Taste of Crimson

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 making no profit from this work of fanfiction.

A/N: Ah, so at last we come have come to the part where the original PWP never went. Sadly, this means plot has struck.


Type of story: A/U, this used to be a PWP, but now it has gotten a little out of hand.
Rating- PG-13
Pairing: None

“X” indicates spoken dialog

‘X’ indicates thoughts

~X~ indicates telepathy


Fourth chapter- ‘Alpha’


~o0o~

‘Where am I? What am I suppose to be doing?’ Vegeta woke to the sound of splashing water. It took him a moment to orientate himself to his surroundings. It took a moment more for him to remember what had happened before he fell asleep. He licked his lips at the memories that were flashing in his mind. ‘That’s got to be him splashing in the fountain.’ “Baka, what are you doing?” Vegeta rolled over the stare at the other man in the courtyard. He noticed that Kakarott had found his pants, ‘Pity.’ The goof currently had his head plunged into the fountain, and hadn’t heard Vegeta’s question. The Prince was mildly surprised the other sayian was still there. He had thought that the other sayian would have taken the first opportunity that presented itself to escape. ‘Why is he hanging around?’ He couldn’t help the almost possessive growl when he thought, ‘Maybe…’ but he didn’t let himself finish the hopeful thought.

Vegeta watched the other sayian. He took his time noticing how Kakarott’s muscles played as the man stretched. He also noticed some evidence of earlier dried on his abs. Vegeta had a hard time resisting the temptation to go over and lick Kakarott’s stomach clean. ‘What does he taste like?’

Goku pulled his head out of the fountain and stretched. What he really wanted was a nice hot shower, and then a long soak in a tub. He didn’t know what was expected of him though, so he hadn’t gone to do either of those things. Goku wanted to make sure that Vegeta had gotten his full retribution. He had expected much worse than what had happened a couple of hours ago. If Vegeta wasn’t going to kill him, he didn’t want to have to worry about the other sayian coming after him later to uphold his daughter’s honor. Goku knew he would always have a cloud of guilt hanging over his head about not having put up much restraint against Bra.

He didn’t notice that the Prince had woken up until he wiped the water away from his eyes. When he finally did notice, he froze, not certain what to do, or how to act.

Now that the other man had noticed him, Vegeta asked his question again, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to wake up,” Goku explained. He hesitated a moment, still unsure of how to proceed. Then, “I am very sorry Vegeta. I don’t know what I was thinking earlier,” Goku said as sincerely as possible.

Vegeta paused a moment. He hadn’t actually thought this far ahead in his scheme. His sole focus had been to have sex with Kakarott, (possibly with the side-affect of the third class coming out if his glum). He had obsessed about it for years, flirting outrageously with the younger man for decades. Either way, seme or uke, it hadn’t really mattered. He had fantasized about it both ways. He was aggravated with the other sayian’s seeming lack of interest. It had taken Bra’s acute awareness of her father, and Goku moving into Capsule Corporation for Vegeta to finally understand why he hadn’t gotten the baka’s attention the way he had been meaning to.

“Well Daddy, he thinks more like a human than a sayian. You don’t see most humans trying to beat the crap out of each when they are in love or lust, do you?” Bra had said when he had finally confessed his feelings and frustrations about the other sayian to his nosy daughter. “Trunks and Goten didn’t even become a couple in ‘The Traditional Sayian Way.’ He’s use to seeing dates, flowers and chocolates, in other words, human social behaviors. And he didn’t even have to do all of those things to land him self a wife. He has no idea how to go about courting any body, let alone the sayian way of courting. I don’t think that the idea of a man in a personal, physical relationship with another man ever crossed his mind until Trunks and Goten hooked up a couple of years ago. He also doesn’t have any idea how you really feel about him. He has nothing to compare it to.” Bra had ranted.

Not that Vegeta would admit to it, but he had felt more stupid than he accused Kakarott of being at that moment. He knew Kakarott didn’t think like a Sayian. He just hadn’t applied that knowledge to his personal dilemma.

He decided that his first action would be to accept Kakarott’s apology. ‘How to do that without seeming to have backed down,’ he asked himself. He decided to add some truth into the matter, but not the whole of it. He cleared his throat, “I would have to guess that in our little reenactment you were portraying yourself as Bra. Is that correct?” He asked challengingly.

Goku nodded his head. Then Vegeta continued out loud with his train of thought, “I was apparently incorrect in my assumption that you had used her.”

Goku almost nodded again, but hesitated. He wasn’t certain that he hadn’t used Bra. He certainly hadn’t started the whole thing, but he hadn’t backed away from it either. ‘Why? Horny? Lonely?’ Oh, he had certainly been horny. All that thinking and moping about Chichi and how much he missed her always ended up in some sort of fantasy were she would come back, and they would make up. Bra had walked into the courtyard at one of those moments. This didn’t really explain all of his motives, but that was a part of the ‘Why’. He would have to brood about it, later. Goku nodded to himself.

Vegeta assumed the motion was meant towards his question and continued, “Bra certainly has a mind of her own, and what she wants, she gets. I know. I raised her that way.” Vegeta stopped speaking for a moment, apparently thinking about his next statement, “All I could think when I saw you two in here…Well, I didn’t think. I should have minded my own business. I know that she is a grown woman, but she is still my little Princess.” The Prince paused again, “I will accept your apology, although I think it is in your best interest to not let yourself be caught by Bra alone again,” his tone left the statement oddly threatening.

Goku’s sense of relief was profound. He became conscious that he had been holding his breath. Once he started breathing again he thought of a whole new set of questions concerning himself and the Prince, and what had happened between them earlier. Before he could start contemplating or articulating those thoughts his stomach growled. Loudly. He grinned sheepishly at Vegeta.

Vegeta was actually mildly amused. It was a good sign that Kakarott’s appetite was coming back. He hadn’t heard Kakarott’s stomach growl in what seemed like ages. The younger sayian had only eaten when asked to, not out of hunger. ‘How long has it been since he has eaten?’ Vegeta tried to think back to the last time that he had seen the other sayian eat. ‘Not last night at dinner, nor at breakfast and,’ Vegeta couldn’t help the smirk that came across his features at the next thought, ‘Certainly not at lunch today.’ He picked himself off of the floor and went to retrieve his own clothing. He turned back to the other sayian before putting his pants on, and noticed that Kakarott was looking at him, and not in a normal ‘I am oblivious,’ look either. A look that sent shivers down the Prince’s spine: satyrical shivers.

Goku found himself looking at Vegeta in a whole new light. ‘He really is… attractive? Why haven’t I noticed before now?’ Goku looked up from the Prince’s naked body to see the Prince looking at him. Goku felt his cheeks burn, ‘Why did I have to do that?’ He asked himself, looking away self-consciously. ‘You know why,’ another, needy part of him self answered; a part of his subconscious he was use to ignoring.

“You don’t have to wait for me, Kakarott. You know where the refrigerator is,” Vegeta said.

“Uh, Okay Vegeta,” Goku said. He hesitated before leaving the courtyard. He watched as Vegeta retrieved his shirt off the floor. “Hey, do you know where my shirt is?” He asked the other sayian.

“I think that Bra used it to cover herself. I’ll go get it for you. Now, go, eat,” Vegeta smirked as Kakarott’s stomach growled again. It sounded even more demanding than before.

“Thanks, Vegeta.” Goku was grateful. He really didn’t want to see Bra so soon. He had no idea what he would do the next time he saw her.

“Hn,” was the Prince’s only reply. Vegeta watched Kakarott leave the courtyard. ‘Now to confront my daughter,’ he thought to himself. The indulgent smirk left his face and a deadly gleam filled his eyes, ‘She’d better have a good explanation.’


~o0o~

Bra stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She hummed happily to herself as she dried off, and then wrapped the towel around her body. Gohan watching her masturbate hadn’t really been one of her fantasies, but at least now she knew that he was going to think about her.

She didn’t know her father was in her room until she walked out of the bathroom.

Bra found her self pinned up against the wall with her father’s forearm pressed against her throat. She let out a squeal in surprise. She knew a confrontation was going to happen, but she hadn’t been expecting it so soon. ‘He must have been suppressing his ki,’ she surmised a reason for not sensing him before she came out of the bathroom. Bra had thought she would have had some time to think of something before this moment came.

“You have some explaining to do,” Vegeta growled. “You almost ruined everything.”

‘Everything for YOU,’ Bra thought to herself.

Bra didn’t try for the innocent look; her father knew her way too well for that. He’d see through that mask in a heartbeat. She needed some time, and some space to breathe. She quickly went through some of the concerns her father had shared with her about his interest. “You said it yourself. He’s dominant, even if he doesn’t recognize him self as such. Circumstances got out of hand before I could do anything about it.” Bra said in a rush. She relaxed the tiniest bit when her father took his forearm away from her throat.

“Hn,” Vegeta grunted. A thoughtful look crossed his features, and his brow creased. The answer was almost too quickly supplied. “He was too much even for you?” He asked suspiciously.

‘Good, the more he assumes, the less I have to lie. The less I have to lie, the less I have to remember later.’ Bra let her features flush a little in embarrassment. ‘All those theatrical classes in high school really will pay off.’ “I couldn’t play it subtle. You know how he is. I thought I was managing things fairly well, and then his instincts took over.” Bra watched her father for his reaction to her slightly deceitful words. When he didn’t give anything away, by either body language or facial features, she continued to rattle on. “You were right. His instincts are seme all the way.”

Vegeta looked up at that comment. Kakarott was in a vulnerable position mentally and emotionally. Even if his instincts were dominant, having been raised ningen he had tossed those sayian instincts aside. ‘If his instincts were so easily provoked none of this would have been necessary.’

The Prince had to take into consideration the source of the comment. His daughter was very persuasive and had been raised in as much of a traditional sayian way as possible on this miserable planet. She had all the earmarks for being dominant in any relationship she was ever involved in, unusual in a sayian female, but not unheard of. Vegeta had only to think of both of those things to figure out that his daughter was lying.

Still, back to his concerns with his third class sayian: third class warriors weren’t prone to being dominant. Vegeta was troubled with the fact Kakarott had out grown his third class status, and didn’t know what potential effects that could have on the other male’s instincts. He also didn’t know how to feel about that. Until he had met the younger sayian, he had never been in a situation that he would have ever consider yielding control to someone else. He had never met another sayian like Kakarott. At the age of five the Prince had found that every other sayian was a lower level than him self; even Elites had different levels of power. Therefore, they had always taken a subservient roll, though never before in rutting rights.

Bra was a more than a little uncomfortable with her father’s silence. She had no way of knowing what the man was thinking. ‘He always has shields up around his thoughts,’ she reflected bitterly.

The Prince looked up to see his daughter scrutinizing him. “I also came to get Kakarott’s shirts.”

Although Bra thought that her father was more than capable of finding the gi shirt by him self, ‘It smells of Goku,’ she quickly went to the corner of her room where she had thrown it. “Here you are,” she said, holding it out. “He was only wearing the one.” She said. She finally noticed that the gi shirt wasn’t the only thing in the room smelling like Goku at the moment, ‘Maybe he can’t smell it over his own blended scent?’

Vegeta took the shirt from his daughter’s nervous fingers. “I told Kakarott it was in his best interest not to be found alone with you again. The same goes for you.”

Bra nodded her head in agreement. She hadn’t really planned on pushing her luck with her father when it came to the only other full-blooded sayian alive. ‘Even being my father’s Heir will only get me so far,’ she thought to herself. Her brother’s relationship with Goten meant the Vegeta bloodline could only be continued through her. Unless of course Vegeta had plans to re-mate with a female. At this particular moment, she felt lucky her father was infatuated with Goku. She wouldn’t have a rival for her place as Heir. That gave her a little more leeway than most people had with the Prince, but not much more.

Vegeta left his daughter’s room without a backward glance. He didn’t necessarily believe what Bra had said, but he did believe she wouldn’t defy him in his latest counsel. ‘She still has her obsession with Gohan after all. It will be interesting to watch that relationship if she ever gets a hold of that Son.’ In the Prince’s opinion Gohan was another one in denial of his instincts.

The Prince growled to him self while walking down the hall. ‘If it wasn’t for the fact she is my Heir, Bra would be dead.’


~o0o~


Goku’s stomach growled again as he walked into the kitchen. He opened up the refrigerator hopefully. “Lots of leftovers,” he said out loud. The strangest thing was, nothing held his attention. The pizza wasn’t appetizing. The Chinese food didn’t hold his interest. ‘What is it I really want?’ He asked himself finding him self in yet another strange situation.

He thought about it. He was in a state of turmoil; a state he wasn’t use to finding him self in. When he did find him self in that state, and it wasn’t caused by the universe being in peril, ‘I usually go fishing.’ A smile spread across his features. Fishing: he wanted fish! Goku thought of a spot that was somewhere he could catch fish, cook it over an open fire, and get that bath and hot soak he had been wanting earlier. ‘Perfect!’ He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out some nori makai to hold him over until he reached his destination.

“I hope it’s okay to leave,” he said out loud, worrying about the possibility of Vegeta getting pissed off that he was departing. Goku shrugged his shoulders, ‘I need time to think about what happened, and I won’t be able to do that here.’

He opened up the front door and stepped outside. He blinked up at the sun. ‘I haven’t been out in days,’ he realized. He powered up his ki enough to get into flight. Then sped his way over the landscape, went through a couple of clouds and even managed to scare a flock of birds. All the while stuffing the rice balls into his greedy mouth.

It took Goku 20 minutes to reach his intended destination. An out-of-the-way spot a little ways off from a cascading waterfall and the river that followed. When he landed he immediately went to finding some fuel for a fire. He found a fire pit that had been used on more than one occasion, and placed the braches and twigs he had gathered in its boundaries. Then he started a fire with a tiny amount of ki.

That task accomplished, he took his pants off and dove into the river. He shivered when the cold water hit the scratch marks Vegeta had left on his back earlier.

He held his breath, and waited. He didn’t have to wait very long for a salmon to swim by. When it did, Goku grabbed it by the tail, and threw it up on the shore. Far enough so it couldn’t flop its way back into the river. He did this five more times before he thought he might have enough fish for his appetite.

He climbed out of the river and collected his catch. Watching the last salmon he had thrown onto the shore trying to catch its breath Goku couldn’t help but think ‘That is how I feel right now. Totally out of my element.’ His world had been turned upside down. From Chichi leaving, to Bra seducing him, to letting her seduce him, to Vegeta having sex with him.

Goku wasn’t sure he was ready to let Chichi go. He knew it had been three months since she and Bulma had left. Where or when to, no one knew. ‘I guess that takes the whole situation out of my hands.’ That had probably been Chichi’s reasoning behind leaving so completely. ‘She probably thought if she were still where I could reach her, I would continue to hope she would come back to me.’

As far as the Bra situation, Goku knew, even given the chance, he wouldn’t ever do it again. It hadn’t felt right before he gave in, it hadn’t felt right while he was having sex, and it certainly hadn’t felt right when Vegeta had caught them. Having the sayian Prince inches from his face, and squeezing the breath out of him wasn’t something that he relished the thought of having happen again. ‘I may have died a couple times saving the planet, but I’m not suicidal.’

Goku dispatched the last fish with a tiny ki blast to its brain. Then he carried them back over to the river so they could be cleaned up after he finished gutting them. When he was done cleaning them he carried the six fish over to the fire. The stones lining the pit were getting hot enough that the fish could be cooked on them.

As he laid them on the hot rocks, he started to think again. It had been flattering in a way to have Bra seducing him, although he had never even fantasized about the girl. ‘She must have seemed like some sort of substitute for Chichi’ he concluded. He tried to think of the term he had heard before, from where, he couldn’t remember. ‘I think the word is ‘Rebound.’’ Of course what had finally set him off was the lollipop. He growled, ‘Don’t ever tease a sayian with food.’ He licked his lips looking at the fish cooking.

With his late lunch cooking next to the fire, Goku walked over to the river and washed his hands off. It would be a while before the fish were done. ‘I have time to soak before they are ready to eat.’ He walked towards the tree line that surrounded the section of river he was at. ‘If I remember correctly, it is on the other side of that rise.’

The hot spring was where he remembered it. It didn’t have a gradual slope; one was either in it or out of it. Even so, it wasn’t quite a meter deep and a couple meters in diameter. The tall sayian splashed in, and then sat down in the stone lined spring. He hissed a little as the hot water slid over the wounds on his back. They were even more sensitive after having swam in the river.

He leaned his head back against the edge of the spring, closed his eyes and relaxed. ‘Maybe I was looking for physical gratification,’ he thought to him self. If that was the case, was it odd that he hadn’t found being with Bra pleasing? ‘I found it more satisfying when it was Vegeta…,’ he didn’t finish the thought. This was what was really disturbing Goku. The very idea of the Prince touching him had Goku trying to catch his breath: like he had noticed the fish doing earlier.

‘Vegeta didn’t mean for me to enjoy that, it was a punishment that fit the offense,’ he thought to him self.

“I liked it all the same,” Goku said out loud. He cringed at the out spoken confession. While the thought had been running chaotically through his head, the idea took on a frightening reality once he said it out loud.

Goku leaned forward and slipped under the surface of the hot water. He stayed under, holding his breath, and cleared his thoughts for just a moment. He didn’t let him self contemplate anything until he broke the surface again. Then he continued his train of thought verbally. “Why did I enjoy it?” He questioned him self. He sighed, trying to think of the reasons. “Some of it felt good, and some of it didn’t,” he thought back to all of the sensations that had gone on earlier; the way the Prince had touched his tail scar, the way it had felt when Vegeta had first entered his body. He shuddered at the memories, and a groan of confusion left his lips.

Then he remembered the Prince’s reactions to Goku giving him head. Just the memory of Vegeta moaning was enough to stir Goku again. ‘Not only was I enjoying having Vegeta touch me,’ he thought, “But I enjoyed doing those things to him.” Once again his own voice spooked him for a moment.

He closed his eyes, and leaned back once again. “Maybe this would have happened anyway,” he said. Goku thought back to their many sparring sessions. He always had anticipated sparring with Vegeta: even more so than with anyone else. He had always justified his eagerness with the fact that Vegeta was stronger than any of the other Z sensei, but what if there had been other reasons.

Reasons he wasn’t fully aware of or ready to admit? Reasons that hadn’t even been possibilities before he observed how happy Goten was in his relationship with Trunks?

He started examining the memories of past sparring sessions. The way he noticed, without consciously meaning to, when Vegeta would tilt his head when taunting him with an insult. ‘Exposing his neck.’ With what had happened earlier that day, Goku found himself wanting to nip and lick and suck on the Prince’s neck. The taller sayian shivered at his response to those memories.

Tears in the other sayian’s clothing that drew his attention in a way that didn’t have the same affect if Krillin’s or Piccolo’s clothing was torn.

The extra jolt of adrenaline when the Prince chose to growl rather than speak his frustrations. His response to that memory was to want to emanate a placating purr.

‘This has been going on for a while,’ he realized. Possibly even before his youngest son’s relationship had come to light.

He inhaled deeply through his nose. ‘Foods done,’ he thought to himself. He stood up and stepped out of the hot spring. ‘All this thinking can be done, after I’ve eaten.’


~o0o~


Vegeta walked into the kitchen, only to find that the other sayian wasn’t there. “Now he takes off,” he said out loud. He was a little disappointed. He looked at the orange gi in his hand. The Prince closed his eyes, and felt for the other sayian’s ki. Found it a ways north of Capsule Corporation. ‘He must have left while I was preoccupied with Bra. Otherwise I would have felt him leave.’

Vegeta wondered what Kakarott was doing. He thought that there might have been a river in that direction. ‘He probably went fishing.’

Vegeta sighed and debated with himself as to whether or not he should go out there. ‘If I can since his ki, he isn’t trying to hide.’

He put the shirt down on the kitchen table and walked over to the fridge. Opening it up and looking through the leftovers, he thought ‘No wonder he decided to go else where.’

He took out a couple of boxes of the leftover pizza, not noticing a couple of the boxes had been marked with ‘Kakarott’s’ on the top. He went to go sit down at the kitchen table and continue his internal debate about whether or not he should follow the baka. Vegeta examined his reasons for wanting to go and find Kakarott. ‘Is it because I am worried, or just because I want to see him.’ He admitted to himself that it was a bit of both.

Vegeta munched through the cold leftover pizza, not really tasting it. He was so distracted he even ate the dried out crust. By the time he was done, he had made a choice.

‘I’ll go see what he’s up to.’ He left the boxes on the table, and went back into the kitchen. Picked up a couple of spice jars, and a bottle of cooking oil. He wrapped his pilferage in a kitchen towel, and then wrapped that in Kakarott’s orange gi shirt. ‘I am not going to eat tasteless fish.’

Vegeta walked out of the building and took to the air. ‘I won’t hurry unless it seems he’s going somewhere else,’ he thought to himself.