A Round Robin
(44 – 45)
By Kiarene & Felix
(Kia muses… pity or evil?)
Dende blinked, and suddenly instead of strange dream-world
he was in, he was now looking up at a pale green ceiling. He bolted up in bed,
heart hammering. “Goten!”
Alerted by his shout, the others rushed into the room.
Looking around frantically, Dende relaxed fractionally when he saw the youngest
Son on the narrow cot next to his own bed. “Goten…
How is he?”
Trunks examined the blinking green monitors beside Goten with
a small, relieved smile. “I don’t know what you did, but it looked like it
helped.” He pointed to the steady curves. “Look, his brain patterns aren’t as
wild nor excited as before… They are smoothing out and I daresay he looks as if
he’s just asleep.”
“I think he should be all right.” Dende released the breath
and nervous tension he had been holding with a tired sigh as he sank back down.
Goku’s words echoed through his head.
Vaccination has led to his cure.
Cure. He’s cured.
Goten has been freed.
…from what exactly?
-----
Vegeta watched the taller male as he tore into a hunk of
meat. The two Saiyans were seated around a crackling fire, eating dinner. Dusk
was falling rapidly, and in comparison to the real world, where the wilderness
would come alive with the sounds of its nocturnal denizens, Kakarrot’s world
was eerily quiet.
There were animals, but they were few and far in between.
Like the sparse vegetation on this bleak world. It seemed that they only saw
the animals when they needed to hunt. Vegeta mused on that thought; perhaps
Kakarrot was creating the animals when he thought they needed them. He glanced
down at the haunch he held in his hand, lightly seared and still dripping and
raw in the center. So, was the food he was now consuming imaginary? It feels…seems
real enough, but he knew they were in Kakarrot’s world. He wondered what
happened to their real bodies; they were probably still in a coma and he had no
doubt that their sons were taking care of them. His body still felt healthy and
fit, and he had no problems keeping up with Kakarrot during their spars.
Of course, it could all be just an illusion. Maybe their
real bodies are rotting already.
Flickering ruddy light from the fire everything around him a
slightly spooky atmosphere. A few lonely trees towered crookedly above them and
odd tufts of grass dotted the barren dusty brown soil. Just the sheer emptiness
of the world they were now in. The air was still and cool, slightly dank
smelling even. It unnerved him. Vegeta had always thought he was independent
and mentally stronger than this; heck, he had caused entire planets to look
like this. Yet, this was different. It feels …wrong somehow.
Dead. No, that’s not the exact term he was looking for. Not
alive – not exactly dead, but not alive either. Yes, that was it.
Like the brawny male who was seated across the fire. His
eyes were unblinking, unfocused as he stared dully into the fire, even though
his jaw kept moving as he methodically tore off chunks of meat with sharp teeth
that flashed occasionally in the flickering light.
Kakarrot. No matter what he called himself, or did not call
himself now. In the prince’s mind, he would always be Kakarrot. Not Goku,
because that name did not reflect his Saiyan heritage. And that was what he
was; the only other full-blooded Saiyan left alive beside himself. A cultural
paradox; a Saiyan raised in the ways of the Ningen.
His captor, his jailor.
More recently, an intellectual, puzzling worry.
His lover, his love.
And throughout it all, a personal, emotional paradox.
His mate.
How long have they been here? It felt like days, weeks… But
it could have been just a day or two. He couldn’t tell. Time seemed to pass
rapidly; the two last full-blooded Saiyans spent their time divided between
usually fighting and fucking, taking a break occasionally to go hunting.
Sometimes, they talked. Not much though. Kakarrot, or Goku or not-Goku or
whatever he thought of himself, made little sense when he talked and frankly,
it was creeping Vegeta out.
The younger Saiyan’s moods swung wildly. Sometimes he was
silent and broody, like now.
Sometimes he was aggressive and angry, muttering to himself
and saying nonsensical phrases. He would either avoid Vegeta, running off by
himself for hours on end to kami knows where, or seek the prince out, spoiling
for a fight.
Sometimes he was extremely horny, and aggressively so. Sex
was usually rough and frenzied; so violent that it was unclear at times whether
they were fighting or fucking. There was a lot of flesh hitting flesh, a
continual fight for dominance and they would invariably end up feeling
satisfied, if sore, after. The prince did not mind though; for the Saiyans,
there was sometimes little difference between the two activities.
The interesting thing Vegeta noted was that Kakarrot usually
became very calm and relaxed after sex, almost kittenish affectionate even. It
was during those times that glimpses of the Kakarrot he knew, the
happy-go-lucky idiot savant, emerged. It was during those times that Vegeta
felt a tiny glimmer of hope, that the mate he loved was still somewhere in the
lover he had just slept with.
Why? That was one of the many questions that had been
plaguing him.
Lately though, Kakarrot had been getting better. It seemed
that the more attention he paid the younger, the calmer he got. More open, less
irrationally angry. Vegeta snorted mentally; was that all there was to it?
Attention? Kakarrot was just attention-deprived?
…not only attention. Acceptance too.
Suddenly, the other male looked up and spoke in an even,
expressionless tone. “Goten has been freed.”
“What?”
He repeated himself slowly, as if the other was an imbecile.
“Goten has been freed.”
“I heard you the first time.” Vegeta scowled. “But how?
Why?”
“I let him go.”
“Just like that?” Vegeta looked skeptical.
The brawny Saiyan cocked his head to the side curiously.
“Because there wasn’t any reason to hold him here anymore.”
Vegeta blinked. “Why?”
Goku flung the remaining piece of meat away and stood up. In
two quick steps, he walked across the fire until he was standing right in front
of Vegeta. Curiously, he wasn’t burnt as all. The brawny male stood silently
for a few moments, stark naked and feral. His eyes were dark and shadowed;
Vegeta couldn’t make out his expression nor decipher his mood from his seated
angle. Even his heavy brown tail hung limply behind him.
And then he got down on both knees, sitting back on his
heels, his gaze never leaving the prince’s. “Why are you still concerned about
him? He does not matter.” A note of anger and discord crept into his flat tone.
“I’m just curious, that’s all.” Vegeta kept his tone
nonchalant.
“I would have let him go sooner. But he was hiding in his
rabbit hole.”
Vegeta waited, used to the other’s odd habits now. He would
speak when he chose to, and he was more likely to speak if he was not angered
or cornered.
“That was a smart move, teaching him to discover his own
world.” Goku smirked. “But not smart enough. You forgot; both of you were
within MY world. He only created a small rabbit hole, within my world.”
Vegeta reddened. How could he have made such an embarrassing
error??
Goku laughed, a cold flat laugh as he raised his right hand
to rest lightly against Vegeta’s heated cheek. “You’re cute when you blush.
Just like when you flush as you come, calling out my name.”
Vegeta jerked back, flushing even more. Goku gave another
laugh and continued. “I simply waited for him to come out.”
“You’ve not answered my question!” Vegeta yelled. “Why
release him only now?”
Goku abruptly pushed off his heels and jerked forward,
pushing the startled prince flat on his back. Planting thick arms to either
side of Vegeta’s shoulders, he slowly leaned down until he was almost
nose-to-nose with the wide-eyed royal.
.
His tail came up to stroke along Vegeta’s sides, dead eyes
suddenly flashing as he purred and rubbed his nose lightly against the
prince’s. “Because I have you.”
(Kia grins, thinking this is a nice place to end.)
(Kia takes over from Felix… and takes a HELL of
a long time to eke out this chapter. Bad Kia.)
Vegeta tried his best to regulate his air
intake, but it was no use, and he panted lightly under the other Saiyan. He did
so not out of arousal, however, but because of severe apprehension. Even though
Kakarrot was acting light and playful there had been something so deeply wrong
with the way he'd spoken those last words.
Purring quietly in response to Vegeta's dismay, his mate
leaned down, softly kissing his lips. The prince closed his eyes, trying to
shake of the bad vibes he had so he could prepare for the next activity he knew
was to come. The pun did not elude his mind, and he flushed slightly to
Kakarrot's ever delight. Gentle nips crossed his neck and jaw while strong
hands smoothed over his chest, and a sultry tail rubbed suggestively up and
down his thighs. Vegeta fidgeted a little breathlessly, feeling himself become
aroused, even though confusion was setting into place.
His clothes were slowly being peeled off, and in
the process he was left to wonder. Why was Kakarot suddenly being gentle? It
didn't make much sense, but he knew better than to question his mate.
“Mine,” Kakarrot murmured as he nuzzled the royal below him,
his larger hands almost spanning of the other’s slender waist as he stroked
splayed palms over the curve of the bare hips, long slow strokes that moved up
and down sensually.
Vegeta blinked, his body still though his mind was racing.
Kakarrot was extremely possessive of him; that much he knew for certain. Even
out here, alone and away from Goten and after the ‘severing’ of his ties to the
younger Son, the older Son still exhibited this possessive jealousy. It
alternately irked and thrilled him, depending on his mood.
Usually it irritated the hell out of him. But Kakarrot was
stronger, had always been stronger. And here in his world, in his madness, the
usual restraints that held his superior strength back were non-existent.
And so the proud prince had to bite his tongue and swallow
his pride and anger. Acquiescing to the stronger. Or was it out of love? He did
not know.
Yet, Kakarrot’s behavior this night was odd. Odder than
usual. The way he held him, the way he murmured softly into his ear as his
hands roamed as if he owned his prince. The taller Saiyan’s voice recently was
usually slightly mocking, full of bravado and bitter anger, practically
taunting him. In the past, he would never had put up with this show of
disrespect… Why does he now? Why couldn’t he dredge up his previous acerbic
anger?
Because Kakarrot was stronger? Because this was his world?
Because Kakarrot was the dominant mate?
Or maybe just because he was becoming soft.
Vegeta sighed in defeat, the last vestiges of tension and
resistance dissolving. Or maybe he was just so tired. It’s been nothing but a
huge fucking mess since Kakarrot first found him with Goten. A wild emotional
roller coaster as he came to terms with his feelings for Kakarrot, someone he
had always regarded as a rival, perhaps even a grudging friend, but a lover? It
had never crossed his mind until Kakarrot BIT him.
And of course there was the not so glamorous problem of
having two high-strung, jealous mates. Keeping up with two mates – one a
full-blooded Saiyan and the other a horny teenager – wasn’t as easy as he thought.
No, not just torn between two mates; he’s been literally
bounced between worlds as well. Hunted and chased down like some prime piece of
flesh. And then the revelation that Kakarrot’s erratic behavior was somehow due
to a virus, which led to Goten apparently catching it…
It was all too un-fucking-believable.
His eyes slid close as he shifted and just melted within
the larger male’s warm arms, abruptly limp as weeks of tension finally crept up
on him. He was just so damn tired. He wanted this nightmare to end so that he
could just crawl into a large, comfy bed with his warm mate…
Perhaps sensing the change in mood with the prince,
Kakarrot’s lovemaking that night was slower and gentler, the dark and frantic
edge gone. It was almost as if both decided to forgo the brutal fighting that
often accompanied their coupling of late. Fervent kisses and caressing touches,
husky murmurs that lacked the testy undercurrent… It was even sweet.
“Mine… no other,” Kakarrot growled, hips snapping forward to
emphasize each panted out word. Yet even now, his tone was softer, more
pleading than demanding, more urgent than cruel.
“Yours…” Vegeta agreed with a thin moan, eyes half-lidded as
he looked up at his mate under heavy lashes. Framed by the starry canvas of
darkest velvet above, the pale light casting everything around them in ethereal
shadows and silvery glows, Kakarrot looked utterly desirable. A fine sheen of
sweat glistened over flexing muscles, catching the glimmer of starlight.
“Ye~sss…” Kakarrot hissed out, a tremulous smile lighting
his face. His hands were occupied with supporting his weight as he leaned above
Vegeta, but his tail was free. The lushly furred appendage swept over the lean
planes and curves of the figure below him, soft and caressing, the brush of the
luxurious fur feeling utterly sinful and delicious.
Though he was still as possessive and needy, affirming often
that yes – Vegeta was really his and his only, and practically
smirking when the royal echoed his declaration of affection, the maniacal gleam
seemed to have faded from his eyes.
It was probably his wistful subconscious deluding him, Vegeta decided morosely as they lay cuddled later. The night was chilly and but sex had generated more than enough heat to keep him warm. Kakarrot had already fallen asleep, a pleased, satiated expression on his face as he curled around the smaller prince, his heavy tail coiled around the slender waist tightly, almost as if he was afraid the prince would disappear in his sleep.
The larger male may be mad, but he was also very nice and
toasty to sleep with. Vegeta turned slightly and burrowed deeper within the
warm embrace of limbs and tails, his small frown finally relaxing in
sleep.
-----
When Vegeta awoke again, he realized immediately something
was off. Something wrong? Something dangerous? Eyelids shot open as he tensed
warily, hands fisting as eyes flickered from side to side.
And then he relaxed abruptly when he recognized his
surroundings. It was one of the rooms in Capsule Corps’ extensive medical wing.
Sitting up in the cot and wincing at the tug of the numerous
tubes and wires in his skin, he looked around. Kakarrot lay to on the bed to
his right, turned on his side and face relaxed in sleep. Their beds had been
pushed together and the younger male’s arm was outstretched towards him.
There was a third bed in the room but it was empty. He
guessed that it had been Goten’s, which meant that the boy woke up and was all
right.
Vegeta looked down at himself with a grimace. He felt extremely
grimy and stiff, and he wanted a bath and a solid meal, in that order.
Carefully, he pulled the thick needles out of his stomach; some fed a nutrient
sludge and an especially large one cleared his waste, and then removed the
smaller needles and electrode patches on his arms.
Glancing over at Kakarrot, he patted the hand with a wry
smile. “I’ll be back soon, koi. Hopefully before you’re awake.”
He swung his legs off the side of the bed and padded out of
the room with unsteady but eager steps. He really wanted that bath.
(Kia passes the mangled robin on with a sheepish look.)
Onto Chapter 46
Back to Chapters 42 - 43
Back to DBZ Yaoi Series