Welcome to DBZ Love Garden

Their battles were legendary. Pity no one would ever know.

Twice, even Vegeta worried that they might tear right through the dimensions with the power they released, but each time, the room proved true and allowed them to use attacks that would have destroyed the Earth and might have killed even the two strongest beings in the universe had their reflexes been even a half-second slow.

But now...it was time to rest.

Even their meals hadn't allowed them to truly come down. They'd stared at each other warily over their bowls and plates, eating fast and barely tasting what they shoveled in as one waited for the other to make the first move. One surprise slug from Kakarot's big fist as he pretended to reach for more ham was enough.
Food was no longer sacred. Nothing was. At least, nothing until now.
The bed's canopy kept out the perpetual light of the room, kept him cool and comfortable in the overstuffed mattress and ridiculous array of pillows. For the first time in his two weeks here, he relaxed and let down his guard.

He felt alive. Exhilarated. Yes, he was tired -- his body ached for sleep, for true rest -- but he was also strangely content. The pleasant lassitude he always felt after a spar with his rival pervaded and positively mellowed him out now.

~Damn, but this is a comfortable bed.~

"Vegeta? Are you asleep?"

He could ignore that whisper. The question had been quiet enough to pass for a deeper than usual breath. He could simply pretend to be asleep, and Kakarot would leave him alone.

~Ah, hell with it.~

"No. And you don't have to whisper."

"Then why are you?"

Why, indeed? Blushing and glad for the dark, he raised his voice to its usual pitch. "What do you want, Kakarot?"

The fool sighed and shifted, and Vegeta could almost picture his old rival frowning up at the canopy overhead, trying to find the right words.

"Why did you come here, Vegeta?"

"Would you rather I leave?"

"No."

He smirked at the immediate denial. "Then what's the problem?"

Another sigh. "You make everything difficult. You know that?"

Relenting a bit, he rolled to one side and propped his head on his hand. "Believe it or not, Kakarot, that was not my intention."

Silence...or rather quiet broken only by his rival's breathing. Just as he started to nod off, the big dope shifted again. Bare feet slapped the floor. He sat up, then jerked back as the curtains parted. Kakarot stood tall, bare-footed and bare-chested, wearing the most serious expression Vegeta had ever seen on that good-natured face.

"Can I ask you something and actually get an answer?"
How could he deny that expression? The poor fool looked almost tormented.

"Sit down and ask."

Though he didn't look particularly convinced, the younger Saiyan complied, settling on the farthest corner of the cushy mattress and crossing his legs meditation-style. Mimicking the pose, Vegeta made himself comfortable and waited. He should have known Kakarot wouldn't be satisfied with just his presence. As he'd said before, the idiot wasn't always an idiot.

"I've been in here for years, Vegeta. No one bothered looking for me. So...why you? Why now?"

~That's two questions,~ he thought but didn't say. He'd said he would answer, and apparently Kakarot had learned over the decades that smarting back was his way of refusing to respond to questions.
So, he refused to respond in a whole new way.

"They miss you."

Blinking, the fool lost his unusual seriousness in an almost amusing moment of blank surprise. "Huh?"

~It's harder to keep my mouth shut than to retort. Only you, Kakarot....~

"They miss you, but they aren't looking for you. They're used to you disappearing for years at a time. They assume you'll be back when your training is finished. They are willing to wait."

The intelligence that occasionally filled that perpetually youthful face bled back in, and Kakarot quirked half a grin. "And you aren't. Or weren't."

"No, I was not."

A pause...then very softly, "Why?"

And there it was, the one question he wasn't sure he would...could answer. A sharp retort danced on the end of his tongue, but he bit it back. This wasn't the time to alienate, to insult, to push away. While every instinct he'd ever had insisted that he should say something, anything to shut his old rival up, he refrained and fixed the younger Saiyan's gaze with his own.

~Time to face the music....~

"I have been patient long enough."

Confusion again, but sharp and a little wary instead of blank. "Patient?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You have played the fool long enough. You know exactly what I mean." He knew his words were hard, so he forced himself to soften. "Who would it hurt now?"

And that was the painful truth. Their mates had both passed, their children grown and on their own, their friends either too aged to care or too enlightened to fuss. But Kakarot's expression darkened, his face hardening as he visibly closed up.

"I have answered your questions, Kakarot. It's time for you to answer mine." He leaned forward a bit, tilting his head. "Why did you come here? Why seclude yourself from your friends?" A very deliberate pause. "From me?"

No answer. His rival had clammed up, an unexpectedly stubborn light in the dark eyes.

"Come now, Kakarot. I answered your questions. It's only fair that you answer back."

The fool swallowed hard, dropping his eyes to his lap. "When ChiChi died, I--"

"Fool!" Suddenly furious, he sat back and crossed his arms, glaring. His energy swirled, though he didn't physically move. "Do not lie to me! Why are you here? Why are you hiding from me?"

His rival's energy flared as well, blowing the canopy's curtains outward for a moment before he regained a tentative control. "I won't do it, dammit! I can't!"

He had to restrain himself from simply grabbing a handful of those ridiculous spikes and shaking some sense into that thick skull. "I never said you had to!"

Seething. Kakarot was seething. "You didn't have to. It was in every look after the funeral, in every silence I sat through at Bulma's damned dinner parties, every moment with you not spent sparring. So really answer me this time, Vegeta. Why did you come here? Why couldn't you just leave it alone? Leave me alone?"

Frowning, he forced himself to stay calm, to not rise to the bait. This was as close as they'd come to discussing what lay between them since...well....

~Since everything went straight to Hell.~

"Do you really want to be left alone, Kakarot?"

The fool opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again, his jaw clenching.

"Why do you fight me? I have never pushed you, not in that way, not since your original answer, and yet you fight at every turn. Why?"

"Did you come here for...for that?"

Oh, the fury in those words. In his old rival's eyes and voice.

"No. I didn't come for that. I have not pushed you, and I won't start now." He swallowed hard, closing his eyes and lowering his head. It was time to be honest. "Did it never occur to you that...that I might miss you?"

Silence. For once, he didn't quite have the courage to look up, to see his fate head-on.

"You thought I only wanted the physical aspect, didn't you? That I didn't want your third-class company, your incessant chatter, your stupid grin?"

More silence.

"Tell me -- would I have waited so long if that's all I wanted? Would I still wait?"

"You...you've been waiting...all this time?"

A half-smirk twitched the left corner of his mouth, and he finally looked up, finally met the big dope's wide, wary eyes. "Who is there for me but you, Kakarot?"

And there was nothing more to say.
* * *
He awoke feeling rested, warm, and strangely at peace. Had fighting nonstop for days on end really cleaned out that many cobwebs? Could an honest conversation do so?
Or did it have something to do with the large body snuggled up against his side?

Blinking up at the canopy, he forced himself to think back. Had they--?
No. He was sure of it. Kakarot had gone back to his bed after their talk, and....

And what?

After a moment's thought, he vaguely remembered stirring as Kakarot settled in beside him, but he must have been too tired to actually wake up. Who knew he could sleep through someone crawling into his bed?
The big dope shifted, nosing into Vegeta's armpit and huffing a sleep-sigh. He couldn't resist running a hand through the dark spikes, then down the brawny arm around his waist. How could a hardened warrior such as this have such satin skin? Even the woman's skin had never been so smooth, so rich.

Kakarot shifted again, throwing a leg over both of his own and snuggling closer. The idiot must have truly missed physical contact to climb into bed with someone he so obviously distrusted.
This slight give in the opposition gave him hope, though. Maybe his rival would become his lover out of sheer loneliness. It wasn't what he really wanted, but he'd take it. It might serve as a foot in the door, at the very least.

For now, though, he'd enjoy the weight of that long, strong body in his arms. He'd wanted this feeling, this closeness for so very long. Who knew when he'd feel it again?

After he'd broached the subject the first time so many years ago, after Kakarot had nearly cut off all contact with him in shock and fury, he'd promised himself that he would never push again. He would wait, watch, and hope his rival could forget his prior over-eager approach enough to let down his guards and accept...whatever might be between them.

Until then, he would take what he could get -- this time in seclusion with the big idiot, a quiet moment of closeness, the memory of satin skin and the weight of toned muscle in his arms, clinging to his bare body. It was more than he'd hoped for from his voluntary quarantine here and more than he'd received from Kakarot in the entire time they'd known each other.

Patience. Patience was working.

He was too much the warrior to throw out a strategy that worked.

Smirking, he sidled a bit closer to his rival's warm bulk and slept.