Consoling Goten

The summer marking the end of high school for Goten and Trunks had arrived, thus their freedom. ChiChi and Bulma had even agreed not to nag them about getting jobs or to abord the dreaded subject of Their Futures, seeing the young men relieved and unusually cheerful.

Rather Trunks was cheerful; Goten was strangely quiet, his expression unreadable. The latter spent more time at Capsule Corp than his own nearly empty home, which to its regular occupants was nothing new.

They had just finished dinner, and Bulma and her mother were busy clearing away the dishes with Bra underfoot. Dr. Briefs headed for his lab, Scratch tagging after him, and Trunks went off to his room to prepare for his night out. Goten remained seated, staring noncommittally into his half-empty water glass.

Vegeta frowned at his detached allure, having believed he would lighten up when summer arrived. "What are you looking for in there, fish?" he teased, which brought a halfhearted smile from him that did not reach his eyes. To get his attention Vegeta kicked his leg under the table. "Sorry," he tried again.

"Whatever," Goten muttered without looking up, his head still propped on one hand.

"Then I'm not sorry." Playfully Vegeta trapped his ankle between his two, succeeding in bringing a genuine, blushing smile to Goten's face. His shining eyes locking with Vegeta's at the warm thrill coursing through him, he reflected that he was the only reason he still came here. Though Vegeta was certainly not serious about him, the almost palpable attraction budding between them for quite some time at least made him feel nice.

Their reverie was broken when Trunks came back to the kitchen to ask Goten, "Are you sure you don't want to go?" He was dressed classily, but Vegeta made a face at his expensive but overabundant cologne.

"What for?" Goten replied again flatly, "You're taking a girl to the movies."

"Well, her best friend thinks you're cute," Trunks offered, "She's pretty, and really nice. You could bring her."

"I said I don't want to," Goten said firmly, closing the subject.

Vegeta had assumed an attitude of indifference. "At least one of you understands that your system of finding mates is an inefficient waste of time and money," he commented hautily.

"Suit yourself," Trunks gave up, ignoring his father and turning to the door to leave.

"You're on vacation," Mrs. Briefs chimed in, having overheard, "Why aren't you finding something fun to do?" Seeing that Goten wasn't listening, she went back to the dishwasher.

Discretely Vegeta studied Goten, still wondering at the cause of his odd mood. "Why don't you train with me?" he offered, "I could use a sparring partner."

Goten considered him. "Alright," he agreed simply. Though training wasn't his idea of fun, he didn't mind it and it meant spending time with Vegeta. He kept his face straight so as not to appear too eager and followed him to the Gravity Room.

A few minutes later, Goten had changed into his tunicless red gi and joined Vegeta in the center of the room to begin their stretching.

He followed him through their habitual warm-up stretches that he knew by heart, then Vegeta began a new kind that looked a bit like yoga, showing off his flexibility among other things.

At first Goten merely followed along, but each new stretch was sexier and more suggestive than the last, perfectly attuned to his inherent gracefulness and giving him an excellent view of his finely sculpted ass and crotch. Adding that he just had to wear those über-tight spandex... was he doing it on purpose?

Goten realized that he'd stopped and was blatantly staring, his face turning bright red when Vegeta noticed, pausing.

"Can you do this one?" The latter challenged him with a secretive smirk, repeating the last with his head back touching his foot, his arched back taunting him with such a sensual outline of the bulge between his legs that Goten had to physically clench his fists to keep his hands to himself.

"No," he lied, not caring to give Vegeta a view of his current swollen state that even his loose-fitting pants could not hide.

"I know how flexible you are. You're just lazy," Vegeta taunted. Seeing him unaffected, he insisted harshly, "That was an order, not a request. Execution!"

Swallowing hard, Goten shot him a reproachful look but obeyed, easily touching his head to his bent leg behind him. Very self-conscious to sense that Vegeta was watching him intently, when he moved to the next part of arching his back and hips, he suddenly stopped and exclaimed, "Ow!"

Seeing Goten doubled over in seeming pain, Vegeta was puzzled. "What's the matter?"

"Just a cramp," Goten replied with embarrassment, hastily wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, "It'll pass."

"Where?" Vegeta moved closer for inspection.

"My leg... I mean, my back," Goten corrected nervously.

"Which is it?" Vegeta asked impatiently, annoyed at the interruption.

"Both," replied, his mind predictably going blank.

Vegeta reached around to the small of his back and left thigh that would logically be affected to slowly knead his admirably toned muscles. Gradually Goten relaxed, his eyes halfway closing at the pleasant tingling brought by his knowing hands. He hadn't known he possessed such a talent.

"Getting better?" Vegeta inquired, unsurprised to find no apparent cramps.

"Hn," Goten mumbled, momentarily forgetting his sudden modesty.

Vegeta's hand grazed his tailbone, his probing fingers making his eyes open wide with a gasp. At the same time he pushed aside the end of the top of his gi, stiffling a smirk at noticing the true origin of his 'cramps'. Of course he could easily have his way with him by making his move now, but the result would be much more satisfying to let him simmer, he thought strategically. Also, his dull mood would throw the proverbial wet blanket over it all, he mused, letting go of him.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's been bothering you?" Vegeta asked, his tone of genuine concern surprising him.

Goten blinked. "Nothing. Why?"

"You seem down lately," Vegeta observed, "You know you can always talk to me. I hope you're not afraid I'll make fun of you."

"No. It's nothing," Goten brushed off. Appearing childish was the last opinion he wanted his sempai to have of him. "Guess I'm just tired."

Vegeta considered him, seeming to divine his thoughts. "You know, things are always more difficult at your age than for an older adult, or even for a kid. What's beyond your control isn't your fault. You wouldn't offend me by thinking I wouldn't understand?"

"No, Vegeta-san," Goten assured him, "Really, nothing's happened."

"Alright," Vegeta conceded for the moment, standing up, "But think about it, okay?"

"Okay," Goten agreed, standing up as well, "Thanks for thinking of me."

"Anytime." Vegeta clapped his shoulder. "Let's get to sparring."

Goten nodded and they began, first with basic techniques, moving up to more advanced ones with increasing intensity, ascending to levels one, two, and three at various gravitations.

Vegeta had implemented a new tactic that involved significant and unexpected changes of gravity, altered by a remote control fixed to his wrist like a watch. "You know Saiyans are meant to adjust to different gravities," he explained, "My adjustment level has become instantaneous, and zero to four hundred in less than a second is now effortless." He demonstrated by doing as he'd said, twice backflipping off the wall and ceiling in a blurr of lightening-swift punches, kicks, and ki blasts.

For Goten, the sudden gravitational change made him fall to his knees before clumsily picking himself up, stunned. "Dang!" he exclaimed, clearly impressed, "How?"

"Practice," Vegeta replied with a satisfied smile, "You're the only one who knows. I trust you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise," Goten replied sincerely, honored and flattered that Vegeta had revealed a secret tactic to him. He never revealed them to anyone until it came down to their necessity. "Will you teach me?" he asked humbly.

"I will if you become my regular sparring partner," Vegeta proposed, mysteriously adding, "That means every day."

"Deal." Goten smiled radiantly, one of his expressions that had never changed, clasping Vegeta's hand.

Vegeta smiled back craftily, setting the gravity back to zero. "Lesson number one: never be caught off guard."

Goten nodded at what seemed obvious enough, the next thing he knew finding himself flat on his back at 450G, trapped beneath Vegeta astride him and his wrists pinned down in an iron grip. With both forces leveraged against him, possibility of escape was definitely zero; he'd tried but failed. "Lesson learned," he acknowledged with a nervous laugh.

"Lesson one is just beginning," Vegeta informed him, again in his mysterious tone. By his intense expression as he fixed Goten's regard, he was... not undressing him with his eyes; he'd seen him nude plenty of times... no, he was caressing him with his eyes, among many other things that Goten tangibly felt, his breathing falling harder as he shifted uncomfortably beneath him. But it was too late; Vegeta had clearly felt his almost painful boner that had returned as though obediently summoned. He was fairly certain that Vegeta was hard as well, but he couldn't tell since the latter would not move to show him. Their gazes locked, Vegeta slowly leaned foreward, his eyes halfway closing, and Goten's heart raced, sure that he was about to kiss him. His own eyes closed to slits, his lips hungrily awaiting those he wanted more than anything. But Vegeta only leaned his cheek gently to his own to seductively whisper, "...just beginning."

Goten blinked, for the next thing he knew he was still on his back as he'd been, but Vegeta stood next to him as though nothing had happened, the gravity set back to zero.

"Tired so soon?" Vegeta asked innocently, making Goten scowl. He extended a galant hand to show he was only teasing, but Goten sullenly refused it, springing to his feet himself.

Their sparring picked up again, but Vegeta detected something new from Goten. His usual innocent eagerness was gone, along with his playful nature. Now he went through the movements and tactics mechanically, his expression having turned downright cold.

Perplexed, Vegeta allowed him time to cool off. The next time he tried to trap him again failed; he merely sidestepped the manoeuvre, continuing the combat without missing anything. As efficient as he was, he exuded no passion at all, his ki seemingly flat. Though Vegeta turned on the charm a couple times when he trapped Goten or Goten trapped him, nothing doing. He may as well be talking to a machine.

Vegeta mentally resigned but discretely studied his new behavior for a sign of life, finding none. Nothing he tried drew a different reaction from him, and he finally lost patience, surprised to find himself pained.

"Time out," he declared, visibly dropping his combat stance to firmly tell him, "Before the night is over, I want to know exactly what is wrong. And don't tell me 'nothing'. You can tell the others that, but not me." His tone of voice was more harsh than he'd intended, with a trace of something else he refused yet to identify.

Goten's fixed regard shot cold daggers at him. "And what makes you so different?" he retorted icily. A glimpse of pain flashed through his eyes, gone as quickly as it came, but it had been there.

Perhaps the mask was falling, Vegeta thought, silently determined to find out. His pride could take a back seat when he set his mind to something. "Asking or answering that question would insult my intelligence as well as your own," he affirmed, realizing that he was looking into the crystal clear vision of a mirror.

Goten said nothing, only looked away. Their points had been made.

"Why don't we call it a night," Vegeta settled, his voice becoming subdued, "We can talk when you're up to it. A shower and some rest will do you the most good." He paused. "Are we still on for sparring?"

"I gave my word," Goten stated simply, turning in stony silence toward the showers of the Gravity Room.

Vegeta followed at a face-saving distance, pausing when he caught his reflection in a plate glass window. Mentally he asked it, Jeez... am I really that annoying?
*
TBC in part 2...