Another update! :) Yes, it's another Bulma and Vegeta one, but it was practically begging me to be written! Anyway, I hope you guys like this one! :D

Theme #31: Colors

(The Briefs' house, a little more than 2 years before the androids' arrival)

Bulma looked down at the white invitation bordered in gold and narrowed her eyes smaller and smaller and smaller until they were practically shut. She opened them again and read it over once more, this time aloud so she would surely not miss anything.

"Saturday night. Six pm to twelve am. Formal attire. Dinner, music, and socializing." She squinted her eyes at the paper once more.

She didn't even know the person who sent her the invitation all that well. He was a very well-respected businessman and scientist within the community, so it was a huge honor to receive an invite to his party. But Bulma knew what was expected at gatherings like this. Especially as a woman with the reputation that she already had. It was not blatantly stated, but she knew what she needed to have anyway.

A date.

Usually whenever she went to both casual and formal events, she did have a date and it was no problem. Yamcha had been a great boyfriend for sucking it up and going to all those things. But Yamcha wasn't here right now. He had made other "priorities," and Bulma, his ex-girlfriend, was not one of them.

Still a bit bitter from their last conversation after their official breakup, Bulma did not want to call him back right now. He had made his decision about how he wanted to spend his time and she had made hers; not with him. To call him back solely for the purpose of dragging him out as a date for a party would not settle well on either end right now. Eventually they would probably do their typical thing, make up then make out, but it was in both of their best interests to take a break from each other for the moment.

Long story short, he was simply not an option.

That being said, none of these thoughts actually settled the crisis Bulma was having right now. She'd had this invitation for a little while now and kept running it over and over in her head. The party was tomorrow, and she already said she would come. She couldn't back out. Not to someone with such a big name in the community. But she couldn't just show up single either. She was expected to have a date and if it weren't for Yamcha screwing everything up...

Bulma furrowed her brows. She wouldn't be in this situation if it actually weren't for Goku when you really thought about it. Because of her adventures in her teenage years with Goku, she met Yamcha and they started dating. If she had never met Goku, maybe she would have found a more committed boyfriend whom she could take to all these parties. But nope! She met the monkey-boy, and then she met Yamcha.

A lot of things in her life would be very different if she hadn't met Goku, but at this point she was used to it. He had definitely changed the course of how she thought her life was going to be (for the better or worse, she still didn't know), but throughout it all, he was a very good friend. She half-wondered if maybe she could borrow Goku for tomorrow night. Chi-Chi would never allow it of course, and Goku would probably wreck the place, but she was getting pretty desperate.

Desperate enough to even ask-

A door opened abruptly in front of her and Vegeta stood before her in a sweaty grey muscle shirt, blue boxer shorts, and white socks. "Your refrigerator is empty again."

"Would it hurt to knock?" she asked, still stressing over the party.

"Would it hurt to put more supplies in your food storage container?" he asked in return.

She threw the invitation at him angrily in the pure frustration of everything, but it was too flimsy to even get remotely close to him. "Could you leave me alone right now?! I'm having a bit of a crisis, and I don't know what to do! I really need to think this through thoroughly, and your complaining is making it difficult to use the brainpower it takes to do that."

He made some snorting sound. "Maybe you would have more brainpower if your food supplies were replenished."

This time Bulma stood up, picked up the invitation, walked up to Vegeta, and threw it right in his face. "I'll give you something to replenish..." she muttered under her breath. She knew that he could kill her at any moment, but she also knew that he couldn't. He relied on her expertise when it came to designing training equipment too much.

After being hit in the face by the invitation card, Vegeta bent over and picked it up with a small laugh. "Is this what you're stressing about?! Ha! I thought you were working on some awesome new project, like more training equipment. This is just a stupid party invitation!"

"Well the person who received this stupid party invitation can easily make a request to cut down on your food supplies if you don't watch your mouth! And I'm not worried about the party itself. Well, I guess I kind of am. But only because I- I- I..."

"Because you what?" Vegeta asked impatiently.

She looked down out of embarrassment. "Because I don't have a date..."

He laughed. At first it was just under his breath, then it was a small chuckle until it grew into a loud cacophonous cackle. "A date? A date?! All of this stress for one petty date?! Haha! You're too much! I don't see why you don't just bring the bafoon that you usually go with!"

She crossed her arms and made a face. "Yamcha? He and I are officially broken up now. I can't just go with him!"

"Well that sucks," he said as he started walking away. "Let me know once everything's restocked."

Bulma didn't want to do it. She didn't want to do it, but she felt as if she had no other choice at this point. "Vegeta?"

"Hmm?" He spun around to face her.

"Would you like to, uh, go...with me?"

"Are you asking me to be your date?"

"Yes, but not really. We could just go as friends!"

"Woman, we aren't even that. We're merely acquaintances if you can consider it that much."

"I think you can consider it a little bit more. I mean, you do live in my house. Er, my family's house."

He crossed his arms. "Why should I go? What's in it for me?"

Bulma placed her hands on her hips and matched his attitude. "You're living in this house as a guest! Either I, or my parents, can easily kick you out at any time we feel like it."

He let out a huff of air. "Whatever. I'll just go find some other place to live at."

"Just as an FYI, most of the places around here are not going to feel comfortable housing an alien. Even if they never find out that you're not from earth, you'd still have to pay for it with the money that you don't have." She flipped a piece of hair behind her shoulder, fairly confident that she had won.

Vegeta groaned and placed his arms at his sides, only to ball them into tight fists. "Well, I'm still not quite convinced. I'm sure I'll figure out some other place to live if you actually want me to leave, which seems unlikely."

"Are you implying that I want you to stay?"

"Are you implying that I shouldn't be wanted to stay?"

Bulma's face contorted into a scowl. "You are so full of yourself sometimes, I'm not even sure how you function! But I am serious about this threat. Although this party may not seem like a big deal to you, it is to me. If you do not come with me, then I will kick you out."

Her words were stated firmly and pressed into the back of Vegeta's mind. He had tried to call her bluff earlier, but it appeared that she was not lying about this. "Give me one other good reason I should go."

"There will be food. Lots and lots of food." She hadn't won the argument before, but surely the victory was hers this time around!

His eyes narrowed slightly. "What type of food?"

"All sorts! Entrees, appetizers, desserts, anything you can imagine! Food from all over the globe! And the person who invited me to this is one of the richest of the rich, so you can bet it will be food of only the highest of qualities." She smiled sweetly, but an all-knowing fire burned in her eyes.

"You have my interest," he admitted. "Is there a limit to how much food I can eat?"

"Nope! It's all up for grabs! Buffet-style!"

"And do they really serve food like this at all of your parties?"

"I can only think of one time in my entire life of attending these that they didn't. On this invitation, they specifically mentioned dinner. I know it will be gourmet, chef-prepared, five-star, deliciousness on a plate. And snacks too probably!"

His mouth was practically drooling now, much to pleasure of Bulma. "You should bring me to these more often if the food is really as good as you say."

"Oh it is," she agreed. "But usually I bring Yamcha, remember?"

He nodded. "So all I have to do is show up and eat?"

She grinned. Manipulation was something she that had always been pretty good at. "Exactly! Just stay by my side like a good date, and all the food presented can be yours. Just as long as you don't make a fool out of yourself by eating savagely."

"I'm sold," he told her. "I will come with you."

"Great! Now let me find a nice suit that will fit you..."

...

Bulma finally pulled near the large driveway of where the party was being hosted. This man's house wasn't very close to where hers was. It was also about 6:45 now, which was okay because she knew from experience that you shouldn't show up to these things right on time.

Vegeta was thrilled to finally arrive, for all that delicious food that had been promised was awaiting him. He just hated that it had to take so long to get there. "It would've been much faster if we had flown."

"I did fly! I flew the hover-car," she reminded him. She knew what he really meant, but she felt like teasing him a little.

He let out a huff of air. "No, I mean fly as in without a vehicle! Fly using ki!"

She shook her head. "That wouldn't help because, let me think about it...I can't fly like you can!"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not my problem. You should have learned. What I meant was that I could carry you. It would make us arrive much sooner."

Bulma tried to picture herself in the Saiyan's arms, soaring above the city. It was a funny thought to her because he almost always jerked back at her touch. Whether it was accidentally brushing hands when handing him a mug of coffee or intentionally holding onto his arms to measure their length when creating better training gear, he definitely did not do well with physical contact.

"Would you have really carried me all this way?" she asked out of curiosity.

He shrugged. "Only if it meant I could get to my food sooner."

"Let's just go inside."

And so they walked together up to the porch of the large mansion. The door was already flung wide open and tons of people were laughing and conversing loudly every which way. Bulma tried to scan the crowd for some of her fellow scientist friends. She couldn't see anyone right off the bat, so they stepped inside for a better view. Loud music was blaring from the speakers inside.

Vegeta cringed and narrowed his eyes. "Why is it so loud? And why are there so many people wearing so many different colors?! It's overwhelming to my eyes and ears!"

The blue-headed beauty placed a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "That's just how these things always are. Loud and colorful. I'm glad I wore this red dress though because it seems to fit in with what everyone else is wearing more than that purple one."

"Why does it even matter?" he asked "Either way your dress would have added to the plethora of colors already surrounding us." He began to walk away.

She grabbed him by his shoulder, and he shrugged off her grip once again. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to get some food."

"Well you can't just run off like that! We have to stay together! If I stand by myself, everyone's going to think that I showed up without a date. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I don't care. Your stupid reputation doesn't affect me as long as I get some food."

"Look," she said, "we can get some food in a second. I promise! But first you have to come with me as I socialize a little bit. Then we can go to the food together."

They walked further inside and Vegeta grimaced some more. "The colors are even brighter in here, and the further we go, the louder this ridiculous music gets!"

"Just relax," she told him. "You'll adjust in a second. Remember, it's talking and then the food. We don't even have to stay the whole time, but I do need to make an appearance."

"I'm beginning to think that coming here wasn't even worth it...not even for the food!"

Bulma just offered him a small smile as a response. They walked into the central room, where it appeared most people were gathered. She looked around for her friends. She would have missed one of them if that said friend hadn't waved her over.

"Bulma!" the brunette scientist called out as she and Vegeta walked over to her. "I thought that was you! I just assumed that you would bring Yamcha again, so when I saw this other man at first, I figured there was no way it could be you! I was obviously wrong!"

Bulma gave a light laugh. "Teresa, you know Yamcha! He's been as flaky as ever!"

Teresa laughed with her. "So what really happened though? And who's this fine gentleman?"

"I am Vegeta! Prince of all-"

Bulma placed her hand over his mouth. He tried to keep talking, but his words were muffled. He knew that he could pry her hands off of him without even trying too hard, but that would be too easy of a defeat for her. He decided to be disgusting and lick her palm instead.

"Ew!" she yelped in surprise. "Why did you do that?! You pathetic little-" Bulma realized that Teresa was watching and did her best to save face as she wiped her wet hand on Vegeta's suit. "So, um, anyway...this is Vegeta, as he already stated. He also has a bit of an ego."

He crossed his arms. "Says the woman who tells herself that she's the prettiest genius in the world as she's brushing her hair..."

Her face reddened a little bit. "Well someone has to say it! Why are you even listening to me as I'm brushing my hair anyway?!"

"You're the one who does it in the middle of the living room!"

Teresa was a little surprised. "So I take it you two are living together now?"

"No!" Bulma exclaimed the same time Vegeta sighed and responded, "Yes." They shared a glance. "Yes!" Bulma answered as Vegeta said, "No."

"I don't think I understand..." the scientist commented.

Bulma sighed. "You don't have to. It's kind of, uh, complicated, and it's not quite what you're thinking, but we do live in the same house."

She nodded along. "Okay. It's cool. I understand complicated. How did you guys even meet?"

"Kakarot and Raditz didn't do their jobs, so I was forced to-" This time, he was cut off by an elbow jabbed into his side.

"A mutual friend!" she simply covered for the Saiyan. She should have given him clearer instructions on how to blend in earlier. Maybe bringing Vegeta was a bad idea after all. But it was better than showing up single...right?

Teresa just nodded and smiled slowly, unsure of what was really going on between the two. At this point, she didn't really care to know either. "Okay. Well, I see Johnathan over there, so, uh, I'm gonna go see what he's up to..."

She ran off quickly, leaving Bulma and Vegeta in her dust. The blue-haired genius turned to her date, placing her hands on her hips. "You're going to terrify everyone if you keep talking like that!"

He scoffed. "I was just being honest. I thought humans appreciated honest answers!"

With a roll of her eyes, Bulma tugged on Vegeta's arm once. "Not when the truth is going to scare everybody. Let's not talk to anyone else and just go get some food like you wanted."

He gave a bright white grin and practically followed his nose to where the food table was situated. "Holy Mother of Frieza... That is a lot of food!"

Bulma smiled. Now he would surely find the party to be pretty decent. No more complaining from him. Just as Vegeta began to decide on what to eat first, someone tapped on Bulma's shoulder. She turned around to face them.

"William! Monique!" she cried out in happiness. "It's been too long since I've last seen you! How have you guys been?"

Monique smiled and held out her tan hand. On it was a sparkly silver wedding ring. "It's been great! We got married over the summer, and everything's just been perfect ever since!"

"Absoutely perfect!" William agreed.

Bulma nodded enthusiastically. At least this couple seemed to have a normal life and relationship. "That's awesome! I wish I could have flown out to the wedding, but you know how busy life can be!"

The tan woman smiled understandingly. "It's okay. I totally know where you're coming from. I was actually half-expecting an engagement announcement from you and Yamcha, and I was worried we would be too busy to make the wedding also!"

She let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm not exactly...with Yamcha anymore. Our relationship has always been on-and-off though, so I'm sure we'll get back together soon."

Monique looked around disapprovingly. "And did you just show up single?!"

Bulma shook her head so fast that she was worried she might get whiplash. No way did she show up single! "Actually, I brought a different date with me. His name is Vegeta, and he's-" She stopped as she realized that Vegeta wasn't even anywhere close to her anymore.

Then she saw a oddly large group of people gathered around one individual, who was practically attacking the food. Bulma politely excused herself from Monique and William's company and marched over to the scene as she muttered, "Oh no. Oh boy. Oh please tell me it's not-"

She saw that a good percentage of the food had been cleared out, nearly confirming her fears. Then it got eerily quiet as the DJ cut out the music and most of the talking was now in a hushed whisper. And they all seemed to be whispering about one short man with a large appetite who was screwing everything up. Bulma was too afraid to look at who the crowd was gathered around.

"Thank Otherworld that that ridiculous music is finally turned off! It hurt my ears!" Then there was a painful-to-listen-to shattering of a plate and the yelling of a familiar voice that followed it. "Son of a Namek! I was eating that! I'm blaming it on being practically blinded by all the ridiculous and overwhelming colors that you people are wearing!"

Someone, a man, stepped out of the crowd, but it was too hard for Bulma to see who it was. "Really? Because I'm blaming it on your lack of competence!"

Bulma tried to get a better view of the situation. Vegeta's pride had gotten hurt, and he was ready to fight now. "I'll show you who's really lacking competence!"

"I'm sorry," the man said with a distinct sass in his tone. "I don't know who you are, so I certainly didn't invite you. Who did you come with?"

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. That's all that was running through Bulma's head. Don't say me! Don't say me!

"Bulma Brief." His voice was loud and clear, and there was no mistaking who's name he said.

At this point, Bulma definitely would rather have showed up single. Her reputation was going to be ruined for sure. One by one, a few heads turned in her direction until the center of focus had completely shifted to her. Her heart thudded in her chest. All of the eyes that were fixated on her were filled with fiery anger and a lack of respect for her just because she screwed everything up. It stung her, and she wished she could just run away from all the colors that surrounded her.

"Is this true, Miss Brief?" the man who had confronted Vegeta was now confronting her. Indeed, he was the well-known, well-respected scientist who had invited her to the party to begin with. Out of all the places to make a fool of herself, doing it in his company was by far the worst.

Bulma nodded slowly, holding back tears of shame, embarrassment, and anger. "He's with me, yes. But-"

"I wish for you and your date to leave," he demanded. "And if I see either of your faces again, I will-" He was beginning to lose his temper, but after remembering that he was in front of a crowd, he managed to find his cool again. He spat a few last words at her using a quiet, but nonetheless fierce tone. "Horrible things. Just imagine horrible things. Now leave! Immediately!"

Bulma locked eyes with Vegeta and glared daggers at him, and only stopped glaring because her eyes were filled with tears, which began to spill all down her face. She ran out of the party like a mess, causing even more of a scene, but the damage had been done, and there was nothing she could do now.

She escaped from all the colors by running into the dark night and then into her hover-car. She wanted to just drive away as fast as she could, but she was sobbing hard enough now that she was in no state to control a vehicle. After wiping some tears, she crossed her arms and rested them on the wheel, then plopping her head on top of them. A few more sobs escaped her red lips, before someone tapped lightly on the window.

It took a few seconds for her to calm down a little, but she eventualy lifted her head to see who it was. Vegeta. She scowled angrily and slammed the door open into his stomach. He jerked back quickly, out of surprise, not pain.

"Leave me alone!" she said angrily. "You've ruined everything, so please! Just leave me alone! I can't drive home right now, and even if I could, I refuse to let you ride with me!"

He stood there guiltily. He had never tried to cause a scene. He had never wanted to make the woman upset. He was simply trying to enjoy himself, but somehow he had done something wrong in the process. Understanding emotions has always been difficult, but he recognized what he was feeling then. Guilt. He never felt guilty, but for some reason, he did this time. It was his fault for making this woman be in the awful state that she was in.

"I came to apologize," he said, somewhat mumbling. The words were foreign to his mouth. "I am sorry."

He had seen enough of the earthling movies and chick flicks and all sorts of other sources of entertainment to know that this should have made her feel better. It didn't. She seemed a little surprised at first, but the scowl came back to her face. "I don't want to hear it Vegeta!"

"I said I was sorry! What more should I do?!" he exclaimed. Kindness was not something he was good at.

"How about you leave me alone like I asked?! I am trying to calm down, but I'm sill in no condition to drive, and you're making it worse!" She was nearly growling.

He took a breath and tried the kindness thing once more. Well, it was sort of kindness. Probably as close as Vegeta would get to it anyway. "Then instead of driving, how about we fly?"

"Wha-" Her words were cut off by the strong Saiyan man picking her up out of her seat and lifting her into the air, bridal style. "Put me down! Put me down! I don't want to fly!"

Vegeta ignored her until he flew just above the top of he mansion. Only then did he put her down on her rear once they reached the roof. "You happy?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Now I can't get down!"

He rolled his eyes. "Why would you even want to get down? Up here you can't go deaf from the loud sounds or be blinded by all the bright colors. Even by your hovercraft-machine it wasn't this calm."

She stopped freaking out and breathed slowly. She relaxed a little more and only let out a small sniffle. He was right. It was surprisingly calm up here. "How did you know it would be so peaceful up here?"

He laughed a little. "Because every time there's a loud social event at your house, I always go on top of that roof to escape it all!"

She nodded and let the cool wind dry the rest of her tears and run through her already messy hair. Now that she was more comfortable sitting up here, Bulma found it to be quite nice. "I think...I may actually prefer this to the hectic party going on down there."

Vegeta sat criss-crossed next to her and nodded. "I'm glad you like it up here because so do I." He wasn't really sure what he meant by that. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I hope you know that I'm not going to apologize again."

"It's fine," she told him. "I accept your apology from earlier. I'm sorry that I got so mad, but my reputation is completely ruined now." She sighed as she tried not to get angry about it again.

He uncrossed his legs and laid on his back to look up at the stars. "I don't understand what the big deal is anyway. If those people don't consider you to be a genius anymore just because I came as your date, then they don't deserve to be in your presence anyway."

Bulma smiled as she looked over at him. "In a weird way, that was actually very sweet of you to say, Vegeta."

He rolled his eyes and kept his attention on the bright white stars. "Don't let it go to your head, but you and I are actually very similar."

This surprised her to hear that. She laid down next to him and looked up at the stars as well. "Similar? How so?"

"We are both the elite of our races," he said. "You are a part of the elite because of your high intellect, and I am of the elite because of my superiority when it comes to fighting. You are the heiress of Capsule Corporation, and I was the heir to the throne. Because of this, both of us get invited to all these social events and have a reputation to uphold. Obviously I don't get invited anymore, and it was only after my race died that I realized how ridiculous it was to feel the need to have such a reputation. In the end, it only really matters what you think about yourself."

"What do you think about yourself then?" she asked slowly. "You always talk about being an elite warrior and a prince, but that seems to be more of what others see you as. What does Vegeta see himself as?"

He let out a long sigh. "I don't know. I thought I was happy with who I was before. I was okay with a life of massacring innocent people, yet I wanted Frieza to die for it. I'm a different person now than who I was then. Living among you earthlings has softened me. I don't like it very much either..."

Bulma glanced over at him. The white starlight kissed his face and made him look very handsome. "I don't think it's a bad thing. You've changed for the better. I've noticed it too."

He pointed a finger into the black night sky. "If I were living my previous lifestyle, I would be out there. I'd be blowing up all sorts of things. Instead I'm down here, wrecking parties and making females upset."

She actually laughed a little. "I'm not really that upset anymore. I definitely prefer it up here now that I'm away from everything. And you're right about my reputation! Who cares what they think?! And now because of every thing that happened, I got to see your true colors!"

"What do you mean?" he asked with caution, sitting up straight.

"You're not really the tough guy that you try to make yourself out to be. You admitted it yourself. You're a lot softer after living life here. And after tonight, I feel like I've really gotten to know you a little bit better. I know that the prince of all two Saiyans can apologize." She slowly sat up next to him.

He didn't say anything more. He didn't even correct her by saying, "Three and a half," or anything. He just let the cool air run through their hair and brush their faces. He was surprised to find himself enjoying it up here even with her company. Especially with her company. She wasn't yelling or arguing with him like she typically did, and he admitted to himself that it was a nice change for once.

She wasn't quite finished talking though. "You know, if Yamcha ever screwed up, he would have never taken me somewhere where we could be alone or try to talk with me. I hate to admit this, but I think I prefer you over Yamcha."

The Saiyan man was surprised to hear that. "Really? Even though you'll probably never be invited to another party?"

She shrugged. "You helped me realize that it's not as important as I once thought it was. I'd rather sit up here on the roof with you."

Ever so slowly, she reached out her hand to grab his. He wanted to jerk back at her touch at first, but he decided to allow her hand to linger for a little bit longer. Then she began to lace her fingers through his and leaned her head into his neck. She definitely preferred Vegeta to Yamcha.

After remaining like that for a few seconds, Vegeta pushed her away like he normally did. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "We should probably get going now."

I actually really like this one! :) Hope you all do too! Follow/favorite/review if you wanna make this girl happy! :D

-TOW

P.S. This Wednesday I am going to be posting the first chapter of my full story! It's called, "Lost Memories," so you can guess what it's about lol, but it's a Gohan/Videl fic! Be on the lookout for it!