In Your Dreams

Title: In Your Dreams
Author: CrimsonTide
Pairings: Vegeta x Goku

Chapter 39

The next several months passed with little incident. Despite Vegeta’s protests, Goku continued to do some training on his own. At first the prince thought the younger man was simply being stubborn and reckless, but after he thought about it for awhile, he knew his mate was simply following his basic instincts.

Saiyajins were fighters by nature. They were born with the desire to become stronger. Goku understood his new limitations, and he seemed to know when he was pushing himself too far.

Regardless, Vegeta still insisted the younger Saiyajin get regular check-ups with Bulma. It was a silent agreement they’d come to after several arguments. Goku could train as long as he consented to the monthly physical exams. So far there hadn’t been any major changes due to his slowly growing ki; though Bulma had mentioned that his heart seemed to be working a little harder than it had when she’d originally examined Goku. There wasn’t any immediate danger, but it was still something that had to be watched.

Vegeta was pleased to notice, however, that as the weeks passed his mate had slowly been coming out of the shell he’d retreated into. He seemed happier and was more willing to socialize with his old friends as well as strangers whenever they went out in public. Goku still seemed a little reserved whenever any male bearing any kind of resemblance to Villa was near, but he seemed confident enough with the prince nearby.

Goku’s playful nature had also returned, and he was slowly becoming less dependant on Vegeta’s presence in order to feel secure during his everyday life. The younger male would frequently go on trips with his sons or with Pan with little hesitation. In fact, he’d even gone to visit ChiChi and her new husband several times without being pushed to do so. The former lovers had made amends, and there were no longer any hard feelings between them. It was another large load off Goku’s shoulders.

Trunks continued to be an issue. The demi-Saiyajin openly attempted to court Goku, but now that the Earth-raised Saiyajin was aware of his intentions, he’d gone out of his way to make Trunks understand that he wasn’t interested. It was just a shame that Vegeta’s son had inherited his stubborn nature.

The day even came when Trunks tried to kiss his father’s mate. That hadn’t gone well, and the purple haired man had received a fist to his mouth for his efforts. Bulma had to make him an appointment with the city’s best dentist in order to replace two of his teeth. Regardless, Goku felt the small cut on his knuckles was more than worth it.

Vegeta was also pleased to discover that Kakarotto was becoming less inhibited in the bedroom. The younger man, though still shy and not totally confident with himself, was making conscious efforts to be the one who initiated sexual acts. Usually Vegeta was the one who initiated anything, so it was a pleasant surprise every time Goku would cast him that grin of his before he proceeded to ravish his prince.

Unfortunately, Goku’s progress didn’t last forever. In the past couple of weeks Vegeta had begun to notice strange new patterns in his mate’s behavior. The younger man seemed to lose interest in sex. In fact, he appeared rather bothered whenever Vegeta tried to take their activities past anything more than simple petting. The strange part was Goku was more than willing to simply ‘cuddle’, but only at certain times. After Vegeta had given up on anything more than that on some nights and had gone to hold the other man, Goku had shrugged him off and explained that he was too hot. One night he even claimed the older man was making him itch.

Needless to say Vegeta was becoming frustrated.

The most noticeable change in Goku was his scent. The prince had noticed a slight variation in the younger man’s usual scent about a month before, but he hadn’t thought much of it. He figured he was smelling traces of the people his mate had been around that day. However, as the days passed the foreign smell became stronger. Vegeta doubted it was any other male’s scent mixed with Goku’s because he didn’t have any alarm bells go off in his head. In fact, the little addition excited him and left him wanting more.

And that’s when everything began to make sense to Vegeta. He wasn’t completely sure, but all it would take was a simple test to confirm his suspicions.

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“Kakarotto! Where the hell are you?!”

Vegeta growled under his breath as he searched the halls of Capsule Corp for his mate. Goku’s ki was suppressed at the moment and he was attempting to follow the younger man’s scent instead. The problem was Goku’s scent was everywhere. It was simply stronger in the places he’d most recently traveled. The prince wasn’t concerned that the other Saiyajin’s energy was so low; it usually meant he was relaxing somewhere. It was just annoying.

Vegeta was about to give up his search in favor of taking a lunch break when his sensitive hearing picked up the high-pitched squeal of a female. He immediately recognized the voice was his daughter’s, and when Pan’s laughter soon followed, he turned and headed in their direction.

Lately those two had been spending a lot of extra time with Goku. They seemed to fawn over him; more so than usual. For what reason, Vegeta did not know. Regardless, he had a good chance of finding his mate if he found the girls.

After traversing to the end of the hallway Vegeta paused outside a closed door and listened carefully. He could hear Pan and Bura chatting and giggling. There was also some punk rock music playing in the background and the smell of flowers floating in the air.

For some reason all these things sent a chill down Vegeta’s spine.

Hesitantly the prince raised his fist and gently tapped on the door with his knuckle. Usually he’d barge right in, but these were young women he was dealing with. There was no telling what he might walk-in on; and quite frankly, he had no desire to be scarred for the rest of his life.

The prince waited until he heard his daughter shout for him to come in before he cautiously opened the door. Vegeta took a small step into the room, and his eyes grew wide at the sight that greeted him.

Kakarotto was indeed inside, but he was also being tortured. His mate was seated on the floor between the two women and appeared to be struggling to stay conscious. Pan was seated behind him and she was currently playing with her grandfather’s hair. She’d pulled the majority of those spikes into a high ponytail and secured it there with a pink hair tie. A few wisps of black hair escaped and fell down over Goku’s forehead and along the sides of his face. Pan was trying her best to tame the rest with some sort of glittery hair gel and butterfly clips.

Vegeta’s eyes shot over to Bura, who was sitting in front of Goku with one of his hands clutched in her own. Spread all around her were various instruments of torture, and she was currently using some sort of file to saw away his mate’s fingernails.

Most horrifying of all was the color of Goku’s face. His skin was covered in a goopy greenish blue paste that was beginning to dry and crack. Heaven only knew what the flesh beneath looked like!

Vegeta’s mouth finally began to work as he let go of the doorknob he’d broken off in his grasp.

“W---What is going on?!”

Three sets of eyes turned to the flustered man. Bura rolled her own eyes skyward and jabbed the nail file she held in his direction. “Relax, Dad! We’re pampering him! He looked stressed.” The young woman paused and took in her father’s suddenly ragged appearance. “And I think I know why...”

Pan, who had gone back to work on Goku’s hair, laughed triumphantly as she secured the last clip. “Perfect! Doesn’t that look good?!” The dark haired girl handed her grandfather a mirror, and he regarded his reflection for a long while before he nodded and set it back down.

“Nice. Think you can do something with Vegeta’s hair?”

The prince gasped and took a step backward as Pan reached for a brush. “My hair is perfectly fine! Now I demand you wipe that gunk off your face and come with me, Kakarotto!”

Pan frowned as she took a wet cloth and handed it to Goku, who scrubbed his face with it until the sea mask was gone. All three of them ran a finger over his extra smooth skin with a sense of fascination.

Vegeta felt the hairs on his neck beginning to rise as his patience ran thin. “Stop pawing my mate! We have things to do!”

Bura huffed in annoyance. “Can’t it wait?! I haven’t finished this hand yet!” she snapped as she held up Goku’s unfinished hand.

“I see no difference between the two, so it doesn’t matter!”

His daughter suddenly looked very offended. “No difference?! Look how shiny the nails on his left hand are compared to his right!”

Goku looked between the two and nodded. “She’s right, Vegeta. I’ll look pretty stupid if she doesn’t finish.”

The prince gawked at the younger man. “Stupid?! Did you not see the butterflies in your hair?! Or the glitter?!”

Pan jumped up and shook her balled up fist in Vegeta’s face. “HEY! I spent over an hour working on his hair! It looks great!”

Vegeta suppressed another growl and pushed the angry girl aside as he stepped forward and pulled Goku to his feet, much to Bura’s displeasure. After casting the two women a glare that promised pain if they followed, he pulled his mate out of the room and halfway down the hallway before he spun around to face him.

“Kakarotto, did they threaten you with anything?!”

Goku looked at him as if he were insane. “Uh... no.”

“Then why the HELL were you letting them torture you that way?!”

The younger Saiyajin blinked before laughing as a slight rose color spread across his nose. “Oh... well, it started with Pan brushing my hair and it felt really good, so I let her do more stuff... and well... it kind of got out of control.”

“I’d say! Come on!”

Goku jumped when he was suddenly pulled down the hall again. “Where are we going?”

“To the lab for a test.”

“But I already did that this month! Bulma said I was fine!” Goku whined. His tail thrashed behind him as he attempted to free his wrist from the other Saiyajin’s grasp. Unfortunately, he was not successful.

“It’s a different kind of test.”

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“Well, you were right. His hormone level is above average and still climbing. He’s definitely going into heat.”

Vegeta glanced at the papers Bulma held in her hand before nodding and looking through the lab’s window to the main room. Goku was still sitting on the exam table with an angry pout on his face. He hadn’t been happy when Bulma had told him she needed a blood sample, and he’d made quite a bit of trouble for the prince during the entire process.

Vegeta absently rubbed the bite mark on his arm as he stared at his mate.

“What’s wrong? Is this a bad thing?” Bulma asked.

The older man grunted as he snapped out of his musings. “I’m not sure yet. I don’t know what to expect from a Saiyajin’s heat. I’ve only experienced a rut before. Based on the symptoms Kakarotto has already displayed, I can already see the two cycles have little in common.”

The blue haired woman hummed in understanding as she looked back down at her papers. “Well, I think you can expect mood swings as his hormone level climbs. I think right now Goku is just feeling kind of fuzzy. You said he’s only been interested in being held, right? No sex?”

Vegeta coughed in an attempt to hide the slight blush that was spreading across his face. He still wasn’t completely comfortable having these conversations with the mother of his children. “For about two weeks now. And just before we came here I found him in the girls’ room. I suppose they were... grooming him. He seemed to really enjoy the attention.”

Bulma nodded as her gaze moved to Goku as well. The Saiyajin in question was no longer pouting, and instead he was sitting Indian style on the table while he picked through the fur on his tail.

“Ummm... you realize as the heat progresses he’s going to... erm... you know... need...”

Vegeta held up his hand to stop her. “Of course I know that, woman! It’s not like that’s a problem! I’m just worried about a pregnancy. I don’t think Kakarotto wants a child yet.”

Bulma’s eyes softened as she observed the older man’s face. “But you do, don’t you?”

The prince was silent for a moment before snorting. His tail swished in the hair behind him as he crossed his arms over his chest and moved toward the door. “I want you to keep an eye on him throughout his entire heat cycle. I want everything documented, so maybe when this happens again there will be something we can give him to lessen the effects.”

The woman nodded and watched through the window as Vegeta appeared in the other room and motioned for Goku to follow him. Any hard feelings the younger Saiyajin may have had about the entire blood ordeal seemed to have faded from his mind because he smiled and hopped off the table to follow the older man out of the room.

Bulma watched until they were gone before she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

So Goku was experiencing his first real heat.

This was going to be interesting.

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TBC

A/N - Hey, here's a challenge to all artists on DeviantArt who are reading this; I would LOVE to see everyone's interpretation of what they think Goku's hair would look like pulled back. I'm going to draw my own version, and I love comparing with other artists! Drop me a note on DA if you plan to participate!