Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13

Later that evening….

The first night's performance proved to be an unprecedented success all around. The Saiya-jins were thoroughly entertained by Lluvia's group. It was a funny, quirky, sexy collection of songs and dances designed to titillate and entrance. The mix Lluvia had laid out hit all the right notes with their unique audience. In addition, the whole shebang was broadcast to the remainder of the planet via closed-circuit video. As he caught intermittent snippets of the show on his own personal vid screen, King Vegeta became extremely pleased with himself. Booking those entertainers was one of his best ideas ever! And come tomorrow evening, he would see them perform in person!

The show was certainly well received by all who viewed it, if the number of Saiya-jins already awaiting the arrival of the entertainers at the mess hall after the show was any kind of proper gauge.

"Hey, look who's here! Hi, Toma! How's it going?" Lluvia's cheery greeting to Bardock's best friend took the Saiya-jin commander by surprise. Bardock was pleased by the appearance of his team for this meant that they had obviously completed their last assignment for Frieza again ahead of schedule and without any problems. The team had returned from their successful planet-purging to celebrate with a Saiya-jin version of a late-night nosh and some in-house entertainment.

In the crush to enter the mess hall, Tristan and Totepo inadvertently jostled against each other and briefly locked gazes. Both Bardock and Lluvia reflexively caught their breaths at the sight, only to visibly exhale in relief when Totepo laughed and jovially thumped the smaller man on the back, temporarily knocking the wind out of him.

The second evening's jam session was well under way. This time, Lluvia and the other dancers were holding an improvised dance clinic for some of the Saiya-jins who had requested instruction on how to do some of the moves they'd seen performed earlier. Tables and chairs had been pushed towards the walls to afford the participants some room in which to move.

Bardock sat back and watched as Lluvia, Soledad, Adarath, and Morgana worked their patient magic instructing mostly female Saiya-jins how to do a simple line dance routine. Everyone was having a great time. Seated next to Bardock, Toma couldn't help teasing his lifelong friend.

"So, ol' buddy of mine! How's that `plum' assignment of yours coming along?" Toma grinned at him. Bardock fought the urge to backhand the smug look off his friend's handsome face.

"It's just a job, not an adventure, Toma! Leave it at that, would you?"

Toma snorted his answer. "You don't fool me one eensy bit, Bardock! You can hardly tear your beady little peepers off of that one!" Laughing, he motioned with his head towards Lluvia.

"I don't know what you're talking about, you big goofball!" This heated denial only made Toma laugh louder and harder.

The band and dancers were taking a much-needed break in order to take in some quick refreshments before resuming the jam/dance session. Lluvia took advantage of the lull and retreated into the kitchen to thank the head cook for the meals she'd been serving them. The woman was so overcome with the fact that someone/anyone was finally thanking her for her efforts that she fell upon Lluvia's shoulders sobbing in gratitude. After comforting the emotional woman for a few moments, Lluvia made to exit the kitchen, but the head cook persuaded Lluvia to linger a bit while she whipped up a special dessert for the grateful dancer and her friends.

When she finally emerged, back-first and giggling, through the kitchen's swinging doors, Lluvia was immediately puzzled by the unusual absence of boisterous noises coming from the dining area. She had at least half a dozen large ramekins of crème brulée balanced on her outstretched arms and hands, as well as one perched atop of her head. Lluvia had also donned one of the kitchen staff's aprons and a do-rag at the insistence of the head cook while she was in the kitchen so that her outfit would not get soiled.

"Hey guys, wait until you try this stuff! It's positively orgasmic!"

She spun around and looked out upon the mess hall's occupants, most of which were down on one knee with heads bent and facing in her direction. Only Bardock raised his head slightly to cast a warning look at her.

"Why's everybody…" Urk! The touch of a furry tail wrapping itself around her right thigh made her freeze where she was.

"Hmm. And what do we have here?" Lluvia slowly turned her head around to encounter a younger and shorter version of King Vegeta, minus the beard and mustache, circling around her right side and studying her statue-like pose.

Oh, crappers! This must be Prince Vegeta! What the devil is he doing here?

"So, serving wench, what exactly do you have in your hands that is so enticing, so 'orgasmic'?" Lluvia gulped as she caught a glimpse of a larger, bald Saiya-jin standing just behind her with an expression of annoyed disapproval on his mustached face.

That must be his royal bodyguard, she thought to herself. Not exactly a happy camper, is he?

"Why, your highness, I have in my hands a sweet confection that just begs to be sampled! By your royal self, of course!"

Not realizing that Lluvia was more than just a one of the kitchen drudges, Prince Vegeta unfurled his tail from her thigh and pointed her to a recently vacated table. Once they were seated, she served him and his bodyguard Nappa the ramekins she'd so carefully kept from dropping. With a mouthful of crème brulée and a regal wave of his hand, the prince released the expectant company in the mess hall to resume their meals and go about their business. Lluvia was about to return to her group when he imperiously gestured her to remove the empty ramekins and take his and Nappa's meal orders. She shrugged, thinking it best for the time being, to humor the young heir to the Saiya-jin throne by behaving like one of the kitchen servers.

By now, Bardock had broken out into a cold sweat watching Lluvia play out her part. Kami, but she knows how to improvise, he thought uncomfortably.

After a short while, she returned from the kitchen, bringing out the copious plates and bowls of steaming food balanced upon a huge platter on her head. It was a credit to her dancing teachers that she was able to sashay clear across the room, dodging any obstacles in an effort to lay out the meal in front of the young prince and his grumpy bodyguard without losing one morsel along the way.

The musicians had resumed playing the opening strains of the practiced line dance number when Soledad and Morgana came over to grab Lluvia, divest her of her apron and headscarf, and drag her by both arms out into the middle of the mess hall floor. Ceripa, Lattuga, and several others fell in right behind them as they began the rehearsed movements.

Prince Vegeta nearly choked on his food when the realization hit him. This light-haired ningen female was no mere serving wench! He recovered sufficiently to flag down a nearby Saiya-jin to inquire about her identity. While the anonymous warrior explained, Vegeta's dark eyes widened and narrowed as he watched the dancers expertly glide in time with the music across the floor.

Bardock, in turn, was studying the expression flitting across the face of the heir to the Saiya-jin throne and was more than a little uneasy with the ominous look he sported.

I hope he doesn't think that she intentionally played him for a fool! I've seen that look on Prince Vegeta's face before and I can't help feeling that it doesn't bode well for my little baka!

The dance number ended amidst much laughter and applause for the participants. Lluvia returned to clear off Vegeta's table when he motioned her to cease what she was doing.

"You are not part of the regular kitchen help, are you?" One dark eyebrow curved questioningly into his prominent widow's peak. Lluvia looked directly into his face and gave him what she thought was a placating smile.

"No, your highness. You are correct, I am not." Still smiling, Lluvia excused herself and returned to join her group.

A smirk emerged on the royal countenance. Bardock didn't care for that look one little bit. It was not like the Prince to slough off any imagined slight without planning some sort of retribution in return. It was Frieza's dark influence on him, to be sure.

The royal heir was presently of an indulgent age that didn't abide anyone saying "no" to him. Unfortunately, his self-serving attitude was being refined to a fine degree by his apprenticeship under Emperor Frieza. The Ice-jin believed that one's excesses should not necessarily be denied and word was that he'd found a most receptive pupil to his philosophies in the young adult Saiya-jin prince.

The moment she turned her back to him, Prince Vegeta bent his dark head toward his faithful minion, Nappa, and whispered very specific instructions into his ear. The larger man devilishly grinned and nodded before departing the mess hall. Bardock watched the distant interaction between the two with a niggling sense of foreboding. If Toma hadn't been nattering endlessly about something or the other into his ear, he could have figured out what was fomenting in that royal brat's mind.

By now, Lluvia had dismissed the incident entirely. No harm done, right? The Saiya-jin prince seemed to take it all in stride. Perhaps the heir apparent had a sense of humor about the whole thing after all. She looked over in bafflement at Bardock's less-than-thrilled expression as Toma continued to bend his ear.

Looks like Toma's not about to surrender his friend's attention any time soon. Oh well, time enough to check in on Jen one more time tonight, then get back to my quarters and hit the sack. It's been a really long day…

With a saucy wave to everyone, she bounded through the doors and trotted toward Tristan and Jenika's quarters to see to her pregnant friend.

Glaring at the double doors until they stopped their swinging movements behind the dancer's departing figure, Prince Vegeta activated his scouter to transmit a message exclusively to Nappa's own scouter unit. "Is it done, Nappa?"

"Yes, your highness. It has been arranged."

The prince leaned back in his chair and a malevolently smug look affixed itself to his handsome features. "Excellent!"

The more the prince smiled that way, the more apprehensive Bardock became.