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From Arguing to Placating

Complete and cold silence filled the small ship, Bulma knowing as soon as the words had slipped out that she'd said too much. For the first time in a long time she felt absolute fear as Vegeta slowly turned his head to face her, his eyes reminding her of the first time she'd ever looked into them. Those black, bottomless pits that were absolute terror inspiring.

"Just so I'm completely clear...what exactly did you mean by that?" Vegeta asked slowly, his eyes never leaving hers as they pinned her to her seat as if she were a butterfly being added to someone's bug collection.

"Uhmmm...I just confirmed that you were right, that I never complained about your abilities in bed. I just...uh...realized how what I said could be misinterpreted so I forgot what else I was going to say." Bulma's mind raced to try and come up with some way to twist what she'd said into something positive but was drawing a complete blank. Dammit, her child's life might depend on this! Think, stupid brain, think, Bulma commanded.

"Really, because it sounded to me like you were saying that the only thing I'm good for is sex." Vegeta replied, his tone of voice ringing with just enough sarcasm to confirm the fact that he wasn't buying this at all.

"Well you are really good at that, the best I've ever had in fact but you're good at lots of other things." Bulma said quickly, hastening to soothe his ego and boost it. Thanks to living in a social class where the men were usually egotistical jerks playing with egos was something she knew plenty about. This was going to be one hell of a blow to her pride but this was her baby's life at risk here. "One of the reasons I forgot what I was going to say was because the way you said that I never complained made mental images in my head and completely blew my concentration." Sending him her best I'm just a brainless bimbo look Bulma barely managed not to break her fingers, they were clenching the steering wheel so hard.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"What do you mean?" Okay, so playing dumb wasn't going to save her but at least it might buy her some time. Time enough for Vegeta to rein in his temper enough to let her live instead of blowing her away.

"You meant exactly what you said. You said that not only was I a better lover then a fighter but you also implied that sex was all I was good for. Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"No. If you were born yesterday our former relationship would not only be physically impossible but illegal in every planet and galaxy."

A decided twitch appearing under Vegeta's left eye Bulma could practically hear him grinding his teeth in aggravation. "Woman...do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for your little ploys? I've known you for far too many years not to know when you're playing me. Obviously you aren't brainless because you realized right away that what you said was life threatening. To you."

"I was mad, Vegeta." Bulma said bluntly, seeing no other choice but to be honest and hope that counted for something. "Like you said, I've known you long enough to know where to aim. I shouldn't have said what I said though and I apologize. I take that last sentence back."

"Only the last sentence?" Vegeta repeated, his eyes narrowing dangerously, never a good sign.

"Vegeta, think about it. The rest was complimentary."

Thinking it over Vegeta couldn't quite hide the small, masculine grin that crossed his features as her meaning hit home. Not about to let her off the hook that easy he forced his face back into it's typical scowl as he glared over at her. "Just be glad you're carrying my child, woman. If you weren't, nothing you just said would have saved you."

"Well duh."

Tempted to needle her some more with her comments Vegeta opted to refrain since he knew very well that if he did odds were they'd spiral into another argument. She was bound to say something else to set him off and then he really would blow her up. Turning his head to look out his window Vegeta's scowl remained but not for the reason Bulma would have thought. There had been fear in her eyes. He couldn't remember the last time she'd looked at him like that. He didn't want her to ever look at him like that again. His fingers flexing in and out of fists he mentally cursed, not sure what to say, much less what to think. He'd known that what she'd said had been her way of lashing out at him. He wasn't an idiot, they both knew very well that she was only a match for him when it came to verbal sparring. And damn but she knew just where to aim, he thought wearily, fighting the urge to slump in his seat. He'd seen red, even as every cell in his body had been screaming at him that she hadn't meant it. He'd been looking for an excuse to hate her, he admitted to himself, too weary to deny it. Everything in his life was spiraling out of control and it would be so much easier if he could blame her, hate her for the ways she was blowing his life to hell. By Kami, how he wanted to blame it all on her. To convince himself that he was blameless in all this. But he wasn't, he was in fact to blame more than she was. It wasn't her fault he was too weak to resist her, not to mention beat Goku. He was a failure all on his own, she was just another example of that.

"Vegeta, are you okay?" Bulma asked hesitantly, laying a hand that wasn't quite steady on his tense shoulder. She didn't think he'd even notice her getting up and putting the ship on autopilot. She didn't think this was suppressed rage either. If he were really this angry he'd have gone outside the ship to blow things up along the way to make him feel better.

"I'm fine." Turning his head to glance at her briefly Vegeta's eyes widened slightly as he stared into those damn blue eyes of hers. He always saw more than he wanted in them, especially when they were aimed at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He growled, tensing up even more under her hand.

"Like what?"

"Like you care. Not more than ten minutes ago you were looking at me like I was going to kill you and now you look like you want to hug me." Damn it, he never understood this woman, never. Sometimes he was almost afraid of just what he'd learn if he ever did.

"Well you looked like you were going to kill me." Bulma pointed out, something in his eyes bothering her even more than the way they'd been before. There was something in those dark depths that made her want to do exactly what he'd said. Pull him into her arms and hold him close until they didn't look that way anymore. Which was incredibly stupid, Bulma thought with a small sigh. Damn, why had she gone and let him in? No matter what he did she always came back to this need to shelter him from the world, to show him another way to live. Even though she knew very well he'd rather face the tortures of hell then let her do either.

"I thought about it." Was his dry response. "But that doesn't explain why you're looking at me the way you are right now."

"If you're asking why I care about you I can't give you an answer. I can't figure that out either. You aren't anything like my normal type and more then half the time I go around imaging all sorts of wonderfully painful ways to kill you. But sometimes I just look into those eyes of yours and I want to hold you close. Like right now. Oh don't look at me like that, I'm not going to." Bulma said with a huff. "I know you wouldn't accept that from me. You wanted honesty and that's just the way it is. I don't like it either."

"I don't want your pity."

"It wouldn't be about pity, Vegeta. There are a lot of things that happened in your life that are horrible, a lot worse than I can probably even imagine. I can feel pity for the boy you were, losing everything and everyone who was important to you. You go around with the weight of the world on your shoulders because you hold yourself to the ideals of your people to the point where you as a person doesn't matter anymore. You're so busy trying to live up to impossible standards that you aren't even really living. But I don't pity you, Vegeta. I just have feelings for you that you don't want to have to deal with, much less accept. Do you really think I'd have let you get so close to me if I didn't? Nothing I did with you was out of pity."

Looking into her eyes he didn't know what to say to that. He'd known she had feelings for him. He knew that no one in their right mind would put up with him the way she did unless she had some sort of attachment to him. In general he preferred to think it had all been about the sex but that was just wishful thinking. No, he knew she cared, one of those damn human weaknesses of hers. He had no doubt he could rid her of those emotions but it would require him to do things...things he didn't want to ever do again. He knew what he was capable of, the amount of blood staining his hands. Oh he could make her hate him and that, more than any moral code, was what stopped him. He was a better person not because he cared about his morality but because he didn't want her to think him a monster. As lowering as it was he'd realized during her absence that he'd made a lot of changes because of her. He didn't even remember making them now. He still mocked and cursed Kakarrot whenever they met up but now it was almost more out of habit than anything else. There was still the rivalry of course but now it was about surpassing Goku rather then doing that and than killing the grinning idiot. He let Bulma's mother get away with her mothering and he had yet to snap at the woman's father when the absentminded professor forgot to repair his equipment. Her parents cared for him too and he didn't think it was out of gratitude for not having blown up their only child all the times she'd asked for it. And Bulma...hell...he was beginning to think he might actually care about the annoying bitch. The idea had been planted after his unreasonable and stupid reactions to her nearly dying and than being attacked in the park. And the most ironic thing, he thought, as an almost ironic smirk crossed his face, was that he didn't mind that idea half as much as he should.

Seeing the shadows in his eyes receding Bulma removed her hand from his shoulder, walking back to her seat. Sitting down she took back the controls and left him to his thoughts. Neither spoke until they were within minutes of arriving at their destination. Then she knew she had to say something, to get it out of the way before her parents descended on them like locust. "Vegeta?" Waiting until she was sure she had his attention she hoped her nerves weren't showing, her nerves already jumping in agitation for what was to come. "When we arrive I'm going to have to tell my parents. As it is they're going to be mad I didn't tell them sooner about it. Do you...want to be there? I can tell them by myself if you want."

After a pause Vegeta shook his head. "I'll come too."

"Are you sure? Mom will be too busy going gaga over the idea of being a grandmother to really think about the whole thing but my dad might try to do you some serious physical damage. Not that he would succeed of course but he could cause problems."

"I'm not a coward and I'm certainly not afraid of your father. There are domesticated animals that are more dangerous then him."

"True but still. I just wanted to give you the option." Personally she was relieved as hell that she wasn't going to have to do this alone. She knew that her parents would accept and support her but she was still their unmarried daughter informing them she was having a baby with no marriage in sight. No, marriage and Vegeta were as likely as Krillin growing hair on that head of his.

As expected the news of the baby came as an utter shock to Bulma's parents. Her father had had no idea that the two liked each other, much less had been intimately involved with each other behind his back. Bulma's mother had suspected something but this sort of conformation totally blew her away. Vegeta pretty much let Bulma do all the talking, accepting the heated death glares he was getting from Bulma's father as his due. He'd do the same. That of course had led his thoughts down the path of what he was going to do if this child was a girl. Human boys were bound to come after her, especially if she looked like her mother. They'd all die, he decided, crossing his arms decisively. And they wouldn't be quick deaths either.

"Daddy, don't look like Vegeta like that." Bulma said with a chuckle once her mother stopped babbling and hugging her long enough for the younger woman to read the vibes her father was sending Vegeta's way.

"I'm looking at him exactly like he deserves." Okay, so he wasn't an idiot. He knew his baby had relationships with men, had been intimate with some of them, but this was his baby, his only child. He'd taken Vegeta in despite the young man's attitude and all he could think was why the hell hadn't he said no. If he'd only said no none of this would have happened.

"Sweetie, what's done is done." Bulma's mother said as she pranced over to her husband, her whole face lit up and beaming. "And we're going to be grandparents! Isn't that wonderful? We should be celebrating, not frowning!"

"Yeah, Daddy." Bulma said as she walked over and knowing exactly how to manipulate her father sat down on her father's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, cuddling against him. "And I could have done a lot worse you know. I mean think of some of my other boyfriends!"

"I am." The professor muttered under his breath, even as he automatically raised a hand to run it through his daughter's hair. "Yamcha was such a nice boy."

"Yeah but Vegeta is so much smarter than he is." Bulma said quickly, knowing that anyone stating Yamcha was a better man then he would be enough to drive Vegeta to a great deal of violence. "And yes Vegeta is rough around the edges but this will be my child too and even if this is a boy he won't have his daddy's personality because he'll have me for a mommy. With Vegeta for a daddy this baby is going to be stronger, smarter and better looking than if Yamcha was the father."

"She's right dear." Mrs. Briefs added, the men in the room too busy thinking about what Bulma had said to make any comment. "Vegeta really is a lot better looking then Yamcha. Our grand baby is going to be the best looking baby in the world! In all the galaxies even!"

A sheepish look coming over her face Bulma decided it was best to let her parents absorb and especially to get Vegeta out of the room. She knew that she was going to have to paint him in the best light possible for her parents and she definitely didn't want him there to hear it. His head was swollen enough without him hearing her lie through her teeth about all his so called good qualities.

"Sweetie, why don't you go put your stuff away." Bulma's mother suggested, as if she'd read her daughter's mind. "Vegeta, be a dear and help her with all her luggage? It's not good for her to do any heavy lifting."

Since he didn't want to be there and he'd be losing his buffer if Bulma left Vegeta got to his feet and nodded. The two beating a hasty retreat they left the professor in his wife's hands, prattling on as she tried to resign her husband to the fact that their daughter was going to have the baby of their very irritable houseguest.

"Well I suppose that could have gone worse." Bulma said as she let out a relieved sigh. "I'll be grilled more later but for now I think I'm safe just letting them absorb and come to terms."

"If you say so. Your father seems pretty persistent about this marriage thing." Vegeta comment as he hefted two of her bags as he followed her up the stairs. He didn't know anything about marriage other then it involved wearing rings and that he knew two couples who were connected to each other in that way. Since those two couples were Bulma's parents and Goku and Chi Chi he couldn't really see the appeal of the whole institution.

"He'll get over that. The whole stigma of unwed mothers is pretty much gone, especially for someone my age." Bulma said with an amused chuckle, looking at him over her shoulder for a moment. "This is one of the few times I'm glad to be over thirty."

"But in this culture it's expected?" He had a feeling it was and he wasn't sure exactly what he'd be getting into if he agreed to it. Was it simply sharing a home and wearing a piece of jewelry? He could handle that.

"Don't even think about it, buster." Bulma said sharply, sending him something very similar to his own death glare. "There's no way I'm binding myself to you for life. There's nothing I've done in my life to deserve that kind of punishment."