A/N: A big thank you to all who reviewed! If you've read this before, I
know that there haven't been many changes yet. Don't worry; things will be
different from the original post, I promise!
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A Tail Tale, Chapter 3
Bulma woke up slowly. She still felt sick and a little woozy, but at least she was warm and comfortable. She snuggled closer to the muscular chest she was leaning against, comforted by the masculine scent of its owner.
Chest?
Masculine?
She suppressed a shriek and tilted her head upwards to see who exactly held her. Her mouth fell open. Of all the things she had imagined, waking up cuddled in VEGETA'S arms was NOT on the list. They were both fully clothed (thank goodness!) and he was sitting with his back against a rock wall. She was seated on his legs. His arms were loosely wrapped around her, but something else held her close. After a moment, she discovered it was his tail, snugly around her waist. His eyes were closed and soft half snores emitted from his open mouth.
Her fuzzy mind was trying to take it all in and piece together what the hell was going on. She recalled getting sick and being carried to her room, then Vegeta demanding to know about the bite. And then - a blank time of sleep, followed by waking up here, wherever she was. Someplace safe, he'd said. And finally being so very cold, only to have him - her cheeks reddened - hold her close to keep her warm.
It was all so out of character for the Saiyan prince that for a moment she wondered if she'd lost her mind. Only for a moment, though, before her scientific brain asserted that there had to be SOME logical explanation for all of this. Deciding to try to see where she was, she gingerly grasped his tail, hoping to get it to let her go. He stirred slightly at the touch, but did not wake. Noting that it was far softer and sleeker than Goku's had been, she tried to unwind it. As her hands moved over the fur, the timbre of Vegeta's snores changed. She was astonished to hear a deep rumbling purr swelling from his chest.
Saiyans purred?
Fascinated, Bulma continued to run her hand over the last few inches of his tail, listening to the noise. Meanwhile, Vegeta slowly began to come awake. He was conscious of long unused muscles in his chest and throat rumbling, and a pleasant sensation running along the end of his tail. Half asleep, he realized that he was purring, something he had not done for years. And then his mind woke up as he realized that someone was stroking his tail. His eyes snapped open, caught between outrage and utter contentment, emotion warring with physical reaction. Of course, it was the blasted woman, petting the end of his tail with an intrigued look on her face. He jerked it out of her grip, firmly squashing the sense of disappointment at having the pleasant sensation stop.
Bulma looked up, startled, and gulped at the sight of Vegeta awake. He glared at her out of half lidded eyes. "Do not touch my tail again, woman, or even Kakkorot will not be able to save you." The threat would have had more force if his voice did not still have a hint of a purr in it. Seeming to realize that, he closed his mouth and growled.
"Well, if you didn't have it wrapped around me, I wouldn't have done it!" snapped the woman in response, covering up her fear with anger. Vegeta seemed to realize for the first time exactly where his tail was, and her anger faded at the look of astonishment on his face. And - was he reddening a bit? Before she could figure that out, he pulled his tail away and roughly pushed her off his lap onto a cold stone floor. "OW! Vegeta!"
"Woman!" he mocked her tone back at her, making her flush angrily. Settling his traitorous tail back around his waist, he rose to his feet. She struggled to rise herself, clearly still shaky from the Annar. At least the first part, the raging fever, was over with. Unfortunately, the more painful half of it was still to come.
While he was thinking, Bulma unsteadily walked out into the sun. She stared around at the tropical forest pressing close and shook her head in confusion. "I suppose you want to know what's going on?" asked Vegeta gruffly, moving to stand beside her. She glanced sidelong at him, completely bewildered now, and nodded. She had never seen so many emotions play across his face - anger, disgust, resignation, and thoughtfulness. He did not wait for her answer, but began to speak.
When he was done, she sat down hard on the ground, shaken beyond words.
"A Saiyan? Me?"
"There is no way to reverse it," he said, staring at some point in the distance. "Even if you wanted to use the dragonballs to do it, you'll have to wait a year. They were just used."
"I know," she replied absently, her mind in a whirl. Bulma honestly could not decide how she felt about this. "If you can do this, why didn't you use it to rebuild your race? I mean, if you can make someone a Saiyan, why -" She broke off at his harsh bark of laughter. "What?" He turned his dark gaze to her, a sardonic expression on his angular face.
"One," he said flatly, "The venom is very small in quantity, and takes at least a month to regenerate after use. Two, because it is intended to provide for furthering of the royal bloodline, it will only affect those opposite to my sex, females. Three." He stopped, his eyes hardening. Something in his expression made her shiver. "It is not for some kind of - wholesale production of Saiyans. It is intended as a gift, a mark of HONOR!" Vegeta's voice rose to a roar, making her jump back in fear. "For my intended mate, one who has proved worthy in my eyes, should she for some reason not be Saiyan! Not an accident brought on by drug induced confusion - I have disgraced my line, giving my first bite to a worthless human who is not even a fighter!"
He was so caught up in his rant that he did not see Bulma's expression change from fear to anger. So her slap caught him entirely off guard. Additionally, the Annar had already elevated her strength - her ki level was equal to Krillin's at this point - and since he was not powered up or on guard he was actually thrown back a few feet.
There was a breathless pause as they stared at one another in shock, Vegeta's hand slowly reaching up to wipe a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm sorry things worked out this way," Bulma said honestly. "But don't you dare sit there and insult me! I may not be a fighter, but I'm the genius who designed the GR to withstand the higher levels so YOU could progress in your training! If - no, WHEN - you ascend to super-Saiyan, it will be at least in part because of ME!" His eyes widened as if he had not considered this before. "I'm sorry you bit me, I'm sorry you lost your 'first bite' to me, I'm sorry you don't consider me worthy to be a Saiyan but don't you fucking dare call me worthless you arrogant condescending son of a bitch!"
And then she did the only thing that kept Vegeta from responding with fury; she sat down and wept.
He had annihilated countless worlds and races. He had fought against the most powerful being in the known universe. He trained his body in gravitational forces over 100x what his body was designed to withstand.
But he had no idea what to do with a weeping woman!
Vegeta stared at the woman, helpless, and angry at his helplessness. He wanted to be furious at her, but her words hit uncomfortably close to home. The situation wasn't her fault, no matter how he tried to twist it. And as to him owing her for the ascension to super-Saiyan, when he reached it - he didn't want to think about that. His eye twitched and he forced himself to speak words utterly alien to him. Pride and honor demanded it.
"I - retract my last statement," he bit out curtly. She looked up at him; astonishment on her face even as her large blue eyes still ran with tears. "You are correct - you are not worthless. Pathetic maybe," he added, refusing to budge an inch more than he had to, "but not worthless. My tail is proof of that, at least."
Bulma blinked away the last of her tears. Was VEGETA apologizing? She almost couldn't believe it - until his addition of 'pathetic'. Yeah, this was as close to an apology as she was going to get from the stubborn prince. She wiped her eyes and nodded. Anything else she could deal with, but worthless, well, worthless was an insult that hit too close to her own insecurities for her to bear. Vegeta was looking extremely uncomfortable, and she decided that the best way to handle things was to proceed as if nothing had happened.
"So - why are we here, anyway?" Relieved at the change of subject, the Saiyan prince briefly explained his reasoning. They would stay here while she came through the Annar, and then he would school her on the Saiyans and train her enough that she would not be a disgrace. Bulma accepted that without argument, privately a bit curious about what he would teach her.
"Wait - come through the - you mean, I'm not done being sick yet?" She picked up on one of his earlier statements. Vegeta snorted.
"Do you have a tail? Have you acquired proper fangs?" He bared his own in demonstration. She swallowed hard and shook her head. "You are in the middle of the Annar - if it was a storm, it would be the 'eye'."
"Uh, Vegeta - the second half of a storm, the part after the eye, is always much worse than the first. That wouldn't happen to correspond to this would it?"
The devilish smirk he gave her was all the answer she needed. Bulma swore.
"What are you complaining about, woman? I am the one who must put his training on hold to care for you over the next week." Ignoring her outraged shriek, he turned to the forest. "Stay out of trouble while I hunt." Vegeta tossed her a capsule case and disappeared into the dense jungle.
Bulma muttered a few uncomplimentary things under her breath and examined the capsule case. It was one of her spare ones, holding very random odds and ends. There were five capsules total. There was her old motorbike, a collection of odd machine parts she had been meaning to fix - and the tools for it, thankfully - an experimental capsule tent for hikers who didn't want all the amenities of a capsule house, several boxes of photographs she had never gotten around to sorting, and lastly - "A communicator!" She cried in delight. This was lucky; it was a portable communicator that patched into the one in her father's lab. She set it up and fussed with the dials until she got a good connection. Her father answered almost immediately.
"Hmm? Bulma?" He looked like he was in the middle of one of his projects. Kitty mewed at her from his usual place on Dr. Briefs shoulder. "How are you doing, dear?"
"Not bad, Daddy," she replied. It did not faze her that her father was quite unconcerned about her absence - he was the most absent-minded individual she knew. And considering she knew Goku that was saying a lot. "Vegeta's taking good care of me." Though it galled her to admit it.
"Yes, he left us a note saying he knew how to treat your illness, that it was common on his planet." She snickered at the idea of the touchy Saiyan leaving her parents a note. Very prudent, if he didn't want the rest of the gang coming after him thinking he'd kidnapped her!
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Daddy." Bulma explained to him what precisely what was going on. Being as much a scientist as she, he was fascinated. Being her father, he was a little concerned.
"Will you look for a way to reverse it, or gather those dragon-thingies to wish yourself human again?"
"The dragon balls were just used, so I would have to wait a year anyway. And this will put me in an excellent position to research Saiyan physiology."
"Good point, dear. Oh, your mother was fussing about you and Vegeta not getting your Christmas presents, so I'll send them to you now."
"I'm not sure where we are," she said, looking around. It could be just about any random island of those scattered about the area.
"That's fine; I'll triangulate on the communicator and have the Mini-cap bring them to you."
The Mini-cap was a neat little invention of her own design. Not much larger than her two hands together, it was sort of a mini helicopter. It could transport several capsules up to a hundred miles simply by inputting the coordinates for its landing. While she was thinking about it, she told her father to send along a few other things - like a capsule house, a first aid kit, a change of clothes, and the like.
"Certainly. I'll see you later, dear."
"Tell Mom I love her. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas."
Smiling, she turned off the communicator and sat down to wait. Then Bulma winced and held her stomach as it growled. She was really very hungry. Wryly, she realized that food bills were going to go up at her house if she gained a Saiyan appetite. Her stomach continued to complain, and her temper began to rise as it did. What was taking Vegeta so long, anyway? A horrible thought came to her. What exactly was he hunting? He wasn't going to come back with centipedes and wolves like Goku had, was he?
She should have known Vegeta was never one to do things halfway.
There was a distant explosion and the sound of some animal roaring. Nervously, she stood up and retreated to the cave. Her experiences with large hungry animals on Namek were very fresh in her mind. A rapidly growing shadow on the ground outside caught her attention, and just as she took a step forward a very large, very dead dinosaur fell out of the sky to land by the cave. The ground shook; Bulma screamed.
"What the hell are you shrieking about, woman?" Vegeta landed near the dinosaur.
"You scared the hell out of me you jerk! What the fuck are you DOING?" He turned his back on her and began to cook the enormous beast with a steady ki blast from his hands.
"I am getting food for myself and you, ungrateful wench." Bulma fumed.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT! And I am NOT," her voice faltered as her nose caught the scent of fresh blood and cooking meat. "Not eating that," she swallowed as her mouth reacted to the smells by salivating "disgusting half raw thing." By now she had unconsciously taken several steps forward till she was nearly even with Vegeta. He turned his head and smirked at the look of undisguised hunger on her face.
"Suit yourself woman. But if you are not well stuffed with food - fuel - the second part of the Annar will be that much more painful. Your body will be forced to draw off interior reserves rather than what is in your stomach." He tore a chunk of warm meat off and took a large bite, relishing the taste. Saiyans were carnivores by nature, and meat was an essential part of their diets. He watched as the woman fought against her changing dietary requirements and lost. Giving him a glare that probably could have fried a hole through anyone else, she hesitantly approached the carcass.
"Umm, Vegeta?" He raised an eyebrow as he tore off another chunk. "How do I do this?"
"I thought you were a genius, woman," he smirked. Oh, she was mad now. He nearly laughed at the look of fury on her face. His tail uncurled from his waist to swing lazily behind him in amusement.
Never mess with a hungry genius.
Bulma's eyes narrowed and she darted forward, far faster than she had previously been capable of. In the blink of an eye, she had snatched the meat from Vegeta's hands and stood several feet away. She took a large hungry bite, right over his own teeth marks, and shuddered, caught between mental revulsion and physical hunger. Vegeta, peculiarly, had not reacted. He stood as if transfixed; staring at her as she rapidly devoured the food. Finishing, she licked her fingers and gave a triumphant smile.
"Ha! What do you think of that, you stuck up jerk?"
He blinked and shook his head, eyes unreadable. Still not speaking, he sliced several more pieces off the carcass before turning back to her.
"Do not do that again woman." Bulma frowned at his tone. It was not angry so much as strained, and even a little bit - no, it could not be THAT. But she could almost swear he sounded a tiny, tiny, miniscule bit - afraid.
"Why not? You wouldn't help me out." His mouth twisted into a semblance of his normal smirk.
"Because you just enacted the first part of a Saiyan mating ritual, woman."
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A Tail Tale, Chapter 3
Bulma woke up slowly. She still felt sick and a little woozy, but at least she was warm and comfortable. She snuggled closer to the muscular chest she was leaning against, comforted by the masculine scent of its owner.
Chest?
Masculine?
She suppressed a shriek and tilted her head upwards to see who exactly held her. Her mouth fell open. Of all the things she had imagined, waking up cuddled in VEGETA'S arms was NOT on the list. They were both fully clothed (thank goodness!) and he was sitting with his back against a rock wall. She was seated on his legs. His arms were loosely wrapped around her, but something else held her close. After a moment, she discovered it was his tail, snugly around her waist. His eyes were closed and soft half snores emitted from his open mouth.
Her fuzzy mind was trying to take it all in and piece together what the hell was going on. She recalled getting sick and being carried to her room, then Vegeta demanding to know about the bite. And then - a blank time of sleep, followed by waking up here, wherever she was. Someplace safe, he'd said. And finally being so very cold, only to have him - her cheeks reddened - hold her close to keep her warm.
It was all so out of character for the Saiyan prince that for a moment she wondered if she'd lost her mind. Only for a moment, though, before her scientific brain asserted that there had to be SOME logical explanation for all of this. Deciding to try to see where she was, she gingerly grasped his tail, hoping to get it to let her go. He stirred slightly at the touch, but did not wake. Noting that it was far softer and sleeker than Goku's had been, she tried to unwind it. As her hands moved over the fur, the timbre of Vegeta's snores changed. She was astonished to hear a deep rumbling purr swelling from his chest.
Saiyans purred?
Fascinated, Bulma continued to run her hand over the last few inches of his tail, listening to the noise. Meanwhile, Vegeta slowly began to come awake. He was conscious of long unused muscles in his chest and throat rumbling, and a pleasant sensation running along the end of his tail. Half asleep, he realized that he was purring, something he had not done for years. And then his mind woke up as he realized that someone was stroking his tail. His eyes snapped open, caught between outrage and utter contentment, emotion warring with physical reaction. Of course, it was the blasted woman, petting the end of his tail with an intrigued look on her face. He jerked it out of her grip, firmly squashing the sense of disappointment at having the pleasant sensation stop.
Bulma looked up, startled, and gulped at the sight of Vegeta awake. He glared at her out of half lidded eyes. "Do not touch my tail again, woman, or even Kakkorot will not be able to save you." The threat would have had more force if his voice did not still have a hint of a purr in it. Seeming to realize that, he closed his mouth and growled.
"Well, if you didn't have it wrapped around me, I wouldn't have done it!" snapped the woman in response, covering up her fear with anger. Vegeta seemed to realize for the first time exactly where his tail was, and her anger faded at the look of astonishment on his face. And - was he reddening a bit? Before she could figure that out, he pulled his tail away and roughly pushed her off his lap onto a cold stone floor. "OW! Vegeta!"
"Woman!" he mocked her tone back at her, making her flush angrily. Settling his traitorous tail back around his waist, he rose to his feet. She struggled to rise herself, clearly still shaky from the Annar. At least the first part, the raging fever, was over with. Unfortunately, the more painful half of it was still to come.
While he was thinking, Bulma unsteadily walked out into the sun. She stared around at the tropical forest pressing close and shook her head in confusion. "I suppose you want to know what's going on?" asked Vegeta gruffly, moving to stand beside her. She glanced sidelong at him, completely bewildered now, and nodded. She had never seen so many emotions play across his face - anger, disgust, resignation, and thoughtfulness. He did not wait for her answer, but began to speak.
When he was done, she sat down hard on the ground, shaken beyond words.
"A Saiyan? Me?"
"There is no way to reverse it," he said, staring at some point in the distance. "Even if you wanted to use the dragonballs to do it, you'll have to wait a year. They were just used."
"I know," she replied absently, her mind in a whirl. Bulma honestly could not decide how she felt about this. "If you can do this, why didn't you use it to rebuild your race? I mean, if you can make someone a Saiyan, why -" She broke off at his harsh bark of laughter. "What?" He turned his dark gaze to her, a sardonic expression on his angular face.
"One," he said flatly, "The venom is very small in quantity, and takes at least a month to regenerate after use. Two, because it is intended to provide for furthering of the royal bloodline, it will only affect those opposite to my sex, females. Three." He stopped, his eyes hardening. Something in his expression made her shiver. "It is not for some kind of - wholesale production of Saiyans. It is intended as a gift, a mark of HONOR!" Vegeta's voice rose to a roar, making her jump back in fear. "For my intended mate, one who has proved worthy in my eyes, should she for some reason not be Saiyan! Not an accident brought on by drug induced confusion - I have disgraced my line, giving my first bite to a worthless human who is not even a fighter!"
He was so caught up in his rant that he did not see Bulma's expression change from fear to anger. So her slap caught him entirely off guard. Additionally, the Annar had already elevated her strength - her ki level was equal to Krillin's at this point - and since he was not powered up or on guard he was actually thrown back a few feet.
There was a breathless pause as they stared at one another in shock, Vegeta's hand slowly reaching up to wipe a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm sorry things worked out this way," Bulma said honestly. "But don't you dare sit there and insult me! I may not be a fighter, but I'm the genius who designed the GR to withstand the higher levels so YOU could progress in your training! If - no, WHEN - you ascend to super-Saiyan, it will be at least in part because of ME!" His eyes widened as if he had not considered this before. "I'm sorry you bit me, I'm sorry you lost your 'first bite' to me, I'm sorry you don't consider me worthy to be a Saiyan but don't you fucking dare call me worthless you arrogant condescending son of a bitch!"
And then she did the only thing that kept Vegeta from responding with fury; she sat down and wept.
He had annihilated countless worlds and races. He had fought against the most powerful being in the known universe. He trained his body in gravitational forces over 100x what his body was designed to withstand.
But he had no idea what to do with a weeping woman!
Vegeta stared at the woman, helpless, and angry at his helplessness. He wanted to be furious at her, but her words hit uncomfortably close to home. The situation wasn't her fault, no matter how he tried to twist it. And as to him owing her for the ascension to super-Saiyan, when he reached it - he didn't want to think about that. His eye twitched and he forced himself to speak words utterly alien to him. Pride and honor demanded it.
"I - retract my last statement," he bit out curtly. She looked up at him; astonishment on her face even as her large blue eyes still ran with tears. "You are correct - you are not worthless. Pathetic maybe," he added, refusing to budge an inch more than he had to, "but not worthless. My tail is proof of that, at least."
Bulma blinked away the last of her tears. Was VEGETA apologizing? She almost couldn't believe it - until his addition of 'pathetic'. Yeah, this was as close to an apology as she was going to get from the stubborn prince. She wiped her eyes and nodded. Anything else she could deal with, but worthless, well, worthless was an insult that hit too close to her own insecurities for her to bear. Vegeta was looking extremely uncomfortable, and she decided that the best way to handle things was to proceed as if nothing had happened.
"So - why are we here, anyway?" Relieved at the change of subject, the Saiyan prince briefly explained his reasoning. They would stay here while she came through the Annar, and then he would school her on the Saiyans and train her enough that she would not be a disgrace. Bulma accepted that without argument, privately a bit curious about what he would teach her.
"Wait - come through the - you mean, I'm not done being sick yet?" She picked up on one of his earlier statements. Vegeta snorted.
"Do you have a tail? Have you acquired proper fangs?" He bared his own in demonstration. She swallowed hard and shook her head. "You are in the middle of the Annar - if it was a storm, it would be the 'eye'."
"Uh, Vegeta - the second half of a storm, the part after the eye, is always much worse than the first. That wouldn't happen to correspond to this would it?"
The devilish smirk he gave her was all the answer she needed. Bulma swore.
"What are you complaining about, woman? I am the one who must put his training on hold to care for you over the next week." Ignoring her outraged shriek, he turned to the forest. "Stay out of trouble while I hunt." Vegeta tossed her a capsule case and disappeared into the dense jungle.
Bulma muttered a few uncomplimentary things under her breath and examined the capsule case. It was one of her spare ones, holding very random odds and ends. There were five capsules total. There was her old motorbike, a collection of odd machine parts she had been meaning to fix - and the tools for it, thankfully - an experimental capsule tent for hikers who didn't want all the amenities of a capsule house, several boxes of photographs she had never gotten around to sorting, and lastly - "A communicator!" She cried in delight. This was lucky; it was a portable communicator that patched into the one in her father's lab. She set it up and fussed with the dials until she got a good connection. Her father answered almost immediately.
"Hmm? Bulma?" He looked like he was in the middle of one of his projects. Kitty mewed at her from his usual place on Dr. Briefs shoulder. "How are you doing, dear?"
"Not bad, Daddy," she replied. It did not faze her that her father was quite unconcerned about her absence - he was the most absent-minded individual she knew. And considering she knew Goku that was saying a lot. "Vegeta's taking good care of me." Though it galled her to admit it.
"Yes, he left us a note saying he knew how to treat your illness, that it was common on his planet." She snickered at the idea of the touchy Saiyan leaving her parents a note. Very prudent, if he didn't want the rest of the gang coming after him thinking he'd kidnapped her!
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Daddy." Bulma explained to him what precisely what was going on. Being as much a scientist as she, he was fascinated. Being her father, he was a little concerned.
"Will you look for a way to reverse it, or gather those dragon-thingies to wish yourself human again?"
"The dragon balls were just used, so I would have to wait a year anyway. And this will put me in an excellent position to research Saiyan physiology."
"Good point, dear. Oh, your mother was fussing about you and Vegeta not getting your Christmas presents, so I'll send them to you now."
"I'm not sure where we are," she said, looking around. It could be just about any random island of those scattered about the area.
"That's fine; I'll triangulate on the communicator and have the Mini-cap bring them to you."
The Mini-cap was a neat little invention of her own design. Not much larger than her two hands together, it was sort of a mini helicopter. It could transport several capsules up to a hundred miles simply by inputting the coordinates for its landing. While she was thinking about it, she told her father to send along a few other things - like a capsule house, a first aid kit, a change of clothes, and the like.
"Certainly. I'll see you later, dear."
"Tell Mom I love her. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas."
Smiling, she turned off the communicator and sat down to wait. Then Bulma winced and held her stomach as it growled. She was really very hungry. Wryly, she realized that food bills were going to go up at her house if she gained a Saiyan appetite. Her stomach continued to complain, and her temper began to rise as it did. What was taking Vegeta so long, anyway? A horrible thought came to her. What exactly was he hunting? He wasn't going to come back with centipedes and wolves like Goku had, was he?
She should have known Vegeta was never one to do things halfway.
There was a distant explosion and the sound of some animal roaring. Nervously, she stood up and retreated to the cave. Her experiences with large hungry animals on Namek were very fresh in her mind. A rapidly growing shadow on the ground outside caught her attention, and just as she took a step forward a very large, very dead dinosaur fell out of the sky to land by the cave. The ground shook; Bulma screamed.
"What the hell are you shrieking about, woman?" Vegeta landed near the dinosaur.
"You scared the hell out of me you jerk! What the fuck are you DOING?" He turned his back on her and began to cook the enormous beast with a steady ki blast from his hands.
"I am getting food for myself and you, ungrateful wench." Bulma fumed.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT! And I am NOT," her voice faltered as her nose caught the scent of fresh blood and cooking meat. "Not eating that," she swallowed as her mouth reacted to the smells by salivating "disgusting half raw thing." By now she had unconsciously taken several steps forward till she was nearly even with Vegeta. He turned his head and smirked at the look of undisguised hunger on her face.
"Suit yourself woman. But if you are not well stuffed with food - fuel - the second part of the Annar will be that much more painful. Your body will be forced to draw off interior reserves rather than what is in your stomach." He tore a chunk of warm meat off and took a large bite, relishing the taste. Saiyans were carnivores by nature, and meat was an essential part of their diets. He watched as the woman fought against her changing dietary requirements and lost. Giving him a glare that probably could have fried a hole through anyone else, she hesitantly approached the carcass.
"Umm, Vegeta?" He raised an eyebrow as he tore off another chunk. "How do I do this?"
"I thought you were a genius, woman," he smirked. Oh, she was mad now. He nearly laughed at the look of fury on her face. His tail uncurled from his waist to swing lazily behind him in amusement.
Never mess with a hungry genius.
Bulma's eyes narrowed and she darted forward, far faster than she had previously been capable of. In the blink of an eye, she had snatched the meat from Vegeta's hands and stood several feet away. She took a large hungry bite, right over his own teeth marks, and shuddered, caught between mental revulsion and physical hunger. Vegeta, peculiarly, had not reacted. He stood as if transfixed; staring at her as she rapidly devoured the food. Finishing, she licked her fingers and gave a triumphant smile.
"Ha! What do you think of that, you stuck up jerk?"
He blinked and shook his head, eyes unreadable. Still not speaking, he sliced several more pieces off the carcass before turning back to her.
"Do not do that again woman." Bulma frowned at his tone. It was not angry so much as strained, and even a little bit - no, it could not be THAT. But she could almost swear he sounded a tiny, tiny, miniscule bit - afraid.
"Why not? You wouldn't help me out." His mouth twisted into a semblance of his normal smirk.
"Because you just enacted the first part of a Saiyan mating ritual, woman."
