Human Hospitality
by pureleaf
Chapter 8
It Finally Works!
The open-top car sped down the coastal highway with Vegeta in the passenger seat, who was secretly enjoying the smell of ocean air and the way the wind whipped through his hair. Dr. Briefs talked constantly but never seemed to notice if Vegeta was really listening to him. He explained the purpose of certain buildings and the history behind different neighbourhoods in West City.
From what Vegeta could gather based on his observations and when he (reluctantly) listened to his guide, West City was a large and wealthy city and had been founded at least two centuries prior. Capsule Corporation also seemed to be one of the largest industries operating within the city, although it appeared as though many different companies had their headquarters or major factories in West City. There were glittering glass skyscrapers, massive shopping malls, apartment complexes, well-maintained public parks, schools, a university, train stations and even a major airport on the very outskirts of the city.
Finally, Dr. Briefs took an exit that brought them into West City's core and into a street filled with different restaurants.
"Oh no," Vegeta warily eyed his driver, "take me elsewhere or take me home, now."
"Alright... say, have you ever had a hamburger, Vegeta?"
"No."
They wound up going through something called a "drive-through" for cheeseburgers, French fries, onion rings, baked apple pies, and very large soft drinks served in waxed paper cups with the ugliest neon red and purple geometric design Vegeta had ever laid eyes on.
"My wife doesn't like it when I eat this kind of stuff, so we'll have to find a place to eat..."
"Fine."
"You're not much of a talker, are you?"
The Saiyan sighed and resumed looking out the window.
Dr. Briefs took his guest to a rest area overlooking the ocean. The Saiyan found he was actually glad to be seaside again, ignored Dr. Briefs as he pointed to a picnic table, and chose to sit at the top of the sloping hill leading down to a small public beach instead. Dr. Briefs joined him without asking. He ate quickly and said nothing to Dr. Briefs, who told Vegeta about his doctoral thesis in between small bites of his hamburger.
"You said your wife didn't like you eating this food. Why?"
Train of thought derailed by Vegeta's sudden questioning, Dr. Briefs choked on his root beer and coughed before he was able to provide an answer. "Just trying to watch the waistline, son, now that my metabolism isn't so fast any more!"
"So... this type of food makes you fat?" Vegeta asked through a mouthful of onion rings.
"If you eat too much, it can..."
The Saiyan shrugged, muttered something about "not liking fat humans very much", and returned his attention to his onion rings. After a few minutes, he crushed the empty, grease-stained paper bag they'd come in and incinerated it with a minute blast of ki. He stood up in the grass, rolled his shoulders back, and inhaled with his lips parted so he could taste the salty sea air. He made a mental note to make Bulma take him to the beach on a very hot day.
"Take me home, now."
"Care to take the scenic route?"
Another shrug from the Saiyan. He didn't really care- it was just something to do.
Vegeta was horrified to discover Bulma had invited a group of girlfriends to the compound when he and Dr. Briefs returned in the late afternoon. She said they were friends from her university days and they'd come over to catch up and engage in an activity she called "pre-drinking".
"What the hell is pre-drinking?" Vegeta went into the kitchen to get a snack and found Bulma and her girlfriends were seated around the breakfast table with several brightly coloured drinks and snacks on hand.
"It's when you get buzzed before going out so you don't spend too much money at the bars!" A tall, curvaceous brunette leaned back in her seat at the kitchen table and smiled at Vegeta.
"Hmm! I can't criticize frugality."
"You wanna come with, cutie?"
"No."
Several of the women giggled at his curt reply. "Oh, come on! Don't be so serious, mystery man! Are you Bulma's new boyfriend?" Another woman asked him, winking at the suggestion that he was romantically involved with Bulma.
"No!"
More giggling. Vegeta could feel his blood pressure steadily rising and he tried to focus his attention on the refrigerator. He just wanted to get a snack, something to drink, and then he wanted to disappear.
"His name is Vegeta and he's been working with my Dad on a project. One of the new engineers at Capsule Corporation, you know?" Bulma lied.
A chorus of "ooohs" rose from the table. Vegeta was impressed by Bulma's ability to create a back story for him on the spot.
"So you're too busy to come out with us, huh? Don't get too caught up in your work, good lookin'!"
The Saiyan's teeth were practically on edge. He found an unopened package of cold cuts and a large can of iced tea and took them both up to his room.
He deigned to stay up there until they left. With a slice of roast turkey rolled up and held between his teeth, Vegeta picked up the remote control to the television in his room and soon figured out that the red button at the top of the remote was the ON button.
Sometime in the later evening, Vegeta heard the women laughing and giggling again. Based on their volume, he guessed correctly that they were in Bulma's bedroom across the hallway and knew to leave.
He crept down to the living room in an attempt to escape the noise. He was becoming quite fascinated by human television and wanted to continue watching a program where a blonde man dressed in white screamed at a group of harried-looking cooks competing to make the best dish for some sort of monetary prize.
Not ten minutes after finding the cooking show again, the group of women came down the stairs, louder than before. They were definitely buzzed, he thought. Vegeta was preparing to fire off his best insults at them when he caught sight of Bulma, now dressed up to go out for the evening, and his mouth just hung open.
"How do I look?" She asked him.
She was dressed in a formfitting sleeveless red dress that showed off her figure and knee high boots with four inch heels. Gold and silver bangles jingled on her slender wrists and large rhinestone hoops sparkled in the warm light of the living room. She'd painted her nails and lips red and her cheekbones suddenly appeared more defined.
His heart was pounding and it took all his strength to keep his thoughts from turning to sex.
"Uhh... I, uh... you look fine."
"We're all going out now and I won't be home until late, but I'll have something great to show you tomorrow afternoon, alright?" She leaned over the couch and he caught a glimpse of her ample cleavage.
The scent of her perfume reached him. She smelled sweet and spicy, and then an underlying musk revealed itself and suddenly his face felt very hot.
"Good. Now get out of here!"
He spent much of the evening watching television with Mrs. Briefs after she offered to prepare him something called "club sandwiches" and returned with a literal stack of sandwiches (which he enjoyed very much) and a ramekin of potato salad. They watched a program called "The Twilight Zone", which Vegeta found quite fascinating, followed by the late night news, which Vegeta found incredibly dull.
At one in the morning, he retired to his bedroom. By two thirty in the morning he lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. Insomnia was most unusual for the Saiyan, who typically fell asleep within a few minutes most nights after years of willing himself to sleep while stuck on Frieza's ships or during shore leave. Worse yet, he didn't know of any human remedies for insomnia.
The only two remedies Vegeta knew of were alcohol and sex. He didn't know where the humans kept their liquor (if they even had any, he'd only ever had human beer) and he didn't have a willing sexual partner.
He stared up at the ceiling and sighed.
With the duvet pushed down to the foot-board and the sheet already down at his hips, the Saiyan pulled off his shirt and lay back down, tossing over on his mattress in hopes he'd find a comfortable position. After a few minutes, he was on his back like usual.
It wasn't the temperature of the room that was bothering him, he realized. He felt quite normal and couldn't sense any danger or unusual energies nearby. His stomach was full and he hadn't been drinking. In his mind, there was no reason he should still be awake.
His mind turned to Bulma. He started thinking about how she looked in that short, tight dress and high heeled boots. The way she smelled; that spicy, musky perfume that came from that spot between her full breasts. Her creamy skin and bright blue eyes. Those bare shoulders he'd seen at the beginning of his time on earth.
She said I was sexy, he thought, but was she just toying with me?
Maybe she's promiscuous...
His right hand drifted down under the sheet and towards the waistband of his boxers.
Don't you ever date? She'd asked him.
It had been more than three years since he'd last had sex and his body was screaming for release. His last sexual encounter had been brief, rather uncomfortable, in less than ideal conditions, with a partner for whom he had no feelings of affection, and done purely to satisfy a physical need rather than for enjoyment. He already had an erection and knew he couldn't ignore it like he'd done so many times before.
He started to imagine what she looked like undressed. He'd wanted to tear that dress right off her.
He pushed the sheet and his boxers down to his ankles and finally touched himself for the first time in years. Ten minutes later, with soiled boxers discarded on the floor and the sheets and duvet pulled up to his chest, Vegeta fell asleep and did not wake up until eleven o'clock.
Vegeta woke with a start when a small animal with pointed ears and glossy black fur jumped on his bed, mere inches from his face, and began sniffing him curiously. A cold, wet nose practically buried itself into his hairline. Its eyes were wide and bright green, practically glowing as they stared at Vegeta. Long whiskers brushed against the Saiyan's cheek as the creature leaned in closer to sniff his face again. He was totally taken aback by the animal's apparent friendliness.
"And just what the hell are you?"
The creature yawned, revealing tiny sharp teeth and powerful incisors. Vegeta smiled and held out a hand. A rough pink tongue darted out of a tiny mouth and licked his fingertips.
"I bet you're a carnivore."
"MmmmrrrrooooooOOOWwww..."
The Saiyan's eyes widened at the animal's high pitched call. Still, he recognized the creature was likely some sort of pet and therefore tame. He let it hop around on his bed and was quite amused when it attacked his wiggling feet and tried to bite his toes through the covers.
He noticed his bedroom door had been opened slightly, but a quick check around his room confirmed nothing had been touched while he'd been asleep. He decided to shower and finally made his way downstairs just as Bulma was preparing to make herself lunch. She was dressed in black sweatpants and a pink tank top, with her hair loose and face free of any cosmetics.
Even dressed like that, she's gorgeous, thought Vegeta.
"Hey there! I've never seen you sleep in before," Bulma gave her guest a nod as he came wandering into the kitchen, smelling like he'd just showered.
"Mmmrrooowwww..."
"This creature keeps following me." Vegeta looked down at the cat as it wound in between his legs and butted its furry head against his calves.
"That's Scratch and he's a house cat. He usually hangs around with my Dad. C'mere," Bulma bent down to pick the cat up, "did you finally say hello to our guest, Scratch? Hmm? You wanna hold him, Vegeta? I think he likes you!"
"I'm hungry."
"I'll take that as a firm no, then. You want some lunch?" She set Scratch down and he darted out of the kitchen, probably headed towards the lab or to find some sunny spot to sleep in.
He took a seat at the breakfast table. "The sandwiches your mother made last night were very good... whatever they were."
"Club sandwiches it is, then..."
Bulma put together several sandwiches and brewed some coffee for her and Vegeta. They ate in silence until Vegeta had eaten two sandwiches and the rumbling in his stomach had been silenced.
"Are your friends still here?"
"Nope. Two of them crashed here when we got in at three, but they both left early this morning when you were still sleeping. Now that my hangover's finally going away..."
Vegeta let his crooked smile spread across his face. "They were loud women. It's no wonder you have a headache."
"We were even louder once we hit the clubs and my hangover is from drinking way too much champagne and hard liquor! It was probably the tequila shots that did me in!"
Vegeta exhaled sharply through his nose.
"My friends think you're cute, Vegeta. You should let loose and come with us sometime."
The Saiyan did not reply but instead focused on his coffee. Memories of her perfume, the jingling bangles, and that dress came rushing back. An entire night of her dressed like that would have driven him wild.
Finally: "I think not. So, what did you have to tell me today?"
"Oh yeah! Well, Vegeta, your gravity simulator is mere hours away from being ready for use! All we have to do is go through a tutorial, ensure the simulator works properly with some quick tests, and then we're going to move it outside so you can train in complete privacy."
He swallowed a large mouthful of club sandwich, brows raised, and looked at her quite skeptically. "It finally works?"
"It finally works!"
"Finally!"
To Be Continued