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From Hot to Boiling
Goku sat on the picnic table bench and watched Yamcha pace back and forth like a caged animal, his friend's face one of intense concentration that had Goku more then a little confused since he couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Watching Yamcha going back and forth was giving him a headache though so Goku finally spoke up in the hopes of getting Yamcha to stop pacing and explain himself. "Why are you pacing like that? Bulma said she and Vegeta wouldn't be back for another thirty minutes so it's not like they're late or anything, I'm sure they're on their way as we speak. Did you forget to do something? Is that why you look worried?"
"I'm worried because Bulma was trapped with that monster in some cave for a whole friggin week, Goku!" Yamcha said as he came to a stop in front of Goku, raking a hand through his hair. "Who knows what's she's suffered at his hands. Damn it why couldn't her parents have sent you after her instead? Vegeta's satanic, who knows what he's done to her! I swear if he's hurt one hair on her head I'll kill him. Okay..I won't but you will." Yamcha said, not stupid enough to think that anyone other then Goku could take out Vegeta. "After all you and Bulma have been friends since you were younger then Gohan now."
"Well I think they sent Vegeta because Vegeta was right here when they found out Bulma had gone missing." Goku hazarded to guess and was rewarded by a fierce look from his older friend who looked ready to yank out all his hair till he was as bald as Krillin. "And really if there was anything wrong with Bulma she would have told us, Yamcha. She said that everything was okay and that she and Vegeta were getting along all right every time she called to check in and she checked in twice everyday since Vegeta found her."
"Yeah but maybe he forced her to say that everything was okay." Yamcha argued back, his face going a tad red. He and Bulma were just friends now but he still felt a tad possessive and protective of her, especially when it came to her being trapped in a snow storm with that bastard Vegeta. "I mean the man is a monster who not so long ago tried to kill us all if you'll remember. Who knows what he'd do to poor Bulma, especially if he was stuck with her for hours on end. You know how those two are, Goku. They've never gotten along so why should now be any different? I tell you something fishy is going on."
"Fishy? But they aren't near any water they said. Bulma said they had to melt snow and ice instead to get water to drink and cook with. If there were any fish there they'd be buried under ice pretty good." Goku said with a confused look on his face. "Do you think they ate bad fish and that's why they're getting along?"
"That's not what I..never mind." Yamcha said as he sighed and flopped down on the picnic table. "There's no use explaining this to you at all is there? You may be the greatest fighter in the galaxy, my friend but when it comes to girls and serious stuff you are seriously out to sea. Hey wait a minute..there they are..it's them!" Yamcha yelled as he pointed to a ship that had appeared in the sky. "They're back."
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"Well by some miracle we got this thing in the air now lets see if that magic can hold up long enough for me to land this thing with at least the majority of this hunk of junk together in one piece." Bulma said as she chewed on her bottom lip as she prepared for landing or a possible half landing, half crashing. Looking over her shoulder for a moment Bulma's eyes connected with Vegeta's before she turned her head back to the front, her eyes showing her confusion and worry. Damn but she was sick of the silent treatment she'd been getting this whole ride here from him and she didn't even know why she was getting it. Spend an absolutely mind blowing, molten hot week together and now he was giving her the silent treatment when she hadn't even done anything wrong. In fact she'd been pretty nice to him all week even when they weren't getting naked. He on the other hand had been pretty much the same old Vegeta all week except when he was trying to get her naked so really there was no reason why he wasn't making sarcastic remarks about her driving or needling her as usual like he'd done since the day they'd met. Why was he so damn quiet? Refusing to give into the urge to yell that Bulma flicked some switches and slowly, very slowly began their descent. "Vegeta, if we start to break up here or go down really fast I'd appreciate it if you'd get out of the ship and out there to slow me down without killing me if you would. Please." Bulma called out when the ship began to rock and shake a bit, enough to have her worrying just a bit.
"It will hold." Came his cold reply from behind her, Vegeta calm and cool in his seat with his arms crossed in front of him.
Rolling her eyes Bulma gave a sigh of relief when they were almost on ground. If they suddenly crashed from this altitude odds were she'd live to ring his neck . Moments later when she finally set down Bulma hit the appropriate switches and leaned back into her seat with a satisfied grin on her face. "Am I good..I'm damn good." Turning in her seat to grin at Vegeta Bulma blinked when she saw that his seat was empty, the sound of his feet on metal exiting the area faint. He'd just got up and left...without a word.
)
Walking out of the ship Vegeta rolled his eyes as people descended upon them asking a million questions a minute. Annoying pains in the ass. "She's inside the ship and she's fine." Vegeta called out then getting out of their way strolled away from them all to head back to his training and away from everyone else. He had a whole week to make up for after all.
"Wait, Vegeta." Mrs. Briefs called out as she ran after him and enveloped him in a huge hug that had the Saiyan prince struggling to keep his shock hidden. "Thank you so much for bringing my baby back to me. I know you saved her life and I can never thank you enough for the rest of it. If you ever need anything else it's yours for the asking. I'll have all your favorite foods made for supper tonight."
"Uh..uhm...well..you're welcome." Vegeta finally managed to get out before untangling himself and making a hasty retreat away from everyone else, not wanting to be caught up in their little welcome home party. You mean you don't want to be around Bulma, a little voice in his head called out but was soon squashed under saiyan control. The woman had nothing to do with it. Oh yes she did, the voice called out again, a little stronger this time. You're afraid that someone will see that your little plan backfired on you, oh might prince. You're afraid they'll see how much you've grown to need her, to like the way things have changed between you. "I do not need her now or ever. Things are just as they were before now. They'll stay that way." Vegeta muttered under his breath as he stomped away, his mind battling against the truth for all it was worth. But then why hadn't he been able to treat her like he once had? He'd set out to rid himself of his need for her, that little problem he'd been so sure could easily be taken care of. He hadn't counted on his need for her growing instead of abetting. How could he have seen that bedding her would only strengthen the talons that she'd dug into him when he wasn't looking. How could he have known the contentment of waking up at her side, in seeing her smile at him, really smiling at him. And worse..he'd almost been tempted to smile back. He'd never really known affection from anyone and the woman was full of it too, something he hadn't realized either until she started directing it towards him. Once they'd become lovers she'd taken to touching him even when they were simply working on the ship or looking for useable wreckage for Christ sakes. She'd try to hold his hand or hug him for no other reason then she seemed to like doing it for some reason. Well it was all going to stop Vegeta thought as he entered his training center. From this moment on she was nothing more then a human female who lived in his vicinity and repaired his training equipment.
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"Hey everyone." Bulma said with a smile though there was a hint of strain in her voice that was only noticed by those who knew her well. Soon enveloped with hugs and kisses Bulma was glad to be home.
"Oh my baby we were so worried about you and Vegeta, stuck in that terrible storm." Bulma's mother said as she hugged her daughter tight enough to make Bulma think about asking her mother to let up a bit. "I'm so glad that you're home and safe. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine, Mom..really." Bulma said as her father pulled her in for a hug as soon as her mother had let go. "I'll admit I wasn't in the best of shape when Vegeta showed up but I'm as fit as a fiddle now though I'm looking forward to a shower, food and my own bed."
"Poor, Vegeta. I bet he was complaining the whole time about not being able to train properly out there." Mrs. Briefs said with a shake of her head, thinking of how the bad tempered boy had gone straight back to his training. "I know the one time he answered the communicator he sounded more then a bit peeved off. Then again stuck in a snow storm with nothing to do is likely his idea of hell huh?"
"Oh he stayed pretty busy, Mom but ya...I think he did miss being here." Bulma said with a grin as she remembered exactly why Vegeta had been so annoyed when that phone call had come in. He wouldn't have answered it at all if she hadn't pointed out that her mother was libel to send Goku out looking for them if someone didn't answer. And she had done her best to put Vegeta through his paces and in shape, Bulma added mentally, her grin going a tad catty before she pulled her thoughts back to a general rating. "Oh and hi guys." Bulma said as she smiled over at Goku and Yamcha. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well your mom and dad asked me to come over in case there were any problems and Yamcha came because he was worried about you." Goku said with a smile on his boyish face. "We're really glad you both got back safe."
"Thanks, guys." Bulma said as she wandered over to give them each a hug and kiss. "I missed you guys too and like I told mom there was really no reason to worry about me. After all I had Vegeta with me."
"That's why I was worried." Yamcha muttered loud enough for Bulma to hear.
"He wasn't that bad, Yamcha, really. He took good care of me when I was sick and wasn't half as nasty as he normally is to you guys." Bulma said with a look of understanding amusement, more then slightly amused at the thought of what Yamcha would say if he knew just how good Vegeta had been to her. Well up until he'd turned in to the silent prince of the asseholes instead of his usual loudly arrogant prince of the asseholes self. "Where is he anyway?"
"Off to blow things up as usual would be my guess." Bulma's dad said with a grin as he pointed in the direction Vegeta had gone. "The boy really needs to learn how to relax..or to get a non violent hobby."
"Somehow I don't think the idea would appeal to him." Bulma said with a shake of her head, hiding her disappointment and hurt that he hadn't even bothered to say anything to her before he'd left to train. "But that's Vegeta for you."
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Late that evening
Vegeta sat outside and fumed. He'd just destroyed all five of his sparring droids, demolished his punching bags and made more then a few dents in the walls. He was still upset. His fists clenching and unclenching it was all he could do not to ask Mrs. Briefs where that mindless idiot Yamcha lived, fly off and find the bastard then slowly rip him into small pieces while the bastard was still alive. How dare he, how dare he think he could put his hands on Bulma. She belonged to him and that..that human scum thought he could take her from him. Getting more pissed off just thinking about it Vegeta had to use most of his self control to keep him sitting and not blowing up things. He'd come for dinner to find Kakorrot still there along with that idiot Yamcha, all sitting at the table with Kakorrot stuffing his face as usual while Yamcha, who'd decided he could sit beside Bulma had been busy making eyes at her. Through the whole meal the cretin had been like that, making eyes, patting her hand, talking in low voices so that only she could hear what he was saying. And she'd been lapping it up, Vegeta thought with a dark look, his eyes automatically going to the main house where she was now. Dressing up in those black leggings that looked like they'd been painted on her legs and that tight black shirt, designed the draw your attention to ever friggin curve of her body. There she'd sat without a care in the world, laughing and joking with everyone like nothing had changed. Not once had she smiled at him or even said a word to him for that matter. She'd..she'd ignored him! How dare she ignore him. How dare she act like she'd rather spend her time with that pathetic cretin then with him. She was his God damn it and she should damn well act like it. Feeling his blood pressuring reaching critical levels Vegeta flew off into the air to go find something to blow up before he blew up and did something stupid.
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Bulma sat on her bed and fumed as she glared at the nearby mirror. Damn him to hell, Bulma thought with a dangerous look in her eye, sheer will keeping her from hurling her brush at the mirror with everything she had. Here she had dressed up all nice, done her make up and styled her hair special and he hadn't said one word to her during the entire meal so that she'd had to spend the whole meal trying not to look like she cared that he was ignoring her while trying to assure Yamcha that she was absolutely, for the millionth time okay. Then as soon as supper was over he just gets up and leaves without a word to her and goes back to training, like she didn't even exist. The bastard. Well who needed him anyway. Damn it she did. With a loud sigh Bulma slammed her brush down onto the bed instead then getting up changed into a long T-shirt to sleep in since obviously the only one who was going to be seeing her in it was her stuffed animals and sheets. Pissed off and getting more pissed off just thinking about it Bulma put her hair into two braids then marching back to her bed threw her brush onto the floor for good measure before pushing back the covers to slid in. Giving her pillows several good punches Bulma lay back and grabbed the book she'd left lying on her nightstand accidentally before she'd left for her trip having intended to read it on the way there. Flipping to the first page Bulma settled into read before she remembered that the book was a steamy hot romance one her friend Kami had recommended to her. Damn it! Was the whole friggin world against her tonight. Setting the book back onto the nightstand Bulma crossed her arms in front of her chest and positively fumed in anger, steam practically coming out of her ears. Leaning over with the intention of turning off her lamp, the only light on in the room when she heard the sound of her doorknob turning. Thinking it was one of her parents Bulma forced a smile onto her face until she watched Vegeta come through the door, closing it soundlessly behind him. "What do you want?" Bulma said with frost practically hanging off of every word.
"What kind of greeting is that, onna? Certainly not the one I've been getting recently." Vegeta said with a hint of a sneer even as he took in his surroundings with interest. He'd never been in her room before. The lack of pink was a nice surprise.
"Yeah well get use to it, pal because this is your new welcome from now on." Bulma said as she glared at him, refusing to get out of bed on the principle of the point. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of knowing how pissed off she was. "And don't you have better things to do then come walking in here like you own the place? Seems to me you prefer blowing things up to my company last time I checked."
"And that bothers you?" Vegeta said with a raised eyebrow. "It never did before."
"Maybe because I wasn't sleeping with you before?" Bulma said with sarcasm dripping from every single syllable. "And since I get the feeling that the only reason your here is because you've broken something I am now aware and I will fix whatever it is tomorrow."
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"I broke all your training droids and several pieces of equipment." Vegeta said with a smirk as her face went slack with shock, an unusual expression for her to be sure.
"All..all..of them?" Bulma said with shock, gapping at him in surprise. "Why the hell did you do that? I told you never to use more then two droids in a day because you damage them to some extent every time you use them."
"Well it was either them or your cretin boyfriend..I thought you'd prefer I destroy the ones you can put back together again." Vegeta said dryly though there was a hint of bite to his words that gave away the fact that he wasn't quite as calm and collected as he appeared.
"My what? What on earth are you talking..do you mean Yamcha?" Bulma said in confusion, trying to put the pieces together in a way that made sense to her which wasn't working well. Okay so Vegeta had declared war on the training droids because he'd wanted to kill Yamcha? But why would hew want to do that? And why would he call Yamcha her..wait a minute..was he..was Vegeta..jealous? "Yamcha isn't my boyfriend though so I have no idea who you're talking about." Bulma said slowly, testing the waters carefully. "Sure we dated a long time ago but that's been over for a while and besides that..the closest thing I have to a boyfriend at the moment is you, Vegeta and that's stretching the phrase to the max. Though judging by your recent behavior I take it you'd prefer we go back to our former cats and dogs routine."
"That would be the wisest thing would it not?" Vegeta said slowly, processing the fact that according to her Yamcha was no more his rival for her then Goku was. "But then again there's a problem with that route too." Vegeta added as he walked over to her bedside, sitting down beside her so that she had to scoot over a bit to give him room.
"And what's that?" Bulma demanded to know as she sat up in bed, turning her head so that they were face to face, eye to eye.
"If we go back to the way things were before this past week..well then I can't do this." Vegeta said with a dark scowl even as he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her against him as he lowered his head to devour her mouth. She was in his mind, in his blood and called to him with a siren's deadly force. She had become his one and only addiction.
Note
This fic will cont for a while if you're wondering since I've decided to put all my B/V one shot ideas into it and work it in together as one big fic. Hope you enjoy and look forward to hearing from you.