The last vow

Chapter 21 - Raditz

Hi!

First of all, I want to give a big thank you for all the support I received in the comments and private messages! It's been good to read you guys :)

Unfortunately, I (again) took a little longer than expected to write this chapter, but I think I'm making up for it since it's longer than the others! I had a lot of fun writing it during baby's naps, and I'm even more eager to start writing the next one!

Hope you like it :3

When he entered the common dining room that evening, Raditz was not surprised to find Vegeta, sitting alone behind a mountain of empty dishes. It was not the prince's habit to eat here, in the middle of the ship's rabble. But the food was served earlier than the one delivered to the rooms and since his starvation sentence had only just ended, it was predictable to see the prince running to be served.

And the cooks had to deliver, because he would probably spend the evening there.

Raditz, smiling and horribly hungry himself, approached the table, tying up his long mane. He sat down, silent, on one of the chairs in front of Vegeta and grabbed a bowl filled with Tepeli, a delicious dish native of the planet Prodillia.

But the food was snatched from his hands before he could even smell its aromas.

"It's mine" Vegeta said between mouthfuls. "Go get your own food if you're hungry."

"You could share man" Raditz insisted, banging his fist on the table. "Have you seen all the dishes you have in front of you? The meat stash has been emptied for tonight and there won't be any on the menu until tomorrow morning."

"Not my problem" Vegeta said, biting into a fish twice the size of his head, indifferent to the drama the Saiyan in front of him was experiencing.

Raditz sighed loudly. He tried to grab the fish's tail, hoping to get some protein. But Vegeta, much faster, stopped him without too much trouble.

"Stop being an idiot" Nappa's voice said behind him. "When you were stuffing your mouth with food, Vegeta couldn't bite into anything for over an Earth week. Leave him alone and eat the leftovers without whining, for once."

The giant walked around the table, sat down next to his prince and put down his enormous plate of Bouillasse. The furniture creaked under the weight of all this food, attracting grumpy glances from the other members of the crew, who also had to eat the smelly porridge prepared with table scraps from the previous meal. Raditz, also grumpy, resigned and got himself a bowl.

At the first bite, however, he raised an eyebrow.

"Is it me or is it less disgusting than usual?" he asked Nappa, pleasantly surprised.

"It's not you" he replied. "I'm not even feeling nauseous when I eat it."

The Saiyan pointed towards the kitchens with his spoon.

"It's that new cook again. The food taste so much better since she's been here. She works miracles."

"I noticed too" Vegeta added.

"Meh, how do you know that? You've been fasting since her arrival."

Vegeta shrugged, his gaze fixed on the plate in front of him. He mumbled something incomprehensible and began to chew his food noisily again.

It wasn't like him to be so evasive.

Raditz cast a furtive glance at Nappa. The latter was already looking at him, skeptical. A few days before, the two Saiyans had made a bet. Vegeta seemed to tolerate starvation much better than they had expected. Not only was he able to train, but he had also shown himself to be more energetic and in a much better mood than in previous episodes. Raditz suspected the prince of not respecting his fast, while Nappa was firmly convinced he had simply got more resilient. According to him, stubborn and proud as he was, Vegeta would never transgress the torture that had been imposed on him.