The pale light of early dawn stretched across Vegeta's bed. A few minutes ago, just before the sun had appeared on the horizon, he had already awoken, and now he lay dozing. He had not slept well, and his joints ached with a dull weariness. He found that his overall mood had greatly improved from the evening before, however. Sleep, even if uneasy, often had that effect. As he took in a few deep breaths, deciding whether to get up or not, he caught the faint scent of singed flesh in the air. It smelled like the fried pork strips he had eaten before. In response, Vegeta's stomach growled, and he threw the sheets back, sat up, and set his feet on the carpet. Feeling particularly apathetic, he did not concern himself with putting on new clothes, choosing instead to lumber downstairs wearing the shorts in which he had slept.

Bulma greeted him upon his entrance into the kitchen. "Oh, good morning! I didn't expect you to be up for another few minutes. Whoa—"

Vegeta raised a lazy eyebrow.

"I guess you decided today was underwear day."

Vegeta ignored her wandering eyes. "I want some of those fried pork strips."

"It's called bacon. I thought I'd get up early to get you something nice for breakfast. You know, to say thanks for participating in my project. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go get dressed real quick while this finishes cooking."

Vegeta strode towards the stove and peered over Bulma's shoulder, examining the pan she held. Bulma turned her head to find her cheek inches from the Saiyan's. "What, woman?" he grumbled. "Take the flesh away from the heat. The bacon is done. You humans overcook everything."

"Fine, whatever." She turned off the stove. "Take a seat, and get yourself a plate while I go get dressed."

"I will not wait on you. Fetch the dish, and serve me now. And prepare me coffee at once. I find it most invigorating." He sat down at the small table, making it clear that he had no intention of doing as Bulma had said.

Bulma groaned. "Really, Vegeta?"

"Do I really look like I care if you wear that whorish nightdress? Now do as I said."

"Excuse me!" Bulma gaped. "You spoiled brat! You might not respect me at all, but I'm a lady, and I respect myself. You can do what you want. I'm going to get dressed whether you like it or not. I'm not afraid of you."

A spark of amusement flitted across Vegeta's eyes. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "Not afraid? You are quite the fool. I can destroy planets effortlessly, saucy woman. I could make you scream for your God with the flick of a finger."

Not aware of the double meaning of his statement, the Saiyan stared confusedly when Bulma bit her lower lip, obviously holding back a bout of snickering. "At what are you laughing? You know I speak the truth," he snarled.

"You just—said that a funny way..."

Even after repeating his previous words in his head a couple times, Vegeta still could not grasp what had made them amusing. "Shut up. Bring me the bacon before I decide to show you how stupid you are not to tremble before me."

"You're kind of cute when you get all huffy. I guess Saiyans need their coffee in the morning just like everyone else. Here—just eat right out of the pan. I don't care." After placing the pan on the table, she headed for the staircase.

"No. You will make that coffee."

Bulma grinned impetuously. "I think you just want your breakfast with a side of eye-candy. Should've known."

Between furious bites, Vegeta demanded that the woman define the word "eye-candy."

"Something nice to look at. Like a woman in a 'whorish nightdress' as you so politely put it. I should have slapped you for that one, by the way."

"I would have liked to see you try." He shot her a provoking glance.

The second Vegeta lowered his eyes and resumed shoveling food into his mouth, Bulma pranced up to the Saiyan and struck him flat across the face. In a single movement too swift for her to see, Vegeta stood up and grabbed her upper arm. "I didn't think you would dare!"

"I told you I wasn't afraid. If you wanted hurt me, you'd have done it by now. I know you're just playing tough. I think I've got you figured out, mister."

"Do you now? How clever of you." Imperiously, he shoved her to the ground before reassuming his seat.

"Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed your eye-candy. Jerk." Upon falling, Bulma's nightgown had ridden up past her thighs. Vegeta, however, had kept his eyes glued to his breakfast, and had not noticed. Bulma had already gotten to her feet and adjusted her clothes before the Saiyan finally troubled himself to glance at her.

"You're a really weird guy," she said.

Vegeta rolled his eyes condescendingly. "Do you ever shut the fuck up?"

"Do you like women?"

"What?"

"Women. Do you like them?"

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "Of course I do, vulgar bitch. What kind of insolent question is that? Do I look like some low-class scum hopeless enough to take it up the ass? I'm not Raditz."

"Wait—Goku's brother was gay? Interesting."

"Surely, he was not purely heterosexual." Vegeta put a palm to his forehead. "How the fuck did this even become a topic of conversation?"

"I'm just going to forget all the nasty things you called me, and I'm going to laugh my ass off because this is hilarious." Bulma proceeded to laugh. "Okay. I'm going to put on a pot of coffee, so be happy. It takes a few minutes to brew, so this time I'm actually going to go upstairs and get dressed. Here. I'll even give you these leftover rolls from dinner so you don't have anything to complain about while I'm gone. And yes, I'm coming back because I have something you might be interested in."

Once the woman left, Vegeta sighed with relief. He smothered his annoyance with a roll. The blue-headed woman had apparently thought her attire something worth his contemplation. He remembered the scanty nightgown as the same one she had worn the night he had woken up from his dream of the Saiyan noblewoman. He could never forget the distinct look of the ivory satin-like cloth that had draped the perfectly preserved curved body. It made him sick to think about it. Although he had forgotten what had transpired in his dream, his subconscious evidently remembered it as nightmarish. The fabric had skimmed across the hips of both women in a similar fashion, he suddenly realized. Just as suddenly, Vegeta realized he was mentally visualizing women—something he rarely did. It excited him more than he had anticipated, and a warm sensation rose from his groin.

"I'm back! Take a look at this." Bulma set a large hardcover book on the table.

Vegeta's stomach flipped upside down as if someone had sneaked up on and frightened him. Wordlessly, he surveyed the book in front of him. He read the title: An Introduction to Paleoanthropology.

"It's one of the better detailed surveys of hominid evolution I've come across. I figured you might flip through it when you weren't in your gravity room." She poured coffee into two mugs, and handed the larger of them to the Saiyan.

Trying to think of anything but women, Vegeta scanned the book's table of contents mechanically as he sipped his coffee.