Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ More Than Meets The Eye ❯ The First Date ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ.

The first date

The next day was the day. Their first 'date'. The moment to put the plan into action. The determinant day in their success. If Yamcha bought it and everything went well, things could turn out as they wanted.

Bulma was a nervous wreck.

~ Damn! This is not healthy! You gotta calm down, girl. Everything's going to be perfect. You've planed this for a long time and have worked real hard; everything is under control: we know the place, we've been there several times and I know that Vegeta isn't going to make an scene, by now he knows everything about human customs and how to behave in a romantic date. We've got the best table, Yamcha will be there with some stupid bimbo and I'll be astounding in that Chinese dress I saw in the mall.

But Yamcha can clean up real nice when he puts his mind into it, so Vegeta will have to wear... VEGETA! Shit!!!! I forgot all about him. What's he gonna wear? Maybe something of all the things mom and I bought him will do. He's never worn anything so I don't even know if they fit him. I guess I'll have to convince him to let me take a look at his wardrobe... oh, and they're gonna be human clothes, to make him put human clothes on will take a lot of convincing!

Damn! Why does everything have to be so complicated with him?! I need to prepare diner. Is there any ice-cream? Yeah, I think there are a couple of vanilla & cookies left from the last time... all I could savage from him. Why in hell did I introduce him to ice-cream?! He started with chocolate, but by now anything sweet and frozen is good to him.

Anyway girl, you're straying. Stay centered. I've got a huge meal to prepare. What time is it? 9 p.m.?? Fuck! It's late! How it's got so late? Doesn't matter. Knowing him, he's still got about two hours worth of training. Time enough for me.

Wait! I don't hear the GR!! Has he finished early? Don't think so. He must be in that damn room. Every time I think of it... I told him about the spare room at the beginning of his half of the corridor. He practically ignored me, I even thought he hadn't heard me, and a few days later he came to me telling me he wants the room sound-proof and with a good lock on it. And that's all! He hasn't asked for any kind of furniture, nor any kind of electric installation... and I've never even been allowed to get a little glimpse of it. But he spends whole days in there. What does he do the whole day there alone? In a bare, sound-proof, locked room??

(Imagine Bulma with a blank face, a lost look in her eyes and a lot of question tags popping all around her head.

Five minutes later she snaps out of it.)

Damn, I spaced out again! Too much on my mind. Now onto more pressing matters: prepare dinner for a Saiyan Prince and myself. ~

~*~

~2 hours... 2 hours!! HA! Naive girl. It's 1 in the fucking morning and Mr. Training hasn't appeared. What the hell is he doing?! Argh!!!

I made dinner. And waited. Laid the table. And waited some more. The meal got cold do I reheated it. And I'M STILL WAITING!!

There's a lot to do tomorrow, why does he stay in there till this late? He should... uh? Listen:

... thud, thud... flof... thud, thud, thud... click, shush, thud, thud, shush, plop...

Ah! That was his door, at last! ~

~*~

He had spent the whole afternoon in the meditation room to prepare psychologically for the following day. It was going to be straining, he needed all his control and the most calm and balanced mind he could obtain.

Besides, the following day he'd have to cut the training short so he tried to make up a little for it.

What would be his surprise when he got downstairs and found the woman there waiting for him.

"What do you want?" He wasn't in the mood for her, tonight, she better got to the point and left him to himself quickly.

"What do I want?! What the fuck were you doing there till now?" Wrong answer.

"None of your business. Now if you were here to bitch at me you can leave. I'll see you tomorrow." Any sign of a good mood was lost on Vegeta, he was now in a very foul mood.

"No, no, Vegeta. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I made dinner. It's in the oven. Come and eat with me, I need to talk to you."

"Hn." That had appeased him somewhat, so he acceded and went with her. As told, dinner was in the oven which was way better than the cold leftovers he had had in mind when he came down. "So, what do you need to talk to me about?" Still, he wasn't in a good mood, he still wanted her out of here as soon as possible.

She was fairly surprised at the change of their routine: he would have usually waited till the ice-cream to say something, but she had already annoyed him once and wasn't going to push her luck. "We haven't talked about what you're going to wear."

"What's wrong with what I've worn every time we've gone there?" He was now fairly sure where this conversation would take them, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, come on. Don't play the fool with me. You know that your spandex isn't appropriate for our 'romantic date' standards. You have studied enough couples the times we've been there to know so."

~ Hn, so what? ~ "Hai, I've seen your ningen standards, but you're dating an alien."

~ Oh... I hadn't thought so. It's an interesting idea, I'll have to work on it, but not this time. ~ His brief statement had left her with lots of new possibilities that she hadn't thought of. He was so alike that she nearly forgot that he was an alien.

"I'll take that on account, Vegeta. But you gotta remember you're an alien in a planet full of humans. There's just one of you and millions of us, you'll have to concede sometimes. Besides, I want to win Yamcha in his ground. It won't be that hard. Let me take a look at your wardrobe; some of all those clothes we bought you will do."

"I left them all at CC." He had said it very calmly, as if it were nothing. Bulma was speechless. One of the more important parts of a date was nearly ruined and he didn't care?! She wanted to say something, anything, and kept opening and closing her mouth, but nothing came out of it.

"Stop that. You seem a freaking fish out of water. I don't have those clothes. I'll wear some of mine. No big deal."

Finally she snapped out of it and all the mess in her head became a logical line of thought, structured into something understandable. She let everything go. "No big deal?! Oh, but it is, it's huge! Do you think that with all that bullshit you'll manage to go through it without human clothes? Think again. What you wear is very important and if you wanna make it the hard way, so be it: tomorrow we're going to the mall to buy you some decent clothes. And before you say anything, YES!, you're coming with me. This way you can choose whatever you like and won't annoy me anymore.

Tomorrow. You. Me. After training time. At the mall.

Have a good night."

And with that she left the room and an stunned, nearly gaping Saiyan Prince.

~*~

Next day's training session was hell for Bulma. Two hours, a bubble bath and a massage later she was still sore everywhere. She should have seen it coming.

However, she wasn't angry. It was his way of making her pay for what he was going to suffer, which meant he was going to go through it. And that was what she'd wanted, wasn't it?

As predicted, 5 minutes later he was at the parking lot of the mall with her. It was obvious that he wasn't in a good mood, the day could turn out interesting.

She was giving him an idea of what to expect from the mall, what could he find in it and how to get it. With that she gave him a quick tour through all the stores she deemed appropriate. She would have preferred to go herself and choose his clothes but he had been inflexible on that: his opinion about her taste for clothes, at least for him, was very poor at best and he wasn't going to let her interfere. That had meant having to explain him the basics of any occidental economy and to show him how to use her credit card. He had no restrictions about how much he spent, he could buy anything he liked and the more the better 'cause if the occasion aroused of a date for which he didn't have clothes he'd have to come back.

Finally she took him to a particular store and showed him the dress she was gonna wear that night. With that and some final directions for him they parted ways.

~*~

Finally she had let him go! She had forbidden him everything:

NO using his ki in any form (he had taught her how to feel it so she would know).

NO using his super-strength or other powers.

NO hurting people (neither physically nor psychologically).

NO destroying anything.

NO threatening, intimidating or using any kind of extortion.

NO making an scene.

NO talking about sayians.

NO saying he was a prince.

NO belittleling the human race and/or its ways.

NO...

The list of 'no's' never ended . What the hell was he allowed to do?! Buy, of course. The damn woman was obsessed with that. It was clear to him that she was elated to come to this place and spend the whole day, if possible, in here. To prove that she had a wardrobe the size of a room and she could walk in there.

To him, this place looked... dangerous. Right now was quite early in the morning, a little more than 9 a.m., and he could guess that they had arrived at the time the place opened its doors, but there was quite a lot of ningens, already. He didn't even want to imagine how this would be at midday. With this in mind, and knowing he wouldn't be able to do practically anything against them, he sped across the mall in the direction of the stores she had showed him.

It took him nearly fifteen minutes to get to the zone he wanted to go, and he was grateful for being so observant, since he was sure he would already be lost in the halls, corridors, stairs... the place was a fucking maze! And the woman navigated through this as if she were at home!!! That made nothing but confirm his opinion that she was obsessed with the so called mall.

Anyway, he was finally there. There were about half a dozen of stores from which he could choose his new wardrobe, varying in styles and prices. Since he didn't know single shit about ningen styles and the price was not a problem he entered a seldom one and looked around for a while. He had been in there no more than a minute when a blonde with a high-pitched voice attached herself to his arm and asked him just what she could do to help him. He may not have been very used to the ningen ways, but he wasn't a fool and it didn't escape him the double meaning those words were intended to have. An image of the blue haired woman's mother (this girl reminded him of her) making a pass on him entered his mind and he couldn't help but shudder. Big mistake. She took it as a good sign and put her finger on his chest and started rubbing all the while looking at him with what he guessed was intended to be a sexy look. He had to consciously restrain himself from throwing her across the store, and instead disentangled her from his arm and made a haste escape for the door. Once out he sighed with relief. These freaking ningens were fucking nuts!! What the hell did that woman think she was doing?! Didn't she have any self control? Any dignity?

~ Ok, so not any store will do. I have to be more careful when choosing. First: no young women there to 'help' me. I guess that some of these stores will have male attendants. Argh! Some day this is going to be! ~

So he took a look at the next store, pleased when he spotted the young man rearranging some of the misplaced shirts on a shelf. As he entered the store the other man looked up from the shirts and said that he could look around at anything he wanted, to call for him if he had any problem. That was much better. He started looking around and found himself in front of a table full of brightly colored shirts and T-shirts. Hideous. He went to the next table and found it full of pant as brightly colored as the shirts had been. And then some flowery shirts. And flowery pants, too. And a full stack of shirts with messages about love and peace... He fled from the store!

~ Gah! What the hell was that?? Not only ningens don't have any dignity, but any good taste, either! What was that? A store for sissy boys, or what?! Ok! Calm down, there must be some kind of store without clingy females or THAT kind of clothes. This time just look really carefully before you enter. ~ So he approached the next store and looked inside. ~ GODS! This one has both of them!!! Overly bright clothes and overly cheerful girls all around the place. Creepy! Next one. ~

Luckily, the next store didn't have either of them. What's more: it was empty save from the old man typing away at a computer of sorts near the entrance. He entered the room and the man welcomed him to the shop. He gave a curt nod and went to look for something wearable. This proved to be a somehow good store to buy at. All the clothes were kind of formal, but he needed a little bit of everything so he went about everything there was and picked up several pieces. However, once he had them all he realized that not everything was the same size. Then he remembered the woman telling him about the system used in the mall to classify clothes depending on the size, and that he should look at the price tag to see that everything was the right size in order for the clothes to fit him. When he had everything he had to go to some kind of cubicles and try them on to make sure they fitted.

It took him some time, but finally he spotted this tag thing attached to each piece of cloth where there was which size it was and he finally had all the clothes in the size he needed. Now he had to try them on. ~ Cubicles, look for some kind of cubicles, the woman said there would probably be many doors lined up together at the end of the store... SHIT! Why can't they make anything simple in this fucking planet?! Where the hell are these cubicles?! Fucking old hag typing away on that contraption and there are no cubicles anywhere in the freaking place!! Huh? Why are the shelves trembling? FUCK! That's my ki! Vegeta, you gotta get a grip on yourself! Now, how did the woman call them? Something rooms I think... gah! Doesn't matter! Old hag back there is supposed to be here to help you, right? Well, he better do his job properly. ~

With that he took a couple of deep breathes, lowered his ki back to normal and went to the man at the entrance. "Where are the cubicles?" Said man looked bewildered at the question. "Excuse me, sir?" Vegeta was loosing grip on his barely controlled temper, but he managed a clipped "Where. Are. The. Cubicles." Poor clerk still didn't get what this strange man was asking, but he was sensing rather clearly the anger that emanated from him in thick waves and something told him that it was not safe to be on his bad side. Suddenly his eyes fell on the stack of clothes the man had tucked under one of his arms and a light popped in his head. "Oh, you want to try those on?" Upon seeing the glare that the saiyan send his way the man took that as an 'obviously' and lead him to the back of the store where a huge door was partially hidden. "Here, you can change in there. There's a mirror inside. Do you think you'll need anything else? I can stay and help you out with your clothes or -" "Leave." With that the man scurried back to the front leaving Vegeta blissfully alone.

More calm now that everything seemed to be in place again, he did as told an entered the door to see a little room with a couple of hangers, a stool and a mirror in front of it. He hung everything that he had picked up, changed into the first outfit and checked it out in front of the mirror. He did so with everything he had brought with him to the changing room and about twenty minutes later he went to the front of the store, again, to the man still typing. Said man, now very wary of this strange customer, stopped whatever he was doing and gave him his full attention. "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

"I want these ones," he said piling a lot of clothes in front of said man. But he still had some tucked in the other arm, the ones that he didn't like, and he actually didn't know what to do with them so he just pushed them to the other man's arms "but all of this you can keep. Here." Vegeta finally gave him the credit card that Bulma had given him. She had explained a little about the economy of the country and how it worked and he knew that he was supposed to use the little piece of plastic to pay for what he purchased, so he just gave it to the man, picked up his clothes and started to leave.

"Sir, wait! Where are you going?!"

"To find the woman, I need another one of those cards."

The poor man was flabbergasted! This customer was getting weirder by the minute. He had given him his credit card, LITERALLY given him!!! "But sir!!! I haven't checked out your clothes, and you're forgetting your credit card!" The Saiyan gave him a questioning impatient look and the man explicated some more not wanting to upset him. "I'll just add up everything and see how much it'll all cost and charge you that. Then you can take your credit card and go to the rest of the stores. I'm sure you have no need for another credit card, sir."

"Hn" was all the Saiyan said. He was humiliated by the fact that he had had to have it explained how to pay for his purchase. Damn ningens and their tendency to complicate everything! ~ Why is it that they are so strange! The whole fucking universe has an inter-galactic economy that allows you to buy everywhere and everybody knows how to do it. There's no need for these credit cards or they stupid green papers! But these weaklings... fuck! They didn't even know there was a whole society out there... they think they're the fucking navel of the universe! Stupid creatures! ~ Just then he was interrupted as his credit card and a bag full of his clothes was given to him. He nodded curtly and left the store as quickly as possible.

Well, that last store hadn't gone all that bad. Sure, he was never going to go back there after making himself look like a fool in front of the old clerk, but aside from that he had some clothes and had learnt how to pay with the fucking card. However, this place was getting on his nerves, he didn't like it in the least and didn't understand how the woman could come here by her on will so often. He'd been here a little more than an hour and he wanted to leave already. He still had to buy some casual clothing, though. So, wanting to finish as quickly as possible with this twisted torture he entered a store that seemed appropriate. It was a store for young people, with tight T-shirts, fashionable shirts (not that Vegeta knew that they were fashionable 'cause he didn't know anything about human fashion, but still ^^), tight jeans, leather pants... there were some things in bright colors, but there were a lot in dark ones, too, so it was safe to enter. Beside, the store was nearly empty, and while there was a female attendant, there was also a male one, so he dared go in there.

It turned out a pretty good store, and he got an armful of clothes pretty quickly. He fortunately spotted the changing rooms at the other side of the store, so he went to there and entered a random one. These cubicles weren't even half as big as the one in the other shop. There was barely space enough for him to change into his clothes. Upon doing so, though, he realized that there wasn't any mirror in there. He could feel that the clothes fitted but he wanted to know if he looked good in them. He needed a mirror, so he went out the changing room and looked for one of the attendants. The female one was a few shelves away from his stall. "Girl! There is no mirror in here."

Said girl was too busy drooling all over him to reply to his demand. Truth be told, she had tried to be as close as possible to the door he had entered not wanting to miss on the views that hot and dark man was going to provide, of that she was damn sure. And she hadn't been wrong, of course. Here he was: in the first outfit he had tried that fit him to every curve and every muscle... that guy was a gym freak, she was sure, but fuck it if every hour he had spent in there hadn't been worth it. Finally her brain caught up with what he'd said "Oh! That's right. The mirror is just there, behind you. There is no mirror in any of those doors, you have to come out here to see how it fits." And she had never been so grateful for that in all the time she had been working here, she thought to herself.

On his part, he wasn't too thrilled about that, but he had no other choice, so he went to the mirror and took a look at himself. Not bad. And went inside again to change into something else.

After three or four outfits he noticed that the store was a lot more crowded, and to his annoyance, nearly everyone in there was a female. At first he shrugged it as another strange custom of these weird ningens to have their females buy for their males, but after a while it started nagging him. It seemed that all the women were positioned quite near the changing rooms where he currently was, and every time he went out to the mirror he could feel all those eyes roaming his body shamelessly. And what was worse: every time he went to the mirror there seemed to be more women in the store. He sped up what he was doing. He needed to try all this on since he didn't want to have to come back any time soon, but he also NEEDED to leave this place as soon as possible. He had realized that all the women where here for the show HE was presenting, and not being able to blast all of them into oblivion as his instincts were screaming at him to do, the next best thing was to flee from the place.

He nearly shrieked when, while looking himself in the mirror in his last outfit, a hand sneaked out and squeezed his behind. He turned around and found himself looking to a lot of seemingly busy women looking through piles of clothes. But he couldn't dwell too much on it as another pair of hands ghosted over his skin: one on his biceps and the other one on his behind, again. This time his instincts took control over his body and he literally flew to hide in his cubicle.

When he was safely there he changed back to his own clothes and popped his head out the door. All the women where still there waiting for him to go out again. Not in this life! he thought. "You!," he pointed to the female attendant that was just in front of his door "take all these clothes and my credit card: I'll take them all, and they better be ready when I get there or there'll be hell to pay!!!" the girl winked at him and told him something along the lines of "whatever you want, sexy" and left to do as told. He was ready to explode right then and there. He went back into the cubicle and tried to calm himself somewhat. Not an easy task with a bunch of crazy women out there waiting for him, so when he thought he'd be able to get passed them without destroying anything he used his inhuman speed to get to the front, took his clothes that were already in bags and the credit card the clerk was giving him along with a piece of paper on top with a phone number and a wink and fled. He knew that the woman had said that no using his saiyan abilities, but this was an out of control situation, the woman better understand it. With her in mind he tracked her ki blindly trying to put as much space between him and that damn store as possible without loosing himself in the maze that was this fucking mall.

So in a less than a minute he was in the other end of the mall. He entered a saloon without really noticing and finally stood in front of the woman. "Ghaaaaah!!!" There, in front of him, was a monster with a muddy face and hair made of some kind of metal. Add this to his already unsettled mind and it's no wonder that he'd cry out like that.

Upon hearing the scream Bulma opened her eyes and burst out laughing at the image Vegeta presented. "Calm down, Vegeta, it's me. This is just a cleansing mask." She saw his eyes fly to her hair and explained that, too "and that in my hair is necessary to die my hair".

He looked skeptically at her. It seemed her, alright: it was her voice and her ki he was feeling coming from her... "I hate this place!" he mumbled under his breath, and louder he said "Ok, Onna. I've got all the clothes you wanted, I'm leaving this freaking place. I'll be in the GR if you need me. I'll be ready by 7 p.m. to leave." With that he left as fast as he could, her laughter trailing behind him.

--------**--------

"Damn it, Onna! We should be eating by the time he gets there! What the fuck are you doing up there?! You've been in there for the whole fucking afternoon!"

He was seething. Sure, this plan had nothing to do with him, but he had kind of accepted this mission, it was on his mind to torture the weakling somewhat and he couldn't do it alone, he needed her to do so, so why in hell was she still in her room?? She had had her hair and nails done when she had arrived from the mall and her skin was 'like that of a baby's bottom' as she'd said - whatever that meant - thanks to that strange mask she'd been wearing when he'd found her in the mall, so as far as he understood she just had to put on her dress and shoes and she was ready to leave. Why was it taking her more than four hours to do so?!

"That's it Onna, I'm coming up there and you're going to leave however you are!" With that he stormed upstairs and threw her door open. She was in front of her body length mirror wearing the dress she'd shown him that morning, though it was way more beautiful on her, not that he was gonna say it to her, but there's no point in trying to lie to himself or to deny the truth. It was a sleeveless Chinese dress that reached her feet. It was a light royal blue color, bordered in silver and with a silver dragon that twisted around her body, starting above her chest, going past her shoulder, curving slightly through her back and coming to the front again, as if caressing her hip, to finally go back to end with a long tail at the end of the dress. With that she had a pair of high-heeled sandals with two straps that criss-crossed up to her ankle. Her hair was simply put in two little buns, with some strands framing her face. She had put nearly no make up; just some gloss on her lips and a little bit of eye shadow.

"You look ready to me, Onna. We're leaving."

~*~

She had spent the afternoon meditating a little bit, as much to relax and calm herself as to make sure that everything was in order. Then she'd taken a long relaxing bath and finally she had dressed up. That was about forty-five minutes ago. Since then she'd been over her make up several times, had checked her hair for loose strands, had tried nearly all her jewelry on - to end up wearing none - and was still pacing her room, stopping every now and then to look herself in the mirror.

She had also been fairly worried about Vegeta's choice of clothes, so it came as a great and pleasant surprise when he came to her room and she could finally see what he'd bought. To say the truth, she was speechless.

He was wearing a skin-tight, black tank top, sleeveless and with a slightly long neck. A pair of black slacks with a black belt and some black boots. Finally he has put on black, leather gloves with the fingers cut off. It was a very simple outfit, but it suited him and his personality and he looked rather hot in it. The top showed off his broad back and his muscled arms, but as he wasn't bulky it didn't make him look like a bully. In fact, it could nearly be one of his training tank tops if it weren't for the long neck which made it all seem more... elegant?... sophisticated?... whatever! You get the idea, right? The slacks, for their part, showed his slender waist and were low enough so that depending how he moved you could catch a glimpse of his abs under the tank top. But aside from that, even though they let you know he had no skinny legs, the slacks didn't show them since they were slightly baggy.

Only problem she could see was that he was all in black, rather depressing even if it... Wait, maybe... YES! As he turned a little she caught a glimpse of white and it turned out he wasn't ALL in black as there was a white dragon sewed to one of his back pockets drawing all the attention to his tight ass... and what an ass, might I say. So much for her worrying about him cleaning up nicely. When Yamcha did, he was handsome, very much so in fact, but Vegeta... Gods! He was hot! Handsome fell miserably short when it came to the Saiyan Prince. He made Yamcha look rather... tame. This was even better than whatever she could have imagined.

"You look ready to me, Onna. We're leaving."

That snapped her out of her musings as she saw him coming to her with every intention of making her go, by force if needed be. She wasn't ready, though.

"Wait, wait! I'm not sure. Today must be perfect. I gotta knock him off his feet, I've gotta be more breathtaking than whatever bimbo he is with now, but I don't wanna look like a slut... What do you think, will this be good enough?" she asked while twirling around so that he could take everything in.

"Onna, the weakling will be drooling all over you - not that that is very difficult to manage, he'd find attractive a chimpanzee in a skirt, but that's not the point. And as for the girl... you'll have to see her before you can say anything. You look fine and there's nothing you can do about it anymore. It's time."

~ I guess he's right. I've done all I can. It's time to play. ~ "Ok, Vegeta, let's go."

~*~

Half an hour later they were at their usual table in the restaurant and were already eating. The table was at the far end of the restaurant, in a corner, very reserved. Vegeta had his back to the rest of the tables and was partially hidden by a big plant behind him. Bulma, on the other hand, was facing the restaurant and could easily be seen from any of the other tables. They had carefully chosen that table the first time they had come, and that along with the way they were seated was all part of their plan.

They had been rather quiet, both busy with their own thoughts, but some conversation had aroused, mostly on her part since she couldn't keep quiet for long. She was too nervous. However, they hadn't talked any since their food had been served, when suddenly Vegeta looked at her.

"They're here."

That's all he said, but it was enough. Her head shot up and she looked wildly from the door to the rest of the restaurant searching for the familiar figure of her ex.

"Onna! Calm down, stay collected and don't panic! Be sensible. Don't make a fool out of the both of us. Search for him through his ki. Concentrate."

She realized how fool she'd been. Had Yamcha caught her he'd known right away that something was up. She breathed deeply several times and tried to 'feel' him. It was still rather difficult for her, but she finally spotted him outside the restaurant, maybe at the corner, no more than fifty meters away from them.

"They're out."

"Hai. Now calm yourself and smile. We've gone through this several times, you know what to do."

Right, she knew what to do. Very easy for him to do so, it wasn't his future that was at stake, but she had to manage. She had to smile and talk softly to him. It didn't really matter what she said as long as she said something and she had to keep a calm and happy face the whole time, no matter what. They had to seem a happy couple.

She kept tracking his ki 'till he was at the door. She then put a happy face and centered her attention on Vegeta. In order for everything to go as planned it had to be Yamcha the one to spot them and not the other way around, so as much as she wanted to look at him and whoever was with him, she had to quench her curiosity and avoid looking at them until they were seated and it was safer to do so.

If Yamcha had looked at them right then he would have seen a seemingly happy Bulma seated in one of the best restaurants in the city chatting animatedly with the person in front of her. However, had he come any closer, he would have realized that the words that were uttered didn't match the picture at all; they were hurried and nervous and there was slight panic in them despite the happy face. As it was, though, Yamcha didn't look in their direction. He simply flirted shamelessly with his date while they were led to their table.

When Bulma was sure that they were seated she risked a quick glance in their direction: they were seated in the middle of the restaurant and facing to either side of Bulma so that both could see her if they wanted, but she wasn't in either line of vision directly. Yamcha had put on that yellow suit of his. Perfect: Bulma didn't like that thing in the least and that would make things easier. Now his date...

Bulma paled.

"Vegeta! She doesn't look like a blonde in the least! What I'm going to do?!" she was in a state of pure panic , now. She had counted on Yamcha to pick some stupid girl with big tits, but this girl didn't look the part. Sure, she had a great body, but she wore a sleeveless, skin-tight top with long neck and baggy pants. Her short hair went in all directions and she had on even less make up than Bulma. The outfit wasn't very formal, but it was appropriate for a place like this, and it screamed 'personality!'.

Vegeta, on the other hand, was quite confused. "So, she's a brunette? What does that matter, Onna? The color of her hair doesn't matter now!" ~ She's gone crazy! ~

That shut her up. She stopped panicking and looked at him. After a few moments like that she burst out laughing. The fucking woman not only had gone nuts but she had a death wish laughing at him like that. When the glare she was receiving from her partner got to a murderous level she tried to stop herself, it would do no good to have Vegeta try to kill her on their first date. Finally when she was calm enough to speak:

"Sorry Vegeta, I shouldn't have laughed like that, it's only natural that you wouldn't know what I was talking about. When you call a woman a 'blonde'..." With that, a much more relaxed Bulma began to explain him about blonde jokes and they engaged in a trivial conversation about fashion and the such - just to have Vegeta reinforce his opinion that ningens are a strange AND useless race -.

~*~

Yamcha was amazed with this new woman he was dating. He had already gone out with her more than half a dozen times and he wasn't bored with her, yet. When he'd been dating Bulma, all the other women he'd fucked had been just that: a good fuck.. He'd attributed that to the fact that he was already dating someone else, but ever since they had broken up he had found out that if he tried to date any of those women, after 2 or 3 times he got bored of their senseless babbling and just dumped them.

In the end he went to Krillin for advice and the ex-monk told him to stop dating stupid bimbos and try with a real woman, an intelligent one. At first he'd been offended that his friend thought so poorly of his dates, but ended up admitting that he usually picked the stupid and easy ones with the killer bodies in the smallest dresses.

That's how he'd ended with Sam, the woman seated in front of him right now. She was gorgeous, no doubt about that, and even though she didn't dress like all his other dates it still was very hot. The most important, however, was that she could keep up a conversation about all and everything he could come up with. She was intelligent - he thought that she had told him something about having gone to college - and had an interesting sense of humor.

The waiter had just brought them the dessert's menu when she came back from the bathroom.

"You won't ever guess who I saw at the bathroom!" She said very excited.

"Who?" It had to be someone really important to make her act like this.

"Bulma Briefs! Can you believe it? She's one of the best scientists in the world and together with her father they're something else. I'd love to..."

He stopped listening after hearing the name. Yamcha wasn't sure how to react to that. He hadn't expected this. They hadn't met since their break up aside from brief meetings at some social events and a couple of parties at Master Roshy's, and even though he had been the one to ask to remain as friends, he still wasn't all that comfortable with her.

"Bulma is here?" he mumbled to himself, but Sam had heard it.

"Bulma? You know her?"

"Uh... yes, we're friends."

"Really?! Wow, Yamcha, you gotta introduce us, please? Most of what I learned at the university was developed by either her or her father and I admire her a lot, she's a celebrity."

"You mean you like to mess with chips and circuits and computers, too? I thought you had studied something else."

He seemed a little upset about it, she realized. "Is there a problem with that? I would have thought that if you're friends with Bulma Briefs you'd already be used to all of that."

"Oh, no! No, there's no problem, you just caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting it." ~ Yeah, right Yamcha. Who are you kidding? Fortunately Sam and I don't know each other that much so it'll be a while till she starts telling me about her day and whatever project she's in from which I won't be able to understand a single word. No need to tell her so, though. Better change the subject. ~ "Anyway, I don't know how I could introduce you. I mean it's not as if I could go over there and sit down at her table or something. Speaking of which, do you know where she is seated?"

"She's right there, at the end of the restaurant, do you see her? I guess you're right, we shouldn't interrupt her in the middle of her date. She's probably chosen a table so secluded for a reason. But maybe if we stay till after they finish you could call her over on their way to the exit... they could sit with us to have a coffee or something, what do you think?"

Yamcha had stopped listening - again - as soon as his eyes fell on her. The few times he'd seen Bulma during these last months she'd seemed depressed, her face was paler, she had dark circles under her eyes... and somehow it made him feel good to know that it was caused by their break up, by him, in a way, since she still was kind of pining after him. Today, however, she looked splendid, radiant, as beautiful as ever and she seemed to be having a great time. It made him angry that she... could be happy? It was confusing. He hadn't been phased by their break up in the least, why should the fact that she went out to have dinner with some friend eat at him like that? That's when something else from what Sam had said registered in his mind. "Date? You think she's here on a date? Hahahaha! Don't be silly! She's here with one of her friends, they've probably taken her out a little."

"'Taken her out'? Why should they have to take her out? And why are you so sure she's not on a date?"

"Because she broke up with her boyfriend a little over half a year ago... they'd been together for ten years and she took it really bad."

"Yamcha... more than half a year is time enough to get over anybody, I think. Besides, you should be happy that she goes on with her life. I really think that she is dating the guy, I don't really see him, but I'm sure it's a he, and as far as I can see they're holding hands. She seems very comfortable with him, look at her, talking and laughing without a care in the world, they probably have known each other for a while, you're not like that with someone you don't know... you and I aren't still like that, Yamcha."

~ They're holding hands?? They have known each other for quite a while?? The slut!!! What did she do? Pick up another guy as soon as I let her free? She should still be all over me, or at least trying to get me back, no going out with another guy!!! ~ (AN: if that's not an ego I don't know what would be!! Has anybody realized I'm not that fond of him? The jerk! ¬¬) "He's probably one of those lab rats that she works with for them to be able to talk that much. Either that or he's bored out of his mind, because she can babble about her job for hours. Poor Bulma was very depressed after the break up... maybe she was so desperate she picked up the first guy that came to her door. It's really a pity... he probably isn't half the man her ex was, just physically he is very, very good looking, plus he has a great sense of humor, is very charming and caring and a wonderful guy and boyfriend in general... but I guess that as you said I should be happy that she goes on with her life."

The way Yamcha was talking was a little strange, but she passed it off as some kind of male sympathy or something like that since he seemed to be close friends with her ex. "It must have been hard on her to loose such a man. Anyway, what do you say about my idea? Will you call her over when they leave? Pleaseeee." She put on her best puppy dog eyes.

She was too cute to resist. "Okay, I'll call them over. After all it's been a while since I last talked to her and I'm curious about her date, I'd like to know him."

~*~

"Okay, Onna, spit it out! Something's been in your mind since you came back from the bathroom and you've been in your little world ever since. I know I'm probably not the best of companies and I can assure you that I can think of a better one for me, too, but this is what there is and you should remember that I'm here doing YOU a favor so the least you could do is to try and NOT ignore me!"

Vegeta was not happy. In the least. He'd been in the company of some subdeveloped species that had shown more respect than what she was showing. He was about to tell her so when she started apologizing and talking like crazy. ~ What the hell does she think she's doing? Does she want to give us away? Damn ningens, they're good for nothing! ~

"Shut up" He said it so calmly that it got him the response he wanted and she shut up immediately. Good. "Look, I haven't understood a thing of what you've said but that's not important. The thing is that you seem set on making this plan fail: you've forgotten all we talked about, you're too unbalanced, you're not concentrated."

She looked down at this, like a child that's just been reprimanded by their parents. "Sorry, Vegeta."

"Grrr! Damn ningens... stupid emotions... make you weak... not able to keep her concentration for a couple hours... too unstable..." He kept on mumbling like that for a while, thinking how to use this for their advantage and not against them. Meanwhile Bulma looked at him without really knowing what to do, just feeling foolish for her outburst but not being able to control herself. Finally he seemed to make a decision.

"Ok, Onna, come here." She stood up and took his extended hand which led her to his chair. He separated himself a little from the table and the hand tugged her towards him. She blushed to the root. "Wha--- Vegeta, what are you doing?"

"Onna, come on, sit here.", he said matter-of-fact while patting his knees, all the while tugging on her hand. "Come on! Straddle me."

By now she was sure she was the closest imitation to a tomato that could exist. "What?! But Vegeta!"

Finally tired of this Vegeta put both his hands at her waist and lifted her effortlessly till she was sitting on his knees, one of her legs at either side of him. "There. It wasn't that hard now, was it? Why do you have to argue everything I say?! Once in a while you could try and just do what I want!"

She was pretty sure she'd never been this embarrassed in all her life. "Vegeta! This is a restaurant! A public place! People is not supposed to sit like this in a restaurant like this. And why the hell have you made me sit like this in the first place?!"

This had lasted way too long, already. They had to go on with the plan before the weakling left. "Don't rich people get to be eccentric in this planet?" After receiving a hesitant nod he went on. "then there's no problem in you sitting here, you're rich. As for the why... Onna you're way out of control, I can't have you looking like that for all the restaurant to see. My seat is the only one that's hidden. As for the position, I thought that if someone were to see us they better get the desired impression. Now, calmly, tell me again what's the problem."

~ Man, this guy's amazing. He really thinks about everything and has everything under control. I couldn't have chosen a better partner for this plan. ~ Half reassured by these thoughts she took a deep breath and explained. "Well... you see... when I went to the bathroom she was there, the woman that's with Yamcha, I mean. She's really pretty. Anyway, I think she recognized me or something because when I came back they started discussing something and looking this way a lot. But in the end they quieted and they haven't done anything. I think that they saw me and I think that she could see us holding hands, so she probably told him since they were talking about us for so long. However, Yamcha didn't seem surprised or annoyed or jealous or anything. They've probably decided to let us be and that's why they didn't come to say anything.

They haven't looked this way since then. Not once. What if he doesn't care any more? What if it's too late? What will I do if he really doesn't react to all this charade? I'll end up an old, moody lady with the house full of cats! And that's a lot of cats considering the size of my house. Oh Vegeta, I don't think this is gonna work!!" With that she threw herself on him, arms around his neck and head on his shoulder. Ok, probably not the wisest thing to do considering we're talking about Vegeta here, but she was REALLY unstable.

He drew her closer to himself instinctively, to hide her from view. As much as he wanted to slap some sense into her, this wasn't the time and the least they needed was for Yamcha to see her breakdown. So, with his hands near her bottom from where he had put them to push her to him and her wrapped around him, he let her calm down a little. ~ Shit! She's too insecure. I'll have to make her practice more meditation and show her how to control better her feelings, save them for later or use them in the right direction. We can't pull something like this, waiting for her to calm down, every time something doesn't go as planned! ~

Meanwhile Bulma started to calm down and became aware of the position they were in. She blushed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot, lately. She became acutely aware of strong arms surrounding her, of the hard, warm body pressed against hers... in this position everything seemed possible. ~ He's so calm, and so confident, almost makes me forget all my doubts and fears. This feels nice. ~ When she was finally ready, she stood up to look at him, still sitting on his lap.

"More calm? Good. Let's see. First thing , Onna: if you saw all that why the hell didn't you tell me?! You were supposed to let me in on everything that happened since I've got my back to them, remember? If you keep panicking and forgetting the plan every time something happens this isn't going to work, you know that? They've seen us and they hadn't come? Ok, we'll just have to put more bait to this... maybe what we've used was not strong enough... in a way we were still testing. So what do you say? Do we step everything up a notch? Holding hands and the sweet stuff is not enough to get his attention so we'll try with some groping, kissing, teasing... you know what I mean, right? You gotta understand I've never been in a relationship before-"

At this her jaw hit the floor. "You mean you're a virgin?!"

"Don't be stupid, Onna. I'm obviously not a virgin, by far. I said I hadn't been in a relationship not that I haven't enjoyed sex as often as I've been able to. That's were I was going. I know about the seduction, the teasing, the mind games... you know, all that stuff that's supposed to get you a bed partner when correctly used and to which you have to revert when there's not an appropriate harem to suit your needs..." he ended growling that, his eyes taking in a far away look as he remembered the many times he had had to 'seduce' his partners like a commoner. He should have been over all that, it should have been the other way around: people trying to get his attention and his favors. Returning to the here and now "Anyway, Onna, I think that suits me way more than any mushy shit you might have had in mind for me and it will be more convincing, too. Doesn't have to mean that we're in this just for the sex, ok? We're not trying to get him to think that this is lust, it wouldn't work, then."

She was once again blushing. She was starting to get a little irritated with all the blushing, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't expected to get this far in their relationship so soon and wasn't prepared. But she guessed that he was right. It was good worth a try and he seemed to know what he was doing so... "Fine Vegeta, we'll do it as you say. Just a couple of things: first you don't get too nasty, I don't like rude comments or vulgar stares and Yamcha knows it. Secondly you should know that while you might be experienced in the area I'm not, so you're taking the led, now. You do and I'll try to keep up as much as I can, but don't expect me to start anything by myself, at least for now."

"That won't be a problem, specially if you grow used to it for future dates we could use it for our advantage. One last thing: when they finally spot us and call us over you gotta act surprised, tell me to go to them, I'll frown or something (gotta keep in character) and you have to 'convince' me. It'll be the only time you'll have to start anything, but it's not much... you can come closer to me, put a hand on my chest suggestively, a sexy look in your face and lean on me as if to whisper something, ok? Any question?"

"Nope, I'm ready."

"Ok, then, let's go."

She was still wondering if she'd be ready for this and if this was such a good idea after all when he proceeded to haul her in his arms as she was and stand up. He then promptly set her on the floor to the right and looked at her. She was now in open view once again while he was still hidden and they were both looking to each other. Vegeta seemed to be searching for something and when he was satisfied he put both hands on her hips and pulled her to him while he moved himself to her at the same time. They met at the mouth at middle step and both his hands went to her bottom. She was shocked at the sudden movement, but recovered quickly. Her hands were now deep in that black mane of his and her eyes had gone from wide at first to closed as the kiss evolved and he gently licked her lip asking for permission that was quickly granted. His tongue entered her mouth and explored it thoroughly, not leaving a single inch. After a while he moved one of the hands from her ass, up her back and to her neck where he played a little with a few strands of hair and then gently grabbed her neck forcing it to the side a little for a better access while he bent forward somewhat to deepen the kiss. Bulma didn't know what to think. In fact all that passed her mind was 'That's one hell of a kiss!'. Her mind was a little foggy and she had practically forgotten where they were till a cry rang out loud and clear through the restaurant:

"VEGETA?!!!!!"

~*~

By the end of the dinner Yamcha was set on meeting his ex-girlfriend's date. He wasn't sure what his motives where nor was he sure what feelings this sudden discovery inspired in him, but he didn't want to, or dare, question himself too much.

He panicked slightly when he looked over to her table and found it empty but was quickly reassured by Sam that they were still there. The relief was short lived, though, when she explained further and told him that, from what little she could see, she thought Bulma was sitting on her date's lap, hidden from everyone's view by that plant.

"What do you mean she's seated on his lap? Bulma is not the kind of person that goes sitting on men's lap in the best restaurant of the city! What is she thinking?! Why don't they screw each other silly while they are at it?!" He was full of conflicting emotions: shock and awed at seeing this part of her that he hadn't known about, jealous that she didn't show him in a ten year relationship but would show this man after a few months, enraged that she would act this slut-like and careless in a well known and public place and turned on by it at the same time...

If Sam thought his a strange reaction in front of everything that was happening, she didn't comment on it and kept her gaze locked on the other table trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious man. After a while of looking at Bulma's knee (that's pretty much all she could see from her seat), there was movement and she could see Bulma being hauled up seemingly with no effort and set on her feet at the side of the table, the side of the table that Sam could see. After that the man stood up, too and now that she could have a good look at him she found herself practically drooling. No doubt Bulma would throw her modesty to the wind and let herself by seated on his lap in a fine restaurant like this, hell! Sam herself would have thrown herself at the man had she had the opportunity to go out with him. "Gods, Yamcha! Her ex may have been a great guy and a wonderful boyfriend and all, but I doubt he was as hot as this guy!!! I've never seen anything hotter on two legs!"

"SAMMM!!! What the hell are you saying?! You're my girlfriend, remember?"

"I know, but I haven't become blind all of a sudden, you know? Hey, I'm not saying you're not handsome, 'cause you're very handsome and have a great body and all, don't get me wrong, but this guy's something else!" She was in her little world and hadn't looked at Yamcha once in all this time, her gaze locked on the wet dream at the other end of the restaurant.

Yamcha was stunned. His eyes had bugged so much they had practically come out of their sockets at Sam's words. How could it be?! Even his own girlfriend was ogling over Bulma's date?! He couldn't be that good looking, could him? Not better than himself, Sam must be not seeing him well... right? Suddenly Sam's next words cut through his thoughts again. "Oh, man! That's some kiss his giving her!" she practically groaned the words. That's when Yamcha looked over their table himself, just in time to see whoever was with Bulma lean over her to deepen the kiss and, for the first time, he caught a glimpse of Bulma's date. He practically fainted when he recognized the man. Instead, though, his jaw dropped to the table, his eyes bugged out even more than before, if that was possible and he couldn't help his surprised cry:

"VEGETA?!!!!!"

He blushed to the root when he realized that, because of his little outburst, all eyes in the restaurant where centered on him, including those of the pair at the end of the room who had stop kissing upon hearing the shout and were now staring at him with something akin to shock. After a few moments the room started to fill with noise and soft talking as everybody returned to their previous conversations, but he kept looking at the pair and saw as Bulma seemed to recover from the surprise and told something to Vegeta. Something about go to see Yamcha himself, he guessed when he saw the other man frown at her words and begin to shake his head trying to discourage the idea, but then Bulma leaned over till her mouth was next to his ear, her hand rested on his chest suggestively and she had a wicked gleam in her eyes when she whispered something to him. Yamcha saw Vegeta smirk at her words and reluctantly accept her proposition. She then took his hand in hers and started to Yamcha's table.

Yamcha had all but forgotten about Sam until she spoke again. She had seen the exchange between the pair, too and was excited about the prospect of finally meeting Bulma Briefs. "Oh, Yamcha! I'm going to meet Bulma Briefs, can you imagine? I'm so nervous!! I didn't think you'd do something like that, all the restaurant was looking at you, you could have called them a little more discretely, you know? But I guess it doesn't matter as long as it worked, right?" She was sure by now that something was bothering Yamcha about the whole ordeal and she guessed it had to do with Bulma and her date, but she couldn't really care less. What was now important is the approaching woman. She liked Yamcha and all, but they had just known each other for some weeks and she didn't feel like she had to confront him about his feelings towards the Briefs heir. It was true that they were dating, but it wasn't anything serious at the moment, just getting to know each other and see if they clicked. Pushing all thoughts of her relationship with the man seated in front of her to the side, she concentrated on the woman that had just arrived to their table with a bright smile on her face.

"Yamcha! What a surprise!! It's been a while since we last talked, right? I didn't expect to see you here. How are you?"

"Hello, Bulma, you look wonderful tonight. I'm fine, same old same old, you know. I didn't expect to see you either, much less with him." The last word was spat with such venom that Sam had to look twice to convince herself that it was Yamcha who had spoken it. That wasn't quite what she would have expected from two old friends talking. Nothing like the light cheerful tone that Bulma used. What was his problem? But before Ms. Briefs could answer he kept on. "What the hell were you thinking, Bulma? What the hell are you doing with that asshole?! I knew you were rather upset and desperate after the breakup, but him? After all he did, you... I didn't think you'd fall this low!"

Vegeta didn't mind the comments. For one he didn't care what people thought of him, and besides, this was the weakling talking, not many individuals had less value in Vegeta's opinion than this weak and useless ningen. Bulma, on the other hand was furious! How did he dare insult her like this?! Desperate? She'd show him desperate! He just had to wait and if everything went her way in a few months she'd ask him if he still thought she was desperate, let's see what he told her, then. On the outside, however, she kept her cool, the only one that noticed anything was wrong was Vegeta, that was close enough to notice her clenched muscles. "Yamcha, I'll tell you that I've never felt this good before, I'm growing up, maturing, and I've realized that you can't please everybody all the time, you have to do things to please yourself regardless of what the others think. Well, this is one of those things, so I'd appreciate it if you keep those comments for yourself because they aren't gonna change anything. Now, I hope that won't trouble our friendship. I care about you and appreciate your worries and your opinion, just not in this one subject." She said in a deceivingly cheerful tone. She had expected some sort of comment like that, surely not that offending, but she'd make him eat his words when the time came, so she'd been ready to answer in that sweet tone. "That cleared, I think you should introduce your beautiful companion, don't you think?"

Yamcha had to restrain himself from glaring at her. So his opinion didn't matter to her, right? So they were going to be friends but he couldn't interfere in her love life now that he wasn't part of it - that's what she'd basically said with those well sounding words. Fine. Two could play the indifferent ex. "Of course, how rude of me! Bulma, I'd like you to meet Samantha, my girlfriend. Sam, this is Bulma Briefs."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Briefs. I've been dying to meet you ever since I saw you in the bathrooms. It was a great surprise to learn that you and Yamcha were friends, I can't believe my luck."

"The pleasure is all mine, Samantha. And please, call me Bulma. I hear the 'Miss Briefs' crap all the time at work, no need to hear it when I get to go out, right?" Bulma said while winking to Sam in a playful and knowing way, as if the other would suffer what she was talking about in an everyday occurrence.

Sam liked this woman more by the minute. She was not only a genius, but she was a very beautiful woman and a very friendly and cheerful one, too. She liked how the other acted as any other woman her age would, unmindful about the social differences or the difference in wealth and popularity. She wasn't a conceited daddy's girl, nor an obnoxious woman ready to make it clear that she knew she was more intelligent and thought herself superior to the rest of the world. She just seemed a woman who was meeting her friend's new girlfriend. Nothing more. "Of course, Bulma, and you can call me Sam."

"Okay. Then Sam, I'd like you to meet Vegeta." Said Bulma while trying to coax him to the front. They were still holding hands, and he'd positioned himself slightly behind her when they'd arrived to their table, his free hand coming to rest lightly, but possessively, on her waist. Finally he came to the front and extended his hand to Sam.

"Samantha." It was all he said but his eyes stared intensely into Sam's ones as if examining her. She thought he seemed able to see through her with those piercing black eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Vegeta. Please call me just Sam, ok?" She tried to be friendly and lighten the mood since he seemed so serious, but he had gone back to his previous position behind Bulma and just gave her a "Hn." as an answer. She was slightly taken aback by that.

"Vegeta is a very quiet man and not very talkative." Bulma was saying, having seen the confused looked cross Sam's face and aware that he had a difficult personality. They had already talked about that: even if they were acting as a pair, Yamcha knew them both so they had to stay in character as much as possible. It didn't really matter what Sam thought about Vegeta, but Bulma found herself liking the other woman and so she tried to make her feel comfortable around the moody prince. "Don't mind him very much. He'll talk to you if he has something to say, it's just his way. At first it annoyed the hell out of me, but in time I found out that being so quiet he made a great listener and you know that's not something easy to find in a man, ne?"

"Hahaha! You can say that, Bulma! That's what a good girl friend is for. To hear you out whenever you need it and to let you vent your frustrations - more times than not caused by men, because, let's face it, you have to take care of them, and look after them all the time, I don't know what they'd do without us! Really, sometimes I wonder if men aren't nearly more trouble than they're worth!" Sam snickered.

"Ooh, girl! I like how you think!" It was all said in a joking manner and everybody understood it and nobody took offence, though that didn't mean that the men at the table would let them get out with this so easily.

"Is that so, Onna? I can think of a few ways to make myself 'worthy' enough to make up for all those troubles, and then some." Vegeta purred against Bulma's neck in a very sexy and suggestive tone, meaning it for Bulma, but loud enough so that Sam would hear too and with a meaningful look to the second one so that she understood that he wasn't going to let himself be made fun of without a good come back. "Besides, I'm sure those good girl friends of yours are also very useful when it comes to gossip about my 'worthiness', aren't they, Bulma?"

Sam was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected him to say anything at all, why with his reserved character and all, but what he'd actually said had left her speechless and his intense look in her direction had left her with no doubts that he COULD make himself worthy, despite all the trouble a relationship with such closed man could cause. She was rather hot, too, now. Hot, however, was an understatement when it came to Bulma. What he implied with that low sexy voice of his, clearly directed at her and with the soft tingling of his breath on her neck and his body lightly pressed to her back made her feel more than warm all over and she had to force herself to restrain the shiver of desire that threatened to course throughout her body.

Yamcha for his part was sick of this. The fucking bastard was not only making Bulma all hot for him, but was making Sam - his girlfriend - too. What's with these women! The guy's a jerk throughout all the conversation, he's even rude when he's introduced to Sam, and he just says a sentence and has both women a puddle of goo in his hands. A very hot and bothered goo, at that. So, he decided, it was time to put a stop to this meaningless conversation and try for something else. "Well Bulma, and how's work going?" he knew from experience that that was a safe subject to bring up, so safe in fact that it could get boring. "You know what? Sam here has been studying what you've done."

Sam caught the strange, tense note in his speech and realized that it was just an excuse to change the subject. What was troubling him this much? But she didn't have to dwell on it too much as Bulma began talking to her and questioning her about her studies and soon they were both engaged in a conversation about what they both loved and understood most, and it weren't the men standing with them.

Vegeta had zoned the onnas chatter as soon as they started with the boring theories of some of the projects that the woman was working at at the moment. She seemed to have taken a liking to the weakling's girl, and even though it wasn't planned, he could already see the benefits from such a friendship to the plan, so he didn't mind them chatting away as if they had forgotten he was there, at least for a while. They couldn't stay much, anyway. This was just a first impression, and the shorter the better. They just had to manage to make some kind of arrangement to get to see them again. Meanwhile, though, he caught sight of the weakling glaring at him with as much hatred as he could muster. ~ If his trying to intimidate me with that sorry excuse for a glare his doing a very poor job of it. Oh well, I better do something productive while the woman isn't listening. And have some fun at the same time. *big, scary smirk* ~ With some 'fun' in mind he locked gazes with the weakling and gave him one of his own glares back.

Yamcha took this as his cue. "What do you think you're doing, Vegeta? Are you playing with her? Using her? Are you trying to humiliate her? Are you trying to make her become a slut? What, with that show you made her put up in a public place like this, I'm sure it was all your doing! She would have never done something like that!"

It was all whispered. It was clear to Vegeta that Yamcha didn't want either woman to catch onto what they were talking. All the better for Vegeta! Aside from that, he was amused at what the weakling thought, he was giving him a lot of power over the woman, he was mildly proud for the unintended praise. Such a stupid man, Yamcha was! "Oh, I'm not playing with nor using her, and even though I must admit it was my idea, she had no problem to go with it. Tell me something, ningen, what did you think when you knew she was on my lap while in a restaurant like this, when you saw us kissing like that there in front of everyone? Were you aroused by the thought? Would have you liked that she would have done something like this when she was with you? That she would have been this daring? I think that makes her more sexy, don't you?" Vegeta could see he was having an effect on Yamcha. He had made a blind guess, but quite a possible one because he knew what Yamcha had told her when they broke up. Now he had him unsettled. "She would never do something like that, you say? Maybe not when she was with you she wouldn't, that's right, do you want to know why? Because you were never man enough for her."

He knew that wasn't entirely true, or at least not the best way to word it, but this was the better way to do the most damage possible. The problem had been that the woman needed to mature, to grow up and gain some confidence. She needed a challenge to do so, someone that would encourage her in the right direction and wouldn't shelter her from everything. Yamcha wasn't able to do any of that: nor was he a challenge to her - more like a puppet - nor could he help her mature. He had just really talked to the woman a couple of times himself aside from their arguments, but it was obviously clear to him that she was still too immature in every way - in what Yamcha had in mind right now, Vegeta was fairly sure she'd become a very attractive woman, and a tease, at that: she was beautiful and witted and had a very sharp tongue, she had potential. "You wouldn't let her grow up, she needed a man at her own level, a man that would pose a challenge and that could go along with her when she matured and didn't fall behind. You, pathetic excuse for a male, are not that man."

That left Yamcha gaping at him, with a look half way between angry and confused and, perhaps, a tad bit insecure. Feeling that his goal had been accomplished, Vegeta turned to Bulma, who was still talking to Sam, tightened his hold on her pressing her against himself and whispered to her loud enough that the other two at that table would hear. "Onna, we should be heading home, now. You and I were in the middle of something I'd like to finish, you know? You can always meet with the girl another day and chat to your heart's content."

Bulma went quickly from dimly annoyed from being rather rudely interrupted, to acutely aware of the man whispering to her firmly pressed against her back, to rather impressed at his astuteness and the seemingly effortless way he always found the right thing to say so that things went his way. This time he'd manage to make them meet again in a way that he seemed to be doing them a favor. As all this passed through her head she heard Sam saying: "Oh, that'd be wonderful, Bulma. That is, if you don't mind, of course. But I'd love to know more about your work."

"Of course not! You're a very intelligent woman, yourself, Sam, and I'd love to show you some of what I'm doing, too, if you'd like, so what do you say about coming to CC someday this week? Let's say around... Wednesday?"

Sam was beyond excited, at this point, this was not meeting Bulma Briefs and talking a little with her, she was giving her the opportunity to go to her labs and take a look at some of her projects!! Life was good. "Really? Oh, I'll be there, for sure! As soon as you want me there."

"Very well, then, why don't you come by nine, this way we'll have all day to ourselves, I'm quite ahead of work so I can allow myself the luxury of taking a whole day off." Seeing the girl nod enthusiastically Bulma leaned over her and whispered for only Sam to hear, "Now we'll have to be going, though. I don't want to make Vegeta wait, and I can hardly wait, myself." She said, winking. She knew that was a rather clumsy attempt to spice it up a little, but she was trying, and she could see that the other woman had understood just fine.

"Sure, no prob, I'd be dying to get home if I had someone like him!!" she whispered back. And then she straightened back and said for everyone to hear, "Well then, see ya this Wednesday, Bulma! It's been a pleasure to meet you, Vegeta, I hope we'll again sometime."

"Till this Wednesday, Sam. See you, Yamcha. Bye!!"

Vegeta gave a nod to Sam as all his goodbye, and a meaningful look at Yamcha, that the other couldn't meet, so he just looked at Bulma and bid her an absent goodbye.

With that Vegeta started pushing Bulma away with his hold on her waist. They had already paid, so he just took her to the front door and to the car, which was exactly in front of the window of the restaurant. He took a quick look inside the restaurant and saw both Sam and Yamcha still looking at them from their table and decided to put just a last act for good measure. When they reached the car, instead of letting go of her, he led her to the other side of the car, to the driver's door and before she could even open her purse to look for the keys he pushed her against the side of the car and kissed her. It was like the kiss at the restaurant, mind-blowing. This time she knew what to expect and he turned the kiss more hot and when he finally let go of her swollen lips, he kept kissing his way along her jaw, her ear, he suckled on her ear lobe, undid the couple of buttons that held the neck of the dress up and then went to her neck and her collarbone, kissing and licking and nibbling.

She was in her own little world of pleasure. Nobody had ever had this kind of effect on her. He had said he was rather good at this, but she had thought it was his macho ego talking. She had been veeery wrong! When he got to her neck and collarbone and started nibbling and kissing she couldn't keep her moan in, and she even threw her head back presenting him with as much skin as she could.

After a little while he slowed his ministrations, which went from hot and arousing to calming and relaxing. He just caressed her skin, nuzzled her neck a little and gave her little pecks going back the path he'd come previously. By the time he got to her mouth and gave it a little kiss and then just ghosting his lips against hers she had calmed down and was able to drive them back safely. So when he finally let go of her and went to his side of the car she took the keys from her purse, entered the car and drove them to CC.

She had a rather good idea of the motives behind his actions: she had seen a shocked Yamcha and a rather flushed Sam watching them intently through the window when she'd thrown her head back.

Seemed that the plan was working rather well, for the moment.

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

Finally I've got chapter four out! Wow, that was hard! Hey, I know, it's been over 4 months, I think, but this IS a very long chapter... besides, I think I said before I'm a rather slow writer, so don't expect quick updates from me... I'm sorry. Oh, and because of the big wait I decided to post it as soon as I've finished it, which was about 10 minutes ago, so it's not beta-read... I'll have it beta-read and repost it again then, but for now I hope this is good enough.

I'd just like to make a little comment about a very important, I think, part of the fic: I know I may be making Vegeta and Bulma seem to begin to be attracted to one another (Vegeta saying all those things about Bulma needing to grow up and insinuating that he was the man she needed and thinking that she's beautiful and all, and Bulma all that hot and bothered every time Vegeta touches her), well that's not like that. I'm trying to make Vegeta a jerk and all, but a very sensible one, and one that doesn't lie to himself. We all have read fics were Vegeta denies again and again that she may be attractive or any other good quality that she may have, well, I think he is intelligent enough to not do that and has enough psychology to see that when fully mature she may become an amazing woman... From now, all that he may start feeling is some kind of respect for her. For her part, as it'll be explained later on, Bulma is just amazed at what he can do with his hands and mouth... no deep feeling to it, ok?

Well, that's it for now, hope to see ya all in the next chap, whenever it comes!^^