A/N: So I have to say thank you for all the reviews! You guys make me want to write!
Disclaimer: All things associated with Dragon Ball Z belong solely to Akira Toriyama.
Something in the Water
Many Ruminations
Standing in the doorway, mouth agape and eyes wide, Vegeta gazed on the woman who looked longingly over her shoulder at him. "Did you --" he rasped as he felt the sudden need to readjust his towel on his hips, "Did you... partake of it?"
"Half a glass," she breathed as desire licked its way through her body, "And I can barely..." Bulma clutched her stuffed sheep, Bella, to her chest as her eyes widened. "I can barely keep myself from jumping on you."
"Normal from any other person..." he muttered, casting his eyes about the room for his clothes. He guessed his personal belonging were in the chest of drawers next to the bed. "Is it escalating in intensity?" he queried as he cautiously moved towards the chest, keeping his eyes on hers.
Tongue flicking out to wet her lips, Bulma whispered, "Yes." Her sight began to blur at the edges -- not from loss of consciousness, but from intensified concentration on the nearly-exposed man.
Opening a random drawer, Vegeta found a pair of sweat pants and quickly withdrew them. He could feel her desire. It was tangible. Sliding his eyes towards her again as he made to return to the bathroom, he noted her flushed cheeks, her labored breathing, and her smoldering eyes. It had been too long since a woman had looked at him that way, and Bulma was... sumptuous. Tempting. Even in his lucid, rational state, Vegeta could feel the threads of lust unwinding in his chest, and at that moment he knew: This was the trip from hell.
Bulma could barely feel her conscious mind. "I want you," she whispered as the Saiyan distrustfully backed out to the bathroom. "Don't -- Don't leave!" she cried in a sudden panic as she threw herself to the edge of the bed, reaching out a hand to him as her hair tumbled wildly about her shoulders and her eyes widened in desperation.
But Vegeta made it to the bathroom and mentally thanked Dr. Briefs for actually putting a lock on the door -- and suddenly she was there at the door pounding on it with the palm of her hand and mewling his name. Vegeta threw off the towel and yanked on his pants, glancing in the mirror at his agitated reflection. "Fucking coward," he muttered to himself, "The Prince of All Saiyans running from a weakling female..." Disgusted with himself, he went to the door, unlocked it, and slid it open so quickly that a smack landed on his exposed chest.
"Vegeta!" she gasped with a dazzling smile lighting across her flushed face, and she tried to fling her arms about his shoulders, but the Saiyan swiftly caught her tiny wrists in his hands.
"Absolutely not," he snapped, and he was about to shove her into the bathroom when he realized that she would only have access to more water there. Rolling his eyes in agitation, he began to drag her across the room and into the hallway.
"Hey! What are you -- Vegeta!" she cried, stumbling over her own feet as he pulled her by her wrists.
"Shut up," he growled as he pulled her towards the GR while she struggled against him. "I should have killed you when I had the chance..."
"Don't kill me -- make love to me!" she wailed as he roughly tossed her into the gravitron. Wordlessly he moved to the control panel and turned the gravity on as she scrambled to her feet. "Kami, Vegeta! Don't just --" But suddenly she slammed down to the floor on her face as a measly five Gs pinned her down.
"That should do it," he commented to himself as he noted her inability to move her face.
"V -- G -- Ta," she moaned, only able to move her eyes to follow his walk towards her.
With a grimace, he used his bare foot to roll her over to her back, though the side of her face stayed glued to the floor. "I certainly hope this won't take to long to dissipate," he said to her wide eyes, "Because I'd like the use of my gravity machine soon."
Bulma moaned again both from the pain of being weighed down and from the fire burning in her loins.
Vegeta studied her indignant face a moment more. "And moreover," he added with a snap of his teeth, "Saiyans do not make love." With that, the prince turned on his heel and left, slamming the door shut on his way out.
Two hours later, Vegeta strolled by the GR and could feel a completely different sense emanating from the flattened female -- something quite similar to utter rage. With a smirk he opened the door and gazed down at Bulma's stricken and shrewd face. "Seems like you've had enough," he commented as he noted with slight admiration that she had managed to inch her way over to the control panel.
As Vegeta turned off the machine and the gravity lifted, Bulma wheezed out a breath and gasped. "You... ass... hole..." she panted, her body screaming at her tiniest movements.
"Perhaps you should take to training as well when I am asleep," he offered with a scowl, "Then you may be more useful when we land for more supplies. More useful... and less fat."
"Shut your... mouth," she hissed as she shakily got on her hands and knees. Every limb was trembling, and as her embarrassing actions towards Vegeta swam in her head, all she wanted to do was crawl up in a corner and die. Luckily her long hair tumbled before her face and hid her scarlet blush from his calculating stare.
"What -- no ripping off your garments?" he sneered as he perched against the panel. "I was sure that you'd continue your overtures as soon as you saw me again. You don't need chemicals to make you want me."
Vegeta could see her sapphire eyes glaring up at him through her curling tresses. "YOU drink a glass of that stuff and see if you wouldn't fuck the nearest living thing," she spat as she painstakingly rose to her feet. "Don't flatter yourself, Vegeta. It's all worn off now and I can go back to loathing you in peace." Nonetheless, her blush remained as she stared him down even as her knees began to buckle with weakness.
Vegeta laughed cruelly. "A bitch in heat. Well, leave now so I may continue my training."
Bulma decided to ignore his jab, but replied, "Oh no you don't. No training until we find a place to refill our water supply, Vegeta."
"Fuck your water," he growled. "I am a Saiyan -- no weak human. Your petty chemicals will not --"
"Right," she retorted, "Because our morphine and sleeping pills don't work on you either. The more you train, the more dehydrated you will be, and we both know how much it takes to sustain a Saiyan body." Bulma sighed and turned away to lean against the door so that she could see out into space through the wrapping window of the hull. "The only hope we have is to wait until we find an inhabitable planet to refill on. Let's see..." A line appeared between her brows as she weakly laid her head against the crook of her arm. "Humans can go about three days max without water, and even then our bodies begin to shut down beforehand, so I give myself about a day and a half before I cave -- if that. Saiyans, on the other hand..." Bulma turned to scrutinize the severely-irritated prince behind her. "On any given training day you consume almost thirty times what the average human male consumes, but at rest... I'd say only ten or fifteen times that; however, your extreme pride has to be taken into account, so I think that in about one full day you'll be headed for the sink."
Scowling at her smug-but-exhausted visage, Vegeta snapped, "How about you just leave and I shall drink all the water that I want?"
"Not advisable," she replied as she feebly wandered out towards the hall, plucking at her shirt and thinking about changing. "You'll be jacking off so much your skin will fall off."
"HOW DARE --"
"Actually, I'm kind of serious," she interrupted while stifling a yawn. "That stuff is extremely potent, and your body will be forced to try to relieve your pain over and over again."
Vegeta stilled for a moment. "Pain?" he asked warily as he followed her into the hall.
"Yeah," she said flatly with a resentful grimace, "Pain. I would know."
"I thought you said it only made you..." Vegeta started, blushing.
Bulma frowned, crossing her arms as her blue eyes bored into his ebony ones. "Haven't you ever heard about pleasure and pain? The two go together."
The Saiyan flashed her a wicked smirk. "Yes, well I do take pleasure in the torture of my enemies."
"Not like that... freak..." she sighed with a roll of her eyes, "I mean in sex. Humans tend to receive pain as pleasure when they're aroused."
Vegeta felt suddenly uncomfortable as he thought about Bulma relative to himself during sex. "I'm a Saiyan," he blurted out.
"Yeah. Tail and spiky hair. Got it," she snapped. "Seems to me that humans and Saiyans are pretty much the same notwithstanding the ki level, strength, and senses issues."
Vegeta reared his head back as he took a menacing step towards her. "How dare you call yourself an equal to the Saiyan race?" he hissed, his eyes glinting in the starlight. "You have no idea --"
"I just said we weren't the same!" she retorted as shoved her hands on her hips (and winced as her sore muscles protested the sudden movement.) "In fact, I'd say that your heightened senses are going to screw you over in this situation!"
To this Vegeta had no reply, and his jaw closed with a snap as he remembered the temptation Bulma presented when he himself had perfect control over his body. He had felt the unnatural heat burning from her skin, seen the smolder behind her eyes, smelt her arousal in the air... Vegeta's nostrils flared in annoyance as he realized that simply thinking about it stirred his loins.
Bulma watched her shipmate through narrowed eyes as she saw thought flickering about his face. Maybe he's finally getting the point... "So you see, Vegeta, we've got a serious problem on our hands, and only about a day before we have no control over it."
Imperceptibly trailing his eyes across her figure, Vegeta wondered if this was indeed a problem. "To sum it up... If I don't drink the water I will die, and if I do then I'll fuck you senseless," he stated tactlessly.
Bulma blanched at his blase attitude towards her state. "Well, yeah, and if you have absolutely no control over yourself then you'll... probably kill me in the process." Bulma's cyan eyes flickered down to his hips as she considered the thought, and then she drew her gaze to the exposed bronze skin at his neck, where his tendons jutted out and screamed masculinity. Probably the best lay I'd ever have. Before I die, she thought flatly.
"Who says I'm concerned about your welfare?" he sneered as he strode to her and sinisterly began to circle her. "I don't really see the issue here."
"Hah! I knew you always wanted to sleep with me," she challenged with a smirk as she trained her flashing eyes on his. "Is Prince Vegeta getting lonely all by himself?" she mockingly pouted.
With a snarl his arms shot out to grasp her upper arms. "I want nothing to do with you, you repulsive little whore," he ground out as his onyx eyes burned with ire, "I should kill you for merely --"
"How stupid do you think I am?" she sneered, leaning in towards his face. "I've programmed this ship to respond only to my passwords, and Daddy has the remote emergency contact controls over it. If something happens to his precious little girl he has every ability to destroy it all the way from earth." Bulma's teeth flashed as she bared them to his own unsheathed teeth. "So when you tell me that you have no regard for my well-being..." Bulma smirked. "...It tells me you have no regard for yours either."
Overcome by surging hate, Vegeta screamed and slammed her roughly into the chrome wall behind her. "DO NOT TOY WITH ME!" he roared as his fingers painfully dug into her arms.
"Vegeta -- that HURTS!" she cried, shutting her eyes as pain shot through her already-sore appendages.
In mild surprise the Saiyan let go and stepped back. He hadn't thought that he'd been holding her that roughly, but sure enough he could see red marks marring her flesh where his hands had been. Oddly, his anger had vanished the moment she voiced her pain and had been replaced with a strange feeling of frustration.
"Kami, Vegeta," she groused as she rubbed her arms, "Get some self-control, will you?"
He made no reply as her words struck a chord in him. How in the world was he supposed to keep control of himself when he was forced to drink the water? Suddenly very uncomfortable, all he could manage to say was "Fuck off" before he shot a brooding glare at his surroundings and began to roam towards the bedroom while he pondered for once over the Saiyan temperament.
Though she wanted to further berate Vegeta about his callous treatment of her, Bulma had seen a glimpse if his pensive face before he turned to leave, and she reluctantly decided against it. Let him realize the pickle we're in, she thought wearily as she leaned against the window, He needs to understand that this is putting our lives in danger... specifically mine. Bulma frowned down at the marks on her arms that were beginning to bruise, though not too badly she hoped. Even during his more composed tantrums he still had trouble keeping his strength in line. What in the world was going to happen when he turned into a sex-starved nymphomaniac and she was the only thing around to sate his hunger? Bulma stifled another yawn and her thoughts began to wander towards sleep. "How does he do it?" she wondered aloud as the two hours of increased gravity took their toll on her body. With a sigh she lazily turned and headed back towards her -- their -- room.
Sitting on the side of the bed that faced the window of the bathroom, elbows propped against his knees and hands dangling carelessly between his legs, Vegeta scowled while he considered the consequences of his inevitable consumption of water. One thing was for sure: His life was about to get a lot more complicated. Regardless of their volatile, hostile attitude towards one another, Bulma and Vegeta knew there was an unspoken-of tension between them at this point that had nothing to do with anger... And what was more, Vegeta knew that with his Saiyan disposition the chemical was more likely to affect him. Once he had observed the humans for a longer period of time, he had noticed that their sexual drive was much less developed and instantaneous. Bulma was right to assume that his heightened senses amplified any feelings that he already had: Whereas she might not be able to smell the pheromones he exuded, Vegeta could literally taste hers on his lips when she entered the room. Saiyans didn't make much ado over choices either, considering that once arousal was established it took literally the removal of the other participant to stop a Saiyan from copulating. Vegeta stiffened as he felt the blue-haired woman near the room, and sure enough she entered moments later with a belabored sigh.
"I'm wiped," she groaned as she threw herself down on the bed beside him, and the Saiyan turned his head to glare at her impudence. "I just don't understand how you can train all day in that gravity, Vegeta," she continued as she flashed him a weary smile. "I guess you're more of a freak than I thought you were. You're kind of amazing."
He wanted to reply with something bombastic, but all he could do was flit his eyes towards hers with a pink blush at her honest compliment, and so he turned away with an uncomfortable cough. "Leave. I want my peace," he grouched.
"No way," she retorted as she sat up and slid off to make her way to her set of drawers, "I'm going to bed. Sorry, but my body just couldn't take that gravity for that long," she admitted with a tinge of embarrassment. "Plus, all we can do is wait until we find another planet."
"Is the food edible?" he demanded as she rummaged through her drawer and produced a short, frilly, pink nightgown.
Bulma paused to consider his question, clenching her dress to her chest. "Well, I think the fruit is fine -- but maybe not, considering if they've been washed or not... but the dry food should be good. Just check out the capsule labels." Vegeta grunted in assent and made to leave the room, but Bulma cleared her throat to get his attention first. "Um... just be careful, okay, Vegeta?" she asked with a hint of rose blush on her cheeks.
Dark eyes roaming over her face, Vegeta realized that she was considering her death at his hands, and with a mute nod he left the room to ransack the kitchen.
An hour or so later when he returned -- no longer hungry, but definitely feeling the dryness in his throat -- Vegeta found the room darkened and Bulma curled up on top of the bed, wearing that frilly scrap of clothing and clutching that stupid stuffed sheep to her chest. With a small groan of fatigue the Saiyan leaned back against the wall as he deliberated shoving her out of the bed... or crushing her skull... but something suddenly caught his attention. Vegeta pricked up his ears.
"Gentle..." she sighed again as she cuddled into the pillow.
It was then that Vegeta noticed the way her hair fanned out against the pillow in cyan waves, the way her tiny feet pointed daintily even in sleep, the way her skin glowed in the dim starlight, the way the nightie revealed too much of her milky thighs and chest... the way she was possibly the most breakable thing he had ever beheld. His fists clenched in frustration. The bitch was certainly going to die if he got his hands on her without thinking first, and the moment she died he would be stranded here... or possibly blown up by that buffoon she called a father. A low growl made its way through his throat. There was one way he could save her from death... if it ever came to it -- as a last, last, LAST resort, because there was no other reason he would ever disgrace himself that way, not unless it was to save his own life. Glaring at the offending woman on the bed, Vegeta brought his hand to the skin below his jaw. "Absolutely not," he muttered for the second time that day, and with a yawn he sauntered to "his" side of the bed and lay down after a moment's hesitation. Perhaps if he just ignored her presence... Vegeta tucked one arm under the back of his head as he closed his eyes. Moments later they bolted open when he felt something warm touch his arm. Vegeta lifted his head in astonishment to see that she had turned over and was simply letting her forehead rest against his tricep. The Saiyan swallowed a dry gulp of air as her face scowled suddenly and she shoved the sheep away so that she could wrap her arms around his.
"Gentle..." she muttered one last time in contentment as she nestled in towards him, her lips resting against his warm, bronze skin as she stilled.
Vegeta suddenly had two warring instincts -- one that urged him to take her and fling her across the room into the wall, and one that wanted to let her stay... because she had never been anything but caustic towards him. This new, peaceful Bulma was... Vegeta laid his head down again and stared at the ceiling, trying to remember when he had ever lain with a woman and not killed her afterwards. Maybe once when... Vegeta closed his eyes with a frown. No, the only woman he had ever had any significant physical contact with and not killed was his mother. In fact, she may have been the only person whom he tolerated touching him other than when he needed a quick fuck, but that was a very long time ago, when he was a little brat and his father...
Slowly, Vegeta drifted off in his thoughts and sleep began to creep in his mind. After all, he was very tired, and she was very warm at his side...
Bulma sighed in her sleep and cuddled into Vegeta's arm of steel.
A/N: Hmm, what's the emergency method? Y'all are smart so you already know, I'm sure... Please review!!!!