Goten
"Gohan loosen up! Order a drink! We just raked in some serious credits and we're about to score some more. Get that pissy look off your face."
Through the haze of smoke permeating the air of the dimly lit bar, Goten could make out the irritated look on his brother's face. His elder brother was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, tail tightly wrapped around his waist. He hated places like this.
After Goten polishes off his glass their Uncle Raditz barks at a passing waitress with shimmery golden skin and small iridescent wings to bring another round to their table.
"We're here for intel on our next job, and those credits should go toward upgrades on the Flying Nimbus, not drinking and other…nonsense."
Goten can't help but snicker at his brother. It seemed to him, as far as Gohan was concerned, spending credits on anything amusing was frivolous and short-sighted. He hardly ever spends any of his own unless it's on food, ship parts or on the rare occasion clothing. He'd hardly ever joined them for a drink, always looking over his shoulder, as if waiting for the worst to strike. It wasn't totally unwarranted. The life of a Space Pirate was one of danger and unpredictability, and his brother was something of a control freak.
But it was the only life that Goten knew. He was so young when his uncle had saved them from the destruction of their home planet, spiriting them away on a stolen ship and raising them as his own.
Goten thought from time to time, perhaps given the opportunity, his elder brother would likely have chosen a different path for himself, a quieter, more peaceful one. Goten was different, though. He always tried to look at every situation through a positive lens. Where his brother saw danger, he saw adventure. Where Gohan saw misfortune, Goten saw opportunity. "Better safe than sorry" was his motto, and that attitude had saved them on more than one occasion.
"You sure? I think that sexy brench female is interested Gohan."
Goten nodded over his older brother's shoulder to the gaggle of scantily clad women surrounding the bar. Sure enough, an almost completely bare scarlet skinned woman with a white mane swept into a high ponytail was eyeing him appreciatively.
"The only thing she's interested in is my credits. I'll pass."
The youngest Saiyan couldn't help but laugh at his brother's unamused tone. That was yet another area where he and his brother were different. When faced with a female, his often serious and stoic elder brother was reduced to a stuttering, blushing mess, so he avoided the fairer sex more often than not. Goten, however, looked at females much like he looked at everything else, as an exciting new adventure, each full of mystery and excitement just waiting to be explored, and he revelled in the thrill of the chase.
"Always so uptight Nephew, you definitely didn't get that from my end of the gene pool." Raditz rolled his eyes, rolling his head from side to side until he felt a satisfying pop.
Goten scanned the crowd, eyes drifting over a few particularly fine specimens, when he noticed a notably less attractive, pale green alien male, short and squat in stature wearing a dingy brown coat and with four bulging eyes darting anxiously about the establishment.
"There's our guy." He nodded toward the creature in question.
The little green alien waddled over to their table every now and then, looking back at the exit as if expecting to be followed by some unknown threat, slipping into the empty chair across from Raditz and Goten.
"As usual, you've chosen an… interesting place to conduct your business." He croaked out with a scowl. "Very crowded."
"It is, and it's nice and loud, a lot easier to avoid eavesdroppers that way." Raditz smirked, tossing back the rest of his drink. "Do you have what I need?"
"Do you have the credits? If you didn't bring them you get nothing." The cagey little alien said, looking the eldest Saiyan up and down distrustfully.
"Intel first, and then you'll get your credits." Gohan said.
"I don't think I like that."
"Well, that's how we do business." Goten shrugged, his expression cool.
"This information was very difficult to obtain. Very few people have access to such things. If I were caught divulging such things-"
"We could always break your legs and take the intel from you." Raditz smiled wickedly, "in a place like this, no one would bat an eye."
The little green alien scowled at Raditz, all four of his beady eyes darting from the thin envelope clutched in his fingers, then back to the long-haired Saiyan. Seeming to decide, his shoulders sagged in defeat and he placed the envelope on the table. "Very well."
Raditz opened the small parcel, producing a small rectangular piece of metal and passing it to Gohan, who inserted it into the base of his holo-pad.
Guldo stood quickly from his seat. "I've fulfilled my end of the bargain, now you-"
Raditz reached one long muscular arm across the table, roughly shoving the smaller male back into his chair as if he were nothing more than a doll. "What's your rush, Guldo? I thought we were friends. You wouldn't be trying to pull a fast one on old Raditz now, would you?"
"N-no-"
"Good, then you won't mind cooling your heels while I take a look at the merchandise."
Gohan scrolled through the file. When everything appeared to be in order, he looked at his uncle and gave him a small nod.
"Excellent, everything appears to be in order, and it had better be, for your sake, four-eyes." With a smirk, Raditz slid a small metallic case across the table.
"It is! I swear it!" Guldo sputtered.
"Good, now get out of my sight so I can enjoy the rest of my night." Raditz made a shooing motion as a tall violet skinned woman approached the table, quickly making herself at home in his lap.
Without another word, Guldo snatched up the case, and all but scurried from the club.
Slipping his holo-pad back into his pack, Gohan rose from his seat, unable to stand being in the loud establishment a second longer. "You two have fun. I'm going back to the Flying Nimbus to get things in order for the job."
With the intel provided by Guldo, the trio executed their job without a hitch. They snuck in, knocked a few heads, wiped the security footage and got away with the goods before anyone realized what happened. Now with a cargo full of stolen Klangite also known as "Kattin Steel", they were mere hours away from their biggest payday yet. Raditz had been in such a good mood over the success of their mission. He'd nearly cleared out the liquor stores in celebration before passing out in his cabin with orders not to wake him until they docked.
They'd be splitting the credits three ways, as usual. Goten pondered for a moment what he'd spend his credits on. Perhaps he'd buy a ship and strike out on his own. That could be fun until he inevitably grew bored and lonely.
No, his place was here on the Flying Nimbus with his brother and uncle, as it always has been. There were times, though, when Goten couldn't help but feel like something was missing.
Gohan stood from his seat, stretching out his arms and tail, no doubt stiff from sitting hunched over the control panel for so long. "Watch this for a bit, I have to take a leak."
"I'll try not to let the old girl crash into anything."
The older Saiyan merely rolled his eyes before exiting the cockpit.
Goten settled into his brother's navigation chair, spinning it in lazy circles, restlessly flexing the fingers of his cybernetic arm. Sometimes being on this ship was so damn boring. He doubted they'd have anything exciting to do for the next few weeks after making their latest delivery, no doubt Raditz would want to laze about the ship for some time. Gohan would be tinkering around with repairs and maintenance. Which left him with nothing to do but sit around, or clean, neither of which were things the youngest member of the crew was looking forward to.
There were a series of beeps and a flash of red across the nav screen.
INCOMING DISTRESS SIGNAL
Engine stopped. Short on supplies. Immediate assistance needed.
-The Heiress
Well, well, what have we here? He sat up right, toggling the star map to get a clear readout on the location. It was close, very close. If they altered their course now, they could be there within the hour and still be right on schedule to make their delivery.
He heard Gohan shuffling around behind him, fiddling with various dials and switches on the opposite panel.
He spun in his chair to face him. "Gohan. Check this out."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"There's a distress signal from a nearby ship." The younger Saiyan's lip curled.
His brother walked over to the main control panel, glancing over the message with a nonplussed expression.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" The younger Saiyan's eyes danced with mischief.
"No."
"Come on!"
"No."
"Why not?!"
"We're good on credits right now. We made plenty on our last job and after we deliver the Klangite to the buyer, we'll be flush for a while. A long while. It's not worth it."
"So?" Goten shrugged. "if this sucker has anything valuable on their ship, we'll be that much better off! We have enough time, and I'm still so keyed up after that last heist. I need to hit something and burn off all this energy. Come on, it'll be fun. Why settle for less when you can have even more?"
It would be easy enough to pull off, something they'd done many, many times in the past before moving on to bigger, more lucrative jobs. Some poor bastard stranded in space puts out a distress call. They would swoop in promising help. Only for the three Saiyans to board their ship, subdue them and strip the vessel of all its valuables. By the time the crew realized their mistake, it was often too late. In some cases, they'd take the entire ship and leave the crew marooned on a nearby planet. It was an easy payday.
Gohan let out a heavy sigh, "You're going to be the death of me one of these days."
"This is a fool's errand." His brother scoffed. "Look at that thing. It's older than Raditz."
There, floating amidst the endless pitch-black abyss was a small cruiser style model that Goten hadn't seen before, it was a dingy faded red and the paint was peeling away in several places and the hull had several prominent dents and several of the exterior panels were missing entirely.
Goten tsked, swiping at the screen to open up a communication link. "Now, now, it's what's on the inside that counts. You wouldn't know the cargo bay of the Nimbus was filled to the brim with Klangite by looking at it."
The Flying Nimbus wasn't an old junker, but it wasn't flashy by any means either, which made it easier to get around without calling attention to themselves, appearing to be nothing more than an average, run-of-the-mill cargo ship.
"Heiress, this is the Flying Nimbus responding to your distress call. Do we have permission to board?"
"Thank the stars! I thought no one would ever answer me! You have permission to board! I'll be waiting!" A musical, feminine voice replied. Goten and his brother exchanged a look of surprise.
A woman? Goten blinked. He certainly wasn't expecting that…
"I have a bad feeling about this." Gohan shook his head as he keyed a few commands into the computer, initiating the connection of the two vessels.
"You have a bad feeling about everything. You should really work on that, you're a real spoilsport sometimes." Goten sighed as he placed a bundle of a chord into the pack at his waist.
The siblings made their way down the docking channel and the doors to The Heiress's airlock parted…
And Goten was completely speechless at the sight that greeted him.
In the ship's airlock stood a short, slender female. She had a soft, heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, full pink lips and the most striking aquamarine eyes framed by dark curling lashes. Her long lustrous mane was a sea of bright teal swept up into a high segmented ponytail save for the fringe that fell into her eyes and a few loose strands framed her face.
His eyes drifted down the length of her torso. A sleek red leotard hugged her gently curving frame with lightly plated black accents secured at her neck by a zipper. At her waist she wore a black utility belt with various pouches and…
She had a tail...
A soft brown tail wrapped around her waist like a belt, not unlike his own.
She was a Saiyan.
And just like that, all the pent up adrenaline he'd been itching to get out evaporated. It was definitely a good thing his uncle wasn't with them.
Goten had never seen a Saiyan female aside from the hazy memories he had of his mother and grandmother. He thought he never would, certain they had all perished in the destruction of their home planet.
His brother cleared his throat, breaking him from his state of utter bewilderment. Goten shook his head, mentally scolded himself. His cheeks were hot, and he was sure he'd been gawking at her with some ridiculous, dumbstruck, slack-jawed look on his face.
"I apologize, I didn't mean to stare, I just wasn't expecting… You're… Saiyan like me."
Judging from her expression, he suspected the same thoughts were going through her mind as well. "It would seem so. I haven't seen another one of my kind in… a very long time."
"Same here."
Well, this was certainly an awkward situation. Goten had done a lot of unpleasant things over the course of his life as a pirate. He was certainly no stranger to plundering, smuggling or swindling,
Rip off a couple of wayward Imperials? Sure.
Commandeer A Makyan Cruise ship? Why not.
But every man has a code. And shaking down vulnerable females stranded alone in space was absolutely not part of his.
He exchanged a look with Gohan before turning back to the mysterious stranger. "Well, what seems to be the trouble…?"
"Brasha." She smiled, thrusting out her hand in greeting.
"Brasha…" He took her smaller gloved hand in his large metallic one, giving it a firm shake, "I'm Goten and this is my brother, Gohan."
Gohan merely nodded in acknowledgement.
She gestured for the two dark-haired Saiyans to follow her into the vessel.
Goten discreetly glanced around the interior of the ship. It was, for lack of a better word, a dump. Panels in the wall were ripped out, exposing old wires covered in grime. Several of the overhead lights were flickering or apparently nonfunctional.
"I'm not sure what happened honestly, I'm not much of a mechanic. I was just cruising along when the engine just shut down on me!"
Goten nodded, "Show us the engine room and we'll… see what we can do."
"You two are a couple of life-savers! I was worried I was going to be stranded out here forever!" She led the pair down a rickety, narrow stairwell into a small chamber that housed the most haphazardly put together mess of an engine he'd ever seen. It looked like a mish-mash of parts from various, likely incompatible models, several of the hoses leading into the power cell appeared to have ruptured at some point, and then were crudely repaired with thick metallic adhesive strips that were leaking a thick, bubbling green substance.
"Who usually handles your maintenance…?" Goten asked carefully, wary of offending her.
"My brother used to take care of all that but he passed away and I haven't been able to afford to have it maintenanced in a while. A long while."
Well, now he felt like even more of a dick.
"… It's just you?"
"I'm afraid so." She nodded.
Gohan threw his brother a look of irritation, his tail swishing with impatience as he knelt down to plug the cord connected to his holo-pad into the engine's diagnostic port, Goten moved to lean against the wall at his side as he set to work.
Goten snuck a glance back at the Saiyan female with the curiously colored hair, leaning against the railing, arms crossed over her chest, looking oddly cool and collected despite her unfortunate predicament, her soft brown tail swaying leisurely back and forth. He was gawking at her again, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. What were the odds of finding such an exotic beauty all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?
How had she escaped the Empire when they descended upon the rest of their race?
The lights overhead flickered momentarily, and Goten frowned. "Brasha, do you have a portable light we could use in case those go out? If that happens, we're going to have a much harder time down here." He gestured overhead.
"Oh, of course, I'll be right back."
Brasha made her way back up the staircase and Gohan let out a sigh as he scrolled through his holo-pad, and Goten couldn't help but notice the alarming amount of red items littering the display.
"I told you, we should have just stayed our course. This is a waste of time and fuel."
"Maybe, maybe not." Goten glanced back toward their stairwell Brasha had disappeared through and then back to his brother. "Well? What's the problem?" Other than the obvious, Goten grimaced at the sludgy green residue dripping onto the floor from the engine.
"The problem is that it's an old, rundown piece of shit. Where do you want me to start?" His brother passed him the holo-pad with a frown.
He had never seen a ship in such terrible condition. Everything in it was shot, drained, and otherwise unusable. The only thing on it that seemed to run properly was the oxygen generator, but even it looked to be on its last leg as well.
"I'm surprised this thing even still has power." Goten shook his head, passing his brother the holo-pad, his eyes drifting back toward the hall. "There's no fixing all of this with anything we have on hand and she can't stay here…"
Gohan's brows drew together,"… what are you suggesting, Goten?"
"It's only a matter of time, maybe hours, before this thing dies for good and she runs out of air. We should take her with us."
"First you want to rob her and now you want to help her." Gohan grumbled, shaking his head.
"What's the big deal? She's totally on her own out here. What could it hurt if we give her a lift to the next port? I think we should help her."
"You're thinking with your dick, as usual. This isn't our problem." The older saiyan frowned, scrubbing a hand tiredly over his face, "And just what are we supposed to do with her? The Flying Nimbus isn't some pleasure cruiser."
"We can't just leave her here. She's… She's one of us. And there aren't many of us left as it is."
Gohan sighed heavily, yanking the cord from the engine's diagnostic port, fixing his brother with a look of pure exasperation. "Raditz is going to hate this."
Goten grinned, clapping a hand to his brother's shoulder. He knew it wouldn't take much to convince him."We'll just tell him it was your idea."
"No, we won't," His brother clipped.
"Is something wrong?" The blunette asked, making her way back into the engine room with a small lantern.
"I hate to say it but your engine is pretty much done, all of it is actually."
Her easy expression collapsed. "Truly? Is there nothing that can be done? This ship is everything to me. Without it, I've got nothing."
"It's not worth saving, it would cost you just as much if not more to repair it than buying a new ship, and this model is so outdated, I don't think you could even scrap it for parts to sell." Gohan said in a firm voice, clearly eager to wrap things up and get back to their ship and on their way.
As if on cue the lights began flickering again and the entire ship shuddered followed by a harsh rattling noise from within the engine and the room filled with the scent of something akin to burning rubber and every object that wasn't bolted to the floor rose into the air.
Goten quickly seized the blunette, wrapping a brawny arm around her waist and pulling her to him, using his cybernetic arm to latch onto the railing near the stairway before they could both float away. A few floating strands of teal brushed his face, and immediately the most exquisite scent he'd ever encountered washed over him.
It was spicy and sweet and absolutely mouthwatering.
Her aqua eyes met his own, a curious look in them.
He cleared his throat, "I think that was the gravity simulator."
"No shit," Gohan muttered with a roll of his eyes, using his tail to grasp onto some of the exposed piping to anchor himself.
"What am I going to do now?" Brasha nearly sobbed, shiny tears pooling in corners of her aquamarine eyes and sliding down her cheeks. Goten felt something constrict in his chest.
What in the world was wrong with him? Goten had a healthy appreciation for females, an appreciation they often reciprocated in kind but never had the sight of one in distress provoked such a response in him.
"I think you're going to have to gather up what you can and come with us. You can't stay here."
Her eyes brightened. "You would take me with you? On your ship? Is there enough room? How many are you?"
"There's three of us. It'll be a tight fit, but we can make room, and then we can drop you off at a port of your choosing."
"It's so big, so much space for only three of you." The blunette mused as Goten led her to the cabins in the lower level of the ship.
"Well, we use some of the space for storage."
"Really? Storage of what?"
"This and that," He said off-handedly as he keyed his code into the sliding door of his personal cabin where they'd agreed she would be sleeping. It wasn't exactly a luxury suite, but it was more comfortable than the beat up furnishings in the ship's salon. And he preferred to inform his uncle about their unexpected guest as opposed to him accidentally stumbling upon her on his own.
Which, depending on the eldest Saiyan's mood, would likely go very poorly or downright unpleasant. It was best that Goten smooth things over with him first.
"How did you come by such a ship? It isn't easy to make it in the galaxy as a Saiyan. The Imperials hunt us like animals." She set her small pack of possessions on his nightstand, scanning the room thoughtfully.
It was cluttered, but it wasn't dirty by any means. He had his bunk, a table bearing various parts and tools for maintaining his cybernetic arm, there was a bin of clothes that needed washing, his night table scattered with various knickknacks and a priceless dagger liberated from some Brench Noble which the blunette eyed with interest.
"What are you, assassins?" She chuckled, plucking the weapon from its stand to admire it more closely.
"Not exactly." He smiled. His wasn't a career that one advertised openly, especially not with someone he'd only just met. Perhaps he'd let her in on all of his secrets one day.
Or perhaps not.
She would only be with them for a short time, just until they got to the next space station. The thought was disappointing to him. Perhaps the less they knew about one another, the better. Getting attached was a bad idea in his line of work. They were forever on the move, and there was no way Raditz would allow her to stay. He would complain of having yet another mouth to feed.
"If you have everything you need, I'll be taking the couch in the salon if you need anything."
"Hmm." She studied him for a moment before placing the dagger back in its place. "You don't want to tell me your story, then? A shame I'm sure it's a good one, and I haven't had company in such a long time."
She made herself at home on his bed, moving onto her side and propping her head up on a delicate hand, her tail sweeping leisurely from side to side.
The dark-haired Saiyan swallowed thickly at the sight before him, once again paralyzed by that scintillating scent of hers, that he knew would be all over his sheets now.
"I'm sure your story is more interesting than mine." He took a step closer to the bed.
"What is there to tell? When things went badly with the Empire, my Mother put my brother and I on a ship and promised to come for us later, but she never did. From there, we drifted from place to place living on what scraps we could find."
"Mine is more or less the same I guess."
It wasn't something he liked to talk about. He remembered little from those days, but his last moments in his childhood home were his most vivid. His Mother's crumpled form on the floor, clutching at his brother's leg as a hulking imperial with purple skin and slate-colored horns advanced on them. The sounds of explosions mingling with screams of pain and the howl of a hundred Oozaru stampeding all around them, mingling with the thick scents of blood and smoke. He was certain it was the end for them both, but then their uncle appeared, striking down there would-be murderer before dragging them from their little house to the small ship he'd hidden away.
He remembered peering out the window of their ship, watching as the red globe of Vegeta-sei grew smaller and smaller before bursting into an explosion of red and yellow fragments until there was nothing left but the endless, pitch-black chasm of space.
"You're alive though, and you're free. That makes you one of the lucky ones."
"I can't argue with that."
"I'm lucky as well."
"Are you now?"
She gave a cat-like grin, standing fluidly from her place on the bed, a mischievous look gleaming in her aquamarine eyes...
"Oh yes, just a short time ago, I was stranded. I didn't know how long I'd be stuck out there or who would find me…. and then this kind, gallant… and very handsome Saiyan came to my rescue. So yes, I'd say I'm very, very lucky." With all the grace of a predator cornering a kill, she sauntered over to him. Her eyes heavy-lidded. A rush of excitement rolled through him, and he was once again basking in that delicious scent of hers. She reached up, running a slender finger over his chest plate. "However will I thank him?"
Answering that distress call was definitely one of the Saiyan's better ideas.
She snaked a hand to the back of his head, threading nimble fingers into his short spikes, pulling his face down to hers, and he could feel her warm breath caressing his lips.
"I'm sure you'll think of… something…" He breathed before she pressed her lips against his and they were every bit as lush and sweet as he imagined they would be.
He'd have been content to leave her to herself for the night while he slept on the sofa, but if she was offering, who was he to turn such an enticing creature down?
He lifted his hands to her waist, pulling her soft body against his as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.
And then he felt a sharp prick at his neck, he jerked away from the blunette, brushing his fingers against his skin, when his vision began to swim, he heard a soft, almost musical laugh and the last thing he remembered before everything went dark was a pair of full pink lips curved into a smile.
"Sorry handsome, it's nothing personal."
Goten's head throbbed something awful, as he slowly regained consciousness. Scrambled thoughts floated in and out of focus. His muscles felt stiff and sore. He attempted to stretch out his arms to ease some of his discomfort, only he couldn't.
Someone groaned behind him.
Was that his brother's voice?
Goten's eyes snapped open.
He was sitting on the cold floor on the bridge of the Flying Nimbus. He was back to back with his brother, and their arms bound tightly to their torsos with a thick chord.
His mind raced.
Brasha. Brasha's lips pressed against his. And then….
And then it all clicked.
She tricked them, drugged them, and now she was robbing them.
In his brother's navigation chair sat a male, a Saiyan male, judging by the furry brown tail wrapped around his waist. He was doing something likely troublesome with their ships computer. He had long lavender hair, secured at the back of his head save for a few sections that hung free around his stern-looking face. He was dressed in a sleek black double-breasted jacket, utility pants and boots, gloves, and he had a sword strapped to his back.
He was paying Goten no mind whatsoever. That one must be her mate.
Goten glanced around, the Nimbus appeared to have been completely ransacked. Every storage compartment on the bridge was open and completely empty.
"This is some very impressive cargo Goten. It really is my lucky day! You were holding out on me…" Someone giggled.
Brasha stood a few free away, scrolling leisurely through his brother's holo-pad beside a slim woman with pale blonde hair pulled into two neat buns. She didn't appear to be a Saiyan, though.
"You… liar…" He choked out, his voice hoarse and weak. Why did speaking suddenly seem to take so much effort?
"Pirate, actually." She smirked, passing the holo-pad to the blonde.
"I thought-"
"Oh, I know exactly what you thought," she gave an amused breathy laugh, coming to sit on her haunches in front of him. "Anything with a cock is easy enough to predict, even easier to fool."
"We helped you." Goten bit out, scowling at her.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, I'm no idiot, this is a pirate ship, were the roles reversed you would have done the same to me."
Goten jerked wildly against his bindings, trying to free himself, only to knock both himself and Gohan, who was apparently still more knocked out than awake, onto their sides.
"You're probably feeling a little sluggish, it's the sedative, don't worry, it'll wear off soon enough." She tilted her head, an almost sympathetic look on her face.
"Would you quit flirting and start helping us move this shit? We're done here." the Lavender-haired Saiyan snapped at Brasha several crates in his arms, nodding to several more at his feet filled with their various belongings. Goten spied the hilt of his favorite dagger amidst them.
"Yeah, yeah," the blunette stacked the crates on top of one another before hefting them onto her shoulder before turning back toward Goten."Don't look so down! This is just the cost of doing business and as a solid from one Saiyan to another we're not taking your ship or any of the food in your galley, and when your friend wakes up I'm sure he'll free you!"
No, he couldn't let her get away with this, all those credits, he struggled against the chords binding him but his muscles felt like sludge, and his cybernetic arm which was connected to his nerves, wasn't responding hardly at all. "Brasha! This isn't over!"
"Later Goten!" Brasha called in a sing-song voice as the air-lock doors slid shut behind her.