"ALEX!" Gohan shouted as he pulled up his shorts and turned around fighting a blush, "WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!"
Alex fell onto the bed, clutching his sides. Tears of amusement leaking from his eyes as he rolled around Gohan's bed., laughing hysterically.
After several moments, Alex finally regained enough control of himself to answer the angry demi-Sayian.
"It's only a joke...," he trailed off into more laughter but was able to ask, "Shy?" before his amusement overtook his body once again.
"NO! It's just...You!...Oh, Never mind! Come On!" Gohan yelled, grabbing hold of Alex's shirt with his right hand and his sword with the left before shooting out of the small window, barely giving Alex time to grab his own sword.
Several moments passed as they soared through the sky, most of which was needed for Alex to fully register what had happened. He didn't even know when the younger teen's arms had snaked their way around his waist and chest; holding his body securely against the younger boy's. Alex could feel Gohan's powerful chest shift slightly as he changed his grip. He felt awful for pantsing his friend earlier but Gohan hadn't seemed like the shy type, but the unknown savior's reaction proved different.
"Well, shit! I better apologize."
"Gohan?" Alex shouted over the wind rushing by them.
"Gohan!" He shouted again when he didn't get an answer.
Suddenly Gohan dived straight down.
"I really don't feel like becoming shish-cabob!" Alex made a feeble attempt at a joke, but the other teen wasn't stopping their descent.
"Gohaaaaan!" Alex screamed as the entered the tree canopy, small branches tearing at his clothing and exposed skin.
Just before they both hit the ground; they stopped and turned so that their feet would be on the ground instead of their heads. The instant Alex's feet touched the ground, Gohan let him go. The older teen spun and fell, landing hard on his back-side. The former asassian's balance off due to his terror stricken state.
Alex stared up at his friend with wide eyes, his sword laying a few feet to his left; where it had landed when he fell.
"What? It was only a joke." Gohan said, echoing the older boy's earlier words.
"THAT was NOT FUNNY!" Alex shouted, jumping to his feet.
"Neither was you pantsin' me." Gohan said seriously.
Alex backed away a few steps and sat down on a old moss covered log; an odd looking mushroom covered a small portion of its backside. A few moments later Gohan sat down beside him. The sunlight filtered through the thick canopy they had just came crashing through, creating small pools of light where it could get through the leaves. The smell of fresh dirt hung in the air and a warm breeze swept through the ancient trees that surrounded the pair. Alex could hear a chipmunk nearby and the faint sound of running water somewhere off to his left.
With a large sigh Alex said, "Am sorry for pantsing you...It's just that you looked so sad when you climbed into your room. I was hoping to cheer ya up some."
The aplogy and explaination brought a instant reaction from the younger boy.
"You have nothing to aplogize for. Am the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have acted like that; you were only trying to bring a little light into this dark time."
"Hey! It's alright." Alex said, throwing his arms around the younger teen in a hug which Gohan returned. Alex's tail, acting on its own accord, snaked itself around the younger teen's waist in a unconscious show of affection. When the two separated a several moments later, Alex left an arm slung around the slightly smaller boy's shoulders and said, "Don't have to get all dramatic on me! With all the light and dark metaphotic shit!"
Gohan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and said, "Ya know if anybody saw us like this what they'd think, don't ya?"
Alex gave a small smile but didn't comment nor did he remove his arm.
The only sounds to be heard for a few moments was the insistent chipmunk and the sound of the unseen stream off to the boys' left.
"Um...Alex? Your tail's around my waist." Gohan informed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Your tail is around mine." Alex said, causing Gohan to blush and jump up; quickly wrapping the offending appendage back around his waist.
"Alright, lets go!" Gohan said quickly.
"There's something he's not telling me..." Alex thought to himself but raised to his feet anyway and retrieved his sword.
Gohan had already strapped his sword onto his back. He wrapped his arms around Alex and took off; doing his best of avoid the tree branches.
About halfway back to Capsule Corp. Alex noticed Gohan's tail had snaked its way around his waist. He didn't say anything.
"Alex, you gotta to learn to fly!" Gohan shouted over the wind.
"I haven't exactly had a chance to!" Alex shouted back, defending his lack of the essential skill.
"True." Gohan agreed. The wind was becoming annoying. Fast.
Thankfully, the newly dubbed Satan City appeared on the horizon. Both boys thought it best to wait until they arrived at their destination instead of trying to shout over the wind.
When the duo landed, Vegeta was waiting for them at the door to his gravity room.
The Prince's strange behavior didn't go unnoticed by Gohan, but he didn't comment on it. Even Alex thought it out of character for Vegeta to wait on anyone, much less to wait on two teenage boys.
As the two boys landed, Vegeta's sharp eyes caught something that the boys weren't aware of; their tails were wrapped around each others waist. When they separated, their tails slipped off of the others waist to hang low, sweeping from side to side as they walked up to the prince.
"What took you so long?" Vegeta questioned, unfolding his arms.
"We stopped in the woo- AAAAHHHH!" Gohan was cut off as twin screams of pain filled the warm air. Vegeta had reached out and grabbed both boys' tail in each hand.
"Do NOT leave your tails unguarded! Now wrap them around your waist!" Vegeta yelled, letting go of the furry appendages, causing both boys to collapse onto the ground.
"NOW!" The prince yelled again when the boys didn't wrap their tails around their waists.
Gohan jumped to his feet, still gasping for breath but wrapped his tail quickly around his waist.
"Vegeta, that was uncalled for!" The young super-sayian yelled.
"SILENCE! Boy, get up!" Vegeta yelled, commanding Alex to get back onto his feet.
The teen obeyed, making sure his tail was wrapped securely around his waist.
"Your tail is your weak spot. You know this, Gohan. We will cure this problem, but first let me look at your sword boy." Vegeta said, holding his hand out to Alex.
The newly discovered Sayian glanced quickly over at Gohan, who nodded his head, before quickly handing Vegeta his sword.
Vegeta drew the weapon from its sheath with a grace that proved that he wasn't a stranger to the blade. After carefully inspecting a portion of the blade just before the hilt, the prince put the sword back into its sheath and handed it back to Alex who drew the sword just enough to show the portion of the blade that Vegeta had just inspected.
"That is the crest of the Royal family of Vegeta-sei. Your grandfathers name is Vertin." The prince informed the two boys.
"How do you know that?" Alex questioned, suddenly tense.
"Vertin was the last in a line of swordsmiths who crafted swords for the royal family. He was exiled from Vegeta-sei shortly before my father took the throne." Vegeta answered.
"Well, that explains Alex's heritage." Gohan said, inspecting his own sword.
"Mine has a different crest."
"Look on the other side." Vegeta responded. Gohan did as Vegeta said.
"There it is! What does the other one mean?" Gohan asked, hungry to learn about a part of his heritage.
"It's Vertins crest." The prince answered.
"Enough! Boy, gravity room!" Vegeta commanded suddenly, turning to his gravity room.
"What? Me?" Alex questioned, surprised that a man he hardly knew would order him around like that.
"Yes! You," Vegeta shouted, the door to the gravity room opening, "Leave your sword with Gohan, he'll put it into your room." with that, the prince disappeared into the gravity room.
"I don't think he likes me." Alex stated, holding his sword out to Gohan.
The younger teen was in shock.
"Vegeta was actually going to let someone into his gravity room when he trained! Hell, he may even train Alex! This is unbelievable!"
"Gohan! Hey!" Alex shouted, giving his friend a shove.
"Uh? What?" Gohan responded as if he was just waking up.
"He isn't going to beat me to a bloody pulp, is he?" Alex questioned his friend, only half joking.
"BOY! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE, NOW!" Vegeta's angry voice came from the open doorway.
"He will if you don't go in there!" Gohan said quickly, taking Alex's sword and pushing through the doorway of the gravity room. As soon as Alex was through the door, it shut. Gohan could here the lock clicking into place, making sure that the two would not be disturbed.
Gohan collapsed right there, turning around so his back would press against the wall of the gravity room. It couldn't have been later than two in the afternoon, the sun was almost directly over head but Gohan felt as if he had been up for days; instead of just a few hours. The warrior thought of his mother; the way she would fuss over his hair and his lack of interest in school work. Oh! He would give anything to just hug her one last time; to tell her how much he loved her. A tear made a trail down his cheek, then another and another; soon forming a river of grief down his young face. The young Sayian put his head into his hands, the beauty of the day lost to him.
Then a thought passed through his mind.
"Goten will be waking up now, if he hasn't already...I need to take care of him."
With this, Gohan dried his tears, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands and picked up the two discarded swords that lay beside him. He headed back into the main Capsule Corp. building, intent on putting Goten before himself.
I would like to apologize, my internet went out. Fooled ya'll, didn't I? Why would Alex attack Gohan for anyway?