In the next couple of weeks I will be sorting out posting the entirety of Dragon Ball AG on AO3. I have seen nothing change here with FFN, I cannot see stats, email notifications are still non-existent for me, and I just feel like I'm posting into the void. The entirety of the story will still be here, and I will likely continue to update this story here, but I will be beginning weekly uploads on AO3 soon, within the next few weeks. I still have hope that this site will be fixed soon. Thank you.

Chapter 5: Dinner With Friends

Thanks to the plans they had already made with their friends, Noca and Pan were unable to act on the intimacy that occurred between them in the moments before they left the apartment. It was nice to have a moment like that again, especially after everything they had been going through recently, it almost felt like they had been neglecting their relationship. Although, they had both been feeling either depressed or overwhelmed by everything.

Once Bra and Dom had arrived there was very little pre-amble before they boarded Bra's Capsule-jet and began their flight to Satan City. There was a chance for the couples to talk again as they travelled.

"Are you alright, after… you know?" Dom questioned, referring to the events that had transpired at the compound that afternoon.

"Yeah," Noca replied, bluntly. "My face isn't though."

Noca scoffed as he said it and Dom let out an awkward chuckle, unsure of how to react to the attempt at humour.

"As long as you're alright," Dom said, reaching across the gap between their seats and patting his friend on the shoulder.

Noca smiled and nodded in response.

"My dad is being a dick at the moment," Bra snapped back, while she piloted the jet.

Noca scoffed again.

"Let's not talk about Vegeta tonight, we don't need that negativity," Pan said, looking across to Bra and then turning around to look back at Noca.

The couple shared a quick smile with each other.

"Ok, well, let's talk about this restaurant we're going to," Bra said, changing the topic, with a hint of excitement in her voice. "Pan, how did you get us into this place? I saw someone post a video from there recently and it looks amazing."

"I've wanted us to go for a little bit now, but my parents went with my grandpa a couple of months ago," Pan explained, "mom said they had great food and I thought I'd save it for when we could all get together to go."

"I'm surprised that it's a restaurant in Satan City that isn't owned by Mr. Satan," Noca joked.

"I'm glad, at least we can guarantee it's something different," Pan continued, "my grandpa has such plain tastes, usually."

The group of four made sure to save some conversation for when they finally joined up with Holline and Kiera. The conversations were mainly just about the restaurant, and then Noca and Dom managed to talk about the new game they were both playing, although Dom struggled to find the time for it anymore. He had far too much going on with his work at Capsule Corp., and his university course.

"Yeah, I'm working on managing my time towards doing a masters, and then going for a PhD or a Doctorate, or both, who knows," Dom said, chuckling.

"Wow, man, that's pretty cool," Noca replied.

"Yeah, but not as cool as Bra though, she's definitely gonna get there before I do," Dom added.

"We'll see," Bra said, casually, showcasing her confidence. "What's going on with you though, Pan? You still having second…"

"Yeah, Bra, I've been working on things for the beginning of next semester, talking with Sakura and Lisa about stuff," Pan said, quickly, cutting Bra off from finishing her sentence.

Although, it caught Noca's attention, and earned Pan an odd look from Bra. It seemed like Pan was hiding something, or maybe she wasn't sure on something. Noca brushed it off, not really hearing everything that was said because Dom was showing him something on his phone.

Pan gave Bra a subtle shake of the head and the blue-haired girl replied by mouthing the word 'no' in a questioning way, not realising that Pan hadn't actually spoken to Noca about the thoughts she had. It did start to get Pan thinking though. She looked out of the window and started to dwell on whether or not she should talk to Noca about it yet. She wasn't even sure herself, so there didn't really seem like much of a point to do so. At least, not yet.

The jet soon arrived in Satan City, touching down in a landing zone about a block away from the restaurant. It was a short walk that none of them were about to complain about. Besides, they would be meeting with Holline and Kiera along the way. The other couple were waiting for them in a bar that was along the same street as the new, yet highly popular restaurant.

They headed to the bar where Holline and Kiera were waiting, walking in without any issues and going straight to the table where the younger couple were seated. Kiera was sat with her back to the group at first, and it was Holline who spotted them, waving them over, but then she saw Noca.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Holline said, the moment Noca was at the table.

Kiera, who was busy sipping her drink, looked across at Holline and then turned around to see Noca.

"Oh dear…" she gasped, almost choking on her drink. She immediately stood up to look at him closer. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Noca said, smiling, "you?"

"Well, yeah, we're ok," Kiera said, almost as if Noca had no need to ask that question.

"Better than you, I guess, at least there are no messed-up faces on this side," Holline added, in a teasing tone.

"Ha-ha, very funny, but that's no way to talk about Dom," Noca replied.

"Huh, what?" Dom said, oblivious to the joke towards him.

It earned some scattered laughter amongst the group.

"Are we heading to this snazzy restaurant then?" Kiera asked, continuing to sip at what remained of her drink.

"You girls have already been drinking?" Bra questioned, almost offended that they had done it without her.

"Only the one," Holline said, quickly finishing off what was left of hers.

Noca frowned.

"Since when have you been drinking?" Noca asked.

"Since I turned eighteen," Holline said, standing up and walking over to Kiera, holding her arm out for the blonde to take. "No need to get all big brother on me."

"Yeah, lighten up," Pan said, nudging her boyfriend.

Noca scoffed and smirked.

"I was just a little surprised, that's all," Noca said, "I forget how old we are."

"Oh yeah, you are old," Kiera joked, as she took Holline's arm and let the redhead lead her to the exit. "By the way, you look lovely," Kiera added as she walked next to Bra.

"Thank you," Bra said, doing a little twirl, showing off her red dress. "So do you."

The girls were all dressed very well for the night ahead. Pan obviously had her nice blue dress. The blonde, Kiera, was wearing a black jumpsuit that was tied around the waist and had elbow-length wide sleeves. Holline was wearing a black blazer with a plain white t-shirt underneath that was tucked into a pair of skinny blue jeans.

The girls walked ahead of both Dom and Noca, which gave Noca a chance to compliment his friend.

"Oh, damn, I didn't notice that awesome shirt," Noca joked, acting amazed. "Is that grey?"

"Why yes, yes, it is," Dom said, straightening his back and pulling at his collar with both hands, as if trying to act fancy. "I even picked it out myself."

The girls knew the guys were making fun of them, but they chose to ignore it as they left the bar and headed up the road towards the restaurant, which was noticeable even from down the street. It was on the opposite side of the road but still about a hundred yards away.

As they got closer to the entrance, they could see that there was a queue of people that were waiting outside the door. It wasn't a crazy amount of people, but there were still a lot of nicely dressed people waiting for a table to become free.

The sign above the door on the wall of the building, in big fancy neon writing, said the name of the restaurant. Suzushī.

"Cool," Dom remarked, impressed by the neon.

"There's a queue," Kiera stated, looking rather concerned as they crossed the road.

"Yeah, you can just show up and wait for a table to become free," Pan explained, "although I'm sure that wait would ruin your night."

"That's why Pan booked us a table," Bra said, looking back to her blonde friend.

"Oh, of course, what would we do without you," Kiera said, laughing softly.

The queue was kept behind a velvet rope, off to the left side of the entrance, along a wall with a doorman standing there. He looked big and imposing, wearing all black and holding a tablet. The door was glass, so you could see through into a sort of lobby-like area, where someone was standing behind a table, greeting guests, and there was someone else that would lead them off to their table, or upstairs where there were more tables that overlooked the street.

It was a very popular part of the city, and it was a very long street. There were bars, clubs, restaurants, theatres, and cinemas all along the street, and even a Mr. Satan merch store. If you were lucky, on a big night, you might bump into someone famous.

On the right-hand side of the door there was a big window, and there were people sitting by it, and looking through you could see all the way along to the bar. It was smart to keep the queue off to the other side so that anybody who had been seated by the window wouldn't have a bunch of people standing there watching them eat.

Pan led the group to the door, with Bra alongside her. The man at the door stepped forward, coming to attention when he noticed that people were approaching without using the queue. He held his hand up to halt the group from progressing any further.

"Welcome to Suzushī," he said, politely, contrasting his abrupt halting. "Do you have a booking tonight?"

"Hi, yeah, I do. It's under Son Pan, for six," Pan explained, and went into her purse to present her I.D. card. "Here you go."

The man looked along the list on his tablet and then looked at the I.D. that Pan held up. Her name was certainly Son Pan, it was certainly her I.D., her name was on the list, and it was indeed a booking for six.

"Great, come on in," the man said, stepping aside and allowing the group to go through.

Pan stepped aside also, letting Bra and Dom go ahead first, and then Pan walked through turning back for Noca. However, as soon as the Saiyan man walked forward the doorman's arm came up quite abruptly. Noca was shocked as he stopped suddenly.

"Woah, woah, woah," the man said quickly, "I can't let you come in like that."

Noca frowned and looked down at himself but then he realised what the man meant. He scoffed and his arms dropped by his side then he looked up again.

"Because of my face?" Noca questioned, a defeated energy to his voice, with a hint of amusement, but it was ironic amusement. In reality, it was rather frustrating.

Pan quickly came back to the scene in an attempt to defend her boyfriend, while Holline and Kiera stepped up by Noca's side too.

"Sorry, he's a martial artist and those injuries were sustained in training," Pan tried to explain.

"Yeah, it's not like he's about to cause any trouble," Holline said, but unlike Pan and her polite tone, Holline had a little bit of sass to her.

"It's just the rules, I'm sorry," the doorman said.

"Um, excuse me," a voice said from inside the restaurant.

Everyone looked to the door as a man approached them. He seemed rather flamboyant and walked with some pace and purpose, as well as a bit of arrogance. The doorman's demeanour changed as he noticed the man.

"Mr. Motsu, sir, I was just telling this man that he cannot enter in his present condition, as per the rules set by yourself," the doorman explained.

"Yes, those are my rules, yes," the new man said, standing with a hand on his hip. "But these are special people."

The doorman appeared oblivious.

"What the hell is going on?" Bra said, reappearing on the scene, with Dom beside her, after the two of them had continued ahead into the restaurant with no one behind them.

"This blue-haired young woman right here, this is Bra Brief, heiress to the Capsule Corp. fortune," Mr. Motsu said, motioning towards Bra.

Bra was very confused about what was going on, wearing a frown, which disappeared when the man said all that about her. She almost became smug, but it was performative.

"And this, Son Pan, she's the granddaughter to the great Mr. Satan himself, and an amazing martial artist in her own right," Mr. Motsu continued, taking Pan's hand, and shaking it.

Pan chuckled nervously.

The doorman stood with his hands behind his back, and he seemed to get a little embarrassed at this point. Then Motsu finally turned to Noca.

"And this man, Noca Brief," Motsu said, looking back over his shoulder at the doorman for a moment. "Brief, again, as in Capsule Corp., and right now, he is the martial arts world champion."

Motsu took Noca's hand and started shaking it.

"It is such a pleasure to welcome such brilliant guests to my wonderful restaurant," the man said. "I am, of course, Shoku Motsu, the proud owner of this establishment."

"I am so sorry Mr. Motsu, Mr. Brief, sir," the doorman said.

"It's fine," Noca replied, awkwardly, really hating that so much attention had been drawn their way.

And Pan was feeling the exact same way.

"Could we maybe just be shown to our table, please?" Pan asked.

"Oh, yes, of course, we don't want to spend the whole evening in the doorway," Motsu said, chuckling as he proceeded inside the restaurant. "Please, follow me, I will show you to your table."

The group felt even more awkward as they were led through the restaurant and up the stairs by the owner. They weren't seeking any sort of special treatment just because of who they were, they had just hoped to go out of a nice evening together and unwind. Hopefully they would still be allowed to do that, although next time they might opt for a small restaurant.

"We have a very nice table set up for you, over here, by the window," Motsu said, sauntering over to the window and pulling out one of the chairs.

Bra moved to that seat and smiled as she sat down.

"Thank you," she said.

Motsu smiled and stepped back as the others were taking their seats.

The table was circular, six seats all around. The order was Bra, Pan, Noca, Holline, Kiera, and then finally Dom, next to Bra.

"Could I take your drinks order for you?" Motsu asked, "and then I'll leave you alone," he added, laughing.

He wrote down their drinks, thanked them for choosing to dine at his restaurant and then headed off. Finally, the group were allowed to sit together, without any unnecessary distractions, and they could enjoy their night. All of them had opted for an alcoholic drink to start with, even though it was only a Tuesday, but as long as they were sensible, none of them were aiming to get drunk.

After perusing the menus, and making their order, the group knew they would have to really sink in and talk to each other. It was a chance to find out what was happening in each other's lives, at least since everything went down with the invasion. Noca was more than happy to brush past the condition of his face after the training session with Vegeta. There was no need to dwell on that any longer, or any of the feelings it had drummed up within him. Those were details of which only Pan was allowed to know.

Due to being a very organised person, especially with regards to her calendar and diary, Kiera had a question about an upcoming birthday that she directed towards Bra.

"Isn't it little Flint's birthday coming up soon?" Kiera asked, leaning towards Bra. "Tell me: what have Trunks and Marron got planned for the little guy?"

"That's soon?" Pan asked, surprised that she didn't realise.

"Yeah, Pan. It's in two days," Bra answered, scoffing in amusement. "I think they're just trying to do something really small, you know how you don't really remember your first birthday, so it's just gonna be a nice family thing."

"I bet it'll be lovely," Kiera said, sitting back.

"I can't believe I didn't remember it was coming up," Pan said to herself, staring ahead at the table, feeling a little bit guilty that she had forgotten.

"Hey, it's fine, a lot has happened, you know," Bra said, putting her hand on Pan's back. "I can't expect you to remember every date, besides, Flint won't remember, nor will he care," Bra added with a little chuckle.

Pan smiled, weakly, and took a sip from her drink. She then felt Noca's hand on her leg, offering her some comfort.

There was some more talk about little Flint, with Bra having a couple of stories to share about when she had seen him or babysat him, although they very quickly moved on from that conversation. It was a subconscious move on everyone's part, as they all figured they shouldn't spend all the time talking about young Flint so soon after Pan had just lost her little brother. It felt inconsiderate, even if Pan didn't appear to show any outward signs of getting upset, it was clear that the topic could lead that way.

When the conversation was starting to drift Dom opted to switch the topic by addressing the girls to his left: Holline and Kiera.

"What are you two doing next?" Dom asked, "like with school and stuff?"

"Well, we just got through our final exams," Kiera said, looking to Holline. "I spent so much time revising and preparing so I feel like I did ok, and I only had a couple of project-based subjects, so I didn't have too many exams, which helped."

"What about you, Holline?" Bra asked.

"Um, well," Holline started, awkwardly, looking to Noca as if he could offer some assistance, "I maybe didn't prepare as well as Kiera did," the redhead said, feeling a bit embarrassed about it.

"I told you, it's ok, exams aren't always the most important thing anyway," Kiera assured her, holding her girlfriend's hand, "Besides, you have that thing with the bakery."

"But that's not for certain, we still need to talk about what you're doing next," Holline said, turning to completely focus on Kiera, almost like everyone else disappeared for a moment.

"I know, but I have more time, and you know that I'm with you whatever happens, I can figure something out wherever I am," Kiera replied.

"Ok, you can't just have this conversation in front of us and not explain what's going on," Bra said, sounding a tad exasperated, but there was also a tinge of excitement buried in there too.

"Yeah Holline, what's going on?" Noca asked, "something happening with Kari and the Bakery?"*

*(A/N FOR LONGTIME READERS: When I went back and did some updates with Saga 4/5 and Holline as a character I gave her an interest in baking, just to give her something other than fighting as part of her personality and character traits, and in saga 5 she takes a job in a bakery run by a person named Kari. It doesn't come up a lot, but I decided to do some stuff with it here, just to add to the slice-of-life stuff.)

"Actually, yeah," Holline said, nervously, looking to Kiera for a little bit of support.

The blonde offered her girlfriend a little thumbs up and wide smile. Holline sighed and smiled back.

"It's not that big, and it may not even happen yet, but it's a lot to think about and maybe I'm a bit anxious about it," Holline started, looking over her friends. "Basically, Kari and her husband have been talking about what their next steps are for the bakery as it's been very successful, and they want to try and expand."

"As in, make the store bigger?" Dom asked.

Bra nudged him.

"No, she means expand the business," Bra said, but then she looked back to Holline, "right?"

"Yes, exactly that," Holline replied, "and they've suggested opening up a store in West City. It's a bustling city and they could probably see some effective growth there."

"That is true," Bra added.

"And because I've been there a long time now, they asked if…" Holline stopped for a moment, preparing herself, and showing that the idea of what she was about to say was still a lot for her to process, but under the surface the excitement was there too. "They asked if I would want to manage one of the stores."

"Oh really?" Pan questioned, surprised, but in a good way.

"That's so cool, Holline," Noca added.

"You have to do it!" Bra exclaimed.

"See, I told you they would believe in you," Kiera said, nudging Holline gently.

"Why wouldn't we?" Noca questioned.

"I wasn't worried that you guys wouldn't support me, it's just about whether or not it will actually happen, and I don't want to start thinking like it's already a thing, just in case… you know?" Holline explained.

"That makes sense to me," Dom said, taking a sip of his mixed fruit cider.

"And they also need to find the right location, they need to have all the work done to it, then it's a matter of Kari deciding if she wants to run it herself or continue running the one in Satan City," Holline explained further. "Meaning that could make the other one mine to run, although it would still be theirs, obviously."

"So, is that why you haven't committed to doing any further studies or anything yet, Kiera?" Bra asked.

"Partially," Kiera replied, "I would follow Holline wherever life takes her, I'm certain of that."

The couple held hands and smiled at each other, and everyone observing smiled too.

"It's also a massive opportunity, it's something she's always been passionate about," Kiera said, staring into Holline's eyes, and then she looked around at everyone at the table again. "And you all know how good she is."

"Oh, certainly," Pan said.

"Yeah, amazing," Noca added.

"Best damn cupcakes I've ever had," Dom said.

"Thanks, all of you," Holline said, "but like I said, I'm trying to keep my expectations low."

"We're rooting for you either way," Bra said.

"So, what else are you considering, Kiera?" Pan asked, bringing it back to that point. "Are you not going to university?"

"I don't really know yet, with the chance that Holline gets this it might decide where we live and I don't want to commit to a college or university until I know where I'm settling," Kiera explained. "Both Satan City and West City have amazing schools that offer a lot of great courses, but I'm happy to take this time to get a little bit of distance from education, if only for a year or two, to try and explore something else."

Pan was listening intently to Kiera, agreeing with everything she said. She had even leaned forward in her seat.

"I thought that I could find a job, work on some stuff creatively maybe, I could do volunteer work, just get some experiences under my belt before I rush into anything," Kiera said. "I feel like there's no pressure to really make a decision right now and I don't want to regret it later."

Pan sort of stared down at her drink as she sat back in her chair, and Noca noticed this, but didn't put together why something was off.

"We're lucky that my mom is happy for us to keep staying with her, she's not kicking us out yet," Kiera joked, laughing with her friends.

Although Pan's laugh wasn't all that noticeable, which was another thing that Noca made a mental note of.

"I think I know what you're talking about," Pan said.

They all looked to Pan and noticed that she was staring down, into space, almost like she was deep in thought.

"I wish I'd thought of all that when I was finishing school. Maybe I should have delayed things a bit, so I could actually figure it all out," Pan continued.

"What do you mean?" Noca asked, a little bit of a frown growing.

"I don't mean anything about us, I mean with my education and career, like what Kiera was just saying," Pan said, holding Noca's arm, as if to reassure him.

"You've never mentioned this," Noca said.

"I'm sorry, but I've only just started to think about it, and I know it's silly because I've just done my first year," Pan said.

"I've already told you, it's not too late to change directions," Bra said.

Pan closed her eyes when Bra said that, but she released a breath through her nose and opened her eyes again.

"I know, but I've only just thought about it, it doesn't matter," Pan said, trying to dismiss it.

Meanwhile, Noca continued to sit with a frown as he listened to the conversation. Bra noticed it and then turned back to Pan.

"Look, maybe you and Noca should talk about this properly when you get a chance," Bra said, trying to bring the conversation to an end, knowing that it had shifted the tone. "But you know us, we'll all offer you input and help you figure things out, but you need to figure it out first."

The Saiyan couple looked to each other and there was an understanding that immediately formed between them, although it didn't immediately fix any of the uneasiness. It was a conversation for later. Now was the time to enjoy a nice meal with their friends. Sure, they could have those kinds of conversations with their friends too. Talks about the future and what was going on in their lives, but before things got too deep it was maybe best to shift the topic so the rest of the evening could be pleasant and relaxing.

Both Noca and Pan did their best to push that topic to the backs of their minds, but both of them had flagged it as important.

"So…" Dom started, drawing attention to himself. "Did you know how hard it is to get a spaceship fully prepared for interstellar travel?"

The rest of the night went well. Everybody enjoyed the food, and even had plenty of room to have one of their really incredible deserts. After their meal the group even stayed a little bit longer than would have been expected so that they could continue to talk and just enjoy each other's company. Thankfully, due to the exclusivity of the restaurant and the fact they had booked their table, they were allowed to stay as long as they wanted. As long as they left before closing time.

They were gone long before that, but having been there for a while they were still leaving a bit past 10pm. The group travelled together, escorting Holline and Kiera back to their home, before the remaining four departed for West City aboard Bra's jet. Bra and Dom dropped Noca and Pan at their apartment first and then continued the short distance back to the compound.

When the couple entered their apartment, with Pan leading the way this time, they both immediately dropped down on the couch, feeling a little bit wiped after all that socialising. Pan released a satisfied sigh as she sat down and spread out, while Noca slowly sat down, sitting forward a little bit.

Now that they were alone, Noca was pondering the stuff they had spoken about at dinner, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up.

Pan looked forward, noticing that Noca hadn't sat back with her, and she started to rub his back gently with her hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"When did you start rethinking your university choice?" Noca asked.

Pan was surprised that Noca was thinking about that right away. They had only just walked through the door. She sat up.

"Do we have to talk about it right now?" Pan asked, almost sounding a bit frustrated that Noca brought it up right away.

"No, I guess not, I was just wondering why you didn't tell me," Noca said.

"I just needed time to think about it first, I wanted to figure out why I was thinking about it," Pan explained.

Noca nodded.

"But you did tell Bra," Noca said.

"I know," Pan said, realising that he did make a good point, and it did contradict what she had just said. "But I knew that Bra could look at it from an objective perspective, she might be my friend but she's very logical."

Noca nodded and turned around to meet Pan's eyes.

"I guess I just hoped you would feel like you can talk to me about everything, I shared a lot today, but you were keeping that from me," Noca explained, trying to stop himself from getting annoyed but there was definitely some frustration there.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to talk about it, and I only brought up to Bra offhandedly," Pan said, "I just… I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Ok, I understand," Noca said, turning around again and looking forward.

"Hey," Pan said, moving towards him and putting her hand on his face and turning him to face her. "You haven't done anything wrong. This is just something I'm dealing with, ok? I want to figure it out and I will include you."

"I want to help you," Noca said, "if you feel like you need help, that is. I'm here."

"I know you are," Pan said, smiling, as she leaned in and started to kiss him, but it was a very passion-filled kiss.

Noca sunk into the kiss. Both of them did, and Pan started to push Noca back so that his head was resting against the arm of the chair, and she was on top of him. She pulled out of the kiss and looked down at him, smiling. Noca was a little confused, but he couldn't deny the enjoyment and excitement he felt.

"Maybe we should get back to where we were before we left tonight," Pan said, as she leaned down, kissing him again.

Noca had his hands on her sides as he let Pan take control of the situation. It was nice that they were back home, alone, in their own apartment, with no distractions, no chance of anybody walking in and disturbing their privacy. They were free to do whatever came naturally, and the two of them sunk completely into the euphoria of the moment. Pan started to remove Noca's shirt while he began to lift her dress up, going for her underwear, which he slowly started to lower, all the while they continued kiss.

Everything else faded away around them as they completely committed to making love to each other, right then and there. It felt like it had been too long since the last time they had sex, so this was a moment both of them had been eager to get to.

Life had been too hectic, they had let everything else get on top of them, but they finally found this time where they could let it all go, one night where life seemed to return to a sense of normality. They regained a passion which had temporarily dwindled.

Noca and Pan loved each other, just as much as they always had, and they continued to find comfort in one another, and more so than ever, they needed each other. They craved each other. They didn't want to let go. And in this moment, just like they had wanted, they came together, they had their time, and then they slept peacefully.