We Were Angels - Part Eight
The two men walked in an uncomfortable silence as they made their way through the darkened town.
"Where are we going?" asked Vegeta, eager to break the stillness between them.
"Isn�t there a place to eat somewhere around here?" Kakarot asked nervously.
"Don�t you know?" Vegeta said incredulously. Kakarot shook his head slowly with a faint smile. Vegeta rolled his eyes as he took the lead. Shortly, they came to a restaurant, but the windows were dark and the door was locked. Moving on, they searched the streets for a place to eat that was still open in the late evening, however, every eatery they came to was already closed.
Getting frustrated with wandering around in the dark, Vegeta sighed heavily and led them back towards the park.
"We�re going to my house," he said with authority.
"N-nani? Y-your house?" Kakarot stammered.
"You say that like you�ve never been there before," Vegeta said with a smirk.
"Demo, I can just go home, I don�t want to bother you�," said Kakarot weakly.
"It�s no bother at all. I cook for people all the time, it would be my pleasure," Vegeta said in a low tone and a gleam in his eyes.
"Why are you doing this for me?"
"I already told you, and besides I�m not letting you go until you answer my questions."
"Questions?" Kakarot said, beginning to sweat.
"Hai," answered Vegeta nonchalantly. Suddenly very nervous of these upcoming questions, Kakarot tried to think of what Vegeta could possibly want to ask him. �Maybe where I work? Where I came from? Why is this happening to me?� Praying for good luck from Kami, he followed the chef to his house.
*
Once inside Vegeta�s home, Kakarot noticed it looked a lot like his own. The sparse furniture and minimalist d�cor seemed fitting in Vegeta�s small home however. Everything was muted in color and black seemed to be the theme. It was exceptionally tidy and Kakarot wondered if it had been recently cleaned or whether it was always this neat.
He was led into the kitchen, which seemed large in the small house, and was instructed to sit at the round, wooden table situated in the middle of the room. As Vegeta stood vigil at the stove, Kakarot took the moment to really drink the other man�s features. He was lean and muscular with tanned skin and he was a little shorter than Kakarot, but so well proportioned that it wasn�t obvious.
�He is still so beautiful. How could I have missed it all these years?�
Recognizing this as the perfect opportunity, Kakarot decided to ask a few questions of his own.
"Oi, Vegeta, why were you fighting with those men that day?" he asked as he leaned his chin on his hands. Vegeta turned, no doubt in his mind as to what day Kakarot meant, and folded his arms over his chest.
"I was in an accident," he said as Kakarot slightly winced, " since they thought I would be weakened, a few old buddies of mine decided to have some fun with me. They took me by surprise, but you showed up in time to stop them from causing me any harm."
"So you didn�t start the fight?" Kakarot asked gratefully.
"Iie, why would I have?" he asked skeptically. Kakarot only shrugged and lapsed into silence, staring at the uneven wood grain on the table. Vegeta studied the man a little longer before returning to stir the boiling noodles on his stove.
�If he didn�t start that fight, how many others didn�t he start? I thought he was a no good punk and here he is cooking dinner for me, a complete stranger!� Kakarot thought as he glanced up at the man.
�There�s something odd about this guy, but I�m not sure what. There�s something he�s not telling me and I intend to find out what!� Vegeta thought as he stirred the simmering sauce.
"Ano, can I help you with something, Vegeta?" Kakarot asked timidly.
"Hai, you can answer my question," he said without looking at Kakarot.
"Oh, um, sure," Kakarot said as he began to fidget in his seat. Vegeta now turned, spoon in hand, to get the full reaction of the timid man sweating at his kitchen table. He smirked as Kakarot wrung his hands together in anticipation of the question.
"Why don�t you like to be asked questions?"
"N-no reason."
"You get wide-eyed every time I look at you and you start to sweat when I begin to ask you questions. What are you hiding?" Vegeta asked as he sat in the chair across from the man. Kakarot squirmed under the close scrutiny of Vegeta. He didn�t really want to tell Vegeta that he was the reason Vegeta got hit by a car, but he also didn�t want to lie to him.
"I, I can�t tell you. Gomen nasai," he whispered.
"Why not? Are you wanted for something?" Vegeta asked with a hard tone. Kakarot whipped his head up suddenly and looked as the serious look on Vegeta�s face. He began to laugh as he thought of Vegeta asking if _he_ was the criminal.
The sudden change on Vegeta�s visage was enough to send him reeling into more fits of laughter. Wiping a tear from his eye, Kakarot shook his head.
"Nothing like that. It�s just something I can�t tell you right now." A bell rung on the stove and Vegeta reluctantly returned to the stove. �Maybe not now, but I will get the answer some day, Kakarot.� Getting out two plates, Vegeta served up two steaming helpings of spaghetti and meatballs.
Eyes going wide, Kakarot almost began drooling over the delicious look and smell of the food Vegeta offered him. He armed himself with a fork and began to eat almost as soon as the plate hit the table.
"It�s great!" he said as he wiped his mouth on his napkin. Vegeta smirked around his forkful, pleased that Kakarot liked it. They continued to eat in silence, each contemplating about the other. Every so often, one would sneak a glance at the other and then dart their eyes away just before they were caught looking.
�Hn. I finally have a name to go with that handsome face. I wonder what he would look like when, NO! I have to stop thinking of him like that! Shouldn�t I be thinking about Yamcha? Demo, Yamcha never looked so sexy in jeans and a t-shirt�,� Vegeta once again could not control his very vivid imagination and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
�How am I going to get out of here politely? The way Vegeta�s squirming, he must not like me being in his house. I knew I shouldn�t have come here. I hope he doesn�t hate me now,� Kakarot thought unhappily.
Their collective musings were cut short however, with the opening and closing of a door. Yamcha came into the kitchen carrying a shopping bag. He saw the two sitting at the table eating dinner, and promptly dropped his jaw along with the bag, spilling clothes on the floor.
"V-Vegeta! What is he doing here?" he asked in shock and anger. Vegeta looked demurely at Yamcha then at Kakarot.
"It looks like he�s eating spaghetti," he said dryly. Kakarot looked between the two men, his expression one of a deer caught in headlights. Gulping, he sat his fork down and rose from the table.
"I think it would be best if I left," he said quickly while staring at his plate.
"Going so soon, Kakarot? It�s rude to eat and run. Why don�t you sit back down?" Vegeta said while looking straight at Yamcha. �I won�t be ordered around in my own damn house!�
"I don�t know what you�re thinking, Vegeta but I think your friend needs to leave," Yamcha said crossing his arms.
Kakarot stood frozen between the two, afraid to make the slightest movement either way. "Vegeta," warned Yamcha. Sighing as he crossed his arms, Vegeta turned to his guest.
"Kakarot, I�m afraid I�ll have to ask you to leave. It seems the doctor and I have some things to discuss. Feel free to drop by again though."
"Um, okay," Kakarot said hurriedly as he quickly fled the tension in the house.
"Yamcha, what the fuck are you doing here? You scared off my guest," Vegeta asked icily after he heard the front door close. He was suddenly very angry that Yamcha had shown up and decided to let him know about it.
"I bought you some things and decided to bring them over, The real question is why was _he_ here? _Who_ is he?!" Yamcha yelled.
"His name is Kakarot and I don�t think it�s of your concern whom I invite to my house. I certainly didn�t invite you."
"I come here to find the man who�s been practically stalking you and I�m not allowed to be a little suspicious? I�ve seen the way he looks at you!"
"Hai, I have too. He looks at me like I�m a normal person and not some fucking trophy to parade around. Wish I could say the same about you," Vegeta spat.
"What is that supposed to mean?! I love you!"
"Honto? Like you love those other men I�ve seen you with?" Vegeta asked sarcastically. Yamcha turned bright red at the accusation.
"Vegeta, I,"
"I don�t care. I don�t want your explanations, I just want you to get the hell out of my house and take your things with you," Vegeta said angrily, knocking his chair over as he stood up in a rush. Glaring at his now ex-lover, Vegeta turned and stalked from the room, a slam could be heard in the background.
"Oh that�s great, just walk away! This is why I was with those other men, because all you do is walk away! I�m not putting up with this anymore, Vegeta. I hope your new friend is as good a lay as he looks." And with that final shout, Yamcha gathered his things and stormed from the house.
*
A dark figure in the shadows grinned toothily as he watched the two men exit the house.
"Heh. They make this all too easy."
Part Nine |
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