Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Barracks ❯ Part 50 ( Chapter 50 )

[ 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.

Barracks

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

Part 50

“This is the canteen,” Almanda said, pointing at the door for Goten and Reyn, who were following her. “Breakfast is at eight, lunch at two, dinner at seven.”

“Uh. What time is it now?” Goten asked. He had seen an electronic clock above the door in his newly acquired cabin, but he hadn’t paid any attention to the time.

“Four in the morning,” Reyn said. “These colonies do mess up one’s sense of time, don’t they?”

Goten nodded in agreement. “Will we stay awake or should we go to sleep?”

“Go to sleep,” Reyn said in a clear-cut tone. He was fine, but he worried about Goten, who had acted rather bizarre after hearing that Draman had been Gohan’s lover. Not to mention him having had one of those dreams, and then having an elite bang his head against a wall. He suspected that Goten’s current mental state was not too stable.

Almanda stopped and turned around to look at them. “Not before you explain what shit you got yourselves into,” she demanded.

“What’s it to you?”

The female gave Reyn a level stare. The older man, just like Goten, didn’t seem to be respectful towards the elite class. He was treating her like she was his equal. She would have already given him a free, but painful, lecture on how to behave around her or any other elite, but he was Goten’s friend and she wasn’t certain how to react.

“Believe it or not,” she said reaching out to pat Goten on his head, “I owe this little bastard.”

“Yeah. She broke my tail once,” Goten informed Reyn.

Almanda flinched. “Don’t even mention that. And that was not exactly what I meant.”

“She broke your tail?” Reyn wondered with evident horror in his voice. “Why?”

“That’s ancient history,” the elite said sternly before Goten could open his mouth. “But you’re starting to piss me off too.” She gave Reyn’s tail a meaningful stare, and saw the plain brown tip twitch in response. After raising her head, however, she saw that the flight officer wasn’t sure how he should take it. He was obviously perplexed, surprised by the threat, and was giving her an uncertain look. Almanda found the expression on his face confusing.

Goten slapped himself on the forehead; there was some serious miscommunication going on. She obviously thought that Reyn was a mere second-class and she could easily order him around. He had to talk to Almanda and warn her not to threaten Reyn. The flight officer, on the other hand, didn’t know how to react to Almanda at all. Reyn had really been tolerant up until now, since, despite the fact that Almanda was an elite, she was also a female. However, if Almanda insisted on customary formalities, Reyn was going to snap in no time.

“What was that for?” Almanda wondered, staring at Goten’s reddish forehead.

Goten pointed at Reyn. “He...” he started resignedly; if he had to say it eventually, why not now? “He,” Goten repeated, still pointing in the general direction of where Reyn was standing, “is just like me; actually even stronger. He can easily flatten you or any other of your elite friends to the ground.”

Almanda blinked at Goten, then turned to stare at Reyn. It suddenly became clear to her, the flight officer’s peculiar reaction to her attempt at intimidating him. “Ah. And here I wondered why you chose him over Kyon…”

“Oh, gods!” Goten exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead again. “It’s not that at all!”

“Put a bit more effort into it and you’ll knock yourself out,” Reyn remarked drily, annoyed by Goten shooting his mouth off.

“Fuck you!” Goten snapped at the flight officer.

Reyn gave him a bitter look. “Already arranged.” He turned to Almanda. “Listen, we are seriously sleep deprived. There will be enough time to continue this insanity after a good eight-hours or so of sleep.”

Almanda looked at Goten, who nodded. “No matter how much I’d like to argue with him, he’s right. A lot’s happened and I really don’t feel that well.”

Frowning, the elite opened her mouth with an intention to protest, but the look on Reyn’s face made her close it again. The look wasn’t exactly threatening; it was more of a warning and a request at once. His hand was already hovering over Goten’s shoulder and, once Almanda nodded, landed there. He hardly touched Goten but, annoyed by the attempt to guide him, the younger man shook it off and stomped away.

“That’s the wrong direction, you moron,” the flight officer spat.

With a snort, Goten turned sharply and headed back.

“Did you have an argument?” Almanda wondered while Goten was marching past her.

“No, that’s how he always is,” Reyn grunted. “Even more so when he’s tired.”

“I’m not!”

“You are.”

“I’m not!”

Reyn’s patience snapped like a string, making him growl. “Shut up and go to sleep!”

Goten glared at the flight officer challengingly, but then just snorted and strode away. Almanda stared at his back until it disappeared around the bend. Then she looked at Reyn, who was obviously waiting for the younger male to cool off before joining him. Goten had always had strong authority issues, but he was clearly overdoing it now. He was practically rejecting any concern his partner expressed towards him; it was natural that Reyn was pissed off. Goten probably realized that as well, or was going to in a few minutes.

“He’ll get lost,” Almanda said.

“He will,” Reyn agreed. He let out a long sigh then, in a few more seconds, followed the other third-class.

When he reached their cabin, Goten was nowhere to be seen, and it took Reyn ten minutes to find him wandering Mantanko’s corridors. During that time, Goten had already been joined by four second-class officers who had offered their assistance in his search. Not without annoyance, Reyn realized that Goten was going to be just as popular on Mantanko as he had been on Starcut. There was just something about Goten that attracted all types of busybodies.

“They were just trying to help me find our room,” Goten said once they were inside their cabin. Reyn looked annoyed, and the younger male wasn’t certain what it was about. Regretting he had opened his mouth at all, Goten blushed lightly when Reyn’s eyebrows rose at his words. They had not tried to define their relationship, and the flight officer had never spoken to him about anything concerning that topic. Yet, the younger male could clearly remember Reyn telling him that he was the possessive type. Regarding that and the fact that Reyn had joined him on this spontaneous and erratic quest without hesitation, he felt he owed an explanation to the other man. Whether Reyn expected it of him or not.

“I really appreciate the clarification,” Reyn said, sitting down on his bed. He started pulling his boots off. “That’s what you think, though,” he could not help adding.

Goten rolled his eyes. “Well, of course, they were curious as to who had joined the crew.”

“Yes, yes.”

Goten didn’t even need Reyn say that they were also checking him out and gauging their chances with him. He knew that himself. But wasn’t that only natural? And really, did Reyn think him that naïve? Well, of course he did.

With a tired sigh, Goten flopped onto the bed opposite Reyn’s and started taking his uniform off. The air in the cabin was stale, but Reyn had turned on the air conditioning system and it was clearing out by the minute. It also smelled of metal and unwashed feet, just like on Starcut. These smells were probably permanent, a trademark of all spaceships. The bedding was not slept in, but it hadn’t been used for a long time and had acquired that particular tinge of mustiness too.

“We have a problem.”

Goten raised his head to look at Reyn’s back. Shirtless, only in his underwear, the flight officer was squatting down at the end of the cabin, staring at something in the wardrobe.

“What is it?”

“Come and take a look.”

Alarmed, Goten slid off the bed and walked up to the other Saiyan. He looked past Reyn’s head, inside the wardrobe. Two glittering eyes stared back at him from the dark depths of his suitcase. Slowly, Goten sat down on the cold metallic floor.

“Didn’t you feel anything moving inside when you took it?” he asked.

Reyn made a rather intricate gesture with his right hand, then turned his head to the side. “Umm… Well, yeah. But I gave it a few good shakes and it stopped.” The flight officer turned his head to the side after his eyes met Goten’s incredulous face. “Well, I was kinda….in a hurry.”

Goten withheld the comments he badly wanted to share with his friend and concentrated back on Mr. Elite. What were they going to do with the animal? They couldn’t send it back and, in all probability, they would not be allowed to keep it either. Monteira was probably already going nuts looking for his pet. Nevertheless, he couldn’t contact the gunnery sergeant either since that would give away his current location.

“Well, we’ll keep him,” Goten decided.

“That’s kind of obvious,” Reyn said. It was not like they could throw the animal into open space. “What was he doing in your suitcase anyway?”

Goten gave the cat a look. He grinned. “Was probably trying to shit on my clothes. Ain’t life a bitch, huh?” The cat stared back at him quietly.

“What does he eat?”

“I’m more interested in his other end,” Goten said. “I’m not cleaning up after him.”

“Hey, neither am I!”

“Well, you brought him here,” Goten pointed out.

“But he’s in your suitcase!”

Goten gave the other third-class a look.

“Well, I suppose we can take turns,” Reyn conceded.

Once that was settled, they turned to the black creature again. Goten figured that the cat was in some kind of shock. He reached into his suitcase to take his clothes out but, with a furious hiss, followed by a series of spitting, the animal brandished his claws at once. He was not going to give up his comfortable and soft lair without a fight. It was also probably the only place he felt safe.

“Well, fine,” Goten said, pulling his hand away. “But if you crap on them, you’re going to be sent to the nearest sun via Goten Express.”

Reyn rolled his eyes and stood up. “That would be too much work. Just drown him in the toilets.”

Goten stood up as well and returned to his bed. He took off his scouter and stored it in a small drawer in the metal cupboard at the end of his bed. Reyn called for the lights to go out, and the younger male slipped under the blankets. He was so exhausted that he expected to fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Nothing of the sort happened, though. Hours passed and he was still awake. At some point, the cat came out of his sanctuary and Goten could hear him softly padding to and fro in the cabin. Some time later, Mr. Elite headed back to the wardrobe and settled down in his suitcase again.

Goten kept his eyes closed and drifted in and out of near sleep, but would suddenly rouse with an anxious jolt. He moved about in the bed to try and find a more comfortable position that would finally allow him to fall asleep, but his approaching sleep was disturbed every time he jolted.

Goten was rolling onto his other side one more time when he heard Reyn curse softly. The older man’s bed creaked and footsteps echoed in the cabin. Goten turned around to look at him in the darkness. The mattress on his bed dipped beneath Reyn's weight.

“What?”

“Your bed is squeaking as if you're skinning someone alive,” Reyn complained.

“Uh. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Reyn said, his right hand slipping under the younger male’s covers.

“We can switch beds. Maybe yours is… What are you doing?” Goten asked, blinking when the flight officer’s hand smoothed his chest.

“Something that should help you fall asleep after,” Reyn said, leaning in closer to kiss Goten.

The kiss was unhurried, gentle, and Goten found himself answering in the same manner. They kept it slow and soft for several minutes, then Reyn’s hand slid down into the younger man’s underwear. Molding his palm around the rousing length, he swallowed Goten’s soft sigh.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” Reyn said between the unhurried kisses he kept giving Goten. “You’re incredibly lucky,” he continued, his palm starting to move up and down the younger male’s shaft slowly. “Just think about it: out of hundreds of thousands ships, you managed to find one with two elite Saiyans who would probably protect you with their lives. If that’s not luck, I don’t know what is. And you’ve also got the cat,” he added with a chuckle.

Goten grinned and shook his head. “The eight other elites, though, will try to kill me. That’s…” he started saying, but was cut off by Reyn’s tongue in his mouth. He let out a soft sigh when the other man’s mouth slid down to graze at his throat.

“If they are smart, they won’t. They would not want to go against their shaii’s orders. Besides, opposing the only elite female they have onboard would make them uncomfortable. As long as you don’t fuck her, that is.”

Goten’s eyes blinked open in surprise. “Me and Almanda? What are you saying? There’s no way we…”

Reyn chuckled at his reaction. “Oh?” he hummed, flicking his thumb over the damp head of the shaft he held in his hand. He felt the younger male buck against him. “Are you really that naïve? Well, never mind, then.”

Maybe he really was naïve after all. It was not as if he hadn’t thought about Almanda. Of course he had. Wasn’t that natural? But it was out of the question and an occasional thought was as far as he was ever going to get. Reyn talked as if there was something to consider. There wasn’t. Was there?

“It’s nonsense you’re saying,” Goten muttered.

Reyn said nothing to that, and it meant the topic was as good as over. Goten closed his eyes again, enjoying the sensations. The languid pleasure he felt was growing more exciting, the warmth from his lower body spreading all over him. His breathing rate had sped up as well.

Reyn pushed the blanket aside. He gave Goten’s stomach a few teasing licks, then lowered his head to where the other man really ached. An involuntary grunt slid past Goten’s lips when the heat of the flight officer’s mouth enveloped him. He had not expected Reyn to give him oral and it was a pleasant surprise. It also made sense – it was going to be less messy.

The flight officer kept a steady, unhurried pace. Soon, it wasn't enough. Goten demanded more with a firm grip on Reyn’s hair. The other man pried his hand out of his hair and lowered it to his side. Goten uttered a protest, but didn’t attempt to make Reyn go faster again. Then the older man shifted and Goten felt his hand slip between his thighs. He grunted when a finger slid into him. It didn’t go deep into him, slipping out nearly as soon as it entered. Then it slid back in.

“Mmm…”

It was only a fingertip, yet Goten was amazed by how much it aroused him. It rubbed inside him, then around his entrance. Unconsciously, Goten spread his thighs wider, wanting more, though Reyn continued to use only the tip of his finger. It wasn't long before Goten came. A strangled gasp left his mouth through gritted teeth while his toes curled. Gripping at the sheets, he spurted into the older man’s mouth.

“That was good,” Goten mumbled once he could breathe again. He felt Reyn’s finger slipping out of him. It had felt really good.

“Glad you liked it,” the flight officer said, climbing off the bed with the intention of removing his underwear. “How about returning the favor?” There was no answer and in a few seconds Reyn realized that Goten had fallen asleep. “Freakin’ bastard.”

Goten could hear pieces of conversation transpiring around him, but he was still half-asleep and could hardly register the meaning of the flowing words. His body felt heavy and clumsy, eyelids leaden. He snuggled deeper into the covers, unknowingly drawing the two people’s eyes towards himself. Voices washed over him again.

“He doesn’t seem ill or anything…”

Reyn shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t look like one of those ‘winter slumbers’ of his either. He’s probably just exhausted; these past few days were really difficult for him.”

“Maybe I should call the doctor? He’s been sleeping for fourteen hours straight after all… And it doesn’t seem like he is going to wake up any time soon.”

Reyn’s gaze left Goten’s covered back to concentrate on Almanda. Her eyes met his and he shrugged again. “If you think it’s necessary; it certainly won’t harm him to be checked out.”

Both of them turned to Goten when he sighed softly. The sigh was sleepy, content. Almanda glanced at Reyn. Without Goten’s conscious presence, the man was quite different, somehow more pacific. She had spent about fifteen minutes conversing with him and had yet to hear the annoyance and sarcasm in his voice which seemed to be constantly present when Goten was around.

“He has problems with accepting others’ leadership,” Almanda said. “He finds it irritating and, most importantly, challenging. He used to get into trouble on the base all the time. Elites, second-classes, officers, you name it.”

Reyn was giving her a perplexed look but, in a few seconds, nodded. “Yes. I’d have never figured he’d be so dominant concerning that. He doesn’t give that impression.”

“He also easily takes the lead over others if the opportunity arises,” Almanda warned him.

The flight officer thought for a moment, then nodded again. He didn’t quite agree with that, though. He had seen Goten take initiative, but usually it went the other way around – people followed Goten of their own. Just like he had. There was just something about Goten that made people trust him.

“He’s a fine lad,” Reyn said.

The elite shrugged. “I didn’t say he wasn’t. He just has issues with…”

“Stop… Stop talking about me…”

Almanda and Reyn turned to Goten. Goten was facing them, his sleepy eyes opening and closing, obviously trying to stay focused and failing.

“Are you alright?” Reyn asked, approaching his bed. “Does anything hurt?”

“‘m fine. Sleepy. Bathroom.”

It took them about thirty minutes to get to the bathroom and to return. Almanda spent her time waiting in one of the chairs. The cabin still smelled of sex and she felt awkward sitting there, waiting for them to return. They owed her an explanation though. She had tried asking Reyn and he told her that they were saving the universe. He mentioned something about rainbow unicorns when she asked what enemy they were saving it from. At that point, Almanda realized that there was absolutely no point in trying to make him talk.

When the two men returned to the cabin, Goten looked and sounded much livelier. “It was your fault!” he said as soon as he crossed the threshold.

Reyn rolled his eyes. “What do you mean my fault? You were the one holding it!”

Almanda noted that both of them looked amused.  “What happened?” she asked.

“He pissed all over the wall.”

Goten glared at him. “That’s because you made me laugh!”

Almanda snorted. “Lovely.” She watched Goten walk over to his bed and sit down. He looked rested.

“Will you be sleeping again?” Reyn asked when the other third-class lay down on his side.

Goten shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Just…”

“Then let’s have dinner. It’s about time.”

At the mention of food, Goten perked up.

“Hey, hey,” Almanda called when the two eager men headed for the door again, “aren’t you forgetting something?” She frowned when Goten gave her a tortured look. Why couldn’t she refuse this little prick? “Fine!” she growled. “Just go and have your damn dinner!” It was not as if Goten could avoid her forever; Mantanko wasn’t a very large ship and Goten was going to be around for five days.

The canteen was busy with chewing and slurping men. There were about thirty of them. Some crewmen were conversing, but mostly the room was filled with the sound of scraping and the clanging of metallic and tempered plastic bowls. The noise ceased gradually at the sight of Reyn and Goten entering the canteen. When they reached the counter, there was hardly a sound heard.

While Reyn was ladling cabbage soup into his plastic bowl, Goten took the opportunity to study the crew.  There were five elites seated at the door – the best place in the canteen, where the smells of burned oil and cabbage weren’t so pungent. Two of the elites were those who Goten had fought in the toilets back on Meia Colony. He noted that one’s arm was thickly bandaged, and the other had a tight wrapping around the lower part of his head to hold his jaw in place. Goten could not remember having broken anyone’s arms, and the third elite was missing altogether.

It was obvious that, while he had been sleeping, some information exchange had taken place. It was not only the elites that were glaring his way. All the second-classes were staring at him as well. Goten had not expected the elites to talk so readily about getting beat up by a second-class.

“I’m screwed,” Goten muttered when they were sitting down at one of the two free tables next to the counter.

“Mm?” Reyn wondered, arranging his plates in front of him. He looked at Goten, then cast his eyes around the canteen. “Oh,” he said. “It’s not you. It’s me. I forgot to tell you, but about two years ago I punched their captain out.” He gave Goten a sheepish grin. “Just happened.”

An answering grin appeared on Goten’s face. “The captain and a few others, right?”

“Umm… I think it was three or four second-classes, too.”

“Yup, I figured it was something like that when Sildara told you to stay out of trouble. Such a small world.”

Reyn shoveled a spoonful of cabbage soup into his mouth. If not for Starcut’s crew occasionally reminding him of the incident, he would have forgotten it completely, for he had been drunk out of his head and two years was plenty of time to forget. Now all of it had returned. He had been using the showers when he saw a few familiar faces. From then on, word spread throughout Mantanko like wildfire. He had also exchanged none too friendly looks with the captain in one of the corridors. It was really true that the past, sooner or later, came to bite one in the ass.

“So they hate you, huh?” Goten muttered around his spoon.

Reyn shook his head. “Not everyone.”

“Hmm… What was the fight about?”

Embarrassed, the flight officer squirmed in his seat. “You see, I was really, really drunk. I don’t think the captain was much more sober either. I think he flirted, and I probably flirted back, and then he had latched onto me as if there was no tomorrow.”

Goten started chortling. “He was coming on to you?” Somehow he found it hard to imagine and that resulted in a new bout of sniggering.

Considering whether it was worth discussing, the flight officer swallowed some more soup. He lowered his spoon into the bowl and stirred the soup idly. “I think it got to the point where he got mad with me, or maybe it was the other way round. In any case, I punched him out cold. And then some of his crew joined in.”

The other third-class shook his head. “This sounds pretty bad.”

The flight officer shrugged and lifted a spoonful to his mouth. “Not really. I paid a huge fine for damaging the property but that was it. Later, from one of his own men, I heard that this happened pretty much every time he set foot in a bar. I also heard he gives a hard time to his crewmen as well.”

“Sexual harassment, you mean? Ah,” he continued when Reyn nodded, “and then you appeared and taught him a lesson?”

“Well, a few men have greeted me quite warmly, so it seems that some of them do think that way.”

“Didn’t he recognize you? Back there, on the captain’s bridge?”

Reyn chuckled. “Both of us were drunk at that time. I didn’t recognize him either. Oh, I used to wear my hair long, too.”

Goten gave Reyn a once-over. The flight officer wasn’t someone who would catch other people’s eyes. His looks were average. Just as Goten had told Almanda, he believed that the two of them were quite fitting in that sense. He wondered, not for the first time, what Reyn looked like with his hair long.

“So has anyone tried anything yet?”

Reyn pushed his empty bowl away. “No,” he said, his attention already on the cutlets on another plate.

Goten chuckled. The flight officer didn’t exactly look like someone you wanted to mess around with. Were it him in Reyn’s place, there would have already been at least five attempts to beat him up. He watched Reyn methodically annihilating his cutlets.

“Never mind that. Do you feel alright?”

Goten’s spoon thumped on his bowl a few times uneasily. “I’m fine. Probably.” He stared at his soup mournfully. “I do like escaping reality, don’t I?”

Reyn gave him a look then, with a shrug, continued chewing. “Everyone has their weaknesses.”

Grunting, Goten averted his eyes to the metallic ceiling. “What’s yours, then?”

“You,” Reyn said promptly, herding the salad to the left side of his plate. “Listen, it’s no wonder you lost it; there was just too much going on. It just happens sometimes. Nonetheless, I hope to all gods that you won’t fall asleep while we’ll be saving…the prince?” He still had a hard time believing that was really what Goten had meant.

Ignoring the short pause, Goten hummed softly. “Yeah, me too.” He finished his soup and took up his cutlets as well. “So I’m your weakness, huh?” he asked with a grin.

“I am already regretting I told you.”

Goten chuckled. “But don’t they say that I should be your strength?”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Goten scratched the back of his head nervously. “It seems to me you’re unhappy that you went with me on this suicidal mission…?”

Reyn poked his salad with his fork. “I’d rather you had asked me instead of concluding on your own. I’m not unhappy. Actually, I’d have been pissed if you had just gone off on your own. I’d have followed you. And then probably beaten the crap out of you.”

Goten flushed red and concentrated on his half-eaten cutlets which had suddenly become the most interesting things in the canteen. “Uh,” he muttered, not certain how to take it. The longer he stared at the cutlets, the more flushed his face became.

The flight officer’s eyebrows rose at the sight. “What’s with that reaction? I think I made it pretty clear I was in for a long-term game.”

Goten nodded dumbly at his cutlets. And so it appeared that he was the only one who didn’t know how to define their relationship. He was being unfair to Reyn, just as he had been unfair to Kyon and Ranvera. And there was also that damn purple-haired bastard with his scary confessions. He had to say something now to Reyn – either confirm or deny or lead him on, anything, but he had to speak up.

“Umm… I like you too…” he whispered, red to the roots of his hair, still staring at his plate.

Reyn choked on his cutlet and spat half of it back onto his plate. Roaring with laughter, he beat the table with his hand, drawing the attention of the surrounding tables. “That was hilarious!” he squeaked, coughing.

“Well, what do you expect?” Goten grunted at him defiantly. “You totally had me at a loss there!”

It took some time for Reyn to stop laughing and the other third-class’s pouting face didn’t make it any easier. “Sorry, sorry,” he managed finally. “It’s just that you sound like one of those movies Jadenas watches.”

Wishing that all of this would somehow resolve itself without giving him such a major headache, Goten stabbed his cutlet with a vengeance. “You mean the ones where everyone shouts and cries a lot since they all want the same woman, and later they find their lost babies and then it appears that they are all relatives?”

“Yeah, yeah, those ones.”

Silently, Goten stuffed the rest of the cutlet into his mouth.

Goten was drinking his tea when the corner of his eye caught a disturbing sight. He lowered the tin mug to the table. “Incoming, on your left,” he warned.

Reyn turned his head to meet the steady gaze of a second-class officer he vaguely knew as Taran-something. There were two more second-classes following him.

“Good evening.”

Both third-classes nodded in answer.

“We haven’t had an opportunity to talk yet,” Taran-something said. “I’m Turen Erdogan.” He looked at Reyn. “A flight officer, just like yourself. This is Onar Rasid and Miran Toryeri,” he introduced his companions. “Have you settled in?” he asked once Goten and Reyn gave their names in return.

“More or less,” Reyn answered while Goten was still thinking how he should define his mostly unconscious stay on this ship.

“Wonderful,” Turen said enthusiastically. “I was just thinking of inviting you two for a friendly spar. To bond with the crew, so to speak.” Now Goten was offering him a bright innocent smile and he found himself giving a confused look to the youngster. What the hell was wrong with him?

Both third-classes glanced at each other, their eyes held, and then Goten offered Turen a friendly smile again. “Actually, the two of us intended to spar after dinner anyway, so we’d be glad if you joined us,” Goten said.

The second-classes gave the younger male a few unsure looks, but his answer seemed to satisfy them and, with a few nods, they returned to their table. Goten and Reyn continued sipping their drinks silently.

Goten sighed dreamily. “Doesn’t this feel nostalgic?”

Reyn’s eyebrows rose. “You mean back then when you smashed my face into your soup?”

“From my point of view it was when you tried to harass me.”

“It’s strange how people see things differently. All I remember is my broken nose.”

“Reyn, sunshine, you deserved it.”

The flight officer chuckled both at the nickname and the way Goten said it. Goten pushed his mug aside. “So what do we actually do?” he asked.

Reyn shrugged. “Well, me and you spar. If, after that, there’s still anyone left who wants to try us out… Well…why not?”

Goten offered him a skeptical look. He could think of a ton of “why-nots”.

As soon as they left their seats, more than half of the canteen got to their feet as well. Goten could feel eyes boring into his back while he was carrying his empty dishes to the counter. When he and Reyn were walking through the door, the rest of the crew stood up. By the time Goten and Reyn reached the training hall, they were already followed by a crowd of about thirty people. There were some more people inside and they stood aside to let Goten and Reyn pass.

From the middle of the hall, stretching, Goten gave Reyn a morose look. Public shows annoyed him. He took his scouter off and looked around for a safe place to store it, but before he could head towards a small opening in the crowd, one of the crewmen held his hand out. Seeing how Reyn had just tossed his scouter to a random onlooker, Goten handed over his.

“Five thousand,” Reyn said from across the hall.

“Fine,” Goten muttered, powering up and moving into his fighting position. His ki surged high, went down, spiked a few times, then stayed at what he thought was approximately five thousand. The third-class heard someone clear his throat behind him and lowered his ki a notch.

Reyn gave Goten an amused look. The younger male was still awful when it came to measuring ki. He could hear astonished whispers picking up in the hall. Goten had powered up to twelve thousand. Deciding it would be easier than trying to get Goten to power down to about five thousand, he raised his ki to match Goten’s. It wasn’t surprising that the other third-class was so bad at measuring his own ki. He had only recently become able to summon such a great amount of it, far more than he was used to. This could escalate into a problem, however, and Goten needed to learn to control himself better.

Goten’s tortured look just made the older man shrug in response and he motioned for Goten to come at him. The younger male rose a little above the floor and flew straight at him. Reyn skidded sideways, making the younger male chase him. Avoiding the kick aimed at his back, Reyn whirled around once Goten passed him and then kneed the younger male in the upper back so hard that he whooshed into the crowd of onlookers. Muttering under his breath, Goten extricated himself from two cursing officers. That would teach them. Goten turned around to find Reyn grinning at him.

The younger male went at the flight officer again and this time Reyn faced him. He blocked Goten’s punch, but was too late to stop Goten’s left fist and was tossed backwards. The younger male was instantly upon Reyn again, kicking him in the stomach, making him crash into the wall behind him.

Reyn grimaced. Powering up to twelve thousand had been a mistake. Their hits were too powerful, the training hall too small, and they didn’t even have enough time to summon more ki to stop themselves from being flung into the walls. He grunted and jumped sideways just before Goten’s foot embedded itself into the wall he had been standing by an instant ago. Goten turned around in the air and his other leg shot out at Reyn’s face. The flight officer blocked it easily, grabbed him by his ankle, and flung the younger male away from him. After doing so, he wondered why he chose that instead of banging Goten against the wall a few times.

Goten’s ki flashed to stop his fall in midair and he righted himself again. The expression he wore on his face was that of annoyance and Reyn set off to put things right. In a few seconds, his fists collided with the younger man’s nose, then his left eye. He turned sideways and kicked at Goten’s head again, making him stagger. Planting both of his hands on the floor, he kicked out at the younger man’s chest, tossing him backwards. Before he could catch up to Goten, though, the lad had flash-stepped away from him. For a few seconds he flitted around the training hall, taking his time to recover, then appeared in front of Reyn. The flight officer blinked out of view, reappearing behind Goten, but instead of the back of the younger male’s head, his fist found only air. The next thing he knew was Goten’s foot smashing into his face. Goten disappeared again, but this time Reyn managed to block his hit. The power, though, made him skid backwards over the floor. He rolled over, got to his feet, and was just in time to flash-step away from the kick Goten aimed at his stomach.

Since they had never powered up over ten thousand, neither of them had used flash-step in their previous spars. Now it was obvious that the younger male was incredibly good at it. He would appear right in front of him or right behind him, making it difficult for Reyn to avoid him. Not to mention that the flight officer found himself incapable of carrying out any serious attacks since Goten just kept flash-stepping away.

Reyn yelped loudly when Goten’s elbow connected with the side of his face, snapping his head to the right.  A kick to his stomach followed, flinging him backwards. Goten turned in midair, his other leg shooting out to catch him beneath the chin. Goten’s body turned again and a series of similar kicks followed, ending with his right leg whooshing above Reyn’s head and brought down with such power that the flight officer hit the floor face-first. Reyn flash-stepped away before Goten could kick at him again, but the younger male followed him easily, his knee connecting with his chin again.

It took Goten a bit of time to realize that Reyn was not able to land a hit on him. The flight officer could not catch up to him. That confused Goten and he could see that Reyn was no less confused. The flight officer was giving him a lost look as if wondering how he was supposed to fight him when he could not put a scratch on him.

“Not bad,” someone from the onlookers said and Goten turned his head to see an elite pushing himself off the wall and coming closer. He was immediately joined by two more elites.

Goten and Reyn turned to them. They watched the three men power up, then met each other’s eyes. Reyn didn’t even try to appear concerned while Goten was wondering how bad things would get if the whole crew witnessed them beating up three elites. He figured it would get really, really bad. Questions would be asked, phone calls would be made, and they would be exposed at once. Starcut or any other ship would be sent to intercept them and… He actually had no idea what would be done to them, but it obviously didn’t include anything pleasant.

“I really don’t want to fight you, sirs,” he said to the elites. He raised his hands in a giving up motion to be more convincing.

One of the elites laughed. “Well, of course you don’t.” His eyebrows rose threateningly. “But we do.”

“Do you now?” a threatening voice questioned in a low growl and everyone turned to see the shaii walking through the hall. He was followed by the burly elite female. “Thirsty for a fight? That’s awesome!” he said. “You can always count on me.”

Almanda raised her hand. “On me as well.” She gave the three hesitating elites a look torn between amused and disgusted. “Don’t tell me you expect these second-classes to put up a decent fight?”

“She’s absolutely right, sirs!” Goten agreed enthusiastically. “We’d never match your skill or power! We’re absolutely useless!” From the comments on Starcut, Goten knew his and Reyn’s fights looked spectacular, but since the two of them were pretty well-matched, their fights could sometimes give the misleading impression of being fought half-heartedly.

Reyn’s eyes rolled up to stare at the ceiling. “Yeah, just what he says,” he said. His eyes slid away from the ceiling and he caught the captain amidst the onlookers. The man’s face told him that he was going to have his rematch sooner or later anyway. That was fine with Reyn.

TBC