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)
Plurals
T
Gohan loved his father very much. There was nothing in the world that could make him ever hate the man. He was so sure of that, namely because he didn't bare a grudge to him when he returned after being dead to help them defend Earth against the Saiyan Invasion.
But lately…he had his doubts.
Ever since his father returned to Earth and they started training to fight against the Androids the boy from the future warned them about, Gohan had noticed something…odd. He wasn't quite certain as to how he came to acknowledge it, but he did and it was currently the course for his contemplating as he pretending to study quantum physics work given to him by his mother.
His father, Son Goku, was the saviour of Earth. He had plenty of loved ones and friends all around who would do anything for him. And when he addressed them all, he always said 'me and whoever'. He always addressed them separately to himself. While it wasn't a colossal thing to concern about, it did raise one question.
Why did he only use the plural 'us' when speaking about himself and Vegeta?
His father never said 'Vegeta and I'. He had never once heard his father say 'us' about him and his mother, but Vegeta instantly got the privilege of being grouped together with him as a single unit.
Perhaps he was over-thinking it. He was only eleven and still very much a stranger to the going on's of an adult world, but he couldn't help but trust his gut when it said something was up.
He constantly kept an open ear out and, by this time, he was certain his father only used such plurals for Vegeta and himself. When he spoke to his friends about his home, he would always say 'me and my family'. When he spoke about his friends, he would always say 'me and Krillin' or 'Bulma and myself' or even 'me and the guys'. He had strained his ears to hear a 'we' or an 'us', but none of it cropped up whenever he spoke of others.
It only pitched up when he was pertaining to Vegeta and himself. If Goku said 'we', he meant him and Vegeta. If he said 'us', it was him and Vegeta. The worst was 'our', because it implied something a lot deeper to Gohan. He wasn't sure what, but his gut said it meant a lot more than a casual plural pronoun.
He sat at his desk, thinking. To him, hearing his father talk like that, it implied that Vegeta meant a lot more to his dad than either of them knew. It could be because they were both full-blooded Saiyans; two of a kind who could understand each other better than any of the others that his father had grown up with. Or it could be that they were the only challenge to each other. He loved his dad very much and would instantly blurt out that his dad could clean the pirate prince's clock any time, but the fighter within stubbornly acknowledged that Prince Vegeta could just as easily clean Goku's clock if he wasn't careful and constantly on his toes. There was no relaxing around that man in a battle; he should know.
He hummed as he pretended to write something down in case his mother was nearby.
He knew his dad was rather fond of Vegeta, despite the prince sneering at him and tossing in cruel remarks every few sentences. It had to be more than race that was pushing his father towards the prince.
The only other thought was that his dad was…was in love with the older man.
If it was anyone else, Gohan wouldn't see much of a problem in it. Vegeta, despite his personality flaws (but, hey, who is perfect?), was an incredibly handsome man with an exceptionally gorgeous body. He remembered how, when Bulma and Chichi wrangled all of them into shopping, the man turned more than a few appreciative stares from both male and female onlookers. If he didn't know what a stubborn and arrogant man he was, he, himself, would have been falling over his own feet at the sheer regal aura that surrounded the man.
He frowned. Maybe that was what his dad was attracted to. Not consciously, obviously, but maybe he saw something deeper in Vegeta that no one else could see. Something that pulled at him to the point where he was familiar with the man in ways he wasn't with any of their other friends.
He could…somewhat understand that. Vegeta always seemed to falter and hesitate slightly when around his dad. Maybe all that bad attitude was a cover up for something softer within. He was a vicious space pirate once; surrounded by other blood thirsty aliens who no doubt would have used any chink in his armour to take him down. Perhaps he had something beautiful within and had the habit of protecting it ingrained in him.
He sighed and shook his head. Maybe he was over-thinking it. His gut told him he was right about his dad liking Vegeta more than his mom, but he didn't want to believe it. Not even when he heard his dad talk about their family as though he were separate from them.
"Chichi and I were thinking of going somewhere after this is all over. I don't know where, but Chichi was thinking somewhere fancy. I don't know about that, though. Oh, but later we're getting together at the crumbling rock! Yeah, Krillin, if you want to come we don't mind. It's mostly our little spot. Chichi doesn't think it's safe being out there with Vegeta, but, I mean, we haven't had a problem so far."
He had known instantly who the 'we' and 'our' was. He referred to his mother and himself as separate, but him and Vegeta as one.
He sighed again, pushing his work away and holding his head in his hands. He didn't like it, but he also knew there was nothing he could do. It was very obvious that both his dad and Vegeta clicked on a level deeper than that of comrades and the only thing keeping them separate was his dad's current obligations.
In a way, he felt sad for them. Maybe they were soul mates? If his dad naturally clicked and started using 'we' and 'us' to reference him and Vegeta, then it had to be. His dad may not have acknowledged such things, but he let his gut lead him, and if this was what his gut was making him do then it was no fluke.
Maybe one day his dad and Vegeta would get together. Maybe one day they'd break past all the barriers between the two of them and be fully complete. But that would probably only happen years from now. For now, his dad was going to use those damned plurals and he would just have to accept them.
Besides, as much as he didn't want to admit it, it just sounded more natural.