Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vengeance ❯ Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z, or any of the characters featured therein; they belong to Akira Toriyama and whoever he's decided to share them with.

Author's Notes: IMPORTANT!!!!!!!! I am warning you RIGHT NOW, this chapter is NOT work safe, and NOT child friendly. This chapter contains homosexual sex, and it's a little bit on the dirty side. In fact, it might be the porniest thing I've ever written. It's not the filthiest thing you'll ever find on the internet, but it is certainly not hearts and flowers, tender, gay lovemaking either. Everybody here knows Radditz is a bit of a pervert; just think of what happens behind his closed door! If you think you might be uncomfortable with that, especially given that most of my audience is probably here for the B/V factor, you may want to head on over to fanfiction.net where the M-rated, non-explicit version of this chapter can be found.

Conversely, if you think you might enjoy some dirty Radditz talk, pull up a chair and hope for the best. This is my first time writing M/M lemon so let's hope it turns out. O_o

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PRESENT DAY

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Radditz was pacing. He'd been pacing for a good half hour at least, non-stop. He'd tried sitting, tried glaring out the porthole into space beyond, hell, he would have tried standing on his head, if he thought it might have helped, but being still for more than two seconds made him itch with rage so pacing was the brooding activity of choice. It made for a boring route, confined as he was to the small room he shared with Gohan, but his mind wasn't really on the view anyway. He was boiling mad, every muscle tense and every hair standing on end. His hands clenched and unclenched involuntarily at his sides, so much so that the tendons in his forearms had begun to ache with the strain of it.

“Fuck Puar,” he seethed, hissing the words out through clenched teeth, “and fuck Bulma too.” He added, momentarily pissed that she'd chosen not to tell him anything, even though every damn time he'd poured his heart out, she must have been laughing with the fucking cat behind his back. All evening he'd been torn between blinding rage and unbearable, heart-ripping pain. He'd thought Puar was his mate, his very own partner, and yet the man...cat...shapeshifter - what the FUCK was he, anyway? - had done nothing so far but jerk him around. All those times, the fucking smell of him, the little bastard had been within reach and never said a word. Radditz jammed a hand through his hair, snarling and yanking as his fingers tangled in its mass. How could he have been so stupid, he wondered, feeling the anger bubble back up, threatening to boil over if he wasn't careful.

That, at least, was a valuable outcome of so much fury. He hadn't been careful during the evening training session, hadn't tried to reign himself in, hadn't even bothered with the strategy or planning or teamwork that normally got him through each day, and hell if he hadn't fought better than he'd ever fought before. Nappa still had another half hour in the regeneration tank, to prove it. Even Gohan had seemed a little unnerved by his uncle's new found prowess, though he hadn't said anything, tactful little shit that he was. That trait must have come from watching Vegeta, Radditz thought, because neither he nor Nappa were so taciturn, and the boy's parents didn't know the meaning of the word subtle. Gohan was probably smarter than to mouth off to a half-crazed berserker too, especially considering that the damn kid had likely met the scheming little cat before and had also neglected to say anything to his poor, blue-balled uncle.

Fuck, speaking of blue balls...Radditz adjusted the fit of his training shorts for the thousandth time. Not only was he furious and hurt, he had an aching cockstand, fit to pitch a big top circus tent. Lust and violence were not a good combo for a man who hadn't had any sexual gratification beyond his own hand for the last several months...gods, he thought, it must have been getting on towards a year, maybe even more, since that one and only night with the man who'd occupied his every fantasy since. Radditz's fingers twitched furtively over the material at his crotch and his eyes darted briefly toward the door. His face flushed with embarrassment, shame pouring through his veins as he realized how pathetic he must seem; so desperate for someone who'd treated him so poorly that he'd risk jacking off in the room he shared with his eight year old nephew, who might walk in and catch him at any moment. Resolutely, he clenched his hand at his side and told his erection to fuck right the hell off.

It didn't work.

Okay, cold shower time. And maybe there'd be no one else in there and he could...NO. Radditz shook his head. He had more pride than that, didn't he? Frustrated to the core, Radditz strode back across the room and flung the door open, whereupon he ran smack dab into the object of his desire.

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Puar let out a squeak and an oomph as Radditz collided with him, knocking his own much lighter body to the floor. He blinked and looked up, suddenly thinking that this had been a bad idea when he met Radditz's eyes, coal black pits glaring him down. To his credit, he managed to pick himself up off the ground without first soiling himself, and stood up straight in front of the bristling saiyan. He'd come in his humanoid form, maybe hoping to incite charity, maybe hoping to be jumped and fucked before he actually had to say anything, he wasn't sure. But he'd come, and that was a pretty big step.

Radditz's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he looked the cat-turned-man up and down with a look that suggested he was considering where to begin his attack to cause the most pain so as to prolong suffering before he went in for the kill. “You're two inches shorter,” he said instead, his voice rough and garbled with the effort of being civil.

Puar reached behind himself, grasping the long blue tail with one hand and holding it up like a peace offering. “The mass for this...it had to come from somewhere.” His cheeks were pink and he looked away for a split second, shy like he'd been on their first night, but then he shook his head and met Radditz's gaze with uncommon boldness. “If I'd known the first time...that I would meet you, I mean,” his cheeks burned hotter with every word, though he lifted his chin and straightened his back proudly, “I might have kept it in the first place.”

“Why, to torture me more?” Radditz ground out, fingers twitching with the urge either to wrap around Puar's neck, or to run through his hair, Radditz wasn't sure. He was at war with himself like he'd never been before, on one hand wanting to fall to his knees and beg Puar to stay with him, and on the other, more prideful hand, wanting to turn on his heel and slam the door in the man's face, to sulk and lick his wounds in private. He did neither, and his body trembled with the effort of standing still. “Do you have any idea...” Radditz took a halting step forward, stopped himself as panic crossed the shapeshifter's face. “Did I do something? I wasn't cruel to you, was I?” He asked more softly this time.

“N...no, you weren't.” Puar managed, resolutely standing his ground and not giving in to the urge to turn tail and run from the burly mass of confused fury before him. “I thought that you would be mad...when you found out.” He was looking at his own hand, twisting it to and fro in the air, marvelling at the fine form of the long, straight fingers. “I can't stay like this forever, you know. I've got about eight hours in me, at most. With time and practice, maybe more, but I'm still going to have to be a cat sometimes. Maybe most of the time. Are you prepared to accept that?” Puar asked, looking Radditz in the eyes, “Because I won't hide or be hidden to save your pride.”

“You stupid little bastard!” Radditz roared, completely unable to hold back the fury spilling forth, as though some critical dam in his brain had cracked. He snatched Puar by the front of his shirt, propelling him backward into the wall. He snarled at the human-shaped cat, leaning forward and hunching his shoulders so that their faces were mere inches apart. “I was ready to fuck a plant, because of you! A gods-be-damned houseplant! Well fuck you and your stupid little cat body, I'll fuck that too, if that's what it takes! You turn into whatever fucking thing you think is necessary, and I'll have it writhing on the floor! I don't give a fucking shit what you are at any given moment, I will find a way to fuck you!”

Around the corner, Gohan winced, adding another tick to the “fuck” count inside his head. They were at six, in a matter of a few sentences; that didn't bode well. Add that to the fact that he didn't really want to be hearing this conversation in the first place, and there was one uncomfortable eight year old.

“Fuck this, and fuck you!” Radditz's snarl was followed by a surprised sort of oomph from Puar, and then silence that made Gohan just the slightest bit worried. He added seven and eight to the count in his head as he peeked slowly around the bend in the hall, only to duck back again, blushing. His uncle had Puar squished up against the wall, one hand grasping the back of the shapeshifter's head, the other on his back and heading south, and the view was pretty well obstructed by Radditz's hair, but Gohan was pretty sure that they were kissing, and Puar did not look like he objected, if the arms clamped around the saiyan's shoulders were any indication.

Gohan grimaced, knowing that now was the time to leave, but he really, really just wanted to go to bed. He heard a shuffle and a grunt and poked his head around the corner again, just in time to see the tip of Radditz's tail disappear and the door slide shut. He crept out from his hiding place and stood in the hallway facing the room he shared with his uncle, not really sure what to do. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to be sleeping in his own bed tonight. And his pyjamas were in there too, damn it.

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Puar gasped as Radditz picked him up, easily and without warning. They were inside the bedroom before Puar even knew what had happened, though he supposed he shouldn't feel too surprised. He hadn't expected Radditz to haul off and kiss him, after pretty well telling him to get fucked, but that sort of technicality wasn't something that would stop a man like Radditz anyway. Just like apparently being a squeaky blue cat wasn't a problem either.

Puar thanked his lucky stars as his back hit the wall in the bedroom, knocking the air out of him. Okay, maybe they'd have to have a little talk about gentleness, but Radditz didn't care! After all of his worrying, his hiding and his avoidance, the thing he'd thought would be an insurmountable wall was just an inconsequential little pile of rubble. “Whoops, sorry.” Radditz mumbled, hearing the soft wheeze as Puar tried to reinflate his lungs. “C'mon, wrap your legs around me, I'll hold you up.” The saiyan said, his lips trailing over the smooth skin at the junction between Puar's neck and shoulder. He nipped, eliciting a startled yelp from his partner, who did as he was told.

“You're like a sheepdog.” Puar hissed as he hitched his legs on Radditz's hips, not bothering to stop and wonder whether the saiyan even knew what that was. “Are you going to bite me every time I'm slow to move?”

“Yes, you should remember that from last time.” Radditz squeezed Puar's behind, one big hand on each cheek as he leaned forward, using the wall to brace his companion. “You're saucy this time,” he laughed, quickly catching Puar's mouth with his own before he broke away again, panting, “I like it.”

“You'd better.” Puar responded, for lack of anything better to say, yet feeling as though he should have the last word.

“I might like it if you bite me sometime, too.” The saiyan groaned as Puar's hands dug into his biceps. “Hard.” He added, thrusting his hips to make the cat arch back against the wall, neck stretched as his head fell back, adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed his moans. One of Radditz's hands came up, fingers running down over the pale column of flesh, then back up and over Puar's lips. “With your sharp little fangs, oh Gods.” He half whispered as Puar ran his tongue over one finger, sucking it into his mouth and against his teeth. “Ahhh, yes,” he pulled his fingers free, running the saliva-wet digits across kiss-swollen lips, “that's the way I want you to suck me. On your knees with my hands in your hair, my cock down your throat...” He trailed off, leaning in to nip Puar's bottom lip between his teeth, gently tugging before he let go and kissed him properly. “You want that too, don't you?” Radditz asked, leaning in and burying his face in Puar's neck as his hand trailed back down to grasp the base of Puar's tail, and the shapeshifter found himself nodding. “You want to wrap your sweet pink lips around me, yeah?” He rubbed with his thumb and two fingers, pressing down ever so slightly where tail connected with spine. “I want to lick you right here. Does this feel good, your tail, like it does to me?”

“N...next time.” Puar panted, still finding the slow movements incredibly erotic even though they weren't affecting him the way Radditz obviously intended. “I'll change that, too.”

“Ah well,” Radditz chuckled, the hand abandoning his backside and instead slipping between them to cup the hardness in Puar's jeans. “This,” he whispered, “I know this is the same.” He turned, other hand still grasping Puar by the bottom for support as he moved toward the bed. He set Puar down on wobbly legs and sat down, leaning back a little with his hands to brace him. “Come here,” he said, gesturing to the floor space between his spread knees, “and take off your clothes.” He pulled his own shirt up and over his head, tossing it on the floor at Puar's feet with a soft thump. “Don't get shy on me, cat.” He reached out and hooked a finger through one belt loop, tugging Puar into the v formed by thick, muscled thighs. “Make with the buttons,” he jerked his head at the row running down the front of Puar's shirt, “or lose them.

“Since when are you in charge?” Puar snapped, blushing as he undid the first button with trembling fingers. How many months had he been fantasizing about this moment, his reunion with Radditz's more carnal side? It was a hell of a lot less romantic than he'd imagined, but then again, where was he going to find a thousand candles and silk sheets on Red Station? It was all flashlights and cotton around here. Puar figured he'd take what he could get, but he was still shaking with nerves and sudden shyness that embarrassed him all the more because he felt silly being so coy with a man who already had intimate knowledge of his inside parts.

“Since I'm bigger than you.” Radditz grinned and popped the button on Puar's jeans. “And since you like it when I tell you what to do.” The fly went down and Radditz tugged the loose jeans down over Puar's hips, past his thighs, leaving them to fall in a heap around his ankles. He pushed the tails of Puar's half-buttoned shirt out of the way and leaned forward to plant a kiss on the flat, hard plane just between his belly button and the waistband of his boxers. Puar shuddered, feeling Radditz's breath, hot on his erection, through the material of his underwear. “Now hurry up and finish, or you might not get another chance to take this off.” He moved back, allowing the fabric to fall back into place. “And you don't wanna get sweat and come all over your nice, clean shirt, do you?”

“D...Don't talk like that!” Puar felt his whole face heat up and he looked down at his chest, where his fingers were fumbling desperately with the next button. He could tell that Radditz was grinning, though he couldn't bring himself to look.

“Like what? You don't want me to say come?” Radditz laughed, reaching out with one hand to grasp Puar through his shorts and making the cat gasp with the suddenness of the movement. “So I can make it happen, but I can't say the word? I can suck you off and shove my cock up your ass, but I can't talk about it?”

“You make it sound so...so filthy!” Puar hissed, this time pausing mid-button to glare at his companion. To his consternation, Radditz's grin only widened, and Puar found himself feeling a bit silly in his objections. Instead of admitting it, he added a stink-eyed sort of squint to his glare.

“Sex is filthy business, little cat. You think putting nice words on it makes it better?”

“Yes! It makes me not sound like a whore, for one!” Puar was still undoing his buttons, despite his better judgement, maybe because Radditz's hand was still on his crotch. He tossed off the button up and yanked his undershirt over his head, throwing them both in a pile with Radditz's.

“Silly boy.” Radditz removed his hand only long enough to get into Puar's underwear, once again grasping firmly, slowly stroking with one hand as the other pulled the boxers down too. “When I tell you I want to fuck you, when I tell you I'm going to come in your ass, or that I'm going to suck your cock, then you'll know it's because I want you too badly to be nice about it. You'll know that unless I have you writhing in my arms in the next heartbeat, that I am going to die with the need of you. Sometimes I'll be so rough you'll wonder what you've done to deserve it, and others you'll wonder what sweet and gentle saint has possessed me, but I promise you,” he paused and Puar let out a strangled gasp as he came, spurting warm and wet onto the saiyan's chest, “that I will always be fucking you like I'll die if I don't. Anything less just isn't worth it.” Radditz stood and dropped his pants, kicking them off before he sat back down and spread his knees wide, stiff erection pointing out and up between them. “Now come here, get down on your knees Puar, and suck my cock.”

Puar gulped, looking at the menacing body before him - all taut muscles and hard angles and coal black eyes - and briefly wondered what Radditz would do if he turned and walked out without a word. Not that he really wanted to...did he? If he said aloud that he was more than a little afraid of the other man, it really wouldn't be a lie. If he said that he was worried that his lower regions were leading him straight to doom, it also wouldn't be a lie. If he said he really didn't want to get down on his knees, now that would be the lie. He swallowed again, looking to Radditz like a man who knows he's about to die, and is trying to decide if he wants to go down blazing or begging for his life.

Resolutely, Puar stepped out of his pants, quickly squatting down to grab some things from his jeans pocket. Straightening back up, he stepped forward to stand between Radditz's knees and tossed a few condoms and a small bottle of lube on to the bed beside his tyrant lover. “Fine.” Puar said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring the saiyan down. “But you remember, while I'm down there doing exactly what it takes to get you off, you remember that I'm on my knees because I want to be, not because you told me to. And you can be rough or gentle, but you're going to be damn nice about it Radditz. That means lube,” he gestured toward the bottle, “and that means you remembering that I'm not as strong as you are. I'm not going to spend every morning in a regen tank because you wanted it a little harder the night before, understand? You treat me like crap, and I am out of here.”

“Ooh, I love it when you get all assertive,” Radditz grinned as Puar dropped to his knees, and reached out a hand to caress the shapeshifter's close cropped hair. “Next time you be the boss and I'll be your slave boy.”

“And one more thing,” Puar said in an iron voice that Radditz never would have expected to hear from him. Honestly, it was kind of a turn on. “You fuck me, and only me.” He cupped his hand around Radditz's balls and looked up, angelic with his pale skin and wide, blue eyes. “Get the uncontrollable urge to fuck someone else like you'll die if you don't, and you'd better be prepared to bite the bullet because I will find a way to kill you.” He squeezed, with his hand, opened his mouth and ran his tongue from root to tip, before closing his teeth ever so gently around the shaft, just behind the swollen, straining head. He eased his jaw and clamped his lips instead, slowly easing it deeper into his mouth.

“Oh gods,” Radditz moaned, leaning his weight on one hand so he could clutch and Puar's short, bristled crop of hair with the other. “I'm yours. Tie me up and beat me, too. I'll even call you Master. Fuck!” He breathed as Puar's head began to bob slowly back and forth. “I thought I was supposed to be in charge here.” He let out a strangled gasp as he felt the tip of his cock nudge against the back of Puar's throat, the convulsions of the warm passage as the gag reflex kicked in and Puar pulled back to cough.

“You're only in charge when I let you be.” Puar said, wiping the corner of his mouth with one hand, while the other continued to pump.

“Heh,” Radditz laughed, pulling Puar up and into his lap, the cat's back to him. “But I'm still bigger than you. Bend over and I'll show you who's boss.”

“Face to face.” Puar shook his head even as Radditz reached around and took hold of him, teasing him back to stiffness with ease. He arched back into Radditz's chest, felt the tickle of breath in his ear, and nearly changed his mind. “Or I walk.”

“So full of threats today,” Radditz laughed, his free arm wrapping around Puar's waist like a steel band, to hold him against his body. “But I don't believe you. Not this time.” He nipped the shapeshifter's shoulder, the crook of his neck, his ear. “Look at you, you're shaking. You're so hard again, just from a little touching, that I bet I could make you come just by blowing in your ear. Like fuck you'll get up and leave now.” Raddiz chuckled again. “If you did that, who would take care of this for you, hmm?” He tapped Puar's swollen tip with one finger. “So if you want that fixed for you, you just remember that you're mine tonight, yeah? And that means I'm going to have you any way I want you.” He wrapped his fingers slowly around the shaft, tips touching down one by one, and squeezed just a little bit.

“Nnhaa...Radditz!” Puar panted, reaching one hand up behind his head to grab a fistful of the saiyan's hair, the other clamping on the arm around his waist, whether to gain support or cause pain, he wasn't sure.

“So get on your hands and knees, little blue cat, and you stick this sweet little ass of yours up in the air, and let me fuck you senseless.” Nodding frantically, Puar scrambled and strained against Radditz's pinioning arm, his bare feet scrabbling against the floor as he tried to break free of the hold. “Tcha...think you're the boss, do you?” Radditz snorted, releasing the shapeshifter and half tossing him down onto the bed in one motion. He snatched up the bottle of lube as Puar settled himself at the edge of the bed, feet dangling, elbows supporting his upper body, his forehead resting on cradled forearms. “You're wound up tighter than a fucking spring.” Radditz commented, placing a hand on Puar's backside and feeling him jump. “Relax,” he said a little more soothingly, though his voice was still rough with want and plain old saiyan-ness, “it's nothing new. Same as last time.”

“It isn't! Ahh!” Puar gasped as he felt lips touch down just above the base of his tail and big, warm hands caressing his naked thighs.

“How so?” Radditz skimmed the skin of one cheek with his lips, opened his mouth and bit, gently, of course. “Gods, your tail is so sexy.” He murmured, running his fingers along the lightly furred appendage.

“I'm not completely plastered, for one.” Puar grit his teeth, fighting the urge to purr like the cat he was. “And you know what I am...oh,” he groaned, “are you licking my tail?” He shook his head as a chuckle rumbled out from the saiyan's chest. “And I hadn't planned on bolting in the middle of the night and never seeing you again...” He trailed off, squirming as Radditz urged his knees further apart.

“You planned on never seeing me again? Ouch.” Radditz picked up the lube and popped the top, watching with pleasure as his lover's spine tightened with anticipation. He poured a generous amount into his palm, tossed the bottle aside and rubbed his hands slowly together, warming it before he ran one slick finger down from below Puar's tail, slowly circling, gently teasing his mate into readiness. “Ahh, you look so tight.” Radditz moaned, spreading with slippery hands and shifting his hips forward so that the tip of his cock brushed that puckered entrance.

“Hey!” Puar tossed a condom packet over his shoulder, hitting Radditz square in the forehead. It bounced and landed on the small of his back. “I don't know where you've been.”

“Saiyans aren't susceptible to most STDs.” Radditz countered, but reached for the packet when Puar lifted his head and glared back over his shoulder. “Ahh, fine. To make you happy.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on Puar's bare shoulder, ripping open the foil at the same time. “Extra big, huh?” He grinned at the packaging as he rolled the rubber down over himself. “You remembered, how sweet.”

“I borrowed them from Bulma and Vegeta.” Puar hid his grin in the sheets as he heart the disgruntled `humph' from behind him. “Jeez, Radditz, I couldn't walk properly for days!” He added, a little more seriously. “How could I forget?” He stopped talking and tensed, a little frightened and a whole lot excited, as Radditz took hold of his hips once more, spreading him with slippery thumbs, and once again the nudge of that warm, hard shaft. He did his best to calm down and relax as Radditz began to fill him, but the nerves had returned and he was once again feeling a little terrified of the big man behind him.

“Haa...'m I...” Radditz grunted, “hurting you?” The hands squeezed, gently kneading as he pushed further in. “You've got to relax...gods, you're so tight.” The saiyan groaned, leaning his long body forward over his mate as he eased himself in the final inch, his pelvis firmly in contact with soft, smooth white cheeks. He pressed a kiss on Puar's shoulder, his hands moving up to rub the trembling biceps. “Puar, are you okay?” A nod and an affirmative mumble directed into the sheets, and Radditz was straightening up again, taking his first experimental pull, just an inch or so out, before slowly pushing back in. Puar gasped and his tail jerked and coiled, but he held firm, pushing his hips backward to meet the next thrust.

“I'm okay.” Puar muttered shyly, into the sheets as Radditz slid out and slowly in again. “You can...ah...go faster. I know you like it better.”

“Puar,” the saiyan rubbed a palm slowly over the curve of hip and thigh, squeezing and kneading like a masseuse, “just because I want you like this, it doesn't mean it has to be rough.”

“Radditz!” Puar buried his face in the mattress for a moment before craning his neck as far around as he could. “Go. Faster.” He hissed through clenched teeth, cheeks red with embarrassment. Puar, always happy to get what he could and usually deeply ashamed of himself after, had never been a demanding lover, but the saiyan's excruciatingly slow pace was driving him crazy.

“Oooh, tell me what to do some more.” Radditz grinned but obligingly tightened his hold and picked up the pace. “It makes me hot.”

“Shut...uhn...up.” Puar wondered again at the wisdom of coming here tonight. He wasn't so used to being teased and he thought maybe Radditz might have been a little more serious or at least a little less talkative if he'd let the whole mess stew for a few days before offering himself up on a platter. Shit, what was it that Bulma had always said? Don't let a man get too cocky! Well...the problem was that he liked them cocky, in more ways than one, he was reminded as the impact of said appendage fired through his body, jolting every nerve and turning his bones to mush. He closed his eyes and focused on the sensations around him - the frantic slide and slap of flesh together, the weight of a warm, heavy body against him, the rub of the sheets against his knees and elbows, rough hands on his skin. Radditz was bold and brash and crude and everything Puar wanted to be but didn't have the courage for. He was strong and self assured and didn't give a damn what anyone thought of him, and to be the object of desire of a man like that...it was heady. It made him feel powerful, knowing that while he might meekly submit and allow himself to be dominated, it was only by his permission. If he'd wanted to, he could have the saiyan tied to the bed instead, spread and at his mercy.

He must have moaned aloud at the thought, for when he opened his eyes again, it was with surprise to feel Radditz's chest suddenly against his back as the saiyan leaned forward, lips panting just behind his ear. “Thinking of something good, were you?” He nipped with sharp teeth and Puar tilted his head back, trying to get closer as Radditz opened his mouth and clamped his jaw down at the base of Puar's neck. The cat yelped moreso in surprise than pain - it didn't really hurt and he was certain that the intent was not to break the skin, though he thought he might have a bruise in the morning. It was simply shocking to be bitten after one has accepted the fact that one is not about to become dinner.

“Hush.” Radditz growled, briefly removing his mouth before setting his teeth again. He put his hands down on the bed, gaining purchase and forcing Puar to bow lower on the bed in accommodation. A few hard thrusts and Puar hardly felt the shift in weight before one of Radditz's hands was on him, warm and tight and pumping with every thrust of his hips.

“Sh...shit!” Puar cried out in a strangled voice. “I'm gonna...ngh!” He arched and squirmed beneath the saiyan, who grunted and bit down harder, as though to keep him from moving as his thrusts became wilder, quicker, more desperate. He could feel the convulsions of the body around him, the tensing and tightening of every muscle and tendon before the mass relaxation of the body that comes with release. Dimly, Radditz knew that Puar was apologizing, the poor man unreasonably mortified at the mess he'd made of both the bed and the hand that held him, but he was too lost in sensation, in achieving his own pleasure now that his partner had been taken care of, to notice much besides his own throbbing cock.

It was the best orgasm he'd ever had, Radditz thought as he came back to his senses a moment later and realized that he was practically crushing the poor shapeshifter beneath him. He pulled out and stood watching as Puar stretched out gratefully, obviously pleased to be off his knees. He turned to pull off the condom, thoughtfully wrapping it up and tossing it in the garbage, and when he turned back he found that Puar had crawled beneath the blankets and was looking nice and cozy.

“What do you think you're doing?” Radditz asked, hands on his hips, proudly nude and shining with sweat and other bodily fluids. “Silly cat, you didn't think we were done already, did you?” He laughed at Puar's distressed face - the face of easy prey - and pounced.

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Bulma twisted slowly around, wiggling to disengage herself from Vegeta's arms. He frowned and mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, saiyan words that she didn't understand, but didn't wake up. It was just after three in the morning and she'd woken up tangled in the sheets, with a cramp in her neck from laying awkwardly on Vegeta's shoulder. She frowned, squinting in the dark to try and find her panties, which she'd flung off just a few hours earlier. Ahh, there they were, hanging precariously from the standing lamp across the room. Her thighs rubbed slickly together as she went to get them and heat flushed through her body in remembrance. She glanced thoughtfully at the bed, but shook her head and put her underwear back on; if her getting up hadn't woken him, it was a sure sign that Vegeta needed his rest. He'd been doing double time since the completion of the heavy construction, spending every waking moment either training with his men or helping her piece together the rest of the GR. Well, she admitted to herself, when he wasn't making love to her, that was. All combined, he'd been sleeping only a few hours each night and it was starting to show.

Bulma stretched languidly before sitting back down on the bed, thinking of the urgency and suddenness of their earlier coupling and wondering if it meant that Radditz and Puar had, er, reconciled. She knew that they could all feel each others' ki, knew the potential for said ki to jump erratically when they were in the grips of strong feelings, but she'd never have put two and two together if she hadn't come upon Gohan one day, a vivid red flush across his cheeks with one fist raised, paused and about to knock on his parents' door. She laughed quietly to herself, recalling the embarrassed look on the poor kid's face, the horror in his eyes at the thought of what they were doing in there. She'd been surprised at the time, considering that, thanks to Radditz and Nappa, he knew more about sex than any eight year old had business knowing. He was so matter of fact about everything, typical saiyan, but the thought of his own parents together still threw him for a loop, like any human adolescent.

Speaking of typical saiyan, she snorted to herself, looking again to the humped tangle of bedclothes. Vegeta had responded to Radditz's explosive declaration with his typical witty nonchalance, while she and Puar stared open mouthed at Radditz's retreating back. “Well,” he'd said, eyebrows pulled down in a frown as he examined Puar's small, trembling body, “I know that's probably not how it went down, but that is one disturbing mental picture.” And in typical Vegeta fashion, he'd not said a word more about it all night, simply returning to the task at hand and then going about his business as usual. Bulma wondered briefly if he might have said something to Radditz during their training time after dinner, but quickly dismissed the thought. Trying to get Vegeta to talk was like trying to teach her own mother calculus; it just didn't work. No way in hell would he willingly invite one of his men to share about feelings and romantic entanglements.

Bulma plumped up her pillows and leaned back against them, pulling the blankets up over her lap, not really tired enough to lie down and attempt sleep, though not energetic enough to get up and do something. She'd been so focused on the construction of the gravity machine lately that she felt as though she'd hardly had a moment to herself, so for the time being, simply sitting and thinking in the dark seemed wonderfully decadent. Peaceful, when she knew on the other side of sleep would be noise and chaos and frustration in that damn dome once more.

Vegeta, as though sensing her warmth or her nearness, rolled onto his side toward her, curling up a little as he did so. One knee brushed her leg and he sighed in his sleep at the contact, as though he'd been holding his breath, and settled once more. Bulma felt her heart jump painfully in her chest as she looked down at him, hardly more than a darker blot in the dark room, and yet she felt as though she could see him clearly. His face was softer in sleep, though sometimes he frowned in his nightmares, of which she was sure he had many. It was weeks since they'd come back to Red Station, weeks that he'd been sharing her bed again and every night, as he'd finally consented to give up his lone room to Piccolo and bunk with her. She could feel his body stiffen in the night - not every night and not necessarily often - each muscle rock hard with tension while she worried and fretted over whether to wake him, torn between the desire to ease his suffering and the knowledge that he would not appreciate her seeing him in his weaker moments.

Bulma ran her hand along his forehead, up and over his hair, stiff and springy against her fingers. He was calm tonight, relaxed in a sleep undisturbed by the spectres of whatever haunted him. She did wonder, of course, what might the saiyan prince recoil from in dreams, but she didn't dare ask. Certainly not the things he'd done - those particular ghosts belonged to her - but perhaps all that had been done to him in life? Surely it couldn't be easy, growing up under the hand of the very same tyrant who'd destroyed your homeworld and your people, and snatched your destiny right out from under you.

She peered closely at his face, just barely illuminated by the glare from the alarm clock, and sighed. It didn't look like the face of a murderer, a cold-hearted killer, though she couldn't say his jutting cheekbones and knife-edged jaw were exactly innocent, either. She cocked her head, thinking of his face in animation; when he spoke, when he laughed or even when he was simply sitting, watching and observing the world around him. Still no, well yes...and at the same time, she didn't really see it. Was it just that she didn't want to, she wondered, or were there really two Vegeta personas? She didn't really think of the latter as true; she'd seen him put his fist through the arlian stranger with nary a thought to it before going right back to his business. Killing wasn't something that phased him, nor was it something he seemed to revel in, and she realized that it was just something that he did, like sleeping, or wearing clothes, or training. It had to be done, sometimes more than others. It didn't mean that he didn't enjoy it sometimes - it was obvious that he did - but it wasn't something that he deliberately sought out, which she thought was sort of okay. As okay as it could be, under the circumstances.

So, still dating a killer, who sometimes liked it but mostly did it for necessity, as far as she could tell. And was it the act of killing that mattered, or was it the sometimes but not always enjoying it? Did it make a difference that he never seemed to hate the killing? Bulma sighed and shook her head, wondering yet again where that left her. What that made her. If Vegeta was a bad person, did her loving him also make her a bad person? “Crap.” Bulma said aloud, not really sure what to make of all the questions that were floating in her head. She was no closer to an answer than she had been the first time she'd let Vegeta touch her, watching herself in the steam fogged mirror, wondering when she'd become so wanton.

She touched his hair again, stroked her fingers gently over his temple and around the curve of his ear, and couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. He was a killer, terrifying and lovely all at once, but here in the dark of her bedroom - their bedroom, she supposed - he was hers, and that was all that mattered. The rest could wait.

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Gohan lay awake, awkwardly stiff in his borrowed bed. Three feet to the left, Piccolo sat crosslegged, hovering about a foot off the floor, lost in deep meditation. It was a little unnerving and had he realized that the Namek did not really sleep, but rather spent the night time hours in a deep sort of meditation, he might have knocked on someone else's door instead. Initially he'd stood outside Nappa's room, fist raised and considering what he'd be in for if he spent the night in the old man's room. They'd had some kind of meat for dinner...so gas for sure. Probably more than just gas, actually. Nappa's meat farts were legendary, and not just among the saiyans, but across the whole of Frieza's army. Radditz had once said - he often forgot how young Gohan actually was - that even the whores wouldn't let Nappa spend the night, not even for triple pay. Of course he'd gotten punched for that, as Nappa had been just around the corner at the time and heard every word. Gohan figured they weren't that bad, but then again he wasn't in the habit of hanging around in the bases' seedier elements, so he couldn't really ask any ladies for himself. Anyway, thoughts of prostitution aside, Nappa's greatest weapon was his rotten digestive system, and Gohan already had enough on his mind, what with nearly walking in on his uncle, and worrying that Radditz might not remember to do it on his own bed, in the heat of the moment.

Slowly, he turned his head and peered at Piccolo, for all appearances dead to the world, but Gohan figured that the namek knew exactly what was going on around him. He turned back to the ceiling, twiddling his thumbs under the blanket. He hadn't wanted to crash in on his parents, considering what they'd been up to all too frequently as of late, and while Krillin was a nice guy, the fact was that Piccolo, of all the people he was willing to ask, would be the least likely to ask questions. He definitely didn't want to be the one to explain what his uncle was doing with a male, shapeshifting cat; that was their mess. Besides that, he'd fought alongside Piccolo, once upon a time, and knew him to be a decent sort of guy, although a bit crusty around the edges. Redminded him a bit of Vegeta, if he was being honest, and that made him feel a bit more comfortable around the intimidating namek. Not completely comfortable, as he was finding out tonight... unnerving, the way he just floated there, not really making noise but not really being silent either. Below the soft, steady rhythm of breath there was a sort of hum, but it wasn't audible so much as tangible. It was in his skin, in his bones, in the very air of the room, the slightest vibration that set his hair on end and his teeth on edge. It made him nervous, even though he knew that there was nothing to fear. Too long in Frieza's army had made him suspicious and jumpy. And now that Radditz had Puar, he feared he would be alone again. Not truly or completely, he knew, but for the last two years Radditz had been like a father to him, as well as being his closest friend and confidant, and now...well, Puar would occupy most of his uncle's time, Gohan was sure, and he wasn't certain where that would leave him.

“What is your problem, kid?” Piccolo's irritated voice cut through his troubled thoughts and Gohan's head snapped to the side in surprise, to find the Namek glaring at him from his seat in the air. “You've been sighing and fiddling over there for the last ten minutes, disrupting my peace and my meditations. So either get it off your chest or shut up. Either way I want you to end up asleep.” Piccolo hesitated, the nasty side of him wanting to add the third option of `get out', and the good side of him restraining, reminding him that for all his power level and misdeeds, Gohan was really just a child and deserving of compassion.

“I...” Gohan faltered, cowering under the sheets. He looked at Piccolo's face, a stranger's face, all angles and teeth, and pulled the blankets more tightly around his shoulders. Something flickered in the namek's eyes that seemed gentle and kind, that almost made him want to spill is deepest feelings of weakness and fear, but then Piccolo blinked and it was gone again. “I'll go to sleep.” Gohan mumbled apologetically and turned over in the bed so that his back was facing his unwilling roommate. He curled up and hugged his pillow, squeezing his eyes shut tight in an attempt to force sleep, which as most people know, only makes the insomnia worse, and willed his body still. Behind him, Piccolo snorted and a moment later he heard the door slide open, then shut as Piccolo left his own bedroom in search of a more peaceful place.

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That's it for today, folks. Next chapter will be a little more eventful, I think. We're coming to a point where the plot comes back a bit more into the foreground now that we've got some character and relationship development out of the way. Please consider leaving a review; I'd love to know what you thought!