Romance Evolving

The next morning, Goten and Trunks awoke in the guest bedroom, pressed tight against each other, late morning light streaming in from behind the blinds. Sometime earlier, either Gohan or Videl had brought their clothes in from the bathroom and laid them on the cabinet. They exchanged a kiss, then got up and got dressed--in the right clothes, this time.

Like all with Saiyan blood, their first destination was the kitchen, where they found the other couple putting the finishing touches on a delicious looking breakfast that could have easily fed a dozen or so regular humans. Videl smiled at them. "Morning, guys. Mirai and Jennifer are going to join us for lunch, so we're going to go pick up an order of pizza in a little bit. This should hold you till then."

Grinning, the boys thanked her profusely as they sat down at the table and began to tear through the breakfast like a tornado through a trailer park. Around a mouthful of pancake, Trunks asked, "So how much did you tell them?"

"Not much," replied Gohan. "We told them we needed to see them for lunch if they could make it, that you two would be here, and not to tell anyone else about it. They seemed to pick up on the importance of it, though."

Trunks and Goten visibly relaxed. The latter said, "Good. The last thing we need is our parents catching us off-guard before we can tell them the way we want to." All four pondered that possibility for a moment. With it involving both Chi-Chi and Vegeta, the only proper concluding phrase seemed to be 'walls spattered with blood.'

***

By the time they'd done all the dishes, Mirai Briefs and his wife, Jennifer Bengoshi Briefs, were pulling up to the house in their aircar.

"Hey guys. What's up?" asked Jennifer, her red hair just a little longer than her husband's purple.

"Well, we need to tell you something," replied Trunks, having to consciously restrain himself from shaking in nervousness.

"What is it?" Mirai said, looking his "younger brother" aka alternate timeline self in the eye. And Trunks found he couldn't answer. Mirai had fallen madly in love with a woman. How would he react to knowing that here, in this universe, this version of him had fallen madly in love with a man? For one of the very few times of his life, Trunks was unable to speak.

Goten saw his dilemma, and in an equally rare occurence, took the initiative. He grabbed Trunks by the shoulders and planted a kiss on him, a deep passionate kiss, the kind that in other circumstances probably would have resulted in torn clothes, hours of ecstatic screaming, and something antibacterial applied to dozens of scratches on one anothers' backs.

For a long moment, there was silence. Then Jennifer said, "Oh. That."

***

"...And then we spent the night here," said Trunks, concluding the story of just what exactly was going on between the two young demi-Saiyans. Throughout, he had not been able to meet Mirai's eyes. "I hope you don't mind." With that, he finally met his gaze.

What he saw was exactly what he'd always seen before: pure love and acceptance. "Why should I mind?" Mirai wondered. "Just because we share a DNA strand doesn't make us carbon copies. You have your own life to live, and you two are obviously very happy living it together. And the last thing I want is for my little brother to be unhappy." His gaze shifted a bit. "And Goten, you keep him happy."

Goten laughed and promised he would; with their positions reversed, it was almost exactly what Gohan had told them last night.

As relieved smiles and laughs filled the room, Gohan stood up. "Well, those pizzas should be ready by now, I phoned them in just before you got here." He concentrated for a moment, then teleported away. A few moments later, he reappeared, each hand holding a stack of cardboard boxes that brushed the ceiling. Within an hour, they were all gone. Videl and Jennifer together had eaten exactly one.

***

"So, um, any ideas?" Trunks asked after the second round of clean-up had been finished. Gohan blinked.

"Ideas about what?"

Trunks and Goten exchanged a quick glance. "About how to eventually tell all this to our parents without them completely hitting the roof," the latter said.

"Well, I don't think Dad will care," his brother mused softly. "He's always been even more easygoing than we have. Mom, though, that's a different story. And you know Dad, well, has trouble keeping secrets from her, so we probably shouldn't tell him till we can think of a way to tell her too."

Mirai nodded. "Kind of the same with our parents. It won't be a big deal with Mom, but you know Mom..."

"...Can't keep her mouth shut if a steel trap was placed around it..." Trunks murmured.

"...So we shouldn't tell her till we know how to tell Dad without causing him to either blow up the house or finally set off his high blood pressure."

"And don't worry," said Jennifer. "We're all on your side, boys."

"You make such a cute couple," Videl said, smiling. Trunks and Goten both gently blushed.