Human Hospitality
by pureleaf
Chapter 2
Basic Concepts
After breakfast, Dr. Briefs offered to show Vegeta around the living areas of the Capsule Corp's compound. Not certain on how he would begin to spend all his free time, Vegeta shrugged and wordlessly followed the man through the bright and modern (at least by human standards) home.
"The bedrooms and guest rooms are upstairs, as you already know," Dr. Briefs stopped to light another cigarette, "and you took the main stairwell to the kitchen."
"Get on with it," Vegeta turned his head to avoid the acrid smoke.
The scientist showed him a spacious living room filled with comfortable furniture, books, art and photographs. The living quarters also had a home office, a small personal library, two workshops, lab facilities, a well-stocked gym, and a massive conservatory filled with thousands of plants.
"You are wealthy." Vegeta reached out to feel the smooth, deep green leaves of a small palm tree and searched through his memory for a comparable plant.
Dr. Briefs noticed that Vegeta wasn't asking if Dr. Briefs was wealthy but rather confirming what he already knew. The older man could help but wonder what riches his strange guest had encountered in his past travels.
"You could say so, yes. Are you interested in seeing the grounds?"
"Show to me the gravity simulator."
"As you can see, this model is in need of repairs. I could have it up and running within the week, if you'd like," Dr. Briefs pointed to various components on the large circuit-board of the gravity simulator's main controllers, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to talk about one of his latest inventions to a particularly interested guest.
The Saiyan couldn't keep up with what his host was talking about, but he listened out of politeness and to figure out just how Kakarot had used the device to train for his battle with Frieza. So far, the only things he knew for certain were that Kakarot had used a gravity simulator to train while travelling to Namek, and that Kakarot had ascended to Super Saiyan after using that simulator.
"A week? Hmph," Vegeta sniffed, "that's too much time spent not training. Tell me, what settings did Kakarot use on the gravity simulator you built for him?"
The young man is determined, thought Dr. Briefs, but is he even aware of the risks involved?
"I can't say for certain, son, but the model I built for Goku went up to one hundred times Earth's gravity. If you use the simulator, it's pertinent that you use extreme caution! Setting the simulator too high could literally crush you!"
"What does "pertinent" mean?"
"It means that something is very important or highly relevant," explained the scientist, "I cannot stress enough that you need to be very careful when you use the simulator. Do you understand?"
"Do I look like an idiot?"
"Hardly," Dr. Briefs shut the control panel, "but until the gravity simulator is repaired, you are more than welcome to use the fitness facilities here. If you like running outside, there's a track you can take around the property too. I'll get started on it today."
"Fine."
The prince turned away from his host and started to leave for the living quarters when Dr. Briefs cleared his throat and asked: "By the way, son, were you planning to wear pyjamas all day long?"
Never did Dr. Briefs imagine he'd be explaining how clothing worked to his guest. After some resistance, Vegeta agreed to let Dr. Briefs show him some basic articles of clothing from his own closet and explained their purpose and how to put them on. The Saiyan took an immediate dislike to stiff, heavier fabrics and, when he asked about "the teeth" in the jeans, he felt embarrassed and furious at his own ignorance when told it was just something called a "zipper" and that many articles of clothing featured them.
After searching through his closet, Dr. Briefs found a few items for Vegeta to wear. The Saiyan seemed to prefer light, breathable fabrics, preferably free of any buttons or zippers, which meant he found himself giving away too-small athletic wear he'd never worn more than twice, clean socks, old sweatshirts and sweatpants, T-shirts and plain white undershirts. He packed everything into a to large paper sack with cardboard handles. "They're nothing formal, but these are fine for training and being around the house. When you're more settled, Bulma or I could help you find new clothes. If you'll be here for a while, it makes sense to have a whole new wardrobe!"
"Enough!" Barked Vegeta, before he lowered his voice to a normal pitch and volume, "yes, thank you, these will be suitable for my training. I'd like to get started now. Good bye."
He quickly turned away and left for his own bedroom very quickly.
"Guess he's eager to burn off that breakfast…" said Dr. Briefs with a shrug.
Although Vegeta found his old boots, he was rather troubled by the fact that he could not locate his old clothing or armour. After searching through all the drawers only to find them empty, he decided he could leave the issue until later. Training was more important than his old clothes. He changed into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black tank top with some sort of neon pink design across the chest and slipped on his boots, tucking the pants into the wide shaft of the boot. He inspected himself in the mirror and shook his head in disapproval.
"Earth fashion looks really stupid."
He made his way down to the fitness facilities and started to inspect the equipment, humming with approval at the free weights and what he was certain passed for human weight machines when the realization that he wasn't able to read the script on any of the equipment dawned on him. Worse yet, the machines that were designed to simulate running on different inclines and speeds had to be programmed in order to run!
After a few moments deliberation, Vegeta decided he'd try finding the blue-haired girl. He tried the living room and the kitchen before going upstairs and trying each bedroom until he located hers. The girl's bedroom, as he discovered, was across the hall from his own. Vegeta opened the door and walked in, finding her sitting at her desk with a towel wrapped across her torso and her hair dripping water that rolled down the backs of her creamy shoulders.
He was stunned by the sight of her. She was gorgeous.
She realized that he was standing there and yelped in surprise, defensively crossing her arms across her chest. "You need to knock first if the door's closed!"
"You need to fix the running machines, now!"
"What?! Vegeta, they all work perfectly. You just need to select the program you want and put in a few numbers when prompted."
"Well, I don't understand the script."
Bulma rose from her chair and gave a slow nod to indicate she understood what he wanted. "You need to leave my room while I get dressed, and then I can help you, okay? Then we can set up a custom program just for you!"
He turned and left her room without a word, shutting the door behind him.
Turning back to her desk, Bulma pulled out her notepad and jotted down a single thought: "looks like Vegeta needs to be taught a few basic concepts…"