Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Chizzari-Raditz ❯ Outing ( Chapter 5 )

He is still curled against me when I wake again. This time, I slip from the bed. Again, it takes me a moment to realize where I am. I have only been in his rooms once before, but that was nearly three years ago. I take a moment to orientate myself, and then stumble for the nearest door. Luckily for me, it's the one I want.

I finish my business, and get myself somewhat cleaned up. Turning, I see someone staring at me. It isn't Vegeta. I move swiftly into a defensive posture, and when the figure does the exact same thing, I realize I am looking into a mirror. A full-length mirror. I stand slowly, embarrassed by my reaction.

I have been avoiding the mirrors in my quarters since I moved in. The last good look I had at myself was the day I became a chizzari. I cannot avoid seeing my reflection now, though. The mirror is on the door. I pace towards it, realizing that the massive bruises no longer discolor my skin, and the myriad cuts and slashes on my body are healed. Vegeta must have dumped me in a tank.

I study my reflection. My hair is no longer as full or as long. Nappa has been very fond of using my mane against me, yanking out entire spikes when I would not obey him, and a month after Vegeta left, he cut it off at my waist. It only reaches the end of my butt, now. I'm much thinner than I should be, and I don't look nearly as strong as I did six months ago.

I trace some of my new scars. They look old, because of the tank, but the memories are still fresh. I wince away from my own touch. My tail, that poor abused thing, wraps around my waist. Already, I can see the faint bruising around my waist from where I kept it so tightly wrapped while I slept. There is no pain in it today, the breaks have healed. The fur is still dry, coarse to the touch, and thin.

There are dark shadows beneath my eyes, still. Not bruises. No, the shadows show that I haven't been getting enough sleep. I have had one night, in the last six months, when I was not yanked from my bed to serve as Nappa's toy. I get more rest from being fucked unconscious than I do from sleep.

My face is too thin, my cheekbones prominent. Damn the man! Was he expecting a regeneration tank to hide that I have neither slept nor eaten well? That I flinch away from even my own touch? I am a sorry excuse for a chizzari, much less the warrior I used to be.

Used to be. The thought hits me with the force of a blow. I sink to my knees, arms and tail wrapping around myself, a low keening coming from my throat. Used to be. Used to be. I have never thought of myself as having been a warrior before. I have always considered myself to be a warrior. I rock slowly, trying to control a body I can no longer claim as my own, knowing now, for certain, that I truly am nothing more than the prince's whore.

Blood splatters the white tiles. Not until I see it do I realize I have bitten through my lip in an attempt to keep the keening at bay. I guess I still do not wish my prince to see me as weak, even though he has seen me cry. Naturally, that is when the door opens. And since I am right in front of it, staring at myself in the mirror, the edge of the door catches me full in the face, and knocks me aside.

I don't bother to rise, merely shuffling my legs under me into a sketchy bow. More of a sketchy - what's the word? - obeisance, keeping my face to the floor so I don't have to look at his face. So that he won't see the tears that are dripping from my eyes despite my attempts to keep them from falling, and so that he will not see the blood that flows from my lip and forehead.

He puts a hand under my chin and lifts me, easily, as if I am the one who is child-sized. He stares into my eyes for a long minute. I long to look away, knowing that he will be able to read my pain and my fear in my eyes, because I no longer have the strength to hide them. He sighs, a little unhappy sound, and gently laps the blood from my face.

I shudder in his grip, my eyes closing so tightly I think they may never open again. As much as I want to, I do not pull away. I don't understand myself, how I could be so intimate with him this morning, and now cannot stand to have him so close?

"Raditz." His child-like voice is nearly petulant. "Raditz, you were supposed to be only for me. And now that fool has ruined you for me, hasn't he?"

I press my face against his stomach, wrapping my arms and tail around his tiny waist. "I don't know," I whisper. "I… can touch you. But… to have you… touch me… I just don't know, Prince Vegeta."

"Shh, now." His fingers comb through my mane, a tender touch the like of which I have not felt for years. I let my tears flow as he pets me, shuddering and trying to make my reluctant body understand that the prince keeps his word. He promised, and he will not take me without my asking.

It seems strange that he would comfort me, until his tail coils around my arm. I catch my breath when I realize that his tail, while thicker than my own, is in no better shape. The fur is dry, and coarse, as mine is. I look up, to see a knowing look in eyes too old for the teen he is, and far too old for the child he seems. "You… also?" I rasp.

"Yes, Raditz. I also," he murmurs. He tugs me up, leaning against me as I kneel in front of him, his head resting now on my shoulder and that damnedable pointy hair of his tickling my nose. He stays that way for only a minute or two, and then quite firmly tells me to get out so he can use the facilities.

I get out. My priority now is to find something to wear, a task I imagine will be quite difficult, considering how small the prince is and how large I am. When he finally comes out of the bathroom, sopping wet and wrapped in a towel, he takes one look at me and howls with laughter. I can't blame him. I am wrapped up in one of his bed sheets, for lack of anything else big enough.

When he is down to nothing more than giggles, and has had to hitch his towel up several times, I get up and throw one of his bodysuits at him. He promptly drops the towel and yanks it on. "Vegeta!"

"Yes?" He looks up at me, looks down at himself. "Oh, yes. I've a few new scars, Raditz."

"How… It looks like someone gutted you!"

"They tried." He shimmies a bit, settling the armor he grabbed into position, then grabs his cape and fastens it in place. "They died. Nasty creatures on that planet. They, of course, are no more. Come. I must make proper arrangements for you. It seems Frieza liked my work so well that I will be getting more assignments than Father originally thought. I am not going to be around nearly as much as he had expected."

He starts for the door, then stops. "Ah, but you need something else to wear. As much as I like you in my sheets, that is not exactly what I want to picture when I think of you in them."

I blush furiously as he calls a servant and sends the boy after one of my robes, and am still a flushed when the boy returns. Even so, I yank the knots out of his sheet, and pull the flimsy robe over my body. Vegeta stares at me for a long moment after I've put it on, and shakes his head. "Yuck."

"Huh?"

"Bad color on you. Come on." I fall in behind and just to the side of him, the position of an honor guard. I may be chizzari now, and not a proper warrior any longer, but I won't let a damned thing happen to my prince! I agree with him about the robe though. It's a revolting shade of greenish-yellow that reminds me rather badly of puke, and I almost wish I'd worn the sheet instead.

We go straight to my room, and he investigates the robes I have hanging in the closet. At a brief gesture from him, I drop the one I am wearing, and dance back a little when it suddenly gets ki-fried. He smirks at me. "I didn't like it. Here, wear this until I can arrange for a decent wardrobe for you."

He tosses me a dark blue robe to wear, and I pull it on. It's much better than the other, if a little shorter. Vegeta stares at me again once I have it on, then paces in a circle around me. Facing me again, he shakes his head. "I understand why my father would want his chizzari to wear such a ridiculous thing, but I have no need of such… pathetic clothing. I expect you and your father to continue much as normal. Nappa…" he sighs.

"Nappa is an ass, and I cannot get rid of him. He will be given to know that my tastes are not the same as my father's, and that as my chizzari, he will be doing things differently." A slight smile graces his face. "Now, what can we do about breakfast, hey?"

Before I realize what he is doing, he's settled himself at the table in my kitchen. I stand frozen a moment, knowing just how little there is, and what poor fare it is. "Come, Raditz. I'm hungry!"

He sounds almost merry. I force myself to move. This, Nappa managed to drum into my skull without too much trouble - table setting doesn't involve sex, after all. I pull out a plate, a juice glass, some silverware, and arrange it properly in front of him. A napkin, there, the stimulant cup so. Except… what am I going to put on the plate and in the cups? Unless the boy came back, all I have is…

…a slightly molded, very hard end of bread, a couple bites of rock-hard cheese, a strip of dried jerky , and cool water. There are bite marks on the bread and cheese, so I grab a knife and cut those off before putting the food on his plate. The water goes into the juice cup. I have no stimulant, so put that cup away before adding the jerky to his plate.

He stares in disbelief at the plate, then looks up at me. His eyes are suddenly hard and unreadable, which makes me very nervous. His voice, when he finally speaks, is murderous. "Is this a joke, Raditz?"

"No, Prince Vegeta."

"What is this, then?"

"It… it was my breakfast, Highness."

He gets up, resorting to flying in order to open every cabinet and drawer in the room, since most are higher than he can reach. He is meticulous, and silent. Nothing slams. Finished with his inspection, he lands, and takes my hand. Silently, he tugs, and I follow. My following becomes more and more reluctant as I realize that we are heading for the commons. Warrior that I was, I do not want to be seen in this flimsy robe.

I suppose he must sense my reluctance, because he changes directions abruptly and enters a little used antechamber. A bell is rung, and we wait a few minutes for a servant to come. The prince speaks rather sharply to the girl who comes, and sends her off at a run. She returns to us only five minutes - of complete silence - later, with scouter, armor and a bodysuit for me.

And for all that it covers less of me than the robe did, I feel more completely dressed once I've donned it, and have the scouter he silently hands me fixed over my ear. Again, he looks me over, and a tiny, approving smile appears. "That's more like it," he says, then leads off at a brisk trot. For him. It's a leisurely walk for me.

The commons is packed full. The commons is always packed full, regardless of the time. Saiyans come and go at all hours, and the commons serves every need. And I do mean every need. I am ogling the women when Vegeta smacks me. I look down to find him glaring up at me.

"Well, are there any tables open?" he snaps. It takes me a moment to realize that since he is so tiny, he can't tell, and I scan the room.

"A couple, in the back," I say.

"Pick me up. On your shoulder, idiot, so I can see them." His tail lashes, his whole posture indignant.

I stifle a laugh, swinging him up easily to sit on my shoulder. He promptly hops to his feet, and examines the back of the room. And of course, from that perch, he is easily visible and unmistakable. The din dies down as the others perform perfunctory bows in his general direction, though no one actually stops what they are doing. "The one to the right," he says finally, and seats himself on my shoulder.

I head towards the table he chose, grinning slightly as the others move to get out of our way. Prince Vegeta is rarely seen in the commons, but his temper tantrums are legendary. No one wants to be the one to set the next one off. The table, not surprisingly, is still empty when we arrive.

Smirking, I sit. He stays where he is for just a moment, and then walks across the table to seat himself in the opposite chair. I barely notice, busy eying the women. I haven't seen any since I was chosen, and it's been longer since I've been with one.

"If you see one you like, Raditz, you are free to have her."

I notice that. "Eh?" I squeak, staring at him rather blankly before turning a furious shade of red. "I'm hungry, Vegeta!"

Food is supplied almost immediately, and my attention is pretty well equally divided between it and the pretty thing who served it. She notes my interest and promptly installs herself on my lap, and begins to feed me. It takes no time at all for my tail to wind around her waist, or for my hands to begin roaming her slender, well-muscled form. Her touches are bliss and heaven, after six months of hell.

Vegeta laughs at me. I have no idea what he finds so amusing, I'm about to finally get laid the way I want to be! She's being quite helpful about getting us both out of our clothes, but when Vegeta laughs, she stops and looks at him. Her eyes widen.

"Oh, bloody hell! He doesn't mind!" I turn her back to face me, and indulge in a lengthy kiss to the music of Vegeta's giggles. Yes, giggles. One part of my mind was busily wondering about the terrifying prince actually giggling, twice in one morning no less, but most of me was much more interested in the now very naked female in my lap. And the one who took her place once I'd worn her out, and the ones that followed her.

It was wonderful, delightful… and had to end. It was the sudden silence that should have clued me in, but I was… otherwise occupied. An occupation that suddenly ended with the sharp cracking sound that preceded a horrible wave of pain from my tail. I collapsed against my partner, let that first wave of pain roll over me.

I know who it is. Nappa. Don't even have to look. Only the first is ever allowed from the chizzari quarters, unless the king or prince say so. I turn to Vegeta - and find him gone. I don't know when he left. Another rush of pain from my tail, and then suddenly, Vegeta is there and Nappa is stuck in the wall.

"Exactly what did you think you were doing, Nappa?" that affronted, angry little voice cracked. "Didn't you learn the lesson I gave you yesterday?"

I gather up my poor tail, investigating the damage while Vegeta paces closer to Nappa. The crowd parts as if Frieza himself had shown up. Everyone gives my prince plenty of space. My tail has only one bone broken, the one at the very tip. That will hurt like hell for weeks, as I have reason to know. But then again, Vegeta will tank me, more than likely. I turn my attention to him, though my arms go back around the woman still in my lap.

"Well, Nappa? Do you need another lesson so soon? Did I not make myself perfectly clear to you? Raditz is not to be touched." I think I went white, because it certainly feels like the blood has drained from my face. It certainly drained from elsewhere, and I hastily remove the girl from my lap and grab up my clothes.

In the moments it takes me to get them on, Vegeta has reached Nappa, and grabbed his hair. He pulls, Nappa winces. Vegeta drops the handful of hair aside. "You. Do. Not. Touch. Him." Each word is punctuated by another yank, the dropping of pulled hair to the ground.

I don't know what he says next, I don't think anyone can hear him. But Nappa stands up and literally looms over Prince Vegeta. "I am first to your father, too, Prince Vegeta." His voice drops as he continues talking. I can't hear him. But the result is spectacular.

Vegeta sends him through three walls with his first punch. I consider that to indicate the prince is extremely pissed, considering his blow had caught Nappa's knee. Like the others, I surge through the holes to watch my prince literally mop the floor with Nappa. When the larger man is barely recognizable as Saiyan, Vegeta stops. He turns to the crowd. "See that he gets to the tanks."

His eyes meet mine, and he holds out his arms. I scoop him up and deposit him back on my shoulder. A slight tip of my head allows me to see that he is calmly observing the assembly, waiting for silence. He gets it. "I dislike having my orders ignored."

The crowd surges around Nappa; he is effectively bundled out. Vegeta's hand fists in my hair, tugs slightly toward the table where we had been sitting. I carry him back, returning to my unfinished, and now cold, breakfast. Vegeta slips from my shoulder to settle in my lap, and very deliberately begins to feed me.

It's embarrassing. For both of us. I can see the barest flush on his face, and I know that mine is flaming, but I eat each bite he feeds me, and soon begin returning the favor. That doesn't make it any less embarrassing, but it does seem to help him relax. He goes suddenly limp in my lap, burrowing against my chest, and yawns. The next moment, he's asleep.

I finish my meal, not entirely certain when I'll get another as good as this one. Then I rise, carefully shifting the sleeping prince so that he doesn't wake, and carry him back through the commons. The din that had greeted us is gone now, the noise level is barely a quiet murmur. My steps quicken as I reach the door, and by the time I reach the end of the hall, I am wishing my tail didn't hurt so badly. I'd run if it didn't.

I don't even know why I'm suddenly so skittish. I glance down at my burden, then slip behind a tapestry I know has an antechamber behind it. There's a couch there, plenty large enough for the sleeping youngling I hold. I lay him out, noticing the blood that speckles his skin. Not wishing to call attention to where we are, I lick the blood away rather than calling for a servant.

The blood is Nappa's, of course. That doesn't bother me, but that it has contaminated my prince does. I settle on the floor next to the couch. We haven't been out of his rooms long, and he slept most of that time. I wonder if he could be ill. Then again… I lift his tail gently, threading it through my fingers as I move it so it no longer dangles over the edge of the couch.

He had said he was hungry, but all he had eaten was what I had fed him myself. I knew, of course, that his mission had been rough. He'd been sent to Karvanes, and those people… well, they were a whole lot less than friendly. They were almost Saiyan-like as far as fighting went. Not as strong, but nearly as ferocious. An enemy to admire.

And the prince had gone alone. It is no wonder the kid is tired. I lean against the couch, in a half-sitting, half-crouching position that I can maintain for quite a time before it becomes uncomfortable. Here, we won't be found. Er, not as long as I shut the scouters off, in any case.

Quickly, I remove and turn off mine, then do the same for his. Yes, in this light, I can see the exhaustion in his features, and how his face is drawn. He doesn't look as innocent as he seemed this morning, although he does seem younger. I stay by his side, listening to the patrols going past on their rounds.

Once I am comfortable with the noises and routines, I allow myself to drowse, coming more fully aware when people approach, but otherwise staying in a semi-somnolent state.

---------------------------

Er, yes, you may thank Manawolf and Talon for the Vegeta on the shoulder idea. I swiped it from a Raditz w/Sage piccy. Too cute!