Chapter 5 - Dawning Horror
 

    "Onna.." he murmured, his voice deep and sexy.  "What did I tell you?"
    "I'm sorry!" she broke out, babbling instantly in her apprehension.  "I couldn't help it!  I didn't try to hurt you or anything-" he huffed angrily and shoved her off the bed. She landed on her ass with a thud but could not summon enough anger to squelch her fear.
    "Go sleep somewhere else then.  I'm not some toy to be groped whenever you feel like it." he snapped angrily.
    "It wasn't like that! I wasn't coming to sleep!" she blurted,  "I-I mean, I wanted to ask-" she trailed off at the sight of his incredulous expression. "Damn it!"  Bulma thundered, leaping to her feet in her indignation.  Vegeta blinked in surprise at her outburst and sat up a little.  "I was just curious all right!  Son's tail has been gone a long time and.. I kinda missed it.." she trailed off in a small voice but added, "Your tail grabbed me anyway!" he frowned and glanced away.  Bulma then took a deep breath as if gathering her courage.  "I'm sorry I offended you." She said with a curt bow and turned on her heel to stalk off.
    He turned and watched her run upstairs, his features still marred by the angered scowl. How dare she do that to him?  Her apology meant nothing after she defended her actions in such a pitiful way.  It was even worse that she knew how aroused he'd been!  He could hardly believe it himself!  It hadn't been that long… had it?  He frowned.  It didn't matter!  He was half tempted to go up there and fuck her till she passed out. She deserved it after fondling his tail like that.  And once the vision was in his head he realized just how much he wanted to do it!  He almost groaned aloud, but the intense loathing that came with that awareness somewhat subdued the sharp longing.
    How dare she do this to him?!  And why the hell did he want her so much?  She was a weak, pathetic human!  She had shown no admiral qualities so far.  Only her face and figure.  True, she stood up to him, even though she was afraid.  He was curious as to how she had such nerve.
    If he were to act upon his desire then he'd have to be careful if he still wanted her to survive long enough to fly the ship.  She was fragile, he'd already seen that.  She had been helpless against Dora!  A third-class fighter of passable skill.  His race had one unique quality only and that was the ability to fuse with any living object.  But the fusion was permanent.  Rumor had it that he'd hoped to fuse with Frieza, thus he was sent to base #42.  An outpost that Frieza never visited and only rarely communicated with.
    No, even if he was careful, he might accidentally break one of her bones. And while he normally wouldn't care, she needed to be functional to fly the ship.  Of course, he could always force her to tell him how to fly it and then do as he pleased with her, then he wouldn't have to worry about how many bones he broke.  And while his groin was still aching the idea was still unappealing.    He couldn't act on his desire.  He wasn't a rapist.  Every girl he'd been with had been willing.  He missed some of those girls sometimes. Like right now!  Damn it!
    He sighed, tugging his spike locks in frustration.  The least she could do was take a hike so he could jerk it and be done with it!  But he could hear her pacing back and forth.
    "Vegeta.  I need to talk to you, can you get up already?  I said I was sorry for touching you tail!" she said in a cold voice
    Oh, but he wasn't really sorry that she had!  That was the worst part!
    "Damn woman!" he cried angrily.  "Are all you Earth-females such teases?"
    "WHAT?!" she shrieked and he heard her stomping down the stairs.  "What the hell are you talking about?"
    "What do you think? YOU grabbed MY tail!!" he snapped sitting up.
    "So WHAT?!" she yelled, hands on hips.  "I said I was sorry!"
    "You stupid bitch!  You don't even realize what you did!  What if I just grabbed your tits?"  at that Bulma flushed a fiery red and mumbled something even Vegeta couldn't hear.  "What?!" he yelled.  Again she mumbled something.  He threw his hands up in disgust.  "To hell with you, woman!" he snarled and jumped out of bed and flew up the stairs and out the door.
    Bulma sighed as she watched him go.
    "I don't think I would have minded.."

    Vegeta sat on a large outcropping of rock glaring balefully at the round ship.  How he wanted to destroy it and the onna inside.  But he didn't want to stay here.  He was thankfully no longer aroused. His anger and embarrassment cooled his blood. And for that he was almost slightly thankful.  He didn't need a hard-on plaguing him as well.  He needed to think.  What was he going to do?  They had to leave.  This planet wasn't very hospitable.  It was dry and parched from an ancient species who'd used up all the natural resources and had nearly gone extinct in return.  They were still a few thousand living in what was left of their forests.  They were growing again, but it would take thousands of years to repair the damage they'd done.
    He sighed.  He didn't know what to do at all.  He didn't know where to go.  That was what the onna wanted to speak about, he was fairly certain.  But what would he say?  She wanted to go back to earth.  But what did he want?  There were a few places he could go.  Some were even on the way to Chikyuu.  He thought back to some of the planets spared by Frieza's wrath because of their rare beauty.  He had liked to keep some planets for his own enjoyment.  Vegeta had seen a few and one was about roughly a month from here, an not far off course from Chikyuu.  He jumped down from the cliff and headed back to the ship.
    Almost as if she sensed that he'd come to a decision, Bulma appeared at the door just as he was about to open it.
    "Let's go.  I know a few places on the way to your planet that I need to stop at.  If any one is suitable then you can head back to Chikyuu alone."  After a moment she nodded in acceptance.  He was curious as to why she hesitated, but doubted it was important.

    The rest of the day they did not speak to each other.  Much to Bulma's discomfort, Vegeta wouldn't even look at her.  But she couldn't blame him.  She was still embarrassed about getting caught, again.  She wondered how Vegeta felt about it.  He'd said that grabbing his tail had been about the same as if he'd groped her breasts.  He had been quite aroused after all, and she'd just run off.  Well, after he had tossed her ass off the bed.
    He had to be pissed.  She frowned.  She felt that she should apologize, after all, he had saved her from that Dora rapist.  But it wasn't just that, she had been rude.  She remembered an argument she'd had with Yamcha after she'd teased him to the point of aching arousal only to quickly depart without fulfilling him. It had been her twisted revenge for something stupid he'd done.  She couldn't even recall what it was now. They'd argued for days about it.  But Vegeta had said nothing.  And she hadn't done anything to him on purpose.  In fact, the thought of someone like him having feelings slightly scared her.  He was much easier to deal with as an unfeeling murderer, as strange as it seemed.  But at least then she knew what to expect!
    He's probably totally embarrassed! And angry. Bulma realized with a grimace.  She turned to stare at him as he sat in the chair opposite her.  He had the usual scowl plastered on his face but there was no anger in his eyes, only a muted… what?  She couldn't figure out what she was seeing.  It wasn't anger, it was more akin to despair.  Was he still upset about earlier?  Or was it something else?  Now that she really thought about it, she realized he hadn't had the same look when she'd first seen him on Namek.  Then his eyes had been ablaze with some kind of dark joy.
    Now that she was looking, she realized that despair seemed to hover about him like a thick fog.
    "Vegeta." she blurted.  She could see him stiffen as the silence was broken and he turned to face her.
    "What, onna?"
    "I'm sorry about earlier."
    "You said this already." He cut in.
    "No." she said shaking her head.  "Not about everything, I didn't realize."  She was surprised to see his face turn red.  Whether it was from embarrassment or anger she wasn't sure.
    "Shut up." He snapped.
    "No, please." She began and stood, making her way to his side.  "I didn't realize.." she trailed off.  Vegeta had his back to her.  He was refusing to look at her like some spoiled brat!  Bulma's face twisted in displeasure.  She was trying to apologize for Kami's sake!  "Stop that!" she snapped swinging the chair around.
    "Leave me alone, onna.  I have no use for your petty excuses." He said, not looking at her directly.
    "Petty excuses?" she asked softly.  He glanced at her curiously and was surprised to see her face burning with fury.  Her eyes were flashing beautifully.  It wasn't until the redness left and she met his gaze challengingly that he realized he'd been staring.
    "Yes.  Now leave me alone." He snapped and looked away.
    "No." she said.  She saw his eye brows rise and he turned to look at her again.  His expression was one she hadn't yet seen.  "If I have to spend however long with you then I would like us to at least be able to have a civil conversation."
    "You are stupid." He said, almost as if he was just realizing it.
    "How dare you?!" Bulma shrieked, quickly rising.  "I am the Vice President of Capsule Corporation, half of the new inventions are of my design!  This ship was built by me and my father and you have the audacity to call me stupid?  Who the fuck do you think you are?" her outburst didn't seem to faze Vegeta at all, in fact his expression grew decidedly cynical.
    "Then you’re a liar." He said.  Bulma gaped stupidly for a few seconds.
    "WHAT?!" she snapped.
    "Shut up!  You grew up with Kakarotto! You expect me to believe you don't know?!" At first she didn't know what the hell he was talking about and frowned in confusion.  The Tail!  She remembered, cursing inwardly.
    "He got it cut off when he was like twelve!  The only thing I knew was that if you grabbed his tail really hard it hurt him.  It never made him horny!"  Vegeta winced and began to massage his temples.
    "I hate you." He said softly.
    "WELL THE FEELING IS MUTUAL, DICK!!" she bellowed and stomped off to the lower quarters.

    For two more days they didn't talk.  Vegeta began to work out upstairs as much as he could.  Bulma was glad he didn't know about the Gravity unit.  She would have no protection from the extra G's if it was in use, so she kept quite about it.  She didn't want to talk to him anyway.  He had insulted her intelligence, an unpardonable offense.  She'd tried to explain her side but every conversation she began with Vegeta ended in an argument.  And she was really beginning to despise him.
    Not only because he was an asshole, but she still found him attractive.  She'd never thought she could dislike someone so much and yet want him at the same time.  It was baffling.  She wanted to stay away but was constantly drawing closer.  They ate at different times to avoid each other.  Vegeta wouldn't even look in her direction if they happened to pass each other, which happened fairly often in the small ship.
    But Bulma was getting sick of it.  She'd had no one to talk to practically the whole time on Namek.  But at least she'd had Gohan and Krillin to talk to on the way there.  And that was how long ago?  A month at least! A month with no one to talk to.  At least, no one who gave a shit.  The angry Saiyan no Ouji didn't care about her or what was on her mind.  But  she found that she was interested to hear what he really had to say, and what he really thought.  Not the endless insults, she wanted a real conversation with him.
    And that was unlikely to happen as it was.  She didn't really hate him, but she was ready to.  If he could just not be so damn mean all the time.  She was glad Goku had hit his head as a baby.  She'd thought him wild as a boy, but it was nothing compared to Vegeta.  Vegeta was supposed to be the perfect Saiyan, raised from birth most likely to be the best fighter.
    She felt a wave of sympathy towards him as she remembered that he had lost everything to Frieza and had been forced to do his bidding.  What that all entailed, she wasn't sure.  Vegeta hadn't told her everything, and why would he?  They didn't really know each other, but that wasn't her fault!  She'd tried being nice and he'd thrown it in her face, but then she blushed at the memory of touching his tail and being caught.  Not once, but twice!  After that, she had felt his eyes boring into her several times, only to turn and see his back facing her.
    She sighed as she sat idly by the controls,  Vegeta was above her, hanging from a thick metal pipe across the ceiling that ran to the Gravitron doing pull ups.  She heard a soft thud behind her and turned quickly to see Vegeta standing there, staring.
    "Vegeta, I'm sick of fighting with you.  Can we please end this already?"
    "What are you talking about?" he said, his expression of mild disinterest.  She rolled her eyes.
    "You know what I mean." She said, trying not to sound as annoyed as she was.  "We haven't said two words to each other in days!  I've had no one to talk to for almost two months! I'm sick of it."  He looked at her as if she'd just said the most stupid, childish thing possible.  "What?" she cried.
    "I am not here to keep you company!  I have no interest in speaking with you and hearing about stupid human frivolities." He snapped, his nose in the air.
    "I didn't think you would Ve-ge-ta!" she said, annoyed.  "I want you to talk.  I'm not stupid.  You are obviously convinced that Saiyans are in every way superior.  I want to know why you think this, among other things.  Goku can't tell me, you are the last true Saiyan, and I'm curious.  What was it like?  There's more to you then your bad-ass exterior. And telling me about it will pass the time." He was silent, unsure what to say.  Was she serious?  Why?  Why did she want to know about him?  And why was he reluctant to speak?  She couldn't hurt him, he didn't have to tell her everything.  But it would make him remember..
    Bulma was surprised to see a look of sorrow and anger pass quickly over his usually calm features.  He was silent for a long time, and stared at the wall as if the answer to her question might be found there.  Then he looked at her, searching her eyes to see if there was any hidden agenda at all.
    "Why onna?  Why do you insist on all this?" Bulma appeared puzzled at that.
    "On what?"
    "Why do you keep attempting some sort of friendship between us?  I don't understand the purpose.  Just be a bitch, it'll be easier."  Bulma's jaw dropped and her eyes bugged.
    "What?  Why?" she stammered.  He just gave her an odd look.
    "I don't need friends.  I never had any, why start now?  I don't see the point.."  He trailed off when Bulma hurriedly turned away.  He saw her shoulders trembling and sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Onna.  You are not crying again, are you?"  She spun around and his suspicions were confirmed.  Tears filled her eyes read to spill at any moment.
    "That's the most horrible thing I've ever heard!" she cried with a fervor that startled him.  "And you would know if you'd ever had one!  What the hell kind of childhood did you have?"  he blinked in surprise at her outburst, but merely shrugged.
    "What am I supposed to say to that? I have nothing to compare mine to. And besides, why the hell do you care if I never had friends?"
    "I think you'd be a different person now if you'd had some growing up." She said evenly, hurriedly wiping her tears.
    "Well,  I didn't have any, so what?  It doesn't matter to me, and stop your bawling!  Why someone like you would waste tears on me."  He trailed off and glanced away.  When he spoke next his voice was quiet and even. "You humans allow your weaker emotions to control you.  You shed ridiculous tears over things that should not affect you." He continued, heedless to her pleading gaze.  "Your asking for something I have no interest in.  I do not wish to discuss my past actions or my old life.  It is gone now." For a moment his stern mask faltered and he looked slightly wounded.  But with an irritated shake of his head he continued.  "I have nothing to say."
    "But why?  I just want to know what kind of person you are?"  at that he gave a short, bitter laugh.
    "I am what you see, onna!  The Last Saiyan Prince, a killer!" he laughed again, but it sounded forced, she also noticed his jaw clench and his tan skin grow a shade lighter.  "I have no people, no plans, no real destination, nothing!"
    "But the places you want to stop..?" At last her returned her gaze and eyed her questioningly.
    "It's been a long time since I have seen either planet.  Who knows what state they are in?  They might be unchanged, but they could also be completely destroyed by now."
    "We have about two more days before we reach the first one."  Bulma said softly.
    "You females!" Vegeta snorted, rolling his eyes.  "Scared at the thought of flying this hunk alone?" Bulma's eyes flashed.
    "Not at all!  I've never asked for your help have I?" she snapped.
    "Yes you did!" he snapped.  Was she implying that he was a liar?
    "Bull shit!  When?"  He scowled in anger.
    "I heard you when Dora caught you!"  The violence suddenly died from Bulma's features replaced by cold calculation.
    "I didn't call you..  Not out loud.  I was hoping you would stop him-" she broke off as Vegeta's features suddenly blanched.
    "No..  That can't be.." he said softly.  Bulma was completely taken aback by his sudden change of demeanor.
    "What?"  she cried, suddenly worried.  "What is it?"  Suddenly his face cleared, although his eyes remained troubled.
    "Nothing." He said softly and then again in a firmer voice as if to convince himself. "Nothing at all…"

D'oh!  I bet you peeps wanna kick my arse for making you wait so long and not delivering on the lemon!  But sheesus!  They just met!!  Give it some time!  They don't trust each other very much and these things take a little time!
 

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