Chapter 3: Check In
Narrowing his obsidian eyes against the wind, he finally found what he was looking for. The mere sight of the hotel spiked a rare moment of happiness as he flew towards the thing he had been hunting for, for almost too long. Any longer and the guy at the clothing store would have said 'screw this I'm going home.' Any longer and Vegeta's body would have given out completely. After landing, he stopped only for a minute to catch his breath, before stepping inside the nice hotel.
At the sight of this strange new visitor, the man at the desk straitened, the pen in his hand falling to the floor in his nervous movement. Vegeta seemed to consider his surroundings before spotting the man and heading that way. He stumbled a bit, and the man's shocked expression turned into one of concern. He could clearly see that this guy had had better days.
"Excuse me sir, but are you ok?"
Vegeta just looked at him. If he were in any other situation, he would have exploded in the man's face, but now he had places to be and he didn't want to cause a scene that could possibly hold him up if things were to get too nasty.
"I'm fine." He lied. He wasn't very good at lying and most of all he hated doing it. "I need a room. I want one away from anyone else here."
The man nodded, his fingers already beginning to fly over the keyboard in front of him. He went over to a machine and waited for a minute, strumming his nails, before a card slid smoothly out a slot. "Here's you're key." He said handing the plastic to Vegeta, who decided then that he needed a wallet for all the damn cards he was given. "And you're in room...213 at the other end of the building." He smiled nervously. "Enjoy you're stay at the Grand Royal Inn!"
(Thirty minutes later)
Vegeta collapsed fully clothed on the huge king sized bed, his breath coming in deep pained gasps. On the way back to the store, he had had to stop to vomit sour blood and rest a bit before he could any further. He almost hadn't made it to the room before he had to throw up again and he had barely made it to the toilet. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something. A week, maybe two ago, he wasn't sure, but he knew if he didn't eat something in the next few days, his body would start eating his ki to keep itself alive.
He rolled over onto his back with much difficulty, pulling the blanket over himself. His body had started to shiver. The worse of what the dragon could not heel was taking its effect on Vegeta, mainly that monstrous bruise in the middle of his back.
"Fucking Dragonballs." He whispered to himself, his arms wrapped tight around his rebelling stomach. "Can't do one god dammed thing right!"
He tossed around for a bit before falling into a fretful sleep. Sleep; where the demons could get him.
Scowling at the remains of Raditz's scouter on her desk top, she tried to contemplate any possible way she could make the bits and pieces work again. Her scowl deepened as she picked up a shattered microchip that used to be inside the bulky part that went over the wearer's ear. This technology was so strange to her. Even the little screen that went over the eye was made from a substance she'd never seen. Before she'd started her closer examination of the object, she had assumed the screen was made of glass. But now that she thought about it, that hypothesis was completely ignorant since just plain glass couldn't display objects like this strange mineral could. Glass wouldn't be able to handle the heat intensity that the scouter seemed capable of producing when it displayed information. The type of substance she was seeing now was closer to liquid crystal.
Sighing, she lounged back in her chair, her fingers coming up to run themselves through her turquoise locks. Two whole days since Vegeta had given her the idea of a device that could teach someone a foreign language in just a few hours, and Bulma had close to nothing done. The project was frustrating her to no end. Grabbing her empty coffee cup she glanced at the clock -4:32 AM it read- and padded out the door of her lab and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen just in time to see her father pouring his own cup of coffee. He turned and smiled at his only daughter.
"Good morning, princess."
She smiled back, "Morning Daddy."
"Any luck with that scouter?"
Bulma sighed. She seemed to be sighing an awful lot lately. "No. The thing is just so.....alien! I can't even figure out how to put it back together without the original blue prints."
Dr. Briefs nodded, drinking his coffee. "Is there any one on this planet that could help you with it?" There was a hint in his voice that Bulma didn't catch.
"The only one who could possibly know anything about it, I don't even want to get involved with." She turned to look straight at her father. "You know he almost killed me and Krillin for our Dragonball on Namek? He's dangerous Daddy. I think its best we just keep our eyes on the tabloids and, unless something weird comes up, leave him to himself." She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully for a minute. "He was kinda cute though....."
Dr. Briefs smiled to himself. He hoped to meet this Vegeta fellow Bulma talked non-stop about one day. To him, the prince sounded like a lost alien, who just needed a home and someone to care about him. The way Bulma talked about the saiya-jin, he sounded a lot like the scientist's own daughter. Arrogant, stubborn, and with an ego as big as the earth itself the pair seemed perfect for each other. The fact that he was an alien and a murderer didn't faze the old man in the least. Of course, half of Bulma's friends were some kind of thief or plunderer or murderer or alien of all different backgrounds, so to think that his daughter was attracted to Vegeta seemed almost natural. He just wished Bulma would find a man and settle down with him. Vegeta seemed like the perfect bachelor. Although, the task of getting the two together would be a difficult one. Hell, just finding the saiya-jin wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Bulma noticed her father staring in to thin air, a smile placed on his lips. She smiled, dismissing the look as a sudden idea for a new invention. 'I hope he comes up with something new.' She thought as she crept back upstairs and to her room where she collapsed with a groan on her bed. 'I need something to worry about besides what that homicidal saiya-jin is doing, and a scouter that no one can figure out.'
Narrowing his obsidian eyes against the wind, he finally found what he was looking for. The mere sight of the hotel spiked a rare moment of happiness as he flew towards the thing he had been hunting for, for almost too long. Any longer and the guy at the clothing store would have said 'screw this I'm going home.' Any longer and Vegeta's body would have given out completely. After landing, he stopped only for a minute to catch his breath, before stepping inside the nice hotel.
At the sight of this strange new visitor, the man at the desk straitened, the pen in his hand falling to the floor in his nervous movement. Vegeta seemed to consider his surroundings before spotting the man and heading that way. He stumbled a bit, and the man's shocked expression turned into one of concern. He could clearly see that this guy had had better days.
"Excuse me sir, but are you ok?"
Vegeta just looked at him. If he were in any other situation, he would have exploded in the man's face, but now he had places to be and he didn't want to cause a scene that could possibly hold him up if things were to get too nasty.
"I'm fine." He lied. He wasn't very good at lying and most of all he hated doing it. "I need a room. I want one away from anyone else here."
The man nodded, his fingers already beginning to fly over the keyboard in front of him. He went over to a machine and waited for a minute, strumming his nails, before a card slid smoothly out a slot. "Here's you're key." He said handing the plastic to Vegeta, who decided then that he needed a wallet for all the damn cards he was given. "And you're in room...213 at the other end of the building." He smiled nervously. "Enjoy you're stay at the Grand Royal Inn!"
(Thirty minutes later)
Vegeta collapsed fully clothed on the huge king sized bed, his breath coming in deep pained gasps. On the way back to the store, he had had to stop to vomit sour blood and rest a bit before he could any further. He almost hadn't made it to the room before he had to throw up again and he had barely made it to the toilet. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something. A week, maybe two ago, he wasn't sure, but he knew if he didn't eat something in the next few days, his body would start eating his ki to keep itself alive.
He rolled over onto his back with much difficulty, pulling the blanket over himself. His body had started to shiver. The worse of what the dragon could not heel was taking its effect on Vegeta, mainly that monstrous bruise in the middle of his back.
"Fucking Dragonballs." He whispered to himself, his arms wrapped tight around his rebelling stomach. "Can't do one god dammed thing right!"
He tossed around for a bit before falling into a fretful sleep. Sleep; where the demons could get him.
Scowling at the remains of Raditz's scouter on her desk top, she tried to contemplate any possible way she could make the bits and pieces work again. Her scowl deepened as she picked up a shattered microchip that used to be inside the bulky part that went over the wearer's ear. This technology was so strange to her. Even the little screen that went over the eye was made from a substance she'd never seen. Before she'd started her closer examination of the object, she had assumed the screen was made of glass. But now that she thought about it, that hypothesis was completely ignorant since just plain glass couldn't display objects like this strange mineral could. Glass wouldn't be able to handle the heat intensity that the scouter seemed capable of producing when it displayed information. The type of substance she was seeing now was closer to liquid crystal.
Sighing, she lounged back in her chair, her fingers coming up to run themselves through her turquoise locks. Two whole days since Vegeta had given her the idea of a device that could teach someone a foreign language in just a few hours, and Bulma had close to nothing done. The project was frustrating her to no end. Grabbing her empty coffee cup she glanced at the clock -4:32 AM it read- and padded out the door of her lab and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen just in time to see her father pouring his own cup of coffee. He turned and smiled at his only daughter.
"Good morning, princess."
She smiled back, "Morning Daddy."
"Any luck with that scouter?"
Bulma sighed. She seemed to be sighing an awful lot lately. "No. The thing is just so.....alien! I can't even figure out how to put it back together without the original blue prints."
Dr. Briefs nodded, drinking his coffee. "Is there any one on this planet that could help you with it?" There was a hint in his voice that Bulma didn't catch.
"The only one who could possibly know anything about it, I don't even want to get involved with." She turned to look straight at her father. "You know he almost killed me and Krillin for our Dragonball on Namek? He's dangerous Daddy. I think its best we just keep our eyes on the tabloids and, unless something weird comes up, leave him to himself." She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully for a minute. "He was kinda cute though....."
Dr. Briefs smiled to himself. He hoped to meet this Vegeta fellow Bulma talked non-stop about one day. To him, the prince sounded like a lost alien, who just needed a home and someone to care about him. The way Bulma talked about the saiya-jin, he sounded a lot like the scientist's own daughter. Arrogant, stubborn, and with an ego as big as the earth itself the pair seemed perfect for each other. The fact that he was an alien and a murderer didn't faze the old man in the least. Of course, half of Bulma's friends were some kind of thief or plunderer or murderer or alien of all different backgrounds, so to think that his daughter was attracted to Vegeta seemed almost natural. He just wished Bulma would find a man and settle down with him. Vegeta seemed like the perfect bachelor. Although, the task of getting the two together would be a difficult one. Hell, just finding the saiya-jin wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Bulma noticed her father staring in to thin air, a smile placed on his lips. She smiled, dismissing the look as a sudden idea for a new invention. 'I hope he comes up with something new.' She thought as she crept back upstairs and to her room where she collapsed with a groan on her bed. 'I need something to worry about besides what that homicidal saiya-jin is doing, and a scouter that no one can figure out.'