A/N: A touch of backstory in this one. I mostly just wanted Kress to meet Bulma's parents - particularly her mom. I had a feeling it would be amusing to watch.
The sun had long gone down by the time Bulma checked her watch.
A hissed swear caused Kress to look up from where she was checking the fur-lined interior, brow raised. "What's wrong?"
"I just realized how late it is," she explained, swiping the sweat from her brow with her sleeve and setting the nails down on the bench. "C'mon, let's clean up and get something to eat. You must be starving by now."
The woman shrugged. "I mean, I ate a lot earlier, so I'm not starving, but..."
"But nothing, I've been around Goku enough to know how he operates." Bulma tucked some loose hair behind her ear and unzipped her jumpsuit, stepping out of it and heading to the door. Kress followed slowly behind, taking one last look at the lab on the way. Hanging the jumpsuit up on a hook beside the door, Bulma stepped out, beckoning for her guest to follow.
"I think Mom and Dad are still out to dinner, and Vegeta's probably putting the kids to bed. What kinds of food do you like? We've got fruits, vegetables, rice balls...?"
"I have no idea what any of those are," the woman answered quietly.
"Alright, guess we'll have to start from scratch." Finally in the kitchen, Bulma crossed the threshold and opened the fridge, rummaging around in it for a moment. With a soft "Aha!" she pulled out a carrot and showed it to the woman. "This is a carrot. It's a vegetable, and it's pretty delicious."
Kress took the carrot, squinting at it. "Huh, this looks... very vibrant. Carrot. That sounds like what Vegeta was calling Goku earlier."
"Yeah, it's a whole thing." Waving it off, she pulled out a rice ball next. "Looks like Mom must've made these this morning. This is called a rice ball."
"Rice... in a ball..." She said slowly, having taken a loud, crisp crunching bite out of the carrot.
"This one has salmon in it." Bulma found a sheet of nori and tore a square off, carefully folding it around the food and handing it to her.
Kress took a bite of the rice ball, face smoothing in wonder as she stared down at it.
One pantry raid later, Bulma led her upstairs and down the hall. "This is where everyone sleeps. You've got one of the guest rooms on the corner, it's nice. You'll have to share the bathroom though, but I'll show you where that is too."
Looking back, she grinned at the woman. "I already put your overclothes in the closet, so you don't have to worry where I put them! I wasn't sure how to wash them properly, so they probably still smell a bit despite the air fresheners hanging in there too."
"Oh, I'll take care of that." Kress nodded, pausing in her stride as Bulma came to a door at the end of the hall.
Upon opening the door, the dark-haired woman peeked in and her lips pressed into a amazed line at how clean and empty the room was. A bed, table and chair, closet, and vanity table against one wall greeted her. There was a plush-looking rug in the center of the floor, and two giant windows on the opposite side from the door covered by large curtains.
"This is your room for as long as you want to stay," the scientist said, gesturing around. "Let's see... the bathroom should be across the hall, the one with the different door. Don't worry about towels or anything, because those will be in there. I've got some clothes I think will fit you… oh, we'll have to go shopping soon! Here, take a robe and some pajamas." She pulled a capsule out, and with an impressive little cloud of smoke, it burst open and revealed a folded robe and a pair of plain navy-blue pajamas.
The Saiyan took them with a bewildered look, inspecting them from several different angles. "What... the heck was that? What was that?"
"A capsule, Capsule Corp's best-selling invention!" Her chest puffed up proudly. "Don't worry about giving them back; consider it a welcome gift."
Kress blinked at her a few times, silent.
"For now, focus on resting up. Come and go whenever you want; Vegeta, Goku, and Goten- oh, that's Goku's youngest, I think you met him?- anyway, they're always coming and going, so we're used to people coming through. If you get lost, you can always ask."
With a chipper smile, she raised a hand. "Well, good night!"
The next morning saw Kress blinking blearily as she awoke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in unfamiliar clothes, with birds chirping merrily outside.
"Oh, right," she mused to herself as she sat up, joints creaking. "I'm not in space anymore… I'm on Earth. Geez, the day-night cycles are gonna be a pain. Don't they have a moon?"
With a yawn, she slipped out of bed with a stretch and a loud yawn, her tail straightening with the movement before relaxing and wrapping back around her waist. The room seemed emptier than the night before without Bulma's presence to fill it, plus her furs and harsh weather equipment were hanging uselessly in the closet. Something told her she wasn't going to need any of it for a while, yet she still felt a longing itch to wrap the fur back around her neck.
Shaking her head, she made her way across the room and into the hallway. Bulma had already marked her room for her using the same symbol on the wall that she'd etched in her pod forever ago, and the thoughtfulness of the action made a smile come to her face.
"Let's see… the bathroom should be across the hall," the scientist had mused last night, pointing it out. Kress walked over to a door with a different pattern than the rest, and sure enough, as the door opened it revealed a simple washroom with a toilet next to the doorway.
Tightening her grip on the borrowed night shirt, she took a deep breath and closed the door, heading for the towel.
One long, hot shower later, her hair was a little less unkempt and freshly clean (and smelling of some kind of fruit, she noted), yet no less wild. There was new life in her eyes as she headed back to her room to change into a tank top and sweats that she'd been given. Her bindings went on first, followed by the tank top and sweats, and with one last look in the mirror she wrapped her fluffy tail around her waist and made her way towards wherever that wonderful smell was coming from. She was already drooling as she found the dining room, startling a couple of its inhabitants.
"Um, hi," she started a little awkwardly, lifting a hand in greeting. "I smelled food."
Bikini smiled as she beheld the newcomer. "Oh my, I don't think you've introduced me to our new guest, Bulma! Who is this?"
"This is Kress, she's gonna be staying here for a while." Bulma chugged a mug of strong black coffee, kissing Vegeta on the cheek as she passed. The man's face tinged pink for a second, though he never stopped chewing his own breakfast. "She's gonna be helping in the lab, Dad."
Bikini urged her to come and sit, so she took a seat at the Briefs' dining table as a spread was set before her. She barely remembered to thank the woman before going to town on a plate of bacon, eggs, and potatoes, and another plate piled with four or five pancakes drizzled in maple syrup sat next to it along with a cup of coffee.
"Oh, is that so?" The old man turned her way. "You dabble in mechanics?"
To her credit, she made sure to swallow her bite of breakfast before answering. "I was raised by one. Been one most of my life. I was the one to refurbish my own pod."
Mr. Briefs puffed on his pipe in interest. "Really, now? I've tinkered with some Saiyan pods in my day. I have to say, yours is in impeccable condition despite your landing!"
Kress's chest puffed up in pride. "I learned from the best. My master was the best engineer on our home planet."
"Home planet? So you really are an alien!" Trunks excitedly chimed in. "Where'd you come from? How did you get all those scars? Do you have a tail like Gohan used to-?"
"Trunks," Bulma warned.
"Nah, nah, it's okay, I guess I'm in a better mood to talk about it." Wiping her mouth with a napkin, Kress threaded her fingers together and rested her chin atop her interlocked hands. "So I'm an alien. Obviously. Of course you probably know by now that I was born a Saiyan, like the prince over here-" here, Vegeta bristled, brow furrowing at the way she said it, "-but unlike him I was sent away as a youngling before the race went kaboom, and I landed on an icy dwarf planet called Kypa. One of its inhabitants took me in before I died, and she taught me everything I know." A faraway solemnness filled her face as she recalled, but when she realized it, she steeled her façade once more.
"And… somehow you found us?" Mr. Briefs added uncertainly.
"Well, not for a while. I'm - oh, how old is it in Earth years? Time flowed so differently on Kypa that I don't even know how old I am."
Here, Vegeta finally spoke up. "If you were sent away right before Frieza destroyed our planet, you can't be older than me. I'm currently forty-eight in Earth years."
"Ah, that makes sense. So I must be…"
"Around Kakarot's age. I'd say maybe forty-five."
"Huh." Kress let out a disbelieving laugh. "I'm forty-five. I don't feel forty-five."
"You don't look like it, either," Bulma added as she came back in with Bulla in tow. The baby giggled as she beheld the stranger in the kitchen. "This is Bulla, our daughter. She's turning one in a couple of days."
"A baby?" Kress swallowed, brow furrowing. "Uh, look, Bulma, I'm not so sure you should trust me with your-"
"You aren't thinking of hurting her, are you?" Vegeta's voice was a deadly quiet as he set his fork down.
"No! I'm just sayin', I'm not too much a fan of-"
"Oh nonsense, here!" As if she hadn't spoken, Kress found herself with an armful of cooing baby girl. She immediately froze, unsure of what to do, as Bulla studied her face with fascination. After a moment's thought, the girl's face broke into a beaming grin as she reached for her chin.
"Aw, see? She likes you!" Bulma laughed along with her daughter.
"Lucky…" Trunks grumbled into his toast.
Vegeta watched her with a hawk's gaze as she awkwardly readjusted the infant, taking in her pudgy face and hands. Bulla certainly took after her mother looks-wise, with blue hair and eyes as well as that familiar jovial expression. The baby caught her nose in one hand, and after a second, Kress closed her eyes and allowed her to play with her face. Her fingers dragged across her scarred cheek and she shivered almost invisibly, but otherwise she remained still.
"Well look at that," Bikini cooed, catching everyone's attention as she cupped her face with her hands. "Isn't that the most precious thing. I think we've found Bulla's new favorite person in the house!"
"If you drop her, you're out of here," Vegeta murmured to her, narrowed eyes punctuating his words as he went back to his breakfast.
"C'mon, your highness," she finally spoke again, opening her eyes to give him a flat look. "You really think I'm gonna fumble a baby? I'm not some clumsy yearling, y'know."
Bulla's babbling and her tiny hand gently slapping against her neck pulled her attention back, and she carefully took a bite of toast while balancing the tiny being in her free arm. "So this is your daughter. Huh. I wouldn't have guessed."
"Did her inherited good looks give it away?" The scientist snarked back, making a ripple of laughter go through the room.
"Alright, first thing's first." Bulma planted her hands on her hips as the two looked the pod up and down. "What kind of material do you think would be most compatible with whatever you used to fix it up before? I mean, you can't go wrong with titanium and steel, but I thought I'd ask."
"Hm… let's see, there was some unobtanium, for starters, some… titanium, I think you call it, kevra from those traders out in the Eris outpost…" mumbling, she made her way to the pod, tapping along its surface and peeking inside. "There were some furs from Kypa, too… ah, this is hard, I was drunk half the time I was workin' on this thing."
The blue-haired woman wrinkled her nose. "You… you drink? And it works on you?"
"Crazy, right? I dunno if this Earth stuff works as well, but back on one of the planets I stayed at there was this awesome drink that was super potent." She paused, looking sheepish for all of a second. "I… maaaay have had a problem for a while there. It doesn't work anymore - I still don't really know why that is, probably because of my DNA, but there's a lotta times when I kinda wish it did."
"Regrets about the past, I get it," the scientist nodded with a heaving sigh, going for her workbench. "I drank for a while after Goku died the second time. He's one of my oldest friends, see, and… oh, Chi-Chi was so devastated for the longest time. It didn't help that she had one on the way…"
"Yikes." Kress winced in sympathy.
Bulma hummed an agreement and pulled out a sheet of metal. "Found some titanium. Kevra… is that about the same as Kevlar?"
"I dunno, probably. The guy I got it from said it was some of the strongest stuff in the galaxy."
"Oh, it must be!" Snapping her fingers, she triumphantly got out a spool of material. "Lucky you, I've still got a lot of it."
"Gravity chamber?"
"Gravity chamber."
"I gotta say, you've got a bang-up operation around here." Kress grinned, her tail shifting around her waist in excitement. "Y'know, you kinda remind me of my master a little bit."
"Oh, yeah?" Bulma inquired, brows raising in intrigue. "What kind of person were they?"
"Hardass." The answer she got was so blunt she found herself choking on a laugh. "Master Gear was a real hardass and stubborn as they make 'em, but she was good at what she did and expected no less than true, honest effort." Kress's eyes glazed over for a moment, before her smile grew softer. "She was an amazing person."
Bulma observed the Kypan as she went back to working on her pod, grabbing a towel from the bench and wiping off some of the dust and debris on the outside.
Then she smiled fondly. "Talent recognizes talent. I think I might've liked her."
"I know you would." Thick, calloused fingers clenched around the towel for a moment before she focused her attention on the insignia carved - and dyed - into the side. It was different from the logo Vegeta could still sketch out from memory, and vastly different from anything Frieza had claimed. Yet the way Kress's fingers tenderly followed the grooves felt like it was something intimate, personal, and she looked away to measure the Kevlar in order to leave her to her memories.
She had no idea how much time had passed until Vegeta rapped on the doorway, getting their attention. He stood, arms folded, eyes on the Saiyan working next to her. "Hey. Lunch break."
"Huh?" Bulma looked down at her watch, startled, and swore. "It's after twelve o'clock? Vegeta!"
"The kids have already been fed, calm down," he retorted. "Your mother said you need to at least have a sandwich."
"Thanks for coming to get me, hon." Wiping her hands off on a towel, she got up and waited for Kress to put the wrench down. "You want one? If you're anything like Goku or my husband, you've probably got a wicked appetite."
As if on cue, the Kypan's stomach began rumbling and she chuckled. "I could probably go for one or two. Sand-wich… is it good?"
"It's delicious," the woman promised as they followed Vegeta out of the lab.
As they neared the kitchen, Bikini suddenly popped up with a plate in her hands, startling Kress into leaping onto the wall. Her tail puffed up, peeking out of her shirt.
"Why, hello there!" The woman cheerfully greeted her, tilting her head. "Oh my, why are you on the wall? Can you stick?"
"S- sorry," Kress weakly answered as she got down, smoothing the furry appendage with her hand. "You startled me."
"I'm sorry, dear. Would you like a sandwich?" The plate was pushed her way, even after Bulma took a sandwich and Vegeta took two.
She looked to the prince, eyebrow raised, and he nodded towards the food, taking a bite to punctuate it. Slowly she took one off the top and eyed its contents; some meats, condiments, a kind of vegetable or two - well, whatever was in it, it smelled amazing. She took a bite and immediately her eyes went comically wide at the flavor explosion in her mouth.
Bikini laughed daintily as she practically inhaled the sandwich and reached for another. "Oh my, we really do have another Saiyan in the house!"
Kress choked on her bite for a couple of seconds. Bulma chuckled along with her mother, and even Vegeta cracked a smirk as he walked away.
