Disclaimer: Violence, language, smut implications, hormones, and an erection.
Chapter 14
A Drop in Pressure
"Speech" 'Telepathy' Thought "Dream"
She had pondered over Nail's remark the rest of the day and into the next, managing to float with the possibility of seduction close at hand. After washing her face and stretching for the day, she became so engrossed in her thoughts and plans that she didn't hear Piccolo sneak back into the small palace and barricade himself in the only room of privacy available in the endless void. After snapping out of her daydreaming stupor and tactical planning, she hopped off her bed and went towards the dresser by the doorway.
Scrounging through her dresser drawers, Sofia bit her lip as she continued to come up short on the outfit she wanted to wear for the day.
"Grrr, maybe a halter top and low-ride jeans?" she pondered out loud as she pulled the top out. "Nah!" she tossed the top back into the drawer and sifted through to the bottom of the pile. Finally annoyed, she slammed the drawer shut and tapped her bare foot impatiently, glaring at the dresser.
She huffed and decided to improvise. Snapping her fingers, she materialized a pair of low-ride blue jeans with shreds at the knees and along her upper thighs, with a tight t-shirt that hugged her bust snugly. She finished the outfit off with a pair of black combat boots with the hem of the jeans tucked into the boot. She tisked, then snapped her fingers and added a defined heel to the boots and tucked her necklace into the shirt so it silhouetted above the scribbled writing along her bust line. Brushing her hair and putting some red lipstick on, Sofia flashed herself a wicked smile in her compact mirror before returning it to her backpack.
"Operation: SMUT will now commence!" She chuckled smugly as she tossed her hair back and strutted through the dimensional line of her doorway, feeling a twinge of air flicker across her skin.
I don't want to train her today…maybe if I stay in here, she'll leave me alone…or maybe I can force myself back to asexuality…
'Or maybe you can give up and ravish her like you're eager to,' Nail chimed aloofly into his thoughts.
Sitting in the lotus position on the floor of the bathroom, Piccolo glared at the tiled wall across from him with a murderous sulk. He tried ignoring his counterpart's statement. Feeling a sense of bewilderment at the anxiety of being around Sofia was stress enough for him at the moment.
'It isn't such a horrible thing to be attracted to her physically, Piccolo. You two have bonded—in your own ways; attraction is only natural,' Nail interjected more affably, not wanting to spurn Piccolo into a callous mope towards him or Sofia.
'…I guess you know a lot about natural attraction, huh,' he grumbled telepathically, his scowl darkening as he glared holes into the tiled wall.
Nail grunted in confusion. 'What do you mean? The little I know about sexual matters and such I learned from Kami-sama—'
'I believe you said you took advantage when I didn't. Why would I want to horn in on you two, seeing as you were so attached to each other yesterday,' Piccolo interrupted, and ended up trailing off with surliness in his tone.
'…' Nail was incredulous of what he just heard. 'Piccolo, are you jealous?' he couldn't help let the interested amusement leak into his tone.
Blinking at the wall, Piccolo snapped his eyes into narrowed slits of agitation as he barked, 'Jealousy would mean I harbor envy, which I don't! You and Sofia spent two hours doing Kami knows what with each other—and frankly I don't want to hear anymore about it! Shut up! You're giving me a headache.'
A pause wrung, and Piccolo thought he had finally gotten the last word. '…All we did for the entirety of that time was talk about you,' Piccolo's shoulders stiffened and his jaw went slack. 'While most of it was in jest, it doesn't change the fact that you are the only Namek she's interested in. I am not saying that I am jealous of that, nor do I resent it. I am only pointing out that if you wanted to make the argument of her being attracted to anyone else also a Namek, she didn't exhibit that with me,' Nail rebuffed matter-of-factly.
Piccolo chewed on the inside of his cheek, crossing his arms and bowing his head. 'You two could've fooled me,' was his stoic reply. He stood and stretched his back, his surliness diminishing slightly as he contemplated to himself. Thinking back on all the times she kissed him, of their tense moments, and finally of the encounter they had not even a week prior, he compared them to the flirtatious show she put on with Nail the day before, and couldn't help still feel a twinge of displeasure.
Already frowning, Piccolo was back in his dark demeanor when Nail chimed, 'She and I are merely companionable friends. Our flirtations were merely in jest; we harbor no sensual feelings for each other that do not go beyond amiable affection.'
'Nail. I don't care. Stop talking about this. It's a topic I have no interest in,' he growled snidely as he composed his expression into his stoic mask. He knew he couldn't get out of dealing with her without losing face, and he already needed to repair his unalterable credibility, seeing as he hadn't left the sanctuary of the bathroom since he huffily shut himself in more than an hour ago.
Realizing he wasn't going to get through his thick-headed counterpart, Nail sighed. 'Fine. Keep telling yourself that, Piccolo. Maybe you'll actually start to believe it,' he remarked dispassionately and went silent.
Piccolo set his jaw, and quickly brushed Nail's comment away as he opened the sliding door and stepped into the main room, where his gaze fell directly on the curvaceous backside that moved sinuously about as Sofia stretched and warmed up with a combination of sensual contortions and calisthenics. Staring intensely, he stood rooted in his spot until Sofia bent down and grabbed her ankles before looking at him upside down.
Blinking at him, she slowly smiled coolly as she curved back up unhurriedly, tossing her long hair back and making sure her hips sauntered sensually as she turned to face him. The next feature he noticed were her luscious red lips.
"Long night?" she purred covertly, stretching her arms and letting her tight shirt ride up her lithe stomach.
Gulping, Piccolo diverted his searing gaze away from her. "We're continuing ki manipulation today," he stated apathetically and strode past her towards the few steps leading out onto the void floor.
Putting her hands on her hips, she slightly pouted. Playing hardball, I see… she tisked to herself and tossed her hair back. Of course she knew her operation was going to encounter severe resistance from her target, but she really wished he would just whisk her up into his arms and ravish her passionately, saving her all the vixen tricks. Sighing, she followed his lead into the void.
Meanwhile, Piccolo clenched and unclenched his jaw, wondering what had gotten into her. Is she trying to seduce me? He rumbled in his mind, his features tensing in a scowl. Shaking his head, he decided to stop himself from pondering the answer and halted in his stride. I think it's time to keep her on her toes…
Sofia stopped when he did, then immediately went on the defensive when she sensed his ki increase. Swatting the energy sphere away from her, she flipped out of the way and went into her stance, just as Piccolo took his casual cross-armed stance.
"Good reflex. Now we need to talk about you developing your own attack," Piccolo stated in an almost business-casual tone.
Sofia's features tensed, not sure whether to fall out of stance or not. "You mean like my own signature move?" she inquired as she cautiously fell out of her stance. When Piccolo gave a curt nod, she cut the distance between them and stood before him, her eyes wavering with exuberance.
Piccolo scowled down at what he called her 'googlely look', when his gaze was attracted to the writing of her shirt. Written in fine print along her bust line, the message was hard to read, so he focused his curious-but-intense gaze on her bust. 'Objects under shirt are larger than they appear.' He read in his mind, quirking a brow in confusion. What is that supposed to mean…?
Smirking broadly at his invasive stare, Sofia put her hands on her hips and stuck her chest out as she provocatively mused, "If you wanna take a closer look just ask, sensei."
Piccolo grunted and cocked his head to the side, then it slowly dawned on him. His cheeks took on a slight tint. "Why in the nine hells do you have to advertise about your breasts being bigger than they look?! Are you that starved for attention?" he snapped spitefully, only earning an impish grin from Sofia.
"I always quench my need for attention when you look at me with that alluring glare of yours, Piccolo," she purred in a sultry tone, stepping close and pressing her hands and forearms against his solid frame. Piccolo flinched slightly at the physical contact and froze when she brushed her delectable red lips against his boyish ones. When he opened his eyes to blink at her, Sofia threw her arms around his neck and clung to him. "Pounce on some green is what I need. Would you like to entice me? It won't take too much trying," she mused coolly.
Piccolo was awestruck by how her brazenness leapt and bounded when it came to flirting with him. His mind betrayed him, flashing to their heated session of the week before. Detaching her from his neck, it took Piccolo all his brooding willpower to scowl darkly at her. "Don't let your lust drop your guard, kid," he said contemptuously before shoving her back a few paces with a palm hit to the abdomen.
The hit momentarily knocked the wind out of her, but she managed to prevent herself from stumbling to the ground. I guess flirting is out the window! She snarled, trying not to lose her temper and retaliate against him.
Piccolo caught the murderous glint in her eyes and figured that was better than having her fawn over him all damned day. "Just for that, I changed my mind. You're stuck coming up with your attack," he paused when she sneered. "As a matter of fact, I don't know why I even bothered with you today," he stated in a snidely intrepid tone, and decided to use the turbulence as a way out of training her for the day.
As Piccolo went to brush pass her, Sofia shoved him by the arm. "Don't pull your high and mighty shit on me just cuz you can't deal with your dick, Piccolo," she spat derisively at him.
The anger jumped in Piccolo's throat as he turned to fully tower over her. In a flash, he took her by the jaw, forcing her mouth shut, and squeezed. "Don't tempt me, kid!" he snapped in her face. Sofia narrowed her eyes at him and focused all her control. Instantaneously, Piccolo was shoved back by an invisible force.
"Don't tempt you how!? You probably wouldn't even know what to do with me if I was naked and flailing in your fucking pants!" she barked and bared her fangs at him as she crouched into a defensive stance.
Blinking at her with tightened jaw, Piccolo quickly narrowed his eyes and scowled disdainfully at her. "That's it!"
Losing the last shred of their tempers, Piccolo and Sofia went at each other in a flurry of kicks, punches, grapples, curses, and growls. Strictly hand-to-hand, their fight raged and boiled into a series of hard-hitting moves.
Piccolo caught her fist and went to flip her on her back, but only succeeded in getting a heeled boot slammed against the side of his face when she countered the flip. Seeing stars from the hit, Piccolo swung around and skidded slightly, jerking his punch aimed to clip her side to instead jab her dead center in her left breast.
Sofia yelped in sharp pain and fell back on her rear, hissing and holding her injured chest. Piccolo wavered slightly before steadying himself. Snapping the dizziness away, he stood over Sofia who mewled in pain, her eyes clenched tightly shut.
He scowled and felt a cringing sense of concern shoot up his spine. "Dammit…are you okay, kid?" when she only huffed a shrilled complaint, Piccolo frowned. "C'mon, kid. Just get up and walk it off—"
Sofia's face scrunched from pain into rage as she shot a glare at him, cutting him off as she roared and punched him straight in the groin. Hard. His eyes shrunk to pin points and his yelp of pain caught in his throat as he crumbled to the ground next to her, cupping himself and wheezing through his clenched teeth. Both writhing in pain for a few moments, they groaned and bared their fangs at each other in weakened sneers of contempt.
Finally able to compose herself enough to speak, Sofia bit back her pain and focused her blazing glare at him as he clenched his eyes shut and set his jaw in a particular wave of stomach-turning pain. "Try walking that off, you fucker!" she seethed in a hiss and rubbed her breast tenderly. Piccolo let something close to a whimper slip out of his clenched jaw, earning a stern look from Sofia. Sighing, she gave him a few moments to come back from the blow to the faucet and knobs before empathically adding, "A blow to the boobs hurts me just as much as a blow to your junk does to you."
Piccolo's growl sounded muddled and choked as his dark eyes fixed deathly on her before he squirmed to turn on his opposite side. Sofia pouted, shuffling over to press her side against his back to look over his shoulder.
"Don't touch me."
She blinked at the murderous inflection his cool command held before pressing her still-throbbing chest against his back as she draped her upper body over his side. He was still cupping himself, huddled in the fetal position with his face turned to glare through the palace as she tried to silently coach him to look at her. Seeing how it was a moot task, she sighed and laid her head on his arm. He stiffened, and stayed that way as she mewled, "Piccolo?" He growled and shifted to nudge her away, but she clung to his side and sighed. "I'm sorry I punched your little Shenron and dragonballs so hard…I had no real provocation to retaliate so immaturely," she stated in a nonchalant sigh.
He grunted and dug his chin into his chest as she cuddled him suddenly. Sofia loved how pouty he got, and decided to tease him a bit. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"
With that, Piccolo glanced at her over his shoulder, and saw the flirty gleam in her eyes, and the crinkle of a smile in her features, a genuine smile. Here he was again; stuck between his all numbing sense of personal propriety and that smile that for some reason did more than a punch to the gut could.
Then, the answer came from his mouth faster than his brain could prevent it. "I'd prefer for you to just smile and shut up."
The blurted admittance was so candid and devoid of anger that it shocked both of them. Sofia stared blankly at him, and Piccolo diverted his gaze before sitting up and slightly wincing from the efforts. He slowly stood to his imposing height, submerging the aching of his bruised loins as he turned to look down at her over his shoulder.
"Your apology is under consideration, just as long as you never punch me like that again," he stated in a measured tone, his threat present in the end.
Sofia smiled again, but of course the smart-ass and sultry comment couldn't be ignored. "Well, I promise that if by any consequence it does happen, I'll pet your dragon until it feels better," she mused in a cool and sincere tone.
Piccolo's eye twitched and he gritted his teeth as he turned back around and walked off, waving his hand dismissively. Her smile broadening, Sofia followed him into the palace and watched as he slowly and carefully lowered into the lotus position next to the four-post bed in the main room.
She could no longer deny it; she was more than infatuated with the Namek. It was more than primal sexual attraction too, or his brooding bad boy exterior. She felt lightheaded around him; as if her whole being rose out of her and basked in a sense of contentment she had never tasted before.
The past several months had bled together into such a comfortable routine to her that she couldn't bear to think of having to return to whatever she had left behind in her own realm. Hell, she was dreading the day they would both have to leave the chamber and return to their prospective lives.
Of course she still had her purpose nagging her in the recesses of her mind. They had both entered into the present arrangement because they both sought clarity in their personal paths. She wasn't stupid or naïve; the twin star business was making it ridiculously obvious that Piccolo and she were tied together. As much as she wanted to rationalize her hopes away from flights of fancies, she couldn't ignore the blatantly obvious and probable.
Kyouran was her past life, and she had so many enemies it was impossible to assume who her murderer was, at least not in the present point in time. It was like a historical drama playing out in her sleep; so many characters, stories, and motives to sort through and keep in mind. She had no one to help her sort it out either, seeing how Piccolo was totally oblivious of her true purposes and his indirect involvement. Kami was no real help either….
"Kid. Stop zoning out. It's disturbing," Piccolo's snide comment snapped her out of her thoughts. She raised her brows at him before huffing nonchalantly and wandering towards the kitchen.
"What can I say, Piccolo. You do wonders for my imagination," she remarked in a sultry sigh before disappearing into the kitchen.
Piccolo grunted and crossed his arms tightly, bowing his head and pretending to meditate.
'She's baiting you for a reason, Piccolo.'
Piccolo inwardly rolled his eyes and grunted. 'She's probably trying to butter me up so I'll agree to split form with you again,' Piccolo grumpily remarked, earning a dismissive laugh from his counterpart.
'Or maybe she wants you to reciprocate her flirtations for once. The girl is infatuated with you, and you with her, so why not cast out a flirty remark; it would be nice to see the shock on her face,' Nail quipped affably.
'I'm not here to spew mushy perversions, Nail. I really don't want to encourage her anymore than I have to withstand her. Now, shut up and leave me alone,' he snapped with a twinge of aggravation in his stoic tone.
An exaggerated sigh was his response before he snapped his eyes open to glance at the cool bottle of water that was caressed along his cheekbone and jaw. "Do you need ice for your crotch?" Sofia asked as she held the water bottle away from his face before he snatched it and scowled up at her.
"Listen," he started before he stood up to loom over her, completely avoiding her question, "I am not seduceable. I will never be seduceable. So, you can put your hormones to rest." That stated, Piccolo walked past her before ripping off the top of the water bottle and taking a long gulp to drain it. He headed into the kitchen to discard the empty bottle and could feel her lean against the doorway behind him.
"Alright," she remarked too pleasantly for his tastes, causing him to turn around and stare intensely at her.
"Alright what?" he inquired in a skeptical tone as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.
"Since I can't hit on you anymore, I need intel on the other suitors I have the hots for," she replied simply.
Piccolo quirked a brow at her, keeping his expression unreadable as he grunted, "If I'm not willing to be your damned suitor, what makes you think I'm willing to be your matchmaker." He narrowed his gaze derisively at her.
"Well, I ask because you and Nail are sharing an apartment in your head, Green Bean," she remarked aloofly and shrugged her shoulders.
'Companionable friends, huh,' Piccolo grumbled telepathically to Nail.
Instead of the protest he expected, Nail simply chuckled, as if he knew something Piccolo didn't.
"…now who's zoning out," Piccolo caught the chide and snapped back to attention, focusing his icy glare at her.
"I really don't give a damn who you decide to hang all over, just as long as you keep me out of it," Piccolo barked haughtily at her, earning her to raise her brows and smirk slightly.
"Alright. Nail is off limits; I get it," she chuckled and crossed her arms, causing her tight shirt to ride up her stomach. "So you wouldn't mind if I flirted freely with, oh say, Vegeta?"
The flinch of something he had never experienced coursed up his arms. Her proposition was almost as if she had prodded him with electric current. His scowl pulled sharply into a frown as he muttered gruffly, "I find it highly unlikely the monkey will be able to hear you with his head so far up his own ass."
Sofia burst into peels of laughter, bracing herself against the doorway and holding her stomach as Piccolo frowned at her. She wiped a tear from her eye and bit her lip, trying to regain control.
"Are you done," he glowered gruffly.
She grinned at him. "Can you see me and Vegeta together? I mean, he's such a hot—"
"We're done here!" Piccolo growled as he pushed off the counter and went to bowl right past her, but Sofia stood her ground by grabbing hold of the doorway and barricading him in.
"Ok," she huffed and narrowed her gaze as she focused on his brooding features. "Honestly, Piccolo. Just one question, and I'll leave you alone," she offered complacently.
He narrowed his gaze and sneered. "Fine."
She nodded, leaned back against the doorway, and said, "Have you suffered from a case of blue balls lately?"
Piccolo's stern glare melted, leaving only a blank and blinking expression. What the hell is that?
'Nail, what the hell is that?' he quickly muttered.
'…I have no idea…' was his honest reply.
"…no?" was Piccolo's careful reply as he eyed her skeptically, wondering if she had actually made up such a medical term.
Her grin turned maniacal as she stood on her tip toes and slinked her arms around his neck. "Ah, well, if you wanna keep it like that you better ravish me before I rile you into the blue balls," she provocatively mumbled against his lips.
Piccolo was stunned, confused, and somehow enticed by the offer. Wait! He held her at an arms distance by the armpits and bore his ireful glare into her. "Are you that psychologically perverse that you would willingly want me to ra-rape you!? What the hell is wrong with you, kid!?" he barked at her before shoving her back into the main room.
She stumbled slightly before righting herself and returning his flaming stare. "Hey! In this situation it is NOT rape! It's surprise sex!" she snapped mockingly right back at him, adding, "and did I say rape? No! I said ravish! My god, Green Bean! Here I am throwing myself at you in the hopes you'll grow a pair and admit to being attracted to me, and you're fumbling over semantics when you clearly fail at grammar!"
"Will you get it through your lust-numbed skull that I am not attracted to you!" he bellowed at her, his brows arching over the rim of his turban. "Get your damned hormones under control and away from me or I'll put you through excruciating hell for as long as we're stuck together, do you understand me, kid!?" he barked in a sharp tone that raised his ki level.
Sofia stood in her unimpressed stance and quirked a defined brow at him. "The only hell you could possibly put me through is to start walking around stark-ass naked with your schlong hanging out for me to suffer massive blood loss and become anemic and crippled. Threats? Haven't we graduated from such mundane instigations, Green Bean?"
Piccolo clenched his fists, digging his white nails into his palms, his shoulderpads shaking under his boiling rage. "STOP CALLING ME THAT!" he roared at her, making her raise her brows in shock. "Stop-calling-me-that! I am sick of your juvenile and moronic name-calling, kid!" he ground between clenched jaw as his expression twitched from his efforts in keeping an apathetic semblance. "I am not a Green Bean, or a stud muffin, or an Adonis, or what ever other ridiculous and wanton names you've come up with and will ever come up with! Don't ever address me as any again, kid—!"
Tapping her foot and focusing her glare with every word, Sofia finally cut in, "Oh! So since we're on this topic I would like to say that I DETEST when you refer to me as kid! I am not a kid, a brat, a squirt, a girl, a 'hey you!' or any of the sorted little pet names you've come up for me, so let's make a deal. You stop calling me all that and I'll lay off with my affectionate terms for you, got it?" she tensely sneered at him.
Piccolo's lips pressed together and his jaw tightened from her tirade. Crossing his arms, he nodded stiffly in agreement. Sofia huffed, combing her fingers through her hair in impatience. They both stared tensely at each other before she sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"One more thing—"
"I am done counting your lewd bullshit," he cut in and brushed past her, causing her to whirl around and glare at him as he stalked towards the bathroom.
"Fine. Go sulk in the bathroom and glare at your crotch," she spat at his back, causing him to stop and turn around and menacingly stalk right back to loom over her.
"Sofia…" he ground out before managing to compose the rest of his tone. "Go ahead and hit on whoever you want. If you want, I'll split from Nail right now and you two can go frolic and mate and leave me in peace! I'm sure you two have enough pent up affection for each other, so screwing like animals should work out swimmingly for you both!" he berated with a façade of nonchalance as he contumely stared down at her.
Sofia's expression went blank and her eyes remained wide and focused on him as he turned from her and walked towards the bathroom.
She dug her nails into her palms and stalked right up to him and grabbed his hand. Piccolo jerked to a stop and looked down at her with his perpetual scowl. His hand stiffened, but did not pull away.
"That's not what I want…"
Piccolo's scowl diminished, but did not disappear as he said, "What?"
Sofia defiantly looked into his onyx eyes and said tight-lipped, "That's not what I want."
Finally pulling his hand from hers, he leaned into her face and said cynically, "You could've fooled me." With that, he turned away from her dismissively.
Setting her jaw, she felt her pulse throb in her veins at how cold he was being. All she'd been able to think about for the last week was him; his lips, his grip on her that still lingered on her body, his hooded look of something unknown in his eyes, and how she ached silently for a kind word from him. The closest he'd come to saying as much was earlier when he told her to shut up and smile. And now, she stood and watched him in slow motion as he once again walked away. Walked away from what she had divulged to him, to what she would surely set herself aflame if anyone else heard her.
In a blind moment of rage, she found herself sinking her fingertips into a weighted shoulderpad as she pulled him down and shouted straight into his ear as high as her pitch could manage.
Piccolo convulsed and hit the ground, his arms clutching his head. Sofia began shouting at him, but all he could hear was the blown-out ringing in his head before his eyes rolled up and shut. He set his jaw and stopped squirming from the pain, which prompted her to stop mouthing off and just silently stare down at him.
Shit…you really did it now… she thought to herself after a few seconds of silence. Piccolo hadn't moved, or shown any signs of pain under her sharp and slowly-waning glare. Jesus…did I fry his brain? The thought shot panic into her and she instantly kneeled by his side. Before touching him, she surveyed if he was still conscious, but his arms were covering his face.
"Oh god…Piccolo?" she gently touched his arm, but he didn't flinch or make a sound. Her heart squeezed in her chest as she grabbed his arm and tried to roll him on his back. "Piccolo! Oh god, please wake up," she pleaded out loud, her panic jolting her conscience as she pulled his arm away and took his face in her hands.
In a flash, Piccolo snapped his eyes open and grabbed her, rolling and slamming her down onto the cold tile as he pinned her down with his body. Sofia gasped a yelp and stared wide eyed at him as he bared his fangs silently and inched to be nose to nose with her. Sofia flinched unconsciously, which spurned Piccolo to grab her arms and pin them over her head and tousled hair. She was totally immobilized; her arms were in his vice-like grip, her legs were pinned by his shins and her upper body was crushed under the solid muscle of his.
She tried to wriggle her legs, and only succeeded in having Piccolo nudged them out of the way and propped painfully in a butterfly shape by his knees.
"For Kami's sake!" he suddenly seethed through his clenched teeth. "Rupturing my eardrum—for what!" he barked in her face, only earning a wincing look from her. Grabbing both her wrists in one hand, Piccolo wiped away the blood that ran down the side of his face with his free hand and shook his head, his lip curling in a grimace of discomfort. "I should kill you right now," he growled darkly at her, his dark eyes narrowed into dangerous slits of intent as he added, "why the fuck did you do that?!"
Sofia sighed and closed her eyes, nonchalantly chiming, "I figured it would clean your ears out long enough for you to hear what I said again." The murderous glint in his eyes still remained, so she arched her back as much as she could so she'd be pressed fully against him. "I only want to flirt with you. Not with Nail, who's a stud, and not with Vegeta, who's practically taken anyway! Can't you get it through your thick head?" she quipped searingly, adding in a purr, "I want to be pinned like this just-by-you."
Piccolo stiffened. His eyes stared warily at her while his features went into their cool mask of apathy. She smiled again, just like before, and he set his jaw, sitting up slightly so she couldn't arch into him. "I don't want to mate with you," he unabashedly remarked, his expression as plain as his tone.
"Good. I don't want to mate either," she stated matter-of-factly, and Piccolo raised a skeptical brow ridge at her. "Mating is what animals do. Sure the grunting, groaning, grabbing, nuzzling, and the biting would be goo—" she was cut off by Piccolo's disdainful scoff.
"What do you want then?!" was his exasperated mutter as he intensely glared into her brown eyes.
Sofia blinked. "Isn't it obvious?" she inquired with a genuine inflection of incredulity.
Piccolo bit back the sour comment that sprang in his mind and let go of her arms. He went to sit back on his knees, but was pulled back down by Sofia's grip around his neck. He stopped himself from colliding face-to-face with her by pressing his hands down by the sides of her shoulders.
He parted his lips to protest, but was silenced swiftly with a kiss. The lingering kiss lasted many seconds and only felt like a brief brush of the lips when she pulled away, leaving him with his lips still parted and his eyes heavy-lidded. She smiled up at his subdued expression and muttered, "Right there. That's what I want."
Piccolo's gaze focused sharply on her and he pressed his lips tightly together. He brusquely sat up, inadvertently pulling her up with him, since her grip didn't wane from his neck. Growling, he dropped his arms to his sides as she half-straddled his lap and gave him a Cheshire grin.
He huffed through his nose before grounding out bitingly, "Detach yourself from me or I'll do it for you! I sure as hell wont mind my grip if I do it for you."
"Would it kill you not to glare daggers at me for once?" she asked in utter disregard of his threat, her fingers absently kneading the back of his cape collar as she stared with a flirty gaze at him.
His arms twitched in exasperation as his features quirked into a cynical sneer. "Wanting he who does not want you. Have you fooled yourself into pursuing me because you think I'd want you, or is it that you feed off of rejection," he acidly jabbed while keeping his glare as hot as possible.
Instead of the anger or tantrum he had expected, Sofia batted her eyes and smirked alluringly at him. "It's funny, how you force yourself to talk out of your ass when your body speaks volumes…not to mention loud and clear…" she trailed off scintillatingly into kissing him.
After tense seconds, Piccolo's arms snapped instinctively around her and reciprocated the kiss, his shoulders stiffening from his mind's chaotic objections. It was disorienting and irritating to him how her lips on his could make his brain fart so loud that it distorted everything of importance, especially his stubborn resolve against playing into the foolish attraction. His train of thought skipped back on track when he felt her tongue brush the back of his mouth as he unconsciously deepened the kiss. With that, his mind ran into a flash of her heatedly being crushed against his chest and curiously ravished by him from the week before. Then her smug comment snapped into his head, and he forcefully broke the kiss and pulled away, leaving her out of breath and him panting. He bit his tongue as he felt himself—rather, the rogue appendage that had become the bane of his existence, pressed lightly against her upper inner thigh.
Tensing, he quickly shoved her off of his lap and sat up, his face burning with humiliation. Sofia stood and rubbed her rear, glancing at Piccolo's back as he stood like a weary sentinel, his frame angrily shaking.
Not sure if he was having a meltdown or mentally-willing his boner down, she decided to sit on the bed and wait him out. Sigh…I wish he'd just man-up and embrace his new addition. It wouldn't make me feel so guilty for constantly mind-fucking him…
'Nail! How do I make it go back to normal!?' Piccolo desperately shouted telepathically.
'…From what I understand, the male's appendage engorges like that to copulate, so I would guess if you mate with her and reach climax it will become flaccid again?' Nail mused thoughtfully to Piccolo.
'I'M NOT GOING TO MATE WITH HER!' he shouted in exasperation.
'Then I don't know, think of something else!' Nail commented haughtily back, to which Piccolo groaned.
'What the hell do you mean think of something else?!'
'I mean, you got aroused because you were thinking of mating with her—'
'I was not!' Piccolo interjected with agitation.
'Piccolo! Shut up and listen!' Nail barked impatiently, then continued, 'Maybe if you think of something else and focus on that your arousal will dwindle.'
'…!'
Sofia sat with her knees held against her chest, allowing herself to cradle back and forth in nonchalant boredom. She was occupying her thoughts with the details of her sequential dreams, trying to recollect motives and figure out the mystery of her past life's twin star. So far, she was drawing a blank on the identity, but she figured it had to be one of the people already revealed in her dreams. That Hiretsukan guy is so damned weird. If he knows her destiny then he should be her twin star…but he spoke as if he's just a matchmaker. What the hell—
"HEY!" Sofia flinched on the bed and jerked her head to gape at Piccolo, who was over by the entrance of the palace.
How the hell did he get all the way over there?! She shouted to herself and stood and walked around the purple-draped bed.
Piccolo stood stiffly with his cape tossed over a shoulder to dangle conveniently in concealment of his crotch. "That ability of yours; we're going to train it," he tersely instructed before turning on his heel and exiting the palace.
Sofia blinked at his back as he stalked into the void. Ability? What? "Oi! Wait up!" she snapped out of her confusion and ran out after him. When he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, they were a good distance from the palace. She finally caught up to him and gave him a confused look. "What were you talking about?" she inquired and crossed her arms over her chest and pendant.
"That telekinetic ability of yours. We'll put off developing your own attack after you're able to control your ability more. It'll help you develop your attacks better and it'll come more naturally in the end," he explained stoically, his glare only giving away his impatience.
Sofia's gaze sharpened in understanding and she gave a curt nod of acknowledgement, trying hard not to look down at his crotch. "So how're we going to do this?" she asked carefully, her gaze sharpening further as she prepared for any of his surprises.
"You can only focus enough to push it back in a big burst. And you can only keep it constant to lift insignificant things. You need to learn to deflect, guard, and maintain at a moment's whim. You also need to be able to keep your focus on many things at one time. So," he paused and gave her a hard look before phasing out.
Sofia felt his ki signature phasing in and out all around her, but he was moving so fast that she couldn't focus on where he would end up. She felt him behind her but before she could whirl around, she felt the ki blast he fired moving to sear through her back. She flipped out of the way and did a few cartwheels to the side before back flipping into her stance. Piccolo phased in front of her with a frown.
"Did I tell you to dodge?" he chided authoritatively at her.
Sofia gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't say much of anything," she cheekily remarked, adding, "The blood must be still rushing elsewhere."
Piccolo growled menacingly and shouted, "I'm not going to hold back! Get your damned wits together and focus on defending instead of doing gymnastics!"
Sofia scowled at the remark, but did as she was told. She tried to focus her mind and still be aware of her defense.
Without warning, Piccolo phased right in front of her and threw a punch, which she sloppily defended by pushing him away from her in mid execution. He managed to clip her arm and she hissed at the instant throbbing pain that shot threw the limb. Before she could look up, his roundhouse connected with her side, and she coughed her shout of pain as she fell on her side.
"Dammit Sofia! Are you this unfocused? Let's go!" he barked down at her as he went to kick her in the stomach, but was thwarted by the solid invisible blow that pushed him a few feet back.
Sofia coughed and tried to regain her breath as she stood. Piccolo began to phase in and around her, causing her to get a headache from trying to focus her energy for one swift blow. The kick to her back came out of nowhere and sent her rolling to the ground before she could maneuver and flip back to her feet.
She snapped her head to look above her when she sensed him charging up a massive Masenko-ha; she decided to stay on the ground than go airborne. I wont be able to concentrate on both flying and defending with only telekinesis…dammit this is hard!
Outstretching her hands, she focused everything she could and forced an invisible blow to double Piccolo over and cut off his attack. Piccolo cursed under his breath and phased out, leading Sofia to whirl around and glance in every possible direction.
"Dammit…!" She whirled around just in time to see the stream of golden energy barreling towards her. Instinctively, she put her hands up and roared as she blew the attack back.
In an instant, a blinding pain throbbed at her temples and she clutched the sides of her head, leaving herself completely open for attack. Seeing the opening, Piccolo's battle instinct got the better of him and he fired his next attack, leaving Sofia only the split-second before it was too late to shield herself with her red aura solidified into a barrier at her outstretched arms. The blow of her telekinetic energy colliding full-force with Piccolo's blast propelled her violently back, sending her to skid and roll her on her sides before she willed herself to a stop.
She crouched to her side and felt blood drip onto the back of her hand. Her eyesight was hazy and her head was pounding as she stood and wiped the nosebleed with the back of her hand. Even with her peripheral vision graying out, she powered up and flew at Piccolo, who she dully noticed had two fizzling and glowing fingers raised to his right temple.
Piccolo watched her glide at full-speed towards him, measuring just the right moment to unleash his attack and the distance in which it would do her the least damage. Nail shouted for him to stop, but by then the ruthless sensei had outstretched his fingers towards her and fired off his signature move, sending the columned stream to spiral blazingly towards her.
The back of her mind throbbed in warning of the epic energy whirling towards her, but she drowsily knew it was too late to dodge; too late to block it with her arms; too late to blast out an aura sphere for protection. She roared, her wits starting to black out just as she conjured her telekinetic force to defend against the searing blast.
Piccolo shouted her name just before the sonic boom blew him back to roll and thud on the ghostly white chamber floor. The chamber clamored with the raucous echo of the energy collision. He groggily got to his knees and looked for Sofia to be standing in the aftermath, but only saw her silhouette lying unmoving on the ground about half a mile away.
"Shit!" Piccolo staggered to his feet and shot over with his blast of speed to fall next to her. "Sofia!"
She couldn't feel his fingers dig into her shoulders as he tried to lift her up and against his bent legs. Blood trickled onto her shirt from the aneurismal-like nosebleed, and Piccolo shouted her name again with no response. Her eyes were half closed, but her pupils were slightly trembling as she stared at the dark blur in her vision as her eyes began to glaze over.
Move…c'mon…wake up and move… she tried to will her body to wake from the seeping and heavy-but-empty ache, but even her lips were numbed shut.
She felt her body going numb; her limbs and extremities were falling asleep, as was her darkening vision and muddled mind as she fell slowly into unconsciousness.
So tired…
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