A/N: Sometimes I wish I could sit and watch some of you react to what I write, haha.
Everybody Loves Vegeta, Too!
Part Fourteen
Vegeta thought Goku would come back.
The clock on the mantle beside his guest bed read 12:00AM. The perfect time to have a bout of insomnia and guilt.
Krillin was kind enough to offer him a room on the second floor of his home. Never before had Vegeta been offered such an extreme act of goodwill. Bulma had let him live at Capsule Corp, but that was markedly different. He'd never expressed to her that a company building wasn't the same as a home. It wasn't cozy and intimate like the Son house. Krillin's home had a similar warmth that enveloped all who entered.
Getting used to that homey feeling all over again was hard on him.
When Krillin asked Vegeta earlier if he wanted to eat dinner with them, Vegeta declined. He simply rushed upstairs with his things, showered, and crawled into bed. Downstairs he could hear them gossiping about him and Goku. Marron, bless her heart, explained things the best a teenage girl could. Earlier that day, Vegeta simply told her Goku betrayed his trust. None of the gritty details were brought up. Krillin and 18 were insatiable and wanted to know more. Vegeta was sure he'd have to deal with a round of questions in the morning.
Goten was asleep in a different room down the hall. The thought brought previously dulled anger back to the surface. Kakarot, how could you abandon your son?
The boy was only a few months shy of seventeen. Earth children had to be coddled for much longer than what was accepted on Planet Vegeta. Was he expected to be Goten's father now?
Vegeta rolled over onto his stomach.
He thought Goku would come back.
The guilt returned. He'd never been good at arguing. In the only other relationship he had, it worked perfectly fine to scream whatever hurt Bulma the most to get her to shut-up. A few hours after every fight, things predictably returned back to normal.
So why isn't that working now?
Goku's little plot to trick him into mating had pissed him off. Immensely. He hated having secrets kept from him. It reminded him of when he was in Frieza's army. Goku didn't know it, but Vegeta had killed people for less offensive acts of betrayal. Telling the third-class he didn't love him anymore felt like the closest thing to murder.
But now Goku was gone. Possibly for good.
"Kakarot, where are you?" he asked aloud. As if speaking the words might summon him. Goku could come back if he really wanted to. So why hadn't he? Vegeta counted on Goku to always fight for his love. During their argument, he assumed Goku would give him a few hours to blow off some steam, then happily come running after him. The arrest complicated things, sure, but that wasn't his fault Goku was in trouble. He expected Goku to be here, right now, groveling and begging for forgiveness. Admitting he was wrong. Vegeta wouldn't give in to him just off the bat, but the Prince deserved to be pampered before bestowing his mercy!
Right?
Vegeta smashed his face into his pillow. Maybe if he sat like this long enough, he'd smother himself and get put out of his misery. "I'm fucking stupid," he groaned.
Someone gently knocked on his door. He heard a pitter-patter of feet, before they quickly disappeared. He dragged himself from bed and looked outside. Near his feet sat a bowl of vanilla ice cream, two fortune cookies, and a note. He picked up the heap of items and returned to bed.
I'm turning into a fucking slob, he thought drearily as he shoved the ice cream into his mouth. He wanted to hate his body and starve it, but he couldn't deny how delicious the confection tasted on his tongue. With his free hand he opened up the note. It was written on cute anime stationary:
Please enjoy the presents. Drop by my studio tonight and I'll show you some of my art! – Love, Marron
It was sweet. But he didn't think he could muster the energy to leave his room so late. He cracked open the first fortune cookie, then read it:
It takes more than liking something to be good at it.
"What kind of shitty fortune is that?" he yelled. He ate the cookie, then cracked open the second one:
It takes one year to become halfway-decent at something new.
"Straight garbage," he said through a mouthful of ice cream. Did Marron have a bag full of downer, existential bullshit fortune cookies or something?
He finished all the food, then placed the ice cream dish back outside his door. Hopefully the sugar rush didn't keep him awake.
When morning came, Vegeta finally rolled out of bed. The little sleep he did get was tainted with dreams of spiky-haired ghosts tugging on his every limb. As tired as he was, it was a relief to be conscious again.
The sun shined brightly into his room. Time to put an end to that shit. He closed the blinds shut. Promptly, he rolled back into bed.
"I love bad bitches, that's my fuckin' problem…And yeah, I like to fuck, I got a fuckin' problem…"
He opened his eyes. What the hell is that noise? He crawled out of bed and cracked open the door. 18 stood a few feet away, vacuuming and dancing in the middle of the hallway. Beside her foot sat a huge boom box. She swiveled her shoulders and hips to the beat, rapping along with the lyrics. "If findin' somebody real is your fuckin' problem, bring your girls to the crib, maybe we can solve it..."
Vegeta leaned against the door jamb. Patiently he waited for 18 to turn around. Her reaction surprised him. "Hey," she said, a small grin on her face. She bent over to turn down the music.
He managed to crack a smile. "I never took you as a rap fan."
18 shrugged. "This song is about my life, right?" She laughed out loud at her own joke. "I'm surprised you know anything about music."
"I'm not like Kakarot. I actually like things other than fighting and eating."
"You're right. You two are pretty different."
He felt the urge to retreat back to the safety of his room. "I'm heading back to bed."
"Nu-uh." She wagged a finger in the air. "You look like crap. Take a shower and come downstairs for lunch."
"No, I'm not—" he paused. "Lunch? What the hell time is it?"
"It's after one." She leaned closer to his face. "It doesn't look like you got much beauty sleep, though."
Vegeta scoffed. "I'm not hungry."
"I didn't ask if you were hungry. Get showered, get dressed, and come downstairs. I'll give you thirty minutes."
He stepped back into his bedroom, and shut the door. The last thing he wanted to do was move his body. It was shameful to admit, but he didn't even feel the natural urge to train. Why couldn't the woman just let him wallow in his post-breakup misery?
Showering was harder than anticipated. I knew leaving bed was a bad idea, he thought. Every single little thing reminded him of Goku. Only several days ago they showered together over at Capsule Corp. After cleaning himself, he studied his reflection in the mirror. His hair still wasn't as long as it should have been. In the back of his mind he wondered if he hallucinated ever seeing his father's ghost.
He got dressed. In the pocket of his jeans he found the photograph Goku wished for with the Dragon Balls. Had he found it yesterday, he probably would've ripped it to shreds. He buried it in the bottom of his bag, then ran downstairs.
Marron and 18 sat at the dining room table together. A third place mat was set for him beside Marron. He was glad 18 had faith he'd actually come down to eat.
"There's stew from dinner." She pointed at the enormous pot in the middle of the table. "Since you didn't eat last night, you have to eat twice as much today. Got it?"
"Yes, mother," Vegeta replied. 18 smirked back at him as she watched him load his bowl with simmering stew.
"Did you sleep okay?" Marron asked. Her long blond hair was pulled into a messy bun. Bags sat beneath her glassy eyes.
"I slept fine," he lied. Tentatively he shoved a spoonful of the broth into his mouth. Damn, she's a good cook.
"So." 18 placed her spoon down and gazed directly into Vegeta's eyes. "Are you going to tell us what really happened yesterday?"
"Is my telling you contingent on whether or not I can stay here?"
"No need to be sassy about it, Vegeta. I'm just curious." She was smiling again.
Vegeta looked over at Marron. "Some parts aren't…appropriate to discuss around children."
"I'm not a child!" It was the first time Vegeta heard Marron raise her voice. "Don't insult my intelligence, Uncle Vegeta. I know what sex is."
Vegeta looked toward 18 for help. 18 stared at the ceiling as if making a decision. "Marron, I'll tell you what you need to know later, okay?"
Marron stood up from the table. "This isn't fair, you know." She picked up her bowl. "I helped Uncle Goku a lot in the past few days, so I need to know if I did something wrong. I noticed Uncle Vegeta isn't wearing the ring I made for him."
18 perked up at that. "You made him a ring?"
Vegeta sighed. "Please, Marron…Leave me alone with your mother just for a short while."
Marron walked out of the room with her food. "I'll be in my studio if you need me."
Oh, shit. He'd forgotten about her note from last night. Once the door to the patio slammed shut behind her, Vegeta slumped over in relief. He'd have to visit her later.
18 leaned forward with her chin in her hands, completely riveted. "Okay, spill all of the juicy details!"
"Fine." Vegeta finished up his bowl of stew, then topped it off again with a second helping. "I don't want you telling anyone else about it, though."
"My lips are sealed!" Her blue eyes widened. "Did Goku cheat on you?" She gasped. "Did he have sex with Bulma?!"
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "What are you, crazy?"
"How am I the crazy one? You're the one who ended the best thing that's ever happened to you!"
That stung. "Oh, what do you know about any of it!"
"I don't know anything. Which is why you need to tell me something I can work with already!"
Vegeta relented, and explained to her how the Saiyan mating ritual worked. He went on to explain how Goku planned to trick him into finishing the ritual. "Not only that, but he conspired with Bulma to make me submit to him."
"What do you mean by 'submit'? Is that different from you sealing your fate as the 'submissive' one if you ever mated?"
"You know," he mumbled, waving his hand in the air. "He coerced me into bottoming for him."
"What do you mean by 'bottoming'?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
"I do, but I want you to spell it out for me."
What an evil woman! "He made me want to get fucked in the ass, okay?"
She laughed so loud, the noise made him jump in his chair. "You're telling me," she said, holding her sides, "that Goku 'tricked' you into doing that?"
A blush crept over his face. "What's so funny!"
"I think you're using the word 'tricked' a bit liberally." She giggled. "What, did Goku put a banana peel on the floor and you slipped and fell on his dick?"
Vegeta crossed his arms. "It makes perfect sense to feel betrayed by such a thing!"
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Vegeta, you're so stupid. It sounds like Goku just wanted to show you that you'd like it, and you're just pissed it worked so well."
Ugh! How dare she! "You don't even know what you're talking about! I'm sure if Krillin did something similar, you'd be furious with him." He shoved more food into his mouth to stop himself from cursing her out.
Now she was really laughing her ass off. "Vegeta! Krillin's a normal person. He would just ask me first, and we'd talk about it!"
"He did ask me first." Vegeta dropped his spoon. Oh.
"He did? And what was your response?"
Vegeta thought back to that day that seemed so long ago. Once the memory caught up to him, he frowned. "We were in the middle of having sex when he asked. So I pushed him off the bed and yelled at him." He shrunk into his chair. "Then I told him having sex with his brother was better than sex with him."
18's eyes were as big as saucers. "Oh my God," she screamed in laughter. "You're insane!" She pounded her fist on the table. "Buahaha!"
"Ugh…" Vegeta massaged his temples. He really had to do something about his recurring migraines. "I never thought about that moment until now."
"I bet. I'm not surprised Goku had to write up a plan just to bang you." 18 finally settled down. She breathed in and out slowly. "Wow. Okay. That was really funny. I'm sorry. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It's just the dumbest thing I've heard in years."
"You don't mince your words, do you."
"It's not necessary." She took a sip of water from her glass. She exhaled. "I don't want to get too much into your business. But I don't think you're ready for a real relationship."
Vegeta finished eating the last bits of meat in his bowl. He didn't want 18 to notice how red his face was. "I stayed with Bulma for about two decades. I think I know how to handle a relationship at this point."
"Obviously not. If Krillin told me having sex with one of my family members was better than with me, he wouldn't hear the end of it."
Vegeta looked up at her. It never occurred to him that hurling biting insults at the ones you loved wasn't a normal thing to do. "So what, Kakarot is just innocent in all of this?"
"No, I'm not saying that, Vegeta." She rolled her shoulders and leaned back in her chair. "I don't know Goku as well as you do. But based on what Krillin's told me, it seems like he didn't have an ideal marriage. What does he know about solving relationship problems?"
He already knew that. Hell, he could talk all day about how screwed up Goku's marriage with Chi-Chi was. But he never thought about how that affected them both now.
"Tell me. Have you and Goku ever tried talking through a problem?"
"Rarely. Usually he just tried to make me happy."
"I'm sure Goku thinks if he loves you hard enough, things will just get better. But it doesn't work that way."
Vegeta was uncomfortable with their dynamic at the table. She was starting to sound like a marriage counselor, which was more than he bargained for. All of her comments were tiny pins being pushed into his body at specific weak points he hoped to ignore.
"You know what your problem is?" she said. "You think your pride is the only thing you have going for you."
Vegeta sighed. "Okay. What's your point?"
"Don't you think Goku loves you for more reasons than that? He obviously thinks highly of you. Why do you think that is?"
Vegeta blinked. It was a strange question to be asked. He knew Goku respected him as a warrior. But as a lover, why did the third-class want him so badly? If she'd turned the question around and asked why he longed for Goku, he could give reasons all day long. "I don't know why Kakarot loves me." It hurt to say that out loud and in front of someone else.
"Oh, here's a bright idea!" she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe you should…figure out what those reasons are!"
"Why?"
"Do I have to spell out everything? What the hell good will you be in a relationship if you hate yourself." She picked up her dirty dishes and rose from the table. "That is, if Goku even wants a relationship with you anymore."
"You're leaving already?"
She smiled. "I didn't think you wanted me to lecture you any longer, what with that pitiful look on your face."
He tapped his chin, wondering if he should come clean about the other thing. 18 seemed like the kind of person to spread gossip around, but at this point maybe it was futile to hide it any longer. Their talk had sobered him up in a way he hadn't experienced in a long time. So maybe she had advice on how to deal with the mother of his child. "There is something else that happened yesterday."
"Oh?" She sat back down, eyes glimmering with interest again.
"Bulma is no longer Goku's friend."
"WHAT!" She got out of her chair and sat down in the one Marron previously occupied. "What the hell happened with Bulma? You didn't mention this earlier!"
"It's not related to the break-up. I think." Vegeta exhaled. "Goku and I had a threesome with Yamcha, which pissed her off. She doesn't want to see either of us again."
"Ooooh. Oh, shit." 18 grinned. "I never knew you two were so kinky! No one ever tells me anything!"
"Is that all you care about?" he asked.
"I have to know more. How did she even find out?"
"It was an accident. I sat on Kakarot's stupid phone, and I guess it dialed her—"
"In the middle of the threesome! Oh my God!" She laughed again. "That's hilarious!"
Does she enjoy all of our suffering?! "Bulma didn't find it funny at all. When we went to talk to her later, she screamed and cried the whole damn time."
"Haha! You two are just alike, huh? The biggest drama queens on the face of the planet."
Okay, now he had to put his foot down. "Why are you acting like this is just a big joke?"
"Didn't she date Yamcha when she was a teenager or something?" She caught the look on Vegeta's face, and held her hands up in defense. "Sorry, Vegeta. It just sounds fishy to me, you know?"
Fishy? "What do you mean?"
"Sure, it wasn't nice you did that. All three of you guys had a huge impact on her life. But." She tapped her fingernails against the table. "Who was she more upset with? You or Goku?"
"Kakarot." He pointed at his face. "She got a few swipes in at me, though. She blamed me for taking her 'best friend' away from her."
"That's strange."
Vegeta waited for her to speak again. He filled the silence. "I'll bite. What's strange about it?"
"Come on. Goku is a sweetheart. If anything, she should be blaming you for corrupting his innocence if she cared so much about losing her supposed best friend."
"What are you getting at, 18?"
"Oh, come on Vegeta. Let's say Yamcha wasn't even involved, but you still butt dialed her during sex. How do you think she'd feel about that?"
"How the hell would I know? She's always acting like she thinks we're cute together. Honestly I'm surprised she didn't find the whole thing to be funny."
18 rolled her eyes. "Right. So Bulma hasn't done anything lately that was strange? A bit off? She's just happy all of the time?"
"Yes, she seemed perfectly fine until yesterday. She even helped Goku plan our date."
18 slapped her forehead. "You're kidding, right? You're telling me your ex…helped plan a date with your new, sexy boyfriend?"
"Listen," Vegeta said. "I don't know anything about the intricacies of the minds of Earth women. So spare me all the judgment and just tell me what the hell you're trying to say!"
By the way her eyes darted away from him, she was thinking carefully about the next words to come from her mouth. She decided to change the subject. "Did you get a chance to explain it had nothing to do with her?"
"Not at all. She went berserk. She banned Kakarot and me from stepping foot on Capsule Corp ever again."
"Wow." 18's grin continued to grow. "I bet if you talked to her when she wasn't screaming, you'd find out what was actually going on in her head."
"It sounds like…you know something I don't," Vegeta said slowly.
"I don't exactly. I'm not close with Bulma. But based on what you told me, I have a feeling something else is going on she isn't telling you." She smirked. "But maybe I'm wrong, and she's a perfectly rational-thinking person like you!"
Vegeta covered his face. "Fine. I'll talk to her. She probably blocked my number, though."
"I bet she only did that for Goku."
He raised a brow. This was only his second in-depth conversation with Android 18, but already she managed to glean so much from his life. Was he always just an open book to everyone around him? Or was she just more perceptive than any of Goku's other friends?
"One question, Vegeta. If you could go back in time without Bulma ever finding out about the threesome, would you do it again?"
Vegeta bit his lip. "Of course I would, it was fucking great." Except for Puar getting involved. That shit was weird.
18 laughed. "You're a pretty funny guy. How about you call Bulma, then afterwards you can tell me more about the threesome?"
"What do you mean? Do you want details?"
"Come on, the details are the best part! Do you think I'm just talking to you for my health?" She gathered all the dirty dishes up from the table, then walked into the kitchen. "Good luck, lover boy," she said over her shoulder.
He leaned back in his chair. Was she right about Bulma? He pulled out his phone and called her. The phone rang several times. He was sure she wasn't going to pick up and moved to end the call himself, right before he heard her voice. "Vegeta?" she asked.
Well I'll be damned. "Hi."
"What do you want? I'm busy." There was an edge in her voice.
"I want to talk. Actually talk. About yesterday."
The line was silent. He heard Bulma sigh in hesitation. "I don't want to see you and Goku—"
"It would just be me coming over."
"Oh."
Vegeta counted the seconds of silence. "If that's okay with you."
"I think it is. Can you come around ten? To my room."
"That works for me."
"Alright. See you then." She hung up.
18 peeked her head out the kitchen door. "I told you."
"Hmph." Vegeta crossed his arms. "That was easy."
"So…" 18 leapt forward and landed in the chair next to Vegeta. "The threesome. Details. Every. Single. One."
It was going to be a long haul until ten o'clock.
"Maaan…this sucks," Goku whined.
Deep in the arctic tundra in the northern part of the planet, Goku sat imprisoned in one of the world's worst prison camps. Oddly enough, the reasons it was notoriously awful for normal people didn't apply to Goku.
How he ended up in such a strange place was a blur to him. He allowed himself to be passed along through different states until he ended up in front of a foreign tribunal. Several men in ominous cloaks debated whether or not to end his life for destroying the painting. Goku wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he couldn't grasp why it was such a big deal. When asked if he understood the gravity of his crimes, he shrugged. He just thought, Boy, they sure love art here!
They decided he'd be most useful alive. "You must suffer for your crimes against Monet," one of the men on the tribunal cried through tears. "May God have mercy on your soul!"
Goku loved humans, but sometimes they came off as more alien than himself.
The prison he was transported to wasn't large: only 50 men were kept within its cold, underground fortress. Because of the below-freezing temperatures, men took turns throughout the day stoking a struggling furnace near their hammocks.
They were given only three pieces of clothing: a heavy parka, snow boots, and earmuffs. The earmuffs secondary function was to keep the cold out. Primarily they were used to prevent everyone's eardrums from bursting from the howling winds in the world above ground.
All prisoners were assigned the same task as punishment. Using only pickaxes, they had to dig a tunnel connecting the prison camp to a city one thousand miles west from their location. It was essentially an impossible task intended for life-long punishment. Goku figured if he really wanted to leave, it would take him a few days tops to get the job done.
None of these things bothered Goku much. Well, the cold was grating on his nerves. He hated being cold. What bothered him the most was how hungry he was! The food rations in the camp were horrible. For the first time in his life he actually forwent eating; it would've been criminal to take food away from some of the frail men he bunked with.
So not only did he have to deal with the love of his life leaving him…he had to be hungry. And cold. The combination made him feel absolutely bitchy.
On his second day of imprisonment, he spoke to another prisoner for the first time. "Hey, are you hungry?"
The man put down his pickax. "What the hell kind of question is that?" he responded in a thick accent Goku couldn't place.
"Do you want me to get us some food from outside?"
The man looked at Goku like he had two heads. "If you go out there, you'll die."
Goku shrugged. "Whatever. I'll be back."
There weren't any guards stationed in the prison. It made sense to Goku—it wasn't like anyone could escape if they wanted. There was only one sealed door that led to the outside world. For any normal person, stepping outside meant an immediate death sentence. Every day the prison warden would come through the door to leave them food, then hastily leave in a high-tec helicopter.
When Goku approached the sealed door, he opened it with ease. He stepped out into the freezing air. "Brrr!" The winds were strong enough to send him tumbling backwards into frozen ground. The eternal snowstorm filled the world with blinding light. How was he supposed to find any food when he couldn't even see two inches in front of his face?
"Ah, forget this." He placed two fingers on his forehead and focused. Where should he go? It'd be easy to go hunting somewhere else on the planet and bring the spoils back to prison.
He ignored the voice in his head screaming to find Vegeta. The Prince absolutely ripped his heart in two, and Goku had little hope he'd ever see him again without a fight. He wondered if Vegeta was even thinking about him at all. Maybe Goku was completely off base in understanding how serious mating was on Planet Vegeta. Perhaps for Vegeta it was a much more sacred practice than Goku thought, and Goku broke some unspoken code by not being upfront about his plan.
Dammit. He didn't know anything! He wished he could just talk to Vegeta about it, but Vegeta didn't want anything to do with him ever again. Was what he did so awful it didn't even warrant a conversation? He'd never screwed up so badly in his life.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to find Goten. He's probably worried sick. He concentrated his mind on sensing Goten's specific energy in the world. The wind nipped at his cheeks until they numbed. Finally, he sensed the energy, and disappeared.
Seconds later, he appeared inside of a small room. Whatever time it was in this part of the world, the sun had already set. It was dark, but he could clearly see two figures wrestling each other on the bed against the wall. "Goten?" he whispered.
"DAD!" Goten peeped his head out from beneath the sheets. "Dad, is it really you?!"
Goku smiled. "This is Krillin's house, right? What're you doing here?"
"Oh, Dad!" Goten started to climb out of the bed, but stopped himself. "Uh, I don't have any clothes on."
Goku raised a brow. "Who is…?"
Trunks shyly slid his head out from beneath the covers. "Hi Goku."
"Oh, wow!" Goku covered his eyes. "I hope I wasn't interrupting something!" He blushed. "But congratulations, son!"
Goten scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Thanks, Dad! It's okay! I'm so happy to see you! I would hug you, except, um—"
Goku waved his hands. "Don't worry about it." He looked around, and spotted an office chair. He pulled it beneath him, then sat down in it backwards. "I'm so sorry I left without saying anything. Things got complicated yesterday."
Goten pouted. "I was pretty upset at first. But I'm doing okay over here. It's actually pretty fun, being somewhere new." Under the sheets, Goten pulled his knees to his chest. "But since you're here, does that mean you're back for good?"
Goku quirked his mouth. "I don't think so, kiddo. I've got some things I need to figure out." He paused. "Unless you really need me to come back. I'll do it for you."
"Well…I do want you to come back. But if you're figuring out how to make things work with Vegeta, I think I understand." He smiled at Trunks.
"Oh, boy." Goku dropped his head. "I'm guessing everyone knows by now?"
"I think only the people in this house know you went to prison. If you're talking about you and Vegeta breaking up, I think that's still the case. I'm not even sure Bulma knows."
"She doesn't," Trunks said, finally speaking up. In the dark light he looked a lot older than Goten, which weirded Goku out. "But I do know she's pissed at Dad and Goku for some reason."
"Oh…yeah…" Goku scratched the back of his head. "Bulma's mad at me too."
"Dad, what did you do that was so bad?"
"Maybe I'll tell you when you're older."
Trunks made a snorting noise so similar to Vegeta's, Goku's stomach dropped for a second. "I think we can handle whatever it is you did," Trunks said.
Damn, that boy has an attitude as bad as his father's. Goku smirked. "Come on, Trunks. You don't want to know about me and your dad's sex life."
Trunk's right eye twitched. "I guess you're right about that."
Goten snapped his fingers. "I have a great idea. Why don't you go talk to Vegeta now? He's just down the hall."
Goku nearly fell out of the chair. "What is he doing here?!"
"He didn't want to stay at our house anymore."
So Vegeta just abandoned my house? I guess that makes sense he wouldn't stay. "I don't sense his ki at all. He can't be here." Goku closed his eyes. Vegeta could be suppressing his energy just like he was doing right now. "It's pretty late…"
"Just do it!" Trunks and Goten said at the same time.
"Okay, okay. Geez." Goku felt their eyes push him out of the room. Whatever it was they were doing before he came, they were urgent to return to it. Slowly, he crept into the hall. Two other doors were nearby, one of them leading to a small bathroom. The last door had to go to Vegeta's room.
He gulped. He hadn't planned for a confrontation now. He gently rapped on the door. "Vegeta?"
The door gave way to his weight. He peeped his head inside. It was empty.
He felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. Typical of Vegeta, the room was sparse. Goku fell back onto the bed, and smelled the sheets. Vegeta's scent covered everything. His eyes watered. He wondered if this was the last time he'd be this close to the Prince ever again. "Vegeta, I still love you," he sighed into the bed.
GrrRp! He clutched his growling stomach. Amazingly, he'd forgotten he was hungry! "I hope Krillen doesn't mind if I take a few things from the fridge," he said. He left the room and tip-toed downstairs.
It was precisely ten o'clock when Vegeta landed on Bulma's balcony. A chill ran up his spine. The window lock was still broken from yesterday. Shards of glass littered the ground. Why hasn't she cleaned this up yet?
"Vegeta?" Bulma's voice sounded far away.
The window was slightly ajar, so he invited himself in. Bulma sat cross-legged on her bed, glowing in the moonlight flooding the room. She was reading a thick tome and hadn't bothered to look up. "It's okay. I'm not going to bite this time," she said.
Vegeta sat down beside her. She put the book to the side, but kept her head downcast. Her hair curtained around her face, obscuring it completely from Vegeta's gaze.
He couldn't remember the last time she was so silent. "I broke up with Kakarot."
She whipped her head around. "You did?" Without her makeup on, she looked like a lost teenager.
"Yes. I found out about that 'list' thing you helped him with."
She grasped onto the front of her nightshirt. "I hope you didn't come over here to yell at me, mister."
"I didn't."
That threw her off guard. "Oh. Well, if I wasn't so pissed off I'd call you stupid for breaking up with him." She raised her nose into the air. "But since I am pissed…good job. Goku sucks."
He suppressed the urge to rub his temples. Was she bluffing, or did she really not care about Goku anymore? "I'm not here to talk about that."
"Are you still living with him?"
She really doesn't know? He couldn't tell her about Goku's imprisonment just yet. He needed to weed out her true feelings from yesterday's debacle. He needed to prove whether 18 was right, or if the artificial human just had a flight of fancy. "I'm staying with Krillin and Android 18 for now."
Bulma stared blankly into space. "You can stay here if you want."
What the fuck? Yesterday she literally barred him from ever coming to Capsule Corp ever again. Why the change of tune? "I'm fine where I am. I want to ask you about yesterday."
"Vegeta, I don't want to talk about it, okay? Goku really hurt me."
"How?"
"How? How? I told you how!" She clenched her fists open and close, which didn't go unnoticed by him. "He went after Yamcha, remember? So did you!"
Maybe that was the wrong question to ask. "Why were you okay with me coming over here as long as Kakarot didn't tag along?" The anger on her face was replaced with fear. So there is something you're hiding from me, Bulma.
"Goku's an asshole. I don't want to see his stupid face ever again!"
"But you're fine with seeing me."
She sputtered. "That's different. You're—"
"I'm what, Bulma?"
Tears sprung in her eyes. "Why did you have to like it so much?!"
He leaned back. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't be stupid!" A blush crept over her cheeks. "I'm talking about what I heard over the phone. Why did you have to like the sex so much?"
"…Are you insane? It's sex. You're supposed to enjoy it. Or have you forgotten?"
Bulma growled at him. He hadn't meant for that last comment to be a dig at her at all, but it was too late to take it back. "You're such a dick, Vegeta. You haven't thought once about how hearing something like that over the phone would make me feel."
Gods, why couldn't any of the women in his life be direct with him? Why was Bulma just talking in circles? "How did it make you feel, then?"
"UGH!" She threw her arms up in the air. "Fine. Fine. It's because Goku makes you sooo happy when banging, okay?" She rolled back onto the bed and spilled her heart out to the ceiling. "You know when he was telling all of those baseball jokes? That was the most insane thing I'd ever heard in my life, but you were laughing your ass off. During sex. Vegeta, I've never heard you laugh that much period. And in the middle of it all you were moaning so hard, I could've just died on the spot."
He opened his mouth to interrupt, but she held up a finger. "You never acted that way around me. And I knew I shouldn't have heard any of that, and I knew it was an accident, but it just hurt so goddamn much. I always thought of Goku as being my innocent friend, you know? I thought you two were super cute together. I really did, and I was happy for you both. I knew you had sex, but it never seemed real. Until I got that phone call. With Yamcha involved, it just confirmed how much better he is at making people feel good. Now that I know he blows your mind…he seems like a totally different person to me now. And I don't like it."
Vegeta widened his eyes. "So you're jealous…of Kakarot."
"No! I mean, maybe a little. Ugh, I don't know." She flopped her arm over her eyes in defeat. "Do you remember that day I picked you and Goku up from jail, and we held hands on the car ride home?"
He nodded. "What about it? It didn't mean anything."
"It did to me, Vegeta." Her eyes shimmered in the moonlight. "I miss you."
He stared down at her. "Are you saying you're still attracted to me?"
She sat up again. "I'm not sure." She bit the side of her lip and grinned. Utterly hopeless.
He wasn't sure who kissed the other first. All he knew was that she was now tugging him down onto the bed with her. Her arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him flush against her body. Naturally, his hand roamed beneath her shirt to trace the curve of her spine, fingertips lingering to admire the soft skin there. With his other hand he squeezed her ass; she gasped against his chest.
All of this…was disturbingly familiar. He'd suffered through this same ritual before. For years he'd come into her room after an earlier argument. To rectify everything, they screwed senseless. That's how it always went down.
He cupped her face in his hands, and pulled her mouth off his. He stared into her cerulean eyes. "Bulma."
She ignored him. In one fluid motion, she left his grasp and pulled her nightshirt over her head.
"Bulma, what are we doing."
"We're about to have sex!"
Vegeta sighed and rolled onto his back. "No, we're not."
Huffing dramatically, she covered her bare chest with her shirt. "Are you serious? You're going to turn me down right now?"
"Yes. This has never solved anything for us."
She pulled a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. "That's never stopped you before."
"I don't want to be like before."
Bulma tilted her head. The look she gave him was inexplicable. "Did someone take the real Vegeta and replace him with a phony?"
He grinned. "I don't want to be with you, Bulma." Without warning, he stood up and walked back toward the window. "I need some time to think. I'm going to respect my ban here for the next year. Trunks can visit me at Krillin's house."
"A year?" She hugged herself. "That's a long time."
"That's the point. I think some time away from each other will be good. For the both of us."
She exhaled, her chest slowly deflating until she relaxed into a heap on the bed. "I've never said this before, but I think you're right."
Vegeta scratched the back of his head. "I think it has something to do with Kakarot."
She laughed. "Oh God, you look just like him right now."
Vegeta pried the offensive fingers from his scalp, and blushed. He didn't have a retort.
Bulma closed her eyes. "I should start dating again."
The way she said it was so empty and hollow. But Vegeta genuinely hoped she took the throw-away remark to heart. "Good. I'll see you in a year." Once outside, he jumped onto the balcony's railing and sat on his haunches. "By the way, Kakarot is imprisoned in a foreign country for who knows how long. You may not see him for a while either." He blasted away into the night.
"WHAT?!" Bulma screamed.
Outside Krillin's house, Vegeta slowly unopened the patio door. Hopefully Krillin and 18 didn't hear him come in. He walked up the stairs, grateful they were carpeted.
When he walked past Goten's room, he sensed his son's ki behind the door. Trunks, you fool. All of the energy he once held reserved against Goten and Trunk's relationship felt like a waste now, what with Goku gone. Goten needed all of the companionship he could get for the time being, and Vegeta wasn't going to be the one to deny him that pittance.
As soon as he stepped through his bedroom door, the scent assaulted him. Kakarot. In the past he'd made fun of Goku for having such a keen sense of smell. Rarely did smell matter in battle. But to be hit with such a comforting reminder of Goku's presence almost brought Vegeta to tears. He sat down on his mattress, feeling the lingering warmth there.
He was just here. And I missed him. Vegeta lay down and buried his face in the sheets. Had Goku done the same thing just minutes ago?
He wanted to apologize. He wanted to find Goku and cling to him, explain how wrong he'd been to ever let him go. He wished Goku had waited just a little bit longer for him. When they saw each other, then…
Then what? What would change? Vegeta would still be the same person as yesterday. Goku would be in his grasp again, a salve for his broken heart. But what more could he give him? More insults? More reasons for Goku to feel unsafe speaking about mating? Would Vegeta even make a good mate in the long run? It takes one year to become halfway-decent at something new.
He rummaged through his nightstand. His fingers grazed against the yellow slip of paper from yesterday. On Goku's list, he'd specified his plan for gaining the approval of their relationship from all of their friends. Such was necessary before consummating their union as mates. Vegeta couldn't lie to himself—it was a good plan. It demanded a lot of effort out of him. But if he pulled it off, it could work.
With a little noise as possible, he slid on his jacket and ran back downstairs. He slid the patio door open and jogged toward Marron's basement studio. Gently he rapped on the front door. After what felt like the longest few minutes in the world, the door opened. "Hey," she said, rubbing her eyes.
Vegeta glanced past her shoulder. "Were you asleep down there?"
"Nah." She yawned.
Vegeta looked down at his feet. "Will you teach me how to make art?"
Marron's sleepy eyes widened. She clutched her hands together in reverence. "I…would be honored to teach you! Oh my gosh!" She crushed him into a hug. "Uncle Vegeta, you've made me so happy!"
"I know."
She spun around in circles. "Oh my goodness. What kind of art do you want to make? No wait, you definitely should explore and see what you like the best. Do you think you'll like painting? Or sculpture? Oh my gosh, you could be a great illustrator! Or maybe charcoal could be your thing." She pulled him downstairs into the basement, still speaking a mile a minute. "We've got to get you figure drawing lessons, of course. You have to learn the basics. Maybe Mom can pose for you! Ooh, we can go out into the mountains and do life drawings there, too! I'm so excited, I can't believe you want me to be your teacher…Maybe we can convince Goten and Trunk to join us too..."
The whole trip down the stairs, Vegeta swallowed down his apprehension. The next year would be interesting.
Krillin stood in front of his open refrigerator. Every single last item was gone. Even the condiments. Even everything in the freezer. Even all of the ice cubes in the ice tray.
He lifted his fists into the air. "GOKUUU!"