Rock Your World

Part 9 – Coffee, With A Side of Confusion

He wasn't there when I woke up. It took me a second to realize that I was in Capsule Corp again; sprawled on Bulma's wide, red couch. I must have fallen asleep after taking Vegeta home. The slightly disturbed blankets next to me suggested that he'd recently gotten up…. And that we'd been sleeping side by side; a fact that sent my skin tingling. I still had a hard time believing any of this was real, some part of my mind insisted that I was still in an insane depression of longing and all of this was a dream. I kept trying to harden my heart and not get too involved with this dream, afraid of the pain I would wake up to when it finally ended. When what was surely just a fantasy would be ripped away again.

I sat up and stretched. Not surprisingly, I'd fallen asleep in my clothes, and my legs stung where the seams of my jeans had dug into them in my sleep. I yawned, massaging a kink out of the end of my tail, smoothing the black fur absently.

"Sleep well?" a voice asked from across the room. I jumped, startled, and looked up to see Bulma leaning against the doorframe, a not-quite smile on her face. I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic, but if she was, she was damn good at it.

"Uh, yes?" I responded, bringing a hand to the back of my head nervously. It was a habit I really only gave in to around other people, and they seemed to relax whenever I did. I'm not entirely sure why…

"Vegeta just left," she continued as if I hadn't spoken. She didn't seem to be upset, but her tone was brusque. I wonder if I'll ever really understand people… I thought, Even after almost half a century living as one of them, they confuse me, and their "dropped hints" drive me in circles…

"I asked him where he'd been all day and he said he was training, which is normal I guess," Bulma went on, crossing the room and sitting in an armchair to sip her coffee, "But then he added that he spent the evening with you," she raised an eyebrow, a silent demand for explanation.

"Uh, yeah, he did." I mumbled, toying with my own tail distractedly, it wanted to wrap itself around my waist in a defensive pose, but I held it still, "We went to the beach for the equinox bonfire…"

"Why?" Bulma interrupted.

"Because it's going to be winter soon," I said, casting around for a legit explanation, "And I wanted to enjoy the warmth before the cold set in. I asked if he wanted to go and he…"

"And he agreed?" she seemed surprised, "Well… I guess you Saiyans are kind of partial to the heat, I noticed Vegeta always complains about the cold, said it drives him insane and that his home planet didn't have such a 'faulty axis'."

I remained silent, not wanting to sound stupid.

"What did you guys do?" she seemed genuinely interested.

"We, uh… hung out, ate, listened to the music…" …Played in the water, asked and answered rather personal questions, we lay side-by-side under the stars then, and again on the couch just now, I added mentally, wincing under Bulma's piercing eyes. Again, not angry, just calculating, I remembered using that word to describe Vegeta's eyes, and it hit me just how similar the two actually were.

Then she asked something that I had prayed she wouldn't.

"Was it a date?"

Damn her wit, I cursed.

I looked at her for a long time, trying to gauge how she would react if I answered truthfully.

She gasped, "It was a date?"

Shit, shit, shit, shit! I thought, tail lashing, pleading with the gods that she wouldn't start shrieking, my ears really wouldn't be able to handle it if she did.

But I couldn't lie to my oldest friend. I nodded slowly, bracing myself for the chaos.

She stared for a good five seconds, and then leaned back with an explosive sigh.

"Really?" she asked quietly, seeming… interested rather than furious, "I don't even know if I can believe it; you and Vegeta, Goku? When did this happen?"

"I-I don't know," I answered honestly, "I guess he'd always been… waiting…"

"'Waiting'?"

"Yeah… I just didn't realize it until a few days ago, when he…" When he kissed me. I finished in my mind. Somehow I couldn't say it out loud; afraid if I validated it, it would become less real. Bulma's reaction still weirded me out; why wasn't she mad?

"When he…?" she pried, leaning forward a bit. I realized I had to say it, or my evasion would imply something else.

"He kissed me." I breathed, still wary about voicing it.

Bulma's eyebrows shot up immediately, almost to her hairline.

"What?" she gasped, "That's, that's… wow. I never would have guessed that."

She still didn't seem angry. Why wasn't she angry? If it were me, I'd have been furious. If ChiChi had kissed another man the way Vegeta had kissed me I'd have IT'd to the bastard's door and blown whoever it was into oblivion. And that was what I would do. I couldn't begin to imagine what someone as high-strung as Bulma would do. It didn't make sense that she was so calm, if a bit surprised.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked finally, "I know I'd be mad at me," Okay, maybe that wasn't the most grammatically correct sentence ever, but I really wasn't sure how to explain my confusion.

"You…you think I should be mad at you for kissing Vegeta?" she looked at me strangely, as if I was missing something important, I couldn't imagine what.

"Well… yeah, you two are -!" I began, but she cut me off, laughing.

I felt even more confused; why was she laughing? Did I say something funny?

"I forgot you were out of commission for almost a month," she said as she reined in her obvious amusement, "Goku…Vegeta and I broke up a long time ago."

I stared.

"What?" I yelped as soon as I got my voice back; this was news to me. If Vegeta and Bulma weren't together now, why did Vegeta still live at Capsule Corp.? It made no sense!

"Yeah, he said he didn't want us to be together anymore, and I agreed." She said thoughtfully, "It was a pretty mutual 'divorce' if you will. We weren't really ever married, and I guess he didn't want anything else from me. To be honest, I've been kind of disappointed with him too. After he died fighting Buu he's been different. He still plays the father role as well as he can around Trunks, but that's just because Trunks is young. He needs a father to look up to. He stays here because he's got nowhere else to go. I thought you knew; I'm sorry if I messed something up."

I blinked; that kind of made sense. Vegeta and Bulma hadn't exactly been seen together since I'd come to after my depressed withdrawal, but…

"So that's why." I murmured to myself. Vegeta's actions all made sense now. He said he didn't want to 'waste his life biding his time'. He had been free of Bulma for a good few weeks, and he was trying to take what he'd waited for all this time.

"So, yeah," Bulma finished quietly, "If you want him, he's yours for the taking, Goku. I support you one hundred percent. I'm happy for you."

I couldn't help myself; I beamed, leapt to my feet, and hugged her, pulling her out of her chair and almost sloshing her coffee everywhere in my enthusiasm.

Once she disentangled herself from my arms she smiled back, rubbing her chest that apparently I had hugged too hard.

"I'll take that as a big, fat 'yes'," she smirked, "Now I don't want to waste any more of your time, lover-boy; feel free to take off."

I nodded and IT'd, following the energy signal that would lead me to Vegeta.

TBC