Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Saiyan Homecoming ❯ Dinner Plans ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DB, DBZ, or DBGT.

A Saiyan Homecoming

By Nadia Rose

nadiarose3@hotmail.com

Chapter 3: Dinner Plans

Evening found Gohan sprawled out on the floor in one of his gis, watching the evening news. Barden was sitting on the couch with his homework in front of him, much more interested in his father than his algebra problems; but he'd been lucky they'd allowed him to sit in the living room to do his homework instead of going back to his desk. Videl was off in the kitchen cooking dinner.

Barden sighed as he glanced at the paper covered in equations and little drawings of triangles and circles in his father's handwriting. His Dad explained things too well-he couldn't ask for help he didn't really need again. He went back to his homework, wondering what had amused his father so much.

Gohan was laughing so hard he was nearly rolling on the carpet, clutching his ribs.

Videl came to the doorway, a worn apron tied around her waist. "Gohan! What in Kami's name has gotten into you?"

Gohan continued laughing at such a length his wife wondered if he was going to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "I can't believe they made him a news anchor," he gasped during a needed break.

Videl glanced at the television screen, wondering whom he was talking about. When she saw who was on the screen she frowned at her mate. "He's been a news anchor for over a year now, Gohan. I don't see what you find so amusing."

"But it's Sharpener," Gohan retorted between chuckles. "I never would have thought that Sharpener, who thought he was Kami's gift to women, would end up as a news anchor! I mean, he just wasn't the type to do that sort of thing at all."

Videl frowned down at him, hands on hips. "I'm sure he thought you weren't the type to spend your entire life saving the universe, either."

"No," Gohan agreed, clutching his ribs as he caught his breath. "But I was trying to keep that a secret. I just never thought Sharpener would like doing something like that."

"He was pretty intent on discovering who The Great Saiyaman was," Videl pointed out.

"Only because you liked me," Gohan replied. "He wanted to know more about his competition than solve a great mystery."

Videl rolled her eyes, and turned back to the kitchen.

Barden grinned at his father, but went back to his homework. The faster he could get it done, the sooner he could spend time with his Dad.

Videl had just reached the kitchen door when an explosion rocked the house, the shock of it pushing her against the wall.

Gohan and Barden were on their feet in an instant, warily circling the kitchen door, from which smoke was drifting.

Videl grabbed Barden's shoulders and held him back as Gohan flung the door open and walked inside. When no screams of pain or pleas for mercy were heard, the other two followed.

Videl groaned. Her carefully concocted dinner was now spread across the kitchen. Rice plastered the walls and windows in intricate designs, vegetables were splattered across the table, and what had once been strips of beef dangled from the light fixture on the ceiling.

The first demi-saiyan to exist in thousands of years turned and looked at her, holding the remnants of her pressure cooker in his hands. "I think you let the pressure get a little too high, love."

Videl sighed. "You distracted me!" While she'd never been a gourmet chef, she always had been able to cook a decent meal. But since Gohan had returned only part of her mind had been working; the rest of it was still focused on her very buff, very sexy husband.

Gohan flicked the pressure dial absently, and it broke off the lid to shoot through the kitchen window.

"Gohan!" Videl snapped, wondering in despair how she would possibly feed them now. "You could have put somebody's eye out with that!"

"Sorry." Gohan's voice wasn't the least bit repentant. "Guess I didn't know my own strength."

Barden reached out and swiped a bit of rice off the back of the door and put it in his mouth. "It's still good, though, Mom."

Videl turned around in horror just in time to see Barden grab another handful of what had once been food off the door and put it in his mouth. "Barden-don't do that!" She snapped. "Spit it out!"

Barden swallowed. "But Dad's eating it!"

Videl swung around in time to see Gohan shovel some vegetables off the table into his mouth. "Gohan!"

"It's still good, Videl," he commented. "Besides, it's been so long since I've had any good food I'll eat just about anything."

Barden giggled, and Videl sighed. "I think you've just proven that," she began briskly. "But I don't have the cast-iron stomach of a Saiyan, and I refuse to make my dinner out of food that has been scraped off my kitchen walls!" She untied her apron and dropped it on a chair. "I don't have enough food in the house to make another dinner. You nearly cleared out the pantries at lunch!"

Gohan and Barden looked as if they'd been told that their world was going to end in less than an hour.

Videl shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to go out to eat," she continued, searching for her purse and house keys in the hallway.

Barden cheered. "Can we go to the Pancake House? And what about Mr. Shuu's sushi buffet? It's always really good. And there's that hamburger place down by Trunk's house too-we always get good cheeseburgers there, but Bra likes the pizza parlor down the street…"

Gohan looked on in shock as his son rattled off about ten different restaurants, telling his father about the good things to eat at each of them. "And you haven't gotten kicked out of any of them," he questioned.

"Nah," Barden shook his head. "We only eat a few things at each one. If we go to several restaurants, we can get full without being kicked out of a really good restaurant. Of course if Mom, Grandma or Bulma goes, they don't eat at all of them, but nobody's ever said anything to them about it. Bra says it's because we order so much anyway, that it doesn't matter that the humans don't eat anything."

Gohan blinked as he processed what his son had said, tuning out the boy's prattle. He was sure Barden wasn't this garrulous all the time, just trying to catch up with him. "That's actually a good idea," he commented finally, cutting off Barden mid-sentence. "Who thought of it?"

"Bra." Barden explained. "She got mad after Vegeta and Uncle Goten got us kicked out of a restaurant she really liked."

As Barden continued telling his father about the tantrum Bra had thrown, Videl appeared back in the kitchen, hair brushed neatly back and purse in hand. "Aren't you two ready to go?"

Barden broke off and scampered up to his room to change out of his gi and into his city-clothes. Gohan followed him, after giving Videl a quick kiss.

Twenty minutes later, Barden and Videl were sitting on the bench by the front door, waiting for Gohan to come downstairs. After one last half-hearted attempt to tame Barden's spiky hair, Videl rose and peeked in the door of her bedroom.

Gohan stood before the closet in his boxers, his clothing piled neatly on the bed behind him. Tail wrapped around his waist, he attempted to pull on a pair of pants, but his muscles were too big for them-the pants which had fit him so perfectly before were too small.

"Problems?"

He whirled, giving her a frantic look. "None of this fits!"

Videl stepped into the room, taking note of how many different outfits he'd tried on. "Are you sure?"

"I've tried on every pair of pants I have," he was disappointed. "I didn't think I had gotten that much more muscular."

"You haven't looked in the mirror lately, have you?" She retorted. At his stricken look, she smiled. "Don't worry-I still think you're sexy."

He grinned back, then flung the pair of pants into the pile of discarded clothing. "And that was the last pair."

"What about your gis?" Videl questioned, pulling open the drawers of his dresser. "They'll probably still fit."

"I can't go walking around in Satan City in my gi, Videl. I'd disgrace you."

"Disgrace me?" Videl questioned. "I was the girl who ran around in training gear until I married you!" She grabbed a pair of cloth pants and a tunic and tossed it at him. "Just wear those."

Gohan stared at her for a moment, but complied, pulling on the black pants and the green tunic reminiscent of his days as the Great Saiyaman.

Videl nodded at his appearance. Although the clothes did little to hide his muscular body, he looked semi-normal, if you discounted the hair and the tail. "That wasn't so bad, was it? At least you didn't have to wear spandex," she teased.

Her husband blushed-some things never changed-and they headed back down the stairs, where a hungry Barden was waiting for them. A few minutes later, three bright streaks in the sky headed towards Satan City.

******************