Chapter 45: Closure
Authors Notes: Wow. It's been a long while. Guess I have no excuses, except the fact that my life has been changing drastically, and I've been in an awful rut. I just spent the last few min. reading over 'Time Enough to be With You' trying to gain back a feel for it. I may have lost interest in this story, but I know how many of you want me to finish it. Plus.I promise! ^_^ So here is the long-awaited chapter 45. Yeah, I know the last two came out the same.
~Jesa Jaisai
Bulma stared sullenly at the last four boxes of food in the kitchen cabinet. It was very possible for -her- to survive on two boxes, but there would be no chance for her Sayajin Prince. She turned to the 9 Roctorn's, who had clustered around her legs in a mad fury of wagging tails.
"I know you're hungry." She complained softly. "But I don't have very much food left. Look," She knelt down, laughing as nearly every one of them assaulted her with unbridled affection, licking her face and pawing at her. She steadied herself with one hand and managed to fight them off. "You guys!" she laughed. "I have something important to say!"
As uncanny as it was, the Roctorn's seemed to understand. They plopped down on their pebbled haunches and waited for her with shining eyes.
"I love you guy's all so much, and I've really loved taking care of you, but.but you can't all come with me." She tried to say, feeling a warm lump of emotion raise itself into her throat. "I.have to leave you guys. I'm going to find you all good homes. I promise."
There was a moment of silence. Bulma knew she was about to cry, but she held herself in check. If she was going to do this, she needed to be calm, for them. Moments passed until a small whine erupted from the runt, Stogies, throat. He lowered his head and walked up to her kneeling form, bumping against her gently, rubbing his face into her leg. Bulma couldn't help it; she grabbed the fuzzy creature around the neck and buried her tears in its fur.
She had been avoiding the scene since she had awakened. So much needed to be done, this being one of them. They simply couldn't take them back with them. The ship was big enough, but at the rate they were growing, there was simply nowhere to keep them once they arrived back at Earth. Besides, even if they made room, there was hardly enough food for she and Vegeta, let alone 9 ravenous Roctorn's.
Stogie had only recently got his name when she and Vegeta had reminisced about the Storkrin wine, and many other drunken and inebriated memories that they shared. It turned out that Vegetasei had been abundant with liquors and drugs, a personal favorite of Vegeta's being the human equivalent of Marijuana. Bulma had been surprised to hear that Vegeta had, on a few occasions, smoked a bit of it to himself. They had argued for a while, lying on the ship's bed, over whether or not drugs really were a 'bad' thing. It was during a moment of pondering silence that Stogie had suddenly poked his head up over the side of the bed and deposited a chewed up and slimy tampon applicator into Bulma's lap. She had been mortified, at first, when both she and Vegeta burst into laughter at the same shared thought; tampon applicators looked eerily like joints. Thus, Stogie had been born.
Bulma now smiled at the strange but amusing memory as she hugged the small Roctorn fiercely. She realized, suddenly, that this was going to be very difficult. "You know I don't want to give -any- of you away, right? Even when you're chewing on things and being general nuisances?"
The Roctorn's bayed happily at this. Bulma rose regretfully from Stogie's warm fur and proceeded to the living room. "I have to, though. You might not understand why, but I have to. Don't look at me like that!" she protested.
There were many things to be done. One, she had to find homes for the Roctorn's. There was no way she was giving them to some awful thing like Tajil who would just end up starving and beating them. Two, she had to say her good-byes.which were going to be next to impossible. Three, she and Vegeta had to make sure the ship was still in working order. Four, she needed to finish the much needed half of she and Koru's invention. And five.
Five. Bulma lowered her head and curled her hands into fists on her stomach. Five was her child, and discovering what it truly meant. Was she prepared to have children? Was she prepared to let the world know? But most importantly.was she prepared to accept a relationship with a man who loved her, but couldn't tell her he did?
"You're thinking about me. I can tell."
She spun around at the sound of his voice. He was standing only a foot from her, rubbing kinks from the corded muscle in his neck. "What." He sighed, in question.
"I just." she looked at him for a moment. This man was not Yaumcha. This man would not shower her with expensive gifts, or stare into her eyes through candlelight. And yet.this man had saved her life, given her a child, and shown her real and honest love.
That was more than enough.
She ran to him suddenly, nearly knocking him over with the force of her collision. Always on guard, however, he steadied himself and managed to catch them before they toppled over. Laughing, Bulma looked up into his glaring, confused face.
"I love you." She said, seriousness thick in her voice. Then she laughed again when his frown became even more pronounced. "You couldn't push me away, even if you tried."
A dark eyebrow angled itself at her.
She giggled, waiting. A moment passed and then she flung herself from him, laughing, and headed down the stairs.
"I have work to do!" she called up. Vegeta could hear clanking and clattering. He glared even heavier.
"What is your problem, woman?" He bellowed from the top of the stairs.
She reappeared seconds later, a circuit board in one hand, grease on the other. "Don't come down here!" she said. "This is top secret work I'm performing." She leveled a finger at him. "What you need to do is get showered and go find Arden."
Vegeta put one foot on the next step. "What the hell for?" He was growing curious.
Bulma lunged forward. "I said don't come down here!" She cried, trying to hide her smile. "Now go have a shower."
"Don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot do, Bulma." Vegeta smiled through a malicious glare.
Bulma faltered at the sound of her name. He rarely used it, though he had been using it increasingly more so in the past few days. She knew what it meant.
"Vegeta!" She picked up a wrench from the table beside her and tossed it halfheartedly at him. It hit his chest and bounced off, inflicting about as much damage as a wounded butterfly.
"You can do better than that." He smirked, coming down the steps at a quicker pace.
"Vegeta!" Bulma heard well the whine in her voice. "You're all smelly and you need a shower. I need you to find Arden while I do this. Ask him about a good home for the Roctorns." He made no move to stop his advance, and Kami save her, she didn't want him to. A familiar heat rose up from between her thighs, spreading through her body and transforming into a blush as she thought of the things he could do to her.
Suddenly, he was at the bottom of the steps, reveling in her flushed face, savoring the thick smell of her arousal.
"Vegeta." She said softly, complying, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and assaulted her mouth with a warm, devouring kiss.
"We can't do anything.remember?" Bulma gasped as his mouth left hers temporarily to lend itself to her suddenly waiting breasts. She had no idea what Strifelon had been saying when he had warned her that sex would be the farthest thing from her horny little mind. As Vegeta ground himself against her and licked a hot trail up her collarbone, she wished she hadn't drunk the damn stuff.
"I know." He replied, nibbling on her earlobe. "But I can have some fun."
"Bastard." Bulma gasped, her head swimming.
He really was.
Four hours later, the invention was finished. Bulma stared proudly down at it, holding it in her hands, turning it over and over as she admired her handiwork and thanked her father's blood running through her veins. It had taken her a long while, but Koru's half was finally finished. She held it up to the light, watching the shine glint off the cool metal as she turned it this way and that. She prayed Koru would like it; she had poured her heart and soul into it.
"A true monument of friendship." She said as she stepped back, setting it carefully on the table. Bending down to retrieve loose chips, she had to re- adjust her bra strap, shaking her head as she thought of the lost 2 hours she had pleasurably wasted with her Prince. He would be her undoing yet. There were more important things to worry about now. She slipped off her gloves and walked up the stairs, trying mentally to prepare herself for her many tasks ahead. When she got to the kitchen she realized the Roctorn's were gone. Spider and Ghost lay together on the mat near the front door, both lifting their eyes and lazily yawning a greeting. They seemed to be getting together a lot better lately. Slapping her gloves down on the counter, she looked around the ship, listening for any signs of the stoic Sayajin. After poking her head in all the rooms, it was clear he had taken the Roctorn's with him, where ever he'd gone. She sighed. Couldn't he have left a note or something?
Suddenly, the pain in Bulma's stomach lurched against her once more, sending her into a nauseous run for the bathroom. She waited a few moments, head bent over the toilet, but nothing came.
It occurred to Bulma that she had no idea -when- Vegeta had gotten her pregnant. They had slept together a few times, but only now she was suffering what seemed like morning sickness. It was far too soon to be having morning sickness, however, and she kneeled back on her heels, thinking. It must be the solution Strifelon had given her only days ago. She sighed and worriedly rubbed her belly. The solution had obviously not left her barren, but it was not over yet. They still had many, many days until this child would be born.she did not know what could happen in those nine months.
She got up with a heavy sigh, slowly, still feeling the effects of her stomach's queasiness. She wouldn't get anything accomplished today by just sitting around by the toilet. Taking a moment to wash her face and clip her hair back, she straightened her clothes and headed for the front door, out to find Vegeta.
It didn't take her long to find him. All she had to do was follow the ki blasts.
A large boulder to the right of Bulma exploded into tiny fragments only a few feet away. Having basically grown up around a Sayajin, it did nothing to faze her; she was quite used to their short bursts of temper. Now, she watched calmly as Vegeta stormed back and forth, running his hands through his hair, and kicking viciously at random rocks in the R'haksin earth, decimating them.
Bulma understood the situation within seconds. Spider's siblings huddled together in a group, some looking terrified, others looking confused, while some were content to bay and yap happily.
"What are you laughing at?" Vegeta bellowed, walking up to her. He clenched his fists at his sides and glowered his best glower at her.
"Nothing." Bulma said. She couldn't help but put her hand to her mouth and giggle. She shouldn't be laughing, but the whole situation was absolutely hilarious. "Having a bit of trouble with the Roctorns?"
"What did I tell you they'd be since the beginning? TROUBLE!" he yelled.
Bulma waved the matter away with her hand and walked over to the relieved pups. Stogie pushed through them and waggled his way into her arms. "Don't yell. You're scaring them."
"I don't blame these moron's for not wanting them." he snarled, sitting down against one of the few boulders he had not vaporized.
"I don't think it's them, Vegeta." Bulma said wanly. "Maybe it's the fact that you've been terrorizing the landscape for the past hour that's unnerving everybody. You need a lesson in salesman etiquette." She stood up, walked from the pups and approached Vegeta. "Pretend I am the girl that you want to sell something to. You have to be polite to me, or you won't get anywhere at all."
Vegeta smirked at the open opportunity she had left him. "Oh, with you I don't have to be polite. I just have to use my ass."
Bulma glared at him as a blush stained her cheeks. "Work with me here. Now.you want me to think that these Roctorn's will change my life, in a good way." She added quickly. "What would you say to me to get me to buy them from you?"
Vegeta stood still for a moment. Impatient, Bulma put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "Well, what would you say?"
"What the fuck is a salesman?" He growled.
Authors Notes: Wow. It's been a long while. Guess I have no excuses, except the fact that my life has been changing drastically, and I've been in an awful rut. I just spent the last few min. reading over 'Time Enough to be With You' trying to gain back a feel for it. I may have lost interest in this story, but I know how many of you want me to finish it. Plus.I promise! ^_^ So here is the long-awaited chapter 45. Yeah, I know the last two came out the same.
~Jesa Jaisai
Bulma stared sullenly at the last four boxes of food in the kitchen cabinet. It was very possible for -her- to survive on two boxes, but there would be no chance for her Sayajin Prince. She turned to the 9 Roctorn's, who had clustered around her legs in a mad fury of wagging tails.
"I know you're hungry." She complained softly. "But I don't have very much food left. Look," She knelt down, laughing as nearly every one of them assaulted her with unbridled affection, licking her face and pawing at her. She steadied herself with one hand and managed to fight them off. "You guys!" she laughed. "I have something important to say!"
As uncanny as it was, the Roctorn's seemed to understand. They plopped down on their pebbled haunches and waited for her with shining eyes.
"I love you guy's all so much, and I've really loved taking care of you, but.but you can't all come with me." She tried to say, feeling a warm lump of emotion raise itself into her throat. "I.have to leave you guys. I'm going to find you all good homes. I promise."
There was a moment of silence. Bulma knew she was about to cry, but she held herself in check. If she was going to do this, she needed to be calm, for them. Moments passed until a small whine erupted from the runt, Stogies, throat. He lowered his head and walked up to her kneeling form, bumping against her gently, rubbing his face into her leg. Bulma couldn't help it; she grabbed the fuzzy creature around the neck and buried her tears in its fur.
She had been avoiding the scene since she had awakened. So much needed to be done, this being one of them. They simply couldn't take them back with them. The ship was big enough, but at the rate they were growing, there was simply nowhere to keep them once they arrived back at Earth. Besides, even if they made room, there was hardly enough food for she and Vegeta, let alone 9 ravenous Roctorn's.
Stogie had only recently got his name when she and Vegeta had reminisced about the Storkrin wine, and many other drunken and inebriated memories that they shared. It turned out that Vegetasei had been abundant with liquors and drugs, a personal favorite of Vegeta's being the human equivalent of Marijuana. Bulma had been surprised to hear that Vegeta had, on a few occasions, smoked a bit of it to himself. They had argued for a while, lying on the ship's bed, over whether or not drugs really were a 'bad' thing. It was during a moment of pondering silence that Stogie had suddenly poked his head up over the side of the bed and deposited a chewed up and slimy tampon applicator into Bulma's lap. She had been mortified, at first, when both she and Vegeta burst into laughter at the same shared thought; tampon applicators looked eerily like joints. Thus, Stogie had been born.
Bulma now smiled at the strange but amusing memory as she hugged the small Roctorn fiercely. She realized, suddenly, that this was going to be very difficult. "You know I don't want to give -any- of you away, right? Even when you're chewing on things and being general nuisances?"
The Roctorn's bayed happily at this. Bulma rose regretfully from Stogie's warm fur and proceeded to the living room. "I have to, though. You might not understand why, but I have to. Don't look at me like that!" she protested.
There were many things to be done. One, she had to find homes for the Roctorn's. There was no way she was giving them to some awful thing like Tajil who would just end up starving and beating them. Two, she had to say her good-byes.which were going to be next to impossible. Three, she and Vegeta had to make sure the ship was still in working order. Four, she needed to finish the much needed half of she and Koru's invention. And five.
Five. Bulma lowered her head and curled her hands into fists on her stomach. Five was her child, and discovering what it truly meant. Was she prepared to have children? Was she prepared to let the world know? But most importantly.was she prepared to accept a relationship with a man who loved her, but couldn't tell her he did?
"You're thinking about me. I can tell."
She spun around at the sound of his voice. He was standing only a foot from her, rubbing kinks from the corded muscle in his neck. "What." He sighed, in question.
"I just." she looked at him for a moment. This man was not Yaumcha. This man would not shower her with expensive gifts, or stare into her eyes through candlelight. And yet.this man had saved her life, given her a child, and shown her real and honest love.
That was more than enough.
She ran to him suddenly, nearly knocking him over with the force of her collision. Always on guard, however, he steadied himself and managed to catch them before they toppled over. Laughing, Bulma looked up into his glaring, confused face.
"I love you." She said, seriousness thick in her voice. Then she laughed again when his frown became even more pronounced. "You couldn't push me away, even if you tried."
A dark eyebrow angled itself at her.
She giggled, waiting. A moment passed and then she flung herself from him, laughing, and headed down the stairs.
"I have work to do!" she called up. Vegeta could hear clanking and clattering. He glared even heavier.
"What is your problem, woman?" He bellowed from the top of the stairs.
She reappeared seconds later, a circuit board in one hand, grease on the other. "Don't come down here!" she said. "This is top secret work I'm performing." She leveled a finger at him. "What you need to do is get showered and go find Arden."
Vegeta put one foot on the next step. "What the hell for?" He was growing curious.
Bulma lunged forward. "I said don't come down here!" She cried, trying to hide her smile. "Now go have a shower."
"Don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot do, Bulma." Vegeta smiled through a malicious glare.
Bulma faltered at the sound of her name. He rarely used it, though he had been using it increasingly more so in the past few days. She knew what it meant.
"Vegeta!" She picked up a wrench from the table beside her and tossed it halfheartedly at him. It hit his chest and bounced off, inflicting about as much damage as a wounded butterfly.
"You can do better than that." He smirked, coming down the steps at a quicker pace.
"Vegeta!" Bulma heard well the whine in her voice. "You're all smelly and you need a shower. I need you to find Arden while I do this. Ask him about a good home for the Roctorns." He made no move to stop his advance, and Kami save her, she didn't want him to. A familiar heat rose up from between her thighs, spreading through her body and transforming into a blush as she thought of the things he could do to her.
Suddenly, he was at the bottom of the steps, reveling in her flushed face, savoring the thick smell of her arousal.
"Vegeta." She said softly, complying, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and assaulted her mouth with a warm, devouring kiss.
"We can't do anything.remember?" Bulma gasped as his mouth left hers temporarily to lend itself to her suddenly waiting breasts. She had no idea what Strifelon had been saying when he had warned her that sex would be the farthest thing from her horny little mind. As Vegeta ground himself against her and licked a hot trail up her collarbone, she wished she hadn't drunk the damn stuff.
"I know." He replied, nibbling on her earlobe. "But I can have some fun."
"Bastard." Bulma gasped, her head swimming.
He really was.
Four hours later, the invention was finished. Bulma stared proudly down at it, holding it in her hands, turning it over and over as she admired her handiwork and thanked her father's blood running through her veins. It had taken her a long while, but Koru's half was finally finished. She held it up to the light, watching the shine glint off the cool metal as she turned it this way and that. She prayed Koru would like it; she had poured her heart and soul into it.
"A true monument of friendship." She said as she stepped back, setting it carefully on the table. Bending down to retrieve loose chips, she had to re- adjust her bra strap, shaking her head as she thought of the lost 2 hours she had pleasurably wasted with her Prince. He would be her undoing yet. There were more important things to worry about now. She slipped off her gloves and walked up the stairs, trying mentally to prepare herself for her many tasks ahead. When she got to the kitchen she realized the Roctorn's were gone. Spider and Ghost lay together on the mat near the front door, both lifting their eyes and lazily yawning a greeting. They seemed to be getting together a lot better lately. Slapping her gloves down on the counter, she looked around the ship, listening for any signs of the stoic Sayajin. After poking her head in all the rooms, it was clear he had taken the Roctorn's with him, where ever he'd gone. She sighed. Couldn't he have left a note or something?
Suddenly, the pain in Bulma's stomach lurched against her once more, sending her into a nauseous run for the bathroom. She waited a few moments, head bent over the toilet, but nothing came.
It occurred to Bulma that she had no idea -when- Vegeta had gotten her pregnant. They had slept together a few times, but only now she was suffering what seemed like morning sickness. It was far too soon to be having morning sickness, however, and she kneeled back on her heels, thinking. It must be the solution Strifelon had given her only days ago. She sighed and worriedly rubbed her belly. The solution had obviously not left her barren, but it was not over yet. They still had many, many days until this child would be born.she did not know what could happen in those nine months.
She got up with a heavy sigh, slowly, still feeling the effects of her stomach's queasiness. She wouldn't get anything accomplished today by just sitting around by the toilet. Taking a moment to wash her face and clip her hair back, she straightened her clothes and headed for the front door, out to find Vegeta.
It didn't take her long to find him. All she had to do was follow the ki blasts.
A large boulder to the right of Bulma exploded into tiny fragments only a few feet away. Having basically grown up around a Sayajin, it did nothing to faze her; she was quite used to their short bursts of temper. Now, she watched calmly as Vegeta stormed back and forth, running his hands through his hair, and kicking viciously at random rocks in the R'haksin earth, decimating them.
Bulma understood the situation within seconds. Spider's siblings huddled together in a group, some looking terrified, others looking confused, while some were content to bay and yap happily.
"What are you laughing at?" Vegeta bellowed, walking up to her. He clenched his fists at his sides and glowered his best glower at her.
"Nothing." Bulma said. She couldn't help but put her hand to her mouth and giggle. She shouldn't be laughing, but the whole situation was absolutely hilarious. "Having a bit of trouble with the Roctorns?"
"What did I tell you they'd be since the beginning? TROUBLE!" he yelled.
Bulma waved the matter away with her hand and walked over to the relieved pups. Stogie pushed through them and waggled his way into her arms. "Don't yell. You're scaring them."
"I don't blame these moron's for not wanting them." he snarled, sitting down against one of the few boulders he had not vaporized.
"I don't think it's them, Vegeta." Bulma said wanly. "Maybe it's the fact that you've been terrorizing the landscape for the past hour that's unnerving everybody. You need a lesson in salesman etiquette." She stood up, walked from the pups and approached Vegeta. "Pretend I am the girl that you want to sell something to. You have to be polite to me, or you won't get anywhere at all."
Vegeta smirked at the open opportunity she had left him. "Oh, with you I don't have to be polite. I just have to use my ass."
Bulma glared at him as a blush stained her cheeks. "Work with me here. Now.you want me to think that these Roctorn's will change my life, in a good way." She added quickly. "What would you say to me to get me to buy them from you?"
Vegeta stood still for a moment. Impatient, Bulma put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "Well, what would you say?"
"What the fuck is a salesman?" He growled.