Alone Together

Three

The prince worked up a sweat as he trained within the gravity chamber. He had it completely maxed out, it hardly phased him these days. However just being able to exert himself was at least a sense of relief. He pushed his body up and down on one hand before snapping his neck upwards to attention.

He sensed his energy nearby.

Of course it was not uncommon for the younger man to stop by Capsule Corp. In fact it was an annoyingly common occurrence, according to Vegeta. He was either looking for him, wanting to talk to Bulma, or saying hello as he brought over Goten; as if the saiyan child needed a chaperone.

Vegeta attempted to creep his way through Capsule Corp in an effort to avoid his rival. He wasn't in the mood for the prying and chipper attitude.

He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror as he washed the sweat from his face. His eyes looked more dull than he last checked and his eye bags were a bit more sunken. From the moment he transitioned into his adult life, his eyes were always dark and furrowed. It was no secret that Vegeta did not sleep much, however, he did not like people to come to that conclusion simply by looking at him.

The whips of that reptilian tail on his back.
The hissing of pain as he watched his own blood form around him.
The shrieks of terror from his fellow saiyans as they watched his body welt with scars.
The shrill laughter of cruelty filling the room as they watched a young man be tortured in front of them.

Vegeta shuttered as he remembered his nightmare from the night before, and the many other nights before that, and the years of tossing and turning before that.

"Hey Geta!!"

The saiyan yelped in surprise as his flashback was broken. He spun around and narrowed his eyes. Of course it was the other saiyan.

"What do you want?" Vegeta raised the edge of his lip before taking a swig of water.

Goku, smiling as wide as usual, in his sickeningly sweet tone replied, "I just wanted to know if you were feelin' any better! I'm bored, I wanna spar!"

The prince rolled his eyes, "Not interested. I'm not some play thing Kakarot. Go home."

Goku cocked his eyes curiously and put one hand on his hip, "Gosh. Bulma was right, you're still moody." He remarked dumbly without realizing the offense.

Vegeta flashed his eyes angrily, "Oh! And now you're prattling on to my wife? Who else? Your wife? Sons? Piccolo? All the gods you're so friendly with?" He was in a near shout with his nostrils flared.

"Woah Vegeta, take a chill pill," He put up his hands defensively, "I was only asking Bulma since, yknow, she's your wife! Besides, why would I talk to any of them how you're feeling? Aside from your family I'm the only one you talk to."

He leaned forward and smiled cheekily, "I guess that makes me pretty special, huh?"

Vegeta snarled and shoved him out of the way as he started towards his room, "Let me be Kakarot! Before I splatter you all over the walls!" He shouted back.

Vegeta quickly dressed into a clean pair of spandex bottoms and a baggy white shirt. He shot a glance towards the door and saw Goku standing with his hands behind his head.

"Okay okay Vegeta, I get it. You don't wanna train with me." He said airily, "I guess I'll just have to train by myself. And get stronger by myself." He pouted his lips and looked over at the prince.

He groaned, "Fine. Only one spar, I can't handle your idiot self much today."

Goku grinned and laughed before following Vegeta towards the gravity chamber.