Chapter Text
~
Sunlight spilled through Fossil & Flame, glinting off polished stone and crystal edges. Trunks bounced ahead of Vegeta, pointing at each rock with unrestrained delight. “Look! Granite’s speckled! Basalt’s so solid! Obsidian’s shiny, like a black river frozen!” He scooped up pumice. “It floats, Dad! Rock balloons!”
Vegeta followed silently, arms crossed, tracking Trunks’ energy. Even hardened Saiyans couldn’t deny the textures, patterns, and colors—each a story pressed into stone. Trunks leaned over lapis lazuli, eyes wide. “It’s like a night sky trapped in stone!”
Vegeta smirked faintly. “Hmph… interesting.”
Later, at home, Vegeta produced a small obsidian dagger for Trunks and a coquina bracelet for Bulma. Trunks held the dagger like treasure. “Thanks, Dad! I’m writing about it in my rock notebook!”
Bulma slid on the bracelet, soft laugh escaping her lips. “This will remind me of Fossil & Flame… and you, apparently.”
Vegeta crossed his arms, hiding the warmth tugging at his chest.
That evening at Stone & Stein, the family settled into a corner booth. Bulma held up her bracelet. “Look! Isn’t it beautiful?”
Chichi examined it with a slight frown. “Hm. Very… fancy.”
Goku blinked, processing. “Uh… he… he picked it for you?”
Bulma smirked. “Yes, really. Vegeta thought about what I’d like.”
Chichi shot Kakarot a pointed look. “Well… he didn’t pick me anything.”
Goku’s face twisted between comprehension and panic. “Wait… you mean… Vegeta… with Bulma? Really?”
Vegeta leaned back, arms crossed, smirk widening. “Keep telling yourself that, Kakarot.”
Bulma giggled, Chichi’s smirk mirrored in subtle satisfaction, and Trunks twirled his dagger, blissfully oblivious. The four of them sat in the amber glow, a mix of pride, mischief, and tiny sparks of rivalry filling the cozy space.
~
The evening wound down with laughter and clinking glasses. Vegeta swirled his wine, smug. “Honestly, Kakarot, I think the world isn’t ready for me.”
Goku grinned, half in awe. “Yeah… probably right.”
Chichi grabbed his hand. “Let’s travel more! Find a real mountain lake this time!”
“Sure! You pick the campsite!” Goku laughed.
Bulma smirked at Vegeta, who only raised his glass imperiously.
Thanks to Gohan, their adventures began in earnest—he’d entered his mom and dad into a chess tournament.
Later, in the grand hall, Goku struggled with chess, whispering to his knight while surreptitiously stealing hors d’oeuvres. Chi-Chi tried to appear refined, sipping champagne as discreetly as possible. Gohan watched quietly, amused, while Goku’s chaotic charm tested every player’s patience.
“…It is… your move,” the chess master finally said.
Goku swallowed a tartlet, placed his bishop backward, and shrugged. Chaos contained in a single moment—worth every gasp and tsk.
~
The next day, the family trekked forested slopes, warm bakery bags in hand. Goten bounced at every white squirrel flash, Gohan analyzed quietly, Chichi kept everyone in line, and Goku, grinning, adjusted pace carefully after nearly toppling down a slope chasing the creatures.
The forest shimmered around them—mist, sunlight, mossy trunks—but it wasn’t the squirrels that mattered. It was the family, the adventure, the shared laughter.
~
Goku sank into the warm, fragrant water with a sigh that carried all the exhaustion of the day. Bubbles clung to his shoulders and floated lazily on the surface, catching the soft bathroom light. Even someone as irrepressibly energetic as him had limits—and after chasing white squirrels, corralling Goten and Trunks, and navigating Chichi’s constant nags, Goku’s limit had been reached.
He let his head tip back against the tub, eyes half-closed. The bathroom wasn’t private—not really—but it would have to do. The door locked. The warm water hissed softly against the sides, the bubbles smothered most of the world, and for a little while, he could disappear. Just him, the water, and the faint smell of whatever soap he’d grabbed on impulse.
He frowned, cheeks puffing a little. The adventure hadn’t exactly been thrilling. Belvont was cute, sure, but compared to the stories Vegeta had spun about his own exploits… well. Goku winced at the thought. Vegeta made every adventure sound epic, dangerous, impressive. Goku’s had white squirrels, curvy mountain roads, and a few mildly panicked tourists. Hardly the stuff of legend.
But Goku wasn’t one to be outdone. He propped his chin on the edge of the tub and began rehearsing, running through potential retellings in his head:
“So we were driving through the mountains—curvy, treacherous roads, almost lost control a couple of times—my reflexes saved us all.” He smirked at the mental image of himself leaning dramatically over the steering wheel.
“Then we spotted a rare creature! White, cunning… almost mystical. It could’ve been a spirit of the forest, we had to be stealthy to follow it—very high stakes.” He could almost hear Vegeta raising an eyebrow, skeptical, just how he liked it.
“And I—of course—saved the day.” Goku laughed softly at the exaggeration, letting the bubbles drift up between his fingers.
He paused, letting a sigh escape. It wasn’t a bad adventure—he had enjoyed it—but he wanted to make it sound better than it really was. Exciting. Dangerous. Worth bragging about, at least enough to make Vegeta pay attention without realizing the full truth.
The warm water, the soft hiss of the bubbles, and the echo of his own imagination carried him away. Goku closed his eyes fully, letting himself grin. He might not have had dragons to fight or mountains to conquer today—but in his mind, he could make the day as legendary as he wanted. And tomorrow… tomorrow he’d find a way to make it even better.
~
The next day, the girls had decided to have a combined dinner-and-movie night.
Vegeta lounged on the worn leather couch, one ankle crossed over the other, smirk sharp as a blade. “So, Kakarot,” he began, voice smooth, controlled, the very picture of boredom hiding barely contained pride, “my latest venture was… taxing. Dangerous. Potentially fatal.”
Goku perked up, leaning forward eagerly. “Oh yeah? Tell me! I’m… uh… definitely listening!”
Vegeta’s smirk widened. “I infiltrated an enemy compound disguised as a master chef. The ventilation shafts were rigged with motion-sensitive laser grids. One wrong step, and—poof. Instant… obliteration. But I made it through, of course. Barely.”
Goku’s eyes went wide. “Whoa… whoa… lasers? That sounds super intense! I mean… I—” He hesitated, then straightened. “Well, you know, I was on a squirrel-hunting mission today. Very… dangerous. Life-threatening. You wouldn’t understand.”
Vegeta raised a brow. “Squirrels?”
“Yes!” Goku’s grin stretched impossibly wide. “The white squirrels in Belvont! They—uh—they’re not ordinary squirrels. Highly intelligent, evasive, capable of tactical retreats. I had to stalk them through treacherous terrain. Mudslides, near cliffs, falling branches!”
Vegeta blinked once, then scoffed. “Near cliffs, you say?” His voice was flat, but the smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth betrayed amusement. “And I assume they were armed?”
“Oh… totally,” Goku said without missing a beat. “Tiny ninja squirrels. Very sneaky. Tried to steal my trail mix. I nearly lost my balance on a narrow ledge. I—” He gestured wildly, nearly tipping over. “—I may have rolled ten feet down a slope while still holding my binoculars!”
Vegeta’s smirk deepened into a full, satisfied grin. “Clearly, my compound-infiltration pales in comparison to your… rolling-ninja-squirrel survival skills.”
Goku leaned back, puffing out his chest dramatically. “Exactly! You get it! Those squirrels… I survived… barely!”
Vegeta leaned forward, his voice soft but dangerous. “Next time, Kakarot, I’ll take you with me. We’ll see if your squirrel skills can save you from a real—” He paused, eyes gleaming with mischief. “—life-or-death situation.”
Goku’s grin faltered for half a second. “Uh… well… maybe I’ll bring some trail mix. And my binoculars.”
Both of them laughed, just slightly, the rivalry softening into something almost… warm. Almost.
Goku and Vegeta exchanged a glance—competitive, mischievous, endlessly ridiculous.
~
Later on, the girls were talking in the kitchen while the guys sat on Bulma’s fancy velvet-and-brass loveseat at a comfortable distance. Goku had his ankle crossed over his knee. Vegeta sat up very straight.
“So…” Goku started.
Vegeta gave him a look, quirking his questioning brow.
“Don’t dawdle, Kakarot. Spit it out.”
Goku grinned sheepishly, shifting slightly on the loveseat so that their thighs were touching—barely. “I was just… uh… thinking. Y’know, about…the…y’know. Awhile ago now. The… uh… kiss.”
Vegeta’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but there was a flicker of amusement behind the steel-grey. “Unsurprising. What next?”
Goku scratched the back of his head, pretending to be casual but failing spectacularly. “Well… the rules said we can kiss, right? Even if our wives are in the next room? I mean… hypothetically.”
Vegeta’s smirk was subtle but sharp, like a blade hiding in silk. “Hypothetically, huh? I see. And are you asking for… clarification? Or are you planning to push those boundaries?”
Goku’s grin widened, eyes bright with mischief. “Maybe a little of both.”
Vegeta leaned back slightly, letting that rare, slow smile tug at his mouth. “Kakarot… you are… being naughty.” His voice was low, teasing, but there was a heat beneath it that Goku felt all the way in his chest. “Punishment is in order.”
Goku fluttered his eyelashes, an attempt to look enticing—he was pretty sure it worked, too, from the look on Vegeta’s face. He leaned in.
“Well, punish me, then. Or, let’s… experiment…”
Vegeta smirked.
“Experiment? Wouldn’t that mean… going further than kissing. Since we’ve already done that?”
Goku flushed, thinking quickly.
“I mean… we haven’t fully explored… all angles.”
“And you intend to do that… when, exactly?” Vegeta asked, huffing indignantly, “I mean—if you’re going to do it, by all means—”
That was all the permission Goku needed. He leaned in and let his mouth explore Vegeta’s with slow deliberation, patiently probing here and there until he found just the right rhythm.
“Mm,” Goku murmured. “That’s good.”
Vegeta turned a bit pink and pulled away.
“Cool it, Kakarot. No murmuring. No commenting.”
“Aw, all right then…”