Piccolo sat back down with a huff and I could feel his eyes on me. What the hell do I do now?! Feign sleep! Yes, that's what I'll do! And we are feigning in 3... 2...

"TA?"

"Yeah?" Shit... So much for feigning sleep...

"You know I can't stay here."

I sighed, "I know."

"Besides... I'm not what you're looking for..."

There was a dull thud and Piccolo cursed. What the heck?

"Fuck you, Jay-chan!" the demon lord snarled. "Don't throw your fucking stuffed crap animals at me!"

"You deserve it. Someone as stupid as you deserves to have rocks thrown at him, so consider yourself lucky, punk."

Don't even ask me where she gets her courage. Yeesh.

"I'M NOT STAYING, PERIOD! I'M GOING HOME AND I'LL NEVER HAVE TO SEE EITHER OF YOU IDIOTS EVER AGAIN!" Piccolo stormed out of the room.

I sighed and settled deep into the blankets around me. Jay-chan was silent for all of three seconds.

"What are you still doing here, Tiffy?!"

"Wha?"

"Go after him! He's alone downstairs..."

Realization suddenly dawned on me. "Oh my God, you little schemer!"

"You'll be worshiping me as your god and savior if you'll only get your butt downstairs."

I scrambled out of bed and made my way down the stairs leading to Jay-chan's living room. Sure enough, the large silhouette of a certain Namek could easily be made out in the dark.

"Hey Piccolo..." I whispered, feeling my way to the nearest place to sit. Piccolo's hands closed over mine and drew me near the longer of the two couches.

"You have really poor night vision, you know."

"Yeah yeah yeah..." My skin tingled even after he'd pulled his hands away from mine. "Sorry about Jay-chan... I think she's just upset that you're leaving so soon..."

"Yeah..."

I continued, "I mean, you guys are such good friends and I know she really cares about those she considers her pals; so, it's totally understandable that she'd give you a hard time for leaving all of a sudden..."

"Yeah..."

"So don't take anything she says too seriously. She's just bitter. I'm sure she'll be cool in the morning and then we'll all say our good-byes and you can go home. Plus, I still have that story to write for you! A promise is a promise, you know!" I gave him my best fake smile.

"Yeah..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"TA..." Piccolo took a deep breath. "Do you have feelings for me?"

I twisted my fingers into a fleshy knot. "What do you mean by feelings?"

"Like, I dunno... Dammit... Just how deeply do you feel for me anyway? Jay-chan makes it sound like some huge deal."

I lowered my head. "Yeah, she does... but... that's because it kinda is... I've already told you that I care about you, Piccolo, but maybe I wasn't all that clear... I care about you so much that I'd end a relationship with someone I've known for twice the amount of time that I've known you. I'd do even more than that if you ever asked me to. I'd go to your world and help beat up bad guys even!" I grinned in the blackness.

I heard Piccolo chuckle, "Help beat up the bad guys in my world? So then I guess that entails you dying for me, huh?"

"Hey! Who says I'd die?" I pouted. "I remember giving your nose quite the beating not so long ago!"

"... Well, there's always the dragon balls..." he continued to mock me.

"HEY!"

Piccolo chuckled, "Kidding..."

There was a pause and I continued. "But seriously, I really wish you'd stay here, Piccolo. I'd feel better knowing you were safe and maybe even happy. I know you love Gohan as though he were your own flesh and blood, but Jay-chan does have a point... What's gunna happen when he gets married? And who knows, maybe he could visit you here by wishing on the dragon balls! Or maybe Goku will come up with a way to dimension hop without creating a bridge thingy!---"

"You really want me to stay that badly, kid?"

"...Yeah... I do. I think we could learn to get along... and..." I scooted closer to him and noticed that he didn't move away. "I'd do my best to please you. I won't tell anyone about you, if you'd prefer to live in this world secretly..." I leaned over and wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my face into his shirtfront. His muscles stiffened against my cheek. "It's safer here. You'd be happy and isn't that what Gohan has wanted for you ever since you first met him? Honestly, have you ever been happy, Piccolo?" I drew my body closer to his, gazing up into his face even though the shadows of the night hid his expression from me.

"I'm not sure if I can even experience happiness... My father---"

I placed a hand over his mouth, my face only inches from his. "I know about your father, Piccolo. I know what he did to you. But all evidence proves that you aren't a carbon copy of him. You've had different experiences from his. I mean, did your father ever smile in a way that wasn't evil in some form or another?"

I barely caught a glimpse of the corner of Piccolo's mouth tugging upward, "No."

"See!" I poked the left corner of his mouth. "You can smile! You can be happy!"

"TA, don't touch my face." I felt him try to pull away and I straddled his lap, grasping his face with both of my hands.

"Tough, I'm gunna show you that you are capable of being happy!" I jammed both of my pointer fingers into the insides of the demon's mouth and yanked them upward. I grinned at him. "See! Now that's a smile! Don't you feel happy?"

"Ah feel lak an idiot... Wha da fuck ah you doin' to ma face?"

I fell off of him and curled into a ball on the floor, laughing.

"I see that amuses you. Well, see how YOU like it!" I heard him growl playfully and, before I could scramble away, the Namek had thrown himself on top of me, pinning me beneath his massive body. I thrashed my head from side to side, as his hands neared my face.

"You're gunna gouge my gums with those claws of yours! Don't touch me! I'll scream 'rape'!"

"Go ahead and try!" Piccolo chuckled before jamming his fingers into my mouth and pulling my lips in opposite directions.

I tried to glare at him but failed as I imagined that I looked anything but threatening at that point.

"I thought you were gunna scream. What's wrong, TA?" he teased.

"....wape...."

I heard him chuckling softly.

"Yo hutting ma face..."

Piccolo pulled his fingers away. "Sorry..." he muttered sheepishly.

I felt his weight shift on top of me as he prepared to get up. My right hand shot forward suddenly when he transferred his weight to his right side. He froze when my fingers touched the cool skin on his face. Almost involuntarily, my fingers grasped at the flesh of his cheek and drew him nearer to me. His jaw clenched and unclenched as his face came closer to mine. I could feel the thick cords in his neck strain as he slowly surrendered to my silent command. What I was commanding him to do exactly was beyond me, my body had taken total control and I was the fascinated witness to its power over the man above me. My hand loosened its grip once I could feel Piccolo's warm, moist breath on my face. I heard him swallow.

"TA... You don't want to do this..."

I raised my head and pressed my lips to his, effectively silencing him. A searing heat washed over my entire body; I heard him gasp and felt him pull away, but then he stopped. Our lips were mere millimeters apart, our breath coming out in unison. Hot and heavy. I pressed forward again, massaging his lips with my own. A low rumble resounded in the depths of Piccolo's throat and I wrapped my arms around his thick neck.

Piccolo's arm slipped under my back and reached around to cup the back of my head, holding me against his mouth. The trance wore off and I felt him respond ever so slightly, his lips pressing against mine every so often.

Piccolo shifted his weight to his other arm, leaning on it so that he wasn't crushing my body. My hand traveled from his face to his long, tapered ear and traced a nail along its length. The demon hissed and pulled away from our kiss.

"Are you okay, Pic?" Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Yeah," he breathed heavily, quickly scrambling off of my body and sitting himself back down on the couch. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

I waited a few moments before getting up and walking over to him. "I'm sorry... I never meant to upset---"

"No, that's not it, TA. That's not it at all. I... I'm just not... well... I've never done that before... so..." I heard him snort, apparently annoyed with himself.

I sat down next to him. "That's okay. If you don't mind me saying so... you're not bad for a first timer."

I heard him chuckle. "Right..."

A yawn escaped my mouth. "Whew... Sorry. Mind if I use you as a pillow, Piccolo?"

He was silent for a moment. "Sure, but the minute Jay-chan wakes up, you're on the floor, got it?"

I smiled as I settled my head in his lap. "No prob."