Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Barracks ❯ Part 23 ( Chapter 23 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings: Alternate Universe. Yaoi (male x male). Goten x Trunks and vice versa. Other pairings.

<b>Barracks</b>

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom

Part 23

It was official now – he hated ki-guns.

Groaning inaudibly under his breath, Goten tried to make sense of the schematics on the paper in front of him. For all he knew, he could be looking at a very advanced kettle. His eyes traced the outlines, then took in the arbitrary signs and symbols scattered on the drawing. He gnawed on the butt of his pen, then scribbled a few meaningless words down on the empty space under the schematics. The third-class wondered if the lecturer would take pity on him if he simply wrote down the truth – he had no idea what kind of model of ki-gun he was looking at. With a resigned chuckle, he wrote: “<i>a kettle</i>”. A few seconds later, he crossed that out; maybe it was a toaster.

Time was running out and Goten skipped to the next task. He still had five out of fifteen to do. Abashed, he stared at the task which required him to draw the schematics of an RKM17. He knew what the ki-gun looked like and how it worked, but to ask him to draw its schematics… It was like asking a dog to put on make-up. Not that Goten knew why a dog would ever want to do that. Quickly, the third-class concentrated on the next task.

“Point B,” Goten muttered, engaged into the problem as he was scribbling hurriedly on the paper. “Velocity… 359…” he mumbled, biting on his pen. “Distance… Mm… Twenty-seven meters. Hmm… Should be about right,” he said finally, writing down the answer.

Goten raised his head from the sheets of paper to look at the clock on the wall to check how much time he had left. He saw about twenty pairs of eyes concentrated on him. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled, his cheeks tinting red. The savars lowered their heads back to their papers. He didn’t usually talk aloud while reading to himself or solving problems. He was simply too nervous; he could not screw up this exam for the second time.

Huffing, Goten dropped his eyes to another question. It was asking which ki-gun he would pick out of the three and under which circumstances. This one was easy. He started writing at high speed.

“Time’s up,” the lecturer informed the savars at nearly the same time as Goten put a full stop at the end of his last sentence. “Bring me your tests.”

Goten slid from behind his desk and walked over to the lecturer.

“How many blanks have you left this time?” he wondered, taking the bundle of papers from Goten and clipping them together.

“Two, sir,” Goten said.

“Well, that’s certainly an improvement over last time.” The lecturer looked at the savar, who seemed to be hopeful. “You do seem to have difficulties when it comes to spatial awareness, don’t you?”

“Sir…” Goten drawled unsure. “I don’t think that’s the case. I am pretty well aware of my surroundings. I dare say, sometimes better than others.”

“I meant drawing and geometry,” the lecturer said, gathering the papers from other savars. “You find schematics confusing, don’t you?”

“Oh. Yes, sir, I do.”

“What about maps?”

Goten blushed lightly. “Yes, sir, them too. It takes me more time than others to decipher them.” He hadn’t admitted this to anyone before. Reading maps came as natural as breathing to most Saiyans.

“Thought so. Try working on it. However, I don’t think this can be improved much, maybe to some extent. Well, in any case, you do very well when it comes to assembling/disassembling and recognizing guns.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re still an awful shot, though.”

Goten laughed softly. “I think I am getting better, sir.”

“You’ll have an opportunity to prove that during the finals.” The lecturer waved the papers in the air. “The results should be available in two days.”

<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>

“To you,” Goten toasted Kyon.

“To me,” Kyon agreed. He sipped his wine, then sighed. “But still, it was only a C you got.”

“Without your help, I wouldn’t have passed at all.”

“Heh,” Kyon chuckled. “You think I don’t know that? That’s why you’re treating me to this expensive wine.”

Goten churned his wine in the glass, then sniffed at it. “Is it any good?” He lifted his eyes off the rising bubbles to catch Kyon giving him an amused look. “Hey, I never said I was more than a country hick.”

“Yeah, you never did,” Kyon agreed, taking the menu and browsing through the total of five dishes available. “Not a wide range of choice,” he muttered.

“They should let you work here.”

“Yeah, that would be wise of them.”

“Not one to be modest, eh?”

“I am on a date with a man I am crazy about,” Kyon said matter-of-factly, “and there’s nothing on the list I would want to order for him.”

Goten pursed his lips. “We are not on a date.”

“The hell we aren't. And stop pouting.”

Watching Kyon being undecided about the dishes, Goten sipped his wine without another word. He owed his roommate a big one, thus he may as well humor him.

“It’s the first for me,” Goten said after a minute.

“First what?” Kyon asked, motioning for the waiter.

“Date.”

Kyon gave him an astonished look. “Have you been living under a rock?” he wondered, quickly ordering two seltaras. “Wait… What about Ranvera? Oh right, all of us went together.”

Goten laughed softly. His eyes strayed to the menu that Kyon had lowered back onto the table. The third-class winced after reading the price tag under seltara; he was going to go bankrupt.

“Don’t worry, I will pay for mine.”

Goten blushed lightly at being caught. “No, no,” he protested. “I did promise to treat you to a meal.”

Kyon chuckled, then reached for his wine. “Half of the base is going to go nuts with envy,” he said after taking a sip.

“Mm? Oh. You’re deluding yourself; I’m not that popular.”

Kyon saluted him with his wineglass. “Oh, but you are.”

“I don’t know where you got that idea; nobody has ever approached me.”

“Well, yes,” Kyon nodded. “Not while Toharu and the rest of us are around. There’s not a chance we would allow that. We do feel a great deal possessive of you, you know.”

Now it was Goten’s turn to stare at him wide-eyed.

“When will you finally choose, Goten?”

The third-class let out an annoyed grunt and leaned away from the table, squaring his shoulders. He didn’t want to be having this conversation.

“That’s a pretty impressive defensive reaction there,” Kyon commented on Goten’s posture.

“Isn’t it enough already? I said I don’t want to choose either of you. That hasn’t changed.”

“No, it isn’t enough. It will only be enough when you explain it to me.”

Goten fumbled with his words. Kyon, unlike Ranvera, didn’t pester him with sexual innuendos and didn’t pressure him all the time. However, when he did pressure, it was like ten tons of bricks landing on him. The third-class doubted Ranvera’s motives, but he was inclined to believe that Kyon was serious about him. The thing was that he also believed that he would like Kyon as a permanent partner. He had lived with the second-class for more than four months and their characters were pretty well matched. His roommate had a well-balanced personality: he was calm, practical and coolheaded. He was also caring and very good at cooking.

“A credit for your thoughts.”

Goten squirmed in his seat uncomfortably.

“Do you have some issues with your health? Or maybe you’re asexual or something?”

Goten was taken aback for a moment, then blushed lightly and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty interes-” he trailed off and blushed even harder after realizing what he had been about to say.

“Yeah, I thought so,” Kyon said, sipping his wine. “You do masturbate regularly and you don’t mind some heavy groping.” He ignored Goten’s red and annoyed face and motioned to the waiter for one more glass. “Then what the heck is going on with you? I would understand if you were interested only in females, but you aren’t interested in them either.”

“Can we just drop this topic? Please?”

“No.”

“I don’t want to choose!” Goten snapped at him. “I don’t want either of you!”

Kyon’s lips tightened, and it was clear that Goten had insulted his pride. “Alright, then reject me properly,” Kyon hissed at him. “Tell me that you don’t want to have anything to do with me and that you find me repulsive.”

“I don’t want t-”

“Look into my eyes, Goten, while saying that!”

Goten raised his eyes. “I don’t want to have any… Shit!” he cursed, dropping his eyes to the table. “I do like you, fuck you!”

Kyon laughed. He watched Goten, who was glaring at the table, nearly growling in agitation. Kyon nodded thankfully at the waiter who had approached him with another glass of wine.

“I will toast to that, Goten.”

“Whatever,” Goten muttered. Kyon had laughed in a way which was more relieved than smug, and this was making the third-class even more uncomfortable.

“Now tell me which of us you prefer.”

“No,” Goten said, perfectly aware of the fact that as soon as he admitted anything, there would be no way to turn back. He would practically be giving Kyon permission to date him.

“Goten,” Kyon snarled at him, “this isn’t a game! I am sick and tired of this!”

Goten’s eyes flashed at him. “You think I am not sick and tired of this?! Just stop that! You d-” Startled, he looked upwards at the waiter’s face while he was setting his seltara in front of him. “Thanks,” he said, his shoulders slumping. Across the table, he watched Kyon pick up his fork and knife.

“If you go for Ranvera, I promise not to interfere. But I need to know, Goten.”

Kyon wasn’t looking at him and there was something shaky in his voice. Goten suddenly realized that he wasn’t able to swallow a bite. This was only supposed to be a meaningless drinking session; why, in the world, had it turned out like this?

“I <i>need</i> to know, Goten.”

The third-class chewed with numb jaws while raking his seltara with his fork nervously. “You,” he said. “I’d definitely choose you if I needed to. But I am not choosing. I am not…” He cursed softly under his breath, realizing he just did what he had told himself not to. How was this not choosing?

Kyon sighed. “Goten, you are a bastard.”

“Yeah, you can drink to that,” Goten said moodily, stuffing more seltara into his mouth.

They ate silently for a few minutes.

“Why not let me have you, then? I just don’t understand.”

Goten’s face reddened again. All this talk made him want to crawl under the table and hide there. Despite that, it was also exciting. No matter how he berated himself, his ego was swelling like there was no tomorrow. It did feel pleasant to know he was wanted so much.

By a second-class no less.

This particular thought made Goten deflate a bit. He frowned at his plate.

“Do you have reservations when it comes to topping or bottoming?” Kyon questioned further. “Or is it that you hate the thought of anal sex in general? I know that there are some folk like that,” he added. He relented a little at the look Goten gave him. “Still…” Kyon continued carefully. “If it’s about the position, I am versatile. And anal… Well, anything goes as long as a man gets to come, right?”

Goten didn’t think he could be any redder. “I am trying to eat here, Kyon,” he muttered in protest.

“So fucking what?” his roommate snapped at him angrily. “You eat three times a day, twenty-one times a week.”

He was exasperating Kyon, he knew that. The second-class didn’t usually lose his cool like this. With his fork, Goten drew a circle on his plate. He could feel his cheeks getting cooler, the embarrassment receding. “I don’t know anything about the things you said,” he muttered. “I don’t have the experience to be able to answer any of those questions.”

“I am starting to think that you’re lying about the whole virginity business. Just to keep us away,” he added after the surprised look Goten had given him.

“Well, I am not.”

Kyon shrugged. “Doesn’t make any freakin’ difference to me. You’re playing coy where you shouldn’t.”

This made Goten bristle. “You don’t know anyth-”

“And why is that?” Kyon growled at him. “I am more than willing to know everything about you!”

It was first time that Goten felt so tempted to just get on with it and let it all out. His eyes burning, he leaned forward over the table, but then slumped backwards. He heard Kyon let out a frustrated sigh. Not without bitter satisfaction, he thought about how fast Kyon’s amorousness would turn into repulsion if he knew that he was a third-class.

Kyon watched Goten squeeze his fork between his fingers and continue picking at his cold seltara. “I want to smash a chair over your head,” Kyon admitted. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“It’s not that I want to!”

“Yes, I really hope you do have a good reason for playing around with me as you are.”

“I’m not p-” Goten started saying, then just sighed in frustration. He finished his seltara and pushed his plate away. Never had food seemed so tasteless before.

“Or is it him?”

Goten gave Kyon a questioning look, then followed the second-class’s discreet motion towards the end of the officers’ club. True enough, there was an officer’s uniform and a distinctive blob of purple.

“Oh gods,” Goten muttered.

“You know, I am starting to think that Toharu might be right and you two are banging each other.”

Wide-eyed and incredulous, Goten turned to look at Kyon. He would probably have hit his roommate were he not so stunned. Kyon was asking for it. He had admitted he liked Kyon, right, but that didn’t give him any right to go batshit crazy with jealousy and spew shit like that. Did it?

Maybe it did.

Goten rubbed his forehead fervently. He had made a mistake, a very serious mistake. “Toharu is talking shit. There’s nothing between us. It’s impossible, Kyon. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do,” Kyon agreed. “But it being impossible doesn’t mean that you can’t want him or he can’t want you.”

“Oh gods, I had no idea you are so possessive.”

“And is that a bad thing?”

“Umm…” Goten felt himself blush again. He wished he would stop doing that; he didn’t even need to say anything – his face showed everything. “I don’t know. It does, in fact, feel…pretty nice.” He groaned mentally, suddenly realizing that he had just encouraged Kyon to act possessively towards him, maybe even to the point of delusion. This conversation was going downhill much faster than he could have ever predicted.

“Oh gods,” mumbled the third-class. “Can we change the topic before I get naked and start dancing on the table?”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Kyon chuckled, pushing his plate away, also done eating. “But alright, you’ve been a good boy today and I’m willing to let you off for now. Let’s just order a couple of beers.” He shook his head in disbelief when Goten exhaled in relief and leaned back into his chair, relaxed. This made him want to launch his empty plate at his roommate.

<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>

Goten and Kyon staggered into their barracks. Once inside the hallway, Goten looked at the steep stairs and moaned loudly.

“There’s no way I’m climbing that,” he said to his roommate.

Kyon observed the stairs. There was a big possibility that Goten would tumble downstairs and break a bone or two; the savar could hardly keep himself upright.

“Well, I’ll help you.”

“Excuse me for doubting you, but you are wobbling,” the third-class pointed out.

“Am I?” Kyon wondered, grabbing Goten by his waist and dragging him towards the stairs. He stumbled and would have whammed his head into the metallic railing if not for Goten pulling him backwards. The two of them ended up rolling on the ground.

They laughed and shushed each other while safely climbing the stairs on all fours like cats. Triumphantly, they reached their floor and even their corridor. It was dark in the hall and Kyon reached out for the switch. The bulb blinked into life. The second-class tried to open the door to their room but found it locked. He knocked, but no one stirred inside; it was empty. Cursing under his breath, Kyon leaned himself and Goten against the wall and started fumbling through his pockets.

“Do you have the key?” he asked Goten after his search didn’t yield positive results.

He watched Goten clumsily pat over his pockets, feeling for the key.

“Just let me,” Kyon said after it became obvious that even if Goten had it, he would probably miss it in his current state.

“Pervert,” Goten said with a chuckle when Kyon’s hand slid into his front pocket.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kyon muttered. His action had been innocent, but Goten’s words made him wonder whether his roommate would like some groping. He pulled Goten a little bit forward off the wall while his hand glided into the younger male’s back pocket. He was most regretful when he grasped the key there.

“Found it,” Kyon muttered pulling it out.

“Yay!”

Both of them stumbled to the door. It took about a minute for Kyon to finally fit it into the keyhole and open the door.

“Safe!” Goten said happily, entering the room. He stumbled over someone’s boots scattered on the ground and lost his footing, landing onto the floor with a loud crash.

“You alright?” Kyon asked while his hand was groping the wall next to him, looking for the light switch.

Light flooded the room and Goten turned around to stare up at Kyon. “I fell,” he said and giggled stupidly.

“Yeah, you did,” Kyon confirmed, trying to kick aside the offending boots Goten had tripped over. The second-class nearly fell over due to his lack of balance. Closing the door, and securely leaning against it, he looked at Goten, who was still lying on the floor. “Are you going to sleep there?”

Goten grunted. He was too lazy and too tired to get up. He yawned, then held his hands out for Kyon. “Carry me?”

Sighing, Kyon pushed himself off the wall and staggered up to his roommate. He took Goten’s hands and heaved, trying to get him on his feet. It ended with him falling forward and nearly smacking his forehead against the floor.

“Ugff!” Goten exhaled as he was sandwiched.

Kyon raised himself on his hands to look at Goten. “Why are you so heavy?” he complained.

Trying to push the second-class off him, Goten laughed. “You’re not exactly weightless either. Get off.”

Kyon watched his roommate squirming underneath him, their bodies touching intimately. “I kinda like this,” he informed Goten. With that, the fact that there were only the two in the room made itself known. This was the best opportunity he would ever get; their roommates were away, probably playing cards, and he had Goten drunk and pinned underneath him.

Goten only now became aware of the position he was in. “Hmm… You’re getting hard,” he hummed, still fruitlessly trying to push Kyon away. “You’re heavy, Kyon. Off.”

“I am not one to take advantage of a drunken friend,” Kyon drawled unsteadily. “But I am also drunk and will make an exception this time.” He reached down between them and started fumbling with Goten’s belt.

Goten laughed loudly. “I’m a special case, aren’t I?” Goten's squirming against Kyon only resulted in him sprouting a light erection and his pants being unzipped, but he finally gathered his strength and managed to roll over onto his stomach. He started crawling towards his bed.

Kyon grabbed him by his trousers, trying to keep him in place. “Hey, where are you going?”

“To sleep. I’m dead drunk and tired,” Goten answered, continuing to crawl along the floor. He suddenly felt a light draft of air over his ass. Confused, he turned around to find that he had crawled out of his trousers and underwear.

“Damn,” Kyon said, staring at Goten’s bare ass in awe. Wondering how that happened, the second-class looked at his hand holding his roommate’s trousers. His attention quickly returned to the globes in front of him. He grinned.

“Gah!” Goten gasped as Kyon’s palms landed on his ass cheeks with two loud smacks. “Hey, quit that!”

“No way,” Kyon laughed, crawling over him.

Goten made a soft noise at the back of his throat when he felt his roommate’s clad erection press against his buttocks. “Kyon, quit it,” Goten protested, rolling over, trying to protect his ass from the insistent inspection. However, this resulted in him and Kyon rubbing their erections together. Seeing that the change in their position had hardly helped the matter, Goten chuckled. Kyon felt warm over him. Yawning, he closed his eyes.

“I want you so bad.”

“Hmm…”

“Hey,” Kyon ground his hips against his roommate’s, trying to get some response. “Don’t tell me you are sleeping…”

“Mhmn… alm’st.”

For a few seconds, Kyon tried to coax Goten into doing something more exciting than sleeping, but Goten was largely unresponsive. Well, most of him.

Sighing, Kyon rolled off his roommate. “At least get your pants on.”

There was no reply to that, Goten now peacefully asleep, bothered neither by his undecided cock, which didn’t know whether it should stay alert or lay down, nor by Kyon’s hungry eyes.

The second-class staggered to Goten’s bunk, dragged the covers off the bed and towards his roommate where he dropped them on Goten. He decided that this would do; he was still too pissed off to be generous and get Goten into the bed.

<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>

The shaii was running his eleventh circle around the base when he felt someone watching him. Not ceasing to run, he looked around. It was ten o’clock in the evening, and it was already dark, the lampposts illuminating streaks of air around them.

“I’m here, sir,” Goten called out, waving his hand.

The prince stopped and raised his head to look above him. Goten was sitting on the roof of the Laundromats’ building. He couldn’t see the savar’s face and he could hardly make out his figure, but he recognized Goten’s voice.

“What the hell are you doing up there?”

“Hmm… Enjoying some cool air, sir?” Goten offered.

“Isn’t it too cold already?” the prince asked. Not one to stand idly, he started stretching.

Goten watched him bend over and touch the ground, then lean to his right and then his left. “I’ve been playing cards at Ario and Toharu’s, sir,” he said. “There were about twenty people in there; the room’s like a furnace.”

“Ah, I see. Catching some fresh air, then.”

“Yes, sir. What are you doing so late, sir? I mean, I know what you’re doing, but why so late?”

The shaii chuckled at the way the third-class tried to eliminate any possibility of him picking on his words. “I don’t like being watched, that’s why.”

Goten thought about this. Well, yes, he had to agree that the prince would draw quite a lot of attention to himself. “That’s a pain in the ass, sir,” he concluded finally.

The shaii rolled his eyes at Goten being as blunt as he was while still trying to sound respectful. It just didn’t work anymore. Both of them acted way too familiar towards each other. Whether Goten liked it or not, they were more like friends than a superior and a subordinate.

“I started exercising hardly a month ago,” the prince said. Now he realized that he simply could not help himself. Goten was an illness he had caught. It was probably incurable as well.

“You mean you didn’t before, sir?”

“Of course I did, but not to such an extent.”

“Hmm…” Goten drawled while watching the prince going through a complicated kata. It was an awful sight to behold - the man was doing it all wrong; he wasn’t concentrating at all. What was he thinking about to be so distracted? “So why start now, sir?”

“Because you nearly beat the crap out of me.”

It was silent for a minute, then Goten cleared his throat. “I shall be careful from now on, sir. I didn’t think your elite pride would be hurt so much,” he said with a soft snicker.

“I will hit you,” the prince threatened. He wasn’t certain whether Goten was serious or was just teasing him. Goten was silent and the prince thought that maybe the third-class didn’t know that himself. “I simply…”

“Sir?” Goten asked as the shaii had just lapsed into silence.

“I just realized I’m an idiot.”

“Oh?” Goten seemed to be unimpressed. “Good for you, sir.”

“You…” the prince trailed off again. The third-class yelped as he was cuffed over his head. He stared in surprise as the prince landed next to him. “And whose fault do you think it is?” the shaii snorted at him.

Goten thanked all the gods there were that it was dark and the shaii could not see his burning face. “Maybe your parents’, sir?” he mumbled, turning his head away from the prince, his troubled gaze concentrating on one of the lampposts. The prince was so close to him that suddenly Goten’s ears were filled with his own frantic heartbeat. He could feel his palms starting to sweat with the desire to touch the other man. It was dark and nobody would see his hands, not even himself.

The prince stared at the back of Goten’s head and felt the urge to grab the third-class and shake him for good measure. He didn’t exactly know what he wanted to shake out of Goten. Some answers, some reaction, but what was the point? What was he going to do with those answers, that reaction?

“I saw you have full moon training in two days,” the prince said, desperate to change the topic before either of them did something they’d regret later.

Goten tensed, and the prince’s eyes picked on a sensual shiver which passed through Goten’s body. Suddenly, he thought that mentioning the full moon training hadn’t been a good idea. The full moon affected Saiyans in different ways. They either became aggressive, excited sexually, or both. The prince realized that Goten’s reaction to full moon wasn’t difficult to figure out; Goten wasn’t aggressive by nature. He had seen the other Saiyan drunk quite a few times and Goten was never aggressive. While drunk, Goten would love everyone to bits for a while and then just fall asleep peacefully. Obviously, the moon would make the third-class horny.

And right now, that was the last thing he wanted Goten to be thinking about.

“Yes, sir,” Goten muttered. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”

But damn it, he did want Goten to think about that!

“Oh really? Why?” the shaii asked. He cursed himself mentally; he really couldn’t help pushing.

Goten cleared his throat. “Yes, really, sir.” He was still not looking at the prince, his blank gaze hovering above the lamppost. “I don’t have much control over it.”

“Hmm… How was last time you had the training?”

The shaii watched the third-class squirm where he sat. He thought he had even heard him gasp aloud at the question.

Take that.

“Is there any news about my father, sir?”

Fuck you, Goten.

It was somehow astonishing that Goten managed to bring up his father at a moment like this. The shaii shook his head in disbelief. “You know I’d tell you as soon as I received any news.”

“Yes, I know, sir,” Goten said in a guilty voice.

The prince pressed his lips together. It had only been Goten’s attempt to distract him, but he felt he had lost his wish to… He didn’t even know what he had been doing before the third-class interrupted him. Whatever he had been doing, it had been dangerous. “It’s only natural,” he mumbled. “You’re worried about him.”

Goten gave him a sideways look. The third-class knew he was aware of why he brought up his father so suddenly. It was very likely that Goten also felt ashamed. The shaii wondered what the third-class would do if he kept on pressuring. Since he had found out what Goten really was, he had been having a hard time convincing himself that he and Goten were an impossibility. Maybe what he was would override his class in the public eye? Would it change Goten’s thoughts on the issue as well? Probably it wouldn’t. Or maybe?

The prince suddenly felt tempted to tell Goten everything; gods only knew when his father was going to return. Maybe he would never return. And maybe there was a chance of Goten accepting him. He could not afford to waste either that time or that chance.

Goten started as the prince ungracefully flopped down onto the edge of the roof to sit beside him. The third-class looked at him for a few seconds, waiting, then lowered his eyes down to stare at his feet which hung high above the ground. Absentmindedly, he dangled them to discover that he could hardly see his boots in this half-light.

“Sir?” Goten asked tentatively, as the prince just kept sitting silently.

“I’m thinking.”

“Oh, that’s a good thing, sir. I was afraid you weren’t,” Goten said, standing up. “I’ll be going then, sir. Good night.”

“Wait.” The prince’s hand shot out of its own accord and grabbed the fabric of Goten’s trousers. “I haven’t finished thinking.”

Goten looked at the hand clasping his trousers. He was suddenly amazed this was happening. Goten slowly lowered his own hand to pry the prince’s fingers off. “But I have, sir. Please, let go.” Somewhere in the back of his head, Goten realized that this was his fault as well – he shouldn’t have…he simply shouldn’t have done so many of the things that had lead to this moment.

The shaii’s hand was warm and the third-class felt him shiver when he enclosed the shaii’s fingers with his own. He tugged softly. The prince let go of his trousers, and Goten realized he regretted that a little. He felt angry with himself for that. The prince was looking at him, but he was facing away from the lamppost, the only source of light, and Goten couldn’t see his face. He could feel the eyes, though. What was the man staring at him so intently for? And then, belatedly, Goten realized that he was still holding the prince’s hand. He released it quickly.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he spilled out hurriedly. “I…”

“Goten…”

His name was probably meant to stop him from apologizing further, or maybe it was meant to simply make him quiet, or maybe it was a plea. Lost, Goten stood still for a few moments. He suddenly became aware of how close he was standing to the prince – closer than an arm’s reach. He could feel the other man’s eyes on him, looking at him… Then the shaii shifted slightly and a bout of blinding desire swept through Goten’s body again. He could tell it was not really his, not all of it; he was mostly responding to the whiff of pheromones that had suddenly assaulted his senses. This made him realize that the prince was probably drunk with lust. He could probably do anything to the man right now. If he wanted, he could probably push him down flat on his back and have him right here, on the roof.

Goten felt his palms starting to sweat again. The prince was just sitting there quietly with his legs spread lightly. The third-class couldn’t see, but he knew the man was aroused. This half-darkness was making Goten bold and he nearly stepped closer. Catching himself, he stumbled backwards. The thought, or absence of any, made him panicky. Then Goten did something which would keep him blushing for the next two weeks and, when reminded of it, for the rest of his life: he turned around and ran, ran like hell, leaving the amused and disappointed prince to sit there alone.

<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>

“Goten, come here,” Kyon motioned.

Goten raised his eyes off the lettuce he was chopping. Kyon was standing farther in the kitchen, next to the table near the stoves, looking at something in the corner between the wall and the table.

“Hmm?” Goten wondered, putting his knife down on the battered cutting board. “What’s in there?”

“Come, come.”

Rubbing his hands together to unstick the clingy lettuce, Goten walked over and stood next to Kyon. In the corner, as usual, he could see some pieces of paper, two plates, one with water, another with some kind of food.

“And?”

“Here, look here,” Kyon showed, lifting one of the papers. “The eggs.”

“Oh!” Goten grinned excitedly at the sight of a few whitish oval forms. “She laid eggs!”

“Yup!” Kyon grinned back at him.

Goten clapped his roommate on his shoulder. “So now we’re gonna have loads of Fluffies!”

“I think it’s going to be about twenty. Maybe more.”

“Oh shit. Where are we going to put that many of them? And then they will start breeding like mad! The base is going to be infested with them! We’d be fined or something!”

Kyon laughed at Goten’s worried face. “Don’t worry, silly. It’s too hot for them to live outside.”

Goten looked relieved. “I see.” He went to wash his hands. Kyon was very definite about washing hands before touching food. He had also explained that the whip snakes carried a bacterium which, even if not dangerous for Saiyans, was dangerous for Humans. None of the staff wanted to be responsible for wiping out any of their unplanned interstellar guests. There was also the question of half-Human-half-Saiyans. Sometimes, their immune system worked like that of Saiyans’, sometimes like Humans’, and sometimes it consisted of parts of both and also missed parts of both. It was practically impossible to predict how a person of mixed blood would react to various types of bacteria. As far as Goten knew, the prince was the only one of mixed blood on the base. Poisoning him would result in the execution of the entire kitchen personnel.

Goten took his knife again and continued chopping lettuce. When his thoughts turned to the prince, he could feel his face becoming hot. He had been desperately, but successfully, avoiding the prince since that time on the roof. For the entire week after that, he had been steering clear of the elites and <i>Matilda</i>, attending all his lessons and being painfully polite to everyone. Currently, he was the epitome of obedience. Anything, as long as he didn’t need to go to the shaii’s office.

At least one of them had to be the voice of reason.

He wondered if the prince thought about it. He hoped he did, because if temptation like that were presented to him again, Goten wasn’t certain he would be able to resist it. He liked the man and he had never felt anything like that, like he did then, on that roof: it had been strong and overwhelming.

Goten grunted as the edge of the knife he was using chipped at the tip of his finger. He stuck the finger into his mouth. Idly, he poked the lettuce with the knife, then let go of it.

And they hardly even touched hands!

Annoyed, still sucking on his finger, Goten shook his head. Kyon and Ranvera had done to him so much more than that and he had never responded to them like this. Probably that was because he kept on thinking that they didn’t know that he was only a third-class. He was always on his guard with them. But wasn’t he on his guard with the shaii as well? Even more so! And yet…

Was he in love? Nah, more likely he was only in lust. He needed to get laid, but there wasn’t a suitable partner. Goten huffed, pulled his finger out of his mouth, and took a look at it. It had stopped bleeding and the shallow cut was already healing. Goten picked up the knife again. He didn’t want to feel like that ever again, not with the prince – it was too dangerous.

TBC