Dude Looks Like A Lady

Innocence is Futile
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Dude Looks Like A Lady
By Raven Pan and Alison Sky
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Chapter Sixty-Eight
September 14, 799 - Friday
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Dressed smartly in a Tux, Trunks made his way through the dorm to Marron's suite door, a corsage in hand as he knocked.

"In a minute! Come in!" Marron's voice shouted.

Trunks chuckled, pressing the door open, turning to close it behind him, "You shouldn't always keep your door unlocked, Marron!" he called.

"I saw you outside and opened it," Marron called from the bedroom.

"Ah well then I'll stop my lecture," He chuckled, as he waited in the entryway for her.

Soon Marron entered the hallway, putting an earring in. She was in a simple sleek black dress, shoulderless and low cut in front, a single pendent hanging around her neck.

And, to Trunks, she looked absolutely ravishable. He found himself at a loss for words.

"You can stop drooling now, Trunks," Marron smiled, turning to the side. "Can you zip me up?"

"Sorry," he shook his head and chuckled, putting the corsage on the side table. "Sure." He came forward and carefully did so... careful not to touch her skin.

Marron smiled and turned around, fluffing her hair. "I hope this is acceptable where we're going..." she asked.

"I'm sure it will be, you look lovely." He said sincerely.

"Thanks Trunks," Marron smiled. "Shall we go?"

He reached behind him, and gave her the corsage, "In a moment," he said.

Marron's eyes lit up. "Trunks... that's beautiful!" she smiled and held her arm out.

He smiled, taking the delicate flowers from the box and slipping it onto her wrist. "Not as beautiful as you are, Marron," he said with a soft smile, then offered his arm.

"Smoothie," she chuckled and took his arm. "Lead the way, prince."

He smiled, and led her through through the door, taking her key from her hands and locking it, before giving it back to her, and escorting her to their limo.

Marron smiled. "I should have guessed," she leaned her head on his shoulder.
&qR>"I'll explain on the way?" he offered, as he helped her into the car before getting in himself, the driver closing the door for them, then moving to take his place and bring them to the show.

"Explain what?"

"I should probably have said something sooner... but I guess I was afraid you'd back out if I did," he sighed, looking her in the eye from where he was sat across from her. "Because it's an opening show... and well... Capsule Corp is one of it's sponsors....."

"So I guess we need to impress them," Marron smirkeR>

"Something like that," he chuckled. "You're not upset with me?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Why should I be?" Marron shrugged heouldoulder. "It's not everyday I get to be treated like a princess."

"If you take well to it, I'll treat you like a princess every day," ks cks chuckled.


"Maybe you deserve to be spoiled?" he retorted.

"Maybe.... I'm sure as hell not going to complain," she smirked.

Trunks only grinned in response, "That's something I'm very glad to hear, Marron."

Marron looked out the window. "So, what's this play about?"

"From what I've gathered, Five Rings is about a man who searches far and wide for someone to spend the rest of his life with.... and in the end, he finds that the woman he needed in his life, was the one who'd been with him through all his searching in the first place. It takes place during the Meijii era, I believe - I'm sure there will likely be some swordplay involved."

"Sounds like a beautiful love story," Marron smiled.

Trunks shrugged, "I guess we'll see for ourselves."

"Thank you again for asking me," Marron smiled. "If any of the girls find out... they'll be grilling me for weeks."

"Well, I'm hoping we'll be seeing enough of each other that they'll get bored," he chuckled. He felt them starting to slow down. "I think we're almost there. Get your red carpet smile on," he teased.

"When they take my picture, I'm supposed to stick out my tongue, right?" Marron teased back.

"Y'know... that's not a bad idea," he pondered.

Marron laughed and kicked him gently. "Trunks!"

"WHAT!? I've been DYING under this 'always perfect' facade... screw the tabloids, let's give the REAL news something to talk about!" his eyes shone with that slight brightness they did before... during their pizza match.

"Your mother will kill us," Marron pointed out.

"Only if she can stop laughing long enough to," Trunks pondered. "C'mon, we'll look all wonderful and elegant almost the entire way, but when I squeeze your hand, let's make some hideous faces, just for a second... I bet only one or two cameras'll catch it anyway," he laughed.

Marron smiled, then nodded. "As long as you do it too..."

"Of course!"

"Then ok."

He grinned at her as the car pulled to a full stop, and the driver exited. Quickly he schooled his features to a more... acceptable smile, his public face, and when the door opened he exited, standing there with a hand held back to help her out of the limo as well.

Marron slid out, standing, then blinking at the amount of cameras taking her picture. Her hands grabbed Trunks' reflexively... not realizing just HOW many people would be there.

"It's okay, Marron, just think of it like strobelights at a dance club," he said softly, putting her arm through his and holding her hand a bit with his opposite.

Marron took a deep breath, then nodded and smiled, walking with him, letting Trunks leer. er.

He smiled, his gaze barely leaving her as they walked down. "Ready?" he asked softly as they were about halfway down the red carpet.

She looked at him with a "You really want to do this?!!" look.

He winked at her, "I will, even if you don't, might as well look like fools together," he whispered with a soft smile.

Marron nodded, squeezing his hand as confirmation.

He squeezed her hand back then looked up a bit at the gathered crowd.... making an expression that only a man who'd spent a good amount of his formative years pulling faces could actually pull off.

Marron laughed, then stuck her tongue out at the same camera that Trunks was looking at, wrinkling her nose and squinting her eyes.

A second later he burst out laughing, kissing her temple as his face reverted to a happier version of it's usual form and he slipped his arm around her waist as, like two children, he led her to dash down the last half of the carpet, laughing happily.

The following day, papers wondered, The co-President of Capsule-Corp, Trunks Briefs. Loony, or in Love?

Marron laughed as well, following, then rested her hands on his shoulders. "I... I can't believe we just did that!" she laughed.

He grinned as they were now in the entryway, "I can't either. Marron, I think you bring out the worst in me," he winked, still laughing.

"I bring out the worst in you?!" Marron looked at him, playfully shocked and she hit him gently.

He laughed, "I mean that in the best possible way, of course," he chuckled, playfully blocking her hits.

Marron just wrinkled her nose. "Sometimes, Trunks, I wonder about you..." she teased.

"That's funny... you're the first person to say that," he teased. He offered his arm, a gentleman once more. "C'mon, we have box seats."

Marron took his arm again. "We get popcorn, right?" she asked.

"Unfortunately no... but there will be hors d'ouvres in our box," he told her as they started to make their way.

"As long as there's food... and you leave me some. I'm hungry!" Marron stated.

"You can have all of it, but I was hoping to take you to supper afterwards, if you don't mind that is," he said as he led her to the stair.

"You mean I get dinner too?!" Marron gaped at him overdramatically.

"No, I thought I'd make you starve," he rolled his eyes.

Marron smiled. "I'm up for it."

"Good," He grinned.

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The play was lovely. Five Rings did, indeed, live up to the hype. The story of a young man searching for love and acceptance... only to find it when it was too late. To find it in his best friend, just as the young lady lay dying. It was, in short, a beautiful tragedy.

Trunks looked over to Marron as the lights began to come up, "So, what did you think of it?"

"It was beautiful," Marron stated, sniffling and dabbing her eyes with a napkin.

He offered her his handkerchief as he stood.

"Thanks," she said, taking it. She dabbed a bit more, then smiled and handed it back to him. "What did you think?"

He put it into his pocket, "Well... I think it was very moving," he said with a soft smile, offering her a hand up.

Marron took it and stood. "I'm going to get a bootleg of it tomorrow on Madison Ave," she joked.

"That would mean I'd have to bring you to the airport, in stead of home," he said with a small smile.

"Well... I have always wanted to go to New York..." her eyes twinkled.

"Perhaps I can remedy that sometime?" he offered.

Marron just smirked. "Oh yeah, I forget you can do stuff like that on a whim."

"I don't generally go off on whims, Marron," he teased, leading her to the stairwell, "But if there's a whim you want, I'll do my best to get it for you. "I think they have them for fifty yen each, over at Toriyama's Booksellers, if I'm not mistaken," he teased.

"Ah, but I wanna get one from New York!" she laughed.

Trunks made a show of looking at his watch, "So, when's your curfew?"

"I'm in college! They don't have curfews there, silly," Marron smiled.

"Well, some of them do," he shrugged. "Let's see, it's eleven PM here... so it's about nine AM there.... would be around ten or eleven by the time we GET there if we go Z-fighter style..." he said quietly, as though trying to figure out if they could get away with it.

Marron looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out if I can take you to New York tonight, and still get home before the kids wake up," he grinned down at her.

"What about Goten?" Marron asked.

"That's why I'd have to get home before the Kids wake up," he chuckled. "They sleep through the night now, so he's probably going to be fine. I could call and let him know, if you want."

"Well, I guess that's up to you," Marron shrugged.

"Let's get to the limo first - and figure out something else," he said, guiding her through the crowd, using that as cover to keep, hopefully, away from the cameras. "Do you really want to go?"

"I would... but it wouldn't be right leaving Goten alone without warning," she stated.

"Then I'll call him while we're in the Limo," he nodded, nodding to the driver as he helped Marron inside the thing, before following her in to sit down himself.

Marron sat down, smiling and giggling at the spontaneousness of it all, but also feeling a bit sad for Goten, who didn't deserve to be alone on a Friday night.

Once the door was closed, and the driver had started on his way, Trunks pulled out the passenger phone and dialed home.

Goten was in the bedroom, reading a book. He quickly reached for the phone so it didn't wake the kids. "Goten here."

"Hey chibi - did you have any plans for when I got home tonight?"

"No... I figured we'd make them when you got here," Goten stated. "How was the movie?"

"It was a play, " Trunks corrected. "It was really good, kind of sad though. Listen, I was wondering if it'd be okay to take Marron to New York for a little while, and come home before the kids gp?&qp?" He asked.

"Oh." Goten's voice dropped just a bit. "Sure... I mean, we didn't have any plans or nothing...."

Trunks frowned a little, hearing the drop in tone. "Goten, are you sure? Cause if you don't want us to go, we'll postpone it for another time."

"I'm not your keeper, Trunks. You can do whatever you want," Goten stated. "I'm feeling tired anyways...."

"Alright, you get some sleep then - I'll make it up to you later, okay?"

"Sure. Tell Mar I said hi," Goten said, then hung up.

Trunks blinked at the phone, then set it down. "He says hello."

"He was tired, huh?" Marron asked, playing with her hair a bit.

"That's what he said," Trunks shrugged, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her. "So, you still want to go to New York?"

"Only if you want to go... I mean, I don't want you to take me just 'cause I want to go..." Marron stated.

"Why shouldn't I take you just because you want to go?" Trunkssed sed an eyebrow. "I would think that was an excellent reason."

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September 15, 799 - Saturday

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Trunks touched down in a darkened alley near Marron's apartment, before offering his arm to walk her to her door in the short hours before sunrise.

Marron yawned. "You know, we should have scheduled sle sleep time in there," she chuckled. "I'm beat."

"Well it's saturday," Trunaid aid softly as they walked, "so I'm sure that'll workout just fine."

Marron nodded. "Good thing my bowling league is at night," she chuckled.

Trunks chuckled, "I suppose so." He smiled as he held the door to the building open for her.

Marron smiled and walked in, stopping in the doorway. "I can find my way home from here, Trunks.... normally men aren't allowed in the dorms after midnight."

"So I can pick you up from your room, but I can't walk you to it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess rules are rules," He smiled.

"You picked me up before midnight.... that's the difference," she stated, tapping his nose.

He chuckled. "But it's almost Six A.M.... so that's before midnight," he teased.

"But the sun hasn't risen yet," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ibeenbeen risen for a while in New York," he teased. "But I guess I'll have to abide by the rules if I want to take you out again, hmm?" he asked softly.

Marron wrinkled his nose. "You'd better... if you ever plan on coming upstairs again."

Trunks chuckled, tapping her on the nose, "Then I will. When can I see you again?" he asked, hopeful.

Marron thought for a moment. "Ten, when they let guys back inside," she winked.

Trunks grinned, laughing, "Well, I'd love to do that, but I should probably let Goten have the night off tomorrow," he said, smiling.

"Bring him with you," Marron wiggled her eyebrows. "He's been here often enough that they know him already...."

Trunks's eyebrows nearly raised to his hairline, dubiously. "We do that, and we've got the chibi's too," he reminded.

Marron laughed. "You guys can come watch me bowl... and maybe play a few games too, and the kids can come also!"

He chuckled, "I tell you what, I'll pitch the idea to Goten when we're awake enough to communicate? Also... can I have your phone number?" he asked - suddenly realising he didn't have it.

Marron nodded, reaching into her purnd pnd pulling out a business card that had her e-mail and cell phone number on it. "Just don't call until after 2, ok?"

"Class?" he asked, putting it into his wallet.

"CLASS!" she scoffed. "Hell no, that's when I wake up!"

"That so? You have a FAR better schedule than I did, then," he chuckled.

"I cheated and got night classes... I'm SO not a morning person."

&;I k;I know the ing ing - though unfortunately with my lifestyle, morning is a dreaded necessity. So... I suppose now is when I bid you 'good morning' and let you go to sleep, hm?"

"Would probably be the best." Marron smiled, then yawned again, hiding her mouth halfway with a hand.

He brought up a hand, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Then you sleep sweet, okay? I'll call you sometime later today when I've figured out what's going on tonight."

"OK." She turned to walk inside, then looked back at Trunks, smiling hesitently.

"Yes?" he asked, wanting to kiss her, but not wanting to seem like he was someone he hadn't been for a long time.

Marron smiled. "Goodnight Trunks," she stated, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

He smiled, accepting it, then kissing her cheek in return. "Goodnight, sweet Marron."

Marron smiled, then turned and went inside.

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Trunks made it home, quietly closing the door behind him with a yawn, kicking off his shoes so he wouldn't muddy the carpet. He listened, ready to hear if anyone was awake yet. if he was lucky, he still had two or three hours he could slip in some sleep....

From the back bedroom, one of the twins was sniffling, not sure whether to wake up and cry or not.

With a sigh, Trunks loosened his necktie, letting both ends of the bow hang loose as he unbuttoned the two top ones - creeping quietly toward the back room to look in on them.

The whimpering got louder as the infant realized her diaper was wet, and her stomach growled.

"Oh Teena," Trunks sighed, shaking his head, picking her up and bringing her to the changer. "Shhhh, it's okay."

Teena looked at Trunks and wrinkled her nose, starting to cry. She didn't like being changed.

"Shhshhshhh," Trunks looked around, found a binkie, and put it in her mouth, "I'll be done real quick then we'll get you a bottle, okay?"

Teena just started to cry more, and Gotenks stirred, hearing his sister's c.
Trunks swiftly finished, crooking her in one arm, bouncing her a little, "Shh shh shh, it's okay, c'mon, lemme change your brother and you can have a bottle while I'm doing that, then I'll cuddle you both, oaky?"

Teena just whimpered, then nuzzled into Trunks' arms.

Trunks lay his daughter down back in the crib, giving her a bottle for the moment, before picking up Gotenks and bringing him to the changer, attempting to give him a swift change as well.

Gotenks just opened his eyes and looked at Trunks, watching him with a very thoughtful look.

Trunks chuckled, "You're so much like Goten," he said softly, finishing to change him before lifting him up and giving him a bottle. One handed he pulled Teena up as well, and moved to sit in the rocker with them as they drank, not caring if they got formula on his tux at all.

Teena cooed and reached up to bat Trunks' hair, giggling a bit. Gotenks just stared.

Trunks chuckled, shaking his head a little so the bits that'd gotten loose from flying would brush her fingertips, then he yawned a large yawn.

"If you want to go to bed, I'll take them," Goten said softly from the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, wearing a pair of scrub bottoms, his chest bare.

Trunks blinked his eyes, looking up at Goten, "You sure - you can sleep in some more if you want, I'm already here," He said, before yawning again.

Goten nodded. He ran a hand through his short hair, it still hadn't grown back from the short cut he had had as a female. "You're tired..."

"Did you sleep okay?" Trunks asked, not getting up.

Goten just shrugged. "I got some sleep, but after three, with you not being here..." he shook his head. "Just was a bit worried, that's all."

"I'm sorry - New York's a bit of a flight... that's why I called before we left."

Goten nodded. "I understand," he said softly, a bit of sadness in his voice, trying to be disguised but not doing a good job at it.

"Goten..?"

"Sorry, guess I'm still a bit tired," he yawned. "So what did you guys do?"

"Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty... had breakfast at a cafe," Trunks smiled.

"Trunks... the Eiffle Tower is in Paris," Goten pointed out.

"I'm tired," Trunks whimpered, "I meant the Empire State Building... starts with an E.. gimme a break..."

Goten chuckled. "I knew what you meant, I was just teasing ya." He walked into the room and picked Gotenks up, cradling the little boy in his arms while Teena grabbed onto one of Trunks' locks and pulled.

"Ow..." Trunks dropped his head a little, "Strong..." he yawned, "Grip there, girl...."

"She's your daughter," Goten chuckled, kissing Gotenk's forehead. The little boy smiled, then grabbed Goten's nose a bit. "Ow, ok, go go Papa's nose..."

A soft snore came from the chair, Trunks having fallen asleep, his head drooping.

Goten looked over and smiled. He pried Gotenks free from his nose and lay the baby boy in the crib, handing him a bottle. He then walked over and went to pick up Teena, trying to free her hand from Trunks's hair.

And Trunks slept soundly through it all... between being up for an insane amount of time, he'd also flown the equivalent of around the world, and was exhausted. He wasn't, after all, keeeping himself in fighter's condition anymore.

Goten carried Teena to the crib and lay her beside her brother. The twins curled up together, and were soon back asleep. Goten leaned over and watched them for a bit, reaching out to stroke their faces.

After a bit, he stood up, and checked on Truten a moment, then walked over and placed a blanket over Trunks. He then leaned over and kissed Trunks's forehead gently. I love you... I just wish you'd let me... he whispered softly in his mind, then walked out and closed the door almost all the way.

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