A week
later, at the Son household…
Goten and
Trunks sat at the kitchen table, shoveling large spoonfull’s of cereal into
their mouths. It was Saturday, so both teenage boys were engaged in conversation
about what they would do that evening. After deciding on going to a party, their
conversation mellowed into a symphony of slurps and gulps. A knock at the back
door brought both heads up from their bowls.
Climbing to
his feet, Goten slid to the door and opened it wide, a smile perched upon his
lips. He blinked, his smile faltering somewhat. “Vegeta…..” he said, turning to
Trunks with questioning eyes.
Vegeta eyed
Goku’s youngest son, then pushed past him into the house. He wore black jeans
and a black tank top, his leather jacket folded under his right arm. “Where’s
your father?” he asked grumpily, throwing a nod in Trunks’ direction. Trunks
opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the thump of feet on
the stairs in the hall. Goku bounced off of the bottom step, smiling at everyone
as he entered.
“Wow, looks
like I’m running late this morning!” He exclaimed, smiling in Vegeta’s
direction. He leaned over Trunks’ shoulder, sniffing the cereal. “Hey, that
smells good….” He said, turning to look into the cabinet where the cereal was
kept, absently rubbing his hand over his muscled stomach.
“Don’t even
think about it, Kakarott! You harassed me all week, so lets go and get this over
with.” He growled, not being able to keep from smiling at the look of
devastation on Goku’s face. The baka was always hungry! He laughed out loud when
Goku actually looked like he was about to pout.
Goten and
Trunks both shifted uncomfortably, their eyes sliding from Goku to Vegeta and
back again; their eyes met uncertainly, then they settled back to watch their
fathers’ strange behavior.
“Well…okay,
‘Geta. But only if you promise to buy me lunch…I’m starving!” Goku said,
absently grabbing his leather jacket from the back of Goten’s chair. Goten,
finally managing to open his mouth, spoke up.
“Um…where
are you two going, anyway?” he asked, completely baffled at hearing his father’s
“nickname” for Vegeta. Vegeta and his father rarely went anywhere together,
unless it was to spar, or if they were forced into it. Vegeta frowned slightly,
crossing his arms and glancing out the window. Goku
beamed.
“Vegeta’s
taking me to the carnival!” He exclaimed, sliding his arms into his
jacket.
Vegeta
snorted, his frown deepening. “Carnival. Hn! More like you annoyed the shit out
of me until I agreed. Baka.” He snorted again, then quickly glanced out the
window to avoid the strange looks Trunks and Goten were giving them. “Well, are
you ready or not, Kakarott?! I don’t have all day, you know!”
“Yep, I’m
ready if you are, ‘Geta!” Goku replied.
Both boys
cringed, hearing the nickname again. Neither said a thing as their fathers’ left
the house. A mild argument had already begun outside, on whether they would take
the air car or fly to the carnival. Goten stared after his father, then slowly
slid his eyes towards Trunks. Trunks was already looking at
him.
“WHAT was
THAT?” Trunks asked, his eyes wide.
“I don’t
know…but it was WEIRD!” Goten said, watching Trunks nod in
agreement.
“My
father…taking your father…to the carnival?” Trunks asked
slowly.
“Yea…and
what’s with the nickname? And your dad…he…he actually laughed!” Goten exclaimed,
shaking his head.
“Too weird.”
They both replied in unison, then cracked up laughing.
A short
while later, two well-muscled sets of legs touched down in a wooded area just
south of the town carnival. Vegeta stepped out from between some bushes, his
features drawn into a tight scowl.
“I mean it,
Kakarott. I’m giving you two hours, then we’re heading back.” He cringed. “I can
hear that annoying music now, and it’s already giving me a headache!” He
growled, stomping towards the entrance to the carnival.
Goku cocked
his head and grinned. “I happen to like the carnival music…it’s very…happy and
uplifting.”
“I know.”
Vegeta smirked. “That’s why I can’t stand it. It’s too much like you; and we all
know how much I can stand you.”
Goku
frowned, then shrugged it off, refusing to allow Vegeta to realize just how much
his insults hurt. He also realized that Vegeta rarely meant his insults; it was
simply the way of Vegeta. “Anyway, Vegeta…” Goku started, immediately after
Vegeta had paid for tickets through a window booth at the gate. “Lets go on the
ferris wheel first….I haven’t been on one of those in years!” He exclaimed,
hurrying towards the bright blinking attraction. Vegeta glanced up at it,
sighing and rolling his eyes gently.
Two hours
and fifty tickets later, Vegeta finally yanked Goku back as he began to
excitedly run towards yet another ride. “Kakarott, it’s time to leave. Lets go.”
Goku’s face
fell, but then a smile made it’s way to his lips. He had so much enjoyed
spending the day with the prince in such a “normal” way; and he was surprised
Vegeta had agreed to go with him in the first place. He had definitely counted
upon Vegeta to cancel their “date” long before the day came, but he never had.
Once he realized that they were actually going to go to the carnival, he
had figured for sure that other saiyan would cut their trip extremely short, or
spend the whole day complaining, which he hadn’t. Goku’s smile grew as these
thoughts flitted through his mind.
Vegeta
watched Goku’s face carefully, reading what little he could. He wondered
silently if this had been a smart move; when Goku had repeatedly mentioned going
to the carnival, Vegeta had snorted with disdain, not understanding Goku’s
reasoning behind wanting to go to such a juvenile facility that was really just
a gigantic waste of time. However, he realized just how much Goku wanted to
go…or even more so, how much Goku wanted to spend time with him…and that was a
different story. Slowly, a plan began to develop in his devious mind, and he had
agreed to take Goku to this…place. Vegeta smirked, his eyes moving from Goku to
sweep over the surrounding area briefly, his eyes full of disgust. While it had
been entertaining, he certainly did not want to do it again any time
soon.
Vegeta and
Goku walked through the gates and back to the small wooded area, then blasted
off into the sky. Vegeta glanced over at Goku, who was still wearing that silly
smile on his face. “Will you be up for a spar this evening, Kakarott?” Vegeta
asked, his eyes wandering back to the air in front of him. Goku turned to look
at Vegeta, his eyebrow rising slightly.
“Of course,
Vegeta. Do you want me to meet you at the clearing?” Goku asked.
Vegeta shook
his head quickly. “No. Come to my home. We’ll spar out on the grass since no one
will be around at that time of the evening.”
Goku
blinked. “Uh…won’t Bulma get mad? You’re living quarters are still really close
to hers, aren’t they?” He asked, apprehensive. The last thing he wanted was to
get into the middle of one of Vegeta and Bulma’s fights. Since they had split
up, they got along much better, but he had witnessed some pretty nasty
confrontations between the two.
Vegeta
simply smirked. “The woman is away on a business trip, and my son is staying
over at your house for the night, as he has the past three nights this week.” He
answered.
Goku nodded,
then smiled. “Allright, Vegeta. I’ll meet you at your place,
then.”
“Good. See
you then.” Vegeta replied, lifting his hand in a brief and silent goodbye salute
before blasting off in another direction. Goku chuckled, blasting off in the
opposite direction towards his home. The day had gone much better than planned;
he just hoped it continued going that way!