The weeks following her incident with Yamcha, and the surprising fact that Vegeta had actually comforted her, he did his very best to stay away from her. Locked away in the GR for days on end, with very irregular meal times Bulma only got to see him a few times. Every Time their encounters were marked by silence. She had initially tried to ask him a few questions - all food related at that time - but all she had gotten were grunts or absolute silence. She had wanted to address the happenings of that one special night but every time she had worked up the courage to talk to him, he had already vanished into thin air.
Vegeta seemed to be determined to hold her to the promise she had made, that it was a secret and she'd never tell. Apparently not even him.
Bulma wasn't sure if he avoided her because he felt uncomfortable with what he had done for her and that he saw it as a mistake he didn't want to address, or if he simply didn't want to talk about Yamcha. She knew he hated that guy and she was still a little surprised that he had not blasted him.
She had thought back to that night many times and really wished she would have focused enough to hear the words that had been said between them - but she had been to shaken. Yamcha never attempted to contact her again and Vegeta, well he had never been a man of many words.
Once Bulma had heard him say that her ex- boyfriend was the kind of person he'd crush and throw in the wind - in retrospect that night seemed like a great time to do just that. But he had not done it. And now here she was wondering if he had just wanted him gone from his sight, given all the fights they had in the past during which Bulma had told the stubborn prince that crushing Yamcha would never be an acceptable option or if he truly had changed. Lost in her track of thought she wondered how long it had been since he had killed someone, was it Namek? She wasn't sure. There had never been any suspicious TV reports about people being randomly annihilated so she was rather sure that Vegeta had done his best to be peaceful since his stay at her house.
The young woman sighed deeply, looking at the humming GR as she made her way back to the lab, still lost in her thoughts. She was thankful that he had been there, truly thankful. As she had replayed that night over and over in her mind she always arrived at the same conclusion, she had no idea what might have taken place had he not intervened.
Never before had she experienced his presence as so calming and soothing. Hot? Yeah. But never fact that he had actually tolerated her prolonged physical contact was still so astonishing to her that Bulma had briefly considered that it had just been a dream. A beautiful illusion. She had thanked him that night, from the bottom of her heart, but something told her that Vegeta had no concept of what it meant to be truly thanked. He had appeared almost indifferent to it all. Chills traveled down her spine as she sat down at her desk reliving the memory of what it had felt like to lie so close to him. He had radiated heat unlike any other being Bulma had ever met, she had been so close to chancing it and even touching his hair, but she had refrained and just thanked him. In the whole ordeal he had maybe spoken 3 full sentences to her and that it was all it had taken for her to calm. Heat pooled between her legs while she recalled the feeling of his skin. He had slept in nothing but a fresh pair of boxers, clearly not giving a shit that there was a female in his bed. A female that, since that night, could not stop wondering what it would be like to have him hovering above her. Her legs around his firm waist, his sculpted chest against her soft curves..
Exhaling deeply she stared into coffee mug before her. Back to reality Bulma.
She decided that she needed to do something to truly get her point across, how deeply she meant her thank you that night. It was a mystery to her why she had this burning feeling that she just had to do something to reach him and get Vegeta to understand what it was supposed to feel like if someone thanked you. The man was antisocial and reclusive but after having caught just a tiny glimpse of the side of him that just might care she realized that his demeanor was partly because he didn't know any better. He had never experienced any better. A new termination took root in Bulma, she was going to change that.
Two weeks came and went without warning. Vegeta had continued his strenuous training regime and Bulma had been held up in her Lab working on her first attempt in reaching the alien Prince.
It was pure luck that she caught him late that evening in the kitchen. Originally she had planned to seek him out the next morning and even chance it and interrupt his training in order to show him her finished product. But she couldn't sleep so she had ventured down to the kitchen for a glass of milk, where she saw him. Sitting at the kitchen table eating some sort of leftovers. It was apparent that he had just finished his training, he was drenched in sweat.
"Oh, i didn't know you would be here" she said genuinely surprised "I can't sleep and just wanted some milk" Why was she explaining herself?!
Bulma grabbed a glass from the cabinet and opened the fridge to get some milk, Vegeta was still sitting at the table but didn't respond. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge her presence. She groaned inwardly, this was going to be hard.
"I had planned on talking to you about something, so I guess this works out" she added, hoping to peak his interest.
Vegeta's eyes did indeed leave his dinner and eyes her suspiciously, he scowled as he was contemplating what it was the woman could possibly want from him, but he did not reply.
"Hey, Earth to Vegeta! I'm talking to you" she was becoming irritated. Why was he always being so complicated.
"You said you had something to discuss, I am just listening woman, that usually requires one to be quiet" his retort was laced with sarcasm and a dark smirk danced around the corners of his mouth. He was playing with her.
Bulma forced herself to exhale deeply, he was already teasing her, very effectively pressing her buttons - and the asshole knew it. This was going to be long and hard surprise. Forcing a smile to her face she ignored his remark and continued,
"Well, good. I have something for you. It's in the Lab, you should swing by when you have a minute"
"What is it?" he sounded uninterested. While eyeing her suspiciously to detect any ulterior motive she might have. He had not broken a training bot and was not awaiting any to be fixed. There was absolutely nothing in her lab that he could be interested in. Her bent over her work-table ... No. Not even in the slightest.
Bulma's eyes started to shine brightly when she noticed his clearly faked disinterest. They had been around another enough for her to know when he was faking disinterest to bait her.
"I'd much rather show you. You can even see it now if you want to"
He didn't reply but studied her intently, unsure if he even wanted to know. His thoughts wandered back to the night a few weeks ago, the skin on his back starting to tingle when he remembered how she had felt on against him. When she had touched him. When she had moved against him. He had not been able to shake the feeling and it was aggravating him. The distance over the past weeks and his strict training program had only oh so little alleviated his frustration with himself and this stupid feeling he couldn't shake.
The woman shifted her weight, still looking at him, bringing him back from his train of thoughts. She was clearly becoming impatient, unsure of how to react in this situation he simply gave into his curiosity and nodded at her in agreement.
The made their way down into the Lab on the capsule corp grounds, it was late at night and everyone was gone. Bulma walked in front of him, turning on the lights as they went down the hallways. Finally taking a right and reaching her office, she opened the door, flipped the switch for light and turned around to look at him while smiling nervously.
"I really hope you like it" she said while grabbing a big black box from a shelve in her office.
Vegeta looked around, this place was usually a mess but tonight it was downright chaotic. Papers and prints everywhere, there were a few prototypes of some sort laying around, her trash was filling over and he even made out a phile of was appeared to be cloth in a corner of her Lab. She is a total slob he thought to himself as he took in the chaos. Refocusing his attention to Bulma who was scuffling back through the chaos towards him holding the large box. She was nervous, he could tell but it was lost on him as to why. What could she possibly have down here in all this chaos that would be of any interest to him? Her work-bench to the right.
"It's not perfect yet - but I wanted to show you anyway. Also i needed to be sure it fits before I make more" she said more to herself than to him while pulling the object out of the box.
Vegeta felt had jaw go slack when he realized what she was holding. Regaining control of his facial faculties he resorted to his trademark scowl while being utterly unsure why she had done this. Deep down his stomach began to pull again as he eyed the Armour Bulma was holding up. It looked like an exact replica of his royal Armour. His eyes wandered over it, studying it - yes this was indeed real and very convincing to say the least. Even the royal crest of his line was printed on the chest. He had never shown that to her.
"Where did you get that?" the words had left his mouth before he could even finish the thought, his eyes never leaving the crest, his voice a growl.
Bulma's smile grew. He was surprised. Heck he was almost speechless. She had noticed the short moment of surprise and amazement that flashed across his face before he had resorted to the signature scowl of his. But she had seen it nonetheless and that was the moment she knew she had done good. Vegeta might never admit it but that little flash in his feature had given her all the reassurances and knowledge that she needed. And there was no way that he could ever deny it. She knew. She had seen it. She had managed to surprise him - pleasantly. She hoped.
"I saw you draw it a few times" she admitted, taking a step towards him, adding "you should try it on…"
Vegeta was frozen in place, he couldn't move a muscle. And he hated himself for it. He hated her for it. Once again she had completely blindsided him. He knew that she had seen his temporary loss of control over his facial expressions. She knew - and he knew that she knew.
His mind was racing and a turmoil of emotions were raging inside of him, he had no clue what to do next. Nothing like this had even happened to him. Nothing like this had ever been done for him. Well not without having a catch, or a mile high price. He had simply assumed that he would never wear a piece of royal Armour ever again. A complete, intact piece that is. Sure, this was a replica, but it seemed to be a very realistic one. Chastising himself for even caring his just stood there and watched as the woman - who was clearly oblivious to his predicament - came closer. His instincts telling him to leave, because this could only be a trap.