Lower Instinct - beginning of vegebul (+ gochi, tienlaunch)

Happy, happy, happy (vegebul)

"For the last time, Yamcha: I only take care of him!"
"That's exactly it," he replied, fists clenched in front of his face. "That's not the Bulma I know!"
Then Bulma let out an annoyed groan and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm just not the little girl from back then," she made clear to him. "You've changed too, Yamcha."
And the look she gave him now seemed almost reproachful. But Yamcha tried not to let that throw him off track - because for once he felt right!
"May be. But the Bulma I know wouldn't give a damn about such an ungrateful fellow. You say yourself how terrible he is! I just don't understand--"
"He and Goku are our only chance of defeating the androids!"
"Oh, this isn't about the androids at all!" Judging by Yamcha's facial expressions, he immediately regretted what he had just blurted out.
Now Bulma's eyes narrowed and she glared at him extremely suspiciously. "Oh, no? Then what is it about?"
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and he backed away a little, one hand still on the kitchen table. He had to be clever now because he had fallen into this trap far too often. Women always said they value honesty, but in the end, you really got yourself into hot water... Under no circumstances should he criticize her directly now!
"I just think that," he began, being meticulous about his choice of words. "maybe you and Vegeta... are spending a little too much time... together?"
At the end of his completely insecure sentence, he had chosen a questioning formulation, probably in the hope of a lighter punishment. But Bulma furiously furrowed her eyebrows.
But before she could reply, a third person suddenly intervened.
"Come off it you clown," Vegeta said as he just walked into the kitchen unannounced.
He was still bandaged, but apparently well enough to get up. With his hands in his pockets, he walked between the two without even looking at either of them and headed straight to the fridge.
"I'm not interested in your little darling. Have better things to do than waste my valuable time with her," he said almost casually as he opened the fridge door.
Bulma was hit harder by his words than she would have admitted at the moment. Harder than she would have thought. She blinked, a bit perplexed, then had to swallow and clear her throat. Finally, she quickly fixed her gaze and looked at Yamcha.
"There you are," she said to him in a resolute tone. "And so am I!"
She threw a fleeting, serious look in Vegeta's direction, but he was hidden behind the fridge door and she couldn't tell how much he was paying any attention to her at all.
For a short moment there was an icy silence in the room and Yamcha looked from one to the other a bit unsure. But when his and Bulma's eyes met again, he saw a softening expression in her eyes.
"Let's not argue about that idiot," she said, deliberately loud and provocative. She walked up to Yamcha and tapped his chest with her finger. "Let's do something nice! This evening? Just me and you?"
Hesitantly, he looked down at her. His eyes darted briefly in Vegeta's direction, but then his insecure expression gave way to a smile and he nodded to her.
"Yes, sure!"
With eyes closed happily, she took his arm. And while the two left the kitchen making plans, Vegeta was overwhelmed by an unexpected wave of anger, which made him crush the soda can he had just grabbed out of the fridge door with a jerk. Loudly hissing, the soda splashed out of every nook and cranny.

If Bulma was being honest with herself, a faint suspicion had arisen that something was developing between Vegeta and her... That they had become closer. But since his remark in the kitchen, that suspicion had suddenly ended up in smoke. To all appearances she had only imagined whatever-there-was.
And as she sat there in the restaurant with Yamcha, staring at him, his striking face, his scars, his sweet smile - she decided that she WANTED to imagine it, too. Namely, to make Yamcha jealous. And no doubt he was extraordinarily jealous of Vegeta!
But there was no reason for that, as it turned out. Vegeta clearly had no interest in Bulma. She had taken care of him for many days, and he was as harsh and unkind to her as ever. He had come into her life as a stranger - and that might have been exactly what had attracted her a little about him - but even now, when she came to think about it, he was still a stranger. He hadn't opened up to her one bit. And all in all, he really was a pretty terrible guy! He was totally selfish, ruthless, arrogant, overly proud, attractive, stubborn... wait a minute.
Confused, Bulma lifted her head from the hand she was holding it in.
Yamcha sat across from her and was just telling something. Yes, something, because she probably hadn't listened to him for over ten minutes.
//Damn, Bulma, pull yourself together//, she scolded herself. //Are you seriously thinking about that stupid Vegeta now?//
She tried to focus on Yamcha, but what he was saying was so boring that her thoughts kept drifting away.
And again and again scenes flashed in front of her inner eye, in which Vegeta appeared. It almost seemed as if she had to think about him more and more intensely the harder she tried to resist it. She saw his scowling eyes, his angry bared teeth, the tendons on his neck, his muscular chest, his broad shoulders... Yes, she could even recall his scent. Or how HE felt, even if she accidentally touched only very briefly...
//Geez!//
Just the thought of it made Bulma squeeze her thighs under the table. Thank Kami Yamcha didn't have such fine senses that he was aware of this. He hadn't even noticed her subtile blush of shame.
And Bulma was really ashamed. Because Yamcha didn't deserve that. Besides, Vegeta had turned her down in cold blood today! But was that perhaps exactly what attracted her again...?
//It can't be!//, she thought, angry at herself. //I'm so happy with Yamcha right now! Happy, happy, happy!//
And she still wanted to hold on to that.

In the Capsule Corporation she was so engrossed in her work anyway that she and Vegeta very rarely crossed paths. And if they did, they only had a distanced look at each other. She didn't even chide him for getting back to training while still not 100 percent fit.
Without the gravity room he couldn't overdo it anyway.
But without the gravity room, he couldn't possibly push himself to the limit!
So he instructed Dr. Briefs to build him a new one immediately. And level-headed as the old man was, he immediately got to work.
However, while he was on his last legs, his wife surprised him with a vacation trip and so he tasked Bulma with making the final refinements and adjustments to the new gravity room. So Vegeta just had to be patient before he could resume his training in 300-times gravity...

Late one evening, Bulma was in the kitchen preparing a small snack. She had been toiling day and night and now all she wanted to do was eat something, take a hot shower and then go to bed.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly while she prepared her food in the kitchenette. In between, she stretched her tense neck and then looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
With each day that passed, the day when the androids would appear drew nearer. It had been almost a year now since that handsome young man had warned her about them. Bulma had noticed the Capsule logo on his jacket. That could only mean that their family business would still exist in the future and hopefully continue to do well!
But if she was honest, she didn't want to worry too much about future scenarios... Because what was going to happen happened anyway. And she'd rather have faith that no matter what happened, Goku would save them all again! Now that he was able to transform into an overpowered Super Saiyan, smashing some tin cans shouldn't be a problem for him! Just thinking about it made Bulma smile victoriously.
And this time they even had a second Saiyan on their side...
Finally she turned around, sat down at the table and started to eat. And just as she raised her soda can to her lips, she looked at the door in amazement.
Vegeta was standing there with his arms crossed in the doorway.
When he noticed her look, he immediately entered the kitchen in a grumpy manner. "When will you finally have the new gravity room ready, woman?!"
Bulma looked at him over the soda can for a moment longer.
//Was he watching me?// she wondered.
But when she noticed his unusually stupid form of address again, she moaned in annoyance. "I have a name! Bulma! Do you think you'll ever remember that?"
Vegeta didn't reply and Bulma left it at that. She was too tired to argue with him anyway.
He stepped closer, hands tucked into the pockets of his sweatpants, and looked at her with eyes that remained disapproving. Then his gaze darted to her food - which Bulma noticed.
"Would you like some?" she asked briefly, pointing to her steaming dumplings.
At this, Vegeta furrowed his brows even more angrily and turned his head away in staunch disapproval. But at that moment his stomach rumbled loudly and since he was obviously embarrassed, Bulma couldn't help but giggle behind her hand. Then she pushed the plate across the table.
"Can't eat them all anyway," she said. "There you go."
Vegeta let out a grim sigh. But finally he pulled a hand out of his pocket and helped himself to her plate. But instead of joining her at the table, he leaned against the sink.
"You really don't know how to say thank you, do you?" Bulma grumbled, but didn't expect an answer to that either.
Then she continued eating and for a moment there was nothing to be heard in the kitchen but soft smacking.
...
When Bulma finally finished her portion, she picked up her can and got up from the table.
"I'm working on it," she answered him on her way out.
She walked past him while he was still eating leaning against the sink and once again she couldn't help but feel somehow observed by him. She had to force herself not to glance back over her shoulder as she rounded the corner. Because there was no reason for that. Because she was happy with Yamcha. Happy, happy, happy.


pic by https://twitter.com/mrkaytos/status/1251951239782416388