Ascending | ✔

Peculiar things

"Looking for these?"

Vegeta was leaning against the door frame, the door wide open so that the hallway light flooded their shared bedroom. He was holding some crinkled papers in one hand.

"Yes," Bulma said, a wave of relief washing over her. "Thanks for keeping them safe, Vegeta -"

"Quiet," the prince growled. He moved forward and shoved the papers into Bulma's face. "What is the meaning of this, woman?"

Bulma sagged a bit. "O-oh, those? Haha... Funny you should ask -"

"Cut the bullshit and just answer me already. Stop stalling."

"You're so difficult," Bulma grumbled. "Will you at least let me take a shower first? I haven't bathed since yesterday morning. And that was only a quickie. I stink." She made a move toward the door but Vegeta did not relent. He grabbed her wrist - not hard enough to hurt her - and glared stonily at his wife.

"Bulma," he said sternly. "What's going on?" When she still hesitated he released her and said more gently, "Tell me."

With a small sigh, Bulma tugged on his sleeve and led him to the bed, where they both sat down. "Alright, you got me. It goes like this..."

Half an hour later, Bulma finally finished her explanation, telling Vegeta of what she and Tights had seen and what she had gotten out of Trunks yesterday. At the end of her elucidation, Vegeta merely stared at her.

Then;

"And you didn't think to tell me this sooner, woman?!"

"Hey! Listen buster, I just didn't want to worry anyone! We were having a party for crying out loud. It would have been the worst time to announce that there would be a possible apocalypse. I wanted to figure things out myself first before jumping to conclusions." She buried her hands into her face. "I finally got the pieces together when Trunks told me what he knew today."

There was a silence, during which Vegeta wrapped an arm around Bulma's shoulders and pulled her close to him. She was dreadfully cold, having worked herself to exhaustion for the past month.

"Foolish woman," Vegeta murmured, though it was more in an endearing manner than an insulting one. "You're not the only one playing the game. From what I've gotten so far, it involves all of us."

"I know..." She snuggled into the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry, Vegeta."

"Hn. According to Trunks, if Caulifla and Kakarot were to be apart, the timeline would screw up, no?"

"Apparently. I doubt he'd lie about that."

"There's probably other things we are not aware about. Our best bet right now would be to retrieve Caulifla from Universe 6."

Bulma looked up at her husband. "Who's going to go? Not you - you're supposed to be going to Beerus' planet for training today. So that leaves... Goku?"

Vegeta nodded. "The only option is that clown. Aside from the tin cans, Kakarot is the closest to her. Out of all of us, he'll be the only one capable of convincing Caulifla to return."

"Mm..." Bulma yawned. "I'm so tired... Can I shower now, Vegeta?" She yelped when she felt Vegeta's teeth nibble on her ear. "Really, you want to do this now?"

There was a low growl and Bulma made a noise akin to a squeal and a laugh as Vegeta pushed her onto the bed.

xXx

"I'm home, Chi Chi!" Goku announced after an afternoon of plowing the fields. The tractor had broken down for the umpteenth time that day and Goku had had to take it for servicing, much to Chi Chi's despair. While the tractor was being repaired, Goku had instant transmissioned to Briefs, where he had been briefed (no pun intended) of his mission. Of course, Bulma (who had been basking in afterglow) had left out the detail where they needed him and Caulifla to be within each other's vicinity.