Disclaimer: All things associated with Dragon Ball Z belong solely to Akira Toriyama.

Something in the Water

Chapter 2: Just a Sip...

The ship's occupants were silent as it soared through the edges of the atmosphere and blasted into the dark abyss of space. For three days they sat in a chemically-induced sleep, the only peace that Bulma and Vegeta had ever had in the same room for the last year. Eventually the fog began to lift and the two began to blink and yawn. Cracking an eye open, Vegeta felt the power seep back into his muscles and he unbuckled himself swiftly, eager to try out his gravitron. He stirred the drowsy female, who watched in mild interest as he tacitly left the room, and she herself stood up with a sigh as the two chairs and control panel collapsed and sank into the shiny chrome wall, leaving no trace of their presence. Bulma glanced out the window to see the passing stars and planets looming in the distance. On one of these they would eventually land when the ship declared it habitable... Checking the holographic screen, she noted that they had successfully traveled past the speed of light for the past three days and were most definitely out of their own solar system. Now they would have to let the ship power up for the next three months via solar energy before they could blast back that way again. No turning back now, Bulma. Hopefully they would come across a sun like theirs soon, otherwise they'd be stranded out here a little longer than anticipated. On the bright side, they had enough food stored for the next year -- just in case.

A rumble erupted from the inner workings of the ship, and Bulma knew that the prince had found his home again in the GR. Venturing further into the ship, she found the entrance into the quarters. The ship was basically a large sphere with a smaller cylinder attached to the back, and Bulma saw that there was a tiny kitchen area next to a bedroom. With a frown she entered the bedroom and noticed that Bella, her stuffed sheep, sat cheerily on the bed. Bulma stuck her head out into the hallway again, knowing that it simply wrapped around to the other side where the living/control room lay. Where was his room? Again she entered the quarters and wandered to the other end of it, where a sparse, sleek bathroom sparkled -- the only moderately luxurious thing in the entire ship. A large tub sat in one end of it, while the other contained a glassed-in shower, and Bulma recognized the sign of a collapsible toilet between them.

"...Vegeta?" she wondered aloud as she walked back into the hallway towards the GR. Though no response reached her ears, she knew he heard her as she made the loop back through the control room to the other side of the GR. Tapping on the sliding door to the training room, Bulma flipped her hair over her shoulder and glanced down at her frilly top and bermuda shorts. Not exactly space wear... "Vegeta? Could you come out here for a moment?"

"I'm training!" he yelled back as he continued his pushups.

"Well you've got FIVE MONTHS to do that, so open the damn door, okay?"

Bulma heard a disgruntled yell as the power turned off, and a moment later she blinked into the face of the surly Saiyan. "What?" he hissed.

Ignoring him, she dipped under his arm and entered the gravitron with another frown. "Do you have some sort of bedroom in here?" she asked as she drew her hand along the wall, checking for collapsible furniture.

"This is my training room, woman, not my sleeping quarters."

Stopping by the control panel, Bulma scanned it for any signs of unusual buttons. "But... where's your room then?"

Vegeta's back straightened infinitesimally. "In the back. Where is yours?"

"That... is my room," she replied softly as she turned to meet his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That's the only bedroom here, Vegeta," she snapped, "Unless you've gotten something hidden up your tight little spandex sleeves..."

With a glare at his own, personal interloper, Vegeta strode out of the gravitron to examine the ship. Bulma sighed and leaned against the control panel as she waited for her prince to return. Moments later she heard an agitated scream echoing through the ship as Vegeta strode into the room and up to her brooding face. "What the hell do you mean by this?" he hissed.

"Hey," she retorted, "I'm not the one who built this thing! Maybe you should have checked it to make sure it's up to your outrageous standards before you got on it for the next five months!"

Growling in vexation, Vegeta shoved his hands through his ebony spikes. "It's your moronic father who should be to blame! You said you would ensure he made all the appropriate preparations!"

"Hey -- I had no idea that this thing had only one bedroom, Vegeta, let me guarantee you of that!"

"What -- you weren't trying to worm your way into my bed, you little harlot?" he snarled as he took a menacing step towards her.

With a shriek Bulma shoved her fragile hands against his unmoving chest. "That is SO LIKE YOU, Vegeta! For the last time, you are the single-most vile being in the entire universe, and I would rather sleep with Goku than with you!"

"Well you may just get your wish," he snapped, his eyes burning into hers, "Because there's no way in HELL you're sleeping in the same bed as I am!"

"Then let's just go ahead and turn this stupid ship around," she cried as she threw up her hands to gesture to her surroundings, "Let's just -- let's just fly back to earth. Don't worry that it will take at least eight months to get there without the light-barrier breakers charged -- oh no, that's no problem at all... except that it would TOTALLY DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUPID TRIP ANYWAY!"

"Fuck you and this piece of shit!" Vegeta screamed back as electrical charges skittered across his skin.

"Oh, very helpful," she retorted dryly as she put her hands on her hips, "Just cuss me out. That'll do the trick."

"How about I just kill you and save myself the headache of dealing with you further?"

"How about you float in space for eternity when I'm dead?"

"How about I rip out your tongue and leave your hands to do the work?"

"How about I reinstall the gravitron to smash you flat next time?"

Bulma and Vegeta stood seething as they stared at one another, grinding their teeth. Slowly, the fire that was eating at her sanity slowly cooled, and Bulma sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, let's just figure this out."

Vegeta watched her warily as she left the room and wandered to the bedroom, and he couldn't help but follow. "Can you build yourself a bed?" he grouched as he leaned against the door frame while she circled the room.

Shaking her head dejectedly, she replied, "I don't have the materials. I mean, I don't even think there's another blanket around here." Vegeta grunted and reached over to pluck up the little stuffed sheep. "Put that back," she snapped as she wandered into the bathroom. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her before he dropped it back on the bed.

"Nothing in here but towels," she muttered to herself. Slowly she walked back into the room to stare at its other moody occupant. "Well, I mean, it is a double bed," she remarked conversationally.

Vegeta's nostrils flared. "You'd better not be headed where I think you are," he groused.

"Aw come on," she sighed as she plopped onto the bed and grabbed her Bella, "We can make it work. All we have to do is... you know, change our sleeping patterns a bit."

"You will sleep on the floor, Bulma," he growled.

"No, I won't."

"No way in hell are you sleeping in my quarters."

"Well, you're really going to miss that gravity machine then."

Vegeta snarled and lunged toward her, but Bulma shoved up her stuffed sheep between them "Ah ah ah," she teased as she glared up at him from behind Bella, "Don't even think about it. I'll have Goku all over your ass faster than you can say Sensu."

"You think that will stop me from crushing your little skull?" he sneered.

"No, but it will stop you from ascending," she replied with a saccharine smile. "And let me tell you what, Prince, the more you have me on your side, the faster you'll get that platinum blonde up-do you've been dreaming of."

Vegeta snarled as he shoved aside the stuffed animal and leaned in towards her face. "Do you dare mock the Saiyan heritage?" he drawled dangerously.

"On the contrary. I take it quite seriously. I also take my sleep quite seriously." Bulma smiled up into his reddening face. "Don't worry -- I can just sleep when you train and so on. It'll take a while before I can get down a new routine, but don't worry, we can make this work, Vegeta, I'm sure of it."

"I don't want any fleas in my bed, woman!" he sneered.

Bulma crossed her arms with a grimace. "This coming from an overgrown monkey? I don't think so."

"What did you call me?"

"Come on," she said, ignoring his threat as she leaped up off the bed, "You go train and forget all about this. I'm going to go check in with Dad -- and chew him out."

"This isn't likely to escape my thoughts," he grumbled moodily as he followed the blue-haired beauty into the hallway.

"Yeah I know, you just can't wait to sleep with the ravishing Bulma Briefs," she laughed, her voice tinkling off the chrome walls.

"Bitch," he spat, hauling her back on her heels by her blouse, "Don't think I don't know what's going on in that little head of yours. You will not enter my quarters while I am in them and you will not try to seduce me."

"Paranoid much?" she drawled as she batted her eyes at him with a smile.

"You will not succeed," he seethed as his eyes bored into hers.

"Got it. No monkey sex. Have fun training!" she said brightly as she spun on her heel and flounced into the control room.

Smacking his hand over his face, Vegeta growled at her heinous lack of respect for him. At least he had five months to show her where she belonged... under his heel.

Meanwhile, Bulma tapped into the main control system and accessed her communication technology. A busy signal popped up on the screen, telling her that it would take approximately six hours before the signal would reach the outer satellites, and Bulma decided to take a gander at the kitchen in the meanwhile. Padding through the hallway with a glance through the long window to the GR, Bulma frowned at the situation she found herself in as she entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was diminutive, with barely enough room for two people to stand chest-to-chest between the counter and the sink. Two sets of cabinets hung above the counter with a window between them, and Bulma found that the cabinets housed baskets of capsules, perfectly organized. Bulma smiled. Her mother had been here. The refrigerator sat next to the sink, and Bulma opened it, pleased to find that her mother had left them some freshly-baked goods and other perishables. Glancing to her right, Bulma noted that a tiny two-person table was cramped in the corner and held a glistening glass bowl of fruit. Although she couldn't tell what time it was, she reasoned that her three-day sleep -- though programmed to use practically none of the body's stored energy -- gave her cause for a little snack, and Bulma grabbed a particularly large peach to munch on. Vegeta usually trained for five hours in the morning, took an hour long break for lunch, and then trained about seven hours until dinner, after which he returned for about four more hours of training before bed. The Saiyan was attached to his schedule. Bulma chewed on her fruit and her thoughts until only the core remained. Throwing the pit away, she tramped back to "her" bedroom to go through her belongings, and she spent the next six hours unpacking, settling in, and working on a particular piece of machinery that had yet to be perfected. Finally, she heard a ringing noise emanating from the control room, and she made her way over to see what was going on, grabbing a glass of water on the way. Good timing too, because she heard the GR turn off as she passed by, and she was more than willing to let Vegeta have his shower without her nearby.

When she arrived, a message was blinking on the holographic screen: Three messages waiting for download. With a slight frown she plucked in the code and watched as her father popped up on the screen. Mustache twitching in agitation, he ran his hand through his hair, saying, "Bulma! My dear! I've got a bit of -- erm -- bad news, so if you would please go ahead and call me as soon as you get out of your sleep -- that would be -- ahem -- prudent..." Abruptly the message ended, and Bulma hurriedly moved to the next: "Bulma! Please hurry and call me! No dilly-dallying!" and finally she clicked to the last: "BULMA what the HELL are you doing??" he asked as his face suddenly turned pale. "Wait -- don't tell me -- I don't want to know -- Just call and whatever you do --"

But his message was cut off as a call rang through the system. Bulma quickly answered, "Daddy? Is everything okay over there?"

"Bulma!" Dr. Briefs sighed in relief, mopping his brow with a handkerchief, "Where have you been?"

"Asleep. And a little hungry. What's going on?"

At her reply, the older man blinked in surprise and zeroed in on the glass in her hand. "Is that... are you drinking water?" he gasped, smacking his forehead in frustration.

"Uh, yeah, dehydration being a problem and all..." she replied in confusion, setting it down on the floor.

"How much have you had?"

"Like half a glass -- what's going on, Daddy?"

Dr. Briefs sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "Your water -- it's been tainted."

"WHAT?"

"From when Vegeta destroyed your chemical charger and all the rest of that chem lab."

"Son of a --"

"We refilled your tanks without realizing that one of the chemicals had leaked into the main water system here -- some of the pipes had been damaged in the explosion..."

"How dead am I?" Bulma moaned, already beginning to feel fear creep up her spine.

Her father twitched, fidgeting with his collar a bit. "Well, not dead, exactly... almost the opposite..."

Bulma froze. "Daddy... Which chemical?"

The doctor's face began to turn beet red. "Well honey, just stay calm --"

"Which. Chemical. Now," she growled.

"Asmf..." he mumbled, turning beet red.

"I can't hear you," she replied with a glare.

Her father coughed and sighed. "Atosimaphil," he said. "A-Sim. The levels are off the chart."

Bulma thought her heart was about to explode as her stomach dropped out. "You're joking," she choked as she stared down at her glass of water in horror.

"No," he replied sadly, "It's true. Not a single capsule contains uncontaminated water either."

"A-Sim," she whispered, stunned, and suddenly she jerked her head in the direction of the GR. "Vegeta!" she gasped.

"Yes," her father interrupted, his face turning red again, "You two are in quite a pickle. You yourself should start feeling the -- erm -- effects soon enough if you've had a few sips recently. I'm not exactly sure how you are going to avoid --"

Abruptly his words cut off as the screen was filled with something bright yellow. "BULMA DEAR!" Bunny shrieked excitedly as she grabbed on to the computer console. "Just imagine -- all those grandbabies!"

"Dad," Bulma snarled in irritation, and her father popped back on screen as he pulled his wife out of the way.

"I don't suppose you took any specific supplies with you up there?" he asked nervously.

"I should -- I should be okay if anything..." she trailed off, glancing nervously down the hall. "I have to go before Vegeta --"

"Yes -- hurry!" Dr. Briefs urged. "I'll talk to you soon!"

Bulma heard her mother's peal of delight cut off as she jogged down the hall. "Vegeta!" she called out as she looked into the bedroom and saw steam billowing behind the glass bathroom door, and a strange warmness began to creep up her spine. "Don't -- Don't drink the water!" she yelled as she banged on the door.

Vegeta could feel the woman's anxiety, and her yell managed to worry him the slightest bit. Cutting off the water, he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his hips, thankful that he had at least managed to shampoo and soap up before she interrupted his relaxing shower. "Quit your yowling," he grumbled as he yanked the door open.

Eyes bugging out of her head, Bulma gawked at the man looking down on her as water droplets slid down his bronze muscles and the steam behind him emphasizing his darkness. "I... uh..." she whispered as the warmth spread to her stomach, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his gleaming neck and chest. "The wa... don't um..."

Vegeta was suddenly wary as he saw her eyes roving his chest -- something she had never done -- and although he couldn't blame her, he felt severely uncomfortable. Taking a step back with narrowed eyes, he said, "Spit it out, woman. You're bothering me."

But Bulma couldn't help herself. Tentatively, she lifted one slender hand and reached out to touch his chest, and Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise as her ivory digits barely brushed one of his pecs. "You're... beautiful," she whispered, her eyes widening in adoration.

Gasping, Vegeta snatched her hand and squeezed it menacingly. "What the fuck are you doing?" he hissed in alarm, and his sudden movements stunned Bulma enough that she tore herself away from him and threw herself on the bed, leaving Vegeta standing dumbfounded in the doorway.

"It's the water!" she gasped, clutching her stuffed sheep to her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut. "It's toxic!"

Vegeta stepped forward in alarm. "What?" he cried.

"It's an -- it's an aphrodisiac," she gasped, trying desperately to not think about the suddenly-appetizing man behind her. "It makes you want to -- it makes you want to have sex, Vegeta..."

And he could see the hunger in her eyes when she peeked at him over her shoulder.

A/N: Alrighty I hope y'all liked this installment! I love encouragement, so please review!