Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 24 ( Chapter 24 )

Chapter 24

When Bardock finally pushed open the far door, the two of them were enveloped by a huge cloud of hot, moist air rolling out from the chamber within. Lluvia guessed it might be some kind of steam bath reserved for use by those residing in this particular section of the guest quarters. However, Bardock knew that the room contained one of many fair-sized indoor bathing pools, located throughout Vegeta-sei, which were continuously fed by tapped underground hot springs.

The room's walls and floors were lined with a dark green, marbleized surface, which sparkled with a moist sheen made up of countless condensed droplets. Provided by wall sconces, the offered ambient light was softened by the swirling fogginess. Lluvia could detect the slight tang of minerals in the steamy mist as Bardock carried her towards the water's edge.

"Are you ready?" he inquired with a playful edge in his voice.

Unable to see anything in the heavy, moist air and because she was facing backwards over Bardock's shoulder, Lluvia answered him with a touch of exasperation growing in her voice, "As I told you before, I'm always up for some good, clean fun, Bardock!"

"Now, that's good to know!"

Before she could utter anything else, Lluvia felt herself in a short, unaccustomed state of backwards flight, suspended for a second in mid-air above the water. In front of her eyes, Bardock's amused face became abruptly obscured by a watery lens as she slammed backside-first into the heated water. With her dress billowing around her, she momentarily hung in the water, blinking in shocked disbelief at what he'd just done to her.

That…! He'd just flung her into the water as if she were nothing more than a sack of potatoes!

As soon as her feet touched bottom, a furious growl grew in the back of her throat and her hands clenched into fists. Angrily launching herself upwards, she roared her displeasure as soon as her head broke the water's surface.

"YOU BLOODY IMBECILE! YOU TOTALLY INSENSITIVE JERK! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL DRESS!"

The unexpectedly shrill sound echoed off the walls, making the Saiya-jin's bemused grin falter. Maybe that wasn't the best of ideas, he thought to himself. But no real harm was done. "That's quite a threat, baka! Do forget about the dress, it's only a piece of clothing, after all, and…" His lighthearted words were cut off by a huge cascade of heated water, which doused him from top to bottom.

"YOU ARE SUCH A…A…MAN! It's not just a piece of clothing! Hot water will cause the material of this dress to shrink to the point that only a bloody chibi would be able to wear it!" Even as she snarled the words, she could feel the already snug fabric beginning to tighten on her body. Treading the water with her legs to keep herself afloat, she frantically undid the three buttons at the back of her raised collar, pulled her arms out of the constricting sleeves, and floated upwards to wiggle out of the remainder. Since she hadn't worn any undergarments under it, she modestly gathered the bobbing dress in front of her as best she could.

Brushing off the water she had splashed on him, Bardock offered another option. "Get over it, female! I'll buy you another one…"

Arrgh! "Bardock! You don't understand! This is…was a one-of-a-kind designer dress! It took me months to squirrel away enough money to buy it! You couldn't possibly afford to replace it on your meager soldier's salary! It would take…years!"

Ignoring her irate protests, he turned his back on her and began to take off his own clothing, starting with his boots and knee-high leg warmers, in preparation to join her in the pool. Glaring at his broad, disdainful back, Lluvia fumed as she watched him carefully peeling off his slightly soggy clothing. How could he do this to her? How would helike it if…

Looking past him towards the doorway, she noticed that the portal was sitting slightly ajar, allowing just a bit of the outer hallway's light to seep in. Obviously, the Saiya-jin had not bothered to completely close it behind him after he'd hastily carried her into the room. Since he was facing away from Lluvia, Bardock couldn't see the sly smile emerging on her face as she sank into the water until only her head was above the surface. Lluvia stealthily paddled a little closer to him as he continued to undress. His armbands were the next items to be removed and added to the discarded pile of wet clothing next to him.

Slowly treading water to position herself in just the right spot, she silently reached down and removed her shoes. Holding one in each hand, she watched his actions with narrowing eyes and waited for the most opportune moment to put her improvised plan into action.

Not hearing any other sounds behind him other than the intermittent lapping of waves against the sides of the pool, Bardock surmised that Lluvia was giving him the silent treatment in retaliation for ruining her dress.

That's all right, he thought, smiling to himself. What I've got in mind will make her forget all about that stupid dress…

His upper body armor was made up of an exceptionally strong, but pliable material, which could be pulled off and on, without the need for annoying fasteners of any kind. Just as Bardock was raising his arms over his head to facilitate its removal, Lluvia tensed herself, waiting for the exact moment when it would most likely be obscuring his forward vision.

Ready…steady…now!

Rising half-way out of the water, Lluvia hurled her shoes, one right after the other, towards the partially-open door. As soon as she could hear the shoes hitting their target in rapid-fire succession, she let out an alarmed shriek. Believing that an intruder had entered the room, a startled Bardock rushed to pull off his body armor, and hastily flung it aside. Instantly crouching into an attack position and ready to do battle, he turned to face the area where the sound originated, only to discover the pair of discarded shoes, the door ajar, and no one there. He relaxed his stance and turned to ask Lluvia why she had screamed so, when a large and quite sodden mass of material suddenly slapped against his face, wrapping itself about his head. Roaring obscenities, he spun around and pulled ineffectively at the hot, wet dress tightening around his face.

Once she'd flung the heavy, water-logged dress towards Bardock's head, Lluvia had quickly swum the rest of the way towards the pool's edge and lay in wait once more. This time it was for Bardock's staggering bare feet to come within her arms' reach. Her patience was rewarded as the blindly struggling and loudly cursing Saiya-jin backed himself right up to the pool's edge.

Bardock suddenly felt two strong hands grab him by his ankles, effortlessly lifting him into the air, and sending him airborne in a backwards flip into the middle and deepest part of the heated pool.

A naked Lluvia hoisted herself out of the water into a sitting position on the pool's edge and smirked in amusement as a sputtering Bardock broke the far surface, ripping the offending dress off his head and into pieces at the same time.

Freakin' priceless, she chuckled to herself, shaking her head at the sight.

"How do you like them apples, huh? What a sucker! I can't believe you just fell for the oldest trick in the book and…and…oh, SHIT!" Her amused smile took a quick powder as he thrashed through the water in a determined beeline towards her. An enraged, feral look shone in his dark eyes above the rapidly parting waterline.

She spun around to make her panicked escape towards the doorway, scrabbling on all fours in an attempt to get a non-slippery grip on the wet, smooth surface. Quickly reaching the pool's edge, Bardock half-leapt out of the water and caught her nearest leg just above the ankle, as she was crouched in mid-run. His forceful backwards tug and the slight sliminess under her other foot made her pitch forward into a very graceless and splayed bellyflop onto the floor, the impact sending little watery arcs spraying outward from her body.

In what seemed like a heartbeat's time, Lluvia found herself flipped onto her back, her body and outstretched arms pinned down by one large, dripping, and extremely cheesed-off Saiya-jin. Directly snarling into her gasping face, Bardock was glaring at her with a look so furious that, for a moment, she was actually frightened for her life.

"Foolish woman, you cannot hope to run away from me, ever!" he growled at her with soft menace. "You are mine."

Wide-eyed, Lluvia stared into his normally opaque, black eyes and was startled to see rings of bright crimson outlining his dark irises. Was this the look of Saiya-jin bloodlust? Or of a triumphant hunter finally capturing his elusive prey? Or a lust of a different kind?

"Please…can't…breathe…can't…breatheR 30;" Lluvia gasped and writhed ineffectually beneath him in an effort to get loose. His immobilizing weight on her was making it hard for her to catch anything more than a couple of shallow gasps at a time. Bardock could feel her quick breathy intakes and the wild flutter of her heartbeat trapped between his bare chest and the floor. The scented heat coming off of her wet bare skin as it made contact with his upper body defused his hunter's bloodlust, albeit only slightly. Thinking that he might be inadvertently crushing her, Bardock raised himself a little off her torso, allowing her to take in a couple of deeper inhales. His eyebrows knitted together into a glower, as he watched her sputter and break into an uncontrollable giggling fit underneath him. Why, that little baka! That's the real reason why she couldn't catch her breath!

"…too…funny…oh…oh…" The rational part of her knew she that she shouldn't be laughing at all. She should have been begging him for mercy, or to release her altogether, but she just couldn't help herself. When Lluvia took in the sight of his wet, angry face and hair dripping all over her, the absurdity of the situation was all it took to set her off. After a moment of convulsing with laughter, she finally caught her breath and forced herself to calm down. She then smiled adoringly up into his brooding eyes. "Oh, Bardock!" she whispered breathlessly, her midnight eyes bright with laughter-induced tears. "I wish you could see your face! It's no wonder that I love you so much!" She raised her droplet-moistened lips and tenderly brushed his stunned mouth with a lightly rendered kiss.

"Wh…what did you say?" was all he could manage to stutter, feeling his tense and righteous anger summarily dissolving into the moist, fog-laden air around him.

"I love you, Bardock," she breathed once more, touching the corner of his mouth with a second gentle kiss.