Welcome to Boxer & Rice

"Are you seriously staying up to work on this?" Goten glanced at his watch and yawned, both for effect. It was only nine at night, but anytime Bulma or Trunks went marching somewhere with the big tool box, they were in for hours of work.

"Bulla broke the gravity room again," Trunks said, flipping the top of the tool box open. "You know how Dad gets when this thing's down."

"He isn't even here right now, I saw him leave this afternoon, towards the outskirts. Besides," Goten turned his wrist and tapped his watch, "it's already nine. At night. "

Trunks grunted in response, which generally translated into "you're right but I'm going to pretend I didn't really hear you and just keep doing what I'm doing", which was pretty solidly Vegeta. Unlike Vegeta, however, Trunks refused to keep to any kind of normal schedule – even if Vegeta's idea of a normal schedule consisted of "wake up before dawn, train for hours, optional interaction with the family afterwards". No, as Bulma's vice president and de facto life assistant, Trunks' days could be spent variously attending business meetings (usually in lieu of his mother), dealing with PR (again, in lieu of his mother), or working late nights in the labs (often alongside his mother). There were many things to admire about the family behind Capsule Corp – their brilliance, their hands-on approach to their products, their surprisingly uncanny business sense – but keeping something resembling a normal, healthy, regular schedule was just not one of them. It wasn't any of them.

"At night. Night. Trunks, look at my watch."

"I don't need to look at your watch."

"Your Dad will live without this thing for a day or two! He can go out and punch rocks. Or my dad."

"It's already been down for two days, Bulla did a real number on the central unit."

"So make her fix it," which Goten knew wasn't going to happen. Bulla was more than capable of fixing most CC technology – Goten had seen it, when neither Trunks nor Bulma were available – but she insisted she hated it and couldn't do it and anyways, she had school and dates and just do it, okay, I'm busy! With Bulma's temper and Vegeta's stubborn streak, it literally took maybe a life-or-death situation to budge Bulla. Or some coaxing from Pan, who was like magic, but also not around.

Trunks popped open one of the control panels.

"Look, this'll only take a few hours-"

"Oh come on!"

"-then I'll be done-"

"Pfffft."

"-and I'll come right up to bed, I promise. Just go up and- read, or turn on the TV, or- ow!" Trunks winced as something sparked at him.

"You have literally said that multiple times and then fallen asleep down at your work table."

"Mm." Trunks narrowed his eyes, either in frustration at the control panel or at his inability to work multiple nights without sleep like his mother. It was probably the latter.

"Trunks. We've talked about this. …Trunks. ……Trunks!"

"I said I promise!" Trunks twisted around, looking back at Goten. "Really. Look, if it gets to midnight and you're still up, come get me."

Goten stared at Trunks in a way he absolutely knew he got from his mother and absolutely knew made Trunks squirm.

"Really. You come down at midnight, I promise I'll listen to you. Okay?"

Then Trunks flashed one of his dazzling smiles that the press adored, which Goten knew he practiced, he'd watched him, but damnit, it worked so well. Trunks just looked so honest and dependable, like such a nice young man who knew exactly what to do with your company, you could just trust him. Even if he couldn't keep to a normal sleep schedule with his own husband.

Goten hated falling for it. He sympathized a lot more with his mother nowadays.

"Midnight," he said.

"Midnight." Trunks nodded, turning to rummage through his tool box.

"I'm setting an alarm." Goten tapped his watch screen deliberately, making sure to aim the tiny speaker towards Trunks so every beep was clear and audible. "I don't care if you're a minute from fixing it and your dad is having a gravity-room-less-induced heart attack on the floor, at midnight, you are dropping everything-"

"I get it, I get it." Trunks pulled out his mechanic's scooterboard and wedged himself half into the giant, now-open central unit, muffling his voice slightly. "I drop everything at midnight. No excuses."

-----

"I swear, I've just about got it."

Goten scrubbed at his face, completely unsurprised, but frustrated nonetheless.

"You said no excuses."

"It's not an excuse, I really almost have it," Trunks said, completely unconvincingly as he continued to fiddle inside the gravity room's central unit. He shifted his back on his scooterboard, using his widespread feet to push himself further in.

"You said no excuses, you drop everything at midnight. It's midnight."

"I swear-"

"It. Is. Mid. Night."

Trunks grunted his stupid Vegeta grunt from inside the central unit of the gravity room, and Goten tightened his fists. He had never considered himself an angry person, but Trunks was one of the few people who not only knew how to push his buttons, but actually did so on a semi-regular basis.

But Goten knew how to push back. He stomped over and banged on the central unit, controlling his strength not to further damage it. Just enough strength.

Clang.

"OW! FUCK!"

Goten slammed his bare foot down on the mechanic's scooterboard, right underneath Trunks' crotch, and rolled Trunks out with one swipe of his leg. Trunks was clutching his face with his hands.

"That fell on my face-"

"Good!" Goten knelt down and brought his face in close, keeping his right foot on the board. "You promised me, Trunks. Midnight! Bed! No excuses!"

"Actually, what I said was-"

Goten jerked the scooterboard and actually bared his teeth. He could feel his hair beginning to stick up.

"…was, uh…"

"You said you'd listen to me. You promised you'd listen to me. You keep making these damn promises, and then you keep breaking them, and I don't know why I even bother listening any more! Or trying! At all! I keep trying and listening and all you do is lie-"

"Whoa, hey-"

"'Oh, I'll be there for dinner, Goten! I'll come watch a movie with you! We'll totally spar this evening! I'll come to bed tonight, I swear, really, Goten!' You're such a damn liar, Trunks!"

When full-blooded humans got angry, they said they saw red. But when Super Saiyans got angry, they generally just saw everything clearer, with a faint, gold haze.

"I didn't- I don't-" Trunks reached up for Goten's arms, then backed his hands off, raising them above his head. "It's not lying, I don't mean to, I just…"

"I don't care if you don't mean to! I care that you don't follow through! Ever!" Goten pounded the floor by Trunks' head. It didn't dent, though, because Bulma and her dad made these things overall pretty Saiyan-proof, which just pissed Goten off all the more at the moment. He wanted to have an impact on something. "I'm not asking for much, I know your family has some weird 'ignore your spouse' thing, I just-"

"Hey-"

"I'm supposed to be different!" Goten clenched his fists in Trunks' oil-stained shirt. "I'm your best friend, we have literally fused into one person, we- you used to- you can't just blow me off all the time! You're not your parents!"

Goten stopped, chest heaving as he glared down at Trunks, whose face was twisted into some weird, unreadable expression – but there was a pensive edge to it.

If he brings up my dad, I swear I'll punch him.

Trunks stared up at him for a few moments. "…is this about your dad?"

Goten punched him. Then he punched him again, and twisted Trunks' nipple in a purple nurple.

"Ow!"

"Don't bring my dad into this! This has nothing to do with him!"

"You brought my dad into this! And my mom, you freak- ow! Stop twisting those!"

Goten huffed and sat down on Trunks' legs, punching him once more for good measure.

"Stop hitting me! And- doing that! " Trunks rubbed at his chest, glaring and attempting to sit up, which Goten denied with a shove on his shoulder.

They stared at each other for minutes. Finally, Trunks sighed, flopping back a bit on the scooterboard.

"…I've……I'm sorry," he muttered, looking off to the side. "I know I've been ignoring you. And everyone. There's just this…thing. At work." Beat. "…it's stressful, okay?"

Goten folded his arms. "So were you going to talk about it with me?"

"You're just going to hit me if I say 'no'- ow! See?" Trunks rubbed his shoulder.

"You're such a dumbass, Trunks."

"Wow, thanks."

"You're supposed to be able to talk to me. You think I can't tell when you're stressing out? If you won't let me help-"

"Because you can't help with this."

"-then you can at least talk to me." Goten glanced down. "I'm…we're best friends. It's not even about being married or anything, just…I know you. And you used to tell me when you were freaking out or upset, even if I couldn't fix it. But you've gotten all closed off the last few months."

Trunks held Goten's gaze for a few moments before leaning back and sighing, scrubbing his face.

"Come on. Talk to me."

-----

"So," Goten shifted his seat on Trunks' legs. "Work is crazy busy, your family's just plain crazy, and it's starting to actually get to you."

"Except you," Trunks added quickly.

"Well, duh."

"It wouldn't be so bad if this acquisition weren't taking forever. Just because Grandpa knows the guy from ages ago and wants to humor all his stupid demands…" Trunks groaned. "And our honeymoon got ruined."

Goten sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Ugh. That was awful."

"Why does everyone in this damn galaxy have to show up here all the time?!" Trunks threw his hands up over his head. "Go try to invade Saturn or something! Or steal it! Quit coming to Earth!"

"Nah, then we'd have to go save Saturn."

Trunks grumbled, because while he really couldn't give a damn about Saturn, he knew that's just what would happen in that case.

"But seriously, Trunks, so everything is difficult right now and it sucks. Why does that mean you stay up all night fixing the gravity room instead of talking to me?"

"It…" Trunks hesitated, fiddling at an old scratch on the central unit. "I dunno. It just seemed like…if I could just fix something, then that'd be one less thing to do. If I fixed the gravity room, then dealing with Grandpa's old drinking buddy from the Paleolithic would be so much easier the next day. And now that you live here, with my family, I guess I just…I felt like you saw way too much of Capsule Corp life to have to hear about it in our time together, you know?"

Trunks let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. It felt so damn good to finally let all this out, even if it felt weird to talk about it so much. Which in itself was weird, because it's not like he hadn't grown up venting out all his frustrations and anxieties to Goten.

Maybe it's a married thing. Or a living together with my family thing, Trunks thought. We should just live on the other side of the planet and forget they exist for five years at a time, like Goku does.

"Trunks…"

Trunks smiled as Goten reached down to cup his cheek, looking deep and soulfully into his eyes.

"That's so fucking stupid."

Trunks blinked as Goten smacked his cheek lightly.

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm here to support you, Trunks. Like always. If you're stressed, you come find me, and we'll handle it together." Smiling, Goten moved his hands down to rest on Trunks' stomach. "We're a pretty good team together, you know?"

"We're the best." Trunks smiled back up, moving his hands to rest on Goten's, and they stayed that way for a few moments until Goten shook off Trunks' hold, still maintaining eye contact.

"…you know," Goten said, running his hands along Trunks' sides, "you never said you'd go to bed at midnight."

"Yeah, I did that on purpose- hey!" Trunks jerked at the pinch to his side.

"Sneaky cheat. Know what you did say?"

"Um…"

Goten fiddled with a fraying tear. It was an old shirt, faded and stained from years of maintenance work, and it stretched tight over Trunks' chest.

"You said you'd listen to me. No excuses."

"I- I did say that…" Trunks looked down, watching as Goten found another rip in the shirt and traced his finger around it.

"You said you'd do whatever I told you to."

"I don't remember- ah-" Trunks jerked a little as Goten pinched the nipple he'd attacked earlier.

"No excuses."

"No excuses, right…"

"Well," Goten said, rubbing his hands down Trunks' chest. "It's definitely after midnight. And I say we're staying right here."

"But I thought you wanted me in bed. Won't this ruin my sleep?"

"Maybe I'll make you sleep on the floor."

"Maybe I'll- mmph."

Not that he was one to talk, but in Trunks' opinion, formed over years of experience and fact-gathering, Goten had some issues. Not big ones like Trunks' dad or anything, or even like Gohan's scary backburner rage, but they were there. Goten always thought of himself as "just average", not unique or talented enough to stand out – which, given that he was one of a handful of superpowered part-aliens on the planet, was just odd – but there it was. He was always quick to brush off a compliment with, "oh, it's nothing special" or "nah, I just got lucky" or a redirect to someone else he considered stronger, faster, smarter, better looking. While Goten wasn't exactly self-hating, he certainly considered himself "just okay" in most areas of life. It drove Trunks up the wall.

But when it came to kissing, Goten knew he was damn good, and he was letting Trunks know it. The scooterboard underneath rolled back as Goten moved in fast, taking Trunks' mouth in a rough kiss. He balanced himself with one hand on the ground, the other twisting in Trunks' worn shirt to pull the other man in close. Trunks hummed into the kiss and braced his feet on the ground, raising his hips up against Goten's. Goten groaned in response, rocking back down while tilting his head for a deeper kiss, pulling back just enough to run his tongue along the rim of Trunks' bottom lip before pushing in. Trunks groaned back, rubbing his hands down Goten's back, down to his ass, and then up again.

"Mm- wait, let me- mmph." Trunks squeezed Goten's ass before managing to pull back. "Let's both sleep on the floor."

Goten blinked. "What?"

"The board, it's…" Trunks started sitting up and edging off to the side; Goten glanced down before pulling back and off Trunks' legs.

"No, Goten, stay there- hey!"

Goten gave Trunks a push; the board swung back and Trunks was jolted against the central control unit of the gravity room, bumping his head.

"Like this," Goten murmured, moving in fast and pressing up against Trunks, straddling his leg.

"What, with the board?"

Goten rolled his hips against Trunks', rocking the board and causing Trunks to groan loudly and bang his head back against the central unit. The other man continued rocking in small, quick movements, and leaned in to suck a trail up Trunks' neck.

"Fuck," Trunks hissed, gripping Goten's hip with one hand, the other moving over Goten's clothed abs and down to the edge of his pajama pants; Trunks rubbed his thumb along the hem before sliding his hand underneath.

"Mm- no." Goten reached down and pulled Trunks' hand out to redirect it to his back. Trunks immediately moved it down to Goten's hip, rubbing again at the edge of his pants.

"Seriously?"

In response, Goten rolled his hips hard, dragging his lips up Trunks' neck and biting at his lower lip. Trunks groaned again, squeezing Goten's ass and pulling his hips in for a harder thrust. Goten moaned on his lip and moved a hand up to grab Trunks' hair, tilting his head for a deep, open-mouthed kiss. Trunks kept groaning, barely registering his own sound as he trailed a hand down the back of the other man's thigh, feathering his fingertips along the inside.

Goten hummed into the kiss, rubbing a hand slowly up Trunks' chest and along his neck. Suddenly Trunks' grip on his thigh tightened, hoisting it up and over and forcing the other man to straddle Trunks completely. He dug his fingers into Goten's hips and pulled him down hard, grinding their cocks together through their clothes as they rocked on the board beneath them. Goten pulled away from their kiss to gasp, but Trunks followed his mouth and pressed in; heady with his new advantage, he ran his hand down along Goten's ass and rubbed his fingers behind Goten's balls.

Trunks smirked as Goten whimpered into his mouth – then yelped as Goten's fingers found his now bruised nipple and pinched it. His hands flew up to defend his chest, but Goten was on the move, wiggling his hips back just enough to reach down and caress the bulge in Trunks' work jeans. Trunks hissed, hips jerking as Goten kept working his hand, teasing his fingers up and down along the zipper and tracing the outline of Trunks' hard dick through the layers of cloth.

"Fuck, fuck, just- unzip me or, or something-" Trunks cut himself off with a groan, banging his head back against the central unit again as Goten pressed in with the heel of his hand, then abruptly pulled it away. "No- Goten, hey-"

"What?" Goten rested his elbow on Trunks' abs, propping his chin in his hand and blinking innocently up at the other man. "Did you want something?"

"I…wha…"

Goten hummed a quizzical note as he ran a finger up the hard line in Trunks' jeans.

"Maybe I should go back upstairs. To the bedroom."

Trunks let out a shaky breath. "Yes, bedroom. L-let's go. To there."

"Nah. You can stay here," Goten tapped the very top of Trunks' zipper. "I know you're busy."

"I'm…it's…"

"After all, you said you were busy."

"I'm, I'm not, it can- it…" Trunks trailed off, watching as Goten slowly unbuttoned his pajama top.

"It's been so hot lately. Even if I do get the bed all to myself…"

"We have AC…" Trunks murmured, stupidly.

Goten arched his back, rubbing his hands down his now exposed chest; Trunks gave a small whimper when Goten's cock brushed up against his.

"Maybe I'll just have to get under the covers…strip down, and then…" Trunks groaned as Goten leaned in close. He could feel the other man's body heat right above his, their noses almost touching as Goten breathed over his lips. "…I'll read a book."

"…what?" Gaping, Trunks watched as Goten pulled back and started button his top back up.

"I'm gonna head back up, leave you to your super busy, super important work here-"

"Oh my god, you are such a baby," Trunks groaned, thunking his head back against the central unit. "Goten. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

"Did you say something? Because I can't hear you over the sound of how busy you are." Goten made a show of brushing off his shoulders, ignoring Trunks' eye roll.

Is this seriously happening? Is he seriously doing this right now?

"Goten." Trunks grabbed Goten's hips, pulling him back in. "I'm sorry. Really. I shouldn't have broken my promise."

"And?"

"And I shouldn't have even started on this so late at night."

Goten wound his arms around Trunks' neck.

"And?"

"…and…I'll talk to you when work stuff piles up and I start getting worried?" Trunks drew in a sharp breath as Goten nipped at his ear. "Oh my god, you have to stop teasing me if you're still mad."

"And I'm the best husband in the world, and you're lucky to have me, and if you hold out on me again I'll go home to my mother." Goten slid closer, moving a hand behind Trunks' head to play with his hair.

"Yes, yes, and please don't do that." Trunks tugged Goten closer, rubbing his hips as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Then I'll get my brother to kick your- mmmmph."

Relaxing into the kiss, Goten let Trunks take charge, twirling his fingers in light strands as Trunks surged forward into him. He spread his knees out further on the ground, pressing tightly against Trunks below him on the scooterboard and causing their hips to rock against each other. Goten groaned as Trunks sucked his tongue into his mouth while moving his hands down past the band of Goten's pajamas and into his underwear, grabbing Goten's bare ass.

Keeping one hand tangled in Trunks' hair, Goten ran the other across Trunks' shoulder, brushing down over his chest and abs before reaching the button of his jeans. Goten barely fumbled as he popped the top open and pulled the zip down, pressing his hand in against Trunks as he did so. Trunks groaned into his mouth as Goten took control again, running the tip of his tongue along the sensitive roof of Trunks' mouth and pushing his hand inside the other man's briefs.

Trunks jerked into Goten's hand as warm fingers wrapped around his cock, rocking up against him and tightening his own grip on Goten's ass. He moaned against Goten's tongue as his husband began stroking, rubbing the underside of Trunks' cock with the vee between his thumb and forefinger, right up to the ridge of the head. Trunks pulled his head back from their kiss, panting against the side of Goten's neck as his hands pushed at the pajama pants, one hand running along a hip to the front to yank the band of the pants down and over Goten's own cock. He started to reach down when Goten released him, pushing his arm away.

"Hey-"

Goten cut him off with another kiss and rolled his hips in, groaning into Trunks' mouth as they ground together. He pulled his chest back just enough to work a hand down between them, wrapping his fingers around both of their cocks in a loose circle as he thrust forward. Trunks let out a low noise as Goten set a fast, hard pace, rocking them against the gravity room's central unit and denting the metal just a little more on each thrust.

"Fuck," Trunks hissed as Goten pulled back enough to bite his lower lip, before nipping a trail down Trunks' neck . "That's, you're gonna- marks-"

In response, Goten bit harder right under Trunks' jaw, then sucked hard. Trunks opened his mouth to protest again, but all that came out was a loud groan as Goten tightened his grip around them on an up-stroke, and he felt Goten smirk against his skin.

"What was that?" Goten blew against the wet mark on Trunks' neck, causing him to jerk his hips; Goten gave him a smug grin before suddenly squeaking as Trunks rubbed his thumb across the small round scar on his lower back.

Gotcha.

"Ch-cheater," Goten gasped, hand stuttering between them.

"What was that?"

Goten scowled and tightened his hand in Trunks' hair, yanking the other man's head in for a rough kiss. They slammed back into the central unit as Goten rolled his hips harder and sped up his hand, tightening on each upstroke and rocking them mercilessly against the machinery, movements aided by the board beneath.

Trunks gave up – there was just no use trying to wrest control away from Goten, not when he was like this. He ran his hands back down to Goten's hips and ass, rubbing along his muscles and moving Goten against him, only occasionally teasing a finger across the scar to make his husband jerk against him harder and moan into his mouth.

Goten finally untangled his hand from Trunks' hair as their hips started moving faster, rubbing down the side of Trunks' neck to his chest and back up again. With one last grope, Trunks brought his hand between them, curling their fingers together in a tight clasp around their cocks; Goten hummed appreciatively and sucked on Trunks' lower lip as he pulled his head away just enough to press their foreheads together.

"Keep going," Goten said, pulling his own hand away. He pressed open-mouthed kisses along Trunks' neck as he ran his fingers down to the hem of Trunks' worn shirt and then underneath, pressing his palms up over the hard muscles.

Trunks rolled his head back as Goten's fingertips rubbed along the grooves of his abs and pecs, massaging a thumb up and down the central line, teasing the rim of Trunks' navel. Groaning low in his throat, Trunks sped up his hand, tightening his hand as he felt Goten breathe out against the wet trail he'd left on Trunks' neck.

"Yes…" Goten moved his hips faster and faster into Trunks' grip, dragging the pads of his fingertips over the other man's muscles. His thighs started squeezing Trunks' sides as tightly as they could with his knees anchored into the ground, hips practically slamming against Trunks' as he began panting into his husband's neck. "Yes, yes, yes, like that, Trunks, keep going, you're good, your hand is so good, so-"

Out of habit, Trunks reached up and forced Goten's head down into a deep kiss, forgetting for the moment that they were in a soundproofed chamber. Trunks wrapped his hand just around Goten's cock, stroking fast against his own as the other man chanted into his mouth, fingers digging bruises into his sides until Goten came with a long, muffled moan. Trunks kept working him, his own cock twitching against the backs of his fingers as Goten spilled over his stomach, soaking through Trunks' shirt.

Goten kept kissing him as Trunks' hand slowed, turning it slow and languid; his hands loosened their holds, one threading back into Trunks' hair, the other skimming down along Trunks' sides. Trunks gave a small whimper as that hand slid down below his navel, rubbing a thumb along his hip flexors.

Trunks groaned into his husband's mouth as Goten's hand slipped between them and stroked once, twice – then Goten pulled away entirely, hand and all, sliding backwards on Trunks' thighs and biting his bottom lip as his mouth left Trunks'.

"Are- are you kidding me?!" Trunks gave a frustrated shout, banging his clean fist against the ground. "Do not just leave me here like this-"

"I'm not leaving you anywhere." Goten smirked and pulled off his pajama top. Trunks reached down to the hem of his own shirt, only to have his hands swatted away. "And that is staying on. For now."

-----

"Wow, you actually woke up earlier than I thought," Goten said as Trunks made his way down into the kitchen. "Only 30 hours this time."

"Looks like going to bed early helps," Trunks replied, stretching his arms above his head.

"Your grandma made some cupcakes just for you this morning, by the way."

"For breakfast?"

"She only let the rest of us have one each, so your dad's kind of cranky."

"What else is new? Ugh, I'm not having sweets for breakfast." Trunks made his way to the fridge. "Any leftovers?"

"Are you serious?"

"Maybe I need more sleep." Trunks closed the fridge door and leered at his husband. "Want to join me?"

"Sure you won't doze off?"

"Only if you're saying y-"

"Ugggggh."

Bulla stomped into the kitchen and shoved her brother away from the fridge, tearing into a bottle of sports drink.

"Is it fixed yet?" she demanded, glaring up at Trunks.

"No."

Bulla glared harder as she downed the drink.

"You know, you could fix it, since you broke it, and unlike me, you don't run a company…"

Goten settled back against the far counter, picking up one of the cupcakes. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Vegeta walk in and lean against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"Mom's the president," Bulla pointed out sourly. She finished off her drink and threw the bottle to the recycling bin, landing it perfectly. "Whatever. I'm going off to Pan's."

Trunks side-eyed his teenage sister as she ran out, blasting off into the sky with a burst of energy.

"Getting really tired of her attitude," he muttered before looking over at the door. He couldn't help but remember that when he was that age, Vegeta never stood around quietly and let him whine and yell. "Hi, Dad. Usual fun time with Bulla?"

Vegeta said nothing as he watched his son pull out one of the many bulk cereal boxes kept in the cupboard and pour himself a bowl. Goten walked over with a gallon of milk.

"I should probably make some of lunch," he said. "Lo mein with T. Rex?"

"You should make char siu," Trunks suggested.

"You always want char siu."

"I just like your- hey!"

Goten grinned as he took a stolen spoonful of Trunks' cereal, blocking a punch with his free hand.

"You already had breakfast! And I saw you take another cupcake."

"You should've woken up faster. I'm making char siu anyways."

"You're the reason I-"

"Trunks."

The two men stopped shoving at each other as Vegeta approached the table, resting a hand on the surface.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"The gravity room."

Goten looked away at that, rubbing the back of his neck, but Trunks managed to keep eye contact with his father.

"Uh, I'll get to it later-"

"You are going to clean that room." Vegeta didn't quite glare, but the look he fixed on them couldn't really be described as anything less. "You are going to get the cleaning supplies, Trunks, and you are going to clean that room from top to bottom before I or your sister step foot in it again."

Trunks' hand froze on the cereal. "We didn't-"

"How did you know?!" Goten practically shouted, right in Trunks' ear. "I cleaned up! I used Febreeze!"

"Goten," Trunks hissed, face reddening.

"And I used my nose. Did you think something as weak as air freshener could overcome the nose of a Saiyan? Use your senses, boy!" Vegeta reached over and smacked the both of them upside their heads. "And the two of you didn't even bother hiding your ki. Be more aware of your surroundings. If that had been a battle, you idiots would have been killed instantly!"

"Yeah, I'll remember that next time we decide to go at it during a battle, that's just how we are," Trunks muttered. "Ow!"

"If you have time to sass, you have time to clean," Vegeta said, shoving a bucket full of cleaning supplies in Trunks' face. "I told your sister she could train in your office if the gravity room isn't ready by tonight. You know how she gets when that thing's down."

Trunks gawked at his father as the man walked by, grabbing Goten by the upper arm and practically dragging him off his chair.

"Goten, with me."

"Are you cleaning with us?" Goten asked, incredulous.

"Don't be stupid. Trunks is cleaning; we're taking off."

"I have to clean that whole thing by myself? I'm not even done fixing it!"

Vegeta stopped and looked back over his shoulder, smirking.

"As I understand it, son, you broke a promise. You really should have gone to bed at midnight."

With a few steps out the door, they both blasted off, Goten giving a short, apologetic wave before disappearing from view. Trunks dropped the bucket of supplies, burying his face in his hands and groaning.

"We forgot the fucking cameras again."