Jaded

Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. I am not making any profit from this.


Rating –NC 17
Warnings – For the whole story: Language, whips, chains, knife play, character death (of a main character), torture, non-con, yaoi, M/M. OCs. Lemons, limes. OC/Goku, Goku/Vegeta, Goku/OC’s, Kakarott/Vegeta, Vegeta/Goku.

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to beta, Pixelgoddess. I know you are a very busy woman right now. *squishes*

Exceedingly long chapter. Get comfortable.


Jaded 8 - Construction

Goku nodded in agreement, but the thought of going back to the room made his stomach churn. He wouldn’t he force himself to do so. Dende as an option was out; Goku didn’t want to get the guardian involved. He sighed as he thought of the most logical option left to him; he had never intended for the twins and Vegeta to be introduced to each other. They were two different factions of his life he never thought would collide.

“Hang on,” he said, gathering Vegeta tighter into his lap as he focused on Vinh’s ki, trying to determine if he was at the forge or the cabin set up outside the forge’s protective barrier. He smiled briefly in relief as he detected a distance from the ‘void’ the forge felt like and tapped two fingers to his forehead.

Vinh turned at the familiar feeling of one of Goku’s strange arrivals. He froze as he saw the tall man was not alone. He nodded his head, keeping quiet when Goku gave him an apologetic smile. This was obviously something that could not have been helped.

Assured of Vinh’s discretion, Goku stood and turned down the hallway, heading towards the bathing room.

Vegeta’s eyes fluttered open as Kakarott carried him. He recognized the fact the ceiling above him was unfamiliar, but not much else about his surroundings penetrated the fog his mind was fighting off. He groaned as Kakarott leaned him against a wall. The sound of water hitting tiles penetrated his lethargy, and the prince forced himself to stand on his own two feet, feeling as though his legs weren’t his own. He shifted his arms as Kakarott started peeling the wet, soiled clothing from him.

Goku tossed Vegeta’s shirt on a towel he had laid out on the floor of the bathroom, on top of his own clothes he had already discarded. He stripped the Velcro and then the torn cloth off of Vegeta’s hand, hissing at the scar the senzu had been unable to heal completely.

Vegeta moved his mouth working some saliva into it, trying to get rid of the cotton-like feel of his tongue. He tasted the unfamiliar air, briefly wondering where exactly Kakarott had taken them, before he was forced to press his palms on the other’s shoulders to keep his balance as his pants were stripped from him.

“Come on…time to get you cleaned up, and warmer,” Goku stated as he picked Vegeta up and carried him into the shower, and then set the man back on his own two feet. He twisted the showerhead around, trying to get as much of the grime off of the other before actually applying soap.

Vegeta placed a steadying hand on the wall. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open, and the warmth from the water on his back wasn’t helping him succeed. As he twisted his head back, trying to catch some of the water from the showerhead in his mouth, the thickness of the steam caused him to cough.

Goku’s stilled as Vegeta’s breath rattled in his chest. He pressed his mouth quickly over the elite’s as Vegeta tapped his own chest, sending his breath gently to inflate Vegeta’s lungs, and drew back slowly as he heard Vegeta breathe through his nose. At Vegeta’s nod of assurance, he grabbed the soap and started running it quickly and thoroughly over Vegeta’s body.

Goku rubbed Vegeta’s hand vigorously, trying to keep the circulation going through it, when he noticed it was cold and unyielding. “Hn…it’s not from hypothermia, Kakarott. It’s from rigor mortis*.”

Goku nodded and surrounded his hands with ki. He cupped one hand between his own, bending the fingers back and forth until they loosened up. Then he moved on to the next. “Anywhere else feel like that?” he asked.

“Tail,” Vegeta simply said. Goku started working ki into the appendage. Vegeta’s eyes widened and he growled, “We’re not alone,” he warned as he tried to stare through the curtain.

Goku heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the slight barrier. “No, but it is okay,” he said, gripping Vegeta’s chin, and forcing the other to look at him. Vegeta’s eyes drooped again at his reassurance, and Goku finished working the tail until it was flexible again.

Goku switched their places, washing himself briefly, before he turned the water off. He drew the curtain back, and smiled; the one towel he had laid out with their dirty clothing on it was gone, and replaced by a dozen clean ones.

He held onto Vegeta’s upper arm as the other insisted on stepping out on his own. He watched as Vegeta surveyed the room, more through his sense of smell than by using his actual eyes. The prince sneezed gently and swished his tail at whatever he found.

Goku gave Vegeta a quick rub down, and then did the same for himself. He tossed a towel over Vegeta’s head, lamely trying to wrap it around the other’s damp hair. He stifled a laugh as it fell over Vegeta’s eyes and Vegeta did nothing to try to dislodge it, because they were already closed.

A couple of faulty steps towards the door, and Goku picked Vegeta up and carried him down the hall to the room with the western type bed he had brought a couple of years before. He pulled back the covers and then placed Vegeta as close to the wall as he could, climbed in behind him and drew the covers up around the both of them.

He placed a hand over Vegeta’s chest so he could feel the rise and fall of it. “You must really be out of it, if you aren’t fighting any of this,” he said quietly. He received a snore in reply.


~o0o~


Goku woke restless. He knew he needed more sleep…but he was too aware of Vegeta’s warm body next to his. He had never been so peaceful in the other’s presence…ever. He drew away and sat up, fisting his hands in his hair. As much as he had wanted just such a situation, it was totally inappropriate to be stirring like he was.

Vegeta would certainly see it as having been taken advantage of if he started something right now…and Goku didn’t want that. It was even lower than what little they did have.

Goku reached a hand down to make sure Vegeta’s chest was still moving. Then he pressed two fingers to the other’s neck, making sure the heartbeat was still strong. Both those concerns alleviated, he unwrapped Vegeta’s tail from around his thigh and got up, leaving the room quietly.

He was met by tired greetings as he entered the living room.


~o0o~


Vegeta stirred in his sleep just enough to realize Kakarott was no longer smothering him physically. He settled back down, lulled to sleep by a distant, primal rhythm, more felt than heard.

~o0o~

Bulma pulled her umbrella out from the glove compartment after she turned the engine off. The door to the building was wide open; not a good sign. She let out a sigh as she opened her car door, and let the black umbrella unfurl.

She cursed the fact she was wearing heels as she walked through the thick mud. “Hello?” she called out after climbing the few steps to the entry. Nothing but flickering lights greeted her.

She stepped into the building to get out of the rain, not noticing her husband’s pack until she had already shaken the rainwater off of the umbrella. Bits of clothing were scattered around it, she reached a hand into the side pocket where she had placed the cell phone, and pulled it out. Her one missed call flashed on the LCD, and she put it back in the pocket she had pulled it from. She ran her fingers through some dark spots on the leather, and quickly wiped them off when she noted the color was red. Blood?

The lights flickered again, and something big and bright caught her attention. She reached into her purse to pull out a small flashlight. The overhead lights were an irritation as she walked in the direction of the object that had caught her attention. Intermittent splotches led the way like creepy breadcrumbs.

She stopped as the dots became smears in one area of the floor, and gasped as the lights flashed briefly, sticking an image in her mind; a table, blood dripping from its edge.

Bulma cursed, and turned, trying to remember where the nearest power junction was in this building; the regeneration controls. She opened the panel when she got to it, revealing its internal components with a screwdriver she always kept in her purse. She had to dig a bit harder to find the emergency capsule case. She selected one of them and set it on the floor before depressing the button; wouldn’t do to have a back up-generator bounce and land on her toes. She found the connections she needed in the control panel before baring the wires and twisting them together. She flipped the power switch on the generator and the lights browned out one last time before they came on full power.

The object she had noted was a table. Not something used for sparring. A knife was embedded in the wood. She stepped in for a closer inspection, and tripped over a bundle of chains with another knife knotted in the middle of it. Bulma looked up to the under side of the table. Something had been glued there, and the tip of the knife in the table stuck through the four inch slab of wood; oak by the looks of it. She wiped her hands off on her blouse before she remembered that the liquid was probably blood. She scowled in disgust as she stood.

She had been toying with the idea that the guys had been hunting, but the grotesque, somewhat distorted, imitation of a snow angel on the golden surface of the table negated the idea. That…and the container of lube she found on the floor.

Bulma turned back to the bundle of chains, and started unraveling them. They gave her a funny tingle when she touched them, but she ignored it. She gasped when she finally had the full length untwisted, cuffs hanging from each end and the knife falling to the floor. She dropped the chains with disgust and snooped around the rest of the room with a more cynical eye.

The regeneration tank had not been used recently. No residual liquid. The shower though…that was disturbing. Bulma’s feet crunched shards of tiles, and there was evidence of blood that hadn’t washed down the drain.

Bulma went to inspect the last thing that had caught her attention: an open locker. Someone had closed or hit it with enough force the door had warped. “Which is probably why it didn’t lock,” she commented to herself. She rifled through the contents, most of which were extra sets of Goku’s training gi. There was a Polaroid camera, “That’s just…weird,” the scientist said, wondering why a Polaroid instead of a digital, “Instant pictures?” further digging through the locker didn’t show any evidence of pictures though.

She frowned, and turned away from the locker. She turned her head back quickly as her hearing picked up on mechanical devices she hadn’t seen any evidence of. Bulma pulled out her flashlight, and swept it through the locker, finding a button she hadn’t noticed without its aid. She pressed a finger to it, and back of the locker slid to the side.

There was surveillance equipment inside; “In Goku’s locker?” she wondered how it had even been installed. Nothing but static came onto the screen when she pressed the play button. She frowned and pressed rewind, but the tape stopped a few seconds later, indicating it had already been at the beginning of the tape when she had pressed play.

She turned away from that dead end. The only other thing to inspect was the area she knew Vegeta’s locker to be in. She quickly discovered her husband’s locker was closed and locked. Frowning, she pressed codes into the security dock. She sighed, and pulled out the drill capsule from her capsule case. A moment later she was drilling at the level the lock was. The bit went all the way through, and still the door did not come open. She blew her bangs out of her face, “Oh, sure, the one time I need it, and I didn’t bring a can opener…the knives!”

The one stuck in the table (and less bloody) wouldn’t budge. She picked up the one on the floor, and went to the shower to wash it off. Once she was standing in front of Vegeta’s locker, again, she took a breath and set her feet. She pressed the blade tip into the hole she had drilled, and squeaked in shock as it sunk through the sheet metal as if it were nothing but butter, “What the hell?!”

Her eyes widened even more as she pushed up on the knife with hardly any effort on her part, and the sheet metal divided around the blade. It was only a matter of minutes before she had cut the door out. She shone the flashlight inside, but was disappointed at the bareness of the compartment, “Of course, all of his stuff is still in or around his bag.”

She stabbed the knife at the wall beside her in frustration, and it sunk through again. Curious, she stepped over for a closer inspection. “Another panel?” she drew the knife down, but it hit something more solid than sheet metal no more than a foot down. She twisted it and pulled in the direction away from the locker. Several feet later she found the end of the compartment she hadn’t known existed. She finished cutting the strange door opening, and jumped back as the panel door fell off the wall. She dropped the knife at what she had found.

More knives, whips, another set of chains, although this one did not have cuffs, and…no…but it was. She pulled the phallic-like object from its place. “Glass?” a glass dildo? But something in its weight told her it wasn’t glass.

“Well…” Bulma didn’t know how to react. Chichi had said the guys were together a couple of years ago…in not so kind words, and something about the state of things in the room when she had first arrived had prepared her for this, so she wasn’t as angry as she thought she should be, at finding out her husband and her best friend had been having some sort of bizarre affair.

But she was angry, just not…shocked. No, she was shocked. It seemed this was beyond the men just having sex…then why weren’t the emotions hitting her as hard as she thought they should? “Because, you’ve gone into emergency mode,” she told herself, gritting her teeth.

She stomped over to Vegeta’s case and dumped its contents out. Then she went about picking up all the grotesque objects and placing them inside. She layered the bottom with chains, and put the one knife she could get on top of that. The contents of the panel went over that.

There was a confrontation coming, and she wanted all the evidence she could carry for it.

~o0o~


Vegeta woke again much later, eyes groggily opening. He wondered what else would be wrong with him as he stared at a double image in the doorway. “You guys!” he heard Kakarott’s whispered hiss, “I told you to leave him be.”

“You didn’t tell us he was gorgeous!” “Absolutely stunning!” Both complements came from different perspectives at the same time. Great, now his hearing was fucked as well: proof that as grateful as he should be, Kakarott should have never brought him back from the dead in such a manner.

Think of the devil…Kakarott squeezed between the two images and then shooed them from the room.

And what the fuck was that he was wearing? Vegeta closed his eyes. Too much stimulation, that was for certain. More sleep. He snuggled deeper into the covers, huffing at the smell of Kakarott that permeated them, for once not ashamed to sleep in.


~o0o~


A cuff around his wrist kept him from the sunlight he desperately wanted to feel. He stretched, trying to get even his other hand into the golden stream. That failed, and he stretched his tail, hoping just to feel the warmth.

“Oh, no…it’s been acclimatized to this environment. It would never live outside on its own now,” Bunni’s benevolent voice from the sunlight faded into Frieza’s chilly, malignant voice coming out of the void he was engulfed in. “Besides, he is for me to enjoy. It has taken generations for one to come along that I was this proud of. This one has never known anything but darkness…”

“That’s not true! Bulma has shown me…” he hurriedly began to address the misconception…

“What have I shown you Vegeta?” Bulma’s voice came from the light, but he could not see or smell her.

“That it’s okay to trust someone,” he whispered quietly, “That it is okay to have needs…” that I don’t have to stay empty, he thought hopelessly.

Nappa’s voice barked from the darkness, “But it is NOT okay. You are a Prince. Desire and trust are things you cannot afford to wallow in!” He jerked around to face a possible opponent, but it seemed this was all the jaded wisdom the General wished to impart.

Stars appeared and he felt rather than heard the groan of the oak’s trunk as it cracked. He looked down to see that his torso had become gray, gnarled tree bark and understood why he hadn’t felt pain; it would be difficult to feel anything through something so thick and armored. He touched the splintered abrasion stretching across his chest with his free hand and hissed wonderingly as pain filtered to his core; when had this happened? He stood frozen as he pondered his exposure until fire raged towards him, then surrounded him, but didn’t inflict additional damage. “Can you fix this?” he asked the ambiguous force surrounding him, but received no verbal answer.

The warmth left him, leaving him just as cold as he had been before, but he realized he knew the difference now. He fell to his knees, keening his desolation. No one could help him: why had he even shown the weakness to ask? “No one can help you, Vegeta,” Kakarott’s voice echoed his bleak thoughts from the dark.

He gasped, and looked up. He had thought once the fire was gone he was alone. He finally spotted the other through the spot of sunlight, sitting in the dark on the other side. Kakarott lifted his bowed head and reached a hand out. It passed into the sunlight and Vegeta found he was jealous the other could realize the warmth he could not comprehend. “I’ve done a lot of things I thought were helping, but it only dragged me further into darkness, rather than pulling you out. This isn’t where I belong.”

Vegeta leaned back, giving his chained hand a little more slack, “Is this where I belong?” he questioned desperately, “You’ve done the impossible for so many others. Why can’t you fix this for me?” he cringed at the whiney tone in his voice; he wasn’t a four-year-old child…but, gods, he felt lost…

“Because they aren’t my scars, Vegeta, and trying to gain them as my scars only to understand you better will pull neither of us out of this,” Kakarott stood as he finished his statement. It wasn’t until then Vegeta noticed the other also had a cuff around his wrist as well. He watched in amazement as the third class dislocated his own thumb in order to make his fist small enough to fit through the cuff. Skin pulled away from his hand as he did so.

The bloody injured hand was the first to be forced into the sunlight, “You want out badly enough, you’ll find a way to free yourself,” anger and command tainted the other’s voice as he stepped fully into the patch of light. “I brought you back to yourself, but you are the one that has to f-swallow your….” Vegeta wasn’t exactly certain what Kakarott’s last word was as the other sayian’s image began to fade. Red spots of blood running from the third class’s injured hand spilt to the ground changing into a senzu, and markings from his native language he was frustratingly unable to decipher.

He wrenched at the chain as he lunged for the other sayian’s fading image. He turned back to follow Kakarott’s example in snapping his own thumb out of joint, pulling his hand through, exposing bone as the skin peeled away. He finally managed it, but felt liquid pouring from his chest. He looked down the see amber sap (or was that red blood?) oozing from the damaged trunk his chest still was. He raced to the light, wondering why he wasn’t faint from the loss.

Panic laced through him as he scratched at an unseen barrier that stopped him from following Kakarott’s scent. He howled in frustration, beating his knuckles, elbows, forehead and knees bloody against it. It finally budged at the same time pain exploded in his chest. He looked down to see his own ribs through the bark.

“Does anywhere else feel like that?” Kakarott’s voice spoke through the transparent obstruction.

~My heart~, he thought to the other before he grit his teeth and sent another strike at the obstacle hindering him from going after Kakarott. He screamed as pain engulfed him and he crashed to the floor, helpless to stop from blacking out….


…And woke in a sunlit bedroom.

Vegeta groaned and stretched, berating himself for sleeping so long after what had happened the day before. The bed wasn’t that comfortable. His body needed to move, muscles needed to know their place again.

The dream had been so vivid; he was surprised he hadn’t destroyed the room, or at least the bed. Usually his dreams were muddled messes of chaos and monsters he didn’t know how to fight against. This one had left him with the feeling of striving for something….

His stomach growled, but he was close to ignoring it; the thought of solid food made him shudder. However, he couldn’t ignore the pressure on his bladder for much longer. ‘Well, I could, but Kakarott wouldn’t like it,’ he smirked to himself before groaning again and pressing a hand into the mattress to lever himself up.

He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, just looking down at his feet. He shook his head in bemusement; his legs were the same, they only appeared longer. As soon as he was able to get his body back under his control, they wouldn’t seem so awkward.

Vegeta slid his weight off of the bed and stood, stretching. His groan turned into a wide mouthed yawn. He looked for something to don when his muscles relaxed, and realized there was nothing to cover himself with but the sheet from the bed. He snorted at Kakarott’s idiocy.

He realized he was alone in the house after a ki scan. Vegeta shrugged his shoulders and walked to the doorway, sniffing the air experimentally, but his nose told him the same thing his ki search had. He strode into the hallway, going in the direction he hoped he remembered the bathroom to be in. Two doorways down, and he smiled as he closed the door behind him.

He frowned slightly at something in the bathroom. It jogged his memory a bit…death. He snorted as he flushed the toilet, and an involuntary shudder ran through his body. He turned to go, but the shower curtain caught his attention, another hazy memory. He shoved the curtain back, sniffing experimentally. He’d been so out when Kakarott had brought him here.

His tail flicked past his knee, and he remembered Kakarott running his hands over it. It hadn’t been a curious caress of a lover, or a brutal one from a master, but…caring. He had been weak in the other’s presence, and Kakarott had not taken advantage of his vulnerability: not even for revenge. Vegeta snorted to himself, “Of course he didn’t. It is Kakarott you are thinking about.”

He exited the room, and turned down the hall, deciding to get the layout of the building while he was alone. The second room in the hallway was another bedroom that smelled strongly of the human he had been scenting beneath Kakarott’s scent. Vegeta’s tail whipped once before settling. “Why do I care what he’s been up to when he’s not with me?” he asked himself ruefully as he shut the door a little harder than intended.

A doublewide exit led him into a kitchen; a fairly bare kitchen. Vegeta picked an unfamiliar fruit off of the table and examined it briefly before taking a bite out of it as he walked towards a different exit from the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks as he entered the next room as the smell of recent sex assaulted his nose. His tail lashed out and smacked the wall harshly before he thought better of it. He wound it tightly around his waist. Despite the fact he told himself he didn’t care, jealousy still consumed him, and it was just a matter of seconds before his tail was smacking into something else.

His head swiveled towards the screen door as he heard Kakarott’s voice over his own growling.

~o0o~


“I don’t know, it just smells weird,” Vinh said, not knowing how to explain it any better.

“You guys used to eat meat, didn’t you?” Goku asked.

“Well, yeah, but it’s been a couple of years. Dead things just seem to smell different now,” Trung piped up.

Goku shrugged, “Well, Vegeta’s going to need it, and I still enjoy it,” he said as he adjusted the stick on his shoulder that held the deer suspended between Trung and himself. One incident with the ticks and fleas in the area, and he had learned not to carry his prey without some sort of distancing assistance.

Vinh giggled, “Yes, Goku, we know you have quite an appetite for meat.”

Trung groaned and rolled his eyes as Goku blushed. Over two years with the twins, and the youngest could still goad him into blushing!!! The three of them stopped outside of the cabin. “Well, you both know what comes next. I suggest you go occupy yourselves with something else while I skin it.”

Trung set his end of the branch on the ground, and Vinh moved away with a comical shudder. “Wait, can I have one of those bowls?” Goku asked before they had gone far.

Vihn placed one of the two bowls he had used to collect berries on the ground. He dumped the contents of the one he still held into it, and then tossed it to Goku, who shook his head as he watched the two of them disappear around the side of the house.

The tall sayian set the bowl on the ground under the tree, and proceeded to hang his kill by its hind legs tied to a large lower branch. He pulled the young stag’s head back and drew a fingernail along its throat, collecting the flow in the large bowl he had asked for. The blood should make a nourishing broth….

The container wasn’t even halfway full before Goku heard and felt a commotion from the house. He looked up to see a very naked Vegeta standing on the porch, glaring across the distance at him.

“I-I went hunting,” Goku said, not certain why he was receiving such a glare. He turned and picked the bowl up from the ground. Leaves blew past him as he turned back, Vegeta already standing at his side. He held the container out for Vegeta to take from him and was surprised as the prince didn’t even take the time to pull it from his hands. Instead, strong hands covered his own, tipping the bowl in Vegeta’s direction.

Vegeta didn’t care what it was, as long as it was protein rich. He was certain this mood swing could be attributed to not having had a decent meal. He drank deeply from the bowl Kakarott held out to him.

Goku’s felt his eyes widening in amazement. In all the time he had known Vegeta, he had never witnessed the other so uninhibited while eating…drinking…whichever. Goku had always felt outclassed at barbeques and get-togethers (even the occasional camping trip), even if he had put on airs of not being concerned. All of the posturing Vegeta had put on display at such occasions became meaningless as Goku continued to watch the shorter sayian continue to gulp down what was in the bowl, not stopping to breathe until it was gone.

Goku let the bowl hang uselessly from his fingers as he watched Vegeta catch his breath. Rivulets of red streamed down the elite’s chin, neck and chest. He closed his eyes when they wandered further down, trying to calm himself. The twins had been nice, but they weren’t Vegeta.

The third class growled at the thought, not realizing he had snapped a hand out to pull the other to him, until Vegeta’s body was pressed against his. He quickly opened his eyes as Vegeta shrugged his hands off. He was even more confused when the elite grabbed his hands by the wrists, forcing him back until he was wedged between the tree and Vegeta’s body, blood soaking into his white linen shirt.

“Vegeta?” Goku asked, very concerned at the look in the other’s eyes.

“Where is he?” Vegeta spoke almost sweetly.

“He?” the use of the pronoun confused Goku.

“The man you fucked last night, while I was sleeping in your bed,” there was nothing sweet about the words issued past Vegeta’s lips.

Goku tried to shake Vegeta’s hands from his wrists, but the elite retaliated by gripping even harder, cutting into soft skin with his nails. “It’s none of your business…” Goku hissed back.

“It’s none of my business,” Vegeta mocked, “When you bring me here just to rub my nose in it? Why didn’t just have sex in the bed, Goku? I think that would have been a much more to the poi-” Vegeta was interrupted from a shout across the yard.

“Why don’t you two get a ro-” Goku was thankful for his quick reflexes. He was able to slap Vegeta’s hand to the side, making the ki blast go wide…thankfully not into the house.

He ascended quickly, realizing that his hedging had put the twins’ lives in danger from not doing so in the first place. He had Vegeta by the tail before the elite could react, “You will be polite to my company while you are here, Vegeta!” Goku hissed.

“Let me go, and I’ll just get the fuck out of here!” Vegeta ranted while still glaring at the twins.

Goku grabbed Vegeta’s jaw and turned his head back towards him, “No.” The twins retreated quickly while the prince’s head was turned.

Vegeta squirmed, trying to get his tail loose. Fucking bastard knew right where to strike! He couldn’t ascend to defend himself…or his honor, “Let me GO!”

“No,” Goku insisted, dropping to his knees and pulling Vegeta with him, “I want to talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to explain, Kakarott. Get off me!” Vegeta insisted, pushing ineffectually at Goku’s shoulders.

Goku growled and bent Vegeta back, until the enraged sayian’s shoulders touched the ground. Then he pressed himself against Vegeta, “Does this feel like they,” he jerked his chin in the direction Vegeta had last seen the twins, “Are able to satisfy me, Vegeta?”

Vegeta growled, turning his head away from the other. He howled in frustration and lust as Kakarott licked at the drying blood on his chest, and futilely tried to jerk the other’s head away from him by the hair.

“They aren’t you, Vegeta. They aren’t even a poor substitute, for you,” Goku said huskily. The elite’s sudden show of jealousy was like a door opening for Goku: there had been so much hidden, until now, such as, Vegeta actually might care.

“Why?” Vegeta panted.

“I needed something, Vegeta. Something to pull me back to myself when…after we were done. You’ve had sex with Bulma, haven’t you? They were willing to help,” Goku said, kissing at Vegeta’s abs.

“Bulma’s my mate,” Vegeta ground out between his teeth.

“Doesn’t seem like that means much to you, Vegeta,” Goku growled, addressing one of the most confusing things about this situation: at least in his opinion. He pulled one of Vegeta’s hands from his head and pushed it under the elite’s back. Then he did the same to the other, and used one hand to hold them in place.

Vegeta could feel his thigh muscles tearing, and now his shoulders were a jerk away from coming out of socket. He felt the tickle of fur under his nose and restrained from sneezing as he heard Kakarott’s next command, “Suck on it.” When he didn’t immediately respond his wrists were jerked, one shoulder joint coming loose. The tip of his tail was shoved into his mouth as he gasped at the pain and then Kakarott’s hand pressed his jaw closed. “You will stay quiet. I am going to talk,” more pressure was applied to his jaw, just enough for his teeth to bear down painfully on his tail. He nodded his acknowledgement of the situation. “I don’t see you sucking,” the prince understood the threat and responded.

“You…have been in control of this situation from the beginning. No matter how much initiative I have seemed to take, we both know I did those things because it pleased you,” Vegeta growled around his mouthful, tears forming at the corners of his eyes at the obscene pleasure Kakarott was making him cause himself.

“I bring you here for healing and you try to control the situation again.” Goku snorted, “I thought you at least had enough manners to understand when gratitude was expected, but the first words out of your mouth were ‘Who did you fuck’ rather than ‘Thank you.’ Bulma may be willing to put up with your shit; it seems to excite both of you, but I am not.” Vegeta’s tail tried to lash, but didn’t come out of his mouth. The prince moaned and closed his eyes as the fur tickled the roof of his mouth.

“The twins are my friends…and yes, they are my lovers, but only because you refuse to accept that part of me.” Goku jerked Vegeta’s arms again as the other growled in response to his accusation. “It is a part of me, Vegeta. Sayian instincts,” Goku spat,” Our race would have never survived past the first generation with the type of ‘affection’ you desire. We would have torn our females to bits before offspring could have ever been conceived.”

“No, I think it is you who is constantly fighting his instincts, not me. Or maybe it is both of us, but I refuse to do this any longer. The futility in trying to learn to cope with it is killing me,” Goku said. He bent his head to kiss at Vegeta’s ribs. The prince’s eyes popped back open, and he tried to jerk his head up to glare at the other, but the angle his jaw was held at made the movement impossible.

Goku continued his torturous, though gentle, assault as he felt Vegeta’s body tremble in objection. “I can’t be him, Vegeta. If you could just accept this, I would be yours, wholly.”

Vegeta closed his eyes, whimpering helplessly. He tried to quiet himself, all noise he was making caused direct, tantalizing vibrations to flow through his tail. The prince breathed harshly through his nose as Kakarott licked at his navel, but it soon turned into a groan as the other continued to focus on that one spot of his anatomy. If the other would just…move, he would be able to gain control over himself, but it didn’t happen. Frustrated tears flowed from his eyes as the other’s single-minded assault caused him to purr uncontrollably.

Frieza had never been able to cause him to break his control in such a manner. Sure, he had screamed, growled and shrieked, but Vegeta had never had been pushed to submit to pleasure. The ice-jin had never been inclined to show the patience or the dedication necessary to make a lover out of his pet. Was that what Kakarott wanted? A lover? Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. Could he be that if he tried? It seemed impossible; he’d only been able to consider it with Bulma, because she was weaker than he.

Goku waited until he felt the other’s body relax as much as possible in that ridiculous position before letting Vegeta’s jaw and wrists go. He watched as the other let his own tail slide from his mouth. The appendage lay listless on the ground.

Vegeta groaned as he shifted his arms from beneath his back. A twisting jerk of his shoulder to put the socket back in place had him laying, panting, as Kakarott’s face came into view, and realized he was probably able to untwist his legs out from under him. He groaned as he did so; his thighs continued to burn. He was shocked enough to continue to look at the other while Kakarott settled full length next to him.

His gaze was drawn to the other’s throat as the third class tilted his head, “No more games, Vegeta.” Vegeta licked his lips as the other continued to display his throat trustingly. It would be so easy to rip it out with his teeth at the moment….

…Instead, he levered himself enough to reach that vulnerable flesh with is tongue, and lips, and…a shiver ran through the prince’s body in response to Kakarott’s urgent groan. Just that pure sound was more encouragement and reward than…Vegeta didn’t care at the moment. He wanted to hear more.

Goku closed his eyes as Vegeta pressed his back to the ground. He let his transformation drop and gasped as Vegeta ascended in unconscious response. His breath hitched a couple times before he whimpered.

Vegeta pulled back slowly. He gazed at the openness in Kakarott’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity before he felt…he growled. He refused to feel shame for what they had done. It just felt too right. He touched Kakarott’s cheek as the other turned his face away in misunderstanding. “I hope it’s not too late for ‘Thank you,” he said when the other finally opened his eyes again. He felt a spike of disappointment at Kakarott’s weak nod, and let his hand slide from the other’s face.

Goku didn’t understand Vegeta’s body language and growled in frustration. Had he been mistaken thinking they had made some sort of breakthrough? He opened his mouth to speak as Vegeta stood…

“Do you have anything I can wear? I am guessing it’s a long flight back to the building,” Vegeta asked.

“You don’t have to go anywhere, Vegeta. Stay?” Goku had meant to make it a statement, but some how it became a plea.

Vegeta nodded at Kakarott’s request, mistaking it as nothing more than the other’s omnipresent benevolence. He grimaced as the twins came into view. Or maybe it was meant to teach him a lesson. Either way, he wouldn’t back down from a challenge, even if it was as humiliating as this was bound to be.

Goku stood and turned as he heard the twins, watching Vegeta warily, “You’ll need a shower,” he stated as he walked towards the cabin.

Vegeta squared his shoulders. He refused to display weak emotions as shock and humiliation. If Kakarott could pretend this hadn’t happened, then he could as well.

“Vinh, Trung, this is Prince Vegeta. Vegeta, meet the twins,” Goku introduced everyone.

Vinh’s smiled at Vegeta, but it faltered slightly under the prince’s glare. Even Trung was not as adept at glaring…or he hadn’t thought his brother was until he noted how his brother wasn’t backing down on this one.

Goku could feel the tension between Trung and Vegeta. He moved to intercept what was going on between the two, but then Trung sneered cruelly at the other, “You just keep that in mind,” the older twin said, his sneer turning into a genuine smile, before he turned his back to the group and then opened the screen door, holding it wide for everyone to enter.

Vegeta’s eyes opened wide in shock, but his body relaxed. Goku and Vinh looked at each other in confusion. Vinh shrugged his shoulders and led the way into the building. He stooped to pick up some of the objects Vegeta had knocked to the floor with his tail, as the rest of the group filed into the kitchen.

Vegeta finally cleared his throat, “Clothes?”

Goku grinned sheepishly, “Yeah, there are some…”

“Wouldn’t you like to bathe first?” Trung interrupted.

Vegeta shifted his attention to the human, before looking down at himself. He snorted, “Yes.”

“Follow me then,” Trung said, exiting to the hallway.

“I know where the shower is,” Vegeta said, although he did follow.

Trung turned to him, stopping in the middle of the hallway, making it impossible for Vegeta to reach the bathroom without running him over. The thought was tempting, but Vegeta didn’t think Kakarott would stand for it. “I guess a quick rinse before an actual soak would be good,” Trung said, stepping away from the door.

“Soak?” Vegeta asked, crossing his arms, but making no move for the bathroom.

“Goku made a tub. It’s out back,” Trung elaborated.

Vegeta’s tail started to unwind from his waist at the thought of a soak. He quickly stopped it, hoping the human hadn’t seen his reaction.

Trung saw the man’s tail loosen, and then tighten back up. The idea was good, but this person couldn’t seem to want it. “Vinh won’t have a meal ready for at least an hour, and Goku has to cook the deer,” he said.

“And you?” Vegeta asked.

“I’ll let the others know what I am up to, and prep the tub,” Trung said, being deliberately vague.

Vegeta arched an eyebrow, but reached for the doorknob. He heard Trung’s footsteps going back the way they had come from before he closed the door. He shoved the curtain back and fiddled with the knobs until he had the temperature he wanted, and stepped in.

Almost everything had been rinsed off when he heard the twins walk by; talking in a language he was unfamiliar with. One voice sounded distressed while the other sounded determined. Since they were virtually the same voice, Vegeta found it a rather unique experience. It brought back his earlier wakening, when he had mistaken the twins for one person in double vision, and almost cracked a smile before he turned the water off.

He pressed the curtain back and caught one of the twins setting a towel out for him. The younger man held it out to him instead, eyes looking to the side. Vegeta resisted the urge to grunt as he took the towel from…Vinh, if he wasn’t mistaken. The only thing to go by was the clothing, and there hadn’t been much of a difference in the way the two dressed.

Vegeta wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping into the hallway; something scented the air with a hint of spice. He followed it to the door at the end of the hall. Opening the door quietly, he took in the surroundings before he caught sight of Trung. He sneered, “If you are trying to put a wedge between Kakarott and me by trying to seduce me…”

Trung looked up from what he was doing, and shook his head, “Goku already knows I am here. I am not trying to seduce you; just showing a bit of openness in your presence,” he turned back to what he had been doing previously.

Vegeta grunted, not quite certain what the human was up to. He unwrapped the towel from around his waist and stepped onto the first step in the steaming water. It took a full measure of effort not to hiss in surprise at how hot the water was, “Are you trying to boil me?”

Trung looked up, his features held still by a great amount of will on his part, “No, sir.”

Vegeta wriggled his toes before stepping down to the second step, “Kakarott bathes in this heat?”

Trung shrugged, “Very rarely,” he pointed to a chain hanging from the ceiling, “I had not finished prepping the tub yet. If you want, you may pull on that chain, and it will let some cooler water in.”

Vegeta stepped back out, and then pulled on the chain. Water flowed from a hole that opened in the ceiling, and splashed a bit, but not so much that it became a hazard.

“The water in the tub is from a natural hot spring. It is a very lucky find, as it doesn’t contain the sulfuric smell usually associated with hot springs in this area. Sulfur is good, but I wouldn’t want to live with it,” Trung spoke as the water overflowed the sides, “There is good drainage below, so the foundation will not be affected by the excess moisture.”

“And the water from above?” Vegeta asked.

“Collected rain water,” Trung grinned, “We get a lot around here. The roof had to be reinforced, but it’s worth it.”

Vegeta nodded, and checked the temperature with his toes again. He grunted and let the chain go. He didn’t notice he hummed his approval as he stepped in fully, and sat down.

“So, the tub will increase in temperature again, eventually. We’ll be eating before it gains the heat back though,” he stood as he explained this, going to Vegeta’s discarded towel, and rolling it. He stepped over and placed it at the edge of the tub. “If you move to over here, you can lean your head back.”

Vegeta glanced up, and let his tail unwind from his waist. He used it to check the seating around the tub, and found that the spot Trung had placed the towel was a step lower than where he was currently sitting. He used his arms to turn and propel himself into place. A small smile of approval graced his lips as he leaned his head back. It wasn’t long before his suspicious nature led him to lift his head and gauge where the other person in the room was though.

Trung held out a small cup, from where he sat on the floor, “Tea?”

Vegeta was finally able to identify where the spicy aroma was coming from, “It smells rather strong…”

“Hence the small cup,” Trung confirmed.

Vegeta took the beverage and sniffed at it. Trung picked up his own cup and sipped at it. Vegeta followed his example. It was warm and spicy, but not fiery hot. Slightly bitter, but not unpleasant. He took another small sip, before placing the remainder at the edge of the tub where he could reach it easily. “Are you getting in?”

Trung smiled, “I didn’t think we were on those types of terms yet,” he said, adopting his brother’s humorous façade for a moment.

Vegeta growled, failing to see the humor, “Don’t ever expect us to be on those terms, human.”

Trung nodded, resisting the urge to explain that it had been a joke, “I would not dream of invading your area,” he gestured with his hand, indicating the water.

Vegeta scowled, thinking about the ‘area’ the twins had already invaded, just by being in Kakarott’s grace.

Trung took a contemplative sip at his tea, and then they sat in silence for quite some time.

Vegeta let his tail unwind from his waist and waved it back in and forth in the water, enjoying the way his fur ruffled in the warm liquid. He had to check his urge to look at the other in the room several times. He was surprisingly comfortable in this stranger’s presence, and that was very unlike him.

“Goku is very dedicated to you,” Trung finally said out loud.

Vegeta shrugged, and took a sip from his cooling tea.

“Vinh and I have known him for almost three years, and yet, he still goes back to you,” Trung didn’t try to hide the jealously that crept into his voice.

Vegeta growled, and his tail lashed under the water, “If you ever thought you could keep him…”

Trung interrupted daringly, “We both knew we could never keep him, but we didn’t know he was involved with someone else for the first few months. We thought he was going to see his sons.” When the other stayed silent, Trung continued, “We owe him a debt.”

Despite being uncomfortable with the conversation, Vegeta couldn’t help but ask the next question, “How so?”

“He saved my life, and therefore my brother’s,” Trung said.

Vegeta grunted, “He’s saved a lot of people’s lives. You’re the first ones to have thought about paying him back though. In a most unusual manner, I might add.”

Trung shrugged, although Vegeta couldn’t see the movement, “No, not a usual manner, but…” he stopped, “It seemed appropriate at the time.”

“He is very affection oriented,” Trung continued, “I am surprised he has stuck with you.”

Vegeta stood and turned, “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked threateningly.

Trung sat, projecting an air of calmness, “You don’t seem to be the affectionate type.”

“What would you know…?” Vegeta started.

“My brother,” Trung said, looking Vegeta in the eyes, “If I were to make a comparison, Vinh enjoys affection as much as Goku,” he snorted, “Or more so, if that is possible.”

“Don’t you compare yourself with me,” Vegeta hissed as he sat back down in the tub.

Trung scowled as he took another sip from his cup, “Vinh and I were separated from our parents…” he began.

Vegeta’s shoulders tensed, but he kept quiet, hoping the other would just shut up. “Twins weren’t widely accepted, where I came from. It was a very common practice for one of them to be killed after the birth,” Vegeta’s tail lashed under the water as he thought about useless seeming customs every society seemed to have; he didn’t understand where the additional agitation stemmed from.

Trung continued despite the silence, “But my parents, for whatever reason, went against this common practice,” he shifted his gaze from the other man’s unresponsive head to the tree tops he was able to view from his vantage point, “We grew up doing everything together. We learned to protect ourselves from others, because we were commonly pushed to have to defend ourselves.”

“The reason we were separated…” Trung stopped, having to settle himself, “Is because we were caught together.”

Vegeta grunted, “You said you did everything together…”

“No, we were caught…pleasuring each other,” Trung stated, “Sexual pairings between men was…taboo. The fact we were siblings? Unthinkable. Unthinkable enough that no one even suspected enough to warn us against doing so.”

“Socially unacceptable, but apparently natural?” Vegeta questioned.

Trung’s eyes shifted over in surprise, “I-I guess,” he received a grunt from the other, and continued with his story, “Our parents were shamed. Shamed enough that when an eccentric Lord offered to take us off their hands, they accepted,” Trung said bitterly.

“How…how old were you?” Vegeta asked. Despite trying to keep his distance Vegeta understood the older twin was using the story to relate to him…and it was working.

“When we were taken? Sixteen,” Trung said quietly, “When we started pleasuring each other? Thirteen.”

“Hormones running wild, and a willing partner by your side,” Vegeta said calmly. They should have never been forced to feel shame for something so natural….

“Yes,” Trung admitted.

Vegeta grunted, but said nothing as he thought about the story so far.

“The Lord…was willing to flaunt his preferences,” Trung continued, “But he had a reason for wanting the two of us.” Vegeta kept his silence. “He could have a lover to show off at dinners, and another to abuse, and keep his heinous desires hidden.”

Vegeta couldn’t help the tremble that ran through his body. Nappa and Raddtiz had only ever seen a pet, or pampered whore. Vegeta had heard the damning whispers. No one had been witness to things that put him in the lizard’s private regeneration tank…repeatedly. He waited for the other to continue. And waited… “Which?” he finally asked.

“I am the elder,” Trung stated as though it should be obvious.

But it wasn’t, “So?”

“It was my responsibility to protect my brother,” Trung stated, honor tingeing his voice.

“Does…does he know?” Vegeta asked.

“Not everything. He found out enough that he made arrangements for us to leave,” Trung said, sipping the last of his tea, “We found grudging acceptance at the forge, and that is where we have been ever since.”

“Forge?” Vegeta asked.

“Smithy?” Trung said, hoping to clarify, “A place that manipulates metals?”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. Well, at least he knew what Kakarott had been up to, “Oh,” then Vegeta’s mouth opened before he thought better of it, “Do-do you ever crave it?”

Trung shifted his balance, thinking carefully, “No.” Vegeta nodded his head, hoping the other would forget he had asked. “But then, I never had to go and look for acceptance. I’ve always had total acceptance and understanding from my twin. I never have to prove my worthiness to him.”

Vegeta shifted uncomfortably in the tub.

Both of their heads swung towards the door as they heard a voice yell, “DINNER!”

Trung stood and grabbed a dry towel from where he had them stashed. He offered it to the older man as Vegeta stepped out of the tub, before he reached for one of the robes hanging next to the door.

Vegeta dried off and grabbed another robe before following him.

~o0o~


Dinner was a tense affair. The twins didn’t know how to treat Vegeta. Vegeta was still wary of the twins. Goku didn’t wish to show too much attention to anyone; afraid someone’s feelings would be hurt.

Vinh finally tired of the whole ordeal and kissed his brother outright. Trung tensed in shock, really not the type to show affection in front of strangers, but then his brother’s intentions were understood, and he deepened the kiss.

Vegeta snorted at the sappy look that came over Kakarott’s features, but kept eating.

Goku shrugged his shoulders at Vegeta’s reaction, and wished Vegeta understood him better as he resumed eating his meal.

~o0o~

A/N: * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaveric_spasm