It was difficult to surprise or startle Android 18. Hell, some would say it was downright impossible. On average, she reacted to jump scares or bizarre things with the same reaction other people would have when watching a cat walk down the street; indifferent interest. Eighteen didn't really know why that was the case, she just wasn't easy to scare with anything unrelated to her family's wellbeing or the world blowing up. Hell, back in her rowdier days, she once kicked a haunted house actor in the 'special area' for shits and giggles. For whatever reason, the augmented human isn't surprised by much of anything.

(Heh, me and Seventeen got banned from that place for life. Still worth it, though.) The blonde quietly laughed to herself.

Now, her husband, Krillin? He was pretty much the opposite story and it was a part of him that made the man charming in his own way. He's risked life and limb so many times throughout his life that most others in his situation would've grown numb to being startled by sillier things and yet he's almost always the nervous one when he and Eighteen watch horror movies together. He's got some scars that a veteran Yakuza thug would balk at and yet he's a lovable goofball who's managed to build a life for himself that's nothing short of wholesome.

He's also often on the receiving of some truly, truly bizarre situations, but given the life the couple have led thus far, bizarre to most people is to be expected for them.

And yet today, the moment Krillin walks through the front door, cup of coffee in hand, has to be the most confusing split-second Eighteen has ever had in her life. If her perception weren't as sharp as it was now or if Krillin had done a better job at hiding it, she probably wouldn't have noticed the new long, brown, fuzzy tail sticking out from behind him, flicking about softly. But she did and now she had about a million different questions to ask her husband, such as…

"Krillin, what the hell is that!?"

The shorter man looked over to his wife with wide eyes, taken completely by surprise. He didn't realize she was still at home when he walked through the door. Trying to think of an excuse, he looked over to the drink he held onto…

"Uh…a coffee," It wasn't fooling anyone.

"I'm not talking about the coffee, dummy! That tail! Where the hell did that tail come from?!" Eighteen countered, pointing a sharp finger to the shifting appendage behind him.

The shorter man gulped before turning his head away in embarrassment. A light flush was beginning to creep onto his cheeks.

"A-Ah, that. It's…a weird story. I dunno if you'd understand…"

"Krillin, babe. You left the house this morning looking normal as ever and now you come back with a tail coming out your butt. I wouldn't understand if I didn't get an explanation."

"I-It's not coming out my butt! That's not how tails work!" Krillin stammered out in a fluster. Eighteen just stared back with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, how does it work then?"

"Um, w-well…It's something Bulma made for Vegeta."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain what it is or why you're wearing it instead of him."

"…" The embarrassment on Krillin's face via the blush was growing more apparent.
"Well, let's sit down first. I told you it's gonna be a weird story." He said, pointing to the living room couch behind them. Eighteen sighed.

"Alright then," She said as she followed the direction. Before entering the room, the blonde turned back to her husband.
"Hey, don't be hesitant to talk about it, alright? I'm not gonna be bothered if it's weird. It's Bulma, after all."

Krillin nodded. "Alright…"

Yesterday, before I got off work, I got this call from Bulma. She asked me if I could help her out with something and, being our friend, I said "Sure." I thought that maybe she needed help with something more 'manual-labor' oriented since there's a new section of Capsule Corp. being built right now. But when I got there, I got dragged down to her lab instead. She straight up just put the tail in my hands and told me to put it on like it was no big deal.

I'm going to be real with you, I would have laughed my ass off if I came with you and saw that.

It gets worse, believe it or not. When I asked her what the hell it was or how to put it on, she just took it and jabbed it above my butt!

Pfft…!

It sounds funny to you, but that shit H U R T. It was like getting stabbed by a cookie cutter with teeth glued on the end! And don't get me started on whatever was moving around inside it, Bulma barely even told me why it did that!

Then what did she tell you?

All she said was that it was a prosthesis she wanted to give to Vegeta as a surprise gift, since Saiyans are supposed to have tails and all.

Okay, but why did she test it on you and not Goku or something?

For secrecy, I guess. Those guys spar all the time and Goku doesn't have the best track record in keeping secrets. I guess to her, I was the next best option.

Still, I don't see why testing it on you, a human, is going to tell her if it will work on Vegeta, a Saiyan. That's like testing medicine on a rat and thinking what happens with it will carry over to humans.

Well, that's Bulma for ya. She's brilliant, but she doesn't always think this stuff through. Hell, Goku once told me about when she couldn't decide between asking Shenron for a boyfriend or a lifetime supply of strawberries!

Anyways, after that crap, she had me do all these tasks to see if the tail would work properly. I guess a Saiyan's tail is pretty strong because most of the tasks involved lifting a bunch of heavy stuff. This thing is like a third hand or something!

Okay, so you did all that stuff for her and that was the end of it, right? So why do you still have that tail on you?

That's the problem, Eighteen. The thing was supposed to come off when you held it a certain way and pulled. But no matter how much I or Bulma pulled, it wouldn't come off. Now I know how Goku felt about it when we were kids because it hurt like hell.
Now I'm stuck with this thing while she figures out how to get it off and this is where we are now.

"Heh…It's definitely a funny story, that's for sure," Eighteen laughed softly. Krillin, on the other hand, did not share her amusement.

"You try getting stuck with this thing and it won't be funny anymore," He grumbled as he pointed to the furry appendage, flicking about absentmindedly on his lap. It was a fascinating little thing; Eighteen never got to see any of the Saiyans when they had their tails, but the thing was certainly convincing enough.

"So…I'm guessing that it's pretty similar to how you saw it on Goku?"

Krillin nodded. "Totally. Goku used that thing for everything before it got ripped off for good and I mean everything. We went fishing together once as kids and we only had one pole, so he literally just tied some bait to the end and dipped it in the water."

Eighteen's eyes widened a bit. "Did it really work?!"

"Yeah! He even caught more fish that way than I did with the pole!"

"Damn. But if this thing is so useful, why did you act all nervous about it?"

"Are you kidding me?" The short man uttered in disbelief. "I've got a freakin' monkey tail, babe! How the heck am I gonna explain that to my coworkers? Hell, how do we explain that to Marron when she gets home?"

The blonde shrugged back. "Tell them it's a prop for your Halloween costume."

"Halloween was last week."

"Well, I dunno then. Hide it below your pants or something."

"I mean, if you like seeing me in high-waisted pants then go ahead."

Krillin. In high-waisted pants. Wearing a shirt that is anything but a loose, poofy-sleeved v-neck.

"Yeah, never mind. I've got nothing, babe."

Krillin let out small chuckle. "It's fine, hon. I might figure something out yet." As he said that, the tail slowly swished upwards in response. This piqued his wife's interest, to say the least, as well as brought up another question in her mind.

"So, do you have full control over this thing then?"

The ex-monk hummed for a second, the tail's tip also flicking back and forth as though it were in thought as well.
"Um, kinda? I could use it fine when Bulma was testing it. It's when I'm not using it that it just sorta does its own thing."

"I see…" Eighteen hummed back. The tail was still making her think; Saiyans were supposed to be like strong, humanoid aliens that turned into huge ape/monkey/things, right? Yet the more she observed the emotive attachment, the more it reminded her of a cat's tail than that of a primate's.

Without really thinking about it, she reached her hand out to touch the end of it…

She had barely grazed it with her fingers before it quickly pulled back, moving to the other side of its temporary owner's waist.

(Huh? Why did it just-?) As soon as she tried to form that question, Eighteen looked over to her husband; more specifically, his face. The blond was able to notice a bright red blush suddenly form across Krillin's cheeks before he quickly turned his head away. Even so, she could see that nervous expression was coming back in full force.

"Babe? Is something wrong?"

"U-Um…" The man in question hesitated a bit. "S-Sorry about that. The tail is a bit, ah…sensitive."

"Sensitive? You can actually feel through that thing?"

"Y-Yeah, but it's really…er, how would I describe it?" Krillin looked down at his lap in thought.
"It's like that feeling when someone touches the palm of your hand, but it's amped up a lot."

Huh, intriguing…

"Is it…an uncomfortable feeling for you?" Eighteen asked with cautious interest.

The short man shook his head slowly, the blush still persisting on his skin. "It's not a bad feeling, not really. It's just a lot to take in when you aren't expecting it…"

And that was it. That was when an idea struck Eighteen.

"I see." She simply said before getting up from the couch. Krillin looked to her with a confused expression.

"Huh? What is it?"

The blonde beauty just smiled back before giving her husband a quick peck on the cheek.

"Come upstairs with me. I want to try something if you're down with that."

"Try something? Upstairs?" Krillin repeated in a questioning tone. Eighteen only nodded as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"If you don't like it, just tell me. But I want to…explore an idea, let's just say."

That was all she had to say before Krillin's blush downgraded from a bright red to fucking crimson. Did I say downgrade? I meant upgrade.

"Lead the way then, ma'am."