Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

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The Price You Pay: Chapter Seven

 

"Onna…?"

 

Shit.

 

The sphere of ki Vegeta had been holding was instantly absorbed into Bulma's unprepared body. She watched as the energy dispersed into her body, glowing as it crept up her arm. She took in a deep breath as the sharpness of the electricity pumped through every blood vessel in her body.

 

So much for never finding out what ki energy feels like.

 

Bulma's heart began to race as she felt a surge of strong emotions flow into her unshielded mind. She opened her mouth and released a silent cry before beginning to shiver, and collapsing to her knees. She felt like she no longer had control over any of her limbs, and she didn't.

 

~~~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~~~

 

Vegeta could have sworn he'd locked the door to his quarters. Hadn't he done so in order to avoid the situation with which he was now faced? He couldn't remember. How could he be so reckless?

 

The meditation he'd been practicing was an ancient chant related to the prophecy of the Legendary. One that had been embedded in his mind since he was a child—one that no Saiya-jin really knew the story behind. Somehow, the words passing over his lips had always soothed him.

 

What had the woman been thinking?

 

Ki energy was one thing, but this, this was something else. Unfortunately, the energy he'd been releasing was not the kind of energy used in battle, but something just as dangerous. The orbs were a physical means of releasing his metaphysical emotions. When he created them, all his feelings were temporarily transferred and released externally to be burned away into the night air.

 

After opening his eyes and seeing the Earth woman, he knew immediately what she'd done. How could he not? Their bodies were instantly merged emotionally. It was overwhelming.

 

Vegeta caught Bulma before she hit the hard surface of the concrete floor. His skin felt like it was burning and his viscera were on fire. It didn't help that Bulma's temperature had risen dramatically within the few seconds she was exposed to his energy. Great. It wasn't like he could just let her die, right? He grunted. Probably not. Shaking his head, Vegeta tried to figure out what to do with the unconscious woman. His tail flicked back and forth anxiously behind him.

 

She was lucky he hadn't fried her. The shock if it all had nearly made him lose what little control he had. When she woke up, she'd better be eternally thankful that he had self control. Because if what she just did meant what he thought it did, he would have a good reason to blast her.

 

Uncertain of the reaction Bulma's body was having, Vegeta re-entered his room. The woman was burning up. He had to lower her temperature—humans could die of such trivial things.

 

Fuck.

 

He glanced around the room, his mind racing. He could make an ice bath. No, too fast of a change. He didn't want to risk putting her body into a worse shock than it was already in. His eyes settled on a panel inlaid on the opposite wall, it's digital display catching his attention in the dimness of the room.

 

Right, each room in the Briefs' house had its own individual temperature control.

 

That could work.

 

If Vegeta brought down the temperature in his room to somewhere between 50 and 60 degrees, it should efficiently cool the onna's body down. Or at least start the process. He walked over to his bed and placed Bulma under the covers, making sure that her neck and back were in comfortable positions. He felt her forehead with the inside of his wrist. He needed to know just how high her body temperature had become. It was somewhere in the 103 F range, but he couldn't be sure. That was still too high for a human. If it got much higher, she could die. He placed two fingers on her neck and checked the pulse in her carotid artery. It was strong, but going about 120 bpm. That was high as well.

 

Without further delay, he walked over to the climate control and turned the thermostat down to 55 degrees. Vegeta rolled his eyes and walked back to the bed where Bulma was thrashing back and forth. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He ran a hand briefly through his hair and decided that he felt like destroying something at that very moment.

 

The onna really has no idea what she gets me into. Hell, what she's gotten herself into.

 

If she'd known anything about what touching that orb of ki would do, she never would have done it. Their bodies were now irrevocably linked.

 

How could I be so foolish? Damn it. I'm going to need to put a better lock on that door.

 

The lock had been causing problems for the last couple of weeks but he hadn't found it necessary to seek the onna out and tell her to fix it. He rarely used the lock anyway.

 

And now look at what my complacency has caused.

 

It was very easy to blame himself, very easy. He shouldn't have developed a relationship with the onna. If she'd been more frightened of him, she never would have felt comfortable wandering into his room in the middle of the night. Why would she come here anyway? He glanced at the unconscious female. What was she expecting to find or achieve by coming to his private quarters at such an hour?

 

This was exactly the reason why he decided to cease communication with her. Vegeta felt bile rise in the back of his throat as a sickening sense of fatalism settled over him. It didn't matter who took the blame. It was done. And even if he had locked the door, who knew, maybe that would have just delayed the inevitable—especially if Bulma was becoming prone to such blatant infringements on his privacy.

 

A thin sheen of sweat plastered Bulma's bangs against her clammy skin, Vegeta noticed as he re-approached the bed. There was a clean washcloth in the bathroom closet, and he quickly retrieved it, soaking it in freezing water and brushing Bulma's bangs out of the way. She was still out of it.

 

After an hour of waiting for any sort of change, Vegeta realized he'd reached the end of his patience. This was not his responsibility and he needed rest just as much as the onna did. Bulma groaned and Vegeta stared daggers at her unmoving form, realizing he had a problem. She was still in his bed.

 

He could move her. But what if her condition deteriorated? Well, decided Vegeta after a long moment's consideration, if they were already in deep shit, sleeping in the same bed with her certainly wasn't going to kill him. Even if the idea did intrigue and alarm him at the same time.

 

Removing the thick comforter from the opposite side of the bed, Vegeta slipped under the covers and faced the wall. He was exhausted.

 

~~~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~~~

 

The first thing Bulma noticed when she woke up in the middle of the night was that she was not in her room. Not that something so small was particularly alarming. She'd woken up in the living room or in her lab plenty of times. It wasn't until she realized that she couldn't move, that she started to panic.

 

Narrowly avoiding what surely would have been an embarrassing feminine squeal, Bulma noticed that there was something warm to the left of her. She just couldn't get her neck to move enough to get a better view. Truthfully, she didn't care who or what it was. At that moment, it was the only thing preventing her from completely flipping out.

Yamcha? Her panic started to fade.

 

After a few minutes, she regained movement in her arms, flexing them a bit to speed up her circulation. The person next to her shifted, and she attempted to move out of his grasp.

 

"Don't even think about it, onna." The voice came out almost as a purr.

 

You have got to be kidding me, she thought with an instant sinking feeling. Inexplicably, her heart started pounding.

 

This was not Yamcha. She closed her eyes. Such an accent could belong to none other than Vegeta. His head must have been resting on the same pillow as hers. As if on cue, she could feel his slow intake and release of air against the back of her neck.

 

Fighting back panic and claustrophobia, she made to move again, but Vegeta's tail was wrapped firmly around her waist. She wasn't going anywhere.

 

"Um, what am I doing here?" asked Bulma, clearing her throat. She waited for the adrenaline to filter out of her system. She didn't like the way her heart had started pounding after hearing Vegeta's voice.

 

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked roughly.

 

She thought back to the events of earlier in the night. She was in her lab, fighting exhaustion. She headed up the stairs...

 

"I—I don't know." She gulped. All of this was really starting to freak her out.

 

The tip of Vegeta's tail was slowly massaging her side. Her back was pressed from neck to tail bone against his rock hard chest and abdominal muscles, and their legs were intertwined. She could feel every single contour in his muscled physique.

 

"There's no need to be alarmed, onna. In fact, you gave me quite the scare." Vegeta shifted his head closer to hers. Her hair smelled like coconut, he observed.

 

"Do you remember what happened?" asked Bulma meekly. Someone had to know what was going on.

 

"Apparently you entered my quarters without my permission and proceeded to spy on me while I was meditating." That sounded harmless enough, thought Vegeta. It might be possible to break the link they shared if she was unaware of it.

 

"Yes, but how did this…?" she trailed off. She couldn't find it in herself to ask him how she ended up in his bed. And what was with this violation of her personal space? Sure, spooning was one of her favorite pastimes, but with Vegeta? Ha. The man had always seemed convinced that contact with any Earthlings would contaminate him with some strange disease.

 

"You don't remember anything? None of this is sounding familiar to you?" asked Vegeta. He didn't have the slightest bit of anger in his voice. Usually when he asked her questions like that, they sounded angry. His tone almost sounded soothing.

 

"No," she sounded helplessly. Bulma managed to turn herself enough that she could see Vegeta's face and nearly gasped when she saw that his eyes were glowing. They were a stunning shade of gold and reflected most of the light coming in from the open balcony door. "Vegeta… wha—?"