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

Mean guy (vegebul)

Mrs. Briefs was right. The birth of her baby had undoubtedly been the happiest moment of Bulma's whole life. She gave birth to a healthy, strong boy with bright blue eyes, and she was told repeatedly that he definitely inherited his mother's eyes. Of course she gratefully accepted the numerous compliments for her pretty baby, but if she was honest, she couldn't see the resemblance to herself at all. Yes, his eyes were blue like hers, but of an entirely different character. This expressive facial play, the little one already showed in his first months of life, reminded Bulma too much of someone else. A certain person she didn't really want to think about that often... But of course it was ridiculous to even remotely believe that she could evade the memories of Vegeta, because it was his son she had brought to the world, after all. She could only hope he didn't turn into such a grumpy, short-tempered guy his father was.
But the way he was acting, so fun-loving and cheerful, didn't really suggest that. He was easy to laugh at and calmed down quickly when he was upset. Bulma was really lucky - despite the Saiyan blood running through his veins - to have had such a relaxed baby. And she was sure that one day this baby would grow into a great, wonderful and handsome man.

Meanwhile it was only three months until the arrival of the androids and more and more often Bulma lost herself in thoughts of her friends. She thought about Goku, Krillin, Yamcha and Tien, about Gohan and Piccolo, the handsome boy from the future... and also about Vegeta. He still hadn't returned to Earth, but there was no question that he was still alive, let alone would reappear in time. After all, nothing and nobody would stop him from going head-to-head with these androids. Or with 'Kakarot'.
Fortunately, this stubborn will to fight had not flared up in their son - at least not yet. Bulma may not have been completely indifferent to Vegeta's whereabouts, but she was still glad to be able to raise her son without his influence. If possible, the boy shouldn't conquer planets, wipe out entire peoples or have to deal with who knows who up there in space. He was to have a normal childhood as a normal child in a normal home. Well, admittedly, in an extraordinarily wealthy home. But why should the child settle for anything less than his mother when she was his age? The new Briefs offspring shouldn't lack for anything and so Bulma went shopping with him almost every day to buy him a new toy here or new clothes there.
And she was particularly proud of her today's pick-up.
"You look like a little devil with this," she said, grinned at her boy, who was sitting next to her in his child seat. "But such a sweet devil! Oh, grandma will eat you up when she sees you with your new hat!"
Bulma turned right onto Capsule Corporation street and pulled up right in front of the company premises. She unbuckled herself and her son, took him gently in her arms and then walked happily along the main path in the direction of the garden, where she assumed her mother was having her daily afternoon coffee and cake.

But what she saw instead gave her such an abrupt shock that she stopped dead on the pavement. Bulma hardly dared to believe her eyes. Because nothing less than the SPACE CAPSULE, with which Vegeta had left more than a year ago, was suddenly back in her garden!
And it was in such a disastrous state that it was a miracle it was even able to land. It was smoking, dented and sooty, parts of the outer paneling were missing and one of base had broken off, causing the whole capsule to stand askew on the lawn. Apparently the poor thing had been through a lot in the last twelve months... And its inmate? How did this one fare? And where was he anyway?
Bulma's scrutinizing gaze fell on the hatch. The open hatch.
//No way//, she thought, not knowing how to classify her feelings at the moment. //That... that couldn't be...//
Many times this scenario had already played out in her mind. How she heard the sounds of the approaching space capsule, how she tumbled headlong out of the house - coincidentally in the prettiest outfit she had - how she would watch the landing and finally see Vegeta stepping out. Dirty, sweaty and drained, but still surrounded by an attractive aura, as proud and strong as ever. And Bulma would carry their son in her arms. Who Vegeta now saw for the first time - and was moved to tears by the mere sight of him. And then, throwing all their principles overboard, they would fall into each other's arms. As a loving family.
On other days, this heartbreaking - and beyond that dripping with kitschy romance - scenario ended with a resounding slap in Vegetas face.
And on other days again, Bulma didn't waste a single thought on him.
Which she also generally felt to be the best decision for herself.
Still, to have missed the moment of his return was a bit bitter, as she honestly had to admit to herself. Bulma let out a soft sigh, adjusted her son on her arm - who was still staring at the unknown flying object from a distance with wide eyes - and fixed her gaze.
//So he's back//, she thought. //Vegeta is back.//

Yes, Vegeta was back. To his own chagrin, he had to end his galactic training trip sooner than he would have liked, but the space capsule certainly wouldn't have survived another meteor shower. When he entered the target coordinates to Earth, the capsule automatically set up the return flight to Capsule Corporation. And so he ended up back in exactly the same place where he started a year ago. He now wanted to use the remaining three months extensively to prepare as best as possible for the arrival of the androids. It was now a matter of adapting to the earthly conditions again and optimizing his newly gained powers and abilities, due to his new Super Saiyan form. Knowing he'd finally reached Kakarot's level, much of his short temper had given way to a no less dangerous arrogance. But in a way, he deserved it, too, because he had worked hard to get to this point, to overcome it, and finally to reach his goal! And he couldn't wait to show off his transformation. Kakarot. This brat from the future. Those tin cans. Soon they ALL would see what the Saiyan Prince was capable of!

It had been quite a while since Bulma had last ventured down this corridor. Given the dozens of rooms Capsule Corporation owned, there had never been a need for it, but quite simply she had deliberately avoided that part of the house.
Bulma felt inside herself. She was not excited, not angry. She felt good.
So she continued down the corridor and approaching the bathroom door... where she saw the first footprints on the floor. Damp footprints leading from the bathroom straight across to Vegeta's room. The door was wide open. And when Bulma heard noises from his room, despite her lack of surprise, she felt a twinge in her stomach. Holding her baby in both arms, she stood with her back to the wall and took a deep breath with eyes closed.
And finally she turned around and entered Vegeta's room, which looked just like the day he left. His bed was neatly made up. And just thinking about that bed sent a pleasant shiver down her spine... But surely this shouldn't be the time for memories like that! Because the man from that night, whose son she was holding, had turned his back on her.
Literally.
Vegeta was just standing in front of his dresser, rummaging in an open drawer, from which he finally pulled out a new pair of white gloves. He was wearing his dark blue combat suit already and the chest protector lay at his feet ready for donning.
Bulma watched him for a moment before finally speaking to him.
"You're back?" She did her best to sound neutral.
Of course he had noticed her long ago. He slammed the drawer noisily.
"As you can see."
Bulma's eyebrow twitched, but she wasn't disconcerted by his snippy reply. Instead, she asked him one more question after letting a moment pass. Admittedly a very daring question.
"And? Did you make it?"
The fleeting twitch with which Vegeta reacted could well have meant a clear and pride-injuring 'no'. However, it was only the question itself because he hadn't expected her interest in this. So Bulma landed a direct hit with the proud prince, who, like all Saiyan did, defined his self-esteem through his fighting power. A pleasant rush of adrenaline shot through his body when he was finally able to answer this question with a clear and proud 'yes'. To Bulma he kept it to a brief grunt, but she could actually hear the faint smile on his lips.
"Wow. That's great, Vegeta."
And as she continued to scrutinize him from behind, a brief flashback inevitably opened up in her mind.
//I still remember watching Goku's fight on Master Roshis TV back then... How scared I was of Vegeta and his partner. Or when he showed up on Namek looking for the Dragon Balls... And now I'm standing here with him in my house, holding his son on my arm...//
A small laugh escaped her, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's crazy," she said then. "First you wanted to destroy the earth and now you help us to protect it."
Immediately, anger moved back into Vegeta's facial expressions. "I'm not helping anyone, got it?!"
Bulma raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Okay, okay, if you say so."
"And if you want to continue babbling with me now, forget it. I'll be gone. Need to perfect my fighting technique because those tin cans are coming soon. And there's no way I'm going to stand behind Kakarot and that brat!"
Suddenly a high-pitched voice chuckled behind him, making Bulma snort in mild amusement and let her serious expression give way to a warm smile. She completely ignored Vegeta's moaning and instead responded with a cheerful sentence,
"Looks like someone here wants to introduce himself!"
And these words actually caused the proud Saiyan prince to turn his head and look back over his shoulder. Although he gave Bulma a grumpy look, he couldn't deny feeling strange when he saw her again after such a long time. She was the same beautiful woman as then, albeit with a different hairdo, wearing tan trousers, an orange vest... and carrying a little tot on her arm!
He was still chuckling happily, obviously amused by Vegeta's moaning. He only glanced at the kid briefly, then immediately turned away again. He picked up the chest armor from the ground and stared at it for a moment, inevitably squeezing it with both hands.
"...I don't have time for this," was his growling reply before he finally put it on.
But Bulma wasn't impressed by his dismissive nature and somehow she was even a little surprised by herself. No throbbing vein, no deep anger rising from below, no, she didn't even bat an eyelid. On the one hand, motherhood had probably changed her, on the other hand, she probably just didn't feel enough for Vegeta anymore to freak out completely because of him. Somehow, she had become more relaxed.
So she just approached him from the side, holding the little baby in her arms, which was now looking up at Vegeta with its big blue wide eyes.
"Say hello, Trunks!"
Vegeta gave the baby another sullen look and then Bulma.
"Trunks? The hell's that stupid name?"
Luckily Bulma didn't mind. Luckily, motherhood had changed her. Luckily she didn't feel enough for Vegeta anymore and had become much more relaxed than befo--
"Seriously?! That's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see your son?! What kind of mean guy are you anyway?!"
There was the throbbing vein, there was the deep anger rising from below, the twitching eyelid, eyebrows, corner of mouth, and whatever muscles a human face could show. Bulma was totally pissed off.
"What name would the dear gentleman wished for, huh?!"
Vegeta's eyes fell on Trunks again. "If any," he growled. "then Vegeta the Fifth of course!"
Bulma immediately let out an exaggeratedly loud, scornful sound, her free hand on her hip. "PAH! As if! Out of the question that I name my son Vegeta!" Then she leaned forward and poked Vegeta in the chest with her index finger. "And besides, buster, if I should have named him after his father, then the FATHER should have been present too, or am I wrong?!"
Vegeta made an extremely disapproving face and was about to launch an angry reply. But obviously Bulma was far from finished with him.
"And you know what, you insensitive stinker?! While you've been enjoying yourself in space for the past year, my hormones have been on a roller coaster! I looked like an elephant cow and had to squeeze a human out of me on top of that! A HUMAN! Do you even have an idea how painful that is?!"
Vegeta didn't loosen his crossed arms, but now he leaned in the opposite direction as this vehement tirade was blasted at him. He gaped at Bulma, eyes wide and teeth gritted, a mixture of disgust, irritation... and a bit of fear on his face. He could have done without the mere idea of birth, and he had to shake his head before he found his serious expression again.
"I-I don't care! And I certainly didn't enjoy myself up there!"
"Oh yeah?! Do you know how I don't care about THAT?!"
And while his parents were arguing like tinkers, little Trunks just looked questioningly from one to the other. Next it was Vegeta's turn and just as he was about to point his outstretched index finger at Bulma, out of the blue Trunks just grabbed it.
Vegeta's words caught in his throat and together with Bulma he stared down at Trunks. He felt the pressure of his small hand on his finger. And he immediately felt that this pressure - typical for a Saiyan baby - was quite strong. Maybe even a little too strong for his age...
Vegeta's eyes stayed in his son's. And Bulma couldn't help but find this intense eye contact between the two incredibly cute. All the anger was gone in an instant. And the way Vegeta and Trunks looked at each other almost brought her to tears.
But before warm feelings could even develop tenderly, Vegeta roughly cut the whole thing. He withdrew his hand, turned away and crossed his arms in front of his chest again.
Trunks started crying on the spot. "BWAAAH!"
"Great, now look what you've done!" Bulma scolded and then gently rocked Trunks up and down. "It's fine, Trunks, it's fine, shhh..."
"WAAAAH!!"
A vein of anger formed on Vegeta's forehead and he looked over his shoulder in annoyance.
"This bawling is unbearable!"
"And whose fault is that?" Bulma growled accusingly, without looking up from Trunks.
She cradled him in her arms a few more times until he finally calmed down. And when she raised her head again, she realized that Vegeta was gone. He had simply left the room without a word of farewell.
//He really is a mean guy//, she thought dissatisfied. //But... for some reason... Argh!//
Bulma internally cursed herself for it, but she just couldn't help it. Vegeta still had that special effect on her that on the one hand made her completely angry, but on the other hand drove her completely... insane! There was something about him that she just couldn't let go of. And that, now that they were seeing each other again after such a long time, immediately intensified again. Fewer feelings, more relaxed? No chance, not a bit of it!
Sighing heavily, Bulma finally looked down at Trunks again. "Well, my little boy, what can I say?" A bitter smile crossed her face. "That's him. That's your dad."


pic by VEGETApsycho https://vegetabulmafanart.tumblr.com/post/177202504890/vegetapsycho-some-3-year-portraits-second