Saiyan Jabs
Author: Edward Tudor
Rating: K+ to M
Warnings: Yaoi, homosexuality, m-preg, AU, crossdressing, etc, etc; you HAVE been warned
Summary: Quick one-shot stories randomly written prompted by one word. Goku/Vegeta only (seme/uke)
Chinese
T
Little China, as far as Goku was concerned, was the best Chinese shop in the district! It sold next to everything and anything imaginable and at super cheap prices! He could buy tupperware and pens for a quarter of the price that was sold at big name stores. If he needed a new whisk or mixing bowl before his classes started, he could just pop down and they'd have plenty for sale. He could buy a bulk of noodles and various sweets for next to nothing and should one ear of his earphones die, he could easily replace it and cheaply, too!
But, to Goku, all of that was a bonus that came with visiting the store just to see the dark haired Asian beauty. His name was Vegeta, and he was the only reason Goku kept going to Little China every so often. His classmates in his cookery classes were always in awe of his amazing containers and cooking utensils, but Goku never told them where he bought them. Vegeta was gorgeous and he wanted him all to himself!
But Goku, enamoured with the stern looking beauty as he was, was a weak-kneed coward. He had already seen what Vegeta did to one of his more ardent admirers and was terrified he would receive the same treatment. Still, it didn't deter him from coming back as often as he could. He simply decided that if he couldn't be bolder with his feelings, then he would simply make do with admiring the smaller man when he came to buy packets of dates and crackers.
Cooking, being his passion, was relatively easy for Goku and he, after surfing on the internet one Saturday evening, decided to take up the challenge of creating a bento. They looked very interesting and creative, and one could use any ingredient in any way one wished. Goku was very much taken with the cute octopus vienna's and onigiri sculpted and coloured to look like teddies and chicks.
It was his personal pet project and for this he decided he needed a bento box! And where else to get one except from Little China?
Sadly, as he gazed about the tupperware isle and the ceramics, he discovered that bento boxes were one of the things that the store didn't supply. A little disappointed, he picked up his usual purchase of dates and cracker and slumped over to the till.
"Good morning, Goku," a deep voice greeted him. Goku perked up and gazed dreamily at the smaller man before him.
"Nĭ zăo, Vegeta," he greeted. Vegeta cocked a brow and sighed. He had long learnt that Goku liked to speak to him as much as he could in his native tongue and that it was easier to just go along with it.
"Nĭ zăo. Is this all for today? No new keyrings?"
"Umm, no," he said, looking at the cute collection of Mokona, Mew and funny green things. "Not today. Hey…umm…do you guys stock bento boxes?"
"Bento?"
"You know, like lunchboxes, only they're a special kind of lunch box that the Japanese use coz they've got sections."
Despite his confusing talk, Vegeta seemed to understand what he was talking about. But he shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry," he said. "But I don't think we ever get stock in."
"Oh," the burly man said. "Okay, then. Thanks, anyways."
Vegeta nodded simply and handed him his parcel. Goku slumped out the store, more than a little bummed.
Two weeks later, Goku was back at Little China, ready to make his regular monthly purchase of cheap noodles, instant tea and coffee and enough cheap chocolate bars to make a Halloween haul look conservative.
"Oh, by the way," Vegeta said, ducking under the counter as he rang up his items. "This just arrived. I spoke to my father about what you said and he thought bringing more variety to the store was a good thing, so…"
He trailed off as he brought out three different parcels. Goku blinked and cocked his head to the side.
"What are they?"
"You were asking about bento boxes a while ago, weren't you?"
Goku watched with delight as each parcel was unwrapped. The one bento box was a simple child's bento box; plastic, orange and with little cartoon carrots parading across the white lid. The second was a little more elaborate; it was a stretched oval with two layers and the lid was a dark blue, with black and white speckles and streaks that made it look like a night sky. The last one was a traditional box; a single layer with many sections and a red trimmed laquered lid. Goku stared in awe.
"W-wow!" he cried. "This is amazing! They're so beautiful!"
"I'm glad you like it," he said softly, ringing them up and packing them along with his monthly purchases. "That'll be 75 Zenny, please."
"Oh, yeah!" he said, handing over his money. "Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to have those bags that they pack the bento box in?" A vein ticked in Vegeta's forehead, but Goku didn't notice.
"There's more to this?" he sighed as Goku kept staring. "No, I don't think we do. But I'm sure my father would have looked into it seeing as he's buying these things in bulk."
"Okay! I'll be sure to check in for it, then!" he said. "Xièxie, Vegeta!"
He stared, heart hammering as, for the first time, Vegeta blushed a rosy red and turned his head away.
"Bú…búyòng xiè…"
He visited three times again that week, eagerly hoping they would get stock of those bags. Vegeta appeared to get annoyed with him for coming so often, but Goku found he really could care less. He had a good excuse to come over as often as he liked, so it was good enough for him.
Three weeks later, Vegeta brought them out for him. They were very beautiful; the one was green and orange, the second was a rich purple and black and the last was a delectable rose colour with a print of black phoenix's. Goku was positively enamoured.
"Eh?" he said, poking at the green and orange bag where the two colours met up. "It looks like it's been sewn together."
"Of course, it has, shăguā," he snapped. "We get these things in bulk! They're not top quality, but they're better than cheap!"
"I…I didn't mean that, Vegeta," he said, a little stung. "It's just…it doesn't look like any factory made thing I've ever seen. It reminds me a lot of when my best friend Bulma would try to make things for me by herself, coz it has that look of a personal touch and…"
"What does it matter?" he growled. "Do you want them or not?"
"Ah! S-sorry," he said, figuring he was annoying his beauty with his incessant ramblings. "Umm…duĭbuqí."
"That's duìbuqĭ, bèn," he growled. "And that's 50 Zenny."
Goku nodded, handing over the money and staring at the cute strawberry clips that were being used to hold stray hairs out of Vegeta's face. Goku thought he looked positively adorable!
"Umm…may I ask another question?" Glowering dark eyes glared up at him and he swallowed.
"You need something more for your…bento?"
"Well, yeah…but I promise it's just one last thing! Really!" Vegeta glared hardened but finally huffed and crossed his arms.
"Fine, what is it?"
"Chopsticks," he said. Vegeta blinked as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Ahm…I know you stock chopsticks, but these…"
"Are no doubt special ones, are they not?"
"Well, I suppose. They just come with a special carry case, you know. It kinda looks like a those cases people carry their glasses in, only for chopsticks."
Again, Vegeta sighed and resigned himself.
"Fine. I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Vegeta! You're the best!" His grin widened as he relished in the pink blush that coloured his cheeks, almost matching the pink of the strawberry clips.
He cursed himself. He was supposed to go to Little China to check if those chopsticks and their containers came in! Instead, he got side tracked and ended up leaving the class later! He mostly blamed his teacher for being such a tight-wad; surely it would have been alright if he came in early the next morning to clean up? But noooo…he had to do it before leaving!
He huffed and skidded around the corner only to find Vegeta and his father locking up. Vegeta looked very cute with his dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck with his gravity defying hair sticking up all over the place. He and his father looked quite similar, it was a bit frightening. But Vegeta Snr had facial hair and Vegeta was naturally hairless. Goku knew. He stared at that face often enough to know there was no growing stubble or any telltale signs of shaving.
He was about to open his mouth to call to them, when Vegeta's father spoke to his son.
"He didn't come again today, érzi," he said in his gravely voice. Goku slipped behind the corner, peeking out and watching the two of them.
"I know, fùqīn," he said softly. He was clutching at a bag.
"Érzi," he said, gently grabbing Vegeta by his shoulders. "How long are you going to chase that…that… shăguā…and cater to his needs? You already spent your monthly salary on ordering those ridiculous lunchboxes 'specially for him!"
"Yes, but I made those bags!" he retorted. "I saved some money!"
"But you used your own time to make them for him! You went out of your way, érzi." He finished softly. "And now, again, you spent more money for some silly gimmick he wanted. Chopstick holders? Not even we use them!"
"Well, maybe we should! They're very useful!"
"Vegeta," he said, begging his son to see reason. "How long are you going to chase him? He comes so often to our store and yet he doesn't see you."
"It doesn't matter, fùqīn," he said resolutely. "I…I like him. I don't see how anyone could like me, but I decided that if could give anything to the person I loved, this is as good as anything else." He took them chopstick holders out the bag, inspecting the green plastic to make sure it wasn't scratched during its journey to the store. "I'll give him these tomorrow. And then he'll completely forget about all this."
"Érzi," the older man began again, but Vegeta turned away and stomped down the street. His father did nothing but sigh, shake his head and grumble under his breath in Chinese. He followed soon after.
Goku stood in shock, his back plastered against the walls. Did…did Vegeta honestly go out of his way just for him? He spent his whole monthly salary to get those boxes just for him? He made those bags? But what struck Goku the hardest of all was that Vegeta admitted that he liked Goku. It was sad that he believed Goku didn't feel the same about him, or that anyone could like him at all. How could no one not be attracted to his fiery personality; his pride in his work even though it was a simple family business? The smaller man had more confidence in his meagre job than Goku had in pursuing his dream of being a chef at a five star restaurant! He was intelligent, witty, resourceful and a looker! He was a catch that no one would (or should) ever allow to get away!
He clenched his fists as his eyes burnt in determination. Maybe it was his fault. Maybe he and Vegeta could have been together sooner if he had been a little more open with his feelings and Vegeta wouldn't think that he didn't see him. But that was all in the past. Now that he knew his feelings weren't unrequited, he was going to take the initiative!
He was not going to let the world's most perfect man get away from him!
Goku rushed eagerly along the streets, being very careful with his latest parcel. He dodged, duck and dove, hoping to make it just as Little China opened. His teacher had been pretty miffed with him for cooking and then just running out without cleaning up, but Goku had promised he would be back later to do it. He may have been missing out on class, but he didn't give a damn. If he didn't do this right then he would be missing out on a whole lot more!
Huffing with sweat cooling down the nape of his neck, he glanced around the shop to find Vegeta sauntering into the back.
"Hey! Vegeta! Wait!" he cried. The smaller man paused and turned to face him.
"Goku? What are you doing here so early?"
"I…" he huffed. "I…came…to give you…these…"
Arching an elegant brown that made inner Goku squeal like a schoolgirl, he accepted the bag and opened it up. He pulled out two very familiar bags that held two very familiar bento boxes. Vegeta stared, his mouth flapping but no words were coming forth.
"I…wh-what…"
"It's something special I made for you," he said. "The carrot bag with the carrot bento," he said, pointing to the green and orange bag. "Has a breakfast. It's just egg on rice with a dash of soy…nothing too fancy, but it's fresh! I just made it and I had to run to give it to you before it got cold and yucky, because eggs taste really bad cold if they've been fried."
"Oh," he said eyes wide in disbelief. "And…this?"
"That's lunch. I made marbled eggs, rice with pickled plum, carrot sticks and ginger beef slices. It's very simple, but I made it all this morning at the classes kitchen, so I hope it's okay."
"I…it…"he swallowed, looking up at Goku, apparently very lost. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said, taking in the disbelief in his eyes. It was obvious he didn't believe this was really happening.
"Umm…" he swallowed, his hands becoming clammy. "If…if you find you like it…you know, I'm not saying you will, coz everyone's got different taste…but if you do like it, would you like to…umm…you know," he blushed. "Have dinner with me?" Vegeta's eyes widened and he looked as though he wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"D-dinner?"
"Yeah, I mean," he shrugged, trying to act nonchalant even though his face was bright red and he could stop fidgeting. "I was thinking of going out to a good restaurant…I mean, I've heard of some places that are pretty good and they've got a really nice atmosphere or…I could…cook for you at my place?"
He felt his face burn brighter and blood drummed through his ears.
Then, Vegeta's face turned bright red, and even though he frowned and huffed crossly, he held the bags close to his chest.
"Fine. Dinner at your place." He said. "And don't you dare pick me up late!"
AN: Just some help on some Chinese words (note that I don't speak Chinese; I just nicked these from a dictionary):
Nĭ zăo – good morning
Xièxie – thank you
Búyòng xiè – you're welcome/it was nothing
Shăguā – Idiot
Duìbuqĭ - Sorry
Bèn – stupid
Érzi – son
Fùqīn - father