Here is the next chapter, from Raditz's point of view this time.
Let me know if you like it :)
xx
Chapter 4 - Raditz
The blue-haired woman had been gone for a few minutes already. But Vegeta still hadn't moved, his eyes riveted on an invisible point towards the front door through which she had disappeared.
Right next to him, Nappa and Raditz were making fun of him more than ever.
"Have you seen his face?" laughed Raditz.
"This is really serious. Looks like she just punched him right in the face," Nappa added.
"Do you think he'll get over it on his own? Do we need to intervene? After all, we haven't seen him interacting with females very often. And when they are this pretty..."
"It was love at first sight, I swear!"
Both laughed heartily.
"It seems like he's going to need my advice" Nappa said, rubbing his hands.
"Advices? From you? Do you want him to make her run away? No, he's going to need me this time."
"Shut up, both of you!" Vegeta thundered, suddenly turning towards them.
Both men's mirth kicked up a notch, as well as the annoyance of the third one, whose cheeks had taken on a slightly rosy tint.
Nappa approached Vegeta and gave him a smack on the arm that could have smashed through any concrete wall.
"Come on Vegeta, I'm messing with you. It happens to the best of us. After all this time not seeing such beautiful women, your hormones are playing tricks on you. And in your defense, she was really, really pretty, blue eyes or not."
"If she had looked at me like that, I'd already be running after her," Raditz said, rubbing his crotch over his armor. "I really don't know how you managed not to jump on her."
"See, that's why he needs MY advice, not yours," Nappa told him, playing with his thin mustache.
Vegeta gritted his teeth. The ungrateful comments annoyed him exponentially. He was beginning to regret coming to this damn planet, in front of this damn nightclub. But Raditz couldn't do anything about it. All this exotic fauna distracted him. It had been ages since he'd set foot on a planet that offered more than sand and slimy-skinned creatures.
"Fools," Vegeta spat at them. "I don't need anyone's advice. If I really wanted this Human, I could get her, without any difficulty. Leave me alone, stay focused and shut up!"
Raditz bit back the mockery that burned his lips. Vegeta was always intensely dedicated to the task, especially when assigned a mission as important as this one. He would never admit it, but this woman had managed to catch his hard-to-capture attention, and it got him frustrated. In all these years of knowing him, Raditz had never seen his prince so captivated by something else than his own interests.
And above all, he had never seen his cheeks ignite with lust.
That's why, notwithstanding the fact that Vegeta was trigger-happy on the death threat, Raditz, eager to find out what this pebble had to offer him, decided to pet the beast a little. He certainly wasn't going to let such an opportunity pass by.
"Come on, Vegeta," he insisted. "We could go inside and try to find her. You could bang her before it gets messy."
"I said no. I have other priorities."
"As long as we don't have the signal from above, there is nothing to do. And just by looking at the Humans here, this mission is already won anyway. There is nothing to prepare. And damn, I bet she's already waiting for you inside!"
"And don't forget that I'm really hungry. I need to eat," Nappa added.
Raditz sent him a knowing smile. Nappa was always giving an helping hand when it came to convince Vegeta to have a bit of a good time. They both approached the front door. Vegeta still hadn't replied, which was a good sign.
"I know you're hungry, too. You wanted to taste a… burger… is that right? It's now or never!"
Vegeta tightened his arms around his chest, groaned a little, and moved to follow them. Raditz let out a small cry of victory before heading for the entrance through which they had seen the two women enter the building.
The Human who was posted in the doorway politely greeted them. He was dressed all in black, a jacket over his shoulders and polished shoes on his feet. He carried a Human weapon on his belt, a detail that all three were quick to notice.
"You have to wait if you want to get in," the man said nonchalantly.
"You did let the two women pass before us," replied Nappa.
"This is the private entrance. Their names were on the guest list. If your name is not on this list, you must wait, like everyone else."
The man gestured wearily to the queue that continued to grow. Raditz raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile. He approached him, playing distractedly with the red band that encircled his bare thigh. The man stiffened, and instinctively took two steps back.
Over two meters tall, the ton of muscle jutting out from under his skin, and the outsized armor that rested on his broad shoulders, Raditz could easily be described as intimidating.
He stopped right in front of the man and his smile widened as a familiar scent tickled his nose. This Human reeked of fear.
Good. It was going to be easy.
"You," Raditz said quietly, jabbing his finger right into the center of the security guard's chest. "You could invite me."
The man blinked. One, two, three times.
"Uh…" was the only thing that came out of his mouth.
Raditz leaned toward the man without taking his eyes off him. He took another step and the air between them seemed to heat up.
"You know, " he whispered in his ear, halfway between threat and seduction, "I was able to rip limbs of men like you at the age of five. Imagine what I could do to you, right now, if you didn't invite me and my friends."
The man looked down and swallowed loudly. Raditz's hand had started to play with his tie. Slowly, very slowly, he tightened the knot. The skin on his neck twisted under the fabric that was gradually digging into his flesh. His breathing quickly became labored. A bead of sweat appeared on the man's forehead and Raditz got closer to lick it.
"Poor guy. Aren't you hot? Don't worry. I have that effect on all the men and women who find themselves crossing my path."
Raditz straightened up to glare at the Human. Behind him, Nappa laughed, rubbing his fist, while Vegeta carelessly cleaned up some dirt on his boot. Everything indicated that this little scene was just routine. With two fingers, Raditz tugged at the fabric of the tie, which snapped open, and the man began to gasp to replenish the oxygen he had been deprived of. Horrified, he watched as his attacker wrapped the tie around his own neck.
"A souvenir," Raditz said, walking past him, followed by the other two armored men.
All three entered the building without being challenged by anyone.
Once inside, the music quickly became deafening. The lights twirled in all directions, creating mesmerizing play of colors on their bronzed skin. The crowd was impressive, the atmosphere was electrifying. On stage, behind the sea of people dancing tightly against each other, particularly attractive and scantily clad Humans swayed their hips harmoniously under the spotlights.
Raditz smiled. On the main ship, he had often been told about these insane parties where the only objective was to have fun. This ambiance was exactly what he had expected. Everywhere he looked, there were people laughing, eating, drinking, kissing. Everywhere, his heightened senses detected abundance of alcohol, food and sex. Raditz, having always been a little more epicurean than his compatriots, was delighted.
Behind him, Nappa was watching the wildlife with rounded eyes and Vegeta was… well, he was Vegeta. Arms tight to his chest, Raditz was sure he heard him mutter something like "I'm going to rip his head off." Nothing unusual.
A satisfied pout on his face, he led them to the nearest bar, where a few empty benches awaited them. Just behind the counter, Humans were busy preparing drinks of all kinds. One of them greeted them with a smile that stretched so much that it was impossible to discern the color of his eyes. His blonde curls fell casually over his forehead.
"Here is our drinks menu," he said, handing them each a huge plastic sheet. "I just made Shirley Temple. Can I offer you one?"
"I'll take whatever you have to offer," Raditz replied, leaning casually over the counter.
The man blushed. To his left, Vegeta settled on the bench, blowing air through his nostrils disdainfully.
"You're pathetic," he said, scanning the menu with his eyes. "What is this gibberish? I don't know any of these dishes. What's a Bloody Mary?"
"No idea," Nappa replied. "Very rare meat, I guess? I don't understand much about it either. We could ask for everything that is on the menu? I'm too hungry to wait for someone to explain what a cham-pa-gne is."
Raditz glanced at the myriad of options on the list, scratching his head. Between the dozens of beers, wines, cocktails and spirits options, he didn't know where to start, wondering what kind of food all these were. The man with blond curls had been gone to prepare some other drinks. Raditz prepared to call out to him in the rudest way possible, just to make sure he had his attention. Luckily for the poor waiter, he was interrupted.
"Hi!" said a feminine voice to their left.
With the menu still in his hands, Raditz turned his head towards the melodious sound. Nappa imitated him. Vegeta tensed in his chair.
Oh fuck. He could not believe what he was seeing.
The blue-haired woman was there, sitting right next to his prince. She was leaning on the counter, staring at Vegeta with interest, while he took great care to ignore her.
Raditz laughed and choked, in anticipation of what was to come.
Seeing that no one greeted her back, the young woman gave them a smile of perfectly straight and immaculate teeth. Raditz answered it. Nappa looked amused and Vegeta remained impassive.
"Having trouble choosing?" she asked cheerfully, pointing towards the menus.
She addressed the three soldiers, but her eyes were on Vegeta. She had got closer to him, to make sure she would be heard despite the music. When he didn't answer, she raised a questioning eyebrow. Raditz and Nappa, who didn't dare interfere in the conversation she was obviously trying to initiate with the smallest of the group, exchanged a look. Above all, they did not want to overtake the desires of their superior.
The one-sided conversation was slowly starting to turn into awkwardness.
"Geez, you're not very talkative" the woman said, not at all embarrassed by the rejection that was just around the corner.
She glanced at the other two. Her blue eyes were bright, vivid and somehow, Raditz felt intimidated by this small Human who probably weighted less than a juvenile Saiyan.
"Unless you can't speak our language?" she asked genuinely, looking back at Vegeta, a slight doubt in her eyes.
"I know your language," he replied coldly.
"Oh!" she said, smiling. "I'm kinda relieved. To be honest, I was beginning to think that you had no tongue at all! You never know, with you aliens."
She tilted her head to the side, her hair streaming like a waterfall over her shoulder.
Phew. If Vegeta didn't show interest within a minute, Raditz was going to get on with it. The Human was so pretty, and daring, too. She had everything to ignite his warrior interest.
She squinted at Vegeta's impassive face, who still hadn't bothered to look up from his incomprehensible menu.
"You came from outer space, huh? I'm wondering because...well, you're wearing the armor of Frieza's soldiers, but you look a lot like us, Humans."
Vegeta gritted his teeth, angrily tossed the menu on the counter and turned his head to face the woman.
Finally! A reaction that was close to normal. Vegeta was usually not this calm and unexpressive.
"How dare you take us for Humans, you filthy insolent? It is an offense to compare my people to such shabby living beings," he spat.
He straightened up to look at her. He was probably trying to intimidate her, but obviously that wasn't working, because she straightened up too. Unlike him though, she wasn't trying to keep up with the confrontation, but rather seemed excited to have finally gotten his attention.
She blinked a few times, surprised that he was talking to her that way. She held his gaze vehemently. Then smiled.
Vegeta didn't flinch. He just stared back at her, as if hypnotized by this tiny bit of woman who had just, unknowingly, insulted one of the most powerful warriors in the universe. The moment dragged on and Nappa cleared his throat as Raditz scratched the back of his neck. It was unusual for them to see such an unresponsive Vegeta. And as if it was not enough, they could easily feel that choking tension emanating from him.
Finally, a corner of Vegeta's mouth twitched. The end of his tail began to swing subtly behind his back.
"But if you really want to know… we actually come from another planet. We are Saiyans," he finally whispered without taking his eyes off her.
Raditz let out a small sigh of resignation and shrugged at Nappa. Clearly, he could never try his luck with this woman. His prince was waaay too much into her.
He turned and set his sights on the waiter with blonde curls who had come back to take their order.
"Human! Bring us a lot of food! " he told him with a big smile. "We are hungry, and this evening promises to be VERY interesting."
