.
It seemed all the cheer had evaporated from the household, leaving only cold memories behind, and endless rain. Mrs. Briefs wondered if her daughter was still alive. She wondered what they were doing, where they were, and if they had discovered something that made them happier than being here, on Earth.
Such a strange thing that the very things her daughter had spent so many years of her life searching for, could not undo her own slow demise.
If such was the case, and it was, then Mrs. Briefs decided, firmly and without doubt, that life was most decidedly unfair.
Bulma hummed to the tune of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Beauty on the Fire' while she stood before the great winding trail of the 'Albu', R'haksin's largest and deepest river. It was, to say the least, a beautiful day. The last of her stomach pains were gone, leaving only a deep ache that lay in her bones. The absolute joy of the day and the beauty of the river replaced it, though. She smiled as she stood ankle deep and let the startlingly freezing water wash over her bare feet.
Strifelon, Arden, Koru, Vegeta, Ghost, and Spider all stood a few feet away, tending to their own business, gazing at their own scenery. Koru was unpacking a picnic basket, taking no measures to hide her very obvious desire to eat everything in sight. Bulma smiled as she watched her. She deserved every morsel in the basket, after all. She inhaled deeply the thick, humid air and lifted her face to the sky.
She would miss Koru.
Strifelon was muttering about something or other, while Spider seemed to have very rapidly recovered from his injuries and was chasing a frantically chirping Ghost around the legs of Vegeta and Arden, who were engaged in currently trying to sort out a traditional Storkrin game that was, as Bulma had been told on the way, a very fun game to play on picnics. She couldn't imagine how their race could have enjoyed such games while knowing so many lay beneath the earth, trapped and dying. She tried to push the thought out of her head. After all, Arden and Strifelon had not been one of them.
Ghost finally made his way over to her and clambered up into her arms, finding his sanctuary at last. Bulma couldn't help but laugh as the lumbering Roctorn skidded to a panting halt at her feet and growled playfully up at the quivering ball of fur.
"You leave Ghost alone." She giggled, as the Ceribulum made its way into her hair. She marveled at how large Spider was becoming. The wounds on his sides were still mending, but he seemed to have miraculously developed a sudden immunity to the stretch and tear of playtime. As in answer to her question, Strifelon came up behind her.
"Magic, my dear." He said, his voice gravelly and rough. He rested one callused, clawed hand upon her shoulder, while leaning with the rest of his weight on his staff.
"Magic, huh?" she said, the corners of her mouth curling up. "I don't think so, bub."
Strifelon's wrinkled face pulled itself into an impish grin. "And I sssuppossse you have another theory?"
"All right then, keep your secrets." She said with a grin. "It's more fun that way, anyhow."
"Vegeta told me your ssstomach felt ill earlier thisss morning." Strifelon said with a much more gentle tone. "Well," he rubbed her shoulder with his wrinkled hand, reassuringly, "Do not worry. The Psssytrim growsss. Ssshe will sssoon take the pain away."
Bulma forced a smile for her friend's kind words. "I hope so, Strifelon."
An hour or so later, they all sat down to lunch. The air was cooling and had adopted a much more breezy temperature, though it was by no means cold. Strifelon had taken the liberty of packing one of his fine, elaborate rugs as a picnic blanket. It was large enough to seat all of them, and surprisingly, even Vegeta. Bulma had been sure that he would have gone off by himself by now, bored by the festive laughter and absolute coziness of the situation. But he had instead seated himself on the blanket, right next to her, and had even laid a hand upon her own. At this she could not hide her huge grin.
The food was a mixture of human food and Storkrin food. Unfortunately, the same brown, bubbling mess with eyeballs was on the menu, which Arden and Strifelon attacked with abandonment, but Bulma politely declined. It was a smorgasbord for Koru, who had not tasted enough of the human delights that she was so fond of. Cheese, however, was still her favorite, although she could not persuade Arden to try some, even after using her best sad puppy face on him.
Vegeta ate quietly, his talk held to a minimum. Bulma leaned across the blanket and handed Koru a slice of watermelon, one of Bulma's personal favorites.
"What's this?" Koru asked as she took it in her large, clawed hands.
"It's something all picnics should not be without." Bulma said with a smile. "Its called watermelon. Try it."
After much slurping and giggling, Koru looked up, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said; "Now I know why they call it 'water'melon!"
Arden stood up. "Time for Jubak." He announced.
"Jubak?" Bulma asked cautiously. She realized her stomach no longer hurt.
"Jubak isss a fine Ssstorkin game." Strifelon said as he rose with a groan and a hand on his lower back. "Although methinksss my body will not be up for it today."
Arden elbowed the elder gently. "Oh, come on." He said good-naturedly.
Jubak turned out to be a slightly more complicated version of what Bulma knew to be European Handball. It came complete with its own set of rules and equipment. Bulma and Vegeta got Strifelon as an extra player, which Bulma protested to be unfair, but quickly realized why. Storkrin's moved with incredible speed and agility. Of course, having Vegeta on her team was enough to win hands down. After the fifth goal in a row, Arden and Koru began to complain. Bulma stopped, the strange, almost triangular ball in her hand, and called a time-out.
"I think I have a solution to the problem." She announced, wiping sweat from her brow.
Vegeta put his hands on his hips. He was not breathing hard, nor had he broken a sweat. It made Bulma envious.
"Vegeta will be a one-man team." She said smugly. "You can handle that, can't you, Prince?"
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the direct challenge. "Of course I can, woman." He smirked. "The question is, can -you- handle it?"
Bulma's only response was to stick out her tongue.
"Continue!" Arden called, and Jubak continued.
This time, the odds -should- have been in Bulma's team's favor, but she knew it was doomed from the start. Playing anything that requires speed is useless against a Sayajin. Vegeta would simply teleport, snatch the ball, and score a simple goal, following shortly after with a smug round of arrogant smirks directed at Bulma. She growled and shot him her most evil glare, determined that she would score a goal for their side.
It was during the last stretch that she made her move. She saw an opening and went for it.
Of course, it was thwarted by the Prince, who caught her as she leapt through the air and made her nifty backhanded catch. She squeaked as she was pulled from the air like so many kite strings and hauled into the arms of the smirking Prince.
"Thought you'd pull one over me, didn't you, woman? You must feel -awfully- proud of yourself to have come this close."
"VEGETA!" she shrieked, pounding on his back. "So help me.!"
Arden and the others watched, laughing, as the screaming human girl was tossed over the Prince's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried to the river. The Prince hovered out over the water, where he promptly took Bulma into his arms and held her to him, whispered something (with another smirk) and abruptly dropped her into the blue, frigid water.
"Well," Koru said as Bulma's enraged head surfaced and she grabbed the Prince by the ankle, "I guess the game is over."
"Oh isss it?" Arden asked curiously, his face suddenly an impish grin.
Koru looked at him slowly. "Oh.no, you don't!"
She tried to run, but it was really quite useless.
The mid-afternoon day was filled with more than enough giggling and screaming than any self-respecting Storkrin could handle, so Strifelon seated himself on the rug and helped himself to the remainder of the picnic basket. Ghost and Spider padded up to him and joined him as he watched the rather hilarious displays in the Albu.
"You know," he said as he munched on what Bulma had claimed to be 'Jell-O' "Thossse ownersss of yoursss are misssing a couple of ssscrewsss upssstairsss. Bessst keep an eye on them, hmm?"
Ghost and Spider had no idea what the old man was talking about, but they offered feedback.
"I knew you'd agree with me." Strifelon said, and then he lay back on the rug and closed his eyes, for the sun was hot and his bones were old.
It had been a good day.
"Are you angry with me, woman?"
Bulma jumped at the sensation of a cold little nose rubbing itself into her neck. She sighed, and turned to find herself in the arms of Vegeta. They were standing at the edge of the Albu. Everyone else had returned home hours ago, but Bulma had not been ready to leave. It was too beautiful, and the evening sun (could it even be called a sun?) was slowly slipping behind the craggy, jagged redness of the R'haksin mountains.
That was the strange thing about R'haksin that Bulma had learned. It was very unlike Earth temperature wise. In the midday it was only slightly warm, even a bit chilly, but once the evening hit the temperatures heated up considerably, so that one could even complain that it was too hot. They both ankle deep, Vegeta with his hands loosely at her back, hers on his chest. He had long since removed his shirt and stood in his form fitting black pants. She had taken the liberty of packing one of her bathing suits, and now stood in her bikini top and shorts.
"No." she said with a little pout. "Why should I be? It's not like you dunked me in freezing cold water."
Vegeta smirked. "You were asking for it."
She shrugged. "Maybe. But I'll get you for it."
"You think you can catch me off guard?" Vegeta snorted. "I don't think so."
She grinned at him. "Well." she said, dropping her voice to a low, sultry tone, "I don't know.maybe if I." she lifted her leg and rubbed her pelvis against his own.
Vegeta smirked. The little minx. But could not deny that it felt incredible. Ever since that day in the forest, he had not made love to her again. They had been sleeping together, of course, and not without some degree of intimacy, but they had not physically made love again. He growled at the sensation, and Bulma delighted in the little purring noise that rumbled in his throat.
"So.would that lower your defenses?" she whispered as she clutched his engorged manhood in her hand.
"I want you again, woman." He breathed as he lowered his head to catch her earlobe in his teeth.
"It's a pity Strifelon remembered to take his blanket."
"We don't need a blanket."
Bulma shrieked as she was forced to the ground. She giggled and put up a mock fight, pushing at Vegeta as he began to blow raspberries on her stomach. The sensation quickly turned from ticklish to erotic, however, as his tongue replaced his lips, and began to make a hot, wet trail down her abdomen.
"Vegeta." Bulma moaned, and she grabbed his head and let her world spin.
Koru smiled as she stared down at the sleeping face of Arden.
"You look just like an Angel. It's a pity you didn't find me earlier." she whispered gently, laying tiny kisses on his face, careful not to disturb him.
It was so strange a twist of fate.
But then.so wonderful, at the same time.
Koru snuggled down beside Arden and lay her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Their cloaks lay in a heap beside the now disturbed bed, and she felt herself blush at the memory of the delicious sin they had just committed.
If this was love, then she didn't want to die.
Authors Notes: Well, how's that for a quick update? I feel really bad about making you guys wait like, two months, so here's another (yes, it's another filler) chapter. It's cute though, so enjoy! ^_^
It was raining.
The rain had been coming for days, in relentless turrets that now pelted upon the mighty foundation that was the Capsule Corporation household. The sky was black enough, and the rain fierce enough, that many of Bulma's family and friends believed that something terrible had happened.
Yaumcha had been out of the hospital for some time, now. The scars on his wrist were white and cruel, jagged like the paths of lightning against his smooth, tanned skin. He was a foolish man now, who sat on the fine white upholstery in the living room, humbled by his ultimate stupidity; a mistake that would just have easily been undone. Pastries were aligned, orderly, with the same fastidiousness that Mrs. Briefs arranged everything. They seemed a morbid bunch, dripping their once cheerful icings onto the silver tray they sat upon. None had been touched. It was, after all, not the time for sweets.
Mrs. Briefs had too polished an upbringing to see this. Be it that her daughter and a (strangely) close friend were in space, on a dangerous mission, her daughter wasting away, a guest still called for treats and spoils. It had been far too long now. She had no idea as to what was going on, nor did anyone else. Her husband had told her, with the hesitant, soft tones that one uses when trying to lightly bear bad news, that the radio contact must have broken, and that everything was probably all right.
A delay, that was all.
It seemed all the cheer had evaporated from the household, leaving only cold memories behind, and endless rain. Mrs. Briefs wondered if her daughter was still alive. She wondered what they were doing, where they were, and if they had discovered something that made them happier than being here, on Earth.
Such a strange thing that the very things her daughter had spent so many years of her life searching for, could not undo her own slow demise.
If such was the case, and it was, then Mrs. Briefs decided, firmly and without doubt, that life was most decidedly unfair.
Bulma hummed to the tune of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Beauty on the Fire' while she stood before the great winding trail of the 'Albu', R'haksin's largest and deepest river. It was, to say the least, a beautiful day. The last of her stomach pains were gone, leaving only a deep ache that lay in her bones. The absolute joy of the day and the beauty of the river replaced it, though. She smiled as she stood ankle deep and let the startlingly freezing water wash over her bare feet.
Strifelon, Arden, Koru, Vegeta, Ghost, and Spider all stood a few feet away, tending to their own business, gazing at their own scenery. Koru was unpacking a picnic basket, taking no measures to hide her very obvious desire to eat everything in sight. Bulma smiled as she watched her. She deserved every morsel in the basket, after all. She inhaled deeply the thick, humid air and lifted her face to the sky.
She would miss Koru.
Strifelon was muttering about something or other, while Spider seemed to have very rapidly recovered from his injuries and was chasing a frantically chirping Ghost around the legs of Vegeta and Arden, who were engaged in currently trying to sort out a traditional Storkrin game that was, as Bulma had been told on the way, a very fun game to play on picnics. She couldn't imagine how their race could have enjoyed such games while knowing so many lay beneath the earth, trapped and dying. She tried to push the thought out of her head. After all, Arden and Strifelon had not been one of them.
Ghost finally made his way over to her and clambered up into her arms, finding his sanctuary at last. Bulma couldn't help but laugh as the lumbering Roctorn skidded to a panting halt at her feet and growled playfully up at the quivering ball of fur.
"You leave Ghost alone." She giggled, as the Ceribulum made its way into her hair. She marveled at how large Spider was becoming. The wounds on his sides were still mending, but he seemed to have miraculously developed a sudden immunity to the stretch and tear of playtime. As in answer to her question, Strifelon came up behind her.
"Magic, my dear." He said, his voice gravelly and rough. He rested one callused, clawed hand upon her shoulder, while leaning with the rest of his weight on his staff.
"Magic, huh?" she said, the corners of her mouth curling up. "I don't think so, bub."
Strifelon's wrinkled face pulled itself into an impish grin. "And I sssuppossse you have another theory?"
"All right then, keep your secrets." She said with a grin. "It's more fun that way, anyhow."
"Vegeta told me your ssstomach felt ill earlier thisss morning." Strifelon said with a much more gentle tone. "Well," he rubbed her shoulder with his wrinkled hand, reassuringly, "Do not worry. The Psssytrim growsss. Ssshe will sssoon take the pain away."
Bulma forced a smile for her friend's kind words. "I hope so, Strifelon."
An hour or so later, they all sat down to lunch. The air was cooling and had adopted a much more breezy temperature, though it was by no means cold. Strifelon had taken the liberty of packing one of his fine, elaborate rugs as a picnic blanket. It was large enough to seat all of them, and surprisingly, even Vegeta. Bulma had been sure that he would have gone off by himself by now, bored by the festive laughter and absolute coziness of the situation. But he had instead seated himself on the blanket, right next to her, and had even laid a hand upon her own. At this she could not hide her huge grin.
The food was a mixture of human food and Storkrin food. Unfortunately, the same brown, bubbling mess with eyeballs was on the menu, which Arden and Strifelon attacked with abandonment, but Bulma politely declined. It was a smorgasbord for Koru, who had not tasted enough of the human delights that she was so fond of. Cheese, however, was still her favorite, although she could not persuade Arden to try some, even after using her best sad puppy face on him.
Vegeta ate quietly, his talk held to a minimum. Bulma leaned across the blanket and handed Koru a slice of watermelon, one of Bulma's personal favorites.
"What's this?" Koru asked as she took it in her large, clawed hands.
"It's something all picnics should not be without." Bulma said with a smile. "Its called watermelon. Try it."
After much slurping and giggling, Koru looked up, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said; "Now I know why they call it 'water'melon!"
Arden stood up. "Time for Jubak." He announced.
"Jubak?" Bulma asked cautiously. She realized her stomach no longer hurt.
"Jubak isss a fine Ssstorkin game." Strifelon said as he rose with a groan and a hand on his lower back. "Although methinksss my body will not be up for it today."
Arden elbowed the elder gently. "Oh, come on." He said good-naturedly.
Jubak turned out to be a slightly more complicated version of what Bulma knew to be European Handball. It came complete with its own set of rules and equipment. Bulma and Vegeta got Strifelon as an extra player, which Bulma protested to be unfair, but quickly realized why. Storkrin's moved with incredible speed and agility. Of course, having Vegeta on her team was enough to win hands down. After the fifth goal in a row, Arden and Koru began to complain. Bulma stopped, the strange, almost triangular ball in her hand, and called a time-out.
"I think I have a solution to the problem." She announced, wiping sweat from her brow.
Vegeta put his hands on his hips. He was not breathing hard, nor had he broken a sweat. It made Bulma envious.
"Vegeta will be a one-man team." She said smugly. "You can handle that, can't you, Prince?"
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the direct challenge. "Of course I can, woman." He smirked. "The question is, can -you- handle it?"
Bulma's only response was to stick out her tongue.
"Continue!" Arden called, and Jubak continued.
This time, the odds -should- have been in Bulma's team's favor, but she knew it was doomed from the start. Playing anything that requires speed is useless against a Sayajin. Vegeta would simply teleport, snatch the ball, and score a simple goal, following shortly after with a smug round of arrogant smirks directed at Bulma. She growled and shot him her most evil glare, determined that she would score a goal for their side.
It was during the last stretch that she made her move. She saw an opening and went for it.
Of course, it was thwarted by the Prince, who caught her as she leapt through the air and made her nifty backhanded catch. She squeaked as she was pulled from the air like so many kite strings and hauled into the arms of the smirking Prince.
"Thought you'd pull one over me, didn't you, woman? You must feel -awfully- proud of yourself to have come this close."
"VEGETA!" she shrieked, pounding on his back. "So help me.!"
Arden and the others watched, laughing, as the screaming human girl was tossed over the Prince's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried to the river. The Prince hovered out over the water, where he promptly took Bulma into his arms and held her to him, whispered something (with another smirk) and abruptly dropped her into the blue, frigid water.
"Well," Koru said as Bulma's enraged head surfaced and she grabbed the Prince by the ankle, "I guess the game is over."
"Oh isss it?" Arden asked curiously, his face suddenly an impish grin.
Koru looked at him slowly. "Oh.no, you don't!"
She tried to run, but it was really quite useless.
The mid-afternoon day was filled with more than enough giggling and screaming than any self-respecting Storkrin could handle, so Strifelon seated himself on the rug and helped himself to the remainder of the picnic basket. Ghost and Spider padded up to him and joined him as he watched the rather hilarious displays in the Albu.
"You know," he said as he munched on what Bulma had claimed to be 'Jell-O' "Thossse ownersss of yoursss are misssing a couple of ssscrewsss upssstairsss. Bessst keep an eye on them, hmm?"
Ghost and Spider had no idea what the old man was talking about, but they offered feedback.
"I knew you'd agree with me." Strifelon said, and then he lay back on the rug and closed his eyes, for the sun was hot and his bones were old.
It had been a good day.
"Are you angry with me, woman?"
Bulma jumped at the sensation of a cold little nose rubbing itself into her neck. She sighed, and turned to find herself in the arms of Vegeta. They were standing at the edge of the Albu. Everyone else had returned home hours ago, but Bulma had not been ready to leave. It was too beautiful, and the evening sun (could it even be called a sun?) was slowly slipping behind the craggy, jagged redness of the R'haksin mountains.
That was the strange thing about R'haksin that Bulma had learned. It was very unlike Earth temperature wise. In the midday it was only slightly warm, even a bit chilly, but once the evening hit the temperatures heated up considerably, so that one could even complain that it was too hot. They both ankle deep, Vegeta with his hands loosely at her back, hers on his chest. He had long since removed his shirt and stood in his form fitting black pants. She had taken the liberty of packing one of her bathing suits, and now stood in her bikini top and shorts.
"No." she said with a little pout. "Why should I be? It's not like you dunked me in freezing cold water."
Vegeta smirked. "You were asking for it."
She shrugged. "Maybe. But I'll get you for it."
"You think you can catch me off guard?" Vegeta snorted. "I don't think so."
She grinned at him. "Well." she said, dropping her voice to a low, sultry tone, "I don't know.maybe if I." she lifted her leg and rubbed her pelvis against his own.
Vegeta smirked. The little minx. But could not deny that it felt incredible. Ever since that day in the forest, he had not made love to her again. They had been sleeping together, of course, and not without some degree of intimacy, but they had not physically made love again. He growled at the sensation, and Bulma delighted in the little purring noise that rumbled in his throat.
"So.would that lower your defenses?" she whispered as she clutched his engorged manhood in her hand.
"I want you again, woman." He breathed as he lowered his head to catch her earlobe in his teeth.
"It's a pity Strifelon remembered to take his blanket."
"We don't need a blanket."
Bulma shrieked as she was forced to the ground. She giggled and put up a mock fight, pushing at Vegeta as he began to blow raspberries on her stomach. The sensation quickly turned from ticklish to erotic, however, as his tongue replaced his lips, and began to make a hot, wet trail down her abdomen.
"Vegeta." Bulma moaned, and she grabbed his head and let her world spin.
Koru smiled as she stared down at the sleeping face of Arden.
"You look just like an Angel. It's a pity you didn't find me earlier." she whispered gently, laying tiny kisses on his face, careful not to disturb him.
It was so strange a twist of fate.
But then.so wonderful, at the same time.
Koru snuggled down beside Arden and lay her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Their cloaks lay in a heap beside the now disturbed bed, and she felt herself blush at the memory of the delicious sin they had just committed.
If this was love, then she didn't want to die.