Human Hospitality
by scoutergreen
Chapter 29
Just Another Place to Rest
The door shut behind Bulma, completely exhausted from yet another week of sixteen-to-twenty hour days that alternated between the lab and the company boardroom, and she crept into the living room and quickly dropped into a chair, a short, weak sigh escaping her chest as her spine made contact with the chair's tall back.
She kicked off her shoes and drew her aching feet onto an ottoman, flexing her cramping toes. Eyes fluttering shut, she dozed in the dim room for many minutes before falling into a light sleep.
The guest house was dark. Bulma sat up, looked around the living room, and called out into the silence: "hello? Anyone there?"
"Don't just sit there, woman, go eat and sleep before you burn out completely! Or do you intend to make yourself useless?" A harsh, husky, and certainly familiar voice reverberated through the room.
Bulma stood at attention and eyes darted around, searching for the source of this voice and stomach clenching with fear when she couldn't locate the man who spoke.
"You look like shit. Get some sleep, you stupid woman!"
A slender young man with bright almond-shaped eyes, a small, slightly upturned nose, tanned dewy skin, and wild hair the colour of espresso seemingly materialized on the couch across from her and a familiar smirk flashed across his face.
"...Vegeta?"
The man responded by flicking his tail and smirking once again. "Clever woman. Even I would opt to sleep more than you've been lately. What's the point of running yourself so damn ragged? You can't be making any real progress- think about it..." his lips pursed and his left brow rose slightly.
Taken down by a mere expression, Bulma felt as though she couldn't breathe. Why did he look so young and why had his tail grown back? Had he returned early and come to take her by surprise?
"Go and eat, and then go and sleep. You'll be sick in the morning, and then you'll sleep all day long."
"Wait, what?" Bulma leaned across the coffee table separating them, reaching out to touch him, and he vanished into thin air.
Bulma woke up abruptly, eyes burning with exhaustion, and she immediately looked around the room to locate Vegeta before remembering he was very far away from Earth.
"Ugh," she rubbed her temples and stumbled to her feet, "I feel terrible..."
She staggered upstairs to the master bedroom and collapsed in her bed. Bulma hadn't even noticed Yamcha playing video games in the rec room across the hall.
When Bulma woke to the sound of her alarm at 5:15 AM, the first thing she did was squeeze her eyes shut and wince in pain, full extent of her migraine hitting her full-force now that she was conscious. Suddenly, Bulma knew she had to get up and stumbled into the en-suite bathroom, vomiting into the sink and opting to keep her eyes shut.
"Oh my god," her voice was a dull croak, "my head. Oh my fucking god..."
Yamcha's eyes snapped open and he practically jumped out of bed and made it into the bathroom, finding Bulma hunched over the sink, face blanched of colour and circles under her eyes the colour of a bruise.
"Don't even think of going into work today, Bulma," Yamcha brought Bulma into his arms, supporting much of her weight, and guided her into a small seat beside the bathtub, "you've been working way too many hours these past few weeks..."
"I know," she nodded weakly, "I'm going back to bed..."
"Ah, wai-wai-wait!" Yamcha whipped around and filled a small cup with water and guided it into Bulma's hands, "at least rinse your mouth first."
Yamcha managed to get Bulma to rinse her mouth before he helped her back into their shared bed. "You need to get some rest," Yamcha pulled the covers over Bulma and pushed some stray hairs from across her forehead, "or you're gonna burn out."
"Hmm..." Bulma's eyes shut, "y'gotta call the office... let'em know I'm sick..."
"I will at a normal hour, Bulma..." Yamcha returned to his side of the bed and lay down, "it's so early..."
Although Bulma immediately fell back asleep, Yamcha made a point of leaving a bottle of water, a bottle of fruit juice, and a small bottle of over the counter painkillers on Bulma's nightstand.
At four thirty in the afternoon, Bulma finally awoke and her headache had dissipated enough that she didn't feel nauseous when she left the bed. After taking two tablets with a half bottle of fruit juice, Bulma slowly made her way downstairs to find Yamcha playing a video game in the living room, the television's volume turned down so low that only the most percussive sound effects were still just barely audible.
"Bulma," Yamcha paused the game and practically jumped off the couch, "are you feeling a bit better? I called the office at seven thirty to let them know you wouldn't be coming in today."
"Hnnn..." Bulma wiped her brow, finding it a little damp, "thank you, Yamcha. I'll be alright, but I need to take time off. I'm totally exhausted."
"I'll go make you something to eat," Yamcha offered his seat to Bulma, "get comfortable, Bulma, it's about time you took some time to relax!"
Great, thought Bulma, I wonder how long it'll be before Yamcha and I find something to argue about?
On-board the Capsule Corp ship, things couldn't have been better, at least when it came to available power, rations, water supply, temperature, and material comforts. However, Vegeta felt like hell; he was tired, bored, and finally at the point where he was willing to admit that he was terribly lonely.
He was officially close enough to the solar system that Earth started to register on his navigation screen, and when he looked at the tiny dot at the far upper right edge of the screen a tendril of anxiety would creep up his spine, leaving him with gooseflesh and a frantic worry that he'd fail both components of his mission: he would neither locate Kakarot nor ascend to the legendary Super Saiyan state his rival had achieved.
His next stop was two weeks away.
It had been many weeks since Bulma had contacted him, and Vegeta didn't exactly know how to feel about it. On one hand, he could say it was nice to not face any interruptions, yet on the other hand Vegeta found himself wanting to speak with the engineer.
Am I attracted to that human woman? She certainly is attractive, there isn't any doubt about that... but why am I longing to speak with her? What exactly would a pampered heiress and I have in common?
Maybe this is just my dick talking and I need to get laid. It's been... oh, god damn, how long has it been, anyway?
...but then again, I do think of her often. And I've never thought about anybody the way I think about her. If she were to just shut her mouth a bit more often, the notion of spending a little time with that woman becomes very appealing.
What am I going to say to her when I return to Earth?
Why should I say anything to her when I return? I don't owe her a damn thing. If anything, she owes me a great deal! The compound where she lives with her ridiculous family is just another place to rest.
... I wonder if Kakarot has returned to Earth, and has told Bulma to refrain from contacting me so he can take me by surprise...
... I should call her.
To Be Continued